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The November 2018 Trinity Cup Top 4 were:

1st Place: woosh

2nd Place: punkrocklee

3rd Place: MonoBlueTron

4th Place: Wuh Train

1st Place: woosh’s Altergeist

Why did you choose to run your deck?

I wanted a deck with a good matchup vs aggro decks like Blue-Eyes and Chaos while still being able to outvalue my opponent in control mirrors.

What was your deckbuilding philosophy when making this deck?

It was just don’t play bad cards (even though I still played bad cards).

What were some of your tech choices and “trinities?”

The Trinites were all pretty autopick. Pankratops and Scapegoat are mandatory in almost every deck, and Meluseek is mandatory since I’m playing Geist. Scientist also works well in the deck since he’s another One for One target and generally just a staple in control decks. I played Strike/Judgment because there really just aren’t many good traps right now, so I needed more good traps to fill out the deck. The only somewhat interesting techs were Maxx “C” and the Dino engine. Maxx “C” is great in every matchup. At worst its a +0, but it almost always draws 2-3 cards and even if it doesn’t it’s usually stopping your opponent from making meaningful plays. The Dino engine gave me effectively 2 more copies of Dinowrestler Pankratops in Souleating Oviraptor and Fossil Dig. This was good because Pankratops is an incredibly unfair card. I also played Reptier just so my Oviraptor/Fossil Dig would almost always have a target and he performed a lot better than I expected him to.

How did you prepare for the meta, and would you change anything going forward?

I expected PK/Blue-Eyes/Chaos to be popular, but I didn’t play against any of them. I mostly played control mirrors and Spyral. The control mirrors were mostly favored due to the Dino engine, but the Spyral matches were tough. It’s already an incredibly bad matchup, but I also didn’t really side/main for it since it hasn’t been popular recently.

Is your deck still playable in the current format?

Since there was no banlist update going into the December Cup, absolutely.

I don’t test beforehand, so there’s a ton I would change. Effect negation that doesn’t destroy isn’t very good right now, so I’d definitely play disruption like Trap Holes and Black Horn of Heaven over cards like Effect Veiler and Fiendish Chain. There were quite a few situations where a Rank 4 would’ve come up while the majority of my extra deck never came up.

I also didn’t play Witch of the Black Forest because its an incredibly slow and passive card. It can’t really be played aggressively since crashing it does nothing unlike Graydles and the Mother Grizzly. There’s also no cards that aggressively tutor it like TGU summoning Sangan. This means it’s usually only ever getting value out beign set and attacked over or having it survive a turn to link away. Both of these methods are incredibly slow, but being able to search Pankratops is so good that its probably still worth the slot.

2nd Place: punkrocklee’s Pendulum

Why did you choose to run your deck?

I really enjoy playing this deck and I thought it was well positioned against what people were playing. A lot of people have started running fewer traps and instead rely on engines for their value game. None of these decks are super proactive, so I figured I would get to do my setups mostly uninterrupted.

What was your deckbuilding philosophy when making this deck?

You live and die by the scales. Almost every single card gets you closer to scales or are themselves scales. You need to be able to play through a Twin Twisters in at least 50% of your games to ever win a match. A lot of the cards are also really good at bringing out a ton of damage out of nowhere, another important aspect of the deck.

What were some of your tech choices and “trinities?”

Aether was new this month, simply because I did not know about him before. He lines up very well versus a lot of strategies where repeatable banishing monster removal is backbreaking. Thunder Dragon helps me make Pleiades or the links without spending too many cards. He can notably be summoned with 4-8 scales letting me get an OEPD search t1 while still establishing Pleiades. I also play Witch of the Black Forest as well since looping her and/or Wee Witch’s Apprentice with Black Fang is incredible in the grind game.

How did you prepare for the meta, and would you change anything going forward?

The side has a few cards peppered all throughout for various matchups. You need your scales, so you never side very heavily (3-4 cards at most). The traps and handtraps are terrible to play in the maindeck, but due to that they have a surprise value when they come out of the side. Good players will assume I have no disruption, even with mystery sets letting me blow them out.

How were your matchups?

R1 I played versus arcanegrove. I’ve tested against him and his Cydra engine isn’t great versus pendulums.

R2 I play against killingspre on Fire Kings. I lost a game to the loop, but managed to snag the match by correctly assessing that he was out of float targets.

