Hello Yugioh community and ARG readers, my name is Mike Schwankert. As you know, the reason I am here today is to attempt to fix two creative decks built by two of the best to play the game, Billy Brake and Joe Giorlando. Before we get into the decks, I would first like to introduce myself a little. I am 21 years old from New Jersey and have been playing the game on and off since the beginning. I have been attending major events for a few years now and although I haven’t been quite as successful as some of the other players here, I do believe I have what it takes to fill the Deck Doctor role. For those of you that know me or my YouTube channel, you know that I love creating original decks and innovating current ones. Decks like the two you’ll see below are exactly what I love seeing, so not only is this an amazing opportunity to help fellow players, but it has been an extremely fun and rewarding experience. Even if I do not get chosen for the position, I want to thank AlteReality Games for the chance to write for them.

My thought process and execution for each fix started with testing each deck. By testing each one, I was able to get a feel for how the deck ran and could recognize the problems each deck faced. Once I knew what needed improvement, I could appropiately add or take out cards in order to solve the problems. So without further ado, check out what I’ve done with Rock Stun and Gishki Hero Turbo. Brace yourselves! It’s going to be a long one.

Billy Brake’s Rock Stun (Original):

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 Trap Hole
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Starlight Road

Extra Deck: 15
2 Gem-Knight Pearl
2 Kachi Kochi Dragon
2 Soul of Silvermountain
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Wind-Up Zenmaister
1 Gachi Gachi Gantetsu
1 Fairy King Albverdich
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Naturia Beast
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon

THE PROBLEMS (Main Deck):

1) Speed: A large problem with stun decks like this one is that it can’t keep up with other decks out there. Decks like Wind-Ups or Geargia generate so much advantage in a short amount of time that there isn’t a way to stop everything. The one-for-one strategy that is Rock Stun can’t compete with the free advantage that cards like Wind-Up Factory or Geargiarmor provide. In order for Rock Stun to keep up, we need to find a way to speed up the deck and slow down the opponent’s.

2) Large Monsters: Another problem that I discovered through testing was the deck’s struggle with larger monsters. Although there are a decent amount of traps and spells, decks like Agents and Chaos Dragons have too many boss monsters for Rock Stun to handle. Cards like Bottomless Trap Hole and Torrential Tribute can only do so much, especially when the monsters are already on the field. Soul Taker provides some support, but not enough in my opinion. For this problem, we need to find a way to help the Koa’kis take down boss monsters.

3) Block Golem Consistency: Block Golem is a very powerful card in this deck and in order to keep him an option, the graveyard must be full of Earth monsters. If you don’t have enough targets or you have a different attribute in the graveyard, Block Golem turns into a 1000 attack monster with nothing to do and unfortunately that just won’t cut it, so we need to make sure we can consistently make sure that Earth monsters hit the graveyard.

THE SOLUTIONS (Main Deck):

1) Cardcar D: In order to speed up the deck, the first card that came to mind was Cardcar D. Not only does he have an amazing effect allowing you to draw two, he also is an Earth attribute so he doesn’t conflict with Block Golem. Rock Stun plays plenty of traps so that one of the best opening hands will include a Cardcar D and a few backrow. You have the protection you need and a quick +1 in card advantage. With the added speed, you can zip through the deck to get to your Koa’ki negators and Block Golems.

The Fix: +2

2) Book of Moon: Although this card has lost popularity recently, I believe, at least in Rock Stun, that Book of Moon is a solid choice. It’s versatility and chainability are what makes it so powerful. It can interrupt opponent’s plays, preventing an Xyz or Synchro summon, can flip a large monsters face-down to attack over it’s lower defense, can save your Koa’ki from Bottomless, the list goes on. My favorite play so far with Book in this deck involves a Fiendish Chained Fossil Dyna. I think you can imagine what happened!

The Fix: +1

3) Forbidden Lance: Like Book of Moon, Forbidden Lance is extremely versatile. It helps solve two of the aforementioned problems the deck faces. Bottomless Trap Hole is a very problematic card for Rock Stun and having the option to prevent the removal of your Koa’ki is incredible. Not only will it help to make sure your Rock stays on the field to negate, but it also helps make sure your grave will be loaded for Block Golem. Lance also helps take card of some of the larger monsters the deck might face. Any of the Koa’ki Meirus can destroy opposing monsters with less than 2700 attack with the help of Forbidden Lance, and that’s if you don’t have The Seal of Orichalcos active. With the field spell, you can attack over almost anything! There is also the small added benefit of getting through Spirit Reaper, which can sometimes be a problem for the deck.

