With only a few regional level events and some light speculation from the community to go by, the larger impact the banlist had in the metagame is still unknown. However, it is evident that the four decks that dominated the previous format, have adjusted and are already having a strong showing a few weeks into the current one. Let's see how each one of them is positioned in this same but new environment. 
Yubel Fiendsmith
Already one of the top deck of the previous format and the most recent World Champion, Yubel FS received relatively insignificant hits from the banlist in comparison to Snake-Eye, giving it the opportunity to take over as the more dominant combo deck.
Even with the consistency hit to Opening of the Spirit Gates and reduced flexibility of the Fiendsmith Engine, due to the absence of Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal and Fiendsmith's Lacrima; it failed to put a dent in the staggering number of starters and extenders the deck has at its disposal, while Aerial Eater and Necroquip Princess, two new TCG exclusives coming out of INFO, more than made up for the hit to the Fiendsmith Engine, cards that the Yubel deck was already running previously anyways. With that in mind, it seems that Yubel had to make very little adjustments moving forward, when other decks were struggling.
This fiend combo pile, is unquestionably the metagame's driving force and therefore every other deck needs to be prepared to face and deal with it's oppressive endboard or prevent them from establishing in the first place. Both tasks much easier said than done, since very few hands can overcome the large number of negate and removal type effects it can establish consistently and even fewer can hope to even halt the the combo.
To elaborate on that, Yubel has an invaluable tool at its disposal, that many other combo decks can only wish for. That tool is Phantom of Yubel, a fusion monster introduced in the TCG in BLTR, that can be contact summoned for virtually no cost and gives the strategy a few important benefits. While it could always act as a free fiend body that can be summoned multiple times per turn and be used as Link Material to extend and access the deck's powerful Link plays, it rather notably is in essence an archetypal monster negate that insulates the afromentioned combo from most kinds of interruptions and at the same time provide a new fiend body if said effect ends up being used, which in turn sets up the materials for the summon of another Phantom of Yubel and... it is clear that it can get out of hand rather quickly. It's not unreasonable to think the deck would never reach this level of oppressiveness without it.
That isn't to say Yubel as a strategy has no weaknesses. Due to the nature of the deck to use it's GY frequently and constantly search from the deck, effects that disrupt those two aspects of the game, are especially potent at stopping the combo in its tracks. It's for that reason that decks that run Dimension Shifter have a overwhelming advantage in any game where it resolves, while Droll & Lock Bird is not a bad Yubel counter, under the right conditions. Handtraps like Droll, are usually more effective when used in combination with others, combinations which can make the Yubel player's life that much harder. One other such handtrap is Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, one that spiked in popularity as it interacts with Yubel combo or endboard pieces in favourable ways.
It remains to be seen if Yubel pilots can mitigate the deck's weaknesses, when almost everyone is doing their best to prepare for the matchup, and eventually overcome the rest of the competition and claim more top cut slots and wins.
Snake-Eyes
While there is a discussion to be had about the status of the deck after the banlist, there is no question that Snake-Eye got the short end of the stick when it came to hits, with some debating whether the Fiendsmith version will remain a top meta strategy, as without Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, you cannot access anymore the Snake-Eye part of the deck with the Fiendsmith cards, thus not able to offer any consistency to the strategy, something that it needs now more than ever, as Snake-Eye Ash and Snake-Eyes Poplar are now limited.
Besides the consistency, the ceiling of the deck took a heavy blow, as it cannot summon Apollousa anymore, a card that both limited the opponent's available plays and protected the Snake-Eye board from the threat of Nibiru, the Primal Being, a problem that Snake-Eye duelists will need to deal with. One of the options afforded to the deck, is D/D/D Wave High King Caesar, accessible through the Fiendsmith engine, however, it leaves the deck vulnerable to other forms of monster effect interaction such as Effect Veiler or Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and not to mention the opportunity cost of not having Fiendsmith's Desirae on the field, the deck's main answer to powerful spell and trap cards.
