Dear SomeGuy,

It's been almost three weeks now since I busted my first starter deck. I've come a long way following your advice. I'd like to show you my current deck, share some thoughts and ask some more questions. Again, thanks for your time. On with the show...

Here's version 2.0 of my current Magic Ruler deck (aka Monster Reborn):

1 Summon Skull

3 La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp

2 7 Colored Fish

3 Dark Elf

3 Man-Eater Bug

3 Magician of Faith

2 Witch of the Black Forest

1 Cyber Jar

1 Axe of Despair

1 Tribute to The Doomed

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Heavy Storm

2 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Pot of Greed

1 Delinquent Duo

1 Confiscation

1 The Forceful Sentry

1 Change of Heart

1 Snatch Steal

1 Dark Hole

1 Raigeki

1 Monster Reborn

3 Trap Hole

1 Magic Jammer

1 Mirror Force

That's the beast for now. I'm interested in seeing how close this is to what you would turn it into. A few comments about the deck:

o I feel pretty good about it. I played in a local sanctioned tournament yesterday and won the whole thing. Granted its mostly kids but some are pretty darned good.

o The deck is aggro-control, meaning a deck that controls the game via card advantage and removal but still can get up in people's grill with a good beatdown.

o Swords of Revealing Light is still a mystery to me. I just traded for them so haven't had much practice with them. Obviously they are powerful cards, but are they better suited to defensive or combo-oriented decks? At least people complained about them at the tournament, that's always a good sign. At times, however, I thought the best thing they did was to get people to use a Mystical Space Typhoon on it:)

o I've recently seen you post that Man-Eater Bug is outdated. I still like this guy and worry that without him I might be short on creature removal. Can you comment?

o 2 Heavy Storm and 2 Mystical Space Typhoon might be overkill but usually I'm pretty happy to see them.

o I kind of miss my Solemn Judgement but had to trade it away. I also traded the 7 Tools of the Bandit. Do I need more traps?

o I've noticed that after adding the self-damaging spells (Delinquent Duo, Confiscation, and a soon to be added Premature Burial) my Dark Elves sometimes get too painful to attack with. I still really like them though and hesitate to remove creatures

Lastly, I wanted to get prepared for Pharaoh's Servant. After looking at the card list, and more importantly that Japanese restricted list, I plan on adding 1 Jinzo, Call of the Haunted, Premature Burial, Ceasefire and Imperial Order. I also want 2

Nobleman of Crossout. I haven't played with this card yet but it seems like the bomb, it lets the beats keep on rollin'. Lastly, 2 Gearfried the Iron Knight to replace my 7 Colored Fish. I think it should go a little something like this:

MONSTER REBORN w/ Pharaoh's Servant

1 Jinzo

3 La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp

2 Gearfried the Iron Knight

2 Dark Elf
2 Man-Eater Bug

3 Magician of Faith

2 Witch of the Black Forest

1 Cyber Jar

2 Nobleman of Crossout

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Heavy Storm

2 Swords of Revealing Light*

1 Pot of Greed

1 Delinquent Duo

1 Confiscation

1 The Forceful Sentry

1 Change of Heart

1 Snatch Steal

1 Dark Hole

1 Raigeki

1 Monster Reborn

1 Premature Burial

2 Trap Hole

1 Ceasefire

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Imperial Order

1 Mirror Force

*Swords of Revealing Light have been maintained at the cost of 1 Dark Elf and 1 Man-Eater Bug. I'm worried about not having enough creatures so I might go back if the Swords don't go back. I'd really like to hear what you think about both the Swords and minimum creature count in an English deck.

