Dragons Top 16 at YCS Ecuador

Congratulations to Omar Ramirez aka lin524 of DGz for making the top 16 with Disaster Dragon at YCS Ecuador.

Main Deck: 40

Monster: 19

3 Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red Eyes Wyvern
3 Masked Dragon
2 Thunder King Rai-oh
2 Effect Veiler
3 Koaki Meiru Drago
1 Delta Flyer
1 Exploder Dragon
1 Gorz The Emissary Of Darkness

Spells: 12

2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 Pot Of Duality
1 Future Fusion
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Mind Control

Traps: 9

2 Solemn Warning
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Call Of The Haunted

Extra Deck: 15

1 Five Headed Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Leviair The Sea Dragon
1 Orient Dragon
1 Wind-Up Zenmaister
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Ally Of Justice, Catastor
1 Ally Of Justice, Decisive Armor
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 Trishula, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier
1 Brionac, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier

Sideck: 15

2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Doomcaliber Knight
2 Smashing Ground
2 Mind Crush
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Kycoo The Ghost Destroyer
2 King Tiger Wanghu

Dragons take the Top 16 of DAK's SHOWDOWN 2011

Here are the 3 Dragon decks run by August Kauffmann, Marius Knauf and Kim Jensen which placed in the Top 16 in Denmark over the weekend.

Since I don't want to link to coverage in a seperate article here is the Youtube coverage of the event! Link.

August Kauffmann - 1st Place

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 19
1 Delta Flyer
1 Effect Veiler
2 Exploder Dragon
3 Koa'Ki Meiru Drago
3 Masked Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spells: 12
1 Dark Hole
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 Pot of Duality

Traps: 9
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Call of the Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Trap Dustshoot

Extra Deck: 15
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Orient Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Kim Just Jensen - 3rd Place

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 19
1 Delta Flyer
1 Effect Veiler
2 Exploder Dragon
3 Koa'Ki Meiru Drago
3 Masked Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spells: 11
1 Dark Hole
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Pot of Duality

Traps: 10
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Call of the Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
1 Starlight Road
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Trap Dustshoot

Extra Deck: 15
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Ally of Justice Decisive Armor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Scrap Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Tiras, Keeper of Genesis

Marius Knauf - 10th Place

Main Deck: 42

Monsters: 21
1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
1 Delta Flyer
3 Doomcaliber Knight
1 Gorz, The Emissary of Darkness
3 Koa'Ki Meiru Drago
2 Masked Dragon
2 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
2 Spirit Reaper
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spells: 9
1 Book of Moon
1 Dark Hole
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Monster Reborn
3 Pot of Duality

Traps: 12
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Mind Crush
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Trap Dustshoot

Extra Deck: 15
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Orient Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
2 Scrap Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Source

Dragons take the Top4 of Denmark's largest Yu-Gi-Oh! Event

Dragons are off to a great start this format; placing 1st and 3rd in Denmark's largest tournament.

I'll toss up some links to feature matches and coverage once its all online, till then you guys will have to be content with the winning decklist.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 19
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh
3 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
2 Exploder Dragon
3 Masked Dragon
1 Delta Flyer
1 Effect Veiler

Spells: 12
3 Pot of Duality
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Future Fusion
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Mind Control
1 Heavy Storm

Traps: 9
1 Trap Dustshoot
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Call of the Haunted

Of his victory the winner had to say this: "Wouldn't change anything. Dont like book this format and 2 veilers is too much with drago and thunder kings. Imho disaster dragon is the best deck right now and got no real bad matchups."

Dragons Place 9th at Worlds

While the world buzzes about the new banlist I thought it would be a good time to share the decklist that Kim Just Jensen piloted to a 9th place finish at the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships. Enjoy.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 19

3 Thunder King Rai-Oh
3 Koa´ki Meiru Drago
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
3 Masked Dragon
2 Exploder Dragon
1 Delta Flyer
1 Effect Veiler

Spells: 11
3 Pot Of Duality
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Future Fusion
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Book Of moon

Traps: 10
2 Solemn Warning
2 Dimensional prison
2 Dust Tornado
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Call Of The Haunted

Extra Deck: 15
2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
2 Black Rose Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier
1 Brionac, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier
1 Gaia Knight, The Force Of Earth
1 Ally Of Justice Catastor
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Grenosaurus

Side Deck: 15
1 Gorz The Emissary Of Darkness
1 Breaker The Magical Warrior
1 D.D. Crow
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Mind Control
2 Pulling The Rug
2 Black Horn Of Heaven
1 Chain Disappearance
2 Rivalry Of Warlords
2 Malevolent Catastrophe

Malefics Top 8 at YCS Indy

At YCS Indianapolis 2 Malefic decks made it into the top 8.

Conrad Selig (Top 8 – Malefics)
Monsters: 14
2 Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon
3 Beast King Barbaros
3 Gravekeeper’s Commandant
3 Malefic Cyber End Dragon
3 Malefic Stardust Dragon

Spells: 16
2 Forbidden Lance
3 Geartown
2 Necrovalley
3 Terraforming
3 Trade-In
3 Upstart Goblin

Traps: 10
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 Dark Bribe
1 Safe Zone
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
3 Skill Drain
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Xing Zhen Hu

Extra Deck: 15
3 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
3 Cyber End Dragon
2 Nitro Warrior
2 Number 39: Utopia
3 Stardust Dragon
2 Turbo Warrior

Side Deck: 15
1 Big Bang Shot
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Royal Tribute
2 Starlight Road
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Zombie World

Luis Zambrana (Top 8 – Malefics)
Monsters: 13
3 Beast King Barbaros
2 Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon
3 Malefic Cyber End Dragon
2 Gravekeeper’s Commandant
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spells: 15
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 Pot of Duality
3 Geartown
3 Terraforming
2 Necrovalley
2 Royal Tribute

Traps: 12
2 Safe Zone
2 Dark Bribe
3 Skill Drain
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device

Extra Deck: 15
3 Cyber End Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
2 Number 39: Utopia
2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Flame Swordsman
1 Charubin the Fire Knight
1 Flower Wolf
1 Dark Balter the Terrible
1 Fiend Skull Dragon
1 Dragoness the Wicked Knight
1 Cyber Twin Dragon

Side Deck: 15
2 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
2 King Tiger Wanghu
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Starlight Road
2 Dimensional Fissure
1 Necrovalley
1 Dust Tornado
2 Puppet Plant
2 Chain Disappearance

Source.

Malefic Top 8 at North American WCQ

Last week Justin Womack piloted a Malefic Geartown variant to the top 8 of the North American World Championship Qualifier, surprising everyone.

Here is his decklist.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 14
3 Beast King Barbaros
3 Malefic Stardust
3 Malefic Cyber End
3 Gravekeeper's Commandant
2 Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon

Spells: 16
3 Upstart Goblin
3 Trade-In
3 Geartown
3 Terraforming
2 Necrovalley
2 Forbidden Lance

Traps: 10
3 Skill Drain
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 Safe Zone
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Dark Bribe
1 Xing Zhen Hu

Extra Deck: 15
1 Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste
2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Dark Paladin
1 Blackwing Armed Wing
1 Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant
2 Mist Valley Thunder Lord
1 Flame Swordsman
3 Stardust Dragon
3 Cyber End Dragon

Side Deck: 15
2 Cyber Dragon
3 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Royal Tribute
2 Dimensional Fissure
3 Zombie World
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Starlight Road

Source.

Dragons Top 8 at European WCQ

This weekend at the European World Championship Qualifier a Disaster Dragon deck piloted by Kim Just Jensen made it into the Top 8 against Tengu Plant and a multitude of other tier decks.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 19
1 Effect Veiler
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Maxx "C"
3 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
1 Exploder Dragon
2 Delta Flyer
3 Masked Dragon

Spells: 11
3 Pot of Duality
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon

Traps: 10
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Call of the Haunted
2 Dust Tornado
1 Burst Breath

Extra Deck: 15
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 T.G. Hyper Librarian
1 Arcanite Magician
1 Gaia Knight, The Force of Earth
2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Five-Headed Dragon

Side Deck: 15
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
2 D.D. Crow
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Banisher of the Radiance
1 Mind Control
2 Black Horn of Heaven
1 Chain Disappearance
3 Rivalry of Warlords
1 Malevolent Catastrophe

Source.

Extreme Victory: The Dragons Return

Extreme Victory has been confirmed to contain 3 Dragon OCG imports.

Alongside the amazing Dodger Dragon it will also be containing Lancer Lindwurm and the long anticipated Axe and Lancer Dragonutes.

Here is a link to the set list. The Dragonutes are No.90 and No.91.

And finally the OCG imports themselves:



Lancer Lindwurm
Dragon/WIND/4*/1800/1200
During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.



Axe Dragonute
Dragon/DARK/4*/2000/1200
If this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Damage Step.



Lancer Dragonute
Dragon/DARK/4*/1500/1800
During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

Dragons Top 16 at YCS Paris

Two Disaster Dragon decks piloted by Kim Just Jensen and Lormier Josse and a Dragunity deck piloted by Merlin Schumacher made it into the Top 32 at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series in Paris this week.

Both Disaster decks made it into the Top 16 and so I'll post their decklists here.

Kim Just Jensen (Disaster Dragon)
Monsters: 18
1 Light and Darkness Dragon
2 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
1 Exploder Dragon
1 Totem Dragon
2 Delta Flyer
2 Mirage Dragon
3 Masked Dragon

Spells: 13
3 Pot of Duality
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Giant Trunade
1 Book of Moon
1 Forbidden Lance

Traps: 9
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Dust Tornado

Extra Deck: 15
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Trident Dragion
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 XX-Saber Hyunlei
1 Armory Arm
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Chain Disappearance
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Five-Headed Dragon

Side Deck: 15
2 Effect Veiler
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Kinetic Soldier
1 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
1 Mind Control
1 Burial from a Different Dimension
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Chain Disappearance
2 Rivalry of Warlords

~~~

Lormier Josse (Disaster Dragon)
Monsters: 20
3 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
1 Exploder Dragon
2 Totem Dragon
1 Vice Dragon
1 Dread Dragon
1 Delta Flyer
1 Prime Material Dragon
1 Yamata Dragon
3 Masked Dragon

Spells: 11
1 Pot of Duality
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Giant Trunade
2 Forbidden Lance

Traps: 9
2 Burst Breath
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force
1 Royal Oppression
1 Mind Crush

Extra Deck: 15
1 Magical Android
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Exploder Dragonwing
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Dark End Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Trident Dragion
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend

Side Deck: 15
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Maxx “C”
1 D.D. Crow
2 Puppet Plant
2 Noblemon of Extermination
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Dust Tornado
2 Chain Disappearance
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

Source.

Dragunity Top 32 at YCS Anaheim

Once again 2 Dragunity decks piloted by Alberto Gonzalez and Anthony Eckroth managed to break into the top 32 at YCS Anaheim this weekend.

Alberto Gonzalez (Top 32 – Dragunity)
Monsters: 14
2 Dragunity Aklys
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire
3 Dragunity Phalanx
2 Effect Veiler
1 Malefic Stardust Dragon

Spells: 17
1 Pot of Avarice
2 Cards of Consonance
1 Book of Moon
1 Giant Trunade
1 Dark Hole
1 Mind Control
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Duality
1 Monster Reborn
3 Terraforming
3 Dragon Ravine

Traps: 10
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Dimensional Prison
1 Royal Oppression
1 Seven Tools of the Bandit
1 Mirror Force
1 Trap Dustshoot

Extra Deck: 15
3 Stardust Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
3 Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana
2 Scrap Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Trident Dragion
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Magical Android
1 Red Dragon Archfiend

Side Deck: 15
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Puppet Plant
2 Royal Decree
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Dust Tornado
1 Mask of Restrict
2 Chain Disappearance
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

~~~~~

Anthony Eckroth (Top 32 – Dragunity)
Monsters: 13
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire
3 Dragunity Phalanx
2 Dragunity Aklys
2 Effect Veiler

Spells: 16
3 Dragon Ravine
3 Terraforming
3 Cards of Consonance
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Giant Trunade
1 Monster Reborn
1 Book of Moon
1 Pot of Avarice

Traps: 11
2 Solemn Warning
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Mind Crush
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Mirror Force

Extra Deck: 15
3 Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana
1 Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Trident Dragion
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Magical Android
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Ally of Justice Catastor

Side Deck: 15
2 Kinetic Soldier
2 Puppet Plant
2 Banisher of the Radiance
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Royal Oppression
2 Dust Tornado
2 Mask of Restrict
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

Source.

