i'm starting to feel like modern Yugioh is a clown car, and every time the banlist apprehends the first few clowns that lead the format, 4-5 more step out to take their place. we didn't even have Linkross in handcuffs yet before VFD took the wheel and Vanity's Ruler got into the passenger seat. happy new year
 
This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while generally remaining in the $50 to $150 price range.

• Estimated pricing includes a sample completed main deck and some or all of an extra deck, but no side.
• Pricing is based mainly on singles and you can easily save a lot of money by buying cores for most of these lists all at once.
• Decks were chosen usually based on having some degree of success in recent TCG formats.
  • These deck choices and rankings are heavily based on online tournaments such as Konami's Remote Duel Invitationals, LCS, and other assorted online events.
  • Performance on DuelingBook's ranked ladder also slightly factors in to the placement of these decks, with data taken from Ygoscope.
• Many decklists will include some middle-range power cards that might drive the price point up, which can be cut for players on an extreme budget. For instance, a set of Ash is $25-30 currently, but Ash is included in many of these lists as a generic staple that players might already own.
• Conversely, decklists are oftentimes easily upgraded by adding power cards such as Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talent.

Decks are grouped into four "tiers" and listed alphabetically by tier. Decklists are built prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness on a budget. Not all of them are perfect, but this post is not an F. Unless there is a particularly offensive deckbuilding error that you want to point out, please don't use this thread to nitpick at the sample decklists. Don't feel obligated to stick to the sample lists either; you should experiment and play cards that feel comfortable and/or optimal to you.
Feel free to leave suggestions for budget players, whether it's a budget tech choice for one of the decks on this list or whether it's a different deck that you think can compete in the coming months.
[Last updated: 23 Jan 2021]
Previous version: October 2020 Post
 

S Tier

The best bang for your buck. Decks in this category have the capacity to top premier events, though they're almost always supplemented with expensive power cards.
 

Drytron

Price: $100 Imgur | DuelingBook

• New Ritual-based combo deck from Genesis Impact that has a lot of recursion from the Graveyard, boasting a strong grind game as well as potent turn 1 boards that can win the game outright.
• The level 1 Drytron cards tribute other Drytron cards or Ritual cards in hand/field, so this deck abuses Cyber Angel Benten's lack of a once per turn clause to gain a ton of resources and search a lot of power LIGHT Fairy cards, such as Herald of Orange Light and Vanity's Ruler.
• Drytron Nova is an automatic 3-of inclusion in every competitive version of this deck, but also currently sits at around $40 each in NA. Novas are a massive boost in consistency, though the deck is honestly still playable without it, and is quite cheap otherwise. With even one copy of Nova, you should look to also include three copies of Drytron Fafnir (their Field Spell) which can search Nova as well.
• The absence of Nova + Fafnir from the main leaves a lot of space to be filled. There are many ways you can go about this.
  • The sample list plays a small Pre-Prep engine with Herald of Perfection. It's very simple to play, especially if you're unfamiliar with the deck, and helps raise your overall ceiling - athough optimized competitive builds have generally moved away from Pre-Prep.
  • Another viable Ritual engine is the Megalith engine, which provides numerous options. These variants generally also suffer from consistency issues, made worse by the lack of Novas in the budget version. Less consistent access to Alpha means less consistent usage of extra Ritual monsters.
  • You could play cards that search Drytron monsters in an attempt to patch up consistency. Examples include Where Arf Thou, or normal summons that fetch Drytrons such as Cyber Dragon Core (getting Emergency) and Mathematician. Also viable is Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin, which is an interesting tech in Drytron that helps you beat handtraps like Droll & Lock Bird.
  • Finally, you can always just play more handtraps or generic power cards.
• This deck is a relatively new deck, and is getting support in Lightning Overdrive, which might indicate that it's relatively safe from the next banlist. However, there's no telling what Konami will do, so don't take my word as gospel.

 

Virtual World

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

• Combo deck with an extra deck toolbox, using Synchro and Xyz monsters to break boards or to win the game with True King of All Calamities and their recurring boss monster, Shenshen. The Virtual World monsters have a shared restriction which means that Link monsters are usually not played in this deck at all.
• Most of the main deck VW monsters can dump other VW cards from Deck to GY, and their continuous spell Qinglong is a searcher in the GY. Combined with Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu's ability to search for VW cards as well, the deck is consistent at doing the same combos and executing its gameplan almost every game, as most combinations of 2 Virtual World cards result in some type of combo.
• Despite being one of the top decks in the format, this deck is also quite cheap. Staples aside, the most pricey card in the main is Lulu at around $18-20 each. Can you get away with fewer copies of her? Probably, but you really want to get 3 due to Desires, and her being one of the best cards in your deck.
• Saw success immediately after PHRA release, even in the previous combo-infested format where Virtual World took the most representation and top cut spots at LCS 8, eventually winning the entire tournament. Post-banlist, they also took the most top cut spots and then won LCS 9, versus an entirely different playing field full of Zoodiac, Drytron, and Eldlich variants.
• Recent combos using Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing to search either one of the Virtual World tuners (Lulu or Laolao) have opened up some new combo routes that make Foolish Burial Goods a lot more forgiving to play, allowing you to still end on impressive boards despite using Qinglong somewhat suboptimally. On the other hand, Chaofeng's price also spiked quite heavily after LCS 9, so you may not want to play it.
• Non-budget players will first and foremost want to add Zeus to the Extra Deck, as it helps greatly with going second and also dealing with threats like Dragoon. Another common inclusion is Triple Tactics Talents, though this card is by no means mandatory in the deck, and has also seen a decline in popularity lately.

 

A Tier

Strong decks, but limited either by a lack of access to powerful staples or by the natural ceiling of the deck. You could still top a regional with one of these decks on a good day.
 

Altergeist

Price: $75+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Control + backrow deck with incredible recursion and the ability to come back from almost no resources
• Altergeist have seen sparse success ever since FLOD, and are a respectable budget contender. They've have had a fairly modest showing online, and saw recent success with a top 8 finish at LCS 9. That deck was a Dogmatika variant piloted by Lars Junginger, playing the recently released Artemis, the Magistus Moon Maiden to make it slightly easier to summon Ecclesia in some hands.
• The Dogmatika engine is viable even on a modest budget. It's possible to simply play Dogmatika Punishment as a powerful trap capable of utilizing your extra deck, and even a single copy of Ecclesia (around $20 each right now) goes a long way for improving the power of this package. Of course, the deck is also perfectly playable as pure Altergeist.
• Budget players are most hurt by a lack of Pot of Extravagance, Infinite Impermanence, and Evenly Matched. The first three of these cards have reprints, but none are quite cheap enough yet to be easily accessible on a budget.
• The extra deck is extremely flexible (as Altergeist are typically played with Extravagance, anyway) and several options are simply tech cards, such as Elder Entity N'tss.
• Main deck trap choices are also extremely flexible. Torrential is quite powerful against Virtual World, but this could easily be swapped out for many other cards depending on your budget, available card pool, and locals demographics.
• The release of Blazing Vortex in early February also brings along an incredibly powerful staple card in Pot of Prosperity. Altergeist, along with virtually every other deck that enjoys running Pot of Extravagance currently, will appreciate Prosperity as well. Many OCG decks are choosing to play both Extrav + Prosperity in their decklists. Of course, Prosperity is also a Secret Rare, and is virtually guaranteed to be around $100, so this is not applicable on a budget.

 

Prank-Kids

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

• Floaty combo/control deck with 4 maindeck Prank-Kids that all float into any other Prank-Kid when used for a Link or Fusion summon
• Got a great boost in Phantom Rage with Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu, a Link 1 Prank-Kid monster that makes this deck incredibly consistent and turns any single Prank monster into full combo.
• Prank-Kids Place is a little pricey, currently sitting at around $17 per copy in NA. While it contributes to your overall consistency (as it's equivalent to any Prank name), you can definitely get away with cutting copies of Place if your budget is tight.
• Notably took 1st place at the Canadian Remote Duel Invitational in mid-January, piloted by Hanko Chow.
• This deck appreciates the inclusion of Predaplant Verte Anaconda (currently over $30 apiece in NA) which can dump Thunder Dragon Fusion to help field Battle Butler, your main win condition. It was dropped from the provided list for budget reasons, but it's a great inclusion if you have a copy already. In conjunction with cards like Link Spider, it also improves your ability to play through disruption and through Nibiru.
• This deck has many characteristics of a great deck, but suffers from similar problems as Zoodiac in that it struggles to play through disruption on your normal summon, or cards like Ash negating your first Prank-Kid effect. The inclusion of Polymerization in the main deck helps to combat this, but also popular are builds that don't play Poly at all and instead just load the main deck with handtraps and powerful staples like Forbidden Droplet.
• Pot of Desires is included in this example main deck to help boost consistency and overall power, but some players opt not to run it.

 

Salamangreat

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Link-based midrange deck with a lot of recursion and a special in-archetype technique, where 1 Link Monster is used as the entire Link material to summon another copy of that monster, granting bonus effects
• The deck is somewhat halfway between control and combo, establishing respectable boards turn 1 with a fairly compact engine, allowing many handtraps to be played. Their real strength comes in turn 3 and beyond, where their arsenal of free summons from the GY, coupled with their stellar resource recycling, easily overwhelm the opponent.
• The majority of the deck is dirt cheap and is mostly able to be built with commons from SOFU+SAST supplementing 3 copies of Structure Deck: Soulburner.
• Accesscode Talker is a huge part of this deck's success, able to steal games easily with the help of Update Jammer. Accesscode is not at all affordable on a budget, so the sample list plays Zeroboros instead. Owning one copy of Accesscode is a tremendous improvement to this deck's strength.
• Salamangreat has found little competitive success in bigger online tournaments this format, but still regularly performs well in smaller events, remote duel locals, and the like. It's also a fairly safe choice, as it's somewhat unlikely we see further Salamangreat hits on the next banlist.
• The provided list plays Rivalry + Strike, a potent option allowing you to sometimes win games even into established boards. Strike is quite solid in the current format, as even the combo decks don't usually end on ways to punish a lot of set backrow.
• Parallel eXceed is an optional card, and can be cut in favor of more backrow or handtraps. On one hand, it allows you to more easily link climb when going second, and can easily add a Dweller or Bagooska to your board going first (Dweller is very good right now, as well). On the other hand, players may prefer to run more defensive cards instead of eXceed.

 

Subterror

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Subterrors are a control deck with a focus on flipping monsters face-down and generating constant advantage with Subterror Guru.
• Pure Guru control is the most played variant, and is more or less a stun deck that tries to abuse Guru as much as possible. While most Guru lists online are Numeron and/or Dragoon hybrids, the pure version saw some success earlier this format at the Benelux Remote Duel Extravaganza, finishing top 4. You can watch that deck profile here, and the sample list is generally based off of that list.
  • While Dragoon isn't budget-friendly, the Numeron engine is very accessible for little cost, and is a viable variant of this deck as well. Numeron cards aim to make Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL going first or simply OTK going second. S0 is an extremely powerful card that can prevent the opponent from playing the game entirely if it resolves. If you are interested in this version, you can check the Subterror list on the previous budget post.
• The sample list doesn't have a complete extra deck, mainly because it doesn't play Extravagance and you barely go into the Extra Deck to begin with. Relinquished Anima is a decent option if you can shell out the $7-8 for it, since sometimes you can turn Fiendess into Anima. Apart from that, provided Extra Deck options include anti-Maximus cards for the Dogmatika matchup, and Aussa + Zoodiac Drident in case you face a Zoodiac player. Taking their Zoo monster and then slapping your Drident on top can be potent.
• This deck usually plays Extravagance over Desires, but Desires is quite a serviceable replacement. Similarly to Altergeist, this deck also enjoys Pot of Prosperity post-BLVO.

 

B Tier

Like the above category, but generally weaker, less consistent, and/or impacted harder by a lack of access to a certain card(s).
 

