Everybody has their own opinions about this. Fire seems to be the most popular, and Water (thanks to Mercury and Aristotle) is gaining popularity nowadays. Null and Earth are in there, but Earth seems to be the least popular.
In terms of the meta right now, Fire is definitely the best, with Earth coming in second. Null is sadly last, unless you have Laharl & Sicily from their limited print in Disgaea packs. Water is somewhere in the middle. Note that this is mainly coming from a Fortress Frenzy standpoint, but really you could generally just tweak the decks to be suited for BotB by adding an EU and avoiding units who won't increase your damage when you Burst.
As for Fire, the reason it's so strong is its access to NY Diarmuid. Running double Diarmuid makes clearing even boosted bases in Fortress Frenzy easy compared to the other decks because of the sheer amount of extra procs. Lantern is also strong at +2, and has a CTA Skill Boost on her Multi/Rush even from her base form. Typical Fire decks always include Lantern, Meru, and NY Diarmuid, with the other two units depending on what you have access to. Running Rain Ampelus (has to be in deck) or Seraphina & Killia (if you don't have her, you can run Djehuti in deck and S&K as assist) makes it even more reliable at slaughtering, specifically for wave 1 against Djehuti, while running Cronus can help reduce your turn count by countering rez unit procs. However, Cronus is somewhat useless for the first few waves since in t30 unions they generally tend to be mostly plats, not stuns and rez units.
Earth comes in second due to having good plats like Remix Salix, Rain Ampelus, Merlin, Cronus, and S&K being on the same element, and thus benefiting from Remix Guna. Ba'al is generally the go-to damage dealer, as Idun requires having full Earth assists, which means you'll have to run Djehuti in deck. Idun's Unique also boosts her ATK stat, which makes her a prime target for w1 Vritras, unlike Ba'al which has a damage boost. When/if Ba'al gets evolvable to +2 this summer, Earth will definitely be in a good spot.
Water and Null would be remaining elements that just aren't quite as good as the two aforementioned decks. Null is lacking a good damage dealer to take advantage of Lamashtu aside from L&S, as well as a Null unit to help counter stuns and status ailments. Merlin works I guess since she has 100% on her Unique anyways. As for Water, it has potential, what with the large amount of +2 plats it has at its disposal. Though, plats like Aristotle and Arthur rely on heals, and Vday Nina must be run in deck, which makes coming up with a Water deck that works somewhat of a challenge.
Last Edit: Jun 19, 2018 23:20:19 GMT by KOTails: Removed the thing about Merlin hurting Null's damage output. Just use her as the starter
In terms of the meta right now, Fire is definitely the best, with Earth coming in second. Null is sadly last, unless you have Laharl & Sicily from their limited print in Disgaea packs.
Earth Has Kind Of Always Just Been There, Never Being The Best Or The Worst. When Elemental Decks First Became The Meta, Earth Was The Most Popular But Only Because It Was The First Element To Have Both It's Booster And Damage Focused Platinum (Guna and Ba'al), But It Wouldn't Say That Ever Made It "The Best". First In A Competition With One Competitor Is Still Last Place.
As The Months Have Turned To Years And They Add More and More Plats That Weasel Their Ways Into The Meta, Fire Pretty Much Remains The Lone Bastion Of Stagnancy In The Sea Of Ever-Changing Decks. As Far As Offense Goes, The Last Real Change To The Formula Was NY Diarmuid, And Before That It Was Probably Jack. Other Than That Fire Has Pretty Much Remained The Same Since The Beginning.
The Other Three Elements Shift And Change Every Other Week, And For That Reason Most People Seem To Prefer Fire. The Lack Of Change Keeps Them From Having To Take Farming Plats For Offense So Seriously So They Can Focus On Boosting Defense Decks Or Shoving Pencils Up Their Noses Or Whatever The Hell It Is That The People Who Play This Game Do.
I Can't Speak In Detail For How Good Any Deck Is, As I've Never Ran An Elemental Deck Before, But Null Is Definitely Not As Popular As The Other Elements. I Know A Few People Who've Ran Null, And While They Claim To Like It And Are Good Players, It Just Seems To Be The Odd One Out, Perhaps Due To A Lack Of Core Units That Any Two People Can Agree Should Be Meta. Everyone Has Their Own Variations And Tweaks To The Formula, And That Throws People Off. It's Probably The Same Reason Water Is Kind Of Lacking In Users, Too.
As Far As Best, I Agree With Ko, And Not Just Because He's Probably The Most Well Informed Player In The Community, But Because He's Just Kind Of Right. Fire Works The Best.
But, From A Subjective Standpoint, I'll Say It As Many Times As I Have To. There Is No "Best".
In The End, It All Comes Down To Your Playstyle, The Way You Want To Play The Game. I Managed To Do Well For Myself With Glass Cannon Decks; Putting Out As Much Damage As I Can Without Worrying About My Health. Fortress Was Always A Bit Of A Pisser, But I Hit Hard In Beast And During Raids.
Just Focus On The Element You Think Will Suit The Way You Wanna Play As Closely As Possible. That Will Be Your "Best".
As Far As Best, I Agree With Ko, And Not Just Because He's Probably The Most Well Informed Player In The Community, But Because He's Just Kind Of Right. Fire Works The Best.
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