Koa'ki Meiru Guide Published on January 9, 2019 by Bacon Updated on February 11, 2019 Matchups Updated

Overview

Koa’ki Meiru is not a new archetype, having come out in Gaia Genesis originally. However, thanks to the new box Revolution Beginning, this archetype has received major support in the form of and minor support with the addition of , , and . These combined with past support have made this archetype into a top deck as the meta shifts away from a slower format. The deck revolves primarily around flooding the field with high attack 4 star monsters, negating opponent’s backrows, and special summoning , the deck’s main boss. This allows for quick OTK pushes that other decks in the meta must be prepared to handle.

Skills

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Balance is a popular skill choice for this deck as the monster core tends to be around 8 and the 3 Diamond Cores and 3 Iron Cores round out the spell portion. This allows for 6 traps of your choice to fit the situation and guarantees you will have a play from the start of every game, every time.

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This is the least used skill type, but it did come 2nd in the DLM Meta Weekly. The goal is to survive until turn 5 and then gain the resources you need to clear the field.

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This skill choice is relatively meta dependent, but is a popular choice for dealing with Vampires and most other meta decks. In the mirror, the skill prevents your opponent from banishing Diamond Core to protect their monsters in the end phase or that turn.

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With Vampires decreasing in popularity, Sealed Tombs has lost a bit of luster as decks like Karakuri rise. The Tie that Binds allows you to OTK with just Urn plus a negate monster. This skill will even allow for OTK through a ; making it a good choice moving forward.

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A less popular choice, however Grit is sometimes used to help ward off an opponent’s OTK attempt while you set up your own the following turn. This is the most all or nothing form of the deck.

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The bandit skill has recently seen success when paired with several copies of and . The goal is to set Scolding early and prevent your opponent from establishing any kind of board, steal a set card the following turn, and then OTK them. For the time being, this skill and Scolding combo bare paying serious attention to. However, timing your use of Scolding is what makes or breaks the deck.

Sample Decks

Meta Weekly 53 - 1st Place by Brenduke Side Deck:

Core Cards

Koa’ki Meiru Maximus (2-3x): Maximus is the boss monster of the deck. His stats are equivalent to , which puts him at a threshold above the rest of the meta. In addition, he is allowed to destroy and 1 card your opponent controls once per turn, per copy of Maximus on your field. However, to summon him requires banishing an from your hand. This means you need to choose carefully when to commit your resources to the field as his end phase upkeep can be costly. Lastly, Maximus’ endphase cost comes after all other Koa’ki. So you can reveal a monster of the required type to pay their cost and then discard the same monster to pay for Maximus. Koa’ki Meiru Urnight (2-3x): Urnight sits at 2000 attack, establishing it as the strongest 4 star monster in our meta. Additionally, by revealing an , it can special summon any of your other level 4 or lower Koa’ki’s from your deck. This allows for fast field flooding.

Koa’ki Meiru Sandman & Wall (1x): Each of these monsters sits at 1900 attack and can tribute themselves to negate an opponent’s trap or spell respectively. Use to special summon them from the deck and protect your field. Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru (2-3x): This is the fuel of the deck. Iron Core is needed for Koa’ki Meiru Urnight’s effect as well as Koa’ki Meiru Maximus’ summoning conditions. Additionally, it can be discarded in the endphase to pay their upkeep or recycled to the hand during the draw phase.

Diamond Core of Koa’ki Meiru (3x): This is the main card that makes the deck go. Diamond core allows you to search any monster in your deck, as well as Iron Core. So, use it to grab the missing piece you need. Additionally, by banishing this card from your graveyard, you will not have to pay the endphase upkeep on any of your monsters. This will also protect them from card effect destruction or battle destruction, allowing you to safely swing in on your opponent in nearly every case. This paired with a or and a can take down nearly any opposing field.

