Welcome back to Meta Monday! Just as I predicted last Monday the Meta game took a massive shift with the release of Doom 2099. While many of the decks stayed relatively the same the quantity of these decks dropped to all-time lows with Doom 2099 decks overtaking the format with an almost 30% popularity rate. So let's review several of the best-performing lists that make up this meta game!
Doom 2099
Doom 2099
Doom 2099 is a new card and with only being 1 week old there really isn’t a “normal” version of the deck yet but given the stats this version seemed to be the most straightforward and popular version running around. Essentially the main idea is to try to get Doom 2099 out early if possible and then maximize his potential by playing one impactful card each turn for the rest of the game. Your main idea is you are going wide to cover all lanes. However, with War Machine it’s possible for you to also go tall in a couple lanes if you need to. Furthermore, it’s also possible with some of the energy cheat just to do the Storm Legion combo and lock your opponent out of the game.
Patriot Doom 2099
This is a play on Patriot and adding Doom 2099 to help fill up your lanes as much as possible. It helps that after turn 4 Patriot typically only plays one card anyway which leans into the Doom 2099 plan well.
Scream Doom 2099
Essentially this is a Scream deck with Doom 2099 as a great backup option that is constantly working for you as you disrupt your opponent's game plan. Sandman and Aero are typically a great single-card play on turn 5 as well as either Doom or Magneto so you maximize everything after a turn 4 doom 2099 has come down. This deck does a really good job of providing massive early pressure and then finishing it off by spreading power out wide so your opponent is off-guard the majority of the game.
Arishem Doom 2099
Ah, where would we be without an Arishem deck running around? While Arishem did lose a little potency in the first few turns being able to get Doom 2099 out a turn early is still a really big deal, especially in a deck that will take the lead and keep it the rest of the game if they can pull it off.
Doom 2099 while being the majority of the meta game does not mean it is the best thing to be playing in this meta game, however. But, it is super prevalent so you need to be prepared for it and that typically means you need to be going tall.
Agent Venom/Bounce
As a deck that typically goes tall Agent Venom decks and bounce are good options especially because most Do0m 2099 decks do not run any tech so you have free reign to put your plan in place.
AV Bounce
Mostly a stock bounce list but includes Iron Man as a finisher card to make sure you are going tall in a lane. Also, with Sandman making more of an appearance it is helpful to have a single card that can ensure you have power before the last turn.
AV Small
This is a little card AV deck list that packs a big punch and includes some specific Doom 2099 hate with US Agent and Red Guardian. Also, with everything costing below three Havoc is a great scaling card that can sometimes solo a lane by itself depending on when it is played and if Bast or Agent Venom have buffed it.
Clog
With Doom 2099 taking up a lot of board space players have reverted to trying to clog that board space up by playing well Clog again.
Clog
While clog is a decent option and does work well against a lot of the other decks in the format. Because Clog relies on Magik a good portion of the time and Legion usage is pretty high a lot of games end in a rug pull against the Clog player.
Selene Cope 25.5
While this is not meta as a person who enjoys Clog and using Selene this is the version I've been running to counteract some of the Magik rug pull. If you want something slightly different and enjoy clog give it a shot.
Discard
Discard
Not a lot to say but Discard has been doing well because it has the stats to match Doom 2099 decks and works well into most meta games.
Wiccan
These decks from last week are still running around and doing a pretty good job.
Wiccan 1
Wiccan 2
Wiccan 3
Again, I don’t see Wiccan leaving the format anytime soon although his play rate has been down a lot since last week.
Move/Move Bounce
Same as above these are some decks that do well in the meta because they can get tall in two lanes to combat the Doom 2099 decks.
Move Bounce
Move
Meta Health
While Doom 2099 has certainly taken over the meta game. He isn’t over-powering enough to run everything out of the format. He is popular right now because he is new and his play patterns are straightforward. Also, because he has a slight power surprise factor he can win a lot of games that people thought were lost. These factors give the decks a big boost but don’t keep other things from being viable.
There are plenty of other options to play and work really against Doom 2099 and those decks looking to counter. While it’s not diverse right now after some of the newness wears off I think the Meta with definitely settle down and be enjoyable without all the Doom 2099 mirrors. What do you think of the current meta? What’s your favorite Doom 2099 list?