Skirmish Season 6 Meta Analysis: Week 2

Let’s start off by addressing the shivering elephant in the room.

Iyslander has unleashed another complete storm in her second week, taking out a monstrously high lead that no other hero has come even remotely close to. But she teeters dangerously on the precipice of the mountain, as only a handful more wins will put her on ice for good.

Oldhim trudges solemnly through the snow close behind the Ice Queen, and a familiar Dracai has flared into action despite a slow start.

Two ferocious heroes have kept up the momentum in their second week, and two outliers have broken away from the kid’s table to join the front lines.

Meanwhile the Warriors have fallen slightly back by just an inch, perhaps waiting out the cold until their chance to strike, and Riptide stumbles upon an interesting new strategy.

The hundreds of Blitz Skirmish events that took place over the last week are pointing to many matchups between the various non-ice heroes being quite close, and once Winter comes to an end it could be anyone’s game.

Iyslander

Iyslander has proven that she’s not only good at ruining aggressive decks, she’s quite adept at taking out control and combo strategies too. The only heroes who seem to be able to put up a decent fight are Dash, Prism, Bravo, and Kano. The latter two seemed to struggle in the first week, but we’re seeing some fine tuning that is giving them a better chance at catching Iyslander off guard.

For everyone else in the Blitz meta, it might be worth staying indoors for a while, as Iyslander’s dominion spreads far and wide, even consuming Wizard-killers like Rhinar.

Iyslander decks are diverging down two very distinct paths, those that favour the attack-actions have doubled down, to the point where attacks make up the majority of reds in the deck.

The others are focusing on arcane haymakers, namely red Emeritus Scolding, which is proving to be an exceptionally well-performing bomb. Pitching two blues to present 10 arcane damage on the opponent’s turn with Storm Striders, Metacarpus Nodes, and Waning Moon when they think they’ve weaned you off the arsenal is huge.

But this exceptional winrate comes at a hefty price. The Living Legend board looms overhead, ready to pluck Iyslander from her frozen throne, and once the gates are open there’s no telling what will flood through.

Oldhim and Kano

Oldhim is doing what he does best - refusing to back down. Continuing to cut back on defensive tools and favouring more aggressive disruption, Oldhim is able to keep denying his opponents the luxury of playing a full, unhindered hand each turn, and then suddenly pivot without warning into sponging up damage. Most heroes need to find a way to set up big game-winning turns, but it can be extremely difficult to punch through the layers of armour and ice react.

However, Oldhim has quite a few matchups that seem to keep him up at night. The never-ending janitor duty against Prism’s auras continues to plague him, and Kassai’s ability to go above and beyond with Blood on Her Hands while dodging the ice react with an attack reaction from hand allows her to break through. Both Wizards are showcasing their strong gameplan into the old man, stacking burn spells to finish him in one fell swoop.

Oldhim seems to have enjoyed his slow and steady pace, and with his retirement just around the bend, many heroes will be looking forward to the breath of fresh air.

Kano has forever been a pillar of the Blitz community due to his reputation for stealing wins in the blink of an eye. So it was surprising to see him underperform in the first week, but perhaps he could smell the steam and shadow of the aggro decks waiting patiently for him.

The OG Wizard has brought sparks to the meta once more as he has proved he can go stick to stick with Iyslander. In a game of five dimensional time travel chess, the Dracai of Aether usually calls the shots due to being able to pop off much quicker and stronger than Iyslander, who has to commit cards to the arsenal.

He’s putting in strong results against Guardians and Warriors as expected, and is even taking a decent number of wins against historically tough matchups like Rhinar and Dash. The forces of Light and Shadow continue to be a bit overwhelming for Kano, who’s life deficit and lack of armour leaves him vulnerable to wide Blood Debt chains, and coming up short against Prism with no reliable ways to remove auras or heralds.

Kano builds vary depending on the player, but usually an uptake in reds indicates a willingness to block more and set up big arcane burst turns, while more blues indicates a desire to hit the big Kano button as soon as possible against decks that are too fast to block out.

One innovation popping up occasionally is the use of Ironhide equipment, which may help with survivability against Chane, just enough for them to commit to another card and leave themselves open to a counter attack.

Kano might be fashionably late to the party, but he’s bringing the all-familiar burn.

Dash, Chane, Kassai, Prism, and Rhinar

It’s full steam ahead, as Dash continues to shoot her shot. The crafty Mechanologist is putting solid reps into Wizards, letting Iyslander know that she’s not leaving without a few battle scars.

