Artcle #9: The Unplayed Themes - SiphonX



Hello,

I am SiphonX and today I will be talking today about some of the unplayed 
Beatdown themes in the Metagame right now, but focusing around three main 
themes: Dark Flare Knight - Scientist, Dark Paladin, and XYZ - Dragon 
Cannon.

Article #9: The Unplayed Themes

Over the past few months, we have acquired two more good sets: Dark Crisis, 
and Magician's Force. In these sets, at first, we saw many people reach for 
the rare cards they had pulled and test them out, but they never actually 
tried to make a competitive deck with them, or if they did, they never got 
the support they needed.

I will try to outline the fact that these decks ARE playable, but they must 
incorporate a whole new deck around them; these decks cannot focus on the 
so-called "staples" to put in your deck - they are unique among themselves. 
Of course, there are many decks like this, including traditional 
Scientist/Catapult Burn, Lava Burn, Exodia, and many more, but today I am 
focusing on three of the newer ones: Dark Flare Knight - Scientist, Dark

Paladin, and XYZ - Dragon Cannon.



MFC-073 Magical Scientist
Dark/Spellcaster/Effect Lvl. 1 - Common
300/300
Pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon 1 level 6 or lower Fusion Monster 
from your Fusion Deck in face-up Attack or Defense Position. That Fusion
Monster cannot attack your opponent's Life Points directly, and is returned 
to your Fusion Deck at the end of the turn.

DCR-017
Dark Flare Knight
(Dark/Warrior/6/2200/800)
Fusion: "Dark Magician" + "Flame Swordsman"
Any damage to the controller of this card from battle involving this monster 
becomes 0. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard as a result 
of battle Special Summon 1 "Mirage Knight" from your hand or Deck. Super Rare

DCR-018
Mirage Knight
(Light/Warrior/2800/2000)
This card can only be Special Summoned by the effect of "Dark Flare Knight". 
When this card battles another monster, during Damage Calculation increase 
the ATK of this card by the original ATK of the opponent's monster. During 
the End Phase after this card was involved in battle, remove this card from 
play.

Super Rare

Dark Flare Knight - Scientist - Ah yes, the newest of the three decks. This 
deck works especially well as a OTK deck (though not a FTK deck). It 
incorporates the use of Dark Flare Knight (DFK), a 2200 ATK Level Six 
Fusion's special effect of summoning Mirage Knight, a VERY powerful 
attacker. One of the main problems with a Mirage/DFK deck is that three 
Mirage Knights can occupy a LOT of deck space, and are horrible drawers.

Even though it cannot exist on the field for more than one turn after 
attacking, its effect makes up for everything it lacks. The reason why it 
works so well is it actually ABSORBS the attack power of the monster it is 
attacking (WOW). The way it works is:
-If the opponent has a monster of more than 2200 ATK in faceup ATK position 
and NO defending monsters, all that is required is more than 3000 LP and

Scientist on field to pull off a OTK.
-If the opponent does NOT have a 2200 attacker or higher, but does have a 
monster on field, you can Special summon two DFKs and Creature Swap one DFK, 
attack with the other, and take off a sizable chunk of 5600 LP. -The OTK can 
NOT be completed if the opponent doesn't have a monster on 
field.

Here is (what I feel) a good Dark Flare/Mirage Knight deck: 17:18:5

17 Monsters:
1x Magical Scientist - RESTRICTED
3x Mirage Knight
3x Mystic Tomato
3x Spirit Reaper (also good in combination with Scientist and Creature
Swap)
2x D.D. Warrior Lady
1x Cyber
1x Fiber
1x Sinister
2x Searchers

18 Spells:
1x Raigeki
1x Dark Hole
1x HFD
1x Heavy Storm
1x Pot of Greed
1x Graceful Charity
1x Change of Heart
1x Monster Reborn
3x MST - This deck needs all the s/t removal it can get.
1x Snatch
1x Burial
2x Swap
1x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Mirage
1x Painful Choice

5 Traps:
1x Imperial Order
1x Ring of Destruction
1x Call of the Haunted
2x Waboku



MFC-105 Dark Paladin
Dark/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect Lvl. 8 - Ultra Rare
2900/2400
"Dark Magician" + "Buster Blader"
This monster can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon. As long as this 
card remains face-up on the field, you can negate the activation of 1 Spell 
Card and destroy the Spell Card by discarding 1 card from your hand. The ATK 
of this card increases by 500 points for each Dragon-Type monster on the
field and in either Graveyard.

