Primordial Knowledge – Meta Analysis

by Varranis

One of the guiding tenets of TCGs – and a reason why they stay exciting – is that a card or deck’s power level is gauged relative to the other cards or decks being played around it. As a simple example, the more players play Vampire Princess in their decks, the more powerful Crackling Bolt becomes since it cleanly removes the Princess and allows for potential tempo gain. However, if Flickering Gobbler is more popular than Vampire Princess, I’d prefer to run Burn in my deck to deal with the pesky gobblers. This phenomenon in TCGs is known as the “meta.”

The term meta is an abbreviation of metagaming. Metagaming is any strategy, action, or method used in a game that transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. More simply, it is the use of out-of-game information or resources to inform in-game decisions. In our previous example, there is no in-game ruleset or guideline that governs the popularity of Vampire Princess or Flickering Gobbler. It is the out-of-game knowledge that Flickering Gobbler is more popular than Vampire Princess that influences a player’s decision to play Burn instead of Crackling Bolt in their deck.

This thought process plays out hundreds of times over as players identify which cards they think are powerful, which strategies they expect to be popular, and how they plan to combat those strategies. This process is especially important when a new set releases. In fact, we explored the beginning of this trajectory when we discussed which cards from Primal Dawn would be most influential in our last installment of Primordial Knowledge.

CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

When I chose the five Primal Dawn cards I felt would be most influential, I was taking the first step in predicting the new competitive meta. With several more weeks in the books since we last talked, it’s becoming ever clearer which cards are having the biggest impact. There are two cards and one champion from Primal Dawn I feel are difficult to avoid in today’s competitive meta.

As predicted, Rune Ear Hierophant has quickly become best friends with Howling Brave. The duo rapidly spawned a myriad of aggressive brews and were adopted by many previously established archetypes. Rune Ear Hierophant has lived up to every ounce of hype and is proving to be one of the most powerful PVP cards ever released.

Flickering Gobbler was on a lot of players’ radars before Primal Dawn released, but few likely imagined it would star in one of the format’s most popular decks. While Morgan McBombus might be the current poster boy, Ruby/Sapphire aggro decks helmed by Savvas were already on the rise prior to Primal Dawn. Flickering Gobbler has pushed the archetype even further. Not only does the stacking Rage threaten an immense amount of hurt, but returning to the hand allows the Gobbler to dodge many popular forms of removal.

It’s not always cards that shape the meta in HEX. Uzzu the Bonewalker was predicted by many to be a limited all-star due to her ability to fudge the rules of threshold and stretch the number of strong cards you could include in a single deck. However, I doubt many thought her influence over constructed would be as great as it is now. Enabling a more consistent splash of a third threshold (or more), Uzzu allows decks like Five Shard Necrotic, Uzzu Chant, and Uzzucannon to exist. Uzzucannon is arguably the most successful deck of the current meta with two high profile first place tournament finishes.

THE PLAYERS

As alluded to earlier, the arrival of new tools not only breeds new decks but influences the efficacy and viability of elder strategies. Despite their rise in prevalence, Uzzu the Bonewalker and Morgan McBombus are far from the only players in the new competitive landscape.

In order to frame our discussion of the current meta we will use a tool called a “tier list.” A tier list helps one to identify the most common and powerful strategies by stratifying popular decks into levels or tiers. The most popular and powerful decks reside in Tier 1 with less common decks occupying Tiers 2 and below. It’s important to stress that a tier list is not merely about a deck’s power level, but how likely it is you will encounter the deck in a tournament or gauntlet. As mentioned earlier, different cards (and thus decks) are more powerful against specific other cards or archetypes. Even the most powerful decks have counters. If those counters are popular enough, then it is incorrect to play the powerful deck. Perhaps then it is even correct to play a deck that counters the counter deck. A tier list helps us illustrate what is popular and powerful and thus aids us in making a deck choice with a higher chance to succeed in an event.

