It’s been an exciting couple of months for Genesys as Regionals and YCS events started in August! Ahead of the next major update to the points (which will include data-based adjustments and the anniversary balance update) we wanted to check-in on how the game has been shaping up and what Decks have been doing well!

New Release!
There’s only been 1 new release and that’s Magnificent Monsters (MAMO). Most of these cards are seeing little play, but a couple of them have found their niche in the format. Our pick for what we thought was going to be the most used card from the set was Orichalcos Sword of Sealing, but it turned out to be only 2^nd place. The actual most-used card from MAMO was Gagaga Girl – Cell Phone Subtraction, which seems to have caused an Exosister Renaissance in the Regionals. In 3^rd place was Synchro Emergency, and after that there are a few singleton users of various other cards per event.

Count the Medals
There have been not 1, not 2, but 3 YCS tournaments since the WCQs ended. The proximity of the World Championship to YCS Montreal made a recap article impossible, but we’ll roll some of that in here. Each of the 3 YCS was won by a different Deck: Montreal was Blitzclique, Paris was Sacred Beasts, and the LATAM Remote Duel YCS was Fairy Tail.

The overall most used and most successful Deck of the current format has been Blitzclique. It had a modest representation of 11% in Montreal but almost doubled to over 20% by the time of YCS Paris. Paris also had greater attendance so it’s not a trick of the raw numbers, Blitzclique really did climb in popularity between August and September. Meanwhile, Sacred Beasts is the Deck with the best win rate against Blitzclique, winning nearly 2/3rds of its matches against it. Meanwhile, Fairy Tail can take advantage of extremely powerful Spell Cards that the other two cannot, both in theme and out.

The most successful Decks at Regionals have been Blitzclique, Sacred Beasts, Fairy Tail… and Exosisters! They aren’t the only winners though, all sorts of different Decks made it to the top of at least one of the over 60 Regionals, from top table mainstays like Radiant Typhoon to Decks that always show up but haven’t made it all the way yet like Vernusylph Madolche. It’s still the wild west out there even though everyone’s pretty much figured out the top Decks of the current format.

Diversifying Your Point-folio
Perhaps the most shocking takeaway from the YCS data is the downfall of the Mulcharmies. Purulia and Fuwalos were in 14.7% and 14.1% of decks respectively in Montreal and 14.1% and 13.3% in YCS Paris. This is a big drop from the Genesys Championship (where they were 20% and 47%), probably because the top Decks can’t afford them anymore (and Fuwa can’t touch Blitzclique) though the winner of YCS Paris made room in the budget for 3 Fuwalos.

Other than the ‘charmies, the most used cards in the tournament are largely the usual suspects. Skull Meister was #1 in all events, followed by a single target Spell/Trap destruction Spell. In the Americas, folks are paying the 1 point for Cosmic Cyclone while in Europe they’re saving the point by playing Mystical Space Typhoon. 3^rd place on both sides of the Atlantic goes to Forbidden Chalice. The most popular “ghost girl” is Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit (5^th overall in the Americas and 6^th in Europe) Some of these cards are in the 40’s in terms of their use rates but none of them exceed 50%… in America. In Europe, Skull Meister is pushing 60%.

The overall takeaway from the data is that the preferred non-engine is shifting naturally from weekend to weekend and from location to location, with the exception of Skull Meister which has been the most played card in every event since the Championships. Meanwhile, The Pair BearEx-scare!!-iment has been all over the place. Pair Bear Scare!! ranks just outside the top 10 most used cards in the Americas but is only #25 in Europe. It’s most often used as a singleton Main Deck card just to catch other players without one and ensure one isn’t caught lacking themselves. Is this a Deck-building and gameplay dynamic you find interesting? Feel free to sound off with the hashtag #YGOGenesys and let us know.

Beyond the Brave releases soon, and with it some new strategies that could make some waves. The initial points for Beyond the Brave can be found here, and don’t forget the big update that’ll include data-based adjustments and the anniversary rebalance is coming soon too!