Sunday, February 21, 2021

Tournament Report 2.21.2021 | 2-Time 1st Place Gizmek Artifact Control OCG

 Hey RespectYGOers! It's me Arcknight once again and I'm so glad I can finally share a tournament report after some time. I know that it's been a tough time for everyone especially when choosing a deck and you don't know how the meta works because of a very long hiatus because of the pandemic. Luckily I was able to cope with several testing and I have decided what deck to use in this tournament. Here's what happened below:




Deck Choice: 

For those who followed this humble blog, you know that I'm really a fan of the Anti-Meta strategy. It all started when I got my first OCG deck (Rock Stun) and each format since then, my strategy evolves to something else. I actually have 3 choices this morning:

1. Phantasm Spiral Control

2. Anti-Swarm (Barrier Statue Fire)

3. Gizmek Maju Beat

4. Salamangreat

5. @Ignister

At first, the plan is to go full defense with a concept of Anti-Swarm with triplicate Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo and the Fire Barrier Statue although when I consider the number of outs to this set-up, I realized that it can easily be countered. After various test draws and play testing, I decided to go with Gizmek Maju Beatdown. I chose this deck due to how fast I can end games with the right board and it doesn't lose to a single Harpie's Feather Duster. I also studied the local meta very well and you can have a glance on the previous article on how I made the side deck. Click here for that article

Why Anti-Meta?

After testing Salamangreat and @Ignister, I feel that opponent can easily control my plays single handily by Maxx "C" or Nibiru, the Primal Being and I expect that opponent will have the Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring  and Maxx "C" package each game. Anti-Meta also known as Control decks don't get easily hindered by hand traps. This also makes most the opponent cards dead during game 1. 

In this meta, whoever goes first has a better chance of winning and I need to guarantee that win if that happens or else, it'll be harder for this deck to cope with their speed. On the latter part of the article, I will discuss the card choices in detail and also the complete deck list so please continue reading lol.


Tournament 1: 

Deck Used: Gizmek Artifact Control

Round 1: Vs. Infernoid Lair 

I was able to control his summons with Solemn Strike , Vanity's Emptiness, Solemn Judgment, and even Crackdown. I also never let him resolve any mass mill cards to keep the advantage at pace. Gren Maju and Gizmek Orochi OTK FTW. 

Result: O O WIN

Round 2: Vs. Prank-Kids 

He was able to set-up his board of destruction and I can't keep up with the advantage. On games 2-3, I was able to side for this match and when time is called, he tributed my Inspector Boarder for a Wind Kaiju but only set a card for protection. It's my last turn and I need to put a damage as it's my last turn, I drew Maxx "C" and since I have WIND Kaiju, I need to either risk a lose because of no damage or take the risk and summon Maxx "C" and inflict at least 500 damage. I successfully did and the opponent scooped the next turn unable to draw any Prank-Kids monster to start the combo.

Result: X O O WIN

Semi-Finals: Vs. Madolche 

I have Inspector Boarder always active on my field and I also have Vanity's Emptiness , Crackdown, and Solemn Strike ready to control his field. I ensure that he couldn't keep the advantage running. On our last duel, it's a tough match considering he went first and was able to set-up a field of Madolche Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode, Number 41: Bagooska, and Virtual World Shell - Jaja. Good thing the Bagooska is in attack mode and his direct attacks where hindered by Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher. On my turn, I used Inspector Boarder and also revived Orochi since there is an XYZ on the field together with the normal summoned Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and link summon Space Insulator. 

For those who isn't familiar about this card, it's one of the few generic cyberse-type link monster that you can summon in the game. This is helpful because it can help you link climb to Transcode Talker which then revives Space Insulator then you can summon AccessCode Talker which can really turn the tides of the game. This is a smooth tech card I recently discovered that's why I keep this engine for emergency ( go find one now lol). He also has Royal Decree face-up so I destroyed it together with the  Virtual World XYZ. I managed to beat him down and set my Solemn Judgment and Crackdown for game.

O O  WIN

Finals: Vs. Tri-Brigade 

One of my strongest match-up due to the fact that it's very consistent. This is one of the reasons why I shifted from a combo deck to a control deck due to being hampered by Barrier Statue of Stormwinds. I was able to control the first game with Artifact Sanctum to attempt summon Artifact Scythe preventing any Extra Deck Summon at all but before I summon it, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring was chained to it. Good thing I have Crackdown ready to control the 1900 ATK Tri-Brigade and build my resources from there and controlled the game. 

On game 2, he went first and set-up Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and during the end turn, I chained Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher and summon it to field. He then summon Mist Valley Apex Avian. On my turn, I use Gameciel ,the Sea Turtle Kaiju and tribute Mist Valley Apex Avian, destroyed the Simorgh link and control the game from there. 

