[fieryshadowcard@yahoo.com]

Post-Ban Exodia Deck- Fieryshadowcard

 

An opportunity for Exodia decks has arisen, especially with the loss of 

Sangan and Witch, although some may not see it that way.

 

I've never had all five Exodia pieces (I had three at one point, but at 

that time LoB was done and Exodia was relatively unplayable), but I did 

fantasize about beating someone mercilessly with an Exodia deck. With 

the loss of a bunch of cheap cards that made Exodia decks not even so 

much as a second thought in the dueling realm, a bunch of other staples 

lose their power, and Exodia is then able to truly shine. Once the ban 

hits, I foresee the rise of Exodia decks for those who have all the
pieces 

at their disposal. The deck idea I've concocted seems relatively easy to 

build (not too many insanely rare cards), and it feels like it could
really 

be effective. When I break it down, it can be easily grouped into three

categories: Drawing/Thinning; Stall/Removal/Field Advantage; Recursion. 

But, before that, take a look at the cards you'll be using.

 

Monsters (22)         

Exodia the Forbidden
One          

Right Leg of the Forbidden
One          

Right Arm of the Forbidden
One          

Left Leg of the Forbidden
One          

Left Arm of the Forbidden
One          

Emissary of the Afterlife
x3          

Royal Magical Library
x2          

Des Lacooda x2          

Swarm of Locusts x2          

Swarm of Scarabs          

Mystic Tomato          

Shining Angel          

Dark Magician of
Chaos          

Magician of Faith          

Mask of Darkness          

Exiled Force          

Sinister Serpent

 

Spells (14)         

Scapegoat
x3          

Level Limit-Area B
x2          

Messenger of Peace
x2          

Snatch Steal          

Change of Heart          

Painful Choice          

Premature Burial          

Pot of Greed          

Swords of Revealing
Light          

Mirage of Nightmare

 

 

Traps (4)         

Gravity
Bind          

Call of the Haunted          

Torrential Tribute          

Backup Soldier

 

Now, you have your cards. Below are the three categories they'll fall
into. 

A powerful thing about this deck is that many of these cards tend to
overlap and 

may fall into other groups, so the deck thrives on multiple options to
cover any 

shortcomings it may face.

 

Drawing/Deck Thinning
Options:                            

Painful Choice          

Des Lacooda          

Pot of Greed          

Mirage of Nightmare          

Royal Magical
Library          

Emissary of the
Afterlife          

Mystic Tomato          

Shining
Angel                    

 

Stalling/Destruction/Field Advantage
Options:                            

Level Limit-Area B          

Torrential Tribute          

Scapegoat          

Dark Magician of Chaos (C'mon! A 2800 Attack
Wall!)          

Swords of Revealing
Light          

Gravity Bind          

Change of Heart          

Messenger of Peace          

Mystic Tomato          

Shining Angel          

Premature Burial          

Call of the Haunted          

Swarm of Locusts          

Sinister Serpent          

Exiled Force          

Swarm of
Scarabs                    

 

Recursion
Options:                            

Dark Magician of
Chaos          

Magician of Faith          

Mask of Darkness          

Premature Burial          

Call of the Haunted          

Backup Soldier          

Sinister Serpent
(self-recursion)          

 

*Winning Options
(lol):                            

Exodia the Forbidden
One          

Left Arm of the Forbidden
One          

Left Leg of the Forbidden
One          

Right Arm of the Forbidden
One          

Right Leg of the Forbidden
One          

 

*I'm just being an idiot with that last group

 

Breakdown of Uses of
Cards:                    

Mystic Tomato and Emissary of the Afterlife/Shining Angel and Royal
Magical
Library:          

              
To put it simply, one pair is meant for deck thinning, and the other is
meant for immediate drawing potential. There are three Emissaries to max
out the potential of Mystic (not to mention that three Emissaries
translates to a possible three Exodia pieces), and there are two Royals
to increase Shining Angel's chances of success. If Emissary or Royal
don't make it out onto the field immediately, these two cards will solve
that problem. Now, Emissary's purpose is clearly for the Normal Exodia
cards. If you can already get them in your hand, there's no need to draw
anymore. Plus, you're most likely going to be the only benefactor of this
effect since your opponent would have to be running an Oppressed People
or Ojama Trio deck to really benefit from your card. Watch out for other
Exodia Decks, though; for once, letting that searcher die isn't such a
good idea. Royal Magical Library is very effective in this deck. A little
imagination (and intelligence) tells you that this card is helped
immensely by the KINDS of spell cards featured in this deck. Messenger
and Limit, as well as every other spell card serve the overly important
role of performing their effect, but also giving Royal its tokens, and
protecting Royal as well. If all three Emissaries or both Royals come out
before Shining Angel/Mystic Tomato, that only leaves Shining Angel the
secondary purpose of being a wall, but Tomato has a tertiary (third)
purpose; bringing out Swarm of Locusts or Swarm of Scarabs.

 

Pot of Greed, Mirage of
Nightmare                   

Drawing. In a word, drawing. That's all these are for. Mirage of
Nightmare stands there defiantly in the unlikely chance that your hand
has no cards in it. Since the majority of other cards focus on
single-handedly controlling the field, your hand should be much bigger
than normal. No, Mirage isn't as necessary here as it is in many other
Exodia decks. Both are weak against spell negation.

 

Torrential Tribute, Change of Heart and Snatch  Steal 

              
More accurately known as "Anti-enemy field", these cards,
although only three unlike the current environment, serve their purposes
almost instantly. Torrential is a clean slate card. If you don't like
your field, get rid of it and your opponent's as well. Its primary
purpose is for anything that Jinzo has not corrupted with his
ever-devastating touch. For Jinzo, or anything of the like that truly
bothers your field advantage, Change of Heart and Snatch Steal step up.
Unlike in the current environment, these three heavy-hitters take a
backseat and let the other cards do their work. You shouldn't need much
more protection than this. Yata and Raigeki are gone. Take a deep breath
and relax. Torrential is weak against Jinzo and trap negation, and Change
of Heart and Snatch Steal are similarly weak against Spell Canceller (who
uses that?) and spell negation. But the rest of the deck protects against
those,
anyway.                    

 

Swarm of Locusts, Swarm of Scarabs, Exiled Force, Sinister Serpent and
Des
Lacooda                   

              
When your heavy-hitting cards (DMoC, all the Exodia pieces, Torrential
Tribute, deck thinners/drawers, etc.) are not immediately available to
you, these help in conjunction with the field stall cards to make it so.
Protected under Level/Messenger/Gravity Bind/Swords, the three flippers
get really nasty really fast. If brought out on your turn by Mystic
Tomato, a Scarab or a Locust immediately sets to work and gets its effect
off. I chose Locust over MST firstly because of its reusability, secondly
because of deck space and ratio, and thirdly because this deck isn't too
concerned with what the opponent does on the S/T field. This is also your
answer to tricky spells/traps and Jinzo-ish nuisances. Des Lacooda gives
you an extra draw each turn. Exiled Force speaks for itself, and Sinister
Serpent guards the hand in difficult dueling moments. This part of the
deck is weak against cards that try to ward off effects, but since these
are triggered by manual flip and not by being sent to the
graveyard/having a card activated/being attacked/being flipped by an
attack/etc., there is little next to Skill Drain that can stop them in
their tracks.

 

Scapegoat, Level Limit-Area B, Gravity Bind, Messenger of Peace, Swords
of Revealing
Light                   

              
These are your primary walls for defensive purposes. Scapegoat keeps you
protected with an artificial wall during times when you need it, and is
always ready in the event that the other four cards fail; three of these
guarantee a tight defense. Since Scapegoat's natural weakness is trample
and/or positions (Necrovalley decks will mangle this card), when it is on
the field, it needs to be secured behind Level Limit/Gravity
Bind/Messenger/Swords to be truly effective. Most likely, by the time
it's removed, you'll have either already won or eliminated any on-field
threats that could harm the sheepish defense. Level Limit takes
precedence over Gravity Bind, and Messenger is for instances where
restricting levels just isn't enough. The Agent ofForce- Mars can die as
far as I'm concerned (Gravity Bind, unfortunately, is the only proper
defense against such a fatal monster). Since this wall is meant to
respond specifically to Level 4 and up monsters or Monsters with attacks
that are 1500 and up, its primary weaknesses are against Direct
Damage/Weenie/Burn Decks and Angel/Fairy Decks (which revolve around
attacking indirectly, rather through brute force or burn damage);
spell/trap negation is a given. There is also a chance that four
scapegoats who can't be tributed for summons or anything else (since none
of the other cards in this deck have tribute costs) may slow down your
ability to put things on the field, so conserve the use of a scapegoat up
until right before you lose your other defenses. These stalls provide you
a light delay; it should never take you long to win a duel, so this is
all that's needed in most cases.

 

Painful Choice

              
This card is ultimately a deck-thinner. It gives Exodia a level of speed
that Pot of Greed wishes it possessed and it gives an amount of control
that Mirage of Nightmare could only dream of attaining. You pick five
cards, each as equally important as possible (in order for this to be
effective, or else you'll get stuck with crap). Of those five, you let
your opponent choose one for you to keep, and the rest are discarded.
Other than magic negation as an obvious problem, there is also the
selection. Here are a few tips: (1)Never put both Call of the Haunted or
Premature Burial in the same group; (2)Never select Backup Soldier as one
of the five; (3)Never choose a flip effect monster since this deck has no
relatively simple way of reviving them for their effect; (4)The
Flip-Trigger Monsters are good picks since revival guarantees them at
least one quick shot. In fact, the best choice is: A Des Lacooda, a Swarm
of Locusts, Swarm of Scarabs, Mystic Tomato, and Shining Angel. Avoid
selecting Exodia pieces since you never know when Backup Soldier will
appear. And Sinister Serpent pales in comparison to the urgency of most
of the other cards, so draw it; don't select it.

