State of the Game #2
The 4th Regional event of OverPower Season Zero fast approaches! This week, we have a growing number of folks joining us in Philadelphia at Pax Unplugged for a final chance to win some big money and score an invite to OverPower Nationals. I’m so excited to see what everyone is bringing to the table, and I wanted to have a quick check-in ahead of the event. We don’t have a ton of updates on the LRG front, but we’ve had two major events since my last update and I’m excited to share the details with you. Strap in, this is a long one!
Regional Recap
Columbus, OH – Heroes and Games – Regional #2
We were lucky to have nearly double the amount of players from our Seattle Regional at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, hosted by the wonderful Heroes and Games! 66 people sat down for 7 rounds of OverPower, marking the largest OP tournament in recent memory. The meta going into this event was still pretty unestablished, so we saw a wide variety of characters used and a more diverse card pool in general. Billy the Kid and Leonidas were once again 2 of the most utilized characters at 21 decks and 19 respectively, but the Wicked Witch joined them at the top with a whopping 21 appearances. Doctor Watson (16), Zorro (14), Mina Harker (13), and Dejah Thoris (13) round out the list of the most represented characters on the scene. Mina and the Mummy (9) were the two characters that were played the most and failed to crack into the top 8. One of the things that became apparent at this event is that there is a clear suite of cards, between 7 and 10 Any Characters, that are seeing play in an overwhelming majority of decks. We expected this to some degree, but we’re still going to be monitoring this as we go forward. Card diversity is really important to the health of a game, and we want to see as many cards in play as possible. I have a strong feeling things will change with the next set, though!
Toronto, ON Canada – 401 Games – Regional #3
Our first official international OverPower tournament – our new friends at 401 games hosted 35 players for the 3rd Regional event. I was unable to attend this one, but Tyler Bertrand, LRG jack-of-all-trades, was the TO and I’ve been debriefed. The biggest takeaway from reviewing the numbers and examining the strategies is that the field is narrowing just a bit. There is a lot of evidence that shifting strategies have been the most successful when well executed. The most used characters continue to be Leonidas and Billy the Kid, with 10 and 8 decks respectively and 5 decks each in the top 8. Doctor Watson was on 9 lists, but didn’t show up in nearly as many in the top 8 with 2 appearances. With the smaller head count came more unused characters – Angry Mob: Industrial Age, Dracula, Headless Horseman, Invisible Man, Poseidon, and Van Helsing. Cthulhu had the most appearances without a single copy in the top 8 with 5 decks. At this point we’re certainly seeing some trends, but that’s to be expected with increased play. This event did, however, mark the first appearance of Lancelot, which is encouraging!
The Bigger Picture
OverPower has been out in the world for a few months now. Its lifespan aligns with most major card games’ release windows. I believe that by the time we’ve finished with this weekend’s event in Philly, we’ll be able to speak directly to the metagame and the needs we have going forward in the design space. The upcoming Skybound set was designed with the ERB World Legends set in mind, but due to the nature of scheduling our team couldn’t be totally reactionary to the trends that have emerged. My thought is that we can provide the information that we’re seeing to give players a chance to adapt. We’re also working behind the scenes to bring you strategy articles from our designers and fellow players.
Data Points & Statistics
There are 4 characters that are consistently seeing the most play by a wide margin.
Frontline Characters:
#1
Seen in
29%
of decks or
(38x)
#2
Seen in
26%
of decks or
(34x)
Reserve Characters:
#1
Seen in
29%
of decks or
(38x)
#2
Seen in
25%
of decks or
(33x)
This data isn’t entirely surprising, but I was surprised to see just how much of a gap there is in usage for other characters. Zorro, with 28 decks, isn’t far off but after that there’s a pretty steep drop off with Mina Harker (22) and the Mummy (20). What’s wonderful about this game is that these numbers aren’t super concerning to me because there are so many other slots to fill and so much room for other characters in each deck. The emergence of shifting as a dominant strategy is a bit more troubling, but overall I don’t think that it represents as large a part of the field as Wicked Witch’s usage suggests. Leonidas’ sheer strength of specials and flexibility explain his usage, and Billy’s “I’ll Make You Famous” and low cost make him an undeniably powerful support.
Last Picked For Teams
Seen in
0 TEAMS
Seen in
0 TEAMS
There are 2 characters that have seen no play at all.
ERB World Legends has 43 characters. That is a ton. The fact that there are only 2 that have not seen tournament play is amazing. That said, it’s sad to me that Invisible Man in particular has been living up to his name. He’s one of my favorite designs, and represents a strategy that hasn’t been used and a different axis on which to play the game. Outside of these lonely cards, there are a few other characters that have also seen very little play.
Seen in
1.5%
of decks or
(3x)
Seen in
0.8%
of decks or
(1x)
Seen in
1.5%
of decks or
(3x)
Seen in
0.8%
of decks or
(1x)
Dracula’s low usage kind of shocks me. This is an extremely powerful card that was sort of a flagship of the set, but the point cost is too damn high apparently.
The Egyptian gods have the most appearances in decks without a top 8 – I would love to see one of these characters catch a break! I’m so excited to see how these numbers change after this weekend, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how these characters are all used with the new cards.
Seen in
11%
of decks or
(14x)
Seen in
9%
of decks or
(12x)
Emerging Pro Players (I’ll Make You Famous)
In every competitive card game, champions eventually make themselves known. Overall, the top 8s of our events have been varied, but a few have shown themselves to be top competitors and I wanted to give them some recognition here. These are players to watch and learn from, and, having met them all, are pillars of the OverPower community who make an impact on more than the tournament circuit.
Thomas Keine has placed in each event of the season – 5th place in Seattle, 2nd place in Columbus, and climbing to 1st place in Toronto; a great dude who continues to shine in the Regionals.
Phil Keffer has top 8’d both of the events he was able to attend, Marcel Lojet (OPGOAT) and Cory Simms have each top 8’d 2 of 3 tournaments, and Derek Bertrand took down the crowded Columbus Regional for the #1 spot. All three are well known within the OverPower space and have been strong competitors prior to the release of ERB World Legends.
Rising pros include Jessica Simms, who was in the top 12 at both Seattle and Columbus and broke into the top 8 in Toronto, and Zack Venneri (Darth Alduin) who battled in Columbus and Toronto to a 10th place and 4th place finish.
Last but not least, I have to give a shoutout to OverPower’s first two organized pro teams Liga OverPower Brasil and Team Columbus. We hope to see more from you all in the future!
Only The Beginning…
To wrap things up, I want to say thank you to everyone who has participated in the grand experiment that has been Season Zero. Without all of you, this relaunch of OverPower would not exist. Season One is around the corner, starting right after the Nationals event in early 2026. We’ll have more information about the Judge and Ambassador programs, as well as upcoming Regionals and more coming soon. I’ll probably write one more State of the Game ahead of Nationals, and I know you’re all SO excited for more walls of text from me. I can’t wait to see everyone at PAX Unplugged and beyond. As usual, if you need anything please contact me at organizedplay@overpowercardgame.com.
See ya on the next one!
James Sanderson