BBQ GMP Caffeine Aggro Deck Guide

Introduction

Green Mega Penguin (GMP) Caffeine Aggro is an aggressive deck centered around the interaction between Green Mega Penguin and Too Much Caffeine. As Green Mega Penguin cannot be chosen, your opponent will neither be able to flop it with Too Much Caffeine nor remove it with an action. It also grows in vibe every turn. Hence, it is a very powerful deck that aims to win most of the vibe checks, getting to 15 points as quickly as possible and winning the game. This deck is also generally simple to play as it has almost no actions except saucy actions.

I piloted this deck to a 6th place finish in season 0, getting over 400 wins and a good win rate. The contents of this guide are based on my personal experiences and opinions, and may not be 100% correct or up to date. This deck was also initially designed by themudman, who is a very good player and deck builder. So I must definitely thank him and give him credit, as well as the rest of the TST community for providing me with the initial list to start with!

Key Cards

Green Mega Penguin - The main win condition of the deck, you aim to play this as early as turn 4 and support it with buff cards (mentioned below). Extremely difficult for the opponent to deal with as it cannot be chosen by anything.

Too Much Caffeine[ACT] ability. Playing multiple of these could prevent your opponent from doing anything. Your opponent would also be able to use this card too against your penguins, but cannot use it to flop your Green Mega Penguin, hence this combo is very powerful.

Inspiring Story - The main buff card for this deck, each copy makes your Green Mega Penguin and other penguins increase its vibe by 2. Also buffs your Popcorn Penguin, protecting it from Got 'Em!.

Popcorn Penguin - One of the most powerful cards in the entire game right now, and it plays an especially important role in this deck, because it is the only way for this deck to ice opposing penguins bigger than 2 vibe. IMO, this deck would not be top tier without this card.

Sliding Penguin - A secondary buff card for this deck whose main role is to protect Popcorn Penguin from opposing Got 'Em!. It does not buff Green Mega Penguin unfortunately but is very powerful in situations when you have not drawn Green Mega Penguin.

Sneaky Penguin - Another very powerful penguin which filters your draws so that you can find the cards you need quicker. As of this article, having 2 or more Sneaky Penguin in your huddle causes a bug. As a result I am only playing 3 copies. When the bug is fixed, consider playing 4 copies.

Bounce House Rod - As this deck wins many vibe checks, many key cards end up becoming a rod. This helps you get it from your rods so that you can play it.

10x - 12x 2-drops - 4x Introvert Penguin and 4x Supportive Friend are compulsory, while the remaining 2-4 copies can be any 2 fish 4 vibe penguin, such as Penguin of the Falling Leaves. It is extremely important to prioritise playing one of these on turn 2 to start winning vibe checks early. Supportive Friend can permanently buff other penguins except Green Mega Penguin if required.

Tech Cards

Got 'Em! - The only action in the deck that can remove 2 vibe penguins. Extremely powerful and important in a meta with Penguin Who's OK and Ascending Penguin. Also key for removing wizard penguins to keep them off of pudge.

What a Twist! - Its main purpose is to unflop your flopped Hungry Penguin and Bashful Swordsman Penguin for the matchups where they are needed. Also needed to unflop your largest penguin to win an important vibe check if you do not have Green Mega Penguin in your huddle.

Hungry Penguin - The main counter to opposing buff cards such as Put Your Flippers in the Air and Clean Up Good. Also helps to flop opposing penguins that are unflopped by What a Twist!. Lastly, they can behave like Too Much Caffeine to flop opposing largest penguins if you have not drawn Too Much Caffeine.

Miss Place, Forgetter of Things - The main counter to the strongest deck in the format right now, Purple BizBunk, which is unfortunately one of our bad matchups too. Use this to name cards like Bunkus, Who Is the Stars, Ascending Penguin and Bizmo, PhD Candidate. It can also be useful in other matchups, such as using it on Put Your Flippers in the Air, Clean Up Good and What a Twist! if you have the chance to.

Bashful Swordsman Penguin - My counter for the mirror match. It is usually bigger than opposing Green Mega Penguin especially with Inspiring Story and Sliding Penguin to buff it. It is also helpful against green to ice larger penguins.

Substitutes

Hot Rod - Helps to win the Green Mega Penguin race in the mirror. You may add some of these into the deck if you are facing a lot of mirror matches.

Brainy Penguin - Digs for 2 cards instantly. Very good in some situations, especially the mirror. Personally, I find that my hand is usually almost empty as I win most of the vibe checks, so it is difficult to use this card. It can be good as a 1x or 2x in place of one of the tech cards.

Koi Penguin - Some lists play it as a way to beat green or the mirror. Unfortunately, it does not work with Green Mega Penguin. Personally, I dislike this card in this deck as it has bad synergy with Green Mega Penguin.

Bunkus, Who Is the Stars - Counter against Blue Mill decks. Personally, I find the matchup already super good for this deck, so I’d rather play a different tech card.

Not a Rod Anymore! - Protects your Popcorn Penguin from Got 'Em! if you could not buff it. It is a useful card for some situations/metas, but I find it less useful than Got 'Em! or What a Twist!.   The above cards are the only ones I am familiar with for this deck. Please feel free to experiment with other cards!

General Strategy

In most of your games, your goal should be to follow one of these 2 lines, subject to the deck you are playing against and also your card draws.

Play Green Mega Penguin ASAP Line

Mulligan - Keep 1x 2-drop, keep up to 2x or 3x Too Much Caffeine (exception: if you know you are playing the mirror, keep none), keep Green Mega Penguin.

Turn 1 - Play a rod. Do NOT play Too Much Caffeine (It will disable you from winning vibe checks in the early game).

