The Chaos Warriors (Normal Monster) GET Tournament has successfully concluded in both Hong Kong events. We are delighted to receive a submission from Chau Wing Him (Curly Hair), the winner of the Swiss Round, who shares his insights from the tournament, his understanding of the deck he used, the current meta, and his outlook for the 2024.1 era.
Hi everyone, this is Curly (I've quit the game). I haven't paid attention to new cards since the release of AGOV 1202. I only found out about 1203 and Snake Eyes right before the tournament. Recently, I've been addicted to a certain Go game, and I haven't played it since the October announcement. So I think my understanding of the meta might be a bit off, so please just laugh it off. The deck I used in this opening tournament was Pure Love Fairy. Pure Love is basically a pseudo-assassin in this meta. Going first and just doing "Train Pure Love Fairy - Dark Elf" isn't enough to win; you need at least one more hand trap to reach the ideal value. The only advantage of Pure Love in the current meta is that it won't get targeted (at least not Goblins). The weaker Pure Love is, the less it gets targeted, and the stronger Pure Love becomes. Pure Love is a rather unique deck. It can't be considered a single-card action deck, but it has more special summon points and action points than typical beatdown decks, and it's less likely to be caught out and have to stop playing. However, the drawbacks are also obvious: this deck loses money at first and then recovers (it doesn't make money since the sleep limit was limited to one...), and in my personal opinion, it's not enough to win purely within the system.
The following is the construction and analysis.
Pure Love Original Card
3 Black, 3 White, 3 Friends, 3 Fields, 9 Quick Attacks, 3 Traps
Mao believed that the cards must be full.
"Wandering Fairy Street" is very useful in matches against R-Ace and Flame King.
It can also play a crucial role against "S:P Sayomaru" and "Blazing Princess". After the opponent's single "Serpent Eye Ash Tree Spirit" is blocked by the bird, it can create a Link 4 "Radiant Land Group Whale", "Serpent Eye Flame Dragon", and stick to "S:P Sayomaru" + "Blazing Princess". In this matchup, only Pure Love Field has a chance to turn the tide, which can be understood as Field being a weaker version of Soul Liberation.
Hand-shaped pit section:
3* Proliferating G
3* Ash Blossom
3* The Clown and the Locked Bird
3* Infinite Bubble
"Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" is a relatively weak hand trap, but there aren't many other options. Other cards (Imperial Impermanence, Effect Score, Yashiki) feel even weaker, but at least "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" greatly reduces the chance of not needing to play the Teostra part in "Teostra's Isle". "Clown and Lockbird" is, in my opinion, a relatively strong hand trap in Pure Love. Because in Teostra/Snake Eyes matchups, I think it's possible to win even if only one side of Snake Eyes/Teostra has a chance to develop, and if both systems are used up, the team can basically be finished... So "Clown and Lockbird" is the hand trap that best prevents the above situation from occurring.
The reason I didn't use "Effect Coverer" this time is because in a matchup against Teostra's Serpent Eyes, if the opponent Normal Summons "Serpent Eye Ash Tree Spirit," and I use Effect Coverer on turn 2, the opponent will have 10 point-replenishing cards (1 Dark Witch, 3 Wanted, 3 Bonfire, and 3 Teostra's Divine Beast Kirin). Taking a 40-card deck going first as an example, there's about a 73% chance of having point replenishment; if you add Called by the Graveyard, it reaches 80%... which is unacceptable to me. I originally wanted to replace the 3 Imperishables with 3 Meteorites, but considering there are many other* decks in the meta, I definitely need to keep Imperishables.
(OTHER = decks with very low usage and not on the pie chart)
Filtering card:
2* A pot driven by strong desires and greed
1* A Pot Full of Gold Yet Humble
1* Sanzhen no Cai
Mao: "Proof that 'Greedy' can be Tier 0.5 is that as long as your deck doesn't have enough cards to play Greedy, your deck's Tier 0.5 will immediately increase!!"
