OCG 2022.04 Metagame Report #8, #9

by · 4 June 2022

Welcome to Week #8, #9 of the OCG 2022.04 format.

This report will tabulate 146 top-performing decks from 36 tournaments that were held in Japan, China Mainland, Thailand and Vietnam during 21 May – 1 June 2022.

 

New Product Release

  • V Jump July 2022 promotional card
    • Qardan the Great Sage
  • Duelist Pack: Duelists of Pyroxene
  • Pharaonic Legend Pack
    • Pharaonic Advent
    • Gravekeeper’s Inscription
    • Apophis the Swamp Deity

 

Metagame Breakdown

  • 81 Spright (80 Spright, 1 Adventurer Spright)
  • 17 Tearlaments (7 Tearlaments, 5 Branded Tearlaments, 3 Ishizu Tearlaments, 2 Danger Tearlaments)
  • 9 Eldlich (3 Branded Eldlich, 3 Grass Eldlich, 3 Eldlich)
  • 5 Runick (3 Spright Runick, 2 Runick)
  • 4 Exosister
  • 4 Shaddoll (2 Grass Tearlaments Shaddoll, 1 Grass Ishizu Tearlaments Shaddoll, 1 Grass Branded Frightfur Tearlaments Shaddoll)
  • 4 Spright Evil★Twin
  • 2 Spright Tri-Brigade
  • 2 P.U.N.K.
  • 2 Mathmech @Ignister
  • 1 Adamancipator
  • 1 Altergeist
  • 1 Branded Cyber Dragon
  • 1 Branded Thunder Dragon
  • 1 Code Talker
  • 1 Code Talker Mathmech
  • 1 Dragon Link
  • 1 Drytron
  • 1 Floowandereeze
  • 1 Grass P.U.N.K. Tearlaments Chaos Thunder Dragon
  • 1 Infernoble Knight
  • 1 Luna
  • 1 Machina Infinitrack
  • 1 Spright Melffy
  • 1 Subterror
  • 1 Therion Sky Striker

 

Spright

Sakuma (さくま) went 6-0 and finished 1st in “Japan Championship 2022 Area Qualifier Nagoya A” which had 37 participants.

Sakuma together with Hasegawa Akira “ハセキョン” (3rd in World Championship 2015, 5 – 8th in World Championship 2018), IL, Yoshida (よしだ) and Natsume (ナツメ) brought a board breaking build of Spright to their respective Japan Championship 2022 Area Qualifiers and they finished in 1st or 2nd.

The standard ‘hand trap’ build of Spright runs around 15 ‘hand traps’ in the Main Deck to disrupt the opponent from setting up. The board breaking build cuts down on ‘hand trap’ to just the minimal of 3 Maxx “C” and 3 Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, and instead opts to run 3 Dark Ruler No More, 2 Triple Tactics Talent, 3 Solemn Judgment and 1 Vanity’s Emptiness in the Main Deck.

IL explained in his note (日本選手権エリア代表戦使用スプライト) that in the Spright mirror match, it is often very difficult to halt the opponent using ‘hand traps’. Not only do you need to draw multiple ‘hand traps’, they need to be of the correct combinations as well. And even then, the opponent could still have Called by the Grave, Crossout Designator or Triple Tactics Talent, hence ‘hand traps’ are not very reliable. Running a high amount of ‘hand traps’ in the Main Deck would also cause the deck to sometimes draw too many ‘hand traps’ in the opening hand and be unable to setup when going first.

As such, they switched over to a board breaking build that focus on dismantling the opponent’s opening board using Dark Ruler No More, Triple Tactics Talent in the Main Deck, and further supplemented by Ultimate Slayer and Mind Control in the Side Deck. Solemn Judgment and Vanity’s Emptiness are at their strongest when going first, but are still decent when going second in this build. Since the Main Deck mainly relies on Dark Ruler No More to get through the opponent’s opening board, it meant that they would be unable to deal any damage for the rest of the turn, and the opponent would live to see their turn. Solemn Judgment and Vanity’s Emptiness could then be used to disrupt the opponent from mounting a counterattack.

The board breaking build is not necessary stronger than the ‘hand trap’ build, but it is relatively more reliable, and it fairs better against Tearlaments and Eldlich. Another factor they had was the element of surprise. This is the first time that the board breaking build was played in a tournament, hence many opponents are unaware of the exact deck build. If the opponent knew that the deck is low on ‘hand traps’, then they might be more willing to play through Maxx “C” and push for game.

 

Tearlaments

Masuku-kun (マスクくん) went 6-2 and finished 3rd in “89th Next Play Cup” which had 32 participants.

New Ishizu Ishtar cards from the recently released Duelist Pack: Duelists of Pyroxene have made their tournament debut in Tearlaments decks. Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard and Agido the Ancient Sentinel comes with an effect that send the top 5 cards of each player’s deck to the graveyard, and they are a great way to send Tearlaments to the graveyard. Being Fairy monsters allows them to be sent to the graveyard by Diviner of the Herald effect, or for the activation cost of Herald of Orange Light.

Keldo the Sacred Protector and Mudora the Sword Oracle could also discard Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard and Agido the Ancient Sentinel to Special Summon themselves from hand, and in turn triggering Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard and Agido the Ancient Sentinel effect. Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard and Agido the Ancient Sentinel sends cards from both players deck to the graveyard, so it might inadvertently aid the opponent in the Tearlaments mirror match. Keldo the Sacred Protector and Mudora the Sword Oracle graveyard Quick Effect could be chained to the opponent’s Tearlaments Scheiren, Tearlaments Havnis or Tearlaments Merrli graveyard Trigger Effect, shuffling them back to the deck and stopping the Fusion Summon.

Gravekeeper’s Trap is another card to suppress the opponent’s Tearlaments and Shaddoll graveyard effect in the mirror match.

 

Conclusion

Nearing the end of the OCG 2022.04 format, Spright continues on its dominating run, talking multiple 1st place finishes in the “Japan Championship 2022 Area Qualifiers” and the “Duelist Cup 2022 Thailand”. Trailing behind is Tearlaments which took the 1st place in “China City Tournament Wuhan 2022”.

Duelist Pack: Duelists of Pyroxene has a decent impact on the metagame with Ishizu Ishtar cards making a splash in Tearlaments and Shaddoll decks.

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

 

References

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5 Responses

  1. King DMG Yahzarah! (@UndeadYahzarah) says:
    4 June 2022 at 7:06 pm

    Atleast they finally nerf that freaking Others deck. Atleast it likes a healthy T1 status.

    Reply
  2. Francesco says:
    5 June 2022 at 5:11 pm

    Is pure or Branded Tearalaments better?

    Reply
  3. Ikaros says:
    7 June 2022 at 4:18 am

    Exchange of the Spirit??

    Reply

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