Card Focus: Poké Dra

GENF-JP031
Poké Dra 「ポケ・ドラ」
FIRE/Dragon - Effect/3/200/100
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can add 1 "Poké Dra" from your Deck to your hand.


Poké Dra is a neat little Dragon Pokémon coming to Yu-Gi-Oh! in Generation Force, the first Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal booster pack.

Its a nifty little floater that replaces itself upon Normal Summon reminiscent of the Gadgets. It has a small body, however, this works to its advantage. The card is prime Red-Eyes Darkness Metal fodder.

Way back when Vice Dragon was first released it was heralded as the saviour of Dragon builds; championed as the "best" fodder for Darkness Metals summon. This soon proved to be wrong. People soon found that Vice Dragon's inability to bring anything new to the game without overextending and costing them 2 cards in hand made it a subpar addition to the dragon deck. Yet people clung to it because they did not want to have to commit the same play with another dragon whilst losing their normal summon; The obvious flaw of which is that you lose advantage as well as your normal summon, but Poké Dra fixes this.

Flat out I'm going to run 2 copies. The first will get summoned and RFGed for Darkness Metal and replaces itself; you've given up a normal summon but lost no advantage. Thanks to Darkness Metal Dragon that normal summon loss is negligible in advantage. The flaw of Hopeless Dragon I always said was that the ability to drop 2500+ATK monsters was outdone by Synchro spam decks, which unlike Hopeless Dragons had good effects to match their size. Likewise the flaw of Darkness Metal in the past has been that it couldn't be summoned without costing advantage as there were no other dragons that floated upon summon; once again Poké Dra fixes this.

The second Poké Dra is prime fodder for either Genesis Dragon or Dragon Ravine discards. If you run 3 Poké Dra with the hopes of reshuffling them with Genesis or getting a full plus chain off thats neat but then you'd have to normal summon two of them or you'd be wasting them; also you couldn't pitch the 2nd one for anything as it'd make the third dead. Its free advantage but I don't like getting tied down by advantage chains. Running 2 gives you the free Darkness Metal summons whilst also giving you flexibility in how you choose to use that advantage given by the Poké Dra.

Once Poké Dra is in grave Poké's small size begins to benefit it as its able to be recurred with Debris Dragon to make Ancient Fairy Dragon (helping our GK and Dragunity matchup), Exploder Dragonwing (Just generally really good), or Black Rose Dragon (helping our LSS matchup among others).

Since its Level 3 and self replacing it also lets you Exceed Summon under Ultimate Offering if you're wierd but honestly Revise Dragon is not worth including unnecessary cards into your deck for.

Anyway thats it for Poké Dra. I considered reviewing Dodger Dragon but since everyone is buzzing about that I decided to give a little sunshine to the monster I feel is better but may slip under the radar.

Mirage Stun Locals Run

I wanted some direct examples of how Mirage Stun has been playing this format. The deck isn't nearly refined enough for me to feel comfortable taking it to a regional level tournament and I don't record gauntlet testing so I decided to attend my locals with it today and take some notes on a few of the matches. I went 4 rounds with it before I got bored and left, but I think the matches showcase the power of Mirage Dragon strongly enough to illustrate why I think its a powerful addition to the dragon arsenal this format.

The deck I took wasn't the same I posted earlier. It was this:

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 16
1 Dragunity Phalanx
2 Effect Veiler
2 Exploder Dragon
2 Masked Dragon
2 Mirage Dragon
1 Prime Material Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern

Spells: 15
1 Book of Moon
1 Dark Hole
3 Dragon Ravine
1 Future Fusion
1 Giant Trunade
3 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Pot of Duality

Traps: 9
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Royal Oppression
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Trap Stun

Extra Deck: 15
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Exploder Dragonwing
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Mist Wurm
1 Trident Dragion

Side Deck: 15
3 Chain Disappearance
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Dust Tornado
2 Kinetic Soldier
2 Mask of Restrict
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Victoria

Round 1 - Gadgets

Game 1:

He wins the roll and leads with Gearframe into Fortress, sets 2 S/T and ends.

~

I open with Veiler, Torrential, Trunade, Darkness, Future Fusion and Book.

I Trunade his backrow and activate Future Fusion. I dump Mirage Dragon, Darkness, Wyvern, Prime and a Masked Dragon. Set Book and Torrential and end, bringing back Darkness in the EP.

~

He plays Dark Hole then MSTs my Future Fusion before pitching Green Gadget and Fortress to summon itself.

Fortress attacks directly. He sets 2 cards and ends.

5500-8000

~

I draw Dragon Ravine and activate it. I discard Darkness Metal to dump a Wyvern and pass, summoning it in the End Phase.

~

He drops Smashing Ground on Darkness and attacks directly with Machina Fortress.

He sets a third backrow and ends.

3000-8000

~

I draw Monster Reborn and activate it on Darkness Metal Dragon. Darkness revives Mirage Dragon.

Darkness runs over Fortress which targets Ravine. Mirage hits direct.

His only three cards are all pinned to his backrow.

3000-6100

~

He top decks Cyber Dragon and I Book it when it tries to kill Mirage Dragon.

~

I draw D-Prison, Darkness Metal revives Prime Material Dragon.

Prime kills Cyber Dragon and Mirage and Darkness hit direct.

I set Prison and end.

3000-1700

~

He sets a monster and passes.

~

I draw Pot of Duality and swing with my field for game over a f/d Yellow Gadget.

3000-0

Siding:

In come the Cyber Dragons. I side out 1 Wyvern and 1 Sarco.

Game 2:

He leads with a T-Set

~

I open with D-Prison, Wyvern, MST, Ravine, Solemn and Trap Stun.

I MST his set Sakurestu Armour (oh lol) and pitch Wyvern for Ravine to set up a Darkness, set my hand and end.

~

He Giant Trunades and then summons a Green Gadget. He pitches Red and Fortress to summon itself and then hurls it headlong into Darkness Metal to destroy it. Green hits direct.

He Monster Reborns my Darkness Metal in Main Phase 2 and then sets his last card in hand to his backrow.

6600-7700

~

I draw Effect Veiler. I set Solemn and D-Prison and then use Ravine to pitch another Wyvern discarding Trap Stun.

~

I D-Prison Darkness Metal when it attacks me and take the Green Gadget hit direct.

5200-7700

~

I draw another D-Prison and set it before passing.

~

He tributes his f/d Reaper for a Cyber Dragon. Both it and Green hit direct. Careless.

~

I draw another Ravine and pitch it to set up Darkness Metal before I summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon using his two Machines. He seems upset but seriously, what the hell did he expect? That I simply wouldn’t side in a Chimeratech Fortress in Game 2?

Fortress runs into a D-Prison and I end phase myself a Darkness Metal Dragon.

I forgot to mention he has 1 card in hand as his only card now.

~

He draws an Avarice and sends back some cards to draw.

He Special Summons a Cyber Dragon and then drops a Green Gadget. Apparently this one doesn’t learn. I Veiler the Gadget for teh lulz.

~

I draw Torrential and pitch it for a Mirage Dragon in grave which Darkness promptly revives.

Darkness runs over his G-Gadget

1700-6300

~

He topdecks a Machina Gearframe and I Solemn its summon. Cyber Dragon runs headlong into D-Prison.

850-6300

~

I draw Dark Hole and pitch it to set up a Prime Material Dragon.

Darkness revives it and my field swings for game against his cardless existence.

850-0

Round 2 – Deep Draw Dragons

Game 1:

I win the roll and open with Dark Hole, Duality, Ravine, Mirage, Wyvern and Phalanx.

I Duality for Warning, MST and Mirage. I take Warning.

I activate Ravine and pitch Phalanx to send Darkness Metal, summon Wyvern and set Warning.

~

He summons a Blizzard Dragon (Yay Victoria is in my side deck) and uses its effect to stun my Wyvern before RFGing it for his Darkness Metal, which I promptly Warning.

He sets an s/t and ends

6000-8000

~

I draw into a MST and use it on his set D-Prison, summon Mirage and attack with it.

I set Dark Hole.

6000-6400

~

He drops his Dark Hole on his turn and then passes with a set S/T

~

I draw another Darkness Metal and pitch it for another Wyvern.

In my End Phase I summon both Darkness Metals.

~

He sets a monster and passes

~

I draw Gold Sarcophagus, Darkness #1 revives Phalanx (DEF) and Darkness #2 revives Mirage Dragon.

Mirage kills Blizzard Dragon and the two Darkness swing directly.

I sarc for Trunade in mp2.

6000-800

~

He plays Trade-In on LaDD and then summons Wyvern. He RFGs it for his own Darkness Metal before using its effect to bring a Prime Material Dragon down from his hand.

Prime runs over my Mirage Dragon and Darkness kills Phalanx.

5200-800

~

I draw Exploder and summon it. I revive Phalanx and Mirage and tune them all for Mist Wurm. Everything swings for game.


5200-0

Siding:

I side out Trap Stun and 1 Sarco for 2 Victoria.

Game 2:

He leads off with Trade-In on LaDD. Then summons Wyvern, sets 1 and ends.

~

I open with Ravine, Prison, FF, 2 Darkness and a Veiler.

I activate Ravine first then Future Fuse, dumping Masked, Prime, Mirage and 2 Wyvern.

Using Ravine I pitch Darkness to grab Phalanx and summon it. RFG for Darkness and revive Mirage. I should run two of them so I still have a tuner after making that play...

I attack with both over Wyvern and then set Prison before passing.

8000-5400

~

He summons Blizzard and stuns Red-Eyes before RFGing it for his own Darkness. I Veiler its attempt at summoning something and then D-Prison it when it tries to kill Mirage Dragon. He tries to 7 Tools but Mirage Dragon stops him. Fuck yeah Mirage Dragon!

