‘Twas the night before CanNats

And all through the Nation,

…

Wait … We JUST did that shtick. Let’s just skip to the article.

With the Dice Masters Canadian National Championships upon us, I decided to take a look at what I think will be the Top 5 Teams/Combos that might show up this weekend. Since, I cannot participate in this Event myself, I figured the next best thing would be to speculate on what might be showing up. I am going to mesh together both win conditions and big counters that I expect to see. I am also skipping the obvious players (like Static Field, KBish, and my favourite girl Shriek) as they don’t really need to be called out. Will this list prove to be accurate, or will it be way out to lunch? We shall see.

#5. Venerable Dreadnaught

This card did not see much use in the recent US National Championship, most likely out of fear of Black Widow: Agent (insert boob joke here). However, she did not see a lot of play either, so I think the stage is set for an encore.

You cannot keep VD away forever, so I am calling this my dark horse to make a return at CanNats. Both a removal tool and a win condition, I think on the right Team he can be competitive. Pairing him with combat based Teams (like Team Up, Spider-man War of the Heart, etc) seems likely.

However, with the speed of some of the potential top Teams, I think Dreadnaught will have a tough time finding his way to the crown. I am hoping someone can come up with something creative to show that combat damage is still a good way to win in this game.

#4. Hope Summers/Boom Boom

Maybe this is an outlier too, but I do see a place for Hope in the meta. Whether it is to purchase bigger X-men easier or duplicating a particularly nasty “while active” effect, I suspect Ms. Summers will be showing up in one form or another.

On the defensive front, she will absolutely be the tool to get a Bishop in place until you can afford the real thing.

Offensively, this is where Boom Boom comes in. Pairing these two lovely ladies together with some BAC like Ping or Thrown Brick can be a match made in heaven. The recent ruling one where the source of Boom Boom’s damage comes from has given this Team a work around from Black Widow and makes them viable.

Are they as fast as the other Teams on this list? No… not even close, but when they hit with damage they hit hard.

I am hopeful (heh) to see this combo play out at CanNats, but I will be surprised to see it take out one of the big dogs.

#3. Wrecker/Bishop/Black Widow

This spot will be given to the big counters I am expecting to see this weekend. With direct damage being all the rage right now, I will be surprised NOT to see Wrecker or Bishop showing up. These guys saw a lot of discussion back when they were originally released in The Mighty Thor and X-men First Class respectively, but never really hit their stride in the competitive scene.

On the flip side, Black Widow did see lots of play early on, but for some reason fell out of favor at US Nats. Will this trend continue, or will she make a return appearance North of the Border? I think she is still good and can slow things down, but is no longer on the same level as Bishop or Wrecker. Of the three cards here, I honestly think she will see the least amount of play. She does deserve a mention though, as like Dreadnaught she could make a sneaky return to the competitive scene.

With the addition of tools like the Kree Captain Global, and Hope Summers, all of a sudden Bishop’s cost is not that prohibitive. While he may not always be paired with Wrecker or Widow, I expect to see Bishop on some Teams that need to slow the bleeding while setting up their own win condition. He is such an excellent control piece with excellent defensive stats to help keep him around.

Wrecker was finally thrust into the spotlight in US Nats. He proved to be a pain in the rear of the next two cards on this list. He shuts those Teams down cold. He is a bit of a double edged sword though, so your Team has to be prepared to work around him as well.

If direct damage Teams (specifically the next two) are not prepared to deal with these road blocks they will have a tough time winning.

#2. Iceman/Magic Missile

Nova 2.0 is the one of the newest kids on the block, and only slightly behind the number one spot. Another fast and brutal burn option for a win condition. Iceman’s ample bottom makes him easy to ping while keeping him on the Field.

Direct damage seems to be the popular option currently in this meta. Iceman is one of the top choices at the moment. Unless the engine can be shut down, expect to see a cold wave hit the Top 8.

#1. The Atom/Energy Field

Yes, Energy Field has officially received its much needed errata from Wizkids. However, their timing has left the window open for Canadians to abuse this combo one last time before it fades to black.

The combo is nothing new. Use the Energy Field Global to spin The Atom up and down multiple times to burn your Opponent to the ground. When this Team fires, it is fast and brutal. I expect CanNats to be the swan song for the little guy. He is my pick to win it all this year.

Even though Collector won the US Nats, I am not expecting to see much of him this weekend. I believe that Team was more the exception than the rule (love you Arge). I am not saying it is a bad Team by any stretch, but I will be legitimately surprised to not see Iceman and Atom dominate the day. I would love to see something surprising come out of nowhere and catch people off guard though.

What do you think of this List? What are you expecting to see show up in force this weekend? Do you think there will be a dark horse coming out of Canada to rule the Dice Masters World for 2019? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

– jourdo

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