A Duelist's Deductions: Deck

Showing posts with label Deck. Show all posts

Monday, May 9, 2011

Gambling, without proxies.

Aw yeah.

3 Infernity Randomizer
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
1 X-Saber Pashuul
1 Infernity Archfiend
1 Infernity Necromancer
1 Infernity Avenger
1 Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
1 Spirit Reaper

2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Double Cyclone
2 Offerings to the Doomed
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Giant Trunade
1 Infernity Launcher
1 Foolish Burial
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Mage Power

3 Reinforce Truth
2 Infernity Barrier
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Raigeki Break
2 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call Of The Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Infernity Force

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Gambling, the good way.

Friday, April 29, 2011

I can post! I just have to care!

//Monsters (21)
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
3 Phantom Skyblaster
3 Genex Ally Birdman
2 Destiny Hero - Plasma
2 Destiny Hero - Malicious
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
1 Armageddon Knight
1 Necro Gardna
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Sangan
1 Dandylion
1 Glow-Up Bulb
1 Cyber Valley
1 Treeborn Frog

//Spells (14)
3 Enemy Controller
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Scapegoat
1 Fires of Doomsday
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Foolish Burial
1 One For One
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Destiny Draw

To further the token abuse, Scapegoat and Fires provide more fuel for the combos listed above, the almighty Enemy Controller, Cyber Valley, and Plasma. Applications of the rest should be fairly obvious.

//Traps (5)
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force

//Extra|Deck (15)
1 Formula Synchron
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Magical Android
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
2 Black Rose Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Locomotion R-Genex
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Ally of Justice Decisive Armor
1 Shooting Star Dragon

The combos, they burn. Birdman and Phantom Skyblaster make for so many demonic setups it's scary.

Summon Skyblaster, summon a token. Bounce Skyblaster for Birdman. Sync for Black Rose (1 card lost).

Summon Glow-Up Bulb (by its own effect, most of the time). Summon Skyblaster, summon 2 tokens. Sync with Bulb and 2 tokens for Trishula. (0 cards lost)

Summon Armageddon Knight, dump Malicious. Bounce Arma for Birdman. Remove Malicious for Malicious. Make Locomotion R-Genex (0 cards lost, opponent's biggest monster gained) .

Of course, there are many more shenanigans to be had between Formula, Plague, Plasma, and so forth. Improvising can be key, though usually you'll shoot for something like Trishula and Scrap Dragon in a very efficient manner to just steamroll your opponent.

Possible changes:

-1 Black Rose
+1 Scrap Archfiend
-1 Stardust
+1 other level 8, or Hope once TCG legal.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Countdown to Pokémon Black and White

Monday, September 6, 2010

Zero Still Kicking

Friday, August 20, 2010

New Format Morphtronics

I have to say this incarnation is working better than the deck ever has in its life.

x3 Cyber Dragon
x3 Genex Neutron
x3 Morphtronic Radion
x3 Morphtronic Scopen
x3 Morphtronic Boomboxen
x2 Honest
x1 Morphtronic Remoten
x1 Morphtronic Celfon
x1 Sangan
x1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Lots of search and high power, be it standalone or with combos. A great improvement over Morph lineups I've used previously. I've finally seen the light one one Celfon; it's just more consistent that way, especially when reducing the Morph count to remove mediocre members of the team like Boarden, who serves as nothing more than a specialized OTK card.

x1 Dark Hole
x1 Monster Reborn
x1 Scapegoat
x1 Limiter Removal
x1 Giant Trunade
x2 Mystical Space Typhoon
x2 Pot of Avarice
x3 Junk Box

With the deck spamming Synchros via Scopen all the time and the boon of Honest, activating Avarice is easier than ever, and it certainly tends to pay off, often grabbing the last couple cards for the winning push. Monster Reborn and Dark Hole have only increased their power, and have done so more than Brain Control and Heavy Storm ever did. Goats is to make up for lacking defense and open up Naturia Synchro options.

x2 Bottomless Trap Hole
x2 Dust Tornado
x1 Torrential Tribute
x1 Solemn Judgment
x1 Trap Dustshoot

Bare essentials. Debating Dustshoot, honestly, since it's not seemingly great in such an aggro deck.

