Review: King's Resonance
This EX structure continues the trend of not having the deck itself be playable but just a small engine coming out of it (Other examples are Neos Fusion or Keeper of Dragon Magic). While the boss monster Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode isn’t very good and we’d need other /Assault Mode Monsters to make the archetype Top Tier, Psi-Reflector very well might be since it’s a 1 card Level 6-9 Synchro. The combo works as follows:
Summon Psi-Reflector, search Assault Beast, discard to search Assault Mode Activate, revive Assault Beast with Psi-Reflector’s effect and from here you can change its level if you want.
Konami’s idea probably is to go into Red Dragon Archfiend and setting Assault Mode Activate to later follow up with the big version, however, having the Red Dragon Archfiend Assault Mode in deck is probably not worth it for the small benefit you get. Instead you can just leave the regular Red Dragon Archfiend or go into another powerful Synchro. Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, Hyper Psychic Riser, Black Rose Dragon and Vermillion Dragon Mech are all strong options. The good thing is that after going through this once, any other topdecked Psi-Reflector can use the already in graveyard Assault Beast for more Synchro Summons, meaning the only downfall to this is if you start with your Assault Mode Activate, making you unable to discard Assault Beast to search it.
This engine definitely has a lot of potential, where and how exactly it will be used later we will have to wait and see.
King’s Resonance introduces Assault Mode cards, with a focus on Red Dragon Archfiend. The main value card of this set is Psi-Reflector, who can in 1 card create any Synchro from Lv 6 to Lv 9. By having Psi-Reflector add Assault Beast and then pitching Assault Beast to add Assault Mode Activate, Psi-Reflector can pull back the Assault Beast from the GY and increase its level by 1 to 4. This is also a 1 card Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode given you just searched the trap. However, players may find better value in summoning Black Rose Dragon for a nuke or Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier to pitch the, at minimum, +1’d Assault Mode Activate to bounce the opponent’s field. The downside to these Assault Mode cards is that you can pretty easily end up bricking between Assault Beast, Assault Mode Activate, and potentially Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode (if you decide to run that monster).
Quick access to Psi-Reflector would be the goal of the deck, but given the current meta’s ability to intercept Synchro plays, players should be cautious of the many obstacles in the way before investing in this EX. Elementsaber Molehu being able to flip down a material, the rising trend of Treacherous Trap Hole, The Sanctified Darklord negating of Psi-Reflector, Blackbird Close negation of Psi-Reflector, and of course the ever-present Floodgate Trap Hole and Paleozoic Canadia ask you to do more with your deck than just rely on one Synchro play. On the bright side, with Psi-Reflector only being a 1 card combo, players may have room to splash the Assault Mode package in other decks, so there’s room for exploration. Players may look to Skills that shuffle hand cards back into the deck to resolve bricking concerns as well. All in all, the strength of this EX pretty much falls on the ways players can think up to abuse Psi-Reflector.
Tell us your own thoughts on the structure deck in the comments below!
