Dark Red Enchanter Part 2: Deck Analysis

          In the first part of this two-part article, I talked about Dark Red Enchanter and how it worked. I’m here again to talk about a deck that made good use of Dark Red Enchanter and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch in order to simulate a Control deck that somewhat worked like the old favorite: Tomato Control. The deck was built and piloted by Derek Rouse, and I’m going to go through the deck card-by-card and talk about the reason that they were included and their uses.

Here’s the decklist:

Derek Rouse’s Enchanter-Tomato Control

Monsters: 20

2 Cyber Dragon

3 Dark Red Enchanter

3 Thestalos The Firestorm Monarch

3 Mystic Tomato

3 Don Zaloog

2 Newdoria

1 Snipe Hunter

1 Marshmallon

1 Sangan

1 Spirit Reaper

Spells: 15

2 Creature Swap

1 Premature Burial

1 Brain Control

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Heavy Storm

1 Lightning Vortex

1 Monster Reborn

2 Soul Exchange

2 Enemy Controller

3 Shrink

Traps: 5

3 Dust Tornado

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

          As you can see, this deck ALSO included 15 Spell Cards in the deck, which is about the average expectation for decks in the format. Just wanted to point that out. I’ll move onto the explanations now.

2 Cyber Dragon

          Cyber Dragon doesn’t see as much play as it did before, when Monarchs dominated the format. Their inclusion in this Dark Red Enchanter shouldn’t be a problem with Thestalos included as well, since they help with both Tribute Fodder and swarming, which somewhat helps the speed of the deck. They also work pretty well in this deck in particular because it includes cards that most likely won’t stay on the field for very long like Newdoria, Sangan, and Don Zaloog.

3 Dark Red Enchanter

          The main cards of this deck that I wanted to talk about, the Dark Red Enchanters are capable of running over many strong monsters in the format and they’re a great form of Control. For more details, click on over to the first part of this article titled “Dark Red Enchanter Part 1: Card Analysis.”

3 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

          Thestalos is the only Monarch that can see exceptional amounts of play in this format because of his Control effect. It works somewhat like Dark Red Enchanter by discarding a card from the opponent’s hand, and it also provides minor burn, which can always completely change the outcome of a duel. Thestalos isn’t difficult to summon, either, as Rouse made sure that he included a decent amount of tribute fodder.

3 Mystic Tomato

          These searchers work great in this deck. They can search out numerous useful monsters like Don Zaloog, Sangan, Spirit Reaper, Snipe Hunter, Newdoria, and another copy of itself. The Special Summon ability helps for finding cards to tribute for Dark Red Enchanter and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, and it’s helpful when trying to stall (Spirit Reaper), trying to destroy a monster (Snipe Hunter and Newdoria), attempting to add a card to your hand instead of directly summoning it (Sangan), or needing to discard a card from the opponent’s hand when a Thestalos or Dark Red Enchanter just isn’t coming up.

3 Don Zaloog

          As explained in the Mystic Tomato section, Don Zaloog can come in handy when no form of tribute fodder is in sight or just when the two main forms of Control aren’t in your hand (Dark Red Enchanter and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch). Also, now that Crush Card Virus is widely released, and it will most likely be seen in more decks, Don Zaloog is a useful form of Control when all your stronger monsters have been destroyed because of the virus.

2 Newdoria

          Newdoria was included because it could easily be searched out by Mystic Tomato’s effect and that it was a great form of removal. A great bonus of this card is that its effect can’t be negated by Destiny Hero – Plasma’s effect, which is extremely practical when dueling against a Deck based around Plasma, and believe me, those aren’t unusual anymore.

1 Snipe Hunter

          Snipe Hunter is another monster that can be Special Summoned when Mystic Tomato is destroyed in battle and sent to the Graveyard, and it comes in useful in almost every deck because of its great removal effect. This card is extremely helpful in many situations, and this deck makes use of it in a great way with the Mystic Tomato search engine.

1 Marshmallon

          This card is pretty handy when you’re cornered and you need more time, and it can also stall for time when waiting for a Thestalos or Dark Red Enchanter to come up. It’s also pretty cool when you’ve gotten the opponent pretty low and then they have a come back, rushing into this facedown and losing the game.

1 Spirit Reaper

          This card was included for about the same reason as Marshmallon, except for the fact that Spirit Reaper is also a good form of Control and can easily discard multiple cards from the opponent’s hand.

          For now, that’s all I’m going to do. After the release of multiple new cards, the Meta has once again changed, and covering the monsters should be enough as the Spells and Traps are most likely to be the most affected in the upcoming changes in the format.

          If you have some feedback, suggestions, article requests, or deck fixes, send them all to lightningsaphira94@gmail.com! Just remember to follow my submittal guidelines for those deck fixes.

Have Fun and Play Fair!

Ed