After redefining the meta last month, Treyst kept pace with Sigismar and Kojo in August for competitive wins. Players leaned toward Akesha as they rework their approach to Afanas following his errata in the Whispers from the Maze midseason patch.

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 continues our coverage of the WFM season, beginning May 30 to the present. In July’s snapshot, Treyst began a frantic rise, breaking Sigismar and Afanas’s hold on the meta for the first time since the release of Trial by Frost.

August hero distribution

1. Kojo ↗1
2. Sigismar ↘1
3. Treyst ↗2
4. Teija ↘1
5. Fen ↗1
6. Basira ↗1
7. Atsadi ↗2
8. Akesha ↗2

Kojo once again pulled the overall number of competitive decklists away from Sigismar, following the trading pattern that the two have maintained over June and July this season. Incredibly, a single deck separates the two this month, giving Kojo the slight edge this round. That “pairing” is one of several this month, as Treyst and Teija have a hair more than 10 decks between them. Fen and Basira have about 25 decklists bridging them, but Atsadi and Akesha have fewer than 10 in between them. There’s a fairly distinct step between each of the pairs, but at this point in the season, players aren’t making drastic changes in their competitive hero selections. Everyone has changed positions in August, but doing more than swapping with the hero in the next rank was difficult to do.

This month, Arjun once again joins Waru in the sub-1% category. It’s hard to tell what drove Arjun’s increase in July, but the previous trend since the release of TBF has been restored. Maybe Skybound Odyssey will give either hero something more to work with.

Season-to-date hero distribution

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

The last-minute jostling in distribution made almost no changes to the season-to-date hero distribution, as the top three heroes played have not shifted at all since WFM’s release in June. Here past the WFM midseason patch, Kojo is beginning to pull victories, but conversion rates for Treyst players are much higher, generally. Here again, fewer than 10 decklists total separate Kojo and Sigismar, but past those two there’s a steep drop of more than 3% to Teija in third. Together, they’ve actually gained more ground over the other heroes, now making up 27% of all decklists tracked by 39cards.com. If you played in a competitive event in August, more than a quarter of all your matches were led by one of those two heroes. Teija is the only other hero to have more than 10% distribution for the season, which she hits squarely. For the first time since June, Afanas has slipped by one rank (7%) to be supplanted by Fen (8%). His early-season gains were more than enough to keep him from backsliding too much, though.

While all six factions are represented in the Top 8, Bravos is still the only faction with all three heroes in the ranks. Yzmir dropped from 17% in July to 15%, and following Treyst’s rush, Axiom increased from 11% to 13%. Bravos is the only other faction to see an increase of even one percent, moving from 24% to 25%.

It’s interesting that despite excellent showings in World Championship Qualifiers generally, neither Basira (who took first in the European BGA Qualifier) nor Fen (who took first in the Americas BGA Qualifier) have seen the same meteoric rise that Treyst did immediately after his win at Lille. Fen climbed a little bit higher, but Basira actually lost ground. It’s difficult to say why the Axiom hero got more immediate support compared to those two, but it’s clear that players just aren’t as convinced that Basira is the right call or can’t figure out her playstyle.

Top cards

Axiom

Common

1. Frozen Delivery = / 6 months
2. Amelia Earhart ↗2
3. Kelon Elemental ↗2

Rare

1. Hooked = / 3 months
2. Axiom Salvager = / 2 months
3. Haven, Bravos Bastion / 2 months

Treyst players continue to fine-tune the hero’s options, changing up some of the most-seen commons. Frozen Delivery marked six months in the faction’s top ranks, holding its leading place from July. For the first time this season, Amelia Earhart and Kelon Elemental both pushed their way to second and third place, respectively.

Among the rares, Hooked doesn’t appear to be keen to go anywhere, still played at significantly higher rates than any other Axiom rare. Axiom Salvager and Haven, Bravos Bastion, also showed up to provide additional support for Treyst builds.

