Before we get started, I guess that I should begin by introducing myself, as it's only polite. I'll try and do this quickly so it doesn’t sound like personals add.

 

Hi! What's up? How's it going? I'm Ben, or benthegreat. I'm a former student at the University of Notre Dame, where I graduated with a double major in English and Film. I'm now attending the University of Toledo for law school.

 

I've been playing this game for a while now, but only competitively for the past 2 years. Sadly, I have no regional or SJC accomplishments of note, as school, getting into post-grad schools, and a failing football season kept me occupied this entire past yea. Hopefully, we can rectify that shortly.

 

Anyway, onto the Bazoo RFP.

 

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[It is coincidence that Tony posted his article on Strike Ninja decks a day or so ago, but I guess that it works well for me, as you are all now more familiar with its history, play style, and new-ban look.]

 

Back in the older days, before this current ban list, Strike Ninja decks became quite popular, and with good reason. They were able to provide easy tribute bait with DD Scout Planes for larger monsters like Jinzo and DMoC, and they had some solid 'OTK potential'  (by OTK I really mean just dealing the majority of game ending damage in a single step) built in by utilizing Strike's RFG ability and cards like Dimension Fusion/ Return from the Different Dimension, and Strike Ninja, himself, was nearly unkillable.

 

But Strike decks now have a few disadvantages, which kept them from being as strong this go around. While it is able to overcome these problems, they still exist.

 

1) For a Strike deck to be consistent, it requires that the duelist run almost exclusively dark monsters. That duelist is often inclined to then run weaker monsters like DD Scout Plane [who was created for use with Strike], Blowback Dragon [which is a decent option, although requires a bit of luck], and Mystic Tomato.

 

Certainly, none of these monsters are 'bad'. But without the help of Painful Choice to dump DD Scout Planes, Tributes, and such, Strike decks become prone to bad draws/top decks.

 

While the introduction of DD Survivor certainly helps, as his synergy in Strike Decks is amazing, (dark, warrior, combo's with RftDD, etc) there remain other limitations, which I feel are holding Strike back.

 

 

 

2) Although Strike Ninja needs almost little to no protection, as his ability keeps him safe from almost anything, early game he is a less than stellar draw. Strike decks used to thrive on staying in the game early with 1 for 1 advantage until they had the field and graveyard set up to a place where it could really start to get rolling. With the loss of certain cards in the ban, we lack some of the stronger options that were available to us (Forceful Sentry, Scientist, Change of Heart)

 

Today, since Strike HAS to remove 2 dark monsters from the graveyard, to use his effect early probably means that:

 

a) You got an early game Graceful Charity.

b) You have had 2 dark monsters destroyed in battle- that would more than likely mean you are in a position where you are on your heels.

 

While his 1700 atk is enough to keep some field presence, it will probably be short lived without those graveyard resources.

 

3) Strike Decks are at a disadvantage if they run too many non-darks. Now, this may seem the obvious conclusion to draw from my first point, but it's the most important. In today's meta, its clear that certain non-dark monsters dominate the game:

 

- Airknight

- Magician of Faith

- DD Assailant

- DDWL

- Berserk Gorilla

- Etc.

 

The list goes on.  Obviously, it would be nice to run a deck without these limitations.

 

Enter the Baboon:

 

 

I guess, before I start to explain how a Bazoo deck works in more detail, I should answer the question, "Why play a RFP at all?"

 

Like I mentioned earlier, RFP’s can easily bring out tribute monsters mid-game that aid in overpowering your opponent, and they can also bring out a whole fleet of attackers to finish off your opponent right then and there.

 

Unlike Strike, Bazoo decks are not hampered by having to run monsters of a single attribute. Consequently, you can run certain monsters like Magician of Faith, Airknight, some of the Monarchs, etc. more easily.

 

Also, this deck doesn’t necessarily take until mid-game to really start to get rolling.  Since this deck isn’t limited in some of the ways that Strike was, you have more freedom to build. Therefore, I have adopted a more Aggro-type format. As a more aggressive deck, the Bazoo RFP is able to get off the starting line more quickly, using monsters like Berserk Gorilla, Bazoo (usually a 1900-2500 attacker), and DD Survivor as beat sticks.

 

As I have rambled on long enough, for brevity's sake, I am simply going to post my version of the deck list and go into a few of the finer details. (Clearly, you can modify this to fit your own style.)

