CFV - Meta/Top decks Analysis December 2016

Hey guys I apologise it really took me a while to get this up work+getting to end of the year not a good combo =S Don't want to trash talk too much so here's my analysis.

The results here are based on tournaments in the last 2 months or so. I chose 2 months because I personally feel any results before that becomes less relevant due to Vanguard having new sets every other month and the amount of change that can occur between sets.

What do guys think are the best/most popular decks right now?

Well let me give you guys an idea, I mainly used vg.xpg.jp for this as they compile deck lists that top from both English and Japanese tournaments (though mostly Japanese, still a pretty good overall representation). Note that I didn't take in to account decks that only topped once.


DECK TOPS IN THE LAST 2 MONTHS

Chronojet/Time Leap: 29

SGD/Blaster: 16

Nightrose: 14

Luard: 11

Blue Wave: 10 

Descendant: 10

CBD variants: 8

Seven Seas G1 Rush: 8

Atmile/Brave: 7

Messiah variants: 7

Fenrir/Wiseman: 6

Thavas: 6

RFD: 5

Ahsha: 4

Diablo variants: 4

Dimensional Robo: 4

Dudley: 4

Gurguit/Unite: 4

Kogitsune: 4

Overlord "The Legend" variants: 4

Uguisumaru: 4

Gavrail variants: 3

Maelstrom: 3

PR♥ISM: 3

Rising Nova: 3

Shiranui: 3

Vanquisher: 3

Blade Wing: 2

Chatnoir: 2

Chronofang Tiger: 2

Darkface: 2

Gaia Emperor: 2

Harri: 2

Nociel/Rescue: 2

Revengers: 2

Seven Seas: 2

Thing Saver/Blaster: 2

Tsukuyomi: 2

It's pretty clear what the best decks are and if you want to top a tournament you probably want to pick one of those but after the top 3 its actually kinda rock, paper, scissors and its not like the top decks have no weaknesses either. For example Seven Seas G1 Rush is still without a doubt extremely strong against GB decks it crushes things like Chronojet but has trouble against RFD. We're seeing a lot of Shadow Paladins, Aqua Force and Narukami but I personally think its just hype from the recent set (going to need another month or two for things to really stabilise).

What else...

• I'm quite surprised such a low amount of PR♥ISMs and Bermudas tops in general. I personally think they're great decks to play. PR♥ISMs have a pretty good early-mid game with Celtic, Vert and scales pretty well with Olyvia and Lauris strides.
• Nociel/Rescue is another one I feel is still really good, they can be just as oppressive as Chronojet albeit less consistent.
• Fenrir/Wiseman still topping is quite surprising to me. I personally never felt the deck was fast or consistent enough to be competitive, it basically does nothing early game (like all GB decks) so it dies to rush and control decks just screw with Wiseman so hard, no idea why it was so hyped in the English game considering the deck was basically absent the whole of October. People have been starting with Tahro now so that may have helped.
• There also a total of 19 Aqua Force tops which is pretty crazy to me though as I said before can't tell if they're actually good or just hype...

Not much more I really want to say, you guys can have a look at the list and let me know what you think. From here on I'm going to give you guys some insight to the top 3 decks so you know what they do/to do if you face them based on my knowledge playing with them (probably not much =P).

1. CHRONOJET/TIME LEAP

All competitive players should know what this deck does and why its the best deck at the moment. The deck's been dominating for a while now, its a versatile deck that does a bit of everything but more importantly it has ridiculous combos with time leap. Even with the restrictions in Japan it's still arguably the best deck, having the most tops say so.

Why is it so strong? Wombo, combos the most famous one being Melem+Tick Tock, its literally a 1 card combo that can be consistently and constantly reproduced to get card advantage and apply pressure. If you don't know the combo I have it here for you, its kinda their bread and butter.

Requirements:

1. Stride Interdimensional Beast, Metallica Phoenix.
2. Steam Maiden, Melem on field.
3. Tick Tock Worker on field.

Since Tick Tock Worker starts on the field you really just need to dig out Melem which this deck basically runs 20 copies of because any grade 0 can be leaped in to Melem...

