With the USA Nationals upcoming I'd thought I'd give you some insight on what seems to be the meta here at Nationals - so we're not talking small-time Battle Roads here. The Dutch Nationals have proven to be very diverse in its meta, with several kinds of decks entering top cuts. Some things are very worthy of notice. Anyway, here's the list of the Top 16:
1. Flygon
2. Magnezone
3-4. Kingdra, Flygon
5-8. Flygon/Magnezone, Beedrill, Luxray/SP, Dialga/Palkia
9-16. Flygon, Flygon, Mother Gengar, Palkia/Dialga, Palkia/Dialga, Infernape e4, Blaziken, Machamp
Most notable:
~Flygon's dominance. Popping up in half the Top 4 (Flygon mirrormatch), most Flygons got eliminated by mirrors.
~Not a lot of SP. While SP is clearly around (2/8, 5/16), it hasn't been nearly as dominating as expected. Also most were focussed on Dialga and Palkia.
~Magnezone. One on his own, one with Flygon. Magnezone may just be the big sleeper hit of this format.
~Lack of GeChamp. Yes, GeChamp was played, but not in the top cut.
~General lack of Gengar and Machamp. Both were only once in the top, both lost to Flygon varieties.
~Beedrill not as big. Again, only once where 2 or 3 would be more in line with the BR results predictions.
~Kingdra. People expected that with Nidoqueen, it was dead. It still managed to reach Top 4 - but it was about the only Kingdra on the tournament.
~Fire decks. Infernape E4 and Blaziken both cracked T16 (Fell to Flygon and Kingdra, respectively) somewhat surprisingly. They seem to require quite some patience compared to certain other decks
Now there are also a bunch of predicted archetypes clearly absent. Some notes on if they were played are found here. Do note that I did not have a 100% view on the entire playing field.
~GeChamp. It was there, yes, but didn't topple 3-4. It doesn't seem to fare well against several of the top decks.
~Leafeon. Again, it was there, but the fact that there are decks that OHKO it seem to nail it, preventing it from healing.
~Gallade and pals. I haven't seen a single Gallade all day. How come? Perhaps Nidoqueen has something to do with it? It was a relatively common tech.
~Rampardos. He was completely absent.
~Machamp. He was around but didnt really get out of the 4-3 to 2-5 crowd. The only exception got nailed immediately in top cut, and entered afformentionned top cut only seeded 16th.
~If you have any questions about other archetypes, do not hestitate to ask.
Then there were some interesting other notes.
~Dusknoir DP. Still a fatal tech in any skilled player's hands. I know for sure the champion played it, as well as one player from the T16.
~Anti-Flygon cards. They just don't fly (pun intended). Its better to try and outspeed Flygon, that seems to work best.
~Nidoqueen. I touched upon it and yes, it's a lovely tech. However, it doesn't work against anything.
~Uxie vs. Claydol. Even SP seems to be swapping to more Claydol-based draw engines, with the odd Uxie left and right. Funny development.
~Any other things you wish to ask about? Do ask.
So yeah, that about sums it up. Use this at your own discretion in preparation for USA Nationals. Do note my info is not 100% accurate as I do not have access to decklists, only to "the buzz" and my own eyes.
1. Flygon
2. Magnezone
3-4. Kingdra, Flygon
5-8. Flygon/Magnezone, Beedrill, Luxray/SP, Dialga/Palkia
9-16. Flygon, Flygon, Mother Gengar, Palkia/Dialga, Palkia/Dialga, Infernape e4, Blaziken, Machamp
Most notable:
~Flygon's dominance. Popping up in half the Top 4 (Flygon mirrormatch), most Flygons got eliminated by mirrors.
~Not a lot of SP. While SP is clearly around (2/8, 5/16), it hasn't been nearly as dominating as expected. Also most were focussed on Dialga and Palkia.
~Magnezone. One on his own, one with Flygon. Magnezone may just be the big sleeper hit of this format.
~Lack of GeChamp. Yes, GeChamp was played, but not in the top cut.
~General lack of Gengar and Machamp. Both were only once in the top, both lost to Flygon varieties.
~Beedrill not as big. Again, only once where 2 or 3 would be more in line with the BR results predictions.
~Kingdra. People expected that with Nidoqueen, it was dead. It still managed to reach Top 4 - but it was about the only Kingdra on the tournament.
~Fire decks. Infernape E4 and Blaziken both cracked T16 (Fell to Flygon and Kingdra, respectively) somewhat surprisingly. They seem to require quite some patience compared to certain other decks
Now there are also a bunch of predicted archetypes clearly absent. Some notes on if they were played are found here. Do note that I did not have a 100% view on the entire playing field.
~GeChamp. It was there, yes, but didn't topple 3-4. It doesn't seem to fare well against several of the top decks.
~Leafeon. Again, it was there, but the fact that there are decks that OHKO it seem to nail it, preventing it from healing.
~Gallade and pals. I haven't seen a single Gallade all day. How come? Perhaps Nidoqueen has something to do with it? It was a relatively common tech.
~Rampardos. He was completely absent.
~Machamp. He was around but didnt really get out of the 4-3 to 2-5 crowd. The only exception got nailed immediately in top cut, and entered afformentionned top cut only seeded 16th.
~If you have any questions about other archetypes, do not hestitate to ask.
Then there were some interesting other notes.
~Dusknoir DP. Still a fatal tech in any skilled player's hands. I know for sure the champion played it, as well as one player from the T16.
~Anti-Flygon cards. They just don't fly (pun intended). Its better to try and outspeed Flygon, that seems to work best.
~Nidoqueen. I touched upon it and yes, it's a lovely tech. However, it doesn't work against anything.
~Uxie vs. Claydol. Even SP seems to be swapping to more Claydol-based draw engines, with the odd Uxie left and right. Funny development.
~Any other things you wish to ask about? Do ask.
So yeah, that about sums it up. Use this at your own discretion in preparation for USA Nationals. Do note my info is not 100% accurate as I do not have access to decklists, only to "the buzz" and my own eyes.
I went pure ape with some techs, if that answers your questions?