Hey readers, this week we’re going to start off by taking a look at Robert Fillis’ Anti-meta “Zombies” deck.
1 Neo Spacian Grand Mole
3 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
3 Fossil Dyna Pacycephalo
2 Thunder King Rai-oh
3 Cardcar D
3 Zombie World
2 Teraforming
2 Book of Life
1 Monster Reborn
1 Book of Moon
2 Pot of Duality
3 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Dark Bribe
3 Call of the Haunted
2 Safe Zone
Zombie World is a very interesting card right now. It shuts off most of the Spellbook cards out of the Prophecy deck, as none of their monsters are Spellcasters anymore, and from Dragons it prevents them from removing Dragons from the graveyard to summon themselves. I’ve said before I’m a fan of Necrovalley right now, well, Zombie World does everything Necrovalley does in the Dragon matchup(plus a little extra), and it also is very stifling for the Spellbook deck should they not have a Grand Tower to play over your field spell, with the only real downside being it is less searchable than Necrovalley.
The big problem I have with the deck is how inconsistent it looks. Playing 5 revival Spells/Traps with only 9 monsters you’d ever want to revive is a very rough ratio. This brings me to my first cut, the two Book of Life. Book of Life is definitely the more situational of the revival cards, being that it requires you to have Zombie World on the field to activate in the first place. Decks like this need their cards to be powerful in the early stages of the game, so that you can beat your opponent before they draw the cards required to escape your lock, Book of Life, while nice if they have only a partial answer like Blaster on your monster, both doesn’t help establish your initial lock, and can’t reinforce your lock on the fly since it is a spell card.
The next cut I’m making are the two copies of Torrential Tribute. Sure, the card is very nice to have should you establish Safe Zone + Stun monster, but aside from that 3 card combo, the fact Torrential clears your own board as well as your opponent’s makes it very awkward to run in these kinds of decks.
Call of the Haunted, while much better than Book of Life in this deck, still seems excessive at 3 copies considering the low monster count. I feel like increasing the monster count is more important than having recursion. While when your established, you’d rather be reviving your Kycoos, Thunder Kings, or Fossil Dynas, it can be a real challenge to actually get that first monster in the graveyard to make these cards live, and when you’re running cards like Safe Zone, getting to that first monster fast can be the difference between winning and losing. I’m cutting one of the Calls, though further copies would definitely be on a suspect list to possibly cut as well as more testing is conducted.
The cuts in summary:
-2 Book of Life
-2 Torrential Tribute
-1 Call of the Haunted
Now to add cards. Mezuki seems like an interesting addition to the deck. Because of your already low monster count, it isn’t very taxing that it takes up your normal summon, and with Zombie World on the field he can later turn into a Thunder King from the grave. The card screams value, both an early game beater to take over the board, and a late game revival spell, what isn’t to love? Sure, he’s a little slow if you draw him later on, but ideally with this deck there is no “later on.”
We cut Torrential Tribute earlier because it interfered with our own fields, I’m going to replace it with what seems like the most natural replacement of Bottomless Trap Hole. While it doesn’t destroy everything, it does fit in with your gameplan of “Protect the Stun Monster” better than Torrential Tribute does.
With how reliant this deck can be on establishing the Zombie World to prevent the opponent from executing their game plan, I’m going to add the 3rd terraforming. Clumpy hands are an obvious downside to this change, but the consistency boost of accessing your important field spell early on is just too big, especially when often you’ll need a 2nd Zombie World in the Spellbook matchup should they have a way to get Grand Tower.
Adding the 3rd Terraforming allows us to add in a Malefic Stardust Dragon as well. Versus Dragons, this card not only makes it extremely difficult for them to destroy your Zombie World, but it’s a pretty sizable monster to attack them with as well. I’d definitely consider running 2, or maybe even 3 copies of this card if it tests well for you, but for now just give the lonely copy a try. It addresses the problem of having a low monster count, and makes your setups more difficult to disrupt.
