TCG Meta Deck Representation & Breakdown
Deck Breakdown:
- 6 Prank-Kids Adventurer (2 Destiny HERO Prank-Kids Adventurer)
- 3 Dragon Link (2 Adventurer Dragon Link)
- 3 Drytron (1 Drytron Destiny HERO Megalith, 1 Drytron Destiny HERO, 1 Drytron Megalith)
- 3 Eldlich (2 Cyberse Eldlich Adventurer)
- 3 Virtual World (2 Virtual World Adventurer)
- 2 Phantom Knights Destiny HERO Adventurer
- 2 Adventurer Synchro Good Stuff
- 2 Floowandereeze
- 2 Tenyi Swordsoul Link
- 1 Plunder Patroll Adventurer
- 1 Sky Striker Adventurer
- 1 Adventurer Tenyi Wyrm
- 1 D/D
- 1 Earth Machine Toolbox
- 1 Mekk-Knight
Deck Highlights
60-card Adventurer Synchro Good Stuff
Paul Aronson won the February Remote Duel YCS after an 8-2 record in swiss with his 60-card Adventurer Synchro Good Stuff deck.
For this event, Paul chose to play a 60-card variant of what is known in the OCG as Adventurer Wyrm Synchro. This is a deck that uses multiple small and powerful engines to combo into an ending board with multiple negates. While all the engines in this deck are strong, the Adventurer and Rose Dragon ones stand out in particular.
The Adventurer package is powerful, as it's great for setting up an omni-negate without much commitment. The level 4 token that it generates is also valuable, as it can be used to summon a pivotal Level 7 Synchro. Extra Adventurer spell are also not dead as they can also be cycled using Magicians' Souls or swapped using Illusion of Chaos.
The Rose Dragon package is also strong as it helps enable most of the deck's main lines. If used in tandem with the Adventurer cards, it can summon a protected Baronne de Fleur to the field while continuing its combo. This makes the deck difficult to deal with as you'll usually need more than 1 disruption to try and stop it.
Small World is also present in the deck as a solid utility card. While Small World is a minus 1, its ability to access almost any monster in your deck is invaluable. Since the deck has so many bridges, it's great for swapping out monsters that you don't need for ones that can extend your play.
The Destiny HERO package is also prominent as a resource to end on if you encounter multiple disruptions. This makes the deck very resilient as it can grind even if they can't complete their main combo. Destiny HERO - Celestial in particular is great here as it can replenish your hand post-turn-one.
In addition to all of this, the deck also has a bunch of subtle interactions that can create big threats. For example, being able to mill Fairy Tail - Snow with Shooting Riser Dragon is a great way to naturally gain another disruption. Similarly, searching Hop Ear Squadron through Cupid Pitch can also lead to an extra negate. Because of all these subtle synergies and the ability to start an attack from almost any card, it becomes more and more clear how this deck ended up with a 1st place finish.
Prank-Kids Adventurer
Aaron Pastrana got 2nd place at the February Remote Duel YCS after an 8-2 record in swiss with his Prank-Kids Adventurer deck.
For this event, Aaron chose to play a Prank-Kids deck featuring the Adventurer package. Prank-Kids is a really strong deck that the Adventurer package facilitates exceedingly well. Since Prank-Kids is a deck who's normal summons don't activate their effects on the field, it lets them utilize the Adventurer package with no drawback. This lets them achieve their standard ending board of a Wandering Gryphon Rider and a hidden Prank-Kids Battle Butler quite often. Furthermore, since the deck does not need to commit Butler onto the field too early, it becomes quite difficult to deal with, especially with a Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu in the GY.
The Adventurer package of course, is strong for many reasons. In addition to its standard omni-negate, it also has some unique interactions with Prank-Kids. For example, one of these interactions is chaining Fateful Adventure's effect to the effects of your Prank-Kids monsters. This lets you dodge hand traps like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring which can disrupt your combo.
Another one of the deck's assets is its ability to run a high number of hand traps. While hand traps are currently underappreciated due to the presence of the Adventurer package, 2 disruptions can still stop most decks in their tracks.
Drytron Megalith
Shaun McDonald placed Top 8 at the February Remote Duel YCS after an 8-2 record in swiss with Drytron Megalith.
For this event, Shaun chose to play a Drytron deck focusing more on the Megalith rituals rather than the previously popular Fairys. While this isn't a new idea, it has recently become more popular due to the ban of Eva. Different from the previous builds, this variant of Drytron cuts the use of Herald of Perfection entirely and focuses more on the natural advantage built through the use of Drytron effects.
Although the Fairy package has been drastically reduced, Cyber Angels still play a crucial role in the deck. Cyber Angel Benten provides great utility as searcher that usually resolves 3 times in your normal combo. It's also a very flexible card, as it can search not only the deck's normal summons but also their other Cyber Angels and utility cards as well. Examples of good utility options can be protection such as Herald of Orange Light or a powerful hand trap in the form of Artifact Lancea.
