The Motivation

For the past few weeks since October started, I haven’t been so engaged to competitive yugioh as before. I took a few weekends away from Yugioh, for my other personal commitments, and on the other days, I was just lazy. And since our local tournaments are held usually on weekends, I haven’t been that active in the latest OCG Ranking Season as before. Recently, the designs for the participant playmat for Season 3’s Rank-Up League were revealed, an event where the Top 32 players in terms of ranking are entitled and invited to a single-elimination tournament for the chance to win an additional playmat – the champion playmat. Being a fan of the archetype, I was of course attracted to it and enticed to rejoin the weekly ranking tournament in order to make it for the Top 32 cut, so I could get my hands on the mat myself. (Images below)

Knowing the Playing Field

For the past week, I tried to gain a better understanding on the current meta, affected by the Zodiac Beast archetype, by once again relying on my trusty Metalfoes deck. The limitation of Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin took its toll. It was hard competing with the opponents if they manage to start first and launch their Zodiac Beast combo. This would led them to have at least an additional card in hand, giving them a hand size of six, and two monsters on the field. I will explain more on the combo later. The path that diverges starts from the decision of which xyz monster to access with their second and third copy of Zodiac Beast Marmorat, but most of the time, players of the current OCG meta will still have to deal with Zodiac Beast Drancia. Like Kirin, Drancia is a dangerous foe that can’t be belittled, since it has the option of using its effect as and when it pleases. Going second has always had its challenges, Drancia poses a threat to Metalfoes who are struggling and attempting to start their plays. A simple destruction of the correct scale could set me a few steps back. Without Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow to buy me some precious time to stall, it is usually a quick game. I swapped regularly between the Guiding Ariadne and Qli engine, and eventually settled on neither, instead making space in the deck for meta choices and tech options in order to counter the threat of Zodiac Beasts.

Leveling the Playing Field

Dimensional Boundary and Book of Moon provided answers to my problems and a versatile threat for other rogue decks to face. Going first, Dimensional Boundary would stop the deck from their plays which revolves around xyz monsters when I go first. And even when I am forced to go second, Dimensional Boundary would prove itself useful as it can render the Zodiac Beast xyz monsters useless in offense by bringing down their attack points to zero. Book of Moon, replacing the previously sided Book of Eclipse, etched itself as a staple for this format as, similarly to Dimensional Boundary, is a good card for both leading first, and going second.

A set Book of Moon could prevent the opponent’s monsters from participating xyz summons, effectively slowing down Zodiac Beast decks.

Going second, Book of Moon is a useful card to play around an opposing Dimensional Boundary (if it declares pendulum), by allowing me to resolve a search off Majespecter Racoon – Bunbuku. Additionally, it is an answer to my Drancia problems.

Against the lesser-used decks, it does provide a sub-par answer to some threats and at the very least, slow them down from farming resources. Against Metalfoes, despite being incapable of affecting the Majespector archetype, Book of Moon can flip their pendulum monsters face down. This prevents them from xyz summoning, which they now rely on more heavily, having to find substitutes to Kirin’s limitation. Zodiac Beast Metalfoes is also a common sight, so Book of Moon also answers to that component of the deck. Against ABC, flipping down their first summoned Union monster would prevent Union Hangar from resolving successfully, and most of the time this would prevent ABC-Dragon Buster from landing on the floor that turn, providing me with a precious one turn to deal as much damage, OTK-ing if I can. Kirin used to do that, so I say Book of Moon is a suitable replacement to fill in the shoes.