x1 Armory Arm
x1 Ally of Justice Catastor
x1 Naturia Beast
x1 Goyo Guardian
x1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
x1 Scrap Archfiend
x1 Black Rose Dragon
x1 Power Tool Dragon
x1 Ancient Sacred Wyvern
x1 Colossal Fighter
x2 Stardust Dragon
x1 Scrap Dragon
x1 Mist Wurm
x1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Still fiddling with the extra; not sure if I want to use a second BRD or not, and if so, what it would go over. The second Stardust struck me as a necessity since Cyber makes level 8 synchros ridiculously commonplace, and if the Road is going to be mained/sided, so much the better. For the most part, you can just Pot things back. I'm just slightly concerned about Bottomless and D Prison hitting my 1-ofs.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Toy Store, Toy Store, Toy Store!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Praise be to Neuxcharge

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Beep Bop Boop

//Monsters
3|Csoc|Morphtronic Radion
3|Csoc|Morphtronic Boomboxen
3|Crms|Morphtronic Boarden
3|Rgbt|Morphtronic Remoten
1|Rgbt|Morphtronic Scopen
3|Csoc|Morphtronic Celfon
1|Tshd|Genex Neutron
1|Mrd|Sangan

//Spells
3|Rds|Machine Duplication
3|Rgbt|Junk Box
2|Lon|United We Stand
1|Mrd|Heavy Storm
1|Mrl|Mystical Space Typhoon
1|Tlm|Brain Control
1|Wc5|Mind Control

//Traps
2|Lod|Bottomless Trap Hole
2|Psv|Dust Tornado
1|Psv|Call Of The Haunted
1|Mrd|Solemn Judgment
1|Dpct|Starlight Road
1|Lon|Torrential Tribute
1|Mrd|Mirror Force
1|Pgd|Trap Dustshoot

//Extra|Deck
2|Dp08|Armory Arm
1|Ha01|Ally of Justice Catastor
1|Tdgs|Magical Android
1|Ha01|Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1|Tdgs|Goyo Guardian
1|Anpr|Ancient Sacred Wyvern
1|Csoc|Black Rose Dragon
1|Rgbt|Power Tool Dragon
1|5ds1|Colossal Fighter
2|Tdgs|Stardust Dragon
1|Ha01|Mist Wurm
1|Anpr|XX-Saber Gottoms
1|Jump|Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

I can't believe it took so long to hit me, but Morphtronics do not generate advantage. Their best and safest moves using their own support just break even while Synchro Summoning sizable monsters.

"Machine Duplication" actually is a legitimate advantage engine, however, and is obscenely potent with Celfon and Remoten. Not so much Boarden. He's just sorta there out of convenience. Vacuumen loves Dupe too, but I really can't see myself playing him since he's the worst card ever to see in hand without Dupe.

Everything seems pretty set in stone except for that spell slot currently occupied by "Mind Control." "Limiter Removal" didn't seem to help a whole lot after testing. Morphtronics only function well in groups, and for Limiter to be potent, those groups have to be very specific, generally involving Boomboxen and a buff card with back row hate. It's just too combo-based in a deck that's going for stability.

"United We Stand," on the other hand, really shines on the stability front due to its universal compatibility, allowing anything I choose to swing over enemy monsters in battle. It makes pushing for game ridiculously easy as well thanks to Boomboxen or setting up "Ancient Sacred Wyvern." Considering the card hasn't done much in the meta, I can imagine "United We Stand" going up to 3 in September, and you'd better believe I'd be all over that with this deck. Power Tool would have added purpose!

What else can I say..?

I guess the most ineffectual cards in the Extra Deck are "Magical Android" and the "Chimeratech Fortress Dragon" that's really only there as a counter measure to an opposing "Cyber Dragon" that may or may not appear. Everything else has its place. "Armory Arm" is absolutely bonkers for its ability to turn anything into Flame Wingman, and it's really easy to drop with all those Level 3 tuners and Celfon. Catastor is solid hate against practically everything. Brionac clears the way while preparing grave oriented plays involving "Junk Box," Remoten, and Call. Goyo is way too big. Wyvern is a boss finisher. Black Rose makes for massive swings in card presence. Power Tool clocks in as the primary level 7 beater, making respectable use of United and Arm. Colossal makes for an OTK alongside Arm against an opponent foolish enough to leave a strong monster on the table. Stardust is... Stardust. Champion of the format. Wurm is somewhat situational, but easy enough to summon, so it's there for the niche situations that surface every now and then. The tech Gottoms is awesome to follow up on a Remoten + Dupe play.

I think I've rambled on long enough. You probably get it by now if you've followed past incarnations of the deck.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

NeedsWork.Infernity.dek

Friday, April 23, 2010

Children's Card Game..?

