Disclaimer
This Tier List is for the upcoming KCC 2nd Stage, and will be moreso geared towards Best-of-One Ladder format.
Black Luster Soldier (BLS) and Tenyi leave their mark on the meta, with most decks adapting to their presence in some form. While variants such as Magistus Odd-Eyes and others are certainly still strong in their own right, many players are now opting to find room for Loading... and Loading... in their Extra Decks. The rise of BLS and Tenyi also has led to an increased usage of Loading... and Loading... to shut down their Graveyard effects, with the former also having utility in BLS itself as a way to stop a Turn 1 Ruddy Rose Dragon. On the other hand, these handtraps can be dead or low impact draws against other decks (including most Odd-Eyes variants barring overextension into Loading... plays), so their usage will depend on what pockets of meta players will end up facing at the time.
Tier 1
TPC Comments
I will reiterate: Destiny Hero and Odd-Eyes have the best Skills in the game. They have the ability to square off against most decks in the format, which is why in my opinion Destiny HERO and Odd-Eyes variants are Tier 1.
Destiny HERO's primary playline setting up a Loading... with backrow support is usually enough to handle most matchups.
When it comes to Odd-Eyes, even a single Loading... can be enough to stop the opponent, and it isn't difficult to pair a Loading... alongside it.
When it comes to matchups against the newly-introduced decks, Black Luster Soldier and Tenyi, both decks can restrict most of their plays by means of Abyss Dweller.
I don't think it would be surprising to say that we're expecting these two decks in the KC Cup.
Odd-Eyes seems to be the deck to beat this KC Cup. With a ridiculous Skill allowing them to generate huge advantage and adjust their plays depending on the coinflip, two solid engines to incorporate in Orcust and Magistus, access to powerful synchro monsters in Loading... and Loading... (the latter of which is especially troublesome for Tenyi and Black Luster Soldier), and no restrictions to limit their ability to adapt throughout the KC Cup, It is hard to argue against this Pendulum deck: it will undoubtedly perform well this KC Cup. The only question will be just how high the deck will be able to reach and whether or not it will be able to take the top spot.
It's no surprise that Odd-Eyes is one of the best decks this format. It has three variants with very different playstyles and doesn't have any obvious counters so it will be difficult to blow-out.
While in my opinion the Orcust version is the best in Side Deck, with its near-unbeatable consistency and card advantage, there are some things to consider in Best-of-!:
- Extra Deck Space is tight, which makes it hard to fit in matchup specific monsters like Loading... , Loading... , and Loading...
- Battle Damage techs like Loading... and Loading... might be hard to justify with Loading... and Loading... floating around.
As such, I think the Pure/Magistus builds might be more suitable for the KC Cup format (despite being generally worse recovery-wise). In either case, all variants are extremely powerful and will take several Top 100 spots.
Tier 2
TPC Comments
Going into the KC Cup, Black Luster Soldier (BLS) finds themselves at Tier 2 this week. Thanks in large part to an arguably broken skill in The Soul of Light and Darkness that makes this deck's gears turn (and makes it at all viable), BLS is prime to take the KC Cup by storm. The deck is a feast-or-famine OTK-style deck, which has historically been quite successful in the “win fast, lose fast” environment of the KC Cup. They will have to worry about certain blowout cards being used against them, mainly Loading... and Loading... . Additionally, the deck lacks a consistently strong Turn 1 board outside of "Big Nahmber". Despite these issues, expect this Ritual archetype to take more than a few spots within the Top 100.