January 2009

 

Side Deck Tips by Chaos Angel

In this current meta most decks are extremely fast.  The plan for most decks is to wipe you out in two to four turns.  DadTele is a big threat.  Other big competitive decks are Lightsworn, Gladiators, and Anti-Meta decks that use Thunder Kings.  Other rising decks that are becoming threats are mixed zombie builds and plants.

So how do you counter such powerful decks designed to blow you away early in the game? Lets take a look at some of the pros and cons of these decks before we list the possible anti cards.

TeleDad is very fast and they use a crap load of special summoning.  Not only do they have a BeatStick monster designed to clear your field but they also use every synchro monster out there designed to shut you down.  The bad thing about this deck however is that duelist usually over extend... using up their entire hand when it isn't necessary.  Or they will use up all of their krebons or Malicious then in the late game, they have no options on bringing out their big monsters. On top of that, graveyards can get congested to the point where you can't bring out Dad.  Also, most of the time if this deck is played slowly and cautiously, you end up dead drawing yourself. For example, drawing into another 2x Malicious and 3x of your Krebons. Another bad trait is that virtually every monster is a DARK so shadow imprisoning mirror shuts the deck down until a stardust or another nonDARK monster hits the field. (And for people that don't know, Skill Drain and Shadow Imprissoning Mirror won't stop Krebons from performing a synchro summon since that is a game mechanic.)  Prohibition can be helpful and D.D. Crow so you can remove malicious or keep your opponent from getting 3 monsters for Dad.  Also Abyssal Designator can hurt this deck too.

I personally don't have that much knowledge concerning Gladiator Beast decks since I haven't made that type of decka nd rarely played them.  it is obvious however that there strengths come from special summoning from the deck and their fusions.  If you stop the attacks of the monsters, you slow the deck down.  Also if you were to stop the special summons of Heraklinos and Gyzarus, you can hurt your opponent. Prohibition, threatening roar, and necro gardna are nice to use.  A newer card that i just noticed id Gozen Match.  It is a continuous trap card.  The effect reads ; Each player sends monsters they control to the Graveyard until they each control monsters of only 1 Attribute. Each player cannot control monsters with different Attributes.  This makes it difficult for your opponent to bring out the fusions.

One of my favorite decks is Lightsworn.  As long as they maintain a graveyard and a milling engine, this deck will be a powerful force.  Lightsworn is known for draw engine, swarm, field destruction, and resurection.  They also have strong search cards such as Charge of the Light Brigade and ROTA also helps this deck. The downside to this deck is that it can mill itself.  If the deck has no graveyard, it loses strength.  No grave means Judgement Dragon can't come out and Lumina becomes useless.  Also, all of the cards are LIGHT so Light Imprissoning mirror shuts it down unless the opponent is running necro's and plaguespreaders that are already in the grave. 

Now on to listing the cards.  Side Decks can vary because a Side Deck that an Exodia Deck would use wouldn't be the same compared to a Dark Armed Deck.  An important thing to keep in mind is that you have to use cards that keep the same flow and design of your deck while shutting down your opponent's,

A side Deck that is hugely popular at Regionals and Shonen Jumps is Skill Drain with DAD.  Dark Armed Dragon can still be Special Summoned but it cannot use it's destruction effect but it is nice to have a 2800 ATK beatstick on the field.  This Side Deck also involves Destiny Hero - Defender.  That monster is ammo for Allure and Destiny Draw and since Skill Drain is on the field, your opponent can't draw from it.  With its massive defense, it is also very ahrd for your opponent to attack over it.

The list...
D.D. Crow -
this card should either be teched or side decked.  It shuts down malicious in TeleDad decks and it slows down Lightsworn.  One thing I would recommend against Lightsworn is wait until your opponent activates Monster Reborn, Monster Reincarnation, Glorious Illusion, Lumina, etc, so it shuts it down.