 

 

Bazoo RFP

 

Total- 40

 

Monsters- 17

 

1x Dark Magician of Chaos

1x Jinzo

1x Airknight

 

2x Bazoo

 

3x DD Survivor

1x Mataza the Zapper

1x Exiled Force

1x Mystic Swordsman lv 2

 

1x Magician of Faith

1x Berserk Gorilla

 

1x Tribe-Infecting Virus

1x Sangan

1x Sinister

1x Breaker

 

Spells- 16

 

1x Pot of Greed

1x Graceful Charity

1x Delinquent Duo

1x MST

1x Heavy Storm

1x Snatch Steal

1x Premature Burial

 

1x Dimension Fusion

1x Brain Control

 

1x Nobleman of Crossout

2x Smashing Ground

 

2x Reinforcement of the Army

 

2x Scapegoat

 

Traps- 7

 

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Ring of Destruction

1x Mirror Force

1x Torrential Tribute

 

1x RftDD

1x Dust Tornado

1x Sak Armor

 

17:16:7

 

 

As I alluded to earlier, Bazoo decks are not limited to running mostly a single attribute. They do not require more than 1 monster in the graveyard, thus making Bazoo a better early game draw. Bazoo is also able to RFG more monsters in a single turn, and does so without sacrificing field presence. And they generally will have a greater field presence, as Bazoo easily becomes a 2500 atk beat stick.

 

Now first, you will recognize that I have constructed this deck using a warrior backbone. The reason for this is two-fold.

 

1) Since they have the most support, I believe that warriors and zombies provide the most solid foundation for almost any type of deck. By choosing a warrior build, I have helped to ensure that my deck has a certain amount of speed and strength.

 

2) By running a sort of JaNk warrior build, I can twice work with the Swiss Army Knife mentality; first on the field initially, and second when I D-Fusion.

 

Imagine if you will, that your opponent have 3 monsters on the field (1x DDWL, 1 set monster, and a Blue Eyes White Dragon), and no set s/t. You have Dimension Fusion in hand, and top deck a Bazoo. Using Bazoo's ability you remove MSlv2, Exiled Force, and DD Survivor. You then D-Fusion those three back and effectively clear his field and do a decent amount of damage (DDS v. DDWL, MSlv2 v. Set Monster, Exiled v. BEWD, Bazoo v. Life Points).

 

 

You will also notice that this 'Warrior Build' lacks 2 very notable warriors- DD Assailant and DDWL. Looking closer you will also see that I am only running 1 Nobleman of Crossout. I am doing this so that I may use Dimension Fusion to its fullest. If I can avoid giving them any monsters, I will more likely be able to finish them off that turn.

 

Instead, I have decked Exiled and MSlv2 to act as substitute forms of removal. While not AS effective, they are certainly a better fit in this deck.

 

Similarly, this is also a reason why I am running 3x DD Survivor, to keep their DDA's/DDWL's in check and out of RFG. They also are nice when combo'd with RftDD, as they will stay on the field as opposed to being removed.

 

 

Running both Dimension Fusion and Return from the Different Dimension grant me versatility. Clearly, one is better early game, when you have LP to spend but don't wish to use half of it, and one is better late game.  Now, an argument can be made for running 2x RftDD over running 1x D-Fusion and 1x RftDD in order to make sure that you don't give yourself dead draws. However, D-Fusion does not need to survive a turn or being set, and can provide immediate advantage. So I feel running 2 is best. But I wouldn’t fault anyone for running 2x RftDD, especially if they were running DD Survivors.

 

I feel the rest of the deck's build is fairly self-explanatory, but I'll quickly discuss anyway:

 

- DMoC is near-staple in all RFG decks.

- Airknight is simply one of the best tributes ever.

- Jinzo works similarly well, especially when D-Fusioned to ensure the final blow.

- Bazoo, obviously, is the focal point of the deck.

- Mataza is decent anti-goat for a warrior (and Asura priest isn't the best option here as he cannot be special summoned when RFG'd). Plus, Mataza scores a solid 2600 when attacking directly.

- MoF: partake in trinity abuse. I've cut her to 1 copy in order to conserve space. Also, DMoC helps to pick up the slack.

- Brain Control helps alleviate the weight of running 3 tribs outside of a zombie build.

- Scapegoats work as the all-purpose shield/anti-swap/stall/field presence/etc.

 

 

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In short, I basically look at this deck as a JaNk  Aggro with an easy Kill Switch, and it plays as such.

 

The deck is solid enough on its own to win without the d-fusion combo's, however, pulling those combo's off almost ensures an easy victory.

 

While it does not run exactly like a Strike Deck would, I feel that of the two RFP deck types, this is the stronger for the moment.

 

I encourage people to try it; you will most likely be surprised.

 

I can be reached at-

 

xxbenthegreatxx@yahoo.com