Overview

CRBR Format Breakdown: Weeks 4-6 (December 9 2024 Banlist)

Date: January 4-18 2025

Events: NA/EU/LATAM Regionals (34 known events)

Hi everyone, Renren here! We're back with another Regional Breakdown. The final set of Regionals from the ROTA Season comes to a close and we have a lot of decks and trends to discuss. We have 85% of the data available, so let's get into it!

Zealous Rise

There's a significant uptick in Ryzeal, with the deck now garnering over 50% tops in the format, widening the gap between it and Maliss once more. Fiendsmith Ryzeal was the deck to beat and will likely remain the best deck going into Supreme Darkness, especially because of the upcoming release of Eclipse Twins. 

Pure Ryzeal and non-Fiendsmith variants also managed to find great success at these regionals. Shark Ryzeal made use of a small package consisting of Surfacing Big Jaws and Drake Shark to increase the ceiling of Pure and threaten Bahamut Shark into Toadally Awesome.

Bystial Ryzeal which is fairly self-explanatory, forgoing the FS cards for more defensives and as a cheaper alternative to the best deck. We've even seen the likes of Toy Ryzeal which utilizes Toy Box alongside Node Ryzeal and Ice Ryzeal for incredibly explosive plays. A Melodious Ryzeal build also topped at the Kingston WCQ Regional using Ostinato for massive R4NK plays, with Refrain the Melodious Songstress not being a terrible NS either.

Due to the increased Extra Deck space, underrated Rank 4 options such as Daigusto Emeral, Light Dragon @Ignister, and Starliege Photon Blast Dragon have all been sighted in these non-FS lists. Multiple copies of Mereologic Aggregator and even triple Detonators are not unheard of, either. These lists are opting to run cards such as Pot of Desires and Small World to bolster the deck's consistency, while Ryzeal Plasma Hole sees some fringe use as a utility card.

The Decisive Number 2

Despite Ryzeal's hold on the format, Maliss is still the undisputed number 2 deck in the format, due to its various strengths that cannot be overlooked. Players have been getting crafty with their techs and variants recently. We even saw a Tenpai Dragon smokescreen from Francesco Simoncelli at the Italian Open, able to go for a Trident Dragion OTK at the blink of an eye or access the Maliss part of the deck through Ancient Fairy Dragon destroying Sangen Summoning to add Maliss in Underground.

An increased number of Maliss lists, especially Pure and Sky Striker have been opting to main Dimension Shifter to help combat the slew of decks reliant on Fiendsmith engines for their plays. Shifter paired with Maliss Q Hearts Crypter and Maliss C GWC-06 is extremely effective at pushing for an OTK.

Between Kashtira, Sky Striker, Heavy Bystials with Lubellion, Fiendsmith, or even Azamina, there are a lot of options to soup up your Maliss strategy. The latter saw some experimentation from Ben Sherman, who finished Top 8 at the Newcastle Upon Tyne WCQ Regional. Due to the ubiquity of Artifact Lancea, secondary engines that can help play through it are quite appealing at the moment.

Bystial Maliss saw a lot more play compared to the previous weeks. Not only does it help against enemy Fiendsmith, but you also have more access to your potent extenders and a way to help clutch the mirror match with Branded Regained. 

More and more players seem to be adapting Knightmare Gryphon over Firewall Dragon Darkfluid - Neo Tempest Terahertz, but both endboard pieces remain popular. Speaking of which, Knightmare Cerberus is also seeing play as a removal tool to help against Chaos Hunter and other problematic monsters while still giving you a Link-2 to go into Maliss Q Red Ransom or Maliss Q White Binder afterward.

Ten More Years of Pie?

While again, no longer at its height of dominance, several duelists are still finding sizeable results with Tenpai Dragon, arming it with several engines. The usual Fiendsmith build was the most popular, but we saw two intriguing versions crop up over in Europe Regionals.

An innovative build of Sky Striker Tenpai Dragon with a Spell-slinging emphasis piloted by renowned YCS Champion Julius Schwarzkopf managed to get 5th at the Montabaur WCQ Regional. This list plays extremely familiar to Tenpai Dragon from past formats, blinding second and focusing on the OTK while drowning the opponents in board breakers. 

Triple Tactics Thrust is one of the biggest selling points of the strategy, able to bridge you into your Tenpai cards, or additional breakers to push through the opponent's interactions. The Striker package also easily enables the Link OTK line with Promethean Princess, Bestower of Flames, Salamangreat Raging Phoenix, and Worldsea Dragon Zealantis if necessary. Sky Striker Ace - Zeke makes an appearance as a method to clear the way for your desired lethal of choice.

Meanwhile, Azamina Kashtira Tenpai Dragon managed an extremely solid Top 4 finish at the Spanish Open, piloted by Ricardo Couso López! Both engines are strong and compact in their own right and can help supplement the deck's playstyle with no conflicts. Sinful Spoils of Subversion - Snake-Eye in the Side Deck is used to help deal with the likes of Fiendsmith Ryzeal's Detonator going second, especially as they've cut Ryzeal Plugin from their lists. This gives Diabellstar the Black Witch and WANTED: Seeker of Sinful Spoils some extra utility outside of accessing Azamina Fusions. Another Sinful Spoils option in the form of Sinful Spoils of Slumber - Morrian gives the Azamina engine slightly more kick when paired with Azamina Ilia Silvia.

Memento Madness

Memento's been tearing it up across a few regionals, though its popularity remains on the lower end. Pure remains the defacto variant, with Fiendsmith trailing slightly behind. The deck remains highly capable of executing its gameplan while being incredibly difficult to stop thanks to its slew of Quick-Play Spells and near-unparalleled card quality.

Because Memento handily fits a good amount of non-engine in its lists, there's a lot of room for experimentation. Hasan U's list teched Goblin Biker Grand Entrance as a strong consistency tool that also puts immense pressure against Ryzeal Detonator, able to detach multiple materials off it with very little effort. Davide Giannocarro went a little further beyond, running a bigger Goblin Biker package with Goblin Biker Dugg Charger and Goblin Biker Big Gabonga.

Techs of the Week

Ally of Justice Cycle Reader rises from its grave to terrorize Fiendsmith GYs with ease, seeing some side deck play in a few lists. Keep an eye out for this card, as it may prove to be important in the upcoming months.

Solemn Strike has been seeing increased main deck play more than ever, finding itself in several Ryzeal lists. This card is extremely unexpected and is very good in most matchups.

Rogue Recognition

Congratulations to the duelists who managed to do well with Rogue strategies! We've had a surprising amount of single rogue placements this week.

Dinomorphia was the most surprising contender this past few weeks, winning 2 Remote Regionals and topping the Salem WCQ Regional! Its ability to essentially ignore Mulcharmy Purulia, Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Artifact Lancea, Dimensional Barrier, and Dimension Shifter makes it a very enticing option. Dinomorphia Rexterm for the win! Meanwhile, Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis and your slew of trap cards such as Solemns and Ferret Flames allow for some surprising pushes when staring at Ryzeal and Fiendsmith decks going second.
Maliss is a very tough matchup for the deck, which is why the lists are opting to run a lot of techs against it in the side deck, such as Soul Drain, which also helps against Bystial Druiswurm.

That's all for now folks, see you in SUDA season! Renren out!