An (Gottoms') Emergency? A (Gottoms') Emergency? Crap. Grammar. Fortunately for me, you guys didn't come here for an English lesson or I'd still be struggling with this question. You're here reading another Deck Doctor article because you want to see a decklist improved upon and, luckily for all parties involved, this is certainly something I believe I CAN teach.
As per last article, I'll just present you with the decklist exactly as submitted first and I shall then get to work on dissecting it. I will always endeavour to stay as true to the original list as possible. Luckily, that won't be hard with this one. I remember just last year watching Billy Brake’s deck profiles on X-Sabers (on his YouTube channel Havok41) and have had a great appreciation of the archetype since then. Then again, perhaps it was listening to Evan Vargas (on his YouTube channel TheSandTrap) rip on the archetype for it’s insane power plays and undeniable consistency, that caused me to fall in love with the deck!
Anyway, without further adieu, here is the, aptly titled, ‘Sabers Strike’ decklist submitted by ARG's resident comedian, Alex "Thunder Pants" Vansant.
‘Sabers Strike’
Monsters: 18
3 x XX-Saber Darksoul
3 x XX-Saber Emmersblade
3 x XX-Saber Faultroll
3 x XX-Saber Fulhelmknight
2 x X-Saber Pashuul
2 x Tragoedia
1 x X-Saber Airbellum
1 x Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
Spells: 11
2 x Forbidden Lance
2 x Enemy Controller
1 x Scapegoat
1 x Mind Control
1 x Book of Moon
1 x Heavy Storm
1 x Pot of Avarice
1 x Monster Reborn
1 x Dark Hole
Traps: 12
3 x Gottoms Emergency Call
2 x Solemn Warning
2 x Bottomless Trap Hole
2 x Torrential Tribute
1 x Reinforce Truth
1 x Solemn Judgment
1 x Starlight Road
Total: 41
Extra: 15
1 x XX-Saber Gottoms
1 x Scrap Dragon
1 x Stardust Dragon
1 x XX-Saber Soulza
1 x Black Rose Dragon
2 x XX-Saber Hyunlei
1 x Naturia Barkion
1 x Ally of Justice Catastor
1 x Naturia Beast
1 x Armory Arm
1 x Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger
1 x Inzektor Exa-Beetle
1 x Photon Strike Bounzer
1 x Wind-Up Zenmaines
My favourite part of this decklist is, it must be said, the extra deck. The only thing I miss almost as much as Fusions is Synchros. It's refreshing to see a more 'synchrocentric' (thanks Konami) extra deck as opposed to 15 cards focused almost single-mindedly on overlaying.
Obviously, the extra deck then tells us that the focus of this deck is going to be on trading two or more monsters in the main deck for a bigger one from the extra. In order to do this, the archetype focuses on +1s with Faultroll and Emergency Call supported by Darksoul and Emmersblade tutoring out combo pieces and replacing themselves when destroyed.
So, what changes can we make in order to increase consistency between these two elements and overall functionality in general? This time around, as there was only one decklist submitted, I feel I have the option to go over every card in the original main deck; at least in some detail.
Monsters
XX-Saber Darksoul
Darksoul searches every X-Saber monster in your deck. The consistency bought by this one card alone is absolutely incredible. It allows you to maintain field presence by digging for Emmerblade or make pushes by tutoring out a Faultroll.
Run 3 copies.
XX-Saber Emmersblade
Emmersblade is the theme-specific Giant Rat or Mystic Tomato. Similar to Darksoul, it searches out combo pieces and allows you to maintain field presence.
Run 3 copies.
XX-Saber Faultroll
Faultroll was the first monster I contemplated dropping down below the maximum allowed 3 copies. I envisioned many a duel where I would be looking at a Faultroll and no way to piece together a field of multiple X-Sabers and consequently lose. Whilst this is a legitimate concern, I found through testing that rearranging the deck towards eliminating this problem was far more beneficial than simply removing a copy of Faultroll. Instead, the changes I will implement later will seek to give this list additional avenues to take in attempting to make a play with Faultroll. In order to test this, I played a copy of Upstart Goblin in lieu of the third copy and tallied up every time I would rather have Faultroll or another card. In testing, the numbers came out at 3-1 in favour of Faultroll. Unfortunately, out of the 20+ games I had with the original deck before changes, I did not draw the proxy copy all that much. However, 75% of the time I was extremely happy to have the card and only 25% of the time was it problematic. I am fine with these numbers.