Extra:
Original Pure Love:
2* The Pure Love Fairy Through Trials - The Dark Fairy (hereinafter referred to as Big Black)
1* Experiencing Pure Love Fairy & Happy Fairy
1* Experiencing Pure Love Fairy and Dark Fairy
1* A Pure Love Fairy & A Voluptuous Fairy
2* Experiencing Pure Love: Fairy & Beautiful Fairy
The basic setup is self-explanatory. Not using "Pure Love Fairy - Happy Fairy" will significantly reduce OTK capabilities, but I believe other EX skills are more important, so I didn't remove it. With "Pure Love Fairy Delicious Memories" limited to 2, the skill level of the operator is even more crucial. For OTK, using "Pure Love Fairy Jump!?" in Battle Phase is quite difficult. You also need to carefully consider the action of activating "Pure Love Fairy Jump!?". For example, you can drop G first. If G passes, don't rush to activate "Jump," because if the opponent misses, Pure Love Fairy might not be able to make a big black, and then you can only use the Thunderclap Plan. In Turn 3, the opponent summons "True Flame King," and the Thunderclap Plan needs to sweep hard. If you don't sweep, "True Flame King" will use "Divine Heavenly Blaze" to destroy it, and the Thunderclap Plan will be in danger... Sweeping here will also destroy "My Friend," which is dangerous for yourself.
Other examples:
Lyric Robin - Gathering Nightingale: Gundam Pilot + Extra Turn Artifact (although there's only one Extra Turn available per day)
Disappointing Bookish Magician: Driver, traitor, usually used as the target of the opposing Dark Spirit (the Dark Spirit's pure love will be washed back by the C2 trap).
Heavenly Court Ship: The End of Excess, The Thirteenth of the Twelve Beasts
Star of Calamity: Except for Jin Qian, it hasn't appeared all day, but it makes me feel more at ease (amulet).
Himegami Shinra: The second pilot of Gundam, after the "Pure Love Fairy Night Fairy" bubble effect, there's a chance to see the Himegami effect again. If you're interested in "Pure Love Fairy," you can go all-in to get Daikoku. Currently, her mission is only to destroy "S:P Sayomaru."
The Link Monster Trio: Link Kuriboh, Anima the Ritual Demon, and S:P Sayomaru
Link2 needs someone who can handle stickers/area elements so they can pretend to be strong enough during the Mid-Dimensional Barrier.
Anima is used because one 1-star unit is needed to exchange for 2400 attack power from the enemy's Divine Archer, with 3 ineffective attacks (1 effect for searching, 2 effects for upgrading, and 3 effects for transforming into Anima to absorb damage).
Side deck:
2 Yashiki children
She's very vulnerable to Silver Castle; she can be used against Teostra, but she's not viable against Teostra.
3 Ancient Relics - The Holy Lance
Without using the Shroud, the only option is to use Holy Lance for R-ACE. It also seems to be somewhat effective against the Spirit Beast Infernal (don't ask me how to use it, I don't know the effect).
3. Primitive Life Form Nibiru
2D Attractors
Fighting Teostra and Salamence is self-explanatory, right? Try to gamble with Attractor! Don't let it drop when it's empty! Similar to fighting the Demon Slayer, although there's a risk of getting hit by Teostra or Elephant, the accuracy is...
After the tier drops, the opponent passes by empty-handed, and there's not much the pure love side can do... The opponent has a Turn 3, and is just as good as new with 6 hands, still able to fight for tiers. But it's different if the opponent plays a monster first; they can exchange resources (at least gain from the monster they played), and can achieve a white OTK, making things much more varied.
1 feather broom 1 restart
Rebooting the card used for R-ACE is very important for reaching Silver rank.
3D split eye
I pondered for a long time whether to use this card or the Summoning Limiter, and I didn't have an answer myself. In the end, I just asked a Teostra player which card they were afraid of and hastily decided.
Here are some examples for you to consider:
-Dimensional Split Eyes
advantage:
It can prevent some hand pits
shortcoming:
As a first-move card, it's not a level where you win immediately; it can be easily countered by "S:P Xiaoye".
