1v1 Tier List [17.10.2021] - Patch 1.8.65

List changes:

Welcome to a new structured tier list for 1v1s! We have cleaned up the list heavily. From now on, this list will be representative for older servers only. If you are on a new server, please scroll up in the channel and have a look at older tier lists.
That said, this change also allowed us to redefine the tiers:

• S Tier | Must have > This is the meta
• A Tier | Recommended > You should not miss out on them
• B Tier | Optional > Pick some to fill your team
• Situational | Heavily conditioned, see comments in the list
• Untested | Unreleased or still under testing

We have removed the useless tiers and "very, very niche picks" because let's be honest you shouldn't be playing them anyways unless you really don't have an option. We also ditched the idea of constantly being able to 1v3. This just becomes harder and harder with so many tools Low Initiative players have. Instead, we went ahead and rebalanced the list with both sides in mind. Finally, we have removed "sub tiers" because they are not needed any more: Introducing "Situational" tiers.

S Tier | Must have

• No surprise, Vasto and XHime are still top tier and can destroy almost any team. SS Matsu has been promoted from previously "S-" to S tier now since she's basically XHime for LI and for high ini she works the same way as SSR Tier does, just in better.
• Vasto: Unmatched damage, guaranteed mastery turn 1 (High Ini > Tosh Soul), guaranteed mastery turn 2 (awakened rage) and control (debuff on rage, potentially rage down on mastery).

VASTO DUEL MASTERY: Play with Tosh Soul on High Ini for 2 guaranteed masteries, play with Uryu on Low Ini for the extra damage.

• XHime: Most obnoxious unit in the game right now, together with Sode. This unit can potentially tank away high starred Vastos and win on last turn RNG. Game would be better without her 1v1 capabilities. If you're Low Ini, this unit can easily 1v3. Just don't force a Vasto / Nel / Zommari matchup. Any defensive souls work here, Cat Soul + any HP soul seems to be the most used combination. If you don't use block units, you could go for the classic Courage + Jinta route, too.
• SS Matsu: ⬆️ Needs Aizen Soul! With Aizen Soul, this unit is basically a better version of SSR Tier for High Ini (control + damage + end of round passive healing) and on LI she's just XHime (and wins against XHime guaranteed). Pair her up with Armor + Aizen souls.

A Tier | Recommended

• This is a new tier: Recommended. These units are really good and can be played to force the enemy to overthink his whole team comp. For High Ini, this tier includes removal with match 2 value (Kakashi, Yoru2, Nel) and for anyone else there are 2 superb stall units (Shun, SSR Tier).
• Kaze: Better on High Ini, this guy is meant to safely remove 1. If he doesn't fully kill with rage, even better, because killing with a basic / mastery ensures he will start next fight with full rage. Note: It's really important that you play him with full HP into someone because his bonus damage is critical. Also Wrath > Crit soul on him. Secondary slot anything with ATK really works, from Omaeda over Travel Tier to Uryu.
• Yoru2: ⬇️ Previously S tier, downgraded to A tier now because she's better on High Ini. Can safely remove 1, especially Nels. With some Shunkos and a kill you will start the following match with full rage again. Crit Soul > Wrath on her. Secondary anything with ATK, while Travel Tier / Ichigo soul are best on her.
• Nel:  ⬇️ Previously S tier, downgraded to A tier now because a lot of good removal present and stall units can be a tough matchup. Crimson / Wrath or against tougher matchups Asura + Zangetsu soul.
• Shun: ⬇️ Previously S- tier, downgraded to A tier. Nothing really changed, he just doesn't fit S tier. Courage + Jinta or Asura + Zangetsu.
• SSR Tier: Weaker version of SS Matsu, same potential. Nothing changed. Easy to pickup now with her being added to the SSR shard packs. Armor + Aizen Soul or Asura + Aizen Soul. Do not play this unit without Aizen soul.

B Tier | Optional

• Optional units. Use them mainly to fill up your team if you can't make use of Situational units below.
• Ulq v1: Stall unit, remains strong especially for LI but can be one shot easily due to no defensive mechanics. Anything that makes him tanky.
• UR Boris: Thanks to Senku we now know that Boris is not entirely reliant on Block. While blocking is a core part of his kit, triggering Respira without essentially dying can lead to him being able to survive and dish out enough damage to kill the enemy. Armor + Jinta, but anything with HP works. For extra trolling, you could use Hanataro soul.
• Flyzen: Strong unit into slow fights. Does not really win against stall. Due to a bug he can't be one shot but has potential to kill making him worthy to be recommended, however we don't promote bug abusing so yea. Crit / Wrath + any ATK soul.

Situational | Counter

• Moving on to the first Situational tier: Counter. These counter picks work really exclusively in specific matchups.
• Catwoman: Wins against XHime reliably except for some random bullshit go last turn RNG. It's important that you play her with full HP into XHime. Basically, how the fight works out is that XHime can't really damage Catwoman enough before she builds up her shield. After that Catwoman starts to tickle XHime to death (literally) and wins by just stalling out and reducing heals. Works for both High Ini and Low Ini. Since her only reason is to counter XHime souls don't really matter but full block can ensure that XHime doesn't get initial damage off her.
• SSR Nel: Another XHime counter, but just for Low Ini. She works the same as Catwoman does being that she builds up an unbreakable shield. On Low Ini this means you auto win unless your last damage tick gets blocked. Not recommended for High Ini.
• Zommari: High single target damage with anti-heal. Unfortunately the debuff lasts only for 1 round. Crit + Uryu for maximum T1 damage and pray that you can get rid off XHime.

Situational | RNG

• These units rely on mostly mastery damage or mastery CC to pull off some crazy stuff. They are literally either killing it or just useless.

Situational | Nuke

• These units are good for a nuke against v1 and v2 units. They don't really have the damage nor built-in crit to nuke v3 units and their follow-up turns are kind of weak.

Situational | Block

• Block based units. Play them with Courage + Jinta and pray for blocks.

Untested | Unreleased

• Soon (TM).