Demo:

1. Stride Metallica Phoenix (-1 card). 
2. Attack with Melem, use her skill (1st attack). 
3. At the end of the attack before she is sent back to deck, Time Leap her with Tick Tock Worker. 
4. Resolve all skills > Tick Tock brings out History Maker and Melem brings out Ur-Watar.
5. Attack with History Maker (2nd attack), skill Time Leap Ur-Watar, skill (+1 card) > Ur-Watar leaps in to MelemB. 
6. Attack with MelemB (3rd attack), skill +4k > MelemB brings out Ur-WatarB.
7. Attack with Metallica Phoenix (4th attack), skill Time Leap Ur-WatarB, skill (+1 card) > Ur-Watar leaps in to MelemC > Drive check (+3 cards).
8. Attack with MelemC (5th attack)...

With Melem  and 1 cb you get +4 cards and 5 attacks assuming no stand triggers were checked which the deck plays 5-6 of. A good turn leap'ing Ur-Watar multiple times easily nets the player +6-8 cards/attacks this can be done with other time leap units such as History Maker. A lot of decks have trouble dealing with this pressure especially if Chronojet gets to stride first and they don't hit defensive triggers. There's really no other combo in the game that's that easy to set up to net card advantage at the same time applying pressure; simply put its busted.

Aside from the easily reproduce-able combo the have incredible tool boxing through time leap (they can actually go through all the grades with 1 card) and "Chronojet" has access to some of the strongest G4s in the game notably Gear Groovy, Uluru and Heteroround Dragon. The deck is scary because it scales with the game extremely well and being so versatile means it doesn't really have "bad" match ups just games where it needs to play differently except the typical rush and lock that a most decks are weak to.

That being said here are some decks that do well against Chronojet:

• SGD/Blaster since it has an earlier power spike. SGD can also initiate grade lock with ease so most of the time its the Chronojet's job to do whatever it can to survive the early rush in to Regalie turn.
• Seven Seas G1 Rush is very strong against GB decks since they play on G1 GB decks wont be striding at all and mostly relies on whatever they drive check to stay alive.
• CBD/Messiah not as good as the decks that can rush, are able to reliably get control of the game once they stride Universe and start chain locking which restricts time leaping.
• PR♥ISMs can create a win-win situation for by riding Princess Celtic which allows them to pull ahead going in to wombo combos like Vert, Lauris and Olyvia.
• In general you want to play decks that are able to stay on G1/2 for extra turn or so, you want to always be striding first and threatening the potential early game win.

Notes for playing against Chronojet:

• Even if your deck isn't built to rush, the early game is likely the only time you get turns to build a lead and run with it so apply as much pressure as you can. Try to make them play catch up whether its in card advantage or damage. Careful calling grade 0s though beause Kalibum will spin them away.
• As said before grade stuck for a turn or 2 helps prevents them from making any flashy plays.
• If your not playing a control deck you can't stop the their combos so consider guarding early, 10k for 1 to pass is in your favour. You cannot go in to the mid game with a high damage count because if you don't have the luxury to check for defensive triggers they can take game with the Melem combo.

2. Sanctuary Guard Dragon/Blaster

SGD is another deck that most players should know about since it has remained as a top tier deck for about 2 years now though it did drop off a little earlier this year, SGD came back as "the" aggro deck of the meta. 

By reducing defence and throwing the late game out the window SGD takes advantage of the meta being slow as most decks are very reliant on striding to really get going, SGD has gone balls to the walls with a very high crit count like 16 crit high and an aggressive, early game play style. Being Royal Paladins the deck has access to the Blaster and Benon engines, two of the fastest and best scaling engines in the game.

