Under The Iron Sea

Subject: Under The Iron Sea Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:35 am

Spoiler:

Monsters (33):
3 Atlantean Heavy Infantry
2 Atlantean Marksman
1 Atlantean Dragoons
1 Mermail Abyssocea
3 Mermail Abysslinde
3 Mermail Abyssgunde
3 Mermail Abysspike
1 Mermail Abyssturge
2 Mermail Abyssmegalo
1 Mermail Abyssleed
3 Mermail Abyssteus
3 Aqua Spirit
3 Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls
2 Effect Veiler
2 Maxx "C"

Spells (4):
1 Dark Hole
3 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps (4):
3 Abyss-Sphere
1 Torrential Tribute

Extra:
2 Mermail Abysstrite
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Mechquipped Angineer
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
2 Bahamut Shark
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Lavalval Chain
1 Mermail Abyssgaios
1 Number 11: Big Eye
2 Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack
1 Crimson Blader

Side:
1 Maxx "C"
1 Morphing Jar #2
2 Chain Whirlwind
2 Needle Ceiling (testing)
1 The Transmigration Prophecy
2 Gozen Match
2 Imperial Iron Wall
2 Skill Drain
2 Vanity's Emptiness

I likey my Fire Fists a lot, and might post them later, but here are my relatively standard Mermails that I've got. Obviously this is based on what's pretty much the new normal for Mermails, with the tone set by Sorosh Saberian and Bobby Barone at YCS Toronto. I'll explain some random stuff below for the hell of it, but I just figured I should post this, especially cuz I bought the main deck and the stuff from the Extra I needed except for Big Eye on eBay (and am probably gonna splurge on the Big Eye today), and am hoping to be able to get a ride to Kissimmee so I can use these guys at the regional there in early October!

-Mermail Abyssocea: If you don't know why I'm running this card, well, keep up with the times, buddy. Razz

Basically, if you can get an opening hand as simple as Teus, any WATER and Aqua Spirit (or a TON of other combinations) you can make a field of Bahamut Shark, Abysstrite and Mechquipped Angineer (which basically guarantees you a second Trite from Shark).
First turn.
Basically, Abyssocea opens up a slew of nasty options for the foe to have to handle, and thusly is a staple here.

-Hand traps: It's a bit hard to find room in the deck, with so many essential cards and the ratios needing to be pretty rigid for the most part, but I like the 2/2 ratio right now, with the 3rd Maxx sided for the obvious matchups. Veiler also lets me go into Crimson Blader, a.k.a. probably the best and hottest Synchro in the meta right now.

-Torrential Tribute: I like the idea of having a traditional trap or two in here; people won't want to blind MST your backrow since they'll obviously just read Sphere (or MST), and Torrential both opens up the field for us and has synergy with cards like Linde and Trite. If I could, I'd maybe try to fit a Warning or BTH at least for testing, but meh.

-Chain Whirlwind: Sooooooooo good. Clears backrow, works with the Atlanteans, Sphere (esp. in the foe's EP), or even the Torrential. Sorosh and Bobby raved about this card after Toronto, and I like it quite a lot myself.

So yeah, hopefully this deck will net me some results in a week and a half (good results) and beyond; I should be getting it early next week (though if I could get it Saturday, somehow, so I could use it at bad locals, that would be great), and needless to say I'll be doing test draws and scenarios with it for quite a while next week~

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

Have you tried out teching 1 Raigeki Break? Out to Emptiness,field spells,combos,etc.

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Fri Sep 27, 2013 6:23 am

I've pondered it for sure; not sure about where I could stick it in necessarily, other than maybe the side in place of Needle Ceiling or something. The main-deck is reeeeeeeeally tight, and I dunno about there being much I'd want to take out (MAYBE the TT and then something else for 2 Breaks, but I dunno about only having 2 Gunde or 2 Aqua Spirit (the latter of which makes the Bahamut-Trite-Angineer combo less consistent).

*shrug*

EDIT: Maybe hand traps to side? Iunno.

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

Over Dark Hole, maybe?

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:03 am

Spoiler:

So here's my current edit as I head into another regional in a couple weeks. Not my final version, of course, but this is my test build at the moment.

The main thing you'll notice is that I've removed the Ocea engine all but completely (I kept an Aqua Spirit in because I still think it's pretty useful for Rank 4s or triggering Tidal search). I sided it out practically every match, with it especially being meh against Prophecy (goddammit Fate), soooo yeah.

So, after taking out Ocea, this edit does two things: adds Diva support and adds traps.

Diva: More flexibility with plays, opens more OTK possibilities, and is generally a more consistent start... Diva's able to better go into a Blader or something like Gungnir (pondering testing Giganticastle, the generic Lv. 9 Synch, if I can grab one). She also provides a generic target for Dragoons' search, so there's that... also, she convinces me to run a one-of Salvage, since there are a LOT of targets in this deck.

