Season 5 Half-Season Report

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Greetings! With 3 Trials (and 1 Side Quest) completed, we have officially passed the halfway point for Season 5. Even if we stopped here, it would be considered a great season already, but luckily for everyone, there’s more to come! Here are some of the trends and insights of the season so far:

Attendance


This season has been great thus far in terms of attendance. We started out slow with only 11 because many had other obligations or were celebrating the FFXIV FanFest. However, the 2nd trial was bolstered by the SF community at their home store of Anime Imports and we saw a great turnout of 21 participants. We had not seen those numbers in over half a year and it was a welcomed surprise. We expected a bit of a drop-off by the 3rd event, but the Sacramento crew showed up to Galaxy and we had 25 players! This puts our grand total of unique participants to 35.

Parity

NorCal is a region in which our talent is top-heavy. The skill within the top 6-ish is quite staggering compared to the rest of the field. On top of that, the gap between the best 3 and the next best 3 is also quite large. In the past, it was not uncommon for each event and championship to be dominated by 1 or 2 individuals throughout the course of the whole season. But, through the first 3 events this season, we have had 3 different champions already, and we have 17 unique participants who have made top cuts so far. Whether it is participation, matchups, luck or the gap closing a bit, there has been more parity in the circuit.

Metagame

You've activated my trap card!

The first trial was dominated by Mono-colored decks. The top cut included: Mono Earth, Mono Water, Mono Wind, and Fire/Water Warrior of Light. The rest of the field was composed of Wind/Water, Mono Lightning and rogue decks. You can probably account for this breakdown because the new set had just released so people wanted to play consistent decks and also try Yuri, which was touted as one of the strongest cards released in Opus 7.

No EX.

The second trial’s top cut consisted of: Mono Water Fusoya, Mono Earth x2, Earth/Wind, Mono Fire Aggro, Ice/Water Fusoya, Earth/Wind Golbez, and Earth EX Aggro. The rest of the field included: Wind/Water, Fire/Ice Aggro, Scions, Mono Wind, Water, Chocobos, Knights, and other rogue decks. What does this show us? It’s a story of 3 styles. One is slower control decks (Mono Earth, Earth/Wind) much like the ones seen in the first trial; a safe choice because it was proven effective. The answer to that was Water-based Fusoya strategies which generally have good matchups against those slower Earth decks by winning with efficiency, board swarms, and draw advantage. The third thing we see is aggressive decks (Earth EX, Fire, Golbez). These are generally favored against Water and Fusoya decks. They can also have great win rates against the slow Earth decks if they can get under them fast enough. However, the Earth decks have anti-aggro tools and are able to stabilize which can turn it back into the control decks’ favors. 

Can't bubble on tiebreakers if you don't lose!

The third trial seemed to follow a similar trend to the second trial. The top cut consisted of: Mono Water Fusoya, Fire/Ice Aggro, Wind/Water x2, Earth EX,  Earth/Wind, Dawn Warriors Aggro, and Mono Lightning. The rest of the field was a mixed bag, but consisted of many aggressive decks such as: Strongest Sword, Mono Fire, and All EX’s.  People adopted aggro decks for this event, probably because of their effectiveness in the last event and in the meta as a whole. They are usually easier to pilot, have great Swiss records, and are satisfying to play, so it is no surprise that almost half of the field showed up with them. However, the more consistent decks continue to prevail and we see similar trends to other regions with Mono Water Fusoya, Water/Wind, and Earth/Wind being great choices.

Element distribution through 3 Trials


Similar to other regions, Water Fusoya, Earth/Wind, and Water/Wind consistently make the Top Cut.
NorCal has also favored Mono Earth and the Earth EX aggro deck.

Quite the variety!
Many different decks makes for a fun and interesting meta.

Players to Watch

Frontrunners


Milo has been on a hot streak. In the two events that he has attended, he has gone 9-1 in Swiss and finished as the first seed in both events. He has piloted Mono Water Fusoya in both events as well and it has proven to be a solid choice. Fusoya decks can generally be tough to make top cuts because you deal yourself damage and hurt your tiebreakers, but there’s no problem if you just win.

Brian Ng is one of the stronger players in the area and is always a crowd favorite.  Brian has always been an Earth savant and so far has piloted a slower Mono Earth and a fast Earth Aggro deck, showing his versatility.  It’s no surprise that he is currently the points leader. He has a first place win along with a top cut appearance in his 2 attended events. His second tournament was ended by none other than the champion Milo, so look for Brian to get revenge. 

Not Done Yet

Jeff Milgore, Brian Gerbi, and Nghia have all done well in their limited appearances. Jeff finished first at Trial 2 and finished 10th with an X-2 record at Trial 3. He played Earth/Wind at both events. Brian Gerbi has only appeared at the first event with Mono Water, and finished in 2nd place. Nghia has also only appeared in one event, during which he piloted an aggressive Fire/Ice list and placed 2nd. Look for all of these players to make another splash!

Surging

Jonathan Bauer, Phillip, and John Whitney all had rough starts to the season. They didn’t do well at the first event, but Jonathan roared back with a 3rd place finish at the next event, while John Whitney narrowly missed top cut by going X-2 and placing 9th. In the third event, all three of these players made it into the top 8 and had strong performances. Jonathan has played Earth Prishe, Mono Earth, and finally Earth/Wind.  John Whitney played Fire/Water in his first event and has since played Wind/Water. Meanwhile, Phillip tried out some rogue decks, but has also settled on Wind/Water. 

On the Upswing

Clarmelia and Jared are quietly having a great seasons. They both have a top 4 appearance and an X-2 finish in their two tournaments. Clarmelia has adopted the aggressive strategy and has played Mono Fire in both events. Jared played Mono Wind in his first event and then went with his trademarked Earth/Wind Standard unit deck for Trial 3. Can they keep their hot streaks alive?

Almost There

Like many of the top cut participants, Helene has also gone X-2 in both tournament appearances. Sadly, tiebreakers did not go her way and she ended up missing top cuts both times. She has, however, gone positive in all her appearances. She has played Fire/Earth Krile in her first tournament and Earth EX Aggro in the second. Will she come out of her shell and have a breakthrough in the second half?

Wrap-Up

So there you have it! It’s been a very exciting season and we have seen diversity in two ways: both decks and players in top cuts. Will the trends we see continue in the second half of the season? Will a dark horse emerge and take over the leaderboard? Will the release of Opus 8 shake up the meta and standings? You’ll just have to come play at the next event to find out!


Come by for some Kupocakes!
Will there be more Final Fantasy themed baked goods...?

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