~

I draw Monster Reborn. Red-Eyes revives Prime, Reborn grabs another Red-Eyes which grabs a Masked Dragon and everything swings for game.

8000-0

Round 3 – Blackwings

Game 1:

I win the roll and open with Future Fusion, Reborn, Warning, MST, Darkness Metal and an Exploder.

I Future Fuse dumping Phalanx, Prime, Wyvern, Darkness and Mirage.

I reborn Darkness and it grabs Prime, I then summon Exploder and RFG it for a second Darkness before reviving Phalanx and tuning it to Prime for Stardust.

I set my 2 S/T and end with MST, Warning and FF in the backrow and 2 Darkness Metal and a Stardust in play.

~

He leads off with Dark Hole to bait Stardust off the field and then tries to summon a Shura but I Warning it. He sets 2 backrow and I MST Icarus Attack in the End Phase.

6000-8000

~
I draw into Ravine and revive Phalanx with Darkness Metal, I tune it to Stardust and pop Ravine and Future Fusion for Trident Dragion. Darkness Metal #2 revives Stardust and his Mirror Force is useless.

6000-0

Siding:

I smokescreen a bit but don’t side.

Game 2:

He leads off with a Shura followed by a Bora and 2 set S/T

~

I open with Duality, Veiler, Masked, Torrential, Prime and Sarco.

I Duality and grab a Future Fusion out of it and 2 Mirage Dragon.

I Sarco a Trunade and then set Masked and Torrential

~

He summons a second Shura and I flip Torrential. He 7 Tools it.

Bora attacks my Masked and I recruit another with it.

Shura kills it and I nab Exploder Dragon. It summons a Kalut.

Shura #2 kills Exploder and brings out a Gale.

He sets 2 backrow and ends

4700-7000

~

I draw Oppression and activate Future Fusion, I dump 2 Wyvern, 2 Darkness Metal and a Mirage.

I set Oppression and end phase 2 Darkness Metal. 1 gets Bottomlessed.

~

He syncs Gale to Bora for a Black Rose but I Veiler it. He drops his topdecked Reborn on Gale and then tries again with Shura but I flip Oppression. He then switches Kalut to DEF and passes.

3900-7000

~

I draw Trap Stun.

I fetch my Trunade and activate it. I then bring down Prime from my hand with Darkness. It kills Kalut and Darkness runs over a Black Rose Dragon.
I set Oppression and Trap Stun.

3900-6600

~

He sets his backrow again and passes.

~

I draw Ravine and flip Trap Stun. I use Darkness to revive Mirage Dragon and he scoops.

3900-0

Round 4 – Malefics

Game 1:

I open with Reborn, Ravine, Veiler, Exploder, Masked and Wyvern.

I set Masked and pass.

~

He Sarcos an EEV and then sets 2 before passing.

~

I draw Solemn Warning, set it and flip Masked into ATK mode. Mask hits direct.

In the End Phase he flips Skill Drain.

8000-5600

~

He passes

~

I draw Sarco and use it to nab Future Fusion

Summon Wyvern and both it and Masked hit direct.

8000-2400

~

He again passes without doing anything.

~

I attack for game next turn.

Siding:

I’m not even sure what this deck is so I just side out 1 Sarco and Book for Dust Tornadoes.

Game 2:

He leads off with Terraforming for Future Visions. Then activates Malefic World, sets 2 Backrow and ends.

~

I open with Phalanx, MST, Torrential, Prime, D-Prison and Oppression.

I MST the Malefic World but he Bribes. I draw another D-Prison off it and set Phalanx, Torrential, Oppression and 2 D-Prison before passing.

~

Malefic World reveals 3 Malefic Cyber End Dragon. He then drops Dark Hole and summons one to the field. EEV wipes my traps out (I had a lapse in judgment and hesitated on activating Oppression, by the time EEV flipped my window to activate it had passed).

He sets 1 S/T and ends.

~

I draw Mirage Dragon. Summon it and attack.

8000-6400

~

Malefic World reveals 2 Cyber End and 1 Rainbow and adds a Malefic Rainbow Dragon which then hits the field and demolishes Mirage Dragon.

5600-6400

~

I draw Giant Trunade and play it.

~

He reactivates Malefic World, sets an S/T and ends.

~

I draw Dragon Ravine and activate it over World. I pitch Prime to set up a Darkness Metal fully aware that another field will take Ravine out before I can set up a Wyvern.

~

Malefic World hits again.

~
I draw Duality and reveal Warning, Sarco and Future Fusion. I go to activate it but he disagrees on whether or not it can. I site the ruling, he calls a judge and the judge rules in his favour.

~

World reveals 2 Cyber End and 1 Blue-Eyes. Malefic Blue-Eyes hits the field and attacks direct.

2600-6400

~

I draw another Duality but thanks to the judge’s ruling can’t use it if I want to play Future this turn. I activate Future Fusion and dump 2 Darkness Metal and 3 Wyvern. Bringing back all 3 Darkness in DEF in the end phase.

~

Malefic World reveals 3 Malefic Claw Stream.

Malefic Blue-Eyes kills a Darkness Metal. He sets Claw Stream and ends.

~

I draw Trap Stun, Darkness #1 revives Prime, Darkness #2 revives Phalanx and I sync them for Stardust Dragon. I set Trap Stun and pass.

~

Malefic World reveals 2 more Claw Stream and another copy of itself. He tries tributing Blue-Eyes for another EEV but I Trap Stun. This guy has no idea how to play Malefics. You need to plan ahead, not grab as you think you need, now he has no way of activating Claw Stream. He ends.

~

I draw Exploder Dragon and Future Fusion brings down Five-Headed Dragon. Darkness revives Mirage Dragon and we swing for game.

2600-0

Thoughts: Mirage Dragon is amazing. It basically became the go to dragon for its pairing with Darkness. I’d like to get a second Phalanx in there so I have another target for Masked/Ravine as well as in the odd occasion I rfg it for Darkness Metal.

I'm not convinced the deck is refined enough at this stage to use competitively but I am convinced Mirage Dragon is a staple as long as battle removal is seeing play. I'm a bit rusty with Disaster plays so feel free to critique and comment on my plays and siding, etc.

Mirage Stun

This is an idea I've been toying around with this format. With the release of Dragunity and Malefic monsters Dragon users got a lot of new toys to play with, tragically none of them are compatible with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal and our older toys. As such its been a stretch for dragon users to adapt to this format if they want to maintain their REDMD builds; Dark and Light decks aren't as prominent this format with Lightsworn and Blackwings finally dismantled by the latest banlist so Disaster is out of thew job and Sol has to compete with Dragunity builds doing everything it does, but better.

As such dragon builds built around Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon need to find a niche which they can fill that no other deck can readily usurp or challenge. One such ability is their recurable Trap Stun; Mirage Dragon.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 18
2 Dragunity Phalanx
2 Effect Veiler
2 Exploder Dragon
1 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
2 Masked Dragon
2 Mirage Dragon
1 Prime Material Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern

Spells: 14
1 Book of Moon
1 Dark Hole
3 Dragon Ravine
1 Future Fusion
1 Giant Trunade
2 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Pot of Duality

Traps: 8
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Royal Oppression
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute

The basic premise of the deck is "protect the Mirage" much akin to the old stun provided by Koa'ki Meiru Drago in Disaster decks. With traps on the rise and Dimensional Prison working its way into the pure dragon decks hardest matchups Mirage Dragon locks down opposing Prisons, Mirror Forces and such when offending and stops the opponent from using 7 Tools when on the offensive leaving your traps unhindered. this improves its overall matchup against GK, Dragunity, Glads and any deck that is maining battle attuned removal this format. Mirage Dragon also locks out offensive/defensive uses of DEST and E-Call for random use. The plays to basically deprive the opponent of their resources until you can go for the jugular. Whilst Mirage hasn't much merit against those damn Counter Traps I don't think that demerits it any this format.

Mirage Dragons ATK may seem feeble, but its not in the deck to act as a beatstick. Its supplementary; its support. Its fast become my go to monster alongside Darkness Metal Dragon, and they prove quite the formidable pairing this format. I really wish Mirage Dragon had 100 less ATK. Q_Q

Dragon Ravine is being run in triplicate to speed up the decks setup. Although unable to generate direct advantage from Ravine like a Sol deck when paired with an on-field Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon Dragon Ravine still possesses the capability of turning any card in hand into a Dragon from the deck. Outside of Ravine the only other viable options for searching dragons are Masked Dragon and Dread Dragon; both of which are inhibited by ATK and Level respectively, and neither are capable of searching out Mirage or Koa'ki Mieru Drago. In addition, no other card outside of Future Fusion can dump multiple Level four or higher Dragons from the deck to the graveyard. With Dragon Ravine, you have a generic cost, unlike Summoner Monk where you have to pitch a Spell Card or Dark Grepher where a Dark monster has to be discarded. This makes it more versatile and far more usable than either option as it doesn't impede other deck choices and also doesn't take up a normal summon. Those of you who have read my blog before know my staunch opposition to Dragon builds relying on Future Fusion and the inclusion of Dragon Ravine relieves that reliance even further. For these reasons Dragon Ravine is essential in setting up the decks plays to get everything in motion and is why I'm running 3 of it.

Budget players can drop the Duality out for a third Sarco this format. The free slot can be dedicated to something else of high utility. I ran a lone Trap Stun for insurances sake in earlier builds, however, ultimately it was outdone by Mirage Dragon and just felt unnecessary.

Another card that has seemed useless to me in testing thus far is Prime Material Dragon. With Bottomless trending out of decks and D-Prison trending in the amount of cards Prime can stop is growing more and more limited. Since it can't stop Counter Traps its vastly outclassed by the tiny Mirage Dragon. In practice I mostly use it as a level 6 stepping stone to access Stardust with Phalanx. As such I may replace it with a Dragunity Arma Mystletainn and see how that goes.

Anyway those are just my initial thoughts on the deck as I post it up. I've run some testing with it as per usual and I'll be posting a small tournament report later about a locals I took the deck to just to give some examples of how useful Mirage Dragon really was. (Tournament Run can be found here)

Dragunity Top 32 at YCS Charlotte

Dragunity decks piloted by Jerry Williams and Frazier Smith managed to break into the top 32 at YCS Charlotte this weekend. Of the two Dragunity users Frazier Smith went on to the top 16 before losing out to Fish OTK. You can find their decklists on the Konami website, but I'll also be posting them here as well as some comments by Frazier Smith on his Dragunity build as he gave on DGZ.