The attack range is not wide enough. The best example is in civil war. The only use of the Split Eye is to prevent the opponent from hitting a hand trap with their right hand, which is actually quite useless...
-Summoning Limiter
advantage:
It won't be easily countered by "S:P Sayomaru" and is incredibly strong! (Including situations where you only manage to get the monster in the third battle).
shortcoming:
A tiny amount of time might cause it to freeze or restart.
Pure Love has always been a part of the game, and the banned card list isn't that complicated (it gets one less card each time).
Why did it suddenly disappear?
Mao believed the reasons were as follows:
1. S:P Sayomaru
Card pack 1202 released two cards that significantly altered the win rate for Pure Love: the first is S:P Sayomaru, who goes second. Pure Love is extremely difficult to deal with, and both of S:P's effects can deal substantial damage to Pure Love. Assuming the opponent only has I:P and one monster, and is preparing to transform into S:P, it can affect your transformation opportunities by about 1-2 times. If there's another hand trap that can have even a slight impact, then it's basically a guaranteed loss.
The second card is the Star of Calamity - Ti. Feng.
While the Star of Calamity isn't too afraid of Darkrai, Thunderlord is a significant threat. In many Pure Love decks, the strategy is to use your own cards to bait out all your resources, then summon Thunderlord to gain a turn, and finally play Darkrai/OTK in Turn 4. For example, against Silver City, if the opponent runs out of resources on Turn 1, Pure Love can bait out all their resources on Turn 2, then use Thunderlord to seal the field. The opponent can then use a Great Welcome from their graveyard on Turn 3, Normal Summoning a Great Welcome that bounces monsters, followed by a high-level combo of C1, C2, and C3, preventing furniture recycling. However, with the Star of Calamity, if the opponent Normal Summons and Thunderlord doesn't clear it, the opponent can stack Star of Calamity to block Thunderlord's effect, bounce Thunderlord's Great Welcome, bounce their own monsters, and recycle furniture. If Thunderlord does clear, it chains and bounces their own monsters. This means that regardless of whether Thunderlord clears or not, the opponent can use Great Welcome to bounce their own monsters and recycle furniture, turning an already disadvantageous matchup against Silver City into a disadvantageous one. Using a turn 4 strategy to gain an advantage and then attempt a big black/OTK game plan could turn into a dangerous situation. The worst-case scenario is becoming a situation where you have to wipe out any single enemy*, which is even worse than the S:P situation mentioned above where you have to use one of two enemies...
* (Gorilla = 306-013 Angry Ape effect requires attacking during attack mode. Veteran players often use this to refer to mindlessly attacking any monster without thinking, and using it whenever it's effective.)
Secondly, in a deck like Pure Love where there are no negations, using Darkrai is crucial. Therefore, it's generally better to use Darkrai as late as possible (meaning the higher the Link value of the monster Darkrai removes/the more cards in your hand you have, the better), as this helps gain a game advantage. However, if the opponent has two monsters, Darkrai is almost always necessary. This is because the opponent can use "S:P Saya" to destroy Pure Love's sustain (except for My Friend) and remove Darkrai (after its effect, there aren't enough materials for C2 to finish off Darkrai), so you basically have to use it after two monsters. In this situation, making Darkrai is already difficult, and now you can only exchange it for 1 Link value, so basically if the opponent plays a lot of monsters at once, Pure Love is doomed. Even if you have 6 materials and don't use them, the opponent might have Hades' Decree that you have to use, making it very difficult to use the crucial materials for Pure Love and Darkrai in a position where you can checkmate.
S:P Sayomaru's appearance changes the pure love operation to the point that the opponent has a great chance to use materials to bounce the opponent when there are 2 monsters. Here, Mao's suggestion is that when the opponent plays Teostra and Snake Eyes, if the opponent plays Ash Tree Spirit, Snake Eyes and Phosphorus will jump, and Daedalus can directly bounce Phosphorus, so that he can't link down, which will add an extra spell cost.
