Overview
With Aliens in Abyss Encounters, Konami introduced - for the first time since Naturias - a relatively self-contained, powerful, F2P-friendly deck. In Rampage of the Forest they have graciously continued this trend, giving us Sylvans, another self-contained archetype that relies on no expensive backrow and has strong potential to hit the tier list.
The Sylvan archetype consists of monsters that excavate and mill cards from the deck. These monsters also have effects when milled, ranging from spot removal, to rearranging the top cards of the deck, to special summoning from the graveyard. Because multiple monsters can be milled at a time by certain Sylvans, the deck is capable of wiping opponents' fields while swarming in the process. This makes it a threat against a number of top-tier decks, especially those currently in Tier 1 (REZ and Aliens). But despite their strength, Sylvans do have a few significant weaknesses as well.
Sample Deck
Many members in the Discord have reached KoG with Sylvans already this month. Restart is the go-to skill with Sylvans as you want to generally Restart for Mushroom, or for Rose + Hermit in specific matchups. Restarting for techs/ECon against decks like Cyber Angels is also a good option. This is a slight variation on one of the KoG decks found in the Discord:
Core Cards
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3 × Loading... (Mushroom):
This is your typical turn 1 set and your biggest miller. Very valuable when milled as well, destroying any spell/trap card on the field. -
3 × Loading... (Marsh):
A nice follow-up summon after stacking your deck (more on that with Hermitree), Marsh also likes being milled to pop a monster. -
2 × Loading... (Hermit):
The main boss monster, Hermit mills one every turn (adding resources to your hand in the process) and stacks your deck when milled. This second effect of Hermit is so valuable to the consistency of the deck, allowing you to control what you draw into vs what you mill. A strong turn 3 play (after setting Mushroom turn 1) is to flip up Mushroom, mill a Hermit, stack a Mushroom/Marsh on top of the deck, and the summon Marsh to mill what you stacked. -
3 × Loading... (Rose):
Serving a simple role in the deck, Rose makes it easy to get Hermitree out. Rose is also great discard fodder for certain tech cards like Divine Wrath or Dark Core. -
1 x Loading... : (Guard)
Similar to Hermit, Guard can stack your deck (from the grave) when milled and can mill every turn when on the field. Although its stack effect is only a single card, milling Guard and Hermit at the same time allows you to push that stacked card deeper into your deck (with Hermit's effect) if you don't want to draw it next turn. -
1 x Loading... (Carrot):
A very easy special summon once milled, allowing you to clear a flipped Mushroom or discard a Rose in the process. Works nicely with ECon if he ends up in your hand. Inspiration for vegetable fighters across the globe! -
2 × Loading... (ECon):
A staple for as long as Duel Links has been out, ECon is especially good with Sylvans. It allows you to push for game after clearing backrow with Mushroom or to put Rose into the grave to quickly get out a Hermit. Very versatile card when the tribute-take effect is useful and it is quite often a great option when running Sylvans.
These are all highly recommended to play an optimized Sylvan deck, although it is important to keep in mind that the core may evolve slightly as the deck continues to be explored. There are also other options for building Sylvans, like with Loading... and Loading... as a quick OTK deck; these will likely not be as good once the meta adjusts to the presence of Sylvans.
Tech Cards
A core of 15 cards leaves 5 cards to be filled, and there are number of excellent choices. Beyond additional copies of the core cards (like a third ECon or second and third Guardioak) we also have:
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Loading... :
An 1800 ATK beater that acts like a baby Hermit, milling on summon only and stacking a single card. A decent choice for more monster-heavy builds. -
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Very strong late-game card, giving huge one-time ATK boosts to all your Plants. Borders on being too aggressive, but the game-ending potential is hard to ignore. -
Loading... :
Excellent option for recycling your Sylvans, plus gives you a free draw (which is very useful when used in combination with the next three tech options). -
Loading... :
Stops a large number of monsters dead in their tracks while also giving you a way to get Rose into the grave. The discard cost is almost never an issue as you accumulate resources in hand pretty easily with this deck. A great out vs things that would otherwise give the deck trouble: Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , etc. Anything that can deal with a face-down Mushroom without flipping it is a threat and Divine Wrath stops a lot of these threats. Loading... is also a budget replacement and has added flexibility (although this is rarely ever needed since monster effects give Sylvans the most trouble). -
Loading... :
Mainly a side option against Cyber Angels as an extra way to deal with giant, protected monsters. -
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Great consistency card for getting Hermit out, ideally by discarding a Rose when retrieving Hermit after it’s been milled. -
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Although Merchant is probably best in a dedicated build rather than teched into a more “standard” Sylvan deck.
Brief Match-up Notes
Any new deck has to be evaluated not only on its own but also in the context of the current meta. Sylvans match up well with many relevant decks, but struggle against a few others: