We just had the BIG 1^st Anniversary Genesys points update, which brought a ton of shakeups to the format. After one day of Genesys Duels here at YCS Houston, we’ve seen some trends emerge.

Skull Meister

Since the beginning of Genesys, Skull Meister has been 0 points. With a useful effect for almost any Deck, and no additional cost to include, it’s become one of the go-to monsters of the format. The points update gave Skull Meister a cost of 1 point now, but we’re still seeing it in plenty of Decks. Duelists are still willing to use their flex spots to include the card in their Main and Side Decks.

Destruction and Banishment options

The most recent update dropped Heavy Storm to just 4 points, which is significantly lower than similar cards Lightning Storm and Harpie’s Feather Duster. This adjustment has been enough to bring Heavy Storm to the spotlight as a way to break through mass amounts of spells and traps. This is especially important these days with decks like Angelechy and Labrynth that load up their spells and traps and/or rely on Field Spells.

For ways to remove just a single spell or trap, Cosmic Cyclone remains the top choice. It was bumped up to 1 point not long ago, but the ability to banish its target is well worth the 1 point and the 1000 Life Points. We also occasionally see Typhoon, since it can be played from the hand even if your opponent goes first – important against Angelechy.

To take on monsters, we’ve got plenty of Dark Hole in the mix. This card was dropped to just 1 point in a past update, and it seems like Duelists prefer to use the cheaper but more specific cards like Dark Hole and Heavy Storm, as opposed to the flexible cards that cost more points like Lightning Storm.

Ancient Fairy Dragon

With no point cost, Ancient Fairy Dragon is seeing a lot of use again lately. This is primarily appearing in Angelechy Decks, where it can find your important Field Spells. Not only do Angelechy have two different Field Spells (allowing Ancient Fairy Dragon to swap between them), but the Dragon is also able to destroy an opponent’s key Field Spell to advance your own gameplan. When Terraforming costs 20 points, this is a great alternative that you don’t even have to draw to use.

Dark Time Wizard and Friends

The Dark Time Wizard theme from Beyond the Brave debuted with a small number of initial points. Some Decks have space to include a Dark Time Wizard engine, since the Wizard itself only costs 5 points each. While Swiftwind Panther Warrior and Alligator’s Dragon Knight also cost points, the rest of the associated cards are free. That means Duelists can splash three copies of Dark Time Wizard for just 15 points, along with cards like Fisherman of Legend and Foolish Graverobber. We saw Jeff Jones do this in his Round 1 Feature Match, using Foolish Graverobber with his Labrynth Trap Cards.