Professional Kaijudo player and active grinder in Magic The Gathering, Matt Segura explains the Meta of Kaijudo and where you stand.
With the swings of things coming into place we now have: Duel Day, the release of DragonStrike Infernus, The Dragon Master Kit, and the Kaijudo Master Challenge coming to us in the near future. With that said we’ll now delve into the mess of a Meta-Game that is Kaijudo. With what we have now we stand at a Rock-Paper-Scissor style kind of community with only three archetypes to choose from our arsenals:
Blurple
Creatures: 22
3 Aqua Seneschal
3 Cyber Trader
3 Cyber Sprite
3 Rusalka, Aqua Chaser
3 Scaradorable of Gloom Hollow
3 Gigabolver
3 Screeching Scaradorable
1 Dark Scaradorable
Evolutions: 6
3 Hydra Medusa
3 Emperor Neuron
Spells: 12
3 Logos Scan
3 Terror Pit
3 Bone Blades
1 Skull Shatter
1 Ice Blade
1 Return from beyond
This deck is nothing but consistency and having the perfect curve against every opponent almost every game. This deck was the most obvious deck to go to post Evo Fury. This my fellow Kaijudo Masters is what we call in the competitive world “Tempo” this deck has nothing but momentum and is very hard to play against with even the slightest play mistake can cost you the game. Tempo is considered anything that dominates card advantage as far as board presence as well as hand advantage just by playing cards and gaining momentum and with cards like Aqua Seneschal and Emperor Neuron drawing you cards upon attack trigger, you’re trying to anticipate any danger in their hand size as well as current threats that have already impacted the board. This deck can stabilize and win games with four mana with the ability to go to five mana into a Hydra Medusa to ruin your opponents’ day. I’ve played this deck two weeks in a row and have acknowledged how powerful this deck is. Control was almost a bye for me, the only times I’ve lost games with this deck in the control match-up were when I’ve ran into early barrage upon my first attack, it was nothing but sheer misery. Stabilizing after a Shield Blast like that is not an easy feat, the control deck has cleared my board of 2-3 creatures and will now fully stabilize against me dropping bombs to just crush me. The Saber-Bolt Match-up is almost suicide, with them running Barrage and Tendril Grasp you’re game is officially ruined. Their big guys like: Bronze-Arm Sabertooth, Gilaflame the Assaulter and Bolt-Tail Dragon are next to impossible to deal with without giving them some advantage as far as using all versatility cards against their creatures. This deck is infamous for being the easiest deck to play as a go-to deck for any players that want to perform well in the competitive scene promoting playing greedy with no precaution, but can we blame them? I’ve seen copious friends and beginners immediately lose interest in the game due to constantly seeing this deck and losing to it. On that note I’ve also converted two of my friends at locals to play Blurple and perform well at the top tables. So what kind of insanity can possibly compete against the tier 1 deck that is Blurple? Okay, okay don’t hurt me….
Saber-Bolt
Creatures: 22
3 Aqua Seneschal
3 Prickleback
3 Bronze-Arm Tribe
3 Razorhide
3 Rusalka, Aqua Chaser
3 Gilaflame the Assaulter
3 Bolt-Tail Dragon
1 Tatsurion the Unchained
Evolutions: 3
3 Bronze-Arm Sabertooth
Spells: 15
3 Logos Scan
2 Barrage
2 Tendril Grasp
2 Heat Seekers
1 Tornado Flame
1 Root Trap
2 Return to Soil
2 Reap and Sow
Ever since Duel Masters, Fire-Nature-X has always been a topic of discussion and debate. With marvelous Midrange cards and Aggro cards in your selection how can you go wrong? This deck hits Blurple where it really hurts, everywhere. Destroying their board with such heavy hitters forces your opponent to deal with your army with cards like Hydra Medusa constantly wasting their card advantage and leaving them with almost nothing to utilize for the rest of the game. With the improvement of Bolt-Tail Dragon hitting the zenith of the curve for this deck being a 7-mana Fast Attacker with 7000 power is a serious deal. Given the scenario that you have a Bronze-Arm Sabertooth in play turn 4-5 and after it gets banished it goes to your mana zone giving you 6-7 mana allowing you to follow-up with Bolt-Tail Dragon or play two Gilaflame the Assaulter. This deck allows you play threat after threat and overwhelm your opponent with fast attackers and creatures that impact the game the instant they hit the board. I played the Dark version of this deck using the mainstream removal spells such as Bone Blades and Terror Pit as well as a play set of Skull Shatter to help a certain match-up that I will go over later in the article. Nevertheless I will be focusing on the more common Saber-Bolt, which typically uses Water over the Dark variants. With 7 Fast Attackers and 7 Double Breakers this deck and so many cards to gain card advantage with +1ing on turns as far as mana you out-pace players who can’t handle the heavy aggression that this deck promotes. That is except for a certain match-up…..
