Amaryllis Tourney Report

Amaryllis got a shiny new build that you guys can see on the Page Menu. The deck was running very well and I'm really proud at the hands it was giving me. Some of the rounds did have some amazing topdecks - specifically having Trade-in and topdecking Tytannial or Amaryllis, leading into game-changing hands. This is but a mere sample of what the deck was doing last night:

Match 1 Amaryllis vs Classic Monarchs 2-0
I was actually surprised to see Classic Monarchs in this day and age. By classic, I mean that the focus on the deck is dropping tribute monsters every turn, rather than the new formula monarchs, which synchros every turn and draws new cards because of it. What is so great about this matchup is that A) I don't have to worry about an opposing backrow against Monarchs, and B) Tytannial murders Monarchs with her effect. Match 1 I gladly brought out the effect damage with Amaryllis, but in round 2, I realized who powerful it was to keep Tytannial(s) on the field with tokens to tribute.

Match 2 Amaryllis vs Xsabers 0-2
Xsabers don't usually give me that much trouble, but last night I did poorly. The thing about sabers is that their spell and trap lineup are half as much monster answers(Book of Moon) than backrow answers(trap stun). So both rounds(that did have some bad hands) you would see me dumping dandylion with foolish, summoning Tytannial as fast as I can, and trying to beat Xsabers to death, which is definitely not the way to win. Because Xsabers are both a high aggro and sub-par controlling deck, trying to "out-swing" them isn't very easy to do. One of the rounds I did manage to get the duelist on the ropes, as he defended with Pashuul for 2 turns. But in that time, I should have already had Amaryllis ready in the graveyard.

Match 3 Amaryllis vs Karakuri 2-1
Karakuri themselves are pretty annoying. They synchro pretty easily, they have some decent spell and trap support, and worst of all, they are Machines. Now, I didn't get Limiter Removal'd in either match, but just the fact that my open can "Synchro Summon for game" is pretty ridiculous and Limiter needs to be banned. As far as the match itself, Amaryllis was quick work on my opponent in game one. He was a little confused on the rulings of some of his cards. Karakuri Showdown Castle is a lot like Geartown, when it is destroyed, you have the option to summon a monster. A lot of people believe that, with Ancient Fairy Dragon, you can destroy these field cards, gain 1000 lifepoints, search out a new field card, then summon a monster. This is not true however as the field card will miss its timing if you use the rest of AFD's effect. After the first round defeat, he sided in what he said was 12 cards, and holy crap did it turn things around. D.Fissure, Necrovalley, and Gravekeepers, enough for any plant deck to get spun around. And indeed I did in that round. After that, I sided in the extra MST and Malevolent Catastrophe in the side deck. I only got to use MST to get over Dfissure, enough to win round 3. Luckily, my deck isn't completely dead when Dimensional Fissure hits the field. It's just a lot harder to play it when it does lol.

Round 4 Amaryllis vs Machina Gadgets 2-1
I played this the way I should have played against Xsabers. Burn now, not later. Invest in the field only when effect damage isn't an option. The difference between Xsabers and Machina gadgets is that 99% of their s/t lineup is monster hate. Dimensional Prison, Bottomless, TRAP HOLE(sided in), Smashing ground, THREE Solemn Warnings. With all the above cards, what is the point of trying to play like a plant synchro deck? Every game I played involved heavy use of Volcanic Counter and Amaryllis. I did manage to drop a Tytannial or 2 to end the game, but what really kills this and other duelists is that Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgement. Those cards actually help me win by making their maximum lifepoints a smaller number. As long as I don't commit to field presence I can commit to forcing Solemns while I have Magic Cylinder set, or Volcanic Counter in the graveyard.

In the end, it was a very good night. It goes to show that Amaryllis is probably one of my top decks in the many many decks I have. If I had to rank them, I think it would be something like this:
1)Koakis
2)Amaryllis
3)UniSTORM
4)Relinquished
5)Unicorn MKII (Scrap Beasts)
6)Divine Armageddon
7)Yubel
8)Into to Chaos
I am building Yusei Turbo/Synchron Madness. I'm actually a big fan of the deck, and a little unsure as to why people don't run it. Some say the deck has too many bad hands(with so many tuner monsters, its easy to draw 100% tuners.), while others say that the deck has no room for tech. It is pretty much 95% yusei cards and 5% staples, which turns a lot of people off. I also have a fiend deck made, which isn't doing too well. I'm not really sure why that is, as Caius, Faders, Dimensional Alch, and Gorz are all fantastic cards. For whatever reason, when I add in 2 Necrofear and 3 Stygian Securities, the deck falls dramatically in playability. Oh well, we'll figure something out.