1st: meepmoto27
2nd: punkrocklee
3rd: burritoman93
4th: srn347
2nd: punkrocklee
3rd: burritoman93
4th: srn347
Congratulations to all who topped! The following deck profiles were all written by the respective tournament participants.
1st Place: 60 Card Dragon Rulers
Player: meepmoto27
Why did you choose to run your deck?
I originally chose to play Dragon Rulers for the January 2018 Trinity Cup because I wanted to try and make a workable build for the deck. I've always loved the art for the Dragon Rulers and didn't play when they were legal in the TCg, so I wanted a chance to use them. Through testing I eventually settled on the 60 Card build as it seemed, in my opinion, to be the best build for that format.
What was your Deckbuilding Philosophy?
The philosophy behind the deck started with me working with a minimal Dragon Ruler core. In testing, I found the main issue I had was how fast the deck ran itself out of resources. The cost of 2 Dragons every time you wanted to summon a Ruler proved too high. This led me to going to 60 cards and including some mill cards.
The engines I chose to play were Lightsworn, Blue-Eyes, and Invoked. The Lightsworn engine proved useful as it generated additional mills when I couldn't access That Grass Looks Greener. Blue-Eyes, although somewhat bricky, ended up working quite well. Dragon Spirit of White had good synergy with both Arkbrave Dragon and revival. The tuners were also all very good as they could allow level 8 Synchro plays even when they couldn't enable the Blue-Eyes engine. Finally, the Invoked engine was a no-brainer. It gave an additional field spell, making Set Rotation more viable. It also served generally as a +1 or more, giving the value of a boss monster like Mechaba.
The other half of my deckbuilding philosophy was the choice to dedicate the deck to being blind second. I chose this as a meta call because I saw a lot of people playing decks focused around going first (Zoodiac, Invoked, Good Cards deck) and decided I didn't want to rely on winning Rock-Paper-Scissors. To enforce this, I played a low Trap count and added in a larger hand trap lineup as well as several boardwipes. This also increased my chance of opening That Grass or Left Arm Offering without putting me as behind as I would be going second in Advanced.
While this philosophy worked out, I think that more Traps can still be mained due to the format's slower speed. More spot removal such as Book of Moon, Mind Control, and Soul Taker in the main might also be useful.
What were your tech choices?
My first major tech choice was Arkbrave Dragon and Amorphage Goliath. The main drawback to them is hard-drawing them without a discard outlet. However, Dragon rulers mitigate this as they can at least function as banish fodder. The advantages to the egnines did outweigh the risks though. Through the massive amount of milling and burying available, the lock was quite easy to establish and theoretically would shut out Zoodiac completely.
My other main tech was Shiranui Spiritmaster. Although the card is commonly seen in 60 Card Zombie Lightsworn decks in advanced, it may seem more dead here. However, the presence of Fairy Tail Snow and 2 Blaster made this card very easy to banish. Going into this format, I expect it to still be good with how strong Snow. This is in addition spot removal's power in a slower format.
How were your matchups (in Top 4 and across the tournament if you played the same deck)?
I started playing the deck in Round 3, after switching from Performage Invoked.
Round 3 vs 60 Card Field Spell Control (2-0)
My first trial for the deck was against 60 Card Field Spell Control. Although both of the games were relatively grindy, the sheer ability of Dragon Rulers to serve as recurring large threats ended up winning me both of my games.
Round 4 vs 60 Card Zoodiac (2-0)
My round 4 matchup was against another 60 card deck and this time I had the misfortune of opening with 2 useless copies of That Grass Looks Greener. This matchup I largely won for the same reasons as round 3, but with the addition of Fairy Tail Snow putting in a lot of work for me.
Round 5 vs Trickstar w/ SPYRAL (2-0)
My final matchup in Swiss was against a non-60 Card deck, giving me an advantage. Although the Trickstar engine is generally quite strong, the low amount of backrow and potential for my hand to plus on banish gave me the edge. I also successfully resolved That Grass in one of my games, more or less winning me that game.
