Notes & Combos

I haven't really been posting my Master 1 decklists lately, but I'm sharing this one since I managed to climb the ladder with a really fun deck this season.

Since Radiant Typhoon got hit on the banlist, I added a few more cards that can access/search the theme. Also, now that The Fallen is at 2, drawing multiple copies can feel pretty bad—so I decided to tech in Radiant Typhoon Authority so I can recycle them back into the deck.

Since Varuroon searches MST, Eldam often ended up sitting dead in my hand. So, I decided to tech in a copy of Fonix. Even if it's stuck in my hand, as long as I activate Widow Anchor first, it can be bounced out to the field without causing any Main Monster Zone clogging. From there, it provides decent extra disruption, enables turn-0 plays, and even helps snatch unexpected OTKs, making it pretty useful overall. You can also dump it to the GY with Radiant Typhoon Vision and revive it with MST. Honestly, running two copies of MST seems like a viable option as well.

Since the deck runs quite a few bricks like Fonix, Mandate, and Shield-Bearer, going second can be pretty rough. On top of that, Elfnote has been actively dumping Spell Canceler using Shooting Riser Dragon lately, so I decided to main deck Mulcharmy Fuwaross specifically for going second.

When going first, the optimal play is to bring out Varuroon, then Normal Summon Fuwaross to transition straight into Camellia. That said, there are a ton of Dracotail players on the ladder right now, and running into them is honestly a bit of a headache.

Since Mandate shuffles my Quick-Play Spells back into the deck, it occasionally clashes with Lemnisgate, so I trimmed it down to 1 copy. Doing this also helps cut down on going-second bricks. However, because it's a hard 1-of now, it leads to all sorts of inconsistency issues, making me feel like running 2 copies might actually be better—as long as I don't hard draw it when going second.

To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure if this decklist is actually good. Mandate often ends up just taking up space, which cuts down on my overall disruption and definitely leaves something to be desired. It feels like the list is still a bit unoptimized. Even so, the value-generating draws from Mandate were just too much fun, so I had a blast playing it for the ladder climb.