WIXOSS meta?

There exists a meta for nearly every competitive side of a card game, I have yet to see one without. Some with an unhealthy meta comprised of just a single dominating deck type, some with a healthy meta that includes different variety of deck types. While there definitely is a meta in WIXOSS as well, if you try asking the players which decks you should get to play competitively, more often than not you will get the following response

"Just play any LRIG you like"

What does it mean??? Isn't there a meta for this game? Yet you can choose any LRIG you want to play? In this article, we will look at just what exactly is WIXOSS meta like.

What is WIXOSS meta?

Rather than the self-referencing definition, meta in games are often used to refer to the environment of the game. Sometimes it is also used to refer to the most frequently used or topping decks. For WIXOSS, there are indeed some decks that are more popular and often seen topping frequently, which contradicts with the saying of playing any LRIG you like. To start off, the saying is not exactly accurate but very close to the truth. Almost every LRIG is actually playable (In both Key and All Star).

These so called meta decks in WIXOSS are actually more towards 'Being easy to use' or adaptive, hence their popularity. Unlike most card games where it is nearly impossible to topple these meta decks if you play anything else, meta decks in WIXOSS are actually winnable for most LRIG.

How is it possible? If it is played widely wouldn't it mean that it is actually good? If you have read my key selection guide, you would notice how I've talked about using ARTS and others to make up for the weakness of your deck. This is what makes nearly every LRIG in this game stand a chance to fight against their weakness: the accessibility to a wide pool of cards.

So what does it really mean? WIXOSS meta is actually adaptive!

Ever realize while looking through twitter for winning decklist that these so called meta decks will top for 1-2 weeks before being replaced by totally different decks? This is exactly what WIXOSS meta is like, it is not a fixed meta

but rather one that is constantly changing.

To further prove my point, we shall look at a few examples of such changing meta in the WIXOSS competitive scene.

LRIG Immunity Meta Shift

Think Aias was annoying enough? With the release of Unlimited Selector, both Tawil and Mama have access to a very strong level 4 SIGNI, Shemyaza and Einstein respectively. Those SIGNI managed to make Tawil and Mama relevant again with its LRIG immunity and ability to open holes.

This shift in meta pushed one of the previous meta deck, Hanare 5, out of the meta as it is very reliant on its LRIG exceed ability to defend and outlast the opponent.

In order to circumvent this, some Hanare players decided to run Carnival Key instead in order to make full use of their exceeds, giving them the choice to switch between LRIG defense and SIGNI defense (In the form of Jormugan). This helped Hanare fight such LRIG immunities, bringing her to an equal level against them.

Become You Meta Shift

When Unlimited Selector came out, many defensive decks started appearing. Some notable ones include Tawil, Nanashi and Carnival. To counter such decks, one particular aggressive deck started to surface once again: Become You Tama.

One particular weakness those defensive decks have is that they need to reach at least level 4 in order to set up their defenses. Because of that, Become You Tama aims to finish such decks before they reach 4 by using Become You to get to 4 first and board their killing field protected by Arcgain, thus causing a shift in the meta.

To counteract this, certain decks like Ril and Carnival started seeing Become You Techs as well in order to reach 4 first to access LRIG effects that cannot be stopped by Innocence. The requirement to sacrifice one defensive response slot for Become You in these decks can be seen as valuable since it helps them stop a currently prominent deck while they still have enough defense in the form of LRIG attack phase defense. 

As written in a previous article, controlling the speed of which you grow is extremely impactful in WIXOSS, it is no wonder Become You is one of the most popular ARTS in the meta currently. However its use its not limited to just countering Become You Tama decks.

Previously thought to be ineffective, recent Ril decks have begun to max out the number of Jeanne in their decks. By adding Naomasa into the deck now, the deck aims to quickly reach level 4 and board 3 Rise onto the Field in order to do multiple attacks using Naomasa and Jeanne while having Jeanne, the main source of the multiple attack to be ARTS immune. 

Since this meta favourite key is Carnival Key, the opponent may have to use multiple ARTS (even worse if his ARTS are mostly down) in order to bypass Jeanne's ARTS immunity. This may push the opponent into a situation where he either use Carnival Key's on trash effect or risk dying to multiple attacks. Gilgamej is a tech in case there is a need to clear field as well as having a secondary source of multi-attack if Naomasa was used to rise. 

As you can see, the use of Become You in Ril is just not limited to outgrow Tama but to increase her number of attacks and rush the opponent, depleting the opponent's response fast.

Nanashi Key Meta Shift

This changing meta is not only present in All Star, it is also present in Key Selection. One such instance was during the period after Full Scratch's release. 

During that period, Carnival was seen to be topping non-stop. One of the main factors that contributed to her consistent topping was Nanashi Key. It was an easy tempo swing against the opponent, easily clearing 2-3 SIGNI of the opponent's field on level 2 as most players boarded low power SIGNIs like 1000 power Level 1s and 3000 power Level 2s. This not only open up two SIGNI zone for the Carnival player, it also forces the opponent to defend early or face eating 2 life cloth, something which is very precious in Key Selection.

To counter Nanashi Key, every deck (including Carnival) switched to higher power base SIGNIs like Kamakura for Tama or Fiax for Ril order to preserve their field and force opponent to actually waste resource if they ever want to deal damage in. This change pushed Carnival down from dominating the meta and other decks started to see more tops.

WIXOSS CUP 2018 Meta Shift

With the release of Happy 5, Mugen decks started to see a rise in play during the WIXOSS CUP 2018 period. Since Mugen has 5 keys, the extra response Happy 5's encore brings about helped push Mugen to become more relevant in the meta. Due to the rise in Mugen, her natural counter Tama started to see more tops as Innocence greatly affects Mugen, forcing her to play her key's conservatively or risked wasting them due to Innocence. Even by playing conservatively, Innocence forces her LRIG level back to level 1 and limit 2, effectively making Innocence a defensive response against Mugen, stacking the odds against her.

Since there was a rise in the number of users that dropped Innocent Defense in favor for Happy 5, Guzuko decks started to see a rise in play and top. In the past, using Direct would be easily stopped by Innocent Defense, but with that gone, many players faced eating 3 damage just by a single LRIG attack, burning the amount of guards in their hand very fast.

Favourite LRIG meta

There's something I would like to talk about before we end this article and that is the Favourite LRIG meta. This type of meta are most often seen in locals outside of Japan where players only play 1 type of LRIG or some even more specific, 1 type of LRIG deck type. Contrary to the normal meta, this type of meta scene are usually stagnant. Although it makes playing in tournaments  rather casual, allowing one to freely play any LRIG, it is also very easy to analyze the meta, allowing one to build a deck to counter these expected match-ups and win.

Conclusion

So to sum it up, WIXOSS meta is ever-changing. In fact this can be seen very recently with how Nanashi 5 decks are starting to topped less in replacement with Ril 5 and Carnival MAIS. It may be seen as a bad thing as the meta isn't exactly set in place but it is actually good as it allows for many different LRIGs to have a chance and compete for the top.

Special thanks to Illumis for checking through the article, pointing out any mistakes I've made.

Hopefully this article gave you a better understanding of WIXOSS competitive side. With that see you next time!