REVOLUTION!! THE NO RAIGEKI DECK (GRENADE DECK) Tiger Heart of the Cards Shop Winston-Salem, NC Tournament Date: 6-4-03 Participants: 18 NOTE: This report describes matches from an unofficial tournament that I won (we did use Upper Deck rules). But I actually used a previous version of this deck to win two Upper Deck official tournaments this past January, both with more than 30 participants. It is DEFINITELY a viable strategy. Deck Name: Grenade Deck Deck Notes: No Raigeki, no Monster Reborn, no Change of Heart, no Dark Hole – a champion deck? Beating top of the line beatdowns with Jinzo, United We Stand, Gemini Elf, Mage Power, Goblin, the works? Oh yes. Believe in the Grenade Deck. Deck Strategy: Stop opponent from attacking with Gravity Bind, Messenger of Peace, but DON’T DESTROY THEIR MONSTERS! Make them fill up their board, then hit them with Just Desserts. (i.e., Build a wall through which monsters cannot attack, then toss grenades over the wall – hence, the Grenade Deck) Deck List: 43 cards (but that includes Pot of Greed, 2 Graceful Charity) Monsters: 20 11 2000 Defense Monsters – there’s lots of fun new ones in Labyrinth and Legacy 3 Mask of Darkness (recover Just Desserts, Gravity Bind if necessary) 2 Princess of Tsurugi (another burn weapon) 2 Man-Eater Bug (for Jinzo only, he is a true pain for this deck – it relies on traps) 1 Cyber Jar (can clear Jinzo, put monsters on field for opponent, get cards) 1 Sangan (find ANY of the above – you can attack him to an opponents monster to kill him off) Magic: 10 3 Messenger of Peace (staple of the deck, with Gravity Bind; also critical to counter Jinzo) 2 Prohibition (prohibit Harpie’s Feather Duster b/c I have lots of continuous Magic/Traps; also prohibit special cards like Tornado Wall for a water deck or Witch of the Black Forest for Exodia) 1 Tribute to the Doomed (Jinzo and beefed up Hayabusa only) 1 Mask of the Accursed (good weapon, also helps in a pinch – not too important, though) 1 Pot of Greed (obvious) 2 Graceful Charity (I only play them if I NEED to find something like Gravity Bind) Traps: 13 3 Gravity Bind (staple of the deck, with Messenger) 3 Just Desserts (primary weapon) 1 Ceasefire (auxiliary weapon, also negates flip effects) 3 Magic Jammer (SAVE THE STALL CARDS!!) 1 Solemn Judgment (save whatever you want) 2 Solemn Wishes (if I’m going to slow the game down, might as well get points for it) SIDEDECK: 2 Mystical Space Typhoon (for opponent’s Solemn Wishes) 2 Magician of Faith (to use with Mystical) 1 Nobleman of Crossout (for Exodia, combo with Cyber Jar) 1 Solemn Wishes (just an extra, may take it out) 1 Prohibition (for dire circumstances) 3 Appropriate (Exodia) 1 Confiscation (Exodia) 1 Delinquent Duo (Exodia) 1 Card Destruction (Exodia) 1 Soul Release (Exodia) 1 Seven Tools of the Bandit (never use, probably should take it out) FIRST ROUND vs. Eric First Duel: Eric is playing a Water deck. I’ve got him so he can’t attack, and I’m burning him down with Just Desserts and Princess. Then he pulls out Tornado Wall with his Legendary Ocean, so I can’t do any damage to his life points, even with burn cards. I have nothing in my main deck to get rid of that, so I concede the first duel. Second Duel: I put in my Mysticals and Magicians (chucking Solemn Wishes, a Princess, and a Man- Eater), and I wipe him out in duel two. But it does take a while (as always), and we are running out of time. Third Duel: He attacks my face-down Giant Soldier with an 1800 atk and loses 200 LP. Then they call time. Crappy way to lose for him, but I think I had the upper hand in the last duel anyway. SECOND ROUND vs. John First Duel: John has a beatdown, and he beats me in this duel the way you have to beat my deck - before I can get out a Gravity Bind or Messenger. I am through in about 5 turns. But that was my only problem – he didn’t have any particular cards that I knew would give me trouble, so I don’t sidedeck. Second Duel: I lock him down, prohibiting Feather Duster, and I draw 2 Just Desserts and Ceasefire out of a Graceful Charity. Not a great shuffling job, but it did allow me to take him out a little quicker. Third Duel: I lock him down again, same Prohibition, and this time I pull a Solemn Wishes. So basically he just watches my life points grow until they called time. I only took him to 4400 before they called time, but it was enough. He was pretty frustrated – didn’t have a sidedeck with extra magic/trap removal. SEMIFINALS vs. Sergio First Duel: Sergio plays a great Exodia and a great Beatdown. The trick is to figure out quickly which one he’s got so you Prohibit the right cards. I figure