CON JOB
GenCon Meta Predictions & Rogue Ideas
GenCon is coming up next week, and with it comes a whole new meta with not just the Siege cards but also the slew of promos we got over the San Diego Comic Con weekend! Sure, not everyone was able to get them, but many people
were, and that means you're likely to see a whole bunch of people trying on Soundwave or the Omnibots on for size. Not only that, but with the advent of black pips making Pierce not just an easily reachable damage cap, but a powerful damage effect for defensive decks with low attack totals. With these new additions to the meta, how will the meta shift before GenCon begins and what should you play at the game fair? Let's dive in!
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META PREDICTIONS
I think, as a whole, the entire format is going to slow down thanks to the black pip, Battle Masters and an increased reliance on Bold for more offensive decks to be countered easily by Acid Storm. But does that mean that the format has a bad case of the "blues"? Well, not exactly. Let me explain by going into the first deck that I'd like to cover, which is Aerialbots.
Aerialbots wrote:Silverbolt -- Aerialbot Leader (5*)
Skydive -- Air Warfare Specialist (5*)
Fireflight -- Sky High Recon (5*)
Air Raid -- Reckless Flyer (5*)
Alpha Bravo -- Airborne Special Ops (5*)
25/25
2 Aerialbot Enigma (G)
3 Steady Shot (B)(Blk)
3 Security Checkpoint (B)(B)
3 Inferno Breath (B)
3 Marksmanship (B)
3 The Bigger They Are... (B)
3 Battlefield Report (B)
3 Handheld Blaster (B)(B)
3 Smoke Cloak (B)(Blk)
3 Noble's Blaster (B)(G)
3 Armed Hovercraft (B)
2 Piercing Blaster (W)
3 Field Communicator (W)
3 Reinforced Plating (B)
37
Sideboard
Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend (13*) / Omega Supreme -- Autobot Defense Base (19*)
3 Infiltrate (B)
3 Dampening Field (W)
2 Hiding Spot (Blk)
2 Enemy Combat Analysis (G)
This is what, I think, an average Aerialbot list is going to look like. At least, this is what I would play if I were going to make the trip to GenCon. You might want to put a few more black pips in there to start with, such as Hiding Spot to effectively force your opponent to attack Skydive as much as possible, but generally speaking this is what an average list will look like in many cases with the only exception being a few cards in the sideboard.
Before we get into that, let's dive into the main list. Basically, you already play quite a few cards that give you Pierce in the first place. Playing a few black pips will help maximize the amount of Pierce you can do without bogging down your flips with potentially bad defensive flips. This is why Smoke Cloak and Steady Shot are both so powerful. Not only do they allow you to play fairly solid cards during your turn with Steady Shot being the major player in that regard, but you will never be sad to see them flip given the fact that they have both a black pip for offense and a blue for defense. They are both very solid cards, and if you're playing Blue/Black you should definitely be playing them.
So, all that aside, the rest of the list is fairly average. The exception is that I put a few interesting cards in the sideboard for your consideration, including Infiltrate for the aggro matchups as well as Omega Supreme for everything else.
Optimus will likely be the general side-in for most cases, having incredible utility and power and will often just out-value your opponent especially with cards like Marksmanship, Steady Shot, Inferno Breath and more in your deck to help increase his damage even further than you already will be with a Noble's Blaster. Plus, in a defensive list, he'll be incredibly hard to take down, especially with Fireflight using Brave to keep the major heat off him. Fireflight is so good, in fact, that I included a character in the sideboard for you to consider just because of his versatility.
You see, Omega Supreme really likes it when his partner is attacked instead of him. Omega's HP isn't as large as Metroplex, but if you only take two at a time and your partner defends the rest of it, well, you'll be lasting a long time to make the most of your powerful offensive potential. Since Fireflight has Brave, you can put Reinforced Plating on him (as well as Enemy Combat Analysis if you're facing the mirror) and you can force your opponent to attack him, dealing minimal damage thanks to Fireflight's defensive upgrades, which you can then move off to Omega to make the both of them last.
Omega is a lot like starting the game with Superion in play. Sure, sometimes that's not for the best and you'd be missing out on the time and value that your other parts give you, but sometimes the matchup just requires it, especially against Mirror. I think that Omega is super underrated in this metagame, and I think that the slower the format gets, the more viable he becomes. In fact, you can even use UFO to get even more value out of him, but even
I think that might be a bit much, investment-wise.