Top 4 vs srn347's Good Card Graydle Timelords (2-1)
In the first game of this match I went second, getting locked out by a Fossil Dyna. The Fossil Dyna was too well protected and I was unable to gain any foothold in the game. I followed this up with That Grass, winning me game 2 through sheer advantage. The last game I won without Grass largely through the high ATK of Dragon Rulers being very difficult for most decks, especially a more control oriented one, to get past.
Finals vs punkrocklee's True Draco Kozmo (2-0)
I resolved Grass in my first game, giving me such a huge resource advantage that my opponent was unable to get a foothold and outgrind me. In addition, the ability of my deck to easily put very large threats on board did a good job at nullifying TD Kozmo's advantage of having hard to beat monsters. In the second game I didn't draw Grass or Left Arm Offering, but I was able to win through outgrinding the opponent with powerful Extra Deck monsters such as Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend.
Is your deck still playable in the current format?
The deck is still extremely playable as it got away with only minor hits. While it is indisputably less consistent, I personally believe there aren't any other decks in the current format with significantly more consistency. Because of this, it is widely viewed as the threat to beat in the upcoming February 2018 Trinity Cup.
You don't need to change much to make the deck playable in the current format. The easy switch for the Trinities is to add in a second copy of Left Arm Offering as the 6th Trinity. Beyond that, replace the Invoked engine with a SPYRAL engine (Resort, Tough, and Super Agent) to keep the field spell ratio good. Other than that, either add more going second cards or more Traps.
2nd Place: True Draco Kozmo
Player: punkrocklee
Why did you choose to run your deck?
The main reason I chose to run True Draco Kozmo for the January 2018 Trinity Cup is because you can consistently access your gameplan despite Trinity being a highlander(ish) format. With most of the lineup sharing similar effects you can build your deck to do the same thing in most games rather than just "playing what you draw". This was further helped by how easy it was to access field spells meaning I could find Diagram a lot. I was also more comfortable with the deck than for something like Zoo which I though was very strong after seeing it played.
What was your deckbuilding philosophy?
So as I mentioned earlier, the general goal is to be able to do the same kind of thing every game. This means we run cards that help us do that and cards that are good when we do that. The main part of the gameplan: access Kozmo Tincan. This is why we run Ships + Diagram, One for One, and Emergency Teleport. All of these cards gives us access to Tincan which is a search for any Kozmo and gives grave setup for Dark Eclipser and our revival traps.
The reason why we run every single legal Kozmo above level 5 is partly because they let us access Tincan. It's also so that we can always have a Kozmo that floats into a level 5 Kozmo, those being Kozmoll Dark Lady and Kozmo Sliprider. Both of these cards have powerful effects during your opponents turn which is very useful. Running lots of Kozmos also lets us use Tincan twice without removing all targets for floating from the deck, meaning I can also run Kozmojo since it might be a free +1 we wouldn't get otherwise.
The Reasoning Behind Kozmo Ratios
Since I run almost all the Kozmos, I should explain why I don't run the rest. Kozmo Dark Planet is bricky in Trinity due to its summoning condition. Kozmo Delta Shuttle isn't guaranteed to have good targets to send for the attack manipulation effect later in the game and doesnt float into a ship/dark lady. Kozmo Goodwitch almost made the cut, but in the end I played Fairy Tail Snow instead since its searchable with Luna and can occasionally use the revive effect. Stormtroopers was another consideration, but in the end this build isn't focused on the pilots and he is quite bad without additional setup. Finally, I didn't run Kozmo Scaredy Lion because it is just a bad card.
The Reasoning Behind True Draco Ratios
My TD lineup is pretty straight forward, the only consideration was running Dreiath III, the True Dracocavalry General alongside a copy of Mariamne, the True Dracophoenix to have more targets for Diagram searches and more ways to gain card advantage. I decided to go with the slightly smaller lineup to fit in more staples as there were quite a few very powerful cards I would love to put in my deck. Getting off the Disciples recycling effect is quite important as you run out of search targets fast if a monster stays on the board for long or if Diagram lives a couple of turns.