3. Snake Eye System
The new card Snake Eyes Inferno Phosphorus in 1203PHNI makes the Snake Eyes system a type that Pure Love (a deck specializing in decks of cards) struggles to counter. Aside from Ash Tree Spirit being able to directly use Tendo to remove Darkrai, Snake Eyes' ability to trade multiple monsters for a single card, coupled with the aforementioned S:P Sayomaru, can easily bait out all of Darkrai's materials. In this matchup, it can be understood that each time Darkrai's effect activates, it only trades 0.5 cards with the opponent. During my pitifully limited practice, I deeply felt Pure Love's helplessness in this environment. First, going first doesn't guarantee you can create Darkrai, and even if you do, Snake Eyes can easily pass with a large number of Link Points. Adding to this Snake Eyes' powerful hand-trapping trap system, when facing Snake Eyes going first, even if Pure Love goes second with 3 traps of high quality, there's a chance that after using 3 traps, there's still a situation where you still have to deal with the board, and Pure Love only has 3 turns left to pass... (Snake Eyes/Race would have a much higher chance of passing).
4. Hundred Demon Rakshasa. Goblin Rider
Although it's strong, it's unlikely anyone will see it. Instead of sending goblins now, let's send out a Sky Child instead.
5. A talent capable of winning three battles.
Big Black is a three-time champion... just wait and see.
I'll remove the eye slits for you.
From the points above, it can be seen that the pure love system is quite weak.
Mao's assessment of Pure Love is: It's not that Pure Love is unplayable, but it shouldn't be used with winning as the goal. It should be replaced with a simpler and easier game plan using Snake Eyes + XX system. It should also be less demanding on the player's luck and skill (meaning if you have the same amount of practice and the luck and skill to win with Pure Love, then you should also be able to win with Teostra RACE).
However, after much thought and deduction, Mao concluded that the reason for using "pure love" was as follows:
1. If you don't have Flame King, Snake Eyes, or Race at home, but only Pure Love, Pearl Tears, VS, and Kusha, you should choose Pure Love in the end.
2. Pure Love has a huge advantage over current decks: I can play Pure Love at 60% of its potential without practice. My main goal for the tournament that day was just to see friends, participate in a raffle, and I'd even researched places near the venue I wanted to visit (losing 3 meant I could leave).
3. Pure Love is a good deck for practicing basic skills, suitable for someone like me who has quit the game.
4. Against decks that don't have Snake Eyes, you generally have a chance of winning. If you're lucky and don't encounter Snake Eyes, it's still pretty good (and in 5 out of 7 rounds, there was a Snake Eye).
The following are my games from that day.
R1 Snake Eye Flame King First OO
G1 went first, playing the ball on the field and drawing 2-4 materials. Big Black (a character) was about to drop to G. The opponent then threw, saying they had 3 invalid items, 1 Meteorite, and 1 Witch in their hand.
G2 The opponent first blocked 3, drew the magic seal, I chained the ball and dropped 1 hand to produce a little black, took a little white, put down the little white to eat the cover LL bird book dummy Gundam to sweep away the magic seal three times the finger wiped the cover bubble meteor to return to the main 2 eating dropped hand to produce a little black little black dot eating turned into a little green absorb bath bath absorb meteor to turn into a big black the opponent threw
R2 Snake Eye Flame King First OO
In G1, I started with my friend's Angry Birds, then used Lock on the enemy to transform my Green into a Pokémon. I then used G to target him, and Lock on the Angry Birds again. Using the enemy's Orochi, I transformed my Green into a Gem Beast, and successfully traded kills with my Black King Bar.
G2's opponent had a similar first move, I used the middle finger to lock down the lock and won, then switched to my big black.
R3 snake eyes ace first OO
I first used my white-covered bubble and jumped to the opponent's campfire to produce powder. I used my bubble and small powder, and the opponent used a wanted poster, but placed it in the bubble's position. Then I switched and my white-covered character gained an extra round and won.
G2's opponent went first and blocked 2. I took a shower and absorbed all the materials to make 8 big black.
