Get ready to go rogue, and check out the mightiest meta-crushers this month!
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Now that the North American WCQ’s come and gone and the World Qualifying season is over, duelists are free to relax for a bit with less competitive events, until Regional Qualifiers return in mid-August.
With the pressure of the World Championship now gone for everyone but an elite few, and nothing but locals and the Remote Duel Extravaganza in the coming weeks, it’s a great time to chill and take a look at some cool, creative decks that have been successful over the past few weeks. Duelist Nexus drops at the end of the month, bringing some competitive shakeups and – fingers crossed – maybe a new banlist. But for now, if you want to play something different or at least read about some surprising strategies with real potential, these are the best rogue decks in Yu-Gi-Oh right now, for July of 2023.
The Golden Rule!
Crystal Beast players got a huge boost from Battles of Legend: Monstrous Revenge, with the new support card Golden Rule. It’s an equip card that acts as a Premature Burial or a Special Summon from the hand, and it places two more Crystal Beasts from your deck to your spell and trap zones. It basically just screams out, “combo me with Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle”, but that’s just the beginning.
Rodrigo Garcia took it upon himself to abuse Golden Rule by playing it with Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson: any Crystal Beast with Destrudo can make Power Tool Dragon. The Dragon’s effect then gets you one of the three copies of Golden Rule from your deck, so you can keep comboing off. This approach is certainly different from many other Crystal Beasts lists I’ve been seeing, but it seems like it works, since Garcia scored a Top 4 finish at his OTS Championship with it this past weekend.
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Market Price: $0.86
/197159.jpg)
Market Price: $0.10
I also like that this deck runs Crystal Master. It was the only “Crystal” Pendulum Monster Garcia, played, but it made the cut because targeted effects are so relevant in current metagames. By simply activating Crystal Master as a Pendulum Spell, all of your Crystal Beasts cards on the field can’t be targeted! That protects you from lots of cards, from Infinite Impermanence on down. And in a worst case scenario where you actually summon Crystal Master, it can search Rainbow Dragon, a Crystal Beast monster, or a “Crystal” spell or trap to your hand.
/210215.jpg)
Market Price: $2.47
/210267.jpg)
Market Price: $3.37
Lastly, you’ll see some interesting cards in Garcia’s Extra Deck, like Five-Headed Link Dragon. He played it in case he got five monsters on the field. This dec can even assemble five monsters with different attributes for Five-Headed Link Dragon’s board wipe effect. Garcia also ran the classic Tellarknight Ptolemaeus, and Cyber Dragon Nova with Cyber Dragon Infinity in case he manages to get three Level 4 monsters on the field.
This focused approach revolving around Golden Rule, getting to it ASAP and then exploiting it asmuch as possible, is certainly unique. But Power Tool Dragon really could be Crystal Beast’s best friend, offering a ton of consistency to a deck that once struggled to reliably make its best plays.
Synchrons Launch An Assault!
The new Synchro support in Duelist Nexus is right around the corner, and Synchron players are already getting prepped by testing with Assault Synchron from BLMR. We’ve seen players tech Assault Synchron in their Spright Bystial lists, but it may be even better in its own archetype.
Leo Martinez took the Adventure cards approach, since Rite of Aramesir gives you a variety of non-Tuners to work with. Starting off with a Level 4 Adventurer Token is really strong, while Fateful Adventure can get you either a Level 3 Water Enchantress of the Temple or Level 7 Wandering Gryphon Rider or Illegal Knight. These cards are all free Special Summons, so long as you still control the Adventurer Token, and the best part about may be the free discard you get with Fateful Adventure: it helps facilitate Jet Synchron and Destrudo.
/276202.jpg)
Market Price: $0.62
/254296.jpg)
Market Price: $0.37
Martinez also played the Ascator, Dawnwalker package featuring Fire Ant Ascator. Dawnwalker’s exclusive to Synchro strategies and it gets you a free Level 3 Tuner, while also being a Level 5 non-Tuner itself. You can summon Fire Ant from your deck or your hand, so it’s still playable if you draw it alongside Ascator, Dawnwalker. This combination’s perfect for making PSY-Framelord Omega, which in turn combos extremely well with Bystial Dis Pater, since you’ll be able to bring back your banished Omega and banish another card from your opponent’s hand.
