I have no idea what BTFO means. Most of my computer time is spent writing this blog, and I don't know many internet thingies.
Monster Analysis.
I look at this and see WIND and DARK monsters. I immediately think: DARK SIMORGH! Unfortunately, the man's got a budget. For those who might be interested in this deck, feel free to use Dark Simorgh. He’s excellent in here. This is basically a WIND/DARK hybrid Monarch deck, which is designed to use strengths from both themes. Unfortunately, the WIND side is holding back. They aren’t contributing: SILPHEED!
This guy is amazing. He’s one of those instant tribute kids who actually generate card advantage (by nature of forcing a discard when he dies.) Most of the time, you actually want him to die instead of being tributed. He also synergizes excellently with Mist Valley Soldier (who is much better than Shaman and definitely should be played over him.)
Black Ptera isn’t very good in here since sure he comes back if you tribute him, but most likely, he’s just gonna die. Using him and Ultimate Offering is a bit too inconsistent for my tastes, so I will most likely drop both of them. The problem is, if you don’t have one, the other is useless. Combos like that only work in decks with mad draw power (Brionac OTK.)
Level Eater also isn’t that great. He was good back when you could go drop Trag, next turn use Level Eater to play Monarch (You could technically repeat this forever by using Trag’s effect to reset his level.) It’s not good anymore. Why? Tragoedia is at 1.
Austin also seems to have forgotten Sangan. Sangan is really good. He’s also forgotten Spirit Reaper. Personally, I feel that Sangan and Reaper are the bread and butter of DARK decks, they are auto-include (Plaguespreader completes this trinity, but he’s too expensive to put in this deck, especially since it only contributes as a Tuner, and not as a deck regulator, as in Cyber-style decks as well as Lightsworns.) Also note that in LS, Tragoedia tends to complete the trinity in place of Reaper.
I really want to stick Plaguespreader in this, especially since he is already running 2x Armageddon Knight and Necro. I know it’s out of his budget though. I might suggest dropping the Army engine entirely.
Based on the new list, 2 Dandylions as well as 2 Treeborns are now usable. I would definitely use them. (Dandylions.)
Now we need more WIND monsters, to fuel our triple Silpheed. Although I would be suggesting the new D-Hero engine (2x Malicious 1x Diamond Dude 1x Stratos 2x Gold Sarco 1x Destiny Draw 1x Allure) not only is it expensive, but rather ineffective to dedicate so many spaces to cram in a WIND. I’ve got little experience with WIND monsters (as they tend to be less competitive compared to DARK monsters.) I would suggest using Slate Warrior (he’s pretty cool I guess) or maybe Ancient Lamp (funny tech) or possible Gyroid (backup Spirit Reapers, but he gains no advantage.) Whirlwind Weasel might also be good. I think this is really up to Austin. Commentors feel free to comment with other good WIND monsters.
Monster line-up: -3 Soldier of Mist Valley -2 Level Eater -2 Black Ptera -2 Armageddon Knight -2 Necro Gardna -1 Flying Kamikari #1
On the Spells, I don’t like them very much. It runs a lot of backrow hate (Trunade and Cold Wave) but this deck is not capable of exploding. I predict an Infernity/GB/BW type format. I think Compulsory Excavation Device will definitely be a good card this format. It stops Infernity combos as well as stops GB attacks and Black Whirlwind. Sure, it’s a -1, but it’s a good one. (:
Pot of Avarice also isn’t very good anymore because of how we are now running Silpheed. We should opt to main this card instead – Lightning Vortex. This is a really good card, and might be good or not be this format. It sounds good in theory-ohs because of how we can dump WINDs for Silpheed.
As for the Traps, I would drop Ultimate Offerings. I would opt to main triple Threatening Roar instead.
-1 Giant Trunade -1 Cold Wave -1 Pot of Avarice -1 Allure of Darkness +3 Compulsory Excavation Device (This is tech based on a format prediction. It might not be good in the future. Definitely feel free to change this or contradict me on comments for my predictions.) +1 Lightning Vortex
-2 Ultimate Offering +2 Threatening Roar (Also tech based on the format prediction. Same treatment as Compulsory on this one.) +1 Solemn Judgment (One of the best cards in the whole game.)
Final Look.
