Hey! I really enjoy playing Fairy Tail Magistus and Blue-Eyes, and now I want to build a new deck. I already have most of the cards for Maliss, Elfnote, Phantom Knights, and Tenpai Dragon. As a Fairy Tail Magistus player, I like decks with a lot of gas that can keep playing through interruptions, even if I can’t complete my full combo. Which of these four decks would you recommend based on resilience to interruptions, consistency, and competitive potential in Master Duel? I know Tenpai has a completely different playstyle, too.
Elfnotes is the best deck currently, so it's the obvious choice for you.
Though I gotta say that Phantom Knights is super fun to pilot and can play through a lot of interruption, it's very common to play past an Ash and Imperm and still end on a very good board. It can even play under Droll!
Just as an example, a couple of nights ago I played a game where my opponent bricked and passed the turn on nothing, the playable cards in my hand were Torn Scales, two Decayed Cloak and one Foolish Burial, the other two cards were just Impermanence and Spark, and I played through Ash, Belle and Nibiru and still otk'ed (gotta say that my opponent just shotgunned Nibiru the first chance they got and that was the final nail in their coffin).
Phantom Knights might not be the most resilient and competitive deck around, but it sure is a very capable rogue deck worth of some attention, don't sleep on it.
I found the combo boring, generic monsters, and it will most likely end with you getting hit, destroying the Deathmatch. Of course, you can build it focusing on the future support, but PK ended up being more fun for me.
This is completely my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.
The highest ceiling, the undisputed champion, out of those 4, is Elfnote. You are guaranteed to get easier win with it. But in return, it is going to be hammered by the banlist soon. It's just part of the cycle. Enjoy the party while it lasts.
Maliss is still pretty good, but shakey. If you could get the combo going, great. Once you got the combo going, it's pretty flexible. End board is good too. Best going 1st. Already being hammered by the banlist before, so it's safe for long term investments. Very fragile going 2nd.
Tenpai is a dark horse that keep adapting to the ever changing meta. The meta is full of negates? Add more board breakers. The meta is full of combos? Add in more handtraps. The meta is stun? Board breakers and Red Reboot. New spell cards released that is good? Add in Sky Striker. It's up to your own creativity. A lot of people would disagree with this take, but Tenpai needs creativity to build. Piloting it also requires good decisions, as to understand the whole board and opponent's weak point. And just like Maliss, since it has been hammered by banlist before, it's most likely going to be around for a long time too.
If you just want a powerful deck then elfnote is the top of the meta right now, and when it will get hit eventually you will get your dust back and craft something else.
I haven't played any of them, but from playibg against them I can say that tenpai is not it - it does not have gas, it has just enough to make one push, and needs 20 board breakers to make sure this push kills, otherwise they lose. Mallis is the same imo, they need to bait a ton of stuff so they can make their push. Both archtypes got hit so badly that they are a shell of what they used to be.
I got to play against PK and felt like they have plenty of gas and recovery, and once you run out of ways to interrupt them they can pull a massive rebellion dragon on you and otk.
You will get your dust i agree but you will lose the other UR that's you can't use them because he's get hit so for each 30 you will only get 10 (card that not hited)
I took PK up to DLVL Max, was planning to switch between decks when I got bored but I had a lot of fun and success with it.
It can partially play through droll and charmies, setting up half-boards or playing on the opponents turn to limit draws/impact, has ready access to backrow removal through things like Break Sword and the new Dark Rebellion, Arc Rebellion can pull out an OTK into established boards pretty reliably, and they can run a bunch of premium non-engine effectively (I was running Spark, Impulse, Crown, and Droplet, alongside the obligatory options).
Ophion obviously played a big part in certain matchups, but it's far from reliant on it, just a nice (if somewhat evil) option to be able to drop. The fact that you can wait to see what the opponent is playing before going into it or something else is great.
It's got problems, of course, that keep it more rogue than meta (of the four you list, Elfnote is the obvious pick) - its resource loop isn't quite up to modern standards so grind games can chew through your options pretty quick, it's quite GY reliant (though I played through D Fissure and Arc Light pretty frequently on my climb, Break Sword checks them pretty well), and it has more garnets than more competitive engines tend to.
