Notes & Combos

• Submitted before S:P Little Knight's release

See S28 writeup, S27 writeup, and S26 writeup; pretty much the same deck. Blind 2nd midrange.

FINALLY MADE IT. I really thought I wouldn't be able to clear this season's climb before S:P, but here we are. This climb was pure masochism. See the route I took:

M5>M4>M5>M4>M5>M4>M3>M2>M3>M4>M5>M4>M3>M4>M5>M4>M3>M2>M1

First off, let's just acknowledge that I am finished. I'm a dusted duelist, taking this long and failing so much. Difficulty really spiked this season despite the recent hits. Rationally, this was probably due to the sharp increase in deck diversity following the hits to SE and SHS. Deck diversity is great for the health of the game, right? Well, not in this case, since it's been accompanied by further powercreep and ever greedier boards. But this has always been Pachinkonami's trajectory for the game, and Mekk-Crusadia is really struggling to keep up.

Most games felt like simple hand comparison. Did I draw the out(s; emphasis on plural)? Did my opponent open the counters to my handtraps? And, now on Turn 2, do I have enough interactions to clear whatever board has been set up through my HTs while also having my engine live?

Greater deck diversity means the answer to the first question is more often already a no, and so it's GG. Not only do you have to pray that you draw enough counterplay + engine in an already bricky deck, you also have to pray that they are the right counterplay options for the matchup. I've already talked about the impact of deck diversity on blind second (particularly a fragile blind second deck like this one) in previous seasons. But I think things are only going to get worse from here (unless you are Tenpai).

Anyway, you can see the resulting changes from the developments described above.

1. I had to make room for Duster and Evenly, so out went the 2x Ghost Belles. Red Reboot and Ash are now my only options against Lab. It sucks, but I want to keep to 40 because engine consistency is already an issue. Duster and Evenly are becoming more prevalent all over the ladder, which really sucks for me since I do not set up omni-negates.
2. Why only 1x Evenly? It doesn't automatically win games due to how the Mekk-Crusadia engine functions (columns and all). Evenly vs SE results in an Apollo-USA that I sometimes cannot keep from ruining my attempt to set up in Main Phase 2. But it definitely has a place in this meta due to Rescue-ACE and the myriad other decks that have popped up. Thus I ascribe it the same value as I do to Duster, just playing 1x and searching it with Pot of P or Thrust if needed. TBF, I didn't really face R-ACE all that often.
3. 1x Veiler out for 1x Kurikara. A shock inclusion, perhaps. I'm still not sure about her slot. She absolutely clutches victories from the jaws of defeat at times (see replays), but is also a brick in other matchups. Her animation is fire though, so I kept her for the cool factor. It helps that she is a pseudo-extender as she can be SS-ed below Magius. Overall, I was satisfied with her contribution, but she's not a lock going forward.
4. Did I miss the 3rd Veiler? Not especially in practice, but when I look at my list I keep feeling like I should have it at 3x. I just had no room due to the slight shift toward board breakers in this format (I faced a SE deck that played blind second with Lightning Storm!). The principle of trying to simplify the board preemptively vs SE still stands, but R-ACE boards sometimes go for Elf to protect Turbulence, for instance, so it's no longer so clear-cut that a full HT shell approach is the way to go. Also, D. Fissure is becoming more popular. Ultimately, given my struggles, I'm still not sure what the best solution is. Let's see how things go.
5. Why no Lightning Storm? No space, preferred everything else already in here. Maybe 1x in place of 1x Veiler? So just 1x Veiler and shift deckbuilding even more toward board breakers. Possible, but haven't tried.
6. Why no Nibiru and Belle? Still fine inclusions I'm sure, but again, no space. And Duster+Evenly help against a wider range of matchups IMO.

Again, I'm not at all convinced that these are the right techs or ratios. It's a hard game right now.

S:P will 100% be in next month's list, taking the place of Almiraj. Will be interesting to see if she can save World Legacy from being completely finished, or if she herself will finish off World Legacy.