Bravos

Common

1. Haven Seiringar = / 6 months
2. Fire Rabbit = / 6 months
3. Talarian Skater = / 2 months

Rare

1. Tiny Jinn = / 6 months
2. The Hunger ↗2 ★
3. Haven, Bravos Bastion ↘1 / 2 months

Haven Seiringar and Fire Rabbit both celebrated six months in the faction’s top commons, and have been the top two faction commons for the entire WFM season. Talarian Skater further solidified her hold on third as a helpful support to at least two of the three Bravos heroes.

Tiny Jinn also reached six months as the top Bravos rare, played at near twice the rate of any other in the faction. For the first time this season, The Hunger made an appearance in the top three, pushing Haven and Mighty Jinn down a rank each. It’s interesting that the card is seeing a surge while Atsadi is foundering compared to the other two Bravos heroes, but The Hunger is making its case as a clean-up option for most any deck.

Lyra

Common

1. Hathor = / 6 months
2. Twinkle Twinkle = / 3 months
3. Anansi ↗1

Rare

1. Ouroboros Inkcaster ↗1 / 6 months
2. Magical Training ↘1 / 6 months
3. Aloe Vera = / 6 months

Hathor continued to hold court on the dance floor as she’s done at the top of Lyra’s commons for the last six months. Twinkle Twinkle kept its place from June, and Anansi told Martengale, “Off you go,” to retake his place in the top three. Even though no WFM cards have shown up in Lyra’s top commons, players are still fine-tuning strategies. The top WFM common in Lyra remains Lyra Contortionist, who keeps her place in seventh.

Lyra’s rares are another story. Ouroboros Inkcaster and Magical Training swapped places again just as they did in July. The list remains otherwise exactly the same as it has since the release of TBF. The top two continue to be played at much higher rates than anything else. The top WFM card in Lyra’s rares this month is Requiem in fourth, followed by Daedalus in fifth.

Muna

Common

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

Rare

1. Aloe Vera = / 6 months
2. Spindle Harvesters ↗2
3. The Spindle, Muna Bastion ↘1 / 3 months

If there’s something to be said for the struggling competitive Muna players in the WFM season, it’s that they’ve tried near everything to try to find a way forward (except partner with Rin or Arjun, largely, though that’s hardly to blame). While Floral Tent has held its place for the past six months, Muna Druid has had a shorter time among the top three. This month, Muna Caregiver came back to the top three commons after taking a month break in July over Dracaena. Requiem remained the top WFM common in Muna decks, staying in sixth where it’s been for the full season.

Aloe Vera celebrated six months in the top spot among rares, included almost as often as Floral Tent is among commons. It’s no surprise that rare Spindle Harvesters found their way back onto the rankings after they left them behind in July for much the same reason that The Spindle itself is likely losing stock: With The Hunger rising in play from both Bravos and Yzmir, it’s difficult to make the case for a permanent that is meant to feed characters turn over turn when they can be simply swept away regardless of their toughness. The top Muna rare from WFM this month is Talarian Skater in seventh, moving past Sap Duende in ninth for July.

Ordis

Common

1. License Withdrawal = / 3 months
2. Teamwork Training = / 6 months
3. Aegis Templar = / 2 months

Rare

1. Ordis Attorney = / 6 months
2. Ordis Trooper = / 3 months
3. Jack Frost = / 4 months

License Withdrawal has the distinction of being the only WFM card altogether that’s held the top position of any list for any faction for more than a single month, and has done so since the set’s release. As one of the most mana-efficient, versatile removal tools in the game, it’s an easy automatic inclusion for most any Ordis deck, regardless of hero. It pairs up well with the other most-mana-efficient removal in the game, Teamwork Training. Again this month, they’re played a near-parity, meaning that if you see one, odds are good the other is also in the decklist. Ordis is also again the only faction with more than one WFM card in its top three commons at all, as Aegis Templar seemed to like the position it took up in July.

Ordis’s rares are unchanged from June. The highest WFM rare seeing play in Ordis is Bumblebeet in sixth, surpassing last month’s Mesektet in ninth.

