[{"text":"Hello again everyone!&nbsp; &nbsp;We hope you're enjoying this season of DCDB, and we're glad to have you with us as we look forward to hosting more events in the coming months.&nbsp; With two tournaments in the books already this season, we wanted to look back and see if we can't find a few trends and see if there are other options worth exploring."},{"header":"leading main characters"},{"text":"We provide lots of statistics to help give players a snapshot of the DCDB metagame (you can find that data here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/chars\/ and here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/ratings\/), and currently we have the following snapshot of all MCs with 2.2 or greater average match points:"},{"image":[{"src":"cap400558capture.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"When looking at these MCs, let's try to find some trends among them that can be exploited.&nbsp; Of these MCs, Defense teams are certainly hot (taking the crown in North Carolina recently, you can read about that here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10872) but there are some other trends to notice as well:"},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Stargirl and White Lantern Deadman both involve discarding cards"},{"caption":"Donna Troy and Saint Walker both involve destroying cards"}]},{"header":"discarding cards"},{"double":[{"src":"sta15815stargirl.jpg"},{"src":"whi918408white-la.jpg"}]},{"text":"Knowing that two of the top performers revolve around discarding cards for good effect, we can browse through our MC repository (found here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.info\/) and see that Deadshot would be happy to sit at a table alongside these other fine MCs."},{"image":[{"src":"dea49445deadshot.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Deadshot really shines when you know at least one of your opponents will help you trigger him consistently.&nbsp; With Stargirl sitting at tier 1 you'll already know if at least one player at the table will be actively helping you out.&nbsp; Malkoir previously wrote about Deadshot (you can find his thoughts here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10813) and based on the current metagame, it might not be a bad time to pick up our old friend from Crisis 3."},{"spoiler":"Heavy"},{"text":"If you delve into the data, Deadshot himself sports quite a high average match points rating at the time of this writing (currently sitting at 3.5!), but is not yet rated due to a low game sample size.&nbsp; Ignoring that for a moment, we can see that all players from the most recent Championship and Tournament found themselves finishing in first or second place when piloting the Gun For Hire.&nbsp; Maybe those players are ahead of the curve, and we would be wise to follow suit!"},{"header":"destroying cards"},{"double":[{"src":"don239374donna-tr.jpg"},{"src":"sai610645saint-wa.jpg"}]},{"text":"Two other top performers revolve around Destroying cards, and another quick search of available MCs leads us to an old friend: Red Lantern Supergirl."},{"image":[{"src":"red36138red-lant.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Although we haven't seen our red-masked friend being heavily played in quite some time (she was last seen taking home a trophy here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10829), perhaps the destruction teams are once again popular enough to bring her back.&nbsp; You can read more about why she was so dominant at that event here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10836, but as anyone will tell you, she is quite powerful when you have reliable triggers from your opponents destroying cards.&nbsp; Players are commonly interested in picking up destruction cards anyway, so it might be time to give our red lantern ring wielder another chance."},{"header":"deck stacking"},{"text":"The last MC strategy I want to discuss today involves deck manipulation MCs.&nbsp; These MCs allow you to put cards on the top or bottom of your deck, providing players knowledge of where specific cards are in your deck at any given time.&nbsp; The following are among the most played of these MCs:"},{"double":[{"src":"aqu832132aquaman-.jpg"},{"src":"bla353296black-ma.jpg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"dea388306deadshot.jpg"},{"src":"sha11484shazam-m.jpg"}]},{"text":"A search for counterplay options for the above strategy yields us two choices that let us attack these strategies:"},{"double":[{"src":"ror296763rorschac.jpg"},{"src":"whi229663white-la.jpg"}]},{"text":"An astute Rorcshach player can have a good game when facing down an opposing Black Manta or Deadshot by tracking stacked cards (hint: it is best if you play immediately before the Deadshot player so they have the largest chance of having already used him by the time your turn comes around).&nbsp; Likewise WLDM will help you capitalize against all of the above, a strategy employed in the Kentucky Championship."},{"header":"closing thoughts"},{"text":"Counter-drafting has been a dominant strategy and helped propel several players to outstanding finishes. Even if there are a handful of MCs sitting at the top of the ratings, there are less-played options that can take advantage of the teams around you and give you a greater chance at winning.<br><br>Whatever your play style is, try to be open and flexible during the draft.  While there is some benefits to knowing a team inside and out, knowing when a good counter drafting scenario has presented itself has shown to pay great dividends. Perhaps it's time to dust off some of these niche MCs and let them bring you good fortune!"},{"header":"upcoming events"},{"text":"We will be streaming the tournament in Texas next weekend, so if you can't make it to the event you can join us via Twitch.  After that we plan on heading to Oklahoma next month for their Championship.&nbsp; You can check our schedule of events here, which is updated as we add new events: https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1t-PIDxIHCc2Fl82NoqKb4cDzTejicjAHKWgRdj9GVn4\/edit?usp=sharing.<br>"}]