The Fix: +2

4) Compulsory Evacuation Device: Following the trend of versatile and chainable, Compulse is an extremely good card this format. It easily tears through opposing Xyz and Synchro monsters and can help get through boss monsters if you’re making the final push for game. A simple purpose, but definitely effective.

The Fix: +2

5) The Huge Revolution is Over: This one was a bit tricky. Although I believe Starlight Road to be the much better card, Huge Revolution ultimately takes its place. Keeping non-Earths out of the grave is essential to the deck and if the Stardust Dragon that is special summoned by Starlight Road ever hits the grave, the deck can shut itself down right there. That alone is enough reason for me to take Road out, but I still wasn’t convinced I needed Huge Revolution. Through testing against a variety of decks, I discovered that I still need that big negation. Whether its Heavy Storm, Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute, or even Bottomless Trap Hole (when Block Golem is used), negating power cards is essential.

The Fix: +1

Now that we have added 7 cards to the main deck, we should probably take some out that aren’t working so well.

1)  Card Trooper: Although the Card Trooper/Call of the Haunted engine is extremely powerful, I don’t like the Trooper half in this deck. It is clear that the point of Card Trooper is to mill your Koa’ki Meirus so you can set up Block Golems and Call of the Haunteds further down the line, but unfortunately it hurts the deck more than it helps. With so few monsters, you’ll have inconsistent mills and I would prefer drawing my traps instead of milling them. Cardcar D takes the place of Card Trooper in my edited version of the deck, providing speed and more consistency.

The Fix: -2

2) Koa’ki Meiru Sandman: One of the Rock trio, Sandman is undoubtedly a great card, but unfortunately has a harder time finding a place in this deck. It’s a great lead monster when going second, but there are too many decks that can manage with very few traps, if any at all. Decks like Chaos Dragons and Agents won’t have traps often so Sandman will only be there to attack. To make sure you don’t have useless Sandmen, I think the best option is to drop it down to two.

The Fix: -1

3) Soul Taker: This spell card is very powerful this format, especially when you come up against cards like Elemental HERO The Shining or Lightpulsar Dragon. It takes care of large monsters that Rock Stun has problems with, but unfortunately is a bit slow. Sometimes that big monster your opponent just summoned will be the end of you while you stare at the Soul Taker in your hand that you can’t use on your opponent’s turn. Taking out the Soul Takers for Forbidden Lances still gives you some protection against large monsters, but also gives you protection from spells and traps and you can use it on your opponent’s turn. Like I said, versatility and chainability!

The Fix: -2

4) Mystical Space Typhoon: A very solid card, Mystical Space Typhoon doesn’t always find its way into stun decks like this one. I do like it in the deck however, making sure you don’t have to waste Koa’ki Meiru negates on less-than-ideal cards. With Lance in the main deck however, there isn’t a need for all three. Dropping this down to two is the logical choice.

The Fix: -1

5) Starlight Road: Briefly explained above, Starlight Road has to come out. It’s an amazing card and I wish I didn’t need to take it out, but the fact that Stardust Dragon is a Wind contradicts with Block Golem and that alone is enough to take out Starlight Road.

The Fix: -1

THE TOTAL CHANGES (Main Deck):

+2 Cardcar D

+1 Book of Moon

+2 Forbidden Lance

+1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

+1 Huge Revolution

-2 Card Trooper

-1 Koa’ki Meiru Sandman

-2 Soul Taker

-1 Mysitcal Space Typhoon

-1 Starlight Road

THE EXTRA DECK:

Now it’s pretty obvious that the extra deck was designed to make sure Block Golem could always work, except for the Stardust Dragon, but that was there because of Starlight Road. Although it may seem like a good idea, Rock Stun rarely has to use the extra deck and even if it does, Fossil Dyna and The Seal of Orichalcos might be preventing it. With that said, I believe the extra deck needs an overhaul. I would rather have options in the extra deck to fit the situation instead of playing it super safe with cards you’ll never summon. Naturia Beast and Barkion for example can essentially only be summoned by using Monster Reborn on an opponent’s Earth tuner. How often will that happen? I think I can safely assume the only time you may even have the chance to do so is against Six Samurai or a rogue X-Saber deck, and I don’t think you’ll even want to. Here’s what I did:

