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Deck Evolutions:
The
evolution
of a
deck is
quite a
thing to
see. The
story of
the
megabug
deck is
frankly,
one of
the more
interesting
stories…
Upon the
release
of Clash
of the
Duel
Masters,
players
were
smacked
in the
face
with
huge
monarch
creatures.
Each
promised
to alter
the game
in a way
that
players
had yet
to see
up to
this
point.
Beneath
the
shadows
of these
monarchs
The Hive
Queen
nurtured
her
“bug
buddies”
as she
prepared
to
“stir
the
hive.”
Many
duelists
overlooked
her
proud
form and
dismissed
her as
simply
incapable
of
competing
in a
realm of
dragons
and
monarchs.
On June
22,
2013, at
the Las
Vegas
KMC,
Nima
Hosseini
would go
on to
prove
that
first
impulse
wrong
and
guide
his
green
queens
into a
top 4
standing.
One week later
Carl
Miciotto
would
evolve
the bug
deck
into a
truly
competitive
direction.
The
first
shift
for Carl
was to
change
the
third
color
from
Fire to
Water,
thereby
allowing
himself
access
to
powerful
disruption
cards
like
Rusalka,
Aqua
Chaser
and
General
Finbarr.
Additionally,
General
Finbarr
allowed
him a
stronger
mid to
late
game by
granting
him
access
to
greater
card
advantage
than the
initial
Las
Vegas
build
could
generate.
Next we
see a
maximizing
out of
trump
cards
such as
The Hive
Queen
and
Keeper
of Laws.
The
addition
of the 3
cost
Sword
Horned
over
Gigahorn
Charger
allowed
Carl to
not only
deal
with
early
threats
more
quickly
than
Nima’s
previous
version,
but also
allowed
his deck
to play
more
aggressively.
At 5550
power,
Sword
Horned
is
powerful
enough
that no
creatures
outside
of
evolution
creatures
could
deal
with
such
power so
early in
the
game.
With the
addition
of new
cards,
even
with the
absence
of Fire
from the
deck, in
order
for it
to be a
contender
for the
top spot
there
needed
to be a
culling
of
further
cards.
Carl
removed
a good
deal of
the less
effective
cards
such as
Ra-Vu, Seeker of Lightning and
Keeper
of
Clouds.
When all
was said
and
done,
Carl’s
new list
generated
a lean
40 card
deck
list
over
Nima
Hosseini’s
slightly
bloated
45 card
deck
list.
This
allowed
Carl
to more
consistently
produce
viable
threats
on the
board
and
catapult
him into
the 1st
place
position
after
battling
through
a 63
player
swiss
tournament
and then
an
extremely
control
heavy
top 8
environment.
In the
end, it
was
Carl’s
deck
which
would
truly be
the
archetype
for
megabug
decks to
come.
By the LCQs on August 2nd, 2013 Gordon Kane and Noah Koessel
would
each
pilot
their
megabug
decks
into
strong
top 4
spots
(though
not
strong
enough
to take
the
invite
to
champs).
Each
player
ran
essentially
on
Carl
Micciotto’s
framework
with a
few
exceptions.
Both
decks
sported
more
aggression
foregoing
any
blockers
entirely,
relying
purely
on
disrupting
their
opponent,
swift
attacks
and
shield
triggers.
Neither
of the
decks
bothered
to run
Bottle
of
Wishes
or
Reap and
Sow,
yet both
players
decided
to
introduce
Piercing
Judgment
into
their
build,
which
would
quickly
become a
staple
in most
megabug
decks to
come.
Noah’s
singular
contribution
to the
competitive
top 8
megabug
build
came in
the form
of
Lyra,
the
Blazing
Sun,
which
would
also
become a
megabug
main
stay.
On August 4th the first Kaijudo Champs kicked in…and
megabugs
missed
the top
8 mark,
not
putting
a single
deck
into the
top
spots.
On September 28th, 2013, with the recent introduction
of
Shattered
Alliances
earlier
in the
month,
both
Carl Reddish playing at the Louisiana KMC and Drew Bridges, playing at the Georgia KMC,
simultaneously
tapped
into a
single
critical
card
which
would
become a
serious
staple
for the
deck –
Cyber Scamp. This simple
little
1000
powered
blue
creature
allowed
the
megabug
deck to
punish
players
for
setting
off
early
spells
such as
Sprout
and
Mesmerize.
Cast the
spell
and face
another
Cyber
Scamp or
drop the
spell in
mana and
go with
another
plan?
This
became a
very
difficult
decision
opponents
now had
to deal
with.
Sam Bisa at the Montreal KMC on October 12th, 2013 contributed
a small
change
to the
deck.
While
not his
only
change,
the
addition
of
Oath
Sworn
Call
would
prove to
be a
shield
trigger
players
in the
future
would
need to
consider
when
developing
future
builds.
The success of the megabug deck was greatly in part due to the
ability
of the
deck NOT
to
simply
go about
a single
aggression
strategy
to win.
