V-Mundi

2018

Digi-Deck: Jade Library

 

Most decks try to pick a specific focus and exploit it to its maximum, maybe tossing in some cards that shore up weaknesses. In the Jade Library, you will instead find a catalogue of toys for almost any situation right at your fingertips. By relying on the extreme speed and respectable draw in Jungle, this deck can load the trash with useful Digimon supports and load the active zone with a powerful ultimate in no time. This is a toolbox of the brute force variety and is incredibly dauntless—most of the deck’s effects revolve around preventing the opponent from affecting it.

For high skill players, this deck is packed with ways to take advantage of specific situations and force edge cases when brute force isn’t enough. Cherrymon, Knowledge Crest, and Super Evolve are built-in toolboxes. Much of the rest of the deck is dedicated to drawing cards, power gain, racking DP, or exploiting evo-bonuses multiple times. Bladekuwagamon, Vegiemon, Moxie, and Knowledge Crest are all valid attachments; so more experienced players should take note of when they might have to free up a future attachment slot to pivot their strategy.

Types

Primary type: (30)
Rare types: (2) | Lesser types: (1)
Entirely weak to Jungle x3 VS, with extremely rare other weaknesses.

Suggested pre-setup side choices:

Prioritize removing these particular cards in the pre-setup. Adjust to your matchup.

  • Behemoth
  • Silver ball
  • Mega Disk
  • Metal Parts
  • Vending Machine
  • Disrupt Ray

This pre-setup removal will prioritize saving blow-out cards for later game. A more offensively focused pre-setup might remove 3 Cherrymon’s Mist and keep Behemoth, Metal Parts, and Disrupt Ray instead. This could allow for some early KOs in critical matchups.

 

See visual list for specific card versions whenever ambiguous.

Jade Library

Level R: 11

4 Mushroomon – Great support which heals and racks DP. Used for many of the champion evo-bonuses.

4 Lalamon – Uniquely powerful support which may double high-damage attacks or Drain attacks for more defense. Has +30P and activates crucial evo-bonuses.

2 Palmon – Primarily used for a few evo-bonuses and as a backup +30P rack. Occasionally useful support when an opponent manages to get ahead.

1 Dokunemon Partner – This is our partner. The innate support can be used excellently with all the Drain in this deck as well as the Mega’s 1st Attack, plus it draws a card.

 

Level C: 12

3 Sunflowmon – Primary beater at this level. This deck mostly caters to diversity over consistency, so it’s important to note that this is used at 3 copies. It has incredible HP, nearly on par with Whamon. Its support has type-fixing and gives 1st Attack. Finally, Sunflowmon can give +30P rack, which is necessary.

2 Bladekuwagamon – The attachment is incredibly useful for stopping recursion decks (like this one). This also sports Jamming and +30P.

1 J-Mojyamon – One of a long line of evo-bonuses that draw cards. In this case, you get 1 from the top 3, which is very high quality; sometimes enough to stop you from wanting to mulligan. Its own support is incredibly useful since it  doubles Cross, which is often Drain.

1 Vegiemon – Primarily in the deck for its attachment since the body isn’t amazing nor is the Shatter. This is a great combo with all of the first waves of Digimon support effects before you attach a Knowledge Crest and begin re-using them.

1 Igamon – The evo-box gets any Digimon in the trash, allowing for premature re-use. In addition, it sports some of the deck’s rare 1st Attack. Generally, this deck’s HP will be higher due to the heavy amount of healing, so the support should give Jamming and rack DP very often. This effectively increases the deck’s void count by one.

1 Togemon – Extra strong cross with drain that can be used to make the opponent think we’re threatening their circle by signalling a triangle-to-zero (we can, Blossomon’s support) but we can also force the triangle with Disrupt Ray. 270 Drain while taking no damage and losing no cards is a solid play. Use the +30P and the support to use a powerful Drain on any attack.

1 Dokugumon – A very useful body for the active zone with power of Dragons, HP of some Marines, a deadly-attack protective cross ability, and an immense amount of disruption effects. Corrupt 1 is strong enough, but the evo-bonus adds trashing and static to its arsenal of BS. Since its circle is so high, an opponent has to add another layer of prediction onto whether it prefers to hit hard or dial back to triangle with corrupt 1 then trash 2 (a high-quality trash). If you do use the triangle, they suddenly have to ask themselves if you’d prefer to take the static 2 on cross anyway, regardless of the circle-to-zero, which could change their attack selection away from the heavily damaging circle. As a support, it’s a slightly weaker Lucky Mushroom which helps with adding even more heal to the deck.

1 Kabuterimon – Very good body but is primarily used for the Any Phase snipe ability to get a surprise KO. This is also usable with Knowledge Crest since the timing will apply to Support as well, therefore it’s possible to deal 100 damage from the hand, regain it using some other method (such as Igamon evo-bonus), deal another 100, then support with it from Knowledge Crest for a total of 300 damage before the battle phase. The potential of Kabuterimon in a deck with a lot of re-use is pretty heavy. Plus it has a big stompy body like Dokugumon.

 

Level U: 7

3 Cherrymon – Generally used for its support to grab a Champion or Ultimate from the deck which is necessary for the moment. It has a rather weak body but packs some type-hate and Jamming, which should free up your supports to do things other than void—which its support can also do. Its evo-bonus will screw anyone trying a similar strategy to yours, by stopping attach; and it also fuels your hand machine with take 1 in DP before it’s discarded to evolution.

2 Blossomon – Support has good protection or some power gain, which can be especially useful for all of the Drain in the deck. Its own body is respectable but with an incredibly high 300 Drain. Coupled with much of the power boosting (especially doubling) effects in this deck, that Drain should be able to negate ultimate-level deadly attacks at times.

2 Atlaskabuterimon – Primarily used for the void, cheap evolution cost, and name for Herc’s evo-bonus. Can be a good ultimate in a pinch. Atlas’ void is one of the most powerful Digimon sourced voids in the game, acting like a Firewall that merely makes your attack weaker for a turn.

 

Evolution: 5

2 Plug-In A – Since this deck often uses evo-bonuses but not always, and each bonus tends to be draw-related, it makes sense to include a way to activate all of them or even double-activate some. This is especially useful with Cherrymon, Igamon or J-Mojyamon. The added bonus of discarding an opponent’s DP when combined with the speed of this deck makes the opponent trip hard and can stick them on Champion for several turns while you ascend to Mega quickly.

2 Masquerade – Try to save this for Herculeskabuterimon’s draw 2 if possible by changing a non-Atlas to Atlas. If you’re dry on DP and have Atlas in hand, change their name to Ookuwamon and DNA to Hercules. The trash 2 effect is a minor bonus this deck doesn’t use much.

1 Super Evolve – ACE Pick any ultimate from the deck for the current situation. Often used to get Blossomon in general. Atlaskabuterimon is worthwhile when you don’t have a Masquerade for Blossomon so it can activate Hercules’ evo-box. Cherrymon can be a useful option to jam each turn and stop attaches or when facing against Nightmare or Nature opponents.

 

Option: 11

3 Cherrymon’s Mist FIREWALL – Solid firewall that’s never bad. This gives the deck the maximum void-for-value and can protect from pesky cross abilities. Stay aware that it can be used for the end-turn of the game to guarantee a sure-KO.

1 Knowledge Crest – Used to re-support with all your existing Digimon that (hopefully) have already been used to their maximum potential, as well as catching the few that were used to rack DP. The power reduction acts as protection for that turn so you aren’t completely throwing the battle for a utility.

1 Moxie – This attachment should be placed early and often to make the most out of its evo-box granting powers. Especially devastating when combined with Plug-In A.

1 Mega Disk – Try to wait until either a Vending Machine is in hand or your active is Mega, so that Mega Disk has no cost. At that point, it can be re-used multiple times if properly set up.

