Format of March 1, 2008: Rapid Exodia Part 2

            In my last article titled “Format of March 1, 2008: Rapid Exodia Part 1” I talked about the deck that Chris Moosman ran at Shonen Jump Costa Mesa: an Exodia deck that moved extremely quickly and went through the deck rapidly (hence the name). Last time I explained the combos that are involved in running the deck and I touched over how the deck works. This time, I’ll go through the cards that Chris Moosman involved in his Exodia deck and explain each card’s inclusion. Let’s take a look at his decklist again:

Monsters: 18

1 Exodia the Forbidden One

1 Right Arm of the Forbidden One

1 Right Leg of the Forbidden One

1 Left Arm of the Forbidden One

1 Left Leg of the Forbidden One

3 Destiny Hero – Dogma

3 Destiny Hero – Plasma

3 Cyber Valley

1 Elemental Hero Stratos

1 Sangan

1 Dark Magician of Chaos

1 Destiny Hero – Disk Commander

Spells: 19

3 Trade-In

3 Destiny Draw

3 Allure of Darkness

3 Upstart Goblin

3 Machine Duplication

1 Monster Reborn

1 Premature Burial

1 Spell Economics

1 Dimension Fusion

Traps: 3

3 Reckless Greed

First, we’ll go through the Monster lineup.

Exodia and Exodia Pieces

            Well, these cards are self explanatory, since they’re the whole key to the deck winning. I don’t think I need to explain the inclusion.

Destiny Hero – Dogma

            This is one of those DARK Attribute Level 8 Destiny Hero monsters that can be discarded/removed from play for Allure of Darkness, Trade-In, and Destiny Draw. The effect of this card isn’t really used at all in this deck, and the player shouldn’t ever summon this card onto the field, because the purpose of including this card is for those draw engines. Most of the time, when you draw this card, you’re holding Allure of Darkness, Trade-In, or Destiny Draw, and if you’re not, then you’re going to keep it in your hand until you DO draw one of those cards.

Destiny Hero – Plasma

            This card was included for the EXACT reason that Destiny Hero – Dogma was included, and you have to remember that this card should never hit the field no matter what the situation is, except for when your Exodia pieces are in the Graveyard and you’re finding a way to win the duel without them. This card was included with Destiny Hero – Dogma because the chances of drawing one of these monsters at the same time that you have Allure of Darkness, Trade-In, or Destiny Draw in your hand are slim, so these are both included in 3’s to increase the chances.

Cyber Valley

            This card was included in 3’s because it’s practically useless without other copies of itself. It’s not COMPLETELY useless, since it can still activate its effect as long as another monster is face-up on the field with it, but you have to summon twice to have that happen, and with the monsters in this deck, only Stratos has a chance of surviving more than one turn if the opponent has a monster in their hand. This card is the key to multiple combos involved in playing this deck, and it’s the source of being able to draw multiple cards at a time. Chris Moosman would be a fool not to include this card, and he’s not.

Elemental Hero Stratos

            Elemental Hero Stratos allows Moosman to search his deck for a Destiny Hero monster, which comes in handy when you’re holding one of the three major draw engines that require one to activate. For example, if Moosman was holding a Destiny Draw in his hand and a Stratos, he could summon that Stratos and search his deck for any Destiny Hero he seems fit, and then discard it to the Graveyard for Destiny Draw. Unlike in the other decks that Stratos is included in, Stratos is used solely for the purpose of drawing extra cards.

Sangan

            In all Exodia decks, this guy has to be included, or else you’re just ignoring a perfect way to get one of the five pieces of Exodia into your hand. This card doesn’t help draw cards from the deck, but you can add one piece of Exodia directly to your hand from your deck when this card’s destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. It’s a staple in most decks, and an Exodia deck is no exception.

Dark Magician of Chaos

            I mentioned in the last article I wrote titled “Format of March 1, 2008: Rapid Exodia Part 1” that Dark Magician of Chaos, Sangan, and Destiny Hero – Disk Commander were included so that Allure of Darkness would have all three of the Dark monsters, Destiny Draw would have an extra Destiny Hero, and Trade-In would have an extra Level 8 monster. Well, that’s only a bonus. Dark Magician of Chaos can easily be discarded to the Graveyard with Trade-In’s effect, and then Special Summoned back onto the field with the help of Monster Reborn or Premature Burial. Then, you can retrieve any spell card you want from the Graveyard, which can lead to you drawing even more cards, thinning the deck and increasing the chances of drawing an Exodia piece. Dark Magician of Chaos can also be removed from play from the hand via Cyber Valley’s effect, and then Dimension Fusion can bring him back, and DmoC can then retrieve Dimension Fusion from the Graveyard, somewhat setting up the never-ending combo I talked about in the first part.

Destiny Hero – Disk Commander

            This is another card that can help with drawing multiple cards from the deck at a time. Destiny Hero – Disk Commander can easily be discarded from the hand via the cost of activating Destiny Draw, or even just destroyed in battle (which is also pretty likely because of his low attack). Disk Commander was included for two main reasons. The first one is that he powers Destiny Draw, allowing Moosman to draw more cards, and the second is that he can easily be Special Summoned from the Graveyard with Premature Burial or Monster Reborn, allowing him to draw even more cards.

Trade-In

It’s a draw engine that helps Moosman draw pieces of Exodia.

Destiny Draw

See Trade-In. Destiny draw can also get Destiny Hero – Disk Commander into the Graveyard, setting up for his effect.

Allure of Darkness

See Trade-In. It can also be useful for removing from play a monster that you want to Dimension Fusion back onto the field. This card mainly works well with Dimension Fusion, and it’s an extremely useful card. A great part about this card is that you can draw before you remove the card from your hand.

Upstart Goblin

            A good draw engine, Upstart Goblin allows for quick deck thinning, without a cost. The increase of the opponent’s life points isn’t a problem, simply because life points aren’t important when playing an Exodia deck, which causes wins regardless of who has higher life points.

Machine Duplication

            This card was only included for the sake of multiplying a Cyber Valley by three. This card can easily open up opportunities to draw more cards when combined with Cyber Valley, and I found when play testing this deck that duels that involved me activating Machine Duplication on Cyber Valley mostly ended up in a win that turn or the next.

Monster Reborn

            This card was included mainly for Disk Commander, but it can also Special Summon a Dark Magician of Chaos that was discarded for Trade-In.

Premature Burial

See Monster Reborn.

Spell Economics

            The key to the infinite combo that lets you draw cards forever, Spell Economics let Moosman activate Dimension Fusion as many times as he pleased, never having to pay 2000 life points.

Dimension Fusion

            This is another key card in the infinite combo I mentioned when explaining Spell Economics. It’s pretty self-explanatory, and even without Spell Economics, it can really make a difference in the player’s hand, Special Summoning different monsters like Cyber Valley.

Reckless Greed

            Now for the last card on the deck list! Reckless Greed is a great way to draw more cards, especially after you have multiple draw engines in your hand after you draw during your draw phase. It’s a great card, and the not drawing for two draw phases won’t effect the player too much because of the many different ways of drawing cards in this deck.

            Overall, I think this Rapid Exodia deck is extremely useful and quick, and it can really reach the top eight decks. If any of you guys want to send me this type of deck to fix, I’ll be glad to fix it, but only if that deck is different enough from Chris Moosman’s original. Send all emails to lightningsaphira94@gmail.com, and make sure that you follow my Submittal Guidelines.

Have Fun and Play Fair!

Ed