Nekroz: Reflecting on the Weekend

I spent some time debating how I wanted to format today's post. Inevitably, I decided to just jump right in and start writing.

On Saturday, I attended a Locals in another city, since they were hosting a prize of a somewhat-complete Burning Abyss core. The prizes for 2nd-8th were packs of the Secret Forces. I realized it would be a good experience to travel there for the experience, and hopefully the prize. The tournament was 5 rounds than top 8, and I played Nekroz for the event.

Round 1 vs Yosenju (2-1) - I lost game one because I never drew an answer for his MST.
Round 2 vs Yosenju (2-1) - I lost game one because I didn't have enough MSTs for his multiple floodgates.
Round 3 vs Burning Abyss (2-0)
Round 4 vs Qliphorts (1-2) - I lost games one and three because I had the MST for Skill Drain, but I couldn't answer the Emptiness he would draw a turn or two later.
Round 5 vs Satellarknights (2-0)

Top 8 vs Yosenjus (0-2) - I lost game one because I bricked (no ritual monsters, nothing to search ritual monsters, and I had a bunch of ritual spells). I lose game two because he had Dimensional Fissure and Emptiness, and I did not draw MST until he had other traps to back him up.

It was disappointing that I went all the way to Top 8, just to lose because I couldn't play. I took my few packs of Secret Forces and left.

Today was our regular Locals (which is usually on Saturday but was today for some reasons). There were only 8 people, so it was 3 rounds and no finals. Store credit went to 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Round 1 vs Nekroz (2-0)
Round 2 vs Blackwings (2-0)
Round 3 vs Yosenjus (2-0)

Now that I got this report out of the way, I'm going to provide the main deck I used at both of these tournaments:

Main:

3 Nekroz of Brionac
3 Nekroz of Unicore
3 Nekroz of Valkyrus
2 Nekroz of Clausolas
1 Nekroz of Trishula
1 Nekroz of Gungnir
1 Nekroz of Decisive Armor
3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
3 Senju of the Ten Thousand Hands
2 Shurit, Stretegist of the Nekroz
1 Djinn Releaser of Rituals
3 Preparation or Rites
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Nekroz Kaleidoscope
2 Nekroz Mirror
2 Nekroz Cycle
2 Book of Eclipse
1 Book of Moon
1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole

Side:

1 Effect Veiler
2 Maxx "C"
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Dance Princess of the Nekroz
3 Twister
2 Shared Ride
2 Royal Decree
2 Vanity's Emptiness

After my OTS experience last weekend, I realized Dance Princess was not worth it in the main deck (I moved it to the side deck), and I re-included my 2nd Clausolas for the extra consistency. I enjoyed how my deck flowed, and having the second one was really nice.

Now that I got my deck list out in the open, it's time to share another one. An ARG Circuit Series took place this weekend, and Ben Leverett made the Top 16. Since he's Patrick Hoban's friend and follower, I'm assuming they played the same deck because they convinced themselves that their build is superior (after much testing I'm sure). Here's the list, taken right off the ARG website:

Main:

3 Nekroz of Brionac

3 Nekroz of Unicore

2 Nekroz of Valkyrus

1 Nekroz of Trishula

1 Nekroz of Gungnir

1 Nekroz of Clausolas

3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands

2 Senju of the Thousand Hands

2 Phantom of Chaos

2 Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz

1 Djinn Releaser of Rituals

3 Preparation of Rites

3 Forbidden Lance

3 Upstart Goblin

2 Nekroz Kaleidoscope

2 Nekroz Mirror

2 Nekroz Cycle

2 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Book of Moon

1 Book of Eclipse

Side:

2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer

2 Maxx "C"

1 Djinn, Releaser of Rituals

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

3 Storm

1 Twister

3 Vanity's Emptiness

I really enjoy this list for a few reasons:

- It's a 37 card deck. I originally wanted my build to be like this, a 40 card deck with 3 Upstarts, but never found the room.
- Phantom of Chaos is a nice trick. It could turn into an out to anything, depend on what's in your graveyard.
- Forbidden Lance is also nice tech. I foresee multiple application where this card can be useful against all of the current tier 1 decks.
- He sided a second Djinn. From what I understand, Patrick and friends asked to side out the Djinn, and keep it revealed to the opponent so he could side another one. It's a dirty move, but clever. I wonder how many games were won with that trick...

I have only a single beef with this list:

- Not enough answers to floodgates and the Djinn lock. Forbidden Lance can sometimes be an out to Emptiness, but other than that...

In regards to consistency, this deck list is the most consistent out of all of the ones I've seen and played. However, I'm pretty sure this is the only list I've seen that does not play MST and does play Upstart. I believe I understand how their tournament was planning to go:

- Completely beat Nekroz because their deck is more consistent, and build the deck to help this match-up.
- Lose game 1 to decks like Qliphort and Yosenjus, then side game 2 and 3 and hope for the best.

It's interesting that I lose all my game 1s to Yosenjus and Qliphorts because I didn't have the MST. It's almost like I could've removed the MSTs and put in Upstarts, because it really didn't matter.

For now, I'm going to conclude this topic. There is a Montreal Regionals on Saturday that I'm probably going to attend. Ideally, I would like to achieve Top 8 and win a decent-looking mat, as well as sell some bulk I picked up today.

I'm going to continue playing around with my Nekroz build. I really enjoy my build so far, but now I'm convinced the deck could be a little more consistent. I'll work around with the list and hopefully determine a better list. Until next time, thanks for reading!