Dinosaurs

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Dinosaurs are an aggressive deck with consistent access to Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, a formidable boss monster with incredible OTK power and disruption.
• Dinosaur's strength tends to be largely meta-dependent, particularly how well it can counter the existing top decks. During the previous two combo-infested formats with decks like Dragon Link and Adamancipator running around, Dinos had several extremely impressive showing at events, such as TeamSamuraiX1's win at the first NA Remote Duel Invitational, as well as all three first-place players at LCS 7 (a 3v3 event) playing Dino.
• In the current format, Dinosaurs are struggling. The Virtual World matchup is difficult, and it's hard for Dinosaur to build to beat all of VW, Drytron, Eldlich variants, and the plethora of rogue decks running around. Additionally, Mystic Mine is not very potent this format as both Virtual World and Eldlich have in-engine outs to the card, which is another blow to the Dinosaur strategy. Finally, the popularity of handtraps like Skull Meister and Artifact Lancea in the side or even the main deck are also reasons this deck has declined.
• The provided variant still plays Mine, as it has utility breaking boards. Deckout is a much less reliable strategy against VW and Eldlich, but you can still stall for some turns until you can make a push for game. The addition of Cosmic Cyclone is also an attempt at neutering cards like Chuche and Conquistador.
• If you wanted to build this deck without Mines, you would have to find replacements for quite a few cards (and frankly, Dinosaur does not have very many good ones). Most power staples are not budget, such as Lightning Storm, Talents, Droplet, etc. This deck also really appreciates Pot of Extravagance, which still sits barely out of budget range at around $25 each in NA.
• Budget Dino must also deal with the lack of Animadorned Archosaur, an extremely powerful addition to the deck that opens up many new combos. However, sitting at around $60 per copy, the card is inaccessible on a budget.
• The provided list plays the Simorgh combo, bringing out the WIND barrier statue on turn 1 to steal games. Though a full extra deck is provided, very few cards are actually needed, as the deck typically plays Extravagance anyway.

 

Dragon Link

Price: $100-150+ (depending on Extra Deck) Imgur | DuelingBook

• Dragon Link is a Link-centric combo deck that was a dominant force in the meta for about half a year, but lost a lot of resilience and power with the recent bans to Linkross and Dragon Buster Destruction Sword.
• The provided budget version of this deck actually has a ton of extra deck flexibility due to not needing to play Synchro/Link cards related to the Halq/Kross package, meaning that you can play Knightmares, anti-Dogmatika cards, etc. This also means that the budget version doesn't actually care about the Linkross ban at all.
• This deck has seen a great deal of variation online, playing a variety of different engines and tech cards. A few of these include Vylon Cube + Smoke Grenade, the Rose Dragons, several different Dragonmaid cards, and even an FTK variant involving Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu. However, few of these are viable for budget players, especially if you do not own a copy of Halqifibrax.
• An interesting option the deck has is to use Union Carrier to equip handtraps such as Artifact Lancea. On the opponent's turn, Hieratic Seal can be used to return the handtrap to your hand, making it live immediately. This is something you may want to consider in the main deck if you frequently have to deal with decks like Virtual World and Dinosaur. Another option is to equip Ally of Justice Cycle Reader to Carrier (they're both machines) and then bounce it to hand, as a weapon against Drytron. Carrier isn't in the example list, but this is a really interesting option to consider.
• With Linkross out of the picture, playing Fibrax alone is an option if you either already own a copy or can afford the $20 needed to obtain one. You may have to retool your combos to incorporate Fiber, but the card can definitely add flexibility and resilience to your deck if you use it well.

 

Paleozoic Frogs

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Backrow-heavy control deck that summons its Traps to the field as monsters and pressures the opponent with Toadally Awesome
• After being absent from the budget post for about a year, Paleo makes its triumphant return as its boss monster, Toad, returns to 3. Toad's reprint in Maximum Gold also brought this card down from $20 each to just a few bucks, making the entire deck extremely cheap.
• As a control deck, Paleo suffers from more weaknesses compared to Eldlich, Altergeist, and Subterror. Notably, the engine tends to bleed advantage unless you've managed to maintain access to Swap Frog, and you can be quickly outpaced by stronger decks. However, in games where you can establish a Toad early, or where you can maintain control with your backrow, you can do quite well.
• Paleo saw a surprising amount of success in various remote duel events this format, though some of that success is likely due to the format being unexplored and some sort of "new toy syndrome" as Toad recently went from 2 to 3.
• Paleo struggles to out Dragoon, especially without access to Ice Dragon's Prison, a $40 card. An interesting option catching on in the meta lately is the use of Mirror Force cards, particularly Quaking and Storming, as they both pressure Dragoon. Still, the card puts quite a lot of pressure on this deck.
• Speaking of Dragoon, some Paleo players opt to play that package in this deck as well. Swap Frog is a one card Dragoon as you can simply dump Ronin, turn Swap into Almiraj, and then revive Ronin to make Verte from there.
• Fiend Griefing is presented as an interesting option which is very decent in the current meta, particularly vs Drytron. Combining it with Absolute King Back Jack is a classic combo that Paleo played a long time ago in 2017, during early Zoo formats.

 

Shaddoll (Magistus)

Price: $100+, can be closer to $50 with fewer copies of Schism Imgur | DuelingBook

• Classic Fusion-based archetype from 2014, debuting in Duelist Alliance. Somewhat of a midrange combo deck that can slow the game down with El Shaddoll Winda or be very aggressive with El Shaddoll Construct
• Winda is a troublesome floodgate that many decks struggle to out, especially combo decks such as Drytron. Shaddoll cards are currently played in several Dogmatika variants due to the sheer power of Winda and the utility of Shaddoll Schism.
• The current meta is favorable for Shaddoll not only due to Winda being effective vs Drytron, but also due to Ariel being very strong against a large chunk of the format, including Eldlich variants. Her ability to banish 3 cards from the GY is so strong that some decks are splashing in Sinister Shadow Games + Ariel just for that option, which we saw played in some of the 60-card Eldlich decks at LCS 9.
  • The growing popularity of Shaddoll cards has also caused Shaddoll Schism to go up in price substantially. Currently, it's around $17, but it may continue to rise.
• The deck's biggest problem has always been its inability to consistently resolve a fusion spell on turn 1. Invoked Shaddoll was a popular hybrid in earlier formats, but with the release of the Magistus archetype in GEIM, Shaddolls got access to Rilliona and Magistus Invocation. This is an improvement since Magistus Invocation can fuse from hand and field whereas the regular Invocation can only fuse from hand when summoning Shaddolls. Additionally, Artemis provides a super convenient way for the deck to turn any Shaddoll into a LIGHT monster, which is important for summoning Construct.
• While the full Dogmatika package is very expensive due to Nadir Servant being a $75 card, one option is to play just one copy of Ecclesia (around $20) along with Maximus and a playset of Dogmatika Punishment. Maximus and Punishment have a ton of synergy in the Shaddoll deck in conjunction with Apkallone's GY effect, and this combination is deadly even on a budget.
• Other normal summons such as Mathematician and even Gale Dogra are potent on this deck, and can be played in addition to Rilliona or as a replacement for her. Yet another option is to run 1 copy of the now-cheap Eldlich the Golden Lord as a LIGHT monster for Shaddoll Fusion that can easily revive itself.
• Another popular variant is a very trap-heavy list, sometimes cutting the Magistus cards entirely. PAK and SirEmanon's YouTube channels both have their own takes on this, if you're interested.

 

Unchained

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Floaty destruction-based archetype that generates advantage when its cards are destroyed, enabling its gimmick of using your opponent's monsters to Link Summon.
• Can be built to go first or to go second quite effectively. Since going second is very difficult this format, the provided list aims to go first, playing a bunch of trap cards.
• Fairly modest online performance, doing alright at smaller events and more recently finishing top 8 at the second YuGiJoe online series as well as occasional Luxury events. After the December banlist, Unchained has rapidly gained popularity in online remote duel events, and is one of the more prominent rogue decks this format. This success could be because the format is generally slower compared to previous ones, and many destruction-based cards such as Torrential Tribute are very popular currently, which this deck enjoys.
• Mega-Tin reprints of Abomination's Prison as well as their Link 2 have helped make this deck a great deal more affordable. I:P Masquerena being more affordable is also a nice boost, though it's by no means essential in this deck.
• This deck's best weapon is its opponents being unprepared for it. Playing improperly into backrow or Unchained floats can very quickly be fatal. It also matches up decently into some backrow decks as well as Dogmatika variants, which rely on destruction-based removal from Dogmatika Punishment and Elder Entity N'tss.

 

C Tier

Decks in this category have the capability to be just as good as the ones above at times, but often tend to suffer from multiple problems including consistency and power.
 

Burning Abyss

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Versatile control-based Graveyard toolbox deck that has been swinging in and out of meta relevance since its release way back in 2014.
• Gradually got more and more cards back from the banlist, with Cir and Graff being unlimited on the December 2020 list. The deck is now more or less "full power" with the exception of Beatrice, who is still limited.
• The deck aims to establish Beatrice on turn 1 backed up with trap cards. The BA cards as well as Beatrice are extremely floaty, so this deck can put up quite a fight in grind games. Fiend Griefing is a solid card in the current meta, and is excellent in the Burning Abyss deck as you can send Farfa for further disruption, Graff/Scarm for followup, or Back Jack for more traps.
• This deck was frequently mixed with Phantom Knight cards back in 2016 (often called PK Fire). Nowadays, Phantom Knight decks are typically either built pure or with an extremely compact BA engine. While it's possible to play a more dedicated hybrid build, the release of PK Torn Scales combined with most key BA cards being unlimited means that it's just better to focus on one or the other.
• Many other options are playable - Desires for draw power, playing more traps, more handtraps, etc. Consider Needle Ceiling over Torrential as it can be harder to pull off, but combos better with Trap Trick. Players with access to Ice Dragon's Prison should play it, and adventurous duelists can even opt to play Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss.
• As a deck easily capable of churning out Rank 3 Xyzs, you also have easy access to Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, one of the most powerful extra deck cards in the format. If this is an accessible option, it should be played.

 

Sky Striker

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Spell-heavy control deck that usually maintains only one monster on the field at a time, in the extra monster zone.
• Formerly an extremely dominant control deck, modern-day Striker no longer accrues infinite resources through resolving Engage multiple times, but instead is easily able to kill you with an Accesscode Talker push after whittling down your LP and resources for a turn or two. The standard combo involves laddering from Halqifibrax -> Selene -> Accesscode and then dismantling your opponent's board before swinging for game.
• You may have noticed a problem: if you're on a budget, you can't use Accesscode. This is a pretty big blow to the deck's overall strength. Some players opt for alternatives such as the Utopia Double package, which Zoé Weber played in the second EU Remote Duel Invitational last format. Another option is to simply not run it at all, and close games the old-fashioned way.
• In previous formats, this deck was oftentimes played like an anti-meta going second deck, packing tons of removal cards and usually 3 copies of Mystic Mine in the main deck. In the current format, this strategy is a lot more difficult due to several factors - it's very hard to go second this format in general, and Mine is a lot less effective vs the top decks right now.
• Instead, the sample list plays a going-first strategy with powerful trap cards like There Can Be Only One and Solemn Strike. It's possible to build this deck to go second, but you'd probably want to play board breakers instead of trap cards, and potentially also maindeck PSY-Framegear Gamma.
• Yet another way to play this deck involves (surprise) Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and multiple copies of Red-Eyes Fusion. Instead of using cards like Widow Anchor and Afterburners to muscle through disruption and stick a Mystic Mine on the field, you use them to get to your Dragoon and either win the game immediately or put yourself in a position where your opponent can't play through the Dragoon disrupt.
• Roze is the most expensive card in this list. If your budget is tight, you can definitely cut her down to 1.

 

Zoodiac

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Xyz-focused deck with a gimmick allowing you to use any one Zoodiac as the entire Xyz material requirement for another Zoodiac. This lets you stack Zoo Xyz monsters on top of each other, making use of their effects.
• Plays a compact engine combined with around 20 slots dedicated to handtraps, traps, and draw power. This deck is also commonly played as a hybrid deck, oftentimes with Eldlich and sometimes with Dogmatika cards. Both of these options are quite expensive, so they are not shown.
• The deck's strength in competitive play comes almost entirely from Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, an extremely powerful Xyz monster that Zoodiac can effortlessly make due to Zoodiac Boarbow. Zoo is also easily able to summon Zeus with many materials, allowing it to repeatedly nuke the board.
• Budget Zoo without Zeus is extremely weak by comparison. Relying solely on Drident + handtraps is not a reliable win condition, so cards like Parallel eXceed and Pot of Avarice are included in the sample list to give this deck a boost. While Megaclops is a troublesome boss monster in some matchups, the big three decks (Drytron, Virtual World, and Eldlich) generally don't have much trouble dealing with it.
• Even with Zeus, the deck has been struggling in the current competitive meta. Noteworthy is its performance at LCS 9, where out of a whopping 51 Zoodiac variants that entered the tournament, only 1 survived until top 16.