It's... not. I realize now how difficult it is to teach this game to kids. They forget even the tiniest of details, and... uhg. There's a whole world of difference between this and educating people with a high school reading level or greater, that's for sure.

I ended up throwing together a practice deck I thought was simple enough to follow, but maybe it's not?

x6 Gadgets
x3 Nimble Momonga
x3 Junk Synchron
x2 Legendary Jujitsu Master
x2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
x1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
x1 Snipe Hunter
x1 Spirit Reaper
x1 Magical Merchant

x3 Smashing Ground
x2 Shrink
x1 Heavy Storm
x1 Mystical Space Typhoon
x1 Nobleman of Extermination
x1 Nobleman of Crossout
x1 Brain Control

x3 Trap Hole
x1 Torrential Tribute
x1 Trap Dustshoot
x1 Call of the Haunted
x1 Divine Wrath
x1 Dust Tornado
x1 Magic Drain

...yes, these all came out of my common and rare piles. Extra deck is... whatever.

No idea where to go next in teaching the nephew.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Laser-Toting Sharpshooter to GIGA DORIRU BUREIKA!

Monday, April 19, 2010

TRANSFOR-

NO. We're not doing that.

So yeah, this is a little late in coming. Got side tracked multiple times and forgot about the blog. On the plus side, I finally got to update this old favorite since someone wanted to play me using tier 3 decks.

//Monsters
3|Csoc|Morphtronic Radion
3|Csoc|Morphtronic Boomboxen
3|Crms|Morphtronic Boarden
3|Rgbt|Morphtronic Remoten
2|Rgbt|Morphtronic Scopen
3|Csoc|Morphtronic Celfon
1|Mrd|Sangan

//Spells
3|Rgbt|Junk Box
2|Rds|Machine Duplication
1|Rgbt|One For One
1|Mrd|Heavy Storm
1|Mrl|Mystical Space Typhoon
1|Csoc|Morphtronic Accelerator
1|Tlm|Brain Control
1|Wc5|Mind Control
1|Psv|Limiter Removal

//Traps
2|Lod|Bottomless Trap Hole
1|Mrd|Mirror Force
1|Lon|Torrential Tribute
1|Crms|Morphtronic Forcefield
1|Mrd|Solemn Judgment
1|Dpct|Starlight Road
1|Psv|Call Of The Haunted
1|Psv|Dust Tornado
1|Ep1|Return from the Different Dimension

//Extra|Deck
2|Dp08|Armory Arm
1|Tdgs|Magical Android
1|Ha01|Ally of Justice Catastor
1|Ha01|Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1|Tdgs|Goyo Guardian
1|Anpr|Ancient Sacred Wyvern
1|Csoc|Black Rose Dragon
1|Rgbt|Power Tool Dragon
1|5ds1|Colossal Fighter
2|Tdgs|Stardust Dragon
1|Ha01|Mist Wurm
1|Anpr|XX-Saber Gottoms
1|Jump|Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

-SIDE DECK-
3|Wc08|Dimensional Prison
1|Csoc|Morphtronic Accelerator
1|Tp4|Morphing Jar
2|Psv|Nobleman of Crossout
2|Lob|Trap Hole
2|Ston|Pulling the Rug
1|Crms|Morphtronic Forcefield
1|Dpct|Starlight Road
2|Crv|Cyber Dragon

My monster lineup is entirely standard. I debated including "Morphing Jar" and a Slingen, but I've never liked the latter, and there wasn't enough space at the end of the day for Jar. I'd have to cut a spell or trap. Which, I have no idea, hence why Jar ended up in the side.

I was much more strict about the spells this time. "Giant Trunade," "United We Stand," "Monster Gate," "Card Destruction," and "Machina Armored Unit" didn't make the cut. Trunade is very underwhelming in a deck that can't control the opponent's hand, Armored Unit doesn't fit the pace of the deck, and the rest were simply inconsistent. Even "Limiter Removal" almost didn't make it in, but the sheer power couldn't be ignored. "Junk Box" and "Machine Duplication" alongside "One for One" give the deck a lot of speed and thinning power thanks to the nature of its monsters, and they make setting up victory all the more simple. "Mind Control" is justified by the 5 tuners and all the Ryko that are running around these days. "Morphtronic Accelerator" is still just a tech card in my eyes and is working well enough at 1. Heavy, MST, and Brain are obvious staples.