Most of the current decks you come across in current OCG tournaments do try to incorporate the Zodiac Beast archetype whenever possible, and perhaps the one emitting the strongest anti-meta vibe is Shaddoll Zodiac Beast. A little background information…. For those who are unaware, Zodiac Beast suffer from a massive issue of lacking inherent protection against destruction. Neither their archetype’s spell/trap support or monsters have a way around that. Hence, since its debut, massive destruction options, in addition to the limited Dark Hole (don’t forget this is OCG I am talking about), cards such as Lightning Vortex and Interrupted Kaiju Slumber have been popular Side Deck options. To counter this, Zodiac Beast players have since relied on counter options such as the reprinted The Huge Revolution is Over and Starlight Road. Both of which can even cater to other staple threats such as Twin Twisters and Harpie’s Feather Duster, with the former even capable of ridding threats like Diamond Dire Wolf. Shaddoll Zodiac Beast compensate for this weakness of the Zodiac Beast archetype. Their starting field is much stronger with the presence of El Shaddoll Winda, which could shut down any Zodiac Beast opponent unprepared for this floodgate monster. Its inert protection ability assures that it will remain standing even after a Dark Hole tragedy. Allowed only a single special summon, their options will be limited as long as Winda is face-up on the field. Going second, Shaddoll Fusion allows the player to dump materials straight from the deck, given how an xyz monster on the field is so common nowadays, even more so than ever. El Shaddoll Shekhinaga would be the most commonly summoned monster for a player leading second. It keeps the opposing monsters like Drancia which threatens to activate its effect at any course of time in check, hence allow the using to advance his strategy with little to no interruption. That said, the Shaddoll Zodiac Beast mix isn’t without its own shortcoming. Having to include the Shaddoll lineup is tiresome and it takes up the deck space, usually eliminating the possibility of maintaining a 40-card deck size with traps. Hence, the staple trap lineups, such as Compulsory Evacuation Device and Solemn Strikes would have to make way for the Shaddoll engine. This way, Book of Moon usually goes through without much trouble (since they don’t have any unknown backrow negation) and once Winda is answered, there isn’t usually much to stay in the way from a full-on onslaught. The lack of Solemn Strikes usually make my pendulum summoning a much pleasant experience as I can engage in more daring game plans.



But enough of meta talk, today, I am here to share my latest deck idea with everyone. Remember how I said I used the Metalfoes purely for the sake of learning the meta? Well, here it is. All preparation has all been the sake of this deck, and on 30th October, I brought it for a test drive. Despite underwhelming results, I managed to learn a few vital information to improve upon the idea for the deck and I am confident that the next week will be more pleasant.

A New Chapter

Previously, for Yosenju-Kaiju

Yosenju-Kaiju has been nothing new to players who are fans of either archetype. The Kaijus compensate for the Yosenju’s lack of presence, and the Yosenjus’ offensive capabilities make up for the lack of pro-activeness in a pure Kaiju deck. But the thing I really hated around this mix-and-match is the deck’s linear strategy. Without Yosenju Kama 3, it will be an uphill battle as it would be tough to gather resources apart from every turn’s Draw Phase. Against the other decks with searches in the Main Phases right off the bat, the competition for maintaining, regaining and obtaining new resources has always left this deck far from the finishing line. Another problem with the deck’s searching capabilities is that it is reliant on both cards – Kama 3 and Fire Formation – Tenki. Kama 3 searches only during the Battle Phase and I still have inflict damage first and Tenki is a [once-per-turn]. So technically, searching two Yosenjus in the Main Phase 1 was previously near impossible to achieve. It is also very reliant on Yosenju Kama 1‘s bounce-and-reuse strategy to get rid of an array of threats and without that, I can only rely on my backrow to pave my road to victory. And backrows means my resources will deplete, widening the gap of resources between me and my opponent, especially if they enjoy the Pendulum re-summoning mechanics. (Metalfoes were a nightmare matchup. +_+) The whole strategy places a huge emphasis on the starting hand for it to be playable. Without two or more Yosenjus, with the most important one being Kama 1, the deck is unable to enter the standard playing style. The demanding cards needed for the deck to effectively function was a key reason that deterred me from bringing it to the competitive level. Previous months haven’t been so kind to the deck too. Solemn Strike negating the Yosenjus could easily deter my strategy of tearing apart their board with only a single Kaiju monster. Majespecter Metalfoes took the lead in usage the previous meta, and a fully-flooded first turn field is a common sight. The deck lacks a good turn one, which opponents would gladly provide me with upon learning of my deck after the first game.

