...Except Frog The Jam: A Paleozoic/Aquaactress/Frog Triple Feature

Ever wanted to see a 3000 ATK Frog?

(Edit sidenote at the start for those seeing it: For some reason, YGOPRODECK is convinced that Mother Grizzly is SR. It is not. It is an N. I checked. I don't know why it believes this is the case. But if you clicked here because of the comedy of 'haha this loser's using an SR in the N/R' format, hi! Enjoy the decklist!)

The N/R Festival is here in Master Duel; a chance to try decks far more interesting than anything in the Platinum ladder with essentially no cost.
As someone who climbed into platinum using none other than a Paleozoic deck already, I decided 'hey wouldn't it be funny if I did that here too'?
And so here we are!

This deck combines the powers of the Paleozoic trap-"monster" lineup, the few decent Frogs at N/R, and the severely-underrepresented Aquaactress archetype into a single deck that boasts both disruption and sheer unga bunga power on tiny little aquatic entities.
It's heavily based off this list made by DevilDeckYGO and direYGO (read: I netdecked for the groundworks and modified it from there), so credit where credit is due on that one.
With that said, let's get into how the deck works!

Step 1: Setting the Stage

The heart and soul of this deck is your Field Spell and your trio of Continuous Spells. Wetlands gives all Level 2 or lower Water Aqua monsters 1200 attack; this is functionally your entire monster lineup (save two), because for some reason the Aquaactresses are Aqua despite clearly being fishes. Well, I won't complain. Meanwhile, the Aquarium trio all provide benefits to your WATER monsters and/or your Aquaactresses, and revive an Aqua from the grave if your foe ever removes them.

Three Aquaactress Tetra provides a scary amount of consistency; the longer it's allowed to stay on the board, the more cards it can fetch you, and you can even activate multiples of it in one turn! For this reason, Aquarium Stage is one of the most ideal searches if you're not going on the offensive - it gives your WATER monsters battle protection and your Aquaactresses specifically protection from -all- monster effects. I can't count the times foes have attempted to fire a Malevolent Sin or Relinquished only to accomplish nothing.

Aquarium Set provides a moderate 300 ATK boost to all WATER monsters and an additional 300 to Aquaactresses specifically. It's a decent choice if you already have Stage or are up against a deck that primarily uses backrow-based removal, and it's also very funny to put a new meaning to the phrase "Set, pass". Aquarium Lighting is the weirdest of the three, doubling attack when battling enemy monsters, but only for Aquaactresses specifically. Don't take this one unless you specifically both already have an Aquaactress and either Set or Wetlands online.

Of the other two Aquaactresses, Guppy summons an Actress from hand, and Arowana searches one from deck. I'm only running one of each of these because Guppy's useless unless you already have one of the others in hand, and Arowana needs you to tribute. Which isn't super difficult in this deck - it's easy enough to get a Paleozoic or Ronintoadin on the field - but it's still an investment (and one that can end up falling down a Bottomless Trap Hole all too easily). Needless to say, Tetra is the best of the three.

Step 2: A Chorus of Croaks

No Toadally Awesome in this format, but wetlands girls make do. Your frogs are an excellent way to squeeze out value over the opponent, and can become surprisingly bulky with Wetlands up.

Whether you've seen its lock or simply its advantage-gathering, you probably already know what Dupe Frog does, but Flip Flop Frog is another story. It's similar to the PACMAN cast of reusable flip-esque monsters, but unlike them, its effect fires even when flipped face up by an opponent's attack. This means Flip Flop Frog at least trades with anything attacking into it, but it gets better for three simple reasons;

1. Flip Flop Frog's effect is non-targeting, non-destroying removal. This means it gets around annoying thorns in the meta's side such as Invoked Cocytus or Blue-Eyes Chaos Dragon (not MAX, the other one).


2. The more Frogs you have on the board, the better Flip Flop gets. Ronintoadin is a frog while it's on the field, so it's easy to bounce two or more cards on your turn and then go for a lot of damage.