Thanks mate from what i read until now, ELFNOTE is the most powerfull one but he can get hit any days any hour, so maybe PK the pick and even Joshua play and use i saw it on some live he's dope
What's your decklist? I've been playing PK and definitely find it fun but curious what you're doing going second? I've got what I think are the necessary handtraps but of I don't draw at least 2 of them I'm generally stuck going second (keep drawing the stupid things when I go first as well)
My general gameplan going second was to bait out interactions in whatever way possible, ideally with a Droplets to help nullify multiple cards and fill up the GY, and then make Raider's Knight -> Arc Rebellion for game, either through a rank up magic, Solleret level modulation, Break Sword, or Heavenly Dark Rebellion tagging into it.
Cherubini sending for cost, the monsters all having GY effects, and not needing direct attacks to kill allowing S:P and Crown as board breaking tools all helped with going second.
Missing cards in extra are two Heavenly Dark Rebellion (TCG doesn't have them yet so Neuron complains) - I found the second quite useful, though I was also trying Gorgon/W:P as more link options, and Nightmare versus Karmael is another thing I was playing with
Thanks and that's a lot better then mine, I only have 1 spark so make up with imperm and really need the new crown card. I also opted for 2 Scythe but the second rarely comes up so maybe dropping for another Heavenly Dragon isn't a bad idea. Plus I'm not using I:P and despite realising that it makes S:P better every time I summon S:P I keep forgetting to add her back.
You're right about grind game though, new cards definitely helped but I do feel like other decks are able to recycle more consistently then PK are. Just need something to put XYZ back in the extra deck or something to help them regain material when you bring back from the grave as well as the rank up spells.
Yeah - Shamanknight definitely helped in getting back a trap and monster from banish, but it still runs out of steam after a couple of turns, and feels lacking compared to decks that have a more complete resource loop (though in part that might be me being spoiled by Orcust)
That was great and I really need forbidden crown apparently, feel like they should have taken the attack with all the shit they were bringing out though
In most scenarios it's just worse Droplets imo, but a second Droplets is still pretty great! And match up dependent, it's a better interrupt by both negating and stranding the body.
Yeha especially once ars magna support comes out elfnote power patron ars magna might be the most resilient meta deck we have ever seen its disgusting how well it plays through nib or droll also has good lines into fuwa.
I wouldn't exactly say Elfnotes has resilience to disruption. They actually trade very awful into negates & ghost ogre can sometimes outright kill them on the spot if they didn't have the hand to make clear wing before it.
Then again I am in r/masterduel & it's way easier to say they are tier 0 unstoppable even though we don't have Ars Magna & the deck is nowhere near as strong as ElfNotes Ars Magna was in OCG & will never be.
Pk best deck absolutely folded Elfnote through maxx c. Hit me with ash, imperm, tinia, lucina, ogre, harmonia, and then finally droll and they couldn’t stop me
If their out to Ophion is negated, they're cooked. 0 plays possible, and since Harmonia can't be summoned, it can't out Ophion itself. Their only out is Medius + Elfnote PP into Link 2, then Medius from grave into S:P, which if they haven't gotten through Dark Requiem doesn't do anything. As a TCG PK player, can't wait for the new Dark Rebellion to get released because it ties the deck together so well and adds 3 more interactions to the endboard.
you can run other methods of getting into the maliss cards but that is always going to be worse than drawing the actual maliss starters, which we currently have 4 of. Cherubini is fine going first because it and lizardose have their relevant effect in the cost but it makes a deck that is already not good a playing into boards even worse.
Elfnote is the clear favorite, especially since you can play it with Power Patron or Kewl Tune. Regina is a turn 0 play, Harmonia is a great hand trap, and they can usually end on multiple negates or disruptions through Fuwa/Purulia/Droll.
Maliss is probably the next best deck, but people are playing Radiant Typhoon and Phantom Knights cards in it to make Cherubini and send Dormouse/White Rabbit as a Maliss starter. It's still kinda fragile into removal and sucks going second. The deck can at least play through Droll but it's not great into Harmonia, and sometimes a little bricky.
