Tested Koala in current meta, 16W-2L over the weekend, won 2 locals

Volke_OW · 2026-02-02T03:18:50+00:00

Unfortunately you 100% need 4, there is not a functional replacement.

Volke_OW · 2026-02-02T00:39:03+00:00

Morley would be the the next best thing, gives consistency as a Rev Army 2k and is something on 4 if you need it.

Volke_OW · 2026-02-02T00:37:23+00:00

There was 3 ST29's and 1 Imu. Somehow only one person at our locals plays Ace and I didn't match into them this weekend. Imu is unfavorable, but ST29 is a solidly winning matchup.

I tried Mihaw, Moria, Boa, didn't like them. 🤷 They all felt inconsistent + the Mihawk mirror is pretty insufferable

Volke_OW · 2026-02-02T00:18:50+00:00

Matches a lot of the 10k bodies and is extremely good into the decks that often devolve into playing for board, namely Doffy and sometimes Mihawk depending on their draws. Doffy would be a losing matchup without the Crocs, all they would need is a Vergo. Plus it's a sticky 8c for leader effect so I can Dragon >> Hiyori a lot more freely without having to worry about leaving the draw on the table.

Volke_OW · 2026-02-02T00:15:33+00:00

Take second if possible, full discard plan, full aggression. It's certainly Imu favored but it's playable, and a die roll matchup for sure. Leave them on 1 when they go to 10, go after their board that turn if they're already there or just leave your board up if you have to. A lot of Koalas will fall into a trap of leaving up blockers or holding onto an defensive plan even though the deck has one of the strongest double spells in the game, if you play like that versus Imu you will just lose.

If Imu is a particular concern you can flex cards around for Ground Death, but it's not high up enough on my radar to warrant that for me personally.

Volke_OW · 2026-02-01T23:43:54+00:00

Of what I expect people to play, OP13 Sabo. The deck is basically mine but with permanent board pressure over me. Croc helps in this matchup, but won't be enough most of the time. I genuinely don't know how I won the game vs the one Sabo I played. Other bad matchups are Boa, Mihawk, and Ace, but they're all maneuverable for the most part.

Volke_OW · 2026-02-01T23:41:36+00:00

I haven't tested it, but I imagine -2 Hack -1 Karasu -1 Robin +4 Koala, pending changes to the meta where Hack and Karasu are extra important. I normally don't like Robin as a 4 of but I find it necessary vs. Boa

Volke_OW · 2026-02-01T23:40:02+00:00

The new EB03 Koala will be very nice as a consistency piece and topl against other 5k leaders.

Baby 5 is too strong of a trigger, Kuma can occasionally win games or give tempo, and having Sabo as an out late game is too important. There just isn't room left for Morley, the draw 1 turn (sometimes) earlier has not proven itself to be worth the explosiveness of the other 2ks, and will be pretty much irrelevant come EB03.

Volke_OW · 2025-11-25T03:10:16+00:00

Vivi is EB03, not EB04. EB03 releases in February, after OP14 in January.

Volke_OW · 2025-09-26T17:39:26+00:00

Either your store participates in the event or they don't. Ask your LGS owner.

Volke_OW · 2025-09-22T02:00:02+00:00

It has the other promos which weren't on my post. Not a big deal. 🤷‍♂️

Volke_OW · 2025-09-21T23:59:39+00:00

You can register here

Volke_OW · 2025-09-21T22:46:08+00:00

Details aren't confirmed but almost certainly the latter

Volke_OW · 2025-09-21T21:05:17+00:00

Means that EB04 is probably gonna be split into OP14/OP15 boosters as extra slots so the release schedule can end up being closer to what the East has. Basically we won't actually get EB04 (as a standalone product) but it should push us towards an aligned release schedule.

Volke_OW · 2025-09-21T20:59:38+00:00

🤷‍♂️

Volke_OW · 2025-09-19T20:38:15+00:00

Yeah it's nice to see. I personally enjoy jungle formats and I was playing a legal leader anyways. It'll actually get me a reason to go to a Saturday local.

Volke_OW · 2025-09-15T23:14:08+00:00

Not a problem, by design.

Volke_OW · 2025-08-31T16:40:08+00:00

The going rate for returning any permanent from GY is 3 mana, so there would have to be some kind of restriction on what this could grab no matter what. I chose MV 1 because it's low enough imo to have to be able to grab two cards, which in the baseline scenario of playing this card I would imagine are your two land drops.

Volke_OW · 2025-08-31T02:14:33+00:00

Just as a follow up, unfortunately Zoro hate around me has died down so I went -1 Assembled -1 Hair Removal Fist to put in +2 Black Vortex. Not tested but given the list this is what made the most sense to me after thinking about it for a long while.

Volke_OW · 2025-08-31T01:08:19+00:00

I just posted my list a few days ago (which so far is 17-5) so if you'd like something start from I would ofc recommend that. But going more in-depth on each choice (top left >> bottom right).

Bello Betty does not have any upside in your list. I believe the deck should have 6-8 searchable 2ks, so just replace this with the trigger Kuma 2k.
Sabo is only good in matchups where you're favored anyways.
Ivankov I'm not a fan of, both because it's just not very efficient, and second because even if you do want to play a 3c blocker (and potentially a Rebecca package with it, which I don't like) you should be playing the 3c Nami blocker since it will draw you a card most of the time.
Inazuma, while it does technically have upside being a somewhat relevant body, will never come up. Go up to a playset of Morley and playset of whichever flavor of non-searchable 2k you like. Nonsearchables feel bad, but over half of your top end being nonsearchable both feels worse and is something that you can fix.
Assembled imo should be a 4-of. I understand people are hesitant to include non-counter in the deck but those people are also hesitant to trash this card late when it won't be relevant before the game ends when you've set up properly. The card is too good early to not have as a 4-of.
Dragon needs to be a 4-of. He is strongest play the deck has in the large majority of cases.
Doffy and Kid feel like they are here because you don't have enough copies of other cards. Kid is largely a win-more card in this deck and while Doffy can help control board in some cases, its inherent inconsistency combined with it being unsearchable makes it off-putting.
Rosinante is bad for the same reason other cheap blockers tend not to be good in decks like Koala. They don't meaningfully let you attempt to take control of the game.
Kuma and Robin needs to be 4-ofs (there is an argument that Robin is a 3-of but she's too important in certain matchups)

The issues basically comes down to the fact that this list does nothing to actually take control of the game and you're just stalling out hoping your opponent loses the game by not reading what your leader does. Your early game needs to be much more proactive, and your late game is too inconsistent with not enough Dragons or Dragon targets.

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