Monsters: 20 Raiza the Storm Monarch x3 Caius the Shadow Monarch x3 Mist Valley Soldier x3 Legendary Jujitsu Master x2 BW Gale the Whirlwind Silpheed x3 Gyroid x3 Dandylion x2 Tragoedia x1 Sangan x1 Spirit Reaper x1
Spells: 5 Lightning Vortex Brain Control Allure of Darkness My Body as a Shield Mystical Space Typhoon
Dear Nick, This is my attempt at a chaos cyber deck built on my budget. its still evolving but I would still like a second opinion. NOTE: This will not be legal until Absolute Powerforce.
Spells: 3X Machine Assembly Line 2X Super Polymerization 1X Limiter Removal 1X Future Fusion 1X Overload Fusion 1X Emergency Teleport 1X Brain Control 1X Heavy Storm 1X Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps: 2X Bottomless Trap Hole 1X Trap Hole 1X Call of the Haunted 1X Mirror Force 1X Torrential Tribute
Paragraph.
Monster Analysis:
This deck seems to be a Cyber deck emulating Zane Truesdale's tactics. Right off the bat, we notice that Richard's put in some Machines that are both LIGHT and DARK so that he can use Chaos Sorcerer. The problem with that is that the Machines aren't particularly strong. Twin-Barrel Dragon has a 25% chance of destroying a card, and otherwise, he's just a 1600 vanilla. We start off by removing all 3 copies of him (we'll add more DARK monsters later.)
The thing about this deck is that not all of the monsters need to be Machine-type. A good card to include in Cyber decks is Plaguespreader Zombie. Why? Well, he's a Tuner, which everybody likes, but more importantly, he can use his revival effect to stack that Cyber Dragon resting in your hand to the top of your deck. This lets you instantly summon Chimeratech Overdragon.
Any deck that includes Dekoichi has to play Black Salvo. The potential for a 1-card Black Rose is simply too good. He's such a powerful late-game card.
Since this is a budget deck, I won't use the powerful Dark Armed Dragon.
Also, I really don't see what's the point in using Shredder. Sure, he's a Machine, but he's weak and only EARTH. Not only that, but his effect is just a straight trade-off, and it doesn't gain any card advantage. Also, Krebons and Psychic Commander aren't too good in here. The only way to get them out is Emergency Teleport, and without Mystic Tomatos, they don't hit the field as often as you would like.
I also really want to remove Blue Thunder. You really don't need all that LIGHT stuff, and there is actually a much better monster I have in mind.
I just removed 12 monsters. That's changing a good deal of the deck. Well, most of the cards I took out were fillers, stuff that were used to boost the LIGHT and DARK count. (If they serve a secret usage Richard please tell me, but during 20 games of testing, they never worked out.)
Fortunately, I have a friend who topped a Regional using this deck (this was pre-Cyber Dragon Zwei and Eltanin too.) I managed to get the deck off of him and me and some other players made some adjustments to the deck. It tested pretty well, and I'll show you what we had. (It's still budget, so there's no real need to worry.)
The original used the Jinzo engine, gaining fast advantage. I'm worried that that may be out of your budget range, so instead we'll use a replacement. (Richard if you're interested in that deck I'll e-mail it to you.)
We need to add in more cards that allow better plays and domination of the field. I would have to say we go: +1 Cyber Eltanin There's no real reason not to use Cyber Eltanin.
In addition, we'll go with 1 copy of Card Trooper. This card serve as a replacement for the Dark Grepher engine in the original deck, and can mill stuff you want in the grave to the grave. It also sets up Cyber Eltanin plays.
I also said that I had a replacement for the fast and efficient Jinzo engine. We're going to be using 3 copies of Junk Synchron and 3 copies of Tuningware. This allows us to make some pretty quick Synchros. When you're done, you can dump Tuningwares for Eltanin. If you're worried about the DARK count (well, it's 8 or so, so you should be fine) use Dark Sea Rescue. (It's also less expensive.)
We'll round off this with 3 copies of Cyber Valley. Cyber Valley at 3 lets you play 3 copies of Machine Duplication (crazy combos with Junk Synchron) with impunity.
+1 Plaguespreader Zombie +1 Black Salvo +1 Card Trooper +3 Tuningware +3 Junk Synchron +3 Cyber Valley
You still have a good DARK count (3 Junk Synchron + 3 Dekoichi the Battle-Chanted Locomotive +1 Plaguespreader Zombie (sorry about this card being expensive) +1 Black Salvo) This makes 8 DARK monsters, which works fairly well. You can also remove Chaos Sorcerer for another I guess.
