Image credit to author/Bandai
BT21 World Convergence has been an amazing set for shaking up the Digimon metagame. The Hero archetype, while intended to be its own deck, has introduced a ton of new cards that rejuvenate older decks that have fallen off the radar. Armor Rush, Shinegreymon, and even Gammamon have received a suite of new toys, but the deck that received the scariest upgrade is by far the Hunter deck.
Hunters is an aggressive deck from the BT12 metagame that could build into its threats for reduced costs by adding sources via their Tamers. It was memory efficient and only really started getting pushed out as the meta shifted to decks with repeated removal, like Royal Knights and Shinegreymon, as well as MirageGaogamon which punished that very card draw. While Royal Knights is still a top tier deck, the others have fallen off the radar due to unpopularity or restrictions, so Hunters has a suitable environment for a comeback. As well, the majority of the deck is commons, uncommons, and bulk rares, so aside from Arresterdramon: Superior Mode BT12-083, the deck is cheap to pick up.
4 Monimon BT12-006
4 Shoutmon (King Version). BT12-011
2 Dracmon BT12-048
2 Tuwarmon BT12-064
4 Gumdramon BT12-074
4 Psychemon BT12-075
4 Arresterdramon BT12-077
4 Arresterdramon: Superior Mode BT12-083
2 Taiki Kudo BT12-087
2 Yuu Amano BT12-094
2 Watchmaker BT12-098
4 Gumdramon BT21-063
4 Arresterdramon BT21-066
4 Arresterdramon: Superior Mode BT21-072
4 Tagiru Akashi BT21-088
2 Xros Up BT21-099
2 Fire Rocket BT8-095
Total price $60.72 (TCGPlayer Market Price – April 28, 2025)
Why is Hunters So Strong Now?
In short, the new Arresterdramon: Superior Mode BT2-072. Not only does this get +1000DP for each digivolution source on both players turns, many of the inherited effects of the Save Digimon give it an additional +2000DP. Hunters excels at tucking sources from under your Tamers when digivolving so you can pump up Arresterdramon: Superior Mode even more while reducing its digivolution cost at the same time. When stacked properly, Arresterdramon: Superior Mode can attack for over 17000DP easily.
Arresterdramon: Superior Mode also has the combination of Raid and Piercing that has made Omnimon (X Antibody) BT20-102 such a nightmare, and to make matters worse, it can attack without suspending when it digivolves. This allows it to punch through the biggest Digimon on the field right away, and then if it’s still your turn you can do it all over again. What’s even scarier is that since this Arresterdramon: Superior Mode is multicolour you can use Fire Rocket or Watchmaker to give it Security Attack +1 and net a potential four checks in one turn! This is a monster that rapidly grows to kaiju proportions and can throw hands with level 7s with ease.
The rest of the new additions are all effects that Hunters has had before, but they add redundancy that’s necessary to the deck to smoothly function. Tagiru Akashi BT21-088 is functionally a combination of Taiki Kudo BT12-087 and Yuu Amano BT12-094 since, like his predecessors, he gains memory and draws a card by tucking a Digimon with Save underneath him, and also reduces digivolution costs by adding those sources to your Digimon. This Tagiru is also two colours, so that helps scale some of your effects that care about the colours among your Tamers.
Gumdramon BT21-063 is your classic “trash 1, draw 2” rookie that every archetype needs, but like the previous Gumdramon it can also Save when deleted. The inherited +2000DP also goes a long way to boosting your threats since so many of your effects can repeatedly put it under a Tamer from the trash. Arresterdramon BT21-066 is a fantastic way to accelerate your Tamers since it can play any Hunter trait Tamer for free when digivolving or when it’s played. It has a cheaper digivolution cost when digivolving over a Digimon with Save, and this can be reduced even further with your Tamers tucking sources. This means you can often build up a massive Arresterdramon and get a Tamer into play for zero memory invested!
The final addition to the deck is Xros Up, a Hunter trait Option that allows you to tuck a Digimon under one of your Tamers, then Digivolve into a Digimon with Save in its text from your trash. This is a clutch follow up card should the opponent actually find a way to remove Arresterdramon: Superior Mode since it doesn’t have Save on its own. When checked in security Xros Up can also play a body from your hand or trash with play cost 5 or less and add itself to your hand, so it sets up your next turn all on its own.
How Does This Work With the Original Hunters?
The original Hunter package was focused on playing multiple Tamers of different colours then building up into Arresterdramon: Superior Mode BT12-083 to maximize its tuck effect. Shoutmon (King Version) BT12-011, like Arresterdramon BT21-066, is another great way to cheat any of your Tamers into play except for Watchmaker, whereas Tuwarmon BT12-064 lets you de-digivolve any roadblock in your way.
The inherited effects of Gumdramon BT12-074 and Psychemon BT12-075 give the deck some incredible card draw. With the proper stacking your level 4s and level 5s can draw 2-3 cards when attacking. Normally there’d be a drawback like having to trash cards such as with Gabumon ST16-03, but with these cards it’s just raw card draw which is fantastic for refilling your hand. Rounding out the level 3s is Dracmon BT12-048 which functions as additional DP boost. The [On Play] isn’t all that relevant since there’s so much card draw in the deck as is, so if you’re finding you need more removal these slots could easily be Ekakimon BT12-035 or Shoutmon BT12-008 instead.
The Tamer package has been largely made redundant by the new Tagiru, but the deck needs a lot of Tamers to maximize its memory efficiency so they still make the cut. Taiki gives the deck even more card draw while setting up sources under your Tamers to tuck later. Yuu Amano functions the same way but gains memory instead as well as providing a Black Tamer to add toward your Tamer colors. Watchmaker doesn’t actually have the Hunter trait so it can’t be cheated in for free, but its main strength is it can give a Digimon with Save Security Attack +1 if you have four or more Tamers in play, so you can get those four-check Arresterdramon: Superior Mode turns more easily.
How is Hunters Poised in the Metagame?
Hunters has the unique advantage of being able to punch through 16000DP roadblocks like Omnimon X which otherwise shut off aggressive decks. No Digimon is safe from Arresterdramon: Superior Mode since it can Raid into unsuspended Digimon and attack through suspended Digimon. The only way to save yourself is to be bigger on the opponent’s turn or have Retaliation, and those are uncommon at competitive tables right now. Security bomb Options are the best way to interact with Arresterdramon: Superior Mode, and most decks don’t really run those save for Leviamon X and Purple Hybrid, and even then the addition of Xros Up can bring it right back into the fray.
The biggest weakness the deck has is its reliance on its Tamers, so any deck that can stop those can usually beat Hunters. Galacticmon has had a resurgence competitively thanks to World Convergence, and Destromon P-094 can delete multiple Tamers at once. Certain boss monsters like Magnamon X, Gallantmon X, and the new [ADVENTURE] Wargreymon promo can stay buffed on the opponent’s turn so they can potentially get bigger than Arresterdramon: Superior Mode, although they require some set up that can be raced.
Overall, Hunters is one of the strongest decks to come out of the BT21 World Convergence metagame so far. It hits hard, sets itself up quickly, and can easily recur its pieces from the trash. The new Arresterdramon: Superior Mode is a menace to behold, and with a total price tag of roughly $60, the deck is very accessible so long as you can find the cards. Hunters is already making waves competitively, so it will be interesting to see how much of a percentage of the meta it carves out for itself.