Jerry Williams (Dragunity)
Monsters: 13
2 Effect Veiler
2 Dragunity Aklys
3 Dragunity Phalanx
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire

Spells: 16
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Giant Trunade
2 Pot of Avarice
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Cards of Consonance
3 Terraforming
3 Dragon Ravine
1 Book of Moon

Traps: 11
2 Solemn Warning
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Icarus Attack
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Royal Oppression
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

Extra Deck: 15
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Magical Android
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
3 Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana
1 Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg
1 Black Rose Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Trident Dragion

Side Deck: 15
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
2 Smashing Ground
2 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
2 Cyber Dragon
3 Hero’s Rule 2
2 Malevolent Catastrophe
2 Gozen Match
1 D.D. Crow

~~~~~

Frazier Smith (Dragunity)
Monsters: 13
3 Dragunity Phalanx
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire
2 Dragunity Aklys
2 Effect Veiler

Spells: 16
3 Terraforming
3 Dragon Ravine
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Giant Trunade
1 Book of Moon
1 Monster Reborn
1 Pot of Avarice
2 Cards of Consonance
1 Pot of Duality

Traps: 11
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
2 Solemn Warning
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Royal Oppression
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Solemn Judgment

Extra Deck: 15
3 Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana
2 Scrap Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Trident Dragion
1 Magical Android

Side Deck: 15
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Electric Virus
2 Puppet Plant
2 Chain Disappearance
2 Dust Tornado
2 Royal Decree
1 Mask of Restrict
2 Banisher of the Radiance

~~~~~

On the single Pot of Avarice and Pot of Duality:

I realized through playtesting that the inconsistent hands in this deck stem from having more than one avarice at any point and more than 1 duality (I'm not saying these are the ONLY inconsistent hands but they are the worst ones). When I thought about avarice it really just came down to me asking the question of "who could I have played that survived 6 level 8 synchros where I would need to pot more than once?" Also, I am completely aware about the whole "no card is dead argument because you can pitch it to ravine" but that is not a sound argument I assure you. This deck is way more broken when you open with backrows and ravine, not draw cards and ravine. Dragunity is a deck that kind of sets up a fortress first turn and builds on that fortress each turn while the opponent tries to break it down. The stronger the fortress the higher the chance of you overwhelming the opponent quickly. Duality is a great card but I personally could not stand to run multiples because drawing it after turn 1 made it almost always discard fodder and the fact that if I activated with my stardust face up I would never declare an attack (unless of course mirror force was already in his or her graveyard) so it was like "taking a turn off." Lastly, to strengthen my previous avarice argument, I wan't to clarify that I am not the type of player who runs multiples of cards for consistency purposes, as in "I have to play 2 of this card so I can draw into it more often". I like OVERALL UTILITY. Yes it is true that this deck can go turn 2 avarice but the card isn't necessary to draw every game and on top of that it's really bad vs the samurai and gk matchup. For the first YCS of a format I believe your decklist should be more DIVERSE and have a few more tricks than a linear build with 2s and 3s of every card.

On running Cyber Dragon without Chimeratech in the Extra alongside it and to siding Decree with heavy S/T removal already in the main:

I run cyber without chimeratech because it is used for more than just contacting with other machines. He is 2100, a special summon, and a possible tribute summon which has utility games 2 and 3 when I side in puppet plants to take legendary six samurai shi en. Also, cyber dragon is absurd against gk even IF they have a valley on board. With so many 2 star tuners cyber dragon can make an instant black rose or ancient fairy dragon. I side so much backrow hate because dragunity is possibly the MOST FRAGILE deck after game 1. Chain disappearance is savage. Decree vs sabers and gk is really good and it can be pretty good vs antimeta. Dust tornado is for samurais and decks that run opposing field spells (dragunity mirror match, gk, gemini fusionist).

On using Royal Oppression:

I've never flipped an oppression that hurt me more than my opponent. I don't believe in being "forced" to flip a card lol. Oppression outright wins the game on its own which is why I would never take it out of ANY yugioh deck at this point. I literally start off all my decklists by writing royal oppression and 39 other cards. And my point about avarice was that I don't want to draw it alot in the first place. I side the card out like every game too.

I ONLY USE OPPRESSION WHEN I HAVE MY OWN FIELD OF HUGE MONSTERS (STARDUST, CRAP DRAGON, THOUGHT RULER, ETC). I learned this concept from Jerry Wang in Teledad format. Basically you build up your beefy field and then they can't respond. You aren't forced to make any decisions you don't wanna make. Flipping oppression with a hand that strictly special summons and WITHOUT a field presence is YOUR mistake. I'm not foolish enough to assume I'm going to win from legionnaire and oppression combos--> that was never my intention when I decided to main deck the card.

On Icarus Attack in Dragunity:

As much as I do love the tricks you can perform with icarus attack in dragunity it was simply too inconsistent of a card for me. The thing about dragunity that I think a lot of people don't realize is that "theory-oh" almost does not apply to this deck. Icarus and multiple pots and such are good in theory but in actual playtesting it's not nearly as good as you would think. I liked it for clearing backrows and simplifying the gamestate however, that was not enough. There were too many hands where I opened ravine/terraforming, phalanx, and icarus. This caused the icarus to be dead because all I'm doing at that point is adding non-wingedbeast synchros to the field and wishing it were something more protective to further assure my lock on the game. I talked with Dale about Dragunity and he also said he hates the card which I'm sure he experienced the same inconsistencies as I did. Lastly, if I were to run icarus attack at all it would be a "1 of." I don't think it's needed in multiples and I felt seven tools was strictly better than icarus when it comes to having a well-rounded deck to face so many different matchups at the first YCS of a format.

Sure Icarus has that absurd play--> legionnaire, equip aklys, pop 2 cards, use icarus when they try to do something to the lingering legionnaire later and go ++++++
But you're really not going to be getting that off against good players all that often. Oh and there are opposing seven tools and trap stuns that further made me not want to run it. Icarus is still a good card, don't get me wrong, but my playstyle did not suit that card.

On Banisher of Radiance:

Banisher was for sabers frogs and fish. I sided only 1 of vs plants. I want to make it known that games 2 and 3 I played the deck very different from game 1. Also I assumed people would weaken their defenses in those games by siding in chain disappearances, closed forest, and electric viruses.

Tournament Report: Post Tournament Thoughts

I attended a regionals over the weekend. You can read about it here. I managed to top with Dragunitys which was a great deal of fun and after the tournament I had a lot of time to think over and discuss my plays and deck choices with other people. Both online and IRL. I thought it'd be a good idea to do a brief write-up of what I would change for next time just based on yesterdays experiences.

3 Terraforming and 3 Cards of Consonance is pretty much staple for me now I feel. I still don't like the dead draw factor. Ravine's ability to turn dead cards into live ones doesn't entirely negate the wasted draw you have to endure to get the search and I'd personally much rather be drawing something of higher utility, however, as Field Spells grow more and more competitive it becomes far more important that we can access our Ravine before our opponent. In the GK, Malefic or even the Mirror Match the one who can get their Field out fastest and protect it will win, and if your Field is destroyed it is even more important that you can re-access it fast enough as not to lose any substantial ground. Terraforming ensures this. For that reason I feel I'll be sticking with triple Terraforming until we get a Dragunity monster that can search our Field ala Gravkeeeper's Commandant.

As for Consonance I have always thought that 3 Consonance was really the best way to go both in practice and in theory. This weekends tournament solidified that for me.

When running 3 Cards of Consonance you have a 39% chance of opening with Consonance (increase by 5% each draw or thin of the deck), paired with a 14% chance of opening with it and Phalanx (increase by 4-5%), or alternatively a 65% chance of opening with any draw card target (assuming you run 6 targets, its 58% if you run 5).

With 2 you only have a 28% chance, increased by 4% each turn. That means in running 2 you are 11% behind from the start (two turns) and you're losing out on every angle after that. Its less consistent.

As a comparison the D-Hero engine ran 3 Destiny Draw with 4 targets; 2 being Malicious and they were only searchable via the lone Stratos which in turn was searchable by 1 RotA. With 5/6/7 targets all searchable by 3 Field Spells which in turn are all searchable by 2/3 Terraforming I'd go so far as to say it makes no statistical sense not to max out on a draw card as good as Cards of Consonance.

I know a lot of people are not keen on Mystle or Leyvaten. However, during the course of the tournament both proved their worth to me. Mystle in redeeming otherwise terrible hands whilst also helping further along my board position in several duels; just like its supposed to. And Leyvaten in jumping out of no where to win me 2 duels I would have otherwise lost, and just helping with solidifying the Trident Dragion OTK in general. So 2 Mystle and 1 Leyva will be what I'll be sticking with for now. I had originally run 3 Mystle and 2 Leyvaten in an effort to try and draw Mystletainn as often as possible but for the tournament I cut it to 2 copies to liven my draws, and I think that is the more solid choice. Leyvaten loses a lot of its power in a heavy backrow format. I used to champion running 3 back when Heavy was subtly keeping backrows in check to maximize on the Trident Dragion OTK. Now, however, that concept is flawed, shattered by the ovewhelming backrows of the present format. I cut it from 2 to 1 for that very reason; Leyvaten loses a lot of power this format, and with that I also cut Future Fusion.

Running Future Fusion always requires a large amount of targets; and without multiple Leyvaten and triple Mystle the predominant spread of targets for it become the Dragunity Tuners. Thereby robbing my Cards of Consonance and Ravine discards of their prime targets. As such going into the tournament I felt Future Fusion in a build not built around the Arms Series was a wasted slot, far weaker than other deck choices. I'd stand by that.

During the tournament I constantly found myself being stymied in my synchro plays. I could pull them off to big backrows with help like Lance/Stun but be stalled for several turns as a result of them still existing. I constantly found myself wishing that instead of using a Forbidden Lance/ Trap Stun to continue my Synchro Climb I had just tributed the Dux for an Icarus Attack and climbed the next turn. Doing that would clear out the problematic S/Ts and allow my Synchros to make a bigger impact on the overall game.

Jeff Jones actually wrote a wonderful post on the matter that encompassed everything:

Also, now no one has to take into account what I'm saying, Volcanic Shell is just an awful card. Sure, it gives you free discards for Ravine, but that crap is irrelevant. You need to use those 3 spots for cards which give your deck utility. I'm going to list, imo in order what is most important for your Dragunity deck to do.

1) Getting to Dragons Ravine. This is obvious, doesnt need much going into. 3 Ravine 3 Terraforming, some number of Duality and CoC. I think you have something like an 87% chance to open with Ravine as 1 of your first 6 cards (3 Terra 3 Ravine) in a 41 card deck.

2) Plenty of S/T removal. This is very important. If you just try to go off with Ravine > Dux > Synchro into 3 backrow, your bound to lose. You have to fish out your opponents backrows 1 at a time, or with cards like Icarus, Trunade, MST, and even Legion/Aklys plays. This is very important to understand that some times you'll need to slow roll your opponent, weeding out their cards 1 at a time to make sure you can do #3

3) Being able to make a setup, and make it unbreakable. This basically means play my favorite mini game "Protect the Stardust Dragon!". I win most of my games by doing this. Make Stardust, set warnings, oppressions, dprisons, and have effect veilers in hand. This allows you to make follow up plays with out being fucked over by Torrential/BTH. The more you run of these types of cards the better. Its why its so important you dont run cards like Volcanic Shell and have as much room as possible.

Again, this is how I view the deck. Not how everyone has to run it, but its how I do it.

- Jeff Jones

And he's right. I was completely wrong about Icarus Attack and I think that Icarus in the main would have made so many of those games in the tournament that stalled me so much easier.

