Pros:
This deck has easily become a pet deck for me because it indulges my two favorite deck qualities; nonlinear combo lines that reward patience and decision making and a heavy incentive to play control. While being a control deck it can transition into a big hitter combo deck if given enough traction, but for that you need a good turn one and some luck because this deck hates going second. Naturia sets us up with either a decent one card combo in Mole Cricket or a phenomenal two card combo with Camellia and either Mole Cricket or Naturia Blessing. Allowing a board to have, at the very least, Naturia Beast and Mole Cricket.
In conjunction with the Naturias are the Vernusylphs and thier Queen, Vera. Being one of the best designed boss monsters Konami has crafted, Vera is a Change of Heart, a Monster Reborn and a unique monster negate all in one, making a disadvantageous board state turn quickly in your favor whenever she springs onto the field. The Vernusylphs all add a layer to the deck that allows you to forgo normal summoning and open roads either to extend or bait out disruption, all while you set up Naturia Beast to turn off spell cards and build up to the bigger synchros turn three to close out the game.
Cons:
This deck is not for everyone as it takes a lot of patience. Not in the gameplay, but in the factors outside of your control. To reiterate, this deck hates going second, and sometimes we lose the coin toss twelve games in a row playing our favorite Konami cash grab. Which does not help because the deck surprisingly struggles to remove backrow that is already in play like continuous spell/traps and field spells because Beast and Barkion do not negate effects, they negate activations. And while this deck can play through a fair amount of disruption it struggles to send out a big enough body that can beat over the 3000 ATK monsters meta decks love to churn out. But the hard truth of the deck is, it just bricks. Stink Bug and Sunflower are hard bricks, and while playing Sacred Tree has saved me before, that does not excuse the amount of games lost by drawing it in the opener.
So why play the deck?
I honestly don't know. For me it has a cozy charm to it that I don't get from decks with epic lores, flashy dragons and impossibly exaggerated swords. When I craft a deck, I love the world that I build in my head when it comes together, and I especially love when the cards have unique effects that don't see play often. Naturia's resource loop with Vernusylph's ability to synergize with the deck is as wonderful as an ecosystem in bloom. And you never know what you'll get. Some games are blowouts either because you're opponent can't out Beast, Vera, or you hit the lottery and open a great hand that can mill all of your Sacred Trees. Other games are so satisfyingly back and forth that you either win feeling clever or lose and become a better player for it, and for that, I think the deck is worth talking about.
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