Stephen
What made you choose your deck? What are some plays your deck can make?
Plants was the deck I've played the most in recent months. It's good and fits my preferred playstyle, so I decided to play it this YTC. I also found ways to out Clockwork Night and similar floodgates, which were the reason I didn't play Plants last month.
By opening Loci, the deck can make an Aromalilith Rosemary and set up Blessed Winds for recursion. Evil Seed is a great starter and extender, since it lets you set up disruption by searching Ragnaraika Hunting Dance and then linking into Sunavalon Dryas or another Link. Rikka Petal can bridge into either Evil Seed or Loci with Mudan searching Rikka Glamour. I prefer to search Princess first for disruption and then do the Glamour play on the next turn with the Petal already being on the field, to have all 3 Summons for making plays.
What were some tech choices you made? Would you make any changes to the list moving forward?
I played a lot of tech choices because I really liked the cards. Primite Howl can be a starter if you don't open anything else, and it's also a disruption. Sauge De Fleur is great for removing annoying cards while also giving you a search if it dies. Instant and Ready Fusion give a non-Effect extender to make it easier to go for a Jasmine Summoning a Plant Effect Monster on turn 1, or to make Rage Rose Witch. I played Marjoram instead of Laurel because it makes Rosemary a 1-card Rage Rose Witch, and the Marjoram GY banish is actually very good. The Predaplant engine can out annoying Continuous Spells/Traps and it's easy to bridge into with Rikka Glamour. The Horn Counter Trap stuff is broken against Kewl Tune.
I think I would reconsider the Instant/Ready Fusion stuff since it bricked a lot, but it seems very good in theory. I would also try to fit more cards for going 2nd, since that's where I always struggled. The Predaplant Sarraceniant in the Side Deck overperformed, so I would also consider maining it.
How did your deck handle the other pilots? Any notable moments?
Every match was a 2-0 except for a 1-2 in Swiss against Artmage. Graflare and Mysterion are both very difficult for this deck to deal with, especially if I lose die roll.
Any time I resolved one of my tech cards was fun. Sauge was especially cool to play with and let me out a Baldrake in my match against Burrito.
What's a card you will always/never run in your Trinity lists?
I hate Small Scuffle because it's only good if you use it at the summon limit for your opponent, which means you have to let them get 3 Summons to stop them from getting value off it, when you could have just flipped a different Trap and stopped their plays entirely.
I really like the Runicks because they can counter Twin Twister, be extenders, or be good Quick-Play Spells. I don't usually play aggro decks, so I find myself throwing them in a lot of decks I build.
How were your holidays?
Relaxing.
Impy
Tami
What made you choose your deck? What are some plays your deck can make?
I chose Artmage because I realized that Graflare was legal and free of taxes, and i wanted to exploit such a powerful card. It might not seem broken to the average player, but in a slower environment like Trinity, it's a powerhouse. After tinkering with the archetype a bit, soon I realized the deck had a lot to offer, especially in terms of recursion thanks to Litera/Succession/Turmoil enabling an infinite loop.
The main game plan is to find Acropolis, your only true starter, to establish your self-recycling engine and grind your opponent out. The more explosive plays feature Succession, which allows you to summon strong generic Fusions (that align with the archetype accidentally well) while playing around the summon limit.
What were some tech choices you made? Would you make any changes to the list moving forward?
The Artmage engine is very compact, leaving plenty of room for tech choices. The most notable one is the Millennium package: easy to access since the entire deck is centered around Field Spells and useful to push into established boards or going for lethal.
There are many "hidden" synergies: Temple allows you to get rid of a Patron stuck in hand by using it as a material for a Doomed Dragon while granting a search; Grief Tablet can negate your own Patron, allowing you both to access Temple and to link it off to trigger a search (you can do a similar play with Souls, too).
Diviner serves as both removal and engine, justifying the Extra Deck space for Quadogmatika; the IoC package is a free inclusion since you like to discard STs with Acropolis anyway; Traptalizing Tune can recycle Awakening from banishment for an extra pop; even the Cobalt Eagle added of Bridge has some applications, since it can be shuffled back to recur Medius, or fused from hand to summon Denial Deity Dotan, which reads better than expected.
I’m very happy with the list and wouldn’t change a thing.
How did your deck handle the other pilots? Any notable moments?
The deck performed really well, so much so that I managed to sweep the Swiss rounds. Graflare makes matchups against backrow-reliant decks very favorable, and the Fusion toolbox provides flexible answers independently of the specific match-up. I felt like the deck had the potential to go all the way, but in the Semifinals I pulled a disasterclass in both g1 and g2. My opponent promptly capitalized on my misplays and took the win. Truly a skill issue on my part.
What's a card you will always/never run in your Trinity lists?
One of the coolest things about Trinity is that the power level is low enough to the point where you can consider dubious card choices (yes I’m talking about my own Rainbow Bridge of Salvation package) and still perform with them. For this reason, I wouldn’t categorically exclude many cards, especially among modern releases. Old, niche, dysfunctional stuff is a no-go, obviously.
For the must-picks, it has to be backrow removal (Twin twisters and Cosmic Cyclone), generic and impactful handtraps (Ash, Ogre, Imperm) and Extra Deck staples (Knightmares and Azalea).
How were your holidays?
Overall good, just a small issue: my phone screen exploded, so now I have to jury-rig a setup until I buy a new one. I also have exams on the way, so I need to study more than I'd like to and that sucks. But holidays have been an opportunity to see friends and family more, so I’m happy about that.
