Deck Breakdown Analysis and Predictions for April 2016

The Ban Hammer has arrived and may the Yugioh Gods (Konami) have mercy.

First off, let us have a look at Decks/Archetype that were hit.

1. Dr Pe (Draco Performapal)

Ah yes, THE dominating deck of the meta, or should I say, previous meta. Needless to say, there were definitely mixed reviews about the banlist hits.

It would be an understatement to say that their main engines were severely crippled with the new changes. With Luster Pendulum, The Dracoslayer, Draco-face off, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, and Wavering Eyes down to one, and with Performapal Monkeyboard completely banned, Dr Pe lost 13 important main deck cards. Not only have they lost a good number of their searchers, the deck is also no longer able to make a full scale from a single card. And as if rubbing in the salt in their proverbial wound, their non-targeting bouncer, Ignister Prominence, The Blasting Dracoslayer, was also limited, making turnaround plays a lot more difficult to make.

"But what does all this even mean?" You may ask. The smaller number of searchers means this deck will be a lot less consistent than it was in it's glory days, BUT it is still playable, as proven by our TCG counterparts (although their hits weren't as bad as ours). With limited resources, play style should now focus more on resource management. So no more reckless plays guys.

All in all, this deck may still be meta, docking down to a tier 1.5 or solid tier 2.

(Note from the Editor: Hell effing yeah to these hits though, now they gotta think twice before letting me blow up their field!)

2. BA (Burning Abyss)

A deck that has been holding it's place in the meta ever since it's arrival in the OCG, Burning Abyss had initially gotten buffed with new supports like Fiendish Rhino Warrior, Beatrice, The Eternal Lady, Speedroids, and Phantom Knights. Well I guess Konami finally decided to take them down a notch.

Hits to the Burning Abyss decks include Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss (the main miller and recycler of the deck), Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (the searcher), and Tour guide from the Underworld (the instant rank 3 play maker). All three were limited, meaning you won't be seeing those three Dante's just chilling on the field anymore.

The deck is definitely slower now, since it's a lot harder for them to mill the cards they want, but both Dante and Scarm can still be recycled with the help of Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Many players are even moving lanes and trying out the ritual variant, especially with the help of Pre-Preparation of Rites. This deck is still meta, maintaining a strong tier 1 or tier 2.

3. Monarchs

Now unlike the previous two decks, Monarchs were strong in the meta despite being a rather budget friendly deck. You could probably build a solid Monarch deck with less than half on what you'd spend on a Dr Pe or Burning Abyss deck. And the best part? No need to throw out them dollar bills for an Extra Deck! There is an undeniable amount of salt produced over the past couple months as duelists were locked out of their Extra Decks, interrupting their plays, but the salt is about to be Magic Cylinder-ed back to those Monarch players.

First off, their field spell and flood gate against Extra Deck monsters, Domain of the True Monarch, is now limited. While this doesn't necessarily mean the card is harder to access, it does suggest that it would require more protection, as once it's gone, it'll be a lot harder to get back. Secondly, the very card that has kept Monarchs consistent this entire time, Pantheism of the Monarch, is also down to one, meaning it is more likely for players to experience brick hands. And finally, the limit to Emergency Teleport defeats the purpose of running the Super Quantum engine, but it is likely to be replaced with a Super Hippo Carnival engine instead.

Overall, Monarchs lost out in consistency, but they are still playable and can remain a control deck with cards like Majesty's Fiend. They could also open up to having an extra deck, allowing more possibilities or just troll plays with Drifting Ghost & Winter Blossom. This deck will likely end up a bricky tier 2 deck.


4.  Monarch FTK and any FTK Variants Relying on Life Equalizer

(Note from the Editor: You know what, screw this deck! Good riddance pft psh -flips table-)

The deck that plays with itself. Is there even a need for me to explain?

Basically with life equalizer slammed by the ban hammer, they lost their way to reduce the opponent's life point to a stage where they could deal the finishing blow with Magical Explosion.

It's good that this deck is dead now, as there was no player interactions and was a dice roll game, which defeats the point of even playing Yugioh. If I want to play with dice I'd go play dungeon dice monsters.

5. Infernoids

The deck that is definitely one in a MILLion (y'all gotta give me props for that one). As this deck is not very popular here in Singapore, many definitely questioned Konami's rationale for hitting the deck. The reason is simple, in Japan, Infernoids are a very solid tier 2 deck. With the help of Left Arm Offering, they have easy access to Reasoning and Monster Gate, giving them easy access to almost the entire deck. In short, a duelist had a probability of 9/40 to be able to make some big plays.

So for this very reason, Reasoning and Monster Gate were limited. If the tier 1 decks were all getting slowed, leaving Infernoids untouched would only result in them dominating competitions. Left Arm Offering wasn't touched as it's an inherent -2, which is a bigger risk when compared to Reasoning and Monster Gate.

