OCG 2022.01 Metagame (1 Jan – 31 Mar 2022)

The era of Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer came to an end with Fusion Destiny going to forbidden. Whereas Adventurer only took a minor hit with Water Enchantress of the Temple and Rite of Aramesir going to semi-limited, and would continue to play a major role in the metagame.

Compiled from a total of 659 top-placing decks from 131 competitive tournaments held in Japan, China Mainland, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam, here is the final metagame breakdown of the OCG 2022.01 format.

• 146 Branded Despia (112 Adventurer Branded Despia, 26 Branded Despia, 4 Frightfur Branded Despia, 1 Invoked Branded Despia, 1 Neos Branded Despia, 1 Adventurer Shaddoll Branded Despia, 1 Shaddoll Branded Despia)
• 85 Adventurer Tenyi (83 Rose Dragon Adventurer Tenyi, 2 Adventurer Tenyi)
• 56 Floowandereeze
• 46 Drytron
• 28 Eldlich (13 Branded Eldlich, 6 Adventurer Branded Eldlich, 3 Eldlich, 2 Branded Invoked Eldlich, 2 Grass Adventurer Branded Eldlich, 1 Grass Adventurer Eldlich, 1 Grass Branded Dragonmaid Eldlich)
• 25 Adamancipator (15 Adamancipator, 5 P.U.N.K. Adamancipator, 2 Grass Adamancipator, 2 Grass P.U.N.K. Adamancipator, 1 Prank-Kids Adamancipator)
• 25 Sky Striker (21 Sky Striker, 4 Therion Sky Striker)
• 25 Swordsoul (20 Tenyi Swordsoul, 3 Branded Tenyi Swordsoul, 2 Swordsoul)
• 25 Tri-Brigade Lyrilusc
• 21 Tri-Brigade (16 Branded Tri-Brigade, 1 Tri-Brigade, 1 Adventurer Branded Tri-Brigade, 1 Branded Crystal Beast Tri-Brigade, 1 Branded Zoodiac Tri-Brigade, 1 Zoodiac Tri-Brigade)
• 18 Therion (6 P.U.N.K. Therion, 4 Branded Therion, 3 Grass Adventurer Branded Therion, 2 Adventurer Branded Therion, 1 Therion, 1 Lightsworn Therion, 1 Plant Therion)
• 17 Virtual World (16 Adventurer Virtual World, 1 Virtual World)
• 13 @Ignister
• 12 Marincess (11 Marincess, 1 Adventurer Marincess)
• 10 Adventurer Prank-Kids
• 8 Dinomorphia (4 Dinomorphia, 3 Branded Dinomorphia, 1 Dogmatika Dinomorphia)
• 8 Magician
• 7 Endymion
• 7 Shaddoll (3 Grass Adventurer Branded Shaddoll, 2 Branded Shaddoll, 1 Grass Branded Shaddoll, 1 Grass Branded Invoked Shaddoll)
• 7 SPYRAL (5 SPYRAL, 2 Adventurer SPYRAL)
• 6 Evil★Twin
• 6 Salamangreat
• 5 ABC (3 Adventurer Therion ABC, 1 Adventurer Branded Therion ABC, 1 Therion ABC)
• 5 Branded Predaplant
• 5 Dinosaur (4 Dinosaur, 1 Scrap Dinosaur)
• 4 Altergeist
• 4 Zefra
• 3 Code Talker
• 3 Invoked (1 Branded Invoked, 1 Branded Dogmatika Invoked, 1 Dogmatika Invoked)
• 3 Phantom Knights (2 Adventurer Danger Phantom Knights, 1 Danger Phantom Knights)
• 2 Adventurer Good Stuff
• 2 Branded Cyber Dragon
• 2 Branded Thunder Dragon
• 2 D/D
• 2 Madolche
• 2 Orcust (1 P.U.N.K. Orcust, 1 Sacred Beast P.U.N.K. Orcust)
• 2 Sekka Danger Kaiju Luna
• 1 Ancient Warriors
• 1 Branded Lyrilusc Ancient Warriors Tri-Brigade
• 1 Branded HERO
• 1 Branded Zombie
• 1 Dragonmaid
• 1 Grass Dragon Link
• 1 Labrynth
• 1 Lunalight
• 1 Runick
• 1 Performapal
• 1 Speedroid Symphonic Warrior
• 1 Sunavalon

Structure Deck: Alba Strike was a major boost to Despia, giving the deck an easy way to bring out its Fusion Monsters with Branded Fusion. Similar to Red-Eyes Fusion and Fusion Destiny, Branded Fusion is able to use Fusion Materials from the deck to bring out the powerful Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon via Lubellion the Searing Dragon.

The deck has pretty strong resource generation, being able to trigger Despian Tragedy and Ad Libitum of Despia off Branded Fusion and Branded in Red, while Albion the Branded Dragon sent for the cost of activating Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon could fetch another Branded Fusion and Branded in Red during the End Phase, ensuring a constant stream of play for the next turn.

