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OCG January 1st 2019 Banlist


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Welcome to Week #0 of the OCG 2019.01 format.
 
Happy New Year!
 
This preliminary report will cover 76 top-performing decks from 11 tournaments that were held in Japan and China during 23 – 30 December 2018, played under the new OCG 2019.01 Limit Regulation.
 

 
New Product Release
V Jump January 2019 promotional card
God-Eyes Phantom Dragon
20th Anniversary Duelist Box
Jump Festa Limited Pack 2019
Premium Pack 2019
 

 
Metagame Breakdown
 
OCG2019010.jpg
 
25 Salamangreat
10 Sky Striker
9 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon
6 Subterror
5 Thunder Dragon
4 Zefra:
3 Mono Zefra
1 World Chalice Zefra
3 Magician
2 Gandora-X FTK
 
2 Infernoid:
1 Grass Infernoid
1 Traptrick Infernoid
 
2 Invoked
2 Phantom Knights Burning Abyss
1 Altergeist
1 Blue-Eyes
1 Invoked Shaddoll
1 Kaiju Luna Mekk-Knight
1 Phantom Knights Orcust
1 Sky Striker Invoked
 

 
OCG2019010_Salamangreat.jpg
 
Salamangreat
Salamangreat is able to quickly swarm the field and setup some basic disruption in the form of Salamangreat Rage or Salamangreat Roar.
 
They are also able to bring out Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir. Bagooska is especially impactful in the mirror match to negate Salamangreat Gazelle, Lady Debug, Speedroid Terrortop and Salamangreat Mirage Stallio.
 
With multiple different ways to open using Salamangreat Gazelle, Salamangreat Spinny, Lady Debug or Speedroid Terrortop, Salamangreat is currently one of the most consistent deck, especially when the theme comes with its own searcher too – Salamangreat Circle.
 
Hinkinson Louis Takashi “ふぇ” is one of the Japanese representative that competed in this year’s World Championship 2018. He went 5-0-1 and finished 1 – 4th in “Japan YU-GI-OH Tournament 2019 with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3) which had 72 teams (216 participants).
 
As Salamangreat is currently the most popular deck in OCG 2019.01, running Super Polymerization for Salamangreat Violet Chimera is one of the most popular Side Deck choices since it cannot be negated by Salamangreat Roar.
 

 
OCG2019010_SkyStriker.jpg
 
Sky Striker
kazuma went 4-0-2 and finished 1 – 4th in “Japan YU-GI-OH Tournament 2019 with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3) which had 72 teams (216 participants).
 
His teammates Aroma (アロマ) and Aoi Ui (あおい うい) were running a similar build and went 6-0 and 4-1-1 respectively.
 
With Sky Striker Ace – Kagari currently limited, the current most popular solution to reuse Kagari is by running Pot of Avarice.
 
In the old standard play for Sky Striker is to open with Sky Striker Ace – Raye to go into Sky Striker Ace – Kagari and then Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku.
 
By simply running through Sky Striker Ace – Hayate and Sky Striker Ace – Kaina in the steps between Kagari and Shizuku to fill up the graveyard with monsters, Pot of Avarice can then be activated as soon as the next turn, shuffling back Kagari for another use.
 

 
OCG2019010_DinosaurThunderDragon.jpg
 
Dinosaur Thunder Dragon
Pokkerio (ポッケリオ) went 6-0 and finished 1 – 4th in “Japan YU-GI-OH Tournament 2019 with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3) which had 72 teams (216 participants).
 
Thunder Dragon Colossus‘ effect is quite effective against both Salamangreat and Sky Striker.
 
Salamangreat relies on searching with Lady Debug, Speedroid Terrortop and Salamangreat Veilynx, while Sky Striker relies on searching with Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! and Sky Striker Airspace – Area Zero.
 
As a countermeasure, both Salamangreat and Sky Striker are running the full 3 copies of Infinite Impermanence in the Main Deck.
 

 
Conclusion
Salamangreat is currently the most popular top performing deck and is without a doubt the deck to beat for the early OCG 2019.01 format.
 
Sky Striker and Dinosaur Thunder Dragon follows behind, but they are lacking in consistency when compared with Salamangreat which is untouched by the OCG 2019.01 Limit Regulation.
 
If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 

https://roadoftheking.com/ocg-2019-01-metagame-report-0/

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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #1

 

Welcome to Week #1 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 68 top-performing decks from 13 tournaments that were held in Japan, China and Hong Kong during 1 – 8 January 2019.

 

Update: Added tournament result of “Asia Championship Winter 2019 Hong Kong Qualifier”.

 



 

Metagame Breakdown

 

OCG2019011.jpg

 

15 Salamangreat

11 Sky Striker

9 Thunder Dragon

7 Magician

5 Infernoid:

2 Grass Infernoid

2 Grass Lair Infernoid

1 Subterror Infernoid

5 Subterror

3 Trickstar

3 Zefra:

2 mono Zefra

1 Dinosaur Zefra

2 Altergeist

1 Cyber Dragon

2 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon

2 Dinosaur Yang Zing

1 Synchro DARK

1 Train

1 Zombie

 



 

OCG2019011_Salamangreat.jpg

 

Salamangreat

KBT went 6-1-2 and finished 2nd in “Hatti CS × Dragon Star Cup in Dragon Star Kishiwada Haruki Shop” (Team 3v3) which had 38 teams (114 participants).

