Premium Budget Deck: Geoma-Glass Cannon

Justice once again

 

So this can also be dubbed as a Crazy Diamond build but I prefer Geoma-Glass Cannon for the irony in addition to having a more straightforward naming process. This build is focused on using the Enigman ride chain, allowing you to skimp out on other units of that grade in order to run as many Grade 3s as possible. The original build used this in tandem with Daikaiser to abuse the break ride skill, and other variants since then focus on synergizing with units that benefit from running a lot of Grade 3s. In the modern day we now have Geomaglass who greatly lends itself to this strategy alongside new units from the V series with higher base stats that can be abused by the deck. 

Instead of the usual spotlight where I provide various options to run with a sample build alongside it, I'll be instead providing insight on my own take for a budget build, which you're welcome to change at your own discretion. 

Grade 0

The starter for this build is Enigman Flow, who is also the main reason we can run so many Grade 3s in our deck. In the trigger line up, Diamond Ace grants more space as we no longer have to face the choice of running Grade 1 sentinels or skipping out on those options from the deck, further bolstering the deck's defensive options. Daubruber enables us to keep Grade 3s in hand when striding, and Linka lets us benefit off the high number of them in the deck in combination with Burst strides. However, Namazooro can be used instead of Linka to meet power thresholds as needed, and the critical pressure pairs better with the multiattack nature of the main strides in the deck. Gorescue's higher stats make it easier to use in more situations, but you can also try some copies of Cassie to get resources back through G Guarding. 

Grade 1

This is the last of my Hamon, Jojo! 

Four copies of Enigman Ripple because it's needed to trigger Flow. Four Copies of Enigman Squall because it counts as Ripple when it's ridden. I hard mulligan for at least one of these every game because the Grade 2 ride is secured through this and I'm already likely to hit a Grade 3 by the time it's needed.

Grade 2

One copy of Enigman Wave. Since I'll either secure it on the first turn or draw into it, so there's little to no risk of it being sent elsewhere before I can ride it. While it's generally a waste of counterblast, in some situations you may be able to get it's on hit skill off by using Squall to dig for extra cards as you see fit, or shave some shield from the opponent's hand before riding up to Grade 3. 

Grade 3

You thought it was Dailiner, but it was ME, NEXUS!

We now have 24 spots to fill in at this point which is great to abuse Geomaglass. In addition to the shield the stride provides, Dailiner is the main choice as a Vanguard target since his CONT adds further shield value to your Grade 3s. It's on the pricier side, so I'll suggest Dainexus instead as a budget alternative who fulfills a similar purpose but with the additional option to buff my strides and recycle Grade 3s. You could also consider both in the same build if you have the money for it. To benefit off of Dainexus I'll be running more Dimensional Robos to round out the main deck. Dairoller provides more shield synergy and is also a good beater, and Daizaurus further powers up the vanguard. Daiarm can pressure opponents with larger hands, Daiyusha can be used as an early ride target and throwaway card when I want to save other Grade 3s, and while it's not a D-Robo, Glegio allows me to keep Grade 3s in the backrow for extra shield. 

Grade 4 

Geomaglass is run at four due to its high synergy with the deck. X-Lead and Daimax DX are used at two copies to save on counterblast or in the case of damage denial. The former is used as an early stride when you don't want to fully commit to applying pressure the opponent, and the latter for later when you try to close out the game. While it's more expensive at roughly $8-15 at the time of writing, I find two copies of Bravest Peak good since it more reliably ends games especially with the addition of Linka and Daizaurus, while also providing card advantage if it fails to end the game.

For G-Guardians, I run one copy of X-Carivou and Zeal to provide defensive buffs to the vanguard as necessary, two copies of G-O-Five since it reliably produces a high shield value and soul can be fueled through reriding or using Daimax, and two copies of Atlantis Dolphin since it provides more counterblast to be used as needed, while accelerating your face up G-Units to buff X-Gallop and Daimax. 

                                             

Decklist:

Grade 0:
1x Enigman Flow 

4x Diamond Ace (V)

4x Impurity Monster, Daubruber

4x Operator Girl, Linka

2x Dimensional Robo, Gorescue (V)

2x Dimensional Robo Outfitter, Cassie

Grade 1:
4x Enigman Ripple
4x Enigman Squall

Grade 2:
1x Enigman Wave

Grade 3:
4x Super Dimensional Robo, Dainexus
4x Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha (V)

4x Super Dimensional Robo, Daizaurus

4x Super Dimensional Robo, Daiarm

4x Super Dimensional Robo, Dairoller

4x Battle Unit Commandant, Glegio

Grade 4 (Strides): 

4x Heat Wave Beast, Geomaglass

2x Bravest Peak, X-Gallop

2x Super Cosmic Hero, X-Lead

2x Strongest Command Chief, Final Daimax DX

Grade 4 (G Guardians):

1x Great Galactic Beast, Zeal

1x Super Cosmic Hero, X-Carivou

2x Gallant Incarnation, G-O-Five

2x Oceanic Conversion, Atlantis Dolphin

                                             

Price: $80-100

Effectiveness: 7/10. You get through the ride consistently in every game, and most of the strides packing a crit (on top of the Force 2 if you ride a V Grade 3 prior to riding Dainexus) is enough to have consistent pressure throughout the game. However the early game is weaker and prone to rush because you're set on getting to Grade 3 before making your bigger plays.

Competitiveness: 6/10. The deck can't really contest early game which can put the player in an unfavorable scenario, but once strides come in an attempt can be made to make up for it at the least. In games where I'm in a better scenario as I get to striding, it's a matter of dragging out the game to maximize the value of Geomaglass, but in the current meta it's hard to get that far. Despite having shield through the various options, it will still be hard to balance defending and also still having a decent amount of G3s to use on the board. The deck is also very susceptible to board control which will further weaken defensive options if it's not played around. It still makes impressive boards when it gets the chance to, though.

Final Words: This is a pretty fun deck that goes beyond a weak gimmick. Though it's still not the strongest the new additions definitely help improve it's power and reliability, and additional grade 3s that are made in the future will contribute to this variant in the future, so it's a good deck to invest in for long term use if you like the idea. Try it out if you liked old Morikawa but realized he was playing the wrong clan. 

Truly the GOAT