OCG 2024.07 Metagame Report #10, #11, #12

by Akira · 27 September 2024

Welcome to Week #10, #11, #12 of the OCG 2024.07 format.

This report tabulates 336 top-performing decks from 63 tournaments that were held in Japan, China Mainland, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam during 7 – 23 September 2024.

New Product Release

Structure Deck: Advent of the Eyes of Blue
Complete File: Story of White
V Jump November 2024 promotional card: Dragolithia Kunzite
V Jump Fall 2024 subscription bonus: Otonari Thunder, Giant Kra-Corn, Splitting Planarian

Metagame Breakdown

117 Ryzeal
39 Maliss (38 Maliss, 1 Fiendsmith Bystial Maliss)
39 Tenpai Dragon
33 Snake-Eye (21 Fiendsmith Snake-Eye, 12 Fiendsmith Azamina Snake-Eye)
13 Yubel (12 Fiendsmith Yubel, 1 Fiendsmith Unchained Yubel)
10 Centur-Ion (7 Centur-Ion, 1 Bystial Centur-Ion, 1 Fiendsmith Centur-Ion, 1 Horus Centur-Ion)
9 Voiceless Voice (8 Voiceless Voice, 1 Ryu-Ge Voiceless Voice)
8 Labrynth (7 Labrynth, 1 Fiendsmith Labrynth)
7 Blue-Eyes
7 Branded (6 Grass Branded, 1 Branded)
7 Runick
5 Memento
4 Magical Musket (3 Fiendsmith Magical Musket, 1 Ryu-Ge Fiendsmith Magical Musket)
4 Ritual Beast
2 Buster Blader (1 Bystial Fiendsmith Buster Blader, 1 Horus Bystial Fiendsmith Buster Blader)
2 Fiendsmith Chimera
2 Fire King (1 Azamina Snake-Eye Fire King, 1 Fiendsmith Azamina Snake-Eye Fire King)
2 Floowandereeze
2 Infernoid (1 Grass Infernoid, 1 Grass Azamina Infernoid)
2 Melodious
2 Rescue-ACE (1 Fiendsmith Rescue-ACE, 1 Fiendsmith Azamina Rescue-ACE)
2 Salamangreat
2 Sky Striker (1 Sky Striker, 1 Azamina Sky Striker)
2 Vanquish Soul
1 Atlantean
1 Dragon Link
1 Fiendsmith Raidraptor
1 Fiendsmith Scareclaw
1 Fiendsmith Spright
1 Fiendsmith Trickstar
1 Fiendsmith Toy White Forest
1 Fiendsmith Unchained
1 Gimmick Puppet
1 Horus Fiendsmith Ryzeal Snake-Eye
1 Primite Fiendsmith Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Tachyon
1 Traptrix
1 Yubel Evil Eye

Ryzeal

The early builds of Ryzeal mostly ran only 1 Ryzeal Cross in the Main Deck since it could be searched out by Ryzeal Duodrive, but now some players are running a second copy in the Main Deck. By opening with Ryzeal Cross, you could choose to Xyz Summon Ryzeal Deadnader first before going into Ryzeal Duodrive. This way Ryzeal Deadnader ③ effect would be able to protect Ryzeal Duodrive against Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, and Ryzeal Cross ③ effect would be able protect against Nibiru, the Primal Being.

Some players are also running a second copy of Mereologic Aggregator in the Extra Deck. By sending Mereologic Aggregator to the graveyard to Special Summon Ex Ryzeal from hand, Ryzeal Deadnader ① effect would then be able to attach Mereologic Aggregator as Xyz Material. When Ryzeal Deadnader ② effect is activated to destroy a card on the field, it could detach Mereologic Aggregator to negate 1 face-up card on the field. A plausible usage is against Snake-Eye, after they activated Snake-Eye Ash ① effect and add Snake-Eyes Poplar from deck to hand. Then Snake-Eyes Poplar ① effect is activated to Special Summon itself from hand, Ryzeal Deadnader ② effect can be chained by detaching Mereologic Aggregator as cost to destroy Snake-Eye Ash. Then on Snake-Eyes Poplar‘s Special Summon, the Turn Player has priority and would have to activate Snake-Eyes Poplar ② effect as Chain 1, and Mereologic Aggregator ③ effect would be able to go on as Chain 2 targeting Snake-Eyes Poplar. Resolving the Chain, Mereologic Aggregator ③ effect would negate Snake-Eyes Poplar ② effect. The second copy of Mereologic Aggregator is useful on the following turn if the game goes on for another turn.