You also have a good LIGHT count (3 Tuningware + 3 Cyber Dragon Zwei + 1 Cyber Dragon) That's 7 LIGHT monsters, also a decent number for 2 Chaos Sorcerers, and I'm not counting Eltanin and Valley. Valley RFG's itself, and for Eltanin you should be winning the game the majority of the time you drop him.
Spell and Trap Analysis.
I don't like Machine Assembly line. This is pretty controversial, since yesterday during testing, a lot of my friends liked it. I would cut 3 Machine Assembly line for 2 Machine Duplication. The reason you would run 2 Machine Dupe with 2 possible choices is that there are actually 6 cards Machine Dupe work with, and you get broken every time you Machine Duplication something. It's a crazy card.
I would also play 2 copies of Foolish Burial. This works really well to dump Cyber Dragon Zwei as well as Tuningware. I would play this over Super Polymerization (I have a way to play Cydra Fusions I'll reveal later on.)
-3 Machine Assembly Line -2 Super Polymerization
+2 Machine Duplication +2 Foolish Burial
The secret tech we had yesterday was DNA Surgery. It's actually really good in here. You play DNA Surgery, and call Machine. Instant field wipe when you have Cydra or Cydra Zwei. It also wrecks Blackwings and Plants. (Stopping Icarus and Lonefire plays.)
I would cut Trap Hole (a card good against Blackwings) for DNA Surgery (even better against Blackwings.)
-1 Trap Hole
+2 DNA Surgery
Final Deck.
Monsters:
3X Dekoichi The Battlechanted Locomotive 3x Junk Synchron 3X Tuningware 3x Cyber Valley 3x Cyber Dragon Zwei 3x Cyber Eltanin 2x Chaos Sorcerer 1X Cyber Dragon 1x Black Salvo 1x Card Trooper 1x Plaguespreader Zombie
Spells: 2X Machine Duplication 2X Foolish Burial 1X Limiter Removal 1X Future Fusion 1X Overload Fusion 1X Brain Control 1X Heavy Storm 1X Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps: 2X Bottomless Trap Hole 2x DNA Surgery 1x Torrential Tribute 1X Mirror Force 1x Return from the Different Dimension
Dear Nick, This is a deck that i have been working and playing with ever since the archetype came out back in Soul of the Duelist. This is my armed dragon deck, with a synchro component, simply because i find that the leveling up theme help in being able to synchro rather easily. So yeah, that is the deck. I look forward to seeing your opinion on the deck, and maybe what kind of improvements i can make on it. (granted i know this isnt a top tier deck or anything, but it does pretty well at my locals.)So without further ado, here is the deck:
Original Decklist.
Monsters (21) :
Armed Dragon LV3 x3 Armed Dragon LV5 x3 Armed Dragon LV7 x2 Exploder Dragon x1 Flamvell Guard x2 (thinking about adding a third) Koa'ki Meiru Drago x1 Lava Dragon x1 Luster Dragon x1 (could swap this out for another KM Drago if needed) Magna Drago x1 Masked Dragon x3 Prime Material Dragon x1 The White Stone of Legend x1 (this is the thing i would take out to add the 2rd flamvell guard) Twin-Headed Behemoth x1
Spells (12) :
Cards of Consonance x1 (thinking about adding a second) Heavy Storm x1 Level Up! x2 Lightning Vortex x1 MST x1 Pot of Avarice x1 Solidarity x3 Stamping Destruction x1 Swords of Revealing Light x1
Traps (7) Bottomless Trap Hole x1 Call of the Haunted x1 Dragon's Rage x2 Mirror Force x1 Solemn Judgment x1 Torrential Tribute x1
Monster Analysis:
Harrison is using the Armed Dragon cards. For those of you who don't know, Armed Dragon is a deck archetype used by Chazz Princeton from the show. They focus on discarding cards to destroy other cards. While the deck may not be top tier, it's still fairly powerful and a blast to play.
When I'm fixing this deck, I'm going to use a mild budget. I'm also going to include cards from Absolute Powerforce and the Absolute Powerforce Special Edition (Most notably, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.)
Harrison has a pretty good ratio for his Armed Dragons - 3/3/2. I'm pretty much going to keep this ratio, except when I include REDMD, I will remove an Armed Dragon LV 3? Why? Because LV 5 doesn't need LV 3 to come out, and REDMD is another acceptable method.
