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Written By - Thomas NeilsonJuly 7, 2024
A bit deeper into ELP, how has the metagame started to settle, and how should you be approaching it?
1: Sh'Lara | Majik Mask Combo | Lukas Richardson
2: Alero | Good Soup Midrange | Max Greig
3: Michael | Seraphim Control | Jacob Feldt
4: Mal'ady | Garden Stax | Matt Waller
5: Sh'Lara | Mystic Fire Midrange | Thomas Neilson
6: Ethelhime | Alehouse Storm | Patrick Watt
Top Decks Overview
Top 2 - New Brews On The Block
Top 2 - New Brews On The Block
1st Place - Majik Mask Combo
1st Place - Majik Mask Combo
An archetype which has seen a strong uptick and some incredibly promising performances, Majik Mask archetypal decks are showing to be a threatening archetype which is still heavily in flux. While key parts of the engine have been known for a while, the addition of Kessler as a way to lock opposing player's turn ones, strong Bounty setup tutors, and the possibility to include the best of cards and left side pieces from any archetype, it may take a while to find the most tuned version of this archetype.
While Marianas and Sh'Lara have already seen tournament success helming the archetype, I've seen Mal'ady and Duxvox also be pulled out and tested as potential Warlords for the deck.
There will also be a notable question in the best ways to deal with this rising deck in it's consistency, and with the powerful engine of Majik Mask Monstrosity, Malediction. As much as the archetype itself will certainly be evolving and changing, players should also be keeping this archetype in mind when tuning their decks and sideboards. Ephideon's Destiny Dust and Mysterious Mechanism are both notable sideboard cards that I expect to see an uptick in the metagame in preparation of the Majik Mask archetype continuing to perform and improve.
2nd Place - Alero Good (Stuff/Midrange) Soup
2nd Place - Alero Good (Stuff/Midrange) Soup
The one thing I'll note about the metagame is an immense variety of well-performing lists and an equally wide variety of relevant hate cards. As such, the emergence of Good Soup Midrange piles is an interesting one with main-deck hate for almost every single deck in the metagame. Strong keyword/Warrior hate with Shadoc, The Dark Rogue, Majik Void Collapse, and Thornhaven's Fandorian Falls has the ability to give many decks in the metagame a headache, including Alehouse, Seraphim, Mortis, and more. Other pieces like a maindeck Concrete Catacombs gives this archetype plenty of play into pretty much anything in the tierlist.
With the wide suite of tutor pieces for both Hero and Bounty cards that the deck taps into, this diverse package of relevant interaction pieces is easy to bring online exactly when you need certain pieces. As such, this is a sweet evolution from the more traditional centralized Hero Fandorian Midrange, and makes great use of the wide range of archetypal and non-archetypal Hero pieces available to play.
Top 8 - Queens Of The Eradication Zone
Top 8 - Queens Of The Eradication Zone
Gaia and Mal'ady continue to be incredibly powerful in the metagame, each having access to a unique set of control pieces. Gaia's ability to slow down attacks and Mal'ady's ability to shut down draw effects makes them both decks which require special attention when it comes to sideboarding and preparing. Important to note with both of these archetypes is not only the strength of their control game plans, but also their proactive strength. Both lists are able to push out a surprising amount of early burn, and while they can struggle to kill in a single turn, they can put out a lot of damage earlier than you might expect.
In their current state, decks need to not only be prepared to deal with the slowdown tools in the archetype, but need to have the ability to either push consistent pressure or out-control their boardstates.
For deck's with the luxury of running it, Concrete Catacombs is a key sideboard card in this metagame for it's ability to shut down these two decks specifically, while also having residual relevance into many other lists and even Majik Mask combo. For decks like Merrisod, Prometheus, and Castiel which have much more difficulty in running Concrete Catacombs, pieces like Tethered To The Chaos Divine, Shallows At Emerald Loch, Majik Void Dark Portal and Close The Casket continue to be strong options into both of these top decks.
Top 8 - Continuing Competitors
Top 8 - Continuing Competitors
Grimm Midrange, Alehouse Storm, and Seraphim Control continue to be consistent performers in the metagame with an appearance each in top 8. Mystic Fire also makes an appearance as a list I was interested in trying the list out to compare it to Dragons in the current metagame. All 4 decks continue to be solid options, with Grimm being the only one that I currently believe has notably bad matchups into the current metagame.
Michael continues to be a top competitor, locking it into a top metagame spot in Tier-A, with incredibly consistent control tools. While Gaia and Mal'ady's unique hate pieces give them certain edges, Michael's better play into hate pieces and strong midrange potential lets the archetype continue to be a top dog in the control world.
Grimm Midrange is a more delicate entry into this list, with a significant amount of dependence on the metagame. While the list struggles into Angels and Titans, it's access to unique control tools with controlling death-loops and Discard pile Fortified cards gives it a strong play into most decks. Notably, it continues to be a prevalent deck and players should continue to prepare to face against it.
Alehouse Storm looks to be potentially the best aggro deck in the metagame, pulling ahead of both Blastforge and the various Sharn lists with the deck's access to incredibly explosive openings, and difficult to stop interaction in Exit The Alehouse and Nisty's Warcleaver. While other aggressive lists might have more consistency, Ethelhime looks to be a continuing powerhouse with the ability to become a threat out of nowhere.
Sh'Lara was my personal pick for this tournament as a deck I wanted to test more than anything. Particularly, I was interested in seeing how it compares to Merrisod, and the comparison is incredibly close between the two. Dragons has more explosive power and more capability to do powerful plays in the late game, but Sh'Lara has more early power and the ability access to powerful hate pieces in Majik Void Collapse and Concrete Catacombs.
Dealing with the Current Meta
So with such a diverse metagame, what should players be prepared for?
Bounty powerhouses
While it'll still require more testing to see how Majik Mask lists will line up, what's immediately clear is the incredibly strong potential of the deck, and players should be preparing to play into it. While this can include explicit Bounty hate, there are a large number of potential ways to deal with the archetype and looking in your Legion might reveal even stronger options to shut down powerful openings.
Eradication control
Mal'ady and Gaia appear to continue to be top dogs in the metagame and Concrete Catacombs seems to still be a necessity for decks that can afford it. For the decks that can't, I'd pay special attention to the available pieces for these matchups.
Versatile Hate-pieces
On the other side of things, Alero and Michael both threaten incredibly strong and versatile control gameplans. Players should be prepared for the weaknesses/dependencies inherent in their deck and how they can protect/remove them in certain matchups.
Difficult-to-remove Warriors
Despite the best effort of Titan players, Mortis continues to appear wherever tournaments do. Between Warrior loops, Holy Counters and Sanctify, players should have some strategy to take Warriors off of the field in a more permanent fashion, or have a plan to be able to ignore them.
Non-standard control tools
Some of the best Aggro decks, Alehouse, Blastforge, and Sharn are notable for their ability to destroy Fortified cards before they can be activated, and to deal with Swift Warriors more efficiently than you might like. Cards like Stifle Progress, Shackle The Summoner, and Eon, The Timeshift Warlock are all strong options for control pieces that are a bit harder to interrupt than your standard Mists From The Fata Morgana.
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