Hello, folks.
Jin's here with an exciting new article. It's the third week of March and guess what happens every six months. That's right, the banned list changes!
So, before I get to the Tier Listing, we have to go over what changed from last format:
Newly Banned:
Sangan (Limited)
Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity (Limited)
Sangan
was expected to go last format, but with Crane Crane, free searches on
Sangan couldn't be allowed. Also Wind-Ups have been dominating for the better part of a year. As a result, the first significant hit to them
was to remove Zenmaity.
Newly Limited:
Wind-Up Magician (Unlimited)
One Day of Peace (Unlimited)
Solemn Warning (Semi-Limited)
Wind-Up
Magician was removed to ensure Wind-Ups were hit very hard this format. One Day of Peace ensures that Chain Burn is not as big a factor at major tournaments. Solemn Warning is a good card all around. Hitting it to 1 seems like a decent play, though I don't think it was necessary.
Newly Semi-Limited:
Thunder King Rai-Oh (Unlimited)
Tsukuyomi (Limited)
Advanced Ritual Art (Limited)
Admittedly, Rai-Oh didn't need to be hit. Most top-tier decks were siding two of him anyhow; this doesn't change the side deck. Tsukuyomi going to 2 is fine - again, a side-decked card. I doubt people will play two. Advanced Ritual Art is a spell card for Rituals, which haven't done anything in years. This may open the way for Herald of Perfection styled Agents, but we'll see.
Newly Unlimited:
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow (Semi-Limited)
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner (Semi-Limited)
Spore (Limited)
Shien's Smoke Signal (Semi-Limited)
Mind Crush (Semi-Limited)
Kalut is not going to help Blackwings all that much in the coming format. Lumina may make Judgment Dragon sacking just that much easier, given Chaos Dragons are a thing. Most of the good Synchros are already banned, so Spore coming off the list isn't that impactful. Shien's Smoke Signal makes it easier to make a Shi En, but with Water a deck and so much stuff going on I don't think it will factor into the game. Mind Crush will help with the Water matchup, since it seems to be extremely good, in addition to Spellbooks when they come out.
Tier List: Tier 2
These are decks that can do well in large-scale tournaments, but all in all they will not perform as well as those in higher tiers:
Tier 2:
Six Sams
HERO
Twilight/Chaos (Dragons)
Agent
Gravekeepers
Six Samurais have been neutered from their glory, but they are still a
threat to other decks for the first-turn Shi En play. In addition,
searching out monsters first turn provides them with a lot of ammunition
to fuel. Their Hand lets them get rid of big monsters, and Spirit
allows them a little extra push.
HERO has always been a factor at major tournaments. It is predictable, but in the current meta it still does okay. There are two forms of HERO
decks: Standard and Bubble Beat. Standard Heroes are more about
controlling the field while Bubble Beat is more of a beatdown-style.
Chaos is a very unpredictable, explosive deck that has been doing well in tournaments since Judgment Dragon and Dark Armed Dragon were playable in the same deck. I predict it to remain at Tier 2. There are a couple of different ways of playing the deck, most notably with Lightsworns and Chaos Dragons.
Agents are a deck that has been up and down last format. With Advanced Ritual Art at 2, it is opening an opportunity for Herald of Perfection to combine with Agents, providing the deck with an interesting boost. However, the deck itself isn't bad either. Being aggressive with Agents are the way to go, while being passive with Perfection is the way to go there.
Gravekeepers
Gravekeepers are a control deck with the ability to remove monsters from your opponent's hand by use of Royal Tribute. They also have a flip effect monster allowing you to special summon any Gravekeeper from your deck, and the others are no slouch either - allowing you to change battle positions and destroy monsters.
The above summarizes my predicted Tier 2 decks for the next format. Next week we will analyze those in Tier 1.5, and the week after we will analyze those in Tier 1 itself.
And, after that, we'll look at decklists.
Thanks for reading!
