English Power Ranking for Springfest 2020

Today I bring to you guys, an English Power Ranking for the upcoming Springfest events. This ranking will follow a similar style to a Japanese Youtuber, Astin Famiglia. Where his approach is to survey the best players in Japan on the state of the meta. For my list I have done the same, surveying a handful of competitive English Weiss players

Titles that are being ranked are from sets that have made top 8 appearances during the 2019 BCS season and sets that are released in December 2019 to sets that will be released May 2020. Because sets that didn’t make a competitive impact would likely be ranked lowly anyways, I only chosen sets that have and future sets for my surveyees to respond to.

We have a total of 23 titles that were ranked, 17 titles that have achieved a top 8 appearance and 6 titles released within the December and May

Sets that made a top 8 appearance in the BCS 2019 Season:

• Attack on Titan
• BanG Dream!
• Batman Ninja
• Cardcaptor Sakura
• Fate/Apocrypha
• Gun Gale Online
• Gurren Lagann
• Kancolle
• Kancolle (Abyssal)
• Konosuba
• Love Live Sunshine
• Persona 5
• Project Diva F
• Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
• Re:Zero
• Sword Art Online
• To Love Ru

Set Released in December – May:

• BanG Dream Season 2
• Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel
• Fantasia Bunko
• Goblin Slayer
• Jojo
• Sword Art Online: Alicization

If you have noticed, unfortunately sets like Revue Starlight and No Game No Life, which had recent releases, were unable to make any competitive impact and did not make the list.

Next are the people that I have surveyed. These people are either players who went to Worlds 2019, attended several BCS events during the 2019 season with at least a top 8 performance of their own and/or competitive English content creators.

I was able to get 16 players who were able to complete my survey, while the sample size is not the biggest, I am grateful to these players who took the time to answer my survey and hope they will do so again if I decide to make another one of these articles in the future. Here you might recognize some of these players, including the 2018 and 2019 world champion and players from the Burn One and Strictly Broken teams.

How Each Set was Ranked

Each player surveyed was asked to rate each set on a scale of 1-10 on the power level of that set, with the goal of carrying a team to a top 4. The scores for every set was then averaged out and multiplied by 10 to get a 0-100 score line. Each player was also allowed to state which build from the set is currently the strongest. Sets not released yet were not voted on by every player due to some unfamiliarity with how the deck runs in the Japanese Meta or how it will run in the English Meta.

23. Batman Ninja (34.38 Points)

Unfortunately the lowest of the decks surveyed, this set is not in any player’s radar. Pretty unfortunate for a English Exclusive set. A set that had a lot of modern day tools, but split of traits plagued it from being any good. Majority of the responses seem to put the TD Book level 1 combo and the Pants Restander combo as the best deck. Focusing on the utility from blue, using stuff like Grodd and Bat Clan to at least deny reverses; that is your best plan with the set.

22. Project Diva (35.63 Points)

For such an old deck in the English scene, it’s nice that it was able to get a few top 8 appearances last year. The highlight combo of this deck is the soundless voice package. Allowing you to potentially get 3 lanes of huge walls can be game winning. However this gimmick to won’t always work, missing modern tools to boost consistency and not having a second game plan for when your walls are answered is still a problem for this deck. Hopefully one day English will get the PDX set.

21. Kancolle Abyssal (40.00 Points)

Another surprising one to see get a top 8 performance. Unfortunately I am not all too familiar with this set myself, but the Level 1 combo can still provide some annoying disruption that can lead to your victory, sniping out essential backrows.

20. Gurren Lagann (53.13 Points)

Winning with the power of mechs, the most popular build seems to be the Kamina Level 1 into Sunder combo. Kamina letting you dodge reverses and get a small bit of compression and Sunder being your blowout top end. However there was some mention of the Gurren Stock Soul Combo, working well with your Sunder Wall pieces in getting you reverses. And instead of the Sunder combo, there was also mention of the merge package, getting you burns off of your reverses at level 2 and 3. Overall a decent deck but the Sunder and Merge combos aren’t good enough to put this set at the higher tiers.

