Koa'ki Meiru Deck

This is my take at building a pure "Koa'ki Meiru" deck, an archetype that is as unknown to many players as it is without focus in playstyle. They started out as a way to keep "Chaos" cards like "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" in check a those years ago, but while the game evolved into a direction where such counters where not really necessary anymore, the archetype is stuck in its ways with the newest support card rather supporting the "Koa'ki Meiru" variant called "Rock Stun". Nonetheless. I tried my best making something with this group of beatsticks and outdated mechanics, and here is the result.

First, before I start listing my monster choices, there are three copies of "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" and three copies of "Diamond Core of Koa'ki Meiru". Those are very much necessary, since the "Koa'ki Meirus" work with an upkeep cost system that either requires you to reveal a card with a certain monster type from your hand (unless you have one of the various exceptions) or discard one "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" to keep your monster from blowing itself up. You can there search for and use the "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru", use the "Diamond Core of Koa'ki Meiru" to give your monsters protection from the destruction effect or simply use them as Xyz or Link material before they implode.

The monster choices are as follows: Three "Koa'ki Meiru Urnight" are absolutely paramount, since they are both the only thing that comes close to swarming since they summon other "Koa'ki Meiru" monsters from the deck, as well as your best way to go into Link-2 and Rank 4 Xyz monsters; two "Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak" can inflict solid damage to the opposing life points and interact very well with "Core Overclock"; one "Koa'ki Meiru Drago" serves to counter Light- and Dark-based decks; two "Koa'ki Meiru Crusader" as recovery tools, something to reveal for "Koa'ki Meiru Urnight" during the End Phase, as searchable monsters via "Fire Formation - Tenki" and as a passable beater; a small "Rock Stun" engine with two "Koa'ki Meiru Guardian", one "Koa'ki Meiru Overload" and three "Koa'ki Meiru Supplier", which give some Stun options as well as further summons and searches; and two copies of "Koa'ki Meiru Tornado", who I personally find very helpful against combo decks that like to end on large Special Summoned boards.

I already mentioned a sizeable amount of the Spell cards, like "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" (as cost for some card effects and to keep your monsters alive), "Diamond Core of Koa'ki Meiru" (searcher and destruction protection), "Fire Formation - Tenki" (another searcher) and "Core Overclock" (ATK steroid), but there are some more. "Raigeki" is helpful since it can clear the board of threats, which is something that does not come naturally to "Koa'ki Meirus"; two "Pot of Desires" for card draw; one "Monster Reborn" primarily for reviving "Koa'ki Meiru Urnight" but also to (re-)gain Link and/or Xyz materials; the copies of "Tri-Brigade Airborne Assault" allow the deck to search "Koa'ki Meiru Tornado" by targeting "Koa'ki Meiru Urnight" or "Koa'ki Meiru Crusader"; "Fire Formation - Tensu" is help for further swarming; and the single "Double or Nothing!" is simply part of the "Utopia Double" engine. The Trap cards are basically meant to serve as floodgates and hurt the opponent more than they do you like "Lose 1 Turn" to keep effect monsters at bay temporarily or "Skill Drain" to do the same in a more permanent fashion. Both cards can also affect your own monsters, but due to "Koa'ki Meiru" monster starting out with high ATK and gaining a sizeable boost via "Core Overclock", you can simply decide to go full caveman and simply attack with your beatsticks if necessary. The last card is "Gozen Match", which can also hurt your board, but is oftentimes not that bad for you since most of your monsters are Earth Attribute.

The Extra Deck features some Rank 4 Xyz monsters as the easiest option to go into: A sizeable "Utopia" engine featuring two "Number 39: Utopia", one "Number 39: Utopia Double" and one "Number S39: Utopia the Lightning" serve as solid beatsticks; "Gallant Granite" can search the "Rock Stun" monsters; "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Tiger King" is more effect negation and can be summoned via the deck's Beast-Warrior monsters; "Number 82: Heartlandraco" can make use of the "Fire Formations" staying on the field and can prove to be a solid direct attacker; "Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer" can get rid of monster you cannot destroy; "Daigusto Emeral" recycles monsters for card draw; "Gagaga Cowboy" can shoot the opposing life points when the opponent is close to death and potentially provides another beater. The Rank 5 "Drill Driver Vespenato" can make use of any Rank 4 monster you play and might prove helpful as a 2500 ATK beater with piercing damage. The Link options are simply the two destroy effect "Knightmare" monsters and "Tri-Brigade Ferrijit the Barren Blossom" is simply another utility tool.

While there are some fun combinations like "Core Overclock" with "Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak" as a damage tool or simply blasting the opposing board with "Koa'ki Meiru Tornado", it has to be said that this deck is at the bottom end of the ladder. It is easy to counter, has little options to play through counters and/or negates and struggles setting up OTKs despite being a beatdown deck with high ATK values. Still, "Koa'ki Meiru" is an archetype in the game and therefore something that is worth looking at, if only for inspiration. If you want to know more about the "Koa'ki Meiru" archetype and the various cards I did not feature in this list, feel free to visit my blog and this archetypes analysis via the following link: https://cubiccreativity.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/archetype-analysis-koaki-meiru/