Welcome to the tenth installment!
It’s been two weeks since I last shared stories about DN. The single most common issue I come across while on call is STILL players thinking that MST negates the effect of its target. Other common issues include: whether Sphere negates Linde in the grave (a card that negates a monster it is targetting cannot negate it if the monster’s effect activates in grave), whether Dragon Rulers can be negated as if they were inherent summons by Solemn Judgment, Thunder King, etc. (their summons are effects that begin a chain), and what happens when two players forget a mandatory effect from several turns ago (you continue play under accepted gamestate, unless the situation can be repaired).
Perhaps the most unique situation I have encountered lately was on Monday, where I saw a player enact an infinite loop with Morphing Jar #2 and All-Out Attacks. Normally a player is prohibited from initiating an infinite loop. However, with the above two cards, you can legally initiate a combo since an infinite loop is not certain (due to randomization of the deck and its unknown contents). Once the loop becomes infinite, however, All-Out Attacks is destroyed by game mechanics. Konami has not officially ruled on this exact interaction, so this is the most reputable ruling available on the scenario.
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Aaryn Scott Davis’s Virus Deck
Main Deck: 41
Monsters: 19
3 Meklord Emperor Wisel
3 Fusiler Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast
3 Morphing Jar # 2
1 Morphing Jar
2 Battle Fader
2 Trifortressops
3 Needle Worm
2 Tsukuyomi
Spells: 6
1 Heavy Storm
3 The Shallow Grave
2 Pot Of Duality
Traps: 17
3 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Threatening Roar
3 Waboku
3 Imperial Iron Wall
3 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
2 Deck Devastation Virus
Extra Deck: 0
At a Glance
Aaryn’s strategy with this build is to win by deck out. He also combines this with a strategy to wash the opponent’s hand free of cards with the Viruses. However, these two strategies have virtually zero synergy with one another. The Virus cards, while powerful, do not actually cause an opponent to deck out in any way. In the t.v. show, when Crush Card Virus was first introduced, it destroyed nearly every card in Yugi’s deck. This is not so in real life.
Thus, we are to choose between two win conditions. Deck out has only one version that actually works: Empty Jar. Rather than go over the same deck that every Empty Jar player has run +/- a few cards, I’ll instead direct construction towards the rather unique idea of Virus control.
Monsters
3 Meklord Emperor Wisel
3 Fusiler Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast
3 Morphing Jar # 2
1 Morphing Jar
2 Battle Fader
2 Trifortressops
3 Needle Worm
2 Tsukuyomi
Meklord Emperor Wisel has always held my interest. It has so many unique characteristics, such as the powerful effect you’d expect from an Extra Deck monster, a level of one, a summon trigger that lets it drop in the Battle Phase and sneak in an attack, and for the purpose of this deck, enough attack to be tributed by either Deck Devastation or Eradicator Epidemic Virus.
Ideally, you’ll win games through Meklord Beat, though realistically, we need backup. Let’s clear out the Empty Jar monsters for some beaters. As I consider the potential of Skill Drain with Fusilier (or even with Giant Kozaky, which can also be tributed for EEV), I am led to ponder: what else synergizes with effect negation and Virus cards? Malefics immediately come to mind. Just remember that you cannot summon a second Malefic even with Skill Drain up, since the Malefic in hand is restricting its own summon (and Drain will not negate a Malefic in hand). Since Ophion is a deck, we keep Tsuk in the mainboard.
-4 Jars
-2 Trifort
-3 Needle Worm
-2 Fader
+3 Malefic Cyber End Dragon
+3 Malefic Stardust Dragon
Spells
1 Heavy Storm
3 The Shallow Grave
2 Pot Of Duality
The reason any other build of deck out other than Empty Jar does not work is because the rest are slow and inconsistent (for that matter, so is Empty Jar, just less so). Cards like The Shallow Grave are horrible to open with, as it requires a monster in your opponent’s grave to even activate. Even in older formats like 2004, deck out strategies involving this card had next to zero viability.
Now, what field spell do we use to support our Malefics? There’s one really obvious answer if we consider the meta and Aaryn’s trap lineup: Necrovalley. Dragons will be forced to summon themselves via Baby effects, and there are few maindecked answers to the card. What destroys the Baby Dragon Rulers? DDV. In addition, you can side Mind Drain to further lock your opponent with the help of Necrovalley. While Reborn has limited uses in this deck, I still recommend its inclusion as answers to problematic fields.
