In recent times, Common Charity has been shaping up to be a popular format. The idea is simple: you can only use cards that have Common printings. There's a lot of diversity to be had and the card pool also has the potential to expand with every new release.
This format can seem daunting at first, so this article aims to help out with that! In partnership with the Common Charity Discord, we're going to show decks to watch out for! Any one of these should be a great starting point in learning how the format works.
Without further ado, let's dive right in.
Melffy
Melffy is an adorable but effective deck in Common Charity! They're able to swamp opponents by controlling the board and out-resourcing them. All of the Main Deck Melffys can be brought out from the hand in the End Phase and all have unique effects to bounce themselves and provide some benefit when the opponent Summons a monster or attacks.
Puppy, Catty, and Pony are the ones that are often used in most builds. Fenny isn't seen as much but has some potential to unclog monsters from the hand. Kalantosa is one of the biggest strengths of this strategy, as they can repeatedly summon it and unleash its wrath onto the opponent's board!
Aside from that, Melffy commonly pairs itself up with Rank 2 Beast enablers in the form of Rescue Cat and Nimble Beaver. These two help you go into Joyous Melffys, which is a powerhouse! Fairy Tail - Luna is also a strong NS for the deck.
Joyous helps shore up the lack of lethal pressure due to its high ATK. Not only that, it gives players a strategic tag out to then revive low-level Beasts from the GY. This can allow you to summon your Melffys back for more value, or Kalantosa for spot removal. If one is afraid of Kaijus ruining their day, you can always tag out in the Standby Phase.
The deck rounds itself out with generic cards such as Traps to slow opponents down. Paleozoic cards are a decent choice as an engine as they act as both disruption AND Level 2 bodies for XYZ plays such as Mannequin Cat or Cursed Javelin. Generic choices like Solemn Warning and Torrential Tribute work wonders. Some players opt to play Hide-and-Seek which works well with TT.
Here's a sample list from Jaxel_MS, who got Top 8 at CC2.
Tenyi
Tenyi is an aggressive Wyrm deck that aims to go second and power through established boards! It's able to make use of its arsenal of Spirits in order to both Link climb and deal with threats on the field.
Tenyi pairs well with Kaijus, thanks to Vishuda's bounce effect, allowing you to reuse them. Ashuna gets to you to any Tenyi, Adhara recycles your resources with the choice depending on the game state, and the other spirits all have neat tricks up their sleeves too.
The deck is also exceptionally consistent, with most hands performing well. Both Heavenly Dragon Circle and Vessel for the Dragon Cycle boost this to new heights. All of these traits allow it to stand out as a formidable choice in the Common Charity metagame.
If made to go first, you tend to set up a modest board to save resources. This is where Shthana comes into play, forming a powerful duo with Swordsoul Blackout, one of the best cards the deck has access to! Blackout is an archetypal Icarus Attack, able to devastate whole fields. Shthana triggers if a non-Effect monster(s) you control gets destroyed. It can then revive one of them and destroy one of the opponent's monsters without targeting! Not only does this give the deck a buffer against destruction effects, but it also lets them get the most out of Blackout. You'll usually be ending on Berserker + Blackout in this case.
Since the deck isn't as reliant on its Normal Summon, a popular choice is Prufinesse, the Tactical Trapper! This nifty card brings a lot to the table for the Deck. It's a powerful NS that's good both going first and second.
Pruf banishes a Blackout to summon a Token. This nets you a free Crocodragon for all your troubles! Croc gives you both a free draw and potent Quick Effect destruction, all in one package! Make sure to time your Pruf well though, as you want to make sure you can use it before Ashuna or Shaman apply their locks.
Alternatively, you can use a Level 4 Tenyi and the Token to go into a generic Level 8 and then crash Pruf into the opponent's monster. This guarantees you have Blackout access if needed.
Contrary to popular belief, while Sahasrara may be an incredible card, it's not the focus of the deck. You still run the card, just exercise caution and assess the game state when you actually want to summon the Link-4.
LANphoryncus is a helpful tool that lets you conserve Monks and play around Veiler in a pinch, so it's a welcome addition to the Extra Deck. Lastly, the deck is able to make use of Shaman of the Tenyi alongside Mare Mare for some heavy pushing power.
Here's a sample list from DiamondDudeTCG, who got 1st Place at CC2!
Gouki
In the early stages of Common Charity, Gouki was the deck that people feared the most. This was because of its ease of use, insane floating, and ability to vomit must-answer threats in quick succession. In actuality though, the deck falls a little short in terms of usage and popularity.
Despite its relative lack of success in recent tournaments, Gouki can still put up quite a fight due to how strong the cards are as a whole.
All of the main Gouki monsters have the ability to add any other Gouki card from the Deck to the hand if sent from the field to the GY. Because of this, most if not all your plays revolve around sticking 2 Gouki monsters on the field and extending from there afterward. Suprex is often the best Normal because of this, as it lets you drop a second name on the field. You can think of the monsters as building blocks that you can use to form the linear lines needed. For example, two Goukis to go into Heel Ogre, and then you branch out from there.
