Starter Deck 2020: The Best We'll Never Have OCG-exclusive products are always an interesting sight to see, as we’ll never know if and when we’re getting them. This one in particular is something

OCG-exclusive products are always an interesting sight to see, as we'll never know if and when we're getting them. This one in particular is something likely to never grace the TCG landscape. Coincidentally, the new Egyptian God Structure Deck setlists were released, and it was terrible, save for very few cards. The new support also doesn't do any favors in making Slifer or Obelisk that much more playable or relevant. Because of that, let us look at something a little more refined. Let's talk about OCG's Starter Deck 2020.
This is one of the best, if not the best Starter Deck of all time. For both casual and competitive players alike, it certainly packs quite a punch!

Old Faces with a Twist

To get the elephant out of the room, this does seem to be a modern take of an old structure, which was Dragon's Collide! Make no mistake though, as there are a lot of hidden gems within this sealed product. Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon is a little out of place here, but it's a fine addition in terms of Starter Deck power levels. Lightpulsar and Darkflare also fall into a similar boat.
Strangely enough, Starter Deck 2020 was also exclusive to the Simplified Chinese scene in the OCG! This does of course still make it OCG legal, but the methods of obtaining it were rough around the edges.
Most Starter Decks tend to be really mediocre but contain at least a few or so decent reprints to make them worth considering. Codebreaker was notable for its introduction of Transcode Talker, a strong enabler in Cyberse strategies. There was also Linkuriboh, which only had a V-Jump printing at the time.
SD 2020 on the other hand, takes it a step further and has an insane amount of good reprinted cards! A little RNG is involved with the Deck Enhancement pack, but it's a small downside.

Enhancing the Sales!

When you bought this starter deck, you also get access to the exclusive Starter Deck 2020 Enhancement Pack! Now while you aren't guaranteed to get everything, most of the things listed here are pretty top-notch.
For your one Secret Rare, the options are Levianeer, both BLS and CED (the Envoys), REDMD, and Destrudo! It is worth noting that the latter is legal in the OCG and is a pretty strong card, so that's a nice bonus.
The Super Rares are no slouch either! Harpie's Feather Duster stands out among the bunch, but its fellow limited brethren aren't far behind. Armageddon Knight, Foolish Burial, Raigeki, and Upstart Goblin are great pick-ups.
Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit pairs with the Effect Veiler in the Structure Deck to great effect. The former is a decent hand trap that pops in and out of people's radars.
Mystic Tomato being rather slow nowadays and Mirror Force Launcher being terrible aside, the rest are nice enough to have. Allure and Twin Twister are great in particular! Melody makes Levianeer and friends a lot more accessible and it goes hand in hand with the actual deck.

The Monster Goodies

One can argue that the other SDs also do a decent job at reprints. However, Starter Deck 2020 simply blows them all out of the water in terms of both quality and quantity. In addition, you actually get a pretty solid base to start off and upgrade from there.
Remember, Starter Decks are usually meant to be an introductory purchase for people who are only getting into the physical card game, and don't have much to work with. Having all of these allows for an incredible start and experience for both casuals and competitive alike. Still, that's not to say the non-beginners couldn't benefit from this either.
The monsters are definitely not as potent as the Spells and Traps that you get, but there are still some gems such as Effect Veiler and Chaos Hunter.
Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest serve as decent normal summons for a couple of decks that can abuse their effects still. Link monsters such as Almiraj and Artemis have given them a new lease in life post-errata.

The Spells and Traps

For the Spells and Traps, there's definitely a good bunch to pick from. A lot of these can find a home in many different strategies should you branch out, and that's definitely a good selling point. Pot of Desires leads us off as one of the strongest draw spells in modern times, so we're already on the right track.
Monster Reborn is nice as an extender or a comeback card too. Book of Moon is another underrated addition, as it is a flexible card that works going first or second. Mystical Space Typhoon is a little outdated, but it still has its moments.
With MST, Twin Twister, and Harpie's in the mix, you should be decently equipped in the Main or Side to help deal with backrow decks.

Solemn Judgment is definitely a strong staple card, able to be a powerful going first blow-out against most if not all strategies! Torrential Tribute is another timeless classic that's quite popular in the metagame too.

The rest of the line-up is still borderline good, as the likes of Compulsory and Crackdown can definitely pull some neat tricks against decks that need their Normal Summon to stick.
Of course, not every card can be amazing, so we have a couple of stinkers in all three categories. However, I would argue that the good definitely outweighs the bad here.

The Verdict

It's simple to grasp why we in the TCG would never get a Starter Deck of this quality. It simply offers too much for practically no cost at all. There are still some key takeaways you can get from something like this.
Including decent budget cards is always a nice option when it comes to stuff like this. You don't always have to stuff in high-end cards to make a product tick, just ones that are at least usable enough in their own right. Most, if not all structure decks have followed this to a tee, save for the Egyptian God Structures.
Finding the sweet spot that'll satisfy both major audiences of the card game is no easy feat, but this is an example of it done right. A great blend of timeless classics paired with viable staples is definitely a recipe for success.
Starter Deck 2021 in the OCG is right around the corner, releasing late July this year. It'll be pretty hard to outdo this one, that's for sure. Only time will tell if it ever lives up to the hype and success of its predecessor.

Conclusion

And that concludes our brief look at one of many OCG-exclusive products! I hope you enjoyed the ride, and do let me know if you want to see more of these covered. Do you agree that this is the best starter there is, or would you beg to differ?

More Articles

Login to join the YGOPRODeck discussion!
0 reactions
Cool Cool 0
Funny Funny 0
angry Angry 0
sad Sad 0

Comments