Union Arena EN Meta Tier List 2026: September Rankings

How we checked this: on October 21, 2026 we counted every top-4 deck on Bandai's official Top-Placing Decks page for the Championship 26-27 regionals and compared them with Joseph Writer Anderson's English tier list from September 14.

Updated October 21, 2026: We added Bandai's October 19 restriction on Monarch's Domain, rebuilt the tiers around Bandai's results and dropped the TCG Contender snapshot, which refreshes every few hours and can't be checked after the fact. We also replaced the old hero image, which showed One Piece cards, not Union Arena.

The tier list

Our letters come from the results. A deck with two or three regional top 4s and a strong community rating gets a B; a deck with zero top 4s gets "test first," however highly people rate it.

Image: ShonenTCG chart from Bandai's UNION ARENA Top-Placing Decks page, reveal dates May 8 to September 18, 2026.

What Bandai's results show

Bandai posts the top four decks from each North American regional. The 26-27 season has seven so far: five in Wave 1 (April to July) and two in Wave 2, which runs from August to December.

The September 18 posting from 401 Games is the clearest sign of where things are: Solo Leveling took three of the four spots. The only deck to beat it there was itself.

The November 1 restriction

Bandai updated its Banned/Restricted page on October 19. Effective November 1, 2026, Monarch's Domain (UE17BT/SLG-1-035) is limited to two copies. Bandai's reason names the combo with Sung Jinwoo that raises "the BP of all Shadow Army affinity characters by 2000," and says the deck's play rate and wins were "in excess of established standards." Nothing from Sakamoto Days or Evangelion was added. The older one-copy limits on Asuka Shikinami Langley EVA-1-051 and Spear of Gaius EVA-1-063 stay in place.

Two copies of a site instead of four makes Solo Leveling less consistent, not unplayable. Jinwoo and the Shadow Army characters are untouched. Spencer Freeman, whose list won the Peoria, Gen Con and Milwaukee regionals, posted his November version on October 20: two Monarch's Domain and one Arise out, a fourth Tusk, a fourth Iron and one Beru in. We're keeping Solo Leveling at S until regional results after November 1 say otherwise, but expect Yellow Sakamoto Days and Yellow Evangelion to gain the most.

The decks, one by one

Purple Solo Leveling. The deck the community calls Shadow Army. Sung Jinwoo SLG-1-022 costs 12 energy on paper, but its cost drops for every Shadow Army card on your field, and the site Monarch's Domain pumps every Shadow Army card by 500 BP, or 1000 once you have five of them. Five wins in seven events is the best record in the format. One player on r/Union_Arena_TCG summed up why: "It basically has no weaknesses, it's going to do what it needs to do every game and it's up to the opponent's deck to survive it, which few do." If you only learn one deck, learn this one; our Solo Leveling guide has the list. The separate mill build (Cha/Jinwoo Mill) sits in the community's A tier, and our Solo Leveling mill guide covers it.

Image: Bandai, UNION ARENA official card list (UE17BT/SLG-1-022, UE17BT/SLG-1-035).

Yellow Sakamoto Days. Five top 4s, more than anything but Solo Leveling, and still no wins. It's the most reliable way to make a top cut that isn't Solo Leveling. Our Sakamoto Days deck guide uses the Gen Con lists.

Yellow Evangelion. Four top 4s and the Carta Magica win, plus a third place at each of the two Wave 2 events. Purple Evangelion adds two more top 4s for the title as a whole. See the Evangelion deck guide for the yellow build.

Rurouni Kenshin. Red Kenshin won the 2025-26 North America Finals, which is part of why the community still rates it S. This season it has one top 4 in red and two in purple, all from Wave 1. Strong history, quiet present.

Red Kagurabachi. Three top 4s, two of them at one event (Top Cut Events). A real deck, rated A+ by the community, but it hasn't placed in Wave 2.

Chainsaw Man/Power. The biggest gap between opinion and results. It's S tier on the community list and absent from every official top 4 this season. That doesn't make it bad; Bandai only posts four decks per event. It does mean you should test it against Solo Leveling before you register it.

For a video take, UAplayers posted its September to November tier list on September 12, built around Shadow Army:

Our take

The Union Arena EN meta right now is Solo Leveling and everyone trying to beat it. Five wins from seven regionals is dominance, and the last posted event was a near lockout. For an event before November 1, Solo Leveling is the safe choice. After that, rebuild it around two copies of Monarch's Domain and test it against Yellow Sakamoto Days and Yellow Evangelion, the two proven alternatives. Community favorites without results, Chainsaw Man/Power above all, are worth testing but not worth a blind buy. New to the game? Start with the Union Arena beginner guide before choosing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best deck in Union Arena EN right now?

Purple Solo Leveling. It won five of the seven Championship 26-27 regionals on Bandai's official results page, including a 1st, 2nd and 4th at 401 Games in September.

Which decks are S tier in the community list?

Joseph Writer Anderson's English tier list, dated September 14, puts Yellow Sakamoto Hybrid, Shadow Army, Chainsaw Man/Power, Red Kenshin, Shinji/Rei and Yellow Eva in S tier.

Is Chainsaw Man/Power a good deck?

The community rates it S tier, but it hasn't made a top 4 at any of the seven official regionals this season. Treat it as a test deck, not a proven one.

Is anything banned or restricted in Union Arena EN?

From November 1, 2026, Monarch's Domain (UE17BT/SLG-1-035) from Solo Leveling is limited to two copies. Asuka Shikinami Langley EVA-1-051 and Spear of Gaius EVA-1-063 are already limited to one copy each.