We still have the same two decks in the Tier 1 spot, even after the banlist. However, I think the situation is not the same as before: the KC Cup has proven that Salamangreat is the better deck between the two, and the banlist hit HEROs harder than Salamangreat. The reason why both decks are still in the Tier 1 spot is that both decks are extremely popular, and HEROs are closer to Salamangreat in power level than Tier 2 decks. The lower Tier Decks are rising up due to the best decks being nerfed, and the gap between them got smaller. This is why we have put Predaplant back in Tier 2.
Tier 1
TPC Comments
Thanks to the banlist hitting Loading... and Loading... to 3, HEROs are now in a weird place between Salamangreat and the other decks. The deck has expectedly kept a good pwerformance and power-level and slightly worse consistency than before the banlist, thanks to Dragonic Contact giving them a lot of options going first and guranteed follow-up going second.
In conclusion, the deck is still powerful but not as much as Salamangreat , especially since Salamangreat can do its thing with a much higher consistency.
With the last banlist, HERO lost a significant amount of consistency. However, most players are still running 30-card lists, which I believe is wrong. Some are trying to replace the missing copies of Loading... and Loading... with Loading... or Loading... , but they don't provide the same value. Going first, opening Stratos or Loading... with a Dragonic Contact discard generates the most advantage. It lets you set Loading... , search Loading... with Loading... , draw 2 with Liquid, and potentially use Loading... to draw 2 more with Cross Keeper. Liquid + a Skill discard achieves a similar result but without Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 (alternatively you can set Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 and set Liquid for Loading... ).
In contrast, opening Cross Keeper + a Skill target is much weaker. You either set Loading... or Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 and pass, or use Loading... to summon Loading... / Loading... and Draw 2. The issue is that even if you draw Stratos or Neos Fusion, they won’t provide more draw power that turn since Polymerization and Cross Keeper have been already used. Only E - Emergency Call or Liquid Soldier would be decent draws, allowing you to set Liquid and draw 2 on your opponent's turn after using Super Polymerization.
Additionally, with only 2 Stratos and 1 Liquid, HEROs' grind game is a lot weaker, making it even more reliant on Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 than before.
The nerf to Salamangreat is tangible, but isn't nearly enough to stop the powerful engine the deck has. The Loading... hit, while it made it so the deck has to commit to Extra Deck plays to out backrow, doesn't seem to be very impactful as we haven't seen a rise in disruptive backrow (but that is something that could potentially change as the meta evolves). For now though, Fowl has been replaced by Loading... or Loading... as a searchable Special Summon from Loading... (that isn't Loading... ).
Salamangreat, as expected, is the best-performing deck afterthe banlist (as it was before the banlist) thanks to Soulburning Link , which guarantees full combo and an extra body going second. And while Loading... is banned, the deck has no problems playing around backrow / interruptions, especially when HEROs has been hit much harder. Salamangreat maybe loses to Lyrilusc in specific scenarios, but it remains the most powerful and consistent deck in the meta right now.
Losing Loading... means the deck now needs to open Loading... or go into the Extra Deck to deal with backrow. While this makes it slightly more vulnerable to backrow than before, it doesn’t change much. The deck's consistency remains the same, so it should still be a deck to beat in the upcoming format.