The fateful day, April 10th, 2023... Tearlaments arrived with the pack in Masterduel came out entitled “Blessings of Nature,” forever changing ladder. With this pack, Masterduel’s first Tier 0 strategy arrived – Ishizu Tearlaments! To the dismay of many duelists, several strategies and decks are (for the time being) inert and useless. Personally, I found that my pure Branded deck doesn’t pack enough punch like it used to on ranked ladder in the face of countless mills and graveyard interruption. So I thought, if I can’t beat ‘em, JOIN THEM! I combined my old Branded deck with Ishizu and Tearlaments forming this 60 card monstrosity - and surprisingly, I've found my Branded deck working and winning again!
If you have all the Branded and Ishizu cards since you've obtained them earlier, this deck is a very budget way to play Tearlaments, since you only need 2 Scheiren, 1 Perlereino, 1 Rulkallos (120 UR), and 1 Kitkallos (30 SR). Everything else in the Tearlament deckcore are pennies!
Branded Ishizu Tearlaments is a strategy that can play going first, OTK going second, and piggyback off of your opponent’s Ishizu cards so you can punish your opponent for milling your deck! Also this deck can turbo out double Masquerade (tax dragon) before your mill plays start, so if your opponent activates any effect, they’ll be massively punished with a barrage of -600 LP for every card activation! With the many effects most players activate (esp. with the ridiculously long chains Tearlament/Ishizu does) your opponent will find that they have almost no lifepoints left. I’ve personally been winning on ranked ladder quite consistently with this iteration of this deck using my favourite Branded cards, so I thought I would write a strategy article for everyone!
ARCHETYPES AND DECKBUILDING
The deck is composed of three main groups of cards: Branded Despia, Tearlaments, and Ishizu. A minor Frightfur package is used to enable fusion summoning. Finally, the rest of the deck is composed of staple cards that enable draw power, board breaking or milling.
This deck is designed specifically to maximize benefits from milling as much as possible, since everyone and their grandma mills a ton on ladder. The staples boardbreaking staples Super Polymerization, Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talents are specifically included to slice through most Ishizu Tearlament boards right now. Branded Tearlaments has a hard time vs. generic rank 4 flloodgates on ladder right now, specifically Bagooska and Abyss Dweller. Super Poly can deal with Abyss Dweller before they can activate its crippling anti-GY floodgate effect by fusing into Mudragon of the Swamp with Rulkallos. Forbidden Droplet does a similar job negating Bagooska and Abyss Dweller while triggering your "sent to GY by card effect" cards.
Called by the Grave isn't good to use this format, due to how common the Ishizu graveyard shufflers can be, so it isn't used in this deck. Similarly, I didn't choose to use Maxx "C" in this deck since it conflicts with milling strategies (you want cards in your GY, rather than your hand) Tearlaments can potentially deck you out since they mill, your deck while special summoning a million times.
Other than Bagooska and Abyss Dweller, this deck deals with every strategy and everything possible they can throw at you due to the sheer amount of gas and consistency this deck has. Negates, handtraps, beat beatsticks can do relatively little to stop the fusion-milling onslaught that Branded Tearlaments does.
COMBOS AND GAMEPLAN
Going first, Branded Tearlaments strives to turbo out multiple Masquerades as early as possible. Two Masquerades are ideal, but a third can be included as well. After that, you fusion and mill as much as possible to summon as many fusion boss monsters as possible. The end boards vary due to the mills, but endboards usually consist of a Masquerade or two, Mirrorjade, Rulkallos, and perhaps a set card like Super Poly, Branded in Red or Droplet. If you're lucky, you may have Winda on board as well. The GY will also be packed, possibly including Fairy Tail Snow, and multiple Ishizu GY shufflers, Branded Retribution (follow-up for next turn) and Branded Opening (Protections for your fusion monsters).
Going second with Branded Tearlaments is mixed bag, especially depending on the strategy you're facing.
If you're facing a dedicated anti-GY stun deck like Floowandereeze and Exosisters - do not fear! This is where the Branded Despia side of your deck shine, since they don't really care about being banished, and can shrug off anti-GY effects! You can break boards with Guardian Chimera by destroying floodgates like Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissure. If Dimension Shifter is activated, you can simply summon Mirrorjade using Lubellion (since it uses banished cards to fusion summon), and clear whatever monster is on their board. After you break through and exhaust their initial set of anti-GY floodgates, you should be able to fusion/mill to victory regularly.