 

He ran two copies of Swords of Concealing Light in his Side Deck.

 

Against the Salamangreat mirror match, Swords of Concealing Light is mainly used to turn Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir face-down, thus shutting off its effect that negates the activated effects of monsters.

 

Swords of Concealing Light is also great for turning Thunder Dragon Colossus face-down, shutting off its effect that prevents adding cards from deck to hand, and also disallowing its substitution effect to be used when being destroyed.

 

However Swords of Concealing Light is more effective against Dinosaur Thunder Dragon. Mono Thunder Dragon would be able to chain Thunder Dragon Titan‘s effect against Swords of Concealing Light‘s activation to destroy it before resolution. This would result in Swords of Concealing Light resolving with no effect.

 



 

OCG2019011_SkyStriker.jpg

 

Sky Striker

Running 3 Pot of Avarice has been a very successful build in bringing Sky Striker back to the top of the competitive scene.

 

Combined with the card advantage from Pot of Desires and Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!, Sky Striker is able to keep up against Salamangreat and even out resource them.

 

Puralis (ピュラリス) went 7-0 and finished 1st in “Woluney Cup” which had 54 participants.

 



 

OCG2019011_ThunderDragon.jpg

 

Thunder Dragon

Aka Daruma (あかだるま) went 7-0 and finished 1st in “78th Oretachi Card Division CS” which had 43 participants.

 

He ran a copy of Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max in his Extra Deck as an additional finisher.

 

This is quite relevant against Sky Striker as they could negate an attack using Sky Striker Ace – Kaina, but the 2000 damage from Gustav Max in Main Phase 2 would be the finishing blow.

 



 

OCG2019011_Magician.jpg

 

Magician

Despite getting further hit by the Limit Regulation, Magician is still able to compete in the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

Magician is running the similar build as its previous OCG 2018.10 variant, by substituting in Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon and Black Fang Magician to fill in the slots emptied by the newly limited Chronograph Sorcerer.

 

Fumi (ふみ) went 6-2 and finished 2nd in “78th Oretachi Card Division CS” which had 43 participants.

 



 

Conclusion

 

Salamangreat continues to be the most popular top performing deck, but Sky Striker is fast catching up.

 

Interestingly Dinosaur Thunder Dragon took a dive, and instead mono Thunder Dragon rose up to its place.

 

With more Thunder Dragon around, players running Super Polymerization might need to look into using Predaplant Dragostapelia, as Starving Venom Fusion Dragon could be played around by having only 1 Thunder Dragon Colossus on the field at a time.

 

Non Salamangreat deck are also choosing to run Diplexer Chimera over Salamangreat Violet Chimera due to its more lenient summoning condition.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 

OCG201901-1.jpg

 



 


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  • 1 month later...
Yu-Gi-Oh! Asia Championship Winter 2019 Hong Kong Qualifier

 

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Asia Championship Winter 2019 Hong Kong Qualifier was held during 5 January 2019 and had a total of 202 participants.

 



 

1st, Lo Lai Chun [Dinosaur Yang Zing]

 

ACSW2019HongKong_1st.jpg

 



 

2nd, Mok Hou Teng [Dinosaur Thunder Dragon]

 

ACSW2019HongKong_2nd.jpg

 



 

3 – 4th, Liu Hoi Ki [salamangreat]

 

ACSW2019HongKong_3-4thA.jpg

 



 

3 – 4th, Jiang Hongkang [Thunder Dragon]

 

ACSW2019HongKong_3-4thB.jpg

 



 


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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #2

 

Welcome to Week #2 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 44 top-performing decks from 6 tournaments that were held in Japan during 12 – 15 January 2019.

 

The following were excluded from this tabulation as Dark Neostorm was not allowed in these tournaments:

 

3rd Okayama Orbis Cup Team Battle with Hatti CS

3rd Hayato CS with Hatti

 



 

New Product Release

Dark Neostorm

 



 

Metagame Breakdown

 

 

10 Salamangreat

8 Sky Striker

4 Altergeist

4 Subterror

3 Grass Infernoid

3 Phantom Knights Burning Abyss

2 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon

2 Magician

2 Orcust:

1 Phantom Knights Orcust

1 Sky Striker Phantom Knights Orcust

2 Thunder Dragon

1 Blackwing

1 Cyber Dragon

1 World Chalice

1 Zefra

 

OCG2019012.jpg

 



 

Salamangreat

Shakeneru (しゃけねる) went 7-0-1 and finished 1 – 2nd in “34th Takatsuki CS with Hatti CS” which had 86 participants.

 

He has taken a more control approach for his Salamangreat build, cutting out Speedroid Terrortop for Pot of Desires and running more Traps.

