In the past, discussion of the NAWCQ results was little more
than a nostalgic epilogue. F&L list
changes and new cards quickly made this championship of little interest to
anyone except for the half a dozen doolists set to go to worlds. But now the season has one more fling before
the new meta begins.
The ARG finale has become the Pro Bowl to Konami’s Super
Bowl … except for the fact that just about anyone can enter. Sure you need an
invite, but if yours truly is going, the club is not that exclusive. So I took more than a casual interest in the
results as I prepared to meet my Ohioan doom.
Main Deck Changes
I still find the explosiveness of the GeargiaKuri build
effective and intimidating. Though it doesn’t recover from disruption as fast
as the Droolers can, it does have access to the three strongest synchro monsters
in the game: Stardust Dragon, Colossal Fighter, and Scrap Dragon. Stardust’s ability to negate destruction interrupts
Moralltach, F/I Hands, and even many of the trap holes. Big Trees are no problem for Colossal and
Scrap’s targeted removal makes Dire Wolf look … well, dire.
Play testing the deck led me to abandon Effect Veilers and
Cyber Dragons as troublesome – 1 monsters.
I have also retired Tin Goldfish with the same logic. The little fish
shines in the Mermail match-up, but the additional point boost is not worth the
loss in card advantage.
I have instead turned to the Psychic Engine (Teleport x 3
and Commander x 2) to add a little game one speed. While it can lead to some cloggy hands, it
does make siding a bit more efficient.
The five card engine can be dropped without disrupting the essential
elements of the deck.
The Little Engine That
Could
 |
| It's Coming! |
The surprise card of the deck is Construction Train Signal
Red. The little caboose can be special
summoned to deflect an attack away from another monster on the field. Though it can only do so once, it is still quite
effective in protecting Armor or Gear Gigant so that you can get another search. The card will also maintain field presence and
allow you to set up a counter attack. As
a machine, it is searchable with Gear Gigant and it makes Iron Call
viable.
However, the real strength of the card is the access it
grants to two other great synchro monsters: Naturia Barkion and the (formerly
late, but still great) Goyo. Goyo’s 2800
attack remains intimidating and taking the monsters of others is always a good
thing. Barkion can come to the rescue
against several of the trap heavy decks circulating in the meta.
… now for something
on the side
There were about fourteen different deck types among the top
64 finishers of the NAWCQ. Even if you
combine all the Artifacts and Drooler decks, you are still left with ten
distinct archetypes. To these ten, I
would also consider Samurai, Evilswarm, and Dark World as viable choices, which
leads to a rather intimidating list (see the table below).
One can simplify the approach to this list by classifying
these decks by their primary mechanics.
For example, Madolches, Eivilswarms, and Artifacts tend to by heavy trap
based decks; Lightsworns and Droolers rely on their graveyards. There are cards that disrupt each of these
mechanics. The table below shows my
current “Side-In” choices for each of the archetypes. This list includes the tribute summon monsters
Jinzo and Vanity’s Fiend. Thanks to the
little red train card, these are options over Wire Tap or Vanity’s
Emptiness.
With one more week of testing left, my current deck list is
as follows:
Geargia: Armor x
3, Arsenal x 3, Accelerator x 3, Geargiano
Tuners: Saizan x
2, Nishipachi, Birdman, Psychic Commander x 2
Other Monsters: Train
Signal x 3, Gearframe, Fortress x 2, Redox
Spells: Dark Hole,
Mind Control, My Body as a Shield, Iron Call x 2, Lance X 3, E Tele x 3
Traps: COTH x 3, Fiendish
Chain x 3
Synchros: Goyo,
Barkion, Burei x 2, Bureido, Scrap Dragon, Colossal, Crimson Blader, Stardust,
Black Rose
XYZ: Gear Gigant
x 2, Abyss Dweller, Nuke Roach, Silent Honor ARK
Side Deck: Jinzo
x 2, Vanity’s Fiend x 2, MST x 2, Soul Release x 3, Rivalry x 3, Debunk x 3
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