For some reason, Harrison is using 2x Flamvell Guard and 1x The White Stone of Legend, but he is only using 1 copy of Magna Drago. I would say that Flamvell Guard and the White Stone aren't very good. They tune with LV 7 to make 8 stars. However, if you've already taken the time to make LV 7, you should keep him on the field. Instead, tuning with random LV 4's or LV 3/5 Armed Dragons will probably be the better strategy. He can then bring out Exploder Dragonwing, one of the best cards Dragons have.
Harrison is playing triple Masked Dragon. That's very important in a deck like this, which needs the tribute fodder and ways of bringing out Armed Dragon. He should play 1 Totem Dragon though, to increase the things Masked Dragon can bring out.
Another thing - he's not playing the biggest Armed Dragon of them all, Armed Dragon LV 10. One copy will be really beneficial. Even if it's dead in his hand, he can just discard it to fuel the other effects.
On paper, Lava Dragon sounds really good. It's a 1-1 that generates field presence! Yay! The problem is, the stats are way too low for it to be viable.
Last of all, he should maximize his copies of Koa'ki Meiru Drago, similar to Richard Clarke's famed Disaster Dragon build. Drago is really controlling, and when you swing for game, it stops Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness, and Tragoedia from ruining your fun.
Total Monster Fixes
-2 Flamvell Guard -1 The White Stone of Legend -1 Prime Material Dragon (there already is 3 tribute monsters, since you won't always use LV 3's effect.) -1 Armed Dragon LV 3 -1 Luster Dragon (for Koa'ki Meiru Drago) -1 Lava Dragon
Right now, we have 41 cards in this deck. We'll have to cut some S/T.
Spell and Trap Analysis:
I've noticed that Harrison is running some Spells and Traps that aren't very good. So far, I've liked his monster choices, but the S/T are actually pretty icky. First, I'll cut Cards of Consonance. The reason this card is good is interaction with White Stone of Legend, pulling Blue-Eyes to use Trade-In on. He's not using Blue-Eyes, and now he isn't using The White Stone of Legend either.
Next is Level Up! I'm not too sure how viable this card is. I'll keep it at 2 for now. People who know more about the LV series, kindly comment on Level Up! with e-mails or just plain comments. (:
Stamping Destruction is a really good card, I'd like to point that out. One copy only though.
Solidarity. This card is really bad in this deck, even though Harrison is running all Dragons. The reason is that an 800 attack boost isn't that good. The only benefit I see from this is putting LV 5 over Stardust Dragon, allowing for attacks, then destruction. However, what happens if people destroy Solidarity, using Dust Tornado (which is mained in 1 copy in Zombie decks) or Mystical Space Typhoon? Granted, that's only 2 cards, but you only have 3 Solidarity, so statistically, they will have Dust Tornado/MST when you have Solidarity most of the time. In addition, people now side in 2x Fairy Wind and sometimes an extra Dust Tornado or Malevolent Catastrophe. Also, other S/T destroying effects can be used if your attack failed to lose you advantage. The problem with Solidarity is that it doesn't pay you back enough. The solution?
Burden of the Mighty. Sure, it doesn't give you as big of a boost as Solidarity, but it gives you benefits outside of the battle phase - it lowers the card you have to discard to kill something. For example, by lowing Stratos's attack to 1400, you can kill it with a Masked Dragon discard. To increase synergy, I will add in 3 copies of King Tiger Wanghu. King Tiger interacts wonderfully with Burden of the Mighty. It basically increases King Tiger's jurisdiction to 1800, and potentially more.
Pot of Avarice and Swords of Revealing Light also aren't very good. Harrison won't have many Dragons in the Grave anymore, their on the field now due to Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. Swords is good with Armed Dragons, but the effect is just a 1-shot, and the stall won't be staying on the field very long, if at all.
When we go back to the Trap line-up, it's pretty standard. Dragon's Rage isn't as good as you would think, since pressing for damage isn't very relevant. Especially since monsters are rarely played in defense these days, Dragon's Rage is largely win more, and since this deck needs more power to beat the top tier, it's not a good idea to include win more just yet.
Interestingly enough, Mirror Force isn't as good as it was before. Brionac simply spins Mirror, and then wins the game. I would honestly play Bottomless over Mirror Force, as ridiculous as that sounds, don't forget that Brionac is played in every deck, and every deck always has him in their hand due to the Extra Deck mechanic.
