Game Design Reacts: UK Pro Hero Nationals

Another weekend, another Nationals, this time in the UK! I took some time to ask around the office to get reactions from Game Design on the big event, and here’s what folks had to say:

Tim Frie, Rules Manager

European Nationals are over with a fantastic event held by Patriot Games in Sheffield, England. By all accounts, events across all 3 days were fun and engaging, and I’m happy to hear about a lot of my friends from across the pond showing up to throw down! Some of the players I was excited to see break into Top 16 or deeper include Philip Chybiorz (2022 HLC Runner Up), Mike “Mr. Apples” Hardiman, The Dabi Guy himself Brett Pendragon, bearded card trader John Paul Golightly, as well as former UK Singles and Teams champ Grant Padley. Of course there were more excellent players than these 4 in attendance, but these were some of the players I was doing my best to follow either on the official stream, or just checking in on the UGN standings throughout the mornings.

Beyond the top 16, which was a really strong group for this event, I would have loved to see the return of Michael Murry as a player, but he was too busy holding down the job of leading the judge staff to run a fine event. Nevertheless, while I couldn’t be there myself in person, it sure seemed like the event was a great one to rival any other major we’ve held in recent years.

Clint Badger, Game Designer

I love toolbox decks with lots of options, so I am such a sucker for this Eraser Head1 list that Liam Chawner & Mike Hardiman cooked up. It features a variety of actions, a strong defensive structure, and a sideboard filled with options for any matchup!

It makes me smile see a deck win while maindecking Nullify, as well as showcasing the versatile nature of the game by including so many 1x foundations. This deck is prepared for many situations, and the draw power afforded by Eraser Head1 helps you find what you need for when you will need it. When threatened with a long game to even out the matchup, this Eraser Head deck is prepared to fight back with potent Deadlock abilities on cards such as Plummeting Punch, Grasping Tape Toss, and Lessons From Taiyaki providing a clear path to victory when all else is lost. It can even use Lessons From Taiyaki to pick up the Plummeting Punch that is currently in the enhance step in order to replay it and access its strong Deadlock ability an additional time! I’m very happy to see a deck that respects Deadlock. (edited) 

Shane Duckworth, Game Designer

The more I look at Liam Chawner’s Eraser Head deck, the more impressed I get.  They chose to play 72 cards, filled with tons of options to cover their bases and combat a wide field.  There is a lot of attack diversity and plenty of foundation variety, especially in the defense department.  What I liked most was the 10 card sideboard featuring 9 different cards!

It is nice seeing the evolution of Philip Chybiorz’s Jiro deck from when he first showcased it at the 2022 Hero League Championship.  While the core of the deck remains the same, I very much enjoy the additions of “Spiral Wave” and “Nice Try!” from Set 5 Undaunted Raid.  I wonder what cards from Set 6 Jet Burn Philip will include if they decide to continue with the Jiro deck.  The space is incredibly tight at just 52 cards!

Jeremy Ray, Game Designer

Congratulations to our UK National Champion Liam Chawner playing Void Eraser Head 1! The metagame in the UK was mid-range and control heavy going into the top cuts and there was an incredible level of skill on display navigating these matchups. I thought the high level decision making was the defining feature of this top cut. Overhaul thriving is no shock, with a powerful value engine and incredible versatility, he is an obvious all-star of the format, but the original top tier control deck, Eraserhead 1 wasn’t ready to give up the crown just yet.

My favorite sub-plot of the weekend was the Void decks from Mike Hardiman, Brett Pendragon and our winner Liam all playing often neglected control pieces like Nullify and Can’t Escape Me to force their opponents in tough situations and denying crucial plays. Nullify proved to be an absolutely huge tool into the Overhaul decks in the field, blowing up his strong attack sequences with a well timed cancel.

Outside of the expected, the absolutely wonderful Chaos All Might 7 list from Alexander Nelson and Declan Savage’s Death Shigaraki 1 were both awesome to see. Watching Ball Might and the interesting ways he got to leverage the strengths of the Chaos symbol was just a good time. Shigaraki 1 has long been recognized as a potential high finisher and playing a board destruction heavy variant was an excellent meta read to pressure the Overhauls who rely on a strong resource base to make big plays. Matching into the Eraser Head was a tough draw for that deck in top cuts, but the meta choice was brilliant and I’m excited to see if anyone follows Declan’s lead.

With the first Pro Hero Nationals in the books, I’m excited to see how the other regions’ metagames shape up. Will other regions bring more aggressive metas to the forefront? Will we see a bigger lean into the strong control options available? Super excited to see the innovations people have been cooking up for their region’s Nationals.

Bill Stark, Director of Game Design

The thing that struck me most about the event was the difference in play preferences between North America and the EU. Matches were much likelier to go to time, with control players leaning into avoiding sideboarded games from more aggressive strategies and winning one game to take the match. Clever aggro players identified they could simply concede a game one in which they were significantly behind to get to sideboarded games they might have a bigger advantage in, and the Eraserhead list that won took advantage of the expected metagame and was rewarded handsomely for it. Definitely some interesting notes to take away for our Game Design meetings as we look at card designs that will hit the public in a year’s time.

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