There's a trend that was mentioned on TCG Player's Facebook feed of players splashing Jurrac Guaiba into random decks to get access to Evolzar Laggia or Evolzar Dolkka. The discussion started when, during the weekend event discussion that occurs every Sunday night, somebody mentioned that they went 5-3 at a regional tournament with a HERO Beat deck that splashed Guaiba and Reborn Tengu.
That set some of our minds rushing. What other decks could we splash Jurrac Guaiba into without losing the feel for the deck?
HERO Beat is a good start. Guaiba is a good aggressive card and HERO Beat is a good aggressive deck that works on grinding out your opponent's resources. And even if Guaiba gets destroyed, you can use it for Miracle Fusion to make yourself an Elemental HERO Nova Master.
I had two ideas:
1. Elemental HERO Nova Master is good because it gives much needed flexibility to Miracle Fusion and Super Polymerization plays. But it's no Elemental HERO Absolute Zero. If only there was a water attribute dinosaur that made a copy of itself like Guaiba does.
Of course, Hydrogeddon does. Now, Hydrogeddon is strictly worse than Guaiba. Lower attack, and a weaker replicating effect that doesn't work on tokens. But access to Absolute Zero might be worth the trade-off.
2. The deck I really want to splash Guaiba into is TG Stun. Laggia seems to fit the control approach of TG Stun, so let's try something.
3 TG Striker
3 TG Warwolf
3 TG Rush Rhino
3 Jurrac Guaiba
3 Reborn Tengu
3 Pot of Duality
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Book of Moon
1 Pot of Avarice
3 Horn of the Phantom Beast
2 TG1-EM1
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Starlight Road
1 Dark Bribe
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
Extra deck includes the usual cards with a Laggia and Dolkka thrown in for good measure.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
12-11-11 Gadget Offering
Even though I don't have Tour Guides, I have about eight different decks I can choose from. I've been playing Karakuri, Jurrac, Fabled, Chaos, TG Stun (and that deck will lead to my next experiment, *wink wink*). My favorite deck to play at the moment is Gadget Offering.
I just wanted to write a few things about the deck.
I've seen naysayers online talk about how the deck sucks because it has to get Ultimate Offering on the field to win. That's garbage. The deck has three speeds:
1. It plays like a regular Gadget deck. Simplify the game state with removal like Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, or Smashing Ground. Then lean on the Gadget engine to ensure that you always have a monster in hand to apply pressure.
2. Utilizing T.G. Striker, you can synchro for a small tool box of choice monsters. T.G. Wonder Magician, AoJ Catastor, Brionac, Naturia Barkion, Orient Dragon, and Trishula are some of the powerhouses that you can regularly get out utilizing Striker.
3. Herp derp Ultimate Offering. Make Gadget, pay 500 LP, make Gadget, xyz summon. Continue paying 1000 LP for an xyz monster (or synchro monster). Swarm your opponent and hope they don't have a Battle Fader.
The best part about this deck is that the third aspect of the deck gets even better when Evigishki Merrowgeist, Gem-Knight Pearl, Daigusto Emeral and Lavalval Chain finally get released in the TCG. Especially Emeral. Mmm... miniature Pot of Avarice.
I've also seen people who fall on the old standby "You can't play Gadgets with everybody playing Chimeratech Fortress Dragon to combat Karakuri." If you lose one Gadget to a Chimeratech, it's not a huge loss. Your deck plays enough defense that you can get the Chimeratech off the field.
If I pass my turn with two Gadgets on the field, I deserve to lose. I will always bring out a Utopia or a Steelswarm Roach with two Gadgets, depending on the situation.
I totally expect Tragoedia to be limited back down to one in March. It was moved to semi-limited to give xyz monsters some support, but it's too damn good with xyz and synchro monsters.
