ACQ Prep Work: Part 1 - Knowing the Metagame

October 2016 - December 2016 OCG Metagame



The metagame is currently overpopulated by plenty of Zoodiac Beast decks, with the most common being the Kaiju engine variant. Other variants are still out there, including, but not limited to:

• Artifact
• Shaddoll
• Eidolon
• Metalfoes

Being a beast-warrior archetype, they can be splashed into possibly any beast-warrior archetype deck to tutor and facilitate the deck, given how Fire Formation - Tenki and any beast-warrior monster can be dug out from the deck with the use of a Zoodiac Beast Engine. So don't be surprised to meet a dedicated fan piloting a deck like Zoodiac Beast Lunalight.

ABC remains unseen, but it is possible to witness success with it, given the fact that many players has since dropped System Down and chose to neglect the threat of the machines. The same can be said for Kozmo, but the meta changes has made it very difficult for them to battle. (More to be mentioned in the next article tomorrow.)

Speaking of which, Kozmos are far from being obsolete. Innovation has turned some players to bring Kozmo together with Metalfoes and the Zoodiac Beasts to remain competitive in the format. (More to be discussed in Part 4 - Sample Decklists)

Infernoids has kept a steady tier level status at tier 2, but has never been capable of breaking through the threshold as they suffer from a much more disadvantageous battle in Game 2 and 3 after side decking. Leveraging on Lawmowing Next Door even since its release, the deck also boast several normal spell cards as techs, due to them being able to search it via Left Arm Offering, which is maxed out in Infernoids deck.

Another rogue deck worthy of mention, although still in the midst of finding success is Fluffals/Frightfur. Receiving support in the form of Frightfur Patchwork, the dead is now more consistent in dishing out deadly plays to end the game in seconds.

All is not lost yet. Every card has an answer to it and the Zoodiac Beast's invulnerability is perhaps a little too exaggerated. Unlike previous Tier 0 eras, such as Star Seraph, EMEm and even Dragon Rulers, this format doesn't involve an absolute inescapable lockdown situation similar to what Number 16: Shock Master creates.

On tomorrow's article, Part 2, we will be looking at [Card Choices and Deck Techs]. So stay tuned.