Thoughts – DIGIMON CARD META

Beelstarmon in BT9: An Answer to OTK Meta

Invited Author: Ron Andre Agbayani

Country: Philippines

Introduction

Good day! Digimon Tamers, I am Ron Andre Agbayani from the Philippines and I would like to share my ideas of an in-depth review of the current Meta from BT9 and ST12-13 era and how Beelstarmon revived from the forgotten realm. This deck is based from the player named “Shina” from Japan who had the idea of including blue tamers which was eventually tweaked and adjusted through numerous players around the world and evolved to a Top Contender deck this Season and I would like extend my gratitude to these players because we were able to break the norm.

The Meta in BT9 to ST12-13

Nowadays decks are centralized on getting the key cards needed to win the game, generally through searching, drawing, and milling. These key cards will eventually win a game or have an advantageous board state.. This is mainly done by playing Memory Boosts Promo Cards, Tamers and Digimons with search function. Once you acquired the cards needed to advance your play, you may now be able to finish the game with a One Turn Kill focus deck (OTK) (eg. Grandiskuwagamon, WarGreymonX, MetalGaruruX, and Alphamon Ouryuken), variety of security cards (Yellow Hybrids), and Swarm (Jesmon and Beelstarmon), and also, in my opinion, Rogue Decks that are off-meta will definitely catch you off guard.

The current Meta dictates that whoever has better memory control will have a good board state which will allow them to have at least 2-3 plays per turn, leaving your opponent in a very disadvantageous situation. Since the advent of BT9, many decks got the support in need so that it can do OTK very easily and fast as mentioned above. Yellow Hybrids is still consistent and competitive. However, restricting key cards made it function less, making it a challenge to catch up with the consistency and potency of OTK decks. With this, OTK-focused decks saw high number of plays which made it a go to deck this current Meta.

This is just my observation and experience here playing in different tournaments and casuals plays. With this said I am always open to opinions and ideas of different players that support me. Aren’t we all the same curious cats so that we can make Digimon more interesting?

The Viability of Beelstarmon in BT9

BT9 gave OTK decks the protection they needed such as effects of Greymon X Antibody BT9 and like. The only way to survive the ravage is to have a good RNG (Random Number Generator) Roll option cards in your Security Cards. Yellow Hybrids BT7 made sure to always have a wide variety of good option cards in their security stack (such as decreasing DP to 0 which will be deleted through game mechanics or by more restoration). However, this is not sufficient hence they fell slightly in the tier list. The next Security Control deck in mind is either Mother D-Reaper deck EX-02 or the old Beelstarmon BT6. Mother D-Reaper deserves another article but for this one, we will delve on Beelstarmon BT6.

Beelstarmon BT6 is one of the early security control deck that only loses to Jesmon BT6 powered with BT3 A Delicate Plan. In the recent formats, Beelstarmon lose the spot light due to newer and exciting decks from every release. I personally thought that Beelstarmon is getting weaker before. However, in today’s list of winning decks we are now flourishing with Beelstar! What made Beelstarmon strong now?

As I have said earlier, key cards are easily searched or milled. In a sense we can have more than five 7-cost option cards in your trash after 3-5 turns thanks to Mist Memory Boost BT8, Analog Boy EX1, Eyesmon BT7, Demimeramon BT2, and of course Gazimon X BT9. By mid to late game, you can now play Beelstarmon BT6 for less than 5 cost and eventually free to play at end game. Cycling of hand cards is now achievable compared to BT6 era.

What are the best 7-cost option cards to run in your deck? This includes the following:

Fly Bullet BT6 – best answer to all level 6 Digimons with OTK capacity, including level 5 Digimons with multiple attacks (Paildramon ST)
Nail Bone – Allows Tempo playstyle, pushing threat by reviving Ginkakumon Promote BT6 and Gazimon BT3. Can be used defensively when you revive Vilemon BT2 and Psychemon BT8. (A caution though. You must have a way to delete Pscyhemon since the effect is “both players cannot reduce plays cost”).
Cocytus Breath ST2 – answers to all level 7 Digimons. Requires BLUE card in your play area if you plan to use it with Beelstarmon BT6. Also, with the resurgence of decoy and destruction protection very few cards has immunity to send back to hand
Happy Bullet Showering BT6 – deletes Digimon/s with lowest DP.
Howling Crusher BT1 – removes Digivolution sources from WarGreymonX and Alphamon Ouryuken which makes them weaker and friable to options cards.

There are other 7-cost Option cards that were not mentioned but I believe these are the best options at the moment. The goal is to have immediate response of security card to attacking Digimons to prevent you from being OTK’d. Second to this is to make your opponent skeptical and doubt in attacking you and pushing for OTK. This will give you time and resources to prepare to reach your end-game, which in turn makes Beelstarmon’s play cost as low as 0-1 memory to play. Meaning, you have milled almost of all of your 7-cost options. This strategy allows Beelstarmon to play head to head with the current Meta. Beelstarmon has aggro-control play with a high risk-high reward gamestyle. It can achieve memory control through Gazimon BT3 and crowd control through Dexmon BT9. Calling From The Darkness BT7 becomes handy when your Beelstarmon and Dexmon are in your trash. Beelstarmon may be branded as anti-meta and soon enough players will see answer for this deck. This is Digimon. You do not know the next deck your opponent will bring and you cannot side out. Play your best with your chosen deck list.

The Future Beelstarmon

BT10 is fast approaching with the Xros mechanics in the horizon. People are eagerly searching and play testing for other strong cards that may upgrade their current decks. As for the upgrade for Beelstarmon, we do not have yet stronger 7-cost option card. As explained above, we can answer to the threats of every deck if and only if we have also achieved the winning condition of our deck which is to dump almost all of the 7-cost options.

Xros mechanics is another rapid play that allows a player to make a Digimon with efficient ESS at an affordable memory cost. It may be jamming, additional security checks, or buffs. Again, the only way for Beelstarmon to survive the Meta is hopefully to stack option cards in Security and praying for the best.

Fingers crossed*

I would like to share my insights with the Digimon Card Game. I personally feel happy with how the Digimon Card Game evolves. The Meta is very diverse this season. Old decks are showing up again at our local game store and also winning though it requires enormous tweaks and testplays. This shows that old decks may become rogue or anti-meta decks that can answer to the new cards/mechanics. This also tells us that at some point we have to think carefully the “best and efficient” cards against the Meta. It might be a card in the newest set or inside your long forgotten card stash waiting to be excavated.

Thank you!

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

DTCG Singapore League 2021, Report and Reflection

Invited Author: Marcus and DTCGReview
Country: Singapore

The conclusion of DTCG SG League and its overview

Saturday (26th Feb 2022) marked the end of Singapore’s inaugural Digimon Trading Card Game Singapore (DTCG SG) League. What was truly momentous was having card shops and local game stores islandwide, in collaboration with DTCGReview (@DTCGReview) and supporting partner digimonmeta (https://digimonmeta.com), offer their weekends and store space to facilitate players battling through the qualifiers, semifinals and finals spanning across 10 weeks. The end of the league culminated in the crowning of Singapore’s top player who walked away with an entire carton of BT9: X-Record, released just the day before.