/251617.jpg)
Market Price: $0.25
/285137.jpg)
Market Price: $0.73
It does seem like Martinez was packing quite a ton of go-second cards, and it also helps that he had the Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing and Mare Mare package. Destroying a card your opponent controls with Yazi and following up with Mare Mare tokens gives you a ton of options, even if you’re locked into Synchros due to cards like Ascator, Dawnwalker, Junk Speeder, Stardust Synchron, and Synchro Overtake.
Locking yourself into one summoning condition does make you pretty vulnerable to Dimensional Barrier. Just like how Branded Despia rely on Fusions, a Synchro exclusive deck like Synchrons are definitely afraid of Dimensional Barrier unless it has cards that let them play on the opponent’s turn. Maybe we’ll see more tools for Synchro players that can help alleviate that in future sets. For now it’s not so bad, but it’s definitely something you want to be aware of, not something you learn about mid-tournament.
The Power Of The Abyss
Dark World players are also getting ready for Duelist Nexus and the release of Dark Corridor. I know Robert Creamer is probably excited for it, taking 3rd Place with Dark World at the North American WCQ’s ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!! event on Friday! I noticed his success in that tournament, and managed to get his list with the secret weapon he used to steal games, even against Kashtira!
Creamer built his deck with Allure of Darkness, pairing it with Radian, the Multidimensional Kaiju to help get rid of cards like Kashtira Arise-Heart. He’s still trying to hand loop his opponents with Sillva, Warlord of Dark World and Ceruli, Guru of Dark World. But in most situations, he’s happy to sit on Barrier Statue of the Abyss once he knows the opponent isn’t playing a Dark deck.
/450142.jpg)
Market Price: $18.50
/500500.jpg)
Market Price: $2.83
By simply drawing and thinning through his deck, Creamer will either draw the Barrier Statue and Normal Summon it, or Special Summon it from the hand with Saryuja Skull Dread. Alternatively he can even discard the Barrier Statue to reborn it with Muckraker From the Underworld. Once it’s on the table protecting the Statue’s easy, since Muckraker has that protection effect, but he could also set up I:P Masquerena to bring out Knightmare Unicorn on his opponent’s turn, or have that Dark World Accession set with Grapha in hand. The protection plan’s pretty robust.
After Side Decking, Creamer brings in more auto-win buttons specific to the Dark World arsenal, like Eradicator Epidemic Virus and Deck Devastation Virus. He can even just flip Skill Drain against any deck that needs monster effects and win out that way.
/282359.jpg)
Market Price: $2.69
/286296.jpg)
Market Price: $0.24
Dark World is still a huge threat to the most popular decks seeing play right now, forcing everyone to find room for Droll & Lock Bird or Dimension Shifter in at least their sides. I wonder if the next banlist will save us from this monstrosity, since Dark World will be so much more consistent with Dark Corridor.
Don’t Count Out The Exosisters!
My friend Steven Santoli from Hamilton, Ontario has had the best Yu-Gi-Oh run this year. To get to the Top 16 of this year’s Worlds Points race, he had to top a ton of Regional Qualifiers throughout the year. He even won the latest Remote Duel YCS with Exosisters, but many players still doubted him, and the deck he played.
So Santoli brought Exosisters to the 32 player Worlds Points playoffs and got his Top 2 spot with the same strategy. He defeated players like Patrick Hoban, Pak Pamornsut, and others along the way, and now Steven Santoli’s going to Worlds! Here’s the build he did it with, revamped for the Worlds Qualifying Point Playoff.
Adjusting a bit from the Remote Duel YCS, Santoli realized that board breakers are much more impactful against a field that was mostly Kashtira. Swapping around his utility cards was just what he needed. But he also had to respect opposing board breakers in return, so cards like Forbidden Lance in the main, and Solemn Judgement in his side were perfect to help extend the shelf life of his Exosisters Magnifica.
/271733.jpg)
Market Price: $1.94
/260731.jpg)
Market Price: $7.58
Steven mentioned that his favorite thing about the deck was that apart from being a great control deck with multiple interruptions, it also produces a ton of damage with very little effort. Since the deck can clear opposing monsters with ease thanks to banishing effects, the opponent’s often wide open for direct attacks. Exosisters Magnifica can do 5600 damage by itself, so even just one more Exosister Xyz like Exosister Mikailis can finish off the game.
Even after the event, Santoli’s still surprised at how nobody made the top cut at the NAWCQ with Exosisters. Clearly this is a winning strategy, and it’s super affordable thanks to the Aratama reprint in Battles of Legend: Monstrous Revenge. Hopefully we’ll see more results from Exosisters in the near future.
A HERO LIVES To Top 32!