The deck typically plays like this:

1. Ride G1, usually you want to go first:  
• To receive the first attack which gives cb for Benon and Llew plays. 1 cb is enough but 2 is great because it means the deck can be more aggressive the following tuns. 
• To ride G2 first so opponents won't able to guard with their G2s, this lets allows SGD output some free damage.
2. Ride G2 play either: 
• Benon, skill > bring out Miron, skill (+1 card) > draw a card (+1 card).
• Llew+Barcgal/Flogal, skill (1st attack) > call Blaster Blade (2nd attack).
3. On G3 turn SGD can grade stuck by re-riding. The usual play is to ride G3 only when the opponent has 3+ damage or if you can get a significant lead. SGD aims to stride first and usually in to Sanctuary Guard Regalie; assuming all columns hit 21k+, at 3 damage checking 1 crit is usually enough to take the game if your opponent hasn't generated any card advantage. Most decks against rush will have about 4-6 cards in hand on SGD's first stride (unless the didn't guard anything) so the theory is:
• 1-2 cards are G3/stride fodder.
• 1-2 cards are triggers.
• 1-2 cards are rear guards/combo units.
• 1-2 cards are sentinels.
• Therefore its likely that only 3-5 of the cards can be used to guard, 15k shield are 2 card drops meaning opponents pretty much has to take 1 hit. 

The top decks can all generate card advantage and pressure at will. SGD is particularly good at this because its non-GB. Think how much pressure time leap and hollow combos can put out; SGD can this on turn 2. Its important to note:

• Benon+Miron hits 14k on G2 (10k shield to guard).
• Llew+Flogal/Barcgal can hit 16k/19k (10k/15k shield to guard). 

10/15k shields early game can be 2 card drops which is huge when you consider most decks have 5-6 cards in hand each turn and when you combine that with like 16 crits what exactly can your opponent do to prevent being rushed down? They can attack rear guards but with Benon the deck is basically built to trade cards for damage. As a whole it puts a lot of pressure on your opponent because anytime they don't guard your Vanguard its potentially 2 damage (probably not proper maths bu 16 crit out of 49 cards is about a 32% chance of hitting one) and if they guard you can simply dump the crit+power to a rear guard. Its really disadvantageous to guard 19k/24k columns that early (minimum 2 card drop). The deck is really scary because there is just simply no other deck in right now that can match this level of aggressiveness but of course its not without weaknesses.

Decks that do well against SGD:

• Overlords played right are pretty much nightmare mode for SGD. Neoflame nullifies the Benon/Miron play and any rush attempt forcing a longer game where things like Taiten and Denial Griffin will constantly stop SGD in its tracks. SGD will eventually just run out of juice. But gg if you don't draw in to those Neoflames early.
• PR♥ISMs again can get a lot of value riding in to Princess Celtic she makes SGD choose between guarding and the game slows down or getting cb and letting PR♥ISMs draw (win-win situation for PR♥ISMs). If its the latter PR♥ISMs can actually generate a card lead and run away with it.
• Nociel can similarly generate a huge card lead after with a lot of cb and just run with an unbreakable hand the moment they ride G3, even better if they get Broken Nurses.
• Raging Form Dragon can out burst SGD and take games especially if SGD is on G2 and RFD gets their set up. Its a double edged sword though because if they can't end SGD will have a lot of cb to play with afterwards. 
• Machinings also hold up fairly well, they have a decent early-mid game and if SGD can't end the game after first stride Machining Destroyer can take control from there since SGD plays a low G3 count.
• Something with a decent early game, control or strong recovery mechanic to replenish resources/survive the first Regalie turn is generally a good pick.

Notes playing against SGD:

• If your not playing a aggro/rush deck REMEMBER its your job to survive up to your power spike not to win before that...
• Avoid giving SGD cb in the early game. If you have more than 2 damage they have potential game on Regalie turn with multi-attacks. Avoid giving them cb by attacking rear guards or even not attacking at all if it means SGD not being able to do anything the following turn, use your own judgement for this.
• Guard as much as you can early game especially if SGD is going to stride first, dropping a PG early or 15k for no pass is fine.
• Consider playing more draw triggers or 10k vanilla G2s they help guard those early magic numbers and generating some lost cards. Stands also help in some cases.
• If you're playing a pure GB deck there's honestly very little you can do, pray you hit your triggers and SGD doesn't crit...