The trap lineup is far more fleshed out that it used to be, chock full of defense for creating and maintaining unbreakable fields. Staples aside, "Dust Tornado" is an added out to back rows that can be chained whenever. "Return From the Different Dimension" has amazing synergy with Remoten and punishes my opponents for playing Bottomless and Prison. "Morphtronic Forcefield" is pretty incredible; it hits tons of typical main deck suspects like Bottomless, Mirror, Torrent, and it can even catch the initial activation of the dreaded "Royal Oppression" with a vengeance. Forcefield even gets bonus points for denying "Gladiator Beast War Chariot" and other similar cards. After doing so, it whips out whatever monster I need or Accelerator to continue my push.

Configuring the Extra Deck was somewhat of a challenge. A lot of old cards had to be abandoned for more practical options, such as "Chimeratech Fortress Dragon" in lieu of Machina Gadget popularity. Gottoms is amusing tech for the Remoten-Dupe play and those situations where I steal a "Goyo Guardian." Power Tool is still here just for being a machine...

"Magical Android" will likely be dropped for "Naturia Beast" in the future. "Naturia Balkion" would have to replace... the second Stardust. Landols would either not be there or would kick Chimeratech Fortress into the side deck. I'm not sure yet.

The side deck is loaded with hate for the popular decks. It should be obvious what works against what.

Have fun steamrolling players who just sit around setting things. =P

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Doin' It Wrong

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dragunity

I've been playing around with them lately. Here's the shaky initial build.

//Monsters
2|Dt07|Dragunity - Primus Pilus
3|Dt06|Dragunity - Dux
3|Dt06|Dragunity - Legion
3|Dt06|Dragunity - Phalanx
2|Dt08|Dragunity - Pilum
2|Dt08|Dragunity - Corsesca
1|Dt07|Dragunity - Brandistock
1|Dt06|Dragunity - Black Spear
1|Mrd|Sangan

//Spells
3|Abpf|Cards of Consonance
2|Een|Pot of Avarice
2|Pgd|Book of Moon
1|Mrd|Heavy Storm
1|Mrl|Giant Trunade
1|Mrl|Mystical Space Typhoon
1|Tlm|Brain Control
1|Wc5|Mind Control

//Traps
2|Eoj|Icarus Attack
2|Lod|Bottomless Trap Hole
1|Lon|Torrential Tribute
1|Mrd|Mirror Force
1|Mrd|Solemn Judgment
1|Ddy2|Starlight Road
1|Psv|Call of the Haunted
1|Pgd|Trap Dustshoot

//Extra|Deck
1|Ha01|Ally of Justice Catastor
1|Tdgs|Magical Android
1|Ha01|Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2|Dt06|Dragunity Knight - Gadearg
2|Le16|Dragunity Knight - Vajuranda
1|Tdgs|Goyo Guardian
1|Csoc|Black Rose Dragon
1|Dt07|Dragunity Knight - Trident
1|Dt08|Dragunity Knight - Barchha
1|5ds1|Colossal Fighter
2|Tdgs|Stardust Dragon
1|Dt08|Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

The ideal opening hand is Consonance and Phalanx, and either having or drawing into Dux. It's pretty hard to lose after dropping Gadearg on turn 1. After playing the deck, you'll notice it has a lot of cool combos; mid game, that Dux and Phalanx combo can turn into any other level 6 Synchro you see fit, or a level 8 by way of Vajuranda

Needless to say, Phalanx is a real champ and outclasses the rest of the Dragunity tuners by far, though Corsesca is really something, and Brandistock gets an honorable mention. Pilum is only really any good because you can drop Primus Pilus with it, and opt not to equip in favor of using Primus Pilus' effect instead. Beyond that, Pilum doesn't have a whole lot of merit. Black Spear hasn't been helpful at all.

That said, I'm dropping Black Spear for the third Primus Pilus, who isn't so bad. The deck, like every other, probably could use Gorz...

"Mind Control" hasn't been so hot thus far. "Icarus Attack" doesn't seem to suit the deck very well either since the winged beasts are either not expendable or not there. "Book of Moon" may be king of the meta, but it hasn't been exceptionally helpful, so I'm not sure if I'll keep them.

I'm generally at peace with the rest of the deck, though anything to buff consistency would be helpful. At least one "Gold Sarcophagus" seems to be a shoe-in for that reason.

Is there anything else I could use?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Okay, They Grew on Me

It's official: I like X-Sabers now. That's quite the change of opinion since my video about Ragigura, I know, but after seeing them top a Shonen Jump Championship, I couldn't turn a blind eye to them anymore.

