Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode (Blue)
17 October 2020 | Engine | Rina, Rononrun
Overview

UlforceVeedramon may have been the popular for a while now, but ever since BT-03 he has been dethroned by none other than [BT3-031] Imperialdramon: Dragon mode. This blue Imperialdramon is popular in the BT-03 meta, and dominates almost all blue tournament deck listings. This is a Jamming-Rush engine!
Mechanism - Mind Your Weakness
This engine is straightforward but easily thwarted. Imperialdramon (blue) will unsuspend all your digimons with <Jamming> upon digivolution (including himself), so it is preferred to field many digimons with <Jamming> in order to maximise his effect. However, jamming strategies are always weak against blockers. With most jammers having very low (sub 4000) DP they become useless once your opponent fields a blocker. While your LV5 jammers Paildramon and Dinobeemon can bypass most blockers, they can still substantially slow you down (especially when you are relying on Veemon/Frigimon for aggro), just enough to thwart your momentum. With these in mind, we look at the engine itself.


The best candidate moving into Imperialdramon would always be [BT3-027] Paildramon, as he will not only reduce the digivolution cost by 2, but also grants an extremely useful inheritable effect to your Imperialdramon. With Paildramon as it's digivolution card, Imperialdramon can attack twice in a turn. In addition, Paildramon himself can bypass most blockers (below 6000 DP) except Cherrymon or when playing against a black blocker-based deck.
Meanwhile, [BT3-055] Dinobeemon can be useful occasionally, and usually only played for the increased base pool for moving into Imperialdramon (since he also reduces digivolution cost by 2). With <Piercing>, he can be a great candidate against blockers (again, those below 6000 DP) but most of the time Paildramon is preferred as base moving into Imperialdramon.


As Imperialdramon (blue) unsuspends jammers, [BT3-021] Veemon synergises well with this engine (being the cheapest jammer in the game). Use [BT3-025] ExVeemon to unsuspend that volatile Veemon after.


If playing in green base, then [BT1-068] Kokuwamon can provide a very useful <SecurityAttack+1> to Imperialdramon (blue). With Paildramon's inheritable effect, Imperialdramon (blue) can remove 4 securities in a single turn, and 5 if we include an initial security check using Paildramon. Massive!
Another trick is the use of [BT2-049] Puppetmon which allow you to rest those pesky blockers (or just about anything dangerous) for an additional turn. He can be used in both green or blue bases and since this is a rush engine, an additional turn with no active blockers can be all that's needed for a win! Beware of that hefty 11 cost though!


The most obvious solution to blockers is the [BT3-111] Imperialdramon (green). Having <Piercing>, he can be a viable solution against a wall of blockers or rested digimons (granted those blockers do not have more than 11000 DP). Note that while many green digimons grant inheritable DP buffs, blue does not.
Therefore, the other obvious solution would be [BT1-084] Omnimon (a solution to many problems). His second effect synergises well with Imperialdramon (blue) since Imperialdramon's effect is triggered by digivolution.
Minor Supports


Since this engine synergises with both blue and green cards, [BT3-093] Davis Motomiya can be a great addition to increase hand robustness. The guaranteed 3 starting memory from a tamer is crucial for this engine, hence tamers should be maximised. You can also use [BT1-089] Mimi Tachikawa when running a green base.
[BT3-104] Positron Laser is an option card specially crafted for this engine. However, it is relatively expensive and conditional hence not often played. In many scenarios, having Puppetmon might be a better choice.
Featured Decks
Check out the imperial blue deck review for more detail. This deck is a winning tournament candidate, a good example to understand how it works.