 

Dark Magician of Chaos, Premature Burial, Call of the Haunted, Magician
of Faith, Mask of Darkness, Backup Soldier 

              
Needless to say, this is for recursion. Exodia decks are always
vulnerable to this, and so they need help to keep their key cards
(particularly the Exodia pieces) out of the grave. Dark Magician of Chaos
and Magician of Faith serve to get ANY Spell card you'll ever need back.
Let's see... that's
Premature/Scapegoat/Pot/Mirage/Change/Snatch/Messenger/Gravity Bind/Level
Limit/Swords/Painful Choice. Eleven cards, and two chances to reuse any
one of them. Magician comes out on her own, but Dark Magician of Chaos
usually needs to hit the grave first and incur recursion itself,
ironically (since this deck avoids tributing except in instances like
Snatch Steal or Change of Heart), and he's only a one-hit wonder. Aside
from recursion, his field presence with all the restrictive cards in this
deck is sure to be impressive, although an effective duelist can do away
with him quickly. Premature or Call can easily summon him for his
one-time effect, though; however, they're much better used with cards
that will have a much more lasting effect. For instance, both Call and
Premature can bring back a Flip monster and the Flip Monster can then
exist on the field without the threat of death coming by way of MST or
Heavy Storm. Premature and Call can bring back Emissary, Royal, Exiled,
Mystic, or Shining. Mask of Darkness is to reclaim any one of the four
traps you have. And Backup Soldier is the Emissary of your graveyard. Use
it to get back your Normal Exodia pieces. This part of the deck falters
against Necrovalley and instances where the head of Exodia hits the
graveyard. You probably might find Dark Magician of Chaos to not only be
unnecessary, but a hindrance. In fact, depending on your tastes, DMoC
might not even make it into your deck; but find some decent Spell
recursion that will. Perhaps another MoF might be useful.

 

Exodia Pieces 

              
If I have to spell out why these are essential, you shouldn't be playing
an Exodia deck in the first place. You win. End of story. Since neither
Sangan nor Witch are available, the Head is a bit more difficult to
attain. This is both good and bad. Good because the head is safe until it
makes it into your hand (ideally, it would be the last Exodia piece you
draw); bad because it limits the speed. In a pre-ban Exodia deck, speed
was determined through drawing, Call/Premature, Witch/Sangan and
Emissary, and these cards freed up the deck so you could include cards to
defend against the head hitting the graveyard (ie. removal and returning
to hand, or revival and returning to hand). But, without them, there's no
more space, and if the Head is lost, generally all is lost. Confiscation
is still in play after the bans, so watch out. Forceful Sentry only
prolongs the win, but unlike Confiscation, it doesn't severely disrupt
your chances. Other than that, Backup soldier still pretty much protects
the four Normal Exodia pieces. Hand/Control/Disruption/Destruction decks
lose a great deal of momentum and power with the ban, which is also a
reason why Exodia decks have become so playable now. Of course,
Necrovalley decks just got a huge boost contrarily, so it still stands to
reason that there are things for Exodia deck wielders to fear. With the
cards I've mentioned, you should have no problem ending the game quickly,
and you can deal with some light attacks to the hand. One of the best
benefits of this particular deck is that although each section has a
general weakness, no weakness is carried over through the entire deck
(give or take card negation), and if it is, the deck has ways of standing
against such a weakness.

 

Side Deck Options 

              
Needless to say, this deck isn't perfect. For one, Dark Magician of Chaos
may or may not be right for this deck. Remove him for some other
recursion, or maybe for extra drawing (ie. a third Des Lacooda),
destruction or stalling, if you feel the need. Another Magician of Faith,
perhaps? Or maybe a Breaker or a DD Warrior Lady. Possibly even a
Nobleman of Crossout. Then, there's also your options for stalling. Maybe
exchange one of the Scapegoats for Waboku or something 

else. Maybe Dark Door or Kaiser Coliseum will replace one of the Level
Limits or Messengers. Perhaps you don't feel your graveyard monster
recursion is sufficient. Find more Backup Soldiers, or figure out a way
to manipulate your opponent's graveyard. Maybe Change of Heart isn't to
your liking. Exchange it for Creature Swap (maybe even two at the expense
of Snatch Steal) and trade off those bothersome Scapegoats, particularly
for the Jinzo that few monsters will be getting around. Maybe even set it
up to have bounce-back cards for the Exodia head if you see something
excess and unnecessary in my list. If you still find no way to implement
head protection, perhaps you can utilize some sort of cop-out method for
victory. Like a Last Turn/Jowgen combination and some card to cut your
life down. Who knows? This deck actually allows for a very diverse Side
Deck, so have fun choosing according to your own
tastes.           

 

Well, I've said my two cents, and I'm done.

 

-Fieryshadowcard          

If you have any questions or beef (I love beef. 

Favorite meat of all), email me at fieryshadowcard@yahoo.com 

Holla back!