R3 I played against exxelarate on Imperion Magnum/Block Dragon turbo. I cleaned it up with relative ease.

R4 I loste against MonoBlueTron on Mekk-Knight Pacifis. Having to activate scales to play makes this matchup kind of weird.

I‘m sweating at this point since my breakers were terrible due to being paired down and one opponent dropping.

R5 is against TreeTopDuelist who was playing Chaos Thunder Dragons. It was essentially rocket tag where both decks can slap down tons of damage. I managed to do it since his deck is rather light on disruption and I have an insane turn where I summoned a total of 8 monsters.

For top 4, I had a rematch against MonoBlueTron in Top 4, but this one I took 2-0. I notably cleared his board by using Wee Witch’s attack reduction on his Mekk Knights.

The finals start with a close game where, had I not made some key mistakes, I might have been able to do it. But the second game is a total blowout with him opening several high power cards and I just couldn’t overcome it.

Is your deck still playable in the current format?

Yep. There should be no changes on the horizon.

The card I’m doubting the most in this list is Performapal U Go Golem, but I do not want to reduce the density of scales too much. Not sure what low scale I would replace it with.

3rd Place: MonoBlueTron’s Mekk-Knight Pacifis

Why did you choose to run your deck?

Run, fools. Leap as far as you can from the wretched face of the Earth. The churning, grinding throb of its inescapable viscera lurches ever closer, and with it, the unspeakable conclusion of humanity. Your splitting nails scraping on mossy rocks – your tight gasps as her putrid fingers clutch your throat – your fear as cold as the water you tread. Nothing escapes the maw of our Insatiable Mother, and She is hungry.

I was testing a mediocre Goodstuff deck the night before the tournament, when I was gripped with a vision of the end times, and slapped this list together at the eleventh hour.

What was your deckbuilding philosophy when making this deck?

Pacifis, the Phantasm City has always been a great shell for a control strategy in Trinity. Unfortunately, it suffers without a proactive gameplan. People have gotten wise to the concept that you can just “play through it”. They’re now content to pass until they draw Mystical Space Typhoon.

Unfortunately, most Goodstuff engines have too much negative synergy with the deck to accomplish much of anything. Mekk-Knights, however, are unique in that Mekk-Knight Avram, the normal monster, is both incredibly searchable and triggers the effect of Pacifis, the Phantasm City, even if your opponent refuses to. Importantly, World Legacy’s Memory can net you two Pacifis triggers, which is really all you’ll need over the course of a game, anyway.

The remainder of the Mekk-Knights do a good enough job of beating down opponents whose board you’ve cleared. They also net you additional negates with World Legacy’s Secret after you’ve exhausted your Pacifis targets.

What were some of your tech choices and “trinities?”

There’s not a lot to say here. The majority of the cards I’m playing are just the best cards in the format. I’m playing just enough of them to facilitate an archetypal Co-Forbidden trap and Scapegoats.

How did you prepare for the meta, and would you change anything going forward?

I played against a lot of HERO and SPYRAL the night before the tournament which definitely influenced my tech options. I wasn’t convinced by the ability of decks to find Dinowrestler Pankratops, and I generally underestimated the Altergeist engine.

I’d change a lot of the sideboard if I were ever going to play this deck again, which I am not.

How were your matchups?

Match 1 was against Caroman, playing Orcust Bardiche. This is probably the best deck in the format, but I ended up grinding out a win. I don’t remember how, all I remember is the crash of waves and the stench of salt.

Match 2 was against guiltygearxx, playing Altergeist. Close games, but I had the right pieces of removal at the right time.

Match 3 was against woosh, playing Altergeist. I lost a couple of quick ones to the obscenity that is Dinowrestler Pankratops, and his partner in crime, Altergeist Damage-Step-Non-Destruction-Removal-That-Punishes-You-For-Spending-Removal-On-It.

Match 4 was against punkrocklee, playing Pendulums. Punkrocklee is notoriously bad, so this was easy.

Match 5 was against Cinosrepus, on HERO SPYRAL. This deck has to resolve too many things to get off the ground, and therefore matches up particularly poorly against mine.

Semifinals was against punkrocklee again, and I lost. I have no comment about this game.

3rd place match was against Wuh Train on SPYRAL. SPYRAL remains exceptionally unfair. I had to finagle out a Ring of Destruction lethal to close out the match.