Run 3 copies.
XX-Saber Fulhelmknight
This card is amazing. It provides some much needed stall and is one of the better tuners for the deck. It’s secondary effect of reviving a fallen comrade from the earth (Sorry, they write themselves I swear) is huge and can swing many a game in your favour. Whilst it is not always possible to resolve this effect, the fact that Fulhelknight is a 3 star tuner with two very useful effects leads me to keep him maxed.
Run 3 copies.
X-Saber Pashuul
We all remember plant format and Billy Brake almost single-handedly repopularising Spirit Reaper (And a bunch of other cards mind you)? Well, here’s a theme-specific option that is searchable and can help your setup in generating a Faultroll play, blocking an attempted OTK and simply synchroing into cards like Naturia Beast. However, unlike the above X-Saber monsters, 3 was just far too cloggy and becomes unnecessary.
Run 2 copies.
Tragoedia
This is one of my favourite cards this format and I struggled endlessly to find room for 2 copies. I found that this deck played somewhat passively until it drew into the combo pieces necessary to just, for lack of a better phrase, “derp all over the board until the opponent has no backrow, hand or life-points”. This left me trying to find the space as Tragoedia allows you to control the tempo of the game by either blocking with a wall or swinging with a mallet. However, I felt the Tragoedia was somewhat lost in a deck that was rarely going to exceed and instead needed to draw combo pieces rather than generic ‘good cards’. As much as it pains me, Tragoedia must go.
Run 0 copies.
X-Saber Airbellum
Billy Brake will probably want to kill me for saying this but I just couldn’t find the room for his favourite card. In theory, what with it being a 3 star tuner that can also rip a card from the opponents had, it is really good. However, in practice it was redundant most of the time. Opening an Airbellum as opposed to a Fulhelmknight or Pashuul puts you behind as it does nothing to stand alone on turn 1. Therefore, despite having a really, we’ll say.. nifty?.. effect, testing AND room issues dictate that it must go.
Run 0 copies.
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Similar to Tragoedia, Gorz needs to receive the "doesn't fit with the combo" treatment. There were too many times I would have half a combo and a Gorz in hand and wish I could trade it in for almost any other X-Saber card. The fact that cards like Emmersblades all replace themselves and Pashuul/Fulhelmknight hang around, led to me almost never having an open field. This was compounded by the fact that the deck runs a lot of traps and quite often will sit on a Naturia Beast with protection. Unfortunately, I just found that Gorz added nothing to the strategy of the deck and therefore served neither to maintain the decks overall power or increase it. Obviously, Gorz is an amazing recovery play but I found I was wanting cards to advance my board position or maintain it rather than let half filled combos get run over and go to waste in order to get my board into a position whereby Gorz is viable. As an interesting side note, the very fact that you don't play Gorz means that your opponent will obviously not see it in your graveyard at any point in the duel and you can quite easily bluff it against certain opponents and in certain positions. This did not influence my decision on running/not running the card but it is certainly worth noting.
Spells: 11
Forbidden Lance
I really like this card. However, I do not feel that it is the best option for this deck; especially at the exclusion of Mystical Space Typhoon. The ability to chain to Abyss-Sphere alongside clearing mass removal like Torrential Tribute and unblockable traps like Solemn Warning just make Forbidden Lance a less than stellar main deck inclusion. Almost every time I had this card I wished it was Mystical Space Typhoon and so I could not justify spending room on copies of Lance.
Run 0 copies.
Enemy Controller
Having played (and loved) Plants, I have a HUGE appreciation for this card. This card is incredibly versatile. As a quick aside, I will simply list a few of the scenarios that came up in playing this card. Fulhelmknight beating over a Thunder King. Stealing a Scrap Dragon, beating over a Stardust Dragon and effect on a Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon essentially killing 3 cards through 2 of mine. Pushing a Faultroll through Effect Veiler. These are just a few of the scenarios that I found myself in and my love of Enemy Controller has not lessened through testing with this deck in a new format to the old Plants. I tested Creature Swap in place of this and it was simply outclassed by the versatility of Controller.
