Black Gecko Moria received a huge hit with the ban of 8-cost Gecko Moria and Ice Age. This Leader was already struggling to remain relevant in OP09 meta, and Bandai sure didn’t give it a better shot at making a comeback.
Instead of sulking and accepting defeat, the Black Moria fanbase went back to the drawing board, trying to change up the list to make it work without the 8-cost Moria carry. Today, we’re covering one of the best-performing lists on the ranked ladder, shifting away from some of the popular cards we usually see Black Moria running and focusing on the Thriller Bark Pirates Characters, with an aggressive mid-game in mind to pressure the opposing player and try to win games faster.
Leader
Leader Gecko Moria requires 3 Don to activate his effect, so you can start going for it as early as turn 2. To activate Gecko Moria‘s effect, you need to attach 1 Don before attacking and then rest 2 Don. You can then trash a card from your hand, trash 2 cards from the top of your deck, and play 1 {Thriller Bark Pirates} type Character with a cost of 4 or less from your Trash.
So we must have a {Thriller Bark Pirates} type Character like Absalom, Perona, and Dr. Hogback in our trash to cheat out through the Leader effect. Since Leader Gecko Moria lets you trash a card of your choosing from your hand, you can trash the {Thriller Bark Pirates} type Character you want to cheat out on the field, giving you control over what you have in the Trash.
We also have other ways of getting cards in the trash, so we’re not only tied to the Leader effect to get cards in our trash. Each of the {Thriller Bark Pirates} type Characters has a unique effect, which we’ll choose which to play depending on the state of the game.
Black Gecko Moria Decklist
How to Play
Stage Thriller Bark
The Thriller Bark Stage is a value card that we can activate once per turn. We can rest 1 Don to play a 2-cost {Thriller Bark Pirates} Character from our trash, giving us more value and developing a Character on the field.
The list has multiple 2-cost Characters like Kumacy, Cerberus, Innupe, or Captain John to play. The 2-cost Character will be played rested, so your opponent can easily attack and KO it. However, forcing them to attack that Character can be a win for us, or at least activating the effect of the 2-cost Character is all we need for our strategy.
2-cost Characters
Inuppe’s On Play and On KO effect filters our hand, drawing 2 cards and trashing 2 from our hand. We’re not adding more cards to our hand, but we can find better cards either to play or to use as Counters. We usually will play Inuppe through the stage to find the cards we need.
Kumacy can become a win condition in the late game. If you attach 2 Don to him, he gains +1,000 Power for every 5 cards in your trash during your turn, becoming a higher-power attacker that threatens the opposing player. Playing from hand or the Stage is usually good, you’re putting an attacker on the field that forces the opponent to have an answer to him.
As for Cerberus, he’s a 2-cost Blocker to tank a hit for us, protecting our Leader or rested Character. Keep in mind that playing him through the Thriller Bark stage means we don’t get to benefit from he blocker keyword, but if he’s left unanswered, we can use him as a blocker on upcoming turns.
Lastly, Captain John trashes 2 cards from the top of your deck and then reduces the cost of an opponent’s Character by 1. You’d rather play Captain John through your Stage, using 1 Don for a 1-cost reduction to help put a target in range for your removal play.
4-cost Thriller Bark Characters
These Characters are the main reason why this deck works, allowing you to cheat them from the trash through Leader Gecko Moria’s effect whenever you need them. Each Thriller Bark Pirate has a unique effect that you’ll make use of in different situations.
4-cost Absalom is your strongest Character in the deck, allowing you to control the opponent’s side of the field by KOing a 2-cost or less Character with him. You will have to combine Absalom with your cost-reduction cards like Tempest Kick, Tsuru, and Hina to KO higher-cost Characters.
You can cheat Absalom through Leader effect, so you have a reliable answer to remove the opponent’s Characters as long as you have the cost-reduction cards to put the target in range. Absalom is also a 5,000 Power attacker, posing a threat when he attacks and forcing opponents to KO him.
You can choose one of Perona‘s On Play effects, the first forces the opponent to trash a card from their hand, and the second gives a -3 cost reduction to one of their Characters. Your opponent has to have 5 cards or more in their hand for Perona‘s effects to activate.
Perona is a great option to cheat out through your Leader’s effect on turn 2, especially if you’re going first, forcing your opponent to trash a card from their hand and slowly bleed them out of resources. You’ll usually use Perona for her trash effect, but she can also find value for her +2,000 Counter effect.
Dr. Hogback lets you add a {Thriller Bark Pirates} type card from your trash to your hand, other than Dr. Hogback. So you can get back the likes of Perona, Absalom, or Ryuma. Picking up Perona can be nice if you need a Counter card, whereas Ryuma or OP10 Perona are better choices if you need to add more pressure on the field.
Absalom and Dr. Hogback will have you put 2 cards from your trash at the bottom of the deck to activate their effects, so you want to choose cards you don’t expect to need for upcoming turns. Events are a great choice to put back in the deck, or if you have multiple copies of a card that you know you won’t need, they can go to the bottom of the deck.