So, I went with the good ol' "copypasta into YVD" routine to start learning the ropes. Took me a few duels to get the hang of how they play and another few to stop misplaying obvious moves, but...

I can safely say that Roy St. Clair's deck is amazing (remember that it also has "Brain Control" in it! Typos for the loss!).

Of course, decks over 40 cards really bug me, so I cut "Dimensional Prison" and one "Lightning Vortex" after awhile. I'll probably be trying out options like Gardestrike, Garsem, and so forth in the coming days. The side deck also needs retooling for the new format. "Nobleman of Crossout" is a fantastic choice, among others.

"Saber Hole" is pretty impressive, but a good opponent will eventually learn how to play around it, if their deck has the capacity to do so, anyway. It's just as well; the absence of "Solemn Judgment" was really getting to me. -1 Hole, +1 Solemn looks solid.

"XX-Saber Emmersblade" really did revolutionize the deck. Not only is it a recruiter, but it keeps the deck's themed options online while making it easier to Synchro Summon level 6 monsters (Anyone for "Underground Arachnid" tech?!).

Then we come to "Saber Slash." This spell is a valuable asset to the deck without question. Blowing away a bunch of cards at the small price of field commitment is great, since that's something the deck excels at doing in the first place. What's more, since it doesn't target and is able to hit any face-up card (including the Sabers themselves), it can never trigger "Starlight Road." It should go without saying that this is a match-up dependent card. Sometimes it'll be necessary to side in the third copy, while other match-ups demand siding out one or both of the copies in the main deck.

I don't think I need to explain the horrors that "XX-Saber Faultroll" and "Gottoms' Emergency Call" are capable of unleashing upon the masses.

The Synchros are top-notch cards as well.

And who can forget the Cat -> double Airbellum plays that have been around since the dawn of Synchros in general? The move is absolutely crippling when it succeeds.

Thankfully that full set of "My Body as a Shield" is there to let those power plays go off full swing!

The deck as a whole is fun, has its own unique flavor, and looks bad ass. Things are only looking up for X-Sabers in this new format where anything goes, and they're only going to be getting better. I believe Kevin Tewart mentioned there were going to be more X-Sabers in the TCG release of The Shining Darkness, too, so look forward to new possibilities!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

March 2010 Pegasus League Format

New format: "DOUBLE DECK"
* Your Main Deck must contain exactly 100 cards.
* Your Extra Deck can contain up to 30 cards.
* You draw twice during your Draw Phase. (Draw 1 card, then draw 1 card again after that.)
* This Pegasus League uses the Advanced Format rules.

Trying to come up with a deck for it is driving me up a wall. Any semblance of consistency seems hopeless... not to mention the cost of constructing a deck for it must be astronomical.

Some things I figure:

- Back rows should be a little stronger. The power options to oppose them are still at their usual numbers, but they're harder to draw into now. "Trap Stun" is probably very viable.

- Cards that pull specific other cards out of the deck are more powerful than ever. I'm looking at you, Super Special Awesome Hamster.

- Strategies that depend on a specific card are significantly weaker.

- Hand control is not as reliable due to options getting replenished twice as quickly. "Trap Dustshoot", "Mind Crush", and so forth should still be good, but the X-Saber thought process of "kill off all their cards, win YGO" need not apply.

- 1 for 1 removal will be all over the place.

- Cards that are awful when drawn in multiples are more viable, as you are less likely to draw into multiples.

- Conversely, cards that have to be drawn in multiples to be effective are garbage.

- 3 copies of "Magical Merchant" seems like a must in anything.

- Cards with a discard cost are more manageable.

- You may never see that 1 "Tragoedia", but you're going to run it. No exceptions.

- "Secret Barrel", and perhaps burn in general, are looking pretty boss.

- The "discard down to 6" mechanic will be much more pivotal to success here.

Aaaand it's late. I can't think of much more.

But Hero format?

1 "Elemental Hero Stratos"
1 "Reinforcement of the Army"
3 "E - Emergency Call"
2 "Gold Sarcophagus"
3 "King of the Swamp"
3 "Debris Dragon"
3 "Polymerization"
3 "Miracle Fusion"
1 "Future Fusion"
3 "Elemental Hero Ocean"
3 "Elemental Hero Woodsman"
3 "Elemental Hero Wildheart"

...I dunno, maybe something along those lines.

A Duelist's Deductions