Welcome back everyone! It has been a solid two weeks since YCS Long Beach and I don’t think I can count how many questions I have gotten about the deck I played! It seems to be on everyone’s mind as to why I made certain card choices, how I side decked and things I would change heading into YCS Dallas. While I know I had another edition of Beyond the Top Deck planned, I think it is only fair to take the time to analyze the Skill Drain Hero build I took to Long Beach and answer all of the lingering questions people have. It may also be fair to give an article regarding YCS Dallas like I did for Long Beach but I promise… Beyond the Top Deck will continue! There has just been so much going on in Yu-Gi-Oh! Three YCS’s in such short time gives me a lot to write about.
Anyway, let’s take a look at the deck I played at Long Beach
3 Elemental Hero Neos Alius
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
2 Beast King Barbaros
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Crusader of Endymion
3 Miracle Fusion
3 Gemini Spark
3 Pot of Duality
2 E – Emergency Call
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Heavy Storm
2 Skill Drain
2 Dark Bribe
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Hero Blast
2 Solemn Warning
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Mirror Force
1 Starlight Road
Side Deck
2 Maxx “C”
3 Snowman Eater
2 Smashing Ground
2 Forbidden Chalice
2 Super Polymerization
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror
Extra Deck
3 Elemental Hero The Shining
2 Elemental Hero Absolute Zero
2 Elemental Hero Nova Master
1 Elemental Hero Gaia
1 Elemental Hero Great Tornado
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Number C39: Utopia Ray
1 Blade Armor Ninja
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
1 Stardust Dragon
As I mentioned in my tournament report the goal I was trying to achieve was designing the most consistent deck possible for 18 rounds of play. I mentioned how I wanted to not only just place in the Top 64 – I wanted to win and I felt like this build gave me the best chance to do so. But there are some legitimate questions about the build I need to answer
Why did I play Crusader of Endymion over Evocator Chevalier?
I have gotten this question numerous times because quite frankly, it is a good question. The differences between the two cards are apparent. While both have the vital status of being a Gemini and having 1900 attack, they both also offer specific pros and cons that need to be weighed.
The main differences between the two cards are as follows:
Crusader of Endymion
- Light
- Spellcaster
Evocator Chevalier
- Fire
- Warrior
As simply as these differences may seem they are actually quite important. Through Miracle Fusion Cruader of Endymion allots you a copy of Elemental Hero The Shining while Chevalier gives you Elemental Hero Nova Master. On the surface I believed The Shining to be a more powerful option than Nova Master. The problem I had with Nova Master is that it is dependent on other circumstances to net you a card. You not only need to be able to destroy an opponent’s monster, you need the attack to resolve unstopped by things like Mirror Force or Fiendish Chain. On the other hand The Shining is going to net you the Elemental Hero you removed for Miracle Fusion in addition to any other potential Heroes you have removed throughout the game. The Shining is also far more resilient to cards such as Mirror Force or Dark Hole. The opponent could feasible rid the field of Nova Master without giving me any type of advantage. The Shining on the other hand requires a much more specific collection of cards for the opponent to deal with favorable.
Another contributing factor is how important it was to capitalize on the dead cards in your opponent’s deck game one. One of the major ones is Fiendish Chain. In game one the only effect monster my opponent can Fiendish Chain and rid relatively useless is Elemental Hero Stratos. Once I resolve Stratos their Fiendish Chains becoming virtually worthless because beyond the fact that you cannot target Elemental Hero Neos Alius with it, they become dead until I drop a fusion with Miracle Fusion. If I were to summon Nova Master with Miracle Fusion I am suddenly giving my opponent a nice, new, shiny target for their dead trap card. If I were to instead to have gone into The Shining I am in a much more favorable position because even if they use Fiendish Chain I am in position to net myself the removed Elemental Heroes.
Yet another factor was that my deck played the two copies of Skill Drain. Nova Master is nothing more than a strong monster when I have a copy of Skill Drain up. The Shining is a strong monster, ready to net me even more strong monsters with Skill Drain up.
Now obviously not everything is so fine and dandy between picking which additional Gemini monster I was going to play. Evocator Chevalier does in fact bring a few things to the table.
The fact that it is a Warrior is nothing to ignore. With copies of Neos Alius or Stratos I would have been able to exceed summon Blade Armor Ninja with Evocator Chevalier… something the Spellcaster Crusader of Endymion could only dream about. The other factor is that Evocator Chevalier would have given me a fifth target with Reinforcement of the Army. However, the way I looked at it. If I was even in a situation where I needed to search a Gemini target I would always have access to Elemental Hero Neos Alius and if I had really gone through all of my Alius’ then I should have already won the game… I could not forsee myself going through all three copies of Alius and then still having a copy of Gemini Spark and Reinforcement of the Army sitting around. That sequence of plays just did not seem viable enough to me.
The Blade Armor Ninja argument is completely legitimate though. Blade Armor Ninja is a tank and to be honest the only deciding factor was the ability to go into Blade Armor Ninja against The Shining. The way I looked at it was I would rather give my deck the best options when I had Miracle Fusion then when I already had a Gemini and Warrior on the field. If I had a Warrior and a Gemini I felt like I would more than likely be in a position of power in the game and if I really needed to get over a monster I always had Number 39: Utopia.
Again, it is debatable which way you want to come down on this, but Crusader got my pick for that weekend! Plus I have a German Ultimate I had never been able to use!
Why did I not play Honest?
Honest is quite a powerful monster – I admit that. It punishes players for thinking they can simply attack over Neos Alius or feel like their Evolzar Laggia is protected after a normal summoned Thunder King. The thing is Honest is so dependent on other cards to be good. I never wanted to have the situation where I had a dead Honest sitting in my hand. I felt like if I was able to replace Honest with another piece of generic removal than it would have been better in virtually all scenarios. Having a hand with Beast King Barbaros, Honest and traps becomes much more dangerous if instead of Honest I had a Dimensional Prison or Hero Blast. Another thing about Honest is even if I am not playing it… how does my opponent know that? I am sure not many people on here have played me, but if you do ever watch me at a YCS I try to present myself in a certain demeanor. I have, without question, influenced the decision making process of my opponent with my body language and demeanor. I mentioned in my tournament report how I “jedi mind-tricked” someone into beating themselves. Bluffing Honest can be just as potent as having it in your hand if you are doing it correctly.
Why only two Skill Drain?
Skill Drain was a powerful card heading into Long Beach. It absolutely demolished Wind-Ups, Inzektors and could even strangle the power plays of Dino-Rabbit. Beyond that its applications do begin to falter. Against the mirror matches, Dark World, Anti-Meta and T.G. the card is far from ideal game one. I felt like only playing two would give me access to it at the most consistent basis. I could win games against the major three decks without Skill Drain, so there was no need to overdose on the card if it would compromise my other matchups. Plus, even if I am playing against Wind-Up or Inzektor you never want to have those dreaded hands of multiple Skill Drains with other dead cards. As consistent of a deck Heroes can be, if you build it with too many Hero Blast, E-Call, Skill Drain and so on things begin to become awkward and you loss games you had nothing to do.
Why did you side Snowman Eater when you main Skill Drain?
Snowman Eater is quite possibly the best monster in the game against Dino-Rabbit. The look on the face of a Dino-Rabbit player literally drops when you set a monster and they know they need to play around Snowman Eater. I did in fact keep copies of Skill Drain in against Rabbit at this event, and no it did not conflict with Snowman Eater. If I have Skill Drain on the board then they are in a difficult spot of needing to get around a 1900 defense wall without the use of effects. While they can still go into Rescue Rabbit while I have Drain up, my deck is jam packed with spot removal just as Hero Blast and Dimensional Prison so good luck getting through that. If I do not have Skill Drain up then… well… I have Snowman Eater… the single best monster in the game against Dino-Rabbit! Not to mention the access to Elemental Hero Absolute Zero.
Why did you not play Elemental Hero Bubbleman?
Bubbleman is a powerful little guy, giving you sudden access to Blade Armor Ninja. To continue the idea of consistency I was afraid that if I played Bubbleman there would be times when I had multiple monsters in hand, Skill Drain up, or an inability to safely over-extend with a Bubbleman play. Not to mention the times when you fan out your opening hand and his shiny little face is the only creature in your hand – how dreadful. The potential of stealing games with Bubbleman was there. But I felt like I didn’t need to risk how dead he can be since I felt I was confident enough to win regardless of if I had him.
Why did you not play Mystical Space Typhoon?
