Tier 0
TPC Comments
Salamangreat was promoted to Tier 0 due to its high presence in the Top Cuts of the tournaments, with most of the finals being a mirror match. If you enter a big tournament nowadays with the intention of winning, Salamangreat is definitely the best option.
After only two weeks, Salamangreat is promoted to a Tier 0 status due to it dominating the Duel Links competitive scene at the moment. In a Side Deck format, this deck is literally unbeatable due to its ability to swap up techs that can singlehandedly win the matchup while also having probably the best engine that we have ever seen in the history of Duel Links, it is a bit unfortunate that the mirror match is generally a coinflip, with the player going first usually having the advantage. We can only hope for the upcoming BOX(es) to save us from a Tier 0 meta going into the KC Cup.
In order to find a real counter to Salamangreat, players are replacing inconsistent, low-ceiling, big beater, floodgate decks (Odd-Eyes + Loading... or Galaxy Photon with Loading... ) with different versions of Salamangreat that do the same in a better deck: builds that turn their monsters into big beaters using The Tie that Binds and/or builds that floodgate the opponent with Sealed Tombs or Loading... .
Salamangreat doesn't have bad matchups in Side Deck format unless it decides to ignore all other decks. Builds optimized for the mirror could have an annoying time facing Odd-Eyes before siding.
Well, it's official: Salamangreat is here and it is Tier Zero. the deck exceeded the expectations, and absolutely dominated the competitive scene not only winning but mirror matching the Grand Finals of several tournaments. Turns out the searchable omni-negate in Loading... combined with the consistency, the vast space for techs, and the resource-generating engine was too much for Duel Links to handle at this point. As mentioned in the last week, the best counter to Salamangreat is another version of itself, which solidifies the Tier Zero position of the deck.
Tier 2
TPC Comments
Odd-Eyes: the Salamangreat "counter" that can take more advantage of builds optimized for the mirror, as it is not affected by Loading... . It will have a bad time in Side if Salad player makes Roach or draws into Needle Ceiling.
Odd-Eyes looks like the best counter to Salamangreat (aside from itself). The deck proved itself one of the very few decks that can keep up with the Tier Zero contender of the meta, while evolving into more of a direct counter in the process. Smaller 20-card builds with three Loading... s in the Main Deck have emerged and done well, and it seems like it'll stay as the go-to choice against Salamangreat until a new meta develops.