Notes & Combos

The plan is pretty simple: lock down the opponent with floodgates, other traps, and Lava Golem, and then gradually beat them down with Eldlich and trap monsters for the win. I will explain some card choices below:

• Maxx "C": Just a good going second card in a meta dominated by Sprights and other decks that like to special summon a lot. Forces our opponent to either give us massive card advantage and increase our chances of seeing outs like Lava Golem or not set up a board, acting as a pseudo-floodgate and giving us time to set up on our turn. Obviously a lot worse going first and does nothing against certain decks like Runick and Floow, but overall I think the raw upside of the massive card advantage this can generate makes it worth it.
• Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring: less justifiable than Maxx "C", but improves our odds going second by answering things like Branded Fusion and Gigantic Spright activation. Also plays well with Maxx "C", which helps us draw into Ash on our opponent's turn. In addition, being a Zombie is relevant for Vampire Sucker and as a target for Eldlixir if all of our Eldlich are banished and we really need to stall out a game with Lava Golem on our opponent's field.
• Lava Golem: The only real way to out certain boards in this meta. Effective against Spright to get rid of Elf and Masquerena before they can activate their effects on our turn. Can conveniently be swung over by a boosted Eldlich, or can be used in tandem with Gozen/Rivalry to lock our opponent into Fire/Fiends respectively and stall out the game.

Notable exclusions:

• Imperial Iron Wall: I find it's not relevant in most matchups in the wider meta, and having a card that's dead most of the time is bad. Even worse, it shuts off our engine, so even when it would slow down our opponent we often don't want to use it because it would hurt us more. Very overrated card that would be much better in a BO3 format.
• Chaos Hunter: Better than Iron Wall because it doesn't lock us out but the summon requirement means it often hits the battlefield too late to stop our opponents. This, the discard cost, and the fact that I would often lock myself out of it with Eldlixir are all reasons why I cut it.
• Lord of the Heavenly Prison: Being frank, this would probably be an improvement, but I didn't want to craft another UR just to use it in one deck. May add in the future.
• There Can Only Be One: Same as above and also affects us, which can make closing out games difficult.