 

From the Salamangreat Reference Sheet, we can see that Speedroid Terrortop is often redundant and a win-more card as the deck already has plenty of methods to open consistently with Salamangreat Circle and Lady Debug. Running Speedroid Terrortop also comes with the risk of drawing Speedroid Taketomborg.

 

On the other hand, Pot of Desires is also useful for digging into the combo pieces. But if you already opened with the combo pieces in hand, then Pot of Desires can be activated after the combo to draw into more Traps and ‘Hand Traps’ to strengthen the opening board.

 

Salamangreat Roar and Salamangreat Rage are also increased to 2 copies to avoid Pot of Desires banishing the singular copy.

 

Although some players are testing with running 1 copy of Cynet Mining, but as Salamangreat builds are going for stability rather than explosive opening, it is very likely that Cynet Mining is not necessary for Salamangreat, especially with Salamangreat Circle and Lady Debug at 3 copies each.

 

OCG2019012_Salamangreat.jpg

 

Sky Striker

Aroma (アロマ) went 8-0 and finished 1st in “49th Adachi CS with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3). He then went 7-1 and finished 1st in “79th Oretachi Trading Card Division CS” which had 46 participants.

 

Landing Podship Ambrowhale is a perfect replacement for Topologic Bomber Dragon.

 

Topologic Bomber Dragon is mainly run for its lenient summoning condition. The “2+ Effect Monsters” summoning condition allows a Link-3 monster and another monster to be used for the Link Summoning. This is crucial to keep the Main Monster Zones empty but still having a monster with a threatening ATK.

 

Landing Podship Ambrowhale has the same “2+ Effect Monsters” summoning condition but comes with a much more useful effect. The (2) effect in particular is useful for reviving Sky Striker Ace – Kagari.

 

OCG2019012_SkyStriker.jpg

 



 

Conclusion

 

OCG201901-2.jpg

 

Dark Neostorm has a rather low impact on its debut weekend.

 

Salamangreat and Sky Striker did not gain any significant boost from it.

 

Meanwhile Altergeist has been doing well with running Manhunt in the Main Deck. Manhunt is a new Continuous Trap from Dark Neostorm that takes control of an opponent’s monster.

 

During the opponent’s turn, it can be activated right after a monsters summon to take control it and deny the opponent from activating its Ignition Effect. Since Manhunt only prevents the monster from activating its effect, the monster’s Continuous Effect will still be applied. Taking control of the opponent’s Thunder Dragon Colossus will deny them from adding cards from the deck to hand.

 

Dark Neostorm has also boosted Orcust with Sheorcust Dingirsu and Orcustrated Climax. This results in a popularity spike for Orcust, but its performance has been mediocre so far.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #3

 

Welcome to Week #3 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 35 top-performing decks from 5 tournaments that were held in Japan and China during 19 – 22 January 2019.

 



 

New Product Release

V Jump March 2019 promotional card

Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake

 



 

Metagame Breakdown

 

OCG2019013.jpg

 

6 Sky Striker

5 Orcust:

2 Phantom Knights Orcust

2 Sky Striker Phantom Knights Orcust

1 Grass Phantom Knights Orcust

5 Salamangreat:

4 mono Salamangreat

1 Sky Striker Salamangreat

5 Zefra:

3 mono Zefra

2 Dinosaur Zefra

3 Thunder Dragon

3 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon

3 Subterror

2 Altergeist

1 Destiny HERO

1 Magician

1 Synchro DARK

 



 

Sky Striker

 

OCG2019013_SkyStriker.jpg

 

Kinnikuso (きんにくそ) went 7-2 and finished 2nd in “Hatti CS × Surugaya Cup in Surugaya Takatsuki Trading Card House” which had 64 participants.

 

The overall pace of the metagame has slowed down and more decks are going taking a more control approach by running more Solemn Traps in the deck.

 

Kinnikuso ran 2 copies of Solemn Judgment in the Main Deck.

 

One of the more common ways that Sky Striker loses control of the game is having a timely Harpie’s Feather Duster sweeping their Spells/Traps and nulling the advantage from Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole.

 

As Solemn Judgment could negate Harpie’s Feather Duster and Twin Twisters, it is the preferred choice for Sky Striker over Solemn Strike and Solemn Warning.

 



 

Orcust

 

OCG2019013_Orcust1.jpg

 

After a poor debut weekend, Orcust is starting show some results.

 

There is yet to be an optimised build for Orcust as players are still currently experimenting with different combos.

 

The starting point of the combo is to Link Summon Knightmare Mermaid and use its effect to Special Summon Orcust Knightmare.

 

That would lead to The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche and following up with The Phantom Knights’ Rank-Up-Magic Launch on Sheorcust Dingirsu to bring out True King of All Calamities.

 

Nemuru (眠) went 5-1 and finished 3 – 4th in “80th Oretachi Trading Card Division CS” which had 38 participants.