Still at 40 card, i fell that's a must. The Jinzo seems infinately better than Summon Skull with the predominance of Trap Hole. I figured that Gearfried was a good addition to the deck since I took out the Axes of Despair. Even though I can't search him out with WotBF, I like that he can't be targeted by Snatch Steal. About Axe of Despair, I think I might miss them. Can I get by with scrawny little La Jinns? Should I use that Goblin Attack Force? I'm wondering if Ceasefire should make the cut, whadaya think? And lastly, Imperial Order seems to be a very powerful affect; can you flip this trap over in response to a Magic Card, let's say a Raigeki, and counter the Raigeki? This seems pretty sick!

Man, thanks again. I realize there are no absolute answers to many of these questions, but like I said I value your opinion. Let me know what you think.

Peter Leiher

Hey Peter, thanks for emailing me back. Since Pharaoh’s Servant is now widely available, I’ll fix the PSV version of your deck.

-Monster- 17

1 – Jinzo

1 – Cyber Jar

2 – Witch of the Black Forest

2 – Hayabusu Knight

2 – Goblin Attack Team / Dark Elf

3 – Magician of Faith
3 – La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp

3 – Seven Colored Fish

What I first noticed was that you had a lot of non-attacking Monsters. Man-Eater Bug isn’t that good of a card anymore. I no longer use it in any of my decks. With cards such as Hayabusu Knight and Goblin Attack Team, you can just run over your opponent’s Monsters. Don’t worry about the shortened removal.

Gearfried the Iron Knight may seem playable, but it really isn’t. Not being able to equip an Axe of Despair (Which I am adding back into your deck) is a big cost to pay to not be Snatch Steal-ed. Since Snatch Steal is a restricted card, it’s not something to worry about often. And anyway, your opponent would much rather Snatch Steal a Jinzo or something.

When equipped with an Axe of Despair, Hayabusu Knight is a FORCE to deal with. It kills two 1800 ATK Monsters in one attack phase, or it deals 4000 to your opponent’s Life Points.

The choice between Goblin Attack Team and Dark Elf is up to you; they are both pretty good Monsters that would do well in this deck. Personally, I’d probably go with Goblin Attack Team.

The three 7 Colored Fish were added so you can have more ATK power without any drawback.

-Magic- 17

3 – Axe of Despair

2 – Heavy Storm
2 – Mystical Space Typhoon

2 – Swords of Revealing Light
1 – Pot of Greed
1 – Change of Heart
1 – Snatch Steal
1 – Raigeki
1 – Dark Hole
1 – Monster Reborn
1 – Premature Burial

1 – Delinquent Duo

Nobleman of the Crossout is a good card, but best suited for the Side Deck. Most competitive beatdown decks (I’m not sure about your area) only run three different Monsters that they play in Face-Down DEF position (Cyber Jar, Witch of the Black Forest, and Magician of Faith). Playing Nobleman of the Crossout would hurt you as well versus these decks. Though, if you are facing an Exodia deck, Nobleman of the Crossout is extremely good.

I wouldn’t worry too much about Confiscation and The Forceful Sentry unless you’re building a Hand Disruption deck. Delinquent Duo is too good to not play of the three. If you want to be more disruptive, add White Magical Hats in place of Hayabusu Knight and Throw in a couple Robbin’ Goblin as well as Magic Drain in place of Trap Hole.

About Swords of Revealing Light, pretty much every deck should play it. It’s that good. Whether it is a Defensive or an Offensive deck, Swords of Revealing Light is a great card.

You definitely needed Axe of Despair, it’s easily one of the best equipment cards in the game. Combo-ed with Hayabusu Knight it gets insane. Even without Hayabusu Knight it’s still worth playing.

-Trap- 6

1 – Imperial Order
1 – Call of the Haunted
1 – Mirror Force
3 – Trap Hole

Ceasefire is another of those cards that belong in the Side Deck. Pretty much for the same reason as Nobleman of the Crossout.

In a worst-case scenario, Imperial Order is a drawback-less Magic Jammer. So yes, you can play it in response to a Raigeki, Dark Hole, and such. Regardless of what deck your using, Imperial Order is a staple Trap.

If you need any more questions answered, email me.

~SomeGuy