Anyway, those are my basic thoughts on the deck after having played it TCGside. Its an entirely different deck over here. Right now I'm still contemplating what to do about my second Pot of Avarice because I always sided it out, but I still prefer running 2 because it gives me a better chance of drawing it when it can be most beneficial. The 28% chance of opening with one is high, but as is the increasing 4% chance of drawing it each time I draw or thin a card from the deck; that ensures I'll see it far more frequently opposed to the 15% open and 2% increase of a single copy. So I'm not sure where I stand with Avarice at the moment but this is my decklist after some revisions from yesterday.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 16
3 Dragunity Aklys
1 Dragunity Arma Leyvaten
2 Dragunity Arma Mystletainn
1 Dragunity Brandistock
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire
3 Dragunity Phalanx

Spells: 17
1 Book of Moon
3 Cards of Consonance
1 Dark Hole
3 Dragon Ravine
1 Giant Trunade
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Pot of Avarice
3 Terraforming

Traps: 7
2 Icarus Attack
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute

Tournament Report: Dragunity

Alright, this is a small regional report which I took my newly constructed TCG Dragunity deck to. I'd appreciate any feedback on siding choices or potential misplays I may have made.

I wake up rather early to check over my deck and stuff. Make sure I have everything together, eat some noodles for breakfast. Basic stuff. I drink some coke to wake me up and make a cup of tea. Ambi is sick and decides she isn’t coming today so I hang around the house until Alex shows up. We get in his shit shit car that can still make the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs and head over to the tourney. I’m using Dragunity and he is using Legendary Six Samurai which he recently completed. He traded me some Dragunity Legion structures for my Gateway. Lol. I had forgotten that we got the release before the US so I wasn’t expecting them to be in stock; he saw them at the mall and nabbed them for me before they sold out. Pity no one else here has Phalanx or Vajrayana. Lol, should we see a Dragunity mirror today it will be incredibly one sided. Anyway Alex gets lost on the way which is usual and we arrive late. We spot a Wendys nearby and decide we’re going there for lunch. I have almost literally no money though so Alex agrees to buy me lunch if I top and give him my packs. We sign up and go off to our spots. This is my deck:

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 16
3 Dragunity Aklys
1 Dragunity Arma Leyvaten
2 Dragunity Arma Mystletainn
1 Dragunity Brandistock
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire
3 Dragunity Phalanx

Spells: 17
1 Book of Moon
3 Cards of Consonance
1 Dark Hole
3 Dragon Ravine
1 Giant Trunade
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Pot of Avarice
3 Terraforming

Traps: 7
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute

Extra Deck: 15
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg
3 Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Trident Dragion
1 Mist Wurm

Side Deck: 15
2 Cyber Dragon
2 D.D. Crow
2 Effect Veiler
2 Victoria
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Mask of Restrict
1 Icarus Attack
2 Trap Stun

I wanted the Veilers to be Puppet Plants but I couldn't get a hold of any in time for the event. Mirror Match won't be an issue here as literally no one has Phalanx or Vaj but me. I considered maining Veiler for a bit but eventually just left it in the side.

Round 1 - Formula Monarchs

Game 1:

I win the roll and go first. I open with Phalanx, Aklys, Mystletainn, Judgment, Warning and Bottomless.

I summon Phalanx and send it for Mystle, climbing into Stardust, set all 3 S/Ts and end with 1 card in hand.

~

He sets a single S/T and passes.

~

I draw Legionnaire and hit directly with Stardust. He uses Battle Fader. I’d love to Warning it but I’m afraid of spending my Warning too soon so I let it go.

~

He sets a monster and passes.

~

I draw a Mystical Space Typhoon and drop it on his back row; Enemy Controller. He lets it go.

I contemplate shelling out my hand on an Aklys play to clear his field. I still don’t know what I’m playing but I’m guessing it’s a Formula Monarch deck so Stardust attacks his f/d instead. It’s a Swap Frog. Fuuuuuuck. I hate frogs. I end with a sour look on my face that makes him laugh.

~

To my eternal frustration he sets yet another monster and a back row and passes.

~

I draw Dux and decide to try an Aklys. I summon Aklys and bring down Legionnaire and equip it to him. I target both his Fader and his F/D. It’s another Swap Frog. Legionnaire hits directly and Stardust is stopped by Enemy Controller. He seems very confused by my cards. I am aware most people in New Zealand have no idea what Dragunity monsters do. I guess I’ll blame his E-Con misplays on not knowing the little Dragon tuner was going to wipe his field.

I’m up 6 cards to 3. I end.

~

He passes without doing anything. Either he has Gorz/Fader or his hand is super bad. I’ve seen Formula Monarch decklists before with like 12 tribute monsters; I suppose it’s entirely feasible he just drew like Hopeless Dragon.

~

I draw Ravine. Neat. I summon Dux and debate trying a Trident Dragion. With both Solemns down I elect to give it a shot. Dux brings back Phalanx; I tune it to Stardust and go into Trident Dragion popping my two Winged-Beasts. Not eager to give away my Dragon Ravine yet. If he thought Aklys was good I would love to see him try to side against this deck without seeing Ravine. ;....;

He Faders and I Warning. No Gorz. GG.

Siding:

He doesn’t seem to know what to side. He asks for some pointers so I tell him that he should side in Light Imprisoning Mirror. :3

I drop 1 Avarice a Terraforming and both MST for 2 Masks of Restrict and 2 D.D. Crow. I saw Frogs and Faders so I’m guessing Formula Monarchs.

Game 2:

He leads this one off Foolishing for a Treeborn Frog, he then sets 2 back rows and ends.

~

I open with Ravine, Phalanx, Reborn, Crow and both Solemns again.

Paranoid of MST but I lead off with Ravine anyway. And sure enough after reading it and swearing he chains MST on its activation (at least he didn’t do it to the discard). I regret not just setting both Solemns and passing for a bit and then do just that. Poor Ravine

~

He sets a second S/T and passes back.

~

HA! I draw another Ravine. Yeah, go lady luck. I owe her one.

This one makes it into play safely and I pitch Phalanx for Dux and climb into Dearg. Along the way I have to Solemn Judgment a Treacherous Trap Hole. Yeah. Totally Formula Monarchs, right down to their cunt trap cards. Or more singular cunt trap.

Dearg sets up an Aklys for me. He E-cons it when it tries to attack. Out of spite I Reborn Phalanx and tune it to Dearg for Stardust before D.D. Crowing his Frog in his draw phase. He is not happy.

4000-8000

~

He sets a monster and passes.

~

I draw Mask of Restrict and contemplate how much of a dick I want to be. I decide a big one, plus I’m scared of Soul Exchange and so I set it and send Stardust after his f/d Ronintoad.

~

Sure enough he tries to Soul Exchange so I chain Restrict and he passes with a set S/T.

~

I draw Mystle. He’s a pretty cool guy and isn’t afraid of anythings but I pitch him for a Dux anyway. I debate using a Vajrayana/Aklys combo on him to even out the LP difference, but even though he only has 3 cards in hand I haven’t seen a single Fader this game so I wimp out and decide to go for Thought Ruler. Scrap looks nice but I’m rather fond of my Stardust, Ravine, Restrict, Warning lock atm. Besides his s/t is probably another cunt E-Con. Battle!

Yup. Another cunt E-Con. It costs me 1,000 but Thought Ruler charges on through it and punches him in the face.

3000-2800

~

He scoops on his turn. His hand had 2 LaDD a Dark Dust Spirit and a Caius.

~

W00t! 2-0 with my first Regional Dragunity match. It’s nice to see these guys in English after a year of OCG play. I un-side and go get a coke to drink.

Round 2 – Dragon... something

Game 1:

Right as we start this guy spots one of my flipped over Vajrayanas and starts ranting about how his dragon deck is better than mine. Cool, so you’re running dragons then.

I win the roll and open with Aklys, Mystle, Terraforming, Judgment, Bottomless and MST. Wow, I’ve opened with Judgment every duel so far this tournament. Sure that’s only 3 duels, but yay.

Grab Ravine and pitch Aklys for Phalanx. Do the minus route into Dust by summoning Phalanx and dumping him for Mystle. So handy Mystle. I set MST and Bottomless and save my Solemn. Yeah it’s good, but I don’t think I even need it against a dragon deck. Maybe I’m underestimating this guy, we’ll see. At least he knew what Vajrayana did.

~

He normal summons a White Stone of Legend. Damn. I was thinking Disaster Dragon.

Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon hits the field and activates its effect before being Bottomlessed away. Naturally Blue-Eyes hits and now I wish I had set my solemn. It’s ok. He’s overextending. I try comfort myself but I’m looking down at a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and I want it. Blue-Eyes runs over my Stardust and I MST his set Call in the End Phase.

7500-8000

~

I draw Cards of Consonance and debate. Risk it all on a new hand, or just go the safe route... Vajrayana or Brionac could get rid of that easily enough. Brionac would have more Field Presence but could also feed future Trade-Ins. Scrap is also an option but it’d cost more. I pitch Judgment for Dux and go into Vajrayana for the most costless method of removal. Plus I get to hit him for 3,800. That’s a nice way to vent. Use my Blue-Eyes will you...

No Gorz.

7500-4200

~

He summons Vice Dragon and an Aklys of his own (I guess he got the Structure, I figure he’s using it as a level 2 tuner for Cards of Consonance? Phalanx is a bit expensive for that). He then removes it to summon the last card in his hand; Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. Damn it.

He revives Blue-Eyes. He has no hand.

I take Vice, Darkness and Blue-Eyes to the face. I’m just going to Aklys him next turn.

2600-4200

~

I draw Mystle. Pro.

I ditch Consonance for Legionnaire and Aklys his Darkness and Blue-Eyes before climbing into a Colossal Fighter off Mystle and beating his Vice Dragon into the ground.

Yay he’s top decking. But using Sol...

2600-2400

~

He top decks Monster Reborn... Wow am I glad I went for Colossal Fighter.

Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes hit the field again. Colossal holds them off.

2400-2400

~

I draw Aklys and grab Dux. Go into Scrap pitching Ravine to kill Blue-Eyes. Colossal clashes with Red-Eyes and revives before both of them hit him for game.

2400-0

Siding:

The only reason I went into Colossal Fighter was because of how many times DH has ripped a top deck Reborn into game against me. If I’d gone into Dust I’d have lost and Dust was technically the stronger play... Geez. I kind of hate dragon decks sometimes. Why are we so sacky?

I side in Victoria because I want my Blue-Eyes. Siding out both MST.

Game 2:

He leads this one off Foolishing for SOL and discarding Blue-Eyes with Trade-In. Sets a monster with 2 back row and ends

~

I open horribly; Trunade, Leyvaten, Mystle, Dux, Legionnaire and Cards of Consonance. Well, 71% chance bypassed. At least once I get a tuner I’ll be in a good position. If I live that long.

I set Trunade and pass.

~

He summons Exploder Dragon, RFGs it for Darkness Metal. Flips Call of the Haunted on Blue-Eyes and uses Darkness to bring a Vice Dragon down from his hand.

He literally Flip Summons Totem Dragon into ATK mode to make up the 200 LP I’d have left over. Q_Q

0-8000

Siding:

No changes.

Game 3:

I open dual Mystle, Phalanx, Dux, Warning and Bottomless. I do my Phalanx/Mystle into Stardust and back it up with Warning and Bottomless.

