Deck Doctor – Jonathan Gilliam | Alter Reality Games

November 10, 2012

by Jonathan Gilliam

Hey guys!

Jonathan here coming at you with my first ever deck doctor article! I’m sure you guys reading over at ARG are busy with plenty of entries, so let’s get started and jump right into Billy Break’s Rock Stun deck!

3 Koa’ki Meiru Guardian

3 Koa’ki Meiru Sandman

3 Koa’ki Meiru Wall
3 Block Golem
2 Card Trooper
2 Maxx “C”
2 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
1 Neo-Spacian Grandmole
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Soul Taker
2 Pot of Duality
1 Seal of Orichalcos
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole

2 Dimensional Prison
2 Solemn Warning
2 Call of the Haunted
2 Bottomless Traphole
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Starlight Road

2 Gem-Knight Pearl
2 Kochi Kochi Dragon
2 Soul of Silver Mountain
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaister
1 Gachi Gachi
1 Fairy King Albverdich
1 Gaia Knight, Force of Earth
1 Naturia Beast
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon

Let’s tackle monsters first. The two cards in question here are Card Trooper and Maxx “C’. The easier omission by far is Maxx “C”, for a couple reasons. First, the card itself is rather narrow and only truly shines in a small handful of match ups. With a full array of traps at its disposal, Rock Stun doesn’t suffer the necessity of having to run multiple hand traps. Second, even with a successful resolution, there aren’t any cards in the main deck to draw that actually prevent your opponent from OTK’ing you on the same turn (Tragoedia, Gorz, and Effect Veiler are obviously left out due to conflictions with Block Golem).

Card Trooper was a bit harder to cut, but rightfully so. The main reasoning behind running him in the first place was due to the synergy he creates with Call of the Haunted and Block Golem, as well as the ability to plus one off your opponents bothersome Thunder Kings. However, I see Card Trooper as a waste of a normal summon in a deck where the major focus is locking the opponent out of plays. Instead of summoning Trooper for the turn, I’d be much more content bringing out a Koa’Ki Meiru or Fossil Dyna and setting a couple back rows. Rock Stun is perfectly fine just trading cards back and forth, so while the occasional plus one is nice, it isn’t necessary. As an added bonus, I’ll be replacing both cards with more Rock types, which can help limit the potentially awkward situation of not being able to pay an end phase Koa’ki Meiru cost.

Check out our new lineup:

3 Koa’ki Meiru Guardian

3 Koa’ki Meiru Sandman

3 Koa’ki Meiru Wall

3 Block Golem

3 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo

1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

1 Gaia Plate the Earth Giant

1 Grandsoil the Elemental Lord

I added an extra copy of Fossil Dyna to the main deck. Obviously at the moment he’s quite good against a plethora of decks, so maxing him out enables you to potentially start the duel in great shape (duly noted, depending on the amount of Mermail/Atlantian decks to surface in the coming months, Dyna may drop down in playability somwhat). I also decided to throw in a copy of Gaia Plate and Grandsoil, giving the deck some much needed power late game. A problem with stun decks that I’ve often encountered, is that after achieving a simplified game state, there’s no way to really close out. In today’s format, this can be problematic due to the random explosiveness that many decks offer. Gaia Plate can often help seal the deal, and is a great mid-late game top deck. Grandsoil also offers that great mid-late game punch and works in unison with Block Golem and Gaia Plate, both of which give you pretty decent graveyard control.

Three MST and double Soul Taker are spot on in this deck. While some may argue that stun variants don’t require triple Space Typhoon, I’d like them to think again. Any 1 for 1 you can make with your opponent will automatically bring you one step closer to winning the duel. Since I mentioned it previously without fully explaining the concept, the number one goal of this deck should be creating a simplified game state between you and your opponent, or to quickly diminish your opponent’s cards in order to lock them out of a win with stun monsters. Cards like MST and Soul Taker help bring about this game state quickly, by forcing trades early in the game with minimal effort. The fewer cards you’re playing against, the more effective your stun becomes.

The only spell I’d like to replace here would be Seal of Orichalcos for Heavy Storm. Seal is neat, but without some sort of support to bring it out of the deck early, it’s often dead in later parts of the game. Regardless of how many/what kinds of traps your playing, there’s no excuse to NOT be playing Heavy Storm. The card can single handedly swing games in your favor right from turn one, and maintains utility throughout. I mean, if going 1 for 1 with an MST is favorable in Rock Stun, what happens when your opponent is down 2-3 cards right off the bat? The bottom line: don’t try and be cute. Play your power cards.

Not much to say for traps. The format has really dictated the trap lineup of current decks, being mostly the same throughout. I threw in two copies of Mirror Force as added protection for our third Fossil Dyna, and it gives your opponent another card to play around. Players unaware of the Force will likely try and go for big pushes once Dyna is cleared, but our new addition will make them think twice. Also, I dropped a copy of Torrential Tribute from the main deck. Field presence will play an important factor in your games, and it’s something you always want to maintain. Alas, Torrential is Torrential, so playing one is still optimal and leaves your opponent wary.

