Battle Hardened Minneapolis was a chance for players mid season to bring decks that were strong, but more niche to the forefront. The overall field was incredibly eclectic, and while the current best decks were at the top tables, they were not the ones that prevailed.
We are well into Pro Quest Singapore Season. It's already been deeply turbulent with the departure of Zen and Enigma and the likely departure of Aurora, Shooting Star. With these huge departures from the format and the advent of two new classes and three heroes from High Seas, players are willing to go to the fringes.
Battle Hardened Minneapolis Top 8 Decks
The top 8 decks, after 7 rounds of Swiss, were: Arakni, Marionette, Aurora, Shooting Star, Cindra, Dracai of Retribution, Fang, Dracai of Blades, two Florian, Rotwood Harbinger, Prism, Awakener of Sol, and Kassai of the Golden Sand.
This is the definition of eclectic. The field is so spread, with the only repeat deck being the one that many will be considering to be the strongest deck in the next format. Once Aurora leaves Classic Constructed, during the final weeks of Pro Quest Season, there will be a great stretch of time where players will be predicting what's coming, but will wait for the meta to shake drastically with High Seas.
As we see more cards for the new, pirate themed expansion, you can expect even more coverage about it right here on DotGG. Until then, let's see how well this spread of decks performed.
The 5th Placers
Florian
It's interesting to note the differences in win condition these two Florian lists presented. Arthur Reynold's build is largely built around trying to stack Runechants only. With the only weapon in his list being Scepter of Pain, he's also running cards like Runeblood Barrier to cover the aggressive decks like Aurora's multiple breakpoints, and Looming Doom to punish decks with only Arcane Barrier 1.
This style of Florian play has consistently proven to be the version the majority of players have converged on.
Aurora
It's one of the last times we're likely to see Aurora top a major event, and while her meta share is not dipping at the end of her Classic Constructed lifespan, her time in the sun very well may be.
The optimal deck for Aurora has been well explored at this point, and we can expect to see other lists like it having topped multiple Pro Quests across this season.
Tho Bui's version at this Battle Hardened features all pairing of Crown of Dominion and Aether Ironweave to properly the full Arc Lightning and Flicker Wisp combo.
Prism
Battle Hardened Minneapolis may be one of the last few times we see Prism make any results for a while. There are a great many, highly statted cards coming in High Seas, and their templating has them looking very midrange-y, with cards caring about pitching multiple Blues a turn.
In the meantime, Prism is a deck which can still pressure the other meta defining decks in both Verdance and Nuu, Alluring Desire whilst still having the tech necessary to challenge Florian.
Logan King's version below features the two separate game plans often seen in Prism, separated by their two different chest equipments. Empyrean Rapture has been a strong enabler of the Herald and Angel beatdown, which is strong against any deck with minimal poppers. Vestige of Sol is always on hand to offer extra resource to play multiple auras such as Genesis and Merciful Retribution.
The carry over of Pro Tour tech cards such as Herald of Tenacity in the Red attacks to pressure defensive decks, as well as Essence of Ancestry: Body to handle more aggressive decks, like Aurora, are all things which near carried this Prism to new heights.
Fang
Alex Tyler is a competitive player I've been keeping my eye on ever since he did miraculous things playing Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn at Battle Hardened Milwaukee in September 2024. He was playing Fang during the Team Classic Constructed event in Milwaukee earlier this year.
This version of Fang has a few separate equipment load outs depending on whether he wants to be aggressive or defensive. To defend against decks that try to pressure, there are very few cards better than Valiant Dynamo. However, against Florian, and the need to pressure their hand and to go wide, the inclusion of Dragonscaler Flight Path has me convinced. Being able to send an additional dagger attack on a turn with Fire and Brimstone or trying to ensure the draw on a Savor Bloodshed turn.
He was always playing the full 3 Perforate to ensure multiple swings, even if they've all been used on a Fire and Brimstone turn, and it works perfectly alongside Imperial Seal of Command.
