It’s no surprise that whenever the Hybrid archetype receives support in Digimon, those decks do well. We saw it with every iteration of Red Hybrid, we saw it in BT17 with Ancientgarurumon, and now we’re seeing it with Purple Hybrid. Multiple events in the Special Release 2.0 format have been taken down by different variants of Purple Hybrid, each offering unique means of tackling the metagame.
What Is Purple Hybrid? – Duskmon & Velgrmon
Unlike previous Hybrid decks that try to build up aggressively into game-ending swings with their top-end, Purple Hybrid plays as a flexible midrange deck that seeks to keep the opponent’s board clear while sacrificing as few resources as possible. It can play the aggro route through early checks with utility rookies and recurring tamers, and even can even shift focus to milling the opponent out in matchups where those five checks are unattainable. This is through the core combination of Duskmon and Velgrmon.
Duskmon has the unique ability to change the base color of any Digimon or tamer on the opponent’s field. While on the surface this doesn’t sound too impressive, in the Digimon card game there are tons of ways that this can mess with how the opponent plays the game. Since most digivolution requirements are color-based, turning something like Cerberusmon into a green Digimon prevents it from digivolving into Anubismon. This can disrupt the opponent’s entire next turn which, given how fast certain decks are, can mean the difference between winning and losing. This color change can also interfere with options like Heaven’s Judgment that care about which colors you have in play.
Duskmon also lets us digivolve into a hybrid from the trash, which is typically Velgrmon on top of itself. Velgrmon has the [On Play] and [When Digivolving] effect to trash the top card of each player’s deck for each color among Digimon and tamers the opponent controls, and then Velgrmon gains +1000DP for each card trashed this way. This counts the cards you trash as well, so Velgrmon can often hit 13000DP or more to ensure it survives combat.
Once the check is complete, we can perform the “loop” element of the deck by deleting a level 4 or lower purple Digimon to delete all the lowest level Digimon on the opponent’s side of the field. By deleting Velgrmon, we get to trigger Duskmon’s inherited effect to return a tamer from our trash to play. Grabbing a Koichi for draw power or Matt to recycle Duskmon helps extend our turn and gives Purple Hybrid a way to maintain pressure on the opponent while keeping their board clear.
One fun trick you can do with this deck is that if the opponent has a purple level 4 or lower Digimon you can actually delete that instead of Velgrmon to delete another higher level Digimon they have. This is key against purple toolbox decks like Lordknightmon X since they’ll spit out smaller bodies with their digivolving triggers that could keep Velgrmon from hitting their main stack.
Support Cards for Purple Hybrid
The rest of the deck is filled out by some format all-stars. The full Ukkomon package gives the deck searching power for needed pieces as well as providing early aggression, while floodgates like Gazimon help keep some of the memory-hungry purple and blue decks under control. ST16 Gabumon gives you memory every turn and can turn into card filtering when you digivolve over it. Lastly, the Mervamon package can drop multiple bodies into play to either act as blockers, deck the opponent out with multiple Velgrmon triggers, or rush out the last security checks with BT18 Kaiserleomon if you have enough memory to keep turn.
The tamer package is also fairly straightforward. BT7 Koichi is the star of the show, acting as your primary tamer to digivolve into Duskmon. The combination of early draw/discard and an inherited effect to gain memory is exactly what the deck wants, so you always want a full set. BT2 Matt Ishida is what gets the loop going since you can fish it out of the trash with Duskmon and grab whatever Digimon or option you need next, be it Duskmon, Calling from the Darkness to grab two Duskmon, or Jack Raid to gain memory.
You’ll typically also run between 2-4 BT18 Koichi for additional memory gain and for the discount on Duskmon’s digivolution cost, but these numbers will change depending on how many total hybrids you run. Lastly, most lists will run a copy of promo Lui Ohwada to help with the aggressive presence since it works so well with the Ukkomon package.
As for options, Jack Raid and Rival’s Barrage are everything you want as support cards for a self-mill strategy. Rival’s Barrage can delay to get a Digimon or tamer from the trash and gives the deck a needed security bomb, while Jack Raid is often a double or triple Hammer Spark for zero memory. I usually try to stockpile Jack Raids for the Mervamon turn, but in the midgame you can use them to keep turn while trying to do your Velgrmon loops. Jack Raid is also a huge surprise as a security bomb since so many decks right now try to play tight to zero on the memory gauge. You can also use Death Slinger to fulfill similar roles to these cards if you have the available slots.
Purple Hybrid Decklists
With this in mind, there are two prevailing camps when it comes to Purple Hybrid: Loweemon shells and pure Velgrmon combo shells.
