Wingspan Bird Card Tier List Update Version 2.6
There is going to be a little bit of “undoing my undo” from my Tier List 2.4 Update. In that 2.4 update, I eliminated the influence that the OE meta was having on my card tiering. In this update, I am allowing the OE meta to influence placements once again, to a certain degree. In any game, a card’s general power level will go up or down depending on which board you are using. Much in the same way that a card might be better or worse depending on what bonus cards you draw or what round goals are in play. As always, strong situational awareness is a key element to getting the most out of any card in Wingspan.
Being able to play Oceania digitally against many strong players online has shed a lot more light on the Oceania metagame. My initial Oceania tiering greatly underestimated nectar’s impact on the game. In practice, it feels like nectar has eclipsed eggs as the most important point-scoring resource.
Data I gathered from my games in the Major League Wingspan tournament shows that the player who scored the most nectar points won 66.67% of the time. Nectar scoring was 2nd only to Round Goal points (73.33%) for suggesting a winner.
Wetlands tucking engines struggle without some way to generate nectar, effectively giving up nectar points and lowering the bar your opponents need to win five points in each habitat. Traditionally, tucking engines give up on round goal points and bonus card points with their single-minded strategy. Giving up on nectar as well makes it even more difficult to win. However, if you can start early enough with a source of Wetland eggs and a mass-tucking bird such as Common Chiffchaff/Mute Swan/Maned Duck, you still have a decent chance of winning.
Wingspan Tier List Rank Increases
Wood Duck: T0 to God Tier: Recent data from the Tournament Discord shows that a Round 1 Wood Duck in the Oceania meta has about 64% win rate in 1v1, which is the same win rate as a Round 1 Killdeer (Franklin’s Gull was 65.9% and White Stork was 61%). Nectar generation from the Forest elevates Wood Duck to God Tier status.
A subsequent round of data from the Tournament Discord showed that a Wood Duck restricted to the start of Round 2 or later dropped its win rate to just 52%, barely better than a coin flip. This suggests Wood Duck’s win rate on the core board might be worse than a coin flip (50/50) without nectar propping it up.
California Quail: T2 to T0: Egg-laying forest birds are ultra-premium in the Oceania meta. The inflated food cost of this bird is easily overcome in the OE meta.
Rainbow Lorikeet: UUT to T0: I’ve underestimated this bird’s power in the past. It has proven to be an amazing way to essentially guarantee victory for Forest nectar points. “Spending” one nectar to pick up two more nectar is incredibly powerful.
Moltoni’s Warbler: T2 to T1: Oceania’s metagame revolves around playing more big point birds and playing more birds is what this bird does.
White Wagtail: T2 to T1: Oceania’s metagame revolves around playing more big point birds and playing more birds is what this bird does.
Yellowhammer: T2 to T1: Oceania’s metagame revolves around playing more big point birds and playing more birds is what this bird does.
Grey Butcherbird: UUT to T1: A 45.6% chance to score two points is better in practice than it looks on paper. Can be thrown into any engine. This is a pretty solid bird and has become one of my favorites in the Oceania Expansion.
Sacred Kingfisher: T2 to T1: This pink power gets a lot more mileage, even at two players, in the Oceania metagame. Since the forest is so much stronger in this meta, people are gaining food more often. Cheap and flexible, it can choose between three different food types.
European Bee Eater: UUT to T2: This is a solid food-gaining grassland bird in the European meta. It’s an oversight that I haven’t moved this up sooner.
Wille Wagtail: UUT to T2: Forest/Grassland card draw but can only target cup/star nests. May flip up something great for your opponent that you can’t grab. It hasn’t been making that big of an impact on the competitive scene but still sees frequent play.
Wingspan Tier List Rank Decreases
Galah: T0 to T1: Galah is good but not as dominant as I originally thought. Giving out a lot of seeds can be a dangerous prospect. Six seeds will result in any 9-point bird for your opponent. Additionally, cards like Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Canada Goose, and Sandhill Crane can all be effective countermeasures against the Galah.
Maned Duck T0 to T1: See info at the start. Despite nectar struggles, Maned Duck’s wheat producing effect seems to give it stronger footing in the metagame compared to Common Chiffchaff and Mute Swan based mass tucking engines.
Common Chiffchaff: T0 to T1: See info at the start.
Mute Swan: T0 to T1: See info at the start.
New Holland Honey Eater: T0 to UUT: Doesn’t seem to be played much in the current meta.
Noisy Miner T0 to T1: In practice, handing out eggs to your opponent is pretty bad in the egg-starved Oceania metagame. Having cards in hand that you want to tuck can be easier said than done.
Clark’s Grebe: T1 to T2: The 5 points for 1 food cost archetype struggles to pull weight in Oceania. It looks great on paper but is pretty mid in practice. It can be situationally great with the right bonus cards and round goals, but that can be said for a lot of birds.
Forster’s Tern: T1 to T2: The 4 points for 1 food cost archetype struggles to pull weight in Oceania. It looks great on paper but is pretty mid in practice. It can be situationally great with the right bonus cards and round goals, but that can be said for a lot of birds.
Osprey: T1 to T2: The 5 points for 1 food cost archetype struggles to pull weight in Oceania. It looks great on paper but is pretty mid in practice. It can be situationally great with the right bonus cards and round goals, but that can be said for a lot of birds.
Spotted Sandpiper: T1 to T2: The 5 points for 1 food cost archetype struggles to pull weight in Oceania. It looks great on paper but is pretty mid in practice. It can be situationally great with the right bonus cards and round goals, but that can be said for a lot of birds. It can be situationally great with the right bonus cards and round goals, but that can be said for a lot of birds.
Carrion Crow: T1 to T2: If someone is leaning into predators than this can be effective.
Griffon Vulture: T1 to T2: If someone is leaning into predators than this can be effective.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk: T1 to T2: An average forest play in the absence of something more useful. It doesn’t seem to hit the board unless there is bonus card or round goal support.
Common Chaffinch: T1 to T2: Can be a solid capstone on a Grassland or Forest engine when you have excess cards to get rid of.
Australian Reed Warbler: T1 to T2: Due to the buffed Oceania Wetlands, playing two birds into the Wetlands isn’t as important as it is on the core board. This archetype of PAB feels much stronger on the core board.
Golden Headed Cisticola: T1 to T2: This archetype of PAB feels much stronger on the core board. On the OE board, you’re not accelerated into a third egg unless you spend additional resources on bonus conversions.
Grey Warbler: T1 to T2: Due to the buffed Oceania Forest, playing two birds into the Forest isn’t as important as it is on the core board. This archetype of PAB feels much stronger on the core board.