What is this league about and its inception

DTCG started to gain traction in Singapore in 2021 after the release of several booster sets which were carried by a growing number of local game stores. Global attention and demand for the game was at an all-time high, and local players and shops now had assurance that Singapore will officially adopt the Japanese version of the card game and will continue to be supported by Bandai as such.

While the regular player base remained relatively small and niche compared to other long-standing and established card games, the local DTCG competitive scene was hard to ignore; tamer battles and shop-organised tournaments filled up week after week where players vie for the champion promo card as well as a prize (often booster packs from the current set). What was glaringly lacking at that point in time was large-scale organised play with clearly defined match rules and advancement criteria.

How was it organised and participation

The DTCG SG League was the brainchild and passion project of the founder behind DTCGReview, a twitter-based influencer aiming to improve the global DTCG community. The DTCG SG League sought to forward Singapore’s competitive scene and challenge players to venture beyond the comforts of their neighbourhood card shop to test their best strategies and deck-building skills. Digimonmeta partnered and helped to cover the League in full and created a website (https://dcgleaguesg.wixsite.com/landing) to highlight league details, updates and document qualifying players and their decklists. Commencing on 20th March 2021, players could register for weekly qualifying rounds organised and hosted by participating game shops held across 8 weeks. Games were to be played in-person and adopted prevailing rules and restrictions set by Bandai. The victors of the qualifiers took up 70 semi-final spots and competed to be the top 16 to earn an invitation to the league finals.

The inclusive nature of the qualifying rounds meant that a skilled player could play at various card shops to secure multiple spots in the semifinals for a better chance to advance to the finals. At the same time, inexperienced or unsuccessful players had the chance to adapt to their competitors’ builds, improve their gameplay and try again the following weeks. This League presented fair opportunities for everyone, and thus it was of no surprise that there was overwhelming support and participation rates over the duration of the league.

A participant myself, I observed the intangible benefits that the DTCG League brought to the local community – friendships were forged between regular players of different game shops, and players started frequenting different game shops beyond the most convenient or closest one to home. Not only was the current meta (BT5: Battle of Omega at the point of the qualifiers) played to the highest level, we saw the development of defining deckbuilds such as Lilithloop, which the international community now takes reference from. The yellow Lordknightmon build was optimised to the point of dominance; an incredible player managed to win at nearly all of the participating card shops and was granted direct entry to the finals for his achievement.

Unfortunately, the emergence of the COVID-19 Delta wave dampened the excitement and anticipation of the semifinals originally slated to be held on 15 May 2021. To combat the local infection clusters, the Singapore Government instituted Phase 2 Heightened Alert from 16 May to 13 June 2021. During this period, social gatherings were restricted to 2 persons and dining-in was not permitted. The return to normalcy was hindered by a fresh surge in community infections in late June 2021 and the KTV cluster in July 2021 which consequently delayed the phased easing of restrictions to 10 August 2021. The uncertainty in the permissible group size made it impossible to finalise plans for the next rounds as new restrictions and measures could be announced without advance notice and effected days later.

Another consideration League organisers had to contend with was the release schedule of the upcoming sets. Ideally, the semifinals and finals should be held sometime after the release of the latest booster set but not straddle the release of the next set. They also had to survey all players’ availabilities and be mindful of major announcements such as the latest card ban and restriction list.

Semis and finals

The semi-finals were held over 2 weekends in Mid-Feb 2022 and 43 players played in 15 pods of up to 4 persons, in line with current safe distancing measures. The winner of each pod advanced to the grand final held on 26 February 2022, hosted by Sanctuary Gaming. The 16 finalists were only allowed cards up to EX2: Digital Hazard and all decklists had to be submitted to DTCGReview prior to the actual day. Players were paired after registration on the day of the grand finals and were presented a custom-designed top-16 playmat as keepsake for their efforts and commitment. The finalists then battled in best-of-3, single elimination rounds until an undefeated winner emerged.

The conduct of the grand finals was remarkably smooth and free from discrepancies or disputes. But what was a sight to behold was the level at which our nation’s best players competed at. The games I observed were rarely a one-sided affair – every move was deliberate, calculated and often the best play possible in that circumstance. Players were gracious and respectful and the judges noted very few misplays over the course of the grand finals. We saw a blue hybrid Leomon player breeze through a sea of yellow hybrid decks in the top 16, top 8 and top 4 rounds to reach the ultimate showdown against another yellow hybrid player in the final round. While blue was eventually bested by yellow, it was one of the most exciting and memorable matches to watch in a long time. No one left empty-handed either! DTCGReview also sponsored the lucky draw prizes that every eliminated finalist got to win. The grand finals concluded with players leaving happy with their prizes and a little more appreciative of their opponents’ abilities.

Closing thoughts

In hindsight, as a participant, volunteer and ardent supporter of the DTCG SG League, I am proud to have witnessed the successful closure of this event and have renewed respect to the organisers who have pledged so much time, effort and resources to see this through to the end. I believe that not only have the DTCG SG League fulfilled its objective to cultivate a larger pool of better players and crown the best player in Singapore, it has served well as a platform for players to forge stronger bonds with each other within the community. That to me, is a reward to the organisers in itself and is best done organically; an endeavour from our community itself.

The conduct of the DTCG SG League also sets a healthy precedent for future tournaments carried out at a similar scale in Singapore (Bandai and Maxsoft, I’m looking at you). I am sure all players are looking forward to the next iteration of organised play and I sure hope it doesn’t disappoint.

Tournament Information

Host: DTCGReview

Partner: digimonmeta.com

Date: March 2021 —-Semis and Final: Feb 2022

Number Participants: ~100

Format: Swiss Bo3 Double-Elimination in qualifier, Bo3 Single Elimination in Final.

Deck Distribution in Top-16:
8 Yellow Hybrid, 1 X-antibody, 2 Purple Maste-Ophanimon, 1 Beelzemon Deck, 1 Blue Hybrid with Leomon, 2 Blue-Green Imperial and 1 Beelstarmon.

Top-4 Decks and the Winners

Top-16 Battle Result:

Champion: Jeremy Ong
2nd: Chong Cheah How
3rd: Tan Shi Qi
4th: Marcus Lim

The result of winner's deck in final:

Top 16 : Yellow Hybrid ❌⭕️⭕️
Top 8 : Yellow Hybrid ⭕️⭕️
Top 4 : Yellow Hybrid ⭕️⭕️
Finals : Leomon Hybrid❓⭕️⭕️

Quick Share: Shinegreymon OTK in BT9

There are many OTK (One Turn Kill) decks will be created for BT9 X-record, thanks to those X-antibody cards that can avoid removal option, hence providing OTK a safer "SecurityAttack+x" check.

Here we would like to introduce an interesting OTK combo for BT4 Shinegreymon.

Same with other OTK playing style, a safe method is to build the digivolution source inside the raising area. Here we have an ideal build till BT4 Rizegreymon with:

LV2 BT9 Koromon, ST7 Agumon to add +2000DP, BT9 Agumon X (to be digi-bursted by LV5 BT4 RizeGreymon), the LV4 BT5 Greymon (to add DP) or ST1 Greymon to add "SecurityAttack+1" and BT9 Greymon X (to counter removal option or being returned to hand or deck).

Once we move this build to the battle area, we can trigger the Digimon-burst and remove LV2 Digitama and LV3 Agumon-X to play 1 tamer. In case we have enough tamer in the field so that ShineGreymon can "checks 5", then we don't need to digiburst.

The Tamer that is needed for this combo is Marcus Daimon and Hiro Amanokawa.

Marcus Daimon, is a must to put 4 copies for the deck and around 1 or 2 copies for Hiro Amanokawa. These 2 tamers can be suspended when BT4 Shinegreymon attacks, that is the reason why we choose them.

Beside, to achieve this combo, we must at least have 4 memories on our side. We must play more "red memory boost" early to search for cards and at least 1 tamer that can give us 3 memory at the beginning of the turn.

Once all the condition meet, the needed cards are all in hand, then here we proceed the OTK.

The BT4 Rizegreymon, after moving out from raising area, trigger Digimon-burst to play 1 tamer. Then we pay 1 cost to digivolve it into [BT9-041] RizegreymonX and play another tamer thanks to its "when digivolving" effect. On top of that, we can use this card's effect to reduce DP (-2000DP for each red or yellow tamer on play) on opponent lv4 blocker.

The next step is to evolve the BT9 RizegreymonX into BT4 ShineGreymon for 3 cost. The ShineGreymon now has 11000 DP (itself) + 2000 DP (from ST7 Agumon) +2000 DP (if we use BT5 Greymon) +2000DP if we rest 1 Hiro Tamer when ShineGreymon attacks.

Depend of the security cards left in the opponent's security to estimate the number of tamers we need in the field. But we surely have 2 tamer from Digiburst and RizeGreymonX digivolving effect. Based on that calculation, the ShineGreymon will normally has 17000DP or more, it passes the threshold of Wyvern Breath, the famous option card in security control.

When ShineGreymon attacks, we can rest one tamer at a time to add the "SecurityAttack+1" for ShineGreymon. We will gain back memory from Marcus Daimon and gain +DP from Hiro Amanokawa.

Once we clear out the opponent's security, we can finally evolve ShineGreymon into BT5 Omnimon to make a final hit to win the game.

If the ShineGreymon attacks and hit the removal option in opponent's security, the LV4 GreymonX inherited effect is now to be used. Since we have 2 LV4 cards and 2 LV5 cards in the digivolution source, it can be protected at least twice.

This OTK profile is also safer than other OTK decks because 2 tamers are played in the turn it is moved out from raising area, avoiding opponent from deleting your tamers by using BT9 cards.

QnA For BT4 ShineGreymon

Many Readers asked us about the BT4 ShineGreymon that: is it possible to gain each "SecurityAttack+1" for each tamer that is rested during Shinegreymon attacks. We have answered them in comment section below, and here we would like to attach a related QnA from Bandai which is proof that ShineGreymon can have multiple attacks for each rested tamer.

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

A Beelstar-Ordine Concept?

Many players who have proxy-tested Ordinemon suggest that she may not make top-tier, perhaps due to her situational play conditions.

However, when I was fiddling with a certain deck concept I found Ordinemon doing a lot better than I would have expected!

Raguelmon and Ordinemon

[BT9-082] Ordinemon is currently the only LV7 Digimon with a Jogress (DNA digivolution) effect. She has almost no play value when digivolved normally hence should always be played via Jogress.

It is not easy to have 2 LV6 Digimons in play during your turn to readily Jogress into Ordinemon, so it is imperative that an [End of Your Turn] jogress effect be used with Ordinemon. For this, [BT9-080] Raguelmon is introduced.

At a play cost of 12, Raguelmon can always play another Digimon (usually a LV5 or lower such as MagnaAngemon, or a LV6 Angel/Fallen-Angel when you are low in security) from trash, making it's play-cost worthwhile. In addition, Raguelmon will be able to jogress into Ordinemon at the end of your turn, given that you have another LV6. Raguelmon however, does not do much when digivolved normally.

Would a LV7 that should always be played by jogress, and a LV6 that should be hard-played, perhaps do well in a mega-zoo-like deck like… Beelstarmon?

The Beelstarmon factor

As it happens, Raguelmon/Ordinemon can be played with Beelstarmon (being a purple LV6 Digimon that can jogress into Ordine). By replacing most LV3 Digimons in the deck with Beelstarmon and her legion of 7-cost options, we can build a security-control mega-zoo deck.

The addition of a Beelstarmon configuration helps strengthen the deck's security with deletion option cards. Gatomon/Tailmon can be played to provide search, while MagnaAngemons and Angewomons can be played for their [On-Play] effects. Ideally, Gatomon can digivolve into any of the LV5 angels for just 1-cost, and subsequently into Ophanimon Falldown Mode for a recovery and deletion effect. When Ophanimon is deleted, she can revive Gatomon to search again and replay this cycle.

Beelstarmon provides flexibility in dealing with a variety of opponent's board, and if a Raguelmon or an Ophanimon that inherits Gatomon is in play, they can then jogress into Ordinemon for a massive board control and recovery!

Tidal wave works well in this mega-zoo configuration, since Beelstarmon can use it instead of the usual deletion options if a jogress will happen at the end of turn. Since Ordinemon has a wide deletion effect that couples with recovery, we wouldn't want to delete anything unnecessarily through Beelstarmon's option cards.

I have proxy-tested this deck for quite a while and boy was it fun to play… though not without problems. For one, this deck lacks the necessary draw power to recover from a bad starting hand.

This is simply a deck concept, and do expect a lot of optimisation if it was ever going to be played in the competitive scene!

…. something that I will most likely be doing in the coming weeks.

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

BT9 X-Record Parallel Art, What is my Favourite!

In one more week, the BT9 will be officially distributed for Japan and Asia region, and today Bandai has revealed all the cards and its 18 parallel arts. Looking at these cards remind us the same quality as BT8-New Hero set, because the best arts do not belong to secret rare cards.

Here I would like to list them into the ranking in my opinion and the price prediction for them. Do let me know if you have different idea.

The Least Favourite: GrandisKuwagamon and Grademon

Insect-type Digimon has never been players or collectors or Digimon fans favourite even if they are in top tier meta. This card's art is illustrated by Tonamikanji, the artist who always shows the most clean and clear image for the Digimon's body. His best arts so far, in my opinion, are all the Sitermon AA arts and the BT7 Flamemon. But for this BT9 GrandisKuwagamon AA, there is nothing special and unique for the art, I predict this card would be the cheapest AA in BT9 set.

[BT9-064] Grademon is also drawn by Tonamikanji. We rarely see the LV5 black Digimon AA art that bring the pleasant to our eyes, because of its black color for the inherited effect area that is hard to match with the overall theme of the card. I feel this card's art is very normal and it doesn't look like an AA art. Beside, Grademon is not a famous Digimon, he will only support the Alphamon deck in BT9.

I don't think it is hard to own one of it (cheap), and the normal AA like this would have a higher pull rate in a carton.

Alphamon and Raguelmon

Alphamon and Raguelmon are both illustrated by Tonamikanji. The art for Raguelmon has a good mix in color of purple and orange while the Alphamon brings us the same feeling when we look at Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode (.illustrated by Sasasi).

These cards are not going to be expensive in the market as our prediction, because Raguelmon deck is not going to be in top-tier and Alphamon, even though he has many fans, but players would prefer the BT6 SEC Alphamon for this BT9 meta instead of BT9 Alphamon, less demand causes cheaper the price.

