In wake of the Liverpool Genesys challenge, a special “public event” that totaled 164 players, a lot of new decks emerged, as well as old ones reprising their dominance. While I came 26th at 6-3, four of my friends from Bristol finished in the top 8, which cements us as a very competitive city for Genesys!(Pints at the Stag & Hound have some special potency to them when it comes to dueling)
As well as being an event to which I am proud of my peers, it was also likely many advanced players’ first foray into the format in a large tournament setting, since it was the first of its kind to not play alongside an advanced tournament and instead was its own event for the whole Sunday.
We have a varied collection of topping decks who are all unique in their own build(seven of which are insanely cheap for a topping deck, by the way) and each pilot did very well, but I would like to specifically look at the ways each deck used their points, and what it means to use your points appropriately in deckbuilding for Genesys format.
While I’ll be going into some detail about each deck, I’ll also be sorting them into what I feel is different categories for different cards and the level of quality they must facilitate to justify their cost, using these topping decks as examples. I’ll start off with one type of deck that was absent from the event’s top 8 entirely.
Early in Genesys’ life, at the Anaheim Invitational, a Generaider strategy topped using True King Of All Calamities(100). When a card is given 100 points, it is a communication from the Genesys team that, despite there being no banned cards, they want no one to use this one specifically, at least in a viable setting. We saw this recently with Zaborg the Mega Monarch(was 80), which I had played in Dortmund to 15th place, and remarked the gameplay it created led to non-games.
Despite my not topping with the list, Zaborg did indeed move up to 100 points, and cards around the strategy, importantly Spell Card: Soul Exchange(3), went up as well. SC:SE is far stronger than costing 3 points, but it costing anything means it can’t be used alongside Zaborg, in the same way cards like QQ Enneagon(1) and Laevatein, Generaider Boss of Shadows(1), otherwise harmless cards, were given 1 point so they could not facilitate the Very Fun Dragon.
While I still think Zaborg can be used to a topping finish, it has been severely crippled by not being able to use the best breakers Monarchs as a strategy can have, in both SC:SE and Ultimate Slayer(1). The Monarch engine is still unpointed, but it can only ever really represent three pushes at best, which is good, but not a common occurrence, especially if you’re cut off of the extra normal summon from eidos.
There have been some interesting lists using other high-cost cards like Miscellaneousaurus(67) to facilitate a strong endboard using cheap or free endboard pieces within its theme, but Misc is easy to interrupt, and doesn’t win the game on its own.
The common theme of all these expensive card decks is that the expensive card is extremely searchable and therefore likely to be seen in every duel. Even Stevie Blunder’s controversial Dinomorphia Last Turn(100) deck used cards like Trap Holic(7) to ensure he saw it more often, back when they could both be put into a 100-point deck together. The idea behind these kinds of decks is to ensure you win the game when you see this kind of card or slow your opponent so much on their turn that you can get lethal next turn. It’s not particularly fun gameplay and frustrating to be on the other end of, and that’s why it’s rightly being phased out whenever it pops up.
Both Monarch(sans Mega Zaborg) and Darklord got tops at the Liverpool Challenge. Each deck chose to put over half of its points into a playset of a single card. For Monarchs, as it did in Richmond, it chose Pot of Greed(30), and the latter strategy went with Dominus Impulse(20). At
3 copies each, you would only see these cards every third game with an
about 33% chance of being in the opening hand. Low probabilities to see
these cards like this are why things like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring(20) and Droll & Lock Bird(20) have fallen out of favor, despite their high power, in preference for other, cheaper hand traps.
