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GeneralZorpa on Yugioh
Control
July 28, 2008

I Say Nay!
 
What is better in this game than to have an opponent that just realized that their $500+ hand was useless because of a 10 cent rare? Nothing short of winning a major tournament I would think! Now everyone thought that Gadget decks would be able to fulfill that ability, as they are dependant solely on their Normal Summoning, allowing them to play around Royal Oppression and other cards.
 
Needless to say that idea flopped on it's face as the deck was far too slow and the monsters far too little even with backup from Sakuretsu Armor, Bottomless Trap Hole and Dimensional Prison. But what I noticed was that the support cards for the deck were actually very solid. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, Drillroid and Blue Thunder each control a player's actions, forcing them to play around them. Eventually, they will just cease to be able to bend around them and break at the first opportunity.
 
Basically I took my idea of an aggressive Monarchish deck and combined it with tech cards that I love and my opponent's hate. Thus I came up with this.
 
Why So Serious?
 
Monsters-18
 
3x Caius the Shadow Monarch
2x Cyber Dragon
 
3x Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
3x Zombyra the Dark
2x Don Zaloog
2x Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
1x Spirit Reaper
1x Sangan
1x Elemental Hero Wildheart
 
Spells-10
 
2x Allure of Darkness
2x Reinforcement of the Army
1x Brain Control
1x Shrink
1x Monster Reborn
1x Premature Burial
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
 
Traps-13
 
3x Royal Oppression
3x Solemn Judgment
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Dimensional Prison
1x Mirror Force
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Ceasefire
 
Nothing In My Pockets Except Knives and Lint
 
Being a relatively poor player unable to afford Dark Armed Dragon, Judgment Dragon or a suite of Destiny Draws I have to rely on sometimes poorer substitutes or trying to outsmart my opponents in order to attain victory. This far easier said than done, as Adam Corn's Monarch deck is perhaps the ultimate in a cheap playable deck except for a Gladiator deck without Heraklinos and Crush Card Virus.
 
I have found that cards that are disruptive to strategy are often the most playable in this situation. Every monster in the deck is designed to do this. Kycoo has great ATK as well as the ability to remove opposing graveyard effects. He gets rid of Bestiari, Disc Commander and other cards like Necro Gardna before they become a true threat. However, his second effect is good as well, forcing Dark Armed Dragon and Striker Ninja to rely on battle to survive. Oh and those pesky Necro Gardnas that Lightsworn decks are using cannot remove themselves from play and neither can Destiny Hero Malicious, which creates many dead cards.
 
Zombyra the Dark was lifted back into the limelight where it should be with the use of it in a Skill Drain Warrior deck. The deck failed to get a top 16 finish, but the fact that it was using Zombyra and working is what is important. Zombyra suicides with Wulf, Boosted Laquari and will kill anything under that all for a normal summon without tricks. Add in some defense and your Zombyra can take out 2 or even 3 monsters.
 
Caius the Shadow Monarch is one underrated card. It does not "destroy" with it's effect, getting around My Body As a Shield and Prime Material Dragon. The fact that it removes is also a boon, as standard recursion cards (Premature Burial, Monster Reborn) won't work as well as messing with the DAD player's graveyard and wreaking havoc with Gladiator Beasts. The 1000 damage is inflicts upon a DARK monster that is removed is just bonus, and throw in the 2400 ATK and you have a beastly creature.
 
Dekoichi is also a solid card. The plays are very similar if not identical to the "protect the Deko" plays of old. People will likely not waste big removal on it (Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force) or costly removal (Lightning Vortex, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast) as the little train has already paid for itself in card advantage, so they will want to destroy it in battle, walking into your Prisons and Trap Holes. It is ideal tribute fodder and that 1400 damage can add up quickly.
 
Don Zaloog is your friend. Seriously. The field is starting off more bare than not as far as SJC Toronto has gone, and discarding a card and doing 1400 before they do anything is just delicious. He does need backup from your spell and trap cards to be truly effective, but your suite of defense should protect you. You can even mill the deck to put a Lightsworn player in trouble of decking out or to mess with another deck's draws. Add in that he is searchable and DARK and you have a solid addition to the deck.
 
Cyber Dragon is the ugly stepchild of Yu-Gi-Oh!. He fell out of favor a while ago, but I think still has some kick left in him before he goes out of style forever. 2100 ATK on a Special Summon is great, as Wulf has shown to be. He can be emergency tribute fodder for Caius as well, but will mostly be clearing up the field of a weaker monster for a direct ATK by Don Zaloog. That is a +2 and lifepoint damage if it is not stopped, which wins games.
 
Elemental Hero Wildheart is there for the decks that have extra protection. He cannot be stopped by most anything short of Enemy Controller that is played facedown in the backrow. Also his 1500 ATK is rather large getting around many of the Gladiators as well as a few Lightsworn and DARK cards. Mostly he is for direct damage following up an attack by a larger monster like Zombyra or Caius.
 
Introduce a Little Chaos And Make Things Interesting
 
The spell cards of the deck are pretty standard. They either draw or search, destroy cards or bring cards to the field. The exception is Shrink, a card that seemed to have missed it's mark in competitive play. It is excellent with Kycoo, Don Zaloog and even Zombyra, making a good play into a poor one usually. I am only playing one simply because your opponent won't know what hit them. They will be living in fear of Shrink whenever you have a set, and will often make plays around it, even when there is no need to, which is what this deck does.
 
The traps are also pretty standard, but with two exceptions. Dimensional Prison is one of those cards that is great, but not necessarily right now. The fact that Kycoo and Oppression are going to force more battle is gold for this guy. Take away their Special Summoning and battling and an opponent is left with very little to stop you. Dimensional Prison also stops those nasty Gladiators that get under Bottomless. And removing Murmillo or Secutor can be a big blow to that deck.
 
Ceasefire is in here also because of SJC Toronto. Many is the time when an opponent is at 1000 or less lp and you draw nothing to get around them. Ceasefire is almost never a dead draw. It's damage can stack up beside your battle damage very quickly. Some people may prefer to play a 3rd Bottomless or Prison instead, but I like to have it as a backup win condition when things get simplified.
 
It's Never That Simple
 
All of these cards force an opponent to make plays they would rather not. Using removal on cards that pay for themselves for instance. Also forcing battle out of cards not really meant for it because their effects are useless. I managed to keep an opponent locked down with Kycoo and my Prisons, making DAD a dead play and Gyzarus a risk because of Oppression.
 
The deck can also handle with a variety of situations in the first game. Rogue decks will have trouble, as they usually have to use smaller monsters than you. Gladiators are going to need their spell and trap removal early to counter your rmeove from play and negation traps. DAD just gets angry when they have high level dead cards in hand and can't kill your monsters with Grepher. Lightsworn are just wrecked, as they rely on battle to get their damage in and if they can't Special Summon, you have a good chance to press for damage with Kycoo and Don Zaloog.
 
The side deck for this deck would have to be fairly complex, using cards like Banisher of the Radiance and extra warriors like Cliff the Trap Remover and Mystic Swordsman LV 2. Extra Shrink could be handy as well, especially against a very aggro deck. Even tech against Lumina, Disc Commander and Murmillo in the form of Chain Disappearance could be awesome. I tested it out today and almost crippled a lIghtsworn build by removing all of their Lumina and most of it's access to Special Summoning.
 
That is it for this article, I have one coming up where I take a similar stance as this deck, but instead use Volcanic monsters! You're not gonna wanna miss that one! Reach me at raptor1k@hotmail.com and don't forget, there is a contest of mine going on in the forums for all those creatively awesome players out there.
 
Thanx for reading!
GZ