The metagame at the Columbus $10K was equal parts predictable and surprising. As expected, Teen Titans and Curve Sentinel took the top two slots in popularity, but there were also plenty of Common Enemy and Brave and the Bold decks today. Everything old was new again as Doom variants and Spider-Friends took their share of matches, too, making a definite impact on the day’s event. Here’s the full break down of Saturday’s field:

Teen Titans: 31
Curve Sentinel: 30
Common Enemy: 16
Brave and the Bold: 15
Fantastic Four: 14
X-Stall: 8
Cosmic Cops: 6
TNB Blitz: 6
Spider-Friends: 6
Phantom Phone Booth: 6
LOA: 5
X-Beats: 5
Revenge Squad: 4
TNB: 4
My Beloved: 4
Doom Control: 4
Gamma Bomb: 4
Mutant Nation: 3
Big Brotherhood: 3
Heroes United: 3
Medium Brotherhood: 3
Other Decks: 10 (Unlikely Allies, Wild Vomit, Syndicate, LOA/Revenge Squad, GK/New Gods, Gotham Knights, New Gods Equip, GK/FF)

Columbus saw the resurrection off many decks that have not gotten much recent play. Doom Control and Gamma Doom put up impressive showings from some notable players, while Common Enemy and Brave and the Bold saw huge amounts of play from players with a wide variety of skill levels. With exceedingly slim showings in recent events, these two decks had been written off by many players, but both decks seem to have slipped back into the metagame quite effectively.

In the case of Common Enemy, the active ingredient for the deck’s reappearance was innovation. Many of the experimental drop substitutions seen in Hannover (Wolverine, New Fantastic Four and Robot Destroyer, amongst others) were echoed in Columbus, and the toolbox effect of Boris was once again thoroughly exploited—Unmasked and Flame Trap left a mark on many an opponent.

Most of The Brave and the Bold decks differed only slightly from earlier builds. The environment is just perfect for the deck at the moment, and it looks like many players have noticed that. It dishes out a tough matchup for most of the top decks (provided that it doesn’t miss Mirage in the early game), and it has the ability to search for a wide variety of answers. The result is a very smart deck that can face off against Cosmic Cops, Teen Titans, and Curve Sentinels exceedingly well . . . if it’s played correctly.

It will be interesting to see how these blasts from the past perform in the near future. Their immediate performance in the $10K will heavily influence the global environment in Columbus’s wake.