Greeting Duelists. My last weeks article got into a mini YCS Miami report on how I took my mind away from the main event and got over my losses during the tournament. This week, I only felt it to be appropriate I give you all my decklist I had used for that event, explain some card choices, and then go into detail on some minor things I would have changed (mainly my side deck). So without giving more of an intro, lets begin!
Rabbit Fire Fist: 41 Cards.
Monsters: 14
2x Rescue Rabbit
3x Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Bear
2x Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Gorilla
2x Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Dragon
3x Gene- Warped Warwolf
2x Effect Veiler
Spells: 14
3x Fire Formation- Tenki
2x Fire Formation- Tensu
1x Dark Hole
1x Monster Reborn
3x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Heavy Storm
2x Forbidden Lance
1x Book of Moon
Traps: 13
2x Solemn Warning
1x Solemn Judgment
2x Fire Formation- Tensen
1x Fire Formation- Tenken
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
1x Starlight Road
2x Torrential Tribute
2x Fiendish Chain
Extra Deck: 15
2x Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Tiger King
1x Steelswarm Roach
1x Number 39: Utopia
1x Evolzar Laggia
1x Evolzar Dolkka
2x Abyss Dweller
1x Diamond Dire Wolf
1x Gagaga Cowboy
1x Number 16: Shock Master
1x Number 50: Blackship of Corn
1x Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1x Photon Papiloperative
1x Stardust Dragon
Side Deck: 15
1x Effect Veiler
3x Jurrac Guaiba
2x Compulsory Evacuation Device
2x Gozen Match
2x Dust Tornado
2x Mind Crush
3x Dimensional Fissure
So there you have it. My Fire Fist deck I used to compete in the YCS. During the YCS, I faced many Macro/Dino Rabbit and then 1 of other decks types. Ranging from the expected Wind-Ups and the unexpected Dark World and Chain Burn. Unfortunetly, Those three decks were my only losses of the tournament and took my out of contention from reaching the top cut. Enough about talking about my losses, time to get into the deck!
Main Deck: I had no complaints with my main deck during the tournament. I loved each and every one of my card choices. The choices typically not seen in a Fire Fist deck would most likly be Torrential Tribute and Heavy Storm. From seeing all the decklists uploaded to the ARG fanpage on facebook (Go check that out if you are not a follower already!), I noticed a common theme in them. They did not run Torrential or Heavy, and focused more on having field presense and controlling the tempo of the game at their own pace. Which I do agree is how Fire Fist is played because the simple face of having a Bear/Gorilla in your hand you searched of Tenki can put your opponent at bay with then making a play knowing you can have the out in your hand to regain control. My reasoning for playing card like the Torrential and Heavy Storm was very simple. Surprise Factor. Everyone remember when Frazier Smith and Sean McCabe took Gravekeepers to the finals of YCS Atlanta? Surprise factor being a HUGE reason. I cannot tell you enough how many times I played Heavy Storm or Torrential during my rounds of the YCS and had my opponent literally say "You really run that?" Even during testing, I found Torrential to be amazing during the Wind-Up matchup because most Wind-Up playes assume Fire Fist does not play any "Real" backrows because they all want to have the Fire Formation Spell and/or Traps on their field to gain their pluses and gain advantage. Another card to look at in the main deck was Effect Veiler. A very solid choice for this deck in my opinion. Without having the initial "Real" trap cards in the deck if you gain your advantage with your Fire Fist monsters, having the extra protection in your hand is key. Without having any hand traps in this deck, it allows your opponent to most of the time go "yolo" mode and go all in. From doing lots of testing vs Wind-Ups nights before the event, I noticed that having a Veiler at the right time was amazing. I know that has been the case before against Wind-Ups, but with this deck, hitting them with a Veiler then being able to have the chance to destroy every card on their field is amazing. Veiler keeps your opponent to play at YOUR pace with this deck, which in my own opinion is what this deck was meant to do. Keep your opponent to play their cards at their own risk you could say. Having them risk losing everything to a Bear or Gorilla. I was very pleased with my main deck decision during this event and as of right now if I were to re-enter the event, I would most likly submit this same decklist.
