Ghostrick Piper

[Canadian]

 

I'll give credit where it is due. I was given the inspiration for this deck from Evilfusion and Koko's decks. I have made many refinements and have pushed it as far as I feel it can go at the current moment.
 
I will probably end up writing a very long article detailing my choices including reasons for my card choices, reasons for why certain cards are not present, as well as an analysis of Ghostricks in the meta as a whole, so that may show up here later to address any questions readers might have. 
 
Overall, while it won't be tier 1 in the January 2014 format, this deck will put up a fighting chance against most of the meta decks and you will have lots of fun doing it.

[Althemia]

I don't feel the entire Level 3 engine is needed if I'm honest. You should contemplate cutting it for another Necromancer and Rainbow Kuriboh, since Rainbow Kuriboh is actually a really good card.

EDIT: For that matter, more Recurring Nightmares if that floats your boat more. Also Where Arf Thou? helps a lot, seeing as how you're missing the trick of search Mary -> Take damage from Where Arf -> Dump Mary

[Canadian]

I really do like being able to go Frost > Summon TGU > Make Alucard > Pop the F/D Monster

 

And most of the Rank 3's in here are amazing.

 

Alucard adds Ghostricks back to the hand, Acid Golem is a 3k beater and I also play Creature Swap so you can really fuck over some decks with it, Leviair can bring back banished monsters then be overlaid for Downerd (which also keeps EEV live).

 

While I haven't tested the deck without it since I felt as though it is core to the engine, I'll have to try it and see.

 

I did want to include either another Chaos Necromancer or a Chaos Sorcerer for another power card, but everything felt very vital so I couldn't really decide on what to cut. If anything, I would probably drop a Battle Fader or two to make room for it though.

[Althemia]

Dropping Fader is a fair shout too with very little recurring nightmares. Though I feel like you're missing out on a massive consistency engine through recurring nightmare being a Pot of Greed through 2 Specters. Ah well.

[Canadian]

Bump.

 

Here is my updated version of the deck:

 

 

The 2 Synchros in the side are supposed to be Closed Forests. I am testing the Synchro line-up still. Might cut Catastor.

 

I kind of want to fit Allure in and I might be cutting a Fader for it.

 

Let me know what you guys think. I agree that dropping the Rank 3 engine(s) has improved the consistency and gives me better opening hands for the start of the duel which is where the deck is most vulnerable.

 

EDIT: Updated the picture.

[goddamnit names are a pain]

I've seen Rainbow Kuriboh used. More LIGHT targets?

Utopia Roots for one Dallahan, MAYBE.

 

Liking the looks of it though. Those beaters out of no where are nice.

[Canadian]

I've seen Rainbow Kuriboh used. More LIGHT targets?

Utopia Roots for one Dallahan, MAYBE.

 

Liking the looks of it though. Those beaters out of no where are nice.

 

Rainbow Kuriboh is subpar and not very proactive in here.

 

Utopia Roots is not good.

 

Overall, this seems to be as good as it gets. I could still play around with the Side Deck but the Main Deck is essentially finished. I like where everything is and I don't feel like I am missing anything at the moment.

 

Nevertheless, comments?

[Canadian]

Bumped for TCG update.

 

 

Some changes:

 

- 2 Chaos Sorcerer because its too good. I was worried about clogging in the early game, but ample testing has proved this isn't likely. Equate it to opening two Tengus or the like. I would not go back to playing a single copy, but it could always be sided out in fear of Kycoo, Imperial, etc..

- No Gorz. Its a very good card, but it doesn't help the deck and often will just sit there in the hand. You'll almost always want to put out Mary or a Ghostrick instead of summoning Gorz and they actually do things instead of just waiting to be attacked. I would consider finding space for him once Jeweled Red Dragon Archfiend gets a TCG release.

- 3 Creature Swap. This card is makes the best plays in the deck and allows you to win games. All you need is a single summonable monster to make Swap live. Its also too good in this format thanks to decks like Bujin, Noble Knights, Harpies, and others I can't recall at the moment.

- Mist Bird Clausolas over Armory Arm. This one could go either way as it performs a similar function of Armory Arm. It is slightly easier to make and allows for Alucard plays if the opportunity comes up. Armory Arm has the benefit of being made by Jiangshi + Veiler, banishing the two for BLS, and going for a gameshot, but Clausolas' ability to negate the effects of a monsters as well of make chaos plays live (thanks to Formula) provides its own uses against things like Dracossack. 