 

Up-And-Coming

Decks to watch out for, oftentimes due to recent online success or new support being announced. Some might also be decks that could potentially be on the main body of the post, but need a little more time to prove themselves.
 

Tri-Brigade

Price: $100 (for now) Imgur | DuelingBook

• Link-focused deck that plays a variety of Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters. The maindeck Tri-Brigades cheat out powerful Link monsters, provided your GY is set up. This deck also trivially access the Simorgh link, which can sometimes seal games on its own through the WIND Barrier Statue.
• In the current format, Tri-Brigade has seen fairly sparse success, usually mixed with Zoodiac. However, BLVO gives us Tri-Brigade Kitt, a great boost to this deck and a fantastic combo piece.
• Further support in LIOV and beyond is also very promising, making this deck a potentially solid investment for the future.
• The Tri-Brigade core is currently quite cheap, but this could change in the future depending on hype and the market.
• owo

 

Traptrix

Price: $100-150 Imgur | DuelingBook

• Control deck with an extremely powerful Link 1 monster, Traptrix Sera, that pumps out constant advantage.
• The sample list incorporates a very small Dogmatika engine. Dogmatika Punishment itself is very cheap, and is one of the best generic traps in the game right now. Just 1 copy of Ecclesia (around $20) provides a substantial power boost to this mini-engine, as dumping one copy of Titaniklad with Punishment and grabbing an Ecclesia for next turn is extremely powerful. Another option is to dump El Shaddoll Apkallone, then adding and discarding Ariel in order to trigger her effect and banish 3 cards, which is insane value.
• If you can't get Ecclesia, you could simply play just Punishment as a generic trap. Another option is to play pure Traptrix, incorporating more power traps/handtraps, and quite frequently the Utopia Double package as well.
• This deck is definitely still getting support, as LIOV brings a new Link 2 and main deck monster.

 

Plunder Patroll

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

• Pirate archetype with ridiculous recursion and a unique tag-out and equip mechanic based on Attributes being used in the game.
• The pirates become equips for one of (currently) three Patrollships, extra deck monsters that can all discard Plunder Patroll cards in hand to fuel powerful effects. The ships become stronger when manned (equipped with) a Plunder card, with bonuses such as ignition effects becoming quick effects, or being able to replace the discarded card with a new one from the deck.
• Many Plunder lists play Forbidden Droplet, as it has great synergy with the cards. Without Droplet, you could fill the space with several different options. This deck chooses to play the Undine package, but you can also go for cards like Foolish Burial Goods, Salvage, Silent Angler, Tenyi Spirit - Shthana, Toadally Awesome + Bahamut Shark, or just more generic staples.
• This deck is getting at least one more support card in LIOV, that being Ravenwing. Many people speculate that they'll also get another Patrollship of a new attribute, which would be a huge buff to the deck.

 

Honorable Mentions

• Megalith, Madolche, Pendulum decks, Cyber Dragon, Orcust, Mermail Atlantean, Magical Musketeers, Crusadia (Guardragon), ABC, D/D, Generaider, and more - Decks that are fairly decent but have been left off of the post to make room for other decks that have seen more recent success or have fewer budget resources online.
• Dragonmaid, Eldlich, Infernoid, Invoked variants, HERO, etc - Decks that are pretty good but are sorta in limbo due to some expensive individual cards, such as Chamber Dragonmaid, Cursed Eldland, Invocation, etc.
• Cubics, Phantasm, Chain Burn, Evilswarm, Yosenju, Dinomist, and much, much more - Unfortunately, there is not enough room to cover every single decent, super-cheap deck.

 
 
I hope to keep this post updated for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

S22 COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS

Greetings, /Diablo!
The foreboding Season 22 announces the arrival of shadows - spectres of the past that grow ever thicker, clawing through the shrine and pylon beacons for another chance at fighting the demonic hordes. The Shades of Nephalem past stand by our side in the unrelenting fight against the minions of Hell, eager to spill the blood of our sworn enemies...
...Or level us up really quickly, at least. They're really good at that.
Season 22 is a curious crossbreed of past Seasonal endeavors, as it features both an "environmental" effect (the Shadow summons) and a "mechanical" effect (the 4th Kanai's Cube slot). While the latter ends up being more of a uniform buff than a truly build-shattering concoction, it introduces just enough of a theorycrafting tinge to the Season to make both ends of the spectrum - fans of the theory and fans of the spectacle - to maybe make us all happy for once. At very least, we won't be chasing snowballs.
As a personal takeaway, I think this Season prompted me to think about starting on more classes and builds than many previous Seasons have managed to. Maybe it's the need to consider the 4th Kanai's Cube slot that gave me pause at each and every concept? Regardless, I think we should all be glad for the confidence on display when it comes to Seasonal changes - this is the first time we see a dual theme, and on top of that both its aspects end up being important and impactful. Add a decent number of mechanical changes to items and sets, and even a paragon category change (who expected that to happen in 2020?), and this is one of the best Seasons we've had in a long, long while.
Have a great Season 22, and as always - happy hunting!
-Deadset

>>LIST OF DETAILED GUIDES EVERY CLASS AND EVERY ACTIVITY<<

(No, really!)
 

WHAT'S STRONG, FUN AND MAYBE EVEN NEW IN SEASON 22

BARBARIANS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Horde of the Ninety Savages
Wrath of the Wastes - Rend
Built from the ashes of a very old Rend/IK mixture, the Rend Wastes Barbarian truly shows the potential and terror of this DoT build. An unstoppable machine that whirls, cleaves and guts demons like Barbarians were always meant to do. With the newfound powers of Ambo's Pride, this build bleeds his enemies dry in an instant, turning what was once an unassuming bleed into a fearsome nuke that gets applied every second. Couple that with the savage elegance of Whirlwinding, and it's no wonder people will return to this build time and again when it comes to Barb progression.
Might of the Earth - Earthquake
Never the build at the forefront, Earthquake is nevertheless steady, extremely satisfying and a feast for the eyes. Couple its wholesome rotation with the newfound buffs and you really have a contender for Barb seasonal playtime. If you prefer to devastate a large area over precise shots, like to control the battlefield and gravitate toward rotations that just feel good to execute, Earthquake is your jam.
Might of the Earth - Seismic Slam
Always underappreciated, but always ready to pounce from the shadows and deliver, the Earthquake set has been quietly sitting very close to the leaderboard's top through a select few, but very devout Barbarian players. Ever since Season 19, we have Seismic Slam the way it should always have been - a thunderous mid-range devastator, the perfected counterpart of its older, pure Earthquake cousin. With the reworked Fjord Cutter, this build is quite the underrated powerhouse.
 

CRUSADERS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Aegis of Valor
Akkhan/Invoker - Thorns Bombardment
Say what now? The Thorn Bombsader is back with a vengeance, and is a force to be reckoned with in Season 22. Dropping barrels of pristine, unadulterated devastation from the skies, this will be one of the best soloing builds for the entire Season. Thorns Bombardment is a calculating, bursty, cooldown centric build that dishes out punishment in spectacular dollops that will take it all the way to GR150. Note that the build survived a hefty PTR nerf and emerged strong - a testament to its pure numbers.
Aegis of Valor - Heaven's Fury Shotgun
One of the two new sets from Season 20 ascended Crusaders to a whole new level, and evoked the times when the Holy Shotgun was considered OP, because it was the only Reaper of Souls build that demolished T6. Hundreds of millions of damage and health spikes later, this (un)holy amalgamation of items delivers a mixture of Fist of the Heavens and Heaven's Fury Shotgun shots with righteous ferocity that have earned this build the one rigthful nickname: the God Crusader.
Aegis of Valor - Fist of the Heavens
Not as strong as its counterpart, but just as satisfying - the Fist of the Heavens visuals are undeniable - and one of the best Crusader farming builds out there, again courtesy of the new Aegis of Valor Crusader. Mount up, descend into battle and demolish screens full of demons with violent, electrified arcs covering the entire battlefield? What more could you ask for? This build is stronger in Season 22, making it one of the top tier farmers in the entire game, and a pure pleasure to spread destruction with.
 

DEMON HUNTERS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Gears of Dreadlands
Gears of Dreadlands - Hungering Arrow (and Bolas!)
Using the powers of the Gears of Dreadlands set, this Demon Hunter build combines the deadly precision of Hungering Arrow with the elegance of movement and battlefield maneuverability of Strafe. The end result is one of the most versatile, agile and honestly - just visually appealing playstyles in the game. Valla's Bequest lives on yet another Season, ensuring this will remain the top tier Demon Hunter build for yet another round of 150 clears.
Legacy of Dreams - Rapid Fire
The emergence of the Rapid Fire build finally brought the close range, Tommy gun-like fantasy of the Demon Hunter class to life - all in a destructive, methodical playstyle that isn't afraid to get into the thick of fights and chaingun-and-grenade its way out. If the strafing evasion of GoD is not for you, and the top of the leaderboard is not your primary concern, this remains one of the most fun ways to play Demon Hunter: right in the demons' faces, melting them off.
Gears of Dreadlands/Marauder - Support
Using the combined might of the Gears of Dreadlands and Marauder sets, this support Demon Hunter build combines the strong damage buffs and pulling utility from the Entangling Shot and Bolas barrage with the myriad utility and toughness buffs coming from the Companion synergy. I never thought I would include a support build as something to be excited about, but it has been so long since Demon Hunters were this desirable and this versatile in the meta, that I can't help but highlight it.
 

MONKS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Patterns of Justice
Patterns of Justice - Tempest Rush
Rooting its powers firmly in the TR-dedicated Patterns of Justice set, this alternate take on Tempest Rushing gives its Sunwuko brother a run for his money. The set empowers Sweeping Wind to astronomical proportions, stacking all the runes and swelling the vortex of destruction to a veritable cyclone. The opportunity to include the Shenlong fists in the setup in Season 22 elevates it even further!
Inna - Wave of Light
Although not particularly exciting, this is a purposeful highlight; the ease of starting an Inna Wave of Light build can take you very far into the Season with relatively minor time investment. Inna WoL is a tried and tested build that combines the inherent screen-clearing AoE of Explosive Blasts with the forgiving, easy-to-play Inna set. If you're looking for something to breeze the Season with, this is a strong contender.
Raiment Shenlong - Generator The Monk bread and butter. There is nothing wrong with liking this spec, and if you haven't hopped onto Monk in a while, it's still a great choice. If you like to punch things hard and fast and don't fear managing survivability in the closest of melee combat, this build will still deliver.
 

NECROMANCERS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Masquerade of the Burning Carnival
Masquerade - Bone Spear
Testing the full capabilities of the dedicated Masquerade of the Burning Carnival set, this Necromancer build focuses on a unique amalgamation of Simulacrums and Bone Spear to produce a crafty sniping playstyle that can take its time setting up fights due to its impressive endurance. Incredibly capable - likely one of the strongest builds this Season - and most importantly, Land of the Dead-independent (hurrah!), this is a build for all the CDR-weary Necromancers out there!
Legacy of Dreams - Corpse Explosion
Basing itself on the versatile and adaptable Legacy of Dreams power and stacking a bunch of empowering and synergistic legendary items, the Corpse Explosion Necromancer provides another supremely powerful and visually striking playstyle this Season - and this one relishes on exploding cadavers, which is about the coolest and most Necromance-y thing you could say. High contender for my second build this Season, I've wanted a top tier Corpse Explosion Necromancer ever since this class came into existence.
Legacy of Dreams - Poison Scythe
Emerging from a combination of the Season 21 changes to the build-defining Haunted Visions amulet, the adaptability of the Legacy of Dreams bonus, and the plethora of Poison-themed skills at the Necromancer's disposal, this Necromancer build offers a simple-yet-deadly playstyle that reaps enemies without a thought for cooldowns. Will this build tickle your fancy for mechanical mastery? Nah. Will it cause theorycrafters to break down build minutae in endless excel tables? Nah. Is it the strongest and laziest Necromancer thing since Bone Storm from ages ago? You betcha.
 