Her grapple with Chane as the top aggro dog is still neck and neck, with both putting up an almost equal winrate. She’s still being bullied by Guardians, as 40 cards just isn’t enough for the boost strategy to overcome masses of steel plating and annoying turn-killers like Spinal Crush and Pummel. Warriors are also still proving to be tough, as a damage race often ends in Dash staring down a stacked Dawnblade or pile of copper. From what we’ve seen, Dash's matchup into Prism can swing either way, depending on whether a Payload pops a herald at a key moment, or an Arc Light Sentinel comes down after Achilles Accelerators has been used up.

All in all, Dash is still chugging along, and hopefully when the season thaws out she’ll be running on empty less often.

Right alongside Dash as the other biggest aggro deck on the block is Chane. The dark and stormy edgelord is taking names from the likes of powerhouses such as Kassai and Kano, and also squashing the dreams of rising stars like Prism and Rhinar. He’s able to race Dash with quite an even winrate, often depending on who’s going second, what forbidden secrets he finds off the top of his deck, and whether Dash sees too many all-blue or all-red hands.

The gap between Chane and his mortal enemy Oldhim has also shrunken substantially to the point where it might not even be correct to call it a bad matchup anymore. Having several tech cards to push your turns over the top is the key to closing out the game before your whole deck is consumed by darkness, including maximizing on copies where possible to account for Soul Shackle misses. We’ve seen this with the increasing usage of Belittle/Minnowism, with the former being run in almost every colour, and the latter in reds and blues. The flexibility that Belittle provides by fetching either a powerful damage buff for cards like Bounding Demigon and Rift Bind, or simply as a resource to pitch away, all while turning on Rosetta Thorn, is extremely powerful.

The bane of Chane’s existence is largely the overbearing Frosty Frau herself. The matchup against Iyslander has gone from bad to worse, as her instant speed disruption is just too good at keeping Chane in a frigid state while the Blood Debt eats him alive - but freedom is right around the corner.

Kassai has had to relinquish a small amount of ground, falling back from second place. It can be hard to maintain a solid foothold when the ground is slippery with ice, and even worse is the reemergence of Kano, proving that Skirmish Season 6 isn’t a free ride, but rather a rude awakening. She’s also had a rough week against Chane. Sometimes you just don’t have the time or the copper to launch a full frontal assault before the creeping tide of darkness overtakes you.

Kassai still packs a frightening punch, enough to dominate most of the outskirts. Cutting down Dash, Guardians, Brutes, Ninjas, and any other stray oddballs she comes across, Kassai is still definitely a threat and not one to take your eyes off for even a split second.

Trying to adapt is difficult for Kassai, as you still need to stick to what you do best, which is go again, attack reactions, and copper. There’s still some room for small amounts of tech like a single Energy Potion or Nourishing Emptiness, which can help provide the extra resources against Wizards or even pop heralds in a pinch.

Kassai won’t be on the back foot for long, once the path is clear we can expect some more terrifying Cintari action.

Prism was expected to be a natural counter to Wizard, and while she manages to keep Kano in check, her winrate into Iyslander has been moderate. This angelic bookworm has bagged a lot more wins than last week as her popularity soars, landing her amongst the bigger fish, but she remains a fringe hero that preys on her good matchups and folds to her bad ones.

Prism is putting up a fair fight against other contenders like Dash, Bravo, and Kassai, but one wrong turn leads her to a confrontation with Chane, any of the Ninjas, or her greatest fear - Rhinar. She’s a decent pick right now as she easily scoops up wins from Oldhim and Kano, and holds down the fort against Iyslander.

There are some interesting tech choices rounding out the Prism decks at the moment, as her emphasis on yellows and floating pitch lends to some slick turns with yellow Oasis Respite and This Round’s on Me.

We will see how well Prism fairs once her main diet of old white-bearded men dries up - will she survive the encroaching aggro army on the horizon?

Boasting the same amount of success as Prism and Kassai this week, Rhinar has rampaged into action. The Alpha Brute has been a mainstay of Blitz for years, able to high roll fast decks with sudden death by intimidation, or patiently setting up huge unblockable swings against slower decks.