- HTS over Catastor. Another one that could go either way as they both play similar roles. I like HTS' removal capabilities better than Catastors. I'll often have more cards in hand which makes using Basses' effect actually easier to go into HTS too. If I had the space, I would run both, but there are about 4 other Extra Deck cards I would want to run first.

 

Side Deck choices:

 

- 3 Maxx "C". Good card, must maxx it out.

- Other Jackfrost is there because I don't really like two in the main deck because its not as good as Lantern. Flipping things face-down is neat, but I'd actually rather have them face-up for Sorc and Creature Swap (so it can attack).Lantern has 0 DEF for Recurring Nightmare and can even create mind games when your opponent attacks a Ghostrick Xyz. Flipping problem cards face-down does help more in other match-ups, so I keep it sided just in case.

- Tsukuyomi. Its a spirit, DARK, baits backrow, and works very well in here.

- 3rd MST. I would consider playing this in the main because every backrow card hurts this deck. I am not kidding. Gozen Match, Rivalry of the Warlords, Skill Drain, Dimensional Fissure, Macros Cosmos, Kaiser Colosseum, Necrovalley, Mind Drain, Soul Drain. The list, unfortunately, does go on.. However, not every deck mains these cards so I don't feel like having 3 MST in the main is optimal, but depending on your meta, it could be a feasible option. If that is the case, you could also side Dust Tornado(s) as well.

- Debunk is an all around good card so I play 2. Setting them shuts of Treeborn's effect, so be careful about letting your opponent take advantage of that.

- EEV is amazing. I've spoken about why I like this card although it does have limitations, but I feel like it is too good not to play. It works especially well to counter your opponent's sides (and those annoying alternate victory decks).

- Overworked is another all around good card this format. Helps out against Fire Fist (which this deck already has a decent match-up), Darkworlds (which is one of the hardest match-ups and you'll probably still lose), and Gravekeepers (which is the other hardest match-up for this deck). It will destroy your Dullahans and Downerd Magician if they are face-up, but it won't matter too much because of Dullahan's ability to add a card back to your hand.

- Mistake is supposed to help against lots of decks this format, but I think it might be overrated because whenever I use it, my opponent has answers for it. It is one of the only back-row cards that doesn't hurt this deck outside of Where Arf Thou? and Jiangshi which is negligible for us. It does hurt decks like Bujins, Fire Fist, Mermail, and Prophecy which are all very popular. Your opponent is also likely to side out MSTs since this deck plays like Frognarchs and your opponent won't be keeping in their dead cards, so this should help keep it on the field. But even still my opponents end up destroying it, and sequentially, me. I just also wanted to point out that the card is about $40.00 for a single copy, so there are probably better alternatives for that amount of money.

- Closed Forest, again, helps out with some of the hardest match-ups like Malefic Drain, GKs, and DWs. It won't help much if you don't see it very early or are going second as your opponent will probably just flip their DDV, Royal Tribute, Dragged Down + Mind Crush combos anyway. If you do manage to play it, you might also end up having some seriously powerful Kinka-Byos since they actually are Beast-type.

 

Other thoughts:

 

- I am very eager to see what happens if we do get a Mega Caius and it is as good as everyone speculates. It might be worth it to shift towards a more Monarch-oriented version of the deck (which has had some success). I don't think I would play the same variant that other players are using without their Extra Decks however. The monarch variant also does have slightly better match-ups against decks than Piper decks do.

- I still want to test more versions of this deck to figure out what numbers work best. This is mostly for Recurring Nightmare, One for One, Where Arf Thou?, Basses, Chaos Necromancer, and Jester Confit. These cards aren't core to the deck but they have each won me games so it might be best to figure out what numbers are optimal. I am leaning to a more controlled version of the deck with more Where Arf Thou's. 

- With the next set, hopefully Ghostricks will get more amazing support. I speculate that we'll see more level 2's and a Rank 2 Xyz to finish the theme and possibly another Field Spell with that. While I don't know what effects they could have, level 2's wont exactly mesh well in a level 1 oriented deck, so maybe we can hope for another really good level 1 exclusive. And maybe it can be something that can send itself to the Graveyard to destroy an opponent's card if you control a Ghostrick. That would be nice.

 

EDIT:

 

-1 Ghostrick Jackfrost in the side

+1 Treacherous Trap Hole

 

-2 Debunk

+2 Ryko

 

Fossil Dyna literally kills this deck, and those cards are all around good.