1 Silver Ball – Nearly staple leveler of playing fields.

1 Behemoth – Behemoth is incredibly defensive when combining Shatter with Drain and the bonus power. Multiple Digimon in this deck can negate a whole attack from an ultimate-level base attack. With 1st Attack, it may be tough to get a KO due to the weaker bodies (until Mega) but still worth keeping as sleeper hit due to much of the power boosting effects that can be played in the turns before this. Especially useful with shatter for removing opposing Magic Word so your Digimon supports stop being voided.

1 Metal Parts – This is a devastating card. In a deck like this where the hand size is rarely below 4 before its played, Metal Parts should be giving quad or even quint damage in most cases. When combined with a lot of the healing, you should be free to play this on the opponent’s turn and draw 1. It’s possible to have 1200+ Drain with this card, allowing a one-shot of most Digimon and recovering so much health that it becomes daunting to attempt to KO. Given that this deck draws constantly, recovering that loss would be trivial.

1 Disrupt Ray – Very useful (if correctly predicted) for forcing the use of Cross to ensure the safety of your own Digimon, especially if combined with Drain or Jamming. This could effectively read “lose a turn” for opponents in some situations. At Mega level, it turns into a guard against opponents using Cross to stop Herc’s huge Circle or guarantees his 1st Attack final KO.

1 Vending Machine – This should be a given due to the mechanics of this deck. Vending Machine will recycle cards that hit the trash too early such as Knowledge Crest plus re-use killer cards like Mega Disk, Behemoth, Metal Parts, Firewalls, Super Evolve, and Digimon with key supports you don’t want to delete with the Crest. Try to avoid removing Moxie since it can come back on its own. Vending Machine has the double use of making your deck larger than the opponents for when Herc hits the active zone and needs his passive to be live.

Destiny Zone

Partner: Dokunemon

Herculeskabuterimon – This is an earth-shatteringly powerful Mega Digimon. Herc has incredibly high power, ridiculous HP, a draw 2 evo-bonus, and a passive that makes him a dauntless god much like his namesake. Normally, the 70 cost would be a problem but in this deck, that should be trivial with the extra racks, evolution cards, and +30P abounding. Once your deck is larger, try using Mega Disk since it will trash 0. At the point you reach Herc, have a plan to pump the 1st Attack if the math works out such that it could KO on your opponent’s turn. This will net you a bonus or potentially win the game. Since your hand, supports, and deck become sacred, Herc can power through late game like a blowtorch through butter.

Morishellmon – Almost always the primary partner evolution due to the Drain and draw.

Dokugumon – Very useful partner evolution for the superior body (in all regards).

Matrix Evolve Proxy – Since this is a proxy, you will always get the DP -20 discount, even when evolving to Mega. This essentially allows for picking any Digimon to evolve to from the top 7 in a deck with a plethora of singleton champions and several ultimate choices. If none are appealing, there’s a 90% chance that you can simply rack +30 P with it, stack with the -20DP discount, and therefore have 50DP covered to evolve from hand. As a bonus, Matrix sends the partner back to the deck for later use.

Possible Changes

No deck is perfect or unbeatable. Most probably have room for improvement even when not considering the meta. This will be no different. Here’s a list of stuff that just may not work as well as I think it does, that I can see coming:

Disrupt Ray – Mostly a meta-call. It can be useful in some matchups and fall flat in others, not to mention how it takes a lot of skill to use effectively. Suggested replacements: Incubator for attachment toolboxing, Plug-In Backup for more recycle, Burst Growth to exploit early draw, Mega Disk for a second chance with Herc’s trash cost reduction.

Bladekuwagamon – The static and attachment can fall flat in some matchups. Generally, it’s useful to stop the bulk of recursion decks out there but if you’re not sold, I suggest: Woodmon for a balanced support and type-hate, or Flymon for those that rely more heavily on Cross.

Dokugumon (Destiny Zone) – It seems like the best partner evolution until you’re actually playing and Morishellmon always looks more tantalizing due to the similar body but with drain. If you find Dokugumon lackluster or don’t get use out of its disruption, try Yanmamon. It’s a huge hit on power but you already have Morishellmon and Yanmamon can disrupt far more effectively by changing some opponent’s type to anything and then Jam them until you get to ultimate.

Palmon – In case you don’t value covering every single base on Sunflowmon as much as having a support that’s more live, try: Tentomon (DB-015) which has voiding, Fanbeemon which has good protection, or Alraumon if you want to stick with Drain but more consistently.

 

Destiny Zone

 

Key Points

Jade Library is heavily reliant on churning through the deck both to evolve quickly and set up the trash for future play. Keep the following in mind while playing:

  • Breakneck evo-speed. This deck has some of the fastest evolution without level-skip in the game, allowing you to make maximum use of HP to stall and get to Mega while dishing damage along the way.
  • Above-average endurance. Despite the low base-HP on many Digimon (except Mega), this deck contains a lot of Drain and Recovery. It’s possible the endurance is even higher, especially if prioritized when using search effects.
  • Wellspring of draw. Most evo-bonuses have draw and the deck quickly gets into situations where it can draw 1-2 extra per turn.
  • High level of void. The deck natively contains 9 cards that void but can search and re-use them ludicrously.
  • Great consistency. The re-use of Digimon supports plus recycling combined with the singleton nature of many of its cards allows the deck to wear many hats, often times at-will.
  • Below average power. Like with most Jungle decks, until Level M, the deck suffers tremendously on attack power. Its relative power is higher early due to the fast evolutions, but the equal-level power falls hard. This can be mitigated with much of the power-increasing support but the base damage is low enough and priority is typically on defense enough that it tends not to be effective until Ultimate or Mega.
  • Attachment hell. Unlike many decks with attachments, this one can be hell at times. If attachments are drawn in the wrong order (such as Knowledge Crest early or Vegiemon late), it can bring the efficacy of the whole deck down. Try to mitigate this with recycle when they hit the trash or simply take mulligans on the good faith that you’ll still get to evolve with any hand (which fuels Knowledge Crest anyway).
  • Vulnerable to Static. While not a terribly common effect, the deck does rely on trash placement enough that static can be a bummer to face.

 

This particular deck tested very well versus just about any matchup despite some of its weaknesses. The primary reason was due to its undaunted nature: you can void almost any problem support and prevent the brunt of devastating attacks while quickly trucking on to Mega level. In all of the time I’ve played this deck, Herculeskabuterimon has rarely been KO’d and even so, I tended to only need 1 more KO myself in a deck with a ton of defense and speed, so I could often grind the game down until I was at an advantage again. This is a tough deck to actually stop, even against something specifically packing DP-removal, anti-Level U/M cards to the brim, and copious static—all of which should be its bane. That said, it has a hard time making the hits up to mega count since they tend to be pretty weak. Decks with low endurance tend to survive and make it to Ultimate or Mega themselves, meaning Herc often has to contend with an opponent’s strongest Digimon. This tends to suit Jade Library just fine as it’s equipped with an incredible body at Mega and some nasty supports for dealing with opposing Megas, which therefore tend to be 2 easy KOs.

Watch out for the following Megas, which can actually rival Herc directly:

  • Boltmon: Jungle x3 VS = 1500 Triangle, huge HP
  • Moonmillenniumon: Huge HP and can stop all Herc’s best attacks, can’t be void, can search an Ace
  • Zeedmillenniumon: Huge HP, can’t be void, search any 2 cards to deal with you
  • Omegamon: Attachment and power superiority, nearly strictly better version of Herc’s passive
  • Examon (BR): High power, can charge up DP then DNA for an activate so powerful it one-shots
  • Millenniumon, Diablomon, Hi-Andromon: Each can Crash for a one-shot. Otherwise superior power and very high HP.

Despite the number of contenders at Mega, most of the rest have to work very hard and it’s peerless against Ultimates. If speed, a toolbox, consistency, high draw power, and a very powerful Mega sound appealing to you, give Jade Library a try.