Evenly Matched has become the top choice of board breaker for Ryzeal. Evenly Matched effectively wipes the opponent’s board leaving just 1 card. In the Ryzeal mirror match, the opponent would typically keep Ryzeal Deadnader. Then in Main Phase 2, send Mereologic Aggregator to the graveyard to Special Summon Ex Ryzeal from hand, and Mereologic Aggregator ③ effect would be able to negate the opponent’s Ryzeal Deadnader.

Tu Kai-Hsiang went 13-1 and finished 1st in “YOT Singapore 2024” which had 332 participants.

Go Min-si (高旻示) finished 1st in “China City Tournament 2024 Wuhan” which had 650 participants.

Maliss

Many players did not have Maliss among their testing gauntlet and were largely unprepared for Maliss. Some players were taken by surprised when they preemptively activated Dimension Shifter in the Draw Phase, only to find out they were up against a Maliss opponent. As Maliss popularity continues to grow in the metagame, many decks such as Ryzeal and Tenpai Dragon has stopped running Dimension Shifter in the Main Deck. Running Artifact Lancea in the Side Deck is also an increasing trend as a tech against Maliss.

Many Maliss builds are running Dominus Impulse in the Main Deck, and it should be noted that Dominus Impulse‘s drawback does affect Maliss, namely the combos that goes into Transcode Talker and/or Firewall Dragon.

Nguyen Quoc Huy went 9-4 and finished 3 – 4th in “YOT Singapore 2024” which had 332 participants.

Akiyama Mizuki’s Dog (晓山瑞希的狗) went 8-2 and finished 9 – 16th in “China City Tournament 2024 Wuhan” which had 650 participants.

Tenpai Dragon

As Ryzeal becomes the deck to beat, some Tenpai Dragon started cutting Dominus Impulse from the Main Deck. Ryzeal Effect Monsters are Built-In Summons that do not create a Chain, and thus their Special Summon from hand cannot be negated by Dominus Impulse. Against Ryzeal, Dominus Impulse could only negate Ice Ryzeal ② effect, Ryzeal Plug-In and Ryzeal Hole Thruster ② effect.

Alex Yeo went 8-4 and finished 5 – 8th in “YOT Singapore 2024” which had 332 participants.

Kuon Hiu (久遠日羽) went 8-3 and finished 9 – 16th in “China City Tournament 2024 Wuhan” which had 650 participants.

Snake-Eye

The rise of Ryzeal also saw the decline in Azamina build for Snake-Eye. Players are teching Droll & Lock Bird and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit against Ryzeal and these techs are also effective against Azamina.

Mischief of the Gnomes is a tech against Ryzeal, and it is an option that could be sent to the graveyard by Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal ① effect. Mischief of the Gnomes ② effect is then activated from the graveyard by banishing itself as cost, to reduce the Levels of all monsters in each player’s hand by 1 (even after they are Summoned/Set). This effectively disables Ryzeal’s strategy of making Rank 4 plays.

Hsieh Yu-Ming went 9-2 and finished 9 – 16th in “YOT Singapore 2024” which had 332 participants.

Joe Castleton @ Sinner (周御城@Sinner) went 11-3 and finished 2nd in “China City Tournament 2024 Wuhan” which had 650 participants.

Conclusion

At the end of the OCG 2024.07 format, Ryzeal has completely taken over the metagame, usurping Snake-Eye as the deck to beat. In “YOT Singapore 2024”, Ryzeal and Snake-Eye were neck and neck, as 17 Ryzeal and 16 Snake-Eye made the Top 64. But Snake-Eye quickly fell off, leaving 6 Ryzeal and only 1 Snake-Eye in the Top 16. “China City Tournament 2024 Wuhan” shows a similar trend, with 15 Ryzeal and 5 Snake-Eye making the Top 32.

The current OCG metagame is defined by which decks has the strongest floor, and not by the highest ceiling. Rzyeal fits perfectly into this paradigm. Ryzeal gives only 2 draws to Maxx “C” or Mulcharmy Fuwalos to Xyz Summon Ryzeal Deadnader, which by itself is 2 – 3 disruptions. Since Rzyeal only uses 1 card to set up Ryzeal Deadnader, the remaining 3 – 4 cards in hand could potentially be ‘hand traps’ or Trap cards that could disrupt the opponent’s play.

The new OCG 2024.10 Limit Regulation has been announced. Snake-Eye, Tenpai Dragon and Yubel were severely weakened, leaving Ryzeal and Maliss to be the top contenders of the new format.

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