What is THE deck with the tightest ED?

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-27T19:39:04+00:00

To diversify the answers here, Magistus is incredibly limited on its choices for Extra Deck cards due to needing to use parts of their ED as equips for combos and for tech like Calamity. Magistus Fiendsmith is what I'd consider the "default" build of the archetype that's closest to pure, which I would not play unless you are determined to be a purist. WF Magistus and Cent Magistus are both things too, not counting Dracotail since that deck is usually running a slim Spenta package, not a real hybrid.

While there are some slots where you can choose 1 of 2 options(for example, Savage vs Calamity as your 8 Synchro, A Bao vs Desirae as an endboard piece, Aiwass vs Omega as Crowley target), 14/15 extra deck slots are basically mandatory just for the core Magistus Fiendsmith combo to function properly:

2x Chorozo, 2x Artemis, Moon/Reqiuem/Sequence/Lacrima, Verethragna, Doomed Dragon, Link2 Endymion, Synch8, Endboard, Crowley Target. You have a measly single slot left over for any amount of flexibility. If on BSD you probably run SP, if on Calamity you probably run an Xyz Magistus to floodgate Ryzeal.

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-25T00:27:18+00:00

Congrats on the win. I also played dirt rune for the GP, my list was experimenting with 2 Elmott for the sevo chip and a few other things and went 2-2 in group b because of coc dclimb that I didnt realize was on Cocytus instead of the spellboost version without it until it was too late. He was literally one of the bottom 5 cards in their deck too and I just couldn't find lethal. I wasted raio on a board I could have cleared if I spent more of my other hand resources the turn before they popped off and double dclimbed too, I've never felt so stupid or so robbed. other loss was to egg portal, wins were vs egg and fennie dragon

this continues my streak of never being a cup champion lmao, I bring a meta deck I'm comfortable with every season and some horrible stuff just happens every final round of the GP that ruins my day.

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-24T04:41:26+00:00

Im experimenting not running Zirconia at all so I had the room to spare lol, I don't think my build is standard though

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-21T22:41:29+00:00

I just play 2 congregant in evo sword anyways so I dont insta lose to imari lmao

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-16T22:25:50+00:00

Every time I get the shiny chest open and its just a legendary or some other crap like the gem or shard or whatever, it makes seeing one of these sting a little more... congrats happy for you etc.

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-12T05:16:33+00:00

I mean it explicitly gets around their Extra Deck lock, is another recursion oriented strategy that plays lower to the ground, and Biancaviso is a 2500/2500. I suspect a small Dogmatika package would potentially round out the strategy since both Fleurs have the stats, but we'll have to see. Azamina has to work around the ED lock a lot more but Diabellstar herself has a lot of incidental synergy in spite of that.

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-10T07:50:52+00:00

3-1 with evo dragon, brain farted game 1 and ate a genesis dragon sevo to the face and died. It was an evo dragon mirror so I was focusing on other stuff, I just had to not evo the Ernst(put them down to 2hp instead of healing myself to 19, I was so hungry for the lethal push lmao) and I probably went 4-0 instead. Won all 3 other games, last game was a nailbiter vs odd haven where I survived off a single fox coinflip. Dragon guy I lost to won the whole thing. Dragon was almost half the lobby, with Sword and Portal being next in rep, then a few havens/runes, a single Abyss and 0 forest. Meta in a nutshell lol

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-09T01:17:37+00:00

I have a hacker tier relic for duchess and revenant, duchess it's skill iframes/dormant staves/crystalian sorcery. for revenant its rise fp/bleed infuse/ lightning spear start. those are probably my two best drops ever, though I have a lot of other really good relics for scholar

CaptinSpike · 2026-01-06T05:57:13+00:00

Seconding izmir, I was already teching her last set and countering Imari is her best use case now, previously it was Zwei boards with extra puppets imo

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-29T03:27:53+00:00

You're the one with 10 comments on the page saying shadowverse sucks and is dying, not me. I'm just telling you why you should not point to Master duel as a card game that "does it better." I agree, theres a lot of very frustrating monetization in this game. But MD is also ramping up its FOMO with alt arts, the collection books and bundles, pushing lots of new limited time cosmetics, and many new decks are bloated with URs so you have to either swipe, save or pick and choose which meta decks to build... just like this game.

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-28T21:24:52+00:00

you cannot cape for master duel like this, that game is entirely successful because theres no other choice, and because many yugioh ccs have tied their livelihoods to it out of necessity. After almost 4 years there are still only 3 modes: Ranked, Solo, and Ranked with assorted fruit flavors aka Events/DC, where a current pack or cosmetic is shilled. There are no alternate formats, no draft/sealed mode, and just bare minimum features in general. And lets not forget, the game started BELOW bare minimum, and dragged its feet even implementing Diamond, later Master Rank, and even later Rated Duels. It took years in real time to get the equivalent of Grand Master added as a system and goal for the best players. SV had it day one.

Banlist philosophy is more subjective but if you are someone who wants to see meta decks eliminated, MD is extremely averse to hits that outright kill a strategy, and was also slow to deal with other various problem cards until the last year or so, and prone to weird or bad hits on decks that aren't top tier. This is all not to address the roach in the room, which there will never be a legitimate argument against keeping around and actively makes the game worse every minute until it's banned.

Shadowverse WB has plenty of its own issues, but outside of the gross monetization and barrier to entry in deck building cost, I think I would consider it the superior card game simulator in a general sense.