3. NIGHTROSE
Granblue received a pretty significant buff from G-BT08 most notably Pirate King, Goauche and Witch Doctor of Banquets, Negrolily. Nightrose benefited most from these units which pushed her to the top tier decks over Seven Seas. 

Since Granblue in general is able to freely drop units in the early game because cards in the drop zone just become resources later on Nightrose inherently has a better early game compared to most decks GB decks. Goauche benefits a lot from this style of play as he guarantees the player to net free cards on first stride for example.

Requirements:

1. 3 cards in soul (the more the better).
2. 2 counter blast.
3. Stride Tempest-calling Pirate King, Goauche. 

Demo:

1. Use Rough Seas Banshees before striding, this gives you 3 soul (G0, 1 & 2) by the time you ride G3.
2. Stride Tempest-calling Pirate King, Goauche (-1 card) > Cb1+sb1 as cost; now sb the remainder to call 2 units from the drop zone (+2 cards).
3. Nightrose G3 stride skill > call another unit from drop zone (+1 card)
4. Drive check (+3 cards).

This demo nets you +5 cards and 3 attacks but can be extended by cards such as Rampage Shade and Pirate Swordsman. A good turn with Goauche can net the player +4-5 cards and usually 4-5 attacks. Does this play sound familiar? =P

If Goauche is the bread then Negrolily is the butter because her interaction with Nightrose's GB2 skill can be game changing. Negrolily may retire a unit as part of the cost to get +10000 shield this proc's Nightrose's GB2 skill during your opponent's turn. 

Requirements:

1. A unit on the field to retire, I'm going to use Skeleton Cannoneer here.
2. Vampire Princess of Night Fog, Nightrose GB2 enabled.
3. Heal trigger to discard for Great Witch Doctor of Banquets, Negrolily's G-guard.

Demo:

1. Opponent attacks.
2. Use Negrolily G-guard, skill cb1 retire Skeleton Cannoneer (-1 card), call a normal ghostie unit if you want, +10000 shield.
3. Since Skeleton Cannoneer was put in drop zone, Nightrose's GB2 skill activates, mill top 3 cards and bring back Skeleton Cannoneer (+1 card), you may hollow him if you wish.
4. Since Skeleton Cannoneer is placed on rear guard circle from the drop zone his skill activates, cb1 to retire an opponent's rear guard.

If you retire a front row unit that column won't be able to attack that turn kinda like a Denial Griffin (you decide if that's a +1 card =S). The demo uses just Skeleton Cannoneer but you can retire things like Mick the Ghostie and Family for +10000 power to the Vanguard for the turn or Witch Doctor of Languor, Negrolazy to call another card.  

The deck also has access to cards like the the G4 Nightrose for more aggression and Grenache to reset resources; bottom line is similar to Chronojet this deck has options and damn good ones too that scale well as the game progresses.

Decks that do well against Nightrose:

• Chronojet/Time Leap can pretty much do everything Nightrose does but better. They can also spin back units to the deck so it messes with their drop zone set up.
• SGD/Blaster again has good match ups against GB decks the Benon and Blaster engine transitioning in to Regalie is just that powerful. Again its mostly downhill after the first stride though.
• Seven Seas G1 Rush same kinda thing as SGD but literally depends on what Nightrose drive checks.
• CBD variants are able to get pretty significant control of the game once they start locking especially if CBD gets to stride first.
• PR♥ISMs also do fairly well, again you can get a lot of value riding Princess Celtic early same deal against SGD since Nightrose needs counter blast to function you can pretty much force them to let you draw cards every turn.
• RFD again can just straight up burst Nightrose if they get a good set up with multiple attacks to the face.