3. Aquarium Stage is Flip Flop Frog's best friend. Your opponent attacks into your Flip Flop Frog, gets bounced, and Flip Flop stays alive, ready to return more cards to the hand the next turn.

And then we have one copy of Unifrog, who... exists. It's a bit of a silly high-roll tech choice, and you can cut it if you want, but it's searchable off Dupe Frog and gives you a way to pick away at backrow-heavy decks beyond just your Paleozoic traps.

We also have two monsters that -aren't- frogs but will be included here for brevity's sake. Dewdark of the Ice Barrier is a beatstick and Gagaga Cowboy-esque gamecloser tool. He has 1200 ATK normally, 2400 under Wetlands and more with an Aquarium Set or two involved, and can attack directly. This list runs him at 2, but feel free to modify up or down based on preference.
Finally, my extreme jank tech, Mother Grizzly. Yes, a recruiter from 2004. Why? Because this format is slow enough that set monsters aren't necessarily being destroyed by effects a majority of the time, and she is one of the only ways you can search either Flip Flop Frog or Aquaactress Tetra, the two most crucial monsters for your plans.

Interlude: The Back Row

The Paleozoic lineup to this deck is really quite simple. 3 apiece of Olenoides, Canadia, and Dinomischus. (Oh and a single Torrential Tribute.)
Olenoides is the primary form of backrow removal you have access to. In a format this slow, it's going to be very handy. If you can, fire it during the opponent's End Phase after they've set cards in order to render them inactive.
Canadia is a fantastic form of disruption by setting your foes' monsters face down, and Dinomischus is the most powerful by banishing ANY face up card... but has the cost of a discard.
Perhaps more notably in this deck than any other, Paleozoics can revive upon either player activating a trap card! They start off at 1200 ATK, but easily reach 2400 or higher after a Wetlands, just like Dewdark. Extra notable (and often forgotten) is that they're also immune to all monster effects when summoned this way, making them powerful beatsticks that are difficult to out via monsters! Just remember that they -will- be banished upon leaving the field unless you tuck them snugly under an Xyz Monster.

Step 3: Special Guests from the Extra Deck

Hoo boy. The Extra Deck options in the N/R Festival are... messy, let's say. But there's a lot of fun in that mess, so here's the rundown on the Extra Deck options this deck plays! You don't go into these super frequently, in all honesty.

Number 54: Lion Heart and Number 39: Utopia Roots are both made via three or two Tetra respectively, and either bounce battle damage and have battle immunity or negate attacks and power up vs. Xyz decks, but... well, you'll make these once in a blue moon at best. Feel free to cut them for more copies of the relevant extra deck.

The rest of your Xyz are all Rank 2, and thus more accessible. Of them, the best two are The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin, which negates a monster's effect and sucks its attack to 0, and Number 45: Crumble Logos the (et cetera), who has higher attack (2200 vs. 1600) and can negate backrow or monsters (as well as all other cards sharing that card's name while it remains on the field), but can't lower attack. We play 2 Javelin and 1 Logos here; if you cut anything from this extra deck, you probably can't go wrong with adding a second Logos.
Out of the other Rank 2 Xyz, Herald of Pure Lights cycles cards from grave to hand to deck, but doesn't provide much advantage unless you URGENTLY need a monster from grave to hand, and Cat Shark, who is a wall you could also use to make your Logos a 4400 ATK beatstick sometimes.

The other half of the Extra Deck is links. Starting off with the two you'll be going into the most - Codebreaker Virus Swordsman is an excellently sized body for a link-2 that even revives itself once on destruction (though this won't help you against Bottomless Trap Hole), and Geonator Transverser, a serious contender for underrated MVP of the deck. Being able to swap spare weak monsters with your foes' main powerhouse comes up more often than you'd think. Watch the zones and wait for your chance.

