A Mane's Bulletin score is a single number, and that number does not care whether your team is elegant, balanced, or safe. It cares how much damage you crammed into the turn limit before the boss shrugged you off. That is why the ranking on this page looks different from every other Reverse: 1999 tier list you have read: comps that anchor Limbo can drop a tier here, and one-trick burst boards that would fold in a rotating puzzle can top the whole mode.
If you have not read how the scoring actually works, start with the Mane's Bulletin guide; it explains why the mode rewards burst-per-turn, ramp speed, and uptime over durability. This page assumes that and does the next job: ranking the teams that turn those three levers into a top grade. For the season-agnostic power list, the 3.7 best teams tier list covers Limbo and general endgame; this is the raid-only overlay.
How these tiers are judged
Every comp here is scored on the three things the mode actually pays out, in order:
- Burst ceiling. Peak damage per turn once the team is online. This is the headline.
- Ramp speed. How few turns it wastes before it is dealing real damage. A team that needs six turns to set up is throwing away a fifth of a thirty-turn runway.
- Uptime on the win condition. Whether the damage engine, a status stack, a summon, a buff window, keeps running without gaps.
Notice what is missing: survivability beyond "do not die." A tanky board that comfortably outlives the clock but posts a middling number is a low score with a safety net you did not need. That single reweighting is what moves the tiers around.
S tier: the score-posting machines
These are the boards that hit the top Endless ranks. They front-load damage, ramp fast, and hold their engine open for the full clock.
Spathodea Mental mono-burst
Spathodea + Tooth Fairy + Anjo Nala or Kakania + a fourth amplifier.
The purest expression of what Mane's Bulletin rewards. Spathodea front-loads enormous Mental burst, which is exactly the shape the damage race wants: she is already hitting hard by turn two, not turn six. Stack the team mono-Mental so every buffer amplifies the same number, and drop the survival slot the mode does not need in favor of a second amplifier. Tooth Fairy raises the whole team's cap, Anjo Nala or Kakania layers Mental amplification, and the score climbs a full grade over the "safe" version of this board. This is the benchmark to beat.
Nautika Reality core (offense-tuned)
Nautika + Semmelweis + Sentinel + amplifier.
The consensus top Reality core, retuned for the raid. In Limbo you cap this with a healer; in Mane's Bulletin you cut the sustain the moment you can reliably reach the turn limit alive and add output instead. Nautika's ceiling and consistency carry the score, Semmelweis scales the team as HP shifts, and Sentinel keeps the rotation clean so no turn is wasted. Point it at a boss without Reality resistance and it posts one of the highest numbers in the mode.
Extra-Actions tempo (Windsong / Lucy + Flutterpage)
Windsong or Lucy + Flutterpage + buffer + flex.
The tempo pillar is quietly perfect for a damage race, because extra turns are extra damage and the turn limit is the whole scoring constraint. Flutterpage feeds the turn-and-Moxie economy these carries live on, and the board snowballs: each extra action buys tempo, tempo buys more Ultimates, and the score compounds inside the clock. Its only demand is that you understand the loop; once it clicks, it out-scores boards with a higher raw ceiling.
A tier: top scores with a condition
These clear the Endless ranks well, they just want a matchup, a specific Afflatus, or a round of setup the S-tier boards skip.
Rhiannon Beast Reality
Rhiannon + Tooth Fairy + Vila or Mercuria + flex.
The anniversary headliner is a clean, high-ceiling burst carry, which is exactly what the raid wants, and she covers the Beast slot the Reality cores above do not. Against a Plant Investigation Target she is an S-tier answer; everywhere else she is a strong A. Build the board to feed her Ultimate a round early so her ramp lands inside the runway, not after it. The full psychube and Resonance setup is in the Rhiannon build guide.
Advantaged mono-Afflatus specialists
Any single-type carry built to answer the current boss.
Mane's Bulletin rotates a small set of Investigation Targets, and a carry that holds the Afflatus advantage over the active boss can leap a tier for that rotation. This is free score when the wave cooperates. The catch is the same as always: read the boss before you commit, because an advantaged specialist pointed into the wrong Target is a wasted run. Respect the Afflatus wheel even here, where survival barely matters, output still swings with it.
Second-string carries on premium supports
A mid carry + Tooth Fairy + Semmelweis or Vila + amplifier.
The lesson every R1999 board teaches: the supports are what post the score. A modest carry framed by Tooth Fairy and a top amplifier out-scores a strong carry on a weak line, which is the entire argument for spending your pulls on supports over duplicate carries. These boards land a respectable Endless rank on investment most accounts already have.
B tier: the free and budget raid boards
These will not top the Endless leaderboard, but they clear the paying difficulties and bank the rewards, which is most of what the mode is for.
- Free-character mono-damage boards. Stack one damage type with welfare and low-rarity Arcanists, lean on a borrowed premium support if a friend slot allows, and push through the middle difficulties for the full clear rewards.
- Any campaign board with a real amplifier. If it clears Chapter content, it clears the lower raid ranks. You lose grades, not rewards.
The honest framing: B tier is a reward-collection tier, not a leaderboard tier. If your goal is the clear and the drops rather than the flex, this is enough, and you can chase grades later once your Resonance and Portray investment catches up.
The three habits that raise your grade
Ranking teams is half the job. The other half is playing the damage race correctly:
- Cut the healer the moment you can survive without one. Every seat a pure sustain occupies is a seat not amplifying the score. Once you reliably reach the turn limit alive, trade safety for output. That single swap is often a full grade.
- Front-load, do not slow-roll. A team that ramps by turn three beats a team that peaks by turn eight, because the clock does not wait for your setup. Favor carries that hit early over carries that hit hardest at the end.
- Match the Afflatus, then forget durability. Advantage still boosts damage even when survival is trivial, so read the Target and point an advantaged carry at it, then build the rest of the board purely for output.
For the mechanics under all of this, keep the Mane's Bulletin guide open; for who to build first, the tier list of individual Arcanists is the companion; and for the current pull decisions, the banner schedule tells you which carry or support closes the gap in your best raid board. Post the number, not the pretty board, that is the whole game here.
