Tiger’s YATA-ROCK Tiger Stop ‘N Shop Collectibles Winston-Salem, NC August 6, 2003 16 participants Deck Name: YATA-ROCK Deck Notes: Yata-Rock is an Earth-based beatdown with built-in Hand Disruption. Special summons from the effects of the Rock Spirit and Marauding Captain help set-up the monster advantage necessary to achieve Yata-lock. Deck List: 40 cards This list is organized by card purpose as opposed to monster/magic/trap. Some cards could fit in multiple categories, but I’ve listed them under their primary purpose in my deck. High Level Monsters: 1 Jinzo Attack Cards: 2 Bazoo the Soul Eater (Earth, pump him up) 1 Marauding Captain (Earth, get monsters out) 1 Goblin Attack Force (Earth, high ATK) 1 Gemini Elf (Earth, highest ATK with no drawbacks) 1 Injection Fairy Lily (Earth, use it wisely – it’s a great defense!) 2 Rock Spirit (Earth, 2000 ATK during opponent’s battle phase, SPECIAL SUMMON!) 2 Spear Dragon (not earth, but with all the other Goblins/Spears running around, it helps to get the Fairy Meteor Crush effect) 1 United We Stand (expendable) Defense Cards: 1 Swords of Revealing Light 1 Book of Moon (used mostly to stop attack, but can also be used offensively – GREAT CARD) Destroy/Remove Monster Cards: 1 Raigeki 1 Dark Hole 1 Mirror Force 1 Change of Heart 1 Snatch Steal (with previous 4 cards constitute what I call the “Big 5” monster removal cards) 1 Torrential Tribute (remove for Ring of Destruction?) 1 Nobleman of Crossout 1 Exiled Force (Earth, faster/reusable Man-Eater Bug) 1 Penguin Soldier (removing 2 monsters from the field is huge – great comeback card) 1 Fiber Jar (perhaps the best comeback card around – if you set it and it flips, it always helps you unless they flipped it with Swords or Change of Heart) Destroy/Remove Magic/Trap Cards: 1 Imperial Order (might be the most powerful card in the game) 1 Magic Drain (depletes their hand or negates the card – win either way!) 1 Harpie’s Feather Duster 1 Mystical Space Typhoon (chain to Imperial – that’s why it’s in here) Gain Hand Advantage Cards: 1 Pot of Greed 2 Graceful Charity (get cards needed for Yata!) 1 Witch of the Black Forest (get Yata or whatever comeback card you need) 1 Sangan (get Yata or whatever comeback card you need) 1 Confiscation (deplete hand, 1000 LP is nothing) 1 Delinquent Duo (see above) 1 Forceful Sentry (no cost! Wow! Plus, that guy on the picture is FAT!) 1 Yata-Garasu (well, it is called Yata-Rock…) Add Monster Cards: 1 Monster Reborn 1 Premature Burial 1 Call of the Haunted SIDEDECK: 2 Forced Requisition (Use against other Yata decks) 1 Ring of Destruction (Should I maindeck this card?) 2 Barrel Behind the Door (for burners) 1 Solemn Wishes (burners) 1 Nobleman of Crossout (any defense deck) 1 Sasuke Samurai (any defense deck) 1 Goblin Attack Force (if they run lots of 2000 DEF monsters) 1 Heavy Storm (for folks with continuous M/T) 1 Giant Trunade (for folks with continuous M/T) 1 Magician of Faith (get back those M/T removal cards) 1 Hayabusa Knight (for folks that love Scapegoat) 1 Skull Lair (use vs. clown control) 1 Soul Release (Exodia) ROUND 1 vs. KEVIN Okay, Kevin has not played Duel Monsters very long. He Change of Hearted my Spear Dragon when I had Swords down and didn’t tribute it for anything. Oops. I got Jinzo out and won the first duel easily. Then, in the second duel, he Change of Hearted my Bazoo when I had Swords down and didn’t tribute it. Oops again. I had Jinzo again used him for the knockout. Both duels were over in two attacks. Not a great test for my deck. ROUND 2 vs. ERIK Erik and I play each other a lot, so we know each other’s decks pretty well. He plays a beatdown with Yata, but he does not play Rock Spirit like I do. He’s also got three Geminis and three Spear Dragons. He plays fewer little monsters than I do. But I’ve at least converted him to be a disciple of Fiber Jar. Anyway, to the duels: First Duel: I whittled him down with direct attacks from Goblin and Bazoo (at 2500) and a few other minor damages. But after I got him down to 1300 LP, we sort of stalled out. I had one monster down and he kept putting normal monsters in defense. I just needed one more monster for the knockout blow. When he put his third monster in a row face down, I was afraid of Fiber Jar. I had removed about 11 cards for Bazoo. I Dark Holed his monster and mine – he had Witch down and pulled his Fiber Jar, but I summoned Rock Spirit and attacked for the win. Second Duel: I got him early with Bazoo at 2500, then a few turns later I got out Jinzo and it was all downhill from there. He was especially disappointed when I played Nobleman on his Witch – that’s why I always put Witch and Sangan face up and eat the LP damage. Nobleman and Exiled Force cleared the way for two direct attacks by Jinzo that knocked him out - he had paid 1000 LP earlier for Delinquent Duo. SEMIFINALS vs. IAN Ian and I dueled all night Monday just for fun. Then Tuesday we faced each other in a tournament and I narrowly won. And then, on Wednesday, we met again, for the highest stakes yet. Here’s what happened: First Duel: He got me for 4000 direct very early – I had killed his face up Sangan with Gemini Elf to get him to 7100, but then he Prematured his Jinzo, summoned Marauding Captain (from Sangan I think), then special summoned Goblin Attack Force with Marauding Captain’s effect. 