As for the extra deck, again, Block Golem creates restrictions, so I went ahead and threw in some of the new Earth attribute Xyz’s from Abyss Rising. They’re situational, but certainly playable. Here it all comes together…

The new list:

3 Koa’ki Meiru Guardian

3 Koa’ki Meiru Sandman

3 Koa’ki Meiru Wall

3 Block Golem

3 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo

1 Neo-Spacian Grandmole

1 Gaia Plate the Earth Giant

1 Grandsoil the Elemental Lord

3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Soul Taker
2 Pot of Duality
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole

2 Dimensional Prison

2 Mirror Force
2 Solemn Warning
2 Call of the Haunted
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Starlight Road

2 Gem-Knight Pearl
2 Kochi Kochi Dragon
2 Soul of Silver Mountain
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaister
1 Gagaga Cowboy

1 Giant Soldier of Steel
1 Fairy King Albverdich
1 Stardust Dragon

1 Naturia Beast
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Scrap Dragon

…Diagnosis?

Rock Stun is a fun deck that, given the right pilot, can be taken into the completive scene. If you enjoy a more linear play style, full of decisions and player interactions, pick up the deck and practice, practice, practice!

Next up, let’s take a look at a deck that has already become near and dear to my heart, Joe Girolando’s Gishki Hero Turbo:

3 Evigishki Soul Ogre
3 Gishki Vision
3 Destiny Hero Plasma
2 Destiny Hero Diamond Dude
2 Trageodia

2 Tour Guide from the Underworld
1 Sangan
1 Gishki Shadow
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness

3 Destiny Draw
3 Trade-In
3 Miracle Fusion
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Salvage
1 Gishki Aquamirror
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn

1 Grenosaurus
1 Melomelody the Brass Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
1 Temtempo Percussion Djinn
1 Maestroke Symphony Djinn
1 Blade Armor Ninja
1 Heroic Champion Excalibur
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis
1 Number 11: Big Eye
1 Gaia Dragon, Thunder Charger
1 Black Rose Dragon

Since the format began, I’ve been trying to make Absolute Zero work from a competitive standpoint, and this is probably as close as it’s going to get. Mixing in a bit of old and new, the strategy behind the deck is to draw, then draw some more, all while accumulating power cards for one final push. Along the way, Absolute Zero does an amazing job of slowing down your opponents plays, making them second guess committing to the field. There isn’t much to touch upon in the main deck (these decks tend to be very tight as it is), but I would like to draw attention to two things.

The first is a severe lack of protection in the main deck. Double Tragoedia only goes so far, and with space being an issue Joe clearly opted out of using other hand traps. From my own experience playing similar AZ builds, you can’t expect to go very far without multiple protection cards. I’d argue that at least 2-3 Effect Veiler are mandatory for Trap-less builds that can’t guarantee to OTK in a single turn. With that being said, here’s the new monster line-up:

3 Gishki Soul Ogre
3 Gishki Vision
3 Destiny Hero Plasma
2 Destiny Hero Diamond Dude
2 Tragoedia

2 Tour Guide from the Underworld

2 Effect Veiler
1 Sangan
1 Gishki Shadow
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness

1 Black Luster Soldier – Enoy of the Beginning

Two Effect Veilers topped off with a BLS. In my play testing, I found that I was often lacking in push power when the time came. Black Luster Soldier guarantee’s that when it is time to be aggressive, you’re going to OTK. While only two lights might seem dismal, the turbo engine this deck is packing makes getting to Veilers pretty simple. Plus you have some extra deck options to make him live as well. Worst case scenario, a dead BLS turns into Trade-In fodder. This simple addition not only adds defense, but offense as well, while maintaining constancy throughout.

Sadly, to make room for hand traps we had to drop some spells. I really like the 20 monsters to spell ratio for this deck, since it makes our Diamond Dudes that much more live, but the monster lineup is pretty tight and there were two spells that I think the deck could do without; both Salvage and a Mystical Space Typhoon. Salvage makes for some pretty cute combos with the Gishki searchers, but with only four targets, I found the card to be dead more often than not. Dropping an MST isn’t too big a deal, since you’ll be likely to see enough S/T removal while you’re digging for cards. Plus it’s the only spell you wouldn’t want to hit with Diamond Dude.

While I’m certainly a fan of traps, this deck is too tight to be running them. Perhaps some Decree’s in the board, but otherwise let’s leave it alone.

Obvious troll is obvious when it comes to the extra deck…

Let’s throw some Elemental Hero’s in there and call it a day. Two copies of AZ should be enough, and I like to tech a Shining since it’s playable and fits the bill when you need to get over big beaters. The rest of the extra is standard, including the rank 3 arsenal we know and love, as well as some warrior specifics for Stratos+DD.

The final product:

3 Evigishki Soul Ogre
3 Gishki Vision
3 Destiny Hero Plasma
2 Destiny Hero Diamond Dude
2 Tragoedia

2 Tour Guide from the Underworld

2 Effect Veiler
1 Sangan
1 Gishki Shadow
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness

1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning

3 Destiny Draw
3 Trade-In
3 Miracle Fusion
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Gishki Aquamirror
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn

2 Elemental Hero Absolute Zero

1 Elemental Hero the Shining
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
1 Temtempo Percussion Djinn
1 Maestroke Symphony Djinn
1 Blade Armor Ninja
1 Heroic Champion Excalibur
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis
1 Number 11: Big Eye
1 Gaia Dragon, Thunder Charger
1 Black Rose Dragon

…Diagnosis?

This is a deck I’ll be putting together for myself in the coming weeks. I love everything about Absolute Zero, and drawing cards is always fun. How competitive is it? With my aforementioned fixes I think it can hold its own against the best.

Overall, I had a lot of fun trying to one up two of the games greatest. I’d like to thank you guys at ARG for the opportunity to contribute to the community, and I’d like to thank the community for contributing to my obsession for finding and testing out new decks weekly. Hope you’ve liked what you’ve read!

Till next time,

Jonathan