Hello again!
I'm back after a couple of weeks away on holiday, just in time for the release of EX12. You may also notice something a little different—Meta Snapshots are now being published directly on DCG Nexus!
Moving these posts onto the site gives me a lot more flexibility. I can do things like link cards inline:
(
Proximamon - EX12-077 - EX12-077
)
, and I have plenty more ideas planned that simply wouldn't have been possible on Reddit.
Now, onto this week's snapshot.
With EX12 releasing this week, we're in a bit of a transition period. This snapshot covers the end of the BT25 format while also capturing the first couple of days of EX12. Because of that, it's unlikely we'll see the new decks make huge jumps just yet—they've only had a couple of days to put up results.
That said, it's still worth looking at which decks are already beginning to rise.
Over the next few weeks, we'll see those early frontrunners establish themselves. As the format develops, the metagame will begin to stabilise, and players will adapt by bringing decks designed to target the early favourites. That's often when the most interesting shifts happen.
So, without further ado, let's dive into the numbers.
The Rising Decks
Share: 11.78% ↑0.12%
Beatbreak has started to plateau this week, with only a modest increase in representation. On the surface that might not seem particularly noteworthy, but it's actually an impressive result. With a brand new set releasing, many players naturally want to experiment with the latest cards, so choosing to stick with a known quantity over the new toys is a deliberate decision, especially in the first week of a format.
The deck is also continuing to convert extremely well, posting an impressive 66.67% Top 8 to Top 4 conversion rate this week. List-wise, very little has changed. Beatbreak appears to be a largely solved archetype at the moment, although we may start to see some of the flex slots evolve over the coming weeks as players adapt to the developing metagame.
Share: 5.68% ↑0.89%
Bears continues its steady rise in popularity, following a consistent upward trend since the release of BT25. Alongside this, we've seen a wider adoption of
Callismon - BT25-058 - BT25-058
, suggesting that more players are opting for the deck that makes the best use of the card.
Despite the increase in representation, the deck has converted just 33.33% of its Top 8 finishes into Top 4 appearances this week. With EX12 only just released, it's too early to draw conclusions about how the deck will perform in the new format, but it's one to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.
Share: 4.91% ↑0.51%
We're looking at another week of growth for Angels. Like Bears, the deck has been steadily increasing in representation since the release of BT25, although at a slower pace. Rather than seeing a sharp spike in popularity, its rise has been gradual and consistent over the past few weeks.
The deck also posted a 66.67% Top 8 to Top 4 conversion rate this week, showing that its increased representation is being matched by strong performances in the later stages of tournaments. With EX12 now entering the format, it'll be interesting to see whether Angels continues its gradual rise or settles into a plateau as the metagame develops.
Share: 4.40% ↑1.20%
This week, ShineGreymon is on the rise once again. Historically, however, it's been one of the more volatile decks in the format, with its representation regularly swinging between gains and losses from week to week.
This week's increase is the highest we've seen since the middle of the AD01 format, before those fluctuations became more pronounced. With EX12 now entering the competitive scene, the coming weeks will show whether this marks the beginning of a more sustained rise or simply another swing in the deck's representation.
Honorable Mention
Toho Braves is the first EX12 deck to see a rapid increase in representation. With only a few days of tournament data available, players are still refining their lists and learning how the deck fits into the wider metagame.
So far, the deck has converted 20% of its Top 8 finishes into Top 4 appearances. While that conversion rate is currently on the lower side, it's based on a very small window of data, making it far too early to draw any meaningful conclusions about the deck's long-term performance.
The Falling Decks
Share: 7.77% ↓0.03%
Three Musketeers has remained remarkably stable over the past few weeks, and this week's slight dip does little to change that trend. Its representation has held consistently, making it one of the more established decks heading into EX12.
The deck also continues to post one of the strongest conversion rates in the format, with 80% of its Top 8 finishes progressing to the Top 4. Based on the current data, Three Musketeers enters EX12 as one of the strongest-performing decks and is likely to remain so.
Share: 5.23% ↓1.31%
The decline of Styracomon continues and, at this point, it's starting to feel like a broken record. Since the release of AD01, the deck has seen a steady decrease in representation. For much of that time it remained comfortably in the top spot, with a sizeable lead over the rest of the field, but that gap has gradually closed as the metagame has evolved.
With EX12 now entering the format, Styracomon is approaching the 5% representation mark that we've predicted as its likely resting point once the initial experimentation phase settles. Whether it stabilises around that level or continues to decline will become clearer over the next few weeks.
Share: 4.57% ↓2.33%
Jupiter's decline comes during a period where the deck has already been fluctuating in representation, so the release of EX12 may simply be amplifying an existing trend rather than signalling a significant shift. Despite the week-to-week movement, the deck has remained a consistent presence in the competitive metagame.
While the longer-term trend is very slightly downwards, the current data doesn't suggest any major cause for concern. For now, this looks more like normal variation than a meaningful drop in the deck's overall position within the format.
Overall Takeaway
This week's snapshot marks the transition between BT25 and EX12, so many of the trends we're seeing are likely to reflect player experimentation rather than long-term shifts in the metagame.
Among the established decks, Beatbreak, Bears, Angels, and ShineGreymon all continued to gain representation, while Three Musketeers remained one of the format's strongest-performing decks despite a negligible dip in share. On the other side, Styracomon's gradual decline continued, and Jupitermon saw another week of fluctuation without any clear indication that its overall position has fundamentally changed.
It's still far too early to make definitive statements about EX12. Aside from Toho Braves making an immediate impression, most of the format is still being shaped by existing BT25 strategies. Over the next few weeks, we'll get a much clearer picture of which EX12 decks establish themselves, which existing archetypes adapt successfully, and which early trends were simply the result of release-week experimentation.
Submit Your Decklist
I've made a big change to deck submissions this week to make them much easier.
Previously, an event needed four decklists before it could be created. Now, you only need your own. Submit your list, create the event, then share the page with the other players so they can add their decks too.
As a little thank you, every submission now comes with a personalised deck report. Your list is compared against similar builds in the database, giving you a breakdown of how it fits into the wider metagame and what makes your build stand out.
If you've played in an event recently, I'd really appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to submit your deck. Every list helps build a more complete picture of the competitive scene, and you'll get your own deck report in return.
You can submit your deck here: https://dcg-nexus.com/Event/Submit