This one is simple to answer. First of all I had Gemini Spark in case there was even a serious backrow threat game one… before I had access to sided copies. And what do I fear with this deck? Solemn Warning? That is almost it. If you Warning my Stratos and I do no have another monster then sure the jokes on me. But for the most part I was happy when they used Solemn Warning on my creatures because it opened up the door for me to use Miracle Fusion and Hero Blast as they pay their valuable life points away! This is a beatdown deck, thank them when they drop 2000 life points fueling your deck!
Why did you not main deck Super Polymerization?
This might seem like a poor way of answering this question but one word: Inzektor. The more detailed explanation was I did not want to have two Dimensional Prisons, Mirror Force and Super Polymerization against this deck!
Why did you play Heavy Storm?
Oh, you didn’t think I would play Heavy Storm in my deck either? Neither did my opponents who carelessly set three thinking the same thing! Plus, this is a beatdown deck! Opening up the backrows to a quick game shot with Miracle Fusion is quite favorable!
What did you side out against Wind-Ups?
Things are never the same versus every deck. Sometimes people are playing cards that are unique from most builds of the deck you are playing against. But this is a sample as to how I would have sided:
Out:
1 Crusader of Endymion
1 Gemini Spark
1 Pot of Duality
0/1 Miracle Fusion
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
In:
2 Maxx “C”
1/2 Forbidden Chalice
1/2 Super Polymerization
1/2 Mystical Space Typhoon
The important thing is you don’t want to loss to Royal Decree in game two/three. So you have the option to side into Chalice and Space Typhoon but it depends a lot on how they sided. If you start to see Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison and such in game two you become less inclined to believe they sided Royal Decree and putting Gemini Spark back in as an out to chain to those, but also as an out to Decree. Siding in Maxx “C” is obviously crucial in the matchup and the other quick-play spells all have applications.
What did you side out against Inzektor?
Out:
0/1 Beast King Barbaros
0/1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Miracle Fusion
1 Pot of Duality
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Starlight Road
In:
1/2 Smashing Ground
2 Forbidden Chalice
1/2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror
The important thing about this matchup is how you use your counter traps. You obviously cannot just set Solemn Judgment and Dark Bribe against this deck think you are always in a good position. You use those cards to protect Skill Drain and Shadow Mirror when you draw them. Again, this deck often sides Royal Decree so we have access to the 2 Space Typhoon and 2 Chalice for these games.
Another important thing is that we kept in the 3rd Gemini Spark and Crusader because of how important it is to stop the Inzektor summons. The more chainable cards we have against that… the better.
What did you side out against Dino-Rabbit?
Out:
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Crusader of Endymion
1 Gemini Spark
1 Pot of Duality
1 Miracle Fusion
1 Book of Moon
0/1 Skill Drain
In:
3 Snowman Eater
2 Smashing Ground
2 Super Polymerization
0/1 Forbidden Chalice
1/2 Mystical Space Typhoon
Similar to previous matchups. Again we need to be siding against Royal Decree with the Space Typhoons. I am fearful to be siding in the Chalice because of Forbidden Lance from the opponent, but we also need to be stopping their Snowman Eaters so the Chalice can be important.
What did you side out against Elemental Heroes?
There are so many variants of Heroes but here is a basic template.
Out:
2 Beast King Barbaros
1 Book of Moon
1 Pot of Duality
2 Skill Drain
0/1 Starlight Road (depends if they were using Bubbleman or Heavy Storm)
In:
3 Snowman Eater
2 Super Polymerization
1/2 Smashing Ground
0/1/2 Mystical Space Typhoon
If I felt like I was going to be playing against a heavy backrow build of Heroes I would be more inclined to side in Space Typhoon since you can chain it when they target it with Gemini Spark!
I feel like those four are the most prevalent matchups in the current format. Obviously Dark Worlds is becoming powerful but that is such an abysmal matchup anyway…
Going forward the things I would consider changing are:
- Extra Deck
There really is no need for rank 3s. I would rather use additional copies of Blade Armor Ninja and Vision Heroes!
- Side Deck
I might cut down a copy of Snowman Eater and try and fit more Dark World hate somewhere. Not sure exactly what though!
Honestly, that is about it. I am so comfortable with the main deck. If I go to Dallas and play Heroes again, I might be registering the same 40 card main deck (maybe I’ll sneak Honest in there to freak out the readers… mind tricks? Hehe)
Thanks for reading though! I hope I answered any of the lingering questions about my Hero deck from Long Beach! If there are still questions floating around comment below and I will try and answer them as I can!
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