The final hours are ticking away. Several players have already hopped into cars, on buses, boarded trains, jotted their names onto ship manifests, or found some other reasonable way to travel to their closest Realm Championship. A few folks have their deck lists all typed up and solidified for submission on Saturday, while many more are pondering last minute changes and the final side board options that might deconstruct the newly forming constructed environment.

I have been in touch with all of my favorite card-flipping pros and spread the feelers of pre-tournament communication gathering out across the United States. Players from California, Indiana, Chicago, Texas, and about every state in the Northeast have exchanged deck lists and I have a pretty good idea of what many players are playing in the upcoming events. While my musings and thoughts are pure conjecture until that last deck list is registered, I like to imagine that I have a reasonable grip on the National metagame. However, there is such diversity in thought and play preference that picking the silver bullet deck to solve all problems seems rather unrealistic.

I have talked with players that love the favorites spawned in Europe including the discard Priest, the Traitor Warrior build, any number of Druid-based builds. There were decks that went undefeated in nearly every class. There was a new Shaman build, flanked by Warlocks, and some of the more usual suspects including Combat Rogue, the strike-out Warrior, and the other eventual Top 8 decks.

So far, I have probably just summarized what many players already know. The “take-away” message appears to be simple, you need to think globally and act regionally! There are going to be diverse builds representing every sort of new faction and class mixed in with traditional favorites and known power-house decks. Preparing for this event has proved a bit tricky because of the cool mix of balanced, powerful builds and the fact that most strong players are going to attempt innovation. You can only prepare for the decks that you know, that you have built, or can reasonably predict. That is where the Kingpin comes in.

Deck Type Spoilers 

Through tons of brainstorming and playtesting, I have compiled a collection of various lists that might guide you through your last minute deck changes. These lists might not be entirely comprehensive, but it is unlikely that one person could write about or predict every bomb card in the metagame. Let's dive in:

Top Known Decks in the Format

1. Discard Priest
2. Traitor Warrior
3. New Warlock
4. Druid (Snake Form)
5. Warrior Strike-out

Nothing really new here, but it is worth noting the leaders and making sure that you have game against each of the mentioned decks. While I have not had amazing results running a couple of these builds, I have found tremendous success with an adapted form of the discard Priest and that big ole Warrior. This list gives you the most controlling deck in the format (Warrior) and offers the most metagame warping deck (Priest), but ignores the fasted builds in the game. That leads us to the 500 pound Gorillas in the metagame.

Top Unspoken Decks in the Format

1. Token Druid/Gift of the Wild
2. Traitor Rogue with Gutshot (red or blue)
3. Traitor Mage
4. That Warlock Rush deck from Germany
5. Red Palladin

Mage? Yep, Mage. You have access to all sorts of negation including Fizzle which is really strong right now. Aside from that Tomb of Ice is one of those cards begging for abuse. Basically, you look through the list of busted or strong cards and extrapolate out potential threats. I always hate playing against the controlling ways of Palladin. They have new tricks and added support in the late game through cards like Rasfari Bloodfrenzy. I imagine they are going to post a good deal of victory in a number of Realms. They are just a code that players must crack.

The 2 nd place Warlock rush deck from Germany has gotten almost no print time. It was strong enough to house a couple of matches in the Top 8 and is a good deck. It will go missed and people will lose to it because it slid under the radar. The token Druid deck or the Shadow Priest deck is still the fastest deck in the environment. Rush decks are really powerful and always deserve a strong consideration. With Priest exerting such influence in the current metagame, the caster classes are looking to be abused by a solid weapon wielding build with a fiery jump-start.

Some players should consider facing decks that can pump out a powerful rush fueled on 4-5 resources. The Shaman deck from Germany might have some implementation issues, but there was a solid lesson to be learned from the list. You can win a ton of games by never dropping that 6 th resource. If you have not considered these decks, you might want to go back and think through these match-ups, the cards you opponent could pack, the set up and win conditions, and how you might overcome a different type of strategy.

Decks Waiting to Be Cracked

1. Enlightenment/Priest
2. Ripped Through the Portal
3. Survival Hunter
4. Boomkin
5. Gorebelly Combo

The last two options are sort of an uneasy joke. While they have already been popular, these classic builds have some new tricks for the metagame and might reemerge if players find the right new configuration for the build. Enlightenment is about a card away from being totally busted and players might consider the ill effects of marching into later turns with a Priest control deck with the discipline talent. Survival Hunter is on the edge and needs a certain type of metagame to capitalize on the new cards from the Servants of the Betrayer set. I think players are still not playing against and expecting Feign Death. In each event, people will lose games because they did not set a resource or missed out on the opportunity to build up their board before a turn ending Feign hits the board. Further, many players have been sucked into the notion that a Ripped Through the Portal deck could stand a chance in the current metagame. While the build is tough to execute, there is likely a sideboard strategy or some sort of main deck nightmare creeping out there somewhere.

New Cards that are Shaping the Constructed World

If you are not a huge deck-by-deck analyst, then you might fall in the camp of card evaluation critic or strategic theorist. Rather than understanding the perfect move in each deck, you might choose to think more globally in an attempt to grasp the general nature of the match-up. Some players key in on strategies against certain archetypes. I like to ponder the age-old quandary: “Who is the beat down?” To understand the answer to these questions, you will need to understand the tempo of your opponent's deck and the game breaking cards in the environment that might allow you to switch gears.

For example, Deafening Shout might put your rush deck on the defensive. If you are playing in a rush mirror match, the player drawing the most threats might begin as the offensive player, but may be forced to shift gears as back-to-back Tatulla the Reclaimers hit the field. These are the major cards shaping the metagame. You need to understand how they work and what they mean in your specific match-ups.

1. Tatulla the Reclaimer
2. Natural Order
3. Perdition's Blade
4. Vexmaster Nar'jo
5. Viodfire Wand
6. Doshura Risestrider
7. Rasfari Bloodfrenzy
8. Orders from Lady Vashj
9. Bringer of Death
10. Myriam Starcaller

A wise player would study and understand the impact that each of these cards has on tempo and the ability to steal the “lead” away from an opposing player. Some cards swing board position, others limit opponent's ability to draw or produce draw, while others just own face when unanswered. Each card forms a cornerstone for certain decks in the environment and should be considered when making plays against your opponent.

While there are certainly more influential cards, players might consider understanding these keystone cards and trying to build decks that nearly totally ignore, counter, or actually benefit from their prevalence. For example, I love when a player clears my board with Bringer of Death when I have carefully set up a swing with the Felsteel Reaper on the following turn. If players are going to play tons of draw quest or quests that attack quests, then you might try to run cards that burn your opponent for each of these quests they are unable to resolve. If you know you opponents are going to prepare for the environment with lots of Tatulla and answer-type cards for abilities and weapons, then run strategies that don't rely on ongoings or weapons for damage. You get the point. Counter the counters and find your original ways to win. Most of the Realm Champions will find ways to outplay and outthink traditional cards and the most popular strategies.

Jeremy Blair announces the formation of a new league of super card flippers. Team Alternate Win Condition and Team MVP have joined ranks to form Team East Coast (TEC). The Kingpin joins the ranks of Bodimer, Durkin, Landis, Caton, and all the TAWC all-stars in hopes of taking down the Realms, National, and World Championship. Thought, opinions, and questions to Tampakingpin@yahoo.com.