A popular option is making use of the Codebreaker package, featuring Zero Day, Virus Swordsman, and Virus Berserker. These help you create the second Powerload or go in hard with the free bodies.
As for the deck's playstyle, there are two ways to approach it and both are solid in their own right. The combo version often goes all-in and busts out multiple Powerload Ogres for the opponent to deal with. Not only that, it can run Parallel Exceed which nets you a Tornado Dragon or access to the Codebreaker lines. Gozen Match is a great choice in making sure Kaijus and Lava Golem don't ruin your day.
The second version is a recent discovery and takes the deck in a more conservative manner, enter Midrange Gouki! It often commits very safe lines in order to maximize resources and survive the initial turns. Blade Ogre paired with Finishing Move leads to the end of the game if left unanswered.
Midrange Gouki leans into a Trap Trick lineup to help support its small setup and pave the way to go for game with its myriad of options. Popular choices include Waboku, Threatening Roar, and Heavy Storm Duster! The former two help you survive, while the latter clears pesky Trap cards, deals with Pendulum Scales, and even prevents an untimely Lunalight Wolf from sealing your fate.
Torrential Tribute and Compulsory Evacuation Device are fine picks, as the deck often thrives in a simple board state. Lastly, both Trap Stun and Dimensional Barrier find themselves in the Side Deck as blowout options in the right matchups.
Here's a sample list for Midrange Gouki that the server helped me create to show off, courtesy of Edge!
Lunalight
Lunalight is arguably one of the strongest decks in the Common Charity format. Its versatile playmakers allow it to form powerful Rank 4 setups going first, and near uncontested OTKs going second. Most of its important cards are accessible in common and it's been tearing up through the tournament scene!
Kaleido Chick is integral to all plays of the deck, no questions asked. The ability to mill any member from the Deck or Extra Deck as cost gives plenty of options that can all come up depending on the situation. This effect is NOT a hard once per turn, which means you can get off multiple mills with the help of Luna Light Perfume and co. Chick's ED dump is notable too, oftentimes binning a Panther which makes bringing out their ace card Leo Dancer trivial.
Milling Crimson Fox shields against targeting while making OTKs easier by setting a monster on the field to 0 ATK. Both are handy effects that shine in several matchups. Maju hates monsters getting set to 0 while targeting protection helps vs both Megalith and backrow decks. Don't forget that Chick milling Fox means you can't use the ATK drain.
Purple Butterfly allows for some decent extension when milled, as it can summon any name from the hand. Yellow Marten is key for enabling Rank 4 plays thanks to its Zephyros-like effect to bounce Lunalight cards back to your hand. This notably includes Lunalight Wolf, letting you summon the Marten for free.
Time Thief Redoer is a sticky threat that triggers the secondary effects of Marten and Emerald when it detaches. Tornado and Nightmare are superb choices as well.
A popular play includes bouncing a monster to summon Marten and then using Butterfly to resummon it. Oftentimes it'd be Kaleido Chick for an additional mill.
Not only that, it gets you to your S/Ts should it be sent to the GY by a card effect. This makes it the prime target to be pitched by cards such as Foolish Burial, Armageddon Knight, and Emerald Bird. Both Lunalight Fusion and Serenade Dance are great to search depending on the hand. Foolish Burial Goods enables the latter to be a powerful opening play without even using up a Normal Summon!
Here's a sample list provided by Tristan who got Top 4 at CCC2!
Honorable Mentions
We won't have time to cover all the decks in Common Charity, but here are a couple of others you should be looking out for!
Megalith is a tough but rewarding Ritual deck that makes use of some heavy hitters in the form of Bethor, Cyber Angel Dakini, and Demise, Agent of Armageddon! The deck does well vs Kaijus by design which is nothing to scoff at! Phaleg makes for easy lethal setups.
Pendulum is getting a bunch of attention lately and gets to use most of its heavy hitters. The deck takes a while to get used to though, being fairly hard to play well.
Gren Maju Da Eiza is the most straightforward option and always packs a decent degree of success. Possibly what can be considered the purest form of beatdown in the format. The recurring threat of Orochi and Fairy Tail - Luna also carries weight here.
Paleozoic is an okay control strategy that has seen mild success. The lack of payoff is a little troublesome, but Mannequin Cat helps a fair bit. The Fiend version is a worthy contender too, making use of cards like Dante and Toddler of Torment to great effect.
Chain Burn has some good footing as most of its cards are present in the format, though it does have to be mindful of the Side Deck techs such as Denko Sekka and Royal Decree. The deck plays fast and loose, racing with the opponent to drop their LP to 0 while not caring about their usual setup. It uses cards such as Waboku and Kuriphoton to prevent damage, and refill with the likes of Balance of Judgment and Cardcar D! Trap Trick is a superstar in this Deck, making sure you can get what you need at the right time. If you want a unique experience that requires managing resources alongside gameplay unlike any other, give it a shot!
Conclusion
That marks the end of our look into Common Charity decks! I hope this piece can help out in deciding which deck you want to try out. Head on over to our Discord server for some games and tournaments!
Note: Common Charity has yet to be official confirmed by Konami. However, this format and the other formats associated with it are listed on Konami's "Yu-Gi-Oh! Neuron" app in NA regions.