Rookie AA cards: Good for collection

Meicoomon and Jellymon are nice to collect, but Agumon X and Gabumon X will have the same price as BT6 Agumon Gabumon AA art in the early meta, it means they are not cheap.

Takase is famous and well known for drawing Rookie AA for Digimon Card Game. You can check out in your binder for the whole rookie series in BT7 set and other set. Both Meicoomon and Jellymon in BT9 are cute and adorable. The Meicoomon would be useful for Raguel deck while Jellymon may be not so useful in BT9 meta, but I would be happy to have 1 of her in my binder.

Both Agumon and Gabumon X are illustrated by Tonamikanji. These are going to be expensive because WarGreymonX and MetalGarurumonX are going to be tier-1 in BT9 meta.

As'Maria series of X-antibody

As'Maria is one of my favourite artist in DTCG. He is the original creator of the light of X-antibody so we are not surprised that he draw many X-antibody AA arts for this set

All of As'Maria arts in this set gives the romance feel, LOLx, they are mix in pink as the main theme of the art. Many players don't like Magnamon because he looks too thin in this pose and somehow the normal art looks more powerful.

For the pricing, the WargreymonX and MetalGaruruX will be expensive because we predict them would be tier-1 in BT9 meta. The Gaioumon and MagnamonX may be less expensive, but not so cheap compared to other AA cards, because … well, they are As'Maria arts.

Secret Rare AA: A Bit Dissapointed.

Alphamon: Ouryuken mode and Dexmon AA arts are both illustrated by Sasasi, the artist that draw almost all the Secret Rare AA cards so far. But I am a bit disappointed for what he provides us in BT9 set.

There is not so much different between the normal art and the parallel art of Dexmon, same theme same color even though 2 different artists drew them.

The Alphamon: Ouryuken mode, the last card revealed, have brought my disappointment to the lowest. I am not the fan of the art that the Digimon weapon takes almost half space of the art. Not only that, this art is not classic, not elegant and underwhelming.

Even though these arts are not my favourite but they are secret rare, and they are also the hidden potential in BT9 meta that may bring us many creative decks, especially Dexmon. Their prices may not be around $100 or something, and SEC AA is somehow easier to pull compared to some other SR AA cards, so they are still affordable.

DexDorugoramon is also illustrated by Sasasi, he is not an SEC but I think he will be expensive as well. People will need 4 copies of DexDorugora if they want to max-bling Dex deck.

My most-wanted in the list: Naochika Morishita arts

I always love NaochikaMorishita arts, since the BT2 SEC AA Beelzemon and Blackwargreymon.

His arts can somehow show the feeling and trait of that Digimon. We can feel Ordinemon sadness, darkness and pain in that image, and a Omegamon Merciful Mode looks glorious with the white wings, like some angels descending from the digital sky. I think these 2 card will be relatively hard to pull from BT9 set.

For now we don't see many decks use Omnimon Merciful Mode, or rather we don't know how to use him yet. He may not be popular in this meta or a deck would put maximum 1 or 2 copies of him for the tech. It is the same with Ordinemon. People would hunt them for their arts instead, and Omnimon Merciful Mode is very popular too.

Dex

The last SEC to be revealed for BT-09 may be the next most popular card.

Dexmon

The black/purple LV7 Dexmon has what it takes to become the next anti-meta card.

His first effect reduces his play cost by -3 for each Digimon and tamer that your opponent has, a very straightforward effect that punishes tamer-centric decks such as the Zoe hybrid and the Tommy hybrid, which are easily the current tier-1s. To put this into perspective, Dexmon would cost only 2 to play when your opponent has something like 4 tamers and 2 Digimons.

His second effect not only de-digivolves all of your opponent's Digimons by 1 level, but also deletes all that is LV4 and lower. In other words, playing 2 Dexmons consecutively in a turn will clear the opponent's board of LV6 Digimons, assuming they digivolved normally in a LV4-LV5-LV6 sequence (again, punishing the current Zoe and Tommy hybrids). This effect is also highly effective against Armor Digimons.

His third effect punishes the opponent when he is not taken down during their turn, by deleting all of your opponent's Digimons with the lowest play cost. In other words, your opponent is forced to play some sacrificial Digimon before the end of their turn in order to protect their better Digimons, and this becomes more obnoxious the more Dexmons you have in play.

Dexmon's weaknesses though, are also pretty obvious.

Firstly, his "de-digivolving then delete" effect would be less effective against X-Antibody decks that may have a larger stack of LV5s, making them a little bit harder to delete. It is also not effective against big Digimons that do not have digivolution cards, the usual suspects such as Beelstarmon, Lucemon Chaos, and Omegamon Zwart Defeat.

Secondly, his overall effectiveness can be thwarted just by knowing that he is included into the deck. The opponent will avoid playing a large pool of tamers and Digimons, or avoid ending their turn with a LV5 Digimon that can be de-digivolved into a LV4.

However, these weaknesses can be circumvented.

Dexmon in the Dex archetype

A no-brainer. Being of the same archetype, Dexmon benefits from the synergetic engine.

[BT9-081] DexDorugoramon has an [On Deletion] effect that can play Dexmon from trash without cost, which is easily the most amazing callback effect. No other Digimon can play another LV7 Digimon for free, from trash.

With the LV4 and LV5 Dex Digimons providing the much needed milling, in addition to the strong board control from the original Dorugoramon line as well as DexDorugoramon, this deck should prove formidable and popular in the coming meta.

Both Dorugoramon and DexDorugoramon excels in controlling a smaller board of 2 or 3 Digimons. Dorugoramon could easily eliminate up to 2 medium-sized Digimon, something around a play cost of 6-7, which helps to setup DexDorugoramon's [When Digivolving] effect against the bigger Digimon. Dexmon would be perfect here, offering robustness against wider boards instead.

Meanwhile in a purple alternative, the new [BT9-079] GrandDracmon should also work well with the Dex archetype, since they are mostly [Undead] Digimons. GrandDracmon can accelerate digivolution of the Dex line thanks to it's [End of Attack] effect, which could hopefully help to launch DexDorugoramon more efficiently.

Dexmon in Security Control

As it happens, Dexmon does not really need to be in a specific archetype.

While we do yet not know if the yellow security control deck would survive the coming meta, assuming it does, can be strengthened by Dexmon.

Dexmon can digivolve from [BT8-082] Ophanimon Falldown Mode, a staple of most yellow security controls. While more expensive (in digivolution) than the popular Zwart Defeat and less effective in security, Dexmon can deal more damage on-play and when digivolving, (conditionally) plays cheaper from hand, and has an immense presence when he remains in play.

The defensiveness of a security control deck may work in favour of Dexmon, punishing an opponent with a wider board in his mid/late game.

Dexmon with Beelstarmon

Another easy engine since he can digivolve from [BT6-112] Beelstarmon, replacing Zwart Defeat as the preferred choice of LV7.

Dexmon extends Beelstarmon's damage range, which is usually limited to single target 7-cost purple option cards. While many Beelstarmon decks play copies of [BT6-095] Happy Bullet Showering and some [BT6-105] GewaltSchwarmer for wide-range deletion, they are often too conditional and does not delete what is intended. With Dexmon, the deletion range is not only extended beyond DP-based and cost-based targets, but also improves the deck's robustness since pure-deletion effects are less effective against Armors and the Greymon X-Antibody line.

