Tier 1
TPC Comments
Phantom Knights has risen back on top to Tier 1 Status after a long absence from the Tier List. The new skill Treason Phantom greatly helped with consistency since it can convert hands that previous builds with Phantom Strategy would consider bricks into playable (2 Loading... hands or Monster + Trap hands). Not only that, the deck gained a new boss monster in the form of Loading... which has a Quick-Effect monster negation with destruction, and is also able to reduce monsters to 0 ATK while gaining the same ATK value. This new boss monster is very much needed for PK who had always relied on backrow for their forms of interaction. Going second is also much better now with the introduction of Stained Greaves which help play through interruption by extending past boots. All this, combined with the fact that their core is not very big, leaves room for powerful tech cards such as Loading... and Loading... which makes them even more versatile than they already are. Having both the ability to control the game and OTK out of nowhere, it is no wonder that PK is predicted to be the best deck of this format. Currently, two builds of PK are being heavily tested, pure Phantom Knights with more techs and Phantom Knight Burning Abyss with more plays and access to Loading... .
As predicted last week, Phantom Knights are by far the biggest winner from the new support, new Skills, and new banlist. By having he best combination of strong Turn 1s and Turn 2s in the meta, it gives the deck a sole Tier 1 position going into this upcoming week. It is highly represented in both tournament and league play and has performed on Tier 1 level as well. The deck allows for some different options in deck building and tech choices but I think that the 20-card builds with 13 Phantom Knight names are performing the most consistently and will continue to do so. I also do not think there are no obvious counter decks to Phantom Knights, which makes it even stronger. Sure, Infernoid and Mermail Atlantean are options most teams and individuals might bring to try counter the deck, but it they are still relatively coin flippy matchups. At least we do have some strong tech options that hurt Phantom Knight a lot, which will guaranteed see a lot of play in Side Deck formats, as everyone will expect to face a lot of Phantom Knight.
The souls of the fallen rise to the top of the meta after getting a new Boss Monster and a consistency Skill to turbo it out.
Phantom Knights already have two versions: the more standard pure version with tech cards and the Burning Abyss hybrids which have seen success in team competitions.
Tier 2
TPC Comments
Only receiving a small hit, Infernoid's relative power increase puts it at a Tier 2 position. With decent matchups against other meta decks, it remains a solid option despite being oftentimes coinflip reliant.
Tier 3
TPC Comments