WITCH DOCTORS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Mundunugu's Regalia
Mundunugu Spirit Barrage
The Mundunugu set empowers one of the most visually satisfying builds of Witch Doctors, Spirit Barrage, to a ridiculously powerful level that will (barring any unexpected changes) seal the WD's spot in group play for a long, long time. To top it all off, this build is very versatile across all game activities, and can be adapted to everything from bounties, through keyfarm and speeds, to high end solo and group pushing as the Trash Killer. Truly top tier value of a Headrig's Gift for Witch Doctors this time around!
Zunimassa - Carnevil DoD
The Carnevil Witch Doctor summons an army of swarming minions at his side, whose adorable mimicking of his blowdart attack - and positively horrifying attack speed - are a sight to behold. This has been a long time coming; Zunimassa has been building up in power over the course of a few patches, with set and item changes that slowly inched it up in viability. It has been overcome by Mundunugu Spirit Barrage for some time now, but remains one of the strongest - and most evocative - builds in the WD arsenal.
Helltooth - Zombie Bears
Honestly, if this didn't make you check the year of this post, I don't know what could. But yeah, ZOMBIEBAAHS have been buffed now; still nowhere near a contender build, but strong enough to raise an eyebrow and make you chuckle. Seriously, if you choose to run this for GR pushing and Arachyr Chicken for farming, you might be my favorite person on the Internet right now.
 

WIZARDS

Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Typhon's Veil
Legacy of Dreams - Mammoth Hydra
The Mammoth Hydra playstyle brings the tankier - and more potent - version of the Hydra playstyle, and holds the reigning title of the top Wizard build in S22. If you are looking for a straightforward, durable and classic-feeling Wizard build, I would look no further than this one.
Legacy of Dreams - Frozen Orb
Leave it to Legacy of Dreams to put Frozen Orb back in the spotlight. Combine the Frozen Orb nostalgia of sorceresses past with the slew of synergistic buffs to items like Wizardspike (holy nostalgia indeed), and you have an awesome new playstyle that leaves enemies debilitated and helpless, watching their frozen death creep ever closer.
LoD Energy Twister
Alright, well, if the Zombie Bears didn't make you check the year of the post, then maybe this did. Yes, Twisters are back and no, you don't have to stack them in a corner. You can play a honest-to-Diablo spellslinger that drops down Tornados left and right and simply enjoys the obliterating vortex. And isn't that a nice thing indeed?
 

GETTING STARTED THIS SEASON, OR HOW TO GET TO THE COOL STUFF

We can clearly see an influx of new and returning players - people looking for guidance and advice on early crafting, gambling, and character building foundations. This is my attempt to convey as much information as I can in a single thread.
At the very start of the Season, your first job is, naturally, to create a new seasonal hero. While this first choice does not lock you down too terribly, note that the Seasonal Journey rewards you once per Season - only for the character that completes the chapters first. Bearing that in mind, pick your character and go in game.
While in town, approach one of the followers that most closely matches your class (Templar for Barbarians, Monks and Crusaders, Scoundrel for Demon Hunters, and Enchantress for Witch Doctors, Necromancers and Wizards), select the "Inventory & Skills" option, take their weapon and equip it yourself - it is a significant upgrade over the base weapon that you start with.
Note that once you reach level 7, vendors in all towns - the ones with the nickname "the Fence" in their names - will start selling rings. Each of them has a chance to sell rings that increase your Average Damage (i.e. 2-4 Damage), which is a massive DPS boost early on.
 

THE IMPORTANT BIT FOR S22 ONLY: LEVELING WITH SHADOW CLONES

This tactic is only available in Season 22, and relates to the Shadow Clones that you get after clicking any shrine or pylon. The clones are AI controlled, high damaging allies that persist for 1 minute before disappearing, but are able to comfortably carry you on difficulties up to Torment VI for extremely fast leveling (~40-50 minutes with some luck and a good route).
To execute this leveling strategy, all you need to do is check for shrines at specific waypoints in Adventure Mode — ones that are relatively safe and will not risk your character's life. Once you find the clone, simply run around the zone and let him wreak havoc, leveling you up with a tremendous speed in the process. Note that the Shadow Clones scale with your equipment, so you can check vendors to supplement their damage with some very basic equipment.
The following is a list of relevant waypoints (note that they are not fixed spawns, so move down the list if you do not find one):

• Act I - Southern Highlands (down from WP and to the left before the bridge);
• Act I - Leoric's Manor Courtyard (several spawn points, explore the area a bit);
  
• Act II - Howling Plateau (run up from the waypoint, along the upper rim of the map);
  
• Act II - Road to Alcarnus (run through the area; spawn point near Maghda entrance);
  
• Act III - Bridge of Korsikk (at the waypoint itself; other spawns in the Fields of Slaughter optional);
  
• Act III - Rakkis Crossing (right at the waypoint; optionally run up the bridge);
  
• Act III - Tower of the Cursed Level 1 (along the upper and lower rim of the first section of the map, near WP);
  
• Act III - Tower of the Damned lvl 1 (along the upper and lower rim of the first section of the map, near WP);
  
• Act IV - Realm of Fractured Fate (explore the area near the waypoint, multiple spawn chances);
  
• Act IV - Lower Realm of Infernal Fate (explore the area near the waypoint, multiple spawn chances);
  
• Act IV - Gardens of Hope lvl 1 (near Rakanoth; check right above and right below the waypoint);
  
• Act IV - Gardens of Hope lvl 3 (explore area near waypoint; wells do not work like shrines for shadow clones!)
  

Challenge Rift Completion and Kanai's Cube

After your character is created, head to the Game Settings menu, go into the Challenge Rifts and start the current weekly run. Note that you have to have completed at least one Greater Rift on your account (either in non-seasonal or previous seasons) to have Challenge Rifts unlocked. Challenge Rifts are a weekly challenge that provides a fixed character and a build (usually using quirky skills and/or heavily unoptimized stats and items), and challenges you to beat the Greater Rift completion time of its original owner.
The completion of the Challenge Rift is usually trivial and can be completed either solo or in a group, and will net you a Challenge Rift Reward cache. Open it up in-game with your brand new seasonal character and claim its contents: Death's Breaths, a couple hundred of each of the base crafting materials, Blood Shard, a couple million gold, and 15 each of the Act-specific bounty cache materials. With your newfound riches, upgrade both your Blacksmith and your Mystic craftsmen in town to their maximum rank.
Your next important step is to acquire Kanai's Cube. Kanai's Cube is found in The Ruins of Sescheron - the waypoint in the top right corner of the Act III map. From that waypoint, run left towards the city and make your way around the ruins; one of its far corners (typically upper right, lower right, or lower left) will have the entrance to the next zone, the Elder Sanctum. Once in the Elder Sanctum, make your way through the zone, practically to its other end. When you find the Cube and click it, it automatically transports itself back to town.
While you are at it, take a look at the Kanai's Cube guide for additional details on its use - it is an incredibly important part of your character progression at any point of the game, so make sure to acquaint yourself thoroughly with its properties.
 

Which Item to Craft and Extract in the Cube?

One of the strongest early game boosts that you can obtain while leveling is to craft a yellow (rare) level 70 item at the blacksmith, then try to upgrade it into a valuable legendary at Kanai's Cube, and finally extract its property for one of the Kanai's Cube legendary power slots. Note that this strategy is stronger for some classes over others, particularly favoring Demon Hunters, Necromancers, and somewhat Barbarians. The remaining classes can skip this step and directly go to gambling, sparing themselves some disappointment and saving some materials for level 70, since you can do this recipe exactly once at the Season's start (you only have so many Death's Breaths).
When choosing which rare item to craft, keep in mind that you are looking to upgrade them into a legendary that provides some form of skill damage multiplier that will skyrocket your leveling efficiency. Every class has a different set of valuable items to attempt for:
 

Barbarian:

• Craft a rare level 70 Two-Handed Mighty Weapon, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Fury of the Vanished Peak, The Gavel of Judgment, Bastion's Revered or Blade of the Tribes.

 

Crusader:

• Craft a rare level 70 One-Handed Flail, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Darklight, Gyrfalcon's Foote or Johanna's Argument.

 

Demon Hunter:

• Craft a rare level 70 Dagger, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to obtain either a Karlei's Point or a Lord Greenstone's Fan. Demon Hunters are excellent at this strategy since they only have 2 daggers, and they are both great for leveling.

 

Monk:

• Craft a rare level 70 Daibo, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either an Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, Balance or The Flow of Eternity.

 

Necromancer:

• Craft a rare level 70 Two-Handed Scythe, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to obtain either a Bloodtide Blade, Maltorius' Petrified Spike, Nayr's Black Death or Reilena's Shadowhook. Necromancers are excellent at this strategy since they only have 4 legendary Two-Handed Scythes, and they are all great for leveling.

 

Witch Doctor:

• Craft a rare level 70 Staff, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Staff of Chiroptera or Wormwood.

 

Wizard:

• Craft a rare level 70 Wand, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Fragment of Destiny, Serpent's Sparker, Unstable Scepter or Wand of Woh.

 
Note that this part of the leveling strategy requires some amount of luck for non-DH and non-Necromancer players. Leveling in a group minimizes the risk of RNG screwing everyone over, but sometimes you will be unlucky; this is nothing to be bothered by, as leveling in Diablo is still a fairly easy and straightforward process.
If you are lucky, however, and obtain one of the items outlined above, you will have just about enough Death's Breaths to use the Extract Legendary Power recipe in Kanai's Cube. Do that, and then slot the (now maximized) legendary power of the item in the Cube, netting yourself a considerable leveling bonus. Needless to say, adjust your build accordingly to the legendary power, i.e. if you get Guard of Johanna as a Crusader, make Blessed Hammer your main damage dealing skill throughout leveling.
 

Spending the Challenge Rift Blood Shards

Your next step is to try and gamble for valuable items from Kadala at level 1. Since not every legendary is available right from the start, the legendary item pools for some classes are restricted in a beneficial way to obtain another strong damage multiplier right from the start. If you do not consider the legendaries listed for your class particularly attractive, you can always gamble for Helms for a considerable chance at obtaining Leoric's Crown; extracting its power and socketing rubies in your helmets throughout leveling will net you a hefty amount of extra experience.
 

Barbarian:

• Gamble for Bracers, trying to obtain either Bracers of Destruction or Bracers of the First Men. Spend any remaining Blood Shards on Boots for a chance at Lut Socks.

 

Crusader:

• Gamble for Bracers, trying to obtain Gabriel's Vambraces. If you are lucky to get them quick, you can also spend some (or all, if you are feeling lucky) on shields for Guard of Johanna or Denial. At level 31, if you have any Blood Shards saved over, or new ones you are willing to spend, you can try your luck at Pants for Hammer Jammers.

 

Demon Hunter:

• Not many great options; you can gamble for Belts, trying to obtain the Hellcat Waistguard, although Grenade comes a little later in the leveling process. Otherwise, either go for Leorics Crown (helm) or the damage proc of Pox Faulds (pants). Another gambling strategy you can attempt is saving shards for level 30, when you can gamble on Quivers for a chance at Sin Seekers, or level 31 - for the additional chance at Holy Point Shot and Spines of Seething Hatred.

 

Monk:

• Gamble for either Boots (hoping to obtain Rivera Dancers or The Crudest Boots) or Bracers (hoping to obtain either Pinto's Pride, Cesars Memento or Gungdo Gear). Adjust your gambling strategy for Monk depending on the item you obtained (if any) on the previous step, where you upgraded a rare item (i.e. gambling for bracers if you got an Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, hoping to get Pinto's Pride).

 

Necromancer:

• Gamble for Gloves, trying to obtain Grasp of Essence, or Rings for Circle of Nailuj's Evol if you upgraded your scythe (see above) into Reilena's Shadowhook.

 

Witch Doctor:

• Not many great options; you can gamble for Mojos, trying to obtain a Gazing Demise, but its usefulness is rather limited in early character progression. Otherwise, either go for Leoric's Crown (helm) or the damage proc of Pox Faulds (pants).