+1 Steelswarm Roach

+1 Wind-Up Zenmaines

+1 Number 39: Utopia

+1 Number C39: Utopia Ray

+2 Gagaga Gunman

+1 Photon Papiolloperative

+1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn

+1 Ally of Justice Catastor

-2 Soul of Silvermountain

-1 Gem-Knight Pearl

-1 Kachi Kochi Dragon

-1 Wind-Up Zenmaister

-1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
-1 Naturia Beast
-1 Naturia Barkion
-1 Stardust Dragon

THE POSSIBILTIES:

For fun, here are the remaining cards that I was considering for the deck, but ultimately decided not to go with:

-Koa’ki Meiru Boulder

-Grandsoil the Elemental Lord

-Legendary Jujitsu Master

-King Tiger

-Heavy Storm

-Fiendish Chain

THE FINAL DECK:

Monsters: 18

3 Block Golem
3 Koa’ki Meiru Guardian

3 Koa’ki Meiru Wall
2 Koa’ki Meiru Sandman
2 Cardcar D
2 Maxx “C”
2 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
1 Neo-Spacian Grandmole

Spells: 10
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Forbidden Lance
2 Pot of Duality
1 Seal of Orichalcos
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole

1 Book of Moon

Traps: 13
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Solemn Warning
2 Call of the Haunted
2 Bottomless Traphole
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

1 The Huge Revolution is Over

Extra Deck: 15
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
1 Kachi Kochi Dragon
1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 Gachi Gachi Gantestsu

1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Fairy King Albverdich

1 Steelswarm Roach

1 Number 39: Utopia

1 Number C39: Utopia Ray

2 Gagaga Cowboy

1 Photon Papiolloperative

1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn

1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Scrap Dragon
Total: 41

Joe Giorlando’s  Gishki Hero Turbo Deck (Original):

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 Deck: 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

THE PROBLEMS (Main Deck):

-Protection: Clearly the deck isn’t running any traps, so a big problem is protecting your life points. Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness and Tragoedia attempt to stop it, but they can only do so much. Without the summon and attack negating that traps normally provide, the deck has a hard time surviving until you can really make a move. In order to solve this, we need to either add some backrow/hand traps or speed it up.

-Consistency: The deck runs a lot of cards that don’t have synergy together. Running two entirely different engines is very difficult to manage in one deck. There are three Destiny Draws and only 5 targets so you can sit with a lot of unusable cards in your hand. I always find I’m needing Trade-In just to draw into cards I can use. In order to fix this problem, we need to make sure there are more playable cards in the deck so you always have something you can do.

-Stalling: Once the deck runs out of steam, it’s done. If you discard all of your ritual targets, your ritual spell and Gishki monsters have no use anymore. Instead, you’re goal is to try and draw into Miracle Fusions because that’s your only option. In order to fix this, we need a way to make sure the deck is replenished.

THE SOLUTIONS (Main Deck):

1) Destiny HERO – Diamond Dude: In an attempt to add some consitency, I decided that another Diamond Dude was needed. It adds another target for Allure of Darkness, Destiny Draw, and Elemental HERO – Stratos. It simply adds to the draw engine’s consistency, making sure you always have a target. The effect also isn’t that bad, especially witht he amount of normal spells you can mill.

The Fix: +1

2) Effect Veiler: The deck truly lacked defensive plays. Gorz and Tragoedia were really the only thing you could do to stop your opponent from doing anything. By adding Effect Veiler, you can stop your opponent’s pushes and give yourself the time needed to draw into your combo pieces. Veiler is, in my opinion, the most necessary addition to the deck.

The Fix: +3

3) Black Luster Soldier – Enovy of the Beginning: With the addition of Effect Veiler, Black Liuster Soldier instantly comes to mind. The draw engine is extraordinarily fast when it works so speeding through unil you draw a Veiler and Black Luster Soldier isn’t difficult. Through that process, a Dark monster will inevitably find its way into the graveyard so you’re all set to go. It’s hard to make an arguement against this broken card.

The Fix: +1

4) Pot of Avarice: One of the biggest problems of the deck is drawing the pieces of your draw engine once you’ve gone through a chunk of it. Pot of Avarice let’s you recycle those pieces so you can continue drawing through the deck. It let’s you manipulate the graveyard to an extent so you can more easily summon Dark Armed Dragon, it returns the spent boss monsters you’ve already summoned, and nets you a +1 which are always welcome.

The Fix: +1

5) Scapegoat: In any deck that runs Destiny HERO – Plasma, I instinctively turn to Scapegoat. Sometimes you won’t always be able to discard Plasma for one of your draw cards and if you actually read his effect, it’s incredible when it hits the field. Scapegoat make his summon much easier. In rares cases, you can also summon Effect Veiler and Synchro with the tokens.