 

He is running the DARK Warrior engine. Armageddon Knight and Dark Grepher are used for sending Destiny HERO – Malicious to the graveyard, whose effect would then Special Summon another Malicious. Then together they are used to Link Summon either Knightmare Cerberus or Knightmare Phoenix, which can be used to Link Summon Knightmare Mermaid, thus starting up the combo.

 

The advantage of the DARK Warrior engine is having the Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson synergy, a Tuner Monster that enables Crystron Needlefiber and Borreload Savage Dragon.

 

OCG2019013_Orcust2.jpg

 

Fat Sheep (肥羊) went 5-1-2 and finished 3 – 4th in “Duel City 2018 Beihai” which had 45 participants.

 

He is running the Sky Striker engine. Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones will create a “Sky Striker Ace Token” that can be used to Link Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kagari, taking back Hornet Drones. Hornet Drones is then played again to create another Token and together with Kagari they are used to Link Summon Knightmare Cerberus or Knightmare Phoenix, and then going into Knightmare Mermaid.

 

The other alternative opening is using Knightmare Corruptor Iblee to directly Link Summon Knightmare Mermaid.

 

However, if both Hornet Drones and Iblee are in the opening hand, then the Hornet Drones combo can be executed first to bring out Knightmare Mermaid. After which Normal Summon Iblee and use its effect to Special Summon Cerberus or Phoenix from the graveyard, allowing for an extended play.

 



 

Salamangreat

 

OCG2019013_Salamangreat.jpg

 

Shakeneru (しゃけねる) went 8-0 (excluding 1 bye) and finished 1st in “Hatti CS × Surugaya Cup in Surugaya Takatsuki Trading Card House” which had 64 participants.

 

He was featured in last week’s report and went on to achieve another victory this week.

 

He has tuned his Side Deck to improve his match-up against Thunder Dragon, cutting out 2 D.D. Crow and 1 Starving Venom Fusion Dragon for 1 Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion and 2 Dimensional Barrier.

 



 

Zefra

 

OCG2019013_Zefra.jpg

 

Castella (カステラ) went 5-0-2 and finished 1st in “6th Quality Cup” (Team 2v2) which had 26 teams (52 participants).

 

He ran a Speedroid engine consisting of 2 Speedroid Terrortop, 1 Speedroid Marble Machine and 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice.

 

Speedroid Marble Machine is a Pendulum Monster with Pendulum Scale 1. This low Pendulum Scale complements with Zefraath since Zefraath‘s Pendulum Effect is commonly activated by sending Zefraniu, Secret of the Yang Zing and changing its Pendulum Scale to 7.

 

When going first, Special Summon Speedroid Terrortop and then search and Normal Summon Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice to go into Crystron Needlefiber.

 

When going second, Special Summon Speedroid Terrortop and then search and Normal Summon Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice to change Terrortop’s Level to 6. Both of them are then used to Synchro Summon Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing. Activate Yazi ② effect to destroy an opponent’s card and itself, triggering its ③ effect and Special Summon Mare Mare from the deck, opening up for an OTK.

 

The Speedroid engine complements well with Zefra, providing the flexibility to fetch for a low Pendulum Scale or for developing the board.

 



 

Conclusion

 

OCG201901-3.jpg

 

Sky Striker, Orcust, Salamangreat and Zefra are sharing the top spot with an almost equal split.

 

Thunder Dragon, Dinosaur Thunder Dragon and Subterror are trailing not too far behind.

 

The metagame has yet to settle, especially with Orcust joining in the competitive scene, and should expect to see some changes over the next few weeks.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 


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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #4

 

Welcome to Week #4 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 32 top-performing decks from 6 tournaments that were held in Japan and China during 26 – 29 January 2019.

 



 

Metagame Breakdown

 

OCG2019014.jpg

 



 

7 Salamangreat

6 Sky Striker

4 Orcust:

2 Sky Striker Trickstar Phantom Knights Orcust

1 Phantom Knights Orcust

1 Sky Striker Phantom Knights Orcust

3 Altergeist

3 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon

2 Magician

2 Subterror

1 Guardragon

1 Infernoid

1 Invoked

1 Thunder Dragon

1 Sky Striker Dinosaur

 



 

Salamangreat

 

OCG2019014_Salamangreat.jpg

 

Yabu (やぶ) achieved consecutive victories in two tournaments over the weekend.

 

On Sunday, he went 5-1-1 and finished 1st in “11th Yu-Ky CS” (Team 3v3) which had 37 teams (111 participants).

 

Later on Tuesday, he went 7-1 and finished 1st in “81st Oretachi Trading Card Division CS” which had 60 participants.

 

He made a good metagame call and ran 3 copies of Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay in the Main Deck.

 

In the current competitive scene, Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay is great against Salamangreat, Sky Striker and Orcust.

 

Although Phantazmay is not that great against Altergeist, Thunder Dragon and Magician, they would still go to Linkuriboh, Salamangreat Almiraj or Some Summer Summoner, allowing Phantazmay to be Special Summoned.

 

Infernoid and Subterror are the few match-up that Phantazmay could be stuck in hand. But since they are not very popular, running Phantazmay in the Main Deck might be a worthwhile risk.

