Deck Doctor – Tom Paine | Alter Reality Games

November 11, 2012

by Tom Paine

Hi all, my name is Tom Paine and this is my submission for the deck doctor contest.

First up is Billy Brake's rock stun deck list.

Monsters: 19
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

Spells:10
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Soul Taker
2 Pot of Duality
1 Seal of Orichalcos
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole

Traps: 12
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Solemn Warning
2 Call of the Haunted
2 Bottomless Traphole
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Starlight Road

Extra Deck: 15
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

The Monsters

The first thing I'd like to say is this deck has a brilliant core of Block Golems and Koa'ki Meirus, which need no change. However, we do need to remember we are building a stun deck which generally means we want to keep the monster count reasonably low to avoid drawing hands with too many monsters, as these hands will be very slow and can easily lose out to faster paced decks. That being said, we need to be careful with rock stun in particular as you need a minimum of two rock monsters before you can use the decks key monsters, the Koa'ki Meirus (any rock monster and a Koa'ki Meiru). Because of this, Card Trooper will have to go. Awesome as the little machine is, playing him in a deck with a low monster count means most of the time he will be milling only spells and traps, which is not what we want to be milling. He also isn't a machine, so doesn't serve the extra purpose of allowing us to use our rock monsters. I am also going to cut Maxx 'c', because he is fairly weak in most match ups this format (excepts for wind ups of course). Also, in a stun deck, which hopes to maintain control of the board, we cannot afford to let our opponent push into a Maxx 'c' anyway, as this will allow our opponent to gain the upper hand, even if they are giving us extra draws one off the Maxx 'c', which we will most likely end up wasting having to spend lots of resources to regain control.

The only addition I will make to the monster line up is a third copy of Fossil Dyna. His effect does a great job of slowing the game down, reducing each player to one summon per turn, making our traps much more effective, and putting our opponent under lots of pressure to get rid of him. Not to mention his other effect, which can always take a Laggia or a field full of Samurais by surprise.

Grand mole is just an awesome monster, and is a great pick for any stun deck, and this one in particular as well, due to his rock type.

The Spells

I think everybody will agree that Dark Hole, Monster Reborn, and Pot of Duality are definitely solid picks due the respective power and consistency they add to the deck. The Seal of Orichalcos is also a really nice one of tech pick, which works brilliantly with Dyna (and another monster, so the opponent cannot attack Dyna) and whose downsides don't really affect the deck. However, I would argue that Mystical Space Typhoon is not an ideal pick for this deck, and suggest cutting them. Although it is powerful, it is not crucial like it is to other decks who need to clear back row before making big pushes, meaning we can find another pick to suit our purposes better. The picks I would suggest in place of the 3 copies of Mst are a pair of Forbidden Lance and a Heavy Storm. Lance is nice in here as at can be used either like Mst, to nullify your opponents back row, or as defence to win a battle (especially when that battle is between Dyna and his mortal enemy, wind up rabbit). Storm is one of the few cards I would simply say is too powerful not to include, even though you play plenty of back row. If you draw it early it can obviously be very powerful, and if you draw it late you can just wait until your opponent has more back row than you, either gradually using yours up or not pushing into theirs.

I would also advocate cutting the Soul Takers. Whilst it is very nice in certain situations, it is simply far too reactive a card for this deck. Soul Taker does a great job of re-establishing control of the board however the aim of a stun deck is never to lose it, and most of the time I think you will find you'd rather a copy of Lance or Dimensional Prison instead. Book of Moon is also a versatile defensive spell that fits nicely in here.

The Traps

The Solemns, Bottomless Trap Holes, and Calls I think are great picks as they are, all serving the purpose of retaining control of the board, so they need no change. A third copy of Dimensional Prison would certainly not be out of place here. It is simply a card you almost always want to have sitting in your back row dealing with a multitude of threats from Tiras to Sangan to Grapha, so there is not good reason not to be running a full set.

Although Torrential Tribute is extremely powerful, this deck runs no floaters, so you may find yourself often having to give up a monster to activate it. This might be worth it in some cases, but often it will not be, meaning Torrential will be an inconsistent pick and should be dropped. In it's place I would recommend a pair of Mirror Force. It doesn't have the raw power of Torrential tribute, however it does a similar job and can often catch opponents by surprise to win games. It can also just be used early as a one for one, to fend off a Thunder King for example.

Starlight Road I feel is totally out of place here. It's main benefit, summoning a Stardust, is somewhat mitigated by the fact that doing so shuts down Block Golem. I do not feel we need to directly replace the road, as cards such as road and The Huge Revolution is Over are inherently inconsistent, as they can only be used in response to a limited number of cards. Instead we can simply recognise that we have answers to field clearing cards in our monster line up, (Wall and Sandman), so there is no need to run any of the above mentioned cards.

