The Permissible Bamboozle

Today I’m going to operate under the assumption that there have been plenty of games where you have “bricked” and had to give your opponent an insurmountable amount of memory and simply could not answer the threat(s) provided. It’s happened to all of us and will continue to happen. Variance is quite the fickle mistress, eh? So, what happens if we just fill our entire deck with “bricks” and try and ignore the accepted conditions set forth in the Digimon card game? That’s right. Today is all about Security Control and how gloriously forgiving it is to pilot and how incredibly difficult it is to play against properly.

There are 2 schools of thought within the BT5 metagame. One variant plays red eggs and no rookies that can evolve in order to facilitate the red options from the start of the game. The other variant borrows inspiration from its BT4 predecessor and plays yellow eggs and a few rookies and opts instead to run a number of red tamers (Starter Tai) to turn on the options while playing less total red options. Both variants accel in different areas. Here’s two example decklists:

For those who would like a visual, check the links to Digimoncard.dev

https://digimoncard.dev/deckbuilder/5c428f3d-fa13-11eb-9b0b-0cc47a3449a4

https://digimoncard.dev/deckbuilder/b7ccdeb7-faba-11eb-9b0b-0cc47a3449a4

My preference slants me toward the yellow rookie version for one reason: Card Velocity.   The red egg variant is much more consistent at playing its Gaia Forces and Transcendent Swords but lacks in its versatility. Utilizing Tai & Matt to close out the game with a Zwart Defeat is just not something that I am personally interested in chasing. Trident Revolver is also extremely underwhelming, especially when there isn’t a way to get additional cards into your hand to take full advantage of playing a tamer for free.

Note that the red egg variant is a version that I had tested and abandoned in favor of yellow rookies and Blade of the True.

I will be focusing on the Bladed Rookie variant for the rest of the article.

REMOVAL

We are trying to cheat. Plain and simple. These expensive options are FREE when checked in security. Instead of trying to match our opponent in a battle of Digimon, we are trying to just delete anything that is in play.

Gaia Force is the OG and best removal spell in the game because it has no conditions when it comes to targeting. The other options do their best impersonation, but each has slight limitations. Emulating Gaia Force is still incredibly strong, and the limitations are required to try and balance them.

Ultimate Flare acts as Gaia Force when targeting most Megas and lower with the added benefit of being able to sweep up most rookies as well as a few Ultimates. This card is paramount to being able to control Rookie Rush. Fun Fact: Flare does not fare well against Diaboromon tokens (play cost of 14).

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Transcendent Sword handles roughly half of the Megas in the game and everything beneath them. Having a Zwart Defeat in play transforms it into Gaia Force 95% of the time. Some green and red characters can get above the 15k DP threshold while attacking, so it is not guaranteed to delete with a Zwart in play.

Plasma Stake is there to hit all level 7s and occasionally LordKnightmon. Having this is hand is more effective since it can miss more often than not when stacked in security.

EDEN’s Javelin acts as a stopgap while both players have a memory tamer in play and does not overextend memory to the opponent. Drawing a card is crucial to churn through the deck in search of more survival tools in the form of recovery or just additional removal. Javelin is generally assigned to the midrange removal of Ultimates and lower. This slot could easily be occupied by Holy Wave for a more proactive, yet slightly less powerful effect. Javelin and Wave protect your security by 1, just in different ways. Wave nullifies an attack by replacing a security, whereas Javelin takes out a potential attacker to defend the security. Each card has its merits and will come down to personal preference.

The mindset that I always have while playing Security Control is that for every turn that I’m not dead, I’m winning. Going in with the mindset of just trying to outlast all the threats in your opponent’s deck is the safest way to ensure victory. We try to utilize multiple recovery cards to cheat on the cost of removal. Our opponents MUST attack us and (hopefully) run face first into all our Gaia Forces and the impersonators. The best default recovery option is MagnaAngemon since it always costs 7 memory. The body is expendable and will most assuredly go down in flames, but his usefulness is extracted as soon as he is played. Lucemon is another variant of MagnaAngemon but with a much steeper memory investment until the mid or late game where it’s a better version. Higher DP and 2 memory less (with 10 cards in trash) makes he a viable tool to survive and strangle our opponent’s memory.

