by Patrick Yapjoco
It’s that time of year again! U.S. Nationals is upon us and I’m here to take a look at the expected metagame. There should be some shake ups as the new Black Panther and Illuminati set will be legal for the first time, and with barely enough time to get any practice in with the new set, it’s sure to be an interesting format with players trying out new archetypes, or tuning older archetypes. Either way, it should be very exciting! Let’s get to it!
Build-Your-Own-Cosmic
We begin with the most obvious choice. Not only has Cosmic Themed Teams been dominating the meta for a while now, it even gets new toys 
from the Black Panther set in the form of the new Elders of the Universe figures (among others). The tried and true versions run Uni-Mind or Cosmic Black Panther. Your basic build is choose a tentpole and add a support/secondary attacker/ID battery. Then add Retaliators. Top it off with Special Objects and ID Cards, then garnish with Special Terrain/Location Bonus (if desired). These are pretty cut and dry, with the support pieces being Lockjaw, Unseen, Starfox and the like. Retaliators are Groot, Flora Colossus, or Mangog. Other variations can go with Starro, Captain Marvel (ultra chase) or Starfox to fit more utility Cosmic pieces or to add more attackers like the new Starfire (Rebirth).
Black Panther brings in great pieces like Kobik (which might be the new breakout piece of the event), Thanos, and Elders of the Universe pieces like Collector (another candidate for breakout piece), Trader, and Voyager. A lot of the Elders can start the game with an Infinity Gem for only 5pts (worth the investment), which makes them even more attractive as options. Thanos and Challenger could be new tentpole archetypes in the format going forward.
Rise of Mysticals
Mystical teams have been up and down over an extended period of time, 
but it is definitely on the rise again. Recently, the metagame has shifted towards more Mystical teams with the addition of Daredevil (Earth X) to the format. Sheriff Strange has seen quite an uptick in play (even in multiples!), and might finally start living up to the hype. Tri-Sentinel adds a great Retaliator to the archetype, and older pieces like Green Lantern (Joker’s Wild) and even Jakeem might see play again (especially with new objects for Jakeem to play with). The Mystical keyword also provides some of the best support pieces in the format. There are multiple Zatannas and Ravens to choose from and Shredder Clone can fit in nicely with the Theme, too.
Avengers Assemble
We all know the basic Avengers team going into Nationals: Hawkeye, Starfox, Old Man Cap, Eric Masterson, a bunch of Giant-Girls, Exospex/Proxima Spear/ID Cards. Win Map. Profit. There really isn’t that much to say since this archetype has been talked about for months now. A variation of this (or a different Avengers archetype) uses pieces like Fast Forces Hulk and Captain America Resilient to get up close and get free attacks off. The Black Panther set adds even more goodness as chase Black Panther slots right into this Theme, and Medusa adds even more free attacks. The AIM Squad guys add even more support powers (Outwit, Perplex, Prob, Empower).
Alpha Strike
Speaking of free attacks, another major archetype are the alpha strike teams. This usually has Sam Cap on the team to go along with a great 
taxi like Overdrive or Phil Coulson to get up close and personal. Foot Soldiers (Boomerang) provide more free attacks to go along with the aforementioned Medusa, Fast Forces Hulk, Captain America, Resilient. Heck, we might even see a Crystal or two getting in on the Quake action!
The other version of the alpha strike (which is basically getting in a Turn 2 “kill”) is the dreaded Vulture prime combo. This aims to abuse Vulture’s trait where he gets to keep Charging at no cost as long as he KO’s a piece. This combos well with Octopus Arms and a lot of plus modifiers. This is more resilient than it looks as Vulture is only 60pt (with the Arms), so if he gets disrupted somehow, it isn’t the end of the world. There are usually at least 2 more attackers/ID batteries to contend with.
Undying/Point-Denial
Ah, a true Heroclix staple. It isn’t a tournament without this archetype. The main culprits here are HAHA Joker, Lockjaw, Iron Heart, Daredevil (Earth X), and Corrupt GCPD Cop. The plan is simple. Get lots of points while not giving up many (if not any!). Usually, the only way to score on these types of teams are the Retaliators or ID Card call-ins. These types of teams almost always go to time, with scores being very low. A form of this are the One-Man Armies, or OMAs. Instead of having many pieces on the board that don’t give up points, this just runs one figure and try to keep that from dying, which would deny almost all points (save for ID call-ins or destroying Special Objects). Uni-Mind and Goblin King fit the bill here.
Shredding
This is one of the last times we will see this archetype as they will be rotating out of the format come July 1st. This has been a staple for Modern for the last 2 years, and it is still very good. You basically run Mini Shredder and either Shredder Clone or Claw Shredder, and fill out with support (combination of taxi, Peace Machine, Sam Cap, etc.). The strategy is to just ping your opponents to death (with some ID call-ins sprinkled in for good measure). The Black Panther set brings us Black Widow prime, which is the perfect addition to the archetype as it is a way to get around that pesky Invincible!
Monster Mash
Lastly, we have Monsters. It has somewhat taken a back seat, but with more players testing out variations, it has come back onto the radar. The basic version is World Champion Tylor Spees’s Whales build (utilizing Mini Shredder with a lot of Colossals). Newer versions are trying Captain Venom, which has given the archetype a huge boost (they have Themed Team Prob now!. We also see pieces like Venom Spider-Man, Venom Hulk, and even Raven being tinkered with to see if there are any improvements to be made to the build. The basic strategy is to get up close, exchange some blows, then have your retaliators take over the game in subsequent turns).
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I’m sure there are more out there I didn’t touch on, but these are the archetypes I expect to see in higher numbers. X-Men and Gotham City are sure to show, too, among others. Either way, the format looks to be fun, and I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with! Until next time, when in doubt, Perplex the Attack!
