Disclaimer

Given the recent Balance Update Announcement and its sweeping changes to the meta as we knew it, the Tier List is more-or-less in a volatile state. What you see here was by no means unnanimous and is an aggregation of the speculation going into the new meta. Expect drastic and refined changes in the upcoming week as the meta gets more and more solidified.

Tier 1

TPC Comments

Drizzels

After a few days post-banlist I can say that Darklords might’ve actually gotten stronger. The nerf hit other decks a lot harder while Darklords are just going to and still get over 3000 ATK. While the semi-limitation was a good decision at first glace, it made Darklords a lot stronger. A lot of other decks used Clash against darklords and them losing it is a lot worse then Darklords losing it, with cards like attempting to replacing it. With only one you need to be careful of opponent’s s and interesting tech cards like and . Overall Darklords are still very strong and might become even more dominant next week. More tournament wins are definitely expected.

Erikson

Darklords are the winners of this banlist. Their consistency is almost the same and the nerf affected other decks more than Darklords themselves as there are many ways to play to play them - with being prefered for mirror matches. The deck is still very oppresive even with at 1 as it can be looped every turn. They also have great recursion and Draw Power and can even stall out other decks to deck out if needed. The rest of the meta relies heavily on tech cards to be able to combat their strategy vith dwidling degrees of success making it the deck to beat.

Luxdar

While Darklord players may feel more vulnerable with 4 hits ( , , , ) from the latest list, the deck’s prowess has not been observed to be damaged enough for other decks to overshadow it yet. , , , , and many other Skills line up to take Beatdown’s place in the Darklord deck. Meanwhile, other decks that relied on Beatdown to break through Darklord are scrambling to look for new ways to get around them, at the risk of falling out of relevance if they don’t. On the bright side, a niche that has opened up is the summoning of 3000+ Atk monsters (breakpoint for Darklord Ixchel’s 2900 Def) to challenge Darklords. With the aid of backrow for the likes of Darklord Desire, strong monsters such as with the threatening effect of wiping a Darklord player’s field (with Contact leaving Darklord monsters in DEF position) can find a favorable matchup. Only time will tell if players can take advantage of this, or if the Darklord players can easily adapt back in kind.

Negative1

Unequivocally the best deck. Despite the nerfs, Darklords still dominate the metagame because was also nerfed. Even though Beatdown was the prefered skill for Darklords, it was also the main skill used to counter Darklords. Without Beatdown in the meta, many of the decks that could establish multiple large monsters no longer have the added benefit of swinging over Darklord monsters. The result is that non-Darklord decks need to run heavy backrow or in some form of floodgate to compete because no other deck can consistently match Darklords’ aggression.

wayne kenoff

Darklords were finally hit by the ban list and hit heavily with to 2 and to 1. But reminiscent of Koa’ki Meiru after the addition of , being at 3 seems to be the key to “truly” nerf the deck. Being able to search your limited cards has resulted in the banlist doing very little to slow the deck down. Not being able to fully abuse might have been the bigger nerf, but with their Life Point manipulation, Darklords continue to have access to any Skill they wish to abuse - solidifying the deck as the lone Tier 1.

Tier 2

TPC Comments

Drizzels

Due to having a decent matchup against Darklords and being introduced as a new tech card they are getting promoted. The biggest problem is still their own bricks and shutting down . Aside from that the matchup against Six Samurais is not that great due to and . The banlist didn’t change anything about the deck, and less in the meta doesn’t harm this deck either.

After the hit to Six Samurais are struggeling hard against Darklords unless they have cards like turn 1. Since there is no real counter to anymore cards like might see a comeback. Due to good matchups against other tiered decks we will still see a lot of Six Sam decks in tourneys and Top Cuts. The post-banlist build hasnt been made yet, but so far several builds with / using or have performed well (even the nerfed is possible). If Darklords continue to top everything I can see Six Sams moving down the Tier List next week.

Erikson

Fortune Ladies can be seen as the only reliable “counter” to Darklords at the moment. is great boss monster which can slowly deal with Darklord boards as they cant get rid off it easily while it’s protected with backrow. It can also re-summon itself from the graveyard during their end phase by banishing a Spellcaster from the GY. However, the deck still suffers from its consistency - and Darklords being able to side into is a whole problem on its own.

