This is our first Tier List with our new Top Player Council. It is also the first Tier List since Arc-V World and the giant balance update that came with it.
TPC Comments
Arc-V is off to a fresh start with the most dominant deck of last format, Onomat, being completely nuked by the banlist hitting their skill Onomatoplay ! This has opened the gates for many old decks that were being limited by Onomat to shine!
As we look at the initial fallout from the banlist the Tier List actually looks oddly similar in shape compared to what we have seen lately. We have a sole Tier 1 in Harpies who quickly filled the vacuum left behind by Onomats. Gaia swaps with Thunder Dragons to become the sole Tier 2, acting as the deck that is always there to ruin your day but isn't necessarily winning lots of events. Tier 3 continues to be the home of decks whose strengths warrant their use in tournaments but whose weaknesses prevent them from seeing higher representation. The interesting thing with Tier 3 however is that Blue Eyes, Lunalight, and Water Xyz have risen from the ashes of the banlist to return to relevancy where as Harpies, Gaia, and Thunder Dragons have been tiered for months. Sadly, the only "new" strategy to appear with any true power is Melodious who finds their way to High Potential. Keep an eye out for that tough-to-out boss monster (although not as tough as Loading... ) and the constant recycling of monsters discarded with the likes of Loading... . Hopefully in the weeks to come we can find some Pendulum decks that can break their way into the meta but otherwise it's mostly the same old ball game, just with Harpies leading the way instead of Onomat.
Tier 1
TPC Comments
Harpies have proven to be one of the most consistent decks of the format having a high representation and conversion rate. This was proven by yours truly in the recent Meta Weekly and several others in the Recent MCS. This is due to ability to easily OTK the opponent, with Loading... getting rid of backrow and Loading... to dodge said backrow and potentially unbrick yourself into other key monsters like Loading... and Loading... . Loading... 's disruption make it easy to play around any cards that have high ATK or can't be destroyed by battle. Harpies also have its own searchable Loading... in Loading... , making it easy to draw into techs and Side Deck cards like Loading... and Loading... .
Regardless of its counters existing in Lunalight, Loading... , and Side Deck cards: Harpies break out as the clear Tier One deck. This is almost certainly because it is the only remaining deck in the meta that can semi-consistently draw 2 on their first turn and also set up a formidable boss monster. Onomats could do this way more consistently and perform the draw prior to beginning their combo, which was why Harpies were never at that same power level between this difference and the aforementioned counters. But with Onomats now gone, Harpies are now the only deck that still follows the framework of "draw cards & make boss monster". Gaia can plus and make the boss monster, but they do not get the generic draw like Harpies do. Harpies being played at the same numbers as Onomats is luckily not as boring, as we see a decent range in builds between 20 & 30 cards, and there is inherently more counterplay in the Harpie mirror compared to the Onomat mirror. We will have to see if the adjustments made by other players in the upcoming weeks are enough to reduce Harpie representation - because as we all know this wasn't the case with Onomats.
Tier 2
TPC Comments