The real concern was the Dogmatika side, Unicore was just a bonus as the deck has issues beating over it. The deck I play drops a Herald as part of its standard opener and can bring it out basically every turn using Ritual Sanctuary's effect alongside Diviner, this gives the deck an incredible grind game with Prima Donna and Omega but I do need to get those still. It's really not unreasonable to go for Scythe Lock to stop that. Gryphon also does nothing against White Knight because whenever it tries to negate something, something is getting popped by N'Tss, and this is constant, every turn, alongside other interruptions like Punishment into Apkallone -> dump Ariel. I was constantly interrupting the chokepoints and simply outgrinded him, there just wasn't much left by the end of it. Keep in mind, this is all while absolutely devastating his Extra Deck with Maximus + White Knight, he was quite literally running out of cards to even go into. There was definitely matchup inexperience but Scythe Lock wasn't part of it.
From what I saw, he was a perfectly good player, the problem was the Adventurer engine hurt more than it helped. I'm assuming the hands just weren't good enough, the Adventurer Engine does get cloggy. I wish I had the ability to record my games as it was a really solid set.
Going for Scythe requires you to expend DPE's pop and two monsters on the link monster. Your Extra Deck plays are mostly a long-term factor and if he's getting into a grind at all with you he's lost. PK's endboards are very flexible and you should never go for the same one in every matchup. The way he wins is to smear you to the wall with a 5-6 negate+1-2 pop endboard and not let you play the game. Honestly I dislike Sycthe in Adventurer PK just in general, but you can't deny how good it is at sealing up combo V combo. Basically, ask did Sycthe win on the spot? If no, it was a misplay to go for it.
Also how is Adventurer ever cloggy almost every card is dual-purpose and Journey lets you discard to clear out your hand so even double Rite isn't a problem. You'd have to open Journey or Gryphon and have such a bad remaining 4 you can't afford to send Priestess off the link-2 (which of course sends for cost so that can't be interrupted). Like if that happened then ouch.
Should I get into Goat? I do like to play traditional decks, mostly because I don't really think combos exist and I don't have to spend a long time trying to understand how an enemy's deck works (i've gotten into the habit of just zoning out while the enemy takes their turn which probably isn't a great thing)
Goat format is very different to modern YGO-attacking directly for 1600 is a big play in Goat, and Solemn Judgement is a very debatable card. Basically, especially in the Goat control mirror, it plays out more like chess with slightly randomized pieces where both players try and break the other's strategy down over time. Unlike many older formats, there are other decks out there than just Goat control, so basically if you're into long term strategy, careful resource management, and of course abusing the brokens as hard as possible then give it a shout! There's a pretty big Goat community on Dueling Book, so ask around.
It's mostly for recycling the Link Monsters, especially Kagari since Master Duel has it limited to 1 but I like to summon it early on to push for an early-game advantage, though I do also use it to recycle other hand traps (but often it's stuff like Skull Meister or Crow since those cards are incredible vs Eldlich and other grindy matchups). Since it's a one-of I can't really recall a situation where it bricked me, I always used it when I had it around, but I do sometimes feel like it's a "Win More" card; might replace it with another Upstart whenever I craft one (there was also a
reaaaaaally sick Striker list I saw that ran less hand traps but had better deep draw and board breakers, I might want to try a build like that)
Yeah, you've basically summed up its pros and cons there, I should have specified "why not Hercules Base" but I remembered Avarice was apparently a card that was ran in the OCG for a while (no idea if it still is).
On a final random aside, daily reminder that Skull Meister is the greatest card ever made; amazing hand trap effect, SR rarity instead of UR, no HOPT, and in situations where both you and your opponent brick, it's really funny as a beatstick
Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhh booooooyyyyys
I'm not going to justify the card, I think it's a big problem.
If you really want to avoid getting Maxx C'd, there are some decent options in MD for that:
3x Ash Blossom
2x Called By The Grave
2-3x Crossout Designator
64-69% chance of opening one of these, 34% chance they open Maxx C in the first place.
If you're running a deck that hard loses to Maxx C then I think it may be a good idea to focus on getting these. Check that your deck usually runs these things beforehand though.
Like I said, the problem isn't the top-tier decks which have the tech space to afford all these cards (you didn't mention Gamma, TTT, etc etc.) The problem is trying to play decks which don't have the space for all these cards without just gimping themselves in every game they don't run into Maxx C, or god forbid, actually have to go second. Maxx C just shits all over decks like Lunalight, Dozer Control, (Infer)Noble Knights etc etc.
I can't begin to describe how great it feels to watch Drytron players rage quit when faced with Imperm/Veiler + any other hand trap
