You know, all that fun nostalgic stuff people feel about a deck they used to play. Anyway Dragunitys recently got an overhaul, and by recently I mean, as of about 6 months ago. I promised the boys back on pojo I'd write an article and put it off until Jason wrote one on TCG Player. Given his article outlined the basics of Dragunity play I figured there was no longer a need for me to write one, but formats change and JDGloom's article is now several sets and a banlist out of date. Given that the TCG is about to get Dragunitys in Starstrike Blast and Hidden Arsenal 3 I figured now would be a good time to write a short spiel for the TCG dragon players who do not yet understand how the Dragunity deck works.
The decklist I'll be posting is the present deck I'm running, which means it runs Dragon Canyon a card dragon players should know all about. If you don't, follow the link in its name and learn about it quickly; in short its a searchable dumping engine for dragons that can be run in triplicate. Now Dragon Canyon and the Dragunity Arms series may not be the Dragunity promos being released in Starstrike Blast, but even if they aren't the fact that the Dragunitys are coming out in HA03 means they will not be very far behind, thus I feel this deck is appropriate. This decklist is built for the TCG metagame, not the OCG one just as a bit of a disclaimer. And cue decklist.
Main Deck: 40
Monsters: 18
3 Dragunity - Phalanx
3 Dragunity - Dux
3 Dragunity - Legionnaire
3 Dragunity - Arms Laevatein
2 Dragunity - Arms Misteil
3 Dragunity - Aklys
1 Morphing Jar
Spells: 16
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
3 Dragon Canyon
3 Cards of Consonance
2 Pot of Duality
1 Pot of Avarice
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Book of Moon
1 Foolish Burial
Traps: 6
1Mirror Force
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
Extra Deck: 15
3 Dragunity Knight - Vajuranda
1 Dragunity Knight - Gadearg
1 Dragunity Knight - Gáe Bulg
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Magical Android
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Scrap Dragon
2 Trident Dragion
Pojo Deck Link.
This build should look fairly familiar by now for those of you who are familiar with Dragunitys. Dragunitys have a solid skeleton that everyone tends to stick to and it actually originated in several points; I can remember constructing this build on DMG before the cards came out (minus DREV stuff) and then running over to Bubbledee on the Dragunity forums on Pojo who had an extremely similar build. Then a few weeks later Jason posted his build on TCG Player and again the lineups were virtually the same with only minor tech differences. If you follow the link to my deck on pojo you'll see its been posted for over a year; very little has changed to the inherent skeleton. Dragunitys are quite solid in the way they build themselves. Some people see this as a downside as Konami is effectively telling people how to build their decks, I prefer to think of it as a sign of a coherent theme. Over a year and very minor deck changes is a good sign of a strong skeleton. Its also a sign of being ignored by the banlist.
Dragunitys play very Junk and Debris; you set up the Dragon-Tuner (Generally Phalanx) summon the Dux/Legionnaire and then go from there; Dux leads into level 6 Synchros; if you elect for Vajuranda as your synchro that then leads to a level 8, whilst Legionnaire can either act as monster destruction or go for a level 5.
Those are your most basic plays with the deck. Legionnaire gets more explosive when equipped with an Aklys and his floating without a tuner makes him prime fodder for those of you who run Icarus Attack still; or to send to the grave for a Dragunity Arms - Misteil.
Misteil is awesome. A walking level 6 monster that can capitalize on any lone Dragunity you have on the field; even going so far as to normal summon Phalanx, send it to the grave for a Misteil Special Summon and then equipping it to it to Sync for a level 8 is a viable play. Not a recommended one in most circumstances due to the minus in advantage, but its still a versatile outlet of use for Misteil. Naturally Misteil is best used after a Legionnaire play via Aklys: Summmon Legionnaire, equip Aklys, send Aklys, proceed to +2. Send Legionnaire for Misteil, equip with Phalanx, SS Phalanx, beat face. You know, basic Dragunity tricks.
Dragunitys are all about field control and synchro spam. Because of their grave tricks they can very easily drop a Synchro of any level between 5 and 10 for the cost of a Normal Summon. Yes. I said 10. That 10 is a Trident Dragion. The Dragunitys OTK asset.
Trident Dragion is made possible through the incredible power that is Dragunity Arms Laevatein (DAL). Now, these days its actually quite common to only run 1 Laevatein. The general opinion is that hes a heavy monster that can't capitalize of Aklys effect. Now, the flaw in this is simple; when Dragunitys were first revealed a few TCG players got it in their heads that Aklys wouldn't abide by basic Equip destruction rules, I blame the fact that because we have so few competitive equips people have forgotten the basics of how they function. Anyway, they felt that Aklys could blow up when the monster to which it was equipped was removed for DALs summon, thus upon the ruling that it could not (apparently this was a big problem) it was perceived as a "nerfing" instead of the clarification that it was. This resulted in a percieved "loss" of power in DAL thus the card was cut in quantity.
I can understand the stance of not wanting to run 3 heavy monsters, however, I respectfully disagree; Dragunity Arms Laevatein is a 3 or 0 card. This is because it is not through Aklys that it gains its power, but through Phalanx. You see DAL carries with itself the same effect as Dux, Legionnaire and Misteil, while normally a level 8 monster having that effect is useless when paired with a tuner DAL also happens to be a Dragon. 2+8=Trident Dragion. This is the Dragunity OTK, and the reason for which I run 3.
