Image credit to the author/Bandai

The global unification for Digimon set releases is upon us, and with it the aptly named BT21 World Convergence. As with most BT sets, there are plenty of new archetypes to explore, as well as support cards to revitalize old decks, but World Convergence is especially interesting because on top of all that, it introduces an entirely new type of Digimon card!

Now Introducing Appmon

Appmon are a kind of Digimon from the Digimon Universe: App Monsters series with a divisive history. Many Digimon fans even contest that they aren’t actually Digimon, so their inclusion in a card set was a little surprising when it was announced. These Digimon function like normal cards, but they also have the unique Link mechanic that allows you to tack on additional DP and effects to another Appmon. You can do this by paying the Link cost and attaching it to the side of the card rather than the bottom like normal, making it function like an Equipment card in Magic: the Gathering or a Tool card in Pokemon by granting a bonus for as long as it’s plugged in. 

These cards still function like normal Digimon cards if you so choose. For example, Shotmon, Scopemon, and Satellamon all work with the Three Musketeers archetype so you can digivolve a stack with these cards like usual and build up into Gundramon or Beelstarmon ACE.  

The mechanic is brand new so there aren’t a lot of cards to work with at the moment, but now that Bandai has dipped their toes in the water it stands to reason that Appmon should be getting more support in the future.

The Hero Tamers Join Forces

Every Digimon franchise has their lead character, and the new Hero archetype lets you smoothly combine all of them into one deck like in the Digimon Xros Wars series. Each Hero trait Tamer and Digimon line can function as support cards for their existing decks, such as Guilmon BT21-064 for Gallantmon or Takuya Kanbara BT21-082 in Red Hybrid, but you can also combine them all together into one Hero deck. 

From what the set has shown so far, there are some core themes that are meant to be at the forefront of deck construction, namely warping your Gammamon BT21-010 and Agumon BT21-040 into their respective level 6s, but there’s also a subtheme with the Save mechanic in the Gumdramon and Shoutmon lines that can also act as a support and help build up your stacks.

Several of these cards, like the new [ADVENTURE] trait Starter decks, care about the number of colors among Tamers you control, so having a variety of Tamers is key to scaling your effects. The Hero characters are all the faces of the Digimon franchise, so while these cards may just be supporting their existing decks for now, there’s no doubt that the deck will be getting even more cards with the trait going forward.

The Liberator Decks

One of the best developments we’ve seen in the game is the Digimon Liberator storyline and the subsequent tie-in decks. They’re all straightforward, mechanically unique, and fun to play.

In World Convergence we see the showdown between Owen Dreadnought’s Medusamon deck and Zenith’s Galacticmon deck, and with them a slew of new toys to play with.

Medusamon

The Medusamon deck plays with the mechanic of Petrification tokens to quickly burn through the opponent’s security. This is a punishing effect that creates a token that, when deleted, trashes a security card. Medusamon can make these once a turn when an opponent’s Digimon is deleted or when their security stack is removed from, so once it gets going it’s easy to rip through the opponent’s security.

Medusamon itself has both Security Attack +1 and the Progress ability to protect it from effects while attacking, making this an offensive behemoth. The tokens also synergize with Owen Dreadnought BT18-087 since you can remove their security, make the token, then suspend Owen to delete the token and trash another security.

To support the strategy, Lamiamon can trash security when your attacks are redirected, such as through Raid or being blocked, and its inherited effect helps build your board presence when their security is removed from so you can maintain offensive pressure.

Owen Dreadnought BT21-081 can grant any of your Reptile or Dragonkin Digimon Piercing. This combined with Medusamon’s ability suite lets you punch through multiple checks while trashing what little security they have left.

Finally, Raging Serpentine is the key to ramping into your Medusamon for free. With a few chips to the opponent’s security you can play Raging Serpentine for a reduced cost of four memory and delete the opponent’s highest DP Digimon. Then, with one more chip to their security, you can delay the Option and digivolve into a Reptile or Dragonkin Digimon for free.

This is fantastic for getting rid of high power threats while also forcing the opponent on the backfoot and keeping them there.

Galacticmon

Digimon World 3 fans rejoice; Galacticmon is getting even more cards to work with! While Galacticmon BT11-111 is more defensively oriented by slowly chipping away at security, World Convergence gives the deck some impressive offense. Now the name of the game is get Galacticmon BT21-062 online by placing any four cards with Vemmon in their text as its sources to fire off Ragnarok Cannon from your hand or trash for free. When your opponent has no Digimon in play, Ragnarok Cannon trashes cards from their security until they have one card left, making it a cinch to get in those final checks for game.

