In what is the most diverse (strategically as well as deck-wise) metagame I’ve ever seen, there is no clear dominant deck of the format. Though multi-team Enemy of My Enemy-powered stall decks lead the numbers, I’ve used that term to categorize at least ten different styles of deck for the sake of brevity. Make no mistake about it: Golden Age is running wild.
Without further ado, here is the breakdown:
Multi-Team Enemy of My Enemy Stall—47
Doom/Crisis on Infinite Earths—29
Quicksilver Fate-a-Tron—24
High Voltage—22
Curve Sentinels—17
Heralds of Galactus Stall—14
Devil’s Due—13
Teen Titans—12
Common Enemy—10
Checkmate/Heralds—9
Brotherhood Reservist—8
Villains United/X-Statix—7
Good Guys—6
Glock—6
Shadowpact Fate—5
X-Mental—5
Secret Society Control—4
Big Brotherhood—4
Doom/Heralds—4
Migga City—3
Doom Army—3
Squadron Supreme—3
Rigged Elections 3
Kree Press—2
Rock of Eternity—2
Reservist—2
Anti-Green Lantern -2
Faces of Evil—1
X-Statix—1
League of Assassins—1
Kang/Quicksilver/Longshot—1
Intergang—1
Team Tactics—1
Arkham Curve—1
Inhumans/Heralds—1
Morlock Evasion—1
Skrulls—1
Undefined—15
Wow. Looking through the decklists is mind boggling, with some interactions being so obscure so as to make me look up more cards than I ever have before. The real winner is the nefarious Dr. Doom, and I’ve seen all versions played (all in the same deck no less!). It’s particularly prominent in the Doom/Crisis on Infinite Earths control deck. FTN leads the charge with this deck, while the Donkey Club decided that a multi-team stall deck featuring Galactus was the way to go. It’s too early to tell which decks are taking control of the format, though it does seem that the Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage Fate Artifact decks have been caught in the crossfire, with many decks packing Meltdown as their hate card of choice.
Old favorites are back too, with Teen Titans, Common Enemy, Big Brotherhood, and even Curve Sentinels making a splash. Their straightforward approach gives them ample room to tech against the more elaborate decks, running cards like Total Anarchy, Flame Trap, and Mikado and Mosha to slow down the game to a more sedate pace.