However, neither of these cards are strictly hand traps. They’re both very powerful going first and going second, Dominus Impulse to shut off an endboard piece like Magnet Bonding(0), Artmage Non-Finito(15), or Shiina, Twin Tempests of Celestial Thunder(10), as well as stopping the opponent getting to those interruptions at all on the first turn, especially when Rio Perry paired it with another turn ender like Herald of the Orange Light(0), or its spell counterpart, Herald of the Green Light(0). Pot of Greed on the other hand is a free plus, and when paired with other powerful draw cards like Pantheism of the Monarchs(0) in Josh Kelly’s list, it increases the odds he sees the brutal combo of Spell Card: Soul Exchange and Erebus the Underworld Monarch(0).
Since Pot of Greed itself digs into the deck, and there are other draw cards in the deck, and Monarchs inherently thin their deck massively through means of sending spells and traps from it to the GY and summoning squires from it with Tessera the Primal Squire(0), the chance of seeing Pot not only increases, but increases further since it can find itself! The only issue with this strategy is it is capable of running out of steam, and any deck that can survive long enough is going to see the monarch deck run out of extra summons, cards to mill with Erebus, and The Monarchs Master Plan(0) to banish for its trigger effect. Pot of Greed doesn’t fix that weakness, but it does make it more likely you overwhelm your opponent before the game gets to that point.
Many other decks will also struggle to last a long time as well. Going back to Darklords, who similarly use Darklord Ixchel(5) to maximise odds to see Dominus Impulse in more duels, they rely on wiping the board with a The First Darklord(0) summoned by Darklord Dance(0), who summons back Darklord Eveningstar(0) with its quick effect, and attacking for 8000 damage exactly. Survive too long against them and they start to run out of options. Outside of an untargetable 5000 beatstick, of course.
Forbidden Crown(10) and Forbidden Droplet(10), both cards searchable within the archetype, work hard to make sure you cannot do anything on the Darklord’s setup turn, and then can’t do anything to break the endboard on your turn, where they are also able to negate your monster pushes with The Sanctified Darklord(0) set by Eveningstar’s effect.
So ultimately, a deck needs draw power and a reason to play high-cost non-engine in the main deck. Darklords and Monarchs fit well for draw power, deck thinning and a want to stifle the opponent as much as possible to overwhelm them with one or two turns worth of big pushes.
The deck that took most advantage of non-engine was the newly supported archetype of Magnet Warriors, and is the only one of its kind in this top eight. It was also the only deck whose main engine was largely unpointed, choosing more generic options to compliment the primary strategy.
Hamilton’s choice to spend only nineteen points on “engine”(Koa’ki Meiru Guardian(3) is technically engine, but could be considered non-engine, since it doesn't actually advance the strategy and is more for interruption and insulation) allowed them to bring three each of Effect Veiler, Mulcharmy Purulia(9), Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion(6), Book of Eclipse(3) and D.D. Crow(1), one of which settled in the main deck over the third Illusion Gate(0). The choice of these cards specifically allowed Hamilton to play well around the decks they expected to see the most, being Radiant Typhoon, other Magnet Warriors, Exosister and Monarch.
Purulia is great at stifling RT, Exo(especially spirit variants) and Monarch on their first turns, and at worst is a simple cycle for one in other matchups.
Ghost Belle can be used to stop Radiant Typhoon Krosea(0)’s search effect if not properly chain blocked(which most players don’t do) and completely shut off Erebus if it ever must hit the field with nothing in the GY to chain block its effect. It’s crippling any Kewl Tune normal summon too, or stopping Remix on your own turn if you draw it late. On top of that, it stops the 1-card combo of Magnets, hitting either Sigma Plus or Epsilon The Magnet Warrior(0), who both move cards out of the GY. D.D. Crow accomplishes this as well, but can’t stop Magnet Bonding’s effect to fusion summon, which is a crucial edge Belle has over other graveyard hating hand traps.
Effect Veiler is flatly a great hand trap, and many decks rely on their first summon facing no negation. It’s the same way Herald of the Orange Light can end a turn, with the exception that Veiler can be played around with effects that move the monster off the field or face-down. That’s a fair trade off when Book of Moon(4) and Book of Eclipse were criminally underrepresented at this event, especially Eclipse.
