The Wisconsin Team Championship is coming up at the end of this week and it’s actually a fairly well-documented event (as opposed to Lock and Load). By documented, I mean the lists are all submitted and categorized to the point where we can get a fair cross-section of the North American meta. This’ll just be a quick breakdown of some common casters and themes to watch for in the future as things change and shift. Away we go!
Cygnar: Ding dong, the witch is dead? Despite Haley3 being the recent Cygnar boogeyman, she doesn’t appear at all in this setup. Don’t cheer so loud, though, because everyone remembered that Haley2 was good, just like she always was, especially against heavy armor. The most popular Cygnar list being Storm Division seems to be a nod to that (also that Storm Striders with Temporal Acceleration are stupid). Kara Sloan Heavy Metal seems to be a common backup list, with a few others bringing up the rear for a total of 5 casters and 3 themes comprising 8 lists. Everything old is good again, I guess.
Protectorate: 5 casters among 6 lists is good diversity, but I don’t think it’s a surprise to see Harbinger Faithful Masses as the most popular option and Guardians of the Temple as the only unused theme. Kreoss3, Reznik2, Sevvy1 and Amon make up the other casters, which is some good diversity. Looks like every Faithful Masses list has 2 kick monks and 2 Champions regardless of caster. Have a plan to deal with that if you’re planning vs. Protectorate. That said, I’ll not be surprised if Exemplar Interdiction gets more popular after the CID changes go live.
Khador: Kind of skewed based on the 3 player “project Khador” team, but 14 lists and 8 of them are being piloted by either Irusk2 (unsurprising, as he’s the best Legion of Steel caster and is capable in Armored Corps), Butcher1 and Vlad1. All the themes are in use, but Legion of Steel is easily the most popular while Jaws of the Wolf is the least. Lots to unpack here, but Irusk2, Iron Fangs, and Men-o-War (all with max Suppression Tankers) should be something to watch out for.
Cryx: What do we think is good? Well, most of the lists continue abusing Slayers with Denny2 and Gaspy3, but Gaspy2 makes a triumphant return in the same vein of Haley2’s “this was never bad” platform. Caster diversity is good, though it’s unsurprisingly the Cryx “top 7”, but only 3 themes (Black Industries, Slaughter Fleet, Dark Host). Those are the three themes that provide the most options with good models, so while I’m a bit surprised to see Scourge and Ghost Fleet absent completely, I can’t fault the choice.
Retribution: Only Kaelyssa, Issyria and Elara make appearances here, using every theme except Forges. I can’t really say much here that will stay relevant given the extensive Retribution CID, but those above-3 casters will stay competitively relevant throughout, I believe. Forges might return to use after the CID though, depending on how battle mages come out.
Mercs: 4 different lists with 4 different casters. It’s hard to pick up commonalities here besides “non-pirate mercs are good”. Poor Talion charter. Oh, and Nomads are good, easily the most popular model among the lists even with the Magnus2 skew.
Convergence: *404 Error*
Crucible Guard: The wild cards, and the selections that are restricted to released models. I’m not sure the entries consist of ideal lists (though I do think Syvestro is the most powerful caster in the Guard), but it’ll be interesting to track their competitive debut. I’m not sure Locke will see much play after the other Crucible casters are released though. At least, not in Crucible Guard.
Trollbloods: Madrak1’s position with Band of Heroes is secure, but coming up quickly behind is Grim1 Kriel Company War Wagon lists. Being on the receiving end of that before, it can jam you out pretty effectively if you’re not careful. Kolgrima and Borka2 are no surprise, although a Grim2 list does add a different twist to Kriel Company. Watch out for shooty Kriel Company as an option in the incoming future.
Circle Orboros: Bones of Orboros is king of the themes here, and the kings of Bones are Kruegar2 and Bridigus, with 5 other casters having a single representation and mostly running Devourer’s Host. We’ll see how the Circle CID shakes out later, but for now, come prepared to deal with Bones. Double Bones won’t be uncommon.
Legion: Lylith3 and Abby2 running Oracles. This is not representative. I mean, there’s no Primal Terrors. Ah well. Legion beasts are still okay I guess.
Skorne: Shockingly, only 3 turtles among 6 lists. Rasheth reigns as most popular, but 4 other casters are also there. Despite 2 Immortal Host lists, there’s no Zaal, but people have figured out that Xerxis1 is pretty good in that theme, so watch out. Winds of Death is the only unused theme, which perhaps indicates counter tech to Venators/Turtles is starting to change things. The proliferation of Haley2/Gaspy2 certainly supports this idea.
Minions: Maelok gators is good, minion beasts are good, and nobody uses pigs. Big surprise. The only thing I find mildly surprising is that Arkadius isn’t one of the WWFF casters, which means no Road Hogs. Still, if you’ve been paying attention to Minions at all, none of this comes as a shock.
Grymkin: Again, Dreamer and Heretic rule all the Dark Menagerie lists, with Old Witch running Bump for some mixing it up (and double Neighslayers give that list its hitting power). Again, not much surprise factor here, though there doesn’t need to be if no one’s figured out how to beat it yet.
Overall, an interesting cross-section of central North America. We do see some old favorites (in Circle especially), but some of the stuff coming out of Cygnar, Cryx, and other places do show us where the winds are blowing. Casters/lists that handle armor well are making a return, which is a logical response to a meta dominated by Slayers, Turtles and Grymkin heavies. As for me, I’m going to consider this on a future-forward basis as I refine for NOVA.
Making Cryx Great Again 