 



 

Sky Striker

 

OCG2019014_SkyStriker.jpg

 

Alive (アライブ) achieved consecutive 2nd place in two tournaments over the weekend.

 

On Saturday, he went 7-1 and finished 2nd in “6th Aso Vic Cup” which had 64 participants.

 

On Sunday, he went 5-2 and finished 2nd in “11th Yu-Ky CS” (Team 3v3) which had 37 teams (111 participants).

 

He ran a copy of Evilswarm Exciton Knight in his Extra Deck.

 

Xyz Summoning Evilswarm Exciton Knight is not easy for this deck and often involves using 2 Sky Striker Ace – Raye.

 

When falling behind in the Sky Striker mirror match, Exciton Knight is useful for wiping the opponent’s advantage gained from Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole.

 



 

Orcust

 

OCG2019014_Orcust.jpg

 

 

Xun (巽) went 10-1 and finished 1st in “Duel City 2018 Guangzhou” which had 122 participants.

 

In addition to running the Sky Striker engine and Knightmare Corruptor Iblee, he ran a small Trickstar Engine consisting of just Trickstar Candina, Trickstar Corobane and Trickstar Light Stage.

 

Normal Summoning Trickstar Candina and using its effect to search for Trickstar Corobane and then Special Summoning it would provide 2 materials for Link Summoning Knightmare Cerberus or Knightmare Phoenix to go into Knightmare Mermaid.

 

The advantage of the Trickstar Engine is having Trickstar Light Stage to lock down an opponent’s Spell/Trap, making it safer to resolve Knightmare Mermaid.

 

However, Trickstar Light Stage being a Field Spell conflicts with Orcustrated Babel.

 



 

Conclusion

 

OCG201901-4.jpg

 

Salamangreat and Sky Striker are the top two decks, while Orcust, Altergeist, Dinosaur Thunder Dragon, Magician, Subterror and Thunder Dragon are still showing up fairly often.

 

This diverse metagame is quite demanding on the Side Deck, causing players to favor more generic tech cards that are applicable across multiple match-ups, and cutting back on niche tech cards that are good only against a specific deck.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 


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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #5, #6

 

Welcome to Week #5, #6 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 61 top-performing decks from 9 tournaments that were held in Japan during 2 – 10 February 2019.

 



 

New Product Release

20th Anniversary Legend Collection

 



 

OCG2019015.jpg

 

Metagame Breakdown

 

18 Salamangreat

12 Sky Striker

9 Orcust

4 Zefra:

2 Dinosaur Zefra

2 Speedroid Zefra

3 Altergeist

3 Magician

2 Cyber Dragon

2 Madolche

2 Subterror

2 Thunder Dragon

1 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon

1 Gandora-X FTK

1 Grass Infernoid

1 Mekk-Knight

 



 

Salamangreat

 

OCG2019015_Salamangreat.jpg

 

Neji (ネジ) went 6-1-1 and finished 1st in “10th Larpy CS” (Team 3v3) which had 58 teams (174 participants).

 

He had prepared against Orcust in his Extra Deck and Side Deck.

 

The Abyss Dweller in the Extra Deck is to prevent Orcust monsters such as Orcust Knightmare, Orcust Harp Horror, Orcust Cymbal Skeleton and World Legacy – “World Wand” from activating their graveyard effect. Abyss Dweller is also occasionally useful in the Salamangreat mirror match and Sky Striker match-up to prevent Salamangreat Spinny, Salamangreat Foxy, Salamangreat Jack Jaguar, Salamangreat Falco and Sky Striker Ace- Raye from activating their graveyard effect to Special Summon themselves.

 

Artifact Lancea is also useful for stopping Orcust Knightmare, Orcust Harp Horror, Orcust Cymbal Skeleton and World Legacy – “World Wand” from banishing themselves and thus disrupting the Orcust combo for a turn.

 

After Artifact Lancea ② effect was activated and resolved, if Salamangreat Roar that was set on the field by its own ② effect was activated, the effect of Lancea would prevent Roar from banishing itself. Roar would go to the graveyard, and could be recurred again on the next turn.

 



 

Sky Striker

 

OCG2019015_SkyStriker.jpg

 

 

Cherenko (チェレンコ) had back-to-back top placing over the weekend.

 

On Saturday, he went 6-2 and finished 1 – 2nd in “7th Miyagi CS” (Team 3v3).

 

On Sunday, he went 6-1 and finished 3 – 4th in “10th Larpy CS” (Team 3v3) which had 58 teams (174 participants).

 

He ran 2 D.D. Crow in his Main Deck.

 

D.D. Crow is great against the current top 3 decks – Salamangreat, Sky Striker and Orcust.

 

Against Salamangreat, D.D. Crow is used to banish Salamangreat Spinny, Salamangreat Foxy, Salamangreat Jack Jaguar or Salamangreat Falco to stop them from Special Summoning themselves from the graveyard. It can also be used to banish Salamangreat Roar and Salamangreat Rage to prevent Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf from recurring them.