2400 + 1200 + 400 (Goblin – Gemini) = 4000 (ouch). I had Raigeki in my hand though. I cleared the field and attacked with my Witch to take him down to 5200. He had cleared out his hand on the previous turn and didn’t have a monster. I put down Sangan and attack to get him down to 3100. Then he puts a monster face-down but I Nobleman it. I get him for 2100 again, so he’s got 1000 left. He puts another monster face down. I am scared of Fiber Jar, so I decide to take a risk. I use Dark Hole. He’s got Witch down and takes Kuriboh. But I have got the answer. With Witch’s effect, I take Rock Spirit. With Sangan’s, I take Exiled Force. I normal summon Exiled and Special Summon Rock Spirit by removing Gemini. He can only Kuriboh one or the other. Game over. Second Duel: I got my clock cleaned this time. His opening move was great. He summons Goblin and sets one trap. I summon Gemini with United We Stand and attack Goblin, but in response to the attack, he activates Imperial Order. I had already declared the attack, and Imperial Order’s effect resolved before my attack could resolve, so essentially I attacked a 2300 ATK monster with a 1900 ATK monster. That did not turn out well for me. I wound up not touching him in the duel. He paid for Delinquent Duo and Lily once, and that’s all the damage he took. Third Duel: He got me for 2300 early with Goblin, but I turned around and got him for 2500 with Bazoo. I was able to keep board control and whittle him down a little and then, finally, I got to set up a Yata-Lock. I had no monsters but Yata, but Mirror Force and a few monster removal cards got me through three turns without him drawing and then he didn’t have any cards left to play. He conceded the duel. I waited until after he had shuffled all his cards back together before I reminded him he had Sinister Serpent in his graveyard. Ouch. So if had been paying attention, I wouldn’t have been able to lock him out right then. So the lesson is that if you’re playing Sinister Serpent, you’ve got to keep remembering to pick it up, even if something’s on top of it! Who knows if I still would have won? Anyway, on to the... FINAL vs. SEAN Sean is a cool little kid who likes to run his mouth – he’s always fun to be around and he very good at Duel Monsters. He’s Ian’s brother, but they are like any pair of young brothers – they’re competitive, so they don’t pull for each other. So I had Ian’s support in the finals :) First Duel: He had me on the ropes early – I was down to 2400. I also hadn’t done any battle damage. He had lost 1800 for Premature and either Confiscation or Delinquent Duo, I can’t remember. But he played his hand out really fast. I used Delinquent Duo to wipe out the rest of his hand, Dark Holed him, and Yata-locked him. Second Duel: The second duel was all mine. He put Sangan in attack. I put down Lily and got him for 2400 and then used Forceful Sentry to take the monster he pulled (Fiber Jar I think, can’t remember). He got rid of my Lily with Exiled Force, then I put down Bazoo and got him for 2500. He had no monsters, and I wiped him out the next turn. There’s really only a few differences in my Yata-Rock deck and the standard beatdowns most folks are playing these days. Here are the differences: 1) The Rock Spirit – Most of the standard beatdown monsters in the game right now are Earth monsters, so Rock Spirit is a natural fit. He’s risky to play though, if you get stuck with two of him at the beginning. 2) Lack of Kuriboh – Kuriboh has made a comeback, mostly because of Injection Fairy Lily. If Kuriboh is not popular in your area, ignore this part. But everyone around my city is playing him. What a waste of a card! He does not give you ANY board control, which is what WINS you the game of Duel Monsters. 3) Lack of Magic Cylinder – Great card, but it also doesn’t help you win board control because you can’t destroy the attacking monster. The fact that it’s vulnerable to any M/T removal made it expendable in my deck. 4) Marauding Captain in a non-warrior deck – Well, his effect says ANY level four monster can be special summoned, so he’s good for getting your four stars out fast. 5) Magic Drain – What a GREAT Yata card! You win either way. They’ve either got to discard a card (good) or they lose their magic effect (also good)! The only way it doesn’t work is if it’s the only M/T you’ve got down and they play Feather Duster or something. I may add another one. It’s so much more practical that the other supplemental discard cards (see below) 6) Lack of Robbin’ Goblin – too slow, too situational. You get stuck with it, you know? It’s can’t help you come back very well. Sure, it can be devastating if you’re already winning the duel, but you’re already winning the duel, right? So why not pack a different card that can help you whether you’re winning or losing? 7) Lack of Drop-Off/Time Seal – I like these cards, I just don’t have room for them. To tell you the truth, no one is really playing them much around here anymore. You’ve got to keep a Yata deck at 40 cards so you can more quickly get to what you need for the lock. And to tell you the truth, no one is really playing Drop-Off and Time Seal around here anymore. So that is Yata-Rock. As you can see from the tourney reports, it doesn’t really win by Yata all that much. But the cards that support Yata help you in the duel anyway, whether you’re locking them or not. Hand advantage is always good. That’s why Yata works in so many different decks – you’re not sacrificing your main strategy to bring him in to the picture. My earth-based beatdown has Yata conveniently worked in without filling my deck with cards that take away from my “get out monsters fast and attack” strategy (a simple beatdown strategy, right?) This deck is not revolutionary by any means. But I do think it’s convenient and plays well. The Rock Spirit is the biggest risk – it’s bad to draw him early. But the benefits are showing to outweigh the risk so far. This is the second tournament I’ve won with this deck, but the first tournament was much smaller and the competition was not quite as good, so I waited to post this report. Questions, comments, ideas, criticism? Email me at SamTiger54@yahoo.com peace- Tiger