Not quite done with our exploration of the Military attribute, today we will be focusing on a list played by one of my Patrons in the most recent round of the Gate Ruler World Team Circuit when the USA faced off against Japan.
Finishing on a positive streak in its first showing, the deck racked up a respectable 3 wins in the 5 round bracket while just falling short of attaining a fourth. Though I have certainly covered Overlord Draconoid decks in the past, with my creation and analysis of a decklist focusing on the use of each Draconoid variant in tandem with effect damage, this particular list can be viewed as a more competitive and aggressive imagining of the aforementioned build, which is deemed to be better suited in its approach to the anti-effect damage state of the present metagame, due in no small part of the presence of Aras, Guardian of the Divine Winds.
The Decklist
I would personally make a few changes to the decklist at hand; with cards like Sky Trooper Type 1 “Shiden” not offering enough value to justify their inclusion from my vantage point. Nonetheless, as it stands, I still think it is a great adaptation of the Military archetype and a testament to just how many different builds can be relevant in the current metagame. While we certainly have clear forerunners in terms of competitive prowess, the high health total of this deck’s key Units combined with its potential for raw aggression does make it a viable rogue contender and something we should be seeing more of as set 3 begins to wind down.
Color Combination Analysis
Normally, while I would go into explicit detail as to the reasoning behind the core inclusions in the deck at hand, most of that information is already readily available in one of my previous write-ups. Specifically, Rise of the Draconoid Evangelion. So, if you are interested in the general building blocks and logic behind the inclusions of the Yomajin Front section in such a deck, please do refer to that previous submission.
To avoid a repeat instead, in this instance, I will cover this new color combination and how it purports to tailor itself, to a decent extent, to the present metagame.
Specifically, this deck at hand, while lacking inherent generic defensive inclusions like A7 “Cheshire” the Cat and Dark Knight Vamel, on account of the color combination, it does make up for it with the inclusion of cards like Supernatural Citizens Act and Maxwell’s Demon. The aforementioned two cards while not incredibly game-changing overall, are sufficient enough with their impact to carry the deck through to its critical power spike, in so far as having multiple Draconoid Dreadnaught “Fuse-ikazuchi” on board for the STK increase stack.
Additionally, the CNT events The Two Paths and Black Hole Field Engaged are fantastic stylized inclusions on the builder’s part. While the former is a relatively cookie-cutter draw event, especially under a Ruler like Overlord, where hand-dumping is significantly more likely and feasible, the latter is a nice meta read considering the prevalence of size 3 Units in high tier meta decks like Dragon Genesis and Wizard LuciAras.
Final Thoughts
The Military attribute is not only quite strong but also seemingly quite well designed too. Relatively insular to its native faction of The Yomajin Front, its ability to be combined with a variety of other colors, in a seamless fashion, makes it the perfect attribute for those that wish to continuously play their favorite cards in a competitive context. Switching from effect damage to beatdown and potentially even to a control style of play, bodes well for the future and longevity of the attribute as a whole.
Even with set 4 being released soon, at least in Japan, I am not confident that we have explored what Military is fully capable of, even in the current set. However, for those players interested in a long-term investment, then it does genuinely appear that, as iterated above, the present one is a genuinely safe bet. While an Exvader combination seems like a pipe dream, we have already explored ATLAS and the Wonderverse and discovered the potential synergies hidden underneath. So, who knows just how far this attribute can actually extend itself in terms of faction alliances.
I do sincerely hope you enjoyed this write-up. Now that I am somewhat recovered from my illness I do look forward to creating even more content. If you are curious to see more, do not forget to give me a follow on Twitter and if you would like to be a part of the creative process that goes into doing these write-ups, you can also check out my Patreon.
Special shout-out and kind thanks to C. Sweeney & Kenny as my first ‘GateRuler’ related Patrons.
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