 

Wizard:

• Gamble for Sources at level 1, trying to obtain Winter Flurry, or save them for level 31, when you can gamble on Rings for a chance at Manald Heal, or level 33 - for Source gambling for Etched Sigil.

 

Crafting a High Level Rare and Reducing Level Requirement

Pick a two-handed weapon category of your choice (2h Axes, Maces, Swords...) and craft a level 70 weapon of the chosen type. Avoid class-specific weapons, since they add a class-specific roll to the secondary stat pool (i.e. Max Fury), making this strat harder. You are looking for a roll with:

• At least a Crowd Control secondary stat - Chance to Stun, Slow, Fear,.. etc. On Hit;
  
• Ideally, also a Life per Hit primary stat;
  

If both these stats are present, you have eliminated a large part of the possible Secondary stats on the weapon. Thus, you can easily reroll the other Secondary stat (the one that is NOT the crowd control stat) into Reduced Level Requirement - making the item wearable up to 30 levels prior to level 70. This is a tremendous damage increase for a large chunk of your leveling process.
Of course, if you are very lucky, the Reduced Level Requirement can roll onto your crafted item outright.
 

Complete a Boss Bounty

An easy early boost to your character in Seasons is to check your bounties for any easily completed act boss killing bounties - the most famous examples being Zoltun Kulle (at the Archives of Zoltun Kulle waypoint) and Maghda (down from the Road to Alcarnus waypoint) in Act II. Another option is Azmodan at the very end of Act III. Simply run past the mobs and go straight for the boss kill.
The boss bounties reward you with a Diabolic Hoard chest that is guaranteed to drop you a couple of rare items; they will boost your overall character power nicely right at the beginning.
 
 

OTHER, NON SHADOW METHODS OF LEVELING UP

Torment VI Traps Method

Turn the difficulty up to Torment VI and go to the Halls of Agony Level 1. Run and dodge past monsters that come in your way until you reach the falling blades traps; there, lure the monsters towards these traps and watch as they get slaughtered, netting you tremendous experience.
This method, while extremely efficient time-wise, is also (arguably) quite unfun and counter-intuitive, not to mention prone to mishaps. Needless to say, this strategy is not Hardcore-friendly and will result in the (frequent) death of your character.

Via Massacre Bonus

You can also consider leveling via Massacre bonuses — a very potent strategy in solo play. The Massacre bonus XP system was revised in Patch 2.4.1 into a multiplicative experience bonus that rewards you for chaining kills of monsters. The caveat is this bonus only works in bounties - and not during Rifts.
To successfully pull of long chains of monster kills, pick highly populated zones - the Cathedral (Act I), Halls of Agony Level 3 (Act I), and, most notably, Fields of Misery (Act I). The tactic is to always be on the move, leading monsters into one another, abusing Cursed Chests for monster spawns, and generally using skills with DoTs or high AoE (Rend for Barbarian, Blessed Hammer for Crusader, Multishot for Demon Hunter, Wave of Light for Monk, Locust Swarm for Witch Doctors, Blizzard for Wizards).
While Massacre leveling will require frequent restarts of the game (every 5-10 minutes), it will result in some of the fastest leveling in Diablo 3, clocking under the 2 hour mark when you get the hang of it. Due to its individual nature and the level of coordination required to pull it off in a multiplayer game, leveling by Massacre bonuses can only be recommended for 2+ players if they are experienced and have voice communication; this is predominantly a solo leveling technique. It also has the considerable downside of losing the increased legendary drop rate and blood shards of rifting.

Via Cursed Chests

This is one of the faster methods, clocking in under the 1 hour mark with experienced groups that have a Necromancer with them. The reason for the inclusion of the Necromancer is the supremely strong class-specific legendaries that are able to be gambled from the get-go — namely, Grasp of Essence to amplify the damage of Corpse Explosion, and Bloodtide Blade to amplify the damage of Death Nova. Either of those lucky finds can carry an entire group on up to Torment VI difficulty. Ideally, the remaining teammates will support the DPS carry with buffs and as much crowd control as they can muster.
The preferred way to level through Cursed Chests is to have individual party members make their own games, and invite the rest of the group when they stumble upon one of the Cursed Chests from the list below. Note that Act IV has no suitable spots.

• Act I - The Cursed Cellar - The Old Ruins (dangerous for Hardcore characters due to lack of space!)
• Act I - The Cursed Court - Cathedral Level 2
• Act I - The Cursed Bellows - Halls of Agony Level 3 (dangerous for Hardcore characters due to fire traps!)
  
• Act II - The Cursed Spire - Archives of Zoltun Kulle
  
• Act II - The Cursed Pit - Archives of Zoltun Kulle
  
• Act II - The Cursed Moors - Shrouded Moors
  
• Act II - The Cursed Temple - Temple of the Firstborn
  
• Act III - The Cursed Garrison - The Battlefields
  
• Act III - The Cursed Bailey - The Ruins of Sescheron
  
• Act V - The Cursed Peat - Paths of the Drowned (dangerous for Hardcore characters due to high damage monsters!)
  

Via Rifting

For groups and players that do not stress losing an hour in the 1-70 race, the general recommendation is to stick to rifts for the 1-70 journey. Rifts grant you increased legendary drop rate, blood shards for gambling, and a hefty "hand-in" bonus at the end. While rifting has a higher degree of randomness than bounties (map layout, monster density and composition are all RNG), the removal of Rift Keystones as a requirement to open them allows you to simply remake if you get a bad (difficult or slow) rift.
 

And this is it! Thank you so much for reading this megathread and my guides! Good luck and have a great Season 22!

Welcome back gang! Just thought I'd give my own take on each of the Gung-Ho collab rolls. There's so many cards in this collab, and each one is so unique, that I bet it can be hard for many players to figure out what's good or not.
I've given a rating and brief explanation as to some thoughts about the cards. I do keep an eye on what's coming out in the future, but I remind everyone that what's popular in Japan may not be popular here, due to access to different cards. So I base my opinions by what's going on here in the NA servers.
Like always I make changes based on community feedback. If anything is glaringly wrong I will make changes to prevent misinformation. If it's my opinion that you feel is wrong, leave a comment and we can discuss it below. No one ever fully agrees with a rating list so go easy on me, I don't get paid for this!
How I rated cards *not in any particular order* -

• Comparison to similar, commonly used cards
• Comparison to similar, hard to obtain cards
• Uniqueness
• Futureproof
• Use in the current Meta
• Ability to substitute for key subs on Meta teams
• Ability to help create new teams

Guardian Goddess Minerva -

• Minerva L/R - 9/10 - Fantastic rainbow lead with an easy to trigger leader skill. Excellent candidate for a leaderswap assist. As a sub she can be a nice assist option while having the option to remove ATK debuffs. A team with 8 extra seconds of time extend awakening gets 2.6x burst every 3 turns, which is not nothing.
• Minerva L/D - 8/10 - I'm a fan of these leads that offer huge passive shields. The damage isn't tied to the shield which is a big plus. Effectively a 3/18/2 row lead when accounting for shield. As a sub she's pretty boring.
• Minerva Assist - 8/10 - The 2nd assist able God killer in the game. The active is pretty bad so leave this one unskilled.

Gamayla -

• Gamayla B/L - 6/10 - Not a fan of L match leads. As a sub it has some use as a VDP solution with delay and tape resist, but otherwise it's a pretty mediocre card.
• Gamayla B/D - 8.5/10 - 10combo + 7combo + VDP on a card is rare and powerful. 34x potential damage with TPA is also very powerful. 22x TPA damage even when you have the VDP latent. The damage potential is so high that it's hard to rate them any lower.
• Gamayla Assist - 8.5/10 - If you need tape resist it's nice to use one that comes with helpful awakenings and a very useful 2 turn delay. The fastest 2 turn delay assist in the game at 9 turns. Great to use for 2 effective SB. Reminds me of Lust and Blood Talisman equips, but delay is often the most valuable for it's helpfulness later in dungeons.

Knight Kisaragi -

• Kisaragi L/G - 8/10 - Combo orbs are starting to become popular and it pairs nicely with the newly buffed 10x personal damage at 10 combo. Combo orbs awakenings are rare and almost never come attached to a card that can deal personal damage. The active skill can kill problem high defense spawns in AA4 like Aten and the Tamadras.
• Kisaragi L/D - 9/10 - The primary issue with this card has always been the lack of SB and monster type. With the most recent buff the problem with SB has been fixed. The ONLY 99 turn light skyfall active in the game. I think it will take a while for people to dust this card off, but they should be able to find many more teams that this card fits on now with the extra SB+ awakening.
• Kisaragi Assist - 8/10 - I've fallen in love with combo orbs lately. An assist able combo orb + SB + 40% poison resist + laser + bicolor change seems very good to me. Competition with Pride Egg lowers the rating.

Loki, Wily God of Destruction -

• Loki B/L - 8/10 - Reminds me of Touya. Paired with himself you will have 25% overall HP while taking only 6.25% damage from attacks... however if you can't trigger the leader skill you will die. Unlike Touya, the damage multiplier is tied to the shield, so stalling is impossible. It's possible to abuse the low HP by stacking Auto-RCV latents to become immortal, but that would require a minimum of 6 water orbs a turn or death. As a sub he seems generic. The team HP is nice, but choosing between 7combo/+2SB/Super blind; is not. The active is also similar to all the other 'Burst+movement time' actives we've been seeing lately.
• Loki B/D - 9/10 - Capable of clearing all content including Shura 2. I changed my opinion on this card due to more research. I'm still not sold on Loki being popular past the next few months, but time will tell. Until then, any lead that can handle such tough content gets a 9 from me.
• Loki Assist - 8/10 - The killers have the potential to be amazing in the future, as of now they're lack luster.

Aoi Shikigami -

• Aoi D/R - 8.5/10 - The killers are all nice for Shura. Your subs don't need to always deal damage, they just need to deal damage when it matters. Against the Devil floor Aoi can deal 40x-137x damage to the devils depending on killers. With 3x Machine killer you can deal 61x-136x damage to machine depending on health. The active, while not amazing, at least ensures a kill board while triggering the >80%HP awakenings.
• Aoi D/D - 9/10 - Buffed with an extra >HP awakening. Personal damage is now x16 against everything, x48 against Dragons and Gods, x162 with latents. The active does everything you want from making tons of dark orbs, lowering personal life to 1, and no skyfall for farming. *I already have 2, I'm hoping for 1 more to form a system for my Lu Bu TA2 team.
• Aoi Assist - 7/10 - I've had this thing for years. It's always been good, not great. Good for cards like Aten for unbindable + damage boost. The active can be useful for TA2 farming.

Luluna -

• Luluna - 8.5/10 - She's since been buffed and as a lead she looks like she can be very good, especially when paired with herself or Nero. The damage multiplier is bad, but it's made up for with 3 additional combos when matching 6 wood. Paired with Nero you will have a 2.25/263/2.25/25% team that starts at 6 combo whenever making a row. This allows the use of 10 combo subs like Rajang, Sloth, and Chibi Skuld, all while stacking rows for heavy damage. Her active skill is decent and a low enough CD to use multiple times through longer content. As a sub she's pretty decent but pretty generic. Could be used as a way for wood teams to bypass VDP+combo shield.
• Luluna Dark - 8.5/10 - As a lead she has a unique ability to remove awoken binds whenever healing for whatever it's worth. Could be very useful in future dungeons. As a sub she's a stellar damage solution, that comes with a cleric active, that ALSO comes with a 3x burst. Her only drawback is the single skill boost, but you can't have 3 7combo and 4 killer without sacrificing other awakenings.
• Luluna Assist - 8/10 - There's a very real lack of assists with wood rows. This one comes with 80% hazard resist. The active is very similar to Zela's hat. It's best use is to get past VDP + combo floors.

Lost Gear -

• Lost Gear - 2/10 - All the "Match L" leaders are garbage IMO. As a sub it has some weird potential to form an "almost" 30% heal per turn loop.
• Lost Gear chibi - 4/10 - The leader skill is ideal for swapping in after starting with a 7x6 or exp/rank lead. However Lost Gear's leader skill requires the lame L match. As a sub it can be used as a damage solution with cloud or resist or players with undeveloped monster boxes.