Control
Creatures: 23
3 Reef-Eye
3 Aqua Seneschal
2 Rusalka, Aqua Chaser
1 King Neptas
2 Fumes
3 Scaradorable of Gloom Hollow
2 Screeching Scaradorable
2 Razorkinder Puppet
3 Tatsurion the Unchained
1 Gilaflame the Assaulter
1 Bolt-Tail Dragon
Evolutions: 1
1 Hydra Medusa
Spells: 16
3 Logos Scan
1 Crystal Memory
1 Skull Shatter
3 Bone Blades
3 Terror Pit
3 Barrage
2 Heat Seekers
My favorite archetype that will never die, Control. I wanted to cover the Cobalt Control list, but I haven’t seen or played a list that can truly be explained in detail, maybe next time my friends. For the time being we will focus on the the mainstream control deck. A deck that truly relies on sheer skill and patience, slowing the game down allowing you enough time to think and play through each situation cautiously without making play mistakes. This deck has copious removal spells and even features Blurple all-stars such as Rusalka and Aqua Seneschal which allows you to have the momentum you need early to stabilize and prepare for the defining turn that you crush your opponent in one clean attack. Think you can play control? It’s probably the hardest of all the archetypes to play WELL and not make play mistakes (most of the time depending on how long the game last). However, I can’t see myself playing a deck that runs into constant Blurple and having to grind to earn a well deserved victory regardless of how satisfying it may be. The play set of Tatsurion the Unchained is mandatory for any future control mage with a built in ability to banish something on the crack-back and untap is a phenomenal ability that should never be overlooked. All the one-for-one removal spells and abilities is what truly shines in order to beat that speed demon that is Saber-Bolt. With your wide arsenal to slow any game and fully stabilize from any point in the game and win is what it takes to pilot this glorious archetype to victory. However the most obvious being this deck is slow, horribly slow. The Blurple match-up as I have already stated is truly atrocious due to their next-to-perfect curve allows them to play greedy without being able to be punished so easily. Also their most deadliest of weapons is the their evolutions especially Neuron being able to attack you without the chance to block is something that should be dealt with instantly so you don’t lose to your opponents’ constant card advantage, considering it can kill you when you have no shields.
In summary Blurple > Control Control > Saber-Bolt Saber-Bolt > Blurple. With so many good people and friends leaving this wonderful game of Kaijudo due to this game being rendered down to a simple game of Rock-Paper-Scissors I have found that there are more reasons to play Kaijudo rather than leave the game, as hard as it may be to go rogue and play something ambiguous that no one has ever seen. The element of surprise won’t work most of the time against a skilled player who knows the archetype your deck is built around. Where do you stand in our Meta what will you be playing now and after the next couple of months? Never give up my friends after the next couple of months we will be receiving some new goodies to get gitters about. So see you guys next time my fellow Kaijudo Masters.
Peach
matt_segura@yahoo.com
Latest posts by Matt Segura (see all)
- Kaijudo Article Contest: The Lightning Grip: The Triangle of Kiajudo - February 27, 2013
- The Lightning Grip: The Triangle of Kiajudo - February 25, 2013
Get
Connected