Notes & Combos

S43 World Legacy's Finality: hikori ver. Update

ALRIGHTY HERE I AM BACK WITH 0 BURNOUT THANKS TO THE LEGEND NAMED HIKORI WHO HELPED ME TURN MY SELF-INDULGENT AESTHETIC INCLUSION (World Legacy Guardragon) INTO A CORE COMBO PIECE! LET'S GOOOO!

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Please see writeup from Season 34 for original discussion on 60c World Legacy deck concept.

Please see writeup from Season 38 for original discussion on Knightmare engine.

Please see writeup from Season 39 for original discussion on Harp Horror line.

Please see (very short) writeup from Season 40 for extra notes on Gravity Controller + Draconnet usage.

Please see comments section of Season 42 post for hikori's original discussion on the new Draconnet line.

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Thank you to the brilliant goated chef hikori for providing a delicious recipe that simply substitutes a single ingredient: That's right, by swapping Crowned by the World Chalice for Guardragon Justicia (linked in lore anyway), hikori has turned Draconnet into an actual 1.5c starter for my deck. This is massive (more details below)!

Well, of course, Draconnet into Justicia is a pretty old move, but it really highlights how weak of a combo brain I have (and how little I use it), as well as how limited my progress would be without others alerting me to my blind spots. I was never going to realize this on my own as I was too obsessed with specifically having a "World Chalice" monster in my Main Deck; well, WL-WC already covers that, and as hikori mentioned, I now actually have a "Guardragon" monster. Absolute victory!

The line:

• NS Draconnet > SS Justicia
• SS Ib > search WL Guardragon
• WL Guardragon eff SS Justicia from GY
• SS Phoenix > Ib eff SS World Chalice
• SS Mermaid with Phoenix > Mermaid eff SS Orcust Knightmare
• SS Galatea with Orcust Knightmare + World Chalice
• SS Lib with Galatea + Mermaid
• Lib set Pawns
• Knightmare line, SS Girsu send Mind Meld
• SS Galatea with Girsu + Lib

Better board, better efficiency (well, unfortunately we do have to use both Galateas but this is WL, not meta), AND A STARRING ROLE FOR THE TRAGICALLY BEAUTIFUL WORLD LEGACY GUARDRAGON! Let's gooooooooo

hikori also mentioned an even more bonkers line with Spright Elf; do check the S42 post linked above to see it. You should definitely use it, but I personally want to avoid non-WL cards unless absolutely necessary, like with Draconnet.

Draconnet as 1.5c starter?

So here's the thing. In the S39 post I mentioned that Draconnet was already a 1.5c starter thanks to the then-fresh introduction of Harp Horror to my deck. I didn't go into further detail because it's an incredibly cucked and aesthetically revolting endboard that winds up with Gravity Controller stuck in the right EMZ—pointing to Lib—AND a stray Girsu sitting in a random zone that isn't Lib's left Link zone (the landing spot for Deus). I mean it just looks cucked doesn't it? Half-baked abomination with ingredients sprawled all over the kitchen counter all thanks to one dumb Gravity Controller sitting his **** in the EMZ. It would be downright embarrassing to show to your opponent in duels.

More importantly, though, that original 1.5c line was incapable of reaching the deck's highest ceiling; it ended on merely Deus + Pawns, with no protection. Thus, I preferred to think of Draconnet as a 2.5c starter, relying on the 15 Crusadia monsters for extension into the "true" combo.

Thanks to hikori's keen eye, none of that matters any longer. Draconnet is now a true 1.5c starter that opens up the entire deck the way a combo starter should, and the Ib line, which now pivots decisively on World Legacy Guardragon, is thus my best available combo path. Both Draconnet and Girsu can end on the main board of Pawns + Deus + Crescendo, but it's at least possible to extend through Imperm on Draconnet. The Girsu opener will remain the most risky/least reliable until Galatea-i. Nonetheless, I do now have 9 cards that can 1.5c full combo.

It feels truly marvelous and poetic, for the entire project of converting to a 60c pile was precisely in order to reach more corners of the World Legacy tapestry and, in particular, find a way to integrate Justiciar Ib into my Crusadia-based deck.

Honestly, go back to the S34 post that marked the debut of my 60c pile, and just retrace my journey through to S43. See how I gushed about WL Guardragon and forced it into my list with no absolutely no use for it. The S37 (Jan 2025) post was hilarious too, because that was when I randomly threw the freshly unbanned Ib into my pile—again, with no actual plan for summoning her.

Arriving here today, thanks to Bora, Raseruuu, and now hikori, with a true signature combo that drives through BOTH Ib and WL Guardragon and into the Knightmare line in order to access the mythical in-archetype omni-negate that can actually protect a viable turn 1 King piece...man, this really feels like World Legacy's Finality! Thank you to the wonderful community for always lighting the way forward!