Fang is well positioned in this new, defensive value meta. He can block when he has to, then can capitalise on some immense aggression.
The 3rd Placers
Florian
This Florian is deeply contrasted by the other Florian deck that made it to Battle Hardened Minneapolis Top 8.
The simple inclusion of Reaping Blade gives the deck a great deal of flexibility into the mirror, and other decks that can gain a foothold without really attacking.
Verdance, Thorn of the Rose is a distinctly tough matchup for Florian, and the inclusion of Reaping Blade to stall the life gain, as well as having an on board method of sending aggression in matchups where they could challenge your Runechant stacks, it brings the deck a level of versatility to handle a great many options in the wider field.
"Mario"
Marionette has been the hero that's taken the most time to find an identity coming out of The Hunted. With Cindra's initial wins and the wider player base converging on what we know Fang to do, there have been better disruptive Assassins in the form of Nuu and hnt261-mv-arakni-5lp3d-7hru-7h3-cr4x-the-hunted-booster.
Taotao Chu established a pretty strong strategy for playing Mario in Battle Hardened Santa Clara. By including the Daggers Matter cards, and leveraging Hunter's Klaive, you get to present very reasonable damage, and then electing to transform your hero into the disruptive pieces you need.
The strongest card in the list is easily Flick Knives. With the retrieve effects, Orb Weaver Spinneret in red and blue, and the design shifting Kiss of Death there are enough shenanigans to keep your opponent Marked, your opponent guessing, and yourself equipped with daggers.
Andrew Henderson also built the deck correctly for the Post-Aurora Metagame. The correct amount of Arcane Barrier to use in this meta is AB3, not for Kano, Dracai of Aether but for Florian when he pairs Scepter of Pain with Channel the Millennium Tree.
Finalist
Cindra
After her impressive start at the outset of 2025, winning both Calling Memphis and Calling Christchurch in February, Cindra lost a lot of meta share after that. An aggressive Red-line deck will always have a very strong showing in the first few days of a new season, simply because players do not know how best to play against it. With time and iteration, people knew how to respect Mask of Momentum and Cindra faded into darkness.
This version is somewhere halfway between the pure Red-line decks that won that initial season, and the versions popularised by Sam Dando which include 12 Blue cards. Despite only having 9 Blues, this version also features a larger number of Yellows, including cards like That All You Got? to insulate you against other aggressive decks.
The star Blue has to be Throw Dagger. As a Blue, it covers your resource costs, as well as being an additional flick effect even after Flick Knives has been used.
Yellow Wax On covers costs and is very efficient at blocking the majority of Aurora's attacks. The single Concealed Blade insulates you against a potential banish effect to take away your Kunai of Retribution.
The gameplan is straightforward as it always has been, which will be very strong into the Earth heroes in the new meta.
Winner
Kassai
Kassai of the Golden Sand has been a hero that showed a great deal of meta strength early 2024, being a natural midrange counter to Kayo, Armed and Dangerous.
Her overall gameplan was previously considered to be a midrange, value one. You block efficiently, then try to amass as much Gold as possible to play a big Raise an Army. The general thinking that was popularised when Enigma was legal was to keep Kassai aggressive. That's how I like to personally play her, and the consensus has agreed to this.
The key card in the deck is Draw Swords. Being able to present a strong attack on both sword swings is very threatening, especially if both swords are Cintari Saber.
Most Kassai lists rely on Blade Runner for their Go Again, but there are surprisingly few copies of it in this deck. The Go Again comes from Unsheathed, Spoils of War, and Sharpened Senses. Sharpened Senses in particular with the Draw Swords buff is so strong, especially alongside Blood on Her Hands.
Wrap Up
With the Classic Constructed metagame so highly in flux, we can honestly see a wide smattering of heroes taking the top spots in other events just like Battle Hardened Minneapolis.
Keep your eyes on an updated metagame report, and all the latest Fabtcg news right here on DotGG.
