Yugioh Budget Anti-Meta

Did you ever go to a local tournament and do well until you ran into the final couple rounds? In those rounds you probably met people who wasted hundreds of dollars, often more than a thousand just to get the current meta deck. Six Samurais, Gravekeeper's, Dragunities, Karakuri Turbo, X-Sabers, Lightsworn, and Debris Plant Synchro; these are some of the most common decks in the meta today. And yes, Gravekeeper's fit this scenario nicely because they almost always pack a whopping 3 Pot of Duality, 2 Solemn Warning, and Solemn Judgment as just a few of the "Staple" cards that are supposed to be needed in any deck. So, how do we, the budget players, beat a deck that is built to hurl out synchro after synchro each turn, or with so many top quality cards considered to be necessary for every deck? The answer: anti-meta with a great side deck choice.

Now that we've addressed the issue, it's time to take up arms against the threatening meta. Considering that budget players may not be able to afford all the fancy "Staples" Such as the Solemn Warnings and Synchro arsenal, we have to take a different approach. How do we do that? Let's take a look at a past deck that seems to come and go.

Machina Gadgets. This is one variety of an extremely popular deck when the Machinas were first released. Somehow they have quickly lost steam as a top tier deck and were dragged into the depths of tier 2 and below. How did the deck do so well? The answer is simple: Hand Advantage. Nearly every monster in the deck was able to replace itself immediately upon summoning. Now let's look at today's meta. Why do gadgets not do so well now? This is because of the time the deck takes to get going. Six Samurais realistically only need the first turn or two to completely dominate the field and prevent the opponent from using any spells or traps on their first turn. X-Sabers generate field advantage with Darksouls and Emmersblades while also negating many more summons than the average deck, Dragunities Synchro out a level 8 nearly every turn (often opening with stardust dragon and removal), Gravekeeper's have their spies and Recruiters, Karakuri have an odd mixture of plant tuners and machine duplication to make multiple Shogun Synchros, Lightsworn have... well, many things that take away nearly 50% of their deck on the first turn with multiple special summons if they have a good opening hand (also a Judgement Dragon to pull off impossible wins), and the Debris Plant Synchro has a constant threat of Black Rose Dragon along with newer variants Dopplewarrior for tokens.

Each of these top decks has a rediculous out to gadgets, along with an easily sided Cyber Dragon and Chimeratech Fortress Dragon to get rid of any machine on the field for a massive attacker. Why did I even bring up gadgets then? That's because of the card advantage they offered. This is a very important concept that every top deck takes advantage of. This leaves an important question then: Which deck is the right choice to fight off this kind of meta?

If you said Gladiator Beasts you probably already decided on that long before this article was created and will not change your mind. If so, then I politely ask you to stop reading as I will offer pointers on a different deck. If you are still interested, then Great! The choice I offer today is a revived archetype that actually began way back in the Metal Raiders Booster Pack: the Harpie's Ladies. They have had many new support cards come out since then, and people often use one of the variations of the Harpie's ladies monsters because they have an effect or just downright higher attack. Harpie's have all that they need to succeed, just like the top decks, but no one really wants to use them because it seems like a gamble. This article is going to guide you through the deck, card choices, and meta call side deck choices that I feel could easily bring Harpies to the top.

Now that I've told you this is the deck we are going to focus on, it may seem a little confusing, so I will give the deck list that is going to be used.

Monsters: (18)

• Harpie Lady 1 (3)
  
• Harpie Queen (3)
• Birdface (3)
• Hunter Owl (3)
• Reborn Tengu (3)
• Harpie's Brother (3)

Spells: (15)

• Harpies' Hunting Ground (3)
• Mystical Space Typhoon (2)
• Book of Moon (1)
• Pot of Avarice (2)
• Monster Reborn (1)
• Dark Hole (1)
• Solidarity (3)
• Giant Trunade (1)
• Shrink (2)

Traps: (7)

• Icarus Attack (2)
• Bottomless Traphole (2)
• Mirror Force (1)
• Torrential Tribute (1)
• Call of the Haunted (1)

Side Deck: (15)

• Grave of the Super Ancient Organism (3)
• Rivalry of Warlords (3)
• Gozen Match (3)
• Mask of Restrict (3)
• Skill Drain (3)

Now to explain the choices:

Monsters are almost all clear as to why they were chosen. The oddest choice out is Harpie's Brother. He was chosen because he: 1) isn't a tuner (no mind control shenanigans from the opponent), 2) has a solid 1800 attack by himself, and when boosted by others becomes more powerful than many synchros, and 3) He doesn't conflict with Skill Drain when it is sided in.
Harpie's Lady 1 was chosen over #s 2 and 3, Cyber Harpie's Lady, and the original because they have an attack boosting effect for all your own Wind attribute monsters (which happens to be all), and by themselves become at least a 1600 attacker.

Spells:
All the spells are self explanatory. Solidarity is why the monster line-up is very strict with just Winged-Beasts and is used because the Harpies just don't have enough attack on their own. Shrink is used for the same reason, plus it's not a trap (mainly want low main deck trap count so that opponent will side out any trap negation round 2 in the match).

Traps:
Don't really require explanation as they are all things that require common sense to play.

