Good day readers. I stated in my previous post that I'd be revealing and explaining the deck list I piloted at the Oshawa regionals this past weekend, and my thoughts regarding this list and how it should change. Without further ado, I'll dive right into it:
3 Brionac
3 Unicore
2 Valkyrus
1 Gungnir
1 Decisive Armor
1 Clausolas
1 Trishula
3 Manju
1 Senju
2 Armageddon Knight
1 Shaddoll Dragon
1 Farfa
2 Shurit
1 Djinn Releaser of Rituals
1 Thunder King
2 Cycle
2 Kaleidoscope
2 Mirror
3 Preparation
3 Shared Ride
1 Forbidden Lance
1 Book of Moon
2 ROTA
Extra:
2 Herald of Arc Light
1 Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Tree
1 Star Eater
1 Dragon Master Knight
1 Castel
1 Daigusto Emeral
1 Lavalval Chain
1 Rhapsody in Berzerk
1 Silent Honor Ark
1 Diamond Dire Wolf
1 Exciton Knight
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Abyss Dweller
Side:
2 Denko
2 Maxx "C"
3 MST
1 Twister
1 Forbidden Lance
3 Mind Crush
3 Emptiness
I'm going to illustrate my experience with Gungnir and Decisive Armor, since the rest of the ritual monsters are self-explanatory staples. Gungnir and Decisive Armor are two cards that I've been uncertain about for a while now. At the Montreal regionals a couple weeks ago, Gungnir was useful enough and Decisive Armor had its shining moments. This weekend, Decisive Armor but in much more work then Gungnir. Decisive Armor ensured my draw against Qliphorts, where I would've lost otherwise. It also put in a lot of work by itself, destroying set cards and stuff. Gungnir just wasn't doing much, to be honest. There was never an opportunity to summon it to dodge a Valkyrus. All Gungnir did the whole weekend was shield my Djinn lock from Raigeki and Dark Hole. Of course, it guaranteed me my victory in one match, but wasn't extremely special. Ultimately, I'm considering cutting both of these cards all together. Any hand where I drew these cards lost me consistency; specifically against the mirror match I lost, and game 2 against Satellarknights round 8. Against the Djinn lock, Gunginr didn't help and it would've put in a lot more work if it was Raigeki, or a 3rd ROTA. Decisive Armor shares the same story. I wanted both of these cards in the main to strengthen my Qliphort matchup, and help with protecting the Djinn lock. Now that Qliphorts won't be around as much, this cuts their usefulness in half. Also, people are starting to play Farfa to out the Djinn lock, along with Book of Moon and Eclipse. Gungnir and Decisive Armor do not provide any assistance with these cards, and I strongly feel that these cards can't stick around.
Moving right along, the Armageddon Knights were quite useful today. This is the first event where I used the Knights, along with a Farfa and Shaddoll Dragon, and this line of offense was quite significant. I used Farfa to eliminate the Djinn lock a few times, and used it a few other times to push for game-winning damage. Shaddoll Dragon popped some spells/traps, and if I drew it, then I could use it to make a rank 4. Additionally, I bounced a couple of crucial cards using its flip effect, and then I proceed to become victorious. Finally, Armageddon Knight dumped the Djinn a few times to create an easy Djinn lock. All in all, these cards are probably staying in for the season, unless something better comes along.
Thunder King Rai-Oh is the next card I want to discuss. As soon as Nekroz started dominating tournaments, I considered running it because it creates a difficult experience against Nekroz. At the YOCC, I noticed a few people I knew running the card, and this confirmed my thought process regarding the value of this card. Sure enough, I barely drew it, but it stalled out any Nekroz player I fought, and won me a game during the weekend. Personally, I think Thunder King should be played in every deck, unless it's something like Burning Abyss.
The only non-standard spell I played was the playset of Shared Ride. Honestly, it was between this card and Upstart Goblin. Both of these cards create 37 card decks, but Shared Ride is a little slower. However, Shared Ride will force your opponent to stop as well, or you'll draw more cards. Ultimately, this is the reason why I played this instead of Upstart. All Upstart does is allow an immediate draw, but it doesn't provide any value against the mirror match. Playing four mirror matches proved that Shared Ride was an excellent decision, better than Upstart Goblin anyway. On a side-note, it was never dead against any other matchup; it was always active.