Bradamante -

• Bradamante - 9/10 - Like Gamayla, 10combo + 7combo + VDP is rare and powerful. Brada also comes with super blind resist which is arguably the most important right now due to Shura floor 4. The 5 turn active is powerful and can be used to take advantage of jammer skyfall and hazard debuffs. The rest of the awakenings are solid.
• Bradamante Chibi - 9.0/10 - I'm going to break this card, just you all wait. This is the first time we've had a leaderswap active attached to a card that can be a powerful leader. Entering any dungeon with a 7x6/exp/rank lead will allow Chibi Brada to swap places on turn 1, effectively becoming a 7x6/exp/rank lead, but with 2/18/2/25% leader stats. Works very well as a sub for Base Bradamante.

Dazzling Beast Goddess, Tsukuyomi -

• Yomi B/G - 10/10 if you own a Norza, 9/10 if you don't. Even after all this time Yomi/Norza is still an excellent team capable of handling all content. Yomi/Norza is only at it's best when you can loop 2 Norza, so owning your own Norza is a huge plus. She's also fine sub with good awakenings. The heart L awakenings are rare and can help overcome certain gravities.
• Yomi B/D - 8.5/10 - There's a lot of potential here. A 3 turn row maker or low CD base. Most people only have 1 Yomi and due to the popularity of Yorza, the Dark Yomi hasn't seen the light. With combo orbs becoming more popular and Yorza becoming less popular, I can see Dark Yomi becoming an excellent option for future teams.
• Yomi Assist - 9/10 - I can't rate an assist able machine killer with useful awakenings and active any lower, at least not until Shura 2 becomes popular.

Healing Archangel Raphael -

• Raphael G/L - 6/10 - Lots of VDP damage but that's about it. Can't even use Balance killers to help against Shura Floor.20 Plum. >80% awakenings often aren't helpful if you face a floor for more than 1 turn. The active is lame.
• Raphael G/D - 8/10 - 10x personal damage while passively boosting team damage. The active is pretty useful considering it's a tri-color board that includes hearts. 2xSB is just at the cusp of what I find acceptable for transform teams.
• Raphael Assist - 8/10 - FUA on an assist is still very rare. The active can be used on any color team. Increasing a single cards damage by 50% is also significant. I like equips like these as they open up team building options for typically unused teams due to lack of FUA.

Reginleif -

• Reginleif D/B - 10/10 - The type, the sub attributes, 5SB, low CD active, and cleric active. This card fits so well on so many teams. If you watch a random Japanese video using a dark team, odds are you'll see Reginleif. The 15% skyfall for 3 turns every 6 turns is also very powerful. Any orb has a 16.6% chance of falling. That means for 3 turns, every 6 turns, a third of all orbs will drop as dark.
• Reginleif D/D - 8.5/10 - TPA teams will find use for this as they come with 3SB, a useful active, and an active short enough to assist a delay or haste adding to the effective SB. I have them pre-emptively increased in rating due to the upcoming release of MA Raijin.
• Reginleif Assist - 9/10 - Hard to rate any killer assist lower, especially one of the popular ones like Dragon, Machine, God and Demon. The cleric active can be used by any team, however the skyfall is probably detrimental to non-dark teams. The final 2 floors of AA4 and the final floor of TA2 are all Dragon type.

Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune -

• Lakshmi L - 10/10 - After using Rajang for a while I learned the power of cards with 2x 10combo. She can also use any killer giving her 84x personal damage vs any of the chosen monster types. All of the awakenings are nice. The active provides a 30% shield for 75% of your turns. That active also allows teams with only 25% shields to finally handle all gravities, including Green Menoa. The almost full coverage of enhanced fire orbs is icing on the cake.
• Lakshmi D - 9/10 - As a lead she's not great, but as a sub she looks very good. Great personal damage with the ability to reach 27x with an L match. ATK stat is so high that she does roughly the same 7 combo damage as Amatsu who has 4x 7combo, while obviously doing much more with an L match.
• Lakshmi Assist 8/10 - Some teams need help with gravities. The multiple turns is extremely useful against Green Menoa.

Great Witch of the Dark Flowers, Reeche -

• Reeche - 8/10 - Buffs to her leader skill make her a perfectly fine rainbow lead. The additional skill charge awaken lowers her effective active CD from 10 to 7.5
• Reeche Assist - 9/10 - The value of this assist goes down if you currently hold another 2 turn damage+color absorb active. These 2 turn "Reeche actives" are invaluable in Shura realm. 2 turns of color+damage absorb is usually required for the Final Menoa. 30 turn CD is very long compared to other 2 turn Reeche actives nowadays but it's better than nothing.

Twin Stars of Purgatory, Belial -

• Belial - 2/10 - Meh
• Belial Chibi - 8/10 - 30x personal damage with 90x damage against Gods. Reasonable 2 skill boosts. A fantastic 5 turn tri-color board changer with hearts. The active also cancels out any ATK debuffs. The lack of TPA teams in the meta prevents this card from being an all-star.

God of Commerce, Mercury -

• Mercury - 2/10 - Meh
• Mercury Chibi - 7/10 - It's not a very good leader. As a sub it has merit as a low CD orb maker. The killers are actually useful considering the most annoying Menoa for a wood team are Attacker and Defender types.

Shust -

• Shust - 6/10 - Has many potential uses as a farming sub/lead, but not much else. I don't often see a lot of water <%50HP teams. Typically I would prefer to stick with building dark teams for <%50HP teams because the subs are often useful outside of farming.
• Shust Chibi - 8/10 - Reminds me a lot of Chuan, but with up to 4SB. Excellent utility sub. 4 turn row maker with the upside of removing ATK debuffs. Can be a powerful farming lead depending on player skill.

Goddess of Purity, Artemis -

• Artemis - 2/10 - I don't see the point in her awawkenings and the active is unexciting.
• Artemis Chibi - 3/10 Bad heart cross leaderskill (9 seconds???). Lame latents. Unexciting active skill.

Kaguya, Princess of Tsukuyomi -

• Kaguya - 4/10 - If you absolutely are hurting for SDR she's fine. Her multi-purpose active is good for canceling out many debuffs.
• Kaguya Assist - 6/10 - The active helps solve many late game debuffs. The inherited unbindability can be useful in non-Shura dungeons.

Goddess of the Past, Urd -

• Urd D - 3/10 - Even on <50%HP teams she seems underwhelming. Could maybe see use on a low life TA2 team for all the devil + healer floors.
• Urd Chibi - 10/10 - Fantastic farming lead. 3 fire orbs every turn is very powerful, especially when you can do it twice. Updated my rating on this one thanks all.

Goddess of the Present, Verdandi -

• Verdandi Revo - 4/10 - Niche sub that can be used to kill Gods. Currently not a lot of Gods in our end game diet.
• Verdandi Chibi - 10/10 - A 4SB sub that can hold an equip to grant another 3-4 turns of effective SB. Massive VDP damage. Can reach up to 94x God damage. Can be used in lieu of a 2nd Norza (I don't recommend this due to zero healing every other turn). The active and FUA are very helpful for leads like Velkhana.

Goddess of the Future, Skuld -

• Skuld G/L - 5/10 - If you are hurting for SBR at least this sub offers damage. However it's incredibly rare to field a team that would need so much SBR.
• Skuld Chibi - 10/10 - 10combo + 7combo + VDP is rare and powerful. Has 8 slots for awakenings and can use ANY latents. The active skill is fantastic by itself or as a low CD assist base. 3 skill boosts naturally with the ability to get up to 5. There's even an option for full poison resist.

5\ Chibis -* All 3 of the 5* Chibis are excellent leaders for new players.

• Helen Chibi - 9/10 - 5500 effective personal healing with an excellent active skill on a short CD. Highest healing green card in the game.
• Konohanasakuya Chibi - 9/10 - Arguably better than Inahime for Gileon Shura realm teams. 72x machine damage without using a killer. The very low 3 turn CD can allow for the use of another colodamage absorb assist to ensure killing Green Menoa without stalling.
• Tenfufa (chibi) - 7.5/10 - 91x Balance killer with a fantasticly short CD that is great to use or assist over. The uses are niche but she's arguably the best Balance killer in the game and they can carry any assist. I expect to see her used as an indespensible sub for many ranking/farming teams.

Amlynea is one of the 5 powerful key heroes that anyone can possibly roll from the regular REM machine now. Im sure everyone tried to evade her and Menuit just because.. well.. lets face it, these 2 are not as system-able as the other 3 (Gileon, Ferule and Euchs).
But don't despair just yet if you ever roll Amlynea, or possibly dupes of it (like me lol.. i rolled 3 of it, and my only key hero(ine). It could've been the others but she decided to be the one for me.. but still.. 3..?). This is a simple guide for those who're in the lost on what to do with her. Note that this guide will fully focus on her from Shura context.
Short advertisement here - Im running Amlynea here. So if you need one - 318,098,317
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About Amlynea

Amlynea is a pure rainbow lead that requires only Healer type and Attacker type on the party. She requires ALL colors (fire, water, wood, light and dark) to activate her LS properly. Pre transform, she is a 15x (225x if double) and 50% (75% shield if double), while post-transform, she is a 25x (625x if double) with same amount of shield.
Being a pure rainbow lead, she instantly gain haters from those who dislike rainbow team, especially those that requires all colors.. because of board RNG that tend to fuk many rainbow teams during intense situation. But she is designed to be in full control of how the board will look like thanks to her short 2 cd 2 turns spinner generator post-transform. This mean that she can get all colors board 100% of the time.
Sounds like a perfect lead? No.. like every other key heroes, she also have her own faults.

• She is highly susceptible to locks. This makes Caladbolg and LMenoa her natural enemies in Shura, with the latter being the dangerous one when she locks a non 5 color board. Now heres hoping they will buff her AS to include board unlock too without raising her cd.
• She is highly susceptible to orb bind. That makes Arondight and Claiomh her natural enemy too, particularly the latter one that will just 150% gravity you if you didn't kill her within 3 turns.
• Alot of her best healer / attacker subs are not available in NA. Particularly the one and only Togata Mirio from MHA collab that works as her one and only multiturn damage + attribute absorb counter. If damage is not a concern to you, then sure the offtype Reeche (normal, GH or NY versions) can work too (Mirio on its own is a pure support type).
• Being a pure rainbow lead, she is susceptible to void shield too. If you're not planning on using anti void latent for this, then the only ontype subs available in NA you can use on the party are Shelling Ford, Envy dragon and Aljae. Aljae is the better one for this, due to her short cd turn and strong damage post-transform. But if you don't want to waste a sub solely for countering void shield, then sure use anti void latent.
• She has no auto FUA. But her AS makes heart column making easier.
• Pre-transform, she is weak against hazard skyfall. Floor 1 without anti jammer latent is really going to be bothersome, especially with limited board changer.
• Team building is really REM heavy and very strict. Almostly no slot for farmable unit to be in the team.

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Now her pros

• She has long movement time. Just by pairing with herself pre-transform will give you additional 6s movement time (total 11s movement time not including subs). Post transform that would be extra 8s (13s movement time not including subs). With this, you can opt (in fact this is the better choice) using HP+ badge to give yourself more HP. Normally the movement time will be around 16-19s depending on your choice of subs.
• Her AS counters bad board. The 2 spinners are randomly located on the board, but that shouldn't pose you any trouble to grab the orb you want and solve it.
• She has strong heal because her best attacker subs are generally healer type as well, giving more RCV to the team.
• She can clear Shura first floor easily, and tank until both leads are up before moving on to Lucifer floor. She is just that good with her 75% shield.
• 150% gravity is not a threat at all. So don't worry stalling in Deneb's floor and not using element absorb counter. Same goes to GMenoa too.
• Final floor's Menoas on boost mode is not a threat too if you can activate the shield all the time (beware LMenoa) and can easily heal to full.
• One of her staple sub is readily available in SDKH. But only if you can roll it...

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Team building

Having no access to many great collabs, team building in NA is stricter than JP. But that doesnt mean you cannot build one.
There are 2 ways to build her team.

• Pair with herself.
• Pair with Fasca for 7x6.

