RC's Deck Garage: ejronne and Roche98

Hi everyone.
Welcome back to another installment of the Deck Garage. Now that I’ve done a few articles unrelated to the series, I figured it’s about time I get back to it. I’ve got quite the lineup for you today, featuring 2 competitive casual decks that are about to become casually competitive. Wait…that didn’t make sense. Never mind. Moving on to the decks!

The first one here is by ejronne, who sent me a deck that I haven’t really looked into:

“The deck I'm running now is spell counters. The base of the build is from the Spellcaster's Command structure deck. Quite frankly, I've splashed in 4 level 3 tuners to add synchro summoning capability, namely Arcanite Magician. The basic point is to summon Arcanite, then entirely cripple my opponent by destroying their field and then stop any offensive/comebck plays after that point.

Right, a few card choice explantions here:
Cyber Dragon is in there for access to the level 8 Synchros, Magician's Circle into Magical Marionette is a rather obvious combo, 3 Defender is necessary, 2 Exemplar instead of three is due to the high cost of summoning as well as the general lack of graveyard presence early game, also, spell counters are better used for Arcanite and special summoning Endymion. Book/Bottomless are tech, as well as Magical Dimension, where 3 copies don't become dead because I can still tribute an Airbullem if I have a spellcaster on the field, as well as pitch it for Monk/Endymion.

A couple of things I was thinking about running are:
Apprentice Magician, but I'd need 5 slots in order to really run them (3 Apprentice, 2 Old Vindictive Magician). Was running Skilled Dark Magician for beatsticking and spell counter generation, but I opted for Breaker/Royal Magical Library. I would really like to try Tempest Magician burn, but I don't really have the funds to get Tempest/Night's End Sorcerer (preferred tuner for use/abuse with Exemplar).


Anyways, I'm looking for some ways to get some more consistency out of this deck, as well as be able summon Arcanite, blow everything up, and gain field control quicker. I've been reading your last few deck garage posts (and really most of the articles that get put up) and I'm hoping that you'll be able to give me a new deck to take a look at and take some new ideas from.

Anyways, Thanks!

-ejronne”

Here’s the missing decklist:
Monsters: 20
3 Defender, the Magical Knight
3 Breaker the Magical Warrior
3 X-Saber Airbellum
2 Endymion, the Master Magician
2 Magical Marionette
2 Royal Magical Library
2 Magical Exemplar
1 Summoner Monk
1 Cyber Dragon
1 Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind

Spells: 16
3 Magical Citadel of Endymion
3 Magical Dimension
3 Book of Moon
3 Spell Power Grasp
2 Terraforming
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 4
2 Magician's Circle
2 Bottomless Trap Hole

Extra: 5
2 Arcanite Magician
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend


Now this looks like a very interesting deck. I can see this going either Arcanite Assault, or CounterCasters. My personal preference is the way of the Counters, so CounterCasters it is.

Which brings us to the cuts. First to go are all copies of Defender the Magical Knight. If I do my job properly, which I plan to, this deck will be a good deal faster than it is right now, meaning that this would slow it down and as such rendering it a waste of space (and NOT necessary). Also getting hit are all 3 copies of X-Saber Airbellum. We’re going to be adding some different tuners that fit with the theme, and this card is too slow for the deck without Rescue Cat (which I won’t add). I don’t like Endymion in here, so I’m going to axe both copies (if only it was Lv8). Blackwing – Gale is good, but is not necessary, and neither is 1 of the copies of Magical Marionette. And that rounds out the monsters.

Spells are next. I’m actually liking the look of this, so I’m going to keep it simple and cut 1 copy of Magical Dimension and the lone copy of Swords of Revealing Light. That is all.

Traps look spot on, so they stay as is.


So with those cuts, we have this:

Monsters: 10
3 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Magical Marionette
2 Royal Magical Library
2 Magical Exemplar
1 Summoner Monk
1 Cyber Dragon

Spells: 14
3 Magical Citadel of Endymion
2 Magical Dimension
3 Book of Moon
3 Spell Power Grasp
2 Terraforming
1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 4
2 Magician's Circle
2 Bottomless Trap Hole


That gives me 12 spots to play with, and I plan to use every one of them.

First up is the obvious tuner, Nights End Sorcerer (these are like $3 each), 2 of. These are better off in the Graveyard, for use with Magical Exemplar, so to aid in that a single copy of The Tricky also gets green-lighted. It also goes with the Sorcerers for an easy Arcanite Magician. Also getting included will be an Apprentice engine: 3 copies of Apprentice Magician, 1 of Crystal Seer and 1 of Old Vindictive Magician. These will thin the deck, take hits, provide draw power, hand control and help clear your opponents field. And that’s the monsters.

The additions to the Spells are simple. A pair of Foolish Burial will speed up the Exemplar abuse, along with putting counters on the Magical Citadel for use with the lone copy of Magical Marionette, Royal Magical Library and Breaker the Magical Warrior. A pair of Allure of Darkness provide some good speed, and that rounds out all the changes.