19. To Love Ru (53.75 Points)

Similar to Project Diva, this deck has been around for a couple years and is still managing to take a couple tops last year. The tried and true YamiKan build, if you are able to weather the early to mid game and not fall behind, Yami is still a strong card to ensuring you get those last few damages in. While not likely at this point, let’s hope the second set will one day come over, giving this set access to Wormhole as a decent disruption tool, especially with the new decks coming out with strong effects like Priestess and Rider.

18. Fate/Apocrypha (56.25 Points)

What used to be the best Fate deck in the franchise, a overall decent deck. The Astolfo level 1 combo is the combo of choice, giving you loop-ability into level 2 and denying reverses. The set has a unique level flipping mechanic along with Mordred being a decent finisher. One of the biggest highlights is the Dragon level 3, providing you cheap heals and cancel burns as well as denying level 3 reverses.

17. Jojo (56.67 Points)

The first of our 6 newer releases. Jojo is slated to come out in the middle of the Springfest season and unfortunately it’s not in the hottest position compared to the other 5. However, Jojo is still a popular title that players will likely pick up, so it won;t be surprising to see it during your swiss rounds if your Springfest is after the release. The deck of mention is the Bar combo and an empty Gate or Standby CX to help you plus. The whole Bar shell is very nice, easily getting your level 1 combo into large walls and your finisher comboing off with the same CX is very nice. K*ng Crimson is there to supplement your end game, reducing the damage you take.

16. Cardcaptor Sakura (58.13 Points)

The other English exclusive set. CCS has a pretty awkward reputation. With it appearing to be weaker compared to the Japanese counterpart, it had surprisingly made the top 4 of the BCS World Championship. The build most voted for is the 4th place Worlds Build, TD Stocksoul combo with the Reflect top end. Where you have a lot of decent modern tools and the reflect build being able to disrupt some matchups into your favor. There were also small mentions of the Record clock kick builds and the Siege neg soul builds, but Red Yellow is often your main focus of colors.

15. Kancolle (61.25 Points)

Also a set that has been in English for years, but instead, Kancolle was fortunate to get multiple sets. The main build has evolved overtime with each set that came out, and currently the Prinz Level 1 combo with Kashima top end is the meta build of choice. Letting you wall at level 1 with Prinz and the Z3 engine and getting an efficient top end with Kashima and Musashi, the deck can still put up work. You also have access to anti-salvage and anti-heal, while not as oppressive as it was during the first set, it can still be a relevant tech in some matchups. While being the 15th best set is nice, hopefully the 5th Kancolle set will come out one day to bring those numbers up.

14. Gun Gale Online (62.50 Points)

A solid set in the meta at 14th. The main build players are looking towards is the Llenn TD combo and the level 3 burner. The votes were basically unanimous without even a mention of the Yunyun Bar combo for level 1. The TD Level 1 combo gives while not providing you a high quality plus, is able to put your opponent into an awkward position with your multiple lanes of level 1 bombs. One of the biggest highlights of the deck is being able to field triple level 3s at level 2 for only 4 stock, but unfortunately your top end is not the best for pushing for game, so you rely on your early plays to give you a good lead.

13. Sword Art Online Alicization (63.64 Points)

As you can tell, this set is rated lower compared to the regular SAO set. Unfortunately with the flucclight trait lock, you can’t mix the two sets together that well. While the set has yet to come out in English, it hadn’t had much of an impact in the Japanese scene. However the highlight of the set is a pretty strong finisher in Kirito along with the one of the early SAO sets event called Gram, making your opponent unable to use backups or events in any of your attacks during that turn. The biggest problem is getting to that end game safely, as you lack some good tools to do so.

12. Persona 5 (68.13 Points)

After it’s good performance during the 2018 world championship, it hasn’t had the same performance during the 2019 season. Being in the top 12 still shows that there is some favor for the deck with the top players. Maybe not S tier, but still a strong deck in the hands of a good pilot. Your level 1 you have the marker swapping walls and the 2/1 Joker to help you wall out. The your top end you still have your powerful Joker finisher along with Skull to help remove your opponent’s board and get multiple burns off. Not in the same position as it once was, but still a good deck to consider.

