TCG meta updates from testing

So after a few days of testing and observing, i will give my 2 cents about the meta  post banlist.

If you arent in the TCG you prolly wanna skip this post because theres a huge wall of text.

Firstly, I am gonna say 1 thing: If you all thought decks from the past will be revived and the meta will be SUPER DIVERSE, you're all wrong. It will be much more diverse than the previous shiddy format, but definitely not to the point of any deck has a standing chance to win.

It came to me slightly that the best decks will still be the theme decks with the best support and has the highest level of power creep. When LFN msg-ed me yesterday and told me that he too noticed the same thing, it confirmed my suspicion. Despite how good decks like BF or zombie suddenly become with the support of whirlwind to 3, and mezuki/plaque to 2, it still cant keep up with new decks like mermail and fire fist 4 axis.

So, i will list out my observations and testing:

take note the dragon deck im talking abt is 4 dragons and is NOT dragon plant, however with tetherwolf and DDR engine.

Day 1:

Personal Playtesting:

tested mermails vs hieratics: mermail dominant (w LGQ)

tested dragons vs hieratics: lost first round abt 1-4, won 2nd round abt 2-1 after modding the deck. Even to say the least. Came down alot to who had the hand trap. (w LGQ)

I did get some testing with yanni but i cant remember what happened or what decks were involved, i think there was mermail or dragons.

Observation: (watching australian team w Bodan, C.Hanson, Jono etc)

spellbooks vs bf: spellbooks dominant
spellbooks vs mermail- evenly matched for the games i watched.

Input from Jono:

Dragon Plant vs WU- WU wins
Dragon plant overall weak compared to many decks.

Day 2:

Personal Playtesting:

Mermail vs dragons w Phantom beast plane engine - mermail won marginally (2-1)  (w/ Nelsown)
mermail vs dragons - 1-1 (unfinished game with Joshua Schmidt.)

mermail vs BF: mermail won by a longshot
mermail vs BF OCG : mermail won (with jason)

Observation:

mermail vs dragunity 4 dragons : dragunity won g1 (watched only 1 game between joshua schmidt vs michel gruner)
mermail vs FF 4 axis : even for games i watched (abt 2) (between C.Hanson and A$AP YGO i think?)

Input from LFN:

Zombies > laval
Prophecy > zombies

So, these are the products of my testing and observations ^

Credits to :

Input sharing:

LFN
Jono Ritzau
C. Hanson
Bohdan
Christopher Welch
Yvon Boulet (spiceyyanni)

Playtesting:

LGQ
Yvon Boulet
Ryan Nelson
Joshua Schmidt
Jason Yong

List sharing:

LGQ- hieratics
C. Hanson- mermail techs/list/ratio for discussion
Joshua Schmidt- mermail techs/list/ratio for discussion
Shahmir- for coming up with the dragon ruler skeleton

If there is anybody i've forgotten sorry lol

I am biased towards Mermail, and because it is the deck i will most likely be playing, i will talk about matchups from its POV:

I have not tested vs Infernity, or Verz and Constella which IMO are all good decent decks too. IMO Mermail will still be superior to Verz as before overall because it has alot of options (I.e: 1 card temtempo, Infantry, traps, verz opening bad etc etc)

The same should be said with constella, because Mermail has Infantry to answer Pleaides.

I should test VS infertnity soon because it seems like  a very powerful deck.

The build of mermail im playing will be undisclosed but then i am maining  2 veilers, but 0 Max C, and running at least 2 MST (adding the 3rd soon).

I have not come to the conclusion if C is worth maining atm but im definitely sure veiler is pretty good (so far)

At the same time, 3 MST is definitely a staple so far this format because you wanna hit:

1) abysphere
2) traps and scapegoat freshly set)
3) coth and DDR
4) black whirlwind, tenki, WU factory
5) Grand spellbook tower Le Maison
6) Opposing MSTs

I have heard Madolches are decent but i've yet to play any so i will not comment on it.

For now, i would pick mermail as a better deck compared to dragons mainly because mermails have more options and dragons are incredibly linear. However the dragon plant version seems really inferior because it is inconsistent.

I honestly am not sure if scapegoat will make a big impact this format but i lost 1 game to dragons because he had 2 consecutive scapegoat which i had to deal with in 2 consecutive turns and he turned the tide by making big eye and something.

So: to sum it up:

1) Decks that are real are:

Mermails, Spellbooks, FF 4 axis, Dragunity 4 dragon engine (gruner's build was dragunity engine mixed with all 4 Dragon rulers which was genius IMO):

I am under the opinion that dragon rulers can only survive with dragunity engine and if your not running that engine, it will be very bad. I love the fact shock master isnt legal because we finally get to play ygo :)

It seems reminiscent towards the post tachyon format except the format is slightly more balanced..

2) 3 MST is needed

3) The best deck will be the deck which has the most options. In this case IMO will be spellbooks, mermails, or the dragunity ruler engine. Dragunity rulers seem incredibly broke bar Maxx C and Veiler (dies to the 2 cards), but is probably more consistent than the others, with 3 ravine, 3 tempest, and several backup plays if you meet a veiler on atumus)

Infernity seems similar to d rulers, if you start first, and your opponent has ntg to stop you, the game is 100% yours in game 1 when you vomit your field. Because the format has not shaped whether hand traps are needed, infernity seems solid because it will almost nett u a game 1. However losing access to shock ruler is very painful to it, although you can still make doom orgy dragon.

4) A good amount of backrow in mermail is good. Apart from Abyssphere, maybe some warning torrent bth mirror force?

So, this is basically what i've come up with. I will test more to include madolches, karakuri, infenrity and verz. If you guys have tested stuff which i've not factored in, please feel free to comment and share your opinions. At the same time, if you guys have any disagreements with what i posted, please feel free to share and discuss too. If you have any questions about my opinions, do ask too and vice versa.

I hope this information will help the TCG players in playtesting, especially for YCS Toronto which will be held next week. All the best to the players attending.