Heroes have been getting a ton of hype lately since they got their new support card Elemental HERO Flame Wingman – Infernal Rage in BLMR. I’ve briefly mentioned too, in my recent tech article, that players should respect the Destiny HERO – Dark Angel spell lock. But Nathaniel Christmas was the true Hero of the NAWCQ, as he took Heroes all the way to Top 32; an amazing feat in a 3000+ player event!
This deck may seem big at 45 cards, but it does pack a lot of flavor and variety, and it’s built with some really solid logic. Increasing your deck count may seem wrong in most cases, but if your deck has enough good starting cards that you can reliably see, as well as a couple cards you never want to draw – in this case that’s Vision HERO Increase – then playing more cards can be justified.
Christmas played Gozen Match and Rivalry of Warlords, two of the stronger floodgates in the game. A floodgate with Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer will help slow down the game in his favor, as he could destroy the Continuous Trap whenever he wants with DPE.
/279947.jpg)
Market Price: $0.13
/254329.jpg)
Market Price: $2.55
Cross Keeper was another interesting tech choice. Not a “HERO” by name, it still supports “HERO” monsters. You can only search it with powerful 1-offs like Reinforcement of the Army or Foolish Burial, but Christmas included it in case he wanted a free extender for Link Summoning, or making his Rank 4 Bagooska.
The graveyard effect of Cross Keeper’s especially helpful too, since drawing two cards while putting one back can help fix problem hands, or make strong hands even better! Putting back Destiny HERO – Malicious, or Vision HERO Increase can literally turn losing games into wins.
/266156.jpg)
Market Price: $0.48
/269324.jpg)
Market Price: $0.62
I’m sure out of all the decks that topped the NAWCQ, this deck was everyone’s favorite to watch! This strategy has a strong intro combo, to lock your opponent out of the game; good soft locks with other floodgates, in case it gets interrupted; and even has one of the higher damage outputs in the game. It’s definitely a worthy contender for future metagames.
Let’s “Rev It Up” Again!
Duelist Nexus is coming up quick with a ton of high-potential cards. I’ve mentioned how some of these decks will benefit from those cards in the near future, so be on the lookout for ways you can improve your decks when DUNE arrives.
I know I’m excited to play with Evol cards again, but maybe I’ll try and dabble with the new Altergeist cards, or Dark Worlds with Dark Corridor. I’ll be heading back to the drawing board to find the next new deck I’ll be playing, and hopefully these decks will help inspire you for the next few weeks!
-
Now that the North American WCQ’s come and gone and the World Qualifying season is over, duelists are free to relax for a bit with less competitive events, until Regional Qualifiers return in mid-August.
With the pressure of the World Championship now gone for everyone but an elite few, and nothing but locals and the Remote Duel Extravaganza in the coming weeks, it’s a great time to chill and take a look at some cool, creative decks that have been successful over the past few weeks. Duelist Nexus drops at the end of the month, bringing some competitive shakeups and – fingers crossed – maybe a new banlist. But for now, if you want to play something different or at least read about some surprising strategies with real potential, these are the best rogue decks in Yu-Gi-Oh right now, for July of 2023.
The Golden Rule!
Crystal Beast players got a huge boost from Battles of Legend: Monstrous Revenge, with the new support card Golden Rule. It’s an equip card that acts as a Premature Burial or a Special Summon from the hand, and it places two more Crystal Beasts from your deck to your spell and trap zones. It basically just screams out, “combo me with Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle”, but that’s just the beginning.
Rodrigo Garcia took it upon himself to abuse Golden Rule by playing it with Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson: any Crystal Beast with Destrudo can make Power Tool Dragon. The Dragon’s effect then gets you one of the three copies of Golden Rule from your deck, so you can keep comboing off. This approach is certainly different from many other Crystal Beasts lists I’ve been seeing, but it seems like it works, since Garcia scored a Top 4 finish at his OTS Championship with it this past weekend.
Market Price: $0.86
Market Price: $0.10
I also like that this deck runs Crystal Master. It was the only “Crystal” Pendulum Monster Garcia, played, but it made the cut because targeted effects are so relevant in current metagames. By simply activating Crystal Master as a Pendulum Spell, all of your Crystal Beasts cards on the field can’t be targeted! That protects you from lots of cards, from Infinite Impermanence on down. And in a worst case scenario where you actually summon Crystal Master, it can search Rainbow Dragon, a Crystal Beast monster, or a “Crystal” spell or trap to your hand.
