Escape Land CCG Meta Game Analysis - Looking Ahead to Fabled Rare Tournament #3
As we've hit the middle of June, weeks after Fabled Rare Tournament #2 crowned 2Lainz as a two-time Escape Land CCG champion, the meta game is beginning to form, and new archetypes and strategies are on the rise trying to further build upon the newly built Fishpal empire and of course trying to counter the "boogeyman" of the current format - Dragon/Ghoulie Control.
In the finals of Tournament #2, we saw a Fishpal/Snuggler brew take the win off the backs of Kingjaw, Sneakfin, and well-timed Gigawhales. Second place was the new "boogeyman" in town that ended up going undefeated in Swiss. The two decks created a really interesting narrative to see play out - the KO Control strategy of Dragons/Ghoulies vs the Tempo Protection strategy of Fishpals/Snugglers. The tension between the two archetypes created an incredible final and still left a lot of room for further innovation to take place.
If there was a singular card from the first tournament that was given the highest amount of disrespect, it was Kingjaw. It took a little while for the community to draw the conclusion that Kingjaw truly is king. Only requiring you to link 2 Critters totaling 6EP, the Jaw gives you an 8EP body that on summon makes it so it can't leave play for an entire turn. This ability, especially with Necrostag being a pillar of the format, gives KO Control strategies absolute fits. That and once Kingjaw's 8EP stat line starts gaining chunks of points, it can be really hard to come back from if you don't have the tools to address it right away.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have those KO Control strategies that lean into Shadowflare & Necrostag for efficient removal with good math. They also have to be paired with some strong 7EP anchors like Deceptnut or Ghoulrex to provide bursts of EP to help get ahead and stay ahead. The biggest thing about those decks is that they're very much Legend reliant to get across the finish line. This means they are susceptible to decks that can pile up EP early and use powerful tempo altering effects like Bandles & Scorptide.
What is neat is that Kingjaw centric strategies are also weak to cards like Bandles & Scorptide, which means that Fishpals & Snugglers end up being a great set of traits to build with to address the current decks in the format. Currently, I am a huge fan of Dragons & Fishpals as an archetype due to the powerful suite of Monsters they have access to, along with the ability to facilitate a powerful Legend that is slowly making its way onto the scene - Coralyx.
Scorptide has already demonstrated its power, and with Coralyx doubling that effect, you're bound to absolute devastate your rival. Exhausting 2 Critters doesn't just take away their EP gain for a turn, it also prevents those Critters from being Linked to summon a Legend. When a Coralyx comes down, it has the ability to completely alter the tide of the game and the only real out to it is if your rival has a card like Slyscale to KO one of those exhausted Critters to then try and get some of those Escape Points back, or create an avenue to link into something else.
I am a huge fan of Dragons & Fishpals pulling this off largely due to the powerful combo of Shellfire and Rillix - two additional cards from the Splash & Burn Quick Escape Deck!
The other card I really enjoy building around in this environment is Slashmane - found in the Creep & Cuddle Quick Escape Deck!
Slashmane coming down and zeroing out two Critters is also incredibly powerful. What I like most about Slashmane is that he really rewards you for playing 0 Cost Critters, since his Link 3 cost doesn't specify an EP in order to pull it off. With this in mind, I am a huge fan of any strategy that leans into 9+ 0 cost Critters, or Critters that generate an Action Point back like Shellfire.
Overall, I think the Escape Land CCG meta game for Set 1 is in a good place! Deck building decisions are starting to matter even more and as player skill continues to rise from time invested, I am beyond excited to see how decks further develop and what tech cards we start to see! Right now, the sample size is still relatively small - since product isn't currently out there, but the players competing in these events continue to innovate and either bring fresh decks, or find creative ways to further iterate on some of the strongest strategies in the game!
Fabled Rare Tournament #3 is coming up on June 27th and will be held in the discord - be sure to signup if you're looking to hop in and compete to win the first-ever Fabled Rare Kingjaw ever printed! Here is a link to register: https://escape-land-promo.com/TournamentSignup