Introduction
Some time ago, I wrote an article on Evil★Twins. As the article is embarrassingly outdated, I decided to do a little update on how the deck functions now. I would suggest you to read up on it, and this little update here.
The Evil★Twin strategy is to summon any Live☆Twin to the field, and watch her and her partner transform into Link monsters. This one card combo allows for the player to conserve on resources while developing a major Link 4 threat.
Live☆Twins has had a history of folding to any single disruptions. This was resolved with the twins donning new uniforms Ki-sikil Frost and Lil-la Treat. Even so, Live☆Twins alone could not compete even with their discounted resource management, as their aggression was simply too weak.
Following the release of Evil★Twin Trouble Sunny, the archetype no longer needs to rely on any sort of external engines like Eldlich. Of course, mixing Evil★Twins with other engines does not necessarily mean it is still bad. But since I personally enjoy successful pure variants, let's go judge my hot take on the current standard now.
Evil★Twin's Trouble Sunny
Evil★Twin's Trouble Sunny
Fiend/Link/Effect
Link 4 ATK/ 3300
2+ monsters, including an "Evil★Twin" monster
- (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 "Ki-sikil" monster and/or 1 "Lil-la" monster from your GY.
- You can banish this card from your GY and send 1 "Evil★Twin" monster from your hand, Deck, or face-up field to the GY; send 1 card on the field to the GY.
- You can only use each effect of "Evil★Twin's Trouble Sunny" once per turn.
Previously before the arrival of this rival, Ki-sikil and Lil-la tended to coalesce into Unchained Abomination, and it was difficult to pick either Ki-sikil or Lil-la to trigger on the opponent's turn. If you could use both effects, the opponent was probably messing up. Trouble Sunny is this duo's eventual conclusion. By summoning both Ki-sikil and Lil-la together, you can effectively achieve both effects simultaneously, and even achieve chain block! Through the repeated uses of Trouble Sunny, you can hope to achieve a "Draw 1, Pop 1" feeling every turn at any stage of either turn. Now equipped with a beefy boss monster and an ideal way to summon and trigger both twins; the rest of the deck can easily be anything else.
Trouble Sunny, along with Sunny's Snitch, has granted a tremendous boost in consistency, aggression and most importantly, playability. These twins no longer need the clout from other successful archetypes - they are now famous enough to debut solo.
Pure Evil★Twin
There are now two ways to play pure Evil★Twins: either stock up on hand traps, or counter traps. Both are fine, but I opted to use hand traps instead. The idea of Ki-sikil drawing into a timely hand trap on the opposing turn instead of a counter trap could be the difference in winning games.
Regardless, this is the standard for Evil★Twin ratios: except for the number of Live☆Twin Ki-sikil Frost could easily be debated upon. Thanks to Sunny's Snitch, there is no need to rely on Cynet Mining anymore. I also cut Evil★Twins Ki-sikil and Lil-la as Trouble Sunny can use Link Monsters for her cost.
The ideal scenario is to draw upon 2 twin starters and 3 disruptions - very much like current Zoodiac. From the successful summon of a Live☆Twin monster, you will summon both Evil★Twin Ki-sikil and Lil-la. In the past, duelists would struggle choosing between the mediocre Knightmare Gryphon or the situational Unchained Abomination - and they would need Parallel eXceed to provide proper interruptions.
Now, you simply just end your turn with Trouble Sunny, and I:P Masquerena if you extend further. Trouble Sunny will constantly summon Ki-sikil and Lil-la to destroy and draw, and Ki-sikil Frost will draw even more. This simple playstyle will be backed up by the other cards you choose to pair - hand traps in this case, to weather your opponent down.
Having finally established a consistent playstyle, Evil★Twins no longer need the clout of any other archetypes. However, they can still feature them. Artifact Evil★Twins makes use of Lil-la's destruction to destroy and resolve Artifact Scythe during the opponent's turn any time. Evil★Twin Eldlich grants additional generic recurring bodies for higher Link climbing. There are so many things you can try with Evil★Twins, now that they have vested themselves as a consistent one card combo tribe. If you loved mixing archetypes with Zoodiac, I promise you this is almost the same thing.
Finding Trouble with Twins
Unfortunately we are in the midst of a combo-heavy metagame. Tri-Brigade Lyrilusc develops multiple interruptions either turn. Virtual World, Dogmatika Invoked variants and Swordsoul are also quite unfair to rogue decks. Even as the Evil★Twin strategy resemble a certain successful zodiac archetype now, it is simply not enough anymore. Evil★Twins do fold to disruption, especially if the extenders fail. When both twins go down, it is hard to recover against an opposing field. Yet, simply because it is the willpower of two cute girls, players will still adopt this deck to participate in events.
Conclusion
I personally think Evil★Twins has had enough support, even if it is not tier 0 standard. It has been quite a journey to see a terrible deck eventually become strong enough to compete. I absolutely love the current style this deck provides, allowing for a huge flexibility in techs, and I love drawing additional cards every turn.
Other players have already recognized the strength of two clickbait-y girls, and I would love to share their research with you! I apologize if not every good resource will be shared, I will make an apology video in response to that.
Very much like Trouble Sunny, I am also banking on the current popularity of Evil★Twins. They are very fun, price tag aside.