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The most crucial tool in the entire deck is Magnadramon, by a mile. Recovering 2 security for 11 memory is huge. Sometimes he lives and allows you to sneak a Lucemon into play when he attacks. When he attacks, its generally to kill an opposing ‘mon as well. You want to use all your Digimon who survive as pseudo removal and keep the opposing board as clear as possible. Doing so makes each of your actual options that much more detrimental. After the board is clear, you can focus on the security. Remember that removing all the security is not the primary goal. You are trying to just “not die” for the entire game. If you don’t die, your opponent will run out of cards before you do.

Admittedly, Tai is easily the weakest card in the entire deck. However, he is a necessary evil to facilitate the red options. Without any other red digimon or eggs, those options would be stranded in hand without Tai. His major selling point is his memory cost. For a meager 2, you get to choke in the early game and later you will be able to play Tai AND unlock and play any of the red options in your hand. He also randomly can push both Magnas and even Lucemon into larger digimon to initiate a trade or just a clean kill (which is even better). One annoying thing about the DP boost is that it will occasionally save a Salamon that was destined to die on security check.

While appearing innocuous, Izzy is secretly one of the linchpins to the deck’s success. Being able to gain crucial information about the top of the deck also teeters on the brink of cheating. Knowing exactly what you will draw (If Izzy is checked in Security) as well as being able to set up the perfect recovery card(s) is incredibly powerful. The information gained from Izzy would be enough to warrant his inclusion in the deck even if he wasn’t a memory tamer, but he does that as well. He unlocks Ultimate Flare from the hand. His ability to gain 1 memory if 3 black cards are revealed could happen however highly unlikely, but it will almost never matter.

The main reason to play the yellow core is simple: Card Velocity. Despite being an incredibly slow deck and never actively trying to win, we need to speed up the process of finding key cards. Being able to churn through the deck grants additional versatility. Being able to find MagnaDramons allows you to pick and choose the spots where and when you want to use your removal or even just pass the turn so your opponent is unable to capitalize on the massive amounts of memory given to them. Storing cards for future use is one of the most difficult things that a Security Control pilot needs to master.

The eggs really do not matter all that much. Opening on a Cupimon and a rookie just telegraphs a suicide mission to basically draw 2 cards (1 from Evolution and 1 from Cupi’s attack). The following turns will have you keeping the rookie poised in the raising area until necessary to achieve the specific egg’s condition.

Blade of the True is an incredible way to dig early while choking your opponent. It draws 2 for the first few turns of the game and can even hit upwards of 3, following an early MagnaAngemon or Lucemon. Drawing cards is great and this style of deck is alienated from the basics of the game due to having almost no ways to cycle through the deck via evolutions.

Pulsemon is just Gabumon PLUS but don’t be afraid to evolve him on to an egg, especially if it’s Cupimon. The majority of your matches will not care about the memory gain aspect while at 3 or less security but it does happen. He can also function as another way to limit memory early on in the match when opponents are trying to choke you. The 3-memory play that draws a card and can pressure security is great in the early turns of the game. Salamon acts as a pseudo MagnaAngemon but requires a LOT of work and a bit of help to trigger the recovery from its deletion. You want to leave this rookie in reserve most of the time in order to extract as much value as possible from him dying.

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Using yellow eggs grants yet another small bonus: filling the trash. While it may not appear necessary to fill your trash quickly, it does make it incredibly helpful for reducing the play cost of Lucemon to 5 memory. Being able to set your opponent to 2 memory (if Izzy is in play) while recovering a security and developing a body that can handle every Ultimate in the game is quite powerful.

INSANE TECH or HOT GARBAGE?

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Full Disclosure: Craniamon is completely awful in every single matchup.

Except the mirror.