Cyber Angel Natasha also plays a key role in the deck as both a board breaker and an OTK enabler. It's especially powerful in situations after you've baited your opponent's disruptions and can take a powerful monster. Baronne de Fleur specifically comes to mind here as a popular boss monster this meta that also has a removal effect. There's also some neat interactions where you can take and use the opponent's Predaplant Verte Anaconda or prevent the destruction of a Sky Striker Link monster.
The Megalith package is also present due their utility as a Ritual archetype. Megalith Phul offers the ability to recycle Benten which is great for additional searches. Megalith Bethor is also good as it's a solid means of removal that can also act as disruption. Furthermore, Megalith also assist in accessing Extra Deck monsters that you don't normally see in Drytron. For example, Megalith Ophiel can Synchro with Diviner of the Herald for Baronne. This helps play through Nibiru (a card Drytron can struggle against). Ophiel can also be used to XYZ into Abyss Dweller which can be oppressive in some matchups.
Shaun also chose to play the Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon package as a way to cement his ending board. Dragoon is still a powerful card that many decks have trouble dealing with. It's also a solid backup plan incase you're met with disruption and can't complete your full combo.
We can also see Appointer of the Red Lotus in the Side Deck as an option when going 1st. Appointer is a strong utility card that gives you information about your opponent's hand. This works well with the deck's strategy as you often just need to know which cards to negate to kill the opponent on the following turn.
60-card Cyberse Eldlich Adventurer
Zohair Khan placed Top 8 at the February Remote duel YCS after an 9-1 record in Swiss with 60-card Cyber Eldlich Adventurer.
For this event, Zohair chose to play a 60-card variant of the Cyberse Eldlich deck. This is a deck that combines multiple small engines that play well individually but also synergize with each other. The 60-card variant also has the advantage of having enough space to fit in a large number of hand traps along with all your engine cards.
The Cyberse portion of the deck includes 3 monsters that all leave behind a monster after linking them off. This enables the Link Devotee combo which summons Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer and also sets Artifact Scythe. This is a strong package as it's a 1-card combo that puts the opponent under a lot of pressure. Additionally, Cyberse Gadget can also revive Magicians' Souls or Effect Veiler in the mid-game. This can be useful for accessing the Light and Dark Charmers or Crystron Halqifibrax which would lead into a Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians.
The Adventurer package is also present as a way to access an omni-negate before your combo. This makes the combo quite safe as the opponent would need at least 2 interruptions to stop you. Furthermore, Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon also has many synergies in the deck. Due to its effect to recycle itself, it can often trigger Eldlich the Golden Lord's effect for free or be a free cycle for Magicians' Souls.
Souls also provides a lot of value as it's an extender that can also cycle your cards. This makes it great for cycling extra copies of Fusion Destiny and Fateful Adventure after their initial use. Souls also has a lot of synergy with the Eldlich spells and traps as they can replace themselves for free. Cursed Eldland in particular, works especially well here; providing quick setup at barely any cost.
The Destiny HERO package is also invaluable as one of the best grind tools of the deck. Enforcer is a card that needs no introduction and is great at being a recurring menace. Destiny HERO - Dasher is also important due to the high monster count the 60-card variant of the deck plays.
In the Extra Deck, Zohair also chose to play Linguriboh and 2 copies of Predaplant Verte Anaconda. Linguriboh can be summoned using any level 4 or lower Cyberse monster and is great against trap heavy decks and Infinite Impermanence. The 2nd copy of Anaconda is also nice as it helps play through Nibiru with any other extender. This makes sure that you still have Enforcer with Scythe as long as you can summon another monster (such as Souls).
Conclusion
The Adventurer package continues to be popular as one of the strongest engines in the meta. Out of the Top 16 decks, 10 were playing the Adventurer package (62.5%). Phantom Knights also did not perform very well at this event with only 2 representatives in the Top 32. This is surprising, as it was thought to be one of the strongest users of the Adventurer package and was very dominant in the OCG.
Swordsoul and Tri-Brigade variants also heavily dropped in representation after the release of The Grand Creators and the most recent Forbidden & Limited list. This is likely due to the fact that both decks lost some crucial cards and cannot incorporate the Adventurer package into their decks efficiently.
Nibiru, the Primal Being might start seeing more play due to the results of this event. Nibiru is still a fantastic hand trap that can definitely hurt many decks especially when paired with another disruption. Artifact Lancea is also starting to see more play as it has application against most of the meta decks. Many decks that play the Enforcer Scythe combo can also incorporate it as an alternative in that line.
PSY-Framegear Gamma is also seeing more play in many Side Decks and even some Main Decks. Gamma is one of the strongest hand traps providing removal along with its negation. It can also be used during your own turn in response to Wandering Gryphon Rider.
References
Week of February 21st - February 28th, 2022
Tournaments:
February 26th - 27th
