Second Turn Around — SoFarSoGood’s Deck Garage

Re: Dragon Blowup
From: Girish Balakrishnan
9.15.04 

Hey Girish… At a first glance, I can see that, for the most part, you have the general idea of the Deck down-packed. You’re playing many of the correct Monsters, but it also looks as if you’re playing many unnecessary ones. A lot of them have great effects, but they simply don’t belong in a Dragon Deck. Basically, the Deck lacks good balance. You are playing 27 Monsters, which is way over the maximum 16-17 you should be playing in this build. Your Deck has quite a few more cards than necessary, so we’re just going to work on concentrating the Deck. We’ll slim it down to a bear minimum, so that it becomes easier to draw the cards you need to win earlier in the game. Since you’re playing in a pre-ban environment, we also have quite a few more options for you. In the end, you’re going to be the owner of a competitive, tournament-structured Deck that can also be a lot of fun to play casually.

In the original version of the Deck, Blue Eyes was probably one of your main attackers, and most likely one of the goals of the Deck. However, in the new build, you’re going to be concentrating more on running over your opponent with powerful Monsters and dealing them extra damage through Trample-like effects.

Anyway, in order to slim down your huge Monster count, we’re going to need to drop some of the less-viable cards. Many of your choices were probably slowing the Deck down. Your new Monster lineup should prove to perform as a more versatile, power-packed team.

(1x) Tyrant Dragon
(1x) Airknight Parshath
(3x) Spear Dragon
(3x) Luster Dragon
(1x) Witch of the Black Forest
(1x) Sangan
(1x) Yata-Garasu
(1x) Tribe-Infecting Virus
(1x) Fiber Jar
(1x) Breaker the Magical Warrior
(1x) Sinister Serpent
(1x) Spirit Reaper

What I’ve done is dropped some of the useless cards, and thrown in much better choices. Tyrant Dragon’s obvious power and effect is one of the main concentration points of the Deck. Airknight Parshath has been thrown in to add to the Trample, and Spear Dragon is a great 1900 Attacker with Trample as well. Luster Dragon’s powerful statistics as a level four also make it very playable in here. Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan were added so you can search for something late-game. Yata Garasu was something I was shaky to add in the first place, but since you already have him, there’s no reason not to play it. He can always finish your opponent off after Tyrant Dragon has cleared the field. Tribe-Infecting Virus is in the Deck to take out any opposing threats, and take down theme Decks in a snap. Fiber Jar is probably one of the most important aspects to this Deck. If you end up getting a Gorilla-beating, reset the field during your turn for a huge advantage and the possible Yata-Garasu lock. Breaker the Magical Warrior is almost a Monster staple. He’s powerful enough to get the job done, and his effect only makes him more playable. Sinister Serpent is pure hand control, and he always helps when Tribe-Infecting Virus needs food. Last, Spirit Reaper is a solid tech in here. He works as a great stall, and even helps with the Yata-lock with Tyrant Dragon taking out any opposing threats.

Now, moving on to your Spells, it looks as if you have some of the necessary cards, but most of them are off. You’re also going to want to raise your Spell count to around 18-20, so you have more recourses to take out threats on the field.

(3x) Big Bang Shot
(1x) Raigeki
(1x) Monster Reborn
(1x) Pot of Greed
(1x) Graceful Charity
(1x) Dark Hole
(1x) Harpie’s Feather Duster
(1x) Change of Heart
(1x) Enemy Controller
(3x) Mystical Space Typhoon
(1x) Mirage of Nightmare
(1x) Painful Choice
(1x) Heavy Storm
(1x) Premature Burial
(3x) Book of Moon

Raigeki, Monster Reborn, Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Dark Hole, and Harpie’s Feather Duster are referred to as the seven staples, and just as they’re called, these cards deserve a spot in every Deck. Big Bang Shot is a great card in here. Since you already have Trample on some of your Monsters, giving +400 attack and that ability to a card like Tyrant Dragon can be absolutely devastating to an opponent at any point in the game. Enemy Controller is a personal favorite, and very helpful when taking out threats like Berserk Gorilla. Three Mystical Space Typhoon are simply an obvious. The removal there is simply broken. Mirage of Nightmare and Painful Choice are here to speed the Deck up a bit. Since Typhoon and Mirage work so well together, there’s no reason not to have the awesome draw-power in here. Heavy Storm is just more broken Spell/Trap removal. Premature Burial is being played because of the limited Monster recursion. Plus, giving something like Spear Dragon as a tribute to bring Tyrant Dragon back isn’t much of a cost at all. Book of Moon is another key to this Deck, simply because of all the Trample going on. Forcing your opponent’s Monster to defend and then running over it is just devastating, no matter when it’s done.

Lastly, we need to fix your Traps. Again, you do own some of the necessary cards, but you’re also playing many pointless Traps. Overall, you want to play a setup that’s proven to do well all the time.

(1x) Call of the Haunted
(1x) Imperial Order
(1x) Torrential Tribute
(1x) Mirror Force

All of those cards will help you out, no matter when you draw them. (Note: Until you can get your hands on Mirror Force, Ring of Destruction is fine.)

The final version of your new Dragon Trample Deck looks like this:

(1x) Tyrant Dragon
(1x) Airknight Parshath
(3x) Spear Dragon
(3x) Luster Dragon
(1x) Witch of the Black Forest
(1x) Sangan
(1x) Yata-Garasu
(1x) Tribe-Infecting Virus
(1x) Fiber Jar
(1x) Breaker the Magical Warrior
(1x) Sinister Serpent
(1x) Spirit Reaper

(3x) Big Bang Shot
(1x) Raigeki
(1x) Monster Reborn
(1x) Pot of Greed
(1x) Graceful Charity
(1x) Dark Hole
(1x) Harpie’s Feather Duster
(1x) Change of Heart
(1x) Enemy Controller
(3x) Mystical Space Typhoon
(1x) Mirage of Nightmare
(1x) Painful Choice
(1x) Heavy Storm
(1x) Premature Burial
(3x) Book of Moon

(1x) Call of the Haunted
(1x) Imperial Order
(1x) Torrential Tribute
(1x) Mirror Force

Well, that’s about it. Your Deck had the basic idea and a lot of potential behind it; I just did my best to hone in on that power and turn this into a competitive build. If you have any more questions, feel free to e-mail me. Make sure to keep me updated, and tell me how it plays out.

~SoFarSoGood