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About a week into this new set, we are all eager to find out if the new leaders found a way to beat SB01-001 and SB01-029, or whether a ban list was required to shake things up.
Japan already had two large tournaments in this new set, and although the first top cuts largely favor the leaders from SB01, FB07-025 and FB07-049 managed to top both tournaments, with FB07-025 even winning one.
In this piece, I want to share both the winner and runner-up deck lists from each tournament, alongside discuss what the FB07 competitive metagame could be in the near future. Even if SB01-001 and SB01-029 still sit at the top for now, there are a few indicators things might change, at least when it comes to how each leader builds its deck.
SB01-001 is the new meta King.
Arguably the runner-up to SB01-029 during the Manga Booster expansion, SB01-001 has posted better results than its yellow rival in both tournaments so far. In the first one, SB01-001 was the most represented leader in the top 32, and lost in the finals to FB07-025.
In the second tournament, the red leader beat SB01-029 for the win in the finals.
The list used by the best SB01-001 was the exact same 51 cards in both tournaments, so even if we are early in this new set, it seems like the red villain found its stride already.
In this new look, the main difference compared to the previous set is the addition of B01-009. The aim with this 1-cost is to enable a faster, more aggressive start, not purely based on drawing cards and digging through our deck. Indeed, FB07-025 forces its opponent to be aggressive, as the blue leader tends to lock things down once it manages to get set.
With the energy marker and a great draw, SB01-001 can summon SB01-011 as early as turn three. Indeed, SB01-009 plus SB01-003 on turn two will summon SB01-010, which we only have to keep on the board during our opponent's turn three, not that difficult considering it is a 4-cost with 25,000 power.
On turn three, simply play an Android 18 card and SB01-011 can be summoned.
Considering FB07-025 can awaken at 6 health, there is no reason to take things slow in this match-up, and look to keep your opponent high on health to prevent their awakening. That encounter is a race we want to start as early as possible, and keep our foot on the gas pedal until our opponent breaks. SB01-001 has plenty of draws, so it typically is able to sustain that aggressive play style pretty well.
The same logic can also apply to the FB07-049 match-up, in order to get our opponent low on health before FB07-121 and FB07-066 come down to stabilize the situation.
SB01-029 remains a menace, but fails to adapt.
Not as popular as SB01-001 and a runner-up at best in the first two tournaments, SB01-029 might have lost a step in this new set. The yellow leader still is the second most popular when we look at representation in the top cut. Yet, not only the leader is also extremely popular overall, meaning its conversion rate isn't better than the rest, the lists are also very similar to what we used in SB01, while SB01-001 made a significant switch.
Obviously, this leads me to believe the match-ups against FB07 leaders aren't that good. I would assume FB07-025 throwing cards back at the bottom of the deck is extremely annoying for this deck, as SB01-038, SB01-039 lose some appeal, while the blocker keyword is also weaker.
In the second tournament, two FB04-077 were part of the top 16, which could represent a way to adapt to this metagame. Just like SB01-001 did with the addition of SB01-009, the older Buu leader tends to be more aggressive through its ability to attack twice per turn. Then, this could be the way for the iconic villain to remain a core part of the metagame in FB07, and adapt against FB07-025, the rising leader from the new releases.
FB07-025 stands as the best FB07 leader.
The winning deck in the first tournament, FB07-025 failed to replicate in the second one. Yet, with only two representatives in top 16 while Cell and Buu has six each, the odds to be the eventual winner are necessarily lower.
The question we have to ask regarding the new blue leader is how much growth can we expect going forward. Indeed, while SB01-001 and SB01-029 probably won't change much, nor can have even more players bringing them to tournaments, FB07-025 still has plenty of room available.
First, we are not sure the list is fully refined yet. Plus, we have noted other leaders are building their deck to be more aggressive in order to be as good as possible against FB07-025.
Then, we already have two possible avenues for growth : finding a better overall list, or starting to build the list to target specific opponents, or at least make sure they can't counter us.
The other factor to keep in mind is the fact SB01-001 and SB01-029 came into FB07 with the entire community trusting them as a great decks, alongside two months of experience piloting them. FB07-025 is only a week old.
Satan City showed us in the past it can take a while for a blue deck to be mastered at the competitive level. Indeed, the color features some of the most intricate synergies in the game.
As such, it is entirely possible FB07-025 will grow in popularity as more players spend time learning the deck. Until then, those same players might have brought SB01-001 or SB01-029 to tournaments, as they were certain they would play those well.
The deck already managed to win a tournament with only 3 representatives in the top 32, while SB01-001 had 16 players. Imagine what could be in a more balanced universe, with both leaders coming into the top cut with 9 pilots each.