Luxdar

Fortune Lady’s recipe for success is making threatening Synchro monsters backed by threatening backrow. While its consistency is still in question, the power of what it can do is something that other decks should look up to and take inspiration from if they wish to survive in a Darklord-led meta. isn’t the only one joining the fight, as , sees an advantage in play in this post-list meta, and can easily be summoned with in combination with on either or .

The new list has caused Six Samurai to resume the search for the right tech cards. With and gone, and among other options try to find a home in the deck, but are still guests at this point. Setting up is still the power play that Six Samurai has, with unabated helping the deck draw into it. Backed by , other decks still have a hard time putting up a fight against strong openings. On the other side of things, Six Samurai faces vulnerabilities to Darklord through obstructing Shi En’s summon and slipping through the cracks, to Fortune Lady through cards such as , and to Invoked through a successfully summoned .

Negative1

Fortune Ladies is the only deck that can consistently compete with Darklords and will likely be the only Tier 2 deck after more people test the meta. The deck has a small enough engine that it can commit a large portion of space to defense. and both yield 0 LP gained when negated by ; Darklords have a difficult time managing their limited negations and Life Points against a deck that can activate multiple monster effects that demand negation. On top of all of this, is very easy to access which can effectively threaten Darklords as most Darklords get summoned in Defense Position.

wayne kenoff

Boasting solid Darklord and Invoked matchups, Fortune Ladies continue to rise due to the power of . With the top meta decks of the format being hit in the consistency department it brings them closer to “top” since they have always boasted powerful combos while lacking in the consistency department.

Six Samurais continue to be arguably the most versatile Synchro deck as well as having access to the ever-oppressive . They may struggle until they are able to find a replacement for . But may have a place in the meta due to the consistency and oppressive nature of their boss monster.

Triamids benefit from the Darklord nerf as they are not strictly dominating the tournament scene. Although they still struggle with the deck when it can get its engine running it has a much better opportunity of competing with at 1.

Tier 3

TPC Comments:

Erikson

After the nerf Invoked have found a new “home” in the Magician Girls, which help turbo out Invoked Fusions with thier attributes while also slowing down the game to ’til they get their combo pieces and backrow cards. With cards like and Invoked can easily push for OTKs. The prefered skill is as it helps to slow down the Darklord onslaught.

Neos is the deck that suffered the most from the banlist in my opinion. The deck has lost acces to , and which allowed ’em to dodge targeting effects, disrupt opponents and/or push for game ( is another huge loss as well). Now they need to rely on skills like which gives them a nice boost but that can be dealt with. The deck also has unfavorable match ups against Darklords and Fortune Ladies which are Tiers 1 and 2 respectively. It will be interesting to see how Neos decks develop in the upcoming weeks but right now they are having a hard time adapting to the meta.

wayne kenoff

With the introduction of more backrow the ever-looming is waiting to feast. Any time there is a resurgence of backrow Ancient Gears become a more viable option. Whether this deck truly compete depends on the way the meta shapes up after the banlist.

Desperado is an interesting option as nothing was hit by the ban list except . The deck was already falling down the Tier List with it struggling to out the ever-popular . With being forced to run more cards you don’t want to make the Skill work, you may be better off running one of the other decks on the list for competitive formats. The deck continues to be a formidable opponent for many decks.

“Pure” Invoked is an interesting deck and will most likely rise on the Tier List as it pursues a backrow-heavy Magician Girl engine. With deck filtering, heavy backrow, and draw power allowing for easy access to Invoked cards expect to see this deck heavily played in the format.

Neos losing some consistency with going to 2 losing access to formerly core cards in the form of , and now the heavily spammed . Expect this deck to rise as players continue to adapt and replace former staples with a still consistent and powerful Neos Fusion. With the recent addition of the deck will still see a large amount of play.

Spellbooks continue to be a powerful and oppressive deck but can struggle to early disruption due to be reliant on the normal summon of . They also lose some consistency with the nerf, from a hyper consistent Turn 1 they now lose a huge part of what made the deck viable in the meta.

High Potential

TPC Comments:

wayne kenoff

With being hit Blue-Eyes large and easily summonable monsters could produce a problem for meta decks as they can easily swing over a naked and the ever-present in Defense mode. If Blue-Eyes players can produce a versatile and consistent deck it may find a place in the new meta.

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