Top

Digi-Deck: Magna Dux

 

Do you really like having a near-unlimited use of powerful trash cost cards like Mega Chip? Do you like to stack flat power gain with multipliers? Does the idea of tying all these benefits together appeal to you? Then you just might be ready for Magna Dux. This is a deck primarily centered around “early and often” with regards to everything. Get big effects early, get them often, don’t stop getting them. It relies on its Ace Reload and its Mega Dukemon to recover any costs paid. Lastly, it stacks attachments with the copious toolboxing to make each active more than meets the eye.

For high skill players, this deck has multiple layers of consideration: what to toolbox when, how aggressively to mulligan for a type-hate champion, or keeping track of deck size are all important. Mostly, it’s a deck for those who prefer to hit one button (Cross) and keep hitting it for most of the game.

Types

Primary type: (25)
Lesser types: (2) | Lesser types: (3)
Rare types: (1) | (1)
Mostly weak to Wind x3 VS, but several additional weaknesses occasionally.

Suggested pre-setup side choices:

Prioritize removing these particular cards in the pre-setup. Adjust to your matchup.

  • Mega Chip
  • Silver ball
  • Mega Disk
  • Dark Wings
  • Reload
  • Cherrymon’s Mist

This pre-setup removal will prioritize getting as much early-game as possible and minimizing late game. In some cases, early Mist could be better than protecting your Cross with Letterbox, so make adjustments where needed.

 

See visual list for specific card versions whenever ambiguous.

Magna Dux

Level R: 11

4 Patamon – Primarily fills the +30P quota while giving an extra set of type-hate cards. In this case, as a hate it’s better than Attack Chip and Behemoth combined. However, it will always be useful for recouping deck losses.

2 Penguinmon – Another Rookie primarily used for the +30P, but also doubles as a +20P that gives an evo-bonus. If you rack anything in this deck and play Penguinmon, you should be able to make any non-Ruler evolution. The extra evo-bonuses aren’t incredibly necessary, so save them for Angemon, sometimes Cupidmon, and the rare V-dramon.

4 Lucemon – This is the primary Rookie body of the deck. The +20P will rarely be good enough to do more than assist Evolution cards. However, the type-hate cross is sometimes a safe bet to fall back on, it has an evo-bonus to both Angemon and Cupidmon. The Support ability is like having 4 sources of keeping your superior bodies alive versus Digimon supports, since it voids them. That void is unconditional (save for being Digimon) but beware of the draw 1 to the opponent. If played perfectly, it should void something scary and put the opponent from 2 to 3 cards, which gives them zero advantage on their own next turn.

1 Kudamon Partner – This is our partner. Its innate attachment effect is part of the main purpose of Dukemon (to have two attachments) and works well with the deck.

 

Level C: 10

4 Angemon – Good HP body, mildly respectable power all-around, and a terrifying Drain attack. When evolving from the majority of the deck’s Rookies, Nightmare and Marine suddenly take a nosedive and eat triple damage plus your Drain! This is devastating if used correctly. The Support is useful to extend your field of type-hate beyond whatever the current active may be able to target. The if not will keep us healthy regardless what the opponent is packing.

4 Cupidmon – Good HP, useful power levels, and respectable early 1st Attack. Its support may boost power like much of the deck—comboing with the power tripling effects, or it may give Crash which is very effective given that this deck has above-average HP. The if not will keep us healthy regardless of the opponent’s level.

1 Kokatorimon – This card provides valuable engine-fuel by itself. As long as you don’t lose the active, it should start adding quality to the deck almost immediately. Unlike most decks with Kokatorimon, this does not entirely rely on him but instead allows the deck to extend its number of useful attachments by one (for Dukemon) and sets up early re-use of key cards for later.

1 V-dramon (PR) – This champion’s immense body for both HP and circle power make it a useful singleton card and it doesn’t disrupt Magnamon. The Crash has the added benefit of taking advantage of the deck’s sizable HP. Its support is often a life saver in any conditions.

 

Level U: 6

4 HolyAngemon – (Magna in dub, hence “Magna Dux”) This is the primary evolution target and the most effective way to jump to Dukemon. Given its average stats, the best way to make use of HolyAngemon is by adding an attachment (such as Love Crest), gaining the evo-bonus which is nearly guaranteed, and supporting such that his cross is incredibly powerful. This can easily one-shot 98% of the game’s champions and has a faster damage clock than any ultimate without pulling tricks. Given that you should have 3 common type coverages for the type-hate, the only remaining thing to do would be to support with another HolyAngemon for 6 types, or Patamon for 4. Therefore it is crucial that all copies of HolyAngemon are recycled back into the deck either with Reload, Patamon, or Kokatorimon.

2 Magnamon – Often times HolyAngemon isn’t strong enough to carry you to Dukemon. For these cases, Magnamon sports a significantly higher HP and Power body, albeit at a significantly increased cost. Given that you will get a free attachment due to the Ruler restriction the deck was built around, its key that if you want to evolve to Magnamon, try playing cards that trash as a cost first such as Giga Hand, Mega Chip, Mega Disk, or the other Magnamon support. These are also great targets for Kokatorimon recycling due to the Firewall-like void support. Generally if playing against most decks, HolyAngemon will have a strictly more powerful (and harder to stop) attack power. In those cases where he’s not your best bet, make sure to try and play your draw effects and get Magnamon.

 

Evolution: 5

2 Super Tag – Unlike a Digivice or similar, Super Tag can be used to virtually reduce the cost of a Level M’s DP.

2 Incubator – You or the opponent will likely have an attach so this is used for the DP reduction at Level M while riding the winds of past attach success. Especially useful for getting rid of Magic Word (from either player) so you can immediately get evo-bonuses again. Crucial for finding attaches early. With Magnamon’s attach T evo-bonus, you can also choose from the trash, which gives full coverage for any attach. Reminder: you cannot pick firewalls or aces with Magnamon BUT Incubator can pick Magic Word if you want!

1 Burst Growth – Incredibly useful at recovering losses due to some of the more expensive evolution in this deck.

 

Option: 14

2 Attack Chip – Very basic and useful card. Combo with x3 VS on Cross attacks, increase the threshold for a 1st Attack KO, and significantly increase Drain’s effectiveness.

1 Mega Chip – The trash cost in this deck might as well be unlimited due to Dukemon’s ACTIVATE and Reload. This becomes an absolutely bananas Power boost and makes numbers large enough with x3 VS that it might kill MoonMillenniummon in one hit under the right circumstances.

1 Mega Disk – Same as Mega Chip for purpose and near-unlimited use, but instead used as a way to keep a key active such as Angemon or HolyAngemon in case it would die.

1 Silver Ball – Nearly staple leveler of playing fields.

1 Behemoth – With the x3 VS in this deck, 1st Attack and +100 Power can be just plain nasty. With Shatter, most of the Circle attacks are high enough that this can completely nullify an opposing attack.

1 Puppet Switch – While the type-change effect isn’t too useful, the +10P combines nicely with the +30P racks in the deck and the recycle + draw allows the immediate reuse of Reload for a potential infinity engine. Play Reload, choose Puppet Switch and any other card, play Puppet Switch on the next support to get Reload, use the racked Puppet Switch somehow to get it into trash, play the Reload putting Puppet Switch into deck, get the Switch again. Reload as much as necessary.

1 Love Crest – Semi-useful evo-bonus effect in some cases, especially if one is missed such as Dukemon. The attack swap ability is incredibly useful in this deck since it makes triangle very powerful when Cross isn’t as devastating.

1 Letterbox – Given how reliant the deck can be on Cross at times, it’s useful to have it unaffected by Jamming. In many cases, this turns your type-hate attacks into attacks that also threaten to Flatten. With that constant threat, letterbox brings a new dimension (no pun intended) to the deck’s ability to add pressure to each attack. Often it will cause your Cross attacks to be able to kill either by flat or HP damage, so the opponent can’t always simply invalidate only one of those.