Purple Yellow Hybrid (Loweemon Shell) Decklist
Main Deck
4 Duskmon BT18-078
4 Loweemon BT18-076
4 Rhihimon BT18-081
3 Koichi Kimura BT18-094
2 Takuya Kanbara & Koji Minamoto BT18-088
4 Velgrmon BT18-079
2 KaiserLeomon BT18-077
4 Ukkomon BT16-082
1 Ukkomon P-123
1 KaiserLeomon BT7-073
2 Venusmon BT10-042
2 ShadowSeraphimon BT18-071
1 Calling From the Darkness BT7-107
2 Gazimon BT3-077
2 Gabumon ST16-03
2 Bokomon BT7-081
4 Koichi Kimura BT7-091
2 Matt Ishida BT2-090
2 Jack Raid BT4-111
1 ShineGreymon: Ruin Mode EX4-074
1 JetSilphymon BT7-038
Egg Deck
4 DemiMeramon BT3-006
1 Cupimon BT16-006
The Loweemon shells operate by running BT18 Loweemon to give the deck additional aggression since you have cheap backup hybrids in case you don’t find your Duskmon or Velgrmon. Loweemon also gives you extra draw power to dig and set up the trash. This does come with the tradeoff with having to run more hybrids that can often clog your hand. Here you’ll run more BT18 Koichi to alleviate getting clogged, but the risk is still there that you lose the consistency of the Velgrmon mill combo.
Another benefit of this version is you can also run BT18 Rhihimon and a small selection of yellow level 6s like Venusmon and Shadowseraphimon Ace. This gives you better means of controlling the opponent’s board while you find your pieces.
Purple Hybrid Mill Loop Decklist
Main Deck
4 Duskmon BT18-078
4 Velgrmon BT18-079
4 Ukkomon BT16-082
1 Ukkomon P-123
3 Gazimon BT3-077
3 Gabumon ST16-03
1 Ignitemon BT11-076
2 Mervamon BT11-086
2 Koichi Kimura BT18-094
4 Koichi Kimura BT7-091
1 KaiserLeomon BT18-077
1 KaiserLeomon BT7-073
3 Matt Ishida BT2-090
1 Lui Ohwada P-130
1 Gallantmon BT13-111
1 Guilmon EX4-006
4 Rivals’ Barrage ST14-12
4 Jack Raid BT4-111
2 Death Slinger EX2-071
2 Mist Memory Boost! BT8-108
1 Calling From the Darkness BT7-107
1 Argomon BT17-048
Egg Deck
3 DemiMeramon BT3-006
2 Cupimon BT16-006
The pure loop combo shell centers on establishing the loop as early as possible and keeping control of the game from there. Often the mill plan becomes the central win condition, especially in matchups where the opponent draws too many cards from digivolving and other effects.
While this version shares several similar elements to the Loweemon shell, by shaving down the hybrids and BT18 Koichi, it has more slots available for tech cards such as level 5 Argomon to lock down tamers, or Death Slinger for more removal options and memory gain. I’ve even tried ST14 Ai & Mako for extra memory gain when digivolving into Velgrmon and to set Rival’s Barrage to the top of the deck from my hand.
The tradeoff here is that if you don’t see the Duskmon or Velgrmon, your deck is just playing a clunkier aggro deck than the Loweemon shell, but you have a stronger means of interaction with the opponent. Given the state of the meta, I think that focus on interaction makes this version more powerful right now.
Matchups for Purple Hybrid
As far as matchups go, I’ve found that Purple Hybrid is at its best against decks that take some buildup, like Seven Great Demon Lords, as well as decks that rely on a singular stack. It’s very easy to keep boards clear of 1-2 Digimon at a time, so unless they have multiple layers of protection you can usually force them onto the backfoot and keep them there.
That being said, those decks with multiple layers of protection, such as Armor Purge decks and partition decks like Imperialdramon, have a lot of additional hoops to jump through to keep them clear. You can do it if you sequence properly and use Duskmon to change colors correctly, but I find with these matchups your best bet is to actually try to keep their board reasonable and focus on decking them out. They tend to draw a lot of cards just by digivolving frequently and often have multiple colors naturally, so it’s not difficult to get Velgrmon to trash four or more cards on each trigger. All you have to do is focus on surviving to get to that point, so using removal to keep them off of their level 5s and 6s can make things much easier.
Also, I find that using Jack Raid and memory choking can buy you the time needed. This plan also works for surviving against combo decks like MirageGaogamon, Red Hybrid, and Fenriloogamon since all we have to do is steal the turn by gaining memory or by interacting with their stack when they go for the kill, and we can shut them down on the following turn. We just need to get to that following turn, and I’ve found this version handles that game plan much better than the Loweemon version.
Is Purple Hybrid a Fun Digimon Deck?
Overall, Purple Hybrid has been a blast to play. There are so many different versions to try that it never feels stale, and the focus on interaction and board presence keeps games from feeling monotonous, despite the same core play pattern you have to follow each time. It’s a deck that rewards matchup familiarity with tons of decision trees each game. The little “Eureka!” moments that come when you find the win condition in a previously hopeless position are so satisfying.
If you’re looking for a skill-testing Digimon deck that offers power and flexibility, I highly recommend giving any version of Purple Hybrid a shot.
Wanna know where to start with Digimon? Check out our guide to the best beginner sets for TCGs.