Before divulging my current tier list, it’s important to note that tier lists are firmly rooted in opinion and personal experience. As we are all aware, opinions frequently differ. While I may place a specific deck in Tier 2, perhaps you may feel it is Tier 1 viable. Neither one of us is necessarily right or wrong, we have just arrived at different conclusions based on our experiences and observations. I will also say that I am fairly stringent with my tiering. While some lists may place all viable decks in Tier 1, I tend to reserve Tier 1 for only the most popular and powerful decks. Generally speaking, any deck on my list is competitively viable, but I feel those in Tiers 1 and 2 are the most powerful and most likely to be encountered in a tournament or gauntlet setting.

For each deck I will provide the colloquial name with a link to an example list from Hexmeta, shards, champion, and a description of the deck and why I have placed it where I have. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

TIER 1

Uzzucannon | Wild/Sapphire | Uzzu the Bonewalker

Description: The aptly named Uzzucannon deck is a greatest hits list of the last three sets packing all-stars like Arborean Rootfather, Azurefate Sorceress, Crocosaur, and Eternal Sage all in the same deck. The deck is reminiscent of last format’s troop heavy Winter Moon Control lists, but with less emphasis on counterspells and more emphasis on sheer power. The deck seeks to ramp in the early game with Howling Brave, Chlorophyllia, and Wellspring. At four resources, its top priority is to resolve an Azurefate Sorceress socketed with Major Ruby of Destruction and Minor Wild Orb of Conservation. This is where Uzzu the Bonewalker is key to empowering the deck. With a champion that provides threshold fixing, you can build the deck with a heavy Wild focus for the ramp elements and still generate the Sapphire and Ruby thresholds you require to make Azurefate Sorceress and Major Ruby of Destruction work. With an Azurefate Sorceress online, you can burn your opponent out of the game with Inspired Wrathwood Master Mosses and Arborean Rootfathers. Spellshield ensures your threats are nearly impossible to remove without Extinction and Eternal Sage provides immense versatility when paired with Uzzu the Bonewalker’s Charge Power.

Justification: Uzzucannon not only took a first place finish in a FiveShards weekly event piloted by ZhurGranosh, but also took top honors in the premiere Cup of Fate event in the hands of Enyma. No other deck can sport that pedigree in the current format, building a strong case for Uzzucannon being the current deck to beat. While not the most popular deck currently on the gauntlet, Uzzu the Bonewalker was the most popular Champion in the Cup of Fate and I expect Uzzucannon to gradually become more and more prevalent in the gauntlet.

Reanimator | Blood/Wild | Kagulichu

Description: While I may call the deck Reanimator, Kagulichu brews could more accurately be described as the spiritual successor to Kranok Mono-Blood. These decks have some crypt interaction, but they shine as a conglomeration of Blood/Wild “good stuff.” Not only does it run old format powerhouses like Vampire King and Crocosaur, but it is currently the premier Rune Ear Hierophant deck. Blood also has access to the two best Rune Ear Hierophant counters: Extinction and Exarch of the Egg. Freak of Nature is a relatively new adoption in the deck. It allows you to eke out even more value from Kagulichu’s Charge Power and Cottontail Explorer’s enters play effect.

Justification: Wherever Uzzucannon is winning a tournament, there’s a Kagulichu deck coming in second. Reanimator has not only had strong tournament finishes, but has been a 5-win gauntlet staple since Primal Dawn’s release. The archetype also has significant precedence for success as it is very similar in strategy and play to Kranok Mono-Blood. Expect to encounter at least one Kagulichu opponent in every gauntlet run.

TIER 2

R/S Aggro | Ruby/Sapphire | Morgan McBombus

Description: R/S Aggro is an incredibly aggressive deck that uses powerful fliers like Flickering Gobbler and Sunsoul Phoenix to burst for large amounts of evasive damage and to dodge or resist common removal. There are generally two variants of Morgan McBombus R/S Aggro whose biggest differentiator is the inclusion or exclusion of Sunsoul Phoenix. While Sunsoul Phoenix was the centerpiece of similar decks in the previous format, Flickering Gobbler has taken up the mantle and produced more streamlined and efficient builds of R/S Aggro. The builds eschewing Sunsoul Phoenix are arguably stronger due to their consistency and explosive starts, however, the meta’s shift toward Totem Trap and other aggro counters makes the resiliency of Sunsoul Phoenix a more desirable trait. Expect specific builds to vary greatly based on the meta and player’s preference.

