Sword Master Gearfried Deck Suggestion- Sean of the Dead ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: SeanoOfTheDead@aol.com Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:15:06 EST With the arrival of Gearfried the Swordmaster we'll no doubt see a few casual Sword Master decks. At first glance these seem as though they'd be very difficult to run properly since they would a) require heavy amounts of unreliable equip cards and b) require heavy amounts of Gearfried the Iron Knight to whom said equip cards are useless. However I've spent a little time thinking about it and have come to the conclusion that a Sword master deck holds some merit if the right cards are used, and heeeeere's why... Use smart Equip cards. Equips are inherently unreliable due to the fact that they do absolutely nothing without a monster on the field. As I said also, this deck will definitely need three Iron Knights, which of course can't use equips normally. After thinking it over I believe there are 5 equips that should be in this deck: 1) Fusion Sword-Murasame Blade- I plan on this deck being a modified Warrior-Beatdown, and this is the absolute best equip for warriors, especially for Iron Knight. Why you ask? HE CAN USE IT! Fusion Sword is immune to IK's effect giving it more versatility in this deck than other equips. Run at least 2. 2) Blast With Chain- Not that this is normally an especially wonderful card, but in this deck it really fits the bill. This is the other equip card that actually helps IK (other than banned Butterfly Dagger- Elma) because it doesn't need to be used as an equip. If IK is on the field (which he probably will be often) you can chain this trap to anything, and equip it to IK, whose effect will destroy it allowing you to use Blast's effect to destroy ANY card on the field. Plus it of course lends to Sword master fodder. This is one of the few decks were this card really holds merit thanks to it's heightened usefulness and decent versatility. 1 or 2 should do great. 3) United We Stand- Obviously a staple for this deck just because it's one of the only good conventional equip cards. 4) Mage Power- Same as United We Stand. 5) Axe of Despair- I can't say I recommend definitely using this card, as it's really rather sub-par. I only suggest it because it will help other monsters that will be in the deck. We'll see about this one folks... Of course Snatch Steal and Premature Burial will be used as they are great for practically any deck, though they gain no extra effectiveness in this one. Now, onward to our little beasties... Obviously Gearfried the iron Knight is a must. To give IK the support it needs a Warrior lineup is your best bet. Obvious choices include 2 Marauding Captains, Don Zaloog, Exiled Force, etc. The first two cards mentioned will also gain some "umph" from all of our equips making them even more effective. I believe Command Knight is one of the best Warriors around and as such suggest at least one, if not two. Cards like Goblin Attack Force are applicable, but I don't believe they're really necessary due to the powering up going on. That nasty effect of there's may make them end up being some of your weakest monsters. As such, use them with discretion. Blade Knight may be a good candidate because of the speed at which this deck will likely burn away your hand, one would be a good idea. On great monster for this deck is Mataza the Zapper, a monster who can attack twice per turn with a naturally decent ATK. Equip cards would make this fellow a behemoth. I'd definitely use one, probably two. you may want to fiddle with Zombyra the Dark as he's an excellent warrior, however I'm not going to include one as this deck has other ways of achieving high ATK. Aside from standard warrior support, the above equip cards and the usual spells and traps there's not much to delve into for that section (yes, I know of the Serial Spell combo, but it really isn't helpful for this deck), so let's move right on to the sample deck... 2x Gearfried the Sword Master 3x Gearfried the Iron Knight 2x Marauding Captain 2x Command Knight 1x Blade Warrior 1x Mataza the Zapper 2x Don Zaloog 1x Sangan 1x Breaker the Magical Warrior 1x Tribe-Infecting Virus 1x Sinister Serpent 2x Release Restraint 2x Reinforcement of the Army 1x United We Stand 1x Mage Power 2x Fusion Sword Murasame Blade 1x Lightning Vortex 2x Nobleman of Crossout 1x Smashing Ground 1x Pot of Greed 1x Graceful charity 1x Mystical Space Typhoon 1x Heavy Storm 1x Snatch Steal 1x Premature Burial 2x Scapegoat 1x Ring of Destruction 1x Mirror Force 2x Blast With Chain 1x call of the Haunted This is a rough idea of the deck, but it should be a good base point. Try it out, and if you have success, complete failure, or suggestions I'd love to hear about them. Send any comments to SeanoOfTheDead@aol.com, and happy sword mastering!