You see 1 copy is simply not reliable. Sure its dumpable via Canyon; at the cost of a -1, but you won't reliably pull the OTK off as often as if you run 3. Because Laevatein can special summon himself from the hand or grave with his own effect it will very rarely be dead in hand; in fact, you more often than not SHOULD NOT summon it from the hand. This may sound contradictory; I said I wanted to run 3 so I could draw them, but I have no interest in summoning them from the hand. Its not, and by now I'm sure you know its not. Because of 1 card; Dragon Canyon.
You pitch the DAL for Canyon. You Draw it, you pitch it, and when the opportunity shows itself you go for the jugular with Trident Dragion.
Dragunity decks running only 1 copy of DAL can't do this. They have to set up the OTK. Given the sole copy of DAL this requires more investment in the longrun and in the middle of a duel thats not always possible. Running more copies of DAL gives you more options, whilst not hampering you at all thanks to the Dragon Canyon. It also allows you to put pressure on your opponent; if they can see that they can be OTKed at any time they're going to play differently. If its more conservatively you can punish them via Legionnaire+Aklys tactics, if its more aggressively you can outmuscule them. Of course if they don't see the OTK then you can just catch them off guard. 1 card in hand turns into a Trident Dragion with 2 attacks if you've got a DAL in grave and a Canyon in play. Surprise ending.
Of course I should talk about Canyon, but I really don't feel I need to. Its a Field Spell, so its searchable via Terraforming. Its a Field Spell, so it sticks around. And as long as its in play any card in hand turns into a Dragunity. Thats searchable Consonance fodder, thats searchable monster removal, thats searchable level 8 Synchro monsters. Of course discarding eats up hand advantage, which is why I'm running Morphing Jar. You don't overextend with Dragunitys, but you do play out a lot of cards. Jar helps you recoup that advantage. Avarice recycles spent bird Dragunitys so you can re-search them with Canyon, etc. The rest of the deck is really self-explanatory.
The reason I'm not running Terraforming is because I'm running Pot of Duality. I realize they don't serve the same purpose, however, in principle and play I find Duality to be the stronger card. Dragon Canyon is powerful in this deck, and needed. It turns the deck into a Synchro engine, and without it the deck often falls flat on its face; Dragunitys are a glass cannon. They are powerful, versatile and reactive, however it is Canyon that gives them the speed and consistency to maintain pace with tier 1 decks, thus without Canyon they fall behind. This is not to say that they are incapable of winning, however, it is a severe disadvantage to be playing without a Canyon and in the Dragunity Mirror he who controls the Canyon, controls the game.
This also ties into why I find triple DAL so imperative; because of the fragility of the deck you need to not only seize opportunities for game but also capitalize on your ability to take game at the drop of a hat. But I've been side tracked. I was explaining why I run Duality over Terraforming; Terraforming provides searchability for Dragon Canyon, allowing easy access to your ace card; and thanks to Canyons effect Terraforming can virtually never be dead; if you have a Field Spell in play then Terraforming turns into the discard fodder for its effect. Granted thats not to mean it isn't ever dead. Its still a wasted draw and the Canyon is still costing you a card in hand. By running higher utility cards than Terraforming the deck can ensure it has useful draws whilst Canyon is out.
Pot of Duality I find is more beneficial because it can give access not just to Canyon, but also to other cards in my deck. Pot of Duality makes my opening hands stronger, lets me dig into single copies faster and more consistently; helping with the fluidity of the deck, I consider it a more versatile form of Terraforming. At the cost of a Special Summon for the turn I also gain the ability to search out cards other than my Field Spell. If its not beneficial to play Duality that turn, I just hold it, or discard it. Granted, this is not to say it has to be either or, I'm certain people will run both, and in fact, I too may do so in a later version of this deck.
Dragunitys are a powerful and versatile deck. They're incredibly fun and with their imminent release I predict a lot of Dragunity decks cropping up in tournament standings.
For people who can't be bothered reading through this entire post here is a quick summary of some basic Dragunity combos:
- Legionnaire + Aklys = 1 Monster and 1 Card destroyed.
- Legionnaire + Phalanx = Catastor/ Tech Genus Hyper Librarian.
- Legionnaire floating = Mystletainn Summon.
- Mystletainn + Phalanx = Level 8.
- Mystletainn + Brandistock = 2100 dual attacker, sometimes this is better than a level 8; thats 4200 damage.
- Using Aklys to summon Mystletainn or Leyvaten from the hand with its first effect; they miss the timing on their equip, but are immune to Bottomless Trap Hole and Torrential Tribute.
- Dux + Phalanx = Level 6 Synchro.
- Dux + Brandistock = 1900 dual attacking 4 star, that can be really brutal. Especially against a heavy backrow where a Synchro climb is a weaker choice.
- Dearg: It sets up the deck.
- Vajrayana + Aklys = 3800ATK + 1 card destroyed.
- Vajrayana + Phalanx = Level 8 Synchro.
- Vajrayana + Brandistock = 1900 dual attacker (I'd just stick with Dux since it gains further ATK, this is a play I've never seen tbh).
- Leyvaten + Phalanx = Trident Dragion
- Leyvaten + Brandistock = 2600 dual attacker, in situations where you are low on advantage or Trident Dragion is risky this can be better than going into Trident. Considering Leyvaten can pop out of the graveyard for the cost of a Normal Summon its a pretty amazing play.
- Dragon Ravine searches all Cards of Consonance targets as well as Legionnaire and Dux, it can also dump Leyvaten. I run 2-3 Mystletainn because it can't be searched via Ravine.
Anyway, enjoy the deck.
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