Notes & Combos

Deranking from Legend 5 all the way to Legend 1 last month made me lose all motivation to KoG. However, the post-banlist meta this month is unironically better for this deck. It took me 42 wins (minimum is 33) to get from Plat 6 to KoG. Not too shabby for a non-meta deck to KoG using just under 8 days into the season.

Stardust has never been unmanageable for this deck. Going first, a full Chimera board still wins almost everytime. When going second, the deck has access to a free Evilswarm Exciton Knight from the skill. This is basically "Ruddy Rose Dragon at home" because the skill summons the monsters face-up, similar to the Stardust skill, so it is an instant summon. Exciton Knight's field wipe is still not guaranteed to resolve even with DRNM, Droplet and Chimera Fusion to protect it, especially with the existence of Centur-ion True Awakening, but it is good enough to perform on ladder.

The hardest matchup for this deck pre-banlist was actually Destiny Hero, because they can set up a truly unbreakable turn 1 board. They can no longer do this post-banlist, so while Plasma and DPE are still very tricky to play around, the deck is no longer unbeatable.

The biggest weakness of this deck is the higher possibility of bricking. Most Chimera builds run Precious Cards of the Dark, so they are much less likely to brick. I prefer Heartbeat of Hope because it basically guarantees Exciton Knight going second, so it is much more forgiving in terms of how many pieces of non-engine need to be hard opened to break the Stardust board. Also, it is a free Zoodiac Drident going first which is actually quite useful for quickly popping both monsters and face-up S/T (an example is popping Accel Stardust immediately when it is summoned, before Formula Synchron is summoned by it).

Soul Scissors is a good replacement for Abominable Unchained Soul, a better card in some cases due to its lack of cost and easier summoning condition, but I value Abom more for its high base attack, its pop being non-targeting, and the flexibility of being able to destroy S/T. I would play both if possible, but I don't think any card could be cut from my current decklist for this. Every card in the Extra Deck is also vital.

Finally, shout out to Naelshaddoll Ariel. Sending it with Beatrice is absolutely lethal in this format, a must-play for every Chimera build in my opinion. Popular banish targets include: DPE, Malicious, Denier, Stardust Synchron/Trail, Centur-ion Primera Primus, Junk Converter.