Just Another Meta Monday
Welcome back to Meta Monday! With an OTA hoping to shake up the meta game this last week we've had some interesting developments and some disappointing ones. Either way, let's get to it!
Pillar 1: Surtur/Skaar
Even though Surtur was hit with a nerf his deck and the downfall of Skaar has been massively misleading. Surtur and Skaar are very much alive and well and is killing it as one of the best decks currently. It's not the most popular deck and because of the perceived notion that Skaar is not as viable there are a lot less people playing it. But, it's still there playing down tons of points.
Surtur 1
Surtur 2
Pillar 2: Ongoing
While this deck isn't new to the Meta it's been hidden from the limelight because the stock Doom 2099 list focus on power and not ongoing synergys was just better. However, with the most recent nerf to Doom 2099, ongoing has taken an upswing while still functioning as a Doom 2099 deck. The idea of playing one card a turn hasn't changed but the cards we are playing have slightly changed.
Ongoing 1
Ongoing 2
This is currently the most popular deck because it's not too difficult to build at all CL levels as well as puts out enough points and can get pretty tall in 2 lanes while still going wide if it needs to.
Pillar 3: Scream/Affliction
Probably the most surprising thing about the OTA was the renewing of Affliction back as a major player into the Meta game. Both Scream and Ajax have viable decks with Scream pushing out Ajax in regards to popularity but both pack a large amount of disruption with the newly buffed Scorpion being a big menace especially to Skaar decks.
Affliction 1
Affliction 2
Scream isn't anything new but has been floating around. Scream is also incredibly diverse and this small move affliction package can be thrown into both Surtur and Doom 2099 decks and do well or exist just by itself.
Scream Doom
Scream Surtur
Scream
Pillar 4: Negative
The deck that just won't go away. Honestly though, this deck is just good at what it does. While it takes smart snapping and retreating decisions to maximize your cube equity by far this is the deck that most people stay for 4 or 8 cubes when they really shouldn't.
Negative
Negative 2
Additionally, Mobius is a rare card as well as location manipulation making this deck a lot more powerful even without getting an early Mister Negative.
Other Viable Decks
Discard, Hela, Arishem, and Mill are still running around but a lot less popular than in previous weeks. Also, Surfer has been making a slight comeback.
JFSnap’s Deck of the Week
I am a big fan of Mister Negative and think that it provides some hilarious fun as well as being very powerful if you are disciplined with snapping and retreating. If you are still climbing to infinite I would try Negative for a little bit with the disclaimer that you need to snap early and retreat more often than you stay. This is my version but any of the versions work.
JF negative
However, if you want to run a deck that is a little more forgiving on snapping and retreating, Discard is a very consistent deck at the moment. While it can be a little obvious, it's consistent and puts out stats where every game you can feel like you are in the game and not just missing draws.
Discard
Meta Health
This section has kind of become stagnant the last few weeks where I state everything is wide open and it's healthy. While that might still be true when you are actually playing the game it can feel the opposite. So instead, I'd like to know what you think the boogey man of the format is? What is your least liked, most hated deck that you face? Because, the meta keeps being healthy and nothing jumps out as completely busted in the most recent past but to players personally there is a big difference on the feeling of a meta.