11. Bunny Girl Senpai (69.75 Points)

A deck that was once a menace in the Japanese scene, being the deck to beat, has come to English near the end of the 2019 BCS Season. It even got a couple tops during the few events it was able to partake in. However being 11th place means that the top players do not believe the set will have the same results as it did during its run in Japan. What this deck offers is an easy to achieve double early play heal and a pretty annoying top end with Futaba bodyguard which can pick off players who are unable or unprepared to deal with it. However a lot of the upper tier decks have access to a way to deal with her, using bouncing effects for removal.

10. Fantasia Bunko (72.73 Points)

Another set to be released, but a strong one at that. Unanimously everyone voted for the 8 Standby build, providing you one of the biggest 2/2 walls in the game. You can win multiple lanes in a good chunk of your game, forcing your opponent to run out of resources while you use yours to heal instead of replenishing board. A powerful control deck that also has access to a double neg 2 soul counter. However, the set does not have a highly proactive top end, so you hope you can stop your opponent from getting a good top end off their own off.

9. BanG Dream! (73.75 Points)

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say this is one of the most popular series in the game, having lovable Waifus and multiple different types of deck. But the most notably mentioned deck was the Fever Kasumi and Moca build. Fever Kasumi allows you to high roll into a lot of plusses while Moca is an efficient yet powerful finisher. There are also mentions of the Christmas Kasumi combo from the first set, providing you a level 1 combo that doesn’t get stopped versus level 1 walls, and the Yukina finisher, providing a more explosive top end. While you have powerful tools with Stock Swap and Arisa 3/2 removing your opponent’s compression and free stock from Himari and Toilet events, your early game power and utility at level 0 has a lot more to desire. Overall a strong set nonetheless.

8. Sword Art Online (77.50 Points)

Another extremely popular series, tons of plays throughout many years in both languages. Especially when the Yuuki Sinon build has been standing its ground for such a long time, Yuuki provides a non interactive plussing and hand fixing as well as 2 cards compression, being able to pay out CX and ditch out CX and loop into itself for the next turn. Sinon is still a card that can steal games, especially with the Yui Stock Swap providing good decompression. Instead of Sinon, there are some players that prefer an empty gate CX with the Asuna top end that combos with the same Gold Bar as Yuuki. Allowing you play towards the Money counter and smaller burns over the large Sinon burns. Instead of Yuuki you could play Standby with the Gate to go more towards a control deck, walling up with 1/1s, 2/2s and healing with Liz and Silica into a heavier focus on your money counter. Regardless of which route you choose, it’s consistent and strong.

7. Love Live Sunshine (79.83 Points)

Chika You. That’s it. There’s a reason why that duo is on the restriction list in Japan. The card combo can win you the game. But compared to the JP, you have less consistency from missing out on the second set, keeping it from being too powerful in the meta. Currently for level 1 most players are on the Chika choice of level 1, giving you a higher quality plus, stock and board removal compared to Ruby. However Ruby does not require reverses, can loop and sometimes your opponent just eats all the two soul damage. Ruby is definitely the high roller option. Overall you can heavily push damage with the set in the mid game to give you the lead in the match.

6. BanG Dream! w/ Second Season (83.75 Points)

With the second season a lot can actually change for Bang Dream. There are two main routes you can go, play with the old Kasumi Moca with the new level 0s you get with RAS. Or you play the new level 1 combo and finisher. The 1/0 Tae is a 6k plussing combo that doesn’t need reverses and helps you fix the trigger of the attack, allowing you to hit standby on demand or make sure your toilet event doesn’t miss. The new Kasumi finisher has a similar damage spread as Yukina, but requires less resources and can still do damage even without reverse targets or needing the CX, however, this is in exchange for the on play heal. Overall BD2 gives more options to the meta builds and is worth looking into.

