deck's good! tournament's good! i love you all! if you want to see more about the deck see the list this was a variant of. anyway, onto the main event...
All data contained in this article is available to view here.
UK Nationals, or "Sheffield Megacity", was relatively tame with regards to the pronoun meta, with a few stand-out examples. The dominance of he/him as the set of choice in larger tournaments is yet to be challenged, with over 60% of the field (and 68% of the cut) opting for this. A few variants on this have been explored - he/they and he/any being notable examples, exploring the meta space whilst not quite yet retaining the winrate. A total of 14 different pronoun sets made an appearance across the event, with 9 of these seeing 2 or less players opting for them, and the top 2 "classic" options (he/him and she/her) making up almost 72% of the standings.
With the dominance of he/him, many players are seeking the best options against it. The standout options that saw success here were any, it, and he/none, although each of these saw only one or two pilots. These options also fared well into the meta as a whole, all reaching at least a 50% winrate, with it being the set with the highest overall winrate. Similar options also fared well - they/any, a variant on any, boasting a 57% winrate and a 53% rate against he/him.
Tech against other options could be considered - it and any, while both strong options, appear to have very different matchup spreads, so a meta call that counters both of these would be very well placed.
The top cut was even more heavily dominated by he/him than swiss, as discussed above, though the Queen of Swiss (she/her) did opt out of the cut, slightly skewing these metrics. Multiple solo pilots saw a subsequent 100% cut conversion (it, he/any), while he/him's conversion was among the lowest at around 20%. Despite this, he/him was the only pronoun set to see more than 2 appearances at the cut, eventually taking the top spot.
The meta is far from stale - while he/him remains the primary contender and shows solid performance at many events, alternative options are becoming more and more popular. Dedicated testing could absolutely reveal a previously unseen choice that takes the top spot, and while I would be pleasantly surprised to see he/him unseated as the most common choice at a tournament of this size, I could certainly see it coming within the next year. if you're looking for a change, there's no time like right now.
The lack of diversity in the current pronoun meta makes this analysis a little challenging. With very few pilots of certain pronoun sets present, one could propose that pronoun matchups take a backseat to individual skill, and that such small sample sizes for less classical pronoun sets prevents meaningful insights. While I do see the merit of these points, this work remains mysterious and important regardless, and my data collection will expand.
The prevailing winrate of he/him could be attributed to the history of the meta - many players have seen high performance with it, so many new players opt for it, and alternative options are pushed to the side. A more balanced meta would show more variety especially at the top of the standings, and while I don't see a banlist coming any time soon, there are certainly things that the playerbase can do to make that happen.
Want to improve these statistics? If you don't use he/him - talk to me, I'll help you! If you do - talk to me. I'll help you.
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System Update 2021
SMITTYL
327
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Elevation
ultrafilter
23
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Elevation
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System Update 2021
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327
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System Update 2021
SMITTYL
327
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System Update 2021
SMITTYL
327
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System Update 2021
SMITTYL
327
|
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System Update 2021
SMITTYL
327
|
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System Update 2021
SMITTYL
327
|
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Elevation
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225
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