Dexmon with Mugendramon

With [EX1-073] Mugendramon expected to a little more popular in BT-09, it is fascinating to know that Dexmon can also work in this deck.

While Mugendramon is a very defensive card, his engine is often weak towards a wide board (and no Chaosdramon is often not a solution). Mugendramon decks are slow, and playing a Mugendramon amid an opponent's wide board of Digimons would usually offer little to no protection since he can only block once (without Tai Kamiya).

We might find solace in Dexmon during these sticky situations, first reducing play cost by taking advantage of the opponent's wide board, and then reducing that board enough for Mugendramon proper.

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

Early Review: BT-09 X Record

BT-09 X Record is the next highly anticipated booster set slated for release on the 25th of February. This time around, Bandai has released the card reveals very promptly, with what seemed like a reveal of more than 90% of cards already. Lets take a look at what this set has to offer!

X-Antibody

The highlight of this set, X-Antibody Digimons made their DCG debut exactly a year ago (26th February 2021) in BT-05 Battle of Omega, in the form of Omegamon X-Antibody. More X-Antibody Digimons were slowly introduced in coming sets but were mainly for the Alphamon and Dorugoramon line. A unique mechanic for that X-Antibody line back then (or more specifically Dorugoramon) was the ability to slot digivolution cards beneath the X-Antibody Digimon to trigger effects, making an X-Antibody Digimon's stack rather large.

With the slew of X-Antibody Digimons introduced in BT-09, we finally got a solid feel of how X-Antibody would play. Generally speaking, X-Antibody Digimons could digivolve onto their non-X versions of the same level for a very low or zero memory, mostly having some [When Digivolved] effect or inheritable effects. These cards are generally very robust to play as they can make your hand a lot more fluid (more ways to digivolve to get your hand moving) and effects that we believe to be a major power creep for the upcoming meta.

Take for example [BT9-012] Greymon X and [BT9-024] Garurumon X which grants deletion/return immunity if you are [Omegamon] or [Greymon]/[Garurumon] in name respectively, patches up [BT5-111] Omegamon X such that it now becomes so much more formidable (being able to nullify deletion, return, and battle).

Another X-Antibody card introduced in BT-09 is non other than [X-Antibody] itself, a 0-cost option card that can be put, unconditionally, below a Digimon's digivolution cards to let it digivolve into an X-Antibody Digimon when attacking (much like Blitz). In addition, X-Antibody cannot be removed by effects hence giving extra protection against the currently meta Tommy/Himi deck as well as Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. It also has a strong security effect much like Hammer Spark and the now restricted Ice Wall, which can abruptly end your opponent's turn in addition to adding the card to your hand.

It is quite evident from the current lineup that X-Antibody is the way to go if your archetype has an X-Antibody in this set.

Wargreymon X

Wargreymon X is an embodiment of a red Digimon on steroids. At LV5, [BT9-015] Metalgreymon X grants [SecurityAttack+1] and a +3000 DP buff, which can be easily carried to [BT9-016] Wargreymon X by using the [X-Antibody] option card. Doing so will allow Wargreymon X to delete an opponent's Digimon with 15000 DP or lower (almost any Digimon) while swinging at (at least 2) security with his large DP and protected from deletion/return effects if he inherits Greymon X.

Gone were the days of [BT3-097] Precise Tactics.

[BT9-015] Metalgreymon X-antibody

Digivolves from Metalgreymon for 0 cost.

Effect: [When Digivolved] This Digimon gains [SecurityAttack+1] until the end of your opponent’s next turn. Then, if this Digimon has [Metalgreymon] or [X-Antibody] in it’s digivolution cards, this Digimon gains +3000 DP until the end of your opponent’s next turn.

[BT9-016] Wargreymon X-Antibody

Digivolves from [Wargreymon] for 1 cost.

Effect 1: [Both Turns] When opponent’s security is reduced, gain +1 memory

Effect 2: [End of Attack][Once Per Turn] If this Digimon has [Wargreymon] or [X-Antibody] is it’s digivolution cards, delete 1 of your opponent’s Digimon with DP equal or lower than this Digimon.

It is also possible to run X-Antibody with the newer BT8 Blackwargreymon, or the promo [P-050] Wargreymon to deliver a wide deletion coverage. When Wargreymon X is digivolved from a LV6 Wargreymon when attacking (using the X-Antibody option card), the 1-cost paid for digivolution can be recovered as long as he successfully swings at security, putting the player back at their turn. He can then follow up and end the turn with another strong move such as [BT5-086] Omegamon or [BT9-095] Gaia Force ZERO.

Dukemon X

The earliest card from this set to be revealed, Dukemon X continues to improve this archetype which has just gotten a huge buff from EX-02's Takato and Crimson Mode.

Metalgarurumon X

Board control. [BT9-031] Metalgarurumon X can literally clean the board when he is unsuspended. By using the lower level [BT9-028] Weregarurumon to return an opponent's LV4 or lower to hand, Metalgarurumon X can then better position its effect to return all of your opponent's lowest level to hand, strategically targeting either a strong LV5/6/7 or many copies of weaker LV4s.

Inheriting Garurumon X, Weregarurumon and Metalgarurumon can steer clear of battle deletion due to their low DP. The promo [P-050] Metalgarurumon can also provide a similar protection when Garurumon X is not inherited.

It is not unwise to pair this archetype with base Digimons that grant [Jamming] such as Veemon and ExVeemon to compensate their lack of DP. We await to see how decklists will be constructed to play this engine.

Rizegreymon X

Not an SR, but this card deserves mention. At LV5, not only does Rizegreymon promote cheap tamer plays (like other Rizegreymons) but also grants a demi Shinegreymon-like effect, reducing -2000 DP on a Digimon for each red/yellow tamer in play. DP reduction effects may re-emerge to become a tier-1 removal effect in the coming meta (being effective against Greymon/Garurumon X and Omegamon, Magnamon X, and generally any Armor Digimons), and Rizegreymon X is a welcomed addition.

Magnamon X

Magnamon X is unique. For starters, he has an always-on blocker effect that can divert any battle to itself even when suspended. Secondly, when deleted he not only behaves like an Armor Digimon (by shedding his armor) but also puts himself on top of your security, effectively a [Recovery+1] effect. He also does warp digivolution from LV4 Magnamon, which increases the robustness of play in his archetype.

It is still early to tell how much potential this card has, given his unique effects. But at the time being we know that he would definitely improve a majority of armor decks.

You may be interested in an early gameplay from the File Island Residents.

Leomon X-Antibody

The Leomon archetype is finally getting some attention. With the X-Antibody support, the Leomon archetype, together with Juri, becomes far more playable.

In addition, BT-09 has also gave this archetype a buff in the form of Panjyamon X, which should work with Juri's [On Play] effect. Can Leomon now find synergy in the likes of perhaps [BT3-030] Leopardmon? Will we be able to finally witness a Leomon deck challenge the meta?

[BT9-051] Panjyamon X-Antibody

Digivolves from [Panjyamon] for 0 cost

This card’s name is also treated as [Leomon]

Effect: [Both Turn] When this Digimon is deleted, you may play a [Leomon] from this Digimon’s digivolution cards without paying its cost.