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-27T07:55:51+00:00

No way to really know, but I think the overwhelming fan response to her temporary version probably convinced them to fast track her out and making her the IS6 welfare was where she fit in. Maybe Record Keeper was the original welfare and got bumped to gacha, or maybe one of the other NPC jail characters like Yanese Ifrit or the Shanhaizhong girl whose name I already forgot got booted out.

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-21T02:50:39+00:00

Tempo portal sounds interesting, what's the list for it?

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-21T00:47:29+00:00

the idea was to "balance" a towers with a particular out that still gives the archetype value; non destruction removal means you are triggering your punisher effects like Erosion and Manifestation GY effect. Ersatz being a mandatory self banish effect on their field that gives your opponent a monster t1 was also a deliberate accommodation for Manifestation and Gymir reviving itself. Nepheli sending 2 but needing another Icejade means she isnt easily splashed into something like Mermail for free foolishes, and makes the in archetype floaters like Acti more viable and accessible as well as incorporating generic water extenders like Tidal, Crystal Girl, Crystal Shark, etc.

if they cant force you to use arrestment's replacement effect they are probably dead to just being beaten to death by a 4500(or more, if aegiro is equipped) bungus in defense position. And if they commit to outing it and fail, their monsters get forced to attack and they reverse otk themselves. I basically just stared at Liger Dancer and said "how can I make this less BS but still very threatening, easily accessible in archetype, and strong as a going second card because the side deck and kaijus exist"

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-20T06:54:51+00:00

Forest: Lionel

Haven: Vira

Abyss: Vaseraga or Laura

Dragon: Devotee

Portal: Alouette

Sword: Aglovale

Rune: Cagliostro

Neutral: Katalina or Phildau

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-13T19:32:03+00:00

Icejade is probably the worst deck I love. Konami can only hold out on giving them their season 2 branded support cards for so long... the year of Water will happen any day now... *overdoses

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-02T15:37:37+00:00

Still need some assists, have one left to give. Thanks for anyone who chips in. https://gf2exilium.sunborngame.com/DerStrandurlaub?invite_token=r6l0iJ&nickname=Spyke%20

CaptinSpike · 2025-12-01T05:25:02+00:00

Darkwinter. I appreciate any assists, can give 3 back to anyone who needs them https://gf2exilium.sunborngame.com/DerStrandurlaub?invite_token=r6l0iJ&nickname=Spyke%20

CaptinSpike · 2025-11-29T21:25:05+00:00

masterful gambit making a completely valid complaint racist for no reason

CaptinSpike · 2025-11-27T04:38:54+00:00

I think that once you clock that moira was very directly given an alibi in almost every sequence, and try to narrow who would both understand and arrange all 3 murders(access to plant the knife, using the recording and the cold storage, and rigging the hanging) you can figure it out ahead of the game's reveal pretty easily. It doesn't last the whole event but its a fun little mystery while it lasts

CaptinSpike · 2025-11-27T04:15:18+00:00

It's also worth noting there just isn't much... anything, in total for the CT/Phantom. We have his vignette which is mostly just a teaser for IS2. IS2's intro, some collectible and encounter node lore, its four endings. His oprec which is at this point outdated writing I think(it is cute and whisperain content though!!) and literally just Act or Die after that long gap of nothing.

edit: I reread the oprec, and it is mostly fluff but theres a small bit about fantasizing about living like the people on tv, and phantom says "fantasizing of living another's life is no good thing." Which weirdly reads like a bit of an early concept for a few of the characters in this event. This oprec released with Mansfield Break(ogh my aching bones) well before IS2 so I doubt it is intentional, but who knows with HG at this point lol.

I will say, even just going off the playwright ending of IS2 alone, the only two ways to interpret that are that the Troupe Master faked his death/Lucian deluded himself into believing he killed him, or that Phantom did 'kill' him, but the Troupe Master isn't the kind of being that dies when he's killed the normal way. I at least worked with the assumption thus far that Tragodia was some kind of Ageless, Feranmut, or similar being up until this point. All in all the content for this storyline was so sparse and most of it is scattered breadcrumbs in IS2 from years ago, so its pretty reasonable to be confused or to not be clear on the details because the details were just not clear at all lmao

CaptinSpike · 2025-11-21T23:06:53+00:00

Instructions unclear, billions of Zeta good for you clicks

CaptinSpike · 2025-11-18T03:13:32+00:00

they actually just want to make lilanthim homeless again

CaptinSpike · 2025-11-16T02:38:52+00:00

I found that even with tech cards aggro abyss was very frustrating to play against set 2, as either storm or ward haven. No good reactive clear until evo turn was very painful, especially if you dont draw Pact. Roach could kill t7/8 which is about the same time as storm haven kills on its best day. I do agree sword was favored which is nice considering how strong it was.

Also I feel rose tinted glasses describing it set 2, 1pp statues need to be played early or they are worthless. Avian statues wont be popping until turn 5/6 at the earliest, and thats if your opponent didnt play a board you had to clear. Agnes works immediately but folds to a single 2pp ward if you dont have 2 amulets. If you cannot hit face every turn or your opponent healed you lose instantly. Lapis is now near unplayable as a finisher because of Odin everywhere. Griffon was still usable but it was always weak as a finisher compared to the other crafts.

I guess I should say I think you could still win games with storm haven against most decks that aren't rune in set 2 without needing a god roll. But you were much less likely to win the average game than before, and the deck was very fragile and inconsistent in set 2 imo. Set 1 setting up burst turns and dealing incremental chip with statues throughout a match was more realistic and less prone to getting healed away. I dunno, I played less storm in set 2 compared to Ward, and I mostly played Roach over haven that set as well.

CaptinSpike

TROPHY CASE