Justification: No deck is a better example of how the meta shifts than R/S Aggro. When I started writing this article, Morgan McBombus was at the very top of my tier list for both its popularity and power. However, the limelight paints a huge target. Other decks are now packing numerous counters to McBombus in their Reserves and many decks have even made main deck decisions to shore up the match-up. In this great analysis of the Cup of Fate posted by FiveShards, we see that Gale Force was not only the most popular card in Reserves but the most popular card played in the entire tournament. While such a reaction is telling of this deck’s power level, that is not the sort of minefield you want to enter if you expect to win a tournament. Even still, expect to encounter a McBombus or two in your gauntlet as it is a relatively inexpensive competitive deck. If there’s a deck in my second tier which deserves Tier 1 status, this is it. I would not be surprised by a resurgence in Morgan McBombus decks once the meta shifts again and the hate dies down.

W/D Aggro | Wild/Diamond | Warmaster Fuzzuko

Description: W/D Aggro leverages the combination of Howling Brave and Rune Ear Hierophant to empower overwhelming starts. The deck has somewhat greedy threshold requirements, but rewards proper sequencing with higher quality troops than the majority of aggro decks are capable of running. Threats like Living Totem and the aforementioned Rune Ear Hierophant give you mana sinks or means to fill the board in order to play around Extinction. Depending on the specific build, Hopeheart Unicorn or Grace of Tiaanost allow you to be greedy and overextend. Additionally, Grace of Tiaanost and High Infinitrix give Rune Ear Hierophant flight, giving you an edge in the Hierophant mirrors. Some builds run Rally of Kings but several more recent variants have opted instead for main deck Grace of Tiaanost as it is strong against Extinction and other Hierophants. The Wild/Diamond combination also gives you fantastic options in the Reserves for combating aggressive decks which may be faster than you. Several versions have also cropped up recently using Knightsbane Ovo in order to reset High Infinitrixs and utilize the Hereafter combo.

Justification: While it hasn’t taken any significant tournament wins that I am aware of, W/D Aggro has been tearing up the gauntlet scene in the hands of many players including myself, Invitational qualifier Cyriius, and current Hexmeta leaderboard topper Skaro. This is another deck that only needs a small push to occupy a spot on Tier 1. Expect this deck to grow in popularity as players continue to find success with it. Note that Mono-Wild Warmaster Fuzzuko can essentially be lumped together with this deck. Both decks play very similarly. In fact, in many ways the Mono-Wild variant was the precursor to the more powerful, and currently more popular, W/D Aggro deck. While Mono-Wild doesn’t pack quite as big a punch as W/D, it does gain a much more consistent resource base.

Winter Moon Control | Wild/Sapphire | Winter Moon

Description: This refers to the very recently developed Winter Moon lists that have adapted the previous format’s top dog to the current post-Primal Dawn meta. The deck operates very similarly to older lists, but has received a few upgrades in the form of Rune Ear Hierophant, Artisanal Cheesesmythe, and Transmogrifade. Rune Ear Hierophant and Artisanal Cheesesmythe significantly improve the deck’s ability to interact in the early game and both scale well into the late game. Transmogrifade provides actual, early removal in a deck which previously had to rely solely on surviving long enough to play Crocosaur in order to remove resolved threats.

