Koa'ki Meiru: A Closer Look

For the first year of its existence, the Koa'ki Meiru theme was one of the major card design gimmicks in YGO. The theme consisted by and large of 1900 ATK fatties with good antimeta effects...but a horrendous maintenance cost. The maintenance cost mechanic would destroy each of them during the End Phase barring the discard of Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru or the revelation of a monster of the same subtype. Iron Core itself is a useless Spell Card, further compounding the problem. The KM monsters hailed from a variety of unusual subtypes (Beast-Warrior, Fiend, Rock, Zombie, etc.), making a pure KM deck nigh impossible to support. Key cards from the theme, such as KM Drago and KM Guardian, found comfortable niches in Disaster Dragon and Rock Stun, respectively, but the rest of the theme floundered.

Ancient Prophecy brought the first real hope for the decktype, with the introduction of KMs Boulder and Crusader. Boulder was a Sangan or sorts for Core or any LV4 or lower KM monster, while Crusader was a proactive battle recruiter a la Blackwing Shura the Flame, able to produce free cards via battle destruction of an opponent's monster. A KM draw card, Core Compression, gave the deck a touch of speed, too. Overall, however, KM had a long way to go since it still relied so heavily on Core itself and could not manufacture consistent card advantage.

Finally, Stardust Overdrive and especially Absolute Powerforce helped nudge the deck into at least tier 3 status. Overdrive introduced KMs Rooklord and Maximus, the dual "boss monsters" of the archetype who could destroy any card on the field. ABPF introduced the most important card in the archetype, though: KM Urnight. With 2000 ATK, LV4 status, and the ability to Special Summon any non-Urnight LV4 or lower KM to the field for free, Urnight is undoubtedly one of the most powerful monsters ever designed. Powerforce also introduced a non-battle way to search Core via Core Transport Unit, and a versatile tutor in the Field Spell, Iron Core Specimen Lab.

Most importantly, the introduction of Urnight and Maximus finally gave the theme some coherence in its subtypes for End Phase reveals. Urnight and Crusader are both Beast-Warriors, while Maximus and Drago are both Dragons. As such we can run them in pairs so as to avoid having to toss a Core and/or let them die during the End Phase.

With all this in mind, let's get to work on a monster base. I realize that Koa'ki Meiru are not really a tier 1 deck, no matter how they are constructed. The aim of this build is to exploit Core itself via Urnight, Maximus, and Iron Core Luster especially. I don't feel that a techy, Stun-like build with lots of Rock-types and generic stun monsters (Thunder King Rai-Oh, Doomcaliber Knight, etc.) and relatively few actual KM cards can do that consistently enough, and as such will leave Urnight (the pivotal KM monster) a vanilla much of the time. This build will feature a lot of redundancy, but if it can survive even a few turns into the Duel, it can create some amazing setups.

The monster lineup:

3 Koa'ki Meiru Urnight
3 Koa'ki Meiru Crusader
3 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
3 Koa'ki Meiru Maximus
3 Koa'ki Meiru Boulder
1 Koa'ki Meiru Tornado

Fairly straightforward and simple. Urnight/Crusader is our synergistic engine for claiming free cards both from the deck and the Graveyard. Their shared Beast-Warrior type means that they nicely support each other's End Phase maintenance cost. Drago is one of the great anti monsters, able to shut down powerful hitters like Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and Judgment Dragon. His reveal cost is support by Maximus, who serves as the "boss monster" of this deck. Maximus' summoning condition can be harsh, but usually you can win the game during the turn that you drop its 3000 ATK onto the table. In tandem with Urnight, Maximus can put 6900+ damage on the table in a turn while also clearing out any card. Augment your aggressive rush with Drago and you won't even have to worry about Gorz, Tragoedia, or Battle Fader.

Boulder is mainly here to find Core and Urnight. Tornado is a single teched monster which can clear out lots of Special Summoned monsters by simply topdecking a Core.

On to the Spells:

3 Book of Moon
3 Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru
3 Core Compression
3 Core Transport Unit
2 Iron Core Specimen Lab
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Core is a necessity at 3. Core Transport Unit, though nominally a -1, is too important not to run in multiples; it makes every card in your deck live. It also has the angle of letting you accumulate multiple Cores, which can allow for more strategic Maximus plays: i.e., dropping Maximus supported by a live Luster, or having a Core to cycle to keep Maximus and his massive presence on the field for another turn at least. The -1 of CTU can also be recouped by the +1s of Urnight and Crusader especially.

Core Compression is ideally used to toss Maximus or redundant Boulders to be reclaimed by Crusader. Speaking of which, Book of Moon will help Crusader to take down a wide array of commonly played monsters by battle. Iron Core Specimen Lab gives us some leeway with our End Phase maintenance costs: you can stabilize an awkward hand by doing something such as Urnight -> LV4 KM, let both die in End Phase, search Urnight + Crusader. You now have Urnight's maintenace cost secured and a full Graveyard to exploit with your further Crusaders. Lab can also search Maximus.

Lastly, the Traps:

3 Iron Core Luster
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Core Blast
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment

Luster is hard Spell/Trap negation as long as we have a Core. It's invaluable for stopping any Bottomless Trap Holes that might disrupt our Urnight/Maximus rushes, and can also be used aggressively against cards like Solar Recharge and/or the upcoming Blackwing Treasure. Bottomless Trap Hole is here to fend off larger monsters that could give our KMs problems; I'm not running Torrential Tribute due to the low monster count and the deck's difficulties with field presence. Call of the Haunted is here due to its ability to put 3000-4000 damage on the table by reviving Urnight or a properly summoned Maximus.

The last Trap, Core Blast, has one of the most unusual effects in YGO.

Core Blast
Normal Trap

You can only activate this card's effect if you control a face-up "Koa'ki Meiru" monster. Once per turn, during your Standby Phase, if you control fewer monsters that your opponent, you can destroy cards your opponent controls so that he controls the same number of cards as you control monsters.

It can be unwieldy due to its Standby Phase requirement, but using either Call or Urnight can often set you up to trigger it. The ability to wipe out indiscriminate "cards", as opposed to just monsters or just Spells/Traps, cannot be taken lightly. This card can be a great equalizer, akin to Balance from Magic: The Gathering.

I'm not maindecking Rooklord due to the unavailability of KM Bergzak (another Warrior-type) in the TCG. I feel that KM must run either Drago/Maximus or Bergzak/Rooklord; it can't really support both sets due to conflicting types and potential for further dead draws in a deck already prone to them.

The side deck will include Reckoned Power, Dust Tornado, Legendary Jujitsu Master, and KM Guardian, all of which can help give us a stronger game 2/3 against decks like Gladiator Beasts. These cards also synergize strongly with our maindeck picks, as many of them are KM-related and help to support End Phase maintenance.

Don't expect to win or even top an SJC with KM. This is primarily just a solid deck perhaps acceptable for regional play. It has some unique tricks and can actually make life hard on Gladiator Beasts in particular due to its ability to spam 1900+ ATK bodies with ease. The Blackwing matchup is tough due to Icarus Attack, Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn, and Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow. Against Lightsworn, you can often shut down Wulf and JD with Drago, but have to be constantly wary of Celestia, Lightsworn Angel.

My next article will look at the much hyped Starlight Road and how it will change YGO forever.