Code Geass set the bar quite high as one of the earliest and also best UNION ARENA sets to date. Complete with highly collectible and valuable cards, Code Geass also had an outsized impact on the meta, delivering what was (for a long time) the top deck in the format: Code Geass Purple.

With Vol. 2 coming to the UNION ARENA English version soon, what decks will be strongest? Below, we’ll be looking at every Code Geass deck ranked from strong to strongest.

But a quick disclaimer before we get into this: the complete English card list has not been revealed for Code Geass Vol. 2 yet. As such, we’re going to be going off of the cards released in Japan. While sets rarely change dramatically when they get their English release, sometimes key cards are removed or added. For now, we’ll be looking at the Code Geass decks in Vol. 2 assuming it’s the same as Japan’s set. If any changes are made or announced, I’ll update this list accordingly!

#6 Blue Shen Hu

Blue Shen Hu is an interesting deck with some intriguing combos that players desiring complexity should enjoy. With decent draw and a three-cost Tianzi that lets you keep the cards you discard with your draw effects from Shen Hu, the only problem with this deck is that it functions as a jack of all trades, master of none. Although it has removal, stun, multi-attack and draw, it’s capabilities in each of these categories is mid-tier. Decks that make their way into the S-tier for UNION ARENA typically excel at one thing above all else – indeed they are the best at one specific area of the game, giving them an edge in the competitive meta.

As such, Blue Shen Hu feels like a deck destined for the B-tier, despite how much potential is inarguably here.

#5 Four Holy Swords

Even in the base set, Four Holy Swords was an intriguing deck with some incredible combos. It’s biggest issue was how many triggerless cards it was forced to run, making it’s ability to come back based on life triggers difficult compared to most upper-tier decks. Post Vol. 2, however, that’s been fixed, and this budget friendly build feels like it has the tools it needs to combo its way to victory.

#4 Blue Rolo

I can see the Blue Rolo deck being a ton of fun. It has a lot of power going into the meta, including solid resting effects, freezing, and a special that lets you either remove a character or rest them. Additionally, one-cost C.C. is one of the strongest Nullify Impact characters in the game, and you have plenty of powerful raidless options at your disposal.

For those looking for a different take on a C.C./Lelouch deck than the Purple Black Knights, Blue Code Geass could be the right fit for them.

#3 Pizza

Code Geass Red Pizza is a deck popular for just how fun and iconic it is. It truly is built around the “Pizza” mechanic, with players hastily attempting to fuel their sideline with as many “Pizza” affinity cards as possible to access some of their strongest combos.

The main goal here is to power up the two-AP C.C. who rapidly becomes one of the strongest characters in the game. While this deck was strong enough to win you tournaments and rare battles already, it’s considerably more reliable after Vol. 2, with its greatest addition being a solid C.C. Raid character that lets you draw cards and even recycle your Pizza grabbing characters like Lelouch or one-cost C.C.

If not exactly an A-tier deck, Pizza should be a much more viable strategy with the added support it gets and easily make it into the A-tier for its speed, draw, and power.

#2 Green Lancelot

While never as dominate in the English meta as Purple Code Geass, Lancelot is going to be an S-tier deck following the release of Code Geass Vol. 2. While it doesn’t get the added utility Purple Code Geass gets, it gets something almost as important: a powerful energy generator helping Lancelot to hits its curve much more easily.

Nunnally is this deck’s secret weapon, granting you a two-energy cost character with two-energy gen the moment she is played, assuming you have a full energy line.

In addition to Nunnally, we also have a new Lancelot model. I like this build because it works in plenty of Knights of the Round characters to justify including the Lancelot Conquista beyond just having a comparatively low energy-cost attacker. Because of how mnay Knights of the Round you have, you can quite seamlessly hit the numbers required to boost the new Lancelot to a 5000 BP Impact character on your turn.

Your six and eight-cost Lancelot characters are still the star of the show, but having access to additional, lower-cost combos that fit this deck more seamlessly than Cornelia ever did helps make Lancelot a much faster, high performing deck.

#1 Purple Black Knights

Most of the hype I hear around Code Geass Vol. 2 seems centered on Lancelot and the new Nunnally card which makes building your energy line considerably easier. However, of the two powerhouses, Code Geass Purple actually gets more from Vol. 2 than Lancelot does.

Although the deadly combination of the Guren with forced block and Gawain was enough to dominate the meta and many tournaments after just the base set, in Vol. 2 we begin to see a more fleshed out vision of what this deck is really supposed to be.

They key new focus here is a stronger emphasis on two-AP characters. We get three new ones in Vol. 2 that will undoubtedly replace the two-AP Lelouch cards we got in the base set.

First and foremost, we get a new five-cost Lelouch – one that works as a sort of combination of the two different Lelouch we had in the base set, only stronger.

Second, we get a versatile new Kallen four-cost character with Nullify Impact and an effect that lets you either re-stand an AP after she’s played or switch her to active. Of the two, it’s the switching to active effect that’s strongest.

Also, there’s the three-energy cost Kallen with two energy gen, a draw When Played effect, and an additional effect that reduces the cost of the next two-AP card you play from your hand. Not only does this make it easier to play your Lelouch or Kallen characters, it also makes combining your effects easier with your special – a card that always was something of a sore thumb because of its two-AP cost from hand.

Finally, there’s a brand new Guren model available for raiding in this deck. At only a three-cost, this Raid provides considerable versatility to an otherwise top heavy deck with plenty of five-energy cost characters. Use Guren to swoop in, take big attacks, or even close out games thanks to its “cannot be blocked by 4000 or more” effect.

Code Geass might have felt strong before, but after Vol. 2 it’s vastly more versatile, making it the best Code Geass deck of them all.

UNION ARENA: Every Code Geass Vol. 2 Deck, Ranked