The meta continues, another week with no major changes.
Tier 1
VhypirJoshfishyGVaalmonica has a great end board with versatility, plus a good Vaalmonica player with the right sequencing beats most boards with 0~1 techs. Arguably the best deck.
peris2Vaalmonica is low-key insane if you join Vaalmonica University. Other than that, you should never be losing going second or first because of the strength of Loading... and engine.
VhypirThis deck is good because Whispers of Good and Evil negates one of the biggest weaknesses Pendulum decks naturally have.
Aside from that, the end board is insanely layered and is more dependent on backrow than monster effects, which currently means going-second effects of Skills don't hit it as hard as other boards.
MizarBranded has probably the best matchup spread across the current meta decks. The only truly unfavorable matchup would be Vaalmonica. It's a great pick for the variety of decks brought to tournaments. I wish there were more agency in the mirror when you go second.
MadaraBranded tries to adapt to the Vaalmonica unaffected Link-2 end board by including outs like kaijus and Loading... .
Branded has really good matchups in the meta right now. Besides Vaalmonica and maybe Destiny HERO, almost every other matchup is favorable for Branded. The deck has no out to the Vaalmonica Link-2 besides Loading... and Loading... , but neither is a reliable answer to it.
If the Vaalmonica player didn't go to Vaalmonica University, you can try to deck them out by banishing their grind-game pieces, but it's not smooth sailing.