Dark Maltos

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Dark Maltos's Dueling Dome
Increase your dueling technique in 7 steps (pt 4)
The Grave
August 15, 2006

Well guys, I’m back on these again. I had a lazy week last week, I’m sorry to say. I didn’t do much, scarcely anything. I barely got my Cotd’s in, I was that bad. So, I’ve popped back, and decided to get something out there for once.

My ‘7 steps’ articles, as they have become to be known have proved quite popular it would seem, you guys can’t get enough. That’s fine by me, they’re really easy to do, just say the things that are blatantly obvious, and keep you guys smiling, fine by me. What my public want, they get. Before I go too deep into this, I think I should tell you that as well as this, my 3 part Hex Friday decks, and my other random articles , I’m also about to embark on a few duels with my good pal Mofox for your viewing pleasure, so look forward to seeing me play so you can all find out how good I REALLY am. It should be worth a chuckle, I’m bound to screw up somewhere. As well as this, I’m going to start another articles series where I evaluate decks of my choosing, instead of the conventional deck building. Well, with that fresh and out there, I think it’s high time we got this ball rolling don’t you? Don’t expect much, the graves pretty simple.

Since the beginning of the game, the grave has been the foundation of a very wide variety of decks. It’s changed the way we see the game, and has changed the game from being simply about dueling monsters into a complex, and worthwhile one.

Initially, the grave was simply seen as the place cards go when they are destroyed, acting as a sub space between the field and deck. Originally, the only way to make any use of it was with Monster Reborn, an extremely powerful card that is currently banned. This was before the times of dump and revive even people.

That came next. The release of cards like Graceful Charity and Painful Choice allowed a player to rid themselves of difficult to use tribute monsters , and then hit hard later with them when the time called for them. It was an effective way of getting powerful monsters to the field fast, and was the key summoning method for many of the greatest cards. Even today a card that cannot be revived via Pre mature burial and Call of the Haunted (the more balanced forms of a certain revival card) are considered to have a major handicap. Revival is the key thing we think about even now when it comes to the grave. Most decks quite rightly pack a CotH and a Pre mature burial in most decks they make as they give easy access to any fallen monster that will hopefully turn the game in your favour either a powerful offence, defense or tribute fodder. If your deck involves the grave at all, then use these. If you can find a form of revival to fit your deck, do your best to stick it in. Special summonings provide great power to a duelists deck and allow you to build a lot of sweet cards and combos in one turn.

Recursion has also presented itself in the form of cards like Magician of Faith, where instead of reviving monsters, instead you turn your attention to used spell and traps. Often these cards are the most powerful ones in your deck, and continuous recycling of these card through various Tsukuyomi combo’s is an effective way of using your grave, as well as changing the game tempo to high speed, normally in your favour.

The next interesting thing that the grave provides is its vitality with the use of Searchers. Almost all searchers today involve being sent to the grave in order for their effects to activate. Fortunately a searcher is always sent to its owner’s grave, regardless of its position on the field as long as its activation requirements are met. This has been used to a players advantage many times in the form of Searcher Swap , where a searcher of some kind is swapped for an opponents monster which is usually quite powerful, at least in comparison to the searcher sent out who usually has relatively low stats. Then the opposing monster is used to hit the searcher for a decent degree of damage, and to grant yourself its effect, providing great advantage in some cases. As said in part 3, searchers are a great method of field presence, and tie in to the grave nicely. The best decks use searchers, they thin the deck, and fill the grave, an important part of any duelists deck design. Another bonus is that quite often you’ll find that a searcher meets the requirements of the card it searches for, and therefore you can build an effective wall to prevent yourself from receiving some hurt, by repetitively searching for another searcher.

The final thing that the graveyard provides which is worth mentioning (I told you this’d be short) is fodder. What I mean by this is that certain monsters, like Chaos sorcerer for example , require the removal of certain cards from the grave in order to be summoned, normally associated with either type or attribute. This started way back in LON with a still awesome card known as Dark Necrofear. Since then we’ve received loads of this sort of stuff, most notably in the form of the Chaos monsters. Love them or loathe them, you can’t argue that they have a dynamic that makes them not only great, but game breaking. Easy access to a special summon of any kind is superb, basically allotting in free monsters. You can’t argue with that kind of power. If you can use them, you must use them. Its that simple.


So, that’s the grave covered. I said that it wasn’t going to be long, and I didn’t lie. At the very least you must know that the grave is your friend, and a useful thing that you MUST take advantage of whenever possible. It provides and easy access pool of cards much like the deck, except without the random probability. If you have control over your grave, you have control over the duel. A large grave is a good thing, even more so if you can use it.

Well that’s it from me again guys. I’ll get some more to you before the end of the week, most likely tomorrow if I can. I’m trying to get these out of the way so I can throw myself into other projects, so please enjoy.

Dark__Maltos@msn.com

Have a good one guys