Welcome to Week #4 of the OCG 2018.07 format.

This report will cover 50 top-performing decks from 7 tournaments that were held in Japan and China during 21 – 24 July 2018.

New Product Release

V Jump September 2018 promotional card Cyber Dragon Nächster



Metagame Breakdown

19 Sky Striker

9 Altergeist

8 Thunder Dragon

5 HERO Gouki

2 ABC: 1 Mono ABC 1 Greener HERO ABC FTK

2 Greener HERO Infernity FTK

2 Thunder Dragon Trickstar

1 Plant FTK

1 SPYRAL

1 Wind-Up FTK

Sky Striker

Hase (ハセ) went 5-1-1 and finished 1 – 2nd in “9th Yu-ky CS” (Team 3v3) which had 35 teams (105 participants).

The changes that Sky Striker made to their builds by running 2-3 Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion and 3 Infinite Impermanence in the Main Deck has improved their match-up against Thunder Dragon. Some players are also choosing to run a second copy of Pot of Desires in the Main Deck. As Pot of Desires can be activated while Thunder Dragon Colossus is on the field, it gives them a chance to draw into Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor and Infinite Impermanence.

Artifact Lancea is another Side Deck card that had seen increased play this week. Its main purpose is to stop Gold Sarcophagus and thus deny Thunder Dragon of their basic core combo to setup Thunder Dragon Colossus.

Other than Thunder Dragon, Artifact Lancea is also moderately useful against Gouki by preemptively preventing Destiny HERO – Malicious from activating its effect. Artifact Lancea has the advantage of being able to be activated while Magical Mid-Breaker Field is in play.

Altergeist

Berion (ベリオン) went 5-1 and finished 1 – 2nd in “9th Yu-ky CS” (Team 3v3) which had 35 teams (105 participants).

Running 3 Mind Control and 1 Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones in the Side Deck is a currently popular tech for Altergeist against Sky Striker.

When going second, Mind Control is used to take control of the opponent’s Sky Striker Link Monster, typically Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku. It will then be used to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Hayate, whose effect would then send Hornet Drones from the deck to the graveyard.

During the Main Phase 2, Hayate will be used to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari whose effect will then add Hornet Drones from the graveyard to hand. By using the Token Special Summoned from Hornet Drones and Kagari, they can be used to Link Summon Aleister the Invoker of Madness.

Since Aleister is a Spellcaster monster, following up with Secret Village of the Spellcasters would lock the Sky Striker opponent from playing Spell cards.

Thunder Dragon

Tera (テラ) went 7-1-1 and finished 1 – 2nd in “Hatti CS × Surugaya Cup in Surugaya Takatsuki Trading Card House” which had 52 participants.

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Denko Sekka is gaining popularity in the Side Deck of Thunder Dragon to go against Sky Striker and Altergeist.

Denko Sekka being a Thunder monster has great synergy with Thunder Dragon. Not only can it be used to Special Summon Thunder Dragon Colossus and Thunder Dragon Titan, it can also be searched by the 2nd effect of Thunder Dragon Fusion.

Gouki

Shakeneru (しゃけねる) went 8-0-1 and finished 1 – 2nd in “Hatti CS × Surugaya Cup in Surugaya Takatsuki Trading Card House” which had 52 participants.

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As Effect Veiler and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit have fallen out of trend, Magical Mid-Breaker Field mainly stops Infinite Impermanence currently. It remains relevant when going second for stopping Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor and Altergeist Silquitous.

Conclusion

The trend from Week #3 continues as we have Sky Striker, Altergeist and Thunder Dragon as the top 3 decks.

The power level between these decks are relatively marginal but Sky Striker has the consistency that outperforms the other decks.

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