Michael Web, playing at the
Florida
KMC on
October
20th,
2013,
decided
to add
an
additional
strategy
that
would
create a
sort of
“cultural
divide”
amongst
megabug
decks.
While
megabugs
and
The Hive
Queen
are at
the core
of the
deck,
Humonculon,
the
Blaster,
Sword
Horned
and
Full
Metal
Lemon
all
provided
access
to
another
set of
powerful
evolution
creatures
in the
form of
Blinder
Beetle
Prime.
Being an
enforcer
that
could
tap down
two
creatures
the turn
it
entered
play and
swinging
with a
6000
body at
the cost
of only
5 mana,
Blinder Beetle Prime would prove to be an effective means of
stabilizing
the
board or
pushing
for a
final
swing.
In fact,
in the
mirror
match,
the deck
NOT
running
Blinder
Beetle
Prime
would
often be
at a
disadvantage
as the
Blinder Beetle Prime player would clear their board of opposing
megabugs
just
before
The Hive
Queen
was
ready to
go
online.
The Winter Championship LCQs and Winter Championship itself held
on
November
23rd
and 24th
brought
about
the
first
major
tournaments
since
the
release
of
Invasion
Earth.
Nearly
consistently
across
the
board
the
agreed
changes
to
megabug
decks
that saw
top 8
standings
included
Tricky
Turnip,
a cheap
untargetable
creature,
and
Stratus
Beetle,
the new
duel
civilization
megabug
(including
myself
from LCQ
2 – but
that’s
another
story –
see
previous
article).
Carl
Miccioto
would
nod his
agreement
with the
introduction
of these
two
creatures
as he
would go
onto
take 2nd
place in
the
Winter
Champs.
While
Tricky
Turnip
(my own
favorite
card in
the
game!!)
would go
on to be
a card
to be
included
based on
personal
preference,
at least
1 or 2
Stratus Beetles would also be included in nearly every top 8 megabug
deck in
the
future.
Enter 5
Mystics
Immediately going into the 5 Mystics format,
Psychic
Predator
Rusalka
was the
universal
addition
to
megabugs…if
you
could
immediately
afford
it. With
asking
prices
as high
as $50
on
release
date,
there
ended up
being a
few top
8
megabug
decks
that did
well,
despite
doing
without
one.
An additional change came with the introduction of 5 Mystics in
the form
of a
brand
new
megabug.
Brood
Mother
sparked
a good
deal of
debate
since
at 5
cost
Humonculon the Blaster was already in that mana curve cost and had
proven
very
effective
up to
this
point.
Since
that
time,
the
majority
of top 8
megabug
decks
have all
agreed -
Brood
Mother
works.
Between
Mana Tick, Brood Mother, The
Hive
Queen
and
General
Finbarr,
your
hand
nearly
always
stays
fresh
and full
while
your
board
keeps
continuously
pumping
out
multiple
threats
per
turn.
With my
own
version
of this
deck,
I’ve
managed
to pilot
two top
8s since
the
release
of 5
Mystics,
including
securing
my
invite
at KMC
Bedford,
Texas.
What’s Next?
On May 30th, Quest
for the Gauntlet
will be released. The
release of this set will
be the first time since
megabugs has begun to be
played that it will be
forced to remove cards
in order to remain legal
for the standard
environment. Let’s looks
at what we may lose…
Manapod Beetle and
Ambush Scorpion: These two are
currently the only two
solid Nature 2 drop
megabugs in the game.
With these rotating out,
megabug players may be
forced to run 3
Stratus Beetles and
then dip into the last
remaining not in use 3
cost megabug –
Saber Mantis. Being
forced to run
Saber Mantis will
definitely be a step
down from where the deck
wants to go and could
potentially make the
decks match up versus
rush a lot more
difficult.
Lyra, the Blazing Sun: This card hasn’t been a necessity in every constructed megabug
deck. However,
Psychic Predator Rusalka
may serve well as a
replacement. Of course,
there is a strong
disadvantage to
Psychic Predator Rusalka
over
Lyra. With all the
new evolution creatures
we are seeing for the
Release Celebration
cards,
Lyra is certainly more effective. Lyra can tap the bait and an evolution creature played on that bait
doesn’t untap; whereas
Psychic Predator
Rusalka’s effect is
ignored when a creature
becomes evolved. Perhaps
the repeated use of the
Psychic Predator Rusalka
will overcome this
deficiency.
Stormspark Blast: We know that Terror Pit
and
Root Trap are
getting the reprint
treatment, yet we have
received no word
regarding
Stormspark Blast. Should it not be reprinted, there really isn’t a
significant enough
equivalent in the game
right now to warrant a
straight swap. Perhaps
Quest for the Gauntlet
will surprise us with
something worthwhile. If
neither of these
scenarios occurs, I
pretty well imagine that
Stormspark Blast
will simply be replaced
by additional creatures.
*I’d like to
thank TKC of the The
Kaijudo Channel for all
the work he has put into
thekaijudochannel.com.
Without access to his
site, this article would
have taken a great many
more hours to complete.
Keep up the work TKC and
be sure to visit his
site!
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