Grandiskuwagamon

The first insectoid archetype to be buffed in X-Antibody is none other than Kuwagamon. Grandiskuwagamon is very aggressive, and probably the most aggressive green Digimon we've seen thus far.

When paired with [P-025] Grankuwagamon, 2 swings of 3 security checks each at 16000 DP is undeniably a lethal combo, putting this deck a strong contender for OHKO.

X-Antibody on Kuwagamon may finally allow many previously undervalued insectoid cards (such as EX-01 Tentomon and Kuwagamon) to finally shine.

Black is still having a good time

Compared to other colors, black has got a lot going for in this set.

First, we have the option card [BT9-102] Heavy Machine Digimon's Advance!! which could single handedly push Mugendramon decks back into the radar.

We then have the Raidenmon cards (with Suijinmon, Raijinmon, and Fujinmon) which we have introduced earlier.

Then, we have the omnipotent [BT9-068] Gaioumon with a Ragnalordmon-like plateau of effects, but within a LV6 package. Gaioumon is also conveniently treated as a [Greymon], and can digivolve from [Blackwargreymon] at 2 cost, adding to its flexibility in a Wargreymon X deck or a Blackwargreymon deck or anything in between.

Then we have the last member of the sovereigns [BT9-069] Baihumon introduced as a black Digimon. Baihumon's potential is pretty much still unknown at this point, but having all 4 sovereigns revealed should the card game in a better position to review this archetype as a whole and possibly glue them together in the form of Huanglongmon.

[BT9-068] Gaioumon

Digivolves from [Blackwargreymon] for 2 cost

This Digimon’s name also contains [Greymon].

Effect 1: [SecurityAttack+1]

Effect 2: [Reboot]

Effect 3: [When Digivolved] If this Digimon has a black card in it’s digivolution cards, 1 of your opponent’s Digimon gets [De-digivolve 1]. When this has a red card, it gets [Blitz].

[BT9-069] Baihumon

Effect 1: [When Digivolved] Unsuspend up to 2 Digimon and Tamer. Then, for each of your opponent’s unsuspended Digimon and Tamer, gain +1 memory.

Effect 2: [End of Your Turn][Once Per Turn] For every 2 of your opponent’s Digimon and Tamer, trash 1 card from the top of your opponent’s security.

And last but not least, we should be expecting the long-due Alphamon Ouryuken Mode in this set (possibly as an SEC card). With the many Alphamons, Dorugoramon line, Ouryumon line and Grademon line building up to this single Digimon, we should expect him to be majestic!

Megadramon

Another card deserving special mention, [BT9-065] Megadramon is a hybrid killer, deleting a 3-cost tamer when digivolving, and an inheritable that deletes 3-cost tamer when attacking. We will be seeing this card a lot in the coming red/black decks.

[BT9-065] Megadramon

Effect: [When Digivolving] Delete 1 of your opponent’s Digimon or Tamer with a play cost of 3 or less.

Inherited: [When Attacking] If this Digimon is a [Machine] or [Dragonkin] type in it’s trait, Delete 1 of your opponent’s Digimon or Tamer with a play cost of 3 or less.

Ordinemon

BT-09 purple seem to be all about Ordinemon (despite anticipating Grandracmon line to be in this set as well). Ordinemon is the first LV7 Jogress Digimon, first introduced in Digimon Adventure Tri as the final antagonist.

Ordinemon is, without a sliver of doubt, powerful. When Jogress digivolved, she can board wipe the opponent while recovering your security for every Digimon deleted by her effect. She can also revive herself as long as a security card is sacrificed.

Raguelmon is almost a must-play with running the Ordinemon engine. His first effect gives the deck an added robustness, while his second effect easily pulls Ordinemon into play. Many players believe that this engine would work very well with Lordknightmon (see sample gameplay 1 and 2 from File Island Residents) but this engine is still at its infancy and it is very possible to run this deck differently.

Omegamon Merciful Mode

A highly anticipated card, but does this Digimon deliver?

[BT9-083] Omegamon Merciful Mode has a conditionally-strong digivolving effect, depending on how many [Mega] cards you have slotted beneath him. Under normal circumstances, it would be reasonable to expect 1 to 2 copies hence projecting the scale of his deletion effect.

His deletion effect however, has a perk. Immediately after deletion, he can return 10 cards from the opponent's trash to the bottom of their deck, which nullifies any [On Deletion] effect of deleted Digimons. Another benefit of this effect is that it can cripple some trash-based decks such as Beelstarmon, Beelzemon, hybrid-Susanoomon, and even Mugendramon decks.

His second effect meanwhile, forces Merciful Mode to de-digivolve to trash the top card of the opponent's security. Since Merciful Mode lives and dies by his [When Digivolving] effect, he has little value staying as vanilla LV7 in play therefore reverting to his prior form (either a LV6 or another Omegamon) maybe beneficial.

Note that it is also possible to digivolve Merciful Mode onto a Merciful Mode, to run all his effects twice.

Some players have also mentioned the compatibility between Shivamon and Merciful Mode, allowing the player to trash the opponent's security twice (once with Merciful, another when Shivamon unsuspends). This compatibility is certainly profound but remains to be seen if the engine is able to survive in the coming X-Antibody landscape.

Summary

This set is fresh, engaging, and filled with fan-favourites. If anything, it reminds us of the last time we've seen such a great set exactly a year ago in BT-05 Battle Of Omega. Perhaps a reminiscence of a time when packs are fun to pull and great cards fill the set to brim, BT-09 X Record is en-route to match that high standard not seen since BT-05.

So much goodness and we are still patiently waiting for our SECs.

Score: 9/10.

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

Taking a look at the Raidenmon mechanic

Moving the spotlight away from X-Antibody Digimons, we take a look at Raidenmon first introduced in Digimon World 3.

[BT9-067] Raidenmon is a versatile LV6 black Digimon: being able to digivolve from both LV5 and LV6, and also benefits from hard-play.

When played with the accompanying option card [BT9-102] Heavy Machine Digimon's Advance!! (or HMDA) he becomes a 9-cost (having +3 memory from inheriting Fujin, Raijin, and Suijinmons from trash) nuke: with 15000 DP, [De-digivolve], [Rush], and [Blitz], in addition to the slew of effects inherited from Fujin, Raijin, and Suijinmons. This gives him enough firepower to swing at almost any suspended Digimon, and the versatility to de-digivolve your way out of difficult situations (such as Armors, Magnamon-X, Ordinemon, and Mugendramon).

His offensive capabilities are the same when digivolving, but at a measly 1-cost from LV5 or to even regain +1 memory if digivolving from a LV6! (assuming the LV6 trios are readily available in trash) Raidenmon will not need the option card if he digivolves this way.

Possibilities of different base colors

Raidenmon should be played with 3 others LV6 Digimons Fujinmon, Raijinmon and Suijinmon, which are 2 coloured green, yellow, and blue Digimons respectively. This means that it is not necessary to play Raidenmon in black base, and that may be a very good thing.

Raidenmon decks can take advantage of a green deck's digivolution speed, yellow's DP reduction and recovery, or blue for a myriad of digivolution card trashing and unsuspend effects. While there are certainly many possibilities out there, I felt that green and blue would work best with Raidenmon.