As Despia is heavily reliant on Branded Fusion to start their play, Adventurer became the dominant build to have Wandering Gryphon Rider protect Branded Fusion against Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.

Effect Veiler and Infinite Impermanence saw an increase in play as they could negate Lubellion the Searing Dragon and Albion the Branded Dragon effect to prevent the summoning of Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon. Despia decks in turn started playing Despian Comedy in the Main Deck as a way to dodge Effect Veiler and Infinite Impermanence.

Dimension Force gave Branded Banishment a powerful card for the mirror match and against decks that run Branded. This was also the start of the decline of Eldlich. In addition to having Despian Comedy play around Skill Drain by tributing Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon or Guardian Chimera, Branded Banishment was an another tech that could banish Eldlich the Golden Lord.

OCG 2022.01 → OCG 2022.04 Limit Regulation changes:

• Water Enchantress of the Temple 2 → 1
• Rite of Aramesir 2 → 1
• Branded Opening 3 → 2
• Pot of Prosperity 3 → 2
• Predaplant Verte Anaconda 1 → 0

Adventurer package took another hit and despite Water Enchantress of the Temple and Rite of Aramesir becoming limited, Adventurer still remained as the more popular variant of Branded Despia in the dawn of the new format. Ensuring that Branded Fusion resolves successfully is still the most critical point and there is nothing better than Wandering Gryphon Rider.

Adventurer Tenyi made great stride in this format. Archnemeses Protos remains a popular tech against DARK Attribute with Despia in the format.

The Rose Dragon package saw mass adoption as it can be used with any Level 7 monsters to Synchro Summon Baronne de Fleur before going into Crystron Halqifibrax.

Dimension Force gave Illegal Knight, providing Adventurer Tenyi with an increase consistency to open with Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk as an alternative play. Wandering Gryphon Rider and Illegal Knight ① effect to Special Summon itself is a Quick Effect, and could be chained to Tenyi monsters Special Summon effect or each other while on an empty board. The two Level 7 monsters can then be used to Xyz Summon Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk and then into Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon.

OCG 2022.01 → OCG 2022.04 Limit Regulation changes:

• Water Enchantress of the Temple 2 → 1
• Rite of Aramesir 2 → 1
• Pot of Prosperity 3 → 2

The hit to Adventurer is a significant blow to Adventurer Tenyi. To compensate for the reduced Water Enchantress of the Temple and Rite of Aramesir, some Adventurer Tenyi build have resorted to playing multiple copies of Fateful Adventure.

Dimension Shifter remains relevant against the top decks in the format, allowing Floowandereeze to compete with the top.

D.D. Crow is a tech that is used to stop Branded in Red. Being a Winged-Beast allows it to be searched by Floowandereeze & Robina, but it also comes with the slight disadvantage of triggering Despian Tragedy. Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion is also another tech to stop Branded in Red, and could also be used on Lubellion the Searing Dragon.

OCG 2022.01 → OCG 2022.04 Limit Regulation changes:

• Pot of Prosperity 3 → 2

Pot of Prosperity becoming semi-limited is a minor hit to Floowandereeze as they still have 3 Pot of Duality. The weakening of Adventurer puts Floowandereeze in a slightly better position for the new format.

Similar to Floowandereeze, Drytron is another deck that is unable to run the Adventurer package. Both of them were also kept in check by Droll & Lock Bird in the Side Deck.

Dimensional Barrier has become a popular tech against Branded Despia, by declaring Fusion and stopping their Fusion plays. The prevalence of Dimensional Barrier also affected Drytron as it could also be used to declare Ritual to shutdown Ritual plays.

Unaffected by the new limit regulation, the weakening of Adventurer puts Drytron in a slightly better position for the new format.

The OCG 2022.01 format remains largely the same throughout as the new sets Dimension Force and History Archive Collection had little impact on the metagame.

From among the 659 decks, 122 played only the Adventurer package, 95 played only the Branded package, and 131 played both Adventurer and Branded package.

Adventurer played a major role in empowering the top decks Branded Despia and Adventurer Tenyi. Among the 253 decks that ran Adventurer, Branded Despia and Adventurer Tenyi made up 198 of them.

OCG 2022.01 → OCG 2022.04 Limit Regulation changes:

• Water Enchantress of the Temple 2 → 1
• Rite of Aramesir 2 → 1

Bringing Adventurer down another peg would perhaps even out the playing field for decks that are unable to run the Adventurer package.

OCG 2022.01 → OCG 2022.04 Limit Regulation changes:

• Predaplant Verte Anaconda 1 → 0

With Predaplant Verte Anaconda forbidden, Branded Fusion will no longer be splashable in non-Fusion decks such as Tri-Brigade. The loss of Predaplant Verte Anaconda also significantly weakens Prank-Kids and Thunder Dragon, cutting off their quick access to Thunder Dragon Fusion.

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