Tournament Analysis
Hello! This Tournament Analysis article series aims to summarize the tournament-winning metagame based on data from a weeklong period (for both Speed and Rush formats).
Today's report is based on tournaments held from September 28, 2026 to October 05, 2026
- Speed Format
- Rush Format
Performance Metric
Remarks
A lot of new decks and strategies make it hard to establish a new metagame because the amount of content and testing is still very high. We need to wait a little more to get a good picture of the new metagame.
Tournaments considered
| Format | Players | 1st | 2nd | Top 4 | Top 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Arab Tournament #17 | SE/No Side | 74 | Mikanko | Snake-Eyes | Branded | Stardust |
| Starry Cup #192 | SE/No Side | 59 | Memento | Vaalmonica | Memento | Horus |
| Speed Duel Dynasty #63 | SE/No Side | 49 | Dark Magician | Horus | Memento | Memento |
| Quantum Dailies #570 | SE/No Side | 60 | Snake-Eyes | Vaalmonica | Shining Sarcophagus | Vaalmonica |
| Quantum Dailies #569 | SE/No Side | 61 | Memento | Centur-Ion | Snake-Eyes | Shining Sarcophagus |
| Starry Cup #191 | SE/No Side | 54 | Hero | Centur-Ion | Vaalmonica | Cyber Dragon |
| Sky Striker Cup #101 | SE/No Side | 31 | Mathmech | Vaalmonica | Destiny Hero | Centur-Ion |
| Duel Links Grand Prix #156 | Swiss/No Side | 78 | Snake-Eyes | Memento | Memento | Marincess |
| Suisen Weekly #221 | SE/No Side | 40 | Vaalmonica | Branded | Infernity | Infernity |
| Cloudy City Weekly #73 | SE/No Side | 59 | Snake-Eyes | Vaalmonica | Destiny Hero | Mathmech |
| Starry Cup #190 | SE/No Side | 70 | Rokket | Vaalmonica | Branded | Snake-Eyes |
| Duel Links UX Stadium #8 | SE/No Side | 39 | Branded | Snake-Eyes | Rokket | Vaalmonica |
| Meta Weekly #443 | SE/No Side | 16 | Destiny Hero | Branded | Stardust | Mathmech |
Top staples (by % of Top 4 decks using them)
Winning Deck Examples
1st Place in Pro Arab Tournament #17 - Raoubi
1st Place in Starry Cup #192 - Kanaith
1st Place in Speed Duel Dynasty #63 - Zaine tros
1st Place in Starry Cup #191 - Diuan
1st Place in Sky Striker Cup #101 - Wayne
1st Place in Suisen Weekly #221 - [DS]Samsara
1st Place in Cloudy City Weekly #73 - raven
1st Place in Starry Cup #190 - X-Ray-Eys
Performance Metric
Remarks
Ether is the deck to beat. Combined with Ultimate Flag support, the deck can perform multiple pops. Shiny Shady is not very effective against Ether, so Star Protector's Protection is seeing play again.
Tournaments considered
| Format | Players | 1st | 2nd | Top 4 | Top 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rush Duel Dynasty #49 | SE/No Side | 24 | Ether Dragon | Royal Rebel | Ether Dragon | Ether Dragon |
| Cloudy City Rush Weekly #41 | SE/No Side | 21 | Sevens Road | Ether Dragon | Dark Magician | Wyrm |
| Quantum Rush #118 | SE/No Side | 25 | Ether Dragon | Red-Eyes | Skysavior | Dark Magician |
| Rush Duel Links Weekly #77 | SE/No Side | 28 | Ether Dragon | Red-Boot | Dark Magician | Ether Dragon |
