Hey Tearlaments players, are you feeling sad that the recent banlist left your most powerful deck at a mere fraction of it's power? Well, take this COPIUM and build the best competitive way to build using these forsaken mermaids for the April 2023 TCG format!
As you all know, the most recent TCG banlist has eviscerated Tearlaments as a pure deck. The limitation of every Tearlaments fusion enabler to 1 severely limits the deck's ability to make plays. The ban of Kitkallos eliminates an key crux that holds the strategy together. Currently, I believe the best way to pilot Tearlaments is to use them as an engine alongside other decks they could use as a crutch - and what better fusion deck to put it in than Branded?
Branded Tearlaments combines the incredible fusion powers of both strategies to create a powerful deck capable to deploying multiple strong boss monsters! The main appeal to use this deck over pure Branded is that Branded Tearlaments naturally plays through both of Branded's archnemesis - Ash Blossom and Nibiru. The heavy use of King of the Swamp/Muddy Mudragon enable the use of Rulkallos (negates Nibiru) and Grapha, Dragon Overlord of Dark World (omni-negate). You can summon Grapha/Rulkallos before you use Branded Fusion to guarantee your most important card's resolution!
ARCHETYPES AND DECKBUILDING
Since this deck is a mix of both Branded and Tearlaments strategies, both engines are small compared to their "pure" counterparts. Rest assured though, both decks function in perfect harmony and synergy!
For the Branded side of this deck, its ratios are maximized to search for Branded Fusion - the most important starter that gets all your plays going. 1 Tragegy, 3 Aluber, 3 Branded Opening and 3 Branded Fusion give you 10 ways to Branded fusion in a 42-card deck, so you'll see it in most opening hands. 1 Ad Libitum and 1 Branded in Red are included since it is the bare minimum needed for the Branded in Red -> Guardian Chimera + Mirrorjade combo. Only 2 Albaz is used since you'll be making Lubellion most of the time with Branded Fusion, shuffling back
The Tearlament portion of this deck is minimal, consisting of only 6 cards. 3 Perlereino and 1 Terraforming allow you to search for the two maindeck Tears, Scheiren and Havnis. Scheiren (Discard to GY enabler) and Havnis (Handtrap) are chosen for their utility, while Merrli and Reinohart are intentionally left out for the purpose of making this engine as compact as possible. 3 Kashtira Fenrir allow for you to search out Kashtira Tearlaments, another mill enabler.
1 each of Agido and Kelbek are used since both are mill enablers, and are perfect discards/fusion material. Kelbek also functions as a decent handtrap.
Fusion Deployment is used primarily for tutoring Cartesia from deck, and this girlboss makes many plays available! Cartesia and her advanced fusion form, Granguignol can dump Muddy Mudragon into the GY to act as a separate name and fusion material your maindeck Tearlaments. If you already have King of the Swamp in the GY, you can always send instead Garura for a +1 draw.
3 King of the Swamp and 1 Polymerization as a search target is included, since they function as specific names when used for fusion material in the GY when fusing with Tearlaments.
You've probably noticed that every engine and archetype in this deck are extremely compact and streamlined. This is to enable the use 6 "flex spots" in the deck while making the deck as close to 40 as possible. 3 Nibiru and 3 Ash Blossom are auto-includes in a meta dominated by Kashtira and Branded. These cards can be easily sided out in games 2 and 3 for appropriate cards specific to the match-up.
COMBOS AND GAMEPLAN
Branded Tearlaments' gameplan is just like every other Branded deck - resolve Branded Fusion and spam powerful boss monsters! The only difference between this and the "pure" variant of Branded is that it has another layer of protection and interaction - Tearlaments! The inclusion of Tearlaments cards enables you to summon Grapha and Rulkallos to insulate your Branded Fusion from common interruption that would otherwise end your turn - Ash Blossom and Nibiru. Certain hands and mills summon these protective monsters before you start your main play.
