Notes & Combos
After many duels in Master Rank, I think I developed a deck list that solves my issues with the existence of S:P in the Link Toolbox variant, one that I was very happy to pilot up to Master 1 despite some unlucky hands.
No Elf? No I:P?
Yes, I completely skipped over Elf and I:P for a couple of reasons.
- Elf only came up in 2-card combos with Bonfire and as I said before, was much better if it was in conjunction with I:P and/or Princess. Since it was only good as a going first option, I dropped it when S:P or Apo pass became more common and was winning most of my games anyways.
- I:P is awkward to summon if you have S:P in the EMZ, necessitating another link monster to acommodate for it. Therefore it wasn't worth the effort if I was winning most of my games anyways with S:P or Apo pass.
- R-ACE tends to struggle going second without utilty links so I preferred to add more to compensate for going second, which happened more often.
If decks like Purrely become more popular where I:P becomes necessary to beat them, then I can see I:P and Sunlight Wolf be added back to the deck over Anima and Selene, but otherwise I think the ED options are optimal.
What's with the non-engine options?
I cut Veiler for Gamma because it's the stronger handtrap in a deck that doesn't run many. Plus it helps us against Maxx "C" due to the amount of times we used OSS or Emergency which baits out handtraps for Gamma.
Talents has been incredibly helpful in R-ACE, since it either works going first or second while punishing opponents that try to handtrap our starters or Turbulence. It might be even better once Fire King Snake-Eye comes around since they cannot negate Talents.
The one card I was missing for the most part was Pot of Prosperity since that is a card that unbricks bad hands even if it conflicts with Wanted draws and HQ. I'll definitely run it for next season.
So far I'm satisfied with the current non-engine options and it's unlikely to change in the next season.
To conclude, I think this deck is almost as optimal as it could be when it comes to Link Toolbox and I had a lot of fun labbing with it.