I'm playing most of the field spell searchers in the format since we have 2 powerful field spells in Kozmotown and Dragonic Diagram. Set Rotation, Terraforming, and Planet Pathfinder are all great in this deck, although I can't think of anything other than Diagram I would ever want to search with Pathfinder. The reason it works in this deck is because the TD spells allow us to gain an additional summon for tribute summoning a TD and popping a Kozmo ship special summons a pilot. This means using our normal summon for the search isn't awful. I have also forced Drident pops with Planet Pathfinder attacking it which of course is hilarious.
Set Rotation can occasionally give us some extra plussing if we give our opponent Kozmotown and then destroy it with Sliprider or a TD spell. Because we run all these field searchers, we naturally run Chicken Game as an extra target so the searchers aren't quite as bricky later in the game.
What were your tech choices?
I played both Fairy Tail - Luna and Fairy Tail - Snow. Luna searching Snow and then being such a powerful card in this format is a powerplay that has won me games. Drawing Snow without Luna is not that bad since a Book of Moon on legs is still okay and the grave effect occasionally comes up due to Tincan and the grindy nature of the deck.
Next we have Magical Scientist and Eater of Millions, the main 2 ways I ever touch the Extra Deck. Having access to these easy removal effects on a monster is sweet, and whenever I sided in Time Maiden I also side in Where Arf Thou? making these guys and Tincan searchable. Scientist is also a One for One target, meaning it's not dead once I use Tincan.
I'm playing Back to the Front, Call of the Haunted, and Torrential Tribute for my traps because of their immense synergy with Kozmo monsters. Using Torrential on a summon that poses a threat to your ship and getting to float into Sliprider/Dark Lady is really sweet. Revival traps are just great with Kozmo,
especially in a Tincan turbo deck like this one.
The Monarchs Stormforth and Breakthrough skill are mainly there to deal with quick effects that mess with our plays like Drident and Luna, although Breakthrough Skill
preventing Timelords when it is set is a sweet bonus.
Could you explain your side deck?
My Side Deck contains a pretty standard timelord package and the previously mentioned Where Arf Thou. I don't think I ever sided in the Metaion, the Timelord, but I'm sure there are some decks where you would want him in there. I also have Ghost Ogre and Ash Blossom in there, as they help vs field spell dependent decks and Ash can sometimes hit Grass/Left Arm Offering which is pretty important if you want to have any chance of winning vs D Rulers. Cosmic and MST are S/T removal, but most of the time only cosmic went in. However, the match vs pendulum is where MST might have come into play.
Mind Control, Brain Control and Soul Exchange are my extra answers for problem monsters. I am even playing a copy of boarbow in my Extra Deck to make sure I never have to give back a Zoodiac with Mind Control. Field Barrier is for going first vs other field spell decks, but I never drew into it in any of the games. Finally, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and Skull Meister are for graveyard based decks. Skull Meister is not as good vs rulers though, so he is mainly for stuff like BA and Shaddoll which I didn't see this tournament.
The Extra Deck is mostly just good stuff for scientist, a couple of rank 4's that do a lot in specific matchups, and some Links I never went into. I hoped all tournament I would get to punish someone with Akashic, but had no such luck.
How were your matchups?
I played the same deck with some small variations throughout the tournament, my matchups were:
Round 1 vs Phantasm Spiral 2-0
A pretty quick match, my opponent scooped when I destroyed his Pacifis game 1 and game 2 he gave me the match upon seeing his opening hand.
Round 2 vs Zoodiac 2-0
Went easier than I was expecting going in. My opponent wasn't running/drawing as much protection as some of the Zoo decks I was scared of this format and my side had plenty of hate for the deck.
Round 3 vs Zoodiac 0-2
Got murdered by the Zoo deck that had me shivering all tournament. Bricked in 1 game and got Dridented out of the second one.
Round 4 vs Pendulum 2-0
Game went pretty smoothly as I was able to use the S/T destruction from my TD spells to keep him from having complete scales in the mid-game. I also got Dark Lady on the field to prevent Luna from recurring every turn.
Round 5 vs Good Card Graydle Timelords 1-2
This one was rough. Game 1 I managed to snag a win by quickly putting a lot of damage on board and forcing out his backrow. In Game 2, his backrow kept preventing me from making plays and eventually a Solemn Warning on my last monster left me open to a direct attack with 250 LP left.