R4 Snake-Eyed Flame Queen XOO
My opponent only had one Teostra as their first move. I used my move to trap them, and then they had two moves left in the endgame: their first and second brother, and their elephant.
I switched to playing with the ball, then turned into a small blue ball and started playing with the ball again to summon a small black ball, which took effect and gave me 1 point. Then the small black ball transformed into the opponent's C2 elephant, and I used my C3 small blue ball to brush the opponent's C4 second brother to deal with the elephant, which destroyed my small black ball (I made a mistake here; I should have first used the bath to absorb the second brother on the field, then brushed the elephant, and finally used magic to summon the small black ball, which might have been better). Then I could only go through the BP and give up the small blue ball, use the field to permanently recover it, and then play another set of field to summon a small white ball. I looked at the middle ball and used the main 2 ball to make the middle ball, then switched to the opponent's draw witch ball, and it was gone.
I forgot the exact name of G2, but I won by using a big black card followed by a hand trap and then pulling off a series of maneuvers.
In G3, my opponent went first and used Bubble Dance (I forgot if there was a G move). My opponent then used Infinity Edge, Witch, and a Terrain with Firelord in the final move.
If I switch to summoning, the opponent will use G+IP to accelerate Link Summon S:P Sayomaru (C1 SP, C2 Witch). My sustain is terrible, so I can only summon Blue to absorb SP, then summon Gundam. He draws 2 (I ended up with a visible card, Ball, and a hidden card, Meteor). Then I don't use Gundam to sweep. My thinking at the time was that the effect of Sinful Treasure Spell Graveyard gaining 1 is almost the same as its activation effect giving 1, but giving it a Special Summon increases the opponent's Special Summon count (Meteor can be used). The hardest part is clearing the field, so this turn's objective is to clear Meteor and try to prevent the opponent from using the field. But now I think I should sweep. If the opponent uses a Spell, summon a Level 1 Flame King to gain 1. I thought the opponent could use Divine Blaze, so I used C2 to sweep, and then the opponent got the field.
Next, I'll use Teostra's Slap to set up the field, then use C2 to sweep him, followed by C3 to counter. After breaking the chain, I'll use Meteor to set up a 1-hit combo on the opposite side.
At this point, my opponent had one face-down card and one Meteor Token in hand, with 200 million ATK/2100 DEF. I was playing a ball-based combo on the field, switching to Meteor to draw my Dark Elf. I drew a Rank 1 card, but my opponent thought for a long time without a chain. I guessed their face-down card was either Designate, Spell Lock, or Impermanence (I had just tested Gundam's Chain 1 with a Dark Elf, not Teostra's name, for a quick play). Finally, I played Dark Elf with Chain 1, and my opponent played Chain 2 with Spell Lock (locking my ball and causing me to lose my hand). Then I went to my graveyard to rest and take a trap, then transformed into Dark Elf and lost my hand, triggering Meteor Token + Field (Spell Lock blocked me).
In the BP phase, I dealt 4000 damage. My main character used a trap, SP drew two minions, and used Meteorite to lock the opponent's mana. The opponent used Graveyard Spells to get mana, so I locked the bird. Then I played a mana spell, which took effect and ate two minions. I played a giant snake, and I used C1 on the giant snake. The opponent used C2 on the second minion to attack the giant snake, then broke the chain. After that, I played the giant snake + two small snakes + the second minion on the field. I used C1 on the giant snake. Here, I didn't know the giant snake could explode on the field, so I let it pass and exploded the second minion on the field (the correct move should have been C2 Meteorite). Then the second minion used C1, and I used C2 Meteorite (if a monster is played, Meteorite won't be possible). Finally, I used Et to win the battle.
Later, my friend told me that if I played Black, I would win easily by choosing the small blue (as long as I made the big black with 4 material up). It went something like this: I used C1 to hit the blue, the opponent used C2 to hit the second brother, I used C3 to trap, then the opponent used C1 on the big brother in the graveyard, I used C2 on the big black to hit the big brother with the magic seal, and blocked the little pink's magic. But I chose the most ridiculous "draw 2" strategy. Honestly, I played very badly this game.