Tech Cards

Koa’ki Meiru Ice: Ice can destroy any special summoned monster your opponent controls. Use it to help clear a field of monsters that can give Maximus difficulty, such as ’s forms. If is on the field already, normal summoning Ice will force them to it, allowing Maximus to clean up the board. Koa’ki Meiru Boulder: Boulder must be destroyed by battle, but can search Iron Core or a a low level Koa’ki. Slow, but useful against decks that rely primarily on battle destruction such as Heroes, Control, or Karakuri.

Core Reinforcement: Used to revive any Koa’ki monster including Maximus so long as he was summoned properly. However, if you fail to pay their endphase cost, you will pay with your lifepoints. This trap frequently conflicts with Sealed Tombs, and is more of a last resort than anything else. Koa’ki Meiru Rooklord: Can be tribute summoned by tributing just 1 Koa’ki. By banishing a Koa’ki from the grave on summon, it can destroy 2 cards your opponent controls. Slow, but a decent tech card vs slower Control decks. Because this monster’s upkeep is more difficult than our others, it is used less. This card bears watching more at the meta develops and has its place in a slower meta as a way to provide space on your own board by tributing d monsters.

Reckoned Power: By revealing an Iron Core, you can destroy all set spells/traps your opponent controls. Considered slow, but is devastating vs control decks. Use this to sweep an opponent’s entire backrow during their end phase and gain an easy OTK on your next turn. Using this comes at the cost of your own protection however, so side this vs Control or Heroes. Floodgate Trap Hole: A meta staple for slowing down the mirror match primarily, since most decks do not run to tribute the floodgated monster.

Paleozoic Canadia: Similar to floodgate, used to flip Urnight or Maximus facedown in the mirror, and slow down other decks. It is also worth noting that Canadia plus Maximus is enough damage for an OTK. Hey, Trunade!: Useful for clearing opponent’s backrow before committing your resources to the field for the OTK.

Sphere Kuriboh: A long time meta staple, used to help preserve your monsters or your lifepoints while you establish what you need for the OTK. Primarily, use Sphere to stop attacks from , , or an opposing Maximus. Winged Kuriboh: A less common tech, but it can be used as a turn 1 set if you are confident you can OTK on turn 3.

Cosmic Cyclone: A good side deck choice to help deal with Buster Blader, this can be used to remove from the field or help assist in clearing the field out before making your main push. Additionally, sees play in side formats, and this card will help deal with it. Unending Nightmare: Same idea as Cosmic, with the additional ability to remain on the field and gain several uses. However, this comes at the cost of needing to be set for a turn.

Enemy Controller: Useful in the mirror and possibly the Buster Blader matchup. This card sees additional value in letting you tribute Floodgated koa'ki monsters to clear board space. Koa’ki Meiru Prototype: Can be used to pay the cost for another Koa'ki on the field. If another Koa'ki is destroyed by its own upkeep, prototype will generate an 1800/1800 token, making it a good turn 1 defensive play.

Xing Zhen Hu: Playable no matter what your skill choice for the deck is, Xing Zhen Hu is a meta choice. Although it holds little value in the mirror, 1-2 copies can be very solid options for helping deal with Buster Blader, Masked Heroes, Karakuri, and all forms of Control or Stall. Black Pendant: A recently popular choice, Black Pendant's effect damage is used to counter Buster players. This is a near guaranteed way to kill them post Gamble, as well as providing a deterrent to keep them from gambling in the first place. This card can keep their deck much more honest, but should probably remain in the side deck at best.

Matchups

Ancient Gears

Ancient Gears have done this deck a solid favor in terms of hurting several bad matchups such as Buster Blader. While Koa’ki boasts an advantage in this matchup, it is important to still play smart. Ancient Gears backrow will typically be staples such as , , or , but you should be mindful to play around as well. is the preferred skill to use here, as it allows Maximus to reliably attack over in defense mode. Do not be afraid to commit to your field in this matchup, but ensure you have a way to pay upkeep as usual. Realistically, pop AG monsters and use Sandman to negate and Battle Phase traps that might occur (Drowning). Do not pop AG facedown backrow if you don’t use the Ties skill, as there is a solid chance you will hit a and give them a free Reactor from the hand or grave.