So, before the list, the lay-z-boy’s summary:
-3 X-Saber Airbellum
-1 Magical Marionette
-3 Defender the Magical Knight
-2 Endymion, The Master of Magic
-1 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind
-1 Magical Dimension
-1 Swords of Revealing Light

+2 Nights End Sorcerer
+3 Apprentice Magician
+1 Crystal Seer
+1 Old Vindictive Magician
+1 The Tricky
+2 Foolish Burial
+2 Allure of Darkness.

And now, the afore-mentioned list:

Ejronne’s CounterCasters
Monsters: 18
3 Breaker the Magical Warrior
3 Apprentice Magician
2 Nights End Sorcerer
2 Royal Magical Library
2 Magical Exemplar
1 Crystal Seer
1 Old Vindictive Magician
1 Summoner Monk
1 Cyber Dragon
1 Magical Marionette
1 The Tricky

Spells: 18
3 Magical Citadel of Endymion
3 Book of Moon
3 Spell Power Grasp
2 Magical Dimension
2 Foolish Burial
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Terraforming
1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 4
2 Magician's Circle
2 Bottomless Trap Hole


Now, assuming I’ve done this right, this deck should be much faster and explosive than the old one. As you can see, the idea is to abuse the effects of all your various Spellcasters, by using the counters off of Magical City instead of the monsters themselves. Reusable Breakers is awesome, as is multiple easy summons off the back of Magical Exemplar and free draws courtesy of Royal Magical Library.

Obviously, the deck packs a fair amount of control and speed, but it also has a lot of OTK potential, by abusing Magical Exemplar to resurrect Nights End Sorcerer and synchro from there. Having 2 Exemplars out at a time is essentially game, because due to the large number of Spells, including Spell Power Grasp and Magical Citadel of Endymion, you have a virtually limitless Supply of counters at your disposal.

If Synchros aren’t an option, there is always old-style beatdown tactics. The Tricky and Cyber Dragon are both easy Special Summons, and both have larger attack values than your typical 4-star monster. Magical Marionette adds to this, as once again, the high spell count can send its attack value skyrocketing in a very short amount of time. In addition to that, it provides even more control, so is a big boon to the deck, especially in the mid-late game when big monsters are hard to come by.


So that’s one deck done. Roche29 gave me todays other deck, check it out!

“This is a very basic Dinosaur deck that I have put together and there isn't much to it but the basic idea of Dino's which is to get big heavy hitters on the feild as possible.

Thanks tell me what you think.”


I like it. Short and to the point.

Roche29’s Jurassic Park


22 Monsters:
3 Hydrogeddon
2 Tyranno Infinity
2 Babycerasaurus
2 Black Stego
2 Gilasaurus
2 Sabersaurus
1 Destroyersaurus
1 Frostosaurus
1 Hyper Hammerhead
1 Dark Driceratops
1 Super-Ancient Dinobeast
1 Black Tyrrano
1 Super Conductor Tyranno
1 Ultimate Tyranno
1 Sauropod Brachion

12 Spells:
3 Jurassic World
2 Fossil Dig
2 Big Evolution Pill
2 Lightning Vortex
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Swords of Revealing Light

10 Traps:
2 Survival Instinct
2 Hunting Instinct
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Call Of The Haunted
1 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Volcanic Eruption


Oh, ouch. That’s a 44 total there my boy, so I’m going to need to do a lot to turn it into a 40-card Dino Beatdown deck.

Well it won’t do that itself now will it? Cutting time! Dimensional Infinity OTK is good, but a straight-up beatdown is probably more consistant. So with that in mind, both copies of Tyranno Infinity get cut, along with Babycerasaurus and Sabersaurus. Black Stego’s get cut, for moar big beaters. Frostosaurus gets cut for BETTER big beaters, as does Black Tyranno, and Sauropod Brachion gets cut because it’s not a big beater. And finally, Destroyersaurus gets cut.

Now I can see the love for Jurassic World just because it fits with the deck name and all, but really, it’s not that great. Heck, even Gaia Power would be better than it. So all of them get cut. And that’s all for the spells.

I like the Hunting Instincts in here, because of the state of the current meta, so I’m going to keep them in. I will, however, cut the Survival Instincts, Sakuretsu Armor, Magic Cylinder and Volcanic Eruption. And that’s all for the cuts.

So, with all them, heres the modified list:



Monsters: 9
3 Hydrogeddon
2 Gilasaurus
1 Hyper Hammerhead
1 Super-Ancient Dinobeast
1 Super Conductor Tyranno
1 Ultimate Tyranno

Spells: 9
2 Fossil Dig
2 Big Evolution Pill
2 Lightning Vortex
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Swords of Revealing Light

Traps: 5
2 Hunting Instinct
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Call Of The Haunted


Looks like I have 17 slots to work with here! It’s a lot of room, which is good, because I like room. I like it a lot.

