Whenever the pool of cards that see play expands, there’s always bound to be a few unintended interactions that crop up. People can point to Infernobles’ interaction with Smoke Grenade of the Thief as an egregious design flaw, or perhaps Mikanko’s going-first gameplan being a lock with Acid Golem, but it appears that Justice Hunters introduces not just one, but two potential worrisome designs. Last week, we covered K9 in its Mitsurugi-blended incarnation, which made use of Pair-a-Dice Smasher to occasionally lock out the game on a die roll, and this week we’re similarly plumbing the depths of playables for a Trap-based Yummy build that employs a card I’m shocked never got the axe: Harpie’s Feather Storm. Join me as we take a gander at this going-first claw machine of chaos, Yummy Clausolas.
Yummy is truly the first deck to make exceptional use of Level 2 & 3 Synchros, a pool that has been fairly untouched since the mechanic’s inception. After all, the vast majority of Main Deck monsters are Level 3/4, and even with Level 2s in the mix you’d need to combine them with Level 1 tuners to reach this odd low point. Yummy, meanwhile, turns Link-1s into its tuners, and so has quite the painless time when it comes to using these low-level Extra Deck bosses.
Their in-archetype monsters for that reason are certainly potent, and we’ll talk about that, but I want to focus on the build which has recently been topping, and why it may just make sense to add in Feather Storm going forward.
That aforementioned topping build is a strange Trap-heavy Yummy variant that eschews any way to really trigger K9 monsters, as a means of hedging against Turn 0 K9-17 Izuna being employed as a hand trap. As opposed to cards like Droll or Ash, instead the intent is to load up on Infinite Impermanence, Dominus Purge, and even Songs of the Dominators. The latter two greatly benefit from already having a Trap in the yard on activation, meaning your ideal non-engine suite includes 2 of them from the get-go. Sadly, there’s not really any other trap which might fulfill this purpose, of turning on Songs’ search effect…except perhaps Feather Storm. See, the build that’s been working well includes board breakers like Lightning Storm, but I want to shift it a bit and plan on going first, given I believe Songs & Purge give us plenty of game going second already. If we go first, and find Feather Storm, I want to lock out the game then and there.
That’s where Mist Bird Clausolas steps in, a Level 3 Synchro that is, go figure, a WIND Winged Beast. This is fairly easy to make as well, with any of our Yummy Synchros, all Level 2s, as well as any Link-1. That’s not all, however, as we can also play Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale, which on top of being a great Zeus pilot also turns on the condition for Feather Storm.
As anyone who’s had Feather Storm resolve against them will tell you, it’s no fun at all. Completely locking out monster effects is bad enough, but because it comes in the form of a Trap, instead of the monster effect on K9’s Pair-a-Dice Smasher, virtually no deck is prepared to beat it on the play. You can, without issue, move to the handshake phase and get on with the next game; this is especially relevant if we’re considering the new time rules.
While they were walked back recently, I want to take a moment to speak on the new time rules at Yugioh Tournaments which may see implementation at Worlds. Instead of the player with the highest LP winning when time expires, now both players receive a loss, greatly disincentivizing slow play, and critically incentivizing early scoops. It is less worthwhile to play out a game you’re not favored to win now than it has ever been, and this build of Yummy lets the opponent know it’s a good time to concede and move on.
I fully expect decks that present these early concession effects, such as Pair-a-Dice, Storm, and Dimensional Barrier to see more and more play. Time rules have been a literal running joke in the community for years at this point, and there are archetypes to this day printed with a miniscule amount of burn damage in order to get over the hump while you combo off, like Fiendsmith.
I only wish this change were locked-in sooner, however, as we’ve missed the train on two potentially incredible choices of deck that were locked out due to time, being Dinomorphia & Evil Eye. If we had these rules around when those decks first saw print, there’s a very good chance they’d have been meta, and it tempts me to cover newly emergent strategies that benefit from this structural change in the future.
But, right, we’re talking about Yummy. Cute as it is, Yummy is just Spright with a thin veneer of Synchro, and while there’s fiddly bits to remember as you go through the line, there’s enough 1-card starters that most versions are playing anywhere from 12-16 Main Deck engine pieces…the lowest of any deck in years. One particular innovation I appreciate is the inclusion of a Sauravis, the Ancient & Ascended, giving Herald of the Arc Light (Which is very often part of our endboard) a search target that actually matters. In a world where Imperm is in 99% of interaction suites, having a surprise Sauravis around is quite compelling.
The usual suspects are here beyond the obvious, with Forbidden Droplet, Called by the Grave, etc, but it’s very much worth noting the Obedience Schooled and Thrust, each in triplicate. Yummy monsters are LIGHT Beasts, and because there’s 3 in the Main Deck with different names, Schooled is an absolutely absurd card when it comes to getting our combo started. It is also, as you may notice, not even slightly Once per Turn. Therefore, if they negate our first Schooled, we’re likely able to just Thrust for another copy, or even better, a Feather Storm to lock things up. Thrust is better in this list than literally any other deck I’ve seen it in, as the degree of its search targets’ power is higher than even Fiendsmith Snake-Eye. This is not a deck you want to use monster effects against, another means of shutting down K9’s otherwise favorable matchup.
The questions of whether this is the best version of Yummy and whether this is the version I’d play at a tournament are surprisingly two different questions. As discussed, if you’re playing at a YCS event or higher, there’s a chance Konami tries to use the new time rules, in which case this likely wins out due to that structural change. That being said, if you’re just jamming on ladder or at your local game store, this is so thoroughly a going-first build that a variant playing triple copies of Yummy☆Surprise and some less committal Traps may win out if you’re okay going second. Hilariously, I’ve also seen talk of Typhoon in the side for this list, as a swap out when you go second in order to keep the Trap lineup high. I have my doubts, as what I’d instead do is play some tools to make Harpie Conductor, which turns on Feather Storm from hand, a very nice perk.
That’s a wrap on our quick look at Yummy, as well as the new time rules! What are your thoughts on the new changes to tournament policy? Should I cover the last archetype from Justice Hunters? Which of the three is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
