Pro Quest Season 4 Meta Analysis: Week 1

Can you smell that? It's the fresh scent of freedom! Lexi's icy grip on the metagame is finally beginning to thaw. Things are about to seriously heat up in the world of Rathe, so make sure you've packed sunscreen!

We're in the thick of Pro Quest now, champions from all over the world earning their seat at the upcoming Pro Tour: Los Angeles next year. Calling: Taipei and Calling: Dallas-Fort Worth are behind us (with victories claimed by Azalea and Dromai), and very soon Calling: Melbourne and World Championship: Barcelona will add to our ever-growing Roll of Honor.

But let's talk about the big news first.

She's only gone and done it! After her slow start in Tales of Aria back in 2021, Lexi steadily climbed the ranks from "rogue trash" to "anti-meta contender" to "villain of the month" to "seriously what the hell do we do about her now!". We enjoyed seeing her finally succeed and have a well-earned day in the sun, but it's also relieving to see a hero bow and take their leave when they know they've outstayed their welcome (instead of lounging around at 998 points for another few months).

We've covered Lexi in meta analysis many times at this point, so instead let's take a look at who might be stepping up to the table to take the reigns as Rathe's new superstar based on recent trends in the Pro Play Circuit...

Next in Line

So with Lexi out of the picture, who's most likely to rise to the occasion? Well if you take a look at the Living Legend board (even ignoring Callings and Battle Hardened), Dromai is poised to become the next mean queen. The ash slinger has come tremendously far since she was first released, able to punish control decks with swarms of dragons while going toe to toe with Ninjas through raw redline aggression. Tome of Imperial Flame, pinched from the Emperor's own throne room, has taught Dromai some very terrible secrets about Draconic arts, and you can bet your gold tokens she plans to use them. If Dromai ascends to the throne, then many heroes will have to make a hard pivot to keep up. Luckily for the rest of Rathe, Dromai has some very exploitable weaknesses, and with Lexi gone there's a huge window for some feisty dragon-slayers to make their move.

Azalea has been waiting patiently while her Elemental counterpart hogged all the limelight, but this Ranger has simply been biding her time. Now, she senses blood in the water and it's time to draw those bowstrings. I wouldn't be surprised to see many Lexi fans migrate to Azalea, for what she lacks in wide combat chains she makes up for tenfold with unreasonably large arrows laced with all kinds of nasties.

Katsu has always been an incredibly versatile hero, but after months of practice, hard work, and many instances of somehow just naturally drawing complete combo lines, the grandmaster is kicking ass left and right. Katsu can easily keep up with Dromai, and tends to perform quite well into developing metagames. Your gameplan might be powerful, but can you execute it while delicately preventing multiple critical breakpoints every single turn?

Names You Can Trust

Heroes like Bravo that perform generally well across long time frames, never oppressing the meta but always remaining a strong pillar of it, will probably continue to do so after Lexi is gone. The biggest change for the Showstopper will be the legroom that Lexi's absence frees up, allowing him to shed some defensive tools and hit the gym in time for his playdate at the dragon's den.

Iyslander's fate remains to be seen, but assuming she makes it through Pro Quest and Calling: Melbourne, there is no doubt she will be multiplying chills to her heart's desire. As the last surviving Ice hero in the game, Iyslander serves an important duty making sure aggro decks remember to pay their taxes. Even with Dromai at the top, Iyslander is sure to make a (very brisk) splash.

Dash must feel like she's at a buffet, with so many options to pick from, and so little time! Although our darling Mechanologist received an upgrade in Bright Lights, classic Dash has been the one making the rounds so far. This may be due to her already well-established gameplan, greasing a few squeaky joints with an extra Twin Drive or Underloop here and there. While there is still so much potential hiding within the cogs of Bright Lights, it goes to show "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I Can't Believe it's Not Copium

Look, it's been rough out there for some of Rathe's underdogs. Having to stretch your deck to cover both Lexi's layers of disruption and Briar's waves of aggression can leave you floundering while the other heroes pick you off like seagulls hunting hot chips. But the seasons are changing, and there's every possibility we will see some strong yet sidelined gems start to put up more of a fight. Fai is one such hero, completely capable of taking home the bacon, yet crumples at the mere sight of a Command and Conquer. After months of watching Katsu get all the best Ninja toys, red Bittering Thorns has sparked new flame in this hot-headed rebel, and if anyone's got the chops to take down rude reptiles it's old mate.

Dorinthea is sharpening Dawnblade as we speak, having already put up a solid effort this season and hungry for more. What's that? Dragons? You mean free Dawnblade targets! Solana's golden girl has received a steady stream of reinforcements during her battle against the Demonastery, including the recently released Emboldened Blade. Giving Dorinthea the ability to destroy the one thing that counters her deck, all wrapped up in a 0-cost 3-defense blue, terrifies me.

And for those of you who never left their high school punk phase, Maxx Nitro is building quite the hype! Like the other nerds in Bright Lights he's been a bit slow out the gate, but who wouldn't be if it was raining literal razors? With poppers for dragons, resources for frostbites, armor for Ninjas, and a premium subscription to the all-powerful Nitro Mechanoid, Maxx is ready to cause a ruckus!

Exciting stuff is on the horizon, and this time the horizon isn't granting two arsenal slots instead of one! Stay tuned as we dive into more from Pro Quest over the next few weeks, as the sheer number of Living Legend points being injected into the ecosystem could very well flip the switch entirely.

Catch you next week!