Tier List Update - April 2nd, 2018

Tier 1

• Sylvans
• Sea Stealth Attack

Tier 2

• Cyber Angels
• Red-Eyes Zombies
• Aliens

Tier 3

• Fishes
• Magnet Warriors
• Archfiends
• Destiny Heroes (Fusion variant)

High Potential

• Destiny Heroes (Dark City variant)
• Dragons

Demoted

• Dinos

Note

This is the first Tier List update from the new Top Player Council! Every one of them wrote novels for the tier list update, so we have lots of good content to share this week.

Top Player Council Thoughts

Sylvans continue to dominate. Every major tournament has Sylvan mirrors for their finals. The meta has centralized completely around Sylvans. Top Player Council comment: - "This should be no surprise here. The deck has been very consistent in tournament results, and I don't see this changing any time soon. Setting Loading... is very problematic for most decks in the game because it usually leads to board wipe if it resolves. Even with all the hate people have for it in the main/side, the deck is still constantly on top, and will continue to mold the meta until something more powerful arrives."

• Sea Stealth Attack remains in Tier 1, although it is moving closer to Tier 2. The effect negation traps (Loading... /Loading... ) that Sylvans have introduced are troublesome for Sea Stealth Attack, and it's beginning to feel like Sea Stealth Attack is not worthy of being in same tier as Sylvans (especially when comparing recent tournament results). Top Player Council comment:

  • "Remains at Tier 1 as Sea Stealth Attack is still ridiculously strong when your opponent has no counters. Loading... and Loading... have some of the most powerful effects in the game and are quite easy to summon. However, due to the presence of more players playing Loading... and Loading... in the side deck, it is not as dominant of a force as it used to be and is on the decline."

• Red-Eyes Zombies and Cyber Angels remained in place as strong Tier 2 decks. Top Player Council comment:

  • "Red-Eyes Zombie have been able to consistently top despite having a mediocre Sylvan matchup because of its even matchups across the board and being able to side cards such as Loading... and counter traps vs Sylvans."
  • "Cyber Angels are quite the opposite story, performing almost exclusively on their ability to beat Sylvans. While it has decent matchups overall, I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the reason they're topping."

• Aliens also remain in place, being held down by poor match-ups against the Tier 1 decks. Top Player Council comment:

  • "Still consistent and has some good match-ups against some top tier decks. Though another deck that has been falling off the radar since Sylvans and Sea Stealth Attack, they're able to adapt to the meta."

• Fishes were demoted to Tier 3, despite the deck's flexibility and its access to repeated spot removal. Although this deck still has potential to do well in competitive events, its relative slowness and combo-reliance has bumped it down to Tier 3. Top Player Council comment:

  • "It doesn’t have any terrible matchups with the top-tier decks and it’s very adaptable to the meta. However, the deck’s slow start up holds it back to consistently beat the top-tier decks. The prevalence of Loading... /Loading... really hurts the deck too."

• Archfiends were moved into Tier 3 after some recent strong tournament showings. While not the Tier 0(?!) deck they were originally promised to be, Archfiends have shown serious strength in the Sylvan dominated meta. Top Player Council comment:

  • "Really good match up against Sylvans, though it struggles with many of the other top decks (Cyber Angels specifically). Loading... being an out to a set Loading... and Loading... being able to bring Loading... out to prevent you from being defeated on your opponent’s turn really gives it an edge against the most commonly played deck of the format."

• Fusion Destiny Heroes stay in place, although they have not been very popular recently. Dark City Destiny Heroes has been placed into High Potential due to the release of Loading... and Loading... , although Anki will likely affect Fusion Destiny Heroes too. Top Player Council comments:

  • "With little representation in tourneys, results have been positive enough to remain on the tier list."
  • "It is yet to be seen how Loading... will affect the standard build, but I don’t feel like Destiny Heroes have the luxury of giving up Loading... , so it will be interesting to see how these two engines co-mingle."

• Magnet Warriors stay in place too, although they sit in a peculiar spot. We feel that Magnets have strong Tier 2 potential but are held back by their tournament representation. Top Player Council comment:

  • "Many people are hesitant to put this deck on a tier list because there are very few players who play this deck. But this deck is quite powerful, and I don’t believe it has any unfavorable match ups in the top tiers. Loading... /Loading... is usually game over in a grindy situation, and Loading... helps keep you alive against aggressive decks. I also believe that Dinos falling off the map really pushes this deck since that was arguably this deck’s worst match up."

• Dinos have been removed from the tier list in large part due to a poor Sylvan match-up and declining tournament representation. As the meta adjusts around Sylvans, Dinos must also adjust from builds with heavy backrow-hate to builds that can accommodate effect negation (e.g., Loading... or Ultimate Providence). Whether Dinos can return from this adjustment and re-join the tier list remains to be seen. Top Player Council comment:

  • "Dinos have slowly become non-existent since they pretty much get dominated by Sylvans and still have the same matchups they usually do against everything else. Archfiends also have their way with Dinos, so I believe Dinos have dropped off the grid."

• Dragons have been placed into High Potential thanks to the possibilities provided by Loading... and the new Dragon Structure Deck: Dragonic Knights. Top Player Council comment:

  • On support for Loading... : "The new Structure Deck introduced some really good support for this deck (Loading... /Loading... /Loading... ), but a lot of testing has yet to be done. The deck list is far from being optimized, but I believe with time, this deck will prove itself."

This week we have the Meta Weekly on 4/4, the DLP Weekly on 4/5, and MCS VII on 4/7 + 4/8. Expect the results in these tournaments to have a strong effect on the Tier List.