Due to the nature of how volitile Pendulum can be in Trinity (especially when playing around specific Effect Monsters), this is one variant of many that can be applied when taking into consideration Pendulum Magician. This build in particular aims to make the most usage of Rank 4s and Synchro 8s while also featuring a few bombs here and there that still synergize without clogging up the hand too much with non-scales. Unfortunately, losing Halqifibrax was an indirect nerf to PendMa's ability to have pressure during the opponent's turn, but it's still playable.
If you're interested in a more tempo-focused build, I'll be uploading one sometime in the future; however, I will say that Metalfoes tend to favor that style of play better as their room for mistakes and punishment is much more forgiving thanks to the abundance of searchers, Fusion Summoning, and Normal Monsters.
- Difficulty -
★★★★★
If you're going to be playing Pendulum in Trinity you should at least be forewarned that your hands will differ vastly in quality and consistency, especially the bigger your deck size is. No two openers should ever realistically be expected to be identical unless they're bridging through Extra Deck lines or engines and even then, your Pendulum composition would vary regardless of how consistent that board may've been (i.e. Bagooska/Halqi pass). You'll have to be prepared to weigh the worth of monster effects vs. necessary scales in tandem with determining if it's even worth it to commit to certain plays when faced with backrow or the dreaded Maxx "C" and Twin Twisters. Lastly, you'll also be committing Xyz materials to the GY instead of the Face-Up Extra Deck like one might be used to, so be prepared for that as well as non-archetypal cards sent there are functionally lost for the remainder of the duel without Omega.
- Consistency -
★★★☆☆
Since our plays focus primarily on the Extra Deck and not long-winded combos like its TCG counterpart, we just need to find any two level 4s to get off to the races... or establish a Synchro play that caters to the hand's follow-up options. Finding Pendulum Call is by-far the most consistent you'll probably get to an opener though, on top of protecting your scales from counterplay. Loop it with Enlightenment Paladin to further cycle your names faster.
- Sackiness -
★★☆☆☆
Not many avenues for sacking here since your best topdecks are situational or rely on a discard to work (like Pendulum Call). The addition of Revolution Synchron allows us to Black Rose the board without having to worry about conditional play like Exciton would require of us (and is also just unlimited for some reason). Berserker allows us to steal games pretty quickly with its raw damage output. And Clear Wing just enables Raigekis when appropriate... actually... between Berserker, Paladin, Archfiend, Magma, and Rebellion, the deck just features a myriad of conversions to finish off remaining LP from alarming levels that may've seemed safe prior.
- Viability -
★★☆☆☆
Viable enough. Like any actually dedicated Pendulum deck, I would not recommend playing it blindly into a tournament without practice first. You need to be able to play through your scales getting destroyed and targeted constantly, on top of the usual suspects for disruption and interaction. You cannot expect to rely heavily on Pend Summoning in every situation and need to be able to read the situation and assess which moves give the highest payout for the amount of risk you're putting in... and most importantly... you need to be able to cope with hands that feature no low/high scales.... everysinglegoddamtime.
No longer write-up concerning strategy here. PendMa itself doesn't really have anything outside of loops with Timestar, Oaf, and Star so if that's what you're looking for you're better off relying on incorporating engines like Exosister, Performages w/ Omega loops, or just simply sacking the opponent into oblivion with Mega Kuraz + Albaz shenanigans.
45 Card Deck = 3 Points with 3p used.
1p Duelist Alliance (Extra Copy)
1p Witchcrafter Golem Aruru
.5p Pendulum Call
.5p Draco Berserker of the Tenyi
Learning Pendulum in Trinity takes some time and getting used to. Prepare to suffer some loses or call otherwise good hands clunky on first look-throughs. If you're having trouble getting used to them I strongly encourage you to check out some replays of them in action, most notably the replays concerning victories that aren't just granted to them by a single turn's OTK. You can also always review your own replays to see what you could've done differently as the nature of Pendulums in a limited format like this invite room for a myriad of different routes to be taken with hands and decisions concerning them. Most cards tend to be starters, bridges, or extenders so having to sacrifice them to the S/T for scales makes decision-making a lot less braindead than something like "NS Girsu" into your respective pivots.
Good luck.
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