I Was a Dragon Once- Sean Connery

 

Hey all you guys! I know it has been forever since I wrote something, but between changing careers, getting married and moving my life has been pretty full! Now I know all you Millenials would just love to see everything on a youtube channel, but for right now I am best read on the good old web site here. Who knows, maybe sometime in the future you will be seeing my ugly mug up on youtube, but not today.

 

Well since I have been gone so long, I figured I would introduce myself at the beginning of this article. I am GeneralZorpa and I have played the game since the Metal Raiders set was first introduced. I have topped SJC San Jose with a first round late loss and undefeated until the finals with Blackwings. I have written many articles on the state of the game as well as cool decks that I have put together. I currently reside in Sacramento California and welcome all players to come Monday nights to the Competitive Card Shack to play some yugimonz with me!

 

Now to the meat of the article. Dragons have been the biggest draw in this game since the beginning. Spellcasters and Warriors may make a run at being a popular monster type, but Dragons will always have them beat. Now we have the newest monster type in Wyrms. Now unlike psychics which right off the bat had some clearly good cards, Wyrms were pushed to the back of class and told to sit in a corner. They only have one archetype in Yang Zings and a handful of "decent" cards outside of that. Why is this?

 

Well the answer is that the one archetype that they have is so completely broken that they never needed anything else. Yang Zings are quite literally the most underrated archetype in the game. Most of the basic monsters replace themselves with another Yang Zing when they die, the non-Tuners each give a boon to the Synchro monster they summon and can Synchro Summon on your opponent's turn. Chiwen Summons himself from the graveyard and Jiaotu will summon any 2 Yang Zings from your deck. The Pendulums are the core of the Zefra deck and the Synchros are 3 of the most broken in the game.

 

The main reason that the deck is not good right now is of course that beast from the past, Monarchs. Domain makes it so you cannot get to your Synchros and both Erebus and Storm Forth just decimate your plays. This is because the deck is relatively reactive and slow to get started. Jiaotu is great, but getting him first turn is just hard to do, so your first turn play is usually to set a monster and hope your opponent attacks into it and doesn't remove it from play, bounce it to your hand, or spin it to your deck.

 

I have found a solution to this debacle in the form of the Zefra cards (of which Yang Zings are a part) as well as some of the Odd-Eyes Pendulum cards that have been around as long as the Wyrms have. The result is a fast, resilient deck that can beat face quickly and make life hard for your opponent as you make unbeatable Dragons that spin away you opponents monsters and sometimes quite literally are invincible against most decks. Interested? I bet you are. 

 

Dragons of the Comet

 

Monsters-21

3x Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon
3x Zefraniu, Secret of the Yang Zing

3x Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing
3x Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing
3x Bi'an, Earth of the Yang Zing
3x Jiaotu, Shadow of the Yang Zing
2x Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing
1x Zefraxi, Treasure of the Yang Zing

Spells-13

3x Yang Zing Path
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Oracle of Zefra
2x Sky Iris
2x Dark Hole
1x Terraforming
1x Odd-Eyes Fusion

Traps-7

3x Yang Zing Creation
2x Needle Ceiling
1x Solemn Warning
1x Skill Drain

Extra-15

1x Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon
2x Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing
2x Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing
1x Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing
1x Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons
1x Black Rose Dragon
1x Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1x Herald of the Arc-Light
1x Ally of Justice-Catastor
1x Goyo Guardian
1x Red Wyvern
1x Stardust Spark Dragon
1x Black Rose Moonlight Dragon

Side-15

3x Mask of Restrict
3x Imperial Iron Wall
2x Twin Twisters
2x Effect Veiler
2x Storming Mirror Force
2x Solemn Strike
1x Bottomless Trap Hole

 

Yup, It's Another Dragon...

 

Now the first thing you will notice about this deck is that a good portion of the Pendulum Zefra cards are included as well as a few staples of the original Yang Zing build that are missing. The deck was started with the goal of getting to Jiaotu as quickly  as possible  and cheaply as possible. Dark Hole was the original go to guy for this, but I always felt it was a waste of a card to use it just to get to another Yang Zing. Sky Iris does the same thing, but also gets you to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, which then gets you to Zefraxi or Zefraniu. You even have the option of playing Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon.