Justification: My placement of Winter Moon in Tier 2 is more expectant than justified. It has only a few 5-win gauntlet finishes and no notable tournament finishes to speak of. However, this deck was more successful than any other last format. It not only took down HEX’s first 100k Invitational, but was an unavoidable presence in the gauntlet. I am hesitant to discount a deck that not only has a sterling pedigree, but can play what is arguably the format’s strongest card, Rune Ear Hierophant, protected by Countermagic. While one could argue this deck should be Tier 3 or lower, I expect this deck to gain significant momentum in the coming weeks. I would also like to mention the Wild/Sapphire/Diamond Winter Moon deck that has been popular the past few weeks to differentiate it from the control variant we are discussing as part of this tier list. The W/S/D deck only plays one troop, Starlight Pathfinder, in order to ensure it becomes prophesied by actions like Harvest Moon and Lanupaw’s Sight. Once prophesied, you are guaranteed to draw the Pathfinder, which you can then target with Replicator’s Gambit and redraw. While this version had seen significant play, it has had minimal success and is waning in popularity.

TIER 3

Mono-Sapphire Tempo | Sapphire | Wyatt the Sapper

Description: Mono-Sapphire Tempo aims to stick threats on turns one, two, and three and then protect those threats with counterspells and potent interactive quick actions like Time Ripple and Transmogrifade. The deck is incredibly consistent due to its hefty amount of card draw and selection and its minimal threshold requirements. The deck is also incredibly versatile, sporting lines of play against almost every archetype. Similar decks have proven dominant in other TCGs and Mono-Sapphire Tempo’s current success could lead to the same in HEX given the right circumstances.

Justification: As one of my own creations, I was incredibly hesitant to include Mono-Sapphire Tempo on this tier list. However, the deck has proven successful in the hands of multiple players and has been gaining popularity. It has accrued numerous 5-win gauntlet finishes as well as multiple Top 8 finishes in the FiveShards weekly events and representation in the Cup of Fate. These sorts of decks generally have no true good or bad match-ups and rely on a player’s individual skill to turn a set of 50-50 match-ups into wins. That said, Spellshield is a fairly substantial issue for this deck as it turns off most of the deck’s interaction. As an example, the Uzzucannon match-up isn’t so much good or bad as it is dependent on whether the Uzzu deck can resolve an Azurefate Sorceress. If they cannot, the Uzzu player will consistently lose tempo to Time Ripples and Transmogrifades targeting their resource intensive threats. If they do resolve Azurefate Sorceress, the Sapphire deck’s only real defense against being burned out of the game is a fortunate series of Countermagics backed by an evasive threat like Cyclone Shaper. I would not be surprised for Mono-Sapphire Tempo to fall off this tier list if Spellshield continues to be as prevalent as it currently is. That said, these sorts of decks often find a way to be successful in TCGs. Perhaps all it takes is the proper tech for this deck to soar to Tier 1.

Burn | Ruby | Yotul Mogak

Description: Yotul Mogak Burn takes advantage of the powerful new constant Fury Chant to leverage Heart of Fire in order to fuel long strings of burn spells or a massive Burn to the Ground. The deck is quick and difficult to interact with. Cerebral Fulmination and Psychotic Anarchist serve as the deck’s card advantage engine. While their effects are symmetrical, this deck can generally better take advantage of the draws due to the low resource cost of the cards it plays. The increased card draw also helps enable Heart of Fire combos or find the last piece of burn necessary to finish off an opponent.

Justification: Yotul Mogak Burn is another deck I was planning to exclude from this tier list or at best give honorable mention. That is until it won a FiveShards weekly event. These sort of decks have a hard time making it far up a tier list due to the ease with which they are countered. This deck can be easily countered with a reasonable amount of life gain, but can upset a seemingly stagnant meta if unexpected. The deck’s low price point will likely also boost its popularity. I expect Yotul Mogak Burn to fluctuate in and out of Tier 3 and 4 during this format. That said, the champion Yotul Mogak has significant potential to spawn new decks in the future.

