Metagame Minute: Minneapolis

Welcome to Metagame Minute, where we tuck into the latest tournament results and discuss tasty trends, saucy highlights, and spicy decklists - all wrapped up in a bite-sized read!

What a way to kick off the 2024 National Championships! Part the Mistveil heroes are performing exceptionally well straight out of the gate, with Zen, Tamer of Purpose rapidly transcending into the deck to beat. Alongside Zen, both Nuu and Enigma have created some unique challenges for our previously reigning Brutes, Guardians, and Warriors. The age of the Deathmatch Arena is over, and now the metagame shifts to Misteria, where heroes must adapt or be lost in the dense blue mist. There's still a healthy spread of heroes to enjoy, but I'm sure those looking to secure their invite to World Championship: Osaka are glad to see the edges shaved off into something more gentle on the ol' sideboard.

Results from the United States National Championship, Calling: Minneapolis, and Battle Hardened: Minneapolis, show a few strong emerging patterns. Zen cements himself as the most popular aggressive hero to bring into a wide field, with the highest overall representation across top cuts this weekend. Azalea wins a second Calling, proving to be an effective counter to Zen's cat coalition. And of course, Wizardry is on the rise once more, so PLEASE don't forget to pack nullrune!

Each of these three events was won by a different hero, so today we're going to dig into those winners, see what makes them tick, and what you can do to prepare to beat them at your upcoming National Championship.

Bonus Bonds

He's come literally out of the blue. By pinching Ninja tech from Outsiders, Zen can create some truly devastating play lines. Bonds of Ancestry targeting Bonds of Ancestry targeting another combo card off the back of Art of War or Ancestral Harmony is a surefire way to dropkick your opponent into next week. With transcend instants fetching the missing combo piece, Stride of Reprisal giving you a Crouching Tiger in hand to banish off Art of War, and Traverse the Universe giving you a free Inner Chi, all Zen needs is a power card in arsenal and then the rest comes together like clockwork. One especially gigabrain addition to the deck is double Zephyr Needle, used against other aggro decks to force them to defend, gaining tempo for your power plays, or if they don't, punishing them with over-rate damage.

Defeating Zen can be a challenge for slower decks, because you never know if leaving the window open is going to result in a billion tigers storming through. Luckily there are some strong tools you can bring into the matchup to slow Zen down to your level and keep him from popping off. Stonewall Gauntlet is a powerful counter to Art of War, Ancestral Harmony, Tiger Stripe Shuko, and many other power-increasing cards. We've seen the use of The Weakest Link to threaten the transcend cards, but Amnesia is another must-block as it not only robs Zen of his ability to resolve Bonds of Ancestry, it also blanks cards that check for Crouching Tigers. Decks that want to pressure Zen back can try That All You Got? as a means of preserving life without spending one card too many.

Twice as Nice

The little Ranger that could... has done it again! Really need that time travel machine so I can go back to 2020 and tell folks that Azalea won two Callings. I'd make a career out of standup comedy for about 3 years. Azalea is primed to be the premium anti-aggro pick this season, with largely unavoidable attacks that halt heroes like Zen in his tracks. Illusionist as always will keep her on her toes, but she's managed to find some purchase by landing huge dominated Murkmire Grapnels. Another tool that's made its way into Azalea's arsenal is Battlefront Bastion, serving as both a 7-power popper that can play around Herald of Triumph, as well as an efficient way to prevent damage against heroes that go wide. We also didn't miss the inclusion of Codex of Bloodrot, an amazingly annoying card to be on the receiving end of.

Azalea poses a true problem for aggro decks, especially those with worse defense such as Ninja. Warmonger's Diplomacy is your best answer to the deck, severely limiting the amount of damage she can throw at you, while simultaneously removing the ability to dominate an arrow. You should expect Azalea to steal a number of your turns, but if you can mitigate the damage dealt on those turns you might survive long enough to turn the tide. Dreadbore, Release the Tension, Remorseless, and Inertia tokens make defense reactions like Sink Below very awkward, so you may want to consider Reinforce the Line instead. Lastly, try to anticipate her Codex plays, as these can have a severe impact if you're not prepared. Keeping a card in arsenal and using Ripple Away to blank the tokens is a huge punish, and it can even be used on an arrow that's been loaded with nasty on-hits.

Kindle Surprise

Alright listen up all you gremlins who keep saying "in response" any time I make a single play ever - I hope your next Kano activation reveals a Kindle on top. When a lot of decks can't be trusted to be left to their own devices, Kano ends up being a good pick simply by removing the possibility of being blown out from the equation. If Zen is going to try unload 30+ damage, why not just try kill him first? Kano decks have surged in numbers, with not one, not two, but THREE in the Top 8 of Calling: Minneapolis. They've also adapted to become much more aggressive, building the whole deck around digging for lethal lines as quickly as possible or die trying. Kindle is the main enabler of this strategy, opening up crazy playlines involving Ragamuffin's Hat, or simply converting into an extra card in hand when played from arsenal. Cindering Foresight has also finally returned home from going to the store for milk, extending your chances of reaching that critical Aether Wildfire or Blazing Aether.

Beating Kano may seem like a dice roll, but there's a number of things you can do to skew their plans and increase the chances of them burning out. Firstly, PACK NULLRUNE. If you have a moderate amount of blues in your deck, any equipment that doesn't support an aggressive gameplan should be switched out so you can fall back on prevention when the Kano decides it's time to let off the fireworks. If you're a lucky hero that has Arcane Barrier built into your class equipment already, consider popping in a single Spell Fray as extra insurance against Aether Wildfire. Oasis Respite is obviously the main counter to Kano, and while this has been mainly favoured by grindier decks in the past, there's a lot of merit to running this in an aggressive deck too. Simply having it in arsenal gives you a lot of legroom to put more pressure on Kano, and it also covers matchups like Azalea. Lastly, you can't go wrong with Sigil of Solace, it's good against a wide spread of heroes, doesn't generally hinder your deck, and can cause your opponent to play around things incorrectly.

We are in uncertain, but exciting times. Will Zen dominate National Championship season or will he be so severely teched for that he whimpers back into the mists? There are some genuine threats to watch out for, but it's still anyone's game. The United States has set the tone, but let's see what the rest of the word does with that knowledge. Stay tuned as we check out more National Championship trends, highlights, and decklists next week in Metagame Minute!