It has been a while since I updated the blog, but I’m going to try to update it a little more often with content. I’ve also spent most of my time updating the youtube page for Burn One so I’ve neglected this page a lot. Sorry for that. I’ve decided to do a pre-summer tier list before all the new series release before WGP qualifiers start taking place.

Before you dive into the tier list I would like to go over how things get placed on this tier list and the changes I’ve done to avoid more confusion among people reading the list. Though I’m sure no one will read this part and just comment away with out understanding the process. First, the list is heavily influenced on JAPANESE TOURNAMENT PLACING, Series total card pool, personal understanding and experience with the game, and the CURRENT JAPANESE META.

Now on to some of the changes to how the tier list was put together. I’ve decided to move to a number tier system instead of sticking with the old letter system from my last tier list. This was done to stop the confusion the old letter system created as everyone ignored my placed definitions of the tiers and interpreted the letter system their own way. I’ve also gone ahead and bolded any changes to the list so it’s easier for you to see what moved and what stayed the same.

The description of every tier is found below and order in tier does not matter (exp: “Tier 1: A, B, C” B is not considered weaker than A at the same tier level) and this is based only in Neo-Standerd.

Tier Definition

Tier 1: is built of series that are currently considered the strongest and have a good card pool to deal with any match up. You will see these decks appear in top cut a lot of the time or win tournaments consistently.

Tier 2: Are decks that can easily deal with anything out side of tier 1, but can still fight tier 1 without a significant disadvantage if any at all. In some cases these sets are either becoming out dated to the changing of the meta or lack some tools/card pool that tier 1 have available to them. You will see these in top cuts for tournaments regularly.

Tier 3: is constructed of decks that are somewhere in the middle. Not significantly strong but at the same time not lacking much. Can match tier 2 fairly well, but has some trouble vs tier 1, but doesn’t out right get destroyed.

Tier 4: are sets that are just below the average. In some cases these sets are not really missing much, but have some issues that could make or break a game. These sets could also rely heavily on a gimmick. These sets don’t straight out lose to tiers higher than it, but if it can’t get a perfect run, it will have significant trouble vs tier 1 and at least minor trouble vs tier 2.

Tier 5/PR: are sets that just can’t keep up with the average all the time. These sets are not complete ASS, but will have trouble in most games if the series is higher than tier 3. these sets also usually lack card pool while being very outdated.

The Tier List

Tier 1: Kantai Collection, Little Busters, Nisekoi, Madoka Magica



Tier 2: Girlfriend beta, Da Capo, Fate/Stay, Love Live(2), Terraformars, Project Diva, Disgaea, Rewrite, Crayon Shin-Chan, Fate/Kaleid Prisim Illiya, Idolm@ster, Zero no Tsukaima, Vividred Operation, Milky Holmes, Sword Art Online, Phantom, Shakugan no Shana, Log Horizon, Persona



Tier 3: Bakemonogatari, Railgun, Day Break, Kill La Kill, Angel Beats!, Fairy Tail, Guilty Crown, Nanoha, Sengoku Basara, Psycho-Pass, Accel World, Symphogear, Dog Days, Lucky Star, Devil Survivor 2, Gargantia, Gagant



Tier 4: Evangelion, Haruhi, Index, Robotics;Notes, Black Rock Shooter, Shining Force, Nichijou, Mai Hime/Otome/Sora kake girl

Tier 5: Macross Frontier, Katanagatari, King of Fighters, Melty Blood, Clannad, Canaan

PR Tier: Visual Arts

Key:

(1) placing is heavily based on other player opinions I respect and my limited experience with those series.

(2) currently has potential to go up a tier or more in the near future due to meta shift or new set releasing soon.

(3) might move down, up, or stay the same. the forecast for the set is unknown.

(4) forecasted placement for this series is based on early information and play testing. Expect these series to most likely move up or down in future tier lists.

Series Break Down

I’ve decided to add some comments on some of the placement of the big changers or new sets for this tier list. I’ll go over some of my thoughts on why the set moved up or down.

Madoka Magica

The new booster has buffed up the already good deck. The thing about Madoka is that the deck really didn’t suffer much before from huge shifts in the meta. When the set was starting to fall off it ended up getting a clock shoot PR card which brought some life into the set during the transition to the new Level 3 game ender meta. Now that this new set is out all the problems the set had before are now gone and we are welcomed with multiple good builds, though the Sayaka centric build still seems like the best version due to the Sayaka’s Wish event that gets around a lot of the hate cards in the top decks right now and doubling as a way to prevent on reverse effects at level 3. Of all the tier 1 decks this set tries to play a fair game compared to the other tier 1 decks as it’s only game plan is clock kicking at level 3 and trying to abuse Sayaka’s Wish.

Girlfriend beta

This set had a huge splash that created a huge hype wave in Japan and America, but now that all the flaws of the deck have been seen the deck has fallen out of favor for the other top tier decks. One of the biggest problems for the set is that the main competitive color, yellow, has no great way to hand fix or ditch unwanted cards, the deck is also left with the problem of not having a way to mill your deck fast if you are unlucky early on. The only saving grace for the deck right now is that the yellow version’s level 1 game is one of the most annoying level 1 games to play around while it bypasses some of the plus hand hate cards in Little Busters! and Kantai Collection, sadly the level 1 game that carries the deck also is one of its biggest weaknesses. The fact that all your cards end up being 5,000 power or lower on your opponent’s turn makes it easy to plus off of your level 1 game through climax combos that require you to reverse a battling opponent and if you take a look at 2 of the top tier decks, Nisekoi and Kantai Collection both run a level 1 game that they try to abuse to set up for late game by reversing weak characters at level 1.

Love Live

This set is in a weird spot right now, it has a ton of tools after the recent booster release, but it doesn’t have a very prominent build or end game. Love Live is in a position to move up to tier 1 once we get to see it in action more, but the set still lacks a very good way to prevent on reverse effects at level 3, which is a big part of all the top decks right now. Although it is missing that it still has a huge card pool with some great finishers to boot. The level 1 game right now is in a strong spot, it’s over stated and is tough to reverse for climax combo effects outside of Girlfriend beta. The solid level 1 power level is enough to carry it far in it’s game, but it also recently got some interesting events that could shape some of the decks to be potentially scary. I wont be surprised if this set moves on up to tier 1 heading into the WGP qualifiers this year.

If you guys enjoyed the list or have any questions, please comment below and I’ll try to get to everyone. Also if you want to see a English tier list please comment below so I can see there is actually an audience for it.