September 2007

Deck Fix: Beatdown

An Article by Ed

Email me at Lightningsaphira94@gmail.com

When the game was first introduced to the environment, I remember the first choice of deck making was a beatdown deck, a very aggressive type of deck that focused on overwhelming the opponent with extremely strong attackers. I was one of those people that ran the beatdown variant, and I believe I should fix up a deck that was similar to my first one.

Here's the deck that was sent to me:

Hey everyone, I was just wanting some advice for my deck. The deck has 49 cards in it.

MONSTERS-21

Insect knight x1
Gemini elf x1
Vorse raider x1
Slate warrior x2
Sabersaurus x2
Luster dragon x1
Spirit Reaper x1
Saber beetle x1
sangan x1
silent swordsmanLV5 x1
silent swordsmanLV7 x1
cyber dragon x1
Man-eater bug x1
mobious the frost monarch x1
exiled force x2
swift gaia the fierce knight x1
Gene-warped warwolf x1
mirage dragon x1

MAGIC-15
premature burial x1
mystical space typhoon x1
lightning vortex x1
heavy storm x1
axe of despair x3
nobleman of crossout x2
black pendant x1
mage power x1
nobleman of extermination x1
malevolent nuzzler x1
scapegoat x1
monster reincarnation x1

TRAPS-13
trap hole x2
bottomless trap hole x2
negate attack x1
magic cylinder x1
draining shield x1
call of the haunted x1
sakuretsu x2
ultimate offering x1
dust tornado x2

This deck is really helpful to me .I was just wanting some advice.

 

 

            Yet again, I need to fix up this list a little.

 

Crackerjack's Deck – 49 Cards

 

1 Insect Knight

1 Gemini Elf

1 Vorse Raider

2 Slate Warrior

2 Sabersaurus

1 Luster Dragon

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Saber Beetle

1 Sangan

1 Silent Swordsman Lv5

1 Silent Swordsman Lv7

1 Cyber Dragon

1 Man-Eater Bug

1 Mobius the Frost Monarch

2 Exiled Force

1 Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight

1 Gene-Warped Warwolf

1 Mirage Dragon

 

1 Premature Burial

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Lightning Vortex

1 Heavy Storm

3 Axe of Despair

2 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Black Pendant

1 Mage Power

1 Nobleman of Extermination

1 Malevolent Nuzzler

1 Scapegoat

1 Monster Reincarnation

 

2 Trap Hole

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Negate Attack

1 Magic Cylinder

1 Draining Shield

1 Call of the Haunted

2 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Ultimate Offering

2 Dust Tornado

 

            Okay, in this article, we're going to work on the deck step-by-step, following this format:

 

1. Narrow the card count down to around 40.
2. Get rid of any cards that don't make sense.
3. Get rid of any cards that aren't needed.
4. Add in staples.
5. Add in cards that are needed.
6. Summarize

 

Step 1 – Narrow the card count down to around 40

            To narrow the card count down, we'll get rid of the cards that don't make sense. Silent Swordsman Lv 5 and Lv 7 don't fit with the Beatdown theme, so we're going to take those out first. Then, we'll remove Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight, because there are rarely any cases when we'll be able to pull off his effect, and we need this deck to move faster than that. Nobleman of Extermination won't be needed because we have other more efficient sources for taking care of face-down cards like Jinzo and Mobius the Frost Monarch. Monster Reincarnation also isn't needed because it simply isn't a necessity. In a beatdown deck, we focus on including many monsters so that when one monster is lost, we don't take the hit too hard. Thus, Monster Reincarnation isn't needed as a way to retrieve a monster from the Graveyard.

 

            Next, we're going to use the cards that aren't needed in the deck to narrow the deck down further. Man-Eater Bug isn't really a card that sees any play anymore, and I don't see any reason why it should, since there are many more versatile forms of removal. Mirage Dragon, too, is a card that doesn't sees play much as much as it used to. Jinzo is a much better way to make use of Mirage Dragon's effect. Black Pendant and Malevolent Nuzzler aren't as efficient as Axe of Despair, Mage Power, and United We Stand, so we're going to be removing those.

 

            With 9 cards removed and the deck count now safely at 40 cards total, we'll now move onto the next step.

 

Step 2 – Get rid of any cards that don't make sense

            We've already gotten rid of all of the cards that don't make sense in the process of narrowing the card count down to around 40, so we'll move onto the next step.

 

Step 3 – Get rid of any cards that aren't needed

            Okay, the first cards down the list that aren't needed are the vanilla beatsticks like Insect Knight, Gemini Elf, Vorse Raider (even though it looks cool), Sabersaurus, and Luster Dragon. We have other more stronger beatsticks that we can work with, That takes out another 7 cards, giving us 7 more slots to work with. Exiled Force also won't be needed with all the other removal cards that I'll be adding.