Spell and Trap Changes
-1 Cards of Consonance -1 Swords of Revealing Light -1 Pot of Avarice -3 Solidarity -2 Dragon's Rage -1 Mirror Force -1 Armed Dragon LV 5 (Wanghu does the job better, but LV 5 has so many tutors that he stays, but only in 2.)
+3 King Tiger Wanghu +3 Burden of the Mighty +1 Brain Control +1 Bottomless Trap Hole
I played an interesting Monarch deck a few days ago, made by wlsack from Pojo. It was an old Adam Corn-style build that ran several other interesting cards, most notably Tragoedia. It also included Skelengel, allowing for a Chaos Sorcerer or 2. I personally recommended Black Salvo (for the free Black Rose) but he thought it was unneeded. His logic also included the conflicts with Royal Oppression. Personally, I would play it because of how if you don't have Oppression out, you will probably lose, and Salvo offers an option out of it.
The version I'm showing is going to include that tech.
Decklist.
3|Rds|Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive 3|Ysd|Skelengel 3|Jump|Tragoedia 2|Ioc|Chaos Sorcerer 2|Sdde|Caius the Shadow Monarch 2|Rds|Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch 1|Crms|Black Salvo 1|Pp01|Marshmallon 1|Csoc|Plaguespreader Zombie 1|Crms|Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind 1|Mrd|Sangan 1|Pgd|Spirit Reaper
3|Pgd|Book of Moon 2|Ptdn|Allure of Darkness 1|Tlm|Brain Control 1|Mrd|Heavy Storm 1|Mrl|Mystical Space Typhoon
For people who don't know what Cornarch is, it's a Monarch deck that ran 3x Allure of Darkness, 3x Reckless Greed, 3x Dekoichi the Battle-Chanted Locomotive, and 2x Mask of Darkness. This was during the Tele-DAD era, where all that speed was needed to keep up.
However, these days, running a slightly slower deck would probably be more beneficial if we can incorporate more power into it. Also, Allure is at 2, so the whole concept of "I can RFG Mask if it doesn't work" isn't as consistent anymore.
The main engine: The main engine consists of Dekoichi the Battle-Chanted Locomotive and Skelengel, both of which are played in triplicate. This leads to a very strong draw engine, which fuels Tragoedia and Chaos Sorcerer. When I was playing against this deck, I was mostly on the defensive after he dropped a 3600 Tragoedia. Tragoedia is oftentimes strong enough to swing for game, especially with all the drawing involved in here.
Monarchy: The Monarchs are two copies of Caius the Shadow Monarch and two copies of Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. These are probably the best Monarchs this format. Caius has a strong effect and is an Allure target. Thestalos is great hand control. Some people might want Raiza in place of Thestalos however, because they are afraid of Thestalos discarding cards that like the Graveyard. Personally, I feel that that risk is minimal and insignificant. Thestalos is superior.
Synchros: wlsack is running a decent Synchro engine. It includes a Plaguespreader Zombie and a Gale the Whirlwind. These are just the basic Tuners, so there isn't any spectacular Synchros coming out of this deck, but it is still competent in that area.
I included a copy of Black Salvo over his Cyber Dragon in here, and I feel obliged to explain why. Cyber Dragon for a Monarch is a rather poor play, and I can understand that it being LIGHT is good, but I feel that running 4 LIGHT isn't much different from 5.
You should only play Black Salvo after you are losing, and you should only be making a Black Rose. Hopefully, you can get a +2/3 off of it, especially after you Waboku a huge rush.
Spell and Trap Analysis
This is mainly going to focus on the Traps, since the Spells are standard. We have Book of Moon to re-use Flip effects, to cancel big Synchro plays, and to save your life. We also have the standard staples, Heavy, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Brain Control. Allure because it wouldn't be Cornarch without it, and we need to have some form of draw.
About the traps, there's only one that matters. Waboku. The rest is pretty standard anti-meta, Oppression stops swarms, Bottomless is a good field controller, Dustshoot wins if you rip it first turn, Mirror Force and Torrential are good field-controllers, Solemn wins the game if you play it correctly.
Waboku is, in wlsack's words, "The best non-OTK card in the game at the moment." If you have this card face-down, you are guaranteed that you will not lose the duel that turn. It also sets up for a Black Rose wipe after, or something similar. It helps deck poor LS players out, and stops Honests and Kaluts. You can splash it in any deck and will NOT be disappointed.