Should be noted that in Shura, if you're not confident to clear Lucifer's 2nd and 3rd game on 7x6, then just pair with another Amlynea. Because of awoken bind, you only have 5s (7.5s on 3rd game) to clear the game, and that on 7x6 is pretty harsh.
This guide will only focus on building Amlynea x Amlynea, focusing mainly on wood damage. Not gonna go towards Fasca route. Also there are other pairings too like Amlynea x Aljae or Amlynea x Feygoran. You can give it a try using same sample subs below. But the HP part isn't going to be pretty, especially when tanking the final floor.
List of subs you can use for the team are

• Academy Valeria - Best SB stick for the team. Also sports strong damage with her triple 7c. Can opt to have 1 or 2 (for quick transform on floor 1) in the team.
• Aljae - For those who're not into anti void latent. She is viable as a sub too and sports strong damage with her 4 7c, and short anti void shield AS. Her only fault is she has no skill boost, but that is fine.
• Asuna 2nd evolution - Damage absorb counter. Plus blind immunity and covering water part of the team.
• REVO Feygoran - SB stick, FUA, DKali board changer, orb bind and awoken bind clearer and covering dark part of the team. This is a staple sub in the team (optional in Fasca build).
• REVO Tachibana - SB stick, poison immunity and covering fire part of the team. If you can up Amlynea as early as floor 1, then she is optional. Otherwise she is needed to cover the fire part pre-transform.
• REVO Fujin - No Asuna? Thats fine. She comes in handy too. But with that team building will become even more stricter.
• REVO Envy Dragon Jevi - 5 SB with 2 turns vdp buff and strong triple 7c. But i prefer Aljae over this one..

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List of assists you can use

• Aljae assist - If you're using Valeria, then its best to use Aljae assist instead of Aljae on the team. This is better than Shelling Ford assist because it changes the board to all 5 colors as well.
• Date Masamune assist - Skill boost and 80% poison resist. Poison resist is optional because of Tachibana but that skill boost is really handy to have.
• Uesugi Kenshin assist - Skill boost and 80% jammer resist. Handy to have.
• Mari Ceres assist - 4 turn 50% shield + 5 turns awoken bind and orb bind clear. A must have definitely.
• Takeda Shingen assist - Skill boost + 80% blind resist. Optional if you have Asuna.
• Sheen assist / W assist - Damage booster based on finger / skill boost. Good to have for final floor.
• Reeche assist - All forms of Reeche assist are good. Best one would be GH version for its additional skill boost
• Any delay assist - Would be fine to have, tho its optional. One with skill boost like Chidori Kaname assist or fire Shelling Ford assist will do fine.

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With that, here's the proposed team you can build in NA (this is my build btw)

• Amlynea (with Date Masamune assist, 4 sdr + 1 killer) - 4 skill boost
• Aljae (with RAI assist, 4 sdr + 1 killer latent) - 1 skill boost
• Asuna 2nd UEVO (L/W) (With Uesugi assist, 2/4 sdr + 2/1 killer latent) - 3 skill boost
• REVO Tachibana Ginchiyo (L/R) (With Mari Ceres assist, and anti jammer skyfall latent) - 4 skill boost
• REVO Feygoran (With Reeche assist, best one would be GH version, with 4 machine killers) - 4/5 skill boost.
• Amlynea (with Sheen or W assist, 4 sdr + 1 killer latent) - 3 skill boost.

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Those with Academy Valeria can opt with the following

• Amlynea (with Date Masamune assist, 4 sdr + 1 killer) - 4 skill boost
• Academy Valeria (with Aljae assist, 3 killer latents) - 7 skill boost
• Asuna 2nd UEVO (L/W) (With Uesugi assist, 2/4 sdr + 1/2 killer latent) - 3 skill boost
• REVO Tachibana Ginchiyo (L/R) (With Mari Ceres assist, and anti jammer skyfall latent) - 4 skill boost
• REVO Feygoran (With Reeche assist, best one would be GH version, with 4 machine killers) - 4/5 skill boost.
• Amlynea (with Sheen or W assist, 4 sdr + 1 killer latent) - 3 skill boost.

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Those with double Academy Valeria can opt with the following (aim to get first floor up so that Amlynea can cover fire part). All Valerias will have skill boost super awakening.

• Amlynea (with Date Masamune assist, anti void latent) - 4 skill boost
• Academy Valeria (with delay + skill boost assist like fire Shelling Ford card, with 4 sdr + 1 killer latent) - 7 skill boost
• Academy Valeria (any assist with skill boost, 2/4 sdr + 1/2 killer latent) - 7 skill boost
• Asuna 2nd UEVO (L/W) (With Uesugi assist, 2/4 sdr + 1/2 killer latent) - 3 skill boost
• REVO Feygoran (With Reeche assist, best one would be GH version, with 4 machine killers) - 4/5 skill boost.
• Amlynea (with Sheen or W assist, 4 sdr + 1 killer latent) - 3 skill boost.

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Floor guide in Shura (important ones only)

• F1 - Aim on clearing middle and either left or right mini machine then stall until both leads are up. Dont make 5 or more match when killing the desired target, else you will lose the opportunity to stall for Amlynea. Use Feygoran or any shield / delay if needed. Best case is not using Feygoran here if you aim to transform Amlynea on 3rd floor. If you can transform either Amlynea on F1, then its okay to use Feygoran. Note that only transform 1 of the Amlynea in here. Keep the other one for floor 4. Also note that when i said stall, it means clear the board without triggering the LS (match 3 colors + heart).
• F3 - Pray that you get Phact instead of Leonis. If you have either Amlynea up and transformed on F1, then Leonis is not an issue at all.
• F4 - Transform the 2nd Amlynea to delay all the robots. Then stall and kill.
• F6 - If its Deneb, just stall until she her absorbs run out. Then kill. If this is Alcyone, then hit the 1% resolve. On next turn, either pop a damage buffer (if you have any up) OR if you have Feygoran with 4 machine killers (and 7c SA) make a rainbow with 3 wood match to ensure you can hit the remaining 1%.
• F8 - Use either Feygoran or Mari Ceres to clear the orb bind, then go for kill.
• F14 - Before reaching the fat dragon, ensure that either Mari Ceres or delay is up, in case the rainbow dragon appears.
• F15 - Make a wood blob to hit all the devils. Kill the wood one first followed by the other 2 on the right. The fire one is usually the last one to die so no worry.
• F20 - Before entering here, ensure that your orb bind clearer (Feygoran or Mari Ceres) is up so that Xiang Mei doesn't pose threat. The only concern one would be Xin Hua. If you have Aljae assist then this shouldn't be an issue. Problem is only if its Aljae as sub, with her 1 turn void piercing AS. Its not a guaranteed kill without damage buff. If you have Asuna with you, take the chance to generate light orb from the spinner and make a VDP of it while matching other 4 colors.
• F22 - The only concern one would be light and dark Menoa. Light one will spam board lock while the dark one will spam awoken bind on you. If these 2 are up, then use immediately use Reeche and damage booster to 2 shots these 2.. otherwise just tank and kill.

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Play videos?

Just check out here. Lazy to put specific.. you'll get the general idea anyway from all these videos about the team building - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E6%A3%AE%E3%81%AE%E9%8D%B5%E3%81%AE%E7%B6%99%E6%89%BF%E8%80%85%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%AA%E3%83%8D%E3%82%A2
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Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG
It's a special event for Halloween, and more!
Starting today and for the entire next month, playing Cogmind automatically enters a new mode built as part of a Cogmind/roguelike/tech-themed ARG. Unlike previous special modes, this one doesn't actually make sweeping gameplay changes, but instead challenges you to hunt for clues with help from forbiddenlore.gridsagegames.com, scouring the game and internet for passwords to special lore. More on that later...
As you'll see in the changelog, this release is clearly much bigger than just the event, scoping larger than planned as I started early on work to make some of the balance adjustments scheduled for Beta 11. There is still a lot more to come on that front, but a few items were either more urgent, or just things I felt like prioritizing a bit to see how they pan out as considerations regarding the bigger areas of the upcoming rebalance continue to get hashed out on Discord and the GSG forums.
Beta 10.2 also includes a bit of new content, but I'll be leaving that for players to discover.

Cogmind Beta 10.2 "Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG" (201030) changelog:

• NEW: Unique Halloween mode for 2020, automatically activates on 10/29 for anyone who has played at least 10 runs (lasts through November)
• NEW: Command line argument "-forceMode:Halloween2020" (or "-forceMode:ForbiddenLore") to enable the Halloween mode from 2020, regardless of system date
• NEW: [Forbidden Lore mode] Hunt for clues with help from forbiddenlore.gridsagegames.com to scour the game and internet for passwords to special lore
• NEW: 1 new prototype robot
• NEW: 1 new weapon
• NEW: Most door-access terminals in 0b10 converted to new Door Terminal prop
• NEW: Hostile 0b10 bots that lose track of Cogmind raise alert
• NEW: Relay Coupler [NC] combined with Signal Jamming RIF ability also blocks busy Engineer calls for reinforcements
• NEW: Escape key recenters view on Cogmind if currently following drone
• NEW: Advanced Commands help for message log includes Shift-Alt-z for note-taking
• NEW: Version check now includes build number, allowing for in-game notifications about smaller unannounced updates
• NEW: Screenshots of difficulty selection, title screen, and intro sequence have unique filenames
• MOD: Special-purpose 0b10 terminal functionality limited to locally listed hacks, and special manual hacks where applicable
• MOD: W base defenses changed
• MOD: Data Cores can no longer be stolen by Master Tearclaws
• MOD: Programmers require an active Remote Datajack to hack targets
• MOD: Programmers no longer hack targets once disarmed
• MOD: Sensor layout as learned from a certain NPC's data core behaves differently
• MOD: Field Lobotomy Kit no longer works on unpowered, unconnected, or broken bots
• MOD: Movement due to ramming and knockback makes all the same checks regular movement entails, ensuring the same results in terms of environmental factors
• MOD: Ramming an adjacent target is no longer a valid way to immediately escape stasis
• MOD: Ramming drones without destroying them no longer produces matter
• MOD: Base chance for all Recall() hacks reduced by 10%
• MOD: Master Thief encounters occur under different circumstances
• MOD: Only Master Thieves capable of stealing from inventory and prioritizing target parts
• MOD: Base steal chance of all Tearclaws reduced
• MOD: Thieves have innate bonus to using Tearclaws
• MOD: Nerfed CR-A16's weapon
• MOD: Terrabomb reduced to 1 slot
• MOD: locate_prototypes effect limited to a range of 15
• MOD: Threat Obfuscation RIF ability level progression effect reduced from 25,50,75 to 25,40,50
• MOD: Armor Integrity Analyzer effect description clarified to specify no impact on any area of effect attacks, rather than singling out launchers
• MOD: Transmission Jammer toggle animation highlighting of jammed bots changed from red to yellow
• MOD: Core Cannon critical hit chance reduced to 0%
• MOD: Satisfying the conditions for a Warlord response from cave seals overrides the effect of core reset
• MOD: Launcher-using bots take ally resistances into account when deciding whether to fire on targets in close proximity
• MOD: Extended game C prefab added in Beta 10 reduced in size, composition adjusted
• MOD: Map export images prefix filename with current world seed
• MOD: Font config file format updated to maintain compatibility with engine changes
• FIX: Murdering more than one Exile did not count any beyond the first in the scoresheet for the Uniques/NPCs Destroyed tally [zxc]
• FIX: Hostiles would not attack unconnected drones [zxc]
• FIX: Unconnected drones could follow through map exits [zxc]
• FIX: Using a Reconstructor while standing on a Slip Node moved to the side instead of remaining at the same position [zxc]
• FIX: Dormant bots ignored enemy cloaking effect when checking for wakeup [zxc]
• FIX: C-40 Crushers might get stuck and fail to pathfind to otherwise reachable target [Valguris]
• FIX: Was possible to simultaneously activate two Remote Datajacks by removing a launcher while autoUnreadyLauncher option active [Valguris]
• FIX: Robots disabled while transitioning into/out of siege mode would allow the process to finish even while still disabled [Vectis]
• FIX: Ally with PICKUP or COLLECT order could overflow inventory capacity if final acquired item is multislot [Vectis]
• FIX: Recalled squads, coupler squads, and fabrication retrieval Haulers could be blocked by a Sentry standing on their intended exit [MTF, JackNine, Tone]
• FIX: Beta 10 caused Transmission Jammers to no longer block non-combat robot calls for reinforcements in certain situations [MTF, JackNine, Terminus]
• FIX: Core reset interactions with Beta 10's new extended endings was broken, fixed in earlier silent hotfix [GJ, Terminus]
• FIX: Beta 10 part drop destruction warning system caused Go Naked command to leave one part attached if insufficient space to drop everything [GJ]
• FIX: Self-destructing before depth -9 reused total score from previous full run in same session on game over screen [Hippasus]
• FIX: Log messages for ramming terrain and machines did not match up with the type of method used [MTF]
• FIX: Siege mode did not prevent ramming terrain or robots [NikolayAg]
• FIX: Matter decay due to overheating was deducting energy instead [aoemica]
• FIX: Beta 10 new endings broke game over screenshot tags for w8 and several types of losses [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: [Player 2 mode] Player 2 situational dialogue typo [sterv]
• FIX: Ally with a PICKUP order would move to nearby Scrap and Derelict Logs even though unable to acquire them

(I didn't highlight "more important" entries in the changelog like I normally do, since the vast majority were being highlighted anyway when I went to do that :P)
Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 10.2, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 10/10.1 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.
As with any other release, I might do quick unannounced hotfixes in the coming hours or days if players discovereport something new and urgent (the chance is somewhat higher with 10.2 because this release went without the usual prerelease playtesting by Patrons to keep it a surprise for everyone). We now have an even more specific version check system based on build number, so if you're playing and have the News feature active, it'll remind when you're playing without the most recent hotfix.

