Without further ado, in no particular order of merit/importance:
1) D.D. Crow
D.D. Crow reappears as one of the most handy (pun intended) hand traps in the current meta.
Graveyard revival has become more important in some decks, given that many key cards have been recently limited by the banlist.
DracoPal decks move towards graveyard revival to increase their resources. We see Soul Charge and Monster Reborn seeing more play in these decks as players continue to experiment for the next best engine.
Burning Abyss players, struggling to make do with only one Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, also have some players attempting to recycle Dante via means such as Oasis of Dragon Souls or the standard Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.
D.D. Crow interferes with such plans, be it by removing the lone copy of Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss or Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer.
2) Ally of Justice Cycle Reader
A.O.J Cycle Reader once emerged as a popular side card option during the days when Artifacts first arrived in the meta. Chronomoly's dominance back then, coupled with the fact that both Light Attribute archetypes were usually played together meant that banishing a single card from their grave wasn't going to be enough, especially with the constant revive-special-summon-from-grave play styles of Artifact Chronomoly.
This Duel-Terminal card acts as a pseudo-D.D. Crow, with a few, but important, differences.
Firstly, this card is a tuner, which means it is more than just a hand trap.
Secondly, given that it shares both the Level & Attribute with most monsters in the common Burning Abyss' varients, if it were to come at a bad timing, it could either be used as a discard fodder for Allure of Darkness or as an Xyz/Synchro summon with Phantom Knight monsters. Do note that it may be unable to interact with Burning Abyss monsters under normal circumstances, but it can still act as a Synchro Material for Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss.
Thirdly, this card serves as a superior option by providing an additional banish, although sacrificing utility in the midst.
That being said, although it only restricts its targets to Light attributes, it is all that matters when you are up against a Blue-Eyes deck, which is second only to Burning Abyss variants in current usage. Thus, this card surpasses D.D. crow in utility when played against Blue-Eyes.
Granted that this card doesn't work wonders against a DracoPal deck, it is still worth considering replacing your third copy of D.D. Crow with this new tech.
3) Ally of Justice Quarantine
Being at 1700 attack points is decent enough to give it a chance of survival, and also act as a one-sided Vanity's Emptiness. Upon summon during the early stages of the game, it can even slow down Burning Abyss players by disallowing them to summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. This card will probably end up being destroyed by Phantom Knights - Breaksword , but not without first wasting at least 2 of your opponent's already scarce resources.
With a dominant Light Attribute deck increasing in usage, Ally of Justice monsters warrant a consideration.
4) Grave of the Super Ancient Organism.
A Skill Drain and a Vanity's emptiness packed into one card, and specially made to cripple high-level monsters deck like the now-famous and iconic Dark Magician and Blue Eyes. This makes it possible for decks such as Burning Abyss and the struggling-to-survive Dracoslayers to abuse the fact that their monsters are low-leveled enough to not be affected by this card.
Furthermore, this card refuses to let your opponent pay the cost for the activation of monster effects, something which Skill Drain was unable to prevent.
However, one will be able to bypass this card's lockdown by performing a Tribute Summon, as this card only affects Special Summon-ed monsters. Even though this card doesn't work wonders against Monarchs, Blue Eyes and Dark Magician decks will surely hate it.
5) Effect Veiler
Effect Veiler was previously removed due to the fast metagame where Maxx C provided a better card advantage and a more deserving spot in the Main and/or Side Deck. Although some players may had still continued to include this spellcaster in their decks due to personal preferences, Effect Veiler was also outclassed by Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, who was capable of hitting the decks' victory key cards such as Performapal Monkeyboard and Domain of the Monarchs. Its lack of utility against a Burning Abyss matchup also made Effect Veiler less desirable.
This may no longer hold true. With the recent limitation of key cards of the DracoPal deck, Veiler definitely hurts more in disrupting the opponent's plays to a larger extent than before, considering that they now have lesser resources to spare and bait for hand traps. In addition, with many decks leaning towards the speedroid engine, inclusive of Monarchs who start off with Beigomax, your opponent may find Effect Veiler rather troublesome to deal with.