If your opponent isn't using backrow-based monster removal, Doublebyte Dragon can just straight up win you the game, and Gravity Controller is an out for if your foe tries to do the same against you. Pentestag lets those Wetlands-boosted beatsticks break through wally foes, and Powercode Talker is at once both beatstick and effect negation. Triple Burst Dragon is just okay, feel free to cut it.

Finally, Marincess Marbled Rock is a water link. Yup, that's it. You literally can't use any of her effects, but tragically enough, you have no better options.

Step 4: Okay, So How Do I Actually Play The Deck

The number of traps you have, as well as monsters that activate best on destruction, means that first and foremost you want to go first. Don't activate your Aquariums (except for Stage) if you don't have to (i.e. not summoning an Aquaactress turn one) - the lack of information means leaving your opponents uncertain of your deck and thus less likely to play around Paleozoics/Flip Flop Frog/etc.
If you have Stage and Dupe Frog in hand, it's sometimes best not to activate Stage at all, letting Dupe Frog die and thus loading your grave for an eventual Ronin as well as finding you Flip Flop. This is up to your own preference, though.
Your main goal early game is to disrupt your foe's plays with your Paleozoics and Frogs before pivoting into violence through Wetlands. Some games you won't draw Wetlands at all, and that's fine; you can either chip down your opponent or attempt to use the Extra Deck instead.
Don't fall for the temptation of going into your Extra Deck at the first moment, though! A lot of the times it's better to leave your aqua monsters on the field to be protected by Stage or to get the effects of cards such as Tetra or Dupe Frog.
Keep a card in hand for Dinomischus where possible. Your ideal discard is Ronintoadin as an excellent way to get it into the grave, but anything works.
Also, remember; both Stage-protected Aquaactress monsters and Paleozoics are immune to monster effects. This means your main threats are backrow removal (backrow that destroys monsters) and backrow removal (cards that get rid of your spells and traps). Watch your opponent's traps and make careful guesses as to what they might be; a well-timed Torrential Tribute can put you out of the game altogether.
Other than all of that, this deck isn't too complex to pilot once you know what you're doing. Good luck, and enjoy your time frogging!

Afterword: Other Options

The ratio and types of backrow this deck uses is entirely up to you. Lost Wind, Bottomless Trap Hole, and more copies of Torrential Tribute are all great for disrupting plays.

Moray of Greed could prove useful with a higher quotient of monsters, but the fact that we're at almost exactly a 20:10:10 ratio means it's less likely to activate.

Dragon Queen of Tragic Endings is very very funny - summoning itself when you control 3+ Continuous Spells, drawing a card and making the foe discard when it deals battle damage, and reviving itself by sending a continuous spell to the grave, which also triggers your Aquariums' revive effects. It's a bit too highroll-y for my liking, but hey, give it a shot if you feel like it.
Magical Broker is another way to trigger your own revival effects and also stalls for time if need be. Hooray for slow formats.

Given that Dewdark is a tuner, you could probably choose to run them at 3 and a Level 4 Synchro of your choice, of which this format has a grand total of six. Out of them, Old Entity Hastorr is probably your best bet.

Every single Paleozoic backrow is N/R. Customize as to your want.

More backrow-removing tools is highly welcomed; as both your Paleozoics (by default) and Aquaactresses (under Stage) are immune to monster effects, backrow-based disruption is their Achilles' heel. Mystical Space Typhoon, Nobleman of Extermination, and Mythical Beast Garuda are all fair options.

You can attempt to run a heavier Marincess package; both of their Link-1s are available at Rare, plus the sheer power of Marincess Wave is not to be overlooked. If you want to simply splash one in to recover off Marbled Rock, Marincess Basilalima is the most generic, I guess.

And of course, for sheer style points, accept Frog the Jam into your heart and deck-- eh? whaddya mean it's called Slime Toad now?

Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment with any severe deckbuilding issues I may have made down below!