 

Against Sky Striker, D.D. Crow is used to stop Sky Striker Ace – Kagari from taking back a Spell by banishing it, and banishing Sky Striker Ace – Raye to stop its Special Summon from the graveyard. Although D.D. Crow can also be used against Pot of Avarice by banishing one of its targets causing it to fizzle, the Sky Striker player would typically resolve Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole ① effect first so that Pot of Avarice cannot be chained to.

 

Against Orcust, D.D. Crow is activated preemptively to banish Orcust Knightmare, Orcust Harp Horror, Orcust Cymbal Skeleton or World Legacy – “World Wand” before the opponent could activate their graveyard effect. However, once Orcustrated Babel is on the field, the graveyard effect of Orcust can be chained to D.D. Crow, rendering it ineffective.

 



 

Orcust

 

OCG2019015_Orcust.jpg

 

 

Sea Archer (シーアーチャー) went 7-1 and finished 1st in “10th Larpy CS” (Team 3v3) which had 58 teams (174 participants).

 

The current build of Orcust is trending towards using Armageddon Knight and Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson for starting off the Orcust combo.

 

Armageddon and Destrudo can be used to for the standard Knightmare Cerberus or Knightmare Phoenix into Knightmare Mermaid, but also opens up an alternative option of going into Crystron Needlefiber.

 

In the scenario that he drew his only copy of Orcust Knightmare, rendering Knightmare Mermaid useless, going into Needlefiber will allow him to bring out Jet Synchron to discard it, or go for Orcust Bass Bombard to Special Summon it from hand.

 

The 3 copies of Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay also allows him to return Orcust Knightmare to the deck when going second.

 

This allows him to optimize the build by running the minimal amount of Orcust Knightmare.

 

 



 

Conclusion

 

OCG201901-5.jpg

 

Salamangreat, Sky Striker and Orcust are the current top decks to beat.

 

Orcust has proven itself to be quite a threat causing players to run specific tech such as Artifact Lancea against them.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 


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  • 3 weeks later...
OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #7
 
Welcome to Week #7 of the OCG 2019.01 format.
 
This report will cover 38 top-performing decks from 6 tournaments that were held in Japan and China during 16 – 19 February 2019.
 

 
New Product Release
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters x Monster Strike collaboration commemoration cards
Light Bringer Lucifer
 

 
Metagame Breakdown
 
OCG2019017.jpg
 

 
12 Salamangreat
8 Orcust:
4 Phantom Knights Orcust
1 Psychic Phantom Knights Orcust
1 Sky Striker Phantom Knights Orcust
1 Atlantean Sky Striker Phantom Knights Orcust
1 Trickstar Sky Striker Phantom Knights Orcust
6 Sky Striker
5 Thunder Dragon
3 Altergeist
1 Cyber Dragon
1 Grass Dinosaur Thunder Dragon
1 Magician
1 Subterror
 

 
Salamangreat
Aigyan (あいぎゃん) achieved two consecutive victories over the weekend.
 
On Saturday, he went 6-2-1 and finished 1st in “5th Puchi Alpha CS with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3) which had 56 teams (168 participants).
 
On Sunday, he went 8-1 and finished 1st in “Hatti CS × Surugaya Cup in Surugaya Takatsuki Trading Card House” which had 64 participants.
 
He ran 3 copies of Manhunt in the Main Deck.
 
In the mirror match, Manhunt is useful for disrupting the opponent’s play by taking control of their Link Monsters. Taking control of Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf is also extremely advantageous since it can be used for a Reincarnation Link Summon later during your turn.
 
OCG2019017_Salamangreat.jpg
 

 
Orcust
Ueni (うえにー) went 8-0 and finished 1st in “5th Puchi Alpha CS with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3) which had 56 teams (168 participants).
 
He ran a more traditional build using Speedroid, Dark Grepher and Armageddon Knight.
 
He cut out Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson, Jet Synchron, Crystron Needlefiber, Borreload Savage Dragon and focused on just the core Orcust and Phantom Knights components.
 
This lowers the explosive potential of the deck, but also improves the consistency by reducing the bricks in his opening hand.
 
OCG2019017_Orcust.jpg
 

 
Sky Striker
M1 (えむいち) went 6-2 and finished 2nd in “5th Puchi Alpha CS with Hatti CS” (Team 3v3) which had 56 teams (168 participants).
 
As Glow-Up Bulb is forbidden, the purpose of Linkuriboh is now mainly to serve as a stepping stone for Link Summoning Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior.
 
Some Sky Striker players have started switching over to Relinquished Anima since it fulfils the same purpose, but has a useful effect that could be used to clear Link Monsters such as Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf, Salamangreat Heatleo, Knightmare Cerberus, Knightmare Phoenix, Triple Burst Dragon, Borrelsword Dragon.
 
As these Link Monsters have a Link Arrow pointing up, when they are summoned in the Extra Monster Zone, their Link Arrow allows Relinquished Anima to be Link Summon directly in front of them, allowing Anima to target and equip those Link Monster to itself.
 