1 Cherrymon’s Mist FIREWALL – Used specifically for the end-turn of the game to guarantee a sure-KO. Otherwise, it can be selectively recycled by Kokatorimon for later or recycled with Reload.

1 Magic Word FIREWALL – Given the high impact of attachments in this deck, Magic Word is incredibly useful. In fact, it’s almost unfair since most of your attacks during a given game should be Cross, making Magic Word a voiding machine. Be careful since you can’t activate evo-bonuses (even if a card effect would) while it’s attached and that can prevent Angemon/HolyAngemon from being as useful. This can also outright diminish Dukemon’s purpose in the late game.

1 Ultimate Storm FIREWALL – People get very addicted to circle versus this deck. It has virtually no way to punish circle other than flat and deadly attacks will significantly dampen all the Drain. This is best used when you can’t 1st Attack for a KO.

1 Giga Hand – Given the nearly-unlimited trashing in this deck, Giga Hand is nearly a copy of the ACE Ground. This is especially useful in a deck where HP is above average like this.

1 Reload  ACE – Given the number of reckless trash costs in the deck, Reload seems like the natural choice. The recycle all feature works much like Dukemon and being able to take any 2 cards after (plus extra) in a deck with multiple single-copy cards means you have a lot of choices for exactly what is most devastating. Here you can see the particulars of why there’s so much type-hate in the deck: choose any type-hate necessary to win or simply pick a Cherrymon’s Mist if it can win the game! With Reload not deleting itself after use, it can then be recycled back into the deck and used over and over, making this a counter to trash-centric decks.

Destiny Zone

Partner: Kudamon

Dukemon – The eventual goal. Usually, you’ll work toward Dukemon slowly even if your pace could be increased. This is because the deck has a lot of HP, healing, and staying power even if it’s often very fast at evolving. That path will allow you to carefully pick your evolution chain and eventually land on Dukemon from HolyAngemon, which is the ideal choice. If not, try to re-use racked DP with Super Tag or wipe out attaches with Incubator and grab a replacement attach (which will let you hold off on the ACTIVATE for a while). He’s absolutely massive in both HP and power all-around, especially his record-shattering 400 1st Attack, which can be pumped very high by supports in this deck. Dukemon’s ACTIVATE is very reminiscent of the Reload ACE: You’ll recycle everything, resetting all the trashing that was done to you, then attach any 2 in the deck. In addition, you get to set up the next 10 cards of the game. By the time Dukemon is necessary, x3 VS may not be a viable solution anymore especially against a skilled opponent. This is where careful choice of which attach combo to pick and how to set up the next 10 cards of the game is important. Be incredibly careful! Dukemon has a crucial evo-bonus, which is shut off by yours and your opponent’s Magic Word. Be absolutely ready to remove yours (with Incubator) and Shatter the opponent’s (with Behemoth) if necessary to make the most of this Mega.

Akatorimon – Usually a way to grab Kokatorimon when absolutely necessary. Not generally recommended unless it’s absolutely vital. Searching for other champions may also be more important than Kokatorimon but I would argue rarely is their Support going to work well enough that Cupidmon wouldn’t have been the better partner evolve choice.

Cupidmon – Good body, has 1st Attack with big cross to rival Dukemon, choose this.

Grapple Chip Proxy – 700 Cross before you even multiply it. With drain.

Possible Changes

No deck is perfect or unbeatable. Most probably have room for improvement even when not considering the meta. This will be no different. Here’s a list of stuff that just may not work as well as I think it does, that I can see coming:

Akatorimon (Destiny Zone) – Useful for fetching some support champions but may not be as effective as Reppamon in many matchups.

Puppet Switch – Some won’t want to focus on cheesing Reload as hard and for those people, I suggest Stardom over Puppet Switch. Or some other attach for ridiculous combos at Dukemon.

Attack Chip – While this is incredibly useful and versatile, I know that many people won’t appreciate such a unitasker. Even in cases where people do, they might otherwise favor Dominate Chip given the evo-speed and HP of the deck. Since Attack chip is here for cross but also circle, a replacement should ideally respect this. However, Grapple Chip and Plug-In S (Special) both amplify Cross to cosmic levels which make them tempting. Boost Chip is awesome for using up the Puppet Switch, especially to keep abusing its loop since one requirement is to get it out of the DP.

Incubator – If you don’t like the redundancy of incubator in an attach-heavy deck, try Splice Chip. You’ll get a guaranteed 10 +P and at least 200 Power, which can wreck with the cross levels here. Be aware it makes Dukemon a harder evolution, which is usually not a problem since you want to go slow anyway.

Letterbox – I wouldn’t blame anyone for being skeptical of using Letterbox in a non-flat deck. It really does work but if you can’t make it sing for you or just don’t like spreading out that far, try Potty Boat to punish partners, Lucky Mushroom since your attacks will likely always be different, or Data Copy in case an opponent tends to have some sort of supremacy over you. For Data Copy, your evo-bonuses will protect you from the type change and you get to keep your Cross abilities.

 

Destiny Zone

Key Points

This deck is incredibly vitality-based and capable of paying trash costs almost indefinitely. Let’s take a look at some of its strengths and weaknesses, and keep these in mind while playing:

  • Above-average evo speed. Super Tag and Incubator have a habit of making DP costs very low with added benefits, plus 6 copies of +30P cards.
  • Above-average endurance. Hits the mark for HP and keeps going. Combined with its heals, this deck tends to sit at 1000 HP+ for champions and can be 2000 HP+ for ultimates. With proper recursion of Mega Disk, it keeps going.
  • High-to-Bullshit Power. When the typing is right (which is usually), this deck’s power is outright bullshit. Flat power bonuses stack immensely with multipliers which this is abusing heavily. When that fails, it falls back on the completely celestial power ratings of Ruler Digimon.
  • Infinity engine. Reload, Dukemon, and other recycles in this deck tend to make it an infinity gauntlet of useful cards being played over and over. It’s nigh-impossible to beat this with a trash strategy except with numerous well-placed voids (or a Dark Destroy right to the ace, for deletion). Can mulligan incredibly aggressively, especially to cheese a Reload into the hand.
  • Never fails. All of the conditional effects in the deck tend to have “if not…” triggers that give you some other effect anyway. This makes cards capable of multiple roles that shift throughout the game as your standing shifts.
  • Champions can be sticky. Since all the champions cost 40 DP and get no discounts, it’s incredibly difficult to start off on champion immediately without some form of evolution card assistance. This is where Penguinmons, Super Tag, and Incubators combine with the racks to make evolution possible.
  • Vulnerable if Reload gets buried in the trash or deleted. Be wary of trash decks nevertheless since Reload is incredibly necessary to the deck. Once that passes, Dukemon, Patamon (if not) Puppet Switch and Kokatorimon are the only hope to recover it.
  • Magic Word is a soft counter. As said, Dukemon has a hard time with Magic Word on the field. You can remove your own easily enough but you’ll likely have to bait out the opponent’s with a powerful Option.
  • Self-type change can disable the deck. Opponents who use Data Morph, Scummon’s Curse, D-Link in a multi-color deck, or Puppet Switch may prove tough due to their ability to use type changes to evade the brunt of your damage.
  • Often lacks draw power. Despite the singular V-dramon, alternate Patamon supports and misc draw scattered around, the deck does lack a significant source of draw and relies heavily on Reload.

 

Beside the apparent complexity of Magna Dux is a brutal simplicity—hit hard, hit fast, hit often. Keep hitting, don’t stop. While its copious use of Cross is predictable, it’s often not very punishable. In fact most of this deck’s play style is incredibly predictable but difficult to actually punish. Therefore it’s tough for an opponent to create an edge case to exploit against Magna Dux. With so many layers of redundancy and an ethos of “do what works”, this deck tends to be a dauntless KO-gobbling machine. While not particularly heady or flashy, it does contain some near-infinite combos that can give inspiration to new deck types. If you’re a fan of big, meaty plays that are consistent for days, try Magna Dux.