This post will be a guide to creative deckbuilding, and how to create powerful decks that can stand strong against the currently dominant decks. This article is gonna be pretty long and boring, but if you're a beginner, it should be of some help.
Blackwings are a really powerful theme, but sometimes with these themes, one or two cards can make a huge difference. Skye's deck is pretty good, but there's some easy ways to make it even better.
As a note, some people think that themes reduce skill in the game by making deckbuilding a lot easier. I would have to somewhat agree with this, but I'd also like to point out that this somewhat increases skill since it makes you think harder on your slight difference cards.
1 Dark Armed Dragon 1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness 3 Sirocco the Dawn 3 Shura the Blue Flame 3 Bora the Spear 3 Kalut the Moon Shadow 1 Gale the Whirlwind 3 Blizzard the Far North 1 Vayu the Emblem of Honor
3 Black Whirlwind 2 Allure of Darkness 1 Brain Control 1 Mind Control 3 Book of Moon 1 My Body as a Shield 1 Heavy Storm
1 Call of the Haunted 1 Mirror force 1 Torrential Tribute 3 Icarus Attack 2 Bottomless Trap Hole 1 Waboku
It looks pretty standard, but there are some slight errors in it, which I'll list. (No Royal Oppressions, Book of Moon tends to be better than Waboku, I don't know why he's teching one in when playing a playset of this or a playset of Book is best, and also no Crows or Grephers. Crows are really good since they help stop LS and Zombie decks. He can also be used with Icarus to devastating effect against other decks as well. I would say that playing D.D. Crow is an absolute staple in here.
He noted to me that he only has a single Vayu, so I would have to say that Dark Grepher won't make the cut in here. He should also play Royal Oppression. Blackwings can instantly SS themselves, so you should either SS first, then Oppress, or wait until you would lose if you don't Oppress. With Oppression, he should be playing Solemn Judgment as well.
The Fixes
-1 Blizzard of the Far North. (Playing Blizzard in 3's isn't that good anymore with the release of Vayu. Even with a single Vayu, extra Blizzards mainly succeed in taking up space that is better used putting in other stuff.) -1 Mind Control (Not as needed, seeing as we only have 2 Blizzards now) -1 Waboku (Book of Moon outclasses Waboku in my opinion. Some people would prefer 3 Waboku no Book of Moon though. Waboku has a lot of obvious advantages, but Blizzard can stop effects,etc.) -1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness (It's not as good with Royal Oppression as it would be with only Black Whirlwind.)
Themes are a blast. They are incredible fun to play. Having more fun is really important.
These are already correct. But an issue is that themes today allow for very little deck deviation. For example, Blackwings pretty much decide all the monsters for you, and also they decide about 10 of the S/T, including staples. This leaves basically 5 slots open for deviation. LS has 10 spots for deviation. GB is somewhat more flexible, but it's still only about 15 spots for deviation. I would say that 10-15 spots should be the absolute MAXIMUM allowed for deviation. Themes are really fun, but they reduce deckbuilding skill, especially LS and Infernity, since so much gets milled/discarded.
Merchant Pot Turbo is a deck based upon the synergy between 3 cards, Magical Merchant, Chaos Sorcerer, and Pot of Avarice. The theory is that Magical Merchant mills a lot of cards into the Grave (you are going to play playing probably 20-30 monsters, and only using staple Spell and Traps.) Chaos Sorcerer can easily be summoned, and Pot of Avarice can easily be used. That way, you can get easy +1's. This deck was literally HUGE in Japan in around 2005 or so. Unfortunately, the banning of Chaos Sorcerer and the restriction of Pot of Avarice gave this deck a CRUSHING set-back. Fortunately, all the things that made it HUGE are now back, so it might be a solid contender this format.
A friend of mine showed me some cool builds, which he is considering taking to Regs.
Strengths of the Merchant Pot Turbo deck.
Merchant Pot Turbo is incredibly fast. It runs a grand total of 5 draw 2 cards, (3 Pot of Avarice, 2 Allure of Darkness.) It also runs a lot of powerful deck thinners. (Magical Merchant and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.) The whole deck decks itself out at a rate almost parallel to Lightsworns. In fact, for people who enjoy the Lightsworn mechanic, but cannot afford the deck, I strongly recomend Merchant Pot Turbo, or MPT.