Run 2 copies.
Scapegoat
This card is another that I have an appreciation for thanks to formats of old. However, I found that it simply did not do enough for me. We already have numerous monsters, spells and also traps that require other card (s) to be useful and so I had to draw the line somewhere. Whilst I fully acknolwedge the strengths of Scapegoat, we do not always have easy recursion of tuners like Plants did. Nor can we use a Glow-Up Bulb/Spore multiple times to gain advantage. It was simply an unecessary addition for me and the gimmicky play of making a Naturia monster off tokens just wasn't useful enough. Unlike a card like Darksoul, synchoing with Scapegoat does not generate or return any actual card advantage.
Run 0 copies.
Mind Control
This deck sycnhros and this card lets you steal your opponents monster and utilise them towards that end. Too good to not run.
Run 1 copy.
Book of Moon
This card does the same thing (s) that it does in every other deck but it also doubles up in helping you push through a Fulhelmknight effect. For this reason it is a necessary inclusion.
Run 1 copy.
Heavy Storm
No explanation needed, surely?
Run 1 copy.
Pot of Avarice
This deck has the ability to flood the graveyard fast with Emmersblade, Darksoul and various synchro monsters so this card is well worthy of its spot.
Run 1 copy.
Monster Reborn
No explanation needed, surely?
Dark Hole
No explanation needed, surely?
Traps: 12
Gottoms' Emergency Call
What an aptly titled card. An ‘emergency call’ is truly what this card felt like to me. Either I was dialling up the Police and they were bringing Robbie, Cordero and all the boys to the yard (check out their YouTube "Milkshake" videos if you dont get the reference – Sorry for this guys!) or I was calling the Fire Dept. as I watched my options burn away. This card is obviously broken and a significant cornerstone of this deck. However, 3 copies clogged far too much for my liking. There were numerous times that I found it difficult to pin a Saber monster to the board because of cards like Torrential Tribute and Solemn Warning and so it sat dead often. At the end of the day, my option was running this at 2 or Faultroll at 2 and the potential for ongoing advantage through Faultroll, the ability to sycnhro into Gottoms and the sheer fact that he is 2400 on summon just gave him the edge here. Both have their inconsistencies but it was ultimately the Emergency Call that lost out. Faultroll is also faster and less susceptible to annoying counters like end phase MST. 2 copies did not remove any consistency or much explosiveness in testing but it certainly did lower the cloggy draws I was getting.
Run 2 copies.
Solemn Warning
Generic good removal. No real explanation needed.
Run 2 copies.
Bottomless Trap Hole
I really like this card and it certainly did not test horribly. However, there were a lot of games where I went second and my opponent dropped a Thunder King and I only had a copy of this in hand and no way to respond to it. The same also happened with an Abyss Dweller and that hurt even more. Therefore, I am going to opt for a backrow option that can clear such threats after they are summoned.
Run 0 copies.
Torrential Tribute
Generic good removal and combines well with Darksoul to create huge momentum swings over the opponent.
Run 2 copies.
Reinforce Truth
This was one of the biggest decisions for me with this deck. I tested 1 Pashuul and no Truth and also the 2 Pashuul and one Truth and both had their upsides. Drawing multiple Pashuul really sets you back. However, the fact that running two allows you to summon a TUNER (this is the big part) in your opponents turn makes it easier to set up synchro options as well as Faultroll plays. It also has the sometimes useful ability to stop OTKs and chaining to an opponents MST is always fun.
Run 1 copy.
Solemn Judgment
Amazing card. I could, and have, wrote an article solely on this card alone. In my opinion this card is simply too good not to run in any deck with a significant trap line-up. The life point cost is negligible if used correctly.
Run 1 copy.