BUT NOW, THINGS ARE DIFFERENT.

Tapping into the Zodiac Beast engine myself, I decided to abuse the shared monster type – Beast Warrior – for both Yosenjus and Zodiac Beast. Previously prepared myself for flexible changes in my Yosenju deck build, I had little trouble assembling the required parts and cards needed for the deck. Along with some friends’ assistance, kind souls who would lend me some cards for the time being since they won’t be using it, I was able to complete building the deck in two weeks. But that was just getting the cards together, the ratios and card choices still require work, which I will get into detail much later. But before we continue, let’s take a look at my list.

Main Deck

I chose to include a standard Yosenju monster lineup, consisting of three of each Kama 1, 2 and 3. A lone Yosenju Tsujik has always been my preference. Its lack of a “normal-summon-again” effect makes it undesirable out of battle although alongside Kama 2 and Kama 3, it could get over threats below 2500ATK. First you attack directly with Kama 2 and search out Tsujik via Kama 3. Next proceed with an attack with Kama 3, boosted by the discarded Tsujik. I hated how Tsujik can only be used when battling monsters, so it can’t be used to augment the attack stats of my monsters declaring a direct attack. So the idea of anything more than one didn’t feel right to me.

Juragedo is also another reason I needed Tsujik lesser. A free summon and a life point gain on top of that, it provides me with an additional Level 4 for an xyz summon. Its different status (Attribute and monster type) won’t be much of an issue since Zodiac Beast Bullhorn has no strict xyz material requirements. Juragedo is also capable of stopping OTK, by both acting as a wall and providing the lifepoints gain. Only common problem was the need to enter a Battle Phase and attack declaration for the summoning of Juragedo. Usually a huge problem if I am desperate for an xyz summon. But it is mitigated by the fact that I can normal summon Juragedo, then rely on Fire Formation – Tensu‘s additional summon for the summon of another Yosenju monster.

The lack of traps in my deck highlight the deck’s need and preference to go second in games. The skeletal idea is to land an OTK after tearing apart the opponent’s field.

The Kaiju engine, helps as I now have an additional three cards capable of mass monster removal via destruction. Interrupted Kaiju Slumber gives me the advantage not having to discard a card, unlike Lightning Vortex, and also bring out the high ATK points Kaiju straight from the deck to contribute to an OTK. The ratio that came to my mind during the deck building process was triple Slumber with the 6 differently-named Kaiju in order to fulfill the demands of Slumber.

YOU CAN NOW SEARCH OUT TENKI AND TENSU WITH JUST A SINGLE CARD. (More explanation later.)

I will go into detail regarding the Zodiac Beast engine later.

Pot of Avarice is used for draw power and recycling, which this new deck build will come to appreciate and require. The grave fills up fast due to the Zodiac Beast.

The remaining are pretty much staples. I tested the deck’s limitation by entering a 41-size card deck, and still not being able to include the third copy of Maxx “C”. This was disheartening as I couldn’t convince myself to cut any other cards from the deck back then. Now, looking back, I really should have removed the copies of Book of Moon completely.

Side Deck

When building the side deck, hand traps come to mind since I would go be going second most of the time if given the choice. Hence the playset of Effect Veiler and D.D. Crow. At the eleventh hour, I removed my Cosmic Cyclones from the side, determined to only rely on these two in my Metalfoes matchups, if any.

Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit is a good staple to have in the side, and the third copy of Maxx “C” lies there too for the same reason. Like I said, this third copy should have been swapped with Book of Moon in the main, but I recalled not liking to play a single unsearchable copy of a card (that isn’t limited) in the Main or Side.

Mirror of the Ice Barrier is reserved for rogue Blue-Eyes deck, to counter Dragon Spirit of White. it is also useful against ABC decks, but I have System Down to answer to those decks.