Side Deck:
This is where the fun begins. The Harpie deck is one of the most flexible when it comes to side deck choices because it allows for a complete side against ANY Meta deck in your area. I will explain in the next section how to side in the cards in key match-ups in duels 2 and 3.
Here's a list of what each card stops:

1. Grave of the Super Ancient Organism: Dragunities, X-Sabers, Debris Plant Synchro, Karakuri Variants, Lightsworn (solely for Judgement Dragon), Any Synchro Heavy based deck, any deck that special summons level 6 or higher frequently (looking at Chaos Sorcerer).
2. Rivalry of Warlords: X-Sabers, Plant Synchro, many Karakuri Variants, Lightsworn, Dragunities, any deck that is Synchro Heavy (Synchros often do not match well with the type of synchro materials).
3. Gozen Match: Karakuri Variants, Plant Synchro, Six Samurai, other Synchro Heavy based decks (Again, most synchros do not match type or attribute of the materials used for their summon).
4. Mask of Restrict: Dragunities, Gravekeeper's, Stardust Dragon (Yes, just a synchro), Frog Monarchs, Naturia variants, rogue decks with tribute effects.
5. Skill Drain: Six Samurai, Gravekeeper's, Dragunities, Karakuri Variants, Lightsworn, X-Sabers, Plant Synchro, and nearly every other deck in existence.

Now that we've discussed the uses for the side deck choices, it's time to decide how to side out the appropriate cards. Here will be a list of the deck's strong match-ups, weak match-ups, and how to fight your best (including siding for games 2 and 3 for each match).

Gravekeeper's: This match-up is admittedly a fun one, but quite challenging when you get a poor opening hand. If you go first: set a birdface or reborn tengu and try to bait out a Descendant effect as those monsters are really not that much of a loss. Or, you could open aggressively with a Harpie's Brother summon. Each of these plays must be accompanied by some kind of monster hate card (Bottomless, Icarus Attack, Etc.). A set Tengu with Torrential is an amazing opening to have against them. If you're stuck going second and they have the usual set monster and couple spell/trap cards, just open the same way (aggressively with Harpie's Brother or set Tengu) with your own monster removal. Gravekeeper's will fizzle out if they lose all their monsters from a Torrential Tribute, or a well timed Icarus Attack after they activate their Descendant's effect.
Since you run a few more monsters than the Gravekeeper's deck, you will often lose out a card or two to Royal Tribute. So, the first move you want to do is discard Harpie Queen when you get her so you can protect your hand advantage. Also, Gravekeeper's will not want to activate Necrovalley knowing you have an out to it already (buys a turn or two, which can be enough).
When the first duel is over you will want to side out: Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, 1 Icarus Attack, and 2 Hunter Owl. You will side in: 3 Skill Drain, and 3 Mask of Restrict.
This lower monster count helps alleviate the pain of a first turn Royal Tribute, the traps help stop Descendant's effect and Spy's effect, and there will be an overall general advantage when they are just 1500-2000 attack monsters.

Dragunities: They have a very aggressive play style and can also use Icarus Attack along with lots of monster removal. The main priority is to get rid of Dragon Ravine and they will have a hard time getting the monsters they need (they usually only main deck 13). However, Strong first turn synchros are deadly against your deck.
If you go first: Strongly suggest the same opening plays as you would against a gravekeeper's deck. If you get Bottomless Traphole, use it against Dragunity Vajyranda, and if you get Icarus Attack, use it the moment they play their ravine and summon a monster.
After the first duel, you'll want to side out: 3 Solidarity, 2 Shrink, and and 1 other card of your choice for 3 Skill Drain and 3 Grave of the RIvalry of Warlords.

Karakuri: A complicated match-up when they can pull multiple synchro summons backed up by either a Giant Trunade or Trap Stun. Just be prepared for an explosive turn at any time after the first turn or 2. Only suggestion: Reborn Tengu can save you when they are backed up by a Giant Trunade or Trap Stun.
Siding: Take out whatever 6 to 12 cards were least helpful for this match-up and appropriately side in any of your side deck cards that are not Mask of Restrict (That really just stops Lonefire Blossom, if they choose to use it).

Six Samurai: One of the Toughest match-ups when you have to go second. Same opening suggestions as before. The idea is to eliminate the Samurai before they can perform a Synchro summon of Shi-En.
Siding: take out 2 Mystical Space Typhoon, 2 Shrink, Call of the Haunted, and Giant Trunade. Side in 3 Gozen Match and 3 Skill Drain. The reason you side out the Mystical Space Typhoons is because the samurai spell/trap line up is mostly based on special summons and really have no meaning to destroy them unless you can negate their activation as well.

Every other deck not listed: Again, the same opening is the ideal one you want to use (Tengu with Icarus or Bottomless, Birdface with any removal, Harpie's Brother with any removal card). Sometimes you can even bluff a Mystical Space Typhoon as a kind of monster removal.

Just an added note so that I do not get sued.
All pictures/videos/advertisements that appear in this article are not mine, I do not own the copyright, patent, or trademark intended for these sources. The video was borrowed from Youtube to show an example of the current meta and what to expect when attending a higher level tournament. The images were all taken from Yugioh Wikia to show what some of the key cards of the deck look like.