Invited Author: David Lago
Country: North America
Introduction
Hey everybody, Lago here. Just wanted to discuss my deck and experience last weekend for the Ultimate Cups (North America: CoreTCG and Carta Magica). I somehow managed to win both haha, but not without a lot of hard work, and a good amount of luck on my side. I’ll preface this entire thing by saying that out of the 17 rounds I played, I didn’t encounter a single Yellow Hybrid deck, or even a variation of it. This was extremely fortunate, as I fine-tuned my deck mainly for the Blue Hybrid mirror. However, I don’t think the Yellow matchup is hopeless and there are lot of win-cons for the matchup (will get into that later).
Deck's Distribution
Eggs:
4 Kyaromons / 1 Upamon // Ideally never want Upamon under your rookies, but 5th egg is useful for the Yellow matchup. Nearly half the deck works to trash sources and proc Kyaro, so it is a very consistent engine.
Rookies:
4 Syakomons / 4 ModokiBetamon / 4 Strabimons / 2 Bokomons // With Mulligans and Davis/Boko, 12 rookies are more than enough to ensure you don’t consistently brick. How you utilize ModokiBetamon / Syakomon – your “floodgates” is crucial in every single matchup. Analyze what your opponent can do, and which one would be a more crippling negator. If you get both on the field, it is extremely difficult for many matchups to do anything.
Champions:
4 Kumamons / 4 Korikakumons / 1 Kendo // Standard Package + Kendo.
Kendo came up huge for me and works especially well with the rest of my deck. Helps deal with opponent’s “floodgates.” As stated above, if left at 3 memory with both floodgates on the opposing side of the field, there’s rarely much to do (unless of course you have aqua viper, supreme cannon, trident, etc). Kendo is how I circumvent this, by bouncing one, and then ideally, utilizing boosts/hammer sparks to remove the other, or set up a favorable position that’s hard for my opponent to out. Kendo also needs to be dealt with, should he manage to survive a security check, as he’s basically a re-standing Beowolf. Also, easy to dodge Sora Joe proc, as he’s a lv 4.
Ultimates / Megas:
4 Beowolfmons / 1 Azulongmon // Beowolf is arguably the best Digimon in the deck, as it bounces, chips, and recycles all at once. How you utilize your Beowolfs is crucial, especially in the mirror. There will be times where you need to evolve up into him just to cycle through your deck, and that’s completely fine, but ideally you want to be getting value with his bouncing ability. Azulong is an alternative win con that punishes opponents who go wide (without memory blockers). Azulong is also crucial in the Yellow matchup.
Tamers:
4 Davis // More consistency, and mitigates the pain of having to hybrid evolve over a Davis, if you have another one in hand.
4 Sora Joe // Best card in the deck. +2 memory, security bomb, helps with trashing sources, procs Kyaromon, and most importantly Influences how your opponent’s play.
1 Matt Ishida // Same as above, but to a lesser extent. Allows for versatility when it comes to optimizing memory, especially when opponent has a memory tamer.
4 Tommy’s // Needs no explanation. The ideal tamer you want to be hybrid evolving over.
1 Mimi // Versatility + allows for a lot of value, as we run a good number of options. Does a lot of unseen work that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Could be a tech spot, and be replaced with Trident, Supreme, Aqua depending on playstyle.
Options:
4 Hammer Sparks // Needs no explanation
3 Howling Boosts // Stuns targets that can alleviate with the Sora Joe proc. Trashes sources and procs Kyaromon draw. +2 memory if no memory blockers on field. Great in all situations, especially if you have ways to out their memory blockers.
1 Ice Wall // Extremely crucial how this card is utilized. Make sure to always use for value.
Mulligans/ Hands
Usually if you see a Davis, you should always keep even if you don’t have a rookie. You can Davis into a rookie, and if that misses — you will probably just need to cycle through the deck by evolving into a hybrid and then Beowolf etc. You want a starting hand that allows for draws / searches / and promotes cycling through the deck, to avoid bricking. Playing early tamers like Davis and/or Sora Joe is huge as well, especially into the mirror.