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Digimon COTD: Valdurmon

Valdurmon—For when Phoenixmon isn’t intense enough.

What’s good about it: Every Digimon has a ability but very few have a ability. Valdurmon not only has both but also an implicit ability! Evolving in the typical way using its evo-bonus gives a heavy Draw 3, which is an immense advantage while a Mega is live. Valdurmon can even continue to draw using its cross ability, so your hand never dies. This Digimon is incredibly defensive with its 1840 HP and Shatter ability combination. In addition, its ACTIVATE is nearly as powerful as the ACE [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/063-Ground.png” name=”Ground”], with an additional Recycle any 5, which can be the end-game gambit for filtering your deck into using your best cards ad-nauseum. The ridiculous [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/002-PhoenixmonDATA.png” name=”Phoenixmon DATA”] card is valid in this deck. Valdurmon also has a generic Level U DNA, making it pretty consistent even for decks that will have trouble racking 60 DP—which Wind rarely has trouble making. Lastly, Valdurmon’s cross is about as strong as most Level M/U triangle power, which is unique.

What’s bad about it: As ACTIVATE abilities go, this one is pretty limited. Being forced to use can delay a safe window for it several turns depending on the opponent. Since its DNA includes a Mega, the Phoenixmon DATA card must be in-hand to skip the 60 DP requirement. Despite being a Ruler, its numbers are overall a bit lower than many 60-cost Megas due to the staggering number of attack abilities and their utility. Despite this, Valdurmon has no recourse (such as Counter or To-Zero) against a stronger Digimon with more powerful attacks.

Tips: If you want to use Valdurmon without being roped into [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/132-Garudamon.png” name=”Garudamon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/078-Piximon.png” name=”Piximon”], or DNA try using [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/038-Penguinmon.png” name=”Penguinmon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/022-Love-Crest.png” name=”Love Crest”] and [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/05-Moxie.png” name=”Moxie”] to get extra evo-bonuses ([card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/030-Plug-InA.png” name=”Plug-In A”] isn’t valid for Level M). You could also double the bonus and draw 6 cards! Having a Ruler type means the ability to use Dominion to freely add/remove Types during your turn. Make the best use of this by including Digimon with extra types so as to be able to play [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/000-PinkD3.png” name=”Pink D3″]. Using Phoenixmon DATA for the Data Break can be an effective way to keep your ultimates live and in the game when losing horribly and the prospect of evolving to Valdurmon seems unlikely. The data’s Any Phase also compliments Valdurmon’s two draw effects by making sure your hand size stays consistent throughout the game. Recovery Supports or Evolutions (around +300 or more) are useful the turn Valdurmon enters the field if 1840 isn’t enough Power, which should then be enough to kill most Level U/M in the game. Love Crest is incredibly devastating with Valdurmon and it may even be recommended to use [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/024-Incubator.png” name=”Incubator”] to search the turn it enters play. Since the ACTIVATE says “make own Power same as own HP“, it won’t matter if becomes the weakest. What might actually matter is if becomes incredibly strong with Shatter (250)! In addition, Love Crest immediately grants an evo-bonus so you can Draw 3 again. One last tip: Valdurmon’s ACTIVATE has one of the most powerful recycles available, in that you get to choose any 5 to put back into the deck. Wind tends to be able to make use of decks that run 1 copy of multiple powerful or situational Option cards, draw/self-trash a ton of the deck, and then put the best cards back in for re-use later. This can effectively make their late game a kill machine. Valdurmon’s recycle is like a turbo charged version of an entire Wind deck archetype.

Digimon COTD: Research

Research—what does the scouter say?

What’s good about it: Changing your attack after seeing the opponent’s, allows you to pick the highest-damage, safest option that can dodge their attack abilities; choose your own cross if you know the opponent used a relevant attack; and you can play this in response to “If both attacks are same”, “different”, or “If opponent used [attack]” to effectively void the card by ruining its condition. Research can also be attached for permanent knowledge of the opponent’s hand—an extremely abusable packet of information. The turbo (cost of static 2) changes the slow support effect timing into “Any Phase”, so you can see the opponent’s attack, change yours, then immediately support with something that takes advantage of what attacks were chosen; or simply attach it and support in a way that takes advantage of hand knowledge immediately. As a proxy, it can be most effectively used with partner-searching effects and on a partner with some battle related support to close up its weaknesses. If one of your own attacks has Jamming, you can void the opponent’s attack ability and Digimon support, then resolve Research to change your attack to something more powerful—effectively giving your strongest attack Jamming.

What’s bad about it: By default, this is support timing and doesn’t help the battle by itself. Even with turbo, you have to static your own trash (which is a cost and can’t be skipped, so is a dead card early game). It’s true that you can make up for a lack of skill at attack prediction, but over-reliance on Research could become a detriment to your own personal growth. Since it doesn’t help with battle, playing it as support can be a waste of a turn.

Tips: Pair the attack changing effect with defensive cross abilities like Jamming, to-zero, counter, grudge; or against those abilities to use your best attack that isn’t being countered. For the same purpose, [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/003-Datamorph.png” name=”Data Morph”] admittedly tends to be better. There are some unique situations where Research’s attack change is better though, such as an opponent with Counter (all attacks). You could switch to your weakest attack and take as little damage as possible, where Data Morph would be the worst case scenario. Research can go beyond this; Turbo creates powerful combos with cards like: [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/010-CyberParts.png” name=”Cyber Parts”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/184-Short-Lance.png” name=”Short Lance”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/056-Net-Worm.png” name=”Net Worm”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/013-Uninstall.png” name=”Uninstall”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/011-DeluxeMushroom.png” name=”Deluxe Mushroom”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/066-HappyMushroom.png” name=”Lucky Mushroom”], Coliseum, [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/041-Starmon.png” name=”Starmon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/068-MagicWord.png” name=”Magic Word”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/012-LiquidCrystallize.png” name=”Liquid Crystallize”]. Any “both players use [attack]” is also incredible when you can simply change your attack afterward during the first step of the Battle Phase; some examples are: [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/022-Balmung.png” name=”Balmung”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/198-Mystery-Egg.png” name=”Mystery Egg”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/153-Giromon.png” name=”Giromon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/037-Impmon.png” name=”Impmon”].

X-ray hand vision is incredibly useful for discerning the best time to play discard effects, especially random discards like: [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/193-HeapofJunk.png” name=”Heap of Junk”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/185-ScummonCurse.png” name=”Scummon Curse”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/015-Lie.png” name=”Lie”]. Discard-all effects also become far more timely and less damaging to yourself when you know exactly what is being trashed. Examples: [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/020-Fakedrimogemon.png” name=”Fakedrimogemon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/127-Deathmeramon.png” name=”Deathmeramon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/154-Lilithmon.png” name=”Lilithmon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/008-Chaosdukemon.png” name=”Chaosdukemon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/129-Superstarmon.png” name=”Superstarmon”], and you’ll know what effect they’d likely pick with [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/031-Bombnanimon.png” name=”Bombnanimon”]. The combos and possibilities with Research seem endless because it gives the one power that is normally forbidden in Digimon Battle Evolution—and one thing many aspects of the game hinge upon: hidden knowledge.

Digimon COTD: Silver Ball

Silver Ball—more like cannon ball

What’s good about it:  Doubles your power and sets the opponent’s to 0, allowing an easy come-from-behind when you lose the evolution race. Since your own Digimon can be any level when used, it can also act as a “get ahead” gambit that preserves your own health while taking a significant chunk out of the opponent. The “If not” case can be really helpful as well, though not as strong as cards dedicated to discarding. Discard 1 can disrupt your opponents ability to evolve, rack DP, Support on the next turn, or even dump them into the dreaded 0-card hand.

What’s bad about it: Silver Ball tends to be least effective when your opponent is stalling or losing, which makes it less effective if there’s a significant gap in deck or player strength. Until such time, it’s a mere discard 1 which can be difficult to time properly or prioritize when you should presumably have more impactful effects. Having multiples of this card is therefore not very recommended.