Entering Game 3 I started getting Yata locked, managed to fight my way through it with what I had in hand, but I eventually ran out of stuff. I struggled to defeat his Frightfur Sheep and in the end I lost. This match was riddled with misplays on my part and I might have had a chance if I had played it better.
Top 4 vs burritoman93's Zoodiac 2-1
This let me just barely get into top 4 where I got a rematch against Burritoman, the guy that 2-0'd me in Swiss with Zoodiac. He was still playing Zoo, although this time with a lot more other engines splashed in such as Trickstars and Spyral. Game 1 I was carried by Fairy Tail - Luna, a great card and one of the few cards that can out a Drident while plussing provided there is no Whiptail.
I also got to pull off a fun OTK by tagging out with multiple pilots. Game 2 was a grindfest where I eventually lost due to the immense amount of resource gathering and recycling availible to my opponent. Game 3 was a pretty standard game where I got one turn of really big damage and ended it by getting over his huge Dark Rebellion with Kozmoll Wickedwitch's effect to protect herself. I followed this by normal summoning Planet Pathfinder and going into Ragnazero.
Finals vs meepmoto27's 60 Card Dragon Rulers 0-2
In the finals I played vs meepmoto27 and his DRuler deck. It had me scared since the first time I saw it. In the first game, he resolves Grass. I kicked and screamed for a couple of turns, but eventually I lost to the huge advantage gap.
Game 2 I draw ash in my opening hand! Sweet now I can negate the left arm offering or grass and get an easy win! He's going to activate it anyyy second now... Joking aside I sit on an Ash all game before losing mainly to a Scarlight. I drew very well both games, but even getting to execute my gameplan wasn't enough to win against the massive amount of card advantage and threatening monsters DRulers can churn out.
Is your deck still playable in the current format?
It is, but I don't believe it to be a top contender anymore after losing Terraforming and Dark Eclipser. Not super happy about losing Scientist and Luna since they are very nice cards to have. However, they were generic so every deck lost them.
We cut every card that went to Semi-Forbidden since we want to preserve the ratios we have. If you dilute the deck too much, you can't be as sure you will draw Kozmo and TD plays. Because of this, we do not want any additional Trinities.
Dark Eclipser is replaced by the vastly inferior Delta Shuttle just to maintain the amount of ships in our deck. It might not float into the other level 5's, but it still floats into Tincan. Some of our staples are replaced with a miniature SPYRAL engine, helping us recycle ships to have more floating targets. The SPYRALs also give us access to both removal and R4nk plays. To accompany the newfound level 4 friends, I have added Instant Fusion to replace Magical Scientist. Goodwitch gets added as well, previously just below being playable and now fitting nicely into the deck. Breakthrough Skill goes out as it was mainly there to combat Zoo and Timelords. Since the deck to beat in the current format is Dragon Rulers, it doesn't put in enough work.
In the side we have taken out the Time Maiden package, as she got Semi-Forbidden. We then added some cards that are generally useful as well as Different Dimension Grounds. The hope is to either chain it to Grass oras we are killing the board of a DRuler player. The extra has mostly changed due to Scientist going away. Links are there to make sure we don't give back cards we steal with Mind/Brain Control. Tthe Xyz might also be pretty relevant in this build.
3rd Place: Zoodiac/SPYRAL/Trickstar
Player: burritoman93
Why did you choose to run your deck?
For the January 2018 Trinity Cup I wanted to give Zoodiac a proper send off as a Tier 1 deck and I succeeded. That and Zoodiac is my favorite deck of all time.
What was your deckbuilding philosophy?
The balance between Power and Consistency is key in having a Top Tier deck. My Zoodiac deck is the epitome of consistency and power. The deck relies on one card plays from the Zoodiac cards.
What were your tech choices?