Gameplay / Matchups
Hard to recall all the matchups I faced specifically, so I thought it would be better to just make a guide on what you want to do in certain matchups:
Blue Hybrid Mirror
Very, very situational how you want to approach this. Early Sora Joe and/or Davis is huge in this matchup. If you see that your opponent is getting ahead in the resources department (they’ve set up a good amount of tamers with a nice board state), don’t be afraid to chip their security. Most matchups consist of setting up tamers, chipping with value (Beowolf), and then setting up a potential lethal that needs to be dealt with by the opponent. Don’t overlook the value of hard-playing a Syakomon or Modoki in this matchup, especially in the latter half. Another important thing to note is the typical Blue hybrid deck (non-Magna variant) doesn’t really have a way to cheat out more swings (except Azulong), so what you see is what you get. Also, don’t be too overly focused on controlling their board by swinging over their Digimon, especially if they have been chipping you early. You need to learn when the optimal time is to be aggressive and/or passive. Take swings with calculated risks, and then act reactively to what comes out of their security. It’s a really tough matchup to layout any sort of guide, and requires a good amount of practice to get accustomed to.
Purple Lillith
Chip early and choke them continuously as they don’t usually run memory tamers. Only rookie you shouldn’t be swinging with is Modoki, as this little guy can be your only saving grace against the loop (most times he won’t be). You need to end the game before they can set up a trash of 10/15+ and hope that they don’t get huge value off any Eyesmons or Scatter Modes.
Red Hybrid
Favorable matchup for blue. Syakomon becomes more important than Modoki in this matchup. Be wary of Atomic Blasters and chip with Modoki/Strabimons/Beowolf if you can early. They’ll have to come out of raising to cycle through their deck, so strip sources/ stun etc. You have a deck that is a lot more consistent than theirs.
Red Jesmon/Ancient OTK
Chip early against these one-stack wonder decks. Keep Syako out for the Ancient matchup (Modoki as well if they have boosts). If they roll high and get their ideal stacks that allow for OTKs, you just need to hope your security does work (Tommy baby). After chipping early, set up a lethal turn (preferably with Tamers, as opposed to a wide board).
Black X-Antibody
One stack wonder deck that will clear your board of rookies, so swing with them if you see he is coming out. Keep Tommys in hand and Howlings as well to stun the big lad (Dorugoramon) from swinging again. Chip early, set-up tamers, strip and stun their guys.
Green Hybrid Variant
Syakomon, Syakomon, Syakomon. Ideally don’t swing with your floodgates here, and force your opponent to MetalKabuterimon to deal with them. Get value with Beowolf, stun any green hybrid, and try always having a Syakomon on board, especially if they have a J.P.
Matchups I didn’t Face
Purple Cherubimon
Keep “floodgates” on board. Syakomon is more important than Modoki in this matchup, as you don’t want them accelerating into Rhihimon. If you see they have a lot of tamers out and a potential Cherubi angle, ice wall as needed, as they can usually get a lot of swings in with Bushis & Bokomons.
Yellow Hybrid
Don’t swing with Syakomon (or Modoki if they have Boko on field or Boosts). Don’t be afraid to take risky swings early, especially if you have a Syakomon on board to prevent easy recovery. If they have T.K Kari and/or Purple Karis out, do your best to match your security with theirs, and set up a potential OTK turn. If they deal with it, rinse & repeat. In most situations, you don’t want to crash your Beowolf into their JetSilphymon. Strip the sources and continuously stun it, to get value from Sora Joes. Be aware, that these matches tend to last a while, so you should see most of your deck. The main part of this matchup is just setting up a potential OTK/lethal turn. This could be from Azulongmon (should they have Dyansmon etc out) or just from the countless tamers you will be playing throughout the match.
Conclusion
The Blue Hybrid deck is without a doubt the strongest deck of this format. Access to both “floodgates” prevent your opponent from playing. Davis, Bokomon, Strabimon, and Beowolf allow for insane consistency, even through 17 rounds. In this format where tamers are still somewhat un-interactable, the power of the Blue tamers really shine through. All in all, it was both an exciting and tiring experience this last weekend. Honestly surreal how I was able to do so well in both tourneys, but that’s all thanks to the countless playtesting that was done in preparation, with a good amount of luck on my side as well.
