7 x Shapers (and 1 x RotomAppliance) make the cut at Midlands Regionals
Girls Girls Girls!
Midlands Regionals 2024 (Nottingham)
10th August 2024
Nottingham, UK
48 Players
7 rounds SSS, Cut to top-8 (single elim)
Players arriving at Nottingham’s Midlands Regional in the UK would have been understandably nervous. With several major tournament winners in attendance, alongside many more players whom you might expect to make the cut on any other weekend, the tournament was set to be one of the most competitive of the regionals calendar.
Shaper’s popularity continues to grow—the green faction made up a majority of the field (53%). The corp faction spread mirrored that of the previous regionals in Bristol, with HB (34%) and Weyland (30%) the most represented factions.
A quick glance at the ID breakdown also yields few surprises with the notable exception of 6 Akiko players, outnumbering both Hoshiko (4) and Arissana (4).
And it was those Akiko players that shocked spectators. By the end of swiss they boasted a 65% win rate, leading to 4 of the 6 Akiko players taking up half of the spots in the Cut.
The deck known as Girls—a creation of the QEH testing group, who were competing on home turf—makes use of Liberation’s central pressure tools (Burner, Eru, Pretty Mary), as well as Shaper’s revitalised Aesop’s engine, to punish Corps that are built to keep decks like Lat and Hoshiko out of the remote.Â
NBN once again failed to appear in the top cut with HB (5/8) clear favourites and even Thunderbolt claiming a spot.Â
Both HB and Shaper managed to significantly overperform when converting (31% and 28% against a baseline of 17%).
Ultimately it was an overseas player, our European Champion, piloting a customised Akiko and a familiar Sportsmetal deck—well placed in a meta where most players have cut their Miss Bones—that secured the top spot at the UK’s second regionals of the season.
Critics may murmur that the Akiko deck might just be better ported into Lat, but, with the current overall power level of Shaper being what it is, it appears that raw efficiency on your ID may just no longer be necessary.
The overall Corp win rate was an even 50% [79/157] in Swiss and a similar 57% [4/7] in the Top Cut.
Final Standings
jan tuno (QtM) - Sports [5-0-1] / Akiko [3-1-0]
AceEmpress (QEH) - Thunderbolt [2-2-0] / Akiko [4-1-0]
cableCarnage (Snare Bears) - Ob [3-0-1] / Kit [4-1-0]
Cobalt (QtM) - PD [5-1-0] / Arissana [2-1-0]
Sauc3 - Ob [3-0-0] / Lat [2-2-1]
RotomAppliance (Snare Bears) - PD [3-1-0] / Sable [2-1-1]
Hello (QEH) - RH [3-1-0] / Akiko [2-2-0]
Ams (QEH) - PD [1-3-0] Akiko [4-0-0]
24.08 (Aldershot) - Southeast Regional - SOLD OUT
07.09 (Ingliston) - Scotland Regional - TICKETS AVAILABLE
21.09 (Cambridge) - East Anglia Regional - TICKETS AVAILABLE
05.10 (Sheffield) - North Regional - TICKETS AVAILABLE
Raw tournament data analysis is available here
24.05 meta analysis is available here
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Great article! That runner top cut faction spread is wild
also ams is both QEH and QtM :)