Dark Paladin - This deck is all based around restricting the amount of cards 
you can play, and both this and the next deck are based around fusions that 
require a large hand. One of the greatest helpers in these two decks is 
Sinister Serpent. This will help keep the hand stable. Now, Dark Paladin is 
all about negating Spells, even though it has a second ability of getting a 
powerful boost.

Getting fusions out has always been a hassle, and Dark Paladin's first line 
of text makes it even harder. It can ONLY be Fusion-summoned. That means no 
revival, no Special Summoning it, no nothing. There is but one exception to 
this rule, and that is Fusion substitutes: Versago the Destroyer, Beastking 
of the Swamps, Mystical Sheep #1, and Goddess with a Third Eye. Now, there 
are also ways to get out its Fusion materials easier (Dark Magician + Buster 
Blader), cards like Skilled Dark Magician, Skilled White Magician, and 
Emblem of Dragon Destroyer. Even though all these cards support it, the fact 
that neither part is searchable dampens prospects of getting it out. It does 
aid in effectively locking an opponent, but not fully. That is why I 
included some backup cards. My Dark Paladin deck is somewhat controversial, 
for it focuses on the Buster Blader aspect rather than the Dark Magician
aspect of the deck.
17:17:6

17 Monsters:
1x Jinzo
1x Dark Magician
1x Buster Blader
2x Skilled Dark Magician
1x Skilled White Magician
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
2x Spirit Reaper
1x Versago the Destroyer
2x D.D. Warrior Lady
1x Cyber Jar
1x Fiber Jar
1x Sinister Serpent
1x Sangan
1x Witch of the Black Forest

17 Spells:
1x Raigeki
1x Dark Hole
1x Harpie's Feather Duster
1x Pot of Greed
1x Graceful Charity
1x Change of Heart
1x Monster Reborn
3x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Snatch Steal
1x Premature Burial
2x Polymerization
1x Mirage of Nightmare
1x Painful Choice
1x Scapegoat

6 Traps:
1x Mirror Force
1x Imperial Order
1x Ring of Destruction
1x Call of the Haunted
2x Interdimensional Matter Transporter

Fusion Deck:
2x Dark Paladin



MFC-052 XYZ-Dragon Cannon
Light/Machine/Fusion/Effect Lvl. 8 - Ultra Rare
2800/2600
"X-Head Cannon" + "Y-Dragon Head" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This monster can only be special summoned by removing from play the above 
monsters on your side of the field. You do not use "Polymerization" to 
special summon this monster from your Fusion deck. Discard 1 card from your 
hand to destroy 1 card on your opponent's side of the field.

XYZ - Dragon Cannon - This card is my favorite of the three, and probably 
the most playable. This card incorporates cards that enhance the hand 
advantage (like Sinister Serpent) and cards that help Machines, like Limiter 
Removal. What is best about these cards is they are Union monsters - Equipe 
Spells in themselves. I know of several OTKs played with an equipped Union 
in this, aiding the deck insurpassably. Sometimes, it is to the duelists

advantage NOT to summon the Fusion, but instead, play the Union monster as 
is and dominate the playing field. Of course, in the lucky chance that you 
are able to summon XYZ - Dragon Cannon, you may be able to control the field 
for as long as you like, as long as your hand is at least one card. They are 
powerful in themselves and are ever aided by being both Machine AND Union. I 
feel that an XYZ deck, if properly put together, is almost impossible to

beat.

As I have said before, I love XYZ, and I believe I have posted my deck with 
it before here, but I don't believe it got a high response. Trust me, this 
is a good deck, it has won me second place in some major tournaments and

brought me an overall record, when I retired it, of 27-4. Enjoy. 16:18:6

16 Monsters:
1x Jinzo
3x X-Head Cannon
2x Y-Dragon Head
2x Z-Metal Tank
2x Shining Angel
2x D. D. Warrior Lady
1x Cyber Jar
1x Sinister Serpent
1x Sangan
1x Witch of the Black Forest

18 Spells:
1x Raigeki
1x Dark Hole
1x Harpie's Feather Duster
1x Pot of Greed
1x Graceful Charity
1x Change of Heart
1x Monster Reborn
3x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Snatch Steal
1x Premature Burial
2x Limiter Removal
1x Swords of Revealing Light
1x Mirage of Nightmare
1x Combination Attack
1x Scapegoat

6 Traps:
1x Mirror Force
1x Imperial Order
1x Ring of Destruction
1x Call of the Haunted
1x Waboku
1x Formation Union



That will do it for my ninth article. Hope you all enjoyed!
AIM: mrfilbertiert
Email: pyroboy72@hotmail.com

Thanks!

~SiphonX