Retooling the deck

First change, obviously, Crowned by the World Chalice to Guardragon Justicia for everything outlined above.

Next: Well, the deck is still absolute garbage going second. It can't play into boards at all and especially loses to removal due to a severe lack of special summon extension. To try and mitigate this, I decided to load up on handtraps, up to 24 in total. Consequently, it just makes total sense to finally restore Almiraj to the Extra Deck.

This, in turn, alleviates the burden on the Crusadia monsters for starting combos, which is why I have cut them down to 10 in total (2 each). An optimal build would have more Arborias since she is the best Crusadia NS, but nah I'm all about representation.

However, this is still very much a 2cc deck by and large. WL Succession is of course a better extender than the Crusadia monsters because it provides access to Lib and the WL engine. So I've bumped it up to 3x, while still keeping World Crown at 1x. I go back and forth on it being HOPT, but I guess I just preferred to stay at 10 Crusadia monsters for symmetry lmao. With HTs like Fuwalos now being valid normal summons, I just felt like I could go a little lighter on Crusadia monsters to get a bit more value into my hands—and more consistent access to the WL engine is definitely a key priority.

WL's Memory is out. It was already becoming a really fringe play in my deck: Its main value was being part of a 3cc (requiring a WL in hand to discard, which is too unreliable); otherwise, it was just tacked on at the end of the turn for a desperate Girsu summon into Mind Meld dump. Might as well just focus on the core lines instead.

With these changes, the deck now sits at 84% consistency (assuming my calculator is accurate). Pretty reasonable, and the hands feel smoother than before. Almiraj of course turns a lot of otherwise bricked hands live...or rather, it's the Knightmare engine doing that kekw!

Extra Deck changes:

• With WL Memory gone, Morning Star no longer has a role...it's ok though, Girsu remains my Mekk representation! Morning Star's spot going to Almiraj is objectively much better for the deck.
• I was worried about Nibiru just going off the lists on here, so I swapped I:P for Link Spider. Nib wasn't that much of a problem in the end, but Link Spider also turns Girsu into a 1c Galatea and makes Justicia a valid normal summon. Losing I:P really made it much harder to reach Astram, though, so I'm extremely conflicted on this change. I guess I'll have to think carefully about the sort of utility I prefer in my toolbox. OR PERHAPS GRAVITY CONTROLLER CAN GTFO

Non-engine lineup

• 3x Lancea is just correct right now, seriously guys
• 2x Nibiru...would have 3x if I could find the room for it, but I was really satisfied with 84% consistency, so I didn't want to cut a Succession for the third. Nib is awesome right now for sure
• 2x Belle: My favorite underrated HT is cooking right now. I don't think she actually ever stops cooking tbh
• 3x Imperm and 3x Veiler: Don't actually like them all that much right now, but getting to 24 HTs was the goal, and I'd still rather them than Mourner or Gamma. I mean, I would love to be able to use Gamma, but I can't afford more bricks in this brickhouse. I prioritized them over Nib because they are just more versatile, even if lower in impact
• 3x Droll: Useless against Maliss, good against some decks...but mainly to counter Maxx/Fuwalos since I can play under Droll quite well after the 1st early search with Ib. It does suck that Droll cucks the Cynet opener, but can't ask for too much with this deck lmao
• N.B.: While doing my usual 5W streak challenge in M5, I had 3x Droplet and only 1x Nibiru. I swapped the Droplets for the 2nd Nib and the 2 extra WL Successions
  • Droplet is still an amazing card, but Maliss dodges it too easily once set up, so it's pointless to try and break boards IMO. Just go full HTs instead, because going 2nd into any semblance of a board with this deck is just an autoscoop
  • 26 HTs was obviously very good, but 24 felt fine as well. I just wanted to be a little safer with more special summon options after cutting down to 10 Crusadia monsters, hence the additional Successions. Weighing things up, I felt more comfortable with slightly better WL engine access and 84% consistency over the 3rd Belle/3rd Nib/2 copies of Mourner, etc. Might change next season, who knows

Note to self: Stop playing too conservative with the Girsu opener!!! Always go all the way to Galatea even with NS Girsu!!! I keep misplaying and ending on just Lib with Pawns + Mind Meld in GY; force of habit from years of ending on Lib with my original Mekk-Crusadia lists. I keep forgetting to execute, even though I know that Girsu gives me the full board. You have no idea how many times that has cost me. Like, at this point I'm pretty much autoclicking through everything because this is all I've ever known and done. So I often just zoom to Lib from Girsu without thinking at all. It's actually mental. (FYI you go Knightmare line first to get Orcust Knightmare in GY before making Lib.)

Friggin always go all the way for that omni-negate you'd been crying out for; this is no longer a midrange deck, it is a wombo-combo deck!!! >:(((((