Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Debut: Mitsurugi

 

The TCG release of the next Core Set, Supreme Darkness, is close at hand, and arriving with it is a new set of TCG-exclusive cards that look to have an immediate place: Mitsurugi.  Being an archetype of DARK Reptile monsters with a Ritual subtheme, many players have already worked to slot these snakes into so-called ‘Rep-Pile’, but keener eyes have positioned it as the next best choice for Drytron, or in a more pure version alongside Dogmatika.  Critically, no matter what the second wave brings, this first set of cards has instant potential, so unlike my beloved Tistina, there’s no onus levied on the second wave to be good — even if Mitsurugi receives a wildly off-mark support set, it’ll be okay.  Finally, as some have surmised, these cards breathe new life into some of the most expensive cards from the now-defunct Snake-Eye strategy, so those with a playset might be inclined to try out the deck, given they have the bulk of the price already covered.  Strap in: It’s Mitsurugi’s time to shine.


So what’s up with Mitsurugi?  This archetype is actually fairly straightforward, and most of its power comes from its Spells; the monsters all have triggers to get a card when Tributed, and then do something on field, so it’s best to start there.  Mitsurugi no Mikoto, Kusanagi & Mitsurugi no Mikoto, Saji are your Normal Summons, but Kusanagi really wants to trigger on Tribute, as he gets a card back from GY or banishment, rather than from your Deck.  Saji is as close this deck gets to a standard searcher, grabbing either of your critical Spells, and usually you’ll see these played at 1-3 copies for Saji, and just 1 for Kusanagi.

Your Ritual Monsters, meanwhile, are quite a bit different.  While each searches for any Mitsurugi when Tributed (also Summoning themselves, if legally able), their on-field effects differ wildly.  You’ll often want to begin with Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi, a Raigeki+functional discard, before pivoting into Futsu no Mitama no Mitsurugi which allows you near-infinite recursion for your Reptiles.  How do you pivot, exactly?  That comes in the form of their Ritual Spell, conveniently named Mitsurugi Ritual.


This is, blatantly, the best Ritual Spell printed since Meteonis Drytron.  If you have a Ritual in hand, you get to Tribute materials in Deck, or vice versa, and crucially, each effect permutation is itself Hard-Once-Per-Turn, not the card itself.  This means that, if activated with a Mitsurugi Ritual Monster in hand (let’s say Ame), you can send both Saji and Kusanagi, which each trigger.  Saji gets either of your other Spells, and Kusanagi gets that copy of Mitsurugi Ritual you just used back, which then allows you to Tribute the Ame you Summoned for a Futsu in Deck, getting you whatever Mitsurugi card you’re missing, such as the Trap.  Then, while you have Futsu on the field, every time your opponent Special Summons a monster, you get your pick of a search, recursion, or Raigeki+discard back from the GY.  This is all just in-archetype, it could be even wilder with assistance from generic support.  Suffice to say, this is clearly strong, so now let’s pivot to talking about what it can be used with.


While the Level 4 monsters can naturally be Normal Summoned to trigger their effects in a pinch, the same cannot be said for the Rituals.  Luckily, the archetype’s search Spell is not only a Quick-Play, dodging Droll, but also functions much the same as Rikka Glamour, where you can optionally Tribute a monster to get a benefit.  The added bonus is that said card can be in your hand, meaning Rituals are never truly stuck; unfortunately, this style of effect is quite uncommon, but the good news is that its mirror in another meta engine helps an absolute ton.  Deception of the Sinful Spoils might be known as a Snake-Eye piece, setting up a Level 6 and early negate, but here it’s arguably even better, being chainblockable alongside any of your Mitsurugi names.  While the size of the engine surrounding this card may vary, as depending on build running WANTED and Diabellstar may be unnecessary, the package of 3 Deception and 1 The Hallowed Azamina is going to find room in every single Misturugi build, guaranteed.  This is much akin to Brilliant Fusion in its heyday, adding resilience, redundancy, and a low-ceiling solution which fixes much of what the Ritual strategy lacks.

