Daedalus' Teachings: The Metagame, and the Antimeta

THE META:

The Metagame, now abbreviated as "The Meta" is the force that drives competitive play. Put simply, the meta consists of all of the decks that are used the most in competitive play, and each one is categorized by using "Tiers". I for one, do not believe in tiers, but allow me to explain the tier system anyway, because that is the system that is currently followed.

Tier 1 decks are the decks that top. These decks pretty much dominate anything else that isn't also in Tier 1 (Although this is sometimes not the case, as Sora can very well tell you). Tier 1 decks are usually the most popular, being used because of how able they are in the competitive scene (or because the user is passionate about the type of monster the deck embodies)

Tier 2 decks are basically the decks that play second fiddle to the decks in the tier 1 category. This category usually encompasses the decks that appear in tournaments but do not top as often as the higher tier decks.

Tier 3 decks are, to put it bluntly, everything else. Well, not everything. Basically, The third tier includes the decks of past metas, that were tier 1 themselves, formats gone by, as well as the decks that are competitive, but nowhere near good enough to be tier 1.

For those curious about what has dominated in the meta, now and in the past, here is a list. Note that this is a list of meta decks for the TCG, and not the OCG.

Spoiler:

THE ANTI-META:

The definition of Anti-meta is pretty much in the name itself. The Anti-meta encompasses any and all decks created specifically to counteract the decks in the current meta. As of now, anti-meta decks usually revolve around stopping your opponent from summoning, limiting their options when it comes to making a play, and usually taking away the most important resource for many meta decks today. The graveyard.

An example of an anti-meta deck would be Rock-Stun. These decks focus on harnessing the abilities of three certain "Koa'ki Meiru" monsters to lock your opponent, making them waste resources just to take them out.


Learning from the Meta:

It is important for any duelist who wishes to be a part of the competitive scene to be able to actually learn from the Meta. What this usually entails is finding out how the decks in the current meta work, knowing what cards are usually run in them, and from that knowledge, knowing what to put in your side deck for the eventual match up you will encounter against them. Consider this. Special Summoning has become a large part of the meta and has remained so for a long time. Therefore, it stands to reason that one should put 2-3 copies of the card "Maxx "C" " in their side deck, as this card allows you to draw with every special summon your opponent performs.

As a final note, it is VERY important to note that the TCG (Trading Card Game) and OCG (Original Card Game) are very different, in terms of the metagame. What constitutes the meta here in the TCG won't always ring true for the OCG.