Tips: Since, most every deck tries to evolve to Ultimate and Mega Digimon—which are big and hit hard, Silver Ball tends to be devastating when played at the right time. Put one of this card in your deck and most of the time it acts like having a second ACE. It should almost always start in the side pile, so as not to clog the opening hand. Key moments to play this card are when the opponent is Level R or C but has 1 card in hand or when they’re U or M and doubling the power would decrease the number of hits-to-KO. Alternatively, when they’re at Level U or M and their attack would KO. When you calculate potential damage for both players, it can sometimes be better to wait for your opponent to reach Mega. If you can tell the current Ultimate won’t deal a knockout blow and the Silver Ball is close enough to KOing their Mega (they haven’t played yet), try saving it for that instance and net two KOs! Silver ball is both a sword and shield against the strongest Digimon in the game; as such, it is a tool from which every deck can benefit.

Digimon COTD: Cyclomon & Monochromon

Cyclomon and Monochromon—A Double feature of evo-bonus madness! These two dynamos of evolution are quite similar.

What’s good about them: The evo-bonuses of these two Digimon combine deck searching—one of the strongest effects in the game, with Evolution cards—one of the most powerful cards when used correctly. Their circles are incredibly powerful on such high HP. Monochromon’s strong attack distribution is balanced to an almost ideal body and has one of the best circle-to-HP ratios in Level C, with an aggressive support. Cyclomon is even more of a tank, has the exact ideal attack distribution, with a similar HP ratio. If you can’t predict the opponent’s attack for use with your cross ability, Cyclomon’s support does it for you. Supporting with Cyclomon first means you won’t eat a Coliseum or similar. to Zero is a solid Cross ability both Digimon share and with enough of it in a deck, Cyclomon’s support becomes a menace. You can get the obvious and fast evolutions like [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/165-Digivice.png” name=”Digivice”] or [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/099-SuperTag.png” name=”Super Tag”], but also utility evolutions like [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/036-BurstGrowth.png” name=”Burst Growth”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/023-Meatvolution.png” name=”Meatvolution”], or [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/030-Plug-InA.png” name=”Plug-In A”]. One of the best targets for this bonus is [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/000-FatedSpirit.png” name=”Fated Spirit”] since both evolve to several dragons and a few metal—the end result of which is similar in potence to an Ace like [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/069-SuperEvolve.png” name=”Super Evolve”]. On top of that, it can search the insanely strong Firewall [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/052-Immortalize.png” name=”Immortalize”]!

What’s bad about them: Independently, Monochromon’s support is situational to a safe use of circle. Cyclomon’s support is situational to even wanting cross but only when you’re unsure—so maybe wanting cross? Playing both in the same deck for their evo-bonuses is quite difficult, because they don’t share Rookies in common. The evo-bonus is very central to these cards so they are lackluster in decks that aren’t tailor-made for their evolution tree, which limits effective deck building. Some Evolutions like [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/162-Warp-Digivolve.png” name=”Warp Digivolve”] or [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/000-Data-Hijack.png” name=”Data Hijack”] are a bit less effective simply due to the nature of their level requirements. Using those cards would rely on getting KO’d. You can’t search all cards with the “Evolve” timing, only yellow-border Evolution category cards.

Tips: Don’t try to have Monochromon and Cyclomon together in a deck unless you work around their evo-box names. Losing bonus consistency to gain evolution consistency is pretty counteractive. Use a partner that can evolve to one of these, since you’ll get the Evolution search for free and the partner itself can be searched with [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/183-Partner-Finder.png” name=”Partner Finder”]. A take any 1 Evolution effect improves the reliability of [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/163-Hyper-Digivolve.png” name=”Hyper Digivolve”], since it’s an incredibly unique effect, often central to the strategy of a deck, but mercilessly limited to 2 copies. After fixing the reliability problem, you now also meet the Level C requirement, so they can jump straight to Level M later. Don’t forget to re-consider all the Evolutions you normally avoid due to limited usability. If you have 1 copy of several Evolutions like [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/024-Incubator.png” name=”Incubator”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/025-Sniperdisk.png” name=”Sniper Disk”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/027-Plug-InBackup.png” name=”Plug-In Backup”], you can count on having a very robust next evolution. [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/166-D-Link.png” name=”D-Link”] allows your Level Us to be a different type, and require less DP. D-Link would therefore open up many new creative combinations not yet explored here. Evolution that “activate an evo-bonus”, such as Plug-In A or [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/058-Jogress.png” name=”Jogress”] are even better, since you’re able to move away from the rigid evolution tree with Monochromon and Cyclomon.

Digimon COTD: Dark Evolve

Dark Evolve—The most tooled version of three other Evolutions.

What’s good about it: Dark Evolve works like 3 previously printed evolution cards at the same time: [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/162-Warp-Digivolve.png” name=”Warp Digivolve”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/165-Digivice.png” name=”Digivice”], and [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/167-Mutate.png” name=”Mutate”] depending on your current level when played. As a Warp Digivolve replacement, it can take you from R to U (with no DP cost). It’s a Digivice when progressing C to U without DP. Lastly, as a Mutate from U to U and allows abnormal. Since the three aforementioned Evolutions are not always a valid option by themselves, it’s incredibly useful having one in the deck that is always live. Dark Evolve can be used even when you’re abnormal for even more versatility. Since it ignores DP, you get to keep any that was racked. Not for nothing but since it attaches and provides a downside, opposing “Shatter” abilities will backfire, causing opponents to be less likely to use them and also get the damage reduction effect.

What’s bad about it: Plan to replace or detach Dark Evolve. If you don’t, the passive conditions are totally devastating. Without a way to remove this attachment, your shiny new Ultimate is defenseless to Counter, Flatten and To-Zero effects as well as every single prediction-based Support. Having someone support with [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/056-Net-Worm.png” name=”Net Worm”] and kill your entire hand would be game changing, Ultimate or not. Since it also removes the ability to use “Any Phase” effects, Dark Evolve can significantly limit deck building. It would be difficult to include the ACEs Digi-Diamond and Miracle Ruby, DATA cards (if using the Any Phase primarily), half of Partner Finder and Data Morph (many more), both Super Hit and Moxie will have to be played as Support to attach, and could be voided. While it has one of the use cases from three different evolutions, it doesn’t have every use case. You can’t Mutate C to C or Digivice R to C. This is significant only for the fact that Ultimates tend to be at a lower quantity in the deck and thus less likely than Champions to be in a given hand. Lastly, having to trash 5 when you get KO’d or even when you net a win is pretty steep. That’s a forced full-hand mulligan which essentially means you can’t take a mulligan during a game that Dark Evolve has to stay attached until your Ultimate dies. This is yet another significant restriction but is still a kind of soft-restriction, since you could barrel in head first if you want.

Tips: If you play something like [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/007-LessonPlan.png” name=”Lesson Plan”] or Nanimon which requires/allows you to discard an attachment as part of its effect, you won’t have to run as many attachments in the main deck to clear a Dark Evolve quickly. In this way, you can technically use those cards (or Support attachments) to trick the opponent into using Circle hate while choosing another attack (don’t get voided!) and Dark Evolve would be removed by the time your attack resolves. Attachment-heavy strategies, like Flatten which uses Letterbox, can make Dark Evolve a tempting Evolution. Be careful of having cards like DarkLizamon, Super Hit, or level Ms that add attachment slots. Since you’re not allowed to remove attachments at-will, these will put you in more danger of having to keep the Dark Evolve. Notice the pattern with deck building and Dark Evolve: don’t bother building an entire deck to cater to it, but many decks can run it without much risk. This goes double for decks that can’t easily search the Dark Evolve since its trash 5 penalty makes it too risky to aggressively find with mulligans. A copy or two in a Monochromon/Cyclomon-heavy deck can be wonderful in theory, due to the evo-box search but consider that a Digivice is strictly better to find in that instance. Cards that change both players’ or your opponent’s attacks like Coliseum and Disrupt Ray help temporarily cover the stopping effects and tend to be good enough to run coincidentally with Dark Evolve instead of as a halfway solution to it. In short, build the deck smart with quick ways to remove the attachment but don’t dedicate a huge chunk of the deck to this card since it’s limited to 2 copies and therefore could weaken the deck overall.

