Notes & Combos

Notes:

1. S43 is Maliss format. I predict at least 30% usage rate, possibly 40-50%. Branded is pretty bad into Maliss going second, so lancea is a must (it's also not OPT for some reason and can be looped via Sanctifire). Maliss actually comprises over 50% of my games.
2. Included 1 chaos hunter but can be dropped. Rarely a turn skip since both Cerberus/Terahertz can out it. But not the worst tech option, since it protects your entire board against bystial/called-by, which heavily counter Branded. Also a fiend for BIHS.
3. Phantazmay: very useful since the dominant deck is Maliss. Frequently mulligans 3+. Also a dark dragon for BiHS and fusion summons. Frequently eats an ash.
4. Droll over Ash for me since Ash is not useful against Maliss and I don't like that Maliss draw 3+ inengine. But this is highly debateable (many run fuwa). Main reason to run Ash is for Tenpai this format.
5. Branded Regained: Always wanted an excuse to play this card and now I can. Good in simplified states, especially on their turn.
6. Masquerade <-> Quaeritis: Don't think 1 masquerade is worth it but quaeritis isn't that useful either. Can cut Stapelia for another masquerade. If you play 2+ masquerade, prioritize not letting them get to GWC.
7. Predaplant Triph: (Greedy) Anti-Maliss tech. Can swap with earth golem. Can be summoned off banishment, albaz, etc and has much stronger effect.
8. Dropped TTT since I didn't find that resolving grass against Maliss going second is a winning strategy. 2 Fusion Dup, as it can also copy 3x super poly/2x BF. An unrevealed FD is very deadly and plays around lancea.
9. 2x retribution vs banishment: There is more argument to running 2x retribution since its a strong set. But since I run triph, I run banishment. Pair banishment with Branded lost.

Admittedly, the decklist looks very janky but I found good success with it in Masters. Had a 16 game winstreak from Master 4-2.

Will update the posting once I test more in rated. I think the list can definitely be optimized down from 60, as you do need to draw the "out" (the out being lancea).

One final note: Not every Maliss plays 3x imperm. Verte will be very useful, as it gets around both Ash, Dominus Impulse. If your opponent shotguns ash, they probably have impulse.