5. Re:Zero (84.55 Points)

With a very consistent level 1 game that almost everyone runs, the question always is, which top end do you run? But it seems to be that almost everyone answered with the stock soul build as the best. Allowing you to double Early Play for effectively 2 stock, you present a board that has to be answered, or else you will constantly gain more and more compression as long as the two characters stay on board. This build also gives you easy access to playing Reinhardt, while not a character you will always go into, this beast can ruin a lot of deck’s game plans. There were a few mentions of the 8 book build and none for the gate top end. All in all a strong early game into a strong mid game with a top end that does well and suffice. A strong deck for this upcoming season.

4. Konosuba (86.25 Points)

Having a strong showing at worlds, with 3 decks making the top 8 cut, this deck is a force to be reckoned with. Known for its ability to plus 2 every turn and it’s extremely explosive top end, it is a deck that can kill some of the best players from level 2. The 3/2 Megumin also answers a lot of stuff in the meta, stuff like Rider, Futaba Bodyguard, Priestess. All of them become null and void against her. And of course the Foreclosure Aqua combo will destroy most good compression, additionally helping towards your finishing turn. A killer top end and a card to supplement you throughout the game, definitely a deck to consider playing during the season to snipe some wins.

3. Fate/Stay Night (86.88 Points)

Winning the Japanese World Champion and getting heavily hit in the February banlist, Fate was the best deck in the Japanese metagame and is looking to do the same in English. However in the two events that it took part of during its English release, it has yet to make a top, but one of the events was worlds and the other was on the same day as the set release. One of the biggest concerns of the deck is the prevalence of Konosuba in English, being a pretty good counter to Fate. Otherwise Fate attempts to have a strong tool box level 0 and 1, being able to easily access every card in their deck and a powerful Akatsuki into Freefresh combo, preventing refresh damage and gaining a draw. The level 0 and 1 bomb can remove most early game nuisance, with the global clock encore assist allowing you to constantly keep these up, as well as looping your level 1 combo. While not invincible, the rider combo can be devastating against many decks. Overall super consistent and has the tools to disrupt your opponent.

2. Goblin Slayer (90.77 Points)

The newest set released as of this article, Goblin Slayer also sits at the top of the Japanese meta. However the two builds differ between the two languages. In this survey the majority of the build of choice is the Priestess build. Giving you multiple lanes of Neg soul damage at level 2, makes you a menace if your opponent cannot answer them. Potentially giving you multiple turns where you do not receive damage. While majority of people have spoken about priestess, there are a good amount of remarks towards the Japanese standby build, looking to control the game with the Witch Assist, Heal 5 event and bounce counter event that the priestess builds don’t often have as much access to, due the resources committed onto the Priestess 3/2 themselves. The last build mentioned is the 8 gate build, having the same early game as the previous two builds, you play a less explosive but more standard top end, providing heals and burn 1. A simpler but effective top end. Between the three builds, regardless of what you choose, know that your powerful level 1 can carry you throughout the game.

1. Attack on Titan (92.50 Points)

The World Champion deck along with tons of showings at worlds, it even got a couple of wins during the BCS season, this deck has not changed for years but is still rated as the best deck in the English meta. Why is that? Eren combo is still very strong, denying decks of reverses. 3D gear also helps plays towards reverse denials and allows you to easily toolbox into any card you need. Your top end is still strong with Mikasa and Armin Assist. Armin being a very strong out to a lot of control decks, providing you hexproof for a lot of their disruptions. However Attack on Titan is not without their flaws. Not drawing your Wind CX can put you into bad positions. Your triggers are not the greatest, where none of them plusses you. And now there is a deck that is in favored against AOT, being the third highest rated deck, Fate, with multiple clock bombs to deny Eren and Rider being a good answer to Mikasa, it really puts AOT in a less favorable position compared to its other matchups. Will Fate be enough to take AOT off the pedestal during the Springfest season? Well most players would think otherwise, but only time will tell as we watch the outcome of each event.

Final Overview

 

At last we are done. And here we have a final overview of all the set rankings and scores. Once again I would like to thank everyone who responded to my surveys and if there is enough support, I would like to do this type of power ranking for the autumn BCS season. Below are some of the survey results from the players who gave me permission to share them.

Survey Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-D75eN0JVc-6rSD4S1pNah0FTRf6zQJ6ZUtyCOtzHbA/edit?usp=sharing