Additions in summary:
+1 Mezuki
+2 Bottomless Trap Hole
+1 Terraforming
+1 Malefic Stardust Dragon
Next up, we’re going to look at Ajay Rudrabhatla’s Elemental Hero deck.
Monsters: 11
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
3 Elemental Hero Alius
2 Elemental Hero Bubbleman
2 Maxx-C
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Honest
Spells: 21
2 A Hero Lives
2 E-Emergency Call
2 Pot of Duality
2 Forbidden Lance
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 Gemini Spark
3 Miracle Fusion
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Monster Reborn
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark hole
1 Super Polymerization
Traps: 10
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Breakthrough Skill
2 Mirror Force
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Solemn Warning
Here we have a pretty standard looking Hero list. One of the best things about this deck right now is its ability to make Shock Master very quickly, sure, it uses a lot of cards, but when decks are as reliant on Spells/Monster effects as Spellbook/Dragon respectively, it doesn’t matter how many cards it takes as long as you can make it quickly.
The first card that really stands out to me as something that doesn’t belong are the Forbidden Lances. The card is practically dead versus Dragons, and while protecting your monsters from Fate versus Spellbook, since Fate doesn’t target they still get some kind of value out of it, and with how easy it is for them to recur their Fates, playing Lance versus Spellbook is really a losing battle. Similarly to the Lances, Mystical Space Typhoons, while great to sideboard versus Spellbook, are a bit lacking in the main versus other decks. I’ve been seeing a lot of dragon lists going down to 1, or even 0 “traps” in their lists. I can’t justify maining Typhoon right now.
Maxx “C” isn’t really my favorite card to run in these kinds of decks either. In my experience he winds up sitting in my hand when I need to summon Bubblemen, just as often as he does anything useful. Maxx “C” only really shines right now versus Dragon, and while that deck is a threat, similarly to why I cut Typhoons from the main, I’m also going to cut the Maxx “C”s.
The cuts in summary:
-2 Forbidden Lance
-2 Mystical Space Typhoon
-2 Maxx “C”
Now to add some cards in. Compulsory Evacuation Device is one of my favorite traps right now, especially for decks like this. It gives you an easy answer to otherwise troubling Dracossacks, or Big Eyes, and Even versus Spellbook, when running a deck like this it’s important to get the Jowgen or Kycoo out of the way so you can win the game. While it’s normally pretty miserable to Compulsory monsters they can just resummon, in this case if they get another turn you’re screwed regardless so you might as well make the most of this one turn window to kill them.so I’m going to start off by adding in 3 of those.
Not maxing out on Bubblemen while running a list with A Hero Lives is something that stood out to me as very weird. With Maxx “C” out of the way, the monster count is low enough that the 3rd should be fine, especially since this deck tends to have to wait a turn on Duality before going off.
Next I want to add in one Book of Moon. Being another quick and easy answer to Kycoo and Jowgen seems extremely important for this deck, and in general Book is the best generic “trap” in the game right now.
This might be greedy, but I like the idea of playing a 2nd Super Polymerization. It’s another easy answer to Kycoo and Dracossack that isn’t easily countered. The card disadvantage makes drawing multiples a bit frustrating, but the first copy is so strong that I feel it’s worth the risk of drawing doubles in rare occasions.
Additions in summary:
+3 Compulsory Evacuation Device
+1 Elemental Hero Bubbleman
+1 Book of Moon
+1 Super Polymerization
As far as the side deck goes, you have a bunch of interesting options. Last Day of the Witch is something that mostly Dragons has been taking advantage of, but works great in a deck like this as well as an answer to Spellbook. Despite all of the RotAs and Emergency Calls, Deck Lockdown isn’t a terrible choice either. It doesn’t last long, but ideally your opponent should be dead before the Lockdown wears off.
Rivalry of Warlords is a great card for both the Dragon and Evilswarm matchups, completely shutting down Evilswarm, and preventing Big Eye, Dracossack, or synchro plays out of the Dragon deck. The Maxx “C”s we cut from the maindeck earlier would certainly find a place in the side for the Dragon matchup as well.
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And remember, Play Hard or Go Home!
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