If you're facing a Ishizu Tearlaments player, they may mill your deck as well, giving you the opportunity to play during their turn and fusion summon. They will likely make a Abyss Dweller to counter your GY effects, and that's when you hope to draw into Forbidden Droplet or Super Poly. Even if Abyss Dweller is activated, this deck still has a ton of plays it can do, like board breaking with Guardian Chimera or Mirrorjade. You can also summon Masquerades to punish your opponent for activating any card effects. I find that after all the interruptions are exhausted in a Ishizu Tearlaments Mirror (chain link 10+ anybody?) it devolves around beatdown, board breaking and attacking for game, something that Branded is very good at.
There is not one generic combo in the Ishizu Tearlament mirror match, and this is where a duelist's individual decision making and luck comes in. In a mirror match, ask yourself these questions: "How many GY shufflers does my opponent have?" "How many interactions do I have to deal with before I can summon something big?" "Which is the perfect fusion monster to summon for this situation?" "How can I prevent my opponent from summoning Abyss Dweller/Bagooska?"
GENERAL TIPS
- Masquerade AKA "Tax Dragon" is an INSTANT WIN BUTTON in Ishizu Tearlament mirrors since your opponent activates soooo many effects as they pop off. They will also be forced to play sub-optimally to remove them before they lose too much lifepoints. Also, if you have several "Tax Dragons" out before milling with your Ishizu cards, your opponent will be hardpressed to piggyback off your mills since they are forced to pay alot to activate effects. Turbo it out and tax your opponent to death!
- Your answer to floodgates on the field (common in this meta since rogue decks use it a crutch to compete) is Guardian Chimera. Guardian Chimera is summoned through Polymerization (usually searched by Frightfur Package), Branded in Red or Despia, Theater of the Branded.
- You might find that the card you're searching for or need to use is in the GY due to the milling that is occurring. Shuffle it back into the deck with a GY shuffler so you can search it. In particular, keep track of the amount of Fallen of Albaz you have in your GY. Remember, you can't use Branded Fusion if all copies of Albaz are banished or in GY!
- Be always aware of what is in your GY and your opponent's GY. Be keen of the amount of shufflers that are lurking in either GY!
- When fusing with the Tearlament ladies, always keep track in your head which names you've previously used to fuse with - Merrli, Havnis, and Scheiren. You may find you sent the wrong Tearlament monster to the GY, only to find that you already fused with her earlier (I made this mistake a lot lol).
- This deck has no way to deal with Bagooska, other than hard drawing Forbidden Droplet, Triple Tactics Talent or simply waiting it out. Try to prevent your opponent from summoning it! When there are two level 4s on the field, that is an indication that you must interrupt your opponent to prevent Bagooska from coming out.
- King of the Swamp is another great card to use in this strategy. If milled, it makes the summoning of Albaz fusions or Rulkallos easier! I prompted to use the Frightfur Package over King of the Swamp, since I prefer the hand advantage it provides and the accessibility it grants to Guardian Chimera. When Grapha, Dragon Overlord of the Dark World comes out for Masterduel, I may include King of the Swamp since it's an easy boss monster to summon with Tearlaments.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
I dunno about you duelists, but I've lately found ladder UNPLAYABLE and UNENJOYABLE with all the Ishizu Tearlaments running around. In Platinum/Diamond where I hang out, there is no variety in ladder anymore! Most rogue strategies are choked out of existence (facing the same deck over and over is boring)! Mind numbing chain link 10s are the norm! Floodgate stun decks are the only non-Tear decks on ladder! Turns take a long time IRL to resolve! (Please Konami for the love of the health of your game nerf to the ground the Ishizu cards!)
My unhappiness with Masterduel ranked ladder changed when I adapted my favourite deck, Branded to fit into the meta. Branded Tearlaments can piggyback off my opponent's mills, punish them for playing on my turn with Tax Dragon, and as usual, OTK in a blink of an eye with gigantic fusion boss monsters! I can actually competently play with the big scary mill decks on ladder and have fun! If you're stuck in a similar situation with Masterduel ranked ladder, perhaps you can augment your Branded deck as well - because you know what they say: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
GLHF Duelists!
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