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Forgotten, but not lost.
Speaking of underrated cards, I'd like to point out possibly the most underrated card out of Wave 1: Aerial Recon. Aerial Recon has been an absolute boon in my playtesting thanks to not only its scry effect, but its defensive boost on a
Utility. Sure, it's an orange pip and that makes me only a little sad, but when you consider the fact that you're going to be defending that much more damage on cards like Fireflight on a practically immovable Upgrade thanks to its Utility nature, Aerial Recon finds its value extremely quickly.
Plus, if you happen to swing for more Pierce than attack, it is always nice to flip one offensively to give yourself that extra oomph to get the job done. But that said, it
is an orange pip which means that there's a pretty good chance that you'll flip it at the wrong time, potentially messing up your defense of a powerful attack. Think of it like playing a blank card in your deck, of which this plays none. You can use Aerial Recon to powerfully boost your defensive stats, and when you get to keep it, you get to put it on Superion to boost his stats even more than your Armor already is.
If you're playing Aerialbots, try this card out. You won't regret it.
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The meta has certainly slowed thanks to the introduction of the black pip with Siege, but I'd like to point out that it hasn't slowed down to a
crawl, at least not yet. With the introduction of Siege, the "old guard" of Insecticons and Cars can certainly look different in their updated forms. Will that updated form lead to wins against decks like Three Wide Primes and the new Shockwave deck that seems to be on the rise? Well, let's take a look at a list for each of them and see for ourselves:
Insecticons wrote:Barrage - Merciless Insecticon (7*)
Insecticon Skrapnel - Insecticon Leader (7*)
Kickback - Cunning Insecticon (6*)
Ransack - Insecticon Commando (6*)
2 Backup Plan (W)
2 Bashing Shield (O)(G)
3 Erratic Lightning (O)
2 Flamethrower (O)
3 Force Field (W)
3 Grenade Launcher (O)
3 I Still Function!
3 Improvised Shield (O)(O)
2 Mining Pick (O)
3 Peace Through Tyranny (O)
3 Power Punch (O)
3 Reckless Charge (O)
2 Static Laser of Ironhide (O)
3 Supercharge (O)
3 Swarm! (O)
Sideboard
Chop Shop - Sneaky Insecticon (6*)
3 Bad Attitude
3 Repair Bay (O)
2 Frag Toss (W)
2 Enforcement Batons (O)(G)
The Insecticon list hasn't changed much over the eons, but that's kind of the beauty of it. You see, when you have the massive amount of power that the Insecticons have, you don't really need to consider too much in terms of what to play outside of things that increase your damage. In fact, the mainboard for the Insecticons hasn't changed
at all from my Origins list. That said, however, with the advent of Acid Storm and Dampening Field being popular sideboards to counter the Insecticon playstyle, you need to play a few things to ease the burden.
For example, if you happen to face off against an Acid Storm or a W-5 deck, you would end up dropping the Flamethrower and either Supercharge or Bashing Shield for Frag Toss as well as adding the spicy Enforcement Batons. You see, Frag Toss gets you a nice bit of Action damage that can not only function as extra Swarms in your deck, but also functioning as another way to activate Barrage's robot mode effect. You play this especially over One Shall Stands because it isn't a blank card. I've spoken at length about how I dislike blank cards and how they can mostly hurt you in the long run, but thanks to the fact that Frag Toss has a white pip, you can play it without worrying too much about your deck's pip consistency.
Enforcement Batons, however, are certainly an interesting add-in even by my standards. Let's dive into why I love this highly underutilized card:
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"STOP RESISTING!"
The sticks of fury strike true! Yes, Enforcement Batons are actually a very, very good addition into sideboards going into GenCon. You see, as a whole, the metagame has slowed down thanks to better defensive cards. But in many cases, W-5 Blaster is honestly extremely powerful at not just stopping Bold effects, but also stopping Kickback from, well, existing. You see, when you have Kickback who flips cards to get his value, only flipping a certain amount of cards makes him ultimately worse.
That's why Enforcement Batons are so strong. You see, by using them as effectively a Bashing Shield for W-5s and Battle Masters like Nightstick, you're going to get an immense amount of value out of it. Plus, when it has outlived its usefulness, you aren't exactly losing anything offensively with the orange pip and +1 Attack. Of course, it isn't like you're
gaining anything offensively, either, but you're still getting rid of those pesky W-5 Blasters, Nightstick and even Ion Blaster of Optimus Prime.
