Metagame Minute: Skirmish Season 9, 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!

Wow.

That was quick.

Three heroes have departed Blitz in Week 2, most notably the recently released Zen, who's juiced up Bonds of Ancestry turns were enough to blow his enemies so far out of the water that they needed a parachute! But Zen being at the top hasn't stopped this season from being insanely diverse - 24 different faces on the board this week! With Zen, Briar, and Dash gone the format has opened up to several new possibilities. Promising heroes who have had strong performances so far could easily become the next big threat, and we'll be taking a look at one of those Heavy Hitters today.

Over in the Living Legend corner, this weekend belongs to Prism! The Light Illusionist inched ahead of Zen in Week 2, which may have a ripple effect on the format now that players are no doubt going to start packing answers to threats like Arc Light Sentinel. I also want to draw attention to the fact that Dash has landed on the board for the second week in a row. I guess sometimes all the might and magic in the world can't beat a good old fashioned gun.

Now let's take a look at a rising star from each format...

Brutes... Together... Strong!

Zen may have hogged the attention, but Rhinar has been a steadily rising threat in the Blitz metagame, and actually has been for quite some time. Intimidate is a genuinely nerve-wracking mechanic to face in a format where you have 20 or less life, and when Rhinar goes first, the battle is often swift and merciless. The original Alpha Brute has come a long way from the early days of Blitz in terms of consistency, and with a formidable hide of equipment protecting him just long enough to out-savage his prey, we're expecting to see Rhinar continue to be a force at the top tables.

While focusing on cards that support the consistency of your intimidate combo turns is the quickest path to dealing lethal damage, Rhinar does still have some inventory legroom for the next week of Skirmish. If you're expecting Illusionists or Mystic heroes, packing The Weakest Link is an easy way to give them a punch in the gut. Anticipating aggro decks that will try to race you with wide combat chains? An unexpected Pummel can send them packing. Or if you've got eyes on Victor Goldmane, who's also expected to be a top performer, you may want to just focus on pure damage and the chance to intimidate his Block cards, leaving him unable to defend and burdened by useless cards on his following turn.

Delulu-sionists

Who needs angels? OG Prism took the crown in Living Legend this weekend, despite having some pretty nasty matchups into Runeblades and Ninjas. The extra 8 life and on-demand Spectral Shield protection has appeared to be more successful in the current format than the figment toolbox. A skilled Prism pilot often has better chances into aggressive decks than you might think, and we can't discount her natural diet of Ice Wizards. Arc Light Sentinel isn't the only anti-Art of War weapon at her disposal, as we've seen a well-timed Parable of Humility brings decks back down to ground level quite nicely.

If Prism can survive through Zen's world, she can survive through anything. It will be interesting to see if she continues to leverage tools such as That All You Got? and Stonewall Gauntlet in the final week of Skirmish, both powerful tools against a number of top-performing decks. Restless Coalescence has also found its way fresh from Part the Mistveil into this historic deck, and it feels so natural you would think it had always been there. It's yellow, it protects you at instant speed, it creates weapons, and it interacts with a number of your existing tools, such as Shimmers of Silver.

Both formats still have much to explore, but Blitz in particular is going through a metamorphosis. The number of different heroes claiming wins is insane, even the more 'decorative' ones like Enigma, New Moon are putting up results. While Rhinar, Dorinthea, and Victor Goldmane are the next few closest to the finish line, it could still be anyone's game. Get brewing, get sleeved up, and get out there for the final week of Skirmish!