Notes & Combos

Season 30 Go-1st Mekk-Crusadia in Broken-Eyes Cheese King format

"Starlit hero, your sword swathed in light, may you triumph over the Great Fires"

(sorry for 2k words but I want to explain as much as I can)

Congratulations to Komoney for producing the worst MD meta in forever! Powercreep continues unabated and it is somehow permissible to set up more disruptions than there are cards in the turn 2 player's hand! Well done! I was having absolutely no fun by the time I was slogging it out for the 5 wins in Master 2. End of rant.

It took a lot of time and effort to arrive at this list. It doesn't look very different from my usual go-2nd lists, but the journey here was fairly arduous. I tested 14 deck builds once I hit M5, slogging through countless duels. Only 2 were able to promote to M4, and this was ultimately the one I took to M1. I tweaked tech options along the way (you can see the changes in the special video below), but the core of this list is what I took all the way.

Is this deck good? Will I get M1 with it?

Final win-rates (I was tracking coz I was testing many variants):

• Going 1st: 64.8%
• Going 2nd: 41.7%

Very mid. Consistency issues will remain as long as you try to build around Lib access (without Orcust solutions) rather than just playing 15 Crusadias or something (don't). But I think this is as much as I can get out of the World Legacy engine until we get new support. Hence, there is no reason for anyone to expect to reach M1 with this deck. It clearly can be done, but it will be very difficult.

Is this the best way to build Mekk-Crusadia?

I've said this many times now but I want to be very clear: No. Of course not. I build with 2 main constraints:

1. Must have at least 1 of each main deck Crusadia and at least 1 Crusadia at each Link Rating
2. Main win-con/engine must be pure World Legacy. Out-of-archetype ceiling-raisers like, say, Therion King Regulus are ok insofar as they must be hard drawn; I wouldn't consider those to be "core" engine, just a topping on the proper World Legacy cake.

In light of the above, how could it possibly be that my list is the best way to build a Crusadia, or Mekk-Knight, or World Legacy deck? This is a blatantly suboptimal list and there is no rational gameplay/strategic reason to build this way. Can't speak for Mekks, but Crusadias should obviously take advantage of superior modern engines that circumvent their NS reliance more reliably. This list is the result of trying to build without such "outside help." Thus, it is unsolved and suboptimal.

What are your conclusions following this climb?

As far as pure World Legacy goes, I think we are past the peak that emerged only from MD's BO1 format. The new meta decks are getting far too ridiculous and World Legacy as an engine has now been left too far behind to really be a viable option. The days of reaching M1 within the 1st week are well behind us.

WL's Secret is absolutely the best World Legacy win-con that can be played well with Crusadias, I am now utterly convinced. I wasted a lot of time trying gameplans without Mekks and even without Secret. There is nothing else within the pure WL cardpool that can offer the sort of sustained board presence (continuous effect) needed to keep up with the ludicrous resource and value game of the modern meta.

The more Mekks, the better the deck fares going 2nd, but this boost has a fairly low ceiling because they don't offer that many interactions. The main benefit is being able to develop the board horizontally rather than vertically. We already knew this.

The more Crusadias, the worse the deck fares going 2nd because of the reliance on that narrow NS-based link-climb. But of course a healthy number is needed for consistency. We also already knew this. I just wanted to reiterate.

Why go 1st now?

I got sick of praying that I would win the handtrap cheese war going 2nd every time. I found the eventual boards that I tended to see after failing to stop my opponent really disgusting. Also, I'd always planned on going 1st again so I can see more of my WL engine in action.

It is almost impossible to win going 2nd without opening non-engine. I bet that's the case even for the meta decks in the mirror match. Hilariously absurd game balancing from Komoney. "Survive with HTs or get sacked, the game."

What other builds did you test?

World Chalice Crusadia, World Chalice-Mekk Crusadia, Orcust Crusadia, Mekk-Orcust Crusadia, World Legacy Crusadia (with 3x World Reassembly etc.), Trap World Legacy Crusadia, Krawler Crusadia, Adventurer Crusadia, Sky Striker Crusadia (going 1st variant), Therion-Girsu Crusadia. And several variants of Mekk-Crusadia. In the end, I got the best results from the one I know best. Maybe I just don't know the other engines well enough.

I have tested pretty much every World Legacy card usable with Crusadia. It's not looking good brev. Not even World Legacy Survivor made the cut this time (though I did play it in M5).

REEEE what kind of "pure" deck is this you play 12 HTs half your deck is HTs get this trash outta here REeee

When I tried just 9 HTs (the standard 3x Maxx/Ash/Imperm) in the penultimate list, my going 2nd win-rate was 25%. 25! Going up to 12 HTs + TTT made it 41%, but that's only half the story. It also helped that I took out some non-core engine cards that weren't starters anyway, including World Armor, World Reassembly, World Crown, World Shield, World Lance... What else do you put in those slots other than cards that can help you going both 1st and 2nd?

Believe me, I tried everything before stacking the HTs again. I even had 2x E-Tele and 1x Chosen by the World Chalice in an attempt to "gas" through disruption going 2nd. The meta boards just laughed at me. This is just the reality for a Crusadia-based deck that is far too fragile to have any chance going 2nd without simplifying the gamestate.

Where is World Armor? Why play World Key?

I got sick of bricking on Armor. That particular slot needed to be a WL card based on my testing (for consistency by offering a route through Morning Star's discard). The Pot of P slot also had to be a WL card, but Pot of P (previously an extra HT) is ultimately better than gambling on WL Survivor. I know only World Crown/Chalice/Armor/Wand have really ever been played, but with this setup I don't need any of the effects from the brickier World Legacies. World Key was released at the end of the WL arc, and perhaps it has been underexplored. TBH it makes sense in a deck featuring Lib anyway.

