Nats Overview: A Greymon Affair

By: Joel C. , Editor-in-Chief

Now that Nationals has come and gone, the question lingering on everyone’s mind is: What’s Next?

Gaiomon proved to be a key card in the BWGX mirror, with many players opting for 3 copies in their deck

After the big boogieman of the format, BlackWarGreymonX, proved to be the most represented deck in all national tournaments, many players are left wondering how the meta will begin to evolve to answer the most popular (and likely powerful) deck.

For the most part, the BWGX problem is most easily answered by BWGX itself, as the mirror match proves to be a venerable fencing match when met with players of equal skill. The deck has the best tools to beat itself in the form of De-Digivolve and the ability to attack over unsuspended Digimon, with Gaiomon being the standout card in the matchup. BlackWarGreymon Promo also made a surprise appearance, as its ability to attack multiple times in a single turn allows for unparalleled board control when combined with BT8 Metalgreymon’s inheritable effect, or allows for the pilot to simply clear out any remaining security needed to deal the winning blow. For those who were unwilling to match wits in mirrors throughout the day, a couple other decks emerged as viable top-cut strategies.

The so-called silver bullet against the BlackWar deck, GrandisKuwagamon, made waves in the national tournaments as well, with players bringing the deck in droves with the hopes of consistently suspending and attacking over any Greymons in their path. And although Grandis managed to sneak a 1st and 2nd place showing in the Oceana finals, BlackWar players from other regions came much more prepared for the matchup by including 1 to 2 copies of Omnimon X-Antibody (BT5) to efficiently negate the large multi-swing threat of Grandis and then subsequently squash the big bug on the following turn. This resulted in GrandisKuwagamon having a limited showing in top cuts outside of the Oceana region, and an overall underwhelming performance when one considers the hype this deck was getting going into the event.

Mervamon was a standout card at the event, with many players incorporating it into unique and powerful strategies

While Grandis may have been overhyped, on the other side of the coin we have the surprise standout of the BT11 Meta, Xros Heart, which managed to sneak into several top32s, including a coveted 1st place showing in Europe and a respectable 2nd place showing in NA. Even though many players dismissed Xros Heart after the limit of Shoutmon X4 and Sunrise Buster in the previous BT10-EX3 format, those who were brave enough to pilot this deck were rewarded with higher than expected placings. This is of course due to the support the archetype received in BT11, which proved to be strong enough to overcome the deck’s nerf and resulted in the rise of two unique yet equally powerful routes for the deck: X7 MidRange and Merva Rush. The former focuses on making the eponymous Shoutmon X7, a powerful boss that can hit the board for as little as 2 memory and threaten board control, defense, and aggression thanks to its On-Play ability to delete an opponent’s Digimon, its inherent <Rush> keyword, and its access to the plethora of Xros Heart inheritables including <Security +1>, <Blocker>, <Reboot>, and <Piercing>. The other Xros Heart deck, Merva Rush, eschews the inclusion of the X7 top end in favor of Mervamon, perhaps the hottest new card to hit the meta. For a cost of 8 Memory (after DigiXros cost reduction), Mervamon can return two level4 or lower Digimon that are either purple-color or have <Xros Heart> in traits from the trash to the play field. She then grants all Digimon with <Xros Heart> in traits or with the <Retaliation> keyword <Rush> and <Blocker>. While 8 memory is certainly a high cost to pay, the deck circumvents this through the inclusion of several copies of Blinding Ray and Gravity Crush, allowing the Merva Rush player to play Mervamon while still keeping their turn, creating a high burst offensive play that is capable of ending the game out of seemingly nowhere. Should the rush-down fail or you find yourself unable to swing for game, sitting on a wide board of 3 or more blockers can be a difficult task for many decks to overcome.

Mervamon was not just a Xros Heart exclusive card, as purple players once again attempted to big-brain themselves into top cut with the Loop deck archetype. Focusing less on Lilithmon and more on Minervamon and Mervamon interactions, this deck unfortunately proved to be too fragile to top a large-scale competitive event. Similarly, the other hot purple deck in the meta, Mastemon, gained a few new tools in BT11 in the form of Mirei and her Angewomon and LadyDevimon. And while the new access to <Blocker> and <Retaliation> is a welcome boon, the deck proved to be slightly too slow into the meta and did not make any top cut waves.

The King without a Crown? MelGa fails to make Top32 at NA Nats

Speaking of decks that failed to make top cut, one of the biggest talking points is the fall of the previous King of the Meta: MetalGarurumon X-Antibody. What was once the undisputed best deck failed to show up at BT11 Nats, with seemingly no direct changes to the deck itself. Whether the deck’s poor showing was a result of an overall meta shift, players learning how to play the matchup, or perhaps the best MelGa players moving onto the new “best deck” in BWG remains to be seen, and whether or not this is a fluke result will certainly come to light in upcoming events.

As far as rogue deck representation, there were a few standouts in the form of Dorbickmon and Machinedramon both making Top32 appearances, proving once again that making a Big Digimon is still a viable meta strategy. Ulforceveedramon also made a showing, notably not running the Leomon + Jeri package that was popular in the Japanese meta. Perennial boogieman Security Control was also not as represented in top cut as expected, likely as a result of the deck being an inherently poor choice for larger, longer events. The deck also had a few bad matchups to deal with in form of Xros Heart (especially Merva Rush variants), Jesmon, and a high rolling BWGX pilot with an early Yuuya. Blue Flare managed to escape it’s stereotype of low-tier gatekeeper deck and proved to be solid tier2 force thanks to the added aggression granted by red-greymon techs and the new Zeiggreymon’s restand ability.

Overall, while the Nationals meta was certainly overtaken by BlackWarGreymon, the plethora of other playable decks made the field feel relatively varied. And frankly, this is not an unfamiliar phenomenon as veteran players will recall that last year’s national event was similarly overtaken by GabuBond. If this trend of “1-deck” nationals will prove to be a coincidence or a conscious decision by Bandai remains to be seen, but if history is to repeat itself, then we may see a certain overpowered option see the limit list soon…