The last change I will make to the trap line up is the addition of a play set of Compulsory Evacuation Device. It is very useful this format, being a simple answer to multiple XYZs running around, as well as being able to set the opponent back a turn, or chain to an opponents back row to save a monster. It is a card which is useful in the majority of situations so is easy to run at three.

The Extra

Given the way the deck is set up, the extra won't be required very often, so I think the best approach is simply to include a wide variety of rank 3 and 4 XYZs in order to have the right one for the situation. Although remember not to recklessly make a non-earth XYZ early on, try to only use them late game as an out or to push for game. The only synchro I feel is likely to come out and is therefore worth running is Catastor, as he can be made by reborning an Effect Veiler, which is the most commonly played tuner right now.

So here is the revised list. If you'll forgive the pun, I think it looks stunning!

Monsters: 16
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

Spells: 9
2 Forbidden Lance
2 Pot of Duality
1 Seal of Orichalcos
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole 1 Heavy Storm 1 Book of Moon

Traps: 15
3 Dimensional Prison
2 Solemn Warning
2 Call of the Haunted
2 Bottomless Traphole
2 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
3 Compulsory Evacuation Device

Extra Deck: 15
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
1 Kochi Kochi Dragon
1 Soul of Silver Mountain
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Fairy King Albverdich
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn 1 Number 39: Utopia 1 Number C39: Utopia Ray 1 Number 30: Acid Golem

1 Wind up Zenmaines

1 Leviar the Sea Dragon

1 Number 50: Black Ships of Corn

1 Photon Papilloperative

1 Abyss Dweller

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

Next up is Joe Giorlando's Gishki Hero Turbo deck.

Monsters: 20

3 Gishki 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

Spells: 20

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

Extra: 15

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

First up I would like to congratulate Joe on coming up with such a cool and original deck concept. Unlike Billy's deck where I analysed it card by card, in this I will offer a revised list first and then explanations, because analysing cards individually is more difficult in a deck with so much synergy.

Revised Gishki Hero Turbo List

Monsters : 19

3 Gishki Vision

3 Gishki Shadow

3 EviGishki Soul Ogre

1 EviGishki Gustrakken

2 Destiny HERO Malicious

3 Destiny HERO Plasma

1 Elemental HERO Stratos

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Spells : 21

3 Trade In

3 Destiny Draw

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

3 Hand Destruction

3 Miracle Fusion

2 Salvage

2 Gishki Aquamirror

1 Heavy Storm

1 Monster Reborn

1 Dark Hole

1 Allure of Darkness

Extra : 15

3 Elemental HERO Absolute Zero

1 Elemental HERO Escuridao

1 Elemental HERO Gaia

1 Gem Knight Pearl

1 Photon Papilloperative

1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn

1 Gachi Gachi Gantetsu

1 Gaia Dragon the Thunder Charger

1 Photon Strike Bounzer

1 Sword Breaker

1 Inzektor Exa Beetle

1 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis

1 Number 25: Force Focus

So you can see in the main deck I have dropped the generic 'dark' engine of Tour Guides, Trags etc in order to focus more on the Gishki engine. The deck looks as if it is prone to dead hands, and doing this should help to alleviate that problem. However, I imagine the pick the jumps out the most is a play set of Hand Destructions. This card is not popular right now in practically any decks, and you can understand why; it gives the opponent the same benefit it gives you and you take a minus one. However in this deck Hand Destruction is not a minus one as you can discard an Aquamirror along with a ritual monster and then return the monster for free. (It could even be a plus one if you discard two mirrors with two rituals in grave). Without the potential minus it offers, Hand destruction gives the deck huge benefits by increasing both speed and consistency (by being able to discard dead cards). Gishki Shadow I bumped up to three as when you use the effect of Aquamirror it returns itself to the deck so you may need to search it often. I also included EviGishki Gustrakken as it is a very powerful ritual that combos beatifully with Malicous, allowing us to pick a card out of the opponents hand and follow it up with a rank 6 XYZ.

I cut the Diamond Dude because it is not only slow but also inconsistent as there is no guarantee you will hit a spell. Unfortunately, dropping ROTA was a natural extension of this because it would only have one target left.

With Stratos as the only monster left that needs to be normal summoned, the deck now looks much faster than before, being able to dig for and use a bunch of miracles and rituals in the first couple of turns, in order to swarm the field and OTK the opponent. ( Any three big monsters is usually game, due to Absolute Zero gaining 500 attack for each other water monster you control)

The extra deck has been given almost a complete overhaul. It now includes all the options we are likely to want in the deck, having cut ones we no longer . With HERO fusions to complement the Miracle fusions, rank 6 options for Mali – Gustrakken plays (including Gaia), a couple of rank 4 options in case of Stratos plus reborn, and rank 2 and 8 XYZs because we have the space and it is feasible to want to make them.

Thanks for reading, guys. Comments, feedback or suggestions welcome.