Notes & Combos

Small World Legacy's Finality: Ib Edition (aka Deus X-Krawler Turbo KEKW)

Please see 2.9k-word writeup from Season 34 for original explanation of deck concept.

Big shoutout to Raseruuu from #crusadia channel for the Knightmare line, and Bora for the Justiciar Ib package/line!

This is version 2 of my World Legacy pile. I'd previously thought that the list was settled until Galatea-i, hence the name "Finality," but I was dumb. After hitting M5, I decided to sit down and really work through my hand permutations, streamline the list, and improve the deck's coherence and consistency. I kept testing until I hit a 5-winstreak into M4; this was the list, and I then took it to M1 with no further deranks (but some dangerous demotion games).

In summary:

• I finally stopped coping on the Crusadia line providing any sort of board going 1st (natively)
• I finally stopped coping on WL Secret being a viable primary gameplan in 2025, especially now with Bystials everywhere
• I finally stopped coping on archetype xenophobia (for now) and accepted that I needed starters from outside World Legacy in a 60c pile
• I finally have Ib access
• The Crusadia line now actually does something going 1st thanks to Knightmares and Galatea
• I've committed to a board of Astram + Deus X-Krawler as my main wincon

Justiciar Ib

Finally, Ib access in my pile deck!!!

Inspired by Bora's Theme Chronicle list, I decided to give Draconnet another go, but crucially with the addition of Gravity Controller in the Extra Deck to actually allow me to extend beyond Ib in the EMZ.

• Draconnet was released in the starter deck 1 month before World Chalice was introduced in the OCG, so heck, I'll consider it part of the Link family just like I:P!
• Gravity Controller is ugly, but I think it's literally the only way for me to extend past Ib without Mekks. Unfortunately, it also sucks because it can't be linked off on the same turn. I hope to be able to replace it one day.
• Linguriboh is...well, kinda necessary. I tried running without it for a while in M3, but reverted after losing a game where Draconnet got Veilered and I couldn't extend despite having Mekk + WL in hand.
• I didn't want a full World Chalice package due to space and consistency concerns, so I just have the 1 Crowned by the World Chalice, 1 World Legacy - World Chalice (more on this later), and 2x Cynet Mining for consistency.

Draconnet has been a fantastic addition. Ib directly fetching WL Memory (to summon Girsu and send Mind Meld) and getting World Chalice out from the deck is just brilliant.

3x Mind Meld

I wanna apologize...TO ABSOLUTELY NOBODY!! DEUS X-KRAWLER IS A WORLD LEGACY BOSS! Thanks to Cynet Mining (and something else I will mention below) adding more discard opportunities, I decided to try 3x Mind Meld on a whim. It's a trap, which should be a brick, but it's a WL name that Morning Star can discard. World Legacy synergy ftw! More crucially, it's THE Deus ticket. I'm absolutely happy to see it in hand. Try it and you will understand, even if it looks sus. The nice thing about getting 2 in GY (like if opened Girsu AND Mind Meld) is that you get a 2nd chance to summon Deus even if the first Mind Meld gets Ashed on turn 1.

Who would've thought the WL card I went to 60c to include　just because of its Crusadia-era art　would wind up becoming the core of my deck?

The Return of Small World Legacy

Stopped coping on the Crusadia line going 1st. Girsu is the #1 option, as a 1c starter into Deus+Pawns. Draconnet is #2 option. Note that NS Girsu isn't always the best move as Draconnet actually allows for SS extension past Imperm/Veiler. However, Draconnet gets cooked hard by Maxx/Fuwa. The monster lineup works well to guarantee access to either starter; see the Small World network map below:

x-x-i-l.github.io/smallworld/?id=69811710&id=91646304&id=28031913&id=55241609&id=54525057&id=81524756&id=20537097&id=28692962&id=97268402&id=94145021&id=42141493&id=14558127&id=23434538&id=62587693&id=92204263&id=57288708&id=95511642&id=62706865&id=4055337

SW + Draconnet + Cynet Mining = 8 more Deus starters. More consistency and less exposure to Brick-Knights' column reliance going 1st.

"So Crusadia is useless now?" Maybe in your Knightmares

I still play 7 copies for a reason. The Crusadia normal summon play is a clear 3rd option, but in certain hands it's actually the safest play (see video). Crusadia monsters are also dual-use as they can be special summoned unlike the #1 and #2 NS options. Even just 1 Crusadia in hand can finally serve as a TRUE extender, raising ceiling or allowing me to play through disruption. How?

All thanks to Raseruuu casually mentioning the Knightmare line in chat a week ago.

I'm clearly a scrub because it never even occurred to me to explore this. The Knightmare package is simply Knightmare Phoenix, Knightmare Mermaid, Orcust Knightmare, and Orcust Crescendo. Yes, thanks to the Knightmare line, I now have native access to the Orcust side of the World Legacy cardpool. Orcust Knightmare's GY effect also sends World Chalice to GY, giving me a precious turn 3 play.

• This means that the Crusadia line guarantees me World Legacy access just as it did before with Crusadia Krawler, but here I get a true omni-negate instead of Equimax's tribute-cost face-up negate.
• World Chalice's turn 3 add is moreover superior to Crusadia Krawler's turn 2 add because 1) I get to see what card I draw for turn before adding, 2) Crusadia Krawler plays into TTT on turn 2, and 3) Crusadia Krawler needs a Link zone, which will most likely be occupied by Deus.

