Genesys Locals are firing more consistently in my area, and I couldn’t help but test my mettle against other players exploring the new format! As a reminder, Genesys lacks a formal banlist, but cards are evaluated on a point scale, with the power of a given game being determined by the maximum points allowed among cards in your Main, Side, & Extra Deck. I’ve covered Genesys a few times so far, and without question it’s been the most fun with Yugioh I’ve had in years. I want to run through my actual experience at an event for the format that kicked off at my local LGS, how it ended up, and some takeaways for the format at large! I hope you’re ready to hear about how good Deep Sea Diva is, because it’s time to make a splash in-person with Genesys!
First of all, let’s quickly cover my list. It’s a slight variation of the list I covered last week, which I hastily assembled in paper for dirt cheap. Due to the fact there’s no Mulcharmies or Domini, the actual deck is pennies on the dollar, and the most expensive card was the brand-new tech I borrowed for the event: 3 copies of Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Thunderbolt. One minor problem with the strategy is our lack of capability to go second unless we manage to open either Infinite Impermanence or Evenly Matched. Fleurdelis remedies this by being a turn 0 means of setting Dogmatika Punishment, which is at worst live on our first turn, but can potentially be flipped up the turn it’s Set. Sadly, Fleur does Summon herself which means we can’t fully resolve a Multifaker, but it’s potentially massive to be able to begin Turn 2 with a Punishment into Faker without the lock. These came in a good bit, over the Diva line, as its fragility to destruction going second often meant the Normal Summon was wasted. My Side Deck plan was generally subbing Diva, Duonigis, and the Overtakes for 7 total pertinent non-engine, and there were times I even went to a single Meluseek for similar reasons (lack of access via the Diva line).
On the whole, I was extremely impressed with the Deck, with key changes from my previous coverage being the inclusion of a second Level 8 Synchro in Draco Berserker of the Tenyi, and shifting some Xyz slots for a Dragon Gate line by way of Epurrely Plump. Plump can often attach both a Spell & a Trap, and ranking that into Gate is an OTK 9/10 times. In cases where I feel it’s possible to leave in Diva, or even use it to win on the Turn 3 crackback, this is at least good in theorycrafting. For reference, it wasn’t Summoned this Locals, and I think the truly shocking part was that every game was that the three Prima Donnas were absolutely needed, but we’ll get into that during the gameplay recaps. In short, the deck feels good, feels tight, and I’m very happy with my Side Deck. Kaijus being bounced with Silquitous is just the icing on the cake. I think in the future I expect Extravagance will likely gets pointed and we’ll have to choose between it & Droll, and unless the FTKs get further hit Droll wins that contest.
The event was about a baker’s dozen people, your standard 3-round locals, but the mood was electric at the store. People, myself included, couldn’t help but talk about their brews, with nostalgic archetypes like Red Dragon Archfiend & Dark Magician being tossed out in the same sentence as a (presumably strained) Dracotail Witchcrafter deck. Match 1 was against someone on Blackwing, who knew Blackwing well—that alone frightened me! Blackwing is a tough deck, and the combo line my opponent was performing on the play was unlike something I’d seen, including…Shamisen Samsara Sorrowcat. I activated Extravagance as my first action, and in response, Sorrowcat Synchro Summoned Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity, a card currently banned, and a mere 1 point in Genesys. For most decks this would end the turn, but being a Trap deck I set 4 and passed, slowly cascading advantage via Multifaker and a hard drawn Altergeist Protocol. After winning Game 1, Game 2 saw me save a negate for Sorrowcat, leaving him with basically nothing on my turn, and I managed to clean up most of the board by way of Draco Berserker. In the end, Imperm won the day.
2-0 was a great way to start the day, and round 2 began with my opponent, going first, and Normal Summoning Aloof Lupine. Turns out it was Thunder Dragon Invoked, though with the Normal spent by the time he accessed Aliester, I really only needed to navigate a Thunder Dragon Colossus. Worse still, my Prima Donna was negated by an Effect Veiler, held for some reason past the initial Diva, so I was left with some Set cards and a dream. Malong bouncing Colossus was nice, via a Punishment, and the game went on with answers for each of his threats, given he lacked Traps to discard for the incoming Mechaba. Eventually, however, I drew my Meluseek, got in, and he was forced to trade and provide me a Multifaker. Game 2 he was once again on the play…and I bricked, hard. If attacking with Fleurdelis didn’t win me the game, I had no access to my engine, given my Diva package had come out. Turns out, Colossus is pretty big. Game 3, I get stopped by handtraps and end on just a lone Diva and some backrow, and he chooses to go into Time Thief Redoer. On my first Standby, he rips an Altergeist Trap. On his, topdecking a backrow as I attempted to set up another Trap. Only through the grace of Multifaker & Spoofing before Colossus came down did I have any chance, but by never allowing him to stick a Fusion I made it through at 2-1, 2-0 overall.
There were a total of 4 2-0s going into Round 3, and I found myself paired into Super Quants. Quants are impressive in Genesys, getting access to a card I’d see no fewer than 6 times this match: Herald of Orange Light. See, Quants have Fairies that get Graveyard effects when sent, so it’s a foregone conclusion to include the free Gamma-esque tool. It was resolved…twice, every game of the set. Quants are complicated, but don’t do well into Droll, and even moreso, hate to see their Normal Summon bounced. While I did face down a King Magnus during Game 2, this set was a bit of a blur as I wasn’t too familiar with Quants! What I can tell you is that opening Game 1 with Imperm & Faker only to be met with a turn 1 Herald felt absolutely awful. My victory here came from the fact that Quant seemingly couldn’t pack enough relevant backrow hate, or perhaps it was down to his Side Deck. In either case, my Traps were untouched, and the fact Silquitous’ bounce returns our Altergeists as cost ensured I could reset a Multifaker without fear of it being stranded.
I went 3-0 at my first Genesys locals, but I actually didn’t win! The fact I dropped a few games in my matches meant that the actual winner, on Heraldic Beast Ryzeal, ran away with a clean 6-0 across his rounds. This was disappointing, but the fact Altergeist were a part of the top 2 in 2025 felt fantastic, and I have a feeling I could improve my play & format knowledge to shave at least one loss away in the future. So, how do I feel about Genesys?
To put it bluntly, it’s amazing. Imperfect, sure, and there are FTKs and unfun play patterns available, but I’m confident they’ll be ironed out over time. The people behind this format are more communicative than we’ve ever seen from Konami, and the fact this is American-led as a project might be the secret sauce behind their candor concerning card point choices. Until the FTKs are firmly outed from viability though, choosing something like Ash over Droll is never going to happen, and if you don’t like Droll, Genesys might not be for you right now.
The next locals is actually 0 points, rather than the standard 100, and I don’t know if that’s something I’ll manage to attend. The good news is that, outside of exactly Dragite, my entire core is…0 points. Still, my soul calls out to make Gishki work, although getting more reps in with Diva Altergeist is likely to my benefit. Next year it seems that Konami is fully supporting 100pt Genesys, and if we get further OTS backing I could see it actually rivalling the premier format. The sword of damocles hanging over Genesys remains their promise to not point sets on release, however, and with top cuts nationwide being composed largely of Radiant Typhoon as the new hot engine over something like R-ACE. If Konami commits to this plan, there’s a dangerous ebb & flow of format power that could happen which prevents Genesys from feeling ‘real’ and solvable.
I hope you enjoyed a bit of story time as I delved into my local Genesys scene! Has your LGS picked up Genesys as a format? What have you been playing? What changes need to be made in the current format, or are we in a good spot? Let me know in the comments below!