Here are the deck's unique combos:
Tearlament girl + Cartesia = Granguignol + Grapha/Rulkallos (Insulation vs. handtraps like Ash and Nibiru)
1. Summon Cartesia to the field. (Either by normal summoning or with Fusion Deployment).
2. Fusion summon Granguignol using Cartesia + Tearlament girl.
3. Activate in CL1 Tearlament girl in GY to fuse, and CL2 Granguignol sending Muddy Mudragon from the Extra deck to the GY (If you already have King of the Swamp in GY you can send another monster instead).
4. Summon either Rulkallos (Nibiru protection) or Grapha (Omni-negate protection, requires a discard) to the field using Tearlament girl + Muddy Mudragon/King of the Swamp!
Kashtira Fenrir + Perlereino/Scheiren = Mill 5 to GY. (Mill 5 for GY set-up before you starting fusion summoning)
1. Special summon Fenrir.
2. Search with Fenrir Tearlaments Kashtira.
3. Activate Perlereino to search Scheiren.
4. Activate Scheiren's effect to special summon herself to the field, sending Tearlaments Kashtira from hand.
5. Mill 3 to GY with Scheiren and mill 2 to GY with Tearlaments Kashtira.
After making Rulkallos/Grapha, you go for the usual Branded combo to make Mirrorjade, then to use Branded in Red during your opponent's turn to create Guardian Chimera.
Alternatively instead of Despian Tragedy, you can send a Tearlament girl to the GY when making Lubellion to make you another Fusion monster, given you have proper GY set-up. Sometimes if you mills/hand are correct, you can make both Rulkallos and Grapha complete with a Mirrorjade as your first turn board!
- Mill as much as possible when before fusion summoning so you have as much options in the GY as fusion material as possible. If you milled King of the Swamps/Tragedy/Tearlament girls, you've hit a home run!
- Try to bait out Ash Blossom by your many searches/summons/mills from deck before you use Branded Fusion. If you don't have Branded Fusion, your opponent will likely hold Ash Blossom in their hand waiting for it, so you can bluff having the card to search/summon all you want!
- Branded Tearlaments lacks in-engine ways to remove backrow, except with Guardian Chimera. Backrow floodgates absolutely slaughter Branded, so if you're against an opponent using something like Rivalry of Warlords, it probably is time to proceed to next game! Be sure to side in backrow hate in those match-ups!
- Guardian Chimera is the best card to crack open established boards. With it's untargetability, beefy 3300ATK/DEF statline and non-targeting destruction, most boards fall to this offensive juggernaut. If your opponent negates Polymerization/Branded in Red to prevent Chimera from coming out, they have wasted a precious interaction paving the way for you to use Branded Fusion.
- Try to have Cartesia on board before you summon monsters on the field with important effects. Cartesia's quick effect fusion summon allows you to dodge common targeting negates like Impermanence and Effect Veiler.
- When siding out for games, the best cards to side out are Tearlaments Kashtira and the 2 Ishizu cards.
- Want to see the deck in action? Scroll to the very bottom for the Youtube video!
CONCLUDING REMARKS
At Locals, I've been getting my butt handed to me whenever somebody Ash Blossoms my Branded Fusion. That smug ghost girl's face absolutely destroys my entire gameplan, strategy and night everytime she negates the effect of my mot important fusion card!
Branded Tearlaments aims to fix that, since it offers an additional way to protect Branded Fusion from devastating interruption that would otherwise completely stop my turn and lose my match. It's also a perfect time to buy the Tearlaments cards as well, since they have largely crashed in price to the banlist decimating the once mighty deck to a mere shadow.
If you like to inhale copium like me and are still desperate to use your Tearlaments cards "semi-competitively," perhaps Branded is the best way to play the strategy right now! If you don't mind me, I'll take my Branded deck to Locals so I can laugh (or cry) at the players who try to Ash/Nibiru me.
GLHF Duelists!
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