Metagame.com - Take Your Game to the Next Level

With a huge amount of old talent and a few up-and-coming stars, the metagame of this year’s $10K Brisbane is shaping up to be very interesting. We caught up with a few of the players today to get their opinions on the current meta, how they’re going to combat it, and what they hope to see from Silver Age in the future.

JAMES KONG
James has been playing Vs. since the very start. As such, he quickly rose to become the most versatile player in Australia. He has had multiple $10K Top 8 finishes, using many different decks. He has piloted everything from FF Burn to X-Stall and Titans to huge success. Also a powerhouse in limited, he made Top 8 at $10K Auckland 2005, and his draft skills took him to finish an astounding 22nd at Pro Circuit Los Angeles!

What deck are you playing at the $10K today?
I’m playing High Voltage. It’s the kind of deck that is generally underestimated. A lot of people don’t have the cards for it, and moreover, a lot of people will outright give up against it—a lot of people have realized that if they come up against it then they just can’t win. It’s the combination of the two elements that means it’s a good choice in the meta.

What's the best deck in Golden Age at the moment?
Well, it has to be High Voltage. It’s fast, it’s resilient and it’s really hard to tech against. Its only real competitor is Glock, and even then it has roughly a 70/30 matchup with Glock.

What’s your favorite deck?
My favorite deck to play at the moment is Glock. I just find that it requires a skilled player to pilot it properly. It has nuances. The only reason that I’m not running it is because Titans will probably be out in force. Also, the mirror match with Captain Marvel means that it more or less comes down to a die roll for evens, which is really frustrating.

What's the most busted card in VS at the moment?
Well, I don’t think that Enemy of My Enemy is really busted. However, it’s definitely the best card in the game at the moment. In terms of the most broken card . . . I can’t really think of anything that’s too powerful as a standalone card. It’s the combinations that are the problem. I guess I’m just glad that Dr. Light received errata. It’s good that they made that decision.

What deck(s) will you be glad to see the end of in Silver Age?
Any of the cards from Origins that are too powerful when combined with new effects. Cards like Press the Attack, Teen Titans Go!, and Cover Fire are all too powerful when they are compared to the cards from newer sets. Men of Steel and Helping Hand are so much more balanced when compared to Cover Fire. It’s just a lot less ridiculous.

SHAUN HAYWARD

Shaun has seen monumental success in Vs. System. Taking out the recent $10K Championship in Auckland, last year’s $10K Brisbane, and sporting multiple $10K Top 8s, he is definitely a force to be reckoned with. As one of the designers of both High Voltage and GLEE (which later formed the basis of Glock), Shaun knows the ins and the outs of these decks better than anyone else. That should prove invaluable today.

What deck are you playing in the $10K today?
Rigged Elections. The deck can win turn 5 without too much difficulty. It has good matchups against most of the other decks that have surfaced in this post-Voltage metagame. I've been rather busy with both assignments and getting ready for PC San Francisco, so I have not had as much time as usual to put into the deck I'm playing. The reason for playing Rigged Elections as opposed to other Child variants is that Rigged Elections actually has a chance against High Voltage.

What's the best deck in Golden Age at the moment?
High Voltage is probably the best deck when you look at it in a vacuum; however, it does have a hard matchup against Glock. The thing about Voltage that makes it so good is that it has such a simple game-plan . . . that is, do either 3.57 or 4.17 damage with each card drawn, depending whether you’re aiming for a turn 4 or 5 win. Such a simple game plan and such focus makes for a deck that is extremely powerful.

What’s your favorite deck?
Well, it’s a secret pet deck that I've had for a little while now. However, my second favorite would have to be GLEE while in the DSM/DGL Modern Age format. While it was a case of endless mirror matches, I had a lot of fun playing them as there was a lot of skill in beating the mirror (as opposed to the Squadron mirror).