out he’s playing Exodia, and I’ve already seen his Sangan, so I prohibit Witch. From there it’s just a process of burning him down. Exodia struggles against my main deck because I don’t destroy Sangans and Witches and I don’t leave any monsters in attack mode than Sangan and Witch can attack to die. So Exodia decks have to wait for Dark Hole, which I Magic Jammer. So even though it takes a while, I burn Sergio out before he can draw Exodia. Second Duel: Now I can sidedeck all my Exodia cards, which essentially make it impossible for Exodia to beat my deck, unless you draw all the right cards off the top. I’ve got Sergio burned down to 400 with 3 pieces in the graveyard and one out of play when they call time. FINALS vs. Ian First Duel: I’ve beaten Ian with this deck in the finals of another tournament, so he’s seen this deck and I’ve seen his beatdown. It’s very impressive, but my Grenade Deck is built specifically to thwart a beatdown. So I lock him down with Gravity Bind, Prohibit Feather Duster, and burn him out with Just Desserts and Princess. The Princess of Tsurugi is especially helpful because he uses Mage Power and drops all his magic and traps on the field, but he can’t attack with the beefed up monster because I flip Gravity Bind. Now he’s got his M/T field locked up so he can’t play any magic cards (I’ve got Magic Jammer down anyway), and I am just waiting for Princess to knock him for 2500. Works like a champ. He sidedecks after this duel. I think he puts Nobleman of Crossout in there. Not a problem unless he hits a Mask of Darkness – then I’d need a Jammer down or I’d be stuck. But I don’t think he puts in anything that would really stick me (like a Solemn Wishes). At least I never saw anything troublesome in the last two duels. Second Duel: He gets all the right cards and beats me the fast way – 2 turns. He goes first, summons Gemini Elf. I don’t have a 2000 DEF, but I put down Sangan and a Gravity Bind with a Magic Jammer. So I should be fine – I’ll pull a 2000 DEF from my deck IF he can get to Sangan. Well, on turn two he summons Hayabusa Knight WITH Mage Power AND United We Stand. Still no problem, I’ve got Messenger in my hand. Gemini can’t attack, so he’ll kill Sangan with Hayabusa and then I drop Messenger. So he tries to attack with Gemini to clear my monster to make way for Hayabusa’s wrath. Well I flip Gravity Bind, but has Mystical down, but I Magic Jammer Mystical, but he Solemn Judgments that. So Gemini kills my Sangan and Hayabusa (at 4100 ATK) wipes me out. Oh well. Doesn’t happen that often. Third Duel: The last duel went much like the first. I was about to be in trouble one time, when he put Mage Power on something and I had no Gravity Bind or Messenger of Peace. I just had to Magic Jammer then Mage Power. The Jammers are usually to protect my stall cards, but they can still save me in other situations. I burned Ian out within the time allowed – first time all tournament. SUMMARY: I built this deck because I didn’t have beatdown cards as good as the other guys. It uses very few hard to find cards – especially now with the new Starter Decks. The only Ultra Rare cards in my main deck (that aren’t in a starter deck) are Ceasefire and Solemn Judgement, neither of which is essential. Messenger of Peace, Tribute to the Doomed, and Mask of the Accursed are the only Super Rares, and only Messenger is critical. The point is, beginners can build this deck without spending much money and then show the big boys with 40 Ultra Rares a thing or two. It’s a champion deck, and it has been for a long time. Watch out for Solemn Wishes and decks heavy on Magic/Trap Removal – and stock cards to get rid of Jinzo FAST. No one pulled one on my this time, but when he’s out, it slows down this deck A LOT. Got to Man-Eat him ASAP. Sidedeck to counter problem cards. And remember, unless it’s Jinzo, you want your opponent to have as many monsters on the field as possible. It’s not the way the game is usually played, and that’s why it works. So add the Grenade Deck to the list of competitive tournament decks (Beatdown, Exodia, Clown Control I guess), and here’s why. When I first created this deck, people started bringing entire sidedecks just to counter my deck. Because that’s what you have to do to beat it. It’s strong against every archetype (except a weird life points gaining deck (that duel would just be a battle to the deck-out)). Try it and you’ll see. Improve it, I’d love to hear new ideas. The Grenade Deck, the ultimate burner, has now been exposed to the masses. Happy dueling – hit me with questions or comments- Tiger SamTiger54@yahoo.com