He is our knight in chromatic armor. The only way to remove him is through combat involving a Zwart Defeat. Being able to use a threat that is close to unkillable to pressure their security in a matchup that is full of removal options is paramount. Even if you check a Defeat in their security, you can remove it with one of your Gaia Forces of Plasma Stake and his on deletion effect cannot kill Craniamon. Its even possible to remove him with a Javelin, but that requires quite a bit of work to pan out properly. Having a card that only folds to an attack from Defeat puts you in a great position. The mirror match will almost always come down to decking. You have a leg up in the area and can force removal and recovery when other variants cannot.

In any other matchup, you hope to check him in security. 12k is nothing to scoff at.

Daddy’s HOME!

This is the card that catapults this archetype ahead of so many others. Once again, we are cheating this Digimon into play if he is checked in security. (Un)Fortunately he doesn’t battle in security but can swing back to take out anything that has attacked. When there is nothing that can be attack, he is able to tango with most opposing security quite well. In the unfortunate case where he loses a security battle, he will take someone else down with him. However, he is quite frankly the absolute worst card to draw, EVER. Most games, your opponent will rarely give you 5 memory so its not even possible to play him. The risk of drawing him as a dead card is drastically outweighed by his power level, should you find him in security or finagle a way to cheat him there from the top of your deck. His board presence is unmatched in controlling the board and the high amount of pressure he can exert on opposing security is more than enough to warrant the inclusion despite the heavy drawback of him being drawn.

FINDING WEAKNESS

Security Control does have some glaring weaknesses. Even if you completely stack your security with all the best removal in your deck, certain red cards just do not care. One-Punch Greymon from set 1 makes me cower in fear. A Delicate Plan can turn any multiple security checking goon into a one hit KO. I believe that Shoutmon decks should be adapting this plan to force Security to plan an honest game. And cheaters don’t do well when forced to play well…

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The tertiary threat comes in the form of the newest Blitz Omnimon. Not only does the Blitz keyword allow red players to use more memory than allotted in order to build a taller board, but they are also able to attack after doing so. Frighteningly, BlitzOmni can counteract one of the crucial ways that Security Control fights, and that is by being able to force them to use multiple removal options instead of the standard one for one trade they are accustomed to. Each option that would be able to even kill Omni costs so much memory that it will pass the turn. Even Ultimate Flare, which gets around the protective ability, will not remove the stack that is underneath and allow for another buildup the following turn.

I have discussed being able to memory choke opponents but also not caring about how much memory they have on any given turn. The turns where you want to be limiting as much memory as possible are the early ones while you are trying to get set up and cobble together a survivalist game plan. Once we get past these early choke points, the memory granted to our opponents is much less crucial. Why does Security Control deck opponents out? Its simple. When you give them massive amounts of memory, they have it ingrained in their minds to do as much as possible with it and draw as many cards as possible from evolving. Drawing more cards grants more options, right? It does, but it only grants them options in the form of building more bodies. Each evolution extracts a card from their deck and most times the safest way to attack is with a Mega. That mega will average 7 memory and 4 cards from their deck (if evolved from an egg). The average option that we play costs 8 and removes the threat if we need to actually play it. We are trying to trade one of our cards for 4 of theirs. Try and think of their deck as their new security that you never have to attack. They start at 40 and you just let them kill themselves simply by surviving.

Sometimes we will also attack opposing security. There are multiple reasons to do so and are different in specific circumstances. Given the option of attacking an opposing Digimon or the security, I will default to the board and take out the mon. However, you will get into situations where there is nothing to attack. In those situations, feel free to pressure their security. Many players will be forced to play differently when you are attacking them on multiple axis. They may need to find removal or blockers if their security gets low and are forced to evolve so they can search for answers. They also need to attempt to kill us by removing our security. By putting them between the Zwart and the hard place, their resources are stretched too thin and eventually they collapse under the pressure. When you can take out their security, chances are their rest of their deck is on the brink of deletion as well.

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Security Control will always be a part of the metagame, and it gets arguably stronger as more sets release. The meta will adapt, of that there is no question. That also means that security players need to adapt and change as well. The best version of this deck will change from week to week and event to event and it will likely be an amalgamation of multiple lists. The deck is fully customizable to your personal preference, but one thing will remain the same: you will live and die by those security checks. Stop complaining about bricks and pray to RNG-esus. It’s ALWAYS better to be lucky than good!