-3 The Shallow Grave
+3 Necrovalley
+3 Terraforming
+1 Book of Moon
+1 Reborn
+1 Orichalcos
Traps
3 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Threatening Roar
3 Waboku
3 Imperial Iron Wall
3 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
2 Deck Devastation Virus
I’m pretty iffy on the main decking of DDV, even though it hits all Dragon Rulers when resolved alongside Necrovalley. DDV is fairly inconsistent against most decks you can expect to play against. While it’s true that hand traps are played at an all time high, this deck loses to none of them, so destroying them with DDV does not really advance your position. Still, we do want to maintain the “virus” theme with our unique fun deck, so we’ll hold onto that, and add in some additional protection for your win condition. While Iron Wall is good, we now need to banish cards to summon our Malefics, and Valley achieves the same thing Iron Wall does.
-3 Roar
-3 Waboku
-3 Iron Wall
+1 Solemn Warning
+1 Solemn Judgment
+1 Dark Bribe
+3 Skill Drain
Extra Deck
None
Every deck needs an Extra, whether it’s a burn deck, Gishkill, deck out, or even a Self-Destruct Button deck. There is always some amount of utility, however small, you can milk out of having an Extra Deck. Since we’ve redefined the win condition, a standard Malefic Extra is necessary here. If the rank 7s are outside your budget, it’s ok; the important thing is the Malefic summons.
+3 Stardust Dragon
+3 Cyber End Dragon
+1 Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max
+1 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis
+1 Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack
+1 Number 11: Big Eye
+1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
+1 Gagaga Cowboy
+1 Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
+1 Slacker Magician
+1 Scrap Dragon
Final List
Main Deck: 40
Monsters: 14
3 Meklord Emperor Wisel
3 Fusiler Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast
2 Tsukuyomi
3 Malefic Cyber End Dragon
3 Malefic Stardust Dragon
Spells: 12
3 Necrovalley
3 Terraforming
2 Pot of Duality
1 Heavy Storm
1 Book of Moon
1 Monster Reborn
1 The Seal of Orichalcos
Traps: 14
3 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
3 Skill Drain
2 Deck Devastation Virus
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Solemn Warning
1 Dark Bribe
Extra Deck: 15
3 Stardust Dragon
3 Cyber End Dragon
1 Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max
1 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis
1 Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack
1 Number 11: Big Eye
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
1 Slacker Magician
1 Scrap Dragon
Let’s observe the final product. We have a Malefic engine to put the opponent on a damage clock, and we have Fusilier and Meklord Wisel to add additional consistency with the Viruses while also aiding as potential beaters under Skill Drain. Necrovalley locks the grave while supporting your Malefic summons, and your trap lineup as well as Tsukuyomi help to answer problems on the field like Ophion and Dracossack. Side options? Mind Drain, MST, Electric Virus (tribute their Ophion for your own Virus), Royal Tribute (for the blowout against Dragons).
Alex Lacaste Manipon’s Chain Beat
Main Deck: 40
Monsters: 9
3 Cardcar D
3 Evilswarm Thunderbird
3 Wind-Up Rabbit
Spells: 6
2 Chain Strike
1 Dark Hole
1 Fire Formation - Tenki
2 Pot of Duality
Traps: 25
3 Accumulated Fortune
3 Compulsory Escape Device
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Jar of Greed
3 Legacy of Yata-Garasu
3 Macro Cosmos
1 Mirror Force
3 Secret Barrel
2 Starlight Road
2 Torrential Tribute
Extra Deck: 15
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Diamond Dire Wolf
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
1 Lavalval Chain
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Number 50: Blackship of Corn
1 Photon Papilloperative
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
At a Glance
Chain Beat is an effective deck that wasn’t talked about much in the pre-LTGY format. It has a number of neat tricks with, as its name suggests, chain manipulations. Those who enjoy grind games with control-oriented decks will appreciate what Chain Beat offers. I would divide Chain Beat into two broad categories: a beatdown control variant and a burn variant. The control variant has more monster removal because it interacts with the opponent in the more traditional sense, while the burn variant has cards typically seen in Chain Burn decks in order to steal games without the aid of removal. However, both decks take advantage of Compulsory Escape Device’s ability to return an opponent’s monster into the deck while leaving yours untouched.