World Armor's main value lies in turning Girsu into a 1c starter, esp. since I play WL Awakens. It's fantastic, but I often ran into hand redundancy that way, like a Crusadia in hand with no free link zones and thus no further board development possible. I decided to forego this boon so that hands with, say, 3 HTs, 1 World Legacy monster, and 1 WL Succession can at least not be a hard brick.

World Key is the only WL monster that can actually be a "play-starter" since it immediately grants access to Lib. With the way I've built this list, even opening just World Key and a Crusadia at least gives me Lib, and the other cards in hand, considering they weren't able to be used in the combo, would mostly be HTs/CBTG (for disruption) or non-combo engine requirements (the traps) that ease the burden on Lib. I was unable to cook anything better than this. World Key itself offers no further value, but I felt a lot happier without a big World Legacy in hand that could only be discarded by Morning Star.

Only 1 of each non-Girsu Mekk?

Playing more of the big Mekks means bricking more on turn 1 like a clown. They are obviously still pivotal, though. The deck's ability to sustain in the midrange is certainly greatly diminished without the potential ramp-up of the Purple Nightfall engine over several turns. I don't have a better solution.

Why play so many traps? Do you like to brick? Omg Crusadia Krawler? Is this a joke?

Unlike World Armor, the traps are the entire gameplan. It usually isn't bad to draw one as that will most likely raise the ceiling of the board considering how pitiful the actual "combo" is. Lib sets 1 backrow while Turbulence, who isn't even an Extra Deck monster, sets 4 at once and hides their placement. Sometimes Komoney really crack me up.

Have I bricked on all 3 traps with no starters in a promotion game? Yes. World Legacy is a backrow-focused archetype with all the main interactions dependent on the S/T. That's just life. Tip: Don't be afraid to discard a WL trap if it's the only way to make the other one live. Say, 1 NS, 1 Memory, and 1 Awakens - just summon Indigo with Memory, go into Morning Star, and discard Awakens for Secret. This out-ball is the whole point of playing a large WL engine. Also, no point thinking about turn 3 and beyond if you can't survive turn 2.

I may try a 60-card version after this, but am not optimistic due to lack of starters in the archetype.

On Crusadia Krawler: I'm just sorry I overlooked it in previous go-1st builds. How could I have ignored the only Crusadia card to actually tie directly into wider World Legacy...in a World Legacy deck? Lol. See the replays for a better idea. Thankfully, the little critter must have forgiven me, since it delivered the critical play in my M1 rank-up.

Where is Veiler?

Replaced by Droll following Fire King release. Thanks to Kirin, or rather Cheeserin.

Nice OCG ratios with 2 Droll and 1 Belle, OCG nerd.

What can I say? I was an OCG player before this. Well, what really happened was that I simply took out the 3rd Droll for Pot of P while fighting for my life in M2 without thinking much. Droll isn't great in every matchup anyway, so I was fine reducing the chance of dupes (thereby improving hand playability - OCG brain, sure). All I knew was that I wanted Veiler out.

Where is Spatha?

Replaced by Regulex because of how critical Crusadia Krawler has turned out to be. What a comeback for the little guy! I am very happy to be using it again.

Where is Accesscode?

I didn't really miss Accesscode, surprisingly. I gave his spot to S:P Little Knight because I didn't want to further dilute the World Legacy theme of the Extra Deck. I'm sure I would have summoned him more often than I did Zeus, but Zeus' role and relative ease of access cannot be replaced.

What are the main boards/lines?

You can see a variety of approaches in the special video. This is effectively a "bad combo deck" because it frontloads resources and has very little sustain, but in spirit it is still midrange. Instead of thinking about "combos", think about how to maximize board presence and control the gamestate. There aren't that many decisions anyway considering the WL engine is so old that our cards barely have any effects compared to broken new meta cards.

I have no idea how to explain combos because I have never played or thought of the game that way. I just tack on pieces of interaction based on the cards in hand and what my engine has to offer. I guess my thought process is:

1. If have Mekk access, Lib with Secret set, standard stuff.
2. If no Mekk access, Lib with Awakens set. If Lib accessed thru Crusadia line (with Succession), should have Krawler set alongside Awakens.
3. If no WL access, Equimax pointing to a Crusadia with Krawler set for WL engine integration on turn 3 (if I survive).

Awakens usually goes into either Astram or S:P. With the release of S:P, the non-Mekk line with Lib now provides more than just Lib's bounce; S:P is somewhat sticky (if she can stay alive). This play is the main reason for Awakens' return. I needed to build in a plan B/C where Lib can still provide value while WL Secret is unavailable. Of course, if I think S:P will be beaten over (quite often), I just go straight to Astram as he should be a little more difficult to out following Lib's bounce. Standard stuff.

I found that I tended to win more when S:P was summoned later in the duel, behind Astram. Though that should be obvious.

Overall, I'm really happy to have completed this month's climb already as it felt at times during testing that I might not make it until much later in the season. Being able to directly compare my 1st turn with the 1st turn of the new meta decks really made me feel like they were playing an entirely different game. It feels really bad that I cannot achieve more with a pure WL engine, without leaning on newer and obviously more powerful archetypes.

Anyway, as always, feel free to ping me in Crusadia chat if you have any questions or suggestions. I would really like to improve the deck's win-rate but I feel like I'm capped out for now.