MedzR

We currently find ourselves in a triangle meta consisting of Darklords, Blackwings and Elementsabers. The general consensus being that Darklords are favoured against Elementsabers and struggle with Blackwings, Blackwings are favoured against Darklords and struggle with Elementsabers and Elementsabers are favoured against Blackwings and struggle with Darklords. Whilst each deck has a favourable match up, it isn’t as clear cut as one beats the other.

Tier 1

TPC Comments

Autumn Leaf

Elementsaber Invoked established itself as the best deck in the game from the past three Meta Weeklies and time will tell whether this deck continues to be this dominant post banlist. However, as the Invoked variant with the least reliance on , I expect the success of Elementsabers to continue post-banlist. Though the sample size is small, the loss of has prompted builds to include and ; two staple cards that are strong in the current meta.

MedzR

Following the Semi-limit of , there is a split on what is the correct thing to do with Elementsabers’ semi-limit slots. Some players are electing to drop Magellanica entirely, allowing you to continue running two copies of , whilst others are playing one copy of each. has gone up in usage to counteract the techs we are seeing from Blackwings and some builds have been running multiple copies of and , as a way to disrupt both Darklords and Blackwings.

Snyffus

Elementsaber Invoked continues to dominate the meta even after the banlist. The hits are relatively small and dont influence the deck too much, the main thing being the loss of so they have to switch to / .

Tier 2

Autumn Leaf

There are legitimate arguments to be made for Blackwings to be Tier 1 post-banlist but the deck’s inherent weakness to Tier 1 Elementsabers make matters difficult. But in all fairness to Blackwings, they have been making the match up better by playing and their one semi-limited available in TTH to counter the deck’s weakness to a face-up .

Darklords remains a force to be reckoned with after surviving the ban list completely. A perfect Darklord hand will win against anything but its match up against Blackwings is questionable and a limited means that the deck remains fragile against s. Furthermore, the deck opens completely unplayable more times than a Darklord player would like to see.

Drizzels

Elemensaber Invoked is still the best deck since they don’t care about the new banlist that much.They don’t have to use semi-limited cards so can stay at 2 so the only big loss is 1 . Either played with a lot of and for Blackwings or battle traps like and for Darklords makes them very viable against everything even though their Darklord matchup is still not great.

MedzR

We are starting to see Blackwing players tech in cards like and , to avoid being disrupted by . The usage of in Blackwings has also shot up, with the primary reason being how it limits a Darklord player’s options, particularly if you activate this skill when going first.

The only change to Darklords was that they had to find a new skill, following the nerf to . Whilst is still an option, many players have moved over to as one decent mill can sometimes be enough to turn an average hand into a great one.

Snyffus

Blackwings also remain in the same spot and it still has the same problems as before. Only difference: instead of 2 they’re playing 1. It’s a small hit but at the same time some other decks lost access to the card completely so this is still a winner coming out of the banlist.

Darklords are completely untouched by the list and they’re still a strong force in this meta. Not Tier 1 as their Blackwing match-up is frankly abhorred as well as the huge problem of bricks.

Tier 3

TPC Comments:

Autumn Leaf

The return of Crystrons on the Tier List is arguably a week overdue and on top of that, the deck is strengthened by the banlist simply from the way it negatively impacted the other decks currently in the meta.

Drizzels

In my opinion, Darklords are on the rise again, and with for Bo1 and for Bo3 they can do very well. Their great Elementsaber Invoked matchup makes them one of strongest decks currently.

Blackwings are now mainly using to counter Darklords. A lot of builds are straying away from and using more to have follow-up turns for when their board is cleared. , and are great to counter the unfavorable Elementsaber Invoked matchup.

Erikson

Ritual Beasts are still in a tough position. Although their worst match up received a slight nerf with going to 1 and to 2, is a big enough threat to keep the deck from hitting higher Tiers, as it can single-handedly plow through Ritual Beast boards and quickly close out the game. That being said, I expect the deck to do better in the upcoming weeks as it’s one of the winners post-banlist - but it will take more than this for the deck to go up in the Tier List.

Snyffus

Crystrons are back! The limiting of means Invoked decks can’t interrupt their graveyard as much anymore, on top of that was a very strong card vs this deck which also is less prominent now.

High Potential

TPC Comments:

Autumn Leaf

People may still remember the days where Koa’ki Meiru was an incredibly oppressive Tier 1 deck before they underwent multiple nerfs. and haven’t been completely freed but the pure strength of a splash-able engine in 3 makes them a deck that can potentially do well post-banlist.

MedzR

Koa’ki Meiru has been added to High Potential for the time being, following the announcement of the new banlist. Once implemented in game it will be interesting to see if the archetype makes a return in some capacity.

Snyffus

Koa’ki Meiru might have a good chance to do well now. Probably not as a pure version but Koa’ki always had a strength of being easily splashable. , and are 3 insanely broken cards and could definitely have a chance of being seen more now.

Removed

TPC Comments:

Autumn Leaf

Pure Invoked decks were already struggling against the meta pre-banlist and I definitely do not expect them to be relevant competitively after losing their strongest tech in .

Snyffus

Roid Invoked is virtually unplayable now, just having their entire deck semi-limited.

Pure Invoked was already on the decline last week, now completely out as the Synchro engine just isn’t consistent or powerful enough. There are simply better options in this meta.

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