Extra Deck

Much of the Extra Deck choices will be further discussed later. For those who are wondering, yes we do allow cards of any languages to be used in our weekly local ranking tournaments, which are considered small-scale and casual in nature. Thus, the TCG Diamond Dire Wolf is allowed.

Deck’s Playing Style

The Zodiac Beast combo

I am sure many of you who have surfed the internet for the previous weeks have at least know about the archetype’s existence, but for the sake of those who might not possibly know about it, I have decided to include this section in the article. The combo starts with Zodiac Beast Marmorat on the field. This can be achieved in many ways, either via a normal summon or a special summon. Effectively, this means that there are plenty of cards in my deck that can spark of this series of plays, namely:

Fire Formation – Tenki: Search out Marmorat and proceed to normal summon it. Elemental Triangle of the Zodiac Beasts: Targeting itself, destroy itself, then special summon out Marmorat. (Not sure if the TCG is gonna rule it differently) Marmorat itself: Duh~! Draw it? Normal summon it. Monster Reborn: If the situation allows, I can even grab my opponent’s Marmorat in his graveyard to start off my own series of plays.

That’s about 10 cards in the deck, which is a quarter of my deck size. So you can imagine how optimistic I was to be capable of drawing into either of them at every duel. Another card unmentioned, and not included in my deck is Speedroid Terratop. The single card able to launch into a Rank3 xyz, and thus allows you to access M-X-Saber Invoker which is similarly capable of bringing out Zodiac Beast Marmorat from the deck. This interaction accounts for Terratop’s rise in price in both OCG and TCG since the Zodiac Beast’s announcements.

Well, below are the steps to the combo:

Get Zodiac Beast Molmorat onto the field. Xyz summon Zodiac Beast Wildbow by using Zodiac Beast Marmorat as an xyz material, granting Zodiac Beast Wildbow the ability to summon a Zodiac Beast from the deck. Use this effect to summon a second copy of Zodiac Beast Marmorat. Xyz summon Zodiac Beast Tigress by using Zodiac Beast Wildbow as an xyz material, and activate Tigress’ effect – detaching Wildbow to attach Zodiac Beast Marmorat from the grave, as an xyz material. Using the ability granted by Zodiac Beast Marmorat, use Tigress’ newly obtained effect to special summon a third copy of Zodiac Beast Marmorat from the deck. You now have the option of xyz summoning into Zodiac Beast Bullhorn to get a search from the deck, or immediately entering into Zodiac Beast Drancia by using Zodiac Beast Tigress as an xyz material. Your field now consists of Zodiac Beast Tigress and two Zodiac Beast Marmorats.

There is an alternative method, of course.

At step 2, instead of using Wildbow to special summon the second Zodiac Beast Marmorat, immediately enter an xyz summon of Zodiac Beast Tigress without using Wildbow’s effect. Use Tigress to summon the second copy of Zodiac Beast Marmorat, and enter into Zodiac Beast Bullhorn, and use Bullhorn to summon the third copy Zodiac Beast Marmorat.

With this method, Bullhorn can still use its search effect with its final xyz material. It is also generally preferred over the intially popular method, given that it doesn’t leave the player vulnerable to a timely D.D. Crow which could break the entire combo build up.

Evidently, with the two copies of Zodiac Beast Marmorats, you can enter into an xyz summon of a Rank4 of your choice. There are really many plays at this point of time, and let’s not forget for one moment that this is all possible thanks to a single card – Zodiac Beast Marmorat providing all the pluses.