~

He starts with Trade-In again, then plays Sarco for Future Fusion followed by a Giant Trunade. Ugh he’s going to overextend again...

He summons a SOL and removes it for Darkness Metal which brings up the Traded-In Blue-Eyes.

After running over my Stardust and hitting my directly he ends with 2 cards in hand and nothing set.

4700-8000

~

I draw Solemn Judgment. I summon Dux and go into Brionac pitching Mystle and Bottomless to bounce his field. I’m not sure if this is the strongest play but without Aklys everything else seems rather mediocre as well.

I set my two Solemns

4700-5700

~

He drops a Vice Dragon and summons an Aklys alongside it. He RFGs Aklys for Darkness Metal and that gets hit by Warning. He has Monster Reborn but I Solemn that too. He ends with his Vice in ATK mode staring down my Brionac.

1350-5700

~

I draw Victoria. I take his Red-Eyes and bring back my Stardust with it. My field of dragons runs over Vice Dragon on the way to victory while his only card in hand; Blue-Eyes sits and watches.

1350-0

~

Alex brings me a coke as I side out my Victorias. We find out we’re playing each other next. Imma be raped.

Round 3 – Legendary Six Samurai

Game 1:

Alex and I are friends. He’s using my Gateway in his LSS deck so I know what he’s running. Tragically he got me my Ravines so he also knows what I’m running. Ah well. This’ll be a fun match.

He wins the roll and opens with a Six Samurai United. After some debating he sets a F/D monster and 2 back rows.

~

I open with Ravine, MST, Brandistock, Leyvaten, Avarice and Legionnaire.

I activate Ravine and discard Leyvaten for Phalanx. I set Brandistock and MST and pass

~

He Shien’s Smoke Signals for a Hand of the Six Samurai. Kizan and Grandmaster hit the field and he pitches Six Sam United for a 2 draw. He flip summons Kagemusha.

He tunes Kagemusha to Kizan for Brionac, discarding Hand of the Six and 2 Bottomless to bounce my Field, Brandistock and S/T. I chain MST on his f/d Magatama and then he flips Double-Edged Sword Technique. He brings back Hand and Kizan and proceeds to OTK me.

0-8000

Siding:

I was hoping I wouldn’t have to face Alex here. I couldn’t get a hold of any Puppet Plants before the tournament so I’m stuck running Effect Veilers in their stead. Alex knows this and offers to just play the match without either of us siding against each other. He has the stronger matchup but I also know he is siding a ton of cards that could rip my deck apart so I happily agree. We don’t side.

Game 2:

I start this game off with Cards of Consonance, Phalanx, Mystle, Dux, Terraforming and MST. W00t!

I play Terraforming for Ravine and then pitch Phalanx for Consonance drawing Book of Moon and another Dux.

I activate Ravine and discard one of my Dux to grab an Aklys. Then I summon the other Dux and climb into Stardust, set both Book and MST and end.

~

He leads with United and summons Kageki I chain Book and MST on the two. Perhaps a bit overzealous but after last duel I’m rather paranoid. He drops Kagemusha in DEF mode, sets 2 S/T and ends.

~

I draw another Phalanx. I discard Aklys for Ravine to add the ever predictable Legionnaire. I summon it but he flips Solemn Warning.

Stardust runs over Kagemusha.

8000-6000

~

He sets another monster and passes.

~

I draw a Torrential Tribute and pitch Phalanx for a Dux.

Dux climbs into a Red Dragon Archfiend. I say the chant. Naturally.

Red Dragon Archfiend absolute powaaas through his two f/d monsters. I hit the Kageki and kill his Morphing Jar in the backlash. Stardust hits direct.

I set Torrential.

8000-3500

~

On his turn he draws and scoops. He won’t show me his hand. :3

Siding:

No changes.

Game 3:

Alex leads off with Smoke Signal for Hand again. Idk why he does this. He says he likes having Hand first now that they don’t have triple Gateway cuz it helps to have it there for when the inevitable Reaper crops up. I wouldn’t know I don’t run LSS.

He summons Kageki and brings down a Hand.

He sets 2 S/T and ends.

~

I open with 2 Consonance, Ravine, Reborn, Warning and Avarice.

I pitch Avarice for Ravine and grab Phalanx which gives me Bottomless and another Ravine off of Consonance.

I set Warning and Bottomless and end.

~

He brings down another Kageki, followed by a Kizan whom I Bottomless.

The three Samurai hit me directly.

3000-8000

~

I draw Aklys and discard it for Consonance to draw Terraforming and another Avarice. I pitch Terraforming for Ravine to grab a Dux which he promptly Warnings.

I activate my second Ravine over the first. Pitch Avarice for Leyvaten and Reborn it.

Leyvaten grabs Phalanx and I sync into Trident Dragion popping my facedown Warning and Ravine.

Trident runs over Hand with no response from his last F/D. Both Kageki drop to 200ATK.

Trident runs over both Kageki. His F/D is a bluff.

3000-0

~

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah I almost lost that one. >_>;;

Alex and I are rather stunned by the success of my desperate Trident Dragion play, we’re both kind of hungry but there isn’t a break. This is a small 6 round tournament so we’re pushing on through lunch. Idk if American Regionals have lunch breaks but we sometimes if the TO is a casual enough guy we have a little hour long intermission wherein a lot of free match wins are racked up in the following round.

We grab a coke out of the vending machine and go dick around until the next round begins.

Round 4 – Disaster Dragon

Game 1:

No idea what this deck is going in. I open up with Book, Ravine, Consonance, Mirror Force, Dux and Solemn Judgment. I trade Solemn for a Phalanx and Consonance gives me Aklys and MST. I Dux into a Stardust since my Aklys play is basically set and end with Book, Mirror and MST backing it.

~

First move he makes is Dark Hole. To which my Stardust leaps off the field to negate.

He then Sarcos for a Torrential Tribute, activates Future Fusion and my MST jumps in and stops it. He ends with a single S/T.

~

I draw a Terraforming and pitch Aklys for another Dux.

I plan on going into Vajrayana and using Aklys to kill his f/d but he tries to Bottomless the Dux when it’s summoned so I end up just climbing into a Colossal Fighter and hitting him with it.

I search another Ravine with Terraforming before Stardust returns.

8000-5200

~

He sets a monster.

~

I draw Dark Hole, pitch it for Dux and go into Vajrayana. Vajrayana grabs Aklys and pops his Masked Dragon. Everything swings for game.

8000-0

Siding:

I side in Victoria siding out 1 Terraforming and 1 Avarice.

Game 2:

He starts off with Sarco for Future Fusion. T-Sets and ends.

~

My opening hand is MST, Mystle, Legion, Phalanx, Victoria and Consonance.

I trade Phalanx for Solemn Judgment and another MST. Since I now have one to spare I take out his set Call. I’ll save the other for his Future Fusion. ;...;

I set Solemn and debate my move for a bit before passing with nothing else in play.

~

He tributes Totem Dragon for Red-Eyes Darkness Metal and I Solemn it. He sets another S/T and ends with 2 cards in hand.

4000-8000

~

I draw my second Victoria.

I want to MST that Future Fusion but if I clear that f/d I can Victoria spam him to death. That FF will also help Victoria. I drop MST on what turns out to be Trap Stun. Lame.

I summon Victoria and revive Darkness Metal. Darkness grabs my Phalanx which I pitch for Mystle who then brings it back and has sex with it to give me a Stardust Dragon. Battle!

4000-900

~

He gets Future Fusion and brings back Totem Dragon. Future Fusion activates, dumping 3 Wyverns, 1 Red-Eyes and 1 Totem with it. He removes Totem to bring down another Darkness and revives a Wyvern in DEF mode.

Darkness beats up Victoria and he revives a second in ATK as he ends but I flash my other Victoria in hand and he scoops.

~

Victoria is proooooooo.

Alex comes over after this match and informs me that the other dragon guy just got a match loss for stacking. That’s it? Well at least that explains the two identical swarm hands backed by the top decked Monster Reborn. Pity he didn’t get DQed.

Round 5 – Chimeratech Gadgets

Game 1:

This guy wins the roll and leads with Red Gadget. At least I know what I’m facing.

He sets an S/T and ends

~

I open with Mystle, MST, Terraforming, Avarice, Dux and Warning.

I drop MST on his Bottomless, search Ravine and minus myself discarding Avarice to put a Phalanx in grave.

Climb into Thought Ruler and set Warning before running over his little Red Gadget.

9300-6600

~

He activates Future Fusion and I let it go. He proceeds to dump a bunch of Machina, Gadgets, Cyber Dragons and Jinzo alongside their Jinzo Returners. I do hope he doesn’t have Overload. >.<

Two Jinzo hit the field before he drops Overload Fusion. Why Konami, why was it a good idea to put that thing to two? Now I’m wishing I’d Warninged the Future Fusion.

He removes 16 Machines in order to bring down Chimeratech Overdragon with 12,800 ATK. Then he drops Giant Trunade, wow this guy opened with the fucking nuts. Why didn’t he Trunade first?

Siding:

In come the Cyber Dragons. Side out an Avarice and Book of Moon.

Game 2:

I open this one with Monster Reborn, Bottomless, Solemn Judgment, Phalanx, Dux and Terraforming. I nab Ravine and grab a Legionnaire off my pitch. I climb into Dearg and set up Aklys, set both my traps and end.

~

He summons a Yellow Gadget, sets 2 S/Ts and ends

~

I draw another Ravine. I summon Legionnaire and try for an Aklys play, it succeeds. Aklys hits a Trap Stun and he chains it. I don’t complain. I use Dearg to dump Brandistock into my grave and pitch Ravine to dump Leyvaten and Reborn it. Leyvaten equips Brandistock and I swing for 8,800.

8000-0

Siding:

No changes.

Game 3:

He leads off with Gearframe into Fortress with a single back row.

~

I open with pretty much every Trap in my deck: Warning, Judgment, Torrential, Bottomless, Mystle and Consonance. I set all my Traps and pass.

~

He hits Warning with a MST from his hand. He then discards Jinzo Returner and Fortress to summon it. I Torrential. He then pitches another Gearframe and a Cyber Dragon to revive it. I Bottomless it. He passes with one card in hand.

~

I draw an Aklys and ditch it for Consonance netting me MST and Terraforming. I MST his set card – Dark Hole. Grab Ravine and mull over how useless that Aklys is right now.

I quite like my Mystle with this bad hand so I pass back to him.

~

He passes

~

I draw another Ravine, pitch it for the first to grab Phalanx and summon it to climb into Stardust. Stardust hits direct.

8000-5500

~

He activates Future Fusion and I Solemn it. He drops Overload anyway removing 4 Machines for a 3200ATK Chimeratech Overdragon.

3300-5500

~

I draw Dux and climb to Vajrayana before Aklysing him and hitting him for 3800.

3300-1700

~

He sets his draw and passes.

~

I draw Mirror Force and search another Dux. I go into another Vajrayana and Aklys his Dimensional Prison before attacking for game. His last in hand card was Giant Trunade.

3300-0

~

Why the hell did Konami think bringing Overload to 2 was a good move? Is it somehow less of an OTK tool now that we have better machines? >.<

My misplay game one cost me that duel, if it weren’t for that I might have 2-0ed this guy. Ah well, 1 more round left in the tournament and I’m running 5-0 with only 2 game losses.

