Overview
In case you missed it, this week's Meta Weekly was the first weekly with the new Structure Deck, and although it didn't make much of a splash it did provide some refreshingly entertaining games. In the finals, we had DanielYGO taking the win over Pilot's with an incredibly interesting build of Thunder Dragons using Fiend Farewell and Loading... .
Interview with DanielYGO
How do does it feel to win your first Meta Weekly (despite already winning an MCS)?
It is my first Meta Weekly win. I did it in the wrong order I suppose. I feel great, as I did not really enter to win this Meta Weekly. I entered to testing the list because I am still experimenting with it, so the win is quite unexpected.
How did it go for you today?
There were a lot of close games, the last three matches were especially intense. I faced my clanmate Victor Li in Top 8 in the Thunder Dragon mirror where I was able to come out on top thanks to my better ability to grind and higher consistency. The Top 4 match against Blue-Eyes where we both bricked in the last game was something that was painful for everyone to see. Last but not least, there was the Finals where after I saw him resolve Loading... in the last game I thought I the match was already over.
Do you think this build is the new direction for Thunder Dragon?
Depends on what wants to beat. This list has very nice matchups against Harpies and Onomat which are the current decks to beat. The inclusion of Loading... helps a ton in those matchups, as he is not only an extra starter (which Thunder Dragons lack) but also allows you to end on three monsters which is hard for Onomat and Harpies to OTK through. The current fear for many players is Destiny Draw (and by extension Allured by Darkness ) as people are really afraid to trigger the Skill so they try to attack with the smaller monsters first into your to deal the least amount of damage. What if I told you attacking into monsters could even be punished. Well, Fiend Farwell does just that and also serves as an extender, as Loading... triggers all the Thunder Dragon effects, plays around Loading... and has so many more uses. The worst matchup would probably be against Fire King and Floodgates which is why I put in the Loading... and Loading... / Loading... against those. So as long as Onomat and Harpies are going to be the deck to beat the answer in my opinion is yes.
Would you like to explain any of your Deck choices?
The Thunder Dragon engine is pretty standard. Max out on the Thunder Dragons which help you play the game and play Two Loading... and One Loading... because Roar can brick and Duo is our boss monster. Loading... is there to help grind better and an extra layer of protection against aggressive decks like Onomat and Harpies. The hand traps are there to serve as another way to protect from OTKs. Loading... is better than Loading... because he is bigger, Level 6, and does not need to summon in response to an attack which makes it more flexible. The handtraps I use also need to be non-Fiend to not clash with Fiend Farewell so Loading... or Loading... are not options. Loading... was also not an option to me because I wanted to be able to play around Loading... which is what I was able to do in the finals (it would've been great if I also had followup after that). We have to max out on Loading... and Loading... to be able to deal with the backrow from Harpies (even if I have a love-hate relationship with him since he was bricking some of my hands). Loading... is the Fiend target for the skill of course. Loading... , Loading... and Loading... are our starters which consistently help in comparison to something like Loading... and Loading... which rely on milling the right cards which I personally dislike(while also being worse than Solar since he summon a Token and that Token is goated).
Loading... is there to be able to remove some monsters if the opponent was afraid to trigger Fiend Farewell . Loading... is there to be able to out Loading... and to be a wall with its destruction protection which comes up a lot. Loading... is there to be able to not lose to Loading... since he is 100 ATK bigger and as such cannot be crashed into while also being able to negate him. I do not play Loading... since once I summon Loading... and Loading... he's usually overkill in most cases and the Extra Deck space is really tight. I wish I could include cards like Loading... or Loading... for some weird situations or rouge matchups. The other are standard and are being played in the current Thunder list. Also if anyone is wondering why there is 1 CC and 2 MST. The answer is very simple: Budget MST
Lastly, Do you have any shout-outs you'd like to make?
Shoutout to my Clan MHC, DF and the people in the Thunder Dragon chat. They all supported me in Top Cut while some of them were fighting in Top Cut of Team Wars. A special shoutout to Buns who was the person who introduced me to the deck which I am now trying to optimize while he enjoys his Onomat again.
Winning Decklist:
That's all we got for this DLM Champion spotlight! What kind of questions should we be asking in the future? Comment down below!