Control

This deck boasts a substantial edge against current control based decks due to backrow negation and Maximus destruction. s can certainly slow you down, but or can simply win the game outright here. Simply keep track of your resources here and grind through their backrow.

Vampires

A bit of a toss up for non builds, with an edge to the player going 2nd in those games. If you have Sealed Tombs, it is generally the right play to use it on your first turn to prevent Vampires from establishing a board. The goal is to survive their push while preparing your own. As always with Vamps, it is a good idea to make sure you don’t leave Maximus open to a steal. A solid turn 1 play vs Vamps consists of establishing along with to prevent or from seeing the field.

Heroes

As with vamps, is very important to the matchup as it can negate or . All of your monsters can swing over theirs, and by banishing before you commit to the field, you can gain total immunity to Offerings or . Sealed Tombs can be used to prevent a draw and limit their card advantage greatly. With Maximus on the field, focus on destroying their backrow or and swing over anything else.

Karakuri

Karakuri is a tricky matchup and can perform quite well vs Koa’ki. This matchup is more about who can get their combo the fastest and OTK the other. While Maximus may be bigger than , Shogun can force it into defense position and swing over the top. Make good use of your traps in this match to slowdown Shogun. Additionally, this is another deck that will use , so always banish Diamond Core before committing to the field. Look for an early OTK here, because as the duel goes on it will favor Karakuri more so.

Buster Blader

Arguably the most difficult matchup for this deck, Buster can fuse with Maximus at any time without needing . It is a good idea to have cards sided specifically for this matchup such as , , or . Prioritize getting onto the field to negate their fusion spell or you will probably lose most of these games.

Mirror

May the most broken hand win! Although slightly an exaggeration, going turn 1 in the mirror does tend to put you at a disadvantage. If using , make sure and stop from flooding the field and use any additional resources to stop your opponent’s Maximus. If using , preventing your opponent from being able to banish Diamond Core to protect their field can be absolutely devastating if you hold a in hand. Plan your resources wisely and do not over extend yourself. If you do, it is assuredly a death sentence.

Replays

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Control

in this matchup I simply opted to grind through the backrow while slowly nuking the monsters. I made Trunade pushes when I felt like I could semi capitalize on the board, knowing that they had no ability to OTK me as I gathered resources.

Heroes

I opened rather poorly and did not draw particularly well. However, I chose to treat this much like control and slowly plug away through the backrow knowing that the only monster I had to fear was Anki. Important to note that Canadias should be chained into attack position when the only board threat is .

Karakuri

On my opening turn, I felt a delay during my draw phase. That tells me that my opponent’s facedown card had to be which is common in Karakuri. He chose to use it on my Urnight, which prevented me from summoning wall and OTKing. However, I knew I had upkeep for Maximus and protection, so I simply chose to sit on Maximus until lethal.

Vampires

With Sealed Tombs active, I was able to confidently sit on Maximus in this duel and target . Knowing I was protected by 2 s, I could simply pop a card and swing until the job was finished.

Buster Blader

As discussed in the matchup notes, one of the biggest keys to having any shot in this matchup is to make use of wall’s ability to negate the Buster fusion spell. Brenduke wisely waited until he could use Wall to protect himself and get the OTK before Buster gained any traction on the field.

Mirror

Being able to sit on a Floodgate and a Sphere Kuriboh as well as having Tombs to disallow my opponent’s Diamond Core protection, I was able to sit back and wait until I could OTK him.

Final Thoughts

Koa’ki Meiru is a very strong archetype and will find its place in the meta as one of the better decks. It has some weaknesses to cards such as Floodgate Trap Hole and Sphere Kuriboh, but it also has potentially overwhelming power that allows it a chance at beating any deck in the current meta. Additionally, with only a roughly 14 card core, it allows around 6 free tech spots to give it some opportunity to grow as other decks evolve and adapt to it.