Lightning Vortex -
This card destroys swarming field, such as Lightsworn.  If I am maining a Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, I will usually side it out for a Lightning Vortex.

Threatening Roar -
This card stops swarming deck and Gladiator's.  It will slow down decks such as Lightsworn, Zombie, and Gladiator's.

Compolsive Evacuation Device -
You get tired of going against synchro monsters? Eject them from the field with this card.  The only one it can't touch is Thought Ruler Archfiend.  Some decks you will see use Phoenix Wing Wind Blast over this because Phoenix targets any card on the field.  Compolsive can't but you don't have to discard for it.

Royal Impression -
You can shut down TeleDad, Gladiators, and Lightsworn.  This can be tricky though because your opponent can normal summon beatsticks.  You can either slow your opponent down with this card or shit them down completely.

Gozen Match -
You can clear the field and limit your opponent's options.  This card can hurt Monarchs, Samuria's and Gladiator's.

Shadow Imprissoning Mirror, Light Imprissoning Mirror, Skill Drain -
Shut down Lightsworn or TeleDad with your card of choice.  The Mirror's not only effect the field but also the grave.  Bec careful with Skill Drain because their is a cost for it and it only effects the field.

Dust Tornado, Bait Doll, Noblemas of Extermination -
These cards alone cant hurt most TeleDad build because they use Phoenix Wing Wind and Solemn Judgment.  Bait Doll forces your opponent to pay their life points to negate the card with Solemn Judgment.  Extermination forces your opponent to do the same thing unless they want all of there Solemn Judgments destroyed.  Dust tornado doesn't only shut down traps but it stops Card of Safe Return which is common to see in Plants, Lightsworn, and ombie builds.

Royal Decree -
You can throw people off if you main this card.  Royal Decree will shut down a lot of trap support cards since a lot of decks are running 3x Solemns.  It can also shut down Anti-Meta Decks.

Burn -
I bet you weren't expecting this.  Yes, I said burn.  This can be creative and unique, especially if your opponent plays 3x Solemns.  Let your opponet drop their lifepoints!  Burn can help because you wouldn't have to worry about taking out big monsters either.  There are a ton of Burn cards out there so I can't list them all.  If you side in Threatening Roar and Burn, you can slow decks down and win.  Wave Motion Cannon is nice but if you are playing against a Lightsworn Deck or a Gladiator Deck, I wouldn't recommend it since Lyla and Bestiari will wipe em out.

Kaiser of the Collosuem -
Im not sure if I spelled that right and i am not sure how that card would hold up on a Regional or Shonen Jump level.  It will slow down decks, especially if you have One beatstick monster and your opponent needs more than one mosnter in order to geth their engine going, such as TeleDad, Gladiator, and Lightsworn.

Prohibition -
Shut down any card before it hits the field.  That simple.

Dimensional Fissure, Macro Cosmos -
Slow down Lightsworn and shut down Celestia.  This can also hurt TeleDad because Malicious won't be in the grave.

Ryko -
Take out any card on the field and mill yourself to trey to get malicious in the grave.

Penguin Soldier -
Bounce two mosnter's off the field, including Stardust Dragon and Heraklinos.

Mirror Force -
This deck is useful against swarm decks.

Dimensional Prison, Bottomless Traphole -
Romove those key monsters from play

Enemy Controller -
Don't only swarm down decks by changing a mosnter to defense mode or by taking control of one of their beafy monsters but hurt their lightning vortex and/or smashing ground.  Make them wipe out their own mosnter by wiping it out.

Pulling the Rug -
Stop Breaker, Monarchs, and Gadgets.

Black Horn of Heaven, Horn of Heaven -
Stop Special Summoning or have versatility with a cost.

Wow, i just listed a lot of crap.... Pick wisely and pick cards that will help your deck, not hurt it.

If you have questions or concerns and would like to discuss more Side Deck tips with me please email me at NovaSpirit88@aol.com. 

Thanks for reading!  ^__^

Chaos Angel
Hell's Only Angel