OCG 2020.07 Metagame Report #6

by Akira · 13 August 2020

Welcome to Week #6 of the OCG 2020.07 format.

This report will tabulate 67 top-performing decks from 11 tournaments that were held in Japan, China Mainland and Thailand during 8 – 11 August 2020.

Update: Revised with additional data from AYT Thailand.

New Product Release

Phantom Rage

Metagame Breakdown

12 Dogmatika Invoked
7 Orcust (4 Dragoon Orcust, 1 Orcust, 1 Machina Orcust, 1 Mekk-Knight Orcust)
5 Eldlich (2 Numeron Eldlich, 2 Dragoon Grinder Eldlich, 1 Dogmatika Eldlich)
5 Thunder Dragon (4 Thunder Dragon, 1 Invoked Thunder Dragon)
3 Altergeist
3 Zefra
2 Code Talker
2 Dogmatika Traptrix
2 Magician
2 Mekk-Knight (1 Mekk-Knight, World Chalice Mekk-Knight)
2 Phantom Knights (1 Danger Phantom Knights, 1 Grass Lightsworn Phantom Knights)
2 Shaddoll (1 Dogmatika Shaddoll, 1 Dogmatika Invoked Shaddoll)
2 Sky Striker (1 Sky Striker, 1 Dragoon Sky Striker)
2 Subterror (1 Numeron Subterror, 1 Dragoon Numeron Subterror)
2 Tempest Magician FTK (1 Danger Dark World Tempest Magician FTK, 1 Hedgehog Tempest Magician FTK)
2 Virtual World
2 Zoodiac (1 Zoodiac, 1 Dogmatika Zoodiac)
1 Cyber Dragon
1 Dragonmaid
1 Dragon Link
1 Dragoon Adamancipator
1 Dragoon Dinosaur
1 Infernoble Knight
1 Numeron
1 Prank-Kids
1 Salamangreat
1 SPYRAL

Dogmatika Invoked

Po (ぽ) went 7-0 and finished 1st in “6th Mirin CS” which had 65 participants.

He ran 2 Alpha, the Master of Beasts in his Side Deck.

Alpha, the Master of Beasts is a new card from Phantom Rage. It could be Special Summoned from hand while the total ATK of all monsters your opponent controls is higher than the total ATK of all monsters you control. The ① effect targets any Beast, Beast-Warrior, and/or Winged Beast monsters you control, returns them to hand and then returns the same amount of face-up monsters your opponent controls. This effect only targets your own monsters, while the opponents’ monsters are chosen only on effect resolution.

Alpha, the Master of Beasts could Special Summon itself, and then activate its effect to return itself to remove a threat on the opponent’s board. Alpha, the Master of Beasts has the advantage of being a non-targeting and non-destruction removal effect, making it a very efficient answer for taking out Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.

Also, Alpha, the Master of Beasts does not have a restriction on the amount of times it could be Special Summoned in a turn. After activating its ① effect to bounce itself and an opponent’s monster to hand, if the total ATK of all monsters your opponent controls is still higher than the total ATK of all monsters you control, then Alpha, the Master of Beasts could be Special Summoned from hand again. It could not attack directly after activating its ① effect, but it could still easily take out a monster by battle with its ATK 3000, or be used as a Link Material.

Orcust

shinra went 4-3 and finished 4th in “151st Oretachi Trading Card Club CS” which had 41 participants.

He ran 1 Fossil Warrior Skull Knight in the Extra Deck against Dogmatika. Dogmatika Invoked is very popular in Japan and many of them are running multiple Dogmatika Maximus.

Elder Entity N’tss and Fossil Warrior Skull Knight runs a similar role in that they have a graveyard effect with a destruction ability. Elder Entity N’tss has a wider range of being able to target any card, while Fossil Warrior Skull Knight could only target monster. However Elder Entity N’tss is a Trigger Effect and activates the moment it is sent to the graveyard, while Fossil Warrior Skull Knight is Ignition Effect that hold on and be activated at a latter timing.

One advantage that Fossil Warrior Skull Knight has is that it could be used during your turn to target and destroy Invoked Mechaba. This would force the opponent to activate Invoked Mechaba‘s effect to negate and save itself, or let it be destroyed. This effectively takes away 1 disruption from the opponent.

He also ran 2 Alpha, the Master of Beasts in the Side Deck.

Eldlich

Sanmaidoo (さんまいどー) went 6-0-1 and finished 1st in “4th Shinjuku CS” (3v3 Team) which had 32 teams (96 participants).

He ran an extremely Trap heavy build, running zero ‘hand traps’ in the deck. This build is designed to have an edge against Dogmatika Invoked. As most Dogmatika Invoked decks run very little Trap cards, they often do not have Trap cards in hand to be used as fodder for Invoked Mechaba, and thus would not be able to negate Trap cards.

To mitigate the risk of losing to backrow wipes such as Harpie’s Feather Duster and Lightning Storm, he ran 3 Waking the Dragon and 3 Trap Trick in the Side Deck.

Thunder Dragon

Aroma (アロマ) finished 2nd in “4th Shinjuku CS” (3v3 Team) which had 32 teams (96 participants).

He ran 1 Predaplant Chimerafflesia in the Extra Deck against Dogmatika.

After Predaplant Chimerafflesia was sent to the Graveyard, during the next Standby Phase, 1 “Polymerization” Spell Card or “Fusion” Spell Card could be added to hand. This gives him the option to add Thunder Dragon Fusion, Super Polymerization or De-Fusion from deck to hand.

De-Fusion is currently a popular Side Deck choice due to the increase in Fusion decks such as Invoked, Shaddoll, Thunder Dragon. Being a non-destruction removal means it could answer Thunder Dragon Colossus, Thunder Dragon Titan and El Shaddoll Winda. Returning the Fusion Monster to the Extra Deck also denies Shaddoll Fusion Monsters of their graveyard effect.

Conclusion

Dogmatika Invoked, Orcust, Eldlich and Thunder Dragon are still among the current top contenders, but Phantom Rage has introduced plenty of new cards that are looking to shake up the metagame.

Alpha, the Master of Beasts is already being played in many Side Decks and could see widespread adoption like Dinowrestler Pankratops. With more non-targeting and non-destruction removal effects being introduced, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is slowly losing its competitive edge.

The new theme Virtual World and the old themes with new support cards Phantom Knights and Prank-Kids are seeing a bit of success in the competitive scene. Even Zoodiac has a boost in the form of Alpha, the Master of Beasts and Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder.

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