Banlist Predictions [06/13/2023]

Welcome to our banlist predictions here at ClockOneDrawTwo. With the recent announcements and the upcoming revisions announced by Bushiroad for June 13th, 2023, we have decided to give our input on what we think may happen to the banlist as a whole. Please keep in mind that these are our thoughts and are not definitive of what will transpire when the banlist changes are made.

Shoyu: I think there’s no doubt that the centerpiece of this upcoming balance revision will undoubtedly be the Alice pairing from SAO. It’s been a format warper as of late with decks being forced to change their builds in response to it. Decks are forced to carry level 2 killers or ways to permanently rid 2/1 Alice. What do you think?

Shio: I think Alice is, in a sense, a more oppressive standby. The combo revolves around a slow and methodical approach, and the pay off locks your opponent out of the game. Along with being a wall that can’t be contested easily, Alice can be easily tri-fielded in a single turn. The cherry on top is her combo that provides insane amounts of resources in hand and clean stock. Overall, unless you had a way to deal with the triple Alice board, there isn’t much you can do besides watch your opponent’s resources snowball out of control.

Shoyu: I agree. However, I think the main problem lies with the brainstorm rather than the 2/1 Alice. As a level 2 combo, I think Alice is quite fair in its advantage and field control with its overwhelming power. I think the core issue is rather that Alice comes out far too early to be checked by opponents. Furthermore, the set has too many ways to ensure that Alice comes out consistently. It creates a do-or-die format where you have to address Alice or she’ll get out of hand in garnering advantage.

Shoyu: Overlord is also a common prediction for the upcoming balance changes. Ainz can be quite annoying, especially with his double sided immortality ability (from the level assist), preventing either him or his opponent from being reversed. This can be annoying and beneficial at the same time, preserving board until the start of your opponent’s next turn. His modal ability is pretty nice, but most importantly, and this is why I think Ainz is a little fair: he needs a two turn set-up to prepare his markers for nuking his opponent’s board or set-up to burn your opponent with his marker removal ability. Additionally, his event isn’t free either for its burn costs. Overlord still has to pay hand and stock costs to burn you out, which is quite fair.

Shio: Ainz is quite a model finisher that can easily shut down any set-up that your opponent has made on field. While his finisher only does a single point of damage, combined with the number of individual pings from his marker events, Ainz can place a lot of pressure on your deck state, especially the closer you are to death. Ainz’s backrow discounting the event provides free set-up and compression as well.

Shoyu: I think the main culprit and issue with the deck has to do with the above mentioned Vampire Brides. Paired with Shaltear, the deck too easily regains hand while ensuring they can push themselves to level 2 first to play out Ainz with little contest. I do admit I think Ainz can be quite annoying to get rid of, especially thanks to the additional hexproof ability given by the level assist in the back. This can be dealt with by board nuker effects such as Haachama or non-target board flickers such as Suisei. These aren’t very good solutions though unless they were part of your deck’s game plan to begin with.

Shio: I do agree that the main menace is the vampire bride package. Shaltear allows you to draw up to three cards a turn, resolving any poor hand situation and further pushing a larger hand advantage against your opponent. Clocking yourself also ensures that you will be the first to reach level 2 to bring out Ainz or reach your endgame before your opponent. Ainz’s undying ability acts more like a bait and switch. It seems innocent at first until you realize that Ainz doesn’t care about your card’s inability to be reversed. It is more so to prevent himself from being punished by Adachi profiles or being bounced back so he can secure his combo the following turn. This is rather annoying to deal with as this “demerit” essentially makes the deck nearly impossible to interact with thanks to the additional hexproof ability from the level assist.

Shoyu: I think that at the very least, there will be some ban to the Vampire Bride and Shaltear combo followed by a potential limitation to Ainz to his level 3 finisher or the level 1 level assist.

Shoyu: I don’t have much to say about this deck besides the fact that it can be kind of annoying. Misuzu isn’t particularly interesting, but the deck’s power lies in its powerful end game. Thankfully, given how Misuzu works, any effect that bounces her, removes her from field, or nullifies damage from her essentially shuts her down. However, she can circumvent these interactions that usually come from backups by simply siding a card or directing an open lane.

