Monday 19 December 2016

10 Random Thoughts on the Upcoming Format


Everything listed here is merely my personal speculation and daring predictions, so please do take it with a pinch of salt and feel free to lay your counter-argument or alternate viewpoints down below in the comments.

  1. True Kings and Pendulum Magicians from SD31 are set to make waves. Players awaiting their debut eagerly. With their consistency and explosive plays, it is likely they will take a fair share of the next metagame.
  2. Paleozoics is likely to get a boost in terms of tier level, all thanks to Imperial Order re-entering the game, which could help against their battles against the pendulum decks. Being a deck of Level2s, they can abuse Grave of the Super Ancient Organism to combat the True King archetype. The newly errata Necrovalley stands in its way though.
  3. Necrovalley, gaining a significant buff from its latest card text change, will likely see more play. The change, however, will make plenty of decks (Eidolons, Metalfoes) previously siding it to be unable to play around it as well.
  4. Star Seraph Zoodiac might become a thing, seeing how Star Seraph is capable of filling the void of Speedroid Terrortop's absence. It generates hand advantage and compensates for the resources required to enter a 3-for-1 xyz summon. Zoodiac Tigress does require 3 level fours for an xyz summon, making it an available option. The play style will hence change from getting Zoodiac Marmorat to the field, to prioritising it entering the graveyard, ready for the xyz material swap via Tigress's effect. Elemental Triangle of the Zoodiacs does share some synergy with the Star Seraph engine, being able to serve as a viable target of destruction for a card draw.
  5. Metalfoes will have to return to their roots to seek ways to cope with the prohibition of Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin. It is likely they will abuse Future Fusion. Blackwing - Gofu the Vague Shadow might see a return to Metalfoes, in an attempt to diversify the deck's summoning methods. This curbs Metalfoes' weakness to the floodgate trap Dimensional Boundary.
  6. Metalfoes - Zoodiac engine remains since it serves as another spell/trap removal option against the bane of pendulum decks existence - Anti-Spell Fragrance. With Imperial Order on the lose, the need for floodgate-removal in the form of monster cards also skyrockets. 
  7. Zoodiac Drancia will continue to impact the metagame on a large scale, being an easily accessible form of spell/trap removal of any floodgate cards.
  8. Compulsory Evacuation Device will be a much popular staple. The Wind Witch engine has just debuted and it has the potential of summoning out a Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon which cannot be destroyed by card effects (due to Wind Witch - Fairy Bell). Stardust Dragon is also another possible monster to be summoned. 
    • With destruction being a problem, a trap like Compulsory Evacuation Device would hence serve as a perfect answer against such threats. It also works effectively against the wide array of Xyz monsters impacting the game and the Fusion monsters archetype Eidolon, which is another engine which players are turning towards in order to keep Zoodiacs alive.
    • Tl;dr - Compulsory Evacuation Device is able to remove problematic Extra Deck cards from the board on its own. Being a one-for-one card exchange, it will be a worthwhile trade.
  9. Trap Eater and Typhoon may appear in the Side Decks, to serve as a stopgap situation to out Imperial Order in the first few weeks of the format, until a better solution can be found.
  10. Future Fusion has just been released from the Forbidden list, and I still expect plenty of decks such as Infernoid and ABC to give it a go. Despite the nerf, it is still threatening enough to serve as a distraction for your opponent to dedicate their resources to remove it from the field, or face the consequential fusion summon. With a wide range of fusion materials monsters that can be sent to the grave, some decks may just start including off-themed fusion monsters in their Extra Deck to serve as targets for Future Fusion.
    • E.g. Burning Abyss decks include El-Shaddoll Winda for the sake of using Future Fusion to mill any Burning Abyss monsters alongside Shaddoll Fusion.

Only time will tell how things will unfold. 12 more days.

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