-Jin
Jin's here with an exciting new article. It's the third week of March and guess what happens every six months. That's right, the banned list changes!
So, before I get to the Tier Listing, we have to go over what changed from last format:
Newly Banned:
Sangan (Limited)
Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity (Limited)
Sangan
was expected to go last format, but with Crane Crane, free searches on
Sangan couldn't be allowed. Also Wind-Ups have been dominating for the better part of a year. As a result, the first significant hit to them
was to remove Zenmaity.
Newly Limited:
Wind-Up Magician (Unlimited)
One Day of Peace (Unlimited)
Solemn Warning (Semi-Limited)
Wind-Up
Magician was removed to ensure Wind-Ups were hit very hard this format. One Day of Peace ensures that Chain Burn is not as big a factor at major tournaments. Solemn Warning is a good card all around. Hitting it to 1 seems like a decent play, though I don't think it was necessary.
Newly Semi-Limited:
Thunder King Rai-Oh (Unlimited)
Tsukuyomi (Limited)
Advanced Ritual Art (Limited)
Admittedly, Rai-Oh didn't need to be hit. Most top-tier decks were siding two of him anyhow; this doesn't change the side deck. Tsukuyomi going to 2 is fine - again, a side-decked card. I doubt people will play two. Advanced Ritual Art is a spell card for Rituals, which haven't done anything in years. This may open the way for Herald of Perfection styled Agents, but we'll see.
Newly Unlimited:
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow (Semi-Limited)
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner (Semi-Limited)
Spore (Limited)
Shien's Smoke Signal (Semi-Limited)
Mind Crush (Semi-Limited)
Kalut is not going to help Blackwings all that much in the coming format. Lumina may make Judgment Dragon sacking just that much easier, given Chaos Dragons are a thing. Most of the good Synchros are already banned, so Spore coming off the list isn't that impactful. Shien's Smoke Signal makes it easier to make a Shi En, but with Water a deck and so much stuff going on I don't think it will factor into the game. Mind Crush will help with the Water matchup, since it seems to be extremely good, in addition to Spellbooks when they come out.
Tier List: Tier 2
These are decks that can do well in large-scale tournaments, but all in all they will not perform as well as those in higher tiers:
Tier 2:
Six Sams
HERO
Twilight/Chaos (Dragons)
Agent
Gravekeepers
Six Samurais have been neutered from their glory, but they are still a
threat to other decks for the first-turn Shi En play. In addition,
searching out monsters first turn provides them with a lot of ammunition
to fuel. Their Hand lets them get rid of big monsters, and Spirit
allows them a little extra push.
HERO has always been a factor at major tournaments. It is predictable, but in the current meta it still does okay. There are two forms of HERO
decks: Standard and Bubble Beat. Standard Heroes are more about
controlling the field while Bubble Beat is more of a beatdown-style.
Chaos is a very unpredictable, explosive deck that has been doing well in tournaments since Judgment Dragon and Dark Armed Dragon were playable in the same deck. I predict it to remain at Tier 2. There are a couple of different ways of playing the deck, most notably with Lightsworns and Chaos Dragons.
Agents are a deck that has been up and down last format. With Advanced Ritual Art at 2, it is opening an opportunity for Herald of Perfection to combine with Agents, providing the deck with an interesting boost. However, the deck itself isn't bad either. Being aggressive with Agents are the way to go, while being passive with Perfection is the way to go there.
Gravekeepers
Gravekeepers are a control deck with the ability to remove monsters from your opponent's hand by use of Royal Tribute. They also have a flip effect monster allowing you to special summon any Gravekeeper from your deck, and the others are no slouch either - allowing you to change battle positions and destroy monsters.
The above summarizes my predicted Tier 2 decks for the next format. Next week we will analyze those in Tier 1.5, and the week after we will analyze those in Tier 1 itself.
And, after that, we'll look at decklists.
Thanks for reading!
-Jin