Master Duel Meta Report - The Newborn Dragon
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Master Duel Meta Report: The Newborn Dragon
A Meta in Two Parts
Due to a surprise Forbidden & Limited list midway through the month, this format was split into 2 distinct categories, with the first occupying only the first week. Outside of Despia strategies the majority of those deck lists were no longer legal, so it is reasonable to consider the post-banlist format, that began just a week later on September 16, as the "actual" format for The Newborn Dragon. The article below this point will be in reference to the period between the banlist announcement and the release of Secret Pack: Cosmic Ocean.
With Selection Pack: The Newborn Dragon and a new Forbidden & Limited List update, the meta was inevitably going to change. Branded Despia, as the most significant introduction with the latest Selection Pack, failed to initially perform as well as expected based on OCG and TCG success. As the month progressed, however, the Master Duel playerbase became more adept at piloting the deck and it quickly rose to be both the most represented and most powerful deck, especially with the neutering of other top decks in a surprise second Forbidden & Limited List later in the month, which saw fatal hits to the oppressive Loading... and Loading... combo lines as well as weakening the consistency of the Adventurer engine. While still possible to Summon Loading... utilizing two Level 7 monsters with Loading... , this line is much more vulnerable to disruption, and is less consistent.
Master Duel is currently in a two deck format with Swordsoul Tenyi and Branded Despia, but these decks are not so strong as to render other strategies obsolete; strategies like Dragon Link, SPYRAL, Floowandereeze and more have been able to keep up with the top decks and found themselves a comfortable place at a lower tier in the meta. To illustrate this point, the below pie chart is only listing decks with 4 or greater tops this season, as there are more than a dozen other deck strategies that saw competitive success composing the "Others" slice.
Data sourced from tournament reports on MasterDuelMeta.com
Decks to Beat
Branded Despia
It is no surprise that Branded Despia is the most powerful deck in the meta. Despite initially being inferior to powerful Loading... decks, the deck still managed to achieve moderate levels of success. It was not until the implementation of the second Forbidden & Limited list (which organisers typically integrate immediately, as opposed to the official date) that the deck raced ahead and established itself as the top dog in both entrant and top cut representation.
Despia players have settled on the Frightfur engine as the optimal way to play the deck, taking advantage of the resources granted by Loading... and Loading... to fuel their Fusion plays. The strategy is a unique case of a meta relevant deck that does not consistently end on negates or floodgates as a method of winning the duel, instead interrupting the opponent with staggered removal effects such as Loading... and Loading... , strengthened by the fact that both cards are on the field at separate times, making losing to blowout cards such as Loading... and Loading... virtually a non-factor.
With its strengths in grind game, huge boss monsters, a variety of useful removal, and ability to play around many floodgates and even under Loading... , Despia has cemented itself as the most powerful deck in the meta.
1st Place China Master Duel Tieba Weekly #23 – Catherine
1st Place GGtoor x DLE Showdown #15 –
Swordsoul Tenyi
Despite falling off in the wake of the superior Adventure Tenyi deck earlier in the month, Swordsoul Tenyi has made a resurgence and come out as the definitive second most dominant deck in the format. With the ban of Loading... , a card Swordsoul Tenyi decks could use but did not necessarily need, as well as the further limiting of the Adventurer engine, decks that do not need those cards to compete are made more powerful by comparison.
With an easy to play strategy with a high ceiling, Swordsoul Tenyi uses a variety of Level 7-10 Synchro Monsters to overpower the opponent. While not necessarily having a more powerful board than other competitive decks, Swordsoul's consistency, advantage generation with Loading... and Synchro Monsters Loading... and Loading... , and powerful individual bosses, they have been able to stand strong as a meta threat since their inception. Going first, players are able to resolve the effect of Loading... declaring DARK which can completely prevent an opponent playing Branded Despia from conducting their turn, forcing them to hard draw Loading... to make Loading... or Loading... or lose the Duel.