 

            The next bunch of cards I'll be removing are any unneeded trap cards that are either outdated or just not useful. Negate Attack and Draining Shield are majorly outdated and aren't nearly as useful as they once were. Then there's Trap Hole, which won't be too useful in the next format, with all the Jinzo's running around, there will rarely be a time that Trap Hole will be useful. Same goes with Bottomless Trap Hole, as well. Magic Cylinder and Call of the Haunted also won't be as effective as they were in the last format.

 

Now, with 17 slots to work with, I'll be moving along.

 

Step 4 – Add in staples

Okay, since the new format's arrived, we have a new set of staples. Ring is gone, so we'll be looking for some more decent traps. Phoenix Wind Blast comes to mind immediately. I'll be adding one of those. Sakuretsu Armor also regains its popularity in this format, so I'll be including one more of these. Staples are essential here, hence the title, so let's not get carried away. Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force are obvious picks.

 

In a beatdown deck, having monsters is essential. Pot of Avarice helps in late game, and in some cases of early game, when the opponent has the upper edge. We'll be including one of these. Two I feel is just too passive. Lightning Vortex is also huge in this next format, with Smashing Ground and Fissure both limited to one per deck. So, I'll be adding one more of these. Breaker is also a necessity.

 

Sangan is another essential of all monster lineups. Even though there aren't many monsters in the deck with an attack score of 1500 or less, I'll be adding in some other more useful cards that work with the effect. D.D. Warrior Lady is one of the key cards that works, and Card Trooper. Two Jinzo's also help with the aggressiveness of the deck. Next, we'll get the power we need. Raiza the Storm Monarch in a pair is certainly deadly, and I'll put in a Treeborn Frog with it. With all these power houses, the lineup is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

 

Step 5 – Add in cards that are needed

With just 5 slots to work with, the changes in this section are going to be miniscule. Cards in the past that helped are basically being added in this last section. Swords of Revealing Light and Smashing Ground are added for extra stall when hands aren't turning out in your favor or when your opponent just manages to pull off an amazing combo to summon an extremely strong monster. I'll also add in a third copy of Slate Warrior, since it works really well with the theme. Lastly, I'll be putting in 2 more Gene-Warped Warwolves since they just work so well in this type of deck.

 

But, that's not all. The deck will be 42 cards instead of just 40 and I'll be including the equip spell card that I mentioned earlier in this article – United We Stand.

 

Step 6 – Summarize

Basically, this section is to summarize all the changes that I made and to show what I did. So, like in some of my past articles, I'll be listing what I changed.

 

- 1 Insect Knight

- 1 Gemini Elf

- 1 Vorse Raider

- 2 Sabersaurus

- 1 Luster Dragon

- 1 Saber Beetle

- 1 Silent Swordsman Lv 5

- 1 Silent Swordsman Lv 7

- 1 Man-Eater Bug

- 1 Mobius the Frost Monarch

- 1 Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight

-  1 Mirage Dragon

- 1 Black Pendant

- 1 Nobleman of Extermination

- 1 Malevolent Nuzzler

- 1 Monster Reincarnation

- 2 Trap Hole

- 2 Bottomless Trap Hole

- 1 Negate Attack

- 1 Magic Cylinder

- 1 Draining Shield

- 1 Call of the Haunted

 

+ 1 Slate Warrior

+ 1 Phoenix Wind Blast

+ 1 Sakuretsu Armor

+ 1 Torrential Tribute

+ 1 Mirror Force

+ 1 Pot of Avarice

+ 1 Lightning Vortex

+ 1 D.D. Warrior Lady

+ 1 Card Trooper

+ 2 Jinzo

+ 2 Raiza the Storm Monarch

+ 1 Treeborn Frog

+ 1 Swords of Revealing Light

+ 1 Smashing Ground

+ 1 United We Stand

+ 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

 

So, the Final Lineup looks like this:

 

Crackerjack's New Beatdown Deck – 42 Cards

 

3 Slate Warrior

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Sangan

1 Cyber Dragon

1 Mobius the Frost Monarch

3 Gene-Warped Warwolf

2 Jinzo

2 Raiza the Storm Monarch

1 Treeborn Frog

1 D.D. Warrior Lady

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

 

1 Premature Burial

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Lightning Vortex

1 Heavy Storm

3 Axe of Despair

2 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Mage Power

1 United We Stand

1 Scapegoat

1 Smashing Ground

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Pot of Avarice

 

1 Phoenix Wind Blast

3 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

2 Dust Tornado

1 Ultimate Offering

 

Hope It helps!

Have a deck that needs fixing? Just send the list to lightningsaphira94@gmail.com and a couple sentences on what you want me to do with it, and I'll feature it on this site!

 

Have Fun and Play Fair!

 

Ed