The first additions will be another copy each of Hyper Hammerhead and Ultimate Tyranno. Hammerhead offers some serious disruption for your opponent, and as such is a reliable backup should the beatdown fail, and Ultimate Tyranno is a monster-based FREE Lightning Vortex. Next up, I’ll add a pair of Super-Ancient Dinobeast. This card really is just too good to not run in triplicate. Finally, I’ll add a pair of Black Veloci. I am fully aware of the downside of its effect, but it is a great card to use to draw fire from your opponent, lest they face its 2200 attack again. And that’ll do for the monsters.

Spells is where the action is right now. A full set of Trade-Ins gets the go ahead, along with a pair of Advance Draw for some serious speed. A pair of Tail Swipe gets the go-ahead as well, with the number of high-level monsters in this deck and the ease with which you can bring them out, it’s a ridiculously powerful card and can, nay, WILL, cause some serious problems for your opponent.

The first addition to the traps is a full set of Fossil Excavation. With all the dumping from Lightning Vortex and Advance Draw and Trade-In and indeed, other Fossil Excavations, you will find your grave loading up fast with high-attack monsters that are just begging to be summoned. And who are you to deny them that. The typical Torrential Tribute will round out the traps, and that’s all the additions done.

So, once again, the rundown:

-1 Sauropod Brachion
-2 Sabersaurus
-1 Destroyersaurus
-1 Frostosaurus
-2 Tyranno Infinity
-2 Babycerasaurus
-2 Black Stego
-1 Black Tyranno
-1 Dark Driceratops

-3 Jurassic World

-2 Survival Instincts
-1 Magic Cylinder
-1 Sakuretsu Armor
-1 Volcanic Eruption

+1 Hyper Hammerhead
+1 Ultimate Tyranno
+2 Super-Ancient Dinobeast
+2 Black Veloci

+3 Trade-In
+2 Advance Draw
+2 Tail Swipe

+3 Fossil Excavation
+1 Torrential Tribute


And so, heres what the deck looks like with all that applied:

Monsters: 15
3 Super-Ancient Dinobeast
2 Ultimate Tyranno
1 Super Conductor Tyranno
3 Hydrogeddon
2 Gilasaurus
2 Hyper Hammerhead
2 Black Veloci

Spells: 16
3 Trade-In
2 Advance Draw
2 Tail Swipe
2 Fossil Dig
2 Big Evolution Pill
2 Lightning Vortex
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Swords of Revealing Light

Traps: 9
3 Fossil Excavation
2 Hunting Instinct
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Call Of The Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute


Now the monster lineup looks small, but remember, we’ve got a pair of Fossil Dig here, so we essentially have 17 monsters. 6 of those 17 monsters are Lv8, and so we have enough targets for a set of Trade-In. Courtesy of Fossil Excavation and Hunting Instinct and a myriad of other cards, it’s relatively easy to have one of them on the field, and so when they become redundant, you can simply send one of them off with Advance Draw for another 2 cards.

With all these monsters hitting the grave hard and fast, we need a way to capitalize. And the simplest of them is Fossil Excavation, Dino’s very own Call Of The Haunted. Granted the effect is negated, but who cares when you’ve got a 3000+ monster on the field which you can pitch for Advance Draw whenever you want? In addition to this, Super-Ancient Dinobeast really lets you lay the hurt on your opponent, by letting you draw a card whenever you do summon from your grave, which should be relatively often. Free +1 from an easy to summon 2700 monster? Sounds good to me.

Gilasaurus and Hydrogeddon. Both great monsters, but they look rather out of place here. But that doesn’t matter. Both of them give great tribute fodder and are easy to special summon. Gilasaurus is particularly awesome in the early game, when your opponent hasn’t got anything in their grave, making it an easy +1. Hydrogeddon punishes the exposed Destiny Heros your opponents uses, like a Diamond Dude or a bluffed Malicious. Or any other low-mid attack/defense monster really.

Now there is always the chance that beatdown will fail, which means that until you can get it up and running again, you’ll be on the defensive. Luckily this deck is able to do that. Hyper Hammerhead gives you some great disruption, bouncing back anything your opponent throws at it. Big Evolution Pill lets you get your strategies back on track, and when preceded by a Lightning Vortex, it can be rather devastating. Bottomless Trap Hole as always keeps monsters off the field, as does Torrential Tribute, and they all buy you time to draw into your various special summoning cards.


So that finishes out this article. I think I’m getting close to finishing up the series, I want to do a couple more but I’ll probably close the door on it after 8-9 or so. Until then, keep sending in your decks.

Now before I sign off, I want to give a shoutout to my man Geoff from National Punishment. He’s recently set up a new forum for the boys here, and I encourage each and everyone of you to at least check it out, and if you like what you see, sign up and start posting on the boards. I’m a member there, so if you like what you see in my articles and sign up, you might get some one-on-one time with yours truly. You can find the forum here:
http://nationalpunish.49.forumer.com/

As always, hope you enjoyed reading. Always play in fun and fairness, and for the love of the game.

~RC_Cruz