Elfnote deck: the YCS winner, now with Ars Magna (October 2026)

Elfnote is a Synchro deck built around your center Main Monster Zone. It won YCS Guayaquil, took four of that event’s Top 8 spots and has won more regionals than any other deck since the September 21 list. With Beyond the Brave now legal, the top lists have started adding Ars Magna cards, and that version won the first two regionals it played.

How the deck works

The main Elfnote monsters are Level 6 Spellcasters that care about the center zone. Elfnote Lucina, Elfnote Fortuna and Elfnote Tinia can each Special Summon themselves from the hand to the center Main Monster Zone. During your Main Phase, Lucina searches another Elfnote monster, Fortuna places an Elfnote Continuous Trap and Tinia places an Elfnote Continuous Spell from the Deck. On your opponent’s turn, each one can swap places with your center monster and then disrupt: Lucina returns a Level 6 or lower monster to the hand, Fortuna returns a face-up Spell or Trap, and Tinia banishes a random card from the opponent’s hand until the End Phase.

Elfnote Regina summons itself from the hand as a Quick Effect by sending another Elfnote card to the GY. If it lands in the center zone, it Special Summons another Elfnote from the Deck, and when it is used as Synchro Material it returns to your hand.

Elfnote Power Patron is the Level 1 Tuner that turns this into a Synchro deck. During either player’s Main Phase it raises your center monster’s Level by 3 and then lets you Synchro Summon an Elfnote Synchro or Junora the Power Patron of Tuning right away. When it is used as Synchro Material, it searches an Elfnote card. A Level 6 Elfnote plus Power Patron makes Level 7 for Elfnote Seraphim Strelitzia; with the +3 boost it makes Level 10 for Elfnote June Pride. Power Patron locks you into Synchro Monsters from the Extra Deck.

Medius the Pure adds or Special Summons a Power Patron monster from the Deck, and Prohibited Power Patron Portal - Terminus can add Medius (a DARK Fairy) after sending a Power Patron monster to the GY. Junoldo the Shadespirit Power Patron counts as an Elfnote card and can destroy itself to bring out Junora as a Synchro Summon, and Junora negates every face-up card the opponent controls when it is Synchro Summoned. Vidolium the Unstable Power Patron of Unity works mostly as an engine piece: its Pendulum Effect destroys it to Special Summon a Power Patron monster from the hand or GY, and once it is face-up in the Extra Deck it searches a Power Patron card.

The two Continuous cards hold the board together. Elfnotes: Welcome Home protects your center monster from destruction by card effects and turns a spare monster into a fresh Elfnote of a different Attribute from the Deck. Elfnotes: Rhapsodia of Madness forces attacks into your center monster and revives an Elfnote, negating a card if you control a Synchro Monster. June Pride does the same job on the battle side: while it sits in the center zone, only center-zone monsters can attack.

The rest of the deck is interaction. Fydraulis Harmonia answers an opponent’s monster effect from the hand by revealing Synchro Monsters from your Extra Deck, and with six revealed it also destroys a monster. Lists fill out with 12 to 15 hand traps.

Key cards

Elfnote Lucina: self-summoning starter that searches another Elfnote and bounces a monster on the opponent’s turn.
Elfnote Regina: Quick Effect summon from the hand and a free Elfnote from the Deck when it hits the center zone.
Elfnote Power Patron: the Tuner that Synchro Summons during either Main Phase and searches when used as material.
Medius the Pure: finds Elfnote Power Patron or another Power Patron monster.
Elfnotes: Welcome Home: protection for the center monster plus an extra Elfnote each turn.
Elfnote June Pride: Level 10 endpoint that restricts attacks and can reset into three Elfnotes.
Junora the Power Patron of Tuning: negates the opponent’s face-up cards when Synchro Summoned.
Fydraulis Harmonia: a hand-based answer to monster effects that also fits the Synchro plan.
Elfnote Tinia: Limited to 1; places Welcome Home and hits the opponent’s hand.

Sample decklist

YCS Guayaquil (Advanced), Top 8, October 3-4, 2026. This list was played before Beyond the Brave was legal.