With three cards in the grave – Zodiac Beast Marmorat, Zodiac Beast Wildbow and Zodiac Beast Tigress (Tigress can end up in the grave with the second method proposed and also if you opt to ‘rank-up’ into Bullhorn for a search.), you can enter an xyz summon into Daigusto Emeral to net a card draw to replenish your hand size and bring it back to five, and recycle your resources for another round of combos the next turn. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Tiger King can also be summoned, to either set Fire Formation – Tenki for another search or Fire Formation – Tensu for the additional normal summon. (Searching out Tenki and Tensu with just a single card needed. WOW~!) The additional normal summon provided would be crucial in getting my searched Yosenjus onto the field for the Battle Phase climax, as I like to call it. Offensive-wise, you can always go for Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon or Number S39: Utopia the Lightning. Defensive options include Traptrix Rafflesia, a popular choice for Shaddoll Zodiac Beasts and Pure Zodiac Beasts to augment the strength of their first turn field setup. I personally like to summon my second copy of Bullhorn and get another search. Offensively, this play can extend into a summon of Number F0: Utopic Future using the two Bullhorns on the field. Utopic Future is useful in getting around the Kaijus that are summoned onto their field, deal a direct attack damage using the Kaijus. Diamond Dire Wolf and Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer are included in my deck for this purpose – to get rid of the threats before my Yosenju land on the field.

After all the shenanigans, it is all up to Yosenjus and friends to lead the assault. Boosts from Juragedo and participating damage from Kaiju monsters help too. The beauty of this deck’s formatted playing style is that the Yosenjus can be searched out. This reduces the demand of having to draw into the Yosenjus in the opening hand, or having to search them off one-by-one during each turn previously. With the help of the Bullhorns, I get to search out two Yosenjus in the turn, bringing me closer to my required pieces to the OTK puzzle.

The deck is technically still playable when I am thrown the first turn, if I manage to draw into the Zodiac Beast engine components, something which the previous build of Yosenju-Kaiju was missing.

Tournament Report

So I brought the deck to locals with high hopes, and this was how I fared.

Round 1 – Vs Paleozoic

This game was a tough battle as I suffered badly from going second, twice more than usual. Their lineup of traps proved to be a challenging obstacle to overcome and I found my Zodiac Beast missing after bragging to myself how easily it is to spark off the combos. It was an uphill battle, and even though I managed to steal the second game, I found myself losing out on resources rapidly in the third game and eventually I bit the dust. After the round, I even went to rearrange my deck to convince myself my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me and that I did in fact place the Zodiac Beast inside my deck at the correct ratios.

Round 2 – Bye

Having lost the first round, I entered the lowest table among the 17 players present and was awarded a free win via a technicality. Kinda disappointing, considering I wanted to make full use of the five-round Swiss that day to test my deck. So I waited and walked around to scout the decks that the other players were playing, and below were the results.

1 ABC

1 Blue Eyes

1 Paleozoic

1 Infernoids

1 Kozmo

1 Ritual Beast

1 Metalfoes

1 Dark Magician

6 Pure Zodiac Beast

2 Shaddoll Zodiac Beast

1 Zodiac-Beast Yosenju Kaiju (Hello there~ *waves*)

Round 3 – Vs Zodiac Beast

Game 1 was a pure slaughter. Turns out my opponent saw my deck the previous round and gave me the first turn (despite him winning the dice roll) along with his cheeky smile. (.___.) “Hmmm, shouldn’t be that bad.” I thought to myself. WRONG!!! I opened with 2 of my Kaijus, Harpie’s Feather Duster, Twin Twister and a single Yosenju monster. Ha, ha, ha. Ended my turn and got annihilated on the next.

Game 2, I daringly gave my opponent the lead, and I opened into my hand trap arsenal, finding myself smiling in joy. Ah, God bless my luck. And then it is as if I jinxed it, I drew into too many hand traps in the Draw Phases that followed. Sure, I managed to stop my opponent from doing too many plays with the help of Maxx “C” and Effect Veiler, but as the turns passed, I found myself dwindling in terms of resources. My hand size was depleting, since Maxx “C” just net me a one-for-one card exchange and Veiler was effectively a minus one. Soon, I was facing an onslaught from the opponent’s board monsters and Juragedo could only delay the inevitable.