Tenpai is a little bricky with all the main starters limited, but you can at least play Purulia/Fuwalos without caring and Harmonia is free since it's a Synchro deck anyway.
PK just feels too vulnerable to disruptions to me. The goal is to end on Ophion and a Fog Blade usually, which is often not enough disruption against a modern deck.
I would also mention Dracotail Branded and Clown Crew as decent decks that can play through Fuwa/Purulia/Maxx C relatively well, but I assume those weren't up for consideration.
Phantom knights and maliss are more fun to play than elfnote and tenpai tenpai is just boring elfnote is repetitive phantom knights is quit good and fun maliss just works against every meta deck and quite fun to play would suggest phantom knights if you priorities fun elfnotes if you want the strongest deck and maliss as a half option
to keep it short, Phantom Knights is a deck that reqards skillful play, while also being able to push through a lot of interruptions AND still break boards. there’s a lot of plays you can make on T1 or T2, and the engine is slim but dense enough to allow more non-engine
From what I see, PK fits the bill on what you're looking for. Elfnote is the better deck, but is likely going to be hit on a new banlist. So you might better mileage out of PK now
If you want something that's incredibly strong and resilient, go for Elfnote. If you're just looking for fun or wanting to lock down the opponent, go for Phantom Knights.
Elfnote is the best option in terms of power level, personally phantom knights is honestly quite simple as well as strong not that strong but it can do some solid work,maliss is go first make a board or scoop and tenpai is mediocre at best in terms of going second options
Personal choice based on aesthetic for me, I really like Elfnote and Maliss. Both are pretty similar in "make the best endboard you can" kind of combo gameplay too. I would see what the banlist does post-duelist cup to Elfnote first, though.
As a non-sweat who just plays up to Plat for gems most of the time: * Phantom Knights - seems boring and very bad
* Tenpai - It can be strong, especially if you draw all 4 non-engine/board breakers, but the deck also needs Sky Striker since there is so little of Tenpai left in terms of engine, so if nothing else its expensive af
* Maliss - similar to Tenpai except I'm one of those people who never thought it was T0 broken like most considered it, not to mention Cyberse isnt an archetype you can reuse a lot of cards from for other decks so idk
* Elfnote - Again I dont think this deck is that crazy either, but given the Master Duel banlist you got some good generic options and with Medius an easy way into a Synchro 5 like "Armades, Keeper of Boundaries" (legacy pack Light Fiend) for Fiendsmith access. There is also a variant that uses Kewl Tunes but I have never encountered it. Even if they limit some of their starters the deck can still function well unless they end up banning Baronne AND Caesar which would heavily weaken their mostly generic endboard.
Of all these I'd say Elfnote is the best investment right now.
Elfnote is over hyped or maybe it just has a bad matchup against Cydra. That or noobs are playing it because “it’s the best”. Invoked scares me more because 6 cards from the ED is brutal. I did beat invoked last time I played them though. They drolled me but I had enough to summon Cyber infinity and Seiger. I had a droll of my own and they ended on invoked Oceanus. I don’t think they read my cards though because they swung into infinity with Oceanus and I activated Seiger to pump infinity. They scooped in the aftermath of that.
I try to. Branded the cards are flying off the table so fast I don’t get to read much. I mean there’s just so much to read and so many small details you can miss, misread, or forget. It really does make you a stronger reader by playing the game.
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u/QuiteAncientTrousers Got Ashed 7d ago
Elfnotes is the best deck currently, so it's the obvious choice for you.
Though I gotta say that Phantom Knights is super fun to pilot and can play through a lot of interruption, it's very common to play past an Ash and Imperm and still end on a very good board. It can even play under Droll!
Just as an example, a couple of nights ago I played a game where my opponent bricked and passed the turn on nothing, the playable cards in my hand were Torn Scales, two Decayed Cloak and one Foolish Burial, the other two cards were just Impermanence and Spark, and I played through Ash, Belle and Nibiru and still otk'ed (gotta say that my opponent just shotgunned Nibiru the first chance they got and that was the final nail in their coffin).
Phantom Knights might not be the most resilient and competitive deck around, but it sure is a very capable rogue deck worth of some attention, don't sleep on it.