Let the ARG Begin!

Cogmind is pretty big on lore, creating a deeper world with its various factions, NPCs, and the stories they share. And there's so much more room out there! In the lore you can already find references to pieces of the world which don't currently exist, some of them likely to happen one day (some of them guaranteed :P), but reliable information is spotty. This Halloween event will fill a few gaps and also give glimpses of other locations and inhabitants of Tau Ceti IV.
Starting from the event's home page, at the bottom you'll see your first hint. Hints suggest where in the game world you'll find either a password or another clue as to how to obtain the password, and with that password you can follow the link on the event page to the next level, which will also reward you with FORBIDDEN LORE (and usually a bit of art to go with it). For simplicity the username at every level is always simply "cogmind", it's the password that will be unique each time and that's what you'll have to figure out. In-game clues can take a variety of forms, but are always presented as some sort of text, be it NPC dialogue, a special announcement, etc.
Although I know at least a few people who could definitely complete this entire challenge on their own, not everyone will be capable of figuring out every step alone. Don't be afraid to ask the community for tips or additional hints along the way at various levels where you need it. I'm sure there'll be plenty of discussion and help available on the Discord.
Working together with others to solve the mysteries would also make it easier to rise through the levels more quickly, since multiple runs will be required to follow every hint. I suggest using a new password on the site immediately after discovering it, in case the next hint is somewhere still within reach in your current run, in order to achieve it more quickly.
This being an ARG, most of the passwords are actually found outside the game itself.
Good luck :)

ARG Addendum

Shout out to PlasticHeart for putting together the CogFont based on fonts developed for the game, which came in quite handy when making the event website :D
Forbidden Lore mode will automatically activate for you on new runs started on or after 10/29 (through November), if you've played at least 10 runs before.
If you want to play beyond the end of the event, or regardless of your run count, you can still force it by adding a command line parameter when running COGMIND.EXE: "-forceMode:ForbiddenLore". Within Steam this is handled by going to Cogmind > Properties > Set Launch Options, like this example from Player2 mode earlier this year.
(Note that although the event mode will be accessible after the period is over, and likely also in future versions, but I can't 100% guarantee that it will be fully completable forever since, as an ARG, advancing relies on the presence of information found outside the game, elsewhere on the internet.)
If you want to play a regular run during the event, you can suppress date-based event triggering by adding the "-noSpecialMode" command line parameter.
If the event mode is active, you'll see a notice in your message log on startup.
*(though again this mode doesn't really affect much in the way of gameplay, even though runs in this mode will technically go to a separate leaderboard)

Rebalancing

Beta 10.2 includes a fair number of nerfs, and the changelog itself isn't nearly as balanced as I like to keep it (an equal helping of both buffs and nerfs/new features is best), but we'll be getting plenty more buffs and fun stuff to play with in Beta 11, and in this release I just took advantage of the opportunity to prioritize responding to areas the community has been cheesing the hardest by moving up planned changes, or just increasing the overall challenge level of various parts of the game.
Also a number of the nerfed bits here were intentionally introduced as OP features with the intention of tweaking them after seeing how they were used.
On that note, against the trend there is a new potentially OP weapon you might be able to get your hands on ;)
To address some of the biggest changes here...
All those easily-hackable single-tile door terminals that were a major security liability for 0b10 are a thing of the past. They now do nothing more than open their door, as opposed to providing one after another weak backdoor into the mapwide system :P (i.e., no indirect hacks there). All such terminals now also have unique names so they're even more recognizable at a distance, the majority simply being called "Door Terminal," although this change also applies to the other instances of special-purpose terminals that control something nearby.

• Sample Door Terminal use

Prior to now, with assistance from door terminals a good hacker could very easily end up with far more terminal resources than they could reasonably need and exhaust, especially in certain branches with lots of blast doors. Now instead of simply running out of hacking target ideas, these builds may in some cases have to be a little more selective, or in some cases have a (slightly? xD) harder time getting access to a suitable Terminal on short notice.
This change does also negatively impact builds that could only effectively use low-level Terminals to begin with, but those builds have had numerous buffs over previous releases to begin with.
Another change related mostly to flight-hack builds is that alert is now also raised when enemies lose track of you! The primary hostile interaction for gaining alert has traditionally been through destruction, but if you're zipping all over the place frequently attracting attention then slipping away it makes sense that the Complex should respond to that, too.
I'm really interested to see the results of this change, which could add a bit of pressure to flight runs and make stealth approaches that much more enticing rather than simply outrunning everything but then safely remaining on the same map. The amount of alert involved here might be further tweaked, but we'll see how it pans out in the current release first.
Also the current result of high alert accrued via this method will be assault dispatches, as usual, but the response will be different in future versions--I just haven't gotten to that point and added this bit first.
Programmer allies were nerfed by making them unable to hack if disarmed, a sad loss because it was quite fun to have a disarmed hacker friend literally owning everything, when it happens naturally, but players were starting to intentionally create these OP allies so that behavior had to be removed and put them on par with hostile Programmers.
Master Thieves got a pretty significant overhaul. They've been in the game for a while now but no one was really taking advantage of them until much more recently. Even more changes are probably in order, but the related mechanics are no longer quite so abusable.
A range of individual parts were adjusted as per the changelog, mostly nerfs of various degrees, although you've also got single-slot Terrabombs now, which will make those a lot more enticing (technically that and a few other items on the list were modified as part of silent post-release 10.1 updates, but are included in the changelog this time around since they were otherwise not recorded or announced here).
There's not a ton of QoL like we usually have each release, but I did add Escape key support for recentering on Cogmind while cycling through multiple drone views with Enter:

News

Cogminder aoemica has built a wonderful tool, dubbed Cog-Minder, a very convenient site to filter and search through Cogmind's many items.

• Cog-Minder demo

Notice the Spoiler button there which can be toggled on to include everything, even uniques and other special parts you'll only find in mid-/late-game branches or the extended game. You can leave that off if you're just starting out and want an unspoiled experience but would like to examine "regular" parts.
Over on my Twitch channel I streamed my first Beta 10 run, a hover run that eventually went on to obtain one of the new endings.

• Beta 10 Flightcheese & Warlord

That's the first of five videos, a looooong run because 1) it hit a ton of locations and 2) there was a lot of discussion along the way :P. (More recently on the channel I'm trying out the space roguelike Prospector, which is pretty cool.)
Starting this week over on Patreon we're also voting for secondary QoL features that patrons want to prioritize for Beta 11, so the results from that should probably be known by the time the next announcement comes around.

• I leave you with the amazing Mobile Combat Recycling Unit by Zyalin!

We know what happened after a good year or more of players joking about the possibility of "Combat Swarmers" (TRACKERS!). Well, the long-running joke that followed that is "Combat Recyclers." Hmm...

Today we'll talk about Tier 3*
Yesterday, we talked about the tier two perks in multiplayer and how we could potentially rebalance the scales a bit. But today, we talk about the Law Breaker's favorite tier; tier 3. Considered essentially the 'stealth' tier, Tier 3 can make you feel like it was your destiny to be here... in the BOX.
We'll cover the perks in the order that they appear in MP; so let's talk Tier 3.

Gung-Ho, Ghost, Cold Blooded, Ninja, Spycraft.

Gung-Ho:

"To be avoided, and if necessary ignored, were gung-ho platoon leaders who drew enemy fire by ordering spectacular charges. Ground wasn’t gained that way; it was won by small groups of men, five or six in a cluster, who moved warily forward in a kind of autohypnosis, advancing in a mysterious concert with similar groups on their flanks." Gung-Ho allows you to fire/use equipment while sprinting, move at full speed while reloading, switch weapons faster, take less fall damage and fire semi-accurately while sliding.
What's wrong with it?: There's waaaaaaaaay too much going on here, essentially what Gung-Ho is trying to say is that it removes a number of movement penalties. You no longer have a sprint-to-fire delay, and it integrates half of Amped from MW2019, in that it allows you to swap weapons faster.
What can we do to fix it?: As it is right now, it doesn't belong in the tier 3 perk slot, instead it's more reasonable to sit in tier 1, replacing Forward Intel. Tier 3 as we'll see later on down the line seems to be dedicated to getting and denying intel. Pieces of the perk could also be split off into other perks, such as reduced fall damage being given to Ninja. Since launchers have no additional attachments, using Gung-Ho could also add additional reserve launcher as well as increase launcher reload speed, so we can have the full Amped experience.

Ghost:

"Ghost, come in! This is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men in the boneyard! Soap, hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!" Ghost makes you undetectable by Spy Planes while you're moving above a certain speed, planting or defusing, or controlling Scorestreaks.
What's wrong with it?: Not a damn thing. Unlike the IW Ghost, which makes you undetectable by UAVs at all times, making camping extremely viable, the Treyarch Ghost makes campers have to move around. If there's one complaint that I do have, you aren't invisible from Spy Planes while crouch-walking.
What can we do to fix it?: Change the detection speed to be anything faster than standing still, or if that cannot be done, than to at minimum full crouch-walk speed.

Cold-Blooded:

"I was singing on the street that day when a man walked up and led me astray he said, "What you doing boy doing today?" I said "Nothing old man trying to make some pay." And that's when I started I started to see, he was a full blown cold blooded killing machine." AI-controlled Scorestreaks will not target you, and player-controlled Scorestreaks will not highlight you. Show up cold on Thermal. Players in vehicles won't see your nameplate.
What's wrong with it?: Much like Ghost, not much. Cold-Blooded has been refined, and re-refined for years throughout each CoD iteration. So, now it works exactly as intended.
What can we do to fix it?: Not a damn thing.

Ninja:

"I never go back on my word! That's my nindo, my ninja way!" While using Ninja you sprint more quietly. You're resistant to Field Mic when sprinting. And your operator speaks only when necessary.
What's wrong with it?: While you sprint quietly, you are still audible, and very easy to hear if you're listening hard enough. However, if the sprinting sound was to be completely muted, the perk would be potentially over-powered and more wildly used.
What can we do to fix it?: Honestly, I don't have an answer to this. Making the footsteps quieter would essentially make them silent, creating that issue I just spoke about. Perhaps moving some perk bonuses to Ninja might balance it out a bit.

Spycraft:

"There are some who become spies for money, or out of vanity and megalomania, or out of ambition, or out of a desire for thrills. But the malady of our time is of those who become spies out of idealism." Hack enemy Field Upgrades. Immune to Counter Spy Plane, Jammer, Tracker, and Paranoia. Won't trigger Proximity Mines or Gas Mines. Booby trap enemy Care Packages.
What's wrong with it?: Well, much like Gung-Ho, there's a lot here... which could be evenly distributed into other perks.
What can we do to fix it?: Immunity to Tracker could be moved into Ninja, immunity to Paranoia could be moved into Forward Intel. The perk also seems to interact with care packages, which means Engineer's Care Package reroll could be integrated into Spycraft, and allow you to reroll enemy CPs as well.