Yzmir

Common

1. Off You Go = / 6 months
2. Studious Disciple ↗4
3. Tooth Fairy = / 6 months

Rare

1. Baba Yaga ↗6
2. Beauty Sleep = / 4 months
3. The Hunger ★

Of all six factions, Yzmir was the most changed in August thanks to the WFM midseason patch that modified Afanas’ hero ability. While Afanas still got some play, Akesha took the lead more often than not. Off You Go held its place at the top of the commons where it’s stayed for the past six months. Studious Disciple bounced back up to second after taking July off, pushing Conjuring Seal down past Tooth Fairy, which has also been in the top three for the past half year.

Baba Yaga unseated Magical Training as the top Yzmir rare, coming back to the top ranks after being benched in July. She jumped fully six ranks to get back to its spot, surpassing Beauty Sleep. As a character much more in line with Akesha’s strategy, The Hunger jumped seven ranks to take the third most-included Yzmir rare.

Hero standings

In July, Treyst was the first hero to break the Sigismar/Afanas grip on competitive victories that had been ongoing since February. In August, Treyst has already given up that lead to share a three-way tie with Kojo and Sigismar. As it was last month, given the lower number of Treyst players compared to Kojo and Sigismar players, they’re seeing a huge return on conversion into wins. The three of them easily have more wins than the rest of the heroes this month combined. Even as Basira lagged behind in distribution, she and Fen shared second place. Akesha held third on her own, the only Yzmir to pull first-place at all this month. For as many players as ran with Teija this month (and all season), she and Rin each managed a single win.

It’s interesting that while several of the heroes who have seen success in the World Championship Qualifiers have continued that path in other competitive events (like Treyst and Kojo), others continue to struggle to get players behind them (such as Basira and to a lesser extent, Fen). It’s possible that competitors have mostly locked into their favored decks for the season, especially with the Finals coming and the remaining Qualifiers on the way.

This month’s victories are a sharp contrast to the last few months, which have seen a much more varied spread of wins. In July, 14 of the 18 heroes pulled at least one first-place victory. This month, that field narrowed to eight winning heroes, total. If it weren’t for Treyst’s rise, Axiom would’ve missed out altogether.

Sigismar was the most common hero to see in second and third place for the month. Fen showed up most in fourth, while Kojo most often took fifth. Even though Sigismar isn’t the dominant figure he cut over the last season, the Ordis kit is extremely efficient, effective and straightforward in strategy. If he isn’t winning the tournament, he’s still applying solid pressure throughout the ranks.

Season-to-date first-place victories by hero

1. Sigismar =
2. Treyst =
3. Kojo ↗1
4. Afanas ↘1
5. Fen ↗1 / Teija ↘1
6. Basira ↗2
7. Nevenka ↘2
8. Atsadi ↘1 / Akesha =
9. Lindiwe ↘2
10. Sierra ↘2 / Rin ↘1
11. Subhash / Waru ↘2 / Gulrang ↘2

August saw Sigismar finding his footing again to keep up with Treyst’s quick ascent matching win for win. That reaction kept the Ordis hero in the lead for the season, but only by a handful of wins. If two events this month had gone another way, Treyst would be at the top of the season’s leaderboard right now. The narrowing field of victories also gave a few heroes a much more firm hold on their place for the season while ushering others down toward the lower end of the range. Even though there’s only one rank between them, there’s quite a gap between Treyst and Kojo, who is near-tied with Afanas for the season. Almost half of Kojo’s wins for the whole season happened this month.

With the remaining Qualifiers landing throughout September, it’s possible that we’ll see a shift yet before SKY brings not just new cards but new heroes into the mix, with its prerelease beginning Sept. 26.

Read more

• Skybound Odyssey card reveal: Welcome to a druid who was a long time coming
• New mechanics, cards and design shared for Skybound Odyssey
• Treyst takes the win at Montreal World Championship Qualifier