First off, I'd like to thank everyone had gave me suggestions about the Deck Destruction deck that I wrote about last time. Once I sort through the all of the new cards from Pharoah's Servant, I'll post an update to that deck type. Today's deck is a new one that will only be seen once Pharoah's Servant becomes more common place. Remember all of those level 1 monsters in the Metal Raiders series that could attack life points directly? And remember how they were never used because of their really low stats? Well, Pharoah's Servant now gives meaning to the existence of those poor little cards. The backbone of this deck lies with Gravity Bind, a continuous trap card that prevents any monster of level 4 or higher from attacking. Since just about every deck (especially beatdowns) only contains this type of monster, Gravity Bind will really slow this down. Now all of those level 1 direct damage monsters can attack over and over again without any fear of reprisal from the more powerful monsters that are commonly used.
Some might wonder how much you can really do with monsters that can only attack for 300-500 per turn. There are several ways to give big power boosts to those little monsters. The first is by using the equipment magic cards from Magic Ruler. With an Axe of Despair, or a couple of Malevolent Nuzzlers, each of those little guys can start doing well over 1000 damage per turn. Field Magic cards are also useful, though it is only some of them will actually work here. There were 6 Direct Damage Monsters released in Metal Raiders. One is a Water Type, 2 are Dark, and 3 are Earth, so only Field cards of those types will be of any use. With only one water monster, it is not worth basing a deck around that type. Dark will work better with 2 different monsters (giving you six total in a deck). It also lets you use some standard Dark Beatdown monsters to work with if you can't draw a Gravity Bind, or if it keeps getting destroyed. The problem here is that many people have Dark monsters in their deck, so your opponent will get the same atk bonus that you do. And in this game, its not usually a good idea to help your opponent. The best way to go here is with the Earth monsters. This gives you as many as 9 Direct Damage monsters in your deck. That way, even if your opponent keeps using cards like Raigeki, Fissure, Dark Hole, etc., you'll have sevaeral of your little guys waiting in your hand for their chance to attack. And now with an Earth Field card, your old Battle Ox might just have a reason to come back into the light of day. The last way of boosting your little army corp is by using the element monsters that came with Metal Raiders. Star Boy, Witch's Apprentice and Milus Radiant finally get a chance to shine. With a field magic card already out, adding one or two of these monsters to the field will push these Direct Damage monsters even farther. They can get attacks approaching 2000 per monster without even using any equipment cards. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who thinks that doing 2000 direct damage per monster is a bad thing.
There are also a couple of supporting cards that work well with this deck. The first is Robbin Goblin. Each time your little attackers do damage (which they can do every single turn that they are on the field), you get to discard from your opponents hand. Dealing with so many little monsters is tough enough to do with a normal hand, and is even tougher to do without a hand. This card has been used less often since Magic Ruler came out due to the White Magical Hat-Axe of Despair combo, and cards like Forceful Sentry, Confiscation, and Delinquent Duo. Now, the Goblin is back, and he wants some action. Light of Intervention may also find a home here. This will keep your opponent from using effects from cards like Man-Eater Bug, Magician of Faith, Cyber Jar, etc. The downside is that you can't use them either. So if you want to use a Mask of Darkness to get your Gravity Bind back, Light of Intervention will keep you from doing it. It has its pros and cons, and I leave up to the eaders to decide if it works well for their particular deck. Ceasefire is another fun card to throw in here. First, it will flip up face-down monsters and keep them from using their effect. Second, and more importantly, it does lots of Direct Damage.
This type of deck will require having several monsters on the field, which will for the most part all be effect monsters. And for every effect monster on the field, your opponent takes 500 points direct damage. Along with your normal attacks, this can very possibly clinch a duel. As with any deck, this deck has it's weaknesses. The glaring one is the necessity of keeping a Gravity Bind active on the field. Cards like Heavy Storm, Giant Trunade, Mystical Space Typhoon and the newly released Dust Tornado will make it tough to keep this out on the field for very long. If it wasn't for Dust Tornado, you could simply rely on Magic Jammer and Magic Drain to keep your Gravity Bind protected. And using Seven Tools in your deck just in case your opponent may be using Dust Tornado could end up hurting you more than it helps. Fake Trap is really the way to go. The anti-Magic counters should still be used due to the large quantity of powerful magic cards, but Fake Trap will play a big role. If you have one down next to your Gravity Bind, you've almost guaranteed (barring an opponent's Seven Tools or Solemn Judgement) it's existence for one turn longer than your opponent is hoping. Another downside of this deck is the infamous Man-Eater Bug. It's rather often appearance in decks makes it noteworthy. Besides the fact that it can kill one of your little guys when it's flipped, it's also an Earth monster.
That means it will get any bonus provided by a Field Card or by Milus Radiant. And since it's base atk rating is higher than that of any of the Earth direct damage monsters, it will always be able to take one out. It's a strange sight to see a Man-Eater played in attack mode, but against an Earth based Gravity Bind deck, it will happen, and it will happen often. The only way to really counter this is with Rush Recklessly. Let your opponents MEB atk, flip your quick play magic card, and watch that MEB leave the field. It will also help protect your Battle Ox from those pesky 1800 attackers in case your field card is destroyed. Another card that may come back into play is the Giant Soldier of Stone, which seems to have taken back seat to the Wall of Illusion. For some odd reason, the GSOS is only a level 3 monster, even though it has an atk of 1300 to go along with it's defense of 2000. Mystical Elf only has an atk of 800, but still manages to be a level 4. Oh well, that really doesn't matter here. But the GSOS will still be able to attack with Gravity Bind on the field, and a Rush Recklessly won't be enough to protect your little monsters. The last card that can really hurt this deck is Jinzo, the secret rare from Pharoah's Servant. Due to it's effect, you won't be able to Trap Hole it, and as soon as it's on the field, the effect of Gravity Bind becomes negated. If you're using enough equipment cards in your deck, you can probably overpower it, but it may be wise to use a Summoned Skull or two in this deck. Keep it in your hand as long as Gravity Bind is out, but in the rare case of Jinzo, or even if the Gravity Bind is destroyed, you can get out a decent attacker and take back the field.
That wraps up this type of Deck for now. Any suggestions are welcome at: fosbury@acsu.buffalo.edu. Thanks again to Pojo, and stay tuned for
Alternative Deck Design #1: Deck Destruction Revisited. This is Adam Fosbury, signing off.