Running him in green, it is possible to digivolve into Fujinmon very cheaply by using [Digisorption] from Argomon and/or Blossomon. With just 4 memory, we could digivolve from a LV4 into Fujinmon unsuspended by using the digisorption/ARD-02 engine, and then into Raidenmon to recover +1 memory (and attack).

Meanwhile in blue we will be able to take advantage of Kaiser Nail and/or Tidal Wave! Ideally, it is possible to digivolve Raidenmon into another Raidenmon for +1 memory, and then pull the Raidenmon from digivolution card using Kaiser Nail for 4 – 3 = 1 memory (and attack immediately if HMDA was also played). A blue base will also grant access to inheritable effects such as [BT6-027] Majiramon which should work quite well with a properly-equipped Raidenmon.

Dual-colored LV5s such as Shakkoumon and Kimeramon should also complement Raidenmon well as they would relax the digivolution color conditions, as otherwise would restrict the LV5 to LV6 digivolution to either Fujinmon (in green) or Suijinmon (in blue) only.

Playing in a black base

No doubt that Raidenmon would be the most robust when played in his own base color, using LV5s such as [BT8-067] Metalgreymon. Since Raidenmon is a [Machine] Digimon, he would do well inheriting what works with [EX1-073] Mugendramon, but this raises a question on whether a pure Mugendramon/Chaosdramon configuration should be played instead of Raidenmon. It may also be difficult to navigate both Raidenmon and Mugendramon in a single deck since the distribution of LV6 Digimons can be far too skewed.

Mugendramon is certainly buffed in BT9 (thanks to HMDA) but he largely remains a defensive Digimon. For example, even when inheriting [BT6-013] Megadramon his attack would only be 13000 DP (far too low to go through LV7 Digimons). Therefore we can look at Raidenmon being a sword while Machinedramon being the shield.

In addition, it may be theoretically easier to have Raidenmon's 3 different LV6s in trash than to have Mugendramon's 5 different LV5s, and this will allows us play a more consistent 4 copies of whatever LV5 that complements Raidenmon best, instead of the highlander-style LV5 configuration in a Mugendramon engine.

And while this may be far-fetched, it might be possible to play both Raidenmon and Mugendramon in a same deck, maybe less Mugens and without Chaosdramon since Raidenmon can digivolve onto Mugen if needed.

Playing with Greymon-X and Omegamon

An idea that I certainly may enjoy trying, is to run the Raidenmon engine with [BT9-012] Greymon-X and Omegamons. Greymon-X has an inherited effect that protects itself (when he is a [Greymon] or [Omegamon] in name) from deletion/return by trashing 2 cards of the same level, which complement Raidenmon well since his stack should have up to 4 LV6 Digimons. Raidenmon can digivolve into Omegamon Zwart Defeat or Alter-S, and subsequently into either Omegamon-X or Merciful Mode if necessary, all which will benefit from the tall stack made possible by Raidenmon.

Ending notes

While some ideas here are still relatively unpolished, I hoped to share some ways in which Raidenmon can be played as a new mechanic. If you have any comments or ideas for Raidenmon, do drop a comment below!

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

BT9 Ordinemon: How We Should Use it.

[BT9-082] Ordinemon received many attentions on the day it is revealed, all because of its super-power of board control when it is Jogress digivolved.

Odinemon is a LV7 purple-yellow Digimon that can be Jogress digivolved for just 0-cost from a LV6 purple and a LV6 Yellow Digimon. People get shocked about its "When Digivolving" and "On Deletion" effects since it can just clear out the opponent's board at the time it appears in the battle and gets as much "recovery+1" as the number of opponent's Digimon that it destroyed during Jogress, and come back alive if it is destroyed with the condition that you have to trash the top card of security stack. BT9 has introduced the cards that won't allow players to play card from effect, we hope it can at least control this kind of massive power.

To trigger Jogress for Ordinemon, we all know one Digimon that must be used, it is the LV6 [BT9-080] Raguelmon

Raguelmon is LV6 purple-yellow Digimon that allows us to play for free 1 LV6 [Angel] or [Fallen Angel] from trash if there is 1 or fewer cards in security stack when we pay 12-cost to hard-play this Digimon. And up till today, this is the only LV6 that can trigger Jogress-digivolve this Digimon with another LV6 yellow or purple Digimon into Ordinemon at the end of the turn. So it seems we must include this card into the Ordinemon deck. But how we should play it?

The first thing we might think of is: I will use Bliding Light (yellow option card) to reduce the security till 1 or fewer cards and gain more memory, then hard-play the Raguelmon to play another yellow LV6 Digimon (maybe LV6 BT2 Holydramon for recovery) then Jogress them into Ordinemon to clear opponent's board as well as enabling more recovery.

It seems a good strategy, but it might not work in modern meta when everything can be started from Digimon that is moved out from nursing area or from the tamers those can be evolved using hybrid line, or even controlled by the anti-freePlay Digimon by effects such as Pillomon and Pomumon above. Furthermore, since we have to put 4 copies of Raguelmon in the deck, the number of LV6 [Angel] or [FallenAngel] will be limited and hard to draw, so it causes hand-brick easily.

It is not safe to give opponent many memories in current meta. So should we go with the normal digivolving instead?

There are some strong profiles that we can upgrade to match with Ordinemon.

ST10 Mastemon Jogress Deck

ST10 Mastemon is the most suitable profile to be upgraded for Ordinemon. Mastemon can be Jogress-ed from 2 LV5 Digimon (1 Yellow & 1 purple), and then we can choose a LV5 from trash to place on top of security stack, then play it for free by using its "When Digivolving" effect. This LV5 later can be evolved into Raguelmon for 4-cost then can Jogress with Mastemon into Ordinemon at the end of the turn. It is the cheapest way to move into Ordinemon, we can also use Winrate 60% to reduce the digivolving cost of Raguelmon if needed.

We need to stay in our turn when Mastemon do Jogress, so obviously memory need to be enough, either from Tamer or option cards.

(But first thing first, if opponent has Digimon that do not allow us to play Digimon from effect, we have to destroy it first).

Will Lordknightmon return?

Same with ST10 Mastemon, Lordknightmon can play a LV5 Warrior type Knightmon for free when it is attacking. We can evolve Knightmon into Raguelmon then trigger the Jogress into Ordinemon from Raguelmon and Lordknightmon at the end of the turn.

Compared to ST10 Mastemon, Lordknightmon must attack in order to play the LV5 for free, it means LKM can be destroyed by the opponent's security card (can be a Digimon that has 11K DP or more, or an option card). On top of that, Mastemon can be Jogress from 2 LV5 for free, or has the flexibility to choose any LV5 from trash while Lordknightmon needs to rely on the only LV5 [Warrior] type yellow Digimon for now (if there is no yellow warrior type Digimon is introduced in BT9). Furthermore, since the deck don't have much draw power for Raguelmon, so it is easily to face hand-brick or cannot draw the right card.

There are some players who tried to play Ordinemon in LKM deck, the outcome is not so good. We may wait to see if there is any cards in BT9 that supports this profile, then LordKnightmon can come back again in BT9 meta.

Daemon (Creepymon) to be noticed.

Daemon is an under-use Secretrare card in BT8 that forms no deck or meta yet, but it has potential to work with Raguelmon in BT9 meta.

With just 3 cost to digivolve, if opponent has 2 or more Digimon in the battle, we can play a LV5 or lower purple Digimon from trash without paying its cost.

