Digimon Card Game Tier List: Best Decks After EX-13

Updated October 24, 2026: DigimonCard.io's two-week tier list now has Examon first and Data Squad third; the top three decks are the same.

Updated October 20, 2026: rebuilt from post-EX-13 tournament results. The old September snapshot of the BT-26 format, with Shambala on top, is gone.

New to the game? The Digimon Card Game guide covers the rules and card pool behind these deck names.

Digimon Card Game tier list after EX-13

Sample: 237 published decklists from 22 Limitless Play Digimon events, October 3 to 19, 2026 (34 events and 322 players in all). We sorted each list into an archetype by its signature cards; 62 lists fit none of them.

The order matches DigimonCard.io's tournament tier list for the last two weeks, which scores results from more organizers by placement. On October 20 it counted 163 results: Data Squad 11.3%, Glowing Dawn 11.1% and Examon 10.6% of the points, then a big drop to Jupitermon, Chronicle and Shambala. On October 24, with 159 results, Examon led at 11.1%, Glowing Dawn had 10.9% and Data Squad 8.8%, with Shambala next at 5.1%. Two different data sets, the same top three.

Chart: ShonenTCG. Source: Limitless Play API, October 3 to 19, 2026. Gold bars are Tier 1.

Tier 1: Examon, Glowing Dawn and Data Squad

Card images: Bandai sample cards, via DigimonCard.io.

Examon: build it first

The EX-13 Examon (EX13-045) is why the old dragon deck is back. It DNA digivolves from a green and a blue Level 6 for no cost, attacks on the spot, and gives all your Digimon +10000 DP until your opponent's next turn ends. When it wins a battle on your turn, it plays a cost 12 or lower Dracomon or Examon card for free. That's a lot of damage from one turn that doesn't spend your memory.

The results back it up. At the 48-player Store Championship at Pro Play Games on October 11, GreatSpecter went 6-0 with Examon and Hound finished second with it. In our pairing data, Examon went 3-0 against Glowing Dawn and 4-0 against Data Squad. Those are small numbers, but no other deck has a clean record against both.

One player's run sums up the shift. KFizzPop won the Eagle's Nest webcam local on October 9 with Data Squad, switched to Examon, took second two days later and then won the October 16 event 4-0. On Reddit, u/Carbohydrateman put it simply: "Examon has been revived as a deck."

Who should play it: anyone who likes one big turn and doesn't mind a deck that wants its Level 6 pair on time. Who should skip it: players who hate bricking, since the whole plan rides on getting both halves of the DNA digivolve.

Glowing Dawn: the deck you'll face most

Glowing Dawn is the most played deck in the sample, about one list in ten. Its engine is Monarchlizamon (BT25-057): when it digivolves or attacks, once per turn, it trashes the bottom face-down card under one of your Tamers to De-Digivolve an opposing Digimon, and it can battle one of them when it digivolves. The deck keeps stripping and fighting your board while its own Digimon are hard to remove.

It won two events in Rosario, both 4-0, and beat Data Squad 9-6 head to head. Its problem is Examon: 0-3 in our data. If your local store is full of Glowing Dawn, that's one more reason to sit down with Examon.

Blue players already know the pain. Asked about UlforceVeedramon into Glowing Dawn, u/MarkLeo6K called it a "Rough matchup, u have no options to get around atratus protection."

We'd play it if you want a deck with no bad matchup except Examon. Skip it if you don't like long, grindy games.

Data Squad: best if you already own it

Data Squad won three events, the same as Examon. DigimonCard.io had it first by points on October 20, and third, behind Examon and Glowing Dawn, on October 24. Ravemon (BT26-082) is the card to know: it plays itself from security for free at the end of your opponent's turn, and when it digivolves or finishes an attack, you can delete it or trash two cards from under your Tamers to delete the opponent's highest DP Digimon.

It's everywhere at the local level (a Reddit thread from a new player asked for a deck "thats not Data Squad/beatbreak"), and it lost every match to Examon in our data (0-4). We'd keep playing it if you own it. We wouldn't buy into it fresh over Examon.

Tier 2: Jupitermon, Shambala and Alphamon

Jupitermon is the best deck that isn't green. BT26-033BT26-033 adds your top security card to your hand when it digivolves, and while it's out, your TS Digimon and Tamers stay on the field by placing its top stacked card under your security instead. Vpassion won the 19-player Eagle's Nest local on October 12 at 5-0 with it, and a Jupitermon list took third at Pro Play Games. It also went 4-0 against UlforceVeedramon. We'd pick it if you want a defensive deck the top three haven't solved.

Shambala led the old BT-26 snapshot and has fallen back to the pack: one small win and a second place at the October 18 Eagle's Nest local. EX12-076EX12-076Shop on TCGplayer Susanoomon is still the payoff. It's a fine deck with a winning record; it just isn't the deck to beat anymore. Our Purple Shambala deck guide has the list if you already own it.

Chronicle (Alphamon) is the oddity: a dozen lists, an exactly even match record and no event wins. Two copies made the Pro Play Games top 10. It's playable, but nothing in the data says build it over the decks above.

Watch list: Ceresmon, Minervamon and Three Great Angels have strong records on six lists or fewer. Ceresmon and Three Great Angels won two events each, and Cristian Alcober piloted Three Great Angels to one of those wins and a second place. Too few lists to rank, enough to keep an eye on.

Tier 3: the Royal Knights that aren't working

EX-13 gave UlforceVeedramon, Gallantmon and Dynasmon new cards, and so far they lose more than they win. UlforceVeedramon is the clearest case: 11 lists and no top-4 finish. Gallantmon won about a third of its matches, and its one event win came at a 7-player event. Chronomon sits here too, with no event wins. We'd skip all four until a bigger event says otherwise. If you love one of them, the EX-13 set guide has the card text and prices for every Royal Knight.

What could move this Digimon Card Game tier list

The sample is local events, most under 20 players, so one strong pilot can move a deck up or down. Three things to watch:

• Bigger events. The Pro Play Games Store Championship is the only large one here, and Examon won it. More Store Championships with decklists will settle whether Examon really beats green or just got there first.
• Glowing Dawn's answer to Examon. It's the most played deck, so expect lists to adapt.
• The next set. BT-27 Ignition of X is due in December, and that's when we'll redo this list.

If memory and Digi-Egg basics still slow you down, our Digimon Card Game rules guide is the right refresher before you pick a deck.

FAQ

What is the best Digimon deck after EX-13?

Examon. In Limitless Play events from October 3 to 19, 2026 it had the best match record of any deck with a real sample, won three events and beat Glowing Dawn and Data Squad every time it met them. Glowing Dawn and Data Squad are the other Tier 1 decks.

What's a good Digimon deck for a new player that isn't Data Squad?

Jupitermon or Shambala. Both are Tier 2 with winning records after EX-13, and neither leans on the Data Squad or Glowing Dawn cards everyone else is buying.

How we checked this: on October 20, 2026 we pulled every Digimon event dated October 3 to 19 from the Limitless Play API, sorted the 237 published decklists by signature cards and counted records, wins and head-to-head pairings with a script (scripts/sims/digimon-ex13-meta-limitless.py), then compared the order with DigimonCard.io's two-week tier list and the DCG Nexus standings of the Pro Play Games Store Championship. Card text is from DigimonCard.io's card database.