Starlight Road
I really like this card, especially in decks that must commit more than a single monster to the field in order to make a play. It allows you to respond to more than just the usual Heavy Storm as you can also catch your opponent with a Torrential Tribute or other mass monster removal. Ironically, I have found that people won't Heavy Storm you fearing Starlight Road but they're more than happy to basically throw a Torrential Tribute across the table. The only word of caution with Road is that it oftentimes gives you a false sense of security. A simple Heavy Storm/Torrential + Solemn Warning can knock you out of the duel so you must just be cautious even when you have this card.
Run 1 copy .
Alright, so that means that we have so far removed the following:
2 x Tragoedia
1 x X-Saber Airbellum
1 x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
2 x Forbidden Lance
1 x Scapegoat
1 x Gottoms' Emergency Call
2 x Bottomless Trap Hole
Total: 10 cards
I would replace these with the following:
2 x XX-Saber Boggart Knight
Love hate relationship with this card it must be said. I know Vansant hates Ultimate Offering in his Machina Gadgets so it’s possible he dislikes summoning more than once per turn? However, this card just feels necessary to me. It fuels Faultroll and synchro plays and is just a big body that also tags with Thunder King. I've talked previously about outs to Thunder King and you may think it's unnecessary but it is always important to understand all the potential uses for your cards. Mostly, it will serve to combo with Pashuul into Hyunlei and other power plays. There were a lot more attack based backrow like Dimensional Prison and Mirror Force played at the latest YCS so Hyunlei's usefulness is possibly higher now than in previous formats.
1 x Grandsoil the Elemental Lord
This card is insane and there's a reason it rose to high prices on the back of a Jeff Jones innovation. If you open Emmersblade and Grandsoil then you essentially have immediate access to 3 earths in grave and a fourth on field. If that fourth is a Darksoul then you have 5 earths within a very fast timeframe. Similarly, if you start spamming synchros, this card becomes live incredibly quick and also has powerful targets to revive.
Furthermore, this deck has the ability to easily manipulate the graveyard through Faultroll, Emergency Call, Avarice etc and I've rarely found it dead. It can help to end games quickly and also steal games you might have otherwise lost.
1 x Debris Dragon
I love this little guy. This deck has a lot of cards that rely on other cards in order to function. Whether it's Emergency Call needing a Saber, or Faultroll needing two, there are a lot of cards that simply cannot function as a standalone option. However, Debris Dragon does that and much more. As a recovery play, nothing beats Debris -> Darksoul ->Blackrose -> Bomb -> Darksoul Search. Did I mention that I love this little guy? With such easy and consistent access to Darksoul, this combo has never been far from hand and helps regulate fields that may otherwise be insurmountable.
As mentioned, my biggest reasoning behind this is the fact that it adds a much needed one card power play that just felt severely lacking.
2 x Mystical Space Typhoon
This just seems like a better option than Forbidden Lance. Destroying the power backrow like Solemn Warning/Torrential Tribute and the Abyss Spheres just feels like it has more utility in a deck that will almost always have too many monsters on board for Lance to protect. However, I opted to run only two because this deck has almost immediate access to Hyunlei and/or Barkion. This, combined with the fact that the latest YCS had a lot more Agent/Dragon/Similar decks with a lowered trap line-up, left me having a less than useful MST often.
2 x Pot of Duality
"But Doctor! Taking away special summons kills this deck", you say? Whilst special summoning is a major function of this deck, you must first be able to draw or search into all your combo pieces. Until that point, the deck will often play passively with set Emmersblades/Darksouls and so Duality just helps dig for resources faster. Oftentimes you will find you need to crash your Emmersblades into the opponent’s monsters in order to stimulate your engine so you certainly have time to slow down for a turn under Duality.
2 x Dimensional Prison
This is my replacement for Bottomless Trap Hole. I absolutely hated staring at a Thunder King or similar on turn 1 and having no traps besides a useless Bottomless Trap Hole going second. This continues throughout the game too and I found I was drawing potential answers too late to current threats. Therefore, I have opted to run a card that is more universally applied and almost never dead. Obviously cards like Bottomless are still really, really good and I'd want the option to bring them in games 2 and 3. However, game 1 I just want to have as much consistency whether I go first or second as I can possibly have.