Nekroz is also attempting to make a comeback as the solid tier 2 deck it has always been, relying on the new Pre-preparation of Rites by mixing Saffire into their ritual arsenal.
I believe that Effect Veiler has solidified itself as a more crucial card deserving of a Main Deck slot, even more so than Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, in the current metagame. As the metagame shapes itself over the next weeks, we shall wait and see if our prediction is accurate.
6) Koa'ki Meiru Drago
This pseudo-Fossil-Dyna stood apart from its archetype counterparts as a more useful card for competitive play ever since its introduction. Hitting both Light and Dark attributes, it offers strong lockdown capabilities to decks who are not utilising such archetypes.
It also receives strong support from Diamond Core of Koa'ki Meiru which not only provides a search option, but the option of protection as well.
Dragon decks would find this card a pleasant addition to their deck. Its stats are pretty solid, clocking in at 1900 ATK for a level 4 monster.
Since Fossil Dyna is a double-edge sword that can also harm its user, and with its low stats also make it a threat that is easily removed via a battle (although it does have a flip effect to boast). Koa'ki Meiru Drago, on the other hand, can provide a stronger advantage for current meta decks. I suggest that Blue Eyes players consider this option even in mirror matches, as I am confident you will find its use in stalling for a few turns while you gather resources and your opponent waste theirs to remove this card.
7) Flying C
With BA now moving towards their new Speedroid and Phantom Knight engines, it would be tough, though not impossible for BA to continue utilising Skill Drain with the same effectiveness and advantage than before.
This makes Flying C a much more greater threat, especially as it also serves as a check to the other tier 2 decks that are rising, such as Tellarknights and Heroes.
8) Xyz Universe
Raidraptor decks who are eagerly joining other decks in competition for a slot in the meta are also looking to make full use of this card to summon their high level Xyz monsters.
Let's do the math:
Mirror Match
3 + 3 = 6Rank 4 Decks
3 + 4 -1 = 6Blue Eyes Deck:
3 + 8 = 11 !?! (CXYZ Skyplace Babylon)3 + 8 - 1 = 10 (Gustav Max !!! RaidRaptor Ultimate Falcon)
Dark Magician Deck
3 + 7 = 10(Appreciate that Ken Sir has taken his time to show his working. There have been cases where he has failed to impress in terms of simple maths -Traveler of the Burning Herpes)
Herpes' comment upon recalling that one time when Ken Sir miscalculated life points.
Surely adding high leveled xyz monsters for the sake of a single situational card is impractical. But I am just throwing around fun ideas to suggest how this card can be used.
9) Pendulum Rising
Pendulum Rising definitely caught the eye of some as DracoPal players seek alternate engines for their crippled deck.
Surely it can't compare to Clash of the Dracorivals, since it isn't a Quick-play spell, but it is definitely a viable option that can be added to the arsenal of the new DracoPal deck. It can even send non-pendulum monsters, which is something the new DracoPals decks may see more, to the grave for cost.
It can give DracoPal decks an edge, and even make use of an unusable Rescue Rabbit late game. Its effectiveness to speed up the deck remains to be seen.
10) Magical Abductor
Magical Abductor flew under the radar of the eyes of DracoPal players but has now emerged as the choice for a viable search engine for the deck. Its pendulum effect benefit DracoPals more, being capable of searching any Pendulum Monster, which was Wavering Eyes 's previous job. A search of another suitable scale for the other end would mean a complete Pendulum scale, making this card probably the best one-card pendulum scale currently.
Being at scale 3 means that it can interact with the high-scale Performapal monsters such as Performapal Lizardraw and Performapal Guitaturtle.
Last but not least, being a Level 4 Earth Attribute allows it to replace the lost copies of Performapal Magician, contributing to the summon of Naturia Beast should players continue to continue playing it despite the absence of Lavalval Chain.
