Classic fun - Koa'kis

I have been waiting for this format and certain key reprints for a while. Pot of Duality, Heavy Storm, emphasis on monster cards and their effects; all of these are good reasons to run beatdown decks and anti-meta. Of course, this is me we are talking about. I had to give Koakis their long-awaited retry.

The last time I played Koakis at locals was in 2010, back when Six Samurai were the prevalent deck. At that time, I only had my 1 Duality, so getting off Urnight plays were heavily dependent on my opening hand. Some builds resorting to using Morphing Jar, others used 3 Gold Sarcophagus. If I was lucky enough to get Shi En off the field and survive Trishula, I could usually win. A lot of the matches weren't in my favor, so that is what we call an inconsistent deck. My current build seems to respond fairly well to other decks, so here is hoping we can improve upon it.

Monsters: 19
3 Koa'ki Meiru Urnight
3 Koa'ki Meiru Crusader
2 Koa'ki Meiru Boulder
2 Koa'ki Meiru Guardian
2 Genex Ally Birdman
1 Summoner Monk
1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
1 Koa'ki Meiru Maximus
1 Koa'ki Meiru Sandman
1 Koa'ki Meiru Wall
1 Koa'ki Meiru Tornado
1 Maxx "C"

Spells: 12
3 Pot of Duality
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn

Traps: 9
2 Call of the Haunted
2 Solemn Warning
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Bottomless Trap Hole

Extra: 15
Your choice of Synchros
1 Arcanite Magician
1 No. 39: Utopia

Side Deck: 15
3 Leeching the Light
2 Soul Release
2 Light Imprisoning Mirror
2 Shadow Imprisoning Mirror
2 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Cards that work well:
Call of the Haunted is probably the best answer to Solemn Warning this format. Even with all the Mystical Space and Heavy Storm, Call can bait out their spells, help you survive the turn, or even allow you to win the game. Koakis aren't built to mill monsters, or to needlessly expend resources because you have survival tools (there is a Koaki build that can do that!). Call is always meant to be an answer to your opponent's destruction effects.

Summoner Monk creates amazing combos if you have 1 Iron Core and 1 of any other spell card in your hand. I am only running 1 in the deck, or perhaps I should say that I only own one. The typical play for Monk is to discard a spell card and summon Urnight. You can then use Urnight's effect to summon another Koaki from your deck. If your opponent has no response, you will have 3 monsters on the field for the cost of 2 cards in your hand. Monk and Urnight cannot attack, so you can overlay them into a Utopia if necessary. A lot of the time, I will keep them both of the field. It really depends on the matchup, as some decks will resort to effects to clear your monsters rather than attacking. Most people say that Summoner Monk is not good because of the spells you have to pitch. I like to believe that the Koaki Deck solves this problem with Iron Core, Duality, and Gold Sarc. Anyone can easily discard a Pot of Duality to summon an Urnight. The most fun however is using Boulder, Duality, or Gold Sarc a turn prior to the Monk play in order to get 2 Iron Core into your hand. Two Iron Core, 1 Monk, and any card to protect your invest (such as Compulsory) is a very powerful play. If your opponent cannot rid you of the Summoner Monk, you can add the discarded Iron Core to your hand during your next draw phase and have 5 monsters on the field without normal summoning.

Koa'ki Meiru Guardian was ran in 3's in the VERY beginning, and then it was bumped down to 2. When I remade the deck a week ago, I originally had 1 Guardian and 2 Sandman (which makes no sense at all). It is obvious that Effect Monsters are very important in this format. Some people run 3 Effect Veiler, some run Fiendish Chains, and so it is only natural to play Guardian in 2's or 3's. It may be ideal to Run 2 in the main deck and side in a 3rd when playing against low trap-count decks. Like Doomcalibur, Guardian forces plays out of your opponent. Be it wasting powerful spells and traps to destroy 1 monster or forcing you to use the effect prematurely. Many of the top decks rely on key effects to "get their ball rolling" and to keep them from using them is very important.

Perhaps the best part about the Koaki deck is the ability to side against any other deck. If you look at my side, I appear to have a major grudge against Light decks. You may opt for a more universal side. In my opinion, the main decks to beat are Chaos Synchro, Agents, Hero Beat, and TG variants. The first 2 are handled by the heavy amount of anti-light cards and soul release. The latter 2 are handled by Cyber Dragons and an additional Space Typhoon.

Now this isn't the end-all beat-all version of a Koaki deck. There are many routes to choose from if you want to give it a try. You can add a Synchro element using TG Striker and TG Warwolf. You can put in a miniature Miracle Fusion in the form of Gaia Plate. Some people also want to run Effect Veiler in the deck, alongside Guardian; it locks out many effects without the need to play Skill Drain. There are many Koaki themed cards to choose from too. Just be very careful as many of them have lost power in this format (Reckoned Power). There more you try to fit in, the less consistent the deck will be, so if anyone wants to try out Negaton or Overclock, I suggest not running too many other themed spells and traps.

Happy Beating!