In addition, Merchant Pot Turbo has access to many powerful boss monsters. Some builds even go so far as to incorporate Cyber Eltanin and Cyber Valley + Cyber Dragon to play 3 more bosses. The deck also has access to 3 Tragoedia, allowing it to drop Monarchs with ease. Tragoedia is basically a Spell card, but is treated as a monster. Cards like Tragoedia, Gorz, and later on Battle Fader will be extremely viable in MPT.
It's basically Monarchs on crack. My friend's version plays 6 Monarchs (3x Caius and 3x Raiza/Thestalos) This build is probably even faster than the famed Perfect Circle, and especially since the deck is basically dead now, MPT is the fastest Monarch variant.
MPT is extremely difficult to side against. After viewing the lists, it should be pretty obvious why.
Weaknesses of the Merchant Pot Turbo deck.
The whole deck is highly reactive. It can't do much most of the time, and prefers to have the opponent commit resources (so all your destruction cards can wreck them.) Also, having a boss dropped on you is devastating, and without smart play, you WILL lose. MPT doesn't pilot itself at all, and you need to make lots of smart decisions to play it properly.
Why play MPT over LS? This is another big issue. MPT's main plusses are Monarchs and Pot of Avarice. (Not counting the occasional Cyber Eltanin.) Otherwise, LS has all of MPT's benefits. (Except MPT can play out of Light-Imprisoning/similar with far more ease.) G1, LS will be superior 10/10. Pot and Monarchs pale in comparison to JD.
An ideal Merchant Pot Turbo build.
3|Sdde|Caius the Shadow Monarch 3|Fotb|Raiza the Storm Monarch 3|Lodt|Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter 3|Mfc|Magical Merchant 3|Jump|Tragoedia 2|Ioc|Chaos Sorcerer 1|Tp2|Morphing Jar 1|Jump|Dandylion 1|Soi|Treeborn Frog 1|Mrd|Sangan 1|Dp03|Card Trooper 1|Csoc|Plaguespreader Zombie 1|Ptdn|Dark Armed Dragon 1|Dlg1|Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
3|Een|Pot of Avarice 2|Ptdn|Allure of Darkness 1|Sdy|Card Destruction 1|Tlm|Brain Control 1|Sdj|Scapegoat 1|Mrd|Heavy Storm 1|Sdp|Mystical Space Typhoon
2|Cp04|Bottomless Trap Hole 1|Mrd|Solemn Judgment 1|Mrd|Mirror Force 1|Lon|Torrential Tribute
I am probably a bit biased. This is my friend's deck. However, a lot of players agree that this is one of the best ways to play Merchant this format. Other people prefer the Cyber Eltanin version, as shown on the Player's Legacy boards. That version is also very strong, and I will probably make an article on it later.
The main difference in this deck is Raiza. Raiza is incredible, and provides very solid field control. Although some people might prefer running Thestalos, I would seriously suggest Raiza. After this deck is stopped by something like Mirror Force, you are going to have a hard time making a come-back. Thsi deck needs a lot of field presence, and Raiza + Caius is definitely the best way to go for it.
Why is this deck good (over other MPT builds?)
The answer is Tragoedia. Tragoedia is incredible, and it allows you to play so many Monarchs. Trag also helps early game when you struggle to establish field presence and have a lot of cards in the grave. He's basically a Spell card that stops OTK's that CAN be milled by Magical Merchant. It also synergizes with Pot of Avarice. My friend is playing 3 Battle Fader when it comes out. If another card like that is printed, he will play it too. (Ogre of Scarlet Sorrow doesn't work since he needs 2 attacks. This will rarely occur.)
A very solid milling base. It basically lets you open with a miller every game. This is key to success.
"Magic:" A lot of cards in here act like they were Spells. These cards are critical since they get milled by Merchant but don't make your deck not have spell power. Those cards are Monarchs, Tragoedia, and Battle Fader (which will go in over Card Destruction, Scapegoat, and probably Solemn Judgment when it comes out.) These cards are very key. More abound in the side deck (which features D.D. Crow.)
The problem with Necro: Necro is highly suggested in this deck. A problem is that if you draw it you basically lose. There's already too many dead draw-esque cards like Pot of Avarice and extra Merchants. I don't think that running more is the way to go.
Spells and Traps
These are to be minimalized, and ran in as few as possible, so Merchant can mill more.
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