Side Deck: Side decking is one of the most of important parts of the game I stress upon, I have mentioned it in many articles, but I did not prepare my side for this event. I was too focused on making my main deck as consistent as I could for Game 1's of multiple matchups, I did not play many games/matches incorporating the side deck into the mix. I would change my Side Deck 100% if I could do it all over again. Starting by taking out the 3 Jurrac Guaibas and the 2 Gozen Match. Guiaba and Gozen are know in the Ygo world for being good on their own respective purposes to cripple certain matchups. Hence why I chose them in my side deck. Gozen Match in my case over Rivalry of Warlords because of Having the Guaibas come in, I could still utilize Laggia and Dolkka. After the tournament and thinking about it all now, I would have taken out the 2 Gozen Match for 2 Rivalry of Warlords and the 3 Jurrac Guabia for either 2 Shadow Imprisoning Mirror and a 3rd Fiendish Chain. or 2 Thunder King Rai-oh and a 3rd Compulsory Evactuation Device. I considered either main decking or side decking copies of Mirror Force for this event. But my logic for not doing that follows this: Starlight Road is Yugioh card. And gaining more popularity in the Yugioh community. With Fire Fist becoming new to the scene, I did not want to risk it. Granted I played the Torrential Tributes and the Heavy Storm, its just my own personal preference as to why I did not play any copies of Mirror Force. I am a extremly big fan of the card, just for this event I did not feel if was the right choice for ME. Everything else in my side deck worked well. Especially the Compulsory Evaction Device's. Every since YCS Long Beach, I have had a yugi-crush on Compulse. Almost every deck I play for an event, has 1-2 copies in the main or side deck. But my favorite card in my side deck was by far Mind Crush. It currently is my favorite side deck card. Versatile against numerous decks. And generally, your opponent gives alot of information when playing against you that can give you the read on a card he or she might be holding in their hand. Making the right read is hard sometimes, but when you have the right read and hit your opponent with a timly Mind Crush, it could just seal the deal right then and there.
Extra Deck: With taking out the Jurrac Guabias, I would think its necessary to take out the Evolzar Dolkka and Laggia. I would replace those two monsters with Number C39: Utopia Ray and either a 3rd Brotherhood of the Fire Fist-Tiger King or a 2nd Maestroke the Symphony Djinn. Every piece of the extra deck is important to this deck. Its simply a Rank 4 toolbox deck so you needed to have all the essential Rank 4's to your arsenal. I dont think I made any XYZ monsters during the tournament except Tiger King, Steelswarm Roach, Gagaga Cowboy and Maestroke. Granted my matchups and situations did not need me to make Abyss Dweller, Diamond Dire Wolf, Utopia, Etc. I still needed them on my decklist and inside my deck box. Having a versatile extra deck is also important to the type of deck you are using. Thinking back to YCS Seattle when fellow member Joe Giorlando topped with his Macro Rabbit deck. His extra deck packed 2 copies of Leviair the Sea Dragon over a copy of Abyss Dweller. After his success at the event, I made Macro Rabbit myself and found having that second copy of Leviair to be game winning. The first one could be used either to bait out cards or to push your opponent to destroy it, then you hit them with the second copy. Extra deck versatility is important to the game of Yugioh because like your side deck, you have only 15 slots. And you need to make those slots count.
There you have it. A general understanding of what I would change to my YCS Miami decklist if I were to enter the event all over again. If you are attending the Edison New Jersey Regional this coming Saturday, I will be attending so dont be afraid to say hi! I would reveal what I am playing, but whats the fun in that? Got to have that surprise factor. Until next time, Play Hard, or Go Home!
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