Forbidden Lance has become a standard for some people, but the opposite for others. It provides additional protection for your Djinn lock, and helps your defenses against opposing spells and traps. Throughout the day, I only used it as damage step assistance twice. Other times, it was just used for defense. There were many times where I wished it was anything else, though. Whenever I drew it against an active Djinn lock, it was useless. Other times, it would've been better as another card to expand my plays. The most use I felt it provided was against the one Qliphort player I fought, which is why I played one in the main deck. I also sided a second copy for decks that favoured spell/trap removal. I'll probably end up cutting it in the main, perhaps the side as well.
The extra deck is self-explanatory.
Denko Sekka in the side was absolutely amazing. I sided it in almost every round, and it won a good number of games, especially against Satellarknights. Against Nekroz, it prevented my opponent from activating set Shared Ride and Mind Crush. Maxx "C" put in work against Burning Abyss and Satellarknights. MST and Twister put in work against Qliphorts and Yosenjus. I sided in Mind Crush against Nekroz; 2 if I was going second and 3 if I was going first. Emptiness was sided in against Nekroz and Burning Abyss. All in all, I was really quite please with my side deck. I might try siding the hands, and maybe Kycoo again, but I was pleased.
Heading into Nationals Format
On June 26th, I'll be driving to Nashville to compete in the WCQ, and eventually I'll need to prepare my deck for that tournament. Currently, the anticipated tier 1 decks of the format will be Nekroz and Burning Abyss. Decks like Sylvans, Yosenjus, Qliphorts, Shaddolls, Satellarknights and Volcanics could be other competitive options. Personally, I believe I'd be better off building my deck to defeat Burning Abyss and the mirror match.
That being said, here are some cards I'm considering for the main deck:
Tour Guide - Yep, if I'm going first, I can use it to summon the Djinn out of the deck, make a rank 3, and do a Djinn lock. Alternatively, I could use it to summon Farfa and set up an Angineer play. However, Tour Guide could be dead late-game, and it would force me to run a couple rank 3s: Extra deck space is already a problem, kinda.
Denko - I enjoyed this card against Burning Abyss. It will also become a lot more useful is more and more people start maining set spell/traps in Nekroz. And of course, Denko is awesome against the rogue matchups that play set cards. Honestly, I sided it so much this weekend it may as well have been in the main deck.
Maxx "C" - Against Burning Abyss, this card is quite useful, especially if they go first. Against Nekroz, it might get you an extra card. Since it's useful against both of these decks, it might be worth it. The main reason I haven't been considering it in the main is because Qliphorts were dominating.
Exiled Force - It's something I still want to try, since it's an out to the Djinn lock, and searchable by ROTA.
Vanity's Emptiness - It's at 1 now, and it's a complete blowout against the mirror match, and strong against Burning Abyss. It'll be easier to squeeze one copy as opposed to three, and that one random copy won't hurt consistency too much while stealing games against the mirror match.
3rd Nekroz Cycle/ 2nd Trishula/ Salvage - This is a package I'd want to throw in together, or none of it at all. There's a good amount of reasoning behind this. Preparation and Brionac are hit on the list, which means the deck will lose a lot of consistency. It's harder to re-use ritual spells, and the targets Shurit can search for has become a little more limited. By using Salvage, I can add back a Clausolas and Shurit. Clausolas will search Cycle, which can immediately be used since Shurit is in hand. Then you search a Brio or a Trish, and continue on with some plays. A 2nd Trishula is something I've been contemplating ever since Farfa started becoming an out to the Djinn lock. As well, it's easier to achieve devastating results if I can unleash a second Trishula. Finally, if I banish a Trishula with one of the ritual spells in the graveyard, the opponent might think it's gone for the game, which could be a decent mind game... However, this package is something I'll need to playtest extensively.
For now, these are the best options I can utilize to complete the deck to my liking. Honestly, I'd love some sort of random spellcaster support that'll enable me to re-use Unicore's effect to retrieve stuff from the graveyard. However, I'm not sure if any such card exists. I'm always on the lookout for random surprise tech that could potentially be amazing. Only time will tell if such a card exists.
Until then, let me know what you guys think. If you come across any good tech for Nekroz to use, feel free to let me know!
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