The state of green in BT-05
With a restriction list (Mar 1, 2021) targeting [BT2-047] Argomon and [BT3-103] Hidden Potential, and a lack of offensive buffs in the most recent BT-05 expansion set, green decks have seen themselves taking a large step back from limelight. Has green really taken such a big hit with the recent meta changes, or is it merely it's change in gameplay style falling out of favor with many of the existing green players?
Today we take a look at Ono-san's Rafflesi-Nidhogg deck that has topped a local tournament.
Deck distribution
Ono-san's green deck runs a 16-12-9-8-2 (LV3 to LV7) distribution, which is very rookie-heavy. In addition, he runs 3 copies of tamer [BT1-089] Mimi with no other option cards. With this solid pyramid build and many cheap-to-play LV4 Digimons, this deck should be robust to hand-bricks.
LV6: Nidhoggmon and Raflessimon
Ono-san has a very focused LV6 build: maximum copies of [BT4-062] Nidhoggmon and [BT5-056] Rafflesimon. His choice of LV6 can offer a lot of board control: Nidhoggmon (being a BT-04 staple) board wipes, while Rafflesimon provides defensive control.
When we take a deeper look at the current meta, Nidhoggmon can be quite the beast. He is very effective against yellow Crusadermon (because Crusadermon always attacks and will almost always be suspended, with a wide board) and Diaboromon (tokens are below 5000 DP) decks. In addition, Shoutmon DX, Hexblaumon and Zwart Defeat will most certainly be suspended, while a wide board of new black blocker Digimons and purple rookies make an easy meal.
Meanwhile, Rafflesimon provides defensive and offensive support at different moments of the game. When the opponent has a relatively narrow board (just a single or 2 Digimons), Rafflesimon can be a very effective disabler. When correctly used, she can encourage the opponent into widening their board, moving into favor of Nidhogg. On the other hand, when your board is sufficiently wide to go on offensive, Rafflesimon can be used to disable an opponent's blocker.
Both choices of these LV6 Digimons provide solutions for both narrow and wide boards, offering solutions to almost any board. Ona-san also plays 2 copies of [BT4-091] Valdur-Arm for additional versatility (especially against BT5 Omegamon) since most Digimons in this deck do not easily go above 15000DP (even when boosted with Rafflesimon or Pokomon).
LV3 to LV5: supporting the engine
The choices of LV3 to LV5 Digimons are obvious to support the engine. Maximum (5) copies of LV5 <Digisorption> Digimons are played in order to support quick digivolution into either Nidhogg, Rafflesimon or even Valdur-Arm (the entire upper-tier of this deck is effective even when digivolving while suspended).
[BT4-059] Lilamon is also played for her suspension effect, crucial in moments to support either Nidhogg, or simply to DP-wrestle an opponent's Digimon. See Combo 1 below for a sure-fire Lila-Nidhogg engine, and Combo 2 for a low-starting-memory Lila-Rafflesi engine.
Combo 1: Nidhogg removal
Starting memory: 3 (guaranteed by using Mimi)
- Digivolve a LV4 Digimon in your battle area into Lilamon (ensure that she has 2 digivolution cards and a Weedmon amongst them).
- Trigger Lilamon's <Digiburst 2> to suspend an opponent's targeted Digimon. Get +1 memory by trashing Weedmon.
- Digivolve a LV3 Digimon (that has a LV2 digivolution card) into Nidhoggmon (using a 1-cost LV4 and digisorption LV5), followed by Nidhoggmon's <Digiburst 4> effect to remove the suspended Digimon (and potentially others).
Combo 2: Big Rafflesimon
Starting memory: 2 (guaranteed by using Mimi or Weedmon)
- Trigger Lilamon's <Digiburst 2> to suspend an opponent's targeted Digimon. Get +2000 DP if you trash Pokomon, and an additional +1 memory if you also trash Weedmon.
- Digivolve Lilamon into Rafflesimon, trigger her <Digiburst 2> to increase all your Digimons DP by 2000. You can disable an opponent's blocker during this time.
- Attack the opponent's suspended Digimon using a 15000 DP Rafflesimon.
- Optional: you can increase Rafflesimon by a further 2000 DP (to 17000 DP) by using [BT5-046] Terriermon Assistant.
From both combo's above, the LV4 choices are obvious. Ono-san runs 1-cost-to-digivolve LV4 lineup, with maximum copies of Weedmon. As for LV3, Ono-san runs maximum copies of Terrermon Asistant for the occasional digiburst-Pokomon support (see Combo 2), with other LV3s generally cheap 2-costs for efficient board-widening. Terriermon Assistant also has a 90% success rate with his effect since the deck runs only 5 copies of non-green Digimon cards (3 Mimis and 2 Chaosmon).
Summary
While many may argue that BT-05 did not do green decks justice, I beg to differ. While it may certainly feel like a disappointing lineup at the upper (LV5-LV7) spectrum, green has its roots very steadily buffed: a very useful new digitama [BT5-004] Yokomon and a new LV4 staple card [BT5-050] Weedmon.
I feel that Ono-san has certainly created a very robust green deck for the new meta. Do play around with his deck idea and see if it suits your gameplay!
