Disclaimer from Jadehex , TPC Manager

This is the LAST Tier List for this iteration of the Top Player Council. January 2020 marks the beginning of Season 9 and a new Top Player Council, I would personally like to thank this iteration of TPC for their comments, they’ve been a big help in writing these articles every week - Cheers!

Tier 1

TPC Comments

Drizzels

Darklord will stay at Tier 1 for now or and most likely until they get hit again on the banlist. With the upcoming main box other meta decks will be facing problems and cards like and can be easily teched into Darklords. If the new decks are not able to counter Darklords, a good performance in the upcoming tournaments is expected. Don’t get confused by the average win % in formats like Clan Wars due to Darklords being a deck with a higher skill cap than other more linear meta decks.

Elementsaber Invoked is still Tier 1 but the upcoming main box could change that. Cards like can block the Fusion summon for one turn (and waste the ) and a successful can decide the outcome of a whole duel. I expect that the Invoked engine will stay present on the Tier List in some way but it could drop with these new counter cards.

Erikson

Darklord stays at Tier 1 as it has multiple good matchups accross the board and its one unfavorable match up is seeing less and less play due to the meta. I expect that will put them in an even better spot.

Snyffus

Elementsaber Invoked remains Tier 1 for now but with the addition of and in the next box it is questionable if it’ll stay here for long. Lancea chained to not only stops their plays, but also makes them lose a valuable resource. basically auto-wins if resolved successfully, but it’s more risky and can be reliant on going first.

Tier 2

Drizzels

Ritual Beasts are the next Deck that will most likely struggle with the new main box. An early used can shut down all Ritual Beast plays for the turn and can even prevent their combo if they go first. I expect this deck to drop off the Tier List in the longterm even though individual top performances are still possible in the competitive scene.

Shiranui hold a sweet spot in the meta and could stay at Tier 2 even after the new main box. In contrast to Ritual Beast, the new releasing cards won’t hurt Shiranui that much and even an will only stall you for one turn, which is ok for Shiranui given that they have a lot of backrow to survive the following turn.

Erikson

Ritual beast stays at Tier 2 but probably not for long, since can easily shut down their turn, leaving them open to get OTK’ed

Snyffus

I expect Ritual Beasts to be collateral damage in the wake of as it completely shuts off their plays and ends their turn.

Tier 3

TPC Comments:

Drizzels

With the new upcoming main box, Blackwings could rise up again. They are not really affected by except for and if Darklords perform well Blackwings will naturally rise as their counter matchup. With and the upcoming card they are more able to play through backrow. Their problem is still the heavy flip meta so I think it will stay around Tier 2/3.

Not much has changed but I think Crystrons will continue to have a very hard time to stay on the Tier List. Only a very few players are performing well with this deck in the competitive environment and their counters aren’t getting weaker. One light in the dark might be the new Synchros in the upcoming main box. could be a very good backrow removal card and can be a very big beatstick. is a great LV7 generic synchro they can make on the opponent’s turn and it can resummon itself on the next turn for more extended Synchro plays. Also their 0 Spells / Traps in GY restriction isn’t impossible for Crystrons to work around with and continuous traps like . However, despite all this I am not 100% convinced that this will help Crystrons on the Tier List.

High Potential

TPC Comments:

Luxdar

The new Cyber Dragon cards look powerful and seem like they actually have a good shot at landing the archetype on the Tier List this time around. Namely, the ability for to pull from the deck is a concise removal tool. Overflow encourages level diversity, meaning there’s a better chance for the card to be used in an actual Cyber Dragon deck rather than Core and Overflow being splashed in other decks. as a follow-up can be devastating since it takes advantage of the now banished Cyber Dragon cards and cleared up field to let go for game. At this time I question how useful will be in comparison to the other cards, but time and playtesting will tell for sure. What has to be kept in mind is that like many decks, this deck can succumb as collateral to the effect of , which is expected to be frequently used given its range of coverage.

Snyffus

Dark Magician is a control deck revolving around and that generates Card Advantage and disrupt their opponent’s plays during their turn. This deck definitely has a good chance at being a threat in the meta.

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