 

This gives you an amazing first turn play to get Jiatu, use his effect to get 2 more Yang Zings (Bixi and Bi'an usually) and have that amazing first turn play of a Yazi that cannot be targeted, cannot be destroyed by battle and is unaffected by traps! You can also use a Bixi and Taotie to lock your opponent out of playing WATER or DARK monsters with Chaofeng. There are other plays for if you go second as well, including Trishula (Bixi and Taotie), Baxia (Bixi and Suanni), Black Rose Dragon (Bixi and Bi'an) and pretty much any Synchro you want!

 

The Zefra cards add to the consistency of the deck, able to both be searched by Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon as well as Oracle of Zefra so you will always have Yang Zing monsters to discard with Jiaotu or even do the rogue thing and Pendulum Summon a swarm of Yang Zing monsters! You will also have more targets for Sky Iris, though you will often want to save those for your on field Yang Zing monsters. Zefraniu is always an all star, able to block attacks easily as well as searching cards for you when it does die. Zefraxi I was always more iffy about as it is more situational, but it completes the Zefra pendulum scale as well as being helpful in a pinch.

 

The Odd-Eyes cards are needed for Sky Iris, plain and simple. They do have synergy with the Zefra Yang Zing monsters and also give you access to the powerful Fusion monster Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon but are the weak links in the deck. The bonus is that there are only 4 of them and they all can be easily utilized should you be in a pinch.

 

Dragon Tales

 

So it comes down to the weaknesses of the deck, which are unfortunately many. They are very susceptible to banishing, returning to the hand and deck, tributing and the negation of Special Summons. As many players know, the Monarch deck has that in spades and is easily the most powerful/popular archetype in the game right now. The deck is completely designed to counter the other three decks in the metagame right now which are Pendulum Variants, Kozmo and Burning Abyss. As such the side deck is completely devoted to Monarchs, able to side in and wreck them from the second game onward.

 

The Kozmo match up is your strongest, as the entire Kozmo deck has almost no answer to any of your plays. In fact you may often want your opponent to destroy all of your monsters with card effects and battle. Yazi that cannot be destroyed in battle and unaffected by traps has the complete advantage against Kozmos, with maybe 2 outs in the entire main and side deck.. Baxia and Trishula at quick play speed is a beast and the deck just has trouble getting over everything that you can throw out. As such I have almost ruled it an auto-win.

 

The Burning Abyss match up is your next best for the format. They are certainly faster than any other deck right now, but they also can run out of steam quickly and do not have an answer for all of your basic Yang Zing monsters. Even if they use Break Sword, they still trigger your graveyard effect. Baxia is particularly effective here, not allowing Dante and Beatrice's graveyard effects to trigger as well as setting up follow up plays. Essentially you out-float the floater deck.

 

Pendulum decks are trickier, as no two are ever the same. Some play Magicians, some play Odd-Eyes and some play Performapals. This varied deck make-up makes them challenging to play against as you never are completely prepared. As such, their access to Ignister Prominence gives them an easy out to your deck, able to get your Yang Zing monsters off of the field quickly, cheaply and reliably. However, this speed /Zefra version of the deck can often get a threat on the board consistently, making the Pendulum deck go on the defensive instead of the offensive. As such, this is your second hardest match up.

 

Monarchs are your bane, both the Dominion build as well as the extra deck variants. They have many effects that do not target, easy access to massive amounts of removal and are faster than this deck. As such, the side deck is completely devoted to this match up. Mask of Restrict and Imperial Iron Wall keep your opponent locked down and slowed while you set up your plays. Veiler also continues to do this. There are no two ways about it, this deck is bad against the monarchs. As such it cannot be a force in the meta until it cycles out.

 

The Wrap Up 

 

In closing, this is a very fun deck that can certainly challenge a good portion of the meta decks out there. the release of 9 Branches of the Yang Zing will certainly help their cause and may make them a force to be reckoned with  as they now have a themed answer to the Monarch deck. I also smell a couple of limitations coming to the Monarch deck to slow them down and keep them more in line with the rest of the meta. I have no inside information, but when a deck does this well, Konami usually has some consequences lined up for them.

 

If you have any questions about this deck, any other deck or the game in general, please feel free to email me at ghostmambo@gmail.com

 

And don't forget "Screw the rules, I have money!"

 

GZ