TCG Meta Deck Representation & Breakdown
Deck Breakdown:
- 10 Prank-Kids (9 Adventurer Destiny HERO, 1 Adventurer)
- 5 Tenyi Swordsoul
- 4 Floowandereeze
- 3 Cyberse Eldlich Adventurer Destiny HERO
- 3 Rose Dragon Adventurer Destiny HERO
- 2 Eldlich
- 1 Sky Striker Adventurer Destiny HERO
- 1 Branded Despia Destiny HERO
- 1 Invoked Dogmatika Destiny HERO
- 1 Dragon Link
- 1 Shaddoll Dogmatika
Deck Highlights
Prank-Kids Adventurer Destiny HERO
After 2 years without in-person events, YCS Charlotte 2022 came to a close with Elijah Green emerging victorious with his Prank-Kids Adventurer Destiny HERO deck.
For this event, Elijah chose to play a 40-card variant of the Prank-Kids deck. This is different from the 60-card variants as there usually isn't enough space to fit in all the hand-traps and engine pieces within 40 cards. While most successful lists play a full Prank-Kids engine with a plethora of hand traps, Elijah opted for a different approach. Instead of playing a full Prank-Kids engine, Elijah chose to slim down the engine; playing only 2 of each Prank-Kids monster along with 11 hand traps. This makes his deck quite consistent, as he's unlikely to see 2 of the same Prank-Kids monster in his hand while retaining good odds to open up with a hand trap.
We can also see 3 copies of Super Polymerization in the Side Deck. Super Poly is very useful in the mirror, as it can fuse away your opponent's bigger Prank-Kids monsters on your terms. Additionally, Elijah plays Starving Venom Fusion Dragon which gives Super Poly even more coverage. This makes it a powerful resource for dealing with monsters like Prank-Kids Battle Butler and Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer.
Moreover, Prank-Kids is just a strong deck. Since it only needs to see 1 monster for their full combo, the rest of the deck can be filled with strong engines, powerful board-breaking tools and disruption. This is even further supported by the inclusion of the Adventurer package which works very well with Prank-Kids. This makes the deck great at going both first and second. With that being said, it's no surprise Prank-Kids was a popular deck for this event.
Eldlich
Jerome Adams took 2nd place at YCS Charlotte 2022 after a 9-2 record after Swiss with his Pure Eldlich deck.
For this event, Jerome chose to play the Trap-heavy variant of the Eldlich deck. Trap Eldlich is a deck that capitalizes off the lack of backrow removal in the meta. By playing an abundance of floodgates and disruptive Trap cards, Jerome is able to take an advantageous position before most of his opponent's games have usually started. This is also in-part due to some of the more unconventional floodgates in his Main Deck. Anti-Spell Fragrance in particular is a powerful floodgate this meta as it blocks both Rite of Aramesir and Fateful Adventure. With Adventurer being such a popular engine, Fragrance will almost always get some value. Additionally, Fragrance is also strong against Prank-Kids as it prevents them from accessing their Prank-Kids fusions.
Lord of the Heavenly Prison also plays a key role as one of the most flexible cards in the deck. Not only does it protect your backrow from threats such as Lightning Storm and Harpie's Feather Duster, it's also a solid body and provides some useful utility. With the ability to fetch any S/T from your deck, it's great for setting up a Pot of Extravagance for the following turn or getting immediate removal in the form of Dogmatika Punishment.
Trap Eldlich is also a deck that is capable of ending games quickly. While this wasn't always the case, it definitely helps that the two different Lords in your deck are quite beefy. Furthermore, they're also both Level 10s; making them great for summoning Rank 10 XYZs. Therefore, it's not uncommon for a Gustav Max to make an appearance on turn 3 and a Juggernaut Liebe following soon after.
Floowandereeze
Ryan Fletcher placed Top 4 at YCS Charlotte 2022 after a 9-2 record after Swiss with his Floowandereeze deck.
For this event, Ryan chose to play a standard Floowandereeze list with a few Main Deck techs. Out of these techs, the 3 biggest ones are Mystic Mine, Harpie's Feather Storm and Dark Ruler no More.
Mystic Mine, of course, is... Mystic Mine. And while Ryan does only play 1 in his Main Deck, he does also play Terraforming and 6 Pot cards. This means that even with just 1, it's fairly likely he'll end up seeing it. Mine is a great card to drop to bait out a disruption or after baiting out a disruption. It can also be somewhat controlled as you can always replace it with Map when you've feel like its served its purpose.
Feather Storm is a blowout card that's great for just turning off an opponent's turn. It's especially good going 1st as it helps cement your board while minimizing your opponent's counterplay. Once they've passed, it's pretty easy to finish them off with the army of birds you've assembled.
Dark Ruler is a card that Ryan said was originally Infinite Impermanence. Since he felt like Impermanence didn't do enough, it led him to play this instead. Dark Ruler is a card that essentially lets you start a play against a big board. And since Floowandereeze sometimes struggles with established boards, it's no surprise why Dark Ruler can be good.
Tenyi Swordsoul
Sean Washington placed Top 8 at YCS Charlotte 2022 after a 9-2 record after Swiss with his Tenyi Swordsoul deck.
For this event, Sean chose to play a pretty standard Tenyi Swordsoul list. Swordsoul's game plan hasn't changed too much since the last meta and is still a solid contender in this meta. The deck is still great at making boards with Level 8 and 10 Synchros which of course is quite formidable. The Tenyi monsters also help with this and provide additional utility both for going 1st and 2nd.
One card Sean chose to play 3 copies of in his Main Deck was Triple Tactics Talent. Tactics is powerful tool that punishes the opponent for activating a monster effect during the Main Phase. With so many decks playing a high number of hand traps, it's quite likely you'll get hit with one during your normal play. Sean also plays 15 hand traps himself which synergizes with Tactics as it can either help you draw into more of them or give you enough information so you can use them optimally.
In the Side Deck, we can also see 3 copies of Mistaken Arrest and Rivalry of Warlords. Arrest is a temporary floodgate that functions as a pseudo-Droll & Lock Bird for 2 turns. It's a strong card against Floowandereeze as it prevents some of their smaller monsters from resolving their effects. It's also good against popular cards in the meta such as Pot of Prosperity and Water Enchantress of the Temple. Rivalry on the other hand is a floodgate that needs no introduction. With an effect to restrict the opponent into only accessing 1 type, Rivalry is strong against most decks in the meta especially after an Adventurer token hits the field.
Conclusion
Adventurer continues to be the most popular engine in the meta with over half of the Top Cut playing the Adventurer package in their decks. The only decks that don't play it need their normal summon effects.
Prank-Kids seems like the deck to beat with the most representatives in the Top Cut. Their ability to play all the best engines and hand traps with a 1-card combo makes it a difficult opponent to deal with.
The meta still is very wide with over 10 unique deck types in the Top Cut. With the release of the Branded Structure Deck, it'll be interesting to see how the meta develops.
References
Week of April 4th - April 11th, 2022
Tournaments:
April 9th-10th