Terrormill | Sapphire/Blood | Zorzym of Korru

Description: The aptly named Terrormill deck was one of the top contenders of the previous format. The deck’s primary win condition involves filling the opponent’s deck with Terrorantulas courtesy of Phenteo the Brood Priest and then inspiring said Terrorantulas with Azurefate Sorceress socketed with Major Sapphire of Subterfuge to bury all cards in your opponent’s deck. Outside of the “terrormill” combo, the deck is what you would expect from a control deck with interactive actions like Countermagic, Kill, and Extinction. While Dreaming Fox was beginning to replace Zorzym of Korru as the Terrormill Champion of choice, Zorzym suits the current meta better as there are fewer Crocosaurs and his Charge Power comes online sooner – an important attribute in the current aggro heavy environment.

Justification: Terrormill is arguably the best shell to run both Extinction and Exarch of the Egg, both important cards for handling this Rune Ear Hierophant infested meta. The vennen Spiderling archetype also received significant support in Primal Dawn, giving Terrormill numerous new and powerful tools like Xentoth’s Malice and Tribunal Magistrate. While Terrormill is currently the most prominent vennen variant, there are many builds with significant potential to impact the meta.

Honorable Mentions

While this may be my current view of the competitive constructed landscape, there are many successful decks seeing play that we haven’t even mentioned. There are a few decks in particular on the cusp of climbing the tier list. W/D Rutherford Banks was a strong Tier 2 deck prior to Primal Dawn, and it is beginning to see substantial success again in the gauntlet. This is not particularly surprising given the high quality of many of the Wild and Diamond cards in Primal Dawn. Another stand out is W/S Boris Blastforge Tempo. Offering one of the cleanest ways to grant Rune Ear Hierophant Flight, this deck placed two players in the Cup of Fate Top 8. This deck in particular feels poised for a breakout performance given some refinement. Mono-Diamond Aggro decks have also seen a not unreasonable amount of play. While I personally believe the two shard aggro decks are more powerful, Mono-Diamond Aggro is an archetype to be ignored at one’s own peril.

Of additional note is the lack of Kranok, Cressida, and Urgnock from this tier list. Mono-Blood Kranok could easily reside in Tier 3 of our list due to its steady performance in gauntlets, however, whether due to lack of popularity or poor match-ups, the deck has yet to perform in a tournament environment post Primal Dawn. R/W Cressida Ramp saw a surge in popularity after Primal Dawn’s release and was making a beeline for Tier 2 on our list. However, the deck has seen miserable results the past week and has failed to show any consistent tournament performance. While Mono-Ruby Urgnock Aggro used to hog the aggro limelight, it has nearly fallen off the face of the Earth with newer, more powerful (and cheaper) aggro decks emerging with Primal Dawn.

OUR PRIMORDIAL BREW

While we didn’t focus on any one deck in particular today, I did want to highlight the most recent version of W/D Aggro currently being piloted by Cyriius and myself.

CHAMPION: Warmaster Fuzzuko

Rune Ear Hierophant is socketed with Minor Wild Orb of Conservation and Major Wild Orb of Dominance.

We have eschewed the often clunky Rally of Kings for Grace of Tiaanost as it is specifically powerful against some cards we are weak against. We also identified Living Totem as a much more impactful two drop than Cottontail Explorer. Additionally, Golden Avenger provides some additional late game power with built-in protection from Extinction. You can find an excellent, detailed write up on the deck by Cyriius on Hex Primal. Be sure to tune into my stream tonight at 6:30 PM EST to see the deck in action in the Constructed Gauntlet. As always, there will be Primal Pack and free Draft, Sealed, and Evolving Gauntlet code giveaways.

A TIER OF YOUR OWN

With all this said, I’d like to stress that metas can shift quickly and tier lists change rapidly. This list is a snapshot of the meta at this point and may shift drastically as early as next week. What does your tier list look like? How do you expect the meta to shift in the coming weeks? Let me know in the forums!

See you in the gauntlet,

Varranis | Twitch | Twitter | Team Fade 2 Karma

Varranis is an analyst for professional gaming organization Fade 2 Karma. He has played countless TCGs over the last eighteen years and brings a unique lens to HEX theory crafting and deck building based on his historical experience. Varranis has numerous tournament wins and top finishes to his name across several popular TCGs and has coached and supported players in world championship level events.

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