Speaking of Book of Eclipse, it has the ability to deny the interruptions of almost any end board, since negation, especially spell/trap negation, is so uncommon to find in Genesys, and many spells and traps, if any, require you having or you operating on your face-up monsters in some way.
The side deck was also built with a hand-trap strategy in mind through siding in Shared Ride(0), figuring that their strong endboard utilising Tellusion and the Xyz Armor engine didn’t need extra ceiling post-side, but instead card draw they can utilise on both the opponent’s turn and their follow-up turn, since the deck guarantees survival in practically all cases thanks to Sigma Plus, Epsilon and Beta the Electromagnet Warrior(0)’s super sticky effects. Purulia isn’t a card worth keeping in when you go first either, so the siding pattern is really easy.
I think other emerging, unpointed strategies will take this route of a strong generic engine with its deck-count filled out by the best non-engine the format is not prepared for. Mimighoul is the next best suited strategy for this sort of deckbuilding approach, and it has access to powerful breakers like Bot Herder(0) that other decks can’t take advantage of so easily. After that, though, it’ll be practically any new strategy released in a new set that is underpointed, or not pointed at all. Magnet Warrior decks will probably look much different after the next point list releases sometime after YCS Vegas.
For second place’s White Forest, they had 62 points on the theme’s core cards, and then a wide spread of points after two Effect Veiler for cheap side-deck cards like Ultimate Slayer and Cosmic Cyclone(1), as well as cheap main deck options in D.D. Crow and Skull Meister(0), both good options against the expectable Magnet Warrior and Monarch decks. It’s curious to see a white forest deck electing for hand traps instead of maining powerful spell and trap breakers like the sided ultimate slayer, since the deck can dispose of them for their deck’s starter cards at will. They took a half-measure approach by playing three Mystical Space Typhoon(0), but seemed to largely keep the sends to the Toy Box(0) engine, which is free, and plusses its user when the set monsters are sent from the spell and trap zone. I struggle to say this is the most well-considered deck of the top 8, especially considering only one D-Fissure and instead two Titanocider, but that simply goes to show the strength of the pilot, and the underexploration of the wider Genesys Format.
8th place’s Artmage, however, did take the option to maindeck spell cards that would otherwise be less good going first, thanks to their field spell being able to discard spells and traps to reach their engine pieces. Their 64 point strategy(almost a third taken up by Azamina Ilia Silvia(20)) was supplemented by the cheapest spell breakers of the format, notably Gordian Slicer(0), who stands to see a lot more usage as more decks find they don’t need every card in their Extra Deck to win. Three Nibiru in the main deck likely contributed to a lot of success, too, as most decks not named Artmage aren’t ending their turn with anything on the field that could stop it. Any follow-up afterward is cleanly answered by the spell breakers Luke Vicary was playing. Luke also opted for Swords of Concealing Light(0) in the side too, saving on points demanded by the pricier Book of Eclipse. Big props to using A Hero Lives(0) as additional ways to start playing as well, I found that a very cool way to start playing with decks built around Medius.
Kewl Tune and Fairy Branded both supplemented their respective 54 and 73 points engines with the super powerful and unpointed Herald monsters. KT is able to use orange light as a tuner when needed, and it's valuable as a level 2 to let Mix go into Track Maker and search J.J. after grabbing Kewl Tune Cue(6). As a tuner it can also be recycled with Remix, and its activation cost paid by sending either Cue or their one Red Nova(0).
Alongside Illusion Gate, Belles and Veilers, the chances of stopping a turn completely and turning the match into KT’s playground, a grind-game where decks with only one or two pushes a turn can’t possibly break the momentum brought off of a single cue, are guaranteed whether Rocco went first or second.