Due to the increase of Relinquished Anima being played, it is best to avoid summoning in the 2nd and 4th Main Monster Zone.
 
OCG2019017_SkyStriker.jpg
 

 
Thunder Dragon
Gamon (我聞) went 6-1 and finished 3rd in “Hatti CS × Surugaya Cup in Surugaya Takatsuki Trading Card House” which had 64 participants.
 
He ran 3 copies of Manhunt in the Main Deck. Not only does Manhunt functions as a disruption, it can also be used to take back his own Thunder Dragon Colossus if the opponent took it using Manhunt.
 
He also ran 3 copies of Macro Cosmos in the Side Deck.
 
Macro Cosmos is very powerful against Salamangreat and Sky Striker.
 
Against Salamangreat, Macro Cosmos banishes all their cards, denying their monsters from Special Summoning themselves from the graveyard, and Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf from recurring the Salamangreat Monsters and Traps.
 
Against Sky Striker, Macro Cosmos banishes all their Spells, preventing them from hitting 3 Spells in the graveyard. It also banishes Sky Striker Ace – Raye.
 
Against Orcust, although Macro Cosmos could banish all their Orcust and Phantom Knights monster, preventing them from using their graveyard effect, but Orcust could always go into Knightmare Phoenix first to destroy Macro Cosmos before continuing into Knightmare Mermaid.
 
OCG2019017_ThunderDragon.jpg
 

 
Conclusion
 
OCG201901-7.jpg
 
Salamangreat, Orcust and Sky Striker are still the top contenders, while Thunder Dragon is experiencing a slight resurgence.
 
Manhunt was originally popularised by Altergeist and Subterror, but it has been picked up by many other decks.
 
Manhunt is similar to Compulsory Evacuation Device in that it has no activation conditions, making it a very flexible free-timing Trap. But by taking control of the opponent’s threat, it turns the threat around on them, and forces them to answer it instead.
 
If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

https://roadoftheking.com/ocg-2019-01-metagame-report-7/

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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #8

 



 

Welcome to Week #8 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 32 top-performing decks from 6 tournaments that were held in Japan during 23 – 26 February 2019.

 



 

New Product Release

V Jump April 2019 promotional card

Ankuriboh

Deck Build Pack: Infinity Chasers

 



 

OCG2019018.jpg

 

Metagame Breakdown

 

9 Salamangreat

5 Subterror

3 Sky Striker

3 Zefra

2 Altergeist

2 Orcust

2 Thunder Dragon

1 Chain Burn

1 Magician

1 Mekk-Knight

1 Red-Eyes Guardragon

1 Sky Striker Invoked

1 World Chalice

 



 

Salamangreat

Emukee (えむけー) went 8-1 and finished 1st in “92nd Aichi CS Individual Battle in NextPro Osu Shop with Hatti!” which had 50 participants.

 

He ran a copy of Salamangreat Fowl in the Main Deck to make it easier to Xyz Summon Rank 4 monsters, Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir and Abyss Dweller.

 

Salamangreat Circle being a Quick-Play Spell allows him to delay searching for Salamangreat Fowl right until the last moment when Special Summoning Salamangreat Falco or Salamangreat Jack Jaguar.

 

Chain 1: Salamangreat Jack Jaguar ② effect.

Chain 2: Salamangreat Circle ① effect.

 

If the opponent has no response and the chain resolves, he would search for Salamangreat Fowl on Chain 2 and then Special Summon Salamangreat Jack Jaguar on Chain 1. After resolution, since Salamangreat Jack Jaguar was Special Summoned, Salamangreat Fowl ① effect would trigger on the new chain.

 

If the opponent chained to Salamangreat Jack Jaguar or Salamangreat Falco effect with a D.D. Crow to banish them, then he could hold back on using Salamangreat Circle for Salamangreat Fowl since he could no longer go into a Rank 4 monster.

 

This move prevents him from committing too early and having Salamangreat Fowl stuck in hand, and giving him greater flexibility in reacting to the opponent’s actions.

 

OCG2019018_Salamangreat.jpg

 



 

Subterror

Hachina (蜂名) went 7-0 and finished 1st in “3rd Saisai Cup” which had 32 participants.

 

He ran a very standard build using backrow control with the full set of Solemn Traps and Manhunt.

 

OCG2019018_Subterror.jpg

 



 

Conclusion

 

OCG201901-8.jpg

 

 

The 3 new themes from Deck Build Pack: Infinity Chasers – Infinitrack, Witchcraft and Evil Eye – have yet to make any impact on the current competitive scene, but it might be too early to tell.

 

Evil Eye has the most potential for now, as it can be used as a small engine consisting of Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye , Pareidolia, Domain of the Evil Eye, Evil Eye of Selene and Sentence of the Evil Eye.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 


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OCG 2019.01 Metagame Report #9

 



 

Welcome to Week #9 of the OCG 2019.01 format.

 

This report will cover 55 top-performing decks from 11 tournaments that were held in Japan and China during 2 – 5 March 2019.