Is your deck still playable in the current format?

Yes, probably. Having said that, no one else ever plays Pacifis, the Phantasm City. While you’re welcome to try, I think there might be a curse attached.

This is what I would play in the future. Playing Called by the Grave in the sideboard instead of the main deck was an unbelievable mistake, and I boarded it in every game.

I also think we, as a community, tend to overvalue the Cyber Dragon and Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon sideboard plan because it’s easy. Additional slots dedicated to important matchups are worth much more than vague “anti-extra-deck” cards.

4th Place: Wuh Train’s SPYRAL

Why did you choose to run your deck?

SPYRALs are a favorite deck of mine. The mechanic of guessing your opponent’s top deck to get strong effects is really fun. Also, there are a lot of inconsistent combos SPYRALs can pull off, even in Trinity. One example is Armageddon Knight dump SPYRAL Master Plan, revive Master Plan, and get a butt load of advantage. These combos can feel very rewarding to pull off.

What was your deckbuilding philosophy when making this deck?

The gameplan of my deck was to get out Fully Armed and/or Last Resort on a SPYRAL monster. My deckbuilding tried to reinforce that. Most cards in my deck either get me to Resort or Quik Fix which both put me on a path to execute my gameplan. About a 4th of my deck was just good cards and disruption because my deck could play at a snail’s pace sometimes. Because of this, I needed some backup to help me stall until I got my gameplan going.

What were some of your tech choices and “trinities?”

My trinities were Dinowrestler Pankratops, Scapegoat, and SPYRAL Resort. The reason why I included SPYRAL Resort in a SPYRAL deck is pretty obvious. Searches every turn, gives targeting protection to all other SPYRAL cards, and recycles monsters. This recycling allows me to use powerful monsters over and over again. Not many opponents will let it stay on the field for long, but if they waste a Twin Twisters or a Heavy Storm Duster just to get rid of Resort, it’s done its job.

Scapegoat and Pankratops were also amazing cards that could just win games. Scapegoat in particular let me go into link plays like Curious that won games on the spot. But Curious even if I didn’t run scapegoats would be included. You can often make him with weird boards since I run a lot of Darks with different types which can come in clutch some games.

Master Plan is a contentious card to play in Trinity SPYRALs. You often can’t combo off with her like in the TCG. However, there are much slower combos using her and I’m glad I included her since she won me several games. Dangers! were a nice engine that allowed me to get stuff in the grave for Resort and unbrick.

I also ran a dragon engine with Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson, Mana Dragon Zirnitron, and Dragon Ravine with AFD in the extra. I liked the engine in theory, but I almost always sided it out. Since so many people board in answers to Resort, it made running Ravine a liability in games 2/3. I also ran Armageddon Knight. It has great utility and often led to 2 or 3 card combos that helped establish my plays. Finally, my last piece of spice was my smokescreen side. Most games I would side in the Graydles, Charming Resort Staff, and Last Will. This performed well enough to be considered for the main.

How were your matchups?

Round 1 was against Geist. Geist can ramp up pretty fast which is not good for SPYRALs. Game 2 I could’ve stayed in the game with Curious, but sadly he had Solemn Warning to stop him.

Round 2 my opponent dropped.

Round 3 was against Fire Kings. Game 1 I had on lock after resolving Plan. In Game 2 he drew answers to what I had and won. Game 3 I didn’t read Nephthys right and almost lost, but I drew D.D. Crow at a crucial time and won from there.

Round 4 was against meepmoto27’s Blue-Eyes. It was a scary duel with game 1 showing how strong his deck can be. Though game 2 was a showcase of how scary my deck could be.

Round 5 was against the best duelist in the tournament, woosh. Game 1 was really close, but I managed to pull through. Game 2 I lost. Then going to Game 3 I drew a lot of good cards and they just pulled me through to the top 4.

Top 4 I had a runback against woosh and like it should have happened the first time, he creamed me.

I ended up having a good run against a few decks but, I think my technical play and deckbuilding was very sub par and I was carried by drawing broken when I needed to.

Is your deck still playable in the current format?

The deck is still highly playable and with no new Trinity Banlist or set releases anytime soon. It stays relatively unchanged, though you should fit in Twin Twisters since that was a glaring omission. I often lost playing into backrow which Twin Twisters would have cleared.