Infernoids are likely to remain a rogue or tier 2 deck with Left Arm Offering, and let us not forget a special someone named Void Imagination.

6. Pendulum Magicians

The rather underrated deck of the pendulum style, Pendulum Magicians were first hit when Insight Magician/Wisdom-Eye Magician was knocked down to one and with much thanks to Dr Pe, their searchers, Pendulum call and Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, were both hit as well.

The rationale for hitting Pendulum call is the same as Performapal Monkeyboard, even though it's not as potent as the latter. Pendulum call still acts as a one card full scale with a protection bonus and the discard cost can easily be retrieved back with the help of Oafdragon Magician, disregarding the inherent -1. (Note from the Editor: This whole chunk is clunky but I've basically given up at this point. Someone send me some flowers so I can set them on fire to put myself at ease.)

Even though they lost two searchers, they are still a very good pendulum deck with the ability to easily remove monster and/or spell/traps from the field. They are likely to see play with other archetypes such as Odd Eyes, Dark Magician, and Majespecters, to name a few.

Good Job on making it so far. If you are tired, please take a break while you enjoy this cute cat I found on Google.

Done resting? Let's move on.

(Note from the Editor: I don't know how y'all are doing but I've been editing this guy's grammar for a little over an hour now and it's driving me crazy. Send help. Please. Someone save me!)

And now here are some decks to look out for in this coming meta.

1. D/D/D

My Personal favorite, so of course it would land itself on our top spot. DDD is a relatively versatile deck with the ability to use 3 of the Extra Deck's summoning methods. This gives them access to powerful cards like Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga, D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried, and Number 39: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy. This deck was a powerful rogue deck at first, but with the meta slowing down, will this deck finally take it's throne at the top of the meta? Only time will tell..

I will make a feature post on this deck in the near future once I have a chance to do so.

2. Blue Eyes

Because screw the rules, I have money.

The most successful revamp of classic Yugioh monsters have got to be the Blue Eyes White Dragon. They had seen play in the previous meta as a relatively strong tier 2.5 deck, with support from the latest Structure deck R: Revival of The Great Divine Dragon. They have become relatively consistent with the ability to summon Different Variants of Blue Eyes White Dragon almost every turn and even has access to locks with Amorphage Irritum and Arkbrave Dragon. Lastly, let's not forget about the yet to be released Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

3. Dark Magician

As the ace monster of Yugi, the King of Games, Dark Magician is another legacy archetype that has always been a fan favourite and recipient of new support. Though it's support over the pass few metas have not allowed the deck to keep up with the fast-paced plays of ruling archetypes, new support has been revealed that shows potential for the classic card. Will we see a face-off between Dark Magician and the Blue Eyes White Dragon? Only time will tell.

Oh, and here is an obligatory Dark Magician Girl.

  

(Note from the Editor: Damn dude imagine all the messed up shit he saw when he searched Dark Magician Girl on Google.)

4. Toons

With recent sets releasing new support for the archetype used by Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters, the deck has slowly become more consistent and playable. The new Toon Dark Magician along with Red Eyes Toon Dragon also gives this deck access to the powerful Rank 7 monsters that D-Rulers had abused in the past. Will they become the new Drulers? Can they finally make plays worthy of the creator of Duel Monsters?

5. Necloth

Get your Diamond Dusts ready boys because with the meta slowing down again, Necloths can finally make a comeback. Despite having Lavalal Chain banned and Tour Guide form the Underworld limited, making it harder for them to have access to first turn Djin Releaser of Ritual lockdown, they are still a very strong deck and not to be underestimated.

6. Ruri Raptors (Raidraptors)

(Note from the Editor: Just why, why?)

Let us not forget about our feathery friends here shall we? They have a powerful engine that allow access to Rank 4 plays easily and with their various Rank Up Magic cards, they can easily bring out the feared Cyber Dragon Infinity, as well as their ace monster Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon.

(Note from the Editor: Harpies are the true bird deck and no one can tell me otherwise. #Harpie4Lyfe)

7. Yosenjus

Yes yes Ken Sir, your deck may just become meta again. As an anti-meta deck with access to floodgates like Macro cosmos, Gozen Match, and Rivalry of Warlords, all the while without causing themselves much disadvantage, plus with the new support of Card of Demise which they can capitalize on and the meta slowing down even more, Yosenjus might become a force to be reckoned with.

All in all, with the meta slowing down, there will no doubt be a difference in the appearances of various decks competing for the top spot. That is, after all, until one crazy fellow comes up with a deck crazy enough to be tier 0. So what is everyone waiting for? It's a clean slate up for grabs, so y'all can pick up your favourite decks and (in the wise words of LittleKuriboh) Du-Du-Du-Du-D-DUEL!

A Cancerous Production by:
Written by: GeoTheBacon
Edited by:  Traveler of The Burning Herpes
Ideas by: GeoTheBacon & Traveler of The Burning Herpes