OP10 Perona and Ryuma are the newest additions to this list, allowing you to play more aggressively. OP10 Perona’s Activate:Main effect gives a +2,000 Power boost to one of your Characters other than Perona. So you can combo it with Ryuma for a massive Double Attack to take 2 of the opponent’s Life cards.
You can also use it on Absalom or Dr. Hogback, turning them into 7,000 Power attackers that force at least 2 Counter cards from the opponent’s hand. There are scenarios where you’ll boost the attack of a low-power Character like 2-cost Captain John or Innupe to turn them into 5,000 Power attackers.
Ryuma is great against 5 health Leaders, gaining Double Attack if you attach 1 Don to him and forcing your opponent to play most of their Counter cards or give up on 2 of their Life cards. This can put your opponent low on Life cards, making it easier to set up a winning turn.
Control Event
Finger Pistol is a strong removal Event, KOing a 5-cost or less Character and trashing two cards from the top of your deck. It also has a powerful trigger, activating its effect with no downside. So if your opponent has a Character on the field that falls in the range of Finger Pistol, you can KO it, which can be devastating for the opposing player if they haven’t attacked with that Character yet.
Cost Reduction
Since Absalom and Brook rely on the cost of the opponent’s Characters to KO them, we have multiple cards that can reduce the cost of the opponent’s cards. We already talked about Kuzan, but we have other reliable options we can use on the same turn they’re played.
Tsuru is a 1-cost Character that reduces the cost of one of the opponent’s Characters by -2. She’s also a +2,000 Counter, so you can use her to protect yourself from an attack.
3-cost Hina is a great cost reducer, giving -4 cost reduction to one of the opponent’s Characters. She’s also a 5,000 Power Character, so she can attack the opponent’s Leader or a rested Character, posing offensive pressure. Hina can also be played through Rebecca, so you can pull her from the Trash when you need cost reduction.
Tempest Kick becomes your mid-game ace, drawing you a card while reducing the cost of an opponent’s character by -3. And hitting the condition for Tempest Kick isn’t hard with Leader Gecko Moria‘s ability to trash 2 cards on every attack. Technically, you need to be at 9 cards in Trash for the cost reduction effect to activate, since playing Tempest Kick will put it in the Trash, making the total cards in there 10.
Rebecca Combo
Rebecca is a star player in this deck, serving as a blocker while also fetching black characters with a cost ranging from 3 to 7 from the Trash to your hand. Plus, she can play a black character with a cost of 3 or less, allowing you to cheat out Hina for the cost reduction.
Mulligan
- Going First: Thriller Bark, OP06 Perona, Absalom, and Ryuma.
- Going Second: Thriller Bark, OP06 Perona, Absalom, and Ryuma.
Turn-Based Gameplay
Going First
- Turn 1 (1 Don): Thriller Bark.
- Turn 2 (3 Don): Cheat out Perona with the Leader effect.
- Turn 3 (5 Don): Cheat out Perona or Ryuma with the Leader effect. You can play Finger Pistol to KO a 4-cost Character.
- Turn 4 (7 Don): Cheat out Perona, Absalom, or Dr. Hogback with the Leader effect. Absalom is usually the play to KO a Character and keep control of the field. Finger Pistol is another option if there’s a higher-cost Character to deal with.
- Turn 5 (9 Don): Continue developing two or more Characters on the field to pressure your opponent with multiple attacks.
- Turn 6 (10 Don): Continue developing two or more Characters on the field to pressure your opponent with multiple attacks.
Going Second
- Turn 1 (2 Don): Thriller Bark.
- Turn 2 (4 Don): Cheat out Perona with the Leader effect.
- Turn 3 (6 Don): Cheat out Perona or Ryuma with the Leader effect. You can play Finger Pistol to KO a 5-cost Character.
- Turn 4 (8 Don): Continue developing two or more Characters on the field to pressure your opponent with multiple attacks.
- Turn 5 (10 Don): Continue developing two or more Characters on the field to pressure your opponent with multiple attacks.
Other Cards to Include
- 3-cost Brook is on the list as another KO Character and synergizes with Rebecca. He can KO a 0-cost Character, but since he has a -1 cost-reduction built into his effect, you’ll need that target to be a 1-cost for Brook to KO. Brook can reactivate his effect when he attacks, giving you the cost reduction and KO effects to control the field. This means opponents will try their best to remove Brook before you get too much value out of him.
- Gecko Moria can cheat out a 2-cost {Thriller Bark Pirates} type Character from the trash.
- Issho can cut down on the opponent’s resources, trashing 2 cards from their hand if they have 6 or more cards in their hand. Additionally, giving 1 Don to Issho will activate his cost-reduction effect, lowering the cost of all opponents’ Characters by -3, which will make it easier to KO Characters on the upcoming turn.