(Its monster effect also allows the user to add Effect Veiler to their hand.
#lol #justsaying)
Edit: Yugioh Intro to Expert Players also have a discussion post of their own.
11) Box of Friends + Princess Colo
Box of Friends is kind of the type of neglected tech that you would least expect.
Providing the possibilities of Special Summons from the Main Deck, these cards seek to compete for the substitution for the limited Clash of DracoRivals.
Both normal Dracoslayers and Dracoverlord monsters have stats which make them applicable targets for Box's effect.
Cologne is also a generic Rank 4 monster, meaning that it can be added to the Rank 4 toolbox. With current Dracopal players playing Angel Trumpter , a Level 4 Normal Tuner Monster, Colgone's effect could come in useful for getting Trumpter out to the field without the need to wait to drawing into Unexpected Dai or Rescue Rabbit.
Bonus:
Level 12 DARK Winged Beast-Type Synchro Effect Monster
ATK 3000
DEF 2000
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
The (3) effect of “Assault Blackwing – Onimaru the Divine Swell” can only be used once per Duel.
(1) If this card is Synchro Summoned using a “Blackwing” monster as Material, it is treated as a Tuner monster while face-up on the field
(2) This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.
(3) You can target 1 “Blackwing” monster in your Graveyard; this card’s Level becomes the same as the target’s.
(4) If this card was Synchro Summoned using only Synchro Monsters as the Synchro Materials, if this card attacks, during the damage step, this card gains 3000 ATK.
News of this card caught my eye as I was writing this article, thanks to the esteemed YES Facebook Page, so I decided to include it in this article.
At first glance, Divine Swell seems like another attempt by Konami to bring Blackwings back to their former glory, as evident from the many new, but not helpful enough, released Blackwing cards in the previous months.
However, one should not land his conclusion so quickly. After all, this Level 12 creature has 4 effects to offer.
The (1) effect may seem redundant, seeing that it would only make it a Level 12 Synchro Tuner Monster, but possible loops with Level Eater can be explored. But that is a job better suited to more patient Youtube channels or players. (Also, we will get back to that later.)
(2) provides it with a mediocre protection, making this Blackwing boss monster harder to get rid off. But GeoTheBacon was quick to point out that this card would be more broken if it could not be targeted.
Actually, I feel it is more of a BRB (be right back). True, Castel the Skyblaster would definitely be an answer to this card. But it is also true that you will find this card more formidable after you opponent has already exhausted that Rank 4 option in the late part of the game. It is also worth noting that this card does not require any specific Synchro Material Monsters, making it the first Level 12 generic Synchro monster in the OCG." A castel could get rid of it. lol. bb."
Its (3) effect, although it can only be exploited by decks that include the Blackwing archetype, open doors of possibilities to further Synchro Summon or Xyz plays. This effect also makes its first effect to be more useful. (Yup, we got back to it)
Last but not least, (4) provides this card with not only a unique effect, but also gives its user another reason to summon this Winged-beast. A one-card 6000Atk monster may not deal an OTK, but it would definitely punish your opponent's complacency for leaving their seemingly-high-attack-points-and-safe monster in Attack Position.
Conclusion: Right off the bat, Divine Swell may not be that good a card for you to immediately include it in any deck that Synchro Summons. However, it is definitely worth considering keeping. Now we just have to wait til some video of it being exploited pops out...
And also, let's hope Konami doesn't errata it before it is released, much like what happened with Lightpulsar Dragon and Stardust Warrior.
Additionally, with the recent news of powerful Synchro monsters such as Coral Dragon, Cardian - Ameshikou and now Divine Swell, would Junk Doppel decks or Synchro-based decks be able to make a comeback in the current more diverse meta?
Final Words
As the meta begins to solidify itself over the next few weeks, some cards will be outclassed and tossed aside after some playtesting, and new cards will enter the limelight.Do note that this post is made purely from a our point of view and is no way perfect or a representation of the current meta cards.
Thank you for reading.
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