Master Duel Metagame Report S3 (2024)

Welcome to Season 3 of the Master Duel format.

This report will tabulate 148 top-performing decks from 55 tournaments that were held during Master Duel Season 3 (1 – 31 March 2022).

Metagame Breakdown

31 Eldlich (18 Eldlich, 10 Grass Eldlich, 2 Grass Zombie Eldlich, 1 Subterror Eldlich)
31 Tri-Brigade (16 Tri-Brigade, 15 Zoodiac Tri-Brigade)
26 Drytron
12 Shaddoll (8 Grass Invoked Shaddoll, 2 Grass Shaddoll, 1 Grass Dogmatika Invoked Shaddoll, 1 Invoked Shaddoll)
10 Virtual World
8 Phantom Knights
8 @Ignister
5 Prank-Kids
2 Altergeist
2 Dinosaur
2 HERO
2 Kaiju Luna
2 Tri-Brigade Lyrilusc
1 Adamancipator
1 Blackwing
1 Chaos Thunder Dragon
1 Grass Sky Striker Infernoid
1 Magical Musket
1 Sky Striker
1 SPYRAL

Eldlich

Sco (すこ) went 7-0 and finished 1st in “Mainichi CS 10/3” which had 128 participants.

Super Polymerization has become a standard tech in Eldlich decks. Mudragon of the Swamp, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, Predaplant Dragostapelia and Eldlich the Mad Golden Lord are the commonly played Fusion Monsters, rounded off with Diplexer Chimera or Earth Golem @Ignister for Code Talker and @Ignister.

Tri-Brigade

Tri-Brigade has a fairly even split between mono Tri-Brigade and Zoodiac Tri-Brigade this season.

ymt went 7-0 and finished 1st in “Mainichi CS 20/3” which had 128 participants.

He teched in 2 Droll & Lock Bird to improve the Drytron match-ups. It could also function as a counter to the opponent’s Maxx “C” during his own turn, but comes with the drawback of having to give up using Tri-Brigade Bearbrumm the Rampant Rampager effect to fetch Tri-Brigade Revolt.

Aimyong (あいみょーん) went 7-0 and finished 1st in “Mainichi CS 9/3” which had 128 participants.

He ran 3 Zoodiac Whiptail as a tech against Shaddoll. Outside of using Forbidden Droplet, Tri-Brigade has difficulty clearing El Shaddoll Winda. Using Zoodiac Whiptail effect to banish El Shaddoll Winda is a reliable solution especially since Zoodiac Whiptail can be fetched by Fire Formation – Tenki. Running multiple Zoodiac Whiptail provides the possibility of attaching another Zoodiac Whiptail from hand to the Zoodiac Xyz Monster, allowing it to survive the battle against El Shaddoll Winda, and go into Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder later.

Drytron

Charlotte (シャルロット) went 6-1 and finished 2nd in “8th MoonyMan Cup” which had 180 participants.

Ultimateness is still the more popular Drytron build, mainly due to Herald of Ultimateness having the slight advantage of negating Special Summons and would thus be able to prevent Zoodiac from using a single Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder to bait out multiple negates. Herald of Ultimateness could negate the Xyz Summon directly preventing Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder from ever reaching the board, whereas Herald of Perfection could only negate Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder effect which could be activated multiple times in a Chain.

Nekroz of Hanazawa Kana (花澤香菜の影霊衣) went 7-0 (excluding 1 bye) and finished 1st in “5th Master CS” which had 184 participants.

Perfection is slowly gaining traction as the more consistent Drytron build, especially since Zoodiac Tri-Brigade is on the decline while Zoodiac is largely gone. The recent OCG format has also seen Perfection becoming the dominant Drytron build.

Conclusion

The margins narrow as Eldlich ties up with Tri-Brigade, while Drytron is not far behind.

That Grass Looks Greener has also began rearing its head, mainly in Eldlich and Shaddoll decks. Semi-Limited in the OCG and Forbidden in the TCG, it came as a surprise that Master Duel has left That Grass Looks Greener untouched at 3.

In the next Season 4, Baronne de Fleur would be the most significant cards among the new cards added in the new Selection Packs. However, the two decks that are able to utilize it well, Swordsoul and Tenyi decks, would not see play in Master Duel until the Swordsoul cards are released. The metagame is likely to remain the same with Eldlich, Tri-Brigade and Drytron at the top.

If you enjoyed these Master Duel Metagame Reports, consider supporting Road of the King on Patreon. Cheers!

References

2022-03-31 | Mainichi CS 3/31 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-30 | Mainichi CS 3/30 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-29 | Mainichi CS 3/29 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-28 | Hey! Cup #8
2022-03-28 | Mainichi CS 3/28 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-27 | Mainichi CS 3/27 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-26 | Mainichi CS 3/26 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-25 | Kauwloon Cup #2
2022-03-25 | Mainichi CS 3/25 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-24 | Mainichi CS 3/24 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-23 | 3.23 Origami CS
2022-03-23 | Mainichi CS 3/23 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-22 | Mainichi CS 3/22 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-21 | Hey! Cup Special Qualifier
2022-03-21 | Mainichi CS 3/21 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-20 | 3.20 Origami CS
2022-03-20 | Mainichi CS 3/20 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-20 | 8th MoonyMan Cup
2022-03-19 | TCS
2022-03-19 | Mainichi CS 3/19 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-19 | Halo Cup Super
2022-03-18 | 5th White Cup
2022-03-18 | Mainichi CS 3/18 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-17 | Mainichi CS 3/17 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-16 | 3.16 Origami CS
2022-03-16 | Mainichi CS 3/16 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-15 | Mainichi CS 3/15 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-14 | Hey! Cup #7
2022-03-14 | Mainichi CS 3/14 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-13 | 3.13 Origami CS
2022-03-13 | REIGN YGOMD General Season1 vol.7-Standard (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-13 | Mainichi CS 3/13 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-12 | 5th Master CS
2022-03-12 | Mainichi CS 3/12 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-11 | REIGN YGOMD General Season1 vol.6-Standard (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-11 | Mainichi CS 3/11 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-10 | Mainichi CS 3/10 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-09 | Mainichi CS 3/9 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-08 | 4th YeSU Cup MD (Master Duel) Online Tournament
2022-03-08 | Mainichi CS 3/8 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-07 | Hey! Cup #6
2022-03-07 | Mainichi CS 3/7 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-06 | 3.6 Origami CS
2022-03-06 | REIGN YGOMD General Season1 vol.5-Standard (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-06 | Mainichi CS 3/6 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-05 | 1st Arcs Cup
2022-03-05 | 3.5 Origami CS
2022-03-05 | Mainichi CS 3/5 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-04 | REIGN YGOMD General Season1 vol.4-Standard (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-04 | Mainichi CS 3/4 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-03 | 1st Nanashi Cup
2022-03-03 | Mainichi CS 3/3 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-02 | 3.2 Origami CS
2022-03-02 | Mainichi CS 3/2 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)
2022-03-01 | Mainichi CS 3/1 (1st | 2nd | 3 – 4th: A, B)