The metagame of $10K Orlando showed continued growth in the trends demonstrated at $10K Columbus. Here is the breakdown of the 137 decks that were played.

Curve Sentinels: 25
Teen Titans: 22
Brave and the Bold: 15
Spider-Friends: 10
Common Enemy: 9
Medium Brotherhood: 8
X-Stall: 5
F4 Beatdown: 5
F4 Toys: 4
X-Beatdown: 4
TNB: 3
Wild Vomit: 3
Big Brotherhood: 2
Phantom Phone Booth: 2
My Beloved: 2
Evil Medical School: 2
Gotham Knights: 2
Doom Control: 2
Rigged Elections: 2
Unaffilliated: 1
TNB Blitz: 1
Mutant Nation: 1
Satanus Go!: 1
Flame Thrower: 1
F4 Gotham: 1
Heroes United: 1
Gamma Doom: 1
Uncommon Enemy: 1
X-Men/Gotham: 1
F5/LoA: 1

The most notable thing about the metagame was the complete lack of Cosmic Cops. Not a single player was aiming to pump Batman to ungodly stats and swing repeatedly with him. While Evil Medical School saw a bit of play, stall strategies were generally under-represented at this event.

Curve Sentinels and Teen Titans continued their domination of the top two spots in popularity, which was predictable. However, The Brave and The Bold continued its strong surge in popularity, claiming a definite third spot at the event.

The big surprise was Spider-Friends. With the deck having a good matchup against Teen Titans, several players tweaked the deck to improve its chances against Curve Sentinels. The result was that Spider-Friends got more exposure on a per-capita basis in Orlando than in most, possibly any, other $10K event.

The X-Stall builds being run were of particular note, because the bulk of them appeared to be Team TOGIT netdecks. As a result, X-Stall’s impact was diminished as the players running it were playing arguably dated builds. This factor, combined with the lack of Cosmic Cops, was a major influence in the environment. Decks that ran long without a structured emphasis on the late game had a better chance of surviving at $10K Orlando than in other high-level tournaments.

It seems safe to assume at this point that, barring horrible showings in the near future, The Brave and The Bold will continue to become increasingly popular. However, if Spider-Friends players can bring the theory behind such decks into practice, then Spidey will explode into metagames over the coming weeks.