Top Player Council Thoughts
The release of the new Ancient Gear structure deck has had an immediate impact on the meta and is already influencing how certain decks will be looked at going into the MCS this weekend.
Tier 1
Karakuri and Koa'ki Meiru have remained in Tier 1, continuing to excel in competitive events. Koa'ki Meiru in particular now has an even stronger position in the meta, thanks to a very good Ancient Gear match-up. Karakuri will have difficulty getting over Loading... without side-deck cards, and so that deck may falter in the coming weeks without serious readjustment.
TPC Comments:
monkeyboy44:
Karakuri remain in Tier 1 with increasingly consistent tournament performances thanks to their ability to access devastating floodgate cards in the side deck quicker than most any other deck we've seen to date. Once this deck gets going it's very hard to stop it.
Koaki Mieru remain in Tier 1 due to generally impressive top cut conversion rates and an ability to OTK through just about anything when they go second and their cards line up.
Tier 2
Buster Blader has been demoted to Tier 2, in large part thanks to a very unfavorable Ancient Gear match-up. Loading... is very difficult for Buster Blader to play through, losing their Loading... repeatedly and only having Loading... as an out to Reactor Dragon.
Masked Heroes and Vampires have remained in Tier 2 and are expected to adapt well to a meta shaped by the presence of Ancient Gears.
TPC Comments:
monkeyboy44:
Buster Blader falls to Tier 2. Though Tier 1 in some other team formats due to its oppressive strengths, in tournaments it appears to be a bit too inconsistent against the variety of the meta as a whole to compete at a Tier 1 level.