Fairy Branded took a different approach. It saw the potential of all the low and unpointed fairy cards and chose to make it its entire secondary engine, taking the fairies best at making rank 4s and coupling them with Herald monsters to disrupt the opponent when not going first or when other plays were available. Keldo the Sacred Protector(1) and Mudora the Sword Oracle(1) are lethal for Magnet Warriors, shuffling back every component of the Tellusion they’re trying to set up, if they can even get so far after losing a push from one of the heralds dropped on them to get that shuffler into the GY. I don’t need to explain to you how good Fallen of the White Dragon(30) is, so getting it through any two fours via Springans Merrymaker(0) and then Gung-Ho! Springans(0) is super valuable. The only issue here is that Joshua had to remove some of their own monsters from the board to maximise their interaction pieces. With no Links or EMZ, space is a real issue and going through two rank 4s to get to your fusion strategy can be awfully cloggy.
With their last 22 points, Joshua opted for three Mulcharmy Fuwalos(7), which is extremely strong for engine-heavy decks to make use of when going second, since it not only hampers the opposing board, but also lets you ensure you see plenty of pushes into that board. People opting to not play Ash Blossom also makes mulcharmies a lot stronger, since they’re way less likely to be stopped. Getting two cards off of it may not seem like much, but when your opponent ends their turn with a board half as strong as it could have been, and you also wind up with a bonus card, the strengths become clear. Drawing into extra fairies to increase the chance your heralds are live doesn’t hurt, either.
I’m almost 2,800 words deep and I’ve not mentioned the winner yet, so here it goes: Radiant Typhoon, despite what many considered was a total neutering through Radiant Typhoon Vision(10)’s point increase, remains top dog thanks to its new non-engine support. Alexis took her engine at its most affordable, with 57 points total spent on engine, over half of which was on the Vision itself. Radiant Typhoon Eldam(7) took a backseat to cards some might not have believed exist: Horse of the Floral Knights(0) and Noble Knights’ Shieldbearer(0), the former searching the latter, and the latter searching Eldam. Horse being a Wind lets it still be half a Totem Bird(10), too, or one of the 3 pieces of an Ashura King(0), if it seemed a better play.
These cut-backs on Radiant Typhoon’s engine allow its non-engine to shine; thinning the deck quickly with Manifestation(0) and Krosea(0), and then cycling through with Vision let Alexis see Book of Eclipse, a spell breaker arguably better than even Illusion Gate in Genesys, as well as the star of the non-engine show; the criminally under-pointed Shiina. She was able to pay 30 for three of this amazing board breaker, which can double as hand trap protection from Effect Veiler, bouncing its target to hand to prevent its effects being negated at resolution. Combining Shiina with even half of a RT end board means Alexis is sure to win any match she’s able to resolve the effect in, since Genesys decks able to play with three or more pushes are considered a premium for the format.
Her extra deck, largely unimportant after Totem Bird, was teched out for very niche board states, like using Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice(0) to wipe out an Eclipsed board on the opponent’s field. Lady Justice was summoned on top of Digital Bug Corebage(0), who itself was summoned on top of Number 20: Giga-Brilliant(0). The non-necessity of these cards also let her side the free Gordian Slicer, and her deck’s inherent nature let her use the still unpointed Dimensional Fissure(0), which crippled decks who relied on the GY and were short of removal that could make it through both Radiant Typhoon Mandate(0) and Totem Bird.
So, we’ve taken a look at all 8 decks that topped, and put them into categories in regards to how they used their points and why they chose those cards. While not everything fits in these four categories, hopefully you’ve taken in enough that when you’re next building a deck for Genesys, you’re now able to assess topping lists, their card choices, and how much they’re spending on what as well as why they’re spending it in that deck.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article, whether you agreed with my analysis of topping decks or have your own assessment and categories to share, be sure to share this online with the tag #YGOGenesys. These words aren’t going anywhere, so feel free to check back whenever you’re trying to remember what Pot of Greed does, and why it worked so well for Josh Kelly.
Excellent article, really high quality stuff
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