Notes & Combos

Early M1 - Unchained Labrynth

Good chemistry and a few choice techs carried this run in a turnout that ultimately felt like a more polished finish than during 51 in March. A lot of the pillars that propped up this variant from last season remain intact: Namely The Fancy Ball x A Bao partnership is still a solid payoff and the underlying spokes related to that continue to benefit from a set of favorable tendencies in the metagame.

Additionally, the latest banlist has inspired more use of some different faces beyond the typical tier one suspects, and it's quickly become apparent this climb that a good chunk of that crowd has trouble against the roots of this deck. The way combo decks directly challenge the surface of the board will blatantly soak up a lot of attention from the power traps and floods here, but the methodical unraveling of resources that control builds thrive on isn't exactly the solution either, as Lab is fairly grindy itself to contest attrition wars. Opponents generally need at least two good answers that categorically solve different planes of the field to cleanly deal with the Rage / power traps setup, and that’s often a steeper ask for some of these tier two and lower matchups. After all, even the leading strategies can find it cumbersome at times to pull that off while remaining profitable.

And it's this type of positioning and greater dilemma that makes this list effective and enjoyable to operate. It also helps that it has a level of free flowing execution that allows a solid amount of skill expression; There were a bunch of moment to moment decisions that felt weighty when climbing with it, directly showcasing personality, and rewarding competence. That's always a good sign and place to be.