Result: O O WIN

Standing: 1st Place


2nd Tournament:

Deck used: Gizmek Artifact Control

Round 1: Vs. Fluffal

I was surprised to see a Fluffal deck especially when he chained Edge-Imp Scythe and summon Frightfur Cruel Whale. Good thing I was able to control the whale using Crackdown and managed to build resources from there and OTK. On 2nd game, I was able to control the game with Vanity's Emptiness and Imperial Order. Since fusion summon is highly impossible, I managed to beat him down with Gren Maju and OTK.

Result : O O WIN

Round 2: Vs. Prank-kids

I misplayed real hard on game 1 as I didn't use Solemn Strike on a resolving Prank-kids in the grave. I chose Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring instead which faced the wrath of Called by the Grave. From there, I learned that when there is a crucial effect activating, I need to use the card that is the hardest to counter. The next few games, I went first and I was able to control his field with Crackdown and Inspector Boarder. Game 3,  I was stalled by the 2000 defense of the WIND Prank-kid. Good thing I Artifact Scythe  summoned by Sanctum and  I was able to beat him down with Gren Maju Da Eiza  and win from there.

Result: X O O

Semi-Finals: Vs. Madolche

He has full control of game 1 with his 1-card combo and I scooped to game 2. I managed to control his game using Artifact Engine and win and on game 3, even though he has Harpie's Feather Duster to destroy my backrow, it turns out that it's the chain-able Dimensional Barrier declaring XYZ. At this point, time is called and I was able to win the game by dealing damage with double Gren Maju Da Eiza with 8800 ATK EACH!

Result: X O O

Finals: Vs. Adamancipator

First game was smooth as I have Vanity's emptiness and Solemn Strike. With this set-up, I always choose to exhaust the Solemn's before using Emptiness as I want to keep it on the field as much as possible. It goes back and forth and I was able to finally gather my resources and destroy my own Vanity's Emptiness by using Pot of Desires and go OTK. 


2nd game went downhill as my Maxx "C" and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring were all useless as they have many extenders which ended with a field full of negates. Even though I managed to use Evenly Matched I don't have answer to the remaining monster so I scooped to game 3. Game 3 I went first and I have all the defensive traps I need from Vanity's Emptiness, Imperial Order, Crackdown, Solemn Strike and Inspector Boarder. I also don't see spell and trap removals from him and I managed to control the game from there.


Result: X O O

Standing: 1st Place

Congratulations! You made it this far. Now, without further ado, let me explain the contents of the main deck and the reasoning behind it.

Gizmek Artifact Control

Deck: 40

Monsters: 17

3 Gren Maju Da Eiza

3 Inspector Boarder

3 Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher

3 Maxx "C"

3 Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring

1 Dinowrestler Pankratops

1 Artifact Scythe

Spells: 6

3 Pot of Extravagance

3 Pot of Desires

Traps: 17

3 Artifact Sanctum

3 Crackdown

3 Infinite Impermanence

3 Solemn Strike

3 Solemn Judgment

1 Imperial Order

1 Vanity's Emptiness

Extra Deck: 15

(Various Generic Link Monsters aka Extravagance Fodder :D )

Real MVP Engine

This is really the real MVP of the deck and my last minute tech choice. At first, this was Scapegoat and Harpie's Feather Duster but then I realized, I need something that can be chained and can control the turn. I decided to main this instead of side. Like what I mentioned earlier, the build is first turn focused and I need to secure that game if I go first and this helps me achieve the much needed control. The only downside is that the rest of the Artifact Cards can be dead if I already resolved the first Sanctum and I also need to be careful using Pot of Desires  as it could banish Scythe. Most of the decks are Extra Deck reliant and without Extra Deck summon, you can control the game.

I didn't use Pot of Duality this time as it hinders the speed of the deck. The only spells I chose to include are Extravagance and Desires as I don't think there are threatening trap cards to main Harpie's Feather Duster and Lightning Storm  so I decided to side them instead. 

Final Thoughts:

In this build, I'm quite skeptical with Dinowrestler Pankratops in main and I might replace this card with something else in the future. I'm actually eyeing towards Zoom King Alpha as a good engine together with Kaiju. 

That's about it! I guess winning is not only when you play a deck that competes in the meta but also planning your strategy well, side decking and also knowing which to respond your effects to. Every wrong move could cost you the game so we really have to be careful when we play. I hope this inspires you to play the game and gave you confidence that Anti-Meta can still compete and adapt. Also shout-out to Oshino Shinto who help me decide the last minute and who inspired me to play this deck again.

Sleep is also important as well as healthy diet. If you lack sleep and feel unhealthy, it affects your focus which causes lots of misplays and also your decision making. Be sure to stay healthy especially this time, respect one another and enjoy the game we love!

Thanks for reading today's tournament report and I hope you enjoyed it and get a tip or two! See you in the next article!

Arcknight





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