Box Review: Spirit of the Beast
This is the 21st Mini Box and was released on October 24th, 2019. Spirit of the Beast introduces the Ritual Beast and Yosenju archtypes and adds support for Crystron and Magnet Warrior decks.
Coming Soon…
Ritual Beasts have many strengths but ultimately lack a wincon. They have no means of removing a defense position Darklord Ixchel since Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio counteracts Spiritual Beast Apelio’s ATK boost. Unlikely to have any meta impact due to their inability to pressure Darklords.
The biggest strength of Yosenjus is likely their inherent synergy with Drowning Mirror Force. Since Yosenjus self bounce during the end phase, the deck requires some form of defense to diminish the drawbacks of going first. Overall, they focus on filling the board with low ATK monsters, and likely will struggle against Darklords and their negation/larger stats.
Crystron Thystvern is a major addition to Crystrons as it adds more consistency and searching to an already consistent search-heavy strategy. The issue Crystrons have had in the past has been their weakness to The Sanctified Darklord, and while I do not think that Thystvern and the nerf has reversed the matchup I do believe that the deck has an easier time playing against Darklords as 1 Sanctified isnt always enough to stop a Crystron turn. Thystvern can search Crystron Sulfefnir, which means any card or skill that can put Thystvern into the graveyard changes Thystvern into a Scrap Recycler. Crystron Impact is a nice addition but does not benefit the deck nearly as much as Thystvern does.
If I were to wager, Crystrons have the greatest possibility of seeing competitive relevance out of the decks receiving multiple support cards, however said relevance is limited by the strength of Darklords. If this set is to change the meta at all, it will predominantly be in the Tier 3 area.
Overall I think the box could be interesting but won’t change the meta drastically.
Crystrons are getting some support what could bring the deck to at least the level of a Tier 3 Deck. With the Synchro Toolbox, Crystron Impact and Crystron Thystvern to search Crystron Sulfefnir I can see that deck being more consistent.
Yosenju has a lot potential for me, specially due to their Solemn Scolding-esque Counter Trap, Yosenjus’ Secret Move. They dont have big beatsticks but can attack directly over time. Drowning Mirror Force is both a great card for them to run and a card they’re succeptible to.
Magnets are getting a big push with the release of Magnetic Field. Not only does it speed up your Beserkion the Electromagna Warrior plays by filling your GY, it also gives you an Amazoness Onslaught-esque non-targeting bounce effect to out Invoked Cocytus and other annoying threats. It turns Delta The Magnet Warrior / Brick openings into decent openings and I expect this to be played as a 2-of in 20 card versions and a 2 to 3-of in 30 card versions.
The MVP card will be Super Team Buddy Force Unite! - Decks like Six Samurai, Fortune Lady, and even Darklords can abuse this card to overpower the field.
Reccomendation: If you dont want to play Magnets or Crystrons I would skip this box or maybe only try to snipe Super Team Buddy Force Unite! with the SR deals.
Ritual Beasts are able to generate a ton of value with their bread & butter combo of Ritual Beast Tamer Elder and any Spiritual Beast, reusing Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk to search for any card and chaining his tag-out effect to set up for another contact fusion. The deck has defensive options with Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin and offensive options with Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio. Spiritual Beast Pettlephin is a nice tool to get around destruction protection. BUT the deck has 3 main problems:
a) Without Ritual Beast Steeds in the game, your Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk combos might plus, but won’t advance your gameplan, as the other targets will just summon even more Ritual Beasts.
b) The starting combos are very dependent on Ritual Beast Tamer Elder. While using other combos like Gold Sarcophagus + Ritual Beast Tamer Wen or Brain Research Lab are possible, they are not nearly as good as Elder.
c) The biggest problem: This deck struggles to get over the 2900 ATK threshold, which makes this deck get walled off by Darklord Ixchel and Invoked Cocytus, something no deck can afford this meta. Ulti-Apelio negates the buff from all sources, including Spiritual Beast Apelio, and can only reach 2900 ATK with The Tie that Binds. I’m afraid this deck is 1 ATK short of being relevant.
Probably the biggest support in the new box is coming to an existing archetype that was Tiered before Darklords warped the meta around them. Crystron Impact is probably the biggest boost this deck is getting. Searchable by Crystron Smiger, this card does it all: It can bring back a banished Crystron, it can set your opponents monsters to 0 DEF (which is very relevant for Invoked Cocytus) and from the grave it can serve as targeting protection. Crystron Thystvern gives a nice consistency boost and more options out of your Scrap Recycler / Genex Undine. Neither of these cards solve the Darklord problem, but the decks power and consistency have been significantly raised and I expect better matchups across the field.
With a mechanic revolving around Normal Summoning, monster effects, targeting removal and the payoff being a harder to activate Six Style - Dual Wield, I don’t see Yosenju making an impact.
Verdict: In a vacuum, Ritual Beasts and Crystrons are both solid decks that have a versatile toolkit and a high degree of consistency through deck access. In reality, with Darklords suppressing decks that revolve around monster effects and Invoked Cocytus suppressing targeting removal, it might not be enough.
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