Treyst and Fen took a significant number of competitive play victories away from Sigismar and Kojo in November, despite the latter two continuing to hold a commanding lead in distribution. Fen’s accomplishment makes her the first Lyra hero to land in the top three winners for the month since the Blog began tracking data. With two months into the Skybound Odyssey competitive season, players particularly leaned into Bravos as a faction, including Sol and Halua.

This monthly snapshot is an effort to give players a high-level view of the trends going on in competitive play across the season, developed from stats and decklists from 39cards.com. These are unofficial details based on results reported to 39cards.com, and may not accurately reflect official standings reported to Equinox. These statistics, which include mainly online and some in-person events, only represent competitive play and shouldn’t be taken to inform trends for other modes of play. While some stats are shared directly, others are intentionally vague. These notes are meant to provide context around competitive recaps as well as spark ideas for new approaches and deckbuilding.

This snapshot begins our coverage of the SKY season, beginning Sept. 27. In October’s snapshot, Sigismar took back the lead at the start of the season, running first in hero distribution and first-place victories.

November hero distribution

1. Sigismar =
2. Kojo =
3. Basira ↗1
4. Treyst ↘1
5. Fen ↗1
6. Teija ↘1
7. Sierra =
8. Sol =

As we mentioned at the start of October’s snapshot, the new SKY heroes have fundamentally changed the math for distribution overall. Prior to the fourth set’s release, an even split across all heroes would give each about 5.5% of the distribution. Now that number is about 4.2% with 24 heroes. That number will change again with the launch of SEEDS, which will bring in an additional three heroes. Remember that shifts in distribution have more factors than just number of players choosing those heroes.

The top eight heroes remained the same as in October, with only some slight jostling in position for November. No hero changed their spot by more than one place in the top ranks. Sigismar and Kojo again held their top two roles, though the gap has again narrowed to about 0.6% between them (just barely less than two full Warus this month). As in previous months, past the two of them is a 2.92% drop in distribution to Basira in third place, who has basically exactly the same representation as both Treyst and Fen in November (one decklist separates their total distribution). Fen pushed past Teija to take fifth. Sierra held her place, showing that her jump up in October wasn’t a fluke. Sol continues to be the highest-ranking new hero, again keeping in place from the previous month.

Treyst is still slowed slightly from the effects of the SKY season patch, which took Bugfix out of his toolkit. The same patch restored Helping Hand to Yzmir, which at least for November, did not encourage more players to pick up the mages’ faction.

Overall, Bravos again had the vast majority of players backing them, actually increasing in November to 28%. If you played any competitive event in November, you played against a Bravos hero or Sigismar, specifically, about 40% of the time. Axiom, supported by both Treyst and Sierra, took second at near the same rate as October, at 18%. Lyra, Muna and Ordis are all within 1% of 14% on either side, and Yzmir sinks slightly to 10% overall from the previous month.

As more heroes are added to the roster, it’s gotten easier to join the sub-1% club, but it actually got a little smaller for the month. In October, it was Gulrang, Arjun and Waru. In November, it was just Zhen (0.78%) and Waru (0.36%).

Season-to-date hero distribution

1. Sigismar =
2. Kojo =
3. Treyst =
4. Basira =
5. Fen ↗1
6. Teija ↘1
7. Sierra =
8. Sol =

November is still early in the SKY season, and the small shifts in the Top 8 lineup for the month didn’t do much to change the season standings. Treyst is still in third place here, keeping a slight edge over the “third-place pack” that’s been developing. Even Fen and Teija swapping places is the result of fewer than 10 decklists’ difference. At least at this point in the season, players aren’t taking big swings.

Top cards

These card rankings are determined by total number of instances of a card across all tracked decks for a faction, as opposed to the percentage of decks that include a particular card. A “number of months” indicator means the number of consecutive months that a card has remained in the top three cards (since the Blog began tracking snapshots in March 2025), though not specifically at that rank. A star indicates the card’s first appearance in the top three spots of tracked decklists altogether. No duration mentioned and no star indicates that the card has been in the top three spots for fewer than two months, but has been included in one of those positions before.

Axiom

Common

1. Frozen Delivery = / 9 months
2. Restocking Station ↗1 / 2 months
3. Bug-Out Bag ↗2 ★

Rare

1. Hooked = / 6 months
2. Axiom Salvager = / 5 months
3. Dr. Frankenstein = / 2 months

Frozen Delivery held its spot as the most common Axiom common, kept since July (when The Grems briefly took it away). Restocking Station was the highest-ranking SKY commons among the set altogether, and it’s easy to see why, with such incredible payoff for a 1-mana card that can be refueled by Dr. Frankenstein or any Mechanical Training. Bug-Out Bag accomplished something that hasn’t often happened in the game’s history: It made its debut in the top faction cards in June as one of the top rares, but has now shown back up as one of the top commons.

Rare Hooked, Axiom Salvager and Dr. Frankenstein not only remain the top three Axiom rares, they haven’t changed places. The sudden appearance of the doctor (who was added to the watchlist in the SKY mid-season patch along with The Grems and Treyst, generally) in the top cards can be attributed to his usefulness with many of the new SKY landmarks, as well as versatility for both of the top-ranking faction heroes, Treyst and Sierra. The highest-placing SKY rare in Axiom is The Opera House, in 13th.

Bravos

Common

1. Haven Seiringar = / 9 months
2. Talarian Skater ↗1 / 5 months
3. Fire Rabbit ↘1 / 9 months

Rare

1. Tiny Jinn = / 9 months
2. The Hunger = / 4 months
3. Mighty Jinn ↗1

The top Bravos commons haven’t changed since the release of WFM, though the Talarian Skater and Fire Rabbit have swapped spots. As of the SKY mid-season patch, Haven Seiringar has been added to the watchlist for how he combos with rare Tiny Jinn. The top-ranking SKY common for Bravos was Tengu, which showed up in fourth.

