Though slightly delayed, we are back with another splendid deck profile. On the menu today is a rather large helping of ‘Sharks‘, one of the latest pure archetypes to emerge from the depths of set 4; Become the Hero! In theory, considered somewhat of a meme, the deck seems to be able to actually hold its own in practice, vindicating the believers in this aquatically … space-themed list.
The Decklist
While one might certainly be tempted to play this archetype under the Vanquisher Ruler, due to the nature of the ‘shark’ attribute, rather Overlord has proven to be a much more reliable home for the deck, at the present time, due to the mana efficiency afforded to the player by virtue of its innate ability to reduce the cost of cards to one energy/resource. While it certainly would not be incorrect to play this attribute under a different ruler, the lack of available energy/resources, for the ‘Sentinel Summoning‘ might prevent a player from being able to do so well.
Playstyle
The playstyle of the archetype is somewhat peculiar, in so far as that it purports to be defensive in nature but in actual fact operates somewhat akin to a tempo deck. Therefore, due to its somewhat conflicting nature, managing available hand cards becomes substantially more crucial, as the player should operate and construct their game plan with a view toward the latter turns of every match.
The deck’s playstyle is supported by none other than the archetype’s primary boss unit; Space Shark!!, which has a substantial amount of very useful abilities, including but not limited to ‘special summoning itself‘ from the damage zone and providing ‘sentinel summoning to other lower-level sharks‘. Its power level just further increases when coupled with neutral CNT events like Schrödinger’s Cat that provide additional utility to the attribute.
The Minotaur Package
Based on Canadian and some Local tournament results, the Minotaur Squad seems to be quite a popular inclusion. Though getting all three on the field seems to be somewhat problematic, as the deck is not designed to facilitate this win condition, nonetheless, they still provide great utility.
Their overall synergistic component aside, Minotaur Desperado Sirloyn packs a punch but he also serves as an important CNT, being able to target Set and Field spells like Festival of Flowing Lanterns, something that does effectively shut down a significant number of the cards contained within this archetype. Minotaur Desperado Chuck is naturally exceptional at clearing center units and thus Gear-up, making him a potentially invaluable addition.
While there are certainly merits to them, as indicated above, I elected to not use them in favor of the Space King Arthur, ft. Adriano and Well of Id combo, in addition to running Bio Corps Monkinator which also serves as field removal, albeit a more easily controlled version.
Final Thoughts
I genuinely like this deck and I think it is very, very fun to play. Monetary-wise, it is cost-effective, with many of the cards being 3 Star and below. Furthermore, while it may not be adequate enough to break a local meta, for a niche archetype it does surprisingly well at holding its own, demonstrating a remarkable winning streak in the Canadian League, in addition to securing a few wins in the Gate Ruler World Team Circuit against the Russian team, in the lower bracket semi-finals.
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