Round 4 – Vs Dark Magician

I got lucky as my opponent had troubles with his opening hand, and my luck took a better turn. Managing to pull off the aforementioned Zodiac Beast combo, OTK-ing was a piece of cake, with the Zodiac Beast clearing any backrow threats. Once again, two Yosenjus and one Juragedo got the job done.

Game 2 followed the same successful routine to pave my road to victory. He dropped a Maxx “C” this time but I remained undeterred, eventually being able to still end the game at that turn, despite suffering a blow from Ghost Reaper and Winter Cherries, banishing my Bullhorns. But since I managed to get the first copy out, I was able to piece together a sufficient number of Yosenjus for a rush down strategy, which my opponent had no answer to.

Round 5 – Blue Eyes

This was a hilarious game as who got the first turn eventually lost the game. For the first game, I was given the first turn again because apparently, word travels fast in a small room filled with less than 2o players. My attempt to start off my game was thwarted when his Maxx “C” was chained to my Elemental Triangle of the Zodiac Beast. I settled for a simple xyz summon over to Zodiac Beast Drancia, giving him an additional draw. The next turn, with Return of the Dragon Lords providing protection, he tore through my defenses and dealt 3600 worth of damage to my lifepoints. Synchro summoning into Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon, which tagged out as fast as he could, With Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon‘s protection in play, my drawn Interrupted Kaiju Slumber and Dark Hole in hand were rendered useless. “That was fast” I lamented, upon Spirit Dragon’s tag out.. “I don’t wanna get Dark Holed” He smiled and said as we went into the second game.

I let him go second, and we both had a quick laugh about it, as it is a rare occasion that players want to pass up on taking the lead. He couldn’t get a good field in play, and didn’t had any backrows for me to worry about, which was comforting, considering I didn’t draw into any backrow destruction. He did still manage to get Azure-Eyes out again, following the same pattern of tagging out during my Standby Phase. This time, however, I had a Kaiju in my hand to answer to this change of events. Launching my Zodiac Beast combo, my opponent had no response, so I went ahead as I pleased. As I summon my Yosenjus, he reacted with his first response of the turn “How many of them do you have there? There is one… there is two… and…..? Three? Crap, I am dead. ” And so, we took the round to Game 3.

For game 3, I got the first turn (NOT A GOOD THING!!!) and found myself opening with not one, not two but FOUR Yosenjus. Considered entering a xyz summon, but the fifth card was my combo piece – Zodiac Beast Marmorat, so I attempted to have my way on the first turn he gave me. Turns out my opponent had other plans – Maxx “C”, so I chickened out and went for a xyz summon into Drancia, reluctant to give him any more draws. Next turn, he tore my field apart again, relying on Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon. When my turn came, I contemplated on my options, as I found myself facing Spirit Dragon once more. Coming to a decision, my plans were put to a stop when he dropped his Effect Veiler from hand with a pleased smile, uttering a NOPE to my game plan. Laughing it off after having a great game, I conceded with no regrets. I had fun after all. It was indeed a hilarious change of events where we push the first turn to each other.

Zodiac-Beast Yosenju Kaiju 2.0

After the day’s experience, I decided on a few changes:

I will likely reduce the Yosenju lineup to only 2 copies each, as opposed to the original intention of a playset of each Kama 1 2 and 3. The rationale behind this decision was that Yosenjus are searchable and thus I decided to cut them to make space for other cards.

Juragedo will definitely be bumped to three. I played two since I only obtained two copies of it previously, missing a third one. Juragedo is simply amazing. With it and two Yosenjus, it is usually an OTK. Gagaga Cowboy in Main Phase 2 if 8000 damage isn’t successfully dished out. The same can’t be said for an assault by three Yosenju monsters; Juragedo’s 1000 ATK boost contributes significantly to the OTK. Juragedo can also facilitate the summoning of Zodiac Beast Bullhorn, and by extension, Zodiac Beast Drancia.

With my deck lacking traps, I neglected to include the obvious Side Deck option of Royal Decree. This would prove to be a contributing factor to my loss in the first round, upon reflecting on the day’s events.

