Welcome back to Meta Monday! Since last week, there have been quite a few changes to the meta game, so let's just get right into it!
Pillar One: Hela
Even if you are a super casual player, it would be hard to miss that we have switched back to a mainly Hela meta game. While we can split the data that we have available in different ways, Hela essentially ranges from about 8% of the meta game to sometimes around 16% of the meta game. That is a big chunk. Is Hela the best deck in the game at the moment? I don't think so, and it starts with the win rate and cube rate, which are pretty typical of any deck in the format. The outlier is its popularity. So why are so many people playing Hela? Ever since Hellcow changed to activate, Hela can deliver pure stats consistently and efficiently, making it a simple choice when players want to win. For example, I could play a bounce deck and try to weave my Werewolf by night in and out of lanes while simultaneously bouncing back key pieces to get some big stats by turn six, or I could play maybe 4 cards total and deliver almost the same amount of stats with a lot less work. I would guess most players are going to pick the latter. Now, I'm not trying to say Hela is just the easy deck, it's just the route to big stats is simpler and more efficient than other stat decks making it the main choice for most players. Also, Hela can be challenging to snap into because there is a lack of information, due to Hellcow being an activate, on what cards will come back and the location they will come back to. All these things combined make Hela an appealing deck for winning games and getting cubes, so even if the win and cube stats are not overpowering, she is still the most popular deck in the format.
Here are two versions:
Hela 1
Hela 2
Pillar Two: Arishem
Over the last few weeks, Arishem has slowly been creeping back into the meta game. He is nowhere near as popular as before and not as powerful due to the multiple nerfs in and around him. Still, in a meta game revolving around Hela, which technically is just stats, his extra energy and unpredictability provide a potent combo that can attack both the Hela matchup and the other decks in the format.
Here are two versions:
Arishem 1
Arishem 2
While there is no main trick to Arishem because you rely a lot on the generated cards, Arishem has great flexibility on the tech cards it can run. Even though you are not guaranteed to have these tech cards, they allow you to maximize your snapping and cube equity. Are you playing against a zoo deck and drawing your killmonger? Might be a free 8 cubes. Draw your shang and generate another Shang. Yes, I'll take all the cubes, please. While not as oppressive as before, the extra energy and unpredictability of Arishem are fun and competitive ways to play against the other decks in the format.
Pillar Three: Move
With the two new move cards, Madame Web and Araña, in the game, move has finally moved past that hurdle and has produced a viable meta-contending deck. While it sometimes can be a little glass cannon-like because numerous tech cards hinder its ability to maximize its output, there are enough complicated and interesting interactions to keep your opponent guessing where your power will be. There are several different versions, such as pure move, move bounce, and some move clog ideas running around. All do fairly well and can produce high enough stats depending on the draw to rival the stat output of any deck in the format.
Here are three versions:
Move
Move Bounce
Move Clog
All three use the same idea of moving cards to create more power. However, they all have some slightly different ways of attacking the meta. The pure move one aims to get priority and move cards around while keeping their cards safe with Cosmo and Alioth. The middle deck is trying to bounce the move cards and enablers back to your hand to create ever larger cards and win two lanes by spreading that power with The Living Tribunal. The last deck aims to clog the opponent and use cards like Dagger and Cannonball as finishers. All three are viable and attack in different ways, so if you are a fan of move, you have multiple options to be viable in the current format.
Pillar Four: Clog, Destroy and Lockdown
These last three make up the remaining pillar of the meta game. Clog is a natural counter to Hela and move to some degree because it limits the locations that cards can come back to. Destroy can contend with most decks on points while running a natural counter to some of the higher-scaling move cards with Killmonger, and lockdown is the new flavor of the week for locking opponents out of playing on the last turn. While Lockdown could be more consistent and is easy to spot it still can win games and has mild popularity.
Clog
Destroy
Lockdown
All three of these decks account for around 5% of the meta game, while certain pockets of rankings experience a bigger degree of clog than others, depending on how much Hela exists within that subsection of rankings.
Meta Outliers
Zoo
Zoo remains a small percentage of the format but has consistently put out high numbers in the cube and win rates. I think the main thing here is that it has a high consistency rate of being able to play for all three locations, which is hard to counter. While there are counters in the format, there is very little Enchantress running around to shut off the Ongoings, which helps push the deck over the top.
Zoo
Affliction
A very small percentage of the meta-game affliction strategies have started to pop up and get huge value against all the decks running around trying to beat Hela. Other than Hela there is a lack of Luke Cage in the format so being able to inflict negative power and maximize that potential with Abomination and Ajax is a potent combo.
Affliction
Meta Health
Overall, the meta isn’t that bad from a statistical perspective. We have some major players that take up most of the format, but there are many decks I did not mention that still have good stats running around. However, the format is warped because Hela is effectively back in the game. The player base is still adjusting to the new, most popular deck, and it is a mistake to think you won't face Hela at some point on the ladder. We may get a little relief with the introduction of Scarlet Spider tomorrow, but with no OTA for at least another week, we might be stuck in this position, which will aggravate many players. Many players dislike losing to Hela or even playing against it, and while it isn’t as overpowered as it used to be, it still does the same things and produces the same feel-bad moments. As the counter to Hela Clog comes back a lot more prevalent which can be just as frustrating to players. This cycle has happened before and seems to be happening again. With those things in mind, the meta could be healthier. What do you think of the current meta and what do you think the actual best deck is? Let me know in the comments.