The Fiercest Dragons Evolved From Reptiles… Not Rabbits!

November 13, 2012

by Romas Sabaljauskas

Hi guys my name is Romas and I've decided to have a go at my very first article for ARG and share some insights I have on the game which you will hopefully find interesting and take something away to improve your own game.

I am going to talk about a deck that has in my opinion been overlooked ever since its release, and that is Evols. It has had some small success with a top 32 spot in atlanta some time ago but nothing since mainly because no one is willing to try anything not "top tier"! I have built this deck almost by accident having acquired some of the cards needed I've decided to build a fun deck of it.

I was more than shocked the first time I played, the deck has an extreme surprise factor against anyone who doesn't know what the combos do and there sure is a LOT of them.

The deck is an archetype consisting of 3 types of monsters, evolving from reptiles to dinosaurs and eventually dragons. The aim is to use the evoltiles effects to summon one of the 3 evolsaurs who each get their effects when summoned that way. Ranging from Diplo destroying a spell or trap card, Vulcano summoning dinosaurs from the graveyard and Cerato who searches for your key reptiles where the evolutionary chain starts all over again!

Here I'd like to give you a version of my Evols list that has been testing incredibly well and then talk about some of the best plays the deck offers.

Monsters 13
2 - Evolsaur Cerato
2 - Evolsaur Diplo
2 - Evolsaur Vulcano
3 - Evoltile Westlo
3 - Evoltile Najasho
1 - Gorz The Emissary Of Darkness

This line up works well for me, some variants like to play another Cerato for its high attack or one less Najasho to stop more than one clogging with no useful way to use it. I prefer to play just the 2 of each Evolsaur, its the perfect number that leaves space for other things. I do not play the third Cerato for the same reason I don't play the others, yes it is the strongest at 1900 attack but I have never found a use for there to be 3 of them summoned from the deck more than the others and playing a third one just because it is a beatstick seems kind of a waste. Westlo has to be the best card of the deck, amazing in almost all situations. It stands at 1900 defence which is not much gets past first turn and also summons one of your toolbox monsters in the damage step from the deck if attacked.

Spells - 18
3 - Evo-Diversity
3 - Evo-Force
2 - Mystical Space Typhoon
1 - Book Of Moon
1 - Forbidden Lance
1 - Monster Reborn
1 - Dark Hole
1 - Heavy Storm
2 - Enemy Controller
1 - Pot Of Avarice
2 - Pot Of Duality

This is a VERY spell heavy deck just because of the amount of archetype specific cards that it plays. But of course it does for a reason, Evo-Diversity is one of the best search cards out there with no limitation to level or name when it comes to the archetype. Most of the time you will be searching for one of the Evoltiles but late game you may even search for one of the Evolsaurs to either have a beatstick or XYZ into one of the Evolzars etc. Evo-Force is a key card in this deck and of course has the best synergy with Najasho who gets his effect to summon a monster with its effect, bringing out 2 in one combo. All of which get their effects for even more advantage leaving you free to make a Laggia or Dolkka if they both survive. It also helps with making use of Westlos which have already used their effects.

There are only 2 MSTs are here since there is already spell/trap removal in the shape of Diplo. Dualities let you dig through to and set up westlo or najasho evo force plays. Enemy Controller is handy for stopping an opponents combos, making your own XYZs and at times even getting rid of a Westlo that's about to be effect Veiler'd and has good synergy with Najasho.

Traps - 10
2 - Bottomless Trap Hole
1 - Dimensional Prison
1 - Fiendish Chain
2 - Solemn Warning
1 - Solemn Judgement
1 - Starlight Road
1 - Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 - Offering To The Snake Diety

The trap cards here are pretty straightforward, they are there to protect your Laggia or Dolkka as well as doing the standard monster removal that traps do. An interesting tech card here is the offering to the snake diety, it is something that anyone playing this deck should try. It can get rid of a dead najasho when you don't draw the Force or Controller and it can be extremely unexpected when you first turn set Westlo and they leave it face up after an attack leaving you free to destroy their set spell and trap cards in the end phase. Its like an Icarus Attack for the deck. There are 6 targets for it that then increase once you start counting the search spell, the dualities and your normal draw phase of course. The odds of having one of then in your hand when you draw this are high.

This has a very decent match up against the most played decks out there right now like Geargia and Wind-Ups.

This deck is extremely fun to play and I would recommend for everyone to try it, its incredibly cheap right now and easy to get. Give it a fair go, don't just complain about drawing a dead Diplo or Vulcano and rush to trade it off again.

That pretty much wraps up all I wanted to say and I hope you all enjoyed reading. I look forward to reading to all the feedback and will make sure to do well with this at an upcoming regionals to encourage everyone to play what they enjoy playing and to show that Magician/Shark isn't the only win condition in Yu-Gi-Oh!