Welcome back to Meta Monday! Two new cards were released this past week, but no balance changes. In last week's issue, I mentioned that the meta would change rapidly after the release of these two cards and they didn’t exactly disappoint. However, there haven’t been as many changes as some players would like. Either way, let's get into the pillars of the meta game.
Pillar One: Bounce
Beast nerf said who? Bounce is currently the most played deck in the format, with multiple options and various ways of attacking the other decks in the meta game. The three main versions are Ajax Bounce, Pure Bounce, and Wiccan Bounce.
Ajax Bounce
This deck tries to leverage two big threats in Werewolf by Night and Ajax to win two lanes. The main idea here is relatively the same as the other bounce lists, where you try to build small threats and bounce them back while increasing the stats of your two biggest cards, Werewolf and Ajax.
Pure Bounce
This pure bounce list is just trying to get threats out on the board and then bounce them to replay them for a bigger payout. Symbiote Spiderman is the most interesting card because it allows you to have another on-reveal at whatever location he is on. For example, If I have Symbiote Spiderman on a lane and then I play Rocket Racoon on the last turn, I can activate Symbiote after playing Rocket to possibly end up with a 15-power card since Symbiote will make Rocket trigger again.
Wiccan bounce
This last version uses Wiccan to gain extra energy so you can flood the board on the final turns of the game for an even bigger payout. Just like pure bounce, it has everything to function as a bounce list without Wiccan, but cards are a little bit easier to play out with Wiccan because if you successfully get the extra energy, you have a good buffer going into the final turns. Also, with Wiccan, it's possible to play out a 1-cost, Hit Monkey, and Beast all on turn 5, leading to an explosive turn six with Sasquatch and Hit Monkey.
Bounce is a fun and rewarding deck with all the tools to win in the meta game, which is why it is so popular. You need to be wary of potential Sandman and Killmongers in the meta game, as well as any possible Alioth play, but if you are well versed in the meta game and what decks include what, bounce is a great deck to play regardless of what you are playing against.
Personal Sidenote
As a personal note about bounce, this has been my pet deck of choice for the last few seasons. I took this to Infinite on day one, and it holds its own in the top rankings. The options above are slightly more competitive, but this is a good option if you like playing something different and want a slight challenge.
Selene Cope 12.1
Pillar Two: Wiccan Decks
As an interesting deck-building challenge, Wiccan has started to thrive the more time people have had to work with him. I mentioned a simple formula for creating a Wiccan list in last week's Meta Monday. That formula still holds today, but as time has progressed, it is more of a deck guideline than the rule for the best Wiccan decks.
Three 1-cost cards
Three 2-cost cards
Two 3-cost cards
Wiccan
One 5-cost card
Two 6-cost cards
The current decks have slightly tweaked these numbers. Here are two options.
Wiccan
Wixie
Both have the same idea: ramp out some of the bigger cards like Alioth and Magneto while laying down a solid foundation of smaller cards that push you over the top of the other decks. Most Wiccan decks run Magneto and Alioth as their 6-cost cards of choice, which in a bounce-heavy meta game are great counters that can ruin anyone's day.
Pillar Three: Darkhawk
While these lists are not new, many players talk down about the Darkhawk decks running around because they are very much on the board, are no-nonsense, and have good cards, so retreating should be pretty simple for opponents. However, they still are very good at what they do and have the stats to back them up. Here are two main versions with solid win rates and cube rates.
Darkhawk Discard
Darkhawk Thena
Both of these decks are solid, good decks that have various tools to play against anything the meta game wants to throw at them. I don’t expect these to go anywhere since they have been around for multiple seasons and are highly consistent.
Pillar Four: Sandman, Surfer, Zoo, and Destroy
Technically, these are four separate archetypes, but all four sit at the same popularity rate while still producing good stats across the board. They also have a lot of tools to counter the three pillars mentioned above. Even more impressive is that they have been around for a while, which means they have proven themselves time and time again. I wouldn’t mind taking any of these to gain cubes.
Sandman
Surfer
Zoo
Destroy
Meta Outliers and Counters
The pillar two decks from last week, Big Cards Just Win, is still very viable and probably one of the safest options to play into this meta because it doesn’t lose to Alioth or other tech cards as much as the other decks in the format.
Deathbird
Counter Big
This deck is trying to counter the amount of Affliction and On-reveals running around in the meta game as a possible meta-counter.
Sugi Ajax
It looks odd at the surface, but when you look a little longer, you'll see that this deck is just trying to play some above-rate and good cards that also tech for different matchups in a roundabout way. For example, Man-Thing isn’t exactly a tech to bounce, but most of Bounce’s cards are hit by Man-Thing. Furthermore, it doesn’t like when a Cosmo comes down. This deck can hold its own in any game but needs time to get the hang of it.
Other Decks
Many decks are in this current meta, and I am doing a disservice If I don’t briefly mention that Arishem, Negative, Phoenix Force, Affliction High Evo, and Wong Combo are running around in the meta game. While these decks, except Arishem, are not as popular if given a chance, they can high roll any deck in the format. From a player standpoint, this needs to be something you are aware of. Seeing someone destroy a Multiple Man on turn 3 followed by a snap should tell you something. Just be aware as you climb on the ladder.
Meta Health
Overall, this meta feels very healthy. There isn’t any one deck over 10 percent of the meta game or one strategy overpowering all other options. Some problem cards like Alioth, Sandman, Shang-chi, and Killmonger can kick over your possible sandcastle. Still, enough viable strategies are going around that most, if not all, players can find something fun and competitive to play. However, we have one more card released and an OTA that most players anticipate will shake up the meta quickly next week. So, while all these decks are viable, I would keep your head on a swivel and pay attention after Tuesday's release for possible rapid meta changes.
GIVEAWAY!
I have a Premium Mystery Variant and a Mystery Variant to give away. To enter, all you need to do is join the Snap.Fan Discord (https://discord.gg/e6S7bBvAdf) and leave a comment down below with your favorite underrated deck and why along with your Discord name. I will randomly select the winners on Sunday, September 15th and they will be announced in the following week's Meta Monday!