Did I mention that it's a green pip so you can do this pretty much whenever you need to? Because it's a green pip that you can use pretty much whenever you need to.
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Cars wrote:Private Downshift -- Special Ops, Security Agent (8*)
Wheeljack -- Weapon Inventor (9*)
Prowl -- Military Strategist (6*)
23/25
2 Mounted Missiles (O)(O) (2*)
3 Confidence (O)
3 Supercharge (O)
3 Reckless Charge (O)
2 Press the Advantage (O)(G)
2 Start Your Engines (B)
2 Backup Plan (W)
3 Peace Through Tyranny (O)(O)
3 Grenade Launcher (O)
3 Erratic Lightning (O)
3 Power Punch (O)
3 Turbo Boosters (O)
3 Field Communicator (W)
2 Bashing Shield (O)(G)
Sideboard
Cliffjumper -- Renegade Warrior (8)
2 Heroic Team-Up (2*)
2 Enforcement Batons (O)(G)
1 Press the Advantage (O)(G)
3 Force Field (W)
2 Heat of Battle (W)
Cars is still a strong mid-range deck that features consistent damage output, though not quite as powerful as Insecticons in the raw damage department, that makes up for it with moderate defensive capabilities that translate into more attacks during the untap phase.
Sadly, the major cause for your defeats usually revolve around someone out DPS-ing you. In other words, you get one-hit on the first turn of the game by an Insecticon and you end up losing the aggression battle. It's why Cars has always had an awful matchup against Insecticons and other, similarly aggressive decks.
That's where Downshift comes in. The Omnibot may be part of the Comic Con booster pack, and without his two compatriots he may seem under-powered, but the simple fact that he can attach a free Weapon to himself on the first turn of the game, then give himself Bold 1 is frankly ridiculous value, especially on the first turn of the game.
Let's dive into that for a little bit:
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Upshift, amiright?
Before the game starts, you can attach a Grenade Launcher to Downshift, giving him 8 Attack with Bold 1 on the first turn of the game. Something is going to die, especially against things like Lionizer, Insecticons and Aerialbots where the average HP is usually low.
The thing you need to consider, though, is that with your newfound power, you also have a lower Star Count which you can increase your deck power with. Mounted Missiles not only help you increase your pip strength, but they also increase your Weapon count to make the turn one play that much easier. Even better, you increase your potential damage by attaching it to Downshift's Utility slot, opening up your weapon slot for an even more powerful weapon.
But that's not all! You see, Downshift also happens to be a Car that Upgrades itself, making Wheeljack incredibly happy in that you can use Downshift to Upgrade himself, draw a card and then potentially discard a Weapon to not only buff Downshift but also activate Wheeljack's Robot Mode ability at the same time.
If you managed to get a Comic Con pack, you need to try this combo. Sure, he doesn't do as much damage as Bumblebee in the mid-game, and he lacks the draw power of Bumblebee, but his early game potential has the ability to completely annihilate a character before your opponent even gets to use them.
I absolutely adore Downshift in Cars for that reason, and you should too. Sure, yes, it is part of the Comic Con Pack and that makes it exclusive, but the point is, there are way more uses for the Omnibots than just their own composition.
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CONCLUSION
GenCon starts on the 1st of August, and with it comes a new metagame. With the powerful additions of black pips, Omnibots and even the Cassettes, the meta is growing steadily, but that's not all. The meta is also steadily
refining itself. This is where rogue decks can finally make purchase.
With a large card pool and more refined field, rogue decks or rogue derivatives of meta decks can shift the matchups that their derivatives normally had. That combined with the sideboard can create a vastly more creative metagame, and one that I can barely contain my excitement for.
I cannot wait to see what comes out of GenCon. With the meta slowing down slightly, you can play different, less conventional lists. In fact, I'd be interested to see if Dreadwing or even Black Constructicons make a showing, but that's probably just wishful thinking.
Sadly, I decided not to attend GenCon this year. I already have my invite to the Energon Invitational, and aside from clout and maybe a bit of money if I do well enough, there isn't too much reason to "grinch" people out of their invite. You'll just have to manage without my ugly mug this time around!
What do you think will be at GenCon this year? What kind of decks will make the best showing? Are you considering other decks with single Omnibots or do you think that they can only be viable as the full squad? Let me know in the comments below, and I will see you next time!
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