What's the most busted card in Vs. at the moment?
Many people would say Enemy of my Enemy, and while it's strong (and potentially degenerate), it's not in and of itself that busted. I'd have to say that it would have to be either A Child Named Valeria or Advanced Hardware. A Child Named Valeria is obviously busted; Advanced Hardware, on the other hand, just goes too far in making burn good.

What deck(s) will you be glad to see the end of in Silver Age?
Teen Titans, and Doom-based decks. They are just two decks that I've never played competitively because there will never be much surprise factor in them. Everyone has tested against them more than any other deck. Despite this, however, decks that can't compete with them get the short end of the stick; this stifles deck creation.

KAKAROT TURKER

At $10K Sydney 2006, Kakarot made a huge splash in the Vs. metagame. While everyone knew that A Child Named Valeria was powerful, this innovative deck designer took the concept to a new level. Adding powerful search elements from the Masters of Evil low drops, such as Beetle and Yellowjacket, Kakarot ensured versatility and consistency like the deck had never seen before. By the end of the $10k, his ten-teams deck sailed into a very impressive second place, where it faltered against Titans.

What deck are you playing at the $10K today?
I (finally!) decided on Child Lock.

What's the best deck in Golden Age at the moment?
Child Lock is the most consistent at what it aims to do. High Voltage ruins the meta, as it goes 50/50 with lots of decks. Glock and Doom decks are a little inconsistent, but if they have a god draw, they will beat Voltage. If they get average draws, they are good enough to beat many decks. They don’t really have any awful matchups.

What’s your favorite deck?
Child Lock is probably my favorite. Its goal achievement percentage is what makes it amazing against more inexperienced players. Also, it has auto win matchups, which I love.

What's the most busted card in Vs. at the moment?
The most busted have always been A Child Named Valeria and Cosmic Radiation. Black Panther is the recent release with the most potential. His text should read “attach to Black Panther” instead of “equip to Black Panther,” as this would solve the Voltage issue somewhat—you could play Compressor for the mirror. Moreover, any deck playing Enemy of my Enemy could play one Panther and one Compressor as an early game solution. This meta will depend completely on how many people have a set of Enemies.

What deck(s) will you be glad to see the end of in Silver Age?
Titans, only because people pilot it in the wrong meta(s) and then manage to get miracle pairings! Also, I hate quotes like "TT is the most skill intensive deck,” etc. It’s amateur rubbish.

ALEX ANTONIOS

Alex is a long term Yu-Gi-Oh player who recently made the move over to Vs. A true up-and-comer if ever there was one, Alex took out the Yu-Gi-Oh Supernova Championship Sydney in 2005, the Yu-Gi-Oh Gamescape Championship in 2005, and achieved third place at the New Zealand National Championships in 2005! After recently achieving his first Vs. System Top 8 at $10K Sydney 2005, he is looking to expand his VS portfolio even further.

What deck are you playing at the $10K today?
I am playing Migga City, the one that Anthony “Migga” Macali came in 9th with at $10K Sydney 2006.

What's the best deck in Golden Age at the moment?
This is a tough question . . . I’m sure that we’ll see a diverse Top 8 today, but I’d have to say that Titans is a very solid meta choice. Even a beginner would be able to pick up the deck, have a couple of games with it, and be able to go fairly well. I mean, the deck has the answers to a wide range of match-ups in the current meta.

What’s your favorite deck?
I have to say it’s Good Guys. Ever since it first got played against me, I knew that I had to build it. I hope to see one or two of these decks in the Top 8 today!

What's the most busted card in Vs. at the moment?
Enemy of My Enemy—this card is insane! I’m sure we are going to see this card being played in almost every deck at the PC. It’s one of those cards that will be used until the end of time.

What deck(s) will you be glad to see the end of in Silver Age?
Well, at the moment, I think Silver Age has a very balanced metagame. I can see decks such as AGL being played a lot. Then again, there will be a lot of weenie hate in the meta to counter decks like this, so for now it seems to be fairly balanced. We’ll just see what the PC has to bring.