Turn 2 - Play a rod and a 2-drop, prioritizing Introvert Penguin. If you do not have a 2-drop, consider playing Too Much Caffeine to prevent your opponent from winning a vibe check.

Turn 3 - Play a rod. If you have 4 rods, play Sliding Penguin, Sneaky Penguin, or choose not to play anything. If you have 3 rods, play a Sneaky Penguin or a 2-drop.

Turn 4 - Play a rod. If you have at least 5 rods, play a Green Mega Penguin, icing your 2-drop as the cost. Use the remaining unused rods to play Too Much Caffeine if you have it.

Rest of the game - Manage your opponent’s threats as necessary with other cards. Play Popcorn Penguin ASAP Line (If you have Popcorn Penguin in hand and you know you are playing against Yellow/Purple/Blue) Mulligan - Keep 1x 2-drop, keep Popcorn Penguin, keep Sliding Penguin if Popcorn Penguin is in the starting hand, keep all Too Much Caffeine. Keep 1x Got 'Em!.

Turn 1 and 2 are the same as the Green Mega Penguin ASAP Line.

Turn 3 - Play a rod. If you have 4 rods, play Sliding Penguin if you have it.

Turn 4 - Play a rod. If you played Sliding Penguin on turn 3, play Popcorn Penguin. Use the remaining unused rods to play Too Much Caffeine if you have it. If you did not play Sliding Penguin on turn 3, play Inspiring Story or Sliding Penguin to prepare to play Popcorn Penguin on turn 5.

Turn 5 or later - Play a Popcorn Penguin if you have a buff for it, or if you have an extra copy in your hand.

Rest of the game - Play Green Mega Penguin when you have the chance to. Then manage your opponent’s threats as necessary with other cards. Exception: Do not play Popcorn Penguin if there are no targets! Be patient with it, I tend to wait for at least 2 targets, unless the sole target is a must ice (such as Ascending Penguin)

Matchup Guide

Yellow - Prioritize Play Popcorn Penguin ASAP Line. Too Much Caffeine is very good to help prevent them from playing Not Your Keys on your Popcorn Penguin, or playing a devastating Yum Yum or Put Your Flippers in the Air. Use Got 'Em! early on Yellow Wizard Penguin and Pot-Stirring Penguin to deny pudge. Hold them off from playing their 3 pudge card draw actions for as long as possible. In the late game, Hungry Penguin can deal with Put Your Flippers in the Air. This is a good matchup for this deck if you are able to play Popcorn Penguin and protect it.

Green - Prioritize Play Green Mega Penguin ASAP Line. However, a buffed Popcorn Penguin is still important. Keep (Baron) as long as possible to ensure your buffs trigger first, allowing your PopcornPenguin to ice opposing penguins which are otherwise too large after their buffs. Hungry Penguin and Bashful Swordsman Penguin are helpful too. This is generally an even or difficult matchup because they can often win vibe checks against this deck and Clean Up Good is a very powerful counter to Too Much Caffeine.

Blue - Either line is viable, depending on the situation. Against Penguin Who's OK and Bottle Penguin, an early Popcorn Penguin is ideal. If they skip the 2-drop and plays mainly 4 vibe or 6 vibe penguins, play your buff cards first before you play Popcorn Penguin. Use Sliding Penguin + Popcorn Penguin to ice 4-vibe penguins, and Sliding Penguin + Inspiring Story + Popcorn Penguin to ice 6-vibe penguins. Too Much Caffeine[ACT] abilities. Blue is the most favorable matchup for this deck. Their Penguin With Hoops tend to help you more than it helps them and it is very possible to win even after a Send It Too Hard is played.

Purple (Bizbunk) - Prioritize Play Popcorn Penguin ASAP Line. This is the matchup I still struggle with a lot in terms of finding the ideal line. For example, I am not sure if Too Much Caffeine is very good against them because their actions mainly cost 1 pudge. Hungry Penguin with What a Twist! could be more powerful than Too Much Caffeine to help deal with a large penguin. Save all your Got 'Em! for Ascending Penguin as it is your only way to deal with it before they get to unflop their rods the next turn if you do not already have a Popcorn Penguin in your huddle. The way to win this matchup is to win before they play their big penguins, or flop all their big penguins to win the vibe check. Miss Place, Forgetter of Things is the MVP. Choose Ascending Penguin if they do not have one in their huddle, otherwise choose Bunkus, Who Is the Stars.

Red - Prioritize Play Green Mega Penguin ASAP Line. I didn’t play against this deck much in season 0. However, they have a hard time dealing with Green Mega Penguin and Too Much Caffeine usually, so I had a good win rate. Popcorn Penguin also puts a lot of pressure on their penguin-lite deck.

Mirror - Prioritize Play Green Mega Penguin ASAP Line. Play Green Mega Penguin as early as you can and hope to draw as many Inspiring Story as you can. There is not much you can do to control the outcome of this matchup. Too Much Caffeine is generally not needed in this matchup. Play Bashful Swordsman Penguin at the right time to surprise your opponent and steal the game if you are behind in the race.

Other Tips

- Use Sliding Penguin to buff your opponent’s largest penguin when you have an unflopped Bashful Swordsman Penguin to make it vibe more than your Bashful Swordsman Penguin, allowing you to ice it after the vibe check. - A good habit is to arrange your key rodded cards on the left. These rods will be used first when playing Penguins, allowing you to bounce a used rod if you decide to play a Bounce House Rod that turn to get back a key card.

Conclusion

Despite this deck being a very linear and aggressive deck, there are still many in-game choices to be made in order to maximise your win rate, and I hope you learned alot from my guide. While this deck is not the best deck right now, it can be very rewarding in the right hands. All the best and I hope you enjoy greater success with this deck than me!