Extra Deck:
In all honesty, I think the hardest part of fixing this list has been in looking at the extra deck. Almost every game I found myself wanting a specific option that wasn’t included in the extra. This then caused a massive problem with room and of which options are necessary and which simply aren't. For that reason, I had to get really, really harsh and remove options that really aren't bad inclusions.
Armory Arm
There is no real way to make this outside of a Monster Reborn. Obviously this is an amazing Synchro but there are options that we can make using only our own cards that need to take precedence.
Inzektor Exa-Beetle
This card is really, really good. If you resolve the effect oftentimes you will send an opponents monster to the grave and also get a Darksoul search. However, I found that anytime I had two Faultroll I always had better options to go into (discarding their hand plays come to mind almost immediately). For this reason, I had to cut it as a fun, but ultimately unnecessary, option.
Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger
With Exa-Beetle removed, this card no longer has a huge usefulness. With the popularity of Inzektors I concede that Mind Control on a Tiras might be fun but there's just no room for such situational options.
These would be replaced with:
Soul of Silvermountain
This card is really good as it has dual effects; both of which you can utilise to great effect with this deck. Both blocking a backrow threat and reviving a monster have been really useful and just increase some utility throughout the extra deck.
Mist Wurm
This card, whilst not easy to make, was an option I found I regretted not having available. Outside of a Gottoms' Emergency play you will rarely have access to it as Boggart Knight has annoying conditions. However, as a card to utilise if going for game, it tested well in my revised list.
Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
With Boggart Knight forcing your hand with narrow synchro options, access to Mind Control, Monster Reborn (and also the side deck though it is not discussed as part of this article) I found that I regretted almost once a match, if not every duel, the fact that I was missing a rank 4 option. I then debated between this and Photon Papilloperative as my ‘go to’ option. In testing, the most used play was using Mind Control on a sole monster and overlaying into Maestroke. Papilloperative relied on too many things. First, I must have the option to make a rank 4 and then secondly they must have a face-down monster apart from the one I often stole to make it. Therefore, Maestroke won out as a generically universally ‘good’ option. If you want to get really technical, Maestroke also flips cards face-down for Fulhelmknight 😉
So, this allows us to collate the finalised list as follows:
Alex Vansant’s NEW ‘Sabers Strike’:
Monsters: 18
3 x XX-Saber Darksoul
3 x XX-Saber Emmersblade
3 x XX-Saber Fulhelmknight
3 x XX-Saber Faultroll
2 x XX-Saber Boggart Knight
2 x XX-Saber Pashuul
1 x Grandsoil the Elemental Lord
1 x Debris Dragon
Spells: 12
2 x Mystical Space Typhoon
2 x Pot of Duality
2 x Enemy Controller
1 x Dark Hole
1 x Heavy Storm
1 x Monster Reborn
1 x Book of Moon
1 x Mind Control
1 x Pot of Avarice
Traps: 11
2 x Gottoms' Emergency Call
2 x Solemn Warning
2 x Torrential Tribute
2 x Dimensional Prison
1 x Reinforce Truth
1 x Starlight Road
1 x Solemn Judgment
Extra Deck: 15
1 x Ally of Justice Catastor
1 x Naturia Beast
1 x Naturia Barkion
2 x XX-Saber Hyunlei
1 x XX-Saber Souza
1 x Black Rose Dragon
1 x Scrap Dragon
1 x Stardust Dragon
1 x XX-Saber Gottoms
1 x Mist Wurm
1 x Photon Strike Bounzer
1 x Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 x Soul of Silvermountain
1 x Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
As you can see, I essentially just ‘trimmed off the fat’ surrounding the decks core and opted to maximise out on the X-Saber strategy itself rather than on generic options. Therefore, I personally believe, and my testing with the revised list has supported this, that this new deck focuses more specifically on what it does well and increases the ability to push those plays through with far greater regularity. I hope that Alex (and you, the readers at large) understand and appreciate this revised list and agree with the card choices.
Once again, I would like to thank Jim and the Alter Reality Games Team as a whole for the opportunity to partake in this competition and for their continued consideration as we head into this top 8 round.
Ashley
Latest posts by Ashley (see all)
- Nurse! Bring Sedatives – This Poor Soul is Out of Control! - December 18, 2012
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