Tiny Jinn (also added to the watchlist) remained the top-played Bravos rare altogether, showing up almost twice as often as the second-place card, The Hunger, and nearly three times more often than Mighty Jinn in third place (which outpaced Physical Training). The Hunger gained more decklist slots in November, increasing its overpowering presence in the faction. The top-ranking SKY rare for Bravos was Colorful Cuckoo, in fourth.

Lyra

Common

1. Twinkle Twinkle = / 6 months
2. Martengale ↗1 / 3 months
3. Hathor ↘1 / 9 months

Rare

1. Magical Training = / 9 months
2. Ouroboros Inkcaster = / 9 months
3. Sleight of Hand ↗1 ★

Lyra’s top commons remained stable, though Hathor has continued her slide down to third over the last few months. Martengale began to pull a little bit of a lead on Hathor, though neither of the other top two cards were runaway leaders. Lyra Signet was still the highest-placing SKY card in Lyra commons, moved up to fifth place this month.

Magical Training and the Ouroboros Inkcaster held their places after swapping in October. For the first time in almost nine months, Aloe Vera dropped out of the top rares altogether, with Sleight of Hand moving up to take its place. Similar to October, Parliament of Ashes was the highest-ranking SKY rare for Lyra, though it moved up to fifth place.

Muna

Common

1. Floral Tent = / 9 months
2. Muna Druid = / 6 months
3. Muna Caregiver ↗1

Rare

1. Aloe Vera = / 9 months
2. Lyra Festival = / 3 months
3. Sap Duende ↗2 ★

Muna’s top commons shifted only slightly in November, with Muna Caregiver pushing past Requiem again (though the number of cards between them were in the single-digits). The top Muna SKY common in October was Colorful Cuckoo at sixth.

Aloe Vera may have dropped out of favor in Lyra, but there’s no change in Muna there. Lyra Festival continued to make sense as Muna’s more standard builds around anchoring and sleep just don’t hold up to The Hunger. Sap Duende made its debut in the top three as Muna maintained a focus on just trying to add some cards to hand at the same rate as what they give up to opponents. All three of the top Muna rares (and Floral Tent in commons) draw or resupply. The top Muna SKY rare does neither, but Soar did still land in 11th place.

Ordis

Common

1. Aegis Templar ↗1 / 5 months
2. License Withdrawal ↘1 / 6 months
3. Teamwork Training = / 9 months

Rare

1. Ordis Attorney ↗1 / 7 months
2. Ordis Trooper ↘1 / 9 months
3. Jack Frost ↗1

Ordis’s top commons traded positions, but no new names have shown up in rotation yet. While Aegis Templar and License Withdrawal swapped places, there’s fewer that 10 cards between all three of the top Ordis commons: If you’re playing against an Ordis deck, expect to see all three of them. The Ascended Trooper was the faction’s top SKY common, in fifth.

Ordis Attorney again took the lead in top rares, having moved past Ordis Trooper. Jack Frost also replaced The Sandman after one month off. The top SKY rare for Ordis is Soar, also in fifth place.

Yzmir

Common

1. Off You Go = / 9 months
2. Studious Disciple ↗1 / 4 months
3. Tooth Fairy ↘1

Rare

1. Baba Yaga = / 4 months
2. Beauty Sleep = / 7 months
3. Suha, Qorgan Operative = / 2 months

Magical Training took a break in November, and as Akesha and Moyo hold the main focus for the faction, the cost reduction Studious Disciple provides comes in handy. Tooth Fairy stepped back to make more room. The highest Yzmir SKY common is Caladrius, which can be useful in handling the additional tokens showing up in the new set.

Baba Yaga and Beauty Sleep held their places among the rares. Suha has proved her usefulness beyond just a fluke at the start of the season. She’s also still the only rare from SKY that has shown up in the top three for any faction since the set’s release.

Hero standings

Despite Sigismar having distribution larger than full factions and Kojo being only a percent or so behind him, neither hero showed dominance competitively in November. Even without Bugfix, Treyst kept pace easily with them both, tying the Ordis hero for the top spot. After months of waiting offstage, Fen stepped out to take third, the first Lyra hero to reach the top three in the time that the Blog has been covering stats. In doing so, she managed another impressive achievement in making November the first month since July where Kojo hasn’t been in the top three. He’s just behind her in fourth, followed by Atsadi and then Basira, as the staggering Bravos distribution has to have payoff somewhere. Teija pulled a few victories, as did (Runefolk’s) Waru, incredibly. Looking at the distribution, the return on even those handful of wins is astonishing compared to almost any other hero; Waru was played fewer than 10 times total in the entire month of November, and two of those decklists brought back a crown. Comparatively, Sigismar’s return rate on wins to distribution was 3% in November. Another seven heroes led by Sierra took one victory each for the month.

Season-to-date first-place victories by hero

1. Treyst ↗1
2. Sigismar ↘1
3. Kojo ↘1
4. Basira ↘1
5. Atsadi = / Fen ↗2
6. Teija ↘1
7. Sierra ↘3
8. Waru ↘1

Treyst’s pressure was enough to take back the season lead from Sigismar, even by a narrow margin. The rest of the field started to spread out a bit more, with several ties from October being broken. Kojo might not have been in the top three for November alone, but he’s still in third for the season, again at the head of the original Bravos contingent with Basira and Atsadi. Fen made quick progress past several other heroes to tie in fifth, with both Teija slowing pace and Sierra tumbling back. I cannot believe I’m writing this, but Waru claimed enough wins in November to remain in the season’s current Top 8.

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