R5 Summoner Black Witch First OXO
In G1, I first set up a trap on the small green area to collect 2 more materials, so I only collected 1. Then, based on the principle of using 2 monsters, the opposing witch summoner immediately used a trap and transformed to shoot 1 monster. The opponent couldn't get past, so I threw the big black trap (except for the opponent's SP, regardless of whether it's possible or not, C1 trap, C2 S: I also have to throw the small green area at point P).
In G2, the opponent initiated with a Summoner. I immediately used Attract to draw their spell, and they countered with a 1-hit combo, allowing me to draw Holy Lance (I think). I then used Spellbinder to summon Black Crystal, followed by Lock-Only Gundam, to counter the opponent's Witch and summon Magic (which could recover the Summoner). I then lost focus, and the opponent summoned Black Crystal, which killed me. If I had directly used Holy Lance, I probably would have had a slight chance.
G3 first moves with a White Mage on the field, then uses a trap to draw 1 point. The opponent then sets up a monster and uses their EP to pass through the backstage area. I place a food item in the field and move it into the White Mage.
I switch roles: I use the small blue absorb monster to enter BP, then use the white skill to get food, then use C1 to eat, then C2 to use the small blue absorb (1600 + 300 x 4) to get it, then use the trap to turn into a big black monster and chase it down.
R6 Flame Beast First OO
I went first, locking the bird, G, and using the food trap. The trap dropped, and I played a small black bird. I played a bubble, then a LL bird, and traded with the opponent. I played a Floater, and the opponent played Willpower. I used C2, G, and drew 1. The opponent played a sheep pack. The opponent used BP to attack the LL bird, which worked. The opponent used a 1-hit trap, and I traded with a Pure Love card. The LL bird directly attacked the main 2-hit combo (preventing the Flame Beast's Bomb). Then I swept the field. The opponent used C2 Flame Beast's Bomb, and I used my spells and the food from the graveyard to create a large black bird that the opponent couldn't pass.
G2 opponent's first move, C1, sheep effect, C2 attractant, then I switch to Gundam, opponent's T3 can't get past Gundam, I switch to T4 and then build Big Black.
R7 Snake Eye Flame King First OO
I was just playing casually and forgot to set up a trap, but my opponent set one back for me.
Outlook for the January 2024 table:
My Pure Love Fairy Friend's Limited Edition has two problems. The first issue is that the number of times you can use the Chain Vest is reduced, which directly leads to a decrease in the number of times you can use it on the field. This means that the chances of using Teostra to counter Teostra after it gets hit by Lock-On is also reduced (my friend demonstrated using 3 fields to check for a field). Things are starting to get worse (wait, is it only starting to get worse??????)
Secondly, the chance of flipping a White minion has been lowered again. There are many scenarios, making the calculations difficult. Let me explain something here: sometimes it's not about flipping a card equal to being strong, but about flipping a meaningful card. Taking a single White minion with four traps as the first player, I now need to flip a friend/aggressive card to initiate the game, so flipping the board is meaningless. In this case, even with the White minion's effect working, the chance of flipping a aggressive card is only 69.08% (9 aggressive, 2 friend).
This number might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but the percentage before the table (9 speed, 3 attack, 72.94%) is significant.
I think it's dangerous that the percentage has dropped from over 70% to just under 60%.
However, compared to the loss of the important 12-star synchronization in Centurion, Pure Romance isn't unplayable. But the conclusion remains the same: don't play Pure Romance, run away!!! Snake Eyes welcomes you 👍🏻
With the upcoming Asian Championship and the English Championship, everyone will likely be spending some time with Pure Love. Hopefully, this article will be helpful for your dueling journey. Although Mao keeps emphasizing that Pure Love is a very, very bad deck, the prerequisite is understanding all game plans and knowing your blind spots. If you face players who don't understand it well, it's still easy to steal from them. Therefore, I still highly recommend everyone give Pure Love a try.