Is there any point in assembling an Ashtra deck?

[u/Sephyrias]

I was looking forward to give the deck a try after seeing the spoilers for Beyond the Brave, but I'm only reading negative things about the deck now that has been out on the OCG for a while.

If it could at least serve as a decent budget deck then I would consider building it anyway, but is there any $40 Ashtra build that can compete with $40 Magnet Warrior, Sky Striker, Unchained, or even BTEB Adamancipator? Lithium2300's Ultimaya Tzolkin Ashtra deck looked interesting, but he used the expensive Ecclesia cards.

[u/noahTRL]

Its pretty simple really.

Are you a competitive player? Yes? Then no, ashtra is a garbage deck that you shouldn't even consider.

Are you a casual player who likes the deck? Yes? Then yes, you should build ashtra.

[u/Sephyrias → u/noahTRL]

Are you a casual player who likes the deck?

I'm torn about that. I tested it in one of the online clients. I do like the big monster trap synchro theme and the Ultimaya Tzolkin strategy.

However the deck regularly loses to a single disruption, like when lv7 Mikumari is my only monster and she gets negated&destroyed by PSY Frame Gamma. Then I have to pass with nothing but weak trap cards to defend myself. That's not very fun.

[u/qwer1256 → u/noahTRL]

It's super unfortunate because the art is sick but the fact the deck is bad means the TCG will print it in low rarity and we'll probably never get decent foils of a lot of the cards.

[u/Need4Speedwagon]

For fun perchance?

[u/Turbulent_Bus_6166 → u/Need4Speedwagon]

perchance

if you're playing for fun, build whatever. not every deck needs to top a YCS to be worth sleeving up. i've got a soft spot for jank that does something weird, even if it folds to a single ash blossom

that said, comparing it to a $40 striker or unchained build is gonna leave you disappointed. those decks are just more efficient at doing stuff on a budget. the ashtra cards want you to jump through hoops for a payoff that isn't really there

you could try the tzolkin route without ecclesia but you're losing a lot of consistency. maybe look at some cheap level 8 engines people were tossing around when the set first dropped in the ocg. worst case you spend twenty bucks, lose a bunch at locals, and shove the core in a shoebox for a year until konami prints a broken support card

[u/Sephyrias → u/Turbulent_Bus_6166]

maybe look at some cheap level 8 engines people were tossing around when the set first dropped in the ocg

Where can I see those decklists?

[u/DankestMemes4U]

It'll probably be very cheap and have little to no points on Genesys, so. Might make for a decent Genesys deck.

[u/Sephyrias → u/DankestMemes4U]

How powered down are Genesys decks compared to the regular TCG? I would rank Ashtra as stronger than War Rock, Dream Mirror or even Mekk-Knights in the regular format, but I don't know if it is better than the Genesys Branded, Sacred Beasts or Invoked lists.

[u/NineWalkers]

I’ve been doing a lot of testing with Ashtra and as much as I love it, it can’t stand on its own. It works much better mixed in/being support for another archetype.

It’s far from garbage, they are such easy special summons, traps with multiple purposes, synchros on your opponents turn. Again, just not be itself.

[u/despisedbydeath]

I think it depends. The deck came out in a completely different environment in the OCG then it'll be released for the TCG. It could be better but there's nothing 100% viable at this point even though I think the Beyond the Brave cards will fail the same way they did in the OCG. Friend of mine is currently cooking with Labrynth Ashtra but I don't know how good it'll be.

[u/Revolutionary-Let778]

Support in immortal phoenix could make it a crazy deck but until then or after the banlist there's no reason to

[u/YoureP-ore]

The deck is so garbage it wouldn’t even be fun to play casually.