I was hyped for the Myotismon/Vamdemon archetype months back in EX-01, but that type was short lived. Despite trying numerous different decks to showcase Myotismon, the setup was far too expensive for the gains.
Usually, it would take more than 7 memory to setup a MaloMyotismon/BelialVamdemon that does not have any protection against deletion effects whatsoever.
It would also cost the same to have a [EX1-063] VenomMyotismon set-up but while VenomMyotismon has effects that look better on the book (having Retaliation and a board-widening effect), he wasn’t able to catch up to the other meta deck’s speed and board control.
Enter Yukio
Geneticist Oikawa Yukio has been revealed as a tamer card in BT-08, providing support to MaloMyotismon. His second effect in particular, allow MaloMyotismon to be continuously revived, which is a big effect given that we now have a better MaloMyotismon!
The New MaloMyotismon
The new MaloMyotismon has a formidable [On Play] effect, allowing the player to delete an opponent’s unsuspended Digimon (aka Trump Sword) and also trash the top security card. There is no denying the impact of this effect, so this becomes a matter of optimizing the play.
There are currently 2 ways to play MaloMyotismon efficiently (without paying 13 memory) and activating his [On Play] effect. The first being [BT3-086] Arukenimon and [BT3-087] Mummymon, which require a digivolution route (at least a LV4). The second way would be to trade with Yukio.
While this new MaloMyotismon is undoubtedly strong, there may still be need for the older BT3 MaloMyotismon for several reasons. Firstly, the BT3 MaloMyotismon would be a better card when the opponent does not have an attractive (unsuspended) deletion target. Secondly, for when you have not yet satisfied the “5 cards with [Myotismon] in name in your trash” for the new MaloMyotismon. Thirdly, the BT3 MaloMyotismon has a much better passive effect.
The Yukio/MaloMyotismon Engine
The current MaloMyotismon archetype seems to require some heavier initial investments in the form of usual digivolutions and playing Yukios. In a sense, every Yukio played will eventually become a MaloMyotismon, so there is a high level of memory efficiency during the mid/late game.
With Yukio being the core component of this engine, he should be recycled as much as possible. This puts [BT7-074] Antylamon in the perfect spot to recycle Yukio from trash. Antylamon can subsequently digivolve into the BT8 MaloMyotismon for milling, or the BT3 MaloMyotismon for passive board control. Either way, that MaloMyotismon will now be revivable thanks to Yukio.
The current MaloMyotismon archetype seems to require some heavier initial investments in the form of usual digivolutions and playing Yukios. In a sense, every Yukio played will eventually become a MaloMyotismon, so there is a high level of memory efficiency during the mid/late game.
With Yukio being the core component of this engine, he should be recycled as much as possible. This puts [BT7-074] Antylamon in the perfect spot to recycle Yukio from trash. Antylamon can subsequently digivolve into the BT8 MaloMyotismon for milling, or the BT3 MaloMyotismon for passive board control. Either way, that MaloMyotismon will now be revivable thanks to Yukio.
The new [BT8-107] Pandemonium Flame can also give this engine even more control over your opponent’s board, essentially a Trump Sword when triggered from security. This is a card that can trigger the MaloMyotismon/Yukio engine, which at 2 cost, allows you to delete an opponent’s LV6 or lower unsuspended Digimon at the expense of your MaloMyotismon, which will be revived at the end of your opponent’s next turn.
This engine will inevitably encourage your opponent to attack during their turn and leave their Digimons suspended (or risk deletion when MaloMyotismon is played/revived). Therefore, it would be ideal to include Digimons with [Retaliation] such as [BT2-074] Devimon, [EX1-056] Demidevimon, or even the Digitama [BT4-006] Xiaomon. In this aspect, the BT3 MaloMyotismon would also fare well with [Piercing].
Synergy with Eyesmon?
Eyemon is pretty much defining the current purple meta hence should not be so easily discarded. Thankfully, the MaloMyotismon engine should synergize well with Eyesmon, since there are only 8 copies of Eyesmons at LV4 while the Myotismon archetype begins at LV5.
The more important question is whether the MaloMyotismon engine would work better than the current Lilith-loop engine at LV6.
While Lilith-loop allows for an insane amount of value while looping, concurrently widening your board with big Digimons while hitting the opponent with [Rush] from Ceberusmon and Ginkakumon Promote, the new MaloMyotismon engine could do the same, requiring Yukios instead of Omegamon Zwart for the concurrent board-widening and security trashing. Furthermore, one could argue that security trashing is far more effective than the standard checking or even [Jamming] in today’s meta landscape, especially against security control-like decks.