Battle for Sularia Review

Plasma rocket wings. The most redundant and awesome flight method.

Overview

This is a card game obviously inspired by Magic the Gathering but with other mechanical leaning toward traditional RTS videogames such as Command & Conquer or Star Craft. You build one type of resource to generate another resource to ultimately cash out by playing combatants. Combatants are therefore actors that can attack the enemy base and potentially destroy sites, while also blocking attacks to prevent site damage. Players take turns attacking sites and trying to deal 25 damage to their opponent.

Components

I can’t quite tell what card stock this is due to not having ripped one yet. If I had to guess, it may be 280gsm and grey core. The card is almost transparent when a light is shone under it but they tried to make up for the cheap stock with a heavy gloss finish. For the price, I think a higher quality card stock should’ve been an absolute in the eyes of the designers. The print quality is overall good, if a bit dark in some areas. However, the game comes play-complete (max playsets of each card, plus some extras) which is a huge plus. Many times, you open one of these expandable card games (usually from Fantasy Flight) and do not get a whole play set of each card, causing you to buy more sets thus increasing the price point beyond what you expected. Full Article

Transformers TCG Product Review

Hasbro released the Transformers TCG designed by Wizards of the Coast today. I had some interest in this game after checking out the rules and seeing that it would be a pretty intense showdown experience. Naturally I did what any normal adult woman would do and pre-ordered two booster boxes. They’ve arrived and now I have a product review for you all. A foreward: I used to be a TCG player for nearly all my life. As someone who dislikes predatory business models, TCGs have been off my radar for quite some time. The Transformers TCG will be ultimately no different. There are rares, uncommons, and commons. There’s tons of wasteful garbage you throw away after unwrapping them. You’ll pull too many copies of the same common for just yourself. The steep price of the product is ultimately for pretty cardboard. Given that I do not appreciate the TCG model, I will not be giving a review of its full distribution nor as a game. This review will be accepting all of these things as granted, therefore you will not find this to be an anti-TCG rant. This will purely be an opinion article reflecting how I feel about what I opened. In that way, I am biased more toward games that offer as much of a complete playset as possible in a box.

This review is based on the opening of two booster boxes and therefore pull rates will reflect this. Full Article

Fallout Board Game Review

Suit up your Power Armor and get ready for radscorpion combat. Because that’s what Fallout has become.

This game is a nightmare. I’ve kind of spoiled my entire review at the start so let’s step back a moment and talk about the good in the game—what little actually exists.

Components

Quality is standard here for Fantasy Flight: you have good linen quality cards, you have good linen quality chits, and everything is thick and very nice overall. The miniatures are great (though the lack of female representation is pretty stupid in an adventure game. It’s 1 out of 5.). The player boards are very inventive and they’re fun to play with. They do their job better than a game without such dynamic play boards. Full Article

Digimon COTD: Mastertyrannomon

Mastertyrannomon—Power up!

What’s good about it: Mastertyrannomon sports a pretty “square” body of attacks, in that they’re all quite closer together in number than other . In a correctly built deck, its support is stronger than an Attack Chip. The evolution box bonus gives unprecedented toolbox power—take any 1 Digimon from your deck! This is even less restricted than Gold Treasure. The x3 VS gives the ability to hit / / for 1080 at its printed power, which easily OHKOs the vast majority of Jungle and Wind champions and 2-shots all three types’ Ultimates. Drain will not save them. With the evobox containing multiple, tightly-grouped champions, a deck that always gets the bonus is easy to achieve.

What’s bad about it: Like most , Mastertyrannomon suffers from low HP. In fact, his HP is lower than the average in his cost and type. This is so significant, that when accounting for cost, Master is near the bottom tier of all Level U HP. If you’re not facing one of its hate-types, the x3VS is just wasted power, which also means it doesn’t have attack hate and therefore can’t protect himself against enemy , which it’s weak against given the low HP. The vast majority of peers in its level can 2HKO it, same as what it does to the types it has critical power against. You usually want only 1-2 copies of a “hate” card but its support begs you to have 4. The evobox doesn’t include a DP cost reduction unlike most of the carnivorous dinos, meaning most of the time he takes 2 racks or requires an Evolution card. The support, while potentially very powerful, scales slowly and requires a certain amount of time or effects to have passed during the game to be effective. In addition, “-tyrannomon” cards have to be in the deck at high numbers, potentially choking other ideas. The maximum boost from the support is +700, and you have to over-plan for it. The support also eats away at 2 cards in your trash, which might also be tyrannos given their saturation level.

Tips: Choose another Tyrannomon ultimate—it’s not a great idea to solely have Mastertyrannomon. Try using [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/069-SuperEvolve.png” name=”Super Evolve”] to pick Master out of the deck when its x3 VS would be relevant. If you’re willing to be sacrificial, [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/000-FatedSpirit.png” name=”Fated Spirit”] is a slightly weaker Super Evolve for the same purpose, but I suggest using this on your alternate Level U tyranno, since you really want Master support. Since the evobox can take another Master from the deck (for support), it’s recommended to pack [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/183-Partner-Finder.png” name=”Partner Finder”] or [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/013-BlueComet.png” name=”Blue Comet”], use the destiny evolve (or just [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/000-Data-Hijack.png” name=”Data Hijack”] from the deck) to get to Deltamon, [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/046-Tyrannomon.png” name=”Tyrannomon”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/047-DarkTyrannomon.png” name=”Darktyrannomon”], Coredramon (any), Dinohumon, and especially Cyclomon in preparation. Cyclomon is special here since its evo-bonus takes 1 Evolution card in deck, which you can use to guarantee a Master evolve. This should guarantee having your powerful support. Master works well with cards that have trash costs such as [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/171-Mega-Disk.png” name=”Mega Disk”], [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/188-Mega-Chip.png” name=”Mega Chip”], and occasionally [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/181-Giga-Hand.png” name=”Giga Hand”] (though HP can be relatively low in a Tyranno deck). Once a Master’s support Power is high, it would only bleed slowly as long as the opponent doesn’t have access to vast quantities of static. Recycle can utterly kill this deck unless used on Master specifically (use recycle any), so try re-using Master supports over and over again for a quick win. If you’re willing to give up evolution to Mega, try using [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/018-ZeedMillenniummon.png” name=”Zeedmillenniumon”] with [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/037-CyberdramonDATA.png” name=”Cyberdramon DATA”] and [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/040-MillenniumonDATA.png” name=”Millenniumon DATA”]: This gives you access to a +800 Power Data Break and 5 selective recycles to re-use Master’s support. An alternative is [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/003-Millenniumon.png” name=”Millenniumon”] (with the DATA) and use [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/004-MugendramonDATA.png” name=”Mugendramon DATA”] to trade Cyberdramon DATA for Drain+Crash (significant healing benefits plus damage, potentially x3 VS), and the ability to add a flat +100 Power with deck corruption and recoding.

Be wary of how limited your other tyrannos can be. [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/028-Extyrannomon.png” name=”ExTyrannomon”] is a great body for the active zone, but only has a Passive, no support. In a deck that begs for 4 copies of every tyranno, this is pretty suspect. [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/076-MetalTyrannomon.png” name=”Metaltyrannomon”] is a great pick, but be aware that its DP discount or Draw 3 bonus only covers “Tyrannomon”, the original. Its support is great with Crash, but not amazing unless your HP is lower…oh right. Luckily, Darktyrannomon can also recover HP (only abnormal, so don’t plan on healing Level M or R). While Tyrannomon’s support is great for attach, it’s not much use otherwise. Since you’ll likely have 4, this means Master-focused decks tend to also need several attach cards—and now the deck list is starting to fill up on its own, preventing much flexibility. That can be an asset though, if you work with the flow instead of against it.

