Notes & Combos

Notes (UPDATED): Currently 1630 rating: imgur .com/a/dwKE3e2

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. Dropped chaos hunter for consistency (+ FD).
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. Quaeritis and garura over 2x masquerade, etc. This is most consistent option. Also because everyone is running anti maliss tech, we are seeing a resurgence in other decks (BE,etc).
7. Predaplant Triph: (Greedy) Anti-Maliss tech. Can swap with earth golem. Can be summoned off banishment, albaz, etc and has much stronger effect. Getting to him is a wincon, since negating the summon leaves the maliss name stranded in the GY. Fun fact: this card negates accesscode. Requires overextension from opp going 2nd, so golem is a safer bet against Firewall/Appo.
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.

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.

You can prob cut this deck down from 60 to 40 to have a more optimal list. You can look at Taka's list for inspiration.