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Before you start reading I’d like to explain that everyone has a different metagame for any game, and Duel Masters is no exception. When you’re looking for help with your deck, just remember that odds are the decks in your area vary differently from those in other states or cities. This usually spawns from various forms of play styles.

A game of Duel Masters in my area usually has a known aggressor and a defender. The aggressor is usually the one to make the first creature drop and they start swinging towards the shields. The aggressors job is now to destroy all his opponents shields as quickly as possible. The defenders job then is to stabilize the board, so that the cards they drew will eventually help them win due to overwhelming their opponent in card advantage.

While most decks nowadays seem to be designed with a purely aggressive take on the game, I like the control side of the spectrum slightly better. The control player likes to think about things this way: My opponent should never have cards up on me. The cards in my mana zone PLUS the cards in my battle zone PLUS the cards in my hand should always be greater than the cards in my opponents mana zone PLUS his hand, PLUS his battle zone. This is card advantage.

Some of the cards I had been an advocate of for a long time net you such an advantage. Some of these cards net you an immediate advantage. Bronze Arm Tribe and Aqua Hulcus both net you a free cards going into a zone which can immediately net you an advantage, the mana zone and hand respectively. Also, consider your opponent destroying your creature with a card such as Crimson Hammer. You and your opponent each lost a creature in the struggle, however, you now have an extra card your opponent doesn’t due to the creatures effect. This is the reason these cards are good is that the net you card advantage.

Right now I’m going to defend some of the cards that I believe net you this advantage quite well that others have frowned upon, and perhaps I’ll persuade some others into giving it a second look. The first and most controversial card it would appear I rated was Swamp Worm. I will be the first to admit, since as early as Rampage’s metagame, Swamp Worm hasn’t been a good card, in fact, in terms of pure economy, it’s a terrible card.

A 2000 body costs approximately 2 mana for the Darkness civilization. The added effect or your opponent choosing and destroying one of their creatures is probably between 3 and 4. So, if you combined the two Swamp Worm would have a cost of about 5 or 6. Instead, it costs 7, which not only is expensive, but isn’t very practical or at a time in the game where it would be detrimental to your opponent.

However, in teems of cards advantage, Swamp Worm is an excellent example. Lets say your opponent has an Onslaughter Triceps left on the field. You play Swamp Worm, destroying it. Your opponent then plays Tornado Flame on Swamp Worm, destroying it. Your opponent is now down 2 cards, Triceps and Flame, while you only lost 1, the Worm. Over the long haul of the game, this type of advantage over your opponent can win games. But it gets better.

Now lets say your next opponent has a Fighter Dual Fang on the field. You play Swamp Worm, destroying it. Your opponent then plays Natural Snare on Swamp Worm during his next turn. First, you destroyed Fighter Dual Fang, eliminating it from the field. Your opponent loses Fighter Dual Fang, but also in turn loses the card under it. Then your opponent loses another card (Natural Snare) to get rid of Swamp Worm, and while it’s removed from the battle zone, it hasn’t netted your opponent an advantage since you still have some form of access to it, as mana. This trade-off essentially gave you three cards up on your opponent at zero cost to you.

Vampire Silphy can destroy several creatures at a time of your opponents, which can net you an immediate advantage without your opponent even having to waste removal on it. Lost Soul not only can give you an insurmountable amount of card advantage, but also stops your opponents game progression. They no longer have new resources (cards in hand) to create an assault.

That being said, some of these cards have been slightly dated as many of the cards in the game now have speeded it up quite a bit. Evolution creature did this job very well, putting the control player on a lesser clock. Future Control decks just couldn’t seem to pull the strings fast enough. They worked so hard to achieve card advantage only to attack into their opponent and give them those cards right back. Most Control based assaults shifted to become one massive attack into the shields, but Holy Awe and other Creature kill triggers were around to prevent accurate calculations.

However, one odd thing most people aren’t planning on facing is if your opponent plans on decking you, one card at a time. Right now, there aren’t very many cards for that strategy to work, accept for maybe running 50 cards and hoping it outnumbers your opponent. However, the next set has a little gem that could prove useful and may change the way people look at control.

I’ll get more into that in a later article though. Right now one of the top contenders when it comes to Control is the Merfolk Control deck I showcased a few weeks ago. Red/Black is also an emerging archetype that could prove useful.

The control deck makeup right now seems to require Darkness creature kill. As most all decks rely on swinging through with everything they have, creature kill is an essential part of the game. Four Terror Pits seem to be a staple for any control deck. In addition, most runs nearly 12-16 spells for pinpoint creature kill like Volcanic Arrows and Death Smoke. They key spells that allow you to maintain advantage are the mass removal cards, like Searing Wave and Vampire Silphy. Silphy is also nice as it doubles as a win condition.

The control deck mirror match is one of the more interesting matchups. As most control decks run so few creatures to actually win with, stripping your opponent of their kill is key. As much of the plays involve the Draw, Mana, Go scenarios, Lost Soul becomes an increasingly appealing tool. As many of the matchups here showcase control mirrors, Lost Soul is a heavily played as the first person to resolve it usually gains immediate control of the game.

Since control decks run very few creatures you usually don’t plan on using them until they are assured to stick around. Since few creatures are being used, there’s little room for creatures that can’t attack, namely the cheap and efficient Blockers. This makes Control decks quite susceptible to Evolution creatures and Speed Attackers.

Well, that’s about all the information about the Control Decks around here I can cram into your brain for one session. Next Week I’ll have a brand new article just waiting.

Until then…

Ronald (hydromorph) Waclawski

Kian1602@hotmail.com

AOL: hydromorph1602