Introduction
Hello, Cut or Tap readers! Today I have a variety of topics to discuss for the new Paradox Rift format. I am super amped up for this set, as it has a ton of cool cards, with a ton of potential, and control gets buffed a ton. As a short disclaimer, I haven’t done much testing with these cards, however I have put a lot of theory into how these decks could look, and some adaptations that older decks can (or must) make to keep up in the meta. Because I haven’t done a lot of testing, this article will focus less on analyzing lists, and go more into deck concepts, and where to go from there. I think this is also a good opportunity to develop your own list that suits how you play the game, such as focusing on consistency, or having mostly even matchups, or a super polarized matchup spread. I think this will be a useful article as, while net-decking is a great option for players of any level to utilize, creating your own list can help develop your understanding of the deck itself and how it plays, as well as gaining a deeper grasp on the game as a whole.
First Thoughts
First off, let’s look at this tier list I made, I’ll discuss their placement a bit when analyzing the deck later, but if you have any questions, feel free to message me on Twitter. I made this tier list using a template made by @ZapdosTCG, which didn’t have control, so I added that. I really like tier lists for showing thoughts on the meta, however mine are a bit weird. Firstly, the higher tiers are mostly ordered from best to worst, but I didn’t really bother for Tiers 3 and below. Secondly, here is a breakdown of how I define the tiers, to better understand my logic:
Tier 1: These decks are contenders for the best deck in the format, and will have consistently high placements at events.
Tier 1.5: These decks are all really good, and are almost Tier 1, but have some issues, namely being too matchup-reliant, or easily teched for, that make their chance of success feel like a cosine graph. [Editor’s note: For those who haven’t taken trig recently, the line on a cosine graph goes up and down in waves.]
Tier 2: I wouldn’t be surprised to see these have deep runs at events, but not as consistently or often as the above tiers.
Tier 3: I would be a bit surprised to see these have a deep run, but it can definitely happen, albeit not very often.
Tier 4: I don’t expect these to do much better than Top 64 or 128 at a 1000+ player Regional.
Fun Pick: Cool ideas, but should have a super low amount of Day 2s, if any.
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Jirachi doesn’t protect against devolution TM though? It only prevents damage counters being placed if I understand it correctly.
great article with many good ideas!