Out of the many possible variants, two seem the most adept at complimenting the deck's playstyle, while also making up for it's new shortcomings.
First, we have the Kashtira cards, individually power cards that provide both free bodies, that can act as extenders going first or boardbreakers going second, and face-up spells that could be used as fodder to enable the effects of the Snake-Eye cards. Something that the deck appreciates as it relies more on Diabellstar the Black Witch (and sometimes Snake-Eye Oak), to access it's main engine. Additionally, with Dimension Shifter become a more and more popular tech option for certain strategies, they offer an extra layer of interruption under it's effect.
More notably however, the Fire King variant has experienced a sudden resurgence in the meta. With a few solid regional placements under its belt in the past few weeks, this variant brings some unique benefits to the strategy. By accessing the Fire King engine through Legendary Fire King Ponix and Fire King Island, this deck can pivot to an early summon of Fire King Avatar Arvata, for protection, set-up the GY with Promethean Princess, Bestower of Flames and Sacred Fire King Garunix, and end on Amphibious Swarmship Amblowhale, a boss monster custom made for the Fire Kings as it perfectly compliments the destruction based playstyle of the engine, adding a few extra layers of interruptions to the endboard.
Even though, evidently the deck is nowhere near the level of Yubel Fiendsmith, it very possible for a good pilot with an optimized decklist, to make a strong showing in future events with one of the many Snake-Eye variants.
Tenpai Dragon
As interesting as the existence of a blind second One-Turn-Kill deck is in modern yugioh, there isn't much nuance to the Tenpai gameplan, something that could very well be a testament to its viability. Go second, clear the board, enter the battle phase, deal 8000+ damage and win. A tried and true strategy capable of constantly winning events left and right and even toppling some of the best Europe had to offer in the latest European Championship. Unfortunately, as a result of said prowess, Tenpai received a hard to ignore hit, that being the Limit of Sangen Summoning, an archetypal field spell, that gave the deck both consistency and one of the most absurd protection effects seen in modern card design, making most forms of interaction in the Main Phase one, null and void. Add to that the Limit of Pot of Prosperity, a tool for the deck to find the missing puzzle piece to assemble its OTK line and one could see that the banlist had notable impact on the strategy.
Yet, the deck still remains one of the most popular and effective strategies in the format, thanks in part to its low price tag and relatively low skill ceiling. As the deck lives and dies by the Battle Phase, it relies both on handtraps that aim to hinder the combos of the opponent and powerful spell cards that aim to devastate the board and make way for the dragons to perform the combo line to lethal. Some rather notable inclusions in Tenpai decklists are Dimension Shifter, the best counter to most of the other viable strategies, Forbidden Droplet, a spell capable of dealing with most threats on board and Mulcharmy Purulia, a Maxx C-like handtrap, that shines only when going second, a perfect fit for the strategy that aims to do anything but.
As far as weaknesses go though, the monotonous gameplan of the deck, makes it a sort of glass cannon, as it struggles to close out games that go past the second turn, as it is heavily reliant on the Battle Phase and wants to decide it then and there. Thus, it creates the opportunity for decks to be rather creative with some of their counterplay, as the main way to beat Tenpai, is for the opponent to get a chance to enter their own battle phase. Preventing the Tenpai duelist from executing their synchro plays or from dealing battle damage in any way, are both viable ways of beating the dragons.
The deck is also rather weak when it is forced to go first. Unable to usually put up anything but a Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres as interruption, it's not hard for most combo decks to push through and end the game with their engine. That said, it's not like Tenpai duelists don't expect to be found in that scenario. By utilising either a heavy number of handtraps or floodgates, to prolong the game long enough for their turn to finally come, it's a constant mind game to figure out what each player wants to do, as neither the Tenpai player wants to go first, or the opponent wants to deal with the effects of Rivalry of Warlords or Heat Wave, some rather nasty Tenpai tech options that are featured in decklists.
For the time being, it is highly advisable for every duelist to not underestimate this deck when attending events, and have a solid plan in mind, in the case they end up staring down a Raigeki or two.