Main Deck (40)

Extra Deck (15)

Side Deck (15)

Elfnote Ars Magna (after Beyond the Brave)

Beyond the Brave added the Ars Magna cards, and Elfnote players picked them up right away. Ars Magna “Citrinitas” is a Continuous Spell that is always treated as an Elfnote card. Once while it is face-up, it searches a Medius or Ars Magna monster during your Main Phase. While you control a Power Patron Link Monster, such as Purification Power Patron or Mediclius the Extraordinary Power Patron, it also lets your Ars Magna monsters use their effects as Quick Effects.

Theorealized Medius counts as a Power Patron card. It Special Summons itself from the hand if a Power Patron card is on the field and searches a Theorealize Spell or Trap such as Theorealize Past Lull, which in turn summons Medius the Pure from the Deck. Whenever a monster is banished face-up, Theorealized Medius can search an Ars Magna card.

The three Ars Magna monsters each banish themselves from the hand for value: Ars Magna the Corruption and the Purification adds an Ars Magna Spell or Trap, Ars Magna the Finite and the Infinite adds another Ars Magna monster, and Ars Magna the Division and the Union Special Summons a non-Spellcaster Ars Magna monster from the GY or banishment. Banishing them face-up also triggers Theorealized Medius. Each one comes back from banishment when certain monster types are Special Summoned; Division and the Union returns on a Synchro or Link Summon, which an Elfnote deck makes often. With a Power Patron Link Monster out, Finite and the Infinite banishes a monster and Corruption and the Purification banishes Spells and Traps.

Ars Magna Elfnote, the Link Monster made for this pairing, is not legal in the TCG yet, so current lists play without it. Results so far come from a handful of small events, so expect the build to keep changing.

Ars Magna sample list

Louisville WCQ Regional, Top 8, October 10, 2026.

Main Deck (41)

Extra Deck (15)

Side Deck (15)

Recent results

Event	Date	Placement	Players
YCS Guayaquil (Advanced)	Oct 3-4, 2026	1st, plus 3 more in Top 8 and 12 in Top 32	263
Mexico City WCQ Regional	Sep 27, 2026	1st	about 400
Duluth WCQ Regional	Sep 26, 2026	1st	about 250
Kissimmee WCQ Regional	Sep 26, 2026	1st	218
Bloomington WCQ Regional	Sep 26, 2026	1st	150
Leipzig WCQ Regional	Sep 27, 2026	1st	118
Montreal WCQ Regional	Sep 26, 2026	1st	82
Saint Peters WCQ Regional (Ars Magna)	Oct 10, 2026	1st and 2nd	57
Dubuque WCQ Regional (Ars Magna)	Oct 10, 2026	1st, plus 2 more in Top 8	39
Louisville WCQ Regional (Ars Magna)	Oct 10, 2026	2nd, plus 2 more in Top 8	70

Elfnote also won regionals in Herzliya, Avrillé, Poznań, Rome and Rende and an online WCQ event, for 15 wins between September 24 and October 11.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Several one-card starters: Lucina, Regina and the Medius line all lead into more Elfnotes or Power Patron.
Disruption on the opponent’s turn from the Elfnote swap effects, Power Patron’s Main Phase Synchro Summon and Junora’s negation.
Room for a large hand-trap suite, which helps when going second.

Weaknesses

A lot runs through the center Main Monster Zone. Removing or locking that one monster cuts off several effects.
Many key effects search or summon from the Deck (Lucina, Regina, Medius, Power Patron), so hand traps like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring can stop a turn early.
Power Patron, Welcome Home and Strelitzia lock you into Synchro Monsters from the Extra Deck for the turn.
The Ars Magna version is new and only has small-event results so far.

What to watch

YCS Houston (October 16-18) is the first big event with Beyond the Brave legal and the first real test for Elfnote Ars Magna.
Ars Magna Elfnote could change the build a lot if it comes to the TCG.
Magnificent Maestros brings new Toon support in mid-November and is expected to shake up the top tier.