Another PPG webcam qualifier has passed us by and the perceived meta game continues to do some moving and shaking coming off of the Pro-Play Tour just last weekend.
Top 16 of the Pro-Play Tour – Invoker Winner
5x Dark Broly
4x Mecha Frieza
1x Reboot Gohan
1x Turles
1x Invoker
1x Launch
1x Syn Shenron
1x Red Broly
1x Clashku
The narrative of top 16 – with 5 copies of Dark Broly and 4 copies of Mecha it is very easy to tell that public enemy number 1 heading into the event was Red Broly. With these more mid-range decks making it into top 16, they fell prey to both ends of the spectrum – leader based aggro of Gohan and Turles, and of course Invoker being the overall winner in the finals.
Top 8 of the Webcam Qualifier – Red Broly Winner
2x Red Broly
2x Reboot Gohan
1x King Piccolo
1x Turles
1x Golden Frieza
1x Mecha Frieza
The narrative of top 8 – with 2 true mid-range strategies and the rest of cut being more aggro we are able to see that players this week were trying to punish Invoker, Mecha Frieza, and Dark Broly. With decks like Turles and Reboot Gohan punishing those three strategies, it left quite a large opening for Red Broly to reclaim the throne this week due to the fragile nature of Dormant decks. Another thing to keep in mind – look at these decks in top cut; the only one that is truly weak to Mechikabura is Red Broly. This is another reason why Dark Broly took a step back.
What I Would Have Played this Weekend
There have been so many builds of Dark Broly to come out over the past few weeks, and I have spent a ton of time in the lab myself – in preparation for the chains coming off (official today). In the case of this list there are a few main deck inclusions that stand out:
3x SS Bardock, the Tenacious – in a world of aggro decks, opposing mechikaburas trying to timewalk you, and having to worry about tech cards like Dark Banisher, Dark Masked King, etc. Tenacious is a brilliant way to answer them all and the card stays incredibly relevant in a ton of match-ups.
2x Super Kamehameha – This is a main deck concession to Toppo, Heroic Prospect, and anything else that costs 3 or less and could ruin our best turns. Additionally, this can serve as well timed removal against aggro as well.
The Board – Simple and On Purpose
Our sideboard plan is meant to give us more of an edge against Reboot Gohan while still having a ton of cards that hit a lot of match-ups without having to truly sacrifice our deck’s integrity – this is probably the most important part about side-boarding right now.
Reboot Gohan
Against Reboot Gohan our plan is to get our money out of the thiccest blocker in the game alongside Brainwashed and Kai SCR:
Turles
Similar plan for Reboot Gohan, but since the clock is not as fast we actually need to shift to more removal and add in Dark Powers to be able to punish the Crusher Corp.
Red Broly
Step 1: Dark Power Black Masked Saiyan
Step 2: Mechikabura
Step 3: SS Bardock, the Tenacious
Step 4: Mechikabura again or kill the batman
Blue Decks
We need to punish their counter game and then increase our removal potential. The only change occurs if they’re playing Obuni in game 1, then you may want to bring in Dark Power Black Masked Saiyans as well.
King Piccolo
Mechikabura is so bad in this matchup, so we instead opt for some Dark Powers and then sacrifice some 30ks in order to give us access to a board wipe to go along Tenacious in the main. We keep Super Kamehamehas in here in order to help combat Toppo, Righteous Aid.
Vegeks
Another case of Mechikabura being bad so we opt again for Dark Powers and then Secret Identity to go alongside our Tenacious D. Super Kamehameha gets to come out here since there are no viable targets, nor targets you really care about.
Invoker
Arguably our worst match-up, but also not expected to do well this weekend since it won last weekend. We know we have to be aggressive so we cut some defense in order to help counter their pile of negates.
The Format is an Onion – IT HAS LAYERS!!!
Red Broly
Syn Shenron
Mecha
Dark Broly
Reboot Gohan
Turles
Invoker
Vegeks/Gogeta Xeno
King Piccolo
and MORE!!!
A lot of the community has spent time trying to define this format and it has led to a ton of discussion. There are a few ways to try and simplify it, so let me give you some of the most high level views I have seen expressed so far:
Frisco’s Way – The Two Extremes and Nothing in the Middle Beats Both
Red Broly
Everything else
Invoker
The Triangle
Red Broly
Mecha
Dark Broly
The Spectrum
Hyper Aggro – A. Red Broly, B. King Piccolo, C. Vegeks, D. Gogeta Xeno
Dormant Decks – A. Reboot Gohan, B. Turles
Interactive – A. Dark Broly, B. Mecha, C. Launch
Control – A. Invoker, B. Syn Shenron
The way I tend to look at this format is more so on a spectrum for each of the decks that share a common thread and then rank them in order of what deck is the best option based on the previous week’s meta game. The information listed above is based off of the information from the Pro-Play Tour in preparation for the 1/31 webcam event.
Dormant and Invoker overperformed at the PPT which means that I want to be on Red Broly if I am aggressive to be able to punish Dormant. I also would want to be on Dark Broly if I am looking to be interactive since 30 bodies punish Dormant as well. Red Broly also gets the nod over Invoker, and Dark Broly just needs to be prepared for the match-up where as the other mid-range decks have no shot. On the other hand, if I wanted to play a Dormant deck I would opt for Reboot Gohan since the clock is much faster against the other 3 archetypes.
Let’s look again at the top 8 from this past weekend:
2x Red Broly
2x Reboot Gohan
1x King Piccolo
1x Turles
1x Golden Frieza
1x Mecha Frieza
How should this information impact the spectrum?
Red Broly still remains the best option because if aggro and Dormant show up, Broly is still the best option to combat both.
For Dormant based decks, if Red Broly is king – then I want to be on Reboot Gohan so I can fight in the phone booth with them.
Mecha and Dark Broly both get worked over by Reboot Gohan, Turles, and King Piccolo – it seems Launch has the best shot here.
For control, if Red Broly is option A, Reboot Gohan is option A, and Launch is option A – then I for sure want to be on Syn Shenron this week.
Conclusion
This format is absurdly good, and for the first time in a good while it feels like there is solid meta game churn on a weekly basis that allows for new decks to claim the top spot in their respective archetype. The challenge then becomes – are you willing to put in the work? If yes, you’ll be heavily rewarded with solid tournament performance. If no, then you will stay behind every single week. Reading formats isn’t easy, and trying to simplify them is such a difficult task and can often lead to mistakes in deck selection or preparation. My advice is to learn the potential of what each top deck can do going forward and learn how to break down the most important cards and interactions within the format. There is a huge reason why Mechikabura 2 drop went from being the best battle card in the game last weekend, to mediocre this week – things ALWAYS change, so be ready!
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