Despite his decent winstreak this week, Rhinar’s overall matchup spread isn’t that favourable. He gets easily tossed around by Iyslander, Kassai, Chane, Dash, and even Oldhim. But even with the odds stacked against him, Rhinar can still lay the smackdown on a few prominent decks like Kano, forcing them to topdeck the answer or die often within the first two turns. He makes short work of Prism and happily engages in fisticuffs with Bravo.

So with such a rough field, why are Rhinar players crawling out of the woodwork instead of hibernating until the warmer months? The simple answer lies in two things - raw power and sheer luck. Bloodrush Bellow with Mandible Claws is a force to be reckoned with, dealing tonnes of damage from the back of a relatively simple setup. Beaten Trackers also gives him a swifter edge against aggro and Wizard, allowing him to throw an extra attack at the opponent’s face when it suits him, rather than risking it all with a dice roll at the start of the turn. And of course, there’s the luck factor - when Rhinar rolls high he rolls hard, and even your worst enemies can’t block when they have no cards in hand.

Rhinar’s future is uncertain, but he’s proven before that he’s more than capable of adapting to any environment in order to survive.

Bravo

Last week we saw both Bravo and Dorinthea waiting in the wings, and while the golden girl has been bumped back, the Showstopper is starting to build the crowd’s anticipation.

Bravo has been gritting his teeth and pushing back against the cold ceiling, and although he secured less wins than the top spread, his performance into Ice heroes has been solid.

We’re seeing Bravo decks upping their blue count, which helps resist Iyslander’s Frostbite tax, as well as paying for big crushes into Oldhim. Unlike the Elemental Guardian decks, which are tending to cut life gain and damage prevention, Bravo decks are embracing the likes of Sigil of Solace and Blessing of Deliverance. The extra life also helps survive long enough to fatigue Dash, Chane, and even Prism. Usage of shields such as Rampart of the Ram’s Head and Steelbraid Buckler has also increased, proving that you don’t need to be Elemental to have a fridge.

Bravo is still having a hard time with Kassai, who just needs to block out long enough to put together the pieces of her game-ending combo. The resurgence of Kano has also brought about some uneven footing for the main man, as no amount of blues will save you when the Dracai is fired up.

Aside from that, Bravo continues to stomp the middle ground, outmuscling any fringe heroes that dare enter the ring. The audience is rooting for him as he sets his eyes on the lead role once Oldhim is out of the picture - he might be the Grandfather of Eternity, but Bravo will always be the Big Bad Blitz Daddy!

Riptide

Although not prominent in the winner’s circle, I wanted to shine a spotlight on some very interesting innovations happening with the Lurker.

If there’s one thing Rangers are known for, it’s bows and arrows, but what if we just scrapped that whole idea and focused on one single attack - Nourishing Emptiness.

I know how it sounds on paper - you play Nourishing Emptiness, chip 3 damage in, draw 5 cards… and then what? The answer is obvious - you just put it back and use it again!

This new flavour of Riptide runs absolutely no arrows, or any other attacks at all for that matter - the deck is almost exclusively traps, and recursive cards like Remembrance, Memorial Ground, and Codex of Frailty.

Playing slow and pinging with traps, and chipping with Talishar, the Lost Prince, while looping Nourishing Emptiness for free damage and free cards is actually quite a competent strategy into top dogs like Dash, Kassai, and Chane, who all have playstyles affected by the trap effects. Riptide’s hero ability also lets you pop defense reactions into your arsenal with ease, allowing you to circumvent a Guardian’s dominate.

But how does this strategy fair into Wizard, you might ask? Uhh… not well. It’s almost impossible to beat an Iyslander with this slow, melee-reactive strategy, and you basically give Kano free reign to do whatever he likes - but it’s a fun idea and surprisingly effective into a lot of heroes.

Perhaps when the lakes are less frigid we’ll see more of this hero bubble up to the surface.

Final Thoughts

The end of Winter is just around the corner, and a new age of Blitz is about to begin. So many interesting decks have been gatekept by our frostiest friends, but with Iyslander and Oldhim out the door it will be interesting to see if any hidden superstars make a name for themselves, or if they will be swallowed by the rush of aggressive heroes looking to finally let off some steam.

Lexi, Briar, and Uzuri, who each had bright futures ahead of them, are still hiding from the limelight, but their time in the sun may come very soon. Despite her popularity, Azalea isn’t managing to land her arrows in the Blitz format just yet, and of all the Ninjas, Ira is the only one who is showing much promise.

So put on your mittens, stoke up the fireplace, and settle in as we wait for the snow to melt and see what new life unfurls.