We don’t have time to get a drink before the next round begins. Lame.

Round 6 – Gladiator Beasts

Game 1:

As we’re shuffling I find out this guy is also going 5-0 but has only lost one game this tournament. I instantly want to beat him even more than I already did.
I win the roll and open Aklys, Brandi, Dux, Avarice, Warning and Legionnaire. Idk what I’m facing and this hand is terrible so I set Brandi and Warning and pass.

~

He drops a Cyber Dragon and follows that up with a Proving Ground (awww fuuuuuuck not GBs) for Laquari.

Laquari tries to land but I Warning it, with fervour. Cyber Dragon crushes my Brandistock.

He sets 2 and ends. Why’d it have to be GBs?

~

I draw Dark Hole. Handy, haven’t seen that all tournament.

I summon Aklys and bring down Legion. I nuke CyDra and trigger an Enemy Controller with Aklys. Effff. I set Avarice.

~

He plays a second Proving Ground and grabs another Laquari.

He then Rebrons CyDra.

Laquari kills Legion and CyDra takes me below 4000. Laquari tags for Bestiari who nukes my set Avarice. I’m just feeding him plays. At least he isn’t afraid of walking into Bottomless with that thing.

3900-8000

~

I draw a Terraforming and drop Dark Hole on his field.

Terraforming nabs Ravine but I just summon my Dux and equip Brandistock.

Dux hits direct twice.

3900-4200

~

He sets a monster and another s/t. His hand is now entirely on the field. I don’t think Glads run Morphing Jar so that’s probably a Hoplomus.

~

I draw a Terraforming, activate Ravine and pitch it for Phalanx before passing.

~

He sets another monster.

~

I draw Book of Moon and trade Phalanx for a Dux. He flips Warning on the summon and I pass again after setting Book.

3900-2200

~

He flips a F/D Darius much to my rage before setting a card. Guess that’s a War Chariot and this is your bait huh?

I Book the Darius for being a douche.

~

I draw Mirror Force and pitch it for another Dux. I climb to Vajrayana and use the Aklys to pop the new S/T. I hit Mirror Force. Oh you cheeky punk.

Dux weeds out the two F/D Glads, a Darius and a Retiari. Vajrayana hits for game.

His long existing F/D was War Chariot but he never had a face-up GB to use it.

3900-0

Siding:

I side in 2 Cyber Dragon and 2 Trap Stun siding out 2 MST and 2 Avarice.

Game 2:

He opens up with 2 S/Ts and a set monster.

~

My opening hand contains Giant Trunade, Mirror Force, Cards of Consonance, Phalanx, Dux and Legion. I trade Phalanx for a Terraforming and a Cyber Dragon.

Lolololololol. Trident Dragion!

I Trunade to clear those pesky S/Ts from ruining my set up and nab Ravine.

I pitch Legion to send Leyvaten to my grave, SS Cyber Dragon and summon Dux. Dux removes for Leyvaten who equips Phalanx and I set my Mirror Force.

I synchro Trident Dragion destroying Ravine and Mirror Force. Trident Dragion kills the Hoplomus and then it and Cyber Dragon hit for 8100. OTK!

8000-0

~

W00t 6-0 with Dragunitys!

So that’s a nice 2-0 record to move onto from Glads. I end up with a 6-0 streak and only lose out in the top 4 to another guy running LSS who didn’t lose a single game. I place second and since there are 4 of us we just elect to settle and split packs instead of playing out the top 4 for respective prizes. Alex gets my ABPF packs and pulls jank. Wendyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyys~!

EDIT: You can read my post tournament thoughts here.

Deck Analysis: "Malefic World"

The "Malefic" monsters are an archetype of monsters utilized by Paradox in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 10th Anniversary Movie. In the Japanese version of the movie as well as in the OCG these monsters are called "Sin" monsters.

The 10th anniversary book explains that the name "Sin" is a pun on "Shin" which is the the Kanji "真" which means "Truth". So the Sin monsters are actually as Paradox sees their "true" form, which would tie in with his concept of the true world. This gives the Sin monsters a dual meaning in their name as to Paradox it is their true form, but to everyone else they are corrupted images of themselves.

Sadly, however, the translators over at 4Kids misconstrued "Sin" to solely mean corrupted and thus in the TCG our monsters are named "Malefic", losing the dual symbolism in their name.

The Malefic Monsters are a series of monsters not bound by traditional laws of Normal Summoning. They each carry high ATK power and can be Special Summoned with relatively little cost. However, to compensate for this they have several draw backs, such as only being able to control 1 at a time, whilst also requiring a Field Spell. Malefic Monsters are powerful, however, require careful thought when being played in order to maximize the impact of their high ATK.

The first Malefic monster; "Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon" was unveiled over a year ago in early December of 2009. Dragon users online threw a fit when it was first unveiled as its full effect was not confirmed; merely its summoning requirements. Eagerly we rushed to build decks which could incorporate it: SOL Dragon. Then came the crushing discovery that it required a Field Spell, and with that came the dream of pairing it with Skill Drain to mitigate its negative effects. The deck proved unstable, but shortly thereafter OCG players were rewarded with a Malefic Red-Eyes B. Dragon as the movie promo, and a Malefic Stardust Dragon and Malefic Truth Dragon within the V-Jump magazine. The type was coming into its own. If interested you can broswe through the ghosted decklists on my Pojo Sin thread to see the builds and variants that evolved as new cards were released.

Finally the TCG received the release of Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon within the Duelist Pack Kaiba booster. And just as they had in the OCG Malefic Stardust and Truth soon followed. With the advent of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time 3D Movie Pack Malefic decks have received a huge overhaul. The recent unlimitation of Skill Drain from the Banlists Semi-Limited list also gives them a huge boost.

So, after over a year of playing around with these awesome monsters I can finally post a Malefic deck on my blog. :3

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 16
3 Beast King Barbaros
2 Meklord Emperor Wisel ∞
3 Malefic Cyber End Dragon
3 Malefic Parallel Gear
3 Malefic Stardust Dragon
2 Malefic Truth Dragon

Spells: 13
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Dark Hole
3 Pot of Duality
3 Malefic World
3 Terraforming
2 Trade-In

Traps: 11
3 Dark Bribe
2 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
3 Skill Drain
3 Malefic Claw Stream

Extra Deck: 9
3 Malefic Paradox Dragon
3 Cyber End Dragon
3 Stardust Dragon

Straight of the bat you may notice 2 cards that are not TCG playable; the two copies of "Meklord Emperor Wisel ∞". The reason for its inclusion should be rather obvious, for those of you who do not know its effect just look below or follow the link in its name.

Meklord Emperor Wisel ∞ /Dark/1/ 2500/2500/ Machine/Effect:
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except from your hand when a face-up monster you control is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard. Once per turn, you can equip 1 face-up Synchro Monster your opponent controls to this card. This card gains ATK equal to the combined ATK of all Synchro Monsters equipped to it by its own effect. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. Once per turn, you can negate the activation of an opponent's Spell Card and destroy it.

Whilst not a Malefic monster in and of itself Wisel brings a nice level of dependability and versatility to the deck. Capable of being summoned off a Malefic monsters destruction it doesn't require a Field Spell and it eats Synchros. This enables you to have a form of defense should your opponent succeed in bringing down Malefic World or Skill Drain. It also opens up some odd combos such as playing a Malefic without a Field Spell to trigger its summon (useful for getting rid of big Synchros at the cost of a minus). Its Synchro eating abilities pair nicely with those of Malefic Paradox Dragon putting pressure on the opponent and what will be their best form of counter attack to your Malefic monsters. Its brothers Skiel and Grannel are largely unreliable in the Malefic deck due to Skiel being weak and Truth's Life Point cost making Grannel virtually powerless. Wisel, however, proves incredibly handy; also coming with the ability to negate Spells that may endanger your other cards. Clocking in at 2,500ATK and a Dark to boot its also a viable target for Eradicator Epidemic Virus and Allure of Darkness.

Watch out for its other effect though as without Skill Drain in play it will prevent your Malefic monsters from attacking and if you get it out alongside a Malefic monster with the same clause then neither monster can attack. O.o

Next up is the first monster on the list and the only other non-Malefic in the entire deck: Beast King Barbaros.

Beast King Barbaros /Earth/8/ 3000/1200/ Beast-Warrior/Effect:
You can Normal Summon or Set this card without Tributing. If you do, its original ATK becomes 1900. You can Tribute 3 monsters to Tribute Summon this card. When you do, destroy all cards your opponent controls.

A level 8 monster that can be summoned without Tribute. Barbaros brings a welcome addition to Malefic decks utilizing both Trade-In and Skill Drain. Paired alongside Malefic monsters Barbaros allows you to control 7,000 to 8,000 ATK points in just two monsters as well as acting as a means to clear pesky set monsters that your opponent will inevitably put in your way to allow your Malefics direct attacks. Even without Skill Drain up Barbaros is a welcome addition; at 1900ATK and Earth its capable of removing pesky threats such as Koa'ki Meiru Drago and Consecrated Light that may be hindering your in hand Malefic monsters.

Many people compare Beast King Barbaros to another Skill Drain friendly monster: Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast. Being that there is a common point of contention on which of the two to run in a Malefic deck I thought I'd address why I elected to run Barbaros over it.

Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast /Dark/7/ 2800/2000/ Machine/Effect:
You can Normal Summon or Set this card without Tributing. If you do, its original ATK and DEF are halved.

Fusilier has some obvious merits; its Dark for Allure, it can be set and maintain its 2800ATK for Eradicator Epidemic Virus' (EEV) cost and its a Machine, for those gear-heads who do so love their Limiter Removal. My issue with it is that that is literally all it does.

Beast King Barbaros is level 8 so it fuels the Trade-In engine. It may not be Dark for Allure, but with a Malefic deck packing 13 other Darks there is no shortage of that, where as the deck only has 3 Level 8's without Barbaros. It has 3,000ATK under Skill Drain compared to Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast's 2800 which means it can run over Tytannials, LaDDs and Scrap Dragons and paired with Malefic Truth Dragon puts 8,000 damage on the board.

Its also Earth, not Dark which, whilst previously was brought up as a con is now being used to its benefit as it means that Barbaros can kill Consecrated Lights should Skill Drain not be in play whilst Fusilier would be stranded alongside your Malefics. Also speaking of Skill Drain not being in play 1900 lets it clash with Koa'ki Meiru Drago and the like where as Fusilier just becomes dead weight once again; un-Trade-In-able dead weight at that.

Sure its a Dark for Allure, but thats limited and we have no shortage of Darks, sure its fodder for the Viruses and can be set for them, but again; no shortage of targets. Those who would argue Limiter Removal as a bonus would do so at endangering their decks consistency; with only 5 Machine targets Limiter Removal would just go to waste, perhaps if your Malefic deck desires to include Cyber Dragon to bring the count up to 8 you could get more use out of it. In the end Fusilier is essentially a weaker Malefic monster, where as Barbaros fills in the void that Malefic's can't touch. Thus Barbaros supplements the deck where as Fusilier just acts as filler.