Thanks to Justiciar Ib and the Knightmare line, my deck now has more combo possibilities.

• 2 Crusadia monsters in hand? Magius as usual. Magius gets Impermed? Pivot to Knightmare line anyway. It becomes a 2.5c combo instead of 2c, but the .5 is just to discard anything...maybe Mind Meld KEKW.
• Draconnet opener with a Crusadia but no Mekk/WL card in hand? Ib add Memory. With Gravity Controller in the RIGHT EMZ, SS Crusadia. Crusadia + World Chalice into Knightmare line. Mermaid + Orcust Knightmare into Lib. Lib set Pawns. Memory SS Girsu to send Mind Meld. There we land lmao.

None of this would have been possible without the new packages or in a smaller deck (unless bricking is fun). Not saying these are even the right combos as I just started playing these lines a few days ago. It's simply a massive improvement on coping with purely Mekks and Crusadias. And I finally feel like this is truly a World Legacy pile!!!

Galatea's Role

Galatea is now a major part of my gameplan, and Mermaid is the gateway allowing me to reach beyond Crusadia, over to a tiny part of Orcust as well as the broader World Legacy engine.

I'm not interested in running an actual Orcust engine because what's the point of struggling for the last 3 years with Mekk-Crusadia just to wind up banishing Harp Horror lol? We all know what the Orcust line can do. In conjunction with Girsu in this list, it would completely overshadow everything else built to my taste. There would be no reason to play the Crusadia or Mekk engines because Orcust is a complete archetype that can do it all; it would not need to rely on Deus for a win-con either. In the end, if someone were to optimize a WL pile for meta play, the Orcust engine would just take over the deck's identity. Heck, Orcust doesn't even play Lib in the OCG right now! You sure as day won't ever see me without the heart of World Legacy herself, the World Key Blademaster!

That is why I only play Orcust Knightmare, just to summon with Mermaid, in order to enable Galatea's effect to set Crescendo. This line gives me something I'd been crying out for since switching to go-1st: an easily accessible IN-ARCHETYPE omni-negate. It's particularly significant because Druiswurm, which is fairly rampant now, is Deus' bane. As previously mentioned, World Legacy in general has no real interaction with the opponent's hand or GY, and modern engines are ALL about hand and GY effects. Equimax can't stop pesky Druiswurm, but Galatea can.

Crescendo moreover can add Girsu in the midrange, even though it's especially slow here due to the dark lock essentially forcing me to use it only on the opponent's turn.

Overall, Galatea is either a ceiling-raiser that can protect Deus and help me survive turn 2 before Astram hits the field (if resources permit), or a backup pivot that provides a better omni + better WL engine access on turn 3 compared to Equimax + Crusadia Krawler. This is also a true backup line that can be accessed with any 2 monsters. And even as a summon past turn 3, she's an amazing closer if co-linked with Astram with Crescendo set behind a live Deus.

Misc.

• The shift away from relying solely on Crusadias and Mekks (with their column requirement) has improved consistency due to an increased focus on normal summon starters. However, it is still imperative to balance monsters with backrow because the Mekks are still a core engine. In fact, it's usually very difficult to just stall with Deus without the Purple engine constantly adding resources in the midrange.
• I'm finally able to retire WL Secret as my main win-con, but it's still a core part of the gameplan and great as backup behind Deus in case something goes wrong.
• Pot of Desires - controversial for sure, but helped more than it hurt, and is backrow for column creation. I was able to win through WL Secret even when Deus/Pawns got banished. I just didn't have any better ideas, so why not boost consistency lol?
• You honestly should not play WL Guardragon. It is entirely in here for the art, since I switched to 60c precisely to accommodate Guardragon and Mind Meld. It has its uses, but is mostly terrible to open. However, this slot should still be a WL card for combo purposes, and ideally backrow for the aforementioned card count balance, so my rational recommendation would be a 2nd copy of WL Succession or something.
• You should probably play Almiraj for HT NS. I just decided to keep Unicorn for the art + some situational plays, but yeah I threw some games just by not having Almiraj lol.
• Deus as a main win-con is really strong, but very fragile. It's a sitting duck and has to remain in defense until Astram arrives, so without the Mekk engine to push tempo, it's easy to still lose. It also has no defenses whatsoever while face-up, which makes Druiswurm and backrow a major pain. If possible, keep it face-down until the opponent is forced to link Druiswurm off or something. This is where having WL Secret behind is really nice. Also, without Astram's protection, Rcielago can easily reduce its defense enough for any of the revolting BS that meta decks can spam to beat over it. Nonetheless, there is no doubt it is much better than WL Secret as it doesn't lose to Bystial banish effect, CBTG, Duster, Lightning Storm, etc. No question.

Don't be fooled though; I've done what I could to boost consistency, but

this is still a bricky pet deck that will have horrendous hands, can't play going 2nd without non-engine/Mekks, gets easily stuffed by HTs going 1st, has no real extension unlike FS+Azamina slop, and has a truly pathetic ceiling compared to meta decks.

However, I haven't had this much fun in ages. The overwhelming World Legacy energy and synergy running through this pile brings me so much joy, and the streamlined list is so much more coherent. And above all, the Knightmare line giving the Crusadia normal summon an actual payoff is just priceless.

Now to wait for Galatea-i. World Legacy forever!!!