Market Price: $2.47
Market Price: $3.37
Lastly, you’ll see some interesting cards in Garcia’s Extra Deck, like Five-Headed Link Dragon. He played it in case he got five monsters on the field. This dec can even assemble five monsters with different attributes for Five-Headed Link Dragon’s board wipe effect. Garcia also ran the classic Tellarknight Ptolemaeus, and Cyber Dragon Nova with Cyber Dragon Infinity in case he manages to get three Level 4 monsters on the field.
This focused approach revolving around Golden Rule, getting to it ASAP and then exploiting it asmuch as possible, is certainly unique. But Power Tool Dragon really could be Crystal Beast’s best friend, offering a ton of consistency to a deck that once struggled to reliably make its best plays.
Synchrons Launch An Assault!
The new Synchro support in Duelist Nexus is right around the corner, and Synchron players are already getting prepped by testing with Assault Synchron from BLMR. We’ve seen players tech Assault Synchron in their Spright Bystial lists, but it may be even better in its own archetype.
Leo Martinez took the Adventure cards approach, since Rite of Aramesir gives you a variety of non-Tuners to work with. Starting off with a Level 4 Adventurer Token is really strong, while Fateful Adventure can get you either a Level 3 Water Enchantress of the Temple or Level 7 Wandering Gryphon Rider or Illegal Knight. These cards are all free Special Summons, so long as you still control the Adventurer Token, and the best part about may be the free discard you get with Fateful Adventure: it helps facilitate Jet Synchron and Destrudo.
Market Price: $0.62
Market Price: $0.37
Martinez also played the Ascator, Dawnwalker package featuring Fire Ant Ascator. Dawnwalker’s exclusive to Synchro strategies and it gets you a free Level 3 Tuner, while also being a Level 5 non-Tuner itself. You can summon Fire Ant from your deck or your hand, so it’s still playable if you draw it alongside Ascator, Dawnwalker. This combination’s perfect for making PSY-Framelord Omega, which in turn combos extremely well with Bystial Dis Pater, since you’ll be able to bring back your banished Omega and banish another card from your opponent’s hand.
Market Price: $0.25
Market Price: $0.73
It does seem like Martinez was packing quite a ton of go-second cards, and it also helps that he had the Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing and Mare Mare package. Destroying a card your opponent controls with Yazi and following up with Mare Mare tokens gives you a ton of options, even if you’re locked into Synchros due to cards like Ascator, Dawnwalker, Junk Speeder, Stardust Synchron, and Synchro Overtake.
Locking yourself into one summoning condition does make you pretty vulnerable to Dimensional Barrier. Just like how Branded Despia rely on Fusions, a Synchro exclusive deck like Synchrons are definitely afraid of Dimensional Barrier unless it has cards that let them play on the opponent’s turn. Maybe we’ll see more tools for Synchro players that can help alleviate that in future sets. For now it’s not so bad, but it’s definitely something you want to be aware of, not something you learn about mid-tournament.
The Power Of The Abyss
Dark World players are also getting ready for Duelist Nexus and the release of Dark Corridor. I know Robert Creamer is probably excited for it, taking 3rd Place with Dark World at the North American WCQ’s ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!! event on Friday! I noticed his success in that tournament, and managed to get his list with the secret weapon he used to steal games, even against Kashtira!
Creamer built his deck with Allure of Darkness, pairing it with Radian, the Multidimensional Kaiju to help get rid of cards like Kashtira Arise-Heart. He’s still trying to hand loop his opponents with Sillva, Warlord of Dark World and Ceruli, Guru of Dark World. But in most situations, he’s happy to sit on Barrier Statue of the Abyss once he knows the opponent isn’t playing a Dark deck.
Market Price: $18.50
Market Price: $2.83
By simply drawing and thinning through his deck, Creamer will either draw the Barrier Statue and Normal Summon it, or Special Summon it from the hand with Saryuja Skull Dread. Alternatively he can even discard the Barrier Statue to reborn it with Muckraker From the Underworld. Once it’s on the table protecting the Statue’s easy, since Muckraker has that protection effect, but he could also set up I:P Masquerena to bring out Knightmare Unicorn on his opponent’s turn, or have that Dark World Accession set with Grapha in hand. The protection plan’s pretty robust.
After Side Decking, Creamer brings in more auto-win buttons specific to the Dark World arsenal, like Eradicator Epidemic Virus and Deck Devastation Virus. He can even just flip Skill Drain against any deck that needs monster effects and win out that way.
