Notes & Combos
Another relatively smooth ride with Ritual Beast this season. The meta has evolved since Tenpai's release, so my tech choices reflect different trends I'm seeing in the format.
Non-Engine: I wanted more impactful handtraps going second, so I added in Droll and Nibiru. While these picks might seem super strange, in practice both played surprisingly well into the range of non-Tenpai decks — Droll cooked Yubel, Fire King, and Voiceless, while Nibiru came in clutch vs. the ignorant wombo combo decks and the mirror match (plus, no one is respecting it right now). More importantly, these two hand traps are the backbone of the next tech choice...
Small World: The theory here is that RB is at its strongest when 1) you don't brick, and 2) you open with a 2-card combo like Elder-Canna. Small World fixes hands with random handtraps, dead Nemeses cards, and duplicate names — it definitely overperformed during the climb. The main bridges I used:
- Droll / Maxx C > Elder > SBT Lara / Cannahawk / Rampengu
- Shifter / Ash > Droll > SBT Lara / Cannahawk / Rampengu / Elder
- Nibiru > Shield Bearer > SBT Lara / Cannahawk / Rampengu
Extra Deck: From D5 to M5, I played Spright Elf to counter the Tenpai players that were holding their disruptions for Banshee, and it also layered into I:P endboards as an added disruption. But over time, I defaulted to early Gaiapelio lines which always guaranteed that my Banshee resolved. That's why I think Cross Sheep is almost mandatory now — it juices up the 1-card Cannahawk endboard and synergizes well with other Ulti-Gaia lines.
Other things to test as I climb Rated: Didn't really miss Pilica or Pettlephin, but the dolphin could be a funny call as it can add an extra Bagooska in high-roll hands / lines under Shifter. Considering swapping the Nib for another Droll or even Ogre, since Voiceless has been my hardest matchup. Another Talents could be handy, and maybe cutting Colossus down the line would free up some space to add back ED utility (Chidori, Goddess, etc.)