I play a lot of video games, but online card games have been the most convenient for me to play in these last couple months. I’ve gotten to try out a lot of different decks, so I thought I’d post an update talking about the ones I’m playing right now.
Normal Summon Aleister
So the first deck I’m gonna talk about is my main deck on Master Duel - Invoked Thunder Dragons. I love Infernity, but I had to ditch it as the archetype just doesn’t function that well in modern YGO. The deck’s gameplan dies to quite literally any form of disruption during its combos and the game has a ton of ways to interact on the opponent’s turn now. It just doesn’t work out well, even in a best of 1 format like Master Duel. So, I looked around for other decks to play. I eventually found out about the Invoked archetype, which is centered around normal summoning Aleister the Invoker and using his fusion spell to summon powerful fusion monsters. The archetype is very small and straightforward. I like fusion summoning the most out of all the extra deck mechanics, so I was drawn to this really easily. Now, because Invoked is so small main deck-wise, it needs to be paired with something else if you want an actual deck, preferrably something that doesn’t have a dedicated normal summon. In comes Thunder Dragons. As an old school fan, I knew about Thunder Dragon . I did not know, however, that it got its own archetype while I was away from the game. Even better, it’s a fusion based one. So I dismantled my older decks, looked up to see other people’s lists, and came out with the decklist I use currently. I climb with it decently well and have a lot of fun.
Now, I also play on YGO simulators like EdoPro and YGOOmega . YGO simulators have both the TCG and OCG banlists available to players. Master Duel’s banlist is primarily based on the OCG. Why does this matter? Because Thunder Dragon Colossus is banned in the TCG format, which is what most people on the simulators prefer to play. It’s not the absolute end of the world, but Thunder Dragons are a lot less fun and functional without Colossus. A lot of plays where you could at least end on Colossus now end on nothing, and a lot of deck lists for TDs now are more of them doing off brand Dragon Link stuff because not having Colossus pushes them in that direction, and I don’t feel like playing Dragon Link. So when I have that urge to normal summon my homie Aleister, I play the more well known variant of Invoked - Invoked Dogmatika Shaddolls.
This deck focuses on doing your standard Invoked plays and then using the Dogmatika cards to set up further field presence and the ability to summon El Shaddoll Winda during the opponent’s turn to stifle their plays. It’s pretty linear, but it’s a lot of fun and a decent rogue option.
We Trappin’ Out Here, Bruh
YGO is very fast nowadays. I’ve come to terms with it, but I don’t like it all that much. Still, there are ways to slow the game down and make it more immediately based on trades and resource management. One of those ways is to play a trap deck. Trap cards get a lot of flack because you can’t use them immediately, but there are still really good trap cards, and there are/have been really good trap based decks in the modern game.
A lesser used one that I took a liking to is Lair of Darkness, a deck focused around using the titular field spell to tribute the opponent’s monsters with Lilith, lady of Lament to search out traps from your deck to further dirsupt your opponent. The deck is a lot of fun. Tributing your opponent’s monsters is a really unconventional and powerful form of removal, and the deck can grind pretty well. You don’t win immediately, but the eventual snowball feels pretty good.
The deck that I play the most right now and have the most fun with, however, is Dinomorphia. This is an archetype based on fusion summoning with traps and constantly lowering your own life points to gain advantage with your fusion boss monsters. This deck properly combines my newfound love of trap cards with my favorite extra deck mechanic, so I’ve been all over it ever since I found it. The monsters are sick, the game plan keeps me on the edge of my toes, and there are a lot of different ways the archetype can go. I do wish they had another main deck monster or two so playing it pure was a bit easier, but it’s not the end of the world. I seriously love this deck. I can only play it on simulators at the moment, but as soon as it starts appearing in Master Duel, I’m making the deck.
Rallying, Evolving, Burning
Shadowverse has a new expansion, and the mini expansion of said expansion came out a little while ago, so my decklist for rotation has obviously changed. Right now, I focus on Aggro Rally Swordcraft, Evo rally Swordcraft, and Earth Rite Runecraft.
The sword decks are interesting to talk about because they have the same core cards, but very different gameplans. Aggro Rally is focused on putting the pressure on early and trying to go for hard to answer power plays by reaching Rally 10 very quickly. Turn 5 Musketeer’s Vow + invoking Frenzied Corpsmaster is a hell of a play and can easily let you snowball if they can’t clear it. The Evo variant is less focused on the early power plays and more on biding time until you can OTK with Kagemitsu, Lost Samurai and Erika .
Earth Rite Rune is a burn deck. You stack earth sigils, which you can then use to empower/enable effects that will inflict effect damage to the opponent. The deck was alright last expansion, but it’s a lot stronger this mini expansion thanks to the new card Riley, Astral Shaman , which gives them some healing, removal, and a draw all on one card.
End point
I’m having a lot of fun with card games rn. I’ve gotten back to playing fighting games and other stuff a bit more, but card games are still the most convenient time sink for me at the moment, and with decks like these, that’s not the worst position ever.