Market Price: $2.69
Market Price: $0.24
Dark World is still a huge threat to the most popular decks seeing play right now, forcing everyone to find room for Droll & Lock Bird or Dimension Shifter in at least their sides. I wonder if the next banlist will save us from this monstrosity, since Dark World will be so much more consistent with Dark Corridor.
Don’t Count Out The Exosisters!
My friend Steven Santoli from Hamilton, Ontario has had the best Yu-Gi-Oh run this year. To get to the Top 16 of this year’s Worlds Points race, he had to top a ton of Regional Qualifiers throughout the year. He even won the latest Remote Duel YCS with Exosisters, but many players still doubted him, and the deck he played.
So Santoli brought Exosisters to the 32 player Worlds Points playoffs and got his Top 2 spot with the same strategy. He defeated players like Patrick Hoban, Pak Pamornsut, and others along the way, and now Steven Santoli’s going to Worlds! Here’s the build he did it with, revamped for the Worlds Qualifying Point Playoff.
Adjusting a bit from the Remote Duel YCS, Santoli realized that board breakers are much more impactful against a field that was mostly Kashtira. Swapping around his utility cards was just what he needed. But he also had to respect opposing board breakers in return, so cards like Forbidden Lance in the main, and Solemn Judgement in his side were perfect to help extend the shelf life of his Exosisters Magnifica.
Market Price: $1.94
Market Price: $7.58
Steven mentioned that his favorite thing about the deck was that apart from being a great control deck with multiple interruptions, it also produces a ton of damage with very little effort. Since the deck can clear opposing monsters with ease thanks to banishing effects, the opponent’s often wide open for direct attacks. Exosisters Magnifica can do 5600 damage by itself, so even just one more Exosister Xyz like Exosister Mikailis can finish off the game.
Even after the event, Santoli’s still surprised at how nobody made the top cut at the NAWCQ with Exosisters. Clearly this is a winning strategy, and it’s super affordable thanks to the Aratama reprint in Battles of Legend: Monstrous Revenge. Hopefully we’ll see more results from Exosisters in the near future.
A HERO LIVES To Top 32!
Heroes have been getting a ton of hype lately since they got their new support card Elemental HERO Flame Wingman – Infernal Rage in BLMR. I’ve briefly mentioned too, in my recent tech article, that players should respect the Destiny HERO – Dark Angel spell lock. But Nathaniel Christmas was the true Hero of the NAWCQ, as he took Heroes all the way to Top 32; an amazing feat in a 3000+ player event!
This deck may seem big at 45 cards, but it does pack a lot of flavor and variety, and it’s built with some really solid logic. Increasing your deck count may seem wrong in most cases, but if your deck has enough good starting cards that you can reliably see, as well as a couple cards you never want to draw – in this case that’s Vision HERO Increase – then playing more cards can be justified.
Christmas played Gozen Match and Rivalry of Warlords, two of the stronger floodgates in the game. A floodgate with Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer will help slow down the game in his favor, as he could destroy the Continuous Trap whenever he wants with DPE.
Market Price: $0.13
Market Price: $2.55
Cross Keeper was another interesting tech choice. Not a “HERO” by name, it still supports “HERO” monsters. You can only search it with powerful 1-offs like Reinforcement of the Army or Foolish Burial, but Christmas included it in case he wanted a free extender for Link Summoning, or making his Rank 4 Bagooska.
The graveyard effect of Cross Keeper’s especially helpful too, since drawing two cards while putting one back can help fix problem hands, or make strong hands even better! Putting back Destiny HERO – Malicious, or Vision HERO Increase can literally turn losing games into wins.
Market Price: $0.48
Market Price: $0.62
I’m sure out of all the decks that topped the NAWCQ, this deck was everyone’s favorite to watch! This strategy has a strong intro combo, to lock your opponent out of the game; good soft locks with other floodgates, in case it gets interrupted; and even has one of the higher damage outputs in the game. It’s definitely a worthy contender for future metagames.
Let’s “Rev It Up” Again!
Duelist Nexus is coming up quick with a ton of high-potential cards. I’ve mentioned how some of these decks will benefit from those cards in the near future, so be on the lookout for ways you can improve your decks when DUNE arrives.
I know I’m excited to play with Evol cards again, but maybe I’ll try and dabble with the new Altergeist cards, or Dark Worlds with Dark Corridor. I’ll be heading back to the drawing board to find the next new deck I’ll be playing, and hopefully these decks will help inspire you for the next few weeks!
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