Daemon can be useful in the deck that built on Raguelmon digivolution line because it has LV4 Meicoomon that can be played from security or LV5 [BT9-076] Meicrackmon Vicious Mode that is cheap to hard-play.

[BT9-076] Meicrackmon Vicious Mode

Effect: [When Played] [When Digivolving] Trash one card from your hand. If the trashed card is purple, delete one of your opponent’s LV3 Digimon. If the trashed card is yellow, one of your opponent’s Digimon gets DP-3000 until the end of the turn.

Inherited: [On Deletion] If this Digimon has 2 or more colors, gain +2 memory.

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.

BT7 English Meta After the Ban List

We are not so surprised with the Ban/Restriction list from Bandai recently, overall many of us have agreed with their decision. So what will be coming with BT7 English Meta and how the ban list impacts on it, let's have a small discussion about it.

From our decklist record for BT7 Japanese meta, we have the tier-list for this hybrid era as below:

There is no Tier-0 in BT7 but we do see lots of winning belongs to Blue Hybrid and Yellow Zoe Recovery. The blue hybrid here includes GabuBond of Friendship, AncientGaruru, MagnaGaruru or Susanoomon in blue-color decks. About Zoe-Recovery decks, her recovery line was working well with both yellow-based or purple-based Digimon. That are 2 strongest profile in BT7 Japanese meta.

In this article, we are going to talk about how the ban-list would impact to BT7 English meta.

Deck That Totally lost power: Lilith-Loop

Lilith-Loop deck is the one that got hurt the most from the ban-list, without Mega Digimon Fusion, there is no loop can be made. Not only that, the restriction to limit the number of Eyesmon to be included in the deck breaks the backbone of the deck's mechanics.

If you follow the BT7 meta, you must be very familiar with this deck

The deck's tech lands on the Eyesmon:Scatter mode who can summon some LV4 Eyesmon for free after it is destroyed, then can be evolved into Cerberusmon more draw and trash. The Ceberusmon then will be deleted to summon the LV5 Ceberusmon Werewolf mode to attack with "Rush". From here onward the loop can be created when it has enough cards in hand and trash.

This deck is still popular till today but we are sure we will see much more less after the ban takes effect.

To replace for this deck in purple colour for BT7 set, the Cherubimon with Koichi hybrid line appears to be noticed. The purple hybrid line is actually very effective in controlling the board with the LV4 JagerLoweemon "retaliation" and Cherubimon "when digivolving" and "on deletion" effects. We may see more optimised profile for this deck in BT7 English Meta.

Deck that may still stay in Tier-1: Zoe Orimoto Recovery

With 2-lost from the restriction list, why Zoe-Recovery can still remain in Tier-1?

First of all, the Reinforce Memory Boost is not really the important element that decide the strength of this Deck. With 6-cost to play, it equals to "recovery +1", "draw 1" and "Delay" +3 memory. Zoe deck has enough "recovery" from the LV5 JetSilphymon or LV6 Seraphimon or Dynasmon, so it will be okay with 1 copy of Reinforce Memory Boost. For the memory, the duo tamer Takeru & Hikari is the main source that helps to gain many more memories in its turn, gaining from tamer is more secured than gaining from option card because the opponent may play the LV3 Digimon that do not allow us to gain memory from other sources than tamer.

Without Mega Digimon Fusion, the Zoe deck can still evolve the tamer into Susanoomon thanks to the memory enhancer from Takeru&Hikari tamer. By the way, the deck is still strong without Susanoomon appears in the picture. Don't forget the ShineGreymon that have made some thunders in the early meta and he may become a dominance LV6 for Zoe deck in English meta.

Blue-Hybrid: Meta deck would ship to different pillars.

Blue Hybrid would not make it in tier-1, as we suspect from the lost of Icewall option card. But we think the deck will be still a very strong profile in BT7 English Meta.

There is a card that is able to replace Icewall in controlling or slowing down the game, it is Howling memory Boost.

This option card works well with Tommy Himi and Korikakumon in stalling the game, we also foresee more Hammer Spark will come back to fill up the slot that Icewall left.

In all blue-hybrid profiles in BT7 meta, the strongest one as we mentioned in previous article regarding of ban/restriction list is the Tommy Himo hybrid line with Susanoomon and Mega Digimon Fusion in the profile. But after the ban takes effect, the BT7 blue hybrid would use more Magnagarurumon, Gabumon BOF and AncientGarurumon. And Gabumon Bond Of Friendship now is not only used to digivolved from LV3 Gabumon with the support of BT6 tamer Matt Ishida (traditional methods), but also used to evolve into any LV6 blue Digimon due to its cheap Evo-cost and valuable effect. As long as Hammer Spark and Howling Memory Boost are still in-use, the blue hybrid deck still receives many favour for its games.

Red Color: EmperorGreymon and Jesmon

Jesmon has created many drama since the day it was born (BT6 meta). It is the deck that will secure you a win whenever your first draw is good and also a deck that easy to occurs hand-brick the most. It is so straightforward, a typical red deck tech that would kill opponent with OTK (one turn kill). The reason Bandai limited the SaviorHuckmon is also kind of special, "because decks that uses this card with Jesmon have dominated longer than anticipated, greatly limiting viable decks in red".

Jesmon was strong in BT6 meta, but after that it is just a normal profile that win here and there sometimes in BT7 and BT8 meta, and suddenly strong again in EX2 meta. It is true that the red has been limited a lot ever since Jesmon was created.

The LV5 SaviorHuckmon can be replaced with Volcdramon to give Jesmon "SecurityAttack+1" or BT4 RizeGreymon. Jesmon will become less popular in BT7 English meta, but it should not disappear like Lilith-loop.

EmperorGreymon does not take any impact from the ban list because it is not common to see Susanoomon in a red hybrid deck, rather more of AncientGreymon.

The EmperorGreymon is somehow slower than the blue-hybrid deck. To have Emperor successfully working alone, the deck relies a lot on the possibility that you are able to draw and trash BT6 Aldamon to enable opponent's security option-jamming, and how many AnalogBoy you can draw to trash more hybrid cards to trash. Without Aldamon, EmperorGreymon is very weak over Security Control deck because we normally use "Blitz" to attack. Or if it survives after its attacking, opponent will just destroy or return him to hand or deck in next turn, or Tommy Himi will just trash all his digivolution source and make him not able to attack in the next turn …. There are too many decks in BT7 meta can counter EmperorGreymon's power and it does not have OTK ability like Jesmon so it can't end the game.

So we think there is nothing changed for EmperorGreymon position after the ban-list, it may still stay in Tier 1.5 in English format.

Green Junpei Hybrid and Black X-antibody

Junpei hybrid line is not popular in BT7 meta, I think the main reason is Junpei was not a favourite Character in the Digimon Frontier show, lolx, just kidding.

It should be no impact from the ban list to these 2 profiles. The green hybrid is upgraded regarding of the board-control ability with AncientBeetlemon, while BT7 is the first set that helps to complete a first black X-antibody profiles with the evolution line of Dorumon.

X-antibody has limited way to build deck, it will continue to BT8 Ryudamon line. It always has a fixed distribution for the deck that you would build and not many fancy "spices" to be utilised.

This site uses english-translated cards from digimoncard.dev.