Sidequest: Monks

Wrap up those fists and stretch the hammies: we got Opus XI Monks!

Ever open a whole booster box of packs and think “Okay, these cards are telling me what to play.” Well, I have! In one booster box and one prerelease kit, I opened three Ursula. What better to do than see how she plays out?

There are three main advantages to Ursula. Number one: she can bring a backup Monk into play from the Break Zone which is just fantastic in early turns. Number two: she herself can be brought from hand for free if you’re playing Opus III Yang. And, finally: her ability to put other monks into the Break Zone and deal damage or boost her own power. With these thoughts in mind, I wanted to build a list that exploited these mechanics for a very aggressive set of forwards with efficient removal.

You can watch a few games right here. This may look familiar if you watched the whole clip from the Ice / Water VI list, because it’s the same video, but the second half features Monks.

The big winners

If you haven’t played Suzuhisa, make it a priority to sleeve him up and run three copies. That card is so good. He’s like a runner in baseball that is great at stealing bases. Chances are, he’s going to get you into scoring position and very, very rarely will he get thrown out on the bases. Also, Death Penalty Vincent really pressured my opponent here. He was in the list to help with Starter Vincent and offer another free forward in Yuffie. I liked both copies of Vincent a lot and I think the word is pretty much out at Starter Vincent at this point, but he can make your opponent sweat by himself.

Ursula worked great, when I found her. The list has a ton of monks for her and the summon package can give her enough power to make sure I’m never sacrificing monks just to buff her, instead sacrificing them to deal out Ursula’s power. If you can position her that way, you’re gonna have a good time.

The underperformers

Can Ursula be a big winner and an underperformer? Yes. You’re putting a lot of cards aside to make her work. The only thing is, when she doesn’t show up to the big party you planned for her, you’re left just paying the bill without a lot to show for it. Just playing a card named Monk isn’t going to win you most matches. The list needs ways to ensure she is in the mix.

Aerith, Biggs, and Wedge didn’t do what I ultimately hoped they’d do. Wedge to tutor Biggs feels really good, and Biggs pinging the board for 1K is relevant when you’re sacrificing backups all the time. But, they aren’t enough in their own right to belong here. The best thing Aerith provided was a very efficient body and helps with any Vincent Specials, but there are better ways.

The changes

This list doesn’t feel that great if you don’t see Ursula. You’re dedicating a lot of cards to get her to work, so when you don’t see her, it doesn’t feel great. I’d probably drop the VII backups and add Kolka and some other backups that search Forwards or return them from the Break Zone. Aerith still makes sense to me in theory but she doesn’t shine here, so she is a flex spot as well.

Thanks for reading, and let us know if you end up trying this out yourself. Once again, you can watch matches featuring this list here.