Something seemingly impossible has happened to Yugioh, and it is my sincere hope that the game’s best years are ahead of it. In a complete surprise, Konami recently debuted the Genesys format, a combination between old-school rules and a point system in place of a standard banlist, not unlike Magic’s Canadian Highlander. This has roused a great many players from their breaks with the game, with cards like literal Pot of Greed back on the menu, and both Links & Pendulums excised. This is Konami’s olive branch to the old-school community, those who left the game when they felt the game’s pace & complexity rise beyond their willingness to participate, and I’m thrilled to cover it here on Flipside. This is the first in a short series of pieces on how I’ve worked to bring a few of my favorite strategies with me to the new format, in spite of its restrictions. First up, the deck I’ve covered the most: Tistina.
Oh, Tistina. This was the TCG-Exclusive archetype I had by far the greatest difference in opinion on when compared to the broader community, and I even brought wave 1 Tistina to a Regional, on top of multiple locals. By the time its second wave debuted, the ship seemingly sailed, and I moved on to other decks. Still, Tistina’s capacity to consistently produce an obnoxious amount of fodder intrigued me, and its design to favor going-second, while still participating in a normal going-first endboard, helped ensure it had skill expression on either side of the coinflip. Since I last covered Tistina in-depth, it received two notable new pieces: Miasma Dragon Tistina, and Chaotic Elements. Each of these helped to turn a resolved Divine Domain Baatistina into full combo, and that in turn dredged Fallen of the Tistina from a questionable 1-of into a mandatory 3-of. What does that combo do in Genesys format though? Well…
The combo goes as follows, with Baatistina sending Miasma Dragon Tistina, it Special Summoning itself, and getting Sentinel of the Tistina. Sentinel pops itself, grabbing Demigod of the Tistina, which Specials itself to search either Play or Breath, ending on Varudras and the capability to pivot into a live Demigod on the opponent’s turn. You’ll notice that this is shockingly good, and with not a single Tistina card marked with points for Genesys, we can spend it all on our non-engine. Better still, if this combo goes off and we’re going second, we actually get to flex into Crystal God Tistina, which is itself functionally a board wipe that can also be Rank 10 fodder.
In terms of our point spend, we’re investing 20 points, a full fifth of the standard 100, into a single copy of Varudras. This is by far the best Rank 10 in the game, and given we make a Rank 10 as part of our linear play, it’s worth having access to an option that’s rarely bad. The rest of our points though? Non-Engine, as many as we can fit. 21 on 3 Mulcharmy Fuwalos, 30 on 3 Forbidden Droplet, and our final 29 on a 3:2 split of 5Ds era staples Droll & Effect Veiler. One thing I absolutely love about Genesys is that playing strategies without points in their core engine leaves you ample room to play the best non-archetypal cards in the format. This appeals to me, certainly, as a Rogue deck enjoyer, but I also think it gives old-school players a heightened capacity for playing stuff like Metamorphosis or Graceful Charity in their otherwise-unchanged Red-Eyes lists. The jankier your preferred core archetype, the better your auxiliary pieces, it’s that simple.
Tistina is a stickier deck than anyone expects, and getting fully rid of its pieces without some form of finger-waggling from the opponent is virtually impossible. Fallen of the Tistina punishes the removal of Baatistina, which itself can float when removed, so long as you place or Set it first prior to activation. Crystal God performs a Destructive Daruma Karma Cannon-esque reprisal when taken out, and even Varudras, while outside of Tistina, takes a card with it when it goes away. Hell, even Kaiju-ing an Xyz with Miasma attached, while you have Baatistina, allows you to go plus for next turn; slower, stickier strategies like this have emerged as the premier decks in Genesys, and I think Tistina might have what it takes.
There is one snag, however: Tistina’s core combo is rather bad into exactly Skull Meister & D.D. Crow, the two premier handtraps in the format. Each of these cards punishes the initial activation of Miasma Dragon, and cost 0 points, meaning they’ll show up in virtually every list not intent on FTKing you.
This is where our small secondary package comes in: 3 copies of Rescue-ACE Impulse and a single Rescue-ACE Fire Attacker. Initially used back in Tearlament format to increase the density of turn 0 ways to trigger your effects, the theory is similar here; against decks with Field Spells, binning a Miasma Dragon on our opponent’s turn allows us to come out way ahead. Not only that, it gives us a chance to dig for starters, or get rid of handtraps that might not be good in a given matchup. After all, while we too are on Crow & Meister, there’s a huge crop of decks that thrive on not losing to their activations, like Odion. Another great facet of this package is its ability to stack the yard with Aquas, such that our Chaotic Elements fully resolves. There’s not a compelling way to get its GY effect online in the Main Deck, but importantly, we’re on a copy of Veidos the Eruption Dragon of Extinction in the Side, not just searchable with Elements, but also a great way to chunk out the field.
Speaking of which, I’ve not settled on the Side Deck in full, but one card I know is seeing play in triplicate is Ultimate Slayer. Unlike the premier format, Genesys has removed access many decks have to generic Extra Deck tools, so there’s a wealth of space in strategies not centered around a toolbox. Here, we’ve added space enough for the three Extra Deck types, Fusion, Synchro, & Xyz, in targets that benefit from being sent with Slayer (or via an opposing Dogmatika Maximus).
Designing a Side for Genesys is still very much a work in progress, but flexing into powerful Trap Cards going first, like shifting our Drolls for Karma Cannons, certainly makes sense. To my understanding, only the Main & Extra are constrained by the point limit, so as long as your power swaps are equivalent or less, you’re set on filling the board with potent answers.
This list is one full of considerations. Should I be on a K9 package and potentially a Tainted of the Tistina for a Rank 5 pool? Any copies of the other Tistinas which help extend beyond the 1-card combo, like Hound or Returned? There’s so much in the air still, given how new the format is, although one thing is clear: The frontrunners all rely on Field Spells (Odion, Fire King) and primarily disrupt through destruction. Tistina absolutely loves to see that, and given our core combo only accesses the Deck/Extra once, we even play around Fuwalos going first. I feel confident that Tistina is going to reward skill expression like it was never really able to in “normal” Yugioh, and nothing makes me more excited than bringing to the forefront a deck like this, which was so thoroughly forgotten.
With that being said, this is only the first deck I’m covering for Genesys, and I’ve got brews stewing for both Gishki & Materiactor, each of which I’ll be covering in the coming weeks. This is the most I’ve played Yugioh beyond testing for articles in a long while, and my friends who only tangentially heard about the game, or played as kids, have actually reached out for a refresher. While ripping off the band-aid of Pendulums & Links is no easy thing (as someone who likes those mechanics), I feel it can help this format thrive as a pathway for players back into the game. Yugioh’s first true alternate format in over a decade is looking good, folks.
With that being said, I am curious beyond belief to see what other people are playing in Genesys! Are there any cards you’re aware of which have slipped by, unnoticed by the point system? How does it feel to see Odion win a YCS and the first major Genesys tournament in the same weekend? Are we in a TCG-Exclusive renaissance? Let me know in the comments below!
