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Written By - Thomas NeilsonSeptember 14, 2024
This Siege Series out of Timmins gives us a good look into how things are changing and adapting in the GCD Metagame, as well as providing a peek into a newly growing region for the game in Timmins. A few frequent-fliers from the tierlist can be seen lining the top 8, with a new competitor to the top ranks proving her strength and position in S-Tier with a first place finish.
Top 8 Archetype Overview
Top 4 - The Old Guard
Top 4 - The Old Guard
The previous top two Control lists in the meta have shown their continued power, with Jacob Feldt bringing Michael Sanctify to 3rd place, and AJ Christiaens bringing Onoskelis Fallen Control to a 4th place finish. Whilst both lists look to have dipped in strength compared to the new power of Gaia and Mal'ady, both look locked in the top brackets for future placements.
Michael once again finds 2 placements in the top 8, mirroring the other current post-GCD Siege Series. Whilst the list hasn't recieved a significant number of tools, what it has recived has proven enough to hold Michaels place in the upper echelons of the Meta.
Radiant Orb Of Divine Light specifically is an incredbly powerful piece, bolstering the decks interaction, stax, and damage capabilities. Citrine Amulet is another piece allowing the deck board pressure for both faster kills, more consistent board control, and more power in a late game situation.
With the option of Azrael as a Guardian additionally, the Divinity realm has both an incredibly strong baseline core of cards, and plenty of flexibility through the different deck shells, with Sanctify currently popping up as the most appealing.
Whilst the Fallen Priestess has certainly fallen from her previous throne in S-Tier, AJ has once again brought the list to a top placement, continuing to show the power of the list, even as it has taken a significant hit to it's consistency and power.
Current lists for Fallen Control will look notably different from older ones, with many of it's consistency pieces removed, and more general control options in their place.
Cards like Ruby Amulet and Mount Bane Magma Chamber give the deck plenty of variety in tech options, making it an archetype ripe for more exploration and tuning.
Second Place - An Immovable Object
Second Place - An Immovable Object
With more player interest, Alero Fandorian Midrange has maintained a top spot as a consistent meta threat with game against nearly any other deck in the metagame. Powerful and unique interactive tools like Thornhaven's Fandorian Falls gives the deck relevant play into any archetype.
Against slower control decks, which appeared frequently in this tournament, Fandorian Midrange is well positioned for players able to play cautiously and patiently. As Jasper describes it, "sit there and do nothing". With the plethora of card advantage and card selection options available to the deck, the list can outlast and out-grind other slow decks, and now threatens more OTK potential with the addition of Fandorian Darkwood Dryad, Fullilia.
These powerful late game pieces coupled with it's access to unique and plentiful interaction makes it a consistent threat in the metagame which players should be prepared to face, especially when in the hands of an experienced pilot. As Jasper also notes, it's a deck that relies on pilot knowledge of the other decks in the metagame, and isn't particularly forgiving or rewarding to players without a firmer grasp on the game.
First Place - An Unstoppable Force
First Place - An Unstoppable Force
A deck with a ton of potential, Gaia made 5th place in the Port Credit Siege Series right after the release of GCD, and in her second tournament appearance post GCD has found a first place finish. Alongside Mal'ady, Gaia looked to be one of the two control decks pushed into a strong new position in the metagame, and this tournament helps to confirm that theory.
Gaia's Reformation is one of the single most unique stax style pieces in the game, locking Warriors out of attacking for one turn cycle. Against a variety of combo-centric aggro archetypes, this can be an incredibly difficult control tool to fight through. With new cards courtesy of Guardians' Creed, this unique style of control has been upgraded with a heavy supply of card advantage generation, removal, and finisher tools.
Lavictus, The Son Of Sunder is one such new card emblematic of the archetype's late game power, being a disruptive blocker with the ability to threaten incremental burn damage, and to recur Latarr, The Daughter Of Destruction to rip up a board of Warriors. This strong controlling setup has the ability to completely stonewall any Warrior based aggro list unable to push in enough damage before Gaia takes complete control of the game.
Top 8 - Continuing Competitors
Top 8 - Continuing Competitors
Whilst not making the top 4, two copies of Mal'ady found their way into the top 8 for this tournament. Both of these lists leaned more into the more midrange mill style of play versus the more controlling Gardens Stax style of build. Through this, the control style of build still appears to be the best version, but variations of the Undead Midrange Mill style archetype still appear to be powerful threats in the meta, even if they seem to have difficulties in translating frequent play and top 8 placements into finishes in the top 4 bracket.
Additionally, Marianas found top 8 placement through this tournament, potentially performing well into a field more reliant on floodgate/mist effects.
The Creed
This tournament helps to both solidify the placements of some top tier lists like Sanctify Control and Fandorian Midrange, whilst also showcasing the new power of Gaia. Other than a higher number of control lists, this tournament doesn't look to show any patterns hinting towards major movements in the metagame.
It's possible the meta may be slowing down a degree, but I'd more likely regard this as a flavour of the week coincidence. The next Siege Series event will help to continue to nail down the identifiable themes currently seen in the metagame.
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