Both [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/043-Goddramon.png” name=”Goddramon”] and [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/044-Dorbickmon.png” name=”Dorbickmon”] are good Level M picks for their evo-bonuses and other circumstantial support. With Dorbickmon, you can fill the opponent’s trash about as much as yours. Properly used, its first turn on the field can mean trash 7 for the opponent—when that’s a cost, it gives ace-potency effects like HP+1000! Since it also halves everyone’s HP and makes the opponent discard 2, you can use Master support for a guaranteed KO, even against crazy 3000 HP monsters like Zeedmillenniumon or [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/005-MoonMilenniumon.png” name=”Moonmillenniumon”]; since you can smoothly hit 1500 Power with 810 base, +700 from Master. Goddramon is no slouch either, since the opponent won’t be able to mulligan as you pound their head in with a crazy 960 Power circle. They better have every damn card they want in-hand, right now. On top of that, Goddramon revives you to Master once it gets KO’d, so you don’t even have to start the slow DP-racking over again. The M that really shines is [card img=”https://www.v-mundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/090-Rusttyrannomon.png” name=”Rusttyrannomon”] since all your tyranno Level Us count for the Draw 3 bonus, which is immensely powerful once the cannon fires. Even better, Rusty fuels its cannon with the mounds of tyranno corpses you’ll be piling into the trash for later Master support!

Digimon COTD: Magic Word

Uh…uh…uh…you didn’t say the

Magic Word—A new firewall that stops Any Phase effects and sticks around to void.

What’s good about it: If you’re good at attack prediction, this card can gain almost endless voiding of Digimon, which is incredible value. Magic Word also heavily punishes decks that use evolution box bonuses to lower DP costs, which can throw off their entire evolution progression. Any Phase effects can be some of the most flexible and hard to deal with effects in the game since they occur outside of normal play. No more sudden use of Digi-Diamond, Kabuterimon, or RedOtamamon, just to name some. They would have to Support with those effects—the Digimon you can continuously void; the Option you can void by merely trashing the Magic Word! Having the ability to trash it at any time to void Options can make opponents play their Options more conservatively, so it’s always threatening.

What’s bad about it: Magic word is a two-edged sword—you don’t get to use “Any Phase” or evolution boxes either. Depending on whose turn it is and what your opponent plays, it can be a played around or voided (on initial Support). Suppose you’re bad at prediction, or the opponent is better: your Magic Word’s usability drops off significantly. This can easily make it worse than any other Firewall. More than one Magic Word at a time is pretty much nonsense unless your opponent supports with an Option so you can trash it. Other firewalls tend to be far more usable one after another. Lastly, Shatter is an attack ability, which this doesn’t void, and it gets rid of Magic Word.

Tips: Try to keep your “Any Phase” effects to a minimum. DATA cards may still be worth it, especially since you can dictate the terms of when it leaves play to some degree. Try to ensure your own deck doesn’t require evolution box bonuses for decreasing DP. Try cards that attach directly from the deck! In this way, Tyrannomons can become extra copies of Magic Word in the deck. Love Crest and Moxie are good for decks that aren’t attempting to “double-dip” on the evoboxes, since the deck should be able to evolve fine without them but can get nice bonuses when these are attached instead of Magic Word. “Research” lets you mismatch your attack, guaranteed.

Digimon COTD: Disrupt Ray

Disrupt Ray—Choose your opponent’s attack, sort of

What’s good about it: If you’re an expert at prediction and attack-choice punishment, Disrupt Ray can be incredibly potent. This card can be used, with significantly higher accuracy than not, to force a Counter or to-Zero effect, or at the very least save you from a deadly . Don’t forget that this can protect you from a powerful opposing like a Counter/Flatten/to-Zero effect which threatens your own attack, in addition to a one-hit-kill Crash/1st Attack/x3 VS. Replacing itself with a draw is a nice bonus too!

What’s bad about it: There’s no fast-and-loose way to specify what attack you want an opponent to use in Digimon. This is on purpose—taking away a player’s choice is heavy handed design and can lead to less mutual exchange of intelligence and tactics; as well as ruining fun for players when you’re making choices for them. Disrupt Ray is therefore limited in its capacity to change attacks by forcing its player to figure out what the opponent would choose and, if the Ray is still the best card to play in that instance, decide what “direction” they want to rotate the attack selection from that presupposed choice. If the deck playing Disrupt Ray is telegraphing that it does attack changes, opponents can play further mind games to disrupt the disruption. In addition, many situations make Disrupt Ray significantly less effective than simply playing a Recovery Disk or other protection from damage. You have to work hard to get the best use of this. It also doesn’t stop Jamming. If an opponent wants to reveal with Jamming before this Option resolves, they can do it and still Jam your attack ability (not this Option), then their attack will change. This means Jamming effectively gets better if Disrupted.

Tips: Don’t tip your hand by being incredibly obvious about your ability to counter or nullify attacks. But the mere existence of Disrupt Ray can also effectively disrupt how an opponent chooses attacks if they know you have it, or suspect, and you respond by not playing it. In that case, you still have the card to play and predicted accordingly. If you absolutely must force a specific attack, usually for Counter, Flatten, or to-Zero, make sure you understand the situation and opponent’s current payoffs. If they are none the wiser and have the ability to one-hit-kill your Digimon with either or , and you have Counter on your , you can safely assume Cross is your best attack, support with Disrupt Ray, choose the bottom option (which assumes they went for the “safer” Traingle-kill) and roll them up to Circle for your counter! Now you take no damage and they take it all. Notice that by being in a weaker position (both Circle and Triangle can KO instead of just the typical Circle), there’s no need to guess what they’re playing. If it’s a Circle one-hit KO and Triangle two-hit KO, you still have to guess whether your opponent values taking you out now, can afford to take you out next turn, or prefers to be unpredictable. Keep these things in mind. Disrupt Ray is also a good choice for decks that need to hit with commonly—and it supports protecting your attack as well as a Coliseum. Often this protects from a Counter/to-Zero/Flatten to your favored attack.

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Digimon COTD: Reload

Reload—Refresh all the things!

What’s good about it: As an ACE, it pulls its weight in utility by providing any two cards from the deck and effectively making trash costs—or opposing trash strategies, null. You get a full deck, a full hand (some of which is picked), and to setup part of the deck going forward. It’s a great preparatory tool for the transition into late game. And if willing to give up on the huge effect of a late game deck refresh, it can still be used to refresh the hand and pick any 2 early on, which in some cases can be more effective earlier game.

What’s bad about it: You don’t get to keep your current hand. It’s not always a bad thing but it’s worth noting that it will reduce its efficacy window if you have to give up other critical in-hand cards, then waste some of your 2 picks on those cards again. You can also lose out on the effectiveness of the deck refresh if you haven’t gotten any trash-cost cards or you are forced to play it early. Like Polymorphic Code, you get a hand of 4 that turn; unlike it, Reload is voidable and is your only support for turn.

Tips: Once you decide Reload is best for your deck, always try to maximize every bonus it provides. This goes without saying, but it can be tricky if you plan for a deck of trash costs for heavy effects (Mega Chip, Mega Disk, Phantomon, Dark Wings, Giga Cannon, et al) and end up trashing the Reload without any way to recover it. The good news is Reload can be gained back with “recycle any 1” effects. Some evolution boxes will make this a practical ACE search when combined with reckless trashing, which Reload would then erase as if it never happened, effectively making high-trash costs in your deck into ACE-power cards! In addition, cards like Aquilamon are intensely powerful when combined with Reload, since this gives you effectively 5 copies of the Reload for purposes of sequencing: now you’re more likely to draw the Reload earlier than trash cards.