The Fix: 1

Now that we have added 7 cards to the main deck (weird, the same number as Rock Stun!), we should probably take some out that aren’t working so well.

1) Tour Guide From the Underworld: Obviously Tour Guide is an incredible card in pretty much any deck it’s in. Unfortunately for this deck, Tour Guide doesn’t seem to benefit as much as it normally would. Besides being able summon an Xyz instantly, it really has no other purpose. Retrieving the Sangan isn’t bad, but it really isn’t necessary. In a lot of decks that use Tour Guide, the Rank 3’s are essential to the deck’s strategy. In Dino-Rabbit, Leviair is a key card and in Wind-Ups, Zenmaity is pretty good. In this deck however, Rank 3’s aren’t needed, so I decided that Tour Guide was just taking up space.

The Fix: -2

2) Sangan: When Tour Guide goes, Sangan almost has to go. It’s too slow in a “turbo” deck like this and without Tour Guide, has no place in the deck.

The Fix: -1

3) Gishki Vision: A solid card for any Gishki deck, Vision provides searchability. It can grab any ritual monster you want, but in this case, it tends to clog the hand more than anything. If all of your ritual monsters have been searched or used, any Vision left is basically a dead card. It will give you nothing after that. By taking one out, we can add more consistency to the deck.

The Fix: -1

4) Mystical Space Typhoon: A deck like this needs to be able to successfully summon its monsters as consistently as possible which is why there were three originally. The problem is that it interferes too much with thw draw engine. I would frequently end up with two or three Typhoon in my hand in the middle of trying to draw through the deck. Taking out one helped dramatically giving me enough consistency to draw through the deck while still drawing into the Typhoons to take care of any backrow.

The Fix: -1

5) Salvage: For the same reasons why Gishki Vision was dropped down to two, Salvage will be gettin cut altogether. The only purpose it serves in this deck is adding the discarded/tributed Gishkis nack to your hand. Again though, if you’ve already used your ritual monsters, there is no point in having the Gishkis in your hand, so Salvage is pointless.

The Fix: -2

THE TOTAL CHANGES (Main Deck):\

+1 Destiny HERO – Diamond Dude

+3 Effect Veiler

+1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning

+1 Pot of Avarice

+1 Scapegoat

-2 Tour Guide From the Underworld

-1 Sangan

-1 Gishki Vision

-1 Mystical Space Typhoon

-2 Salvage

THE EXTRA DECK:

Aside from the obvious lack of Elemental HERO fusions, the extra deck changed a lot with my exclusion of Tour Guide. There are no level 3’s left in the deck, so I took out all of the Rank 3’s. I also took out the higher ranked monsters (except Heliopolis) because of how few times you actually summon them. These have been replaced by a variety of Rank 4’s and a few Synchros that might actually see some use. Here’s what I did:

+2 Elemental HERO Absolute Zero

+1 Ally of Justice Catastor

+1 Formula Synchron

+1 Scrap Dragon

+1 Abyss Dweller

+1 Gagaga Cowboy

+1 Heroic Champion - Gandiva

+1 Photon Papilloperative

+1 Steelswarm Roach

-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

-1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn

-1 Number 11: Big Eye

-1 Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger

-1 Black Rose Dragon

THE POSSIBILTIES:

For fun, here are the remaining cards that I was considering for the deck, but ultimately decided not to go with:

-Deep Sea Diva

-Evigishki Gustkraken

-Pot of Duality

-Upstart Goblin

-Treacherous Trap Hole

THE FINAL DECK:

Monsters: 21

3 Effect Veiler

3 Gishki Soul Ogre
3 Destiny Hero Plasma
3 Destiny Hero Diamond Dude

2 Gishki Vision
2 Trageodia
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

Spells: 19

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

1 Pot of Avarice

1 Scapegoat

Extra Deck: 15
1 Maestroke Symphony Djinn
1 Blade Armor Ninja
1 Heroic Champion Excalibur
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis

2 Elemental HERO – Absolute Zero

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Formula Synchron

1 Scrap Dragon

1 Abyss Dweller

1 Gagaga Cowboy

1 Heroic Champion - Gandiva

1 Photon Papilloperative

1 Steelswarm Roach

Total: 40

I want to take the time again to thank AlteReality Games for the opporunity and I want to thank every one of you, the readers. Without you guys, none of this would have been possible. Thanks for reading the article, I hope it wasn’t too long! Don’t forget, play hard or go home!

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