That said, there is no reason a Malefic deck could not run both alongside each other and if you were seeking to replace the 2 Wisels for the time being then I'd highly recommend either 2 Fusiliers, 2 Kaiser Colosseums or 2 Cyber Dragons. Each of which have their own merits. However, should you run Cyber Dragon in Malefics NEVER leave it out alongside a Malefic Cyber End Dragon.

Now onto the other cards. Cue Malefics.

Malefic Cyber End Dragon /Dark/10/4000/2800/ Machine/Effect:
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing from play 1 "Cyber End Dragon" from your Extra Deck. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic" monster on the field. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card.

Malefic Stardust Dragon /Dark/8/ 2500/2000/ Dragon/Effect:
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned, except by removing from play "Stardust Dragon" from your Extra Deck. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic" monster on the field. Field Spell Cards cannot be destroyed by effects. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card.

Malefic Parallel Gear /Dark/2/ 0/ 0/ Machine/Tuner:
If this card is used for a Synchro Summon, the other Synchro Material Monster must be 1 "Malefic" monster in your hand.

Malefic Paradox Dragon /Dark/10/ 4000/4000/ Dragon/Synchro:
"Malefic Parallel Gear" + 1 or more non-Tuner "Malefic" monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can select 1 Synchro Monster in either player's Graveyard, and Special Summon it. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic Paradox Dragon" on the field. If "Malefic World" is not face-up on the field, destroy this card.

Malefic Truth Dragon /Dark/12/ 5000/5000/ Dragon/Effect:
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by its own effect. If a face-up "Malefic" monster, except "Malefic Truth Dragon", is destroyed by battle or a card effect, you can pay half your Life Points to Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic" monster on the field. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, destroy all face-up monsters your opponent controls.

Malefic Cyber End Dragon and Malefic Stardust are staples in any Malefic deck; capable of clocking in at ridiculously high ATK points, searchable via Malefic World, fodder for Allure and EEV and Deck Devastation Virus (I have it sided) the two also remove their summoning targets from the Extra Deck which means unlike Malefic Blue-Eyes or Malefic Rainbow Dragon you cannot draw into their target and kill their playability. Malefic Cyber End Dragon acts as a gargantuan beatstick. It hits the field and attacks, if it lands a direct attack then your opponent is halfway beat; two attacks and you win. Thats pretty impressive for a single monster. Malefic Stardust is more of a protective card; it still has the ATK to run over most monsters in the game but it also can defend your Field Spell from destruction. Also being Level 8 it is a viable target for Trade-In or for Malefic Parallel Gear to summon Malefic Paradox Dragon with.

Malefic Parallel Gear is our Tuner for the Malefic archetype; it allows for the summoning of Malefic Paradox Dragon and gives use to dead in hand Malefic Stardust and Malefic Blue-Eyes, in fact in an older build I ran a single Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon without its normal counterpart to act as searchable fodder for Gear, Allure and Trade-In. It worked really well and I only cut it because I needed the space. Malefic Parallel Gear is nifty because its effect is ruled as a condition; like that of Eccentric Boy. Since its effect is a condition it cannot be negated by Skill Drain thus allowing for a loophole that lets you control more than 1 Malefic monster provided you have Skill Drain in play. See here for more details on that loophole as well as rulings on the matter.

Malefic Paradox Dragon is quite the monstrosity. Weighing in at 4,000ATK and DEF not much will be able to get over it in battle. Its reliance in Malefic World is a big nerf, however, as we are running no other Field Spell other than Malefic World it is not inhibited in this deck. Should you simply require a huge beatstick and lack a Malefic Cyber End Dragon then Skill Drain will allow you to summon Paradox without it dying, albeit giving up on its Synchro stealing ability. This ability is amazing. With it Paradox can claim any Synchro you or your opponent has summoned correctly; from Formula Synchron to Odin, Father of the Aesir they're all viable targets. And even without a Field Spell in play you can still summon Paradox and claim a Synchro, letting it die and using it as a sort of Synchro specific Monster Reborn (A card not in my deck due to the limited number of targets which would render it dead). And of course with the Parallel Gear loophole it is possible to control Malefic Paradox Dragon alongside another Malefic monster, giving you 8,000 to 9,000ATK in the form of two monsters. Fun.

The last Malefic monster on the list is the astounding Malefic Truth Dragon. With an upgraded effect of Red Dragon Archfiend this dragon is a beast to contend with. It can be summoned from either the hand or grave making it our own themed Machine Emperor. As a result of its effect many Malefic decks utilize Dragon Ravine from the Dragunity Structure deck to act as a Field Spell/ dumping option for Malefic Truth Dragon and setting up for powerful plays as a result. I too used to run such a build, however, once the opponent knows what Truth does they tend to play around it, and playing around Truth's summoning is relatively easy courtesy of Brionac and the like. Because of this I tend to prefer my Truths to drop from my hand; fully searchable via Malefic World they are a powerful threat when leaping out of your hand by surprise with a whopping 5,000ATK points. The card is unrivaled in its power, however, it is due to its steep summoning cost that I elect to only run 2 copies instead of a playset. Granted once a Truth is play it isn't going anywhere unless its removed so if you can't get a hold of 2 copies then 1 can keep you safe for the time being.

The Spell Line-up is fairly standard; everything searches and digs deeper into my deck, giving me faster access to Malefic World and thereby letting me manipulate my Draw Phase.

Malefic World/ Field Spell
While this card is face-up on the field, you can activate this effect instead of conducting a normal draw during your Draw Phase. Choose 3 "Malefic" cards from your Deck and have your opponent pick 1 of them at random to add to your hand. Shuffle the rest back into your Deck.

Malefic World is quite the power card; capable of manipulating the entire draw phase down to virtually letting you choose what you draw, it is my favourite aspect of the Malefic deck (aside from the huge dragons). It can even search other copies of itself and Malefic Claw Stream, meaning this card single handedly gives access to a near infinite stream of 2500+ATK monsters, monster destruction and even protection and backup for itself. Thought still random this can be circumvented by choosing 3 copies of the card you want, and even if you have played one of said cards Malefic World still reduces your chance of getting it from 1/40 to 1/3 or 2/3, vastly increasing your odds of getting what you need.

And lastly the Traps.

Malefic Claw Stream/ Normal Trap
Activate only if you control a face-up "Malefic" monster. Select 1 monster your opponent controls, and destroy it.

Searchable removal. I must admit when this was first unveiled I vastly underestimated it. Searchable, chainable one for one removal. You can use it to intercept Synchro plays, wipe out Set monsters to allow direct attacks and clear out pesky Spirit Reapers. Malefic Claw Stream is an amazing card that is readily usable within the deck courtesy of Malefic World.

Skill Drain serves as a counter to the Malefic monsters downsides whilst also abusing their strengths. It protects from opposing monsters abilities whilst also cutting off Synchro plays from decks such as X-Sabers, Legendary Six Samurai and Dragunitys by preventing their swarming effects from working (Boggart Knight, Kageki, Dux, etc.). Should you feel you need further protection from Synchro monsters then look no further than Kaiser Colosseum:

Kaiser Colosseum/ Continuous Spell
If there is 1 or more monster(s) on the field of the controller of this card, his/her opponent cannot place a monster on the field if his/her number of monsters would exceed the number of monsters that are on the field of this card's controller. The cards that are already on the field before this card's activation are unaffected by this effect.

Locking your opponent down to the same number of monsters as you control this card singlehandedly shuts out any opposing Synchro plays your opponent may attempt. The only reason it isn't in my main deck is due to space conflicts, but in practice its a very useful card.

Dark Bribe protects Skill Drain and Malefic World. Solemn Judgment is limited and its LP cost makes Truth an expensive summon, as such the versatile Bribe can fill that void and allows you to make aggressive plays with your Malefic monsters while ensuring them safety. Though such versatility comes with a hefty cost; the draw given to the opponent by Dark Bribe renders this card an inherent -1, and as such can be risky to utilize. Played correctly this card can clinch the game in your favour, but used offhandedly it will lose you the game flat out. Beware of the opponent baiting Bribe. The most important thing about using Dark Bribe well is timing, so with that comes self control and the ability to read the opponent. If you wanted to use Dark Bribe I'd recommend reading this article by Matt Peddle.

Lastly we get to the final Trap: Eradicator Epidemic Virus. Our own personal heavy S/T removal card, this gives Malefic monsters access to something most decks lack with Heavy Storm's banning. Best used reactively, for the price of a Malefic or Wisel it grants you virtually free reign for 3 turns. Locking an opponent out of Spells early game can hand you the duel on a silver platter and taking out their Bottomless Trap Holes and Solemn Warnings leaves their little monsters defenseless before your dragons. The ability to see their hand and draws allows you to anticipate their plays and makes Dark Bribe all the more powerful as well. In addition with Skill Drain locking down the opponents monster effects most people will elect to side in S/T removal in the form of other Spell and Trap cards. As a result while I side my Eradicators out in game 2 and 3 (for other reasons), other Malefic players side in a 3rd copy. A strategy that may very well pay off.

Deck Devastation Virus has been mentioned several times throughout the article, I chose not to main deck it as a I feel that Eradicator is far more powerful in the main deck, however, with Dragunity, Legendary Six and Plant decks ruling the early stages of the format it may prove beneficial to main some DDV either in addition to or instead of your EEV. Just be careful not to have too many traps reliant on your Malefic monsters or you'll be stalled with dead draws when you find yourself without one.

Some notes on staples I am not running, specifically: Giant Trunade, Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment (I addressed Monster Reborn earlier). Giant Trunade doesn't make it into the deck on account of it being a suicide switch for Malefic monsters, Solemn Warning and Judgment were cut because their heavy Life Point costs clashed with triple Skill Drain and Malefic Truth Dragon, both of which are far more powerful in this deck than either Warning or Judgment.

Now this variant is a pure Malefic deck, there are certainly many others. You can see a collection of Malefic builds from Gravekeepers to Geartown variants here. What I have found in my testing with these decks is this: the Gravekeeper and Crystal Beast variants are average at best. They suffer from being unable to fully abuse the Malefic monsters or Gravekeepers/CBs, thereby making it weaker than pure builds of either. In such decks the Malefics are better off run as tech (Stardust in GK and Cyber End in CB respectively), hybrids aren't as competitively viable.

Geartown is a strong variant of Malefic deck but its inconsistent; its not something that will get you through 10 rounds of competitive play. That said, it is an amazing deck to side into; completely stalling a vast majority of Anti-Malefic cards that your opponent may bring into the game in duels 2 and 3. Even though Imperial Iron Wall would still be effective against the deck most people are ignoring that in favour of S/T removal which makes this the perfect deck to side into come Game 2.

Pure is the most consistent, which is why it is my main, as it abuses the strengths and weaknesses of the Malefic monsters the best; but as a result it also has the weakest game 2 and 3 in the competitive scene due to side decking, which is why I'd change it up for that match, siding into Geartown or the like.

Anyway, there you have it, my thoughts on Malefic monsters as well as my build for the deck. I was hesitant to post it up so soon as I'm still testing and refining some of the cards but what the hell; play it, test it, if you find cards that don't work for you swap them out and keep going.

All Hail Truth!