Also releasing in Supreme Darkness is Liberator Eto, which has some players scratching their heads.  While being a Level 8 Reptile is perfect for the deck, even with it being Summonable from the GY, whether it’s needed or easy enough to weave into lines is up for debate.  You see, Eto is really just a going-second tool that can out certain bosses, but critically not the current boogeyman, Ryzeal Detonator.  Certainly, it could be good enough once the meta shifts as a third Level 8 once you’ve expended your HOPTs on Rituals, but now it’s likely more of a fun toy than a truly competitive one.

Notably, however, it also cannot be Normal Summoned/Set, a facet of the card which becomes far more interesting once Drytron is considered.  Yes, much like Cyber Angel Benten before them, the Mitsurugi Ritual Monsters trigger from these advantageous Machines.  While this does lock you from Special Summoning your Level 4s, this ultimately seems worthwhile, as an easy package to slot in for triggering stray Mitsurugis, and crucially, finding your Ritual Spell through interaction.  Futsu is even exactly 2000 Attack, the perfect breakpoint for a single-Tribute Ritual Summon off of Meteonis Drytron — talk about synergy!

So, Mitsurugi has an extremely reasonable 1.5 card combo, high-quality search targets, and an endboard with enough reactivity to threaten most midrange decks — what’s missing?  The actual answer comes down to names.  The fact your mainline combo could in theory include another Level 4 & 8, or access a Rank 4 (By way of Night Sword Serpent and/or Kagetokage, the latter of which can even be Summoned while under Drytron’s lock) means there’s a ton of room to grow.  Moreover, for Drytron, it may in fact end up being correct to include the normal Fairy package, as Benten too benefits from Deception, and can even find things like Artifact Lancea.  Ultimately it comes down to the necessity for non-engine space, or smaller packages like Ryzeal & Dogmatika, which help accelerate you into the core Mitsurugi line.  If you can make King of the Feral Imps, you solve half of your core opener issue, as via Saji you can find either the Ritual Spell, or Monster.


The first build illustrates a lot of what’s good outside of Drytron - namely, the fact Deception can be readily found by the Diabellstar line.  This makes your secondary engine far more consistent, and with Dogmatika to cap it off, you can send Heralds or N’tss to clear problems.  Crucially, this forgoes the use of any Fairy package (as does the next list) as I couldn’t find a ratio I was happy with.  Because Prayers can only Tribute Reptiles (and Deception, anything), overloading on profitable tribute fodder seems unwise.  Here, we pretty much just exchange Drytron’s lock for Diabellstar, and go from there.

The Extra Deck is especially interesting, because both Dyna Mondo & Cross-Sheep excel here more than anywhere else.  Dyna, usually seen in Nouvelle, recycles your names for both Deck Summons & Material, and acts as a way to get Ame’s field wipe at Quick Effect speed.  Cross, meanwhile, can almost always apply its two best effects, for both Fusion and Ritual, bringing back one of your small Mitsurugi, and filtering through to handtraps.


This variant, meanwhile, keys into the innate synergy of the Drytrons, and plays a wealth of searching for your minimal, clean names.  While it might be smarter to play more actual Drytrons, between Relinquished Anima and your Rituals, it’s rare you can’t get that chain started.  Being locked by Drytron means there're far fewer ways to find your Deception, which I don’t love, but enabling your core line and accessing the Ritual Spell alongside Meteonis make it worthwhile.  In truth, I’m of the belief the best version is somewhere in the middle, between these two, and I don’t have the exact variant that’s going to top a Regional cooked up just yet.  I want to emphasize, however, I do actually believe such a version exists.  As of the last moment of me writing this, people are exploring builds with Choju of the Trillion Hands to fully access the Mitsurugi combo, and go into Rank 6 plays with your Azaminas…just insane.  While I have emphatically played every TCG-exclusive deck to come out, Mitsurugi is the first one that made me gasp, “Oh, these are good”; no coping was needed.

So, where do we stand on Mitsurugi?  In testing, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with it, even locked to this first wave!  Do you think this actually has a shot at meta viability?  Is there a better deck to play the Mitsurugi engine in?  Let me know in the comments below!

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