What’s interesting about this Galacticmon over the previous version is that while Galacticmon BT11-111 specified putting Vemmon as its sources, the new Galacticmon can grab anything with Vemmon in its text, so you can stack new inherited effects from your different Snatchmon or Destromon, or even tuck a Tamer or Option if you run out of options.

To help the deck even more, we have a new archetype-specific Digi-Egg, a new Vemmon, and a new Zenith. Tsumemon BT21-006 gives an unprecedent +3000DP as long as the Digimon has four or more Vemmon in its sources. This can make your Destromon 13oooDP allowing it to clash with level 6s, and Galacticmon can get up to 17oooDP which is a crucial number in a world of 16000DP Royal Knights. This also helps get your Digimon into range of getting the full benefit from Final Zubagon Punch which frequently sees play as part of the OTK builds with Zenith BT18-092.

The new Vemmon BT21-056 acts as both a way to get Vemmon into your trash for Galacticmon, but also as recursion to grab pieces such as Zenith or Fusionize that have been trashed. Snatchmon BT21-058 also fills your trash as well as building up your stack for when you go into Galacticmon, and its inherited effect also provides removal for level 4 or lower Digimon.

Destromon BT21-060 is a great disruption tool that can de-digivolve the opponent’s Digimon, end attacks with its inherited effect, and even replaces itself with a Vemmon when it would leave play. Finally, Zenith BT21-087 isn’t the flashiest Tamer, but it’s a much needed memory setter that can play a Vemmon for free and set up your trash for future plays.

The [ADVENTURE] Continues with All New Cards

The new [ADVENTURE] starter decks are a powerful way to introduce the new trait, but a few fan favorite Digimon were missing. World Convergence brings us the missing Greymon and Garurumon lines to power the deck as well as a new all-star Tamer.

Garurumon BT21-067 can play itself from security like Gatomon ST20-05 but it has considerably more powerful [On Play] and inherited effects. The [ADVENTURE] deck is a bit light on recursion out of the box, so Garurumon fills that void by grabbing any Digimon with the [ADVENTURE] trait, and the tried and true “draw a card then trash a card” is perfect for finding your pieces.

WereGarurumon BT21-078 gives the deck removal that scales to the number of colours among your Tamers, and MetalGreymon BT21-061 can de-digivolve an opposing Digimon scaling the same way. These each have the standard [ADVENTURE] level 5 abilities to gain Alliance when another [ADVENTURE] Digimon is played or digivolves, so couple that with their own [On Play] / {When Digivolving] effects to clear a path and you can hit the opponent extra hard.

SkullGreymon BT21-075 is removal and recursion all rolled into one body. The combination of Raid and Retaliation can pick off most Digimon, and getting to play any level 4 or lower with [ADVENTURE] for free is huge given how powerful some of the [On Play] effects are. It’s a great way to compound value in a deck already teeming with it.

The last Digimon in the package is Greymon BT21-057 is one of the more situational effects among level 4s but it fulfills an important role in the deck with the right build. The Reboot inherited effect is important as it helps your level 5s avoid getting attacked by unsuspending them, and the ability to force an attack at the start of the main phase can disrupt the opponent’s ability to build up a stack and then attack. This also helps bait the opponent into attacking into an ACE Digimon before they’re ready.

Finally, Tai Kamiya BT21-102 does just about everything the deck could possibly want. It’s a memory setter and a different colour from the rest of the [ADVENTURE] Tamer package so it helps scale your level 5 effects. The additional card draw comes in clutch as often the deck comes short on extra draw effects, and then Tai can play any [ADVENTURE] trait card from your hand by putting it on the bottom of your deck. What you’re able to play scales to your Tamer colours, but getting a free level 5 or 6 into play and triggering its [On Play] is a huge advantage. As well, since putting Tai on the bottom is the last part of the effect, it counts itself when determining what you’re able to play with the effect.

How Good is World Convergence?

Overall, this set is comparable to previous BT sets, but the addition of Appmon and the Hero trait help it stand out in the crowd. It’s not often we get a brand new Digimon subtype with new rules. The last time we had a change like this it was the formal introduction of ACE Digimon in BT14 Blast Ace, so with the right support in the future the inclusion of Appmon will be a big deal.

The archetypes that this set introduce all look like a lot of fun to play, from the hyper-aggressive Medusamon to the variety of Heroes, and the support to Galacticmon and [ADVENTURE] should help cement them as viable competitive decks.

This is a set to watch out for, and if any of these decks are your play style, there are plenty of great cards to work with.