Training Tuesdays: Gaiamon / Appmon Wave 1

Hello everyone, and welcome to Training Tuesdays, the (not-so) premier bi-weekly Digimon series where we take a look at some lower-power decks and how to build them. This week on Training Tuesdays on a Wednesday (now becoming more and more fashionably late by the week), we're going to take a look at the first of the Appmon to join the Digimon TCG and the God of Creation, Gaiamon.

As the first member of the Appmon family to join the TCG finally, we have some new mechanics! The two seemingly universal mechanics that all Appmon share are [Link] and their special digivolve condition, App Fusion. Because these are new mechanics to the card game I'll go over a short explanation of how they work so everyone can be on the same page. To [Link] an Appmon, you must fulfill the Linking conditions on the card (essentially just anything that is an [Appmon] trait), then pay the memory cost associated with it. After you do, place the card sideways under the Appmon you linked to and you gain the DP buff on the card in the Link section, and the effect under the Linking conditions. You can only have 1 linked card (at least without <Link +1>) but that's pretty much it! App Fusion is an extension of the system as well, where much like a black box digivolution condition, if any of the two Appmon are linked in any order, you may App Fuse for the cost. You then place both cards as the digivolution cards of the new Appmon. You may also digivolve over any other digimon that fulfills the digivolution conditions like normal, and any color of the previous stage of Appmon (for this wave at least). Now that we are all on the same page with how these cards work, let's take a look at some of the plays this deck can produce!

Now, because these cards are so new there are very few members of the archetype to go

over, with lists only varying slightly in terms of ratios and some tech choices. However a large strength of the deck is how much control you can exert over the board with cards like Timemon and Globemon. In fact, since these cards are part of your main line they will be some of the main pieces you use. Globemon allowing you to pop practically up to 13k DP and Timemon De-Digivolving 1 on link lets you get rid of many large threats, albeit struggling into wider boards. Haru Shinkai is another one of, if not arguably your most, important piece to find. The card draw on [Link] and memory setting effect would already make this a powerful tool for the deck but the last part of the [Link] effect is what truly makes this card one of the best in the deck. Being able to App Fuse while passing turn is so vital, allowing for digivolve plays where you digivolve into Timemon for 2 and App Fuse into Globemon or [End of Turn] comboes with the App Link option card to fuse into powerhouses like Globemon, or even a Gaiamon while linking a Charismon for free at end of turn.

And speaking of Globemon, this Appmon is also a powerful win condition. Not only is it a

very sticky body on field thanks to Charismon's [Link] effect providing insane protection, as well as Gaiamon's <Link +1> effect allowing you to keep the Charismon linked to it while trashing the other linked card. This allows to get multiple checks in 1 turn on massive amounts of DP while also being extremely hard to remove and threatening deletions with Globemon links or Timemon De-Digivolves (both from sources and from hand). While you usually want to be using this to close out games, it is also great as a removal tool and early pushes in the mid-game after early Globemon checks. Combined with a standard in the back, this can very easily end up being lethal on its own. As for other notable cards in the deck, Watchmon is decent as a way to stun for a turn and Charismon is a good [Link] option even if its App Fuse conditions frankly aren't too good. Scopemon is also notable as a way to cycle 2 cards but I have seen lists go up and down on it in a bunch of different ratios.

There isn't too much to say on the actual history of this deck yet, but there have been a smattering of tops with it in this meta. While Gaiamon does get large a lot of the time, it still really struggles with both consistency and into a lot of the meta right now. Hopefully with the promo Tweetmon that was revealed recently, the deck will get at least a little better but for now it is unfortunately stuck at rogue tier. As for the example list this week, we have Tyler's 4th Place list from a store regional at Games Explosion. This has been Training Tuesdays, and I hope to see you for next weeks Meta Mondays, covering Megidramon!