Notes & Combos

• Wow, this was a rough climb! Tenpai, Tenpai, and more Tenpai!
• I had to increase the consistency as I went up the ranks compared to last season, because Tenpai gives you no breathing room unless they horribly misplay or brick. A few particular cards to call out this season:

1. Eradicator Epidemic Virus: I immediately maxed out on this card once it came off the ban list. I was able to survive multiple Maxx C challenges by calling Spells and getting rid of their board breakers before they had the chance to use them. I am confident the surprise factor of playing this card in Branded won me duels. At the very minimum seeing the Opponents's hand told me right away whether or not I am going to survive the upcoming turn.

2. Etude of the Branded: Since last season I got tired with the random Link/Synchro pile decks reeking havoc on ladder, so I threw this card to give those decks a hard time. Plus this give Bystial Lubbellion some sort of purpose besides being a 3K defense wall. Duels (including Tenpai) were won with this card alone to the point that some people scooped after the first time seeing their synchro/link material being banished unexpectedly. Also, it was used multiple times to summon Centur-Ion Legatia on the opponent's turn for a draw and pop. Initially used Bystial Dis Pater / Chaos Angel, but dropped them as I noticed it was far easier with this deck list to make Level 12 Synchros compared to Level 10 Synchros. I sorted treated "Centur-Ion Legatia" as the synchro version of "Guardian Chimera" in a sense.

3. Artifact Scythe / Artifact Sanctum: I experimented with multiple cards to lock your opponent from special summoning (i.e. Dimensional Barrier/Vice King Requiem/Amorphage Goliath) during my climb and at the end I settled on "Artifact Sycthe" as my preferred "lock". In my opinion Scythe is a lock that is "self-sustained" as in drawing either the Monster or Trap are not really bricks. I won duels due to the backrow or field being wiped out that triggered Scythe's effect to kick in. It does help that Sanctum is a Thrust Target too. Obviously, you can special summon Scythe at will from the graveyard with Sanctifier Dragon too if it lands there for whatever reason (i.e. Grass).