Plunder Patroll is one of those rogue strategies that are doing quite well in the competitive scene currently. There are two versions, one adding Adventure and one running Runick. This article focuses on the Runick version and details its many benefits to explain what makes it good in this format.
Just to show that the deck can seriously plunder the meta, I want to point out that it made Top 8 at the YCS Lima a few weeks ago and Top 64 at the 250th YCS in Los Angeles. The closest deck that can be compared to it is Naturia Runick as the two somewhat play the same way. Naturia Runick may be the more solid option, but the Plunder version has a few tricks up its sleeve that Naturia Runick cannot perform.
First of all, the deck runs a lower count of Plunder cards, allowing you to tech more non-engine cards than the Naturia version. This enables you to play between two and four more non-engine cards. In this case, Jack Pieffle chose to add three copies of , three , and three to his YCS-topping deck, as well as a couple of Kaijus. Now, you either play just two or three Kaiju monsters or include two copies of to help you get over annoying boards. The Kaiju engine in itself is quite helpful, depending on the attributes of the Kaiju monsters you choose, and it acts as a one-for-one removal while giving your opponent an attribute that corresponds to the attribute of one of the Plunder extra deck monsters.
For example, is the Kaiju with the lowest attack, so it seems like a non-threatening option to give to your opponent. However, its attribute is water, which is somewhat useless for Plunder Patroll since the deck makes with ease anyway. Instead, you can give your opponent either , which is an earth monster allowing you to summon , and then give your opponent a token with any attribute you choose. If you are willing to give your opponent a monster with a little more attack, is perfect for the job since you can summon and immediately banish Radian. There are also light and fire attribute Kaijus, but their attacks are probably too high for them to be really useful in my opinion. should honestly not be played since we still do not have any Plunder Patroll wind monster in the extra deck.
Thanks to the extra deck Plunder Patroll monsters and , the Plunder engine and its Runick counterpart provide so many disruptions and draws, the advantage simply keeps snowballing if left unchecked. While the number of Plunder Patroll cards is limited compared to the Adventure variant with almost double the amount, all you need is access to one or , which will help you search any Plunder Patroll card.
Plunder Patroll is a deck that can fusion summon, xyz summon, link summon, and even synchro summon. On the bright side, the deck can cheat out these summoning methods using three pirates with distinctly-colored beards. is the beating heart of the deck, and also happens to be a tuner. During your opponent’s turn, it can special summon a Plunder Patroll monster from the extra deck with the same attribute as a monster on your opponent’s field or graveyard before equipping itself to it. Alternatively, when sent to the graveyard, it can special summon a Plunder Patroll monster from the deck, locking you into Plunder Patroll monsters only for the rest of the turn. Most of the time, you would want to summon .
Moving on to the side deck, there are two particular cards which Naturia Runick cannot include. The first one is , which locks both players into controlling only one monster type. All Plunder Patroll monsters are fiends, which makes them unaffected by the card. The only downside is that you won't be able to summon a Runick monster, but this is not really an issue since you are usually locked into Plunder Patroll anyway. The second card is . With how popular Labrynth and Traptrix are currently, Denko can easily make an impact, especially since the deck does not need its normal summon as Whitebeard activates when sent to grave, and most of the other monsters are special summoned.
I also want to point out that the deck has a decent Kashtira matchup. Going second, you can get rid of or with your Kaijus. When going first, puts a token on their field, making it very difficult for them to get their plays going since and need an empty field to special summon themselves. Just try to get rid of as soon as you give it to them since it is a level seven monster and can be used for an xyz summon.
The deck is strong, but requires a bit of a learning curve. While it may currently be not as powerful as others, it remains an option that should be kept in mind if you enjoy Runick variants in general.
If you have any suggestions on how to improve the deck and make it work even better, please let us know. Share your thoughts with everyone in the comment section below!
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.
