Metagame Minute: Road to Nationals 2025, Week 1

The hunt for a seat at the 2025 National Championships has begun, and it's time to make your mark!

Barely hot off the printers and Cindra has claimed TWO Calling wins already, establishing herself as a dominant threat this metagame. But she may encounter a frosty reception as Jarl steps up to the table. Viserai and Aurora are repping the Runeblades, but with Purple Man's days being numbered, the Shooting Star could easily become the premier Runeblade this season. Nuu is the face of the Assassin class right now, but Marionette is lurking in the darkness not far behind.

What's exciting about this metagame is everything could change in an instant. Several heroes are at risk of crossing the line into Living Legend and upsetting the status quo, while a variety of niche heroes such as Verdance, Slippy, and Prism have proven their worth at premier events over the last couple of weeks and could snatch wins from the unprepared. I might not be able to predict the weather but I will say it always pays to seek Shelter from the Storm.

With Viserai inches away from retirement, let's take a look at the rest of our chart-toppers from Week 1...

Nuu Year, Nuu Me

Nuu has received some very interesting toys in The Hunted, which has given her a wide array of building options. The Count Your Blessings builds are performing very well at the premier level, but more streamlined aggressive builds have proven successful in Road to Nationals as well. Pain in the Backside offers an additional threat of enabling blue cards with the effect of Beckoning Mistblade, allowing you to force more blocks before coming in with the more relevant on-hits like Erase Face. Forcing a Fealty-less Cindra to cough up 2-3 cards in order to access their Draconic synergy, or shutting down Aurora's Embodiments and Lightning Valleys can be just the extra push you need.

Graveyard hate is really important this meta, and Nuu plays it better than any other hero. Cards like Bonds of Attraction (and in some builds even Bonds of Memory or Rotten Remains) are great for forcing the opponent to respect Just a Nick, but it's the instant speed capabilities of Pass Over and Sacred Art: Undercurrent Desires in response to a retrieve or Cindra hero ability activation that can really mess things up for the opponent. You also have the added benefit of potentially removing copies of Count Your Blessings from graveyard and deck.

A Star is Born

Aurora surged to the top of the charts fresh out of the gate and has remained there since. A powerful aggro deck with a lot of utility, Aurora is expected to replace Viserai as the premier Runeblade after his departure, keeping the Illusionists in check. Assassins are a significant threat, which means Aurora players will need to continue packing defensive tools such as Electromagnetic Somersault and Snag, in order to avoid getting attack-reacted for their life savings. With Viserai out of the way, Aurora players will also need to decide if it's worth keeping Warmonger's Diplomacy around for the Azalea matchup, or if it's better to try squeeze in more tech against Nuu and Cindra.

Aurora decks have become steadily streamlined, reaching very clean levels of consistency. There is natural space for tech against classes such as Wizards with access to equipment like Shock Charmers and Dyadic Carapace. Meanwhile, cards like Exude Confidence will become very punishing this metagame as the popularity of Assassin causes more players to run defense reactions. If you're still wondering who to pick for the upcoming season of competitive play, Aurora is a strong choice (and has an Armory Deck releasing in March too).

Hot Off the Press

Cindra is the hottest Ninja on the block right now, taking the reins from Fai as the master of all things go again. Yuki Lee Bender's redline build has proven itself to be the strongest way to play Cindra and has taken the World Tour by storm. As players continue to streamline and innovate, they find small footholds here and there for their local metagame. Cindra is comfortable into Assassin, able to reliably crack back with significant threats even after losing a card or two from hand and/or arsenal. But it's good to be prepared for some nasty tricks this season, which makes Loyalty Beyond the Grave and Wax On high value counters to cards like Just a Nick or a pesky Agent of Chaos.

With Viserai out of the way, Cindra decks will have to ask the same question as Aurora - do they keep Warmonger's Diplomacy around for Azalea or go harder against other matchups? In Cindra's case there isn't much room for blues, but you may want to consider some safety nets against Jarl, who presents a very real threat of breaking your Flick Knives early in the game. Throw Dagger is a sensible blue to bring in to allow you to still run some flick shenanigans and also pay for Frostbites in a pinch. As a red deck you don't like to pitch so if you run into any Wizards, Spellvoid is your best insurance policy.

Congratulations to our first round of Road to Nationals winners! You've earned your seat at this years National Championships, where gold and glory is yours for the plundering! Stay tuned for the results of each week, as we're likely to see a tumble dryer of a metagame with several heroes close to the finish line. Will you be the first to solve the meta and claim that juicy Gold Foil?