Keep in mind that this trap does NOT target, which means if you have two monsters when you activate CED, you need to chain both and banish them both or else you’ll have to return something to the deck.
Monsters
3 Cardcar D
3 Evilswarm Thunderbird
3 Wind-Up Rabbit
I’m in agreement with the majority that Fire Fist Bear is a good choice for Chain Beat, as its tutoring effect can cause advantage and damage to quickly pile on for your opponent. In addition, it’s a one card out to problematic setups your opponent may have. You can safely use Bear without fear of Fiendish/Veiler, especially in sided games. Other variants run Mageileine, which is another option worth considering.
+1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Bear
Spells
2 Chain Strike
1 Dark Hole
1 Fire Formation - Tenki
2 Pot of Duality
What concerns me more than anything else about the Burn variant is that there are so many bad stand-alone cards. Chain Strike, Barrel, Fortune, the list goes on and on. While you can certainly hope to draw such cards in functional combinations, life isn’t always a rosy picture - and neither is Yugioh. Thus, we want to maximize consistency with 3 Tenki. Also, Book of Moon is insane right now.
+2 Fire Formation - Tenki
+1 Book of Moon
Traps
3 Accumulated Fortune
3 Compulsory Escape Device
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
3 Jar of Greed
3 Legacy of Yata-Garasu
3 Macro Cosmos
1 Mirror Force
3 Secret Barrel
2 Starlight Road
2 Torrential Tribute
What Burn lacks in monster removal, it makes up for in a forceful draw engine. Since your monsters easily create large chains for you, setting up the Accumulated Fortune should usually be no problem. However, this deck has a weak comeback game, so you’ll want to get going on, as many of these cards will do nothing to salvage a topdeck war. We especially want to get rid of Macro, as it only lengthens an already long list of cards without stand-alone efficacy. Not to mention, the current top decks don’t care about this floodgate. Road isn’t at all necessary as the number of games it will lose you far outweigh the incremental advantage you gain from it now and then. The only card you could potentially resolve it against is Heavy, and even that card you shouldn’t fear as almost everything is chainable.
-3 Macro Cosmos
-2 Starlight
-1 Mirror Force
-1 Jar of Greed
+3 Reckless Greed
Extra Deck
2 Stardust Dragon
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Diamond Dire Wolf
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
1 Lavalval Chain
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Number 50: Blackship of Corn
1 Photon Papilloperative
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
The Extra is pretty much fine, as it has plenty of rank 3s and rank 4s should you actually need to do something with your Thunderbirds and Rabbits other than create chains and beat down.
-2 Stardust
+1 Bahamut
+1 Ophion
Final List
Main Deck: 40
Monsters: 10
3 Cardcar D
3 Evilswarm Thunderbird
3 Wind-Up Rabbit
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Bear
Spells: 9
3 Fire Formation - Tenki
2 Pot of Duality
2 Chain Strike
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon
Traps: 21
3 Accumulated Fortune
3 Compulsory Escape Device
3 Reckless Greed
3 Secret Barrel
3 Legacy of Yata-Garasu
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Jar of Greed
2 Torrential Tribute
Extra Deck: 15
1 Evilswarm Bahamut
1 Evilswarm Ophion
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Diamond Dire Wolf
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
1 Lavalval Chain
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Number 50: Blackship of Corn
1 Photon Papilloperative
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
Once again, side 3 MST for the obvious Decrees that come in (as well as the now-ubiquitous Imperial Iron Wall). Fire Fist Gorilla is a good tech for the side too, keeping in mind that they will more than likely not leave in Veiler. Overall I really like this deck and think it offers for a lot of fun plays.
As a final aside, I’d like to add that personally I prefer this deck with all the draw power but without the burn cards. Since card advantage easily translates into battle damage with correct play, removal is usually more dependable than burn cards in pursuing your win condition. However, I kept the deck a burn deck because I didn’t want to change the theme too much. If you want to try my own personal variation of this deck (which I find incredibly fun), take out the Barrels and Chain Strikes for another Compulsory, Warning, Judgment, Reborn and Heavy.
Until next time,
Play Hard or Go Home.
Sincerely,
Johnny
Johnny Li
Latest posts by Johnny Li (see all)
- 100 Prisoners - February 23, 2015
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- Learning Efficiently for the Returning Player - February 16, 2015
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