OCG 2017.01 Metagame (1 Jan – 31 Mar 2017)

The limitation of Speedroid Terrortop and Fire Formation – Tenki impeded Zoodiac momentarily, but Maxmimum Crisis gave Zoodiac another wave of support that propelled them over the top.

Maxmimum Crisis also introduced the True Draco that would overpower the rest of the metagame except for Zoodiac.

Compiled from a total of 537 top-placing decks from 78 competitive tournaments held in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and China Mainland, here is the final metagame breakdown of the OCG 2017.01 format.

• 337 Zoodiac (212 Zoodiac, 89 Kaiju Zoodiac, 32 Master Peace Zoodiac, 2 Kaiju Master Peace Zoodiac, 1 Artifact Zoodiac, 1 Artifact Paleozoic Zoodiac)
• 85 True Draco (76 Zoodiac True Draco, 8 Mono True Draco, 1 Kaiju True Draco)
• 24 Invoked (12 Zoodiac Invoked, 4 Artifact Zoodiac Invoked, 3 Artifact Windwitch Invoked, 3 Windwitch Invoked, 2 Kaiju Zoodiac Invoked)
• 23 Infernoid (12 Grass Zoodiac Infernoid, 5 Grass Infernoid, 5 Zoodiac Infernoid, 1 Grass Kaiju Zoodiac Infernoid)
• 20 Zoodiac True Draco Metalfoes
• 9 True King (8 Zoodiac True King, 1 True King)
• 9 Zoodiac Magician
• 7 Kozmo (2 Zoodiac Kozmo, 1 Kozmo, 1 Kaiju Zoodiac Kozmo, 1 Zoodiac Metalfoes Kozmo, 1 Zoodiac True Draco Kozmo, 1 Zoodiac True Draco Predaplant Kozmo)
• 5 Grass Zoodiac Predaplant Shiranui
• 3 Burn
• 3 True King Dinosaur
• 2 Grass Zoodiac Lightsworn
• 1 Artifact Red-Eyes
• 1 Barrier Statue
• 1 Frog Paloezoic
• 1 Grass Zoodiac Predaplant Invoked
• 1 Grass Zoodiac Predaplant Lunalight
• 1 Grass Zoodiac Shiranui Lightsworn
• 1 Grass Zoodiac Zefra Lunalight
• 1 Zoodiac Fairy Tail
• 1 Zoodiac Predaplant True Draco Monarch
• 1 Zoodiac True Draco Predaplant

Maxmimum Crisis gave Zoodiac two additional Xyz Monsters, Zoodiac Hammerkong and Zoodiac Chakanine, further improving their already absurd 1-card combos.

Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring was also a new card that would break the format. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring could negate effects that interact with the Main Deck, hurting the consistency of older decks that have limited searching effect. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring also functions as a counter against Maxx “C”. This gave Zoodiac an absolute edge in the competitive scene.

The dominance of Zoodiac saw Zoodiac itself slowly being adjusted for the mirror match. Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit are ran in the Main Deck to chain to Zoodiac Barrage effect, destroying it and causing its effect to fizzle. On the same note, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit could also be chained to Dragonic Diagram. Using Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit on a Zoodiac Xyz Monster when they activate their effect is also a possible play.

Flying “C” is a strong counter against mono Zoodiac and could effectively end their turn without proper counter techs. Enemy Controller could be used to tribute the Flying “C” Special Summoned on your field by the opponent, and take their monster. This is even better in the mirror match as taking their Zoodiac monster allows you to use them to Xyz Summon your own Zoodiac monster.

As Zoodiac is weak to board wipe, My Body as a Shield functions as additional protection against destruction effect such as Dark Hole, Interrupted Kaiju Slumber and Torrential Tribute. Protecting your monsters against Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, Zoodiac Drident and Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King that was summoned using a Monster and Trap are also possible.

Interrupted Kaiju Slumber was a tech that was already popular for the Zoodiac mirror match. Running Kaiju monsters in the Side Deck is necessary as an out to Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King. Cosmic Cyclone is also played to prevent True Draco from getting their Spell/Trap graveyard effect.

OCG 2017.01 → OCG 2017.04 Limit Regulation changes:

• Zoodiac Drident 3 → 0
• Zoodiac Barrage 3 → 0
• Zoodiac Ratpier 3 → 1
• Fire Formation – Tenki 1 → 2

The hits to Zoodiac forced them to join force with True Draco.

True Draco to the is a new theme that revolves around Tribute Summoning using Continuous Spell and Trap. When True Draco Spell or Trap are sent to the graveyard, they could activate their effect to destroy a Spell/Trap or a Monster on the field.

Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King is an exceptionally powerful key monster of the True Draco. Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King is unaffected by Monster, Spell and/or Trap based on the cards that were used for its Tribute Summon, allowing it to be immune to many removal effects. Kaiju monsters could be Special Summoned to the opponent’s field by tribute a monster they control. This is a Summoning Condition and not as effect, thus Kaiju monsters could be used to take out Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King.

Zoodiac True Draco became the dominant build as the Ratpier combo generates a good amount of card advantage. Zoodiac also provides a monster for Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King‘s Tribute Summon to gain immunity against Monster Effect.

Being a Tribute Summon deck, True Draco is unaffected by the “New Master Rule”.

Out of all 537 decks, 337 were Zoodiac decks, 169 were running with Zoodiac package, and only 31 decks were not running any Zoodiac. In total, Zoodiac was played in 94.2% of the decks.

The “New Master Rule” was also introduced and implemented in the OCG 2017.04 format. 2 new Extra Monster Zones were added to the board, between the Main Monster Zones of both players. Extra Deck monsters could only be Special Summoned to the Extra Monster Zone or to a Main Monster Zone pointed by a Link Arrow. The place a heavy constraint on decks that relies on Extra Deck monsters.