Metagame Minute: Road to Nationals 2024, Week 2

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!

Welcome back! Looks like less of you are sporting third degree burns this week, courtesy of remembering to pack your SPF 50+ Nullrune! Week 2 of Road to Nationals has raised the stakes as the number of invites begins to dwindle. Victor Goldmane has dethroned Kano as winner of the week, but with enemies left, right, and centre, that extremely punchable face might not last long at the top of the hill.

Results show another incredibly diverse weekend, with 19 different heroes claiming at least one win. Whose line is it anyway?! The Guardians are crushing it, the Brutes are eating well, and to the shock of every Kiwi, the Warriors are on a hot streak! As we march towards Pro Tour: Los Angeles we may start to see fringe heroes left behind as the metagame hones in on the powerhouses of the Deathmatch Arena.

But today, let’s talk about the battle between Light and Shadow…

Soul Food

Boltyn and Levia have steadily climbed the ranks to become serious contenders after a long and arduous journey dating all the way back to their 2021 debut in Monarch. Boltyn is a fantastic all-rounder with a pretty sweet matchup spread. He’s able to charge headfirst into the fray with aggressive turns empowered by on-demand go again and damage buffs, while also packing an OTK package with Lumina Ascension. Don’t be fooled though, Boltyn can also be an extremely capable control deck, as his broad card-pool allows for high value defense, as seen in this Top 8 decklist running NINE Steelblade Shunts!

Get in loser, we’re harvesting souls! Levia is having an absolute HOLIDAY having finally broken free from the kids table. While Dusk till Dawn patched up some major leaks in the deck, Heavy Hitters has given it turbo thrusters. Similar to Kayo, Levia ruins the family picnic with insane spike turns typically involving Bloodrush Bellow or Art of War, which she can hit much more consistently with Agility tokens. Makes you wonder how many events were lost off the back of an unlucky Scabskins roll. A diabolical anti-control package gaining popularity is Tear Limb from Limb with Shaden Death Hydra, as seen in this 1st place decklist. Stack ‘em away for later then dispatch the enemy with a clean 26 damage!

Mean Girls

Slow and steady wins the race, and while Prism and Vynnset aren’t near the front of the pack, both picked up wins two weeks in a row, which would make it foolish to ignore them. Newminaris 2: Angel Boogaloo has really given Prism the bump she needed to stage a comeback, and is proving to be a really solid deck, even against historically tough matchups like Ninja or Brute. While spectra still provides the occasional annoyance, it’s the figments that really make the deck glow, offering a snowballing onslaught of triggers when awakened into an attacking angel, or even just as an on-demand ward.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vynnset continue to pick up a few more wins this season. The Iron Maiden acts more as a failsafe against certain heroes than a meta-defining threat like Chane was. But enough about Chane, Vynnset should be able to bask in the glory of her own accomplishments rather than living life in the shadow of her former mentor. Sonata Galaxia is the latest tool in the Runeblade menagerie, allowing Vynnset to easily fetch cards like Runeblood Incantation or Blessing of Occult to ensure she can keep up with the growing demands from her banished zone. She may not be a top dog, but Vynnset is waiting patiently in the darkness, quietly preparing for an eloquent eulogy.

Hot Streak

While Boltyn, Kassai, and Dorinthea have commanded most of the attention, Olympia is there tirelessly grinding the ladder to get that bread. Andre See took this decklist to an astounding 9-0 finish at a 50-person Road to Nationals last weekend, harnessing dual hatchets in combination with Valiant Dynamo. With the metagame in such a wide open state, it makes sense to include a variety of different one-of tools to ensure maximum flexibility. Over the next few weeks we may start to see Warrior players shave down their sideboards to focus on the biggest threats, whoever they may be.

Maxx Nitro is the other latest hero to rev onto the leaderboards this week, racking up enough speeding tickets to drive a mother to tears. What he lacks in Dash’s flexibility he makes up for in raw power. Nobody ever seems prepared for Nitro Mechanoid, not even Mr High and Mighty. Once it hits the field the game is almost always over. Maxx also benefits from being a fringe hero that players don’t typically know how to sideboard or play against, which gives him so much potential to stomp the competition.

We’re at the halfway point, and still it could be anyone’s game. The sheer number of different heroes being played across the world, and WINNING too, is a sight to behold. The mad scramble of an early metagame is always extremely fun, so make sure to savour it while it lasts. We’re inching closer and closer to Pro Tour: Los Angeles, and as the arena grows more cutthroat, our ensemble of heroes will need all the Agility, Might, and Vigor they can muster to stay afloat.