Notes & Combos

This list is similar to my S17 profile, upgraded with Bystials plus Final Sigma makes a return.

Circular generates a ridiculous amount of advantage and it takes overtuned cards like Bystials to pare down the game so its easier for the opponent to manage (see also Maxx C & Gamma). At first, I was afraid that Bystials would make climbing impossible. Bystials were still represented well in my matches but there were multiple things in my favor:

• People do not max out on Bystials, at most I saw 5 that could be activated during my turn.
• When going 2nd to decks with Bystials, they would consume their Bystials during their combos.
• The decks that have dedicated Bystials in their engine were also vulnerable to Bystials

A single Bystial is manageable, if they Bystial early such as banishing Sigma, you punish them with any extender. If they hold the Bystial for End Phase, you can grab Nabla with Alembertian/Wicckid to make sure you have 4 names in the GY before establishing Heatsoul. If they hold the Bystial for their turn, we can bait it out with our own Bystial (Bystial Wars!) or answer it with Cynet Conflict.

That said, 2 Bystials on my turn is definitely something to be mindful of. Given people played at most 5 bystials, that's only a 10.8% chance to open 2 (assuming a 40 card deck). You're more likely to get hit by the single Magnamhut, 12.5%! So the risk will always be there, but not as prevalent as one would think.

Final Sigma performed well this season. Nabla was included to play around Bystials and it's no different with Multiplication. Circular send Multiplication is a strong play because the EARTH attribute makes it the safest useful Mathmech to revive with Equation. Superfactorial also triggers Multiplication to boost your Heatsoul or Transcode in the EMZ so your board is sticker. This plays removes the main benefit of opposing Bystials using their 2500 bodies as a removal spell in the battle phase. Naturally, Final Sigma becomes a consideration when Nabla and Multi made it to the list. People summon their Bystials in attack and Final Sigma becomes an option to OTK through Druiswurm or Baldrake. This still requires an Addition or Subtraction to modify stats to get the full 8000 damage.

Regarding Bystials, they are the best handtraps vs your worst matchups: Tearlaments & Branded. This was a meta call, but both decks combined made up 40% of the field. They help with Spright (12%), where the 2500 stats forced grind games.