Even though some people may not be a fan of these new decks, they were undeniably the shake-up that we've been waiting for. After just three days it's clear that Despia is a Top Tier contender and the meta will likely revolve around it. While the other decks in the BOX have potential, it remains to be seen if they will be powerful enough to enter the meta or remain as strong Rogue options.
The big new entry in the meta is Despia. It's still hard to say which deck will be the best after a mere three days since the matchups are not well-defined yet. An important change we might see is the rise of Loading... to stop Loading... (it's also pretty good against Shaddoll and Speedroid)) and a decline in Loading... , which is bad against Shaddoll and Despia. Loading... is now the best card in the game, being able to turn off basically everything while also being the only generic tech that can stop Loading... 's board wipe.
Tier 1
TPC Comments
Shaddoll has become more and more dominant throughout the weeks and essentially has had no counter before this BOX. Now, the main contender is Despia, being able to summon an unstoppable board wipe as its very first Special Summon. This is able to break the conventional Shaddoll board (you can still still set-up a Loading... and summon Loading... with Loading... , sending Loading... to the GY). I still have no idea how Shaddoll can survive a Turn with Loading... and Loading... (or any out to Winda), but I can saw that any hand without Morningstar instantly loses to the Shaddoll set-up. Also, going second into Despia seems pretty strong, all you have to do is deal with Loading... and force Loading... with Loading... or Loading... . Loading... is not as popular as it once was since it's pretty bad against Despia and the mirror.
Tier 2
Despia is a super consistent and powerful deck with its access to the Darklord and Sky Striker engines, and it's highly-expected to do well. Its Skill, Theater of the Branded's Opening can add Loading... and either a Despia or Loading... just by revealing a Despia or Branded Opening (it also lets you Loading... a Despia and add a Loading... for free if you go second).
I'll now run through the main pieces of the deck:
- Loading... searches for Branded Spell/Traps and the ability to resummon itself and negate a monster when a Fusion Monster is destroyed.
- Loading... can negate monsters when Extra Deck monsters are Summoned.
- Loading... can shrink monsters but more importantly re-summons monsters from GY/Banishment when used as Fusion Material
- Loading... is a Hand-Trap target protection for Despias that also has a Loading... -esque Tributing effect from GY to help your Fusions' effects go off through targeted negation.
- Loading... searches for Despias when sent to GY/Banishment and can re-set Branded Spell/Traps
- Loading... protects all your Despias and Darklords from being Targeted while also being able to summon Fairy-Type monsters from GY. When summonerd with Loading... it can wipe the opponent's board. This last effect is especially important since Despia can trivially summon The First Darklord on your opponent's turn through Loading... since all the Despias are also DARK Fairy-Type.
- Loading... in an environment where burn cards have had their potency halved by default, Masquerades hefty LP tax of 600 per game action was completely untouched. It can also Summon itself from GY as a Quick Effect if your opponent controls an Extra Deck Monster.
- Loading... searches for missing Darklord cards
- Loading... is a Loading... or Loading... for Despias and serves as a Loading... -esque protection from the GY for your Fusions.
- Loading... adds a Despia Card to hand and then Fusion Summons. Since it's a Quick-Play Spell it can be used to summon cards like Loading... on your opponent's turn.
- Loading... is a Field Spell that acts as a fairly basic Loading... that also lets you re-Summon Fusions when your non-Fusions are destroyed by card effect.
Thanks to Theater of the Branded's Opening 's release in combination with pre-existing Darklord Cards, Despia has arrived as a Strong deck right out of the gate. Many decks are running Loading... , which is sometimes needed for going second, but thanks to Loading... , Despia can set-up Loading... 's board wipe going first (while also protecting your Fairy monsters). Addtionally, Loading... protects your Despia monsters from cards like Loading... .
As a result of Despia's various means of targeting-protection, cards like Loading... and Loading... have risen in prominence, since Droplet can non-targeting negate and Crow can Banish the Loading... Target (forcing them to use Loading... to fuse).
Additionally, with Loading... , Loading... and Loading... 's revival effect, Despia has a very strong grind-game.
Finally, since the Skill allows you to play Loading... , Despia can more reliably go second against the combo-focused decks.
With all these advantages, I expect Despia to be one of the strongest decks in the format now (not to mention it could get even better with future support).
It's hard to exactly place Despia since it only came out a few days ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being the best deck in the upcoming weeks. Despia's ability to make Loading... actually playable by easily Fusion Summoning it on the opponent's turn while also Chain Blocking its effect with the Despia monsters. It's also untargetable, so the only way to stop it is with Loading... , Loading... and Loading... . Some people are including a heavier Darklord engine with Loading... and Loading... . This way if you draw Loading... Turn 1 you can set-up Sanctified, reborning Ixchel with Loading... . Other lists have been incorporating the Sky Striker engine to protect Loading... with Loading... in order to prolong its tax ability. At the moment, nothing can be reasonably considered a "Despia Counter", and the deck is performing extremely well. We'll see how the meta adapts to this new contender.