Notes against Nightrose:

• The deck will still die to rush if the opponent does it hard enough because GB.dek.
• You want to prioritze attacking face for damage, try to make all your attacks 10k+ to guard this way they can't just intercept with 1 unit. They get a lot of value out of G2s because they can attack and intercept with them.
• As always against GB centric decks grade lock them if you can. It may also be worth baiting them in to playing Sebreeze if they're on 2-3 cb; in some cases it can prevent them from doing a lot more things the following turn.
• Again consider guarding early especially if you know they can multi-attack because if they have Negrorooks not even defensive triggers will help you.
• Same deal with Chronojet if you can make them play from behind early your in a pretty good spot.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER DECKS WHY AREN'T THEY TOP TIER?

Imo the following points are what decks require in order to be a top tier deck:

• Consistent and good at what they were designed to do.
• Have a lot of good match ups.
• At the moment the meta really favours early to mid game spikes.
• Strong advantage generator or recovery mechanic; able to make huge momentum swings, get an advantage and run with it or stabilise back after a deficit. 
• Little counter play.

With those points in mind lets take a quick look at...there's like 38 decks on the list so I'm gona narrow it down to lets just say the top 20ish after Chronojet, SGD and Nightrose:

 ̶L̶u̶a̶r̶d̶ 

Blue Wave 

 ̶D̶e̶s̶c̶e̶n̶d̶a̶n̶t̶

CBD variants

Seven Seas G1 Rush

Atmile/Brave

Messiah variants

Fenrir/Wiseman

Thavas
RFD

Ahsha

Diablo variants

Dimensional Robo

Dudleys

Gurguit/Unite

Kogitsune

Overlord "The Legend" variants

Uguisumaru

Gavrail variants

Maelstrom

PR♥ISM

Rising Nova

Shiranui

Vanquisher

I'm still not convinced with Luard and Descendant yet, I've seen them in action and I'm pretty sure its just the hype for now, I'll definitely rectify this if I'm proven wrong in the next 2 months.

• Aqua Force's whole identity to generate advantages by multi-attacking; Chronojet, SGD, Nightrose, Fenrir/Wiseman, Altmile, PR♥ISM etc can all do that and arguably better. They also need to draw in to rear guards and is easily disrupted by control decks, Overlords be like "nice waves bro". They're basically a less consistent and more restricted version of Chronojet/Time Leap. The only advantage I'll say they have over other decks Wailing Thavas and Tetra Drive for extra cheese.
• Messiahs, CBD and Overlords has been and will always be relevant in a meta that is rear guard focused, Its just that control decks are very weak right now, they're designed to accumulate advantage over time by grinding your opponent; the meta is becoming faster you want advantage immediately. They suffer the inability to generate card advantage at will.
• Seven Seas G1 Rush is actually extremely strong and gives every slow and stride reliant deck a run for their money; its definitely in my top 5. The only problem with this deck is non-GB decks like RFD & Maelstrom etc they don't really care. This is already catching on in Asia, Seven Seas Rush hasn't topped nearly as much as they were 2 months ago.
• Altmile, Fenrir, Thavas, Ahsha, etc all dem GB, stride reliant decks; they don't really have an early game so are vulnerable to rush and unlike Chronojet they don't have a strong advantage generator or recovery mechanic so chances are if they get behind, they'll stay behind. Also note weirdly enough they also suffer from control decks a lot...
• I actually really like PR♥ISMs they have a decent/strong early game with Princess Celtic; yeh not as oppressive as Chronojet or SGD but can definitely keep up and give the rest of the meta a run for their money, they appear often in Asia, don't know why they haven't caught on yet in the English game. They don't particularly have any bad match ups but I guess not being able to do something especially well hurts them.

The meta right now is generate a whole bunch of advantage consistently, if you can't do it constantly then go to the extremes, play it fast and run with it. If you can't do any of that then you're simply going to be left behind. 

TL;DR Chronojet/Time Leap, Nightrose and SGD/Blaster are imo the best decks right now. They are consistent and offer little counter play.

And that's a wrap for my analysis tbh I'm not sure if I did it correctly but hopefully this post gave you guys some insight to the scene right now. I'm on my holiday break now so hopefully I can put out a few more posts the next few weeks. Thanks for reading! =)

*images from cardfight.wikia*