 

OCG2019019.jpg

 



 

Metagame Breakdown

 

18 Salamangreat

9 Orcust:

7 Phantom Knights Orcust

1 Atlantean Phantom Knights Orcust

1 mono Orcust

6 Altergeist

6 Thunder Dragon

5 Zefra

4 Sky Striker

2 Infernoid

2 Trickstar

1 Dinosaur Thunder Dragon

1 Lunalight

1 SPYRAL

 



 

Salamangreat

Shota (翔太) went 7-1-1 and finished 1st in “3rd Takatsuki Orbis Cup with Hatti CS” which had 64 participants.

 

He ran 2 copies of D.D. Crow in the Main Deck, a trend that is gaining traction this week.

 

D.D. Crow is great against Salamangreat, Orcust and Sky Striker, making it a reasonable tech to run in the Main Deck for a stronger match-up during Game 1.

 

But this does worsen other match-ups like Thunder Dragon and Subterror.

 

OCG2019019_Salamangreat.jpg

 



 

Orcust

Ueni (うえにー) went 6-2-1 and finished 2nd in “6th Shinai Cup with Hatti CS” which had 42 participants.

 

He has a very interesting Orcust build that drops the Phantom Knights portion of the deck. He reasoned that when going first the Phantom Knights portion of the combo is very susceptible to being disrupted, and when going second drawing the Phantom Knights cards results in a bricked hand.

 

Without The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche, the deck no longer relies on Orcustrated Babel to activate Orcust Cymbal Skeleton and Special Summon Dingirsu, Orcust of Sheol during the opponent’s turn.

 

Instead he focus on having just Borreload Savage Dragon and Orcustrated Climax to negate the opponent’s cards or effects. Although this puts out lesser disruptions, it improves the consistency by cutting the issue of drawing into the Phantom Knights cards.

 

The deck is also able to setup a lockdown with El Shaddoll Winda to restrict Special Summon to once per turn. El Shaddoll Winda can be simply Special Summoned with Instant Fusion at the end of the combo, and when Winda would be destroyed during the End Phase, Dingirsu, Orcust of Sheol ② effect would detach 1 Xyz Material instead.

 

He ran Scrap Recycler, a monster with an effect similar to Armageddon Knight, but sends Machine monster from the deck to the graveyard. Scrap Recycler allows him to send Orcust monsters directly from deck the graveyard, and also Jet Synchron in the event that he already drew the Orcust monsters and needed a discard outlet.

 

Ueni has written a short article in Japanese explaining his unique build: 幻影無しオルフェゴール 解説.

 

OCG2019019_Orcust.jpg

 



 

Altergeist

Thro World (スローワ) had two top-placing this weekend.

 

On Saturday, he went 8-0 and finished 1st in “1st Tokiwa Cup” which had 39 participants.

 

On Tuesday, he went 5-1 and finished 3 – 4th in “86th Oretachi Trading Card Division CS”.

 

A noted trend, he ran 3 D.D. Crow in the Main Deck.

 

He ran 2 Different Dimension Ground in the Side Deck for his Saturday build, and eventually increased it to 3 by cutting Trap Trick for his Tuesday build.

 

Different Dimension Ground is great against Salamangreat and Orcust by preventing them from sending monsters to the graveyard and utilizing their graveyard effects.

 

As the opponent will be siding in Harpie’s Feather Duster and Twin Twisters against Altergeist, Different Dimension Ground can be chained to them, while still triggering Altergeist Multifaker.

 

OCG2019019_Altergeist.jpg

 



 

Thunder Dragon

Norn (ノルン) went 6-0-1 and finished 1st in “4th Hayato CS with Hatti”.

 

He has an interesting take on Thunder Dragon, choosing to run 0 copies of Thunder Dragon.

 

Although Thunder Dragon is useful for enabling Thunder Dragon Titan ① effect, it often leads to brick in hand especially when drawn in multiple copies.

 

Instead, he chose to run Upstart Goblin to focus on consistently bringing out Thunder Dragon Colossus, and relying on the assortment of ‘Hand Traps’ he has prepared in the Side Deck to disrupt the opponent.

 

OCG2019019_ThunderDragon.jpg

 



 

Conclusion

 

OCG201901-9.jpg

 

Salamangreat and Orcust remains as the top decks to beat, while Sky Striker has fallen considerably.

 

Sky Striker is having a difficult time as everyone has been running Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay in the Main Deck, and now with D.D. Crow to disrupt Sky Striker Ace – Kagari and Pot of Avarice.

 

We are seeing a lot of progress in build optimization as players have lowered their deck’s ceiling for improved consistency.

 

As shown by AlphaGo’s Move 37 against Lee Sedol, it is better to go for 1.5 moku with 99% win probability than choosing 20 moku but with only 80% win probability. Both 1.5 moku and 20 moku are still a win.

 

Similarly, you do not need 4 – 5 disruptions to win if 2 – 3 disruptions is sufficient, especially when it is a safer and more consistent play.

 

If you enjoyed these Weekly Metagame Reports, do consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Thank you.

 


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