Ritual Beast
The premier Dimension Shifter deck of the format, Ritual Beast started being a consistent top level competitor ever since the release of BLTR where it received a powerful support wave. Capable of setting up boards with multiple layers of interaction and floodgate effects, it is a big task for any deck to go second against it, one turned Herculean when Dimension Shifter is active. A card that we already discussed is a prime counter for most combo decks, has found it's home in this strategy.
As Ritual Beast is in the advantegeous position of being less hindered by the more popular handtraps in the format, with some notable exceptions. With cards like Bystial Magnamhut or Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit being effectively useless against the strategy, and inherent ability of the deck to push through, or render any form of targetted negation (like Infinite Impermanence) invalid later in the combo, with only a few specific ones, like Nibiru, the Primal Being or Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, can come close to give the deck any trouble while it's setting up.
With the ability to access the rank 4 pool through its main combo, and specifically Infernal Flame Banshee, Ritual Beast is able to fit into its main combo line-up, the Nemeses monsters and the bosses that they enable. With Infernal Flame Banshee getting Nemeses Flag, and Nemeses Flag getting either Nemeses Corridor, for an easy Thunder Dragon Colossus setup, or Archnemeses Protos, (two newly unbanned bosses courtesy of the April 2024 F&L) with former completely shutting down the opponent from any searching, and the latter from special summoning any monsters of the selected Attribute, effects that if not dealt with, can win most matchups on their own. Also the extra bodies created by Infernal Flame Banshee and Nemeses Flag could also be used as Link materials for the summon of Ritual Beast Ulti-Reirautari, a new boss monster for the deck.
At minimum, Ritual Beast pilots will try to go for a board consisting of Ritual Beast Ulti-Reirautari, Ritual Beast Steeds, their choice of Archnemeses Protos or Thunder Dragon Colossus and maybe a generic Link monster, that being either Silhouhatte Rabbit to set Angel Statue - Azurune, or I:P Masquerena to summon S:P Little Knight on the next turn. However, if the hand affords it, Ritual Beast pilots usually aim to summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio as early into their combo as possible, completely insulating their board from any and all further interactions, up to the number of Ritual Beast cards remaining in their hand. It is highly advisable for any duelist facing this deck, to be aware of the moment, the materials of Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio being present on the board, as that is likely the last point of interaction that is afforded to them.
The deck does have some notable drawbacks, as its largely unable to break strong boards with just engine, it relies on very impactful single cards like Dark Ruler No More or Evenly Matched to allow their plays to go through and set up their own interaction for the following turn. With that in mind, decks that are able to minimize the damage blowout-type cards deal to their endboard and cards that lock the Ritual Beast player out of a certain part of their gameplan ( With some examples being: Dimensional Barrier: Fusion Summoning, Droll & Lock Bird: Searching, Artifact Lancea: Banishing), are both excellent ways of dealing with the Beasts and closing out the game soon thereafter.
As deck that runs basically counter to the best deck of the format, skilled pilots are expected to bring forth the deck's full potential and possibly even taking home the whole event as long as the matchups are good and the hands playable. It is overall a strategy that while is undoubtedly strong enough to beat meta with ease, is at the same time flying under the radar enough to catch most duelists by surprise.
Did anything change?
It's no secret the the banlist didn't do nearly enough to shake up the meta. Yubel, Snake-Eyes, Tenpai and Ritual Beast, remain almost as dominant as before, as the hits to their engines were for the most part ineffective. Nevertheless, with either their consistency, flexibility and ceiling being reduced to some extent and some rather oppressive meta game staples being removed from the game, the scene has been set up for some of the lower tiered strategies to show up and breath some fresh air into a somewhat stale metagame. A new format is always a prime ground for experimentation and innovation and quite a number of strong contenders have been making an impressive showing in past regionals, with some even having the potential of creating more and more upsets in the near future. With the community's focus on the exciting first events of the new season, it's interesting to see how the metagame adapts.
