Meta Snapshot Updates

This was week one of Planetary Qualifiers and we saw a wide diversity of winners from all over the world!

PQ Barcelona – Sabine ECL
PQ Tolouse – Qi’Ra Green
PQ Iowa – Han1 Yellow
PQ Wisconsin – Quinlan Tarkintown
PQ Nebraska – Cad Bane Blue
PQ North Dakota – Bossk Green
PQ Chicago – Quinlan ECL
PQ Vegas – Iden Blue**
PQ Torino, IT – Sabine ECL
PQ Osnabruck, DE – Han1 Yellow
PQ Sao Paulo – Palpatine1 Yellow
PQ Washington DC – Sabine ECL
PQ Vancouver – Sabine ECL

That’s no less than nine different decks taking down the biggest tournaments in SWU. As a result, we’re making six changes to our meta snapshot: one removal, four additions, and one, uh, public statement.

The first is removing Sabine/Yellow due to both its low play rate and underperformance at competitive events. Thus far, it has reached a PQ top 8 only once out of the dozen or so events that have taken place. It’s hard to see how this deck competes with the powerhouse that is Sabine/Green in the aggro category.

Second, we’re adding Cad Bane/Blue to the snapshot after it’s win at the Nebraska PQ. This build looks like a resurrection of the Boba/Blue archetype from Set 2 with a few sprinklings of Set 3 tech. There has been buzz around Thrawn in this color combo for a couple months now, but perhaps it’s not surprising that Cad broke the competitive barrier first.

Third, we’re adding a set 2 staple, Bossk/Green off its win at the North Dakota PQ. The story about this deck has long been that it’s too unreliable to win major tournaments. The volume of bounties required in the draw deck was simply too high to ensure a reliable draw. Well…. apparently not? It may play out that this was a fluke and won’t repeat, but for now, it’s hard to argue with the W.

Fourth, we’ve been remiss not having a Palpatine list on the snapshot for some time so today we’re adding the Palpatine/Yellow variant that won a PQ Sunday in Sao Paulo.

Most surprisingly, we’re adding Quinlan/Green back to the snapshot. A go-wide version of the deck- that was seemingly on no one’s radar- won the 114-person Chicago PQ. The winner of the event has already stated they’ll likely remove the Frontline Shuttle and add another Shoot First, but the list below is what won the event.

Finally, we are ceremoniously removing Iden Blue from the Snapshot.

Iden Blue won the large Las Vegas PQ. However, this is the first major tournament result in SWU history that we at the GarbageRollers feel is illegitimate. The accounts of the day and the player in question are stunning. If these allegations are true, it is a notable collapse of judging standards that the eventual winning player was not disqualified by the Head Judge.

With Iden Blue having been on the bubble of removal from this snapshot for a few weeks, we are moving forward with her removal as a token of solidarity with the many players in Vegas whose PQ was soured. We will not contribute to legitimizing this brand of play or endorse tournament results that do.

We are hopeful that appropriate corrective action will be taken.

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I encourage all our readers to also check out SWU Competitive Hub, which does a great job keeping up with tournament results!

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If you’re from the UK, Unlimited Power TCG does a good job keeping up with UK tournaments.

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Thanks for reading! Check out the full Meta Snapshot here. Any decks you’ve been enjoying that aren’t seeing enough love in the meta? Let us know!