Mind Control would work wonders in mirror matchups. It was an obvious pick, but similarly to Juragedo, I couldn’t locate a copy before the tournament. I got the cards a day before, and only spent a few hours putting them together and deciding on the ratios. As mentioned, with the help of friends I did manage to get the deck’s skeleton, but ended up forgetting to include these meta tech options. Hence, moving forward, Mind Control is a must-play in my opinion.

Effect Veiler, even though useful in stopping the opponent’s first-turn plays and protecting my monsters from opposing Drancia at times, is a heartbreaking minus one in terms of card economics. And at times, the loss in card resource isn’t even worth the negation, as they can simply rank-up into a different animal monster and abuse Molorat’s given effect. At best, it either prevents a third Marmorat from appearing or reduce Drancia’s xyz material by one (since Drancia now has to partake in Molorat’s summon). Effect Veiler will likely be benched to the Side, and I intend to keep it at two copies.

D.D. Crow has been vital in stopping the opponent’s recycling of resources via means such as Daigusto Emeral and Pot of Avarice. It will likely use it to take Effect Veiler’s place. My country’s locals has plenty of rogue decks such as Infernoids and Paleozonic. A couple of players still cling onto Blue Eyes, and ABC & Metalfoes hasn’t faded completely out of existence yet, so I can’t simply ignore those threats. D.D. Crow will be useful against such decks, hence the main deck slot it deserves.

Maxx “C’ stays, being important as it has ever been, and I aim to shift all three copies to my Main Deck.

Still sitting on the fence for Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit and I even had thoughts of bringing Ghost Reaper and Winter Cherries into my main (since the start of the deck building process) but space constraints kept that idea as a pipe dream. With this deck being a go-second deck in nature, hand traps will be vital in making sure I am able to play the Yugioh game and not end up being lockdown-ed so badly I can only cry and concede. 🙁

I am looking to include a larger Kaiju arsenal, so I am currently thinking of bringing in a couple more Kaiju monsters, making the Kaiju engine count at around 8 to 10. The numbers aren’t set in stone, so more playtesting would decide its fate. No hard math or number crunching here, but was just an attempt to correct the deck’s consistency issues after today’s experience of being unable to draw into them.

As far as spell/trap removal goes, Twin Twisters looks like the way to go, since I value quantity and thus I benched the staple Mystical Space Typhoon. A successful OTK would mean that the opponent’s backrow will have to go. I considered Night Beam, but eventually settled for Twin Twisters after I decided that common traps nowadays that can chain to Twin Twisters probably won’t do much damage to my game plan. The worst to face would probably be Dimensional Boundary, but declaring xyz would put their Zodiac Beast monsters in a tough spot too.

Zodiac Beast Viper will also be a new addition to the deck, as I find my Zodiac Beast xyz vulnerable if my plays get interrupted. I haven’t decide on the number of copies yet though, but for now, it looks like either a playset or a single copy; nothing in-between.

More often than not, I found myself in the need of Evilswarm Exciton Knight (Reminder: This is OCG), which I previously left out and decided not to include in my Extra Deck. So it will probably be added to the Extra Deck in the modified version of the build.

Interestingly, we had a player who opted to pilot a 55 card deck Djinn Burning Abyss, in order to deter and reduce the effectiveness of other players who are piloting Infernoids, abusing the newly released Lawnmowing Next Door. It would prove to be a sound strategy, but the number of Infernoids players in Singapore is merely a handful, making me doubt if inflating the deck size purely for the sake of a single deck is worth his while. That said, I didn’t see it first-hand; it took place on a Sunday which I skipped the day’s ranking tournament but I will leave this here on this article to be shared to the readers as I feel that it is a respectfully interesting strategy.

Well, with that, guess I shall end this long article here. Hope to bring better news next week and maybe interest or inspire more players to try on this deck, especially if you are fans of the Yosenju archetype like I am. So long for now, and I wish everyone a happy November – Have a great month ahead.