Notes & Combos

I switched between two major variants of Rikka Sun starting at dlv17. Besides this cactus build (#1), the other build that I used (#2) was almost identical to standard Rikka Sun, except I also included Marjoram. Between these two:

#1: 13 games, 10 wins, 77% winrate

#2: 8 games, 5 wins, 63% winrate

This is not to say that cactus is superior to non-cactus builds. This is to show why I submitted list #1 instead of #2. More games played, more of my wins, and I got all of my rank-ups from it.

All plants variations: 34 games, 21 wins, 62% winrate

All decks from dlv15: 46 games, 28 wins, 61% winrate

All games were played by Oct 25th, at least 1 day before stage 2 opened.

But why cactus?

On average, my turns doing the cactus + jasmine combo took 1 min 56 secs. On average, my turns doing the standard combo took 3 mins 15 secs. The average difference was 1 min 19 secs.

Secondly, the standardized plant combo does not fit into the 3 MMZs left when 2 zones are blocked by adventurer engine. There are some old, old non-cactus combos that do fit with Adv. too. But they run extra garnets, take up more ED, and take even more time to combo.

Why adventurer?

What I hate most about playing plants is how easily it dies to any handtraps / disruption. When opponents can imperm the first thing they see (dryas) and you have to pass on nothing, it feels bad. This happens in more hands than people think.

Other plant players already include 1-of crossout designator as the only way to counter early imperm. Think of Adv. as almost like having 4 more copies of crossout.

Similarly, it acts as more gas / more baits when going second. Rikka Sun lacks extension otherwise. This reduces the amount of times when they can hit you with ONE quick removal (banish, spin, etc.) and end the game on the spot.

Misc. notes

Number of sun engine starters: 13 of 49 => 79% chance to open 1 or more

All starters including Rikka and Adv.: 21 of 49 => 85% chance to open 1 or more

Calcs are approximate because Small World requires opening another monster.