BTH + Trap Stun: BTH is another immediate out to Blader and the like, and Trap Stun can either stop their RftDD, etc. or just freeze them as I go off; big OTK facilitator there. I basically just want more defense to slow down Dragon Rulers, because the best way to get back at them is just to keep them from setting up too much. Mermails have pretty good matchups otherwise, soooo yeah.

Just fooling with stuff a little right now, but we'll see how this works; played a couple games of testing yesterday and it was okay, but that's just a couple games.

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

Try -2 Maxx "C"
+1 CED/2 Mirror Force

Stopping them then and there is better like you said.
Looks cool otherwise, Trap Stun is an interesting tech.
Good luck,success and all and playtest this time. Razz

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Thu Nov 07, 2013 7:33 am

I might have to test that... Maxx does do a pretty decent job of stopping them sometimes, but I've had a few games where I've just had them take the Maxx C challenge and rape me.

Trap Stun is so legit (went over that a bit in my regs report). Seriously, I love it. Almost wanna main Chain Whirlwind, too, but it's just better in side.

EDIT: I sorta wanna fit Zombie World in the side, mainly against Prophecy to shut off stuff like Fate and Life (which stops one way to get to World)... Iunno how effective it would really be, but I've always liked the card, it doesn't affect my deck at all (unless I'm missing something and am mega-tired), and yeah.

EDIT 2: Went -2 Maxx C and +1 Compulse. 41st slot, if I use it, would be for either a 2nd Salvage or a tech Abyss Soldier (hello, Normal Summonable PWWB!). *shrug*

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Sun Nov 10, 2013 12:48 pm

Won a box tourney with this:

Spoiler:

Report is here if you wanna read; not gonna make a new topic because regs is next weekend and I hope to do well enough to merit a topic for that instead.

Spoiler:

Takeaways through 10-11 duels yesterday:
--Diva was solid, if unspectacular. I went Arm once, Catastor twice, and Armored Kappa once or twice. However, I like her much more than the Ocea/Spirit engine right now; more flexible and more consistent. Salvage was good when it showed up, and I like how it lets me feel safer about pushing.
--Tidal is seriously amazing. Like, basically every game I had access to him I won; he just provides such amazing, steady field presence and potential for pushes.
--It's seriously hard for me to figure out what to side out sometimes. It was easier earlier, because I'd always side out the Ocea stuff, but now... yeah. I need to fix this before regs.
--All of the traps performed well (Trap Stun didn't show up much, but was decent when I got it), though my favorite trap is still the sided Chain Whirlwinds. All day, in both tourneys I played in, it was just a blowout card. I even went MST + CW a couple times, which just decimated their defenses or their setups.
--No notable MVPs of the side deck other than CW, because I never draw into my sides... actually, no real MVPs overall other than the usuals (Tidal, Teus, etc.)

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

<3 Deck looks good, I have nothing to say.
You could practice a lot of game 2/3s to learn how to side deck.

Keep going like that and you'll win the fucking regs. Wink

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:50 am

Pssh, I sure as hell wouldn't mind that result. I mean, I'm just gonna try and tweak things a little more before Saturday and all, just to make sure I have my deck in line, and from there I think I can deifnitely get my x-2/invite. Just have to focus and keep from going on tilt... and learn how to side deck again. XD

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

I don't play the deck but have you tried out siding out the traps? most of your monsters seem to be too essential...
Traps and Salvage are already 6 spots to work with.

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Tue Nov 12, 2013 4:48 am

Depends on the matchup. Against, say, Prophecy or to an extent Ophion.dek I could definitely do that, but against a deck like D-Rulers I need to keep most of the backrow in...

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

True. Seems like you don't have another choice other than siding out third copies of Infantry,Gunde,etc. without killing consistency.
Also Salvage,Dark Hole, maybe even Raigeki Break or third Sphere. Hopefully should give you enough spots.

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Thu Nov 14, 2013 6:51 pm

Tomorrow (well, today) I'll map out what I plan to side in and out, generally speaking. That should help.

Also, minor tweaks:
-1 Zenmaines (haven't brought it out once)
+1 Dewloren (esp. for the Diva/Marksman, swing and grab Dragoons combo thingy)

-2 Veiler from side
+1 D.D. Crow
+1 Terraforming

Subject: Re: Under The Iron Sea Sun Nov 17, 2013 6:13 am

Placed 53rd out of about 270, went x-3 (all my losses were early and basically thanks to bad hands + opponents having the nuts). Top 32 got invites (including about 5 x-3's), so I missed that, but meh. Getting a lot more confidence is always nice.

Berserk Posts : 686 Join date : 2012-02-08 Age : 32

Well this one was better than last time and sooner or later you are gonna make it if you keep improving like that. Wink