Shoyu: I think Yukito is the main problem with his deck alongside the Puppet Show event. Yukito is very efficient with what he does, and with a bit of luck, Puppet Show can generate quite a bit of stock for use to prepare for Misuzu or for other advantage abilities. Furthermore, Puppet Show can potentially even mill out your deck consistently, keeping the deck state in the player’s advantage.

Shio: The Misuzu finisher does not feel too out of character considering most sets that have been released in the past year have finishers that could easily push someone from midway level two to death. Misuzu is by all means an all-or-nothing finisher as the deck dictates around building towards her solely. If the player fails at achieving the needed resources, their whole game plan falls apart which I think is fair. There have been other finishers that take on a similar approach, but the set-up along with Misuzu’s chain of pings make this a cut above the rest. Although, given the current climate of finishers, Misuzu seems to be another powerful hard-damage pushing finisher, just seemingly more annoying.

Shoyu: As frustrating as the Key deck may seem, it is a fully solitaire based deck. Misuzu may be difficult to deal with, but she’s also the deck’s main way of closing out the game. In a very compressed deck, there’s a good chance the player can live through Misuzu, assuming they take the early hits and cancel the larger portions of damage. Misuzu also restricts the deck’s build as well since her costs require discarding specifically blue cards, making it a little difficult to pull off the combo if too many additional colours are added. As for restrictions, maybe a few filter pieces will be hit, but I don’t see the deck as a particular threat by any measure.

Shoyu: I think Hololive might be a concern. Gura is a very powerful finisher which does have some RNG components to her finishing ability. However, with the amount of soul triggers in the set, decks that feature Gura are more than likely to fill their decks with an ample amount of soul triggers to ensure that her combo will go off. I am also quite concerned with the amount of soul triggers present in the deck as is. With a poor deck state in the early game, opponents can find themselves pushed into the late game much earlier than expected.

Shio: As mentioned earlier, Gura’s finisher plays into the growing trend of decks possessing increasingly absurd amounts of soul triggers, mainly by giving them to early game cards such as level one combos, costless level ones, and level zeros. Once your opponent rushes you to level three with increased soul triggers, Gura comes in with an explosive finisher. Her finisher is the icing on the cake that makes even more use of the exorbitant number of soul triggers already rushing you to death.

Shoyu: I would say that there are certain culprits that need to be tuned down for the deck; however, I do think that this is just another growing form of powercreep as sets will continue to gain soul triggers on costless cards and even some level 0s. Hololive as a set has a large toolbox card pool which will be impossible to tune down as alternative options will always be available. If any hits were to be made, I think it would be limiting Gura to two copies per deck.

Shoyu: I would also like to highlight this upcoming brew that allows for a massive swingout turn that features Marine, Sora, and Ayame. Essentially, the combo works and begins with a copy of Marine, Sora, and a random character in the front row. Every character can swing with Marine last. Marine’s ability will proc, sending Sora to the waiting room while sending herself to the backrow. Sora’s ability will proc when she’s sent to waiting room. You pay her costs and when you do, you can summon Ayame from the deck. Ayame’s ability will proc due to being played from the deck, letting you spawn another copy of her from the deck which you can use to spawn another copy. Since the attack phase has not ended, you can then swing three times with Ayame for a total of six attacks that turn.

Shio: I think the interaction between these three cards was an unintended mistake. Considering the hoops you have to jump through with having Marine and Sora on the field and having Ayame in the deck, it’s a weird and specific combination of characters that are needed to pull it off. This unusual interaction can also easily punish poor deck states as you can potentially double your damage output at an early stage in the game. Overall, I think that this combo may be a bit too explosive, especially in the early game, perhaps maybe warranting some sort of ban on Ayame or a forced pick one between Ayame and Sora within the same deck.

Shoyu: I do agree with your assessment. I do appreciate the creativity in assembling this combo. Using other cards to ensure and potentially recycle the combo is interesting as well, but overall, I do think this combo may be a little too powerful in the early game and may push an opponent to level 3 before they have much of a chance to respond.