Metagame Minute: Pro Quest: Singapore, Week 3

"Race you to Candlehold, 'silly!"—Yes, Aurora, I think you won. By a long shot.

Aurora has ascended to Living Legend as expected, which will now bring about a fresh new metagame with a large aggro-shaped hole in the middle. While many decks will try to fill Aurora's Starlight Striders, there are some pretty big mean green opponents in the way. If you want to hear James and Bryan explain Aurora's rapid journey to Living Legend, and why she's coming back in 2026 - check out the latest episode of Dev Talk!

Florian is the new deck to beat, with his powerful usage of Scepter of Pain combined with Channel the Millennium Tree. But solid counters to the botanical baron are emerging—Draconic Ninjas can output enough attacks to make defending awkward, Wizards can interfere with his longterm plans, and even Bravo can bring down a beefed up Smack of Reality to clear the field of Runechants.

Warriors are also sharpening their senses for the tail end of the season, with Andrew Rothermel's Kassai claiming Battle Hardened: Minneapolis. Aurora and Enigma are gone, which may finally give Kassai, Fang, and even Dorinthea a chance to grind.

There are lots of interesting directions this could go, so let's check out some cool decklists from Week 3...

Arakni, Marionette

Popularised by Taotao Chu, the dagger-centric build has been taking the Assassin syndicates by storm, with a focus on dagger pumps and utilising the hero ability to increase the dagger's damage, instead of trying to line it up with a stealth attack from hand. Players don't seem to like defending daggers very much, which is why piling damage onto them can be very efficient, driving you to the late stage of the game where Assassin shines. Marionette continues to perform well at Pro Quests, and may continue to climb as the season progresses.

Markni stands to gain a lot from Aurora's holiday, as decks start to cut down on 0-for-4 defense reactions, giving the master Assassin more room to dump attack reactions onto the combat chain. It's awesome to see cards like Incision and Scar Tissue making their way into Classic Constructed, posing a massive threat at low life totals. They do require a dagger to target, but this is hardly a downside when you can always discard them to use an Agent of Chaos ability, or use them as an additional threat behind Kiss of Death.

Cindra, Dracai of Retribution

Cindra initially had a hot start, then cooled off for a while. But it's looking like the right time to rekindle that flame, as the metagame demands a go-wide aggro hero to step up. Both her and Fai have really strong play into Florian, able to consistently stretch his defenses thin while leaking damage every turn. Cindra can also make exceptionally good use of Imperial Seal of Command against Florian, but also any other defense reaction heavy hero. Where Cindra excels over Fai is with consistency, and the constant threat of Mask of Momentum. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cindra flare to life again this weekend.

Cindra does have some weaknesses that can be exploited. For one, the popularity of Shelter the Storm can completely wipe out any turns reliant on Flick Knives, while Jarl is always an everlooming threat. Cindra appears to be combating these shortcomings with a higher blue count, with cards like Throw Dagger and Energy Potion making it into the inventory. There's also a neat little package here with Mask of the Pouncing Lynx and Tenacity, which allows you to punish super defensive decks that are blocking heavily regardless of whether you have Mask of Momentum or not.

Nuu, Alluring Desire

Nuu is a hero we are well accustomed to by now, but I want to cover her this week as she is expected to be a big part of the post-Aurora metagame, and is also steadily racking up points on the leaderboard. Whether she will survive Pro Quest season or not remains to be seen, but for the time being she is a very strong choice. Some are opting to lean on the Count Your Blessings tactics, but it's also great to see consistent, banish-focused builds with cards like Double Trouble performing well in Enigma's absence. Art of Desire: Body has proved an essential tool in an Aurora world, but the question is whether Nuu continues playing it against Cindra, or replaces it with tech for Florian.

There's a few directions Nuu can go this season, and it depends on whether Draconic Ninjas rise from the ashes, or if it's looking like an Assassin mirror funhouse, or if she'll be facing the slow and steady throes of Florian and Guardian. Cards like Bonds of Attraction, Bonds of Memory, Pass Over, and Sacred Art: Undercurrent Desires are fantastic for robbing Cindra and Fai of their key materials, while a single copy of Deathtouch is becoming increasingly popular in Assassin mirrors due to its interaction with daggers and Codex of Frailty. As for Florian, she's got a good fallback plan in Cosmic Awakening, but there's room for more.

Congratulations to our third round of Pro Quest winners! You've earned the right to fight for the ultimate title at Pro Tour: Singapore later this year. Next week we attend Florian's garden get-together and find out who RSVP'd...