Into the Great Wide Open… Meta
Jango Fett has been suspended. Triple Dark Raid and DJ went as well. The impact on the Jump to Lightspeed meta was nearly instantaneous with a variety of decks that were non-existent prior to the suspensions making their way to top 8’s.
Nobody really knows what the best deck is at this point.
Quinlan Tarkintown is certainly a contender as he was the most successful deck that was not directly impacted by suspensions. Going by TCGPlayer prices and listings, community sentiment is leaning this way as well shown by the available stock promptly selling out and the new listings values jumping tremendously. (Most recent showcase price coverage here.) Quinlan being the front-runner doesn’t make him certain to take over a vast portion of the field in upcoming events. Prior to the suspensions it was common to hear “You need a deck that can beat Jango and Quinlan, or just play one of those”. Now that Jango is out of the picture, it is much easier to plan for only Quinlan.
The biggest event we’ve seen since the announcements on April 9th has been a massive showdown in Yerres, France. With 84 total players, the largest portion of the meta was Boba Fett JTL with 11 (13%) followed by Quinlan with 9 (11%). The bases were also pretty evenly spread with the top four being split nicely between the four main aspects with Tarkintown at 15, Yellow 30 pointers at 14, Energy Conversion Lab at 13, and Colossus at 13, with everything else below that.
The top eight cut was also extremely diverse. The only leader that showed up more than once was Emperor Palpatine and the two versions were playing different bases. Technically there were two Han leaders as well but one was Han SOR and the other Han SHD.
There have been a number of smaller events as well that have a similarly diverse spread. For example a 23 person event at RedCaps Corner in Philadelphia had a top 8 cut with all unique leaders.
What’s it all mean?
This is possibly the most diverse the meta has been since the release of Star Wars Unlimited. When Spark of the Rebellion dropped, there were only so many things you could do with the card pool limited to one set. When we moved into Shadows of the Galaxy, Boba Fett was the clear leader in terms of number played and top finishes which led to his suspension. Twilight of the Republic and the very beginning of Jump to Lightspeed saw Jango Fett take over as he became equally oppressive in the format.
Now? Quinlan won’t just suddenly fill the void and takeover as the automatic best deck in the format. He’s good certainly and a top contender, but when everyone knows that going in that makes it even tougher for what is a powerful but also very fair deck.
There are so many additional options available. Sabine of varying colors has a spark again. New pilot leaders like Poe, Wedge, Kazuda and others can build Voltron units without worrying about the single targets being constantly exhausted. Other midrange and control decks will creep in as well. People are dabbling with fun out of the box decks like Clone Commander Cody Green, Yoda Endless Legions or Rey Colossus. There is a ton of deck building innovative space to play in now because Jango was so oppressive previously.
The game is suddenly super healthy and very diverse. Nothing feels like it’s out of the realm of possibility now. The meta will of course settle down, as it always does. Until then, go nuts and rock what you want… Unless you are thinking about Finn.
Let us know what leaders you are excited to try!