- Fairy Tail Luna (1 card out to any boss/problematic monster)
- Timelord (To get rid of problematic cards on field and to get rid of backrow)
- Spyral engine (Quick 1 card removal)
- Trickstars
- Lightstage is good Against backrow
- Candina searches the entire engine and deals burn damage with Lycoris
- Reincarnation is too good not to run in the small engine
- Pianissimo (Protects monsters from destruction)
- Instant Fusion/Magical Scientist (Extender/monster removal)
- Many key traps to control and disrupt the opponent’s field.
How were your matchups (in Top 4 and across the tournament if you played the same deck)?
Played the same deck (similar list) the entire tourney and went undefeated in Swiss. I lost to PunkRockLee’s True Draco Kozmo deck in Top 4 match and won against Srn347’s GoodStuff.Dek for 3rd place.
Is your deck still playable in the current format?
Yes, to a degree. My techs for the deck (Time Maiden, Magical Scientist, etc.) have been semi-forbidden. This means my deck is less consistent and needs to play more cards to see them. Drident will also hurt its 1st turn plays and ability to interrupt. However, I am currently working on an anti-meta version of the deck using Zoodiac Boarbow.
No Zoodiac Drident is tough, but was necessary because that deck is very powerful even with Drident and Zoodiac Whiptail at semi-forbidden. Going foward, the deck cannot fully replace Drident. It can go to an even more anti-meta route and stall more. This decklist might be an answer to next format’s meta: Grass decks.
4th Place: Good Card Graydle Timelords
Player: srn347
Why did you choose to run your deck?
A big part of why I chose "good cards, the deck" for the January 2018 Trinity Cup has to do with the format being highlander. This weakens archetypal decks as consistency is down. It also makes deck quality more dependent on individual card quality. There's also a strange but effective degree of versatility in running a deck of good cards.
What was your deckbuilding philosophy?
In general, decks I build tend to rarely include "monster mash" or "set 5" decks. In particular, I usually tend toward a monster-to-backrow ratio of about 2-3 (it varies among decks, of course). I also avoid running "garnets". As for the monsters and backrow I chose, I tried to obtain high value per card. This is to outvalue my opponent in the long run and gain advantage. I also built for versatility, preparing for a variety of situations/matchups. Naturally, this can be a balancing act as versatility and value tend to be each others' opportunity costs.
What were your tech choices?
Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, Banisher of the Radiance, and Phantom Knights' Sword are all techs I added going into the final 4. The reason for Fossil Dyna is that it can both prevents Special Summons and can nuke the field. This makes it a versatile, high-value card that can win me games against special summon-heavy decks.
Banisher similarly locks out graveyard decks, which are also common. Even against decks that don't rely much on the Graveyard, I'll likely break even by stopping 1 Graveyard effect. Phantom Knight's Sword was by far the most difficult tech to consider. At first I was doubtful as to whether it'd be a safe pick, being completely dead without monsters. However, the value it provides in protecting an important monster, destroying an opponent's monster by battle, and protecting it again from a later destruction proved to be too amazing not to run. In fact, that 2 card combo unilaterally won me game 1 against grass.
How were your matchups (in Top 4 and across the tournament if you played the same deck)?
Kozmos were a little tricky but for the most part completely manageable. The lack of Dark Destroyer and the highlander restriction lowered their ceiling significantly. Zoo was pretty difficult, mostly just because Drident is such a strong boss monster. Burritoman93 also played good staples to protect it, such as Lance and Pianissimo. Grass Rulers was honestly projected to be my easiest matchup in the top 4. I was actually favored to win until I somehow opened 6 monsters in a deck with a low monster count. I then failed to out a 2600 vanilla, Tidal, losing the game. Not to say it isn't a strong deck, the ceiling for it certainly is quite high in the grind game.
Is your deck still playable in the current format?
Yep!
4 of my 5 power cards from last format were hit, leaving only Eater of Millions. This means I lost Luna, Yata, Scientist, and Time Maiden. However, some new cards that hit the TCG recently have been added to my deck. One such example is Ghost Bird of Bewitchment. Additionally, I did some digging into the cardpool and found some old but effective gems such as Speedroid Maliciousmagnet. This card is useful with more Extra Deck space, as semi-forbidding Scientist freed up 10 spots for me.
