Pro Tour Singapore is something that we're deeply anticipating. That said, there has been Bucharest as well as Battle Hardened Kuala Lumpur to offer us some high level results.
Battle Hardened Kuala Lumpur Top 8 Decks
While Bucharest was historic for its own reason, Kuala Lumpur offered a much more eclectic Top 8 than the other Battle Hardened in the same weekend. Many players in the area for Pro Tour could have very easily taken the 8 hour drive southeast to make this event too, and its indicative of the fan favourite names there in these results.
The Top 8 featured Arakni, 5L!p3d 7hRu 7h3 cR4X, Arakni, Marionette, Azalea, Ace in the Hole, Cindra, Dracai of Retribution, Dash I/O, Florian, Rotwood Harbinger, and 2 Gravy Bones, Shipwrecked Looter.
5th Place
Azalea
While Azalea took the title in Bucharest, this version piloted by Fee Sen Sei made it to Top 8.
This version is surprisingly defensive with Take Cover being borrowed from Marlynn, as well as the now expected Riptide tech in Tarpit Trap, as well as respecting arcane damage with Spell Fray Cloak.
The rest of the deck looks deeply consistent with what we come to know from Azalea. That's the last we can expect to ever see from the Ranger, gone but never forgotten.
Mario
Jonas Benzarti decided that there's somewhat enough of an upside to consider playing the Daggers matter version of the other legal, relevant Assassin in the format.
Utilising Snapdragon Scalers as they've somewhat missed the tech that Starting Point can provide. In this deck, we're seeing a reasonable package of traps to enable Arakni, Trapdoor and Under the Trap-Door. The rest of the deck looks very reminiscent of the Daggers build we can expect from Mario, with the welcome inclusion of the new Undercover Acquisition.
Florian
Florian went from king of the metagame to meta irrelevance very quickly. Ojus Sharma's version is employing some very interesting tech to mitigate that matchup.
Overload; a card that has been inarguably irrelevant since it printed in Monarch is particularly potent in this version, as it can keep the chain going by clearing allies with impunity. In fact, with copies of Swarming Gloomveil and Red and Blue Runerager Swarm, there is the option for very consistent aggression. We also get a great deal of aggression thanks to Channel Mount Heroic, and Smashing Good Time.
Crown of Dichotomy pulling the arcane barrier duty with Dyadic Carapace. Amethyst Tiara is significantly less relevant since this is a meta too fast for the likes of Runechant stacking.
There
Gravy Bones
UK tournament grinder Jacob Clements is continuing to add to the conversation of how best to optimise Gravy Bones.
With 16 ally cards, the averages are there, however it's evident that the higher Red count means that the thought of trying to rely on extenders to prevent fatigue and to present reasonable damage is part of the plan, unlike the first iterations of Necromancer playing a high number of Ally cards.
The one off Fiddler's Green stems the life pressure and can cover a breakpoint in a pinch.
The deck relies on its extenders. This version is on all 9 Golden Tipple, Red and Blue Saltwater Swell, and some number of Swiftwater Sloop, all rounded out with the Conqueror of the High Seas.
3rd Place
Dash I/O
Esmond Heng made the quarter finals on the other, other best aggro deck in the current High Seas Metagame.
One of the biggest upgrades Dash I/O received was borrowing some of Puffin's equipment. Cogwerx Tinker Rings offers more consistent block in the equipment. Previously, the deck had to rely on Adaptive Plating in the arms slot to cover up some defence if it Galvanised another Item card. While blocking 3 on a Blade Break Equipment is very strong, it comes at the downside of losing some of your best utility. Tinker Rings can just do it's due. Heng's list has the flexibility of playing both pieces to tailor the load out for the matchup.
The power of Dash comes from Spark of Genius which gives you the utility of finding a silver bullet item to hose the matchup. Null Time Zone to turn off a particular card; Signal Jammer to utterly hose Gravy Bones.
Slippy
The deck of the moment is in the quarter finals, with Slippy offering the disruption and aggression we are all used to.
With the mirror and Marionette matchups becoming more common, the one off Snag to turn off rival Bonds of Agony attacks is quite beneficial. They've ceded the Kano matchup by only registering Arcane Barrier 2.
Ji Timm Lee shares my deckbuilding perspective that has been seen in more and more Slippy decks. The removal of Savor Bloodshed has been surprising to some, but there are fewer ways to buff it compared to Mario or Fang. Despite this, the Mark payoffs return in Mark of the Black Widow.
Finalist
Cindra
The angry knives lady in the hands of Jason Chua gets the silver medal.
The deck has been moving to a distinctly more redline slant, with significantly fewer blues. Chua's list however makes room for Warmonger's Diplomacy to shore up the Azalea matchup (which is no longer a factor).
The lack of Throw Daggers is indicative of reliance less on Blood Splattered Vest. Pain in the Backside is also there to add the resources off Vest if you need to. It, plus the presence of Cut Through is a signal that Cindra deckbuilding is including a few more Generics, and shaving on copies of Oath of Loyalty.
Cindra will be a relevant force in this metagame as a straightforward and consistent aggro deck.
Winner
Gravy Bones
Calling Taipei winner Evan Tanguy brings Gravy Bones back to the top spot in Kuala Lumpur.
While many Gravy decks have been cutting copies of Give No Quarter, this version deck has been playing them, simply due to necessity for playing Wailer Humperdinck. Other than that, the inclusion of Fiddler's Green as a cheeky one of is too good to pass up.
With a respectable number of extenders in the form of Red and Blue Swells and Murderous Rabble, the deck plays on the right axis to send damage and develop zombies.
Wrap Up
Battle Hardened Kuala Lumpur has given us a welcome look at the current best decks in the game, and shows us how far they can go with the top prizes are on the line. We can expect the same heroes to be doing quite as well in Pro Tour Singapore.
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