September 2008

 

Looking Under the Bed - Trick Burn

 

Welcome to another installment of "Looking Under the Bed," and today we have some kind of treat for you in the way of Trick Burn, a deck that was ran in Shonen Jump Durham and was tweaked by myself to include a bit more...oomph, I guess one could say. I promised you last article that I would build such a deck, but I want you to know that I didn't build it, per se. I saw a burn deck that I liked a lot (made Top 4 in Durham) and thought, "this could be a Tier 1 deck," so I made some adjustments to it. At the very least, it'll put the deck in the eyes of all the Pojo.com loyalists out there, so without further ado, I present: Trick Burn!
 
Now, the idea of the deck is multi-tiered. First off, you want to build your Wave-Motion Cannons to deliver massive damage and protect them from threats like Mobius the Frost Monarch, Heavy Storm, and Mystical Space Typhoon. Next, you want to use your UFO Turtle engine to draw out the monsters that'll protect your life points while you amass a strong burn force, and lastly you want to negate everything your opponent does, making them say (as I like to as well) "ooh, tricky tricky." Hence the name, "Trick Burn." This is a fairly advanced deck, and it takes some tweaking to make it work properly. However, if you're successful in learning the ways of the deck, you'll see that it has a lot of brimming potential and can be a great Advanced Format deck.
 
So, we'll start off by analyzing the monsters, shall we?
 

Monsters (12):

 

3x UFO Turtle

1x Sangan

3x Cyber Phoenix

1x Card Trooper

1x Breaker the Magical Warrior

1x Morphing Jar

2x Cyber Dragon

 

You're probably scratching your head in wonder right now, thinking "what the heck?!" Well, don't be surprised, because behind all that glitter and FIRE-type is a monster line-up brimming with potential. Your best bet is your UFO Turtles, which can search out Cyber Phoenix, thus providing you with a layer of protection for additional Cybers or possibly Cyber Dragon. Sangan is a typical recruiter, and it helps to have Card Trooper in there to beef up at times and to add more draw power. Because in the end, the monster line-up gives you hand advantage in Cyber Phoenix, Card Trooper and Morphing Jar, and also field advantage with Breaker the Magical Warrior, UFO Turtle and Cyber Dragon. A good mix of monsters, leading to a fluid line-up that can do just about anything you want it to do.

 

Magic (12):

 

1x Smashing Ground

1x Different Dimension Capsule

1x Level Limit – Area B

1x Scapegoat

1x Mystical Space Typhoon

3x Wave-Motion Cannon

1x Mystical Space Typhoon

2x Hammer Shot

1x Limiter Removal

 

This is another interesting part of the deck, no? Smashing Ground is typical in just about any deck (and it couples with Hammer Shot nicely), as are the other near-staples (Mstical Space Typhoon, Scapegoat). But what makes this line-up interesting is all the tech that's tossed in. Different Dimension Capsule acts as a Spell-recruiter, getting you what you need...well, a little later than planned, but if you can plan your strategy accordingly, and adapt to the flow of the game, DD Capsule should come in handy. Besides, it fishes out Wave-Motion Cannon, which is the true heart of the deck. The point of the deck is to get your opponent worried about your several Wave-Motion Cannons sitting in your backrow, because every turn they bump up another 1000 damage. After five turns, you launch it to deal 5000 damage to your opponent. Imagine two of those going off, huh? It's the reason why the deck is built the way it is: control/aggro mixed with burn. You need to control your opponent and push them where you want them, while at the same time lowering their life points, which in turn means an earlier Cannon launch and a much faster victory. And the best way to get there is with your Trap cards, as seen below:

 

Traps (16):

 

1x Magic Cylinder

3x Dimension Wall

3x Solemn Judgment

1x Mirror Force

1x Torrential Tribute

3x Skill Drain

1x Ceasefire

3x Dark Bribe

 

People are always asking me why I like building decks and how I come up with my ideas. Typically, the ideas I have and the decks I build are my own; when they're not, I credit the source and build from there. Such as this deck, which I made into a ver formidable deck in the format we are currently facing. With Gladiator Beasts running amok and nothing can be done to stop them, I had to get a bit creative in the Trap line-up, which included a Magic Cylinder, Dimension Wall, and Skill Drain. In a deck with only 12 monsters (compared to the 22-24 normal range), Skill Drain will dominate. Using Solemn Judgment and Dark Bribe as your negators, you're sitting pretty with a lot of your Continuous Spell and Trap cards, allowing you to run over your opponent with your Wave-Motion Cannons while they're sitting there with their useless Gladiators. Ceasefire is that "oops" moment, that surprise that your opponent was hoping you didn't have.

 

The burn in this deck is slow to build, but when it goes off it's for massive amounts of damage. A lot of burn decks are built on stall and slow burner cards that leave your opponent shaken, but not stirred. This deck stirs your opponent into a frenzy and drops them into a two-hundred foot pit, never to escape. That's how this deck is designed, and it does a great job at doing just that. So much so that a lot of people have taken to building anti-burn sidedecks to counter it, but this is easily remedied. If you encounter one such sidedeck, make sure that you're prepared with your own anti-anti-burn sidedeck. Throw in cards that will stop trap negators, effect negators and special summons (Royal Oppression comes to mind here). But always make sure that your sidedeck is balanced and can replace any card in the deck for something that will only better the situation.

 

That's it for this week. As always, if you want to contact me, please don't hesitate to do so at anteaus44@hotmail.com.

 

-Anteaus