Also, note the absence of Solemn Warnings in this build. With Black Luster Soldier: Envoy of the Beginning in virtually every deck in my local meta, Warning is not quite the staple it once was. Even if I had a little more room, I'd rather play a reactive card like Compulsory Evacuation Device to handle xyz and synchro monsters. CED takes care of those nasty Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, Wind-Up Zenmaines, and makes Evolzar Laggia burn their negation effect on a card that normally doesn't make much more of an impact on the game other than tempo.
Here's my current build:
3 Red Gadget
3 Green Gadget
3 Yellow Gadget
3 T.G. Striker
2 T.G. Warwolf
2 Tragoedia
3 Pot of Duality
1 Book of Moon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
2 Smashing Ground
1 Heavy Storm
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Avarice
3 Ultimate Offering
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 Trap Dustshoot
3 Number 39: Utopia
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 Number 10: Illumiknight
1 T.G. Wonder Magician
1 Ally of Justice: Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Orient Dragon
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Gaia Knight, Force of Earth
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
Your side deck will vary, but it's really easy to side into a potent Stun-style deck. Fossil Dyna Pacycephalo and Breaker the Magical Warrior make a good compliment to this deck.
I just wanted to write a few things about the deck.
I've seen naysayers online talk about how the deck sucks because it has to get Ultimate Offering on the field to win. That's garbage. The deck has three speeds:
1. It plays like a regular Gadget deck. Simplify the game state with removal like Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, or Smashing Ground. Then lean on the Gadget engine to ensure that you always have a monster in hand to apply pressure.
2. Utilizing T.G. Striker, you can synchro for a small tool box of choice monsters. T.G. Wonder Magician, AoJ Catastor, Brionac, Naturia Barkion, Orient Dragon, and Trishula are some of the powerhouses that you can regularly get out utilizing Striker.
3. Herp derp Ultimate Offering. Make Gadget, pay 500 LP, make Gadget, xyz summon. Continue paying 1000 LP for an xyz monster (or synchro monster). Swarm your opponent and hope they don't have a Battle Fader.
The best part about this deck is that the third aspect of the deck gets even better when Evigishki Merrowgeist, Gem-Knight Pearl, Daigusto Emeral and Lavalval Chain finally get released in the TCG. Especially Emeral. Mmm... miniature Pot of Avarice.
I've also seen people who fall on the old standby "You can't play Gadgets with everybody playing Chimeratech Fortress Dragon to combat Karakuri." If you lose one Gadget to a Chimeratech, it's not a huge loss. Your deck plays enough defense that you can get the Chimeratech off the field.
If I pass my turn with two Gadgets on the field, I deserve to lose. I will always bring out a Utopia or a Steelswarm Roach with two Gadgets, depending on the situation.
I totally expect Tragoedia to be limited back down to one in March. It was moved to semi-limited to give xyz monsters some support, but it's too damn good with xyz and synchro monsters.
Also, note the absence of Solemn Warnings in this build. With Black Luster Soldier: Envoy of the Beginning in virtually every deck in my local meta, Warning is not quite the staple it once was. Even if I had a little more room, I'd rather play a reactive card like Compulsory Evacuation Device to handle xyz and synchro monsters. CED takes care of those nasty Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, Wind-Up Zenmaines, and makes Evolzar Laggia burn their negation effect on a card that normally doesn't make much more of an impact on the game other than tempo.
Here's my current build:
3 Red Gadget
3 Green Gadget
3 Yellow Gadget
3 T.G. Striker
2 T.G. Warwolf
2 Tragoedia
3 Pot of Duality
1 Book of Moon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
2 Smashing Ground
1 Heavy Storm
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Avarice
3 Ultimate Offering
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 Trap Dustshoot
3 Number 39: Utopia
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 Number 10: Illumiknight
1 T.G. Wonder Magician
1 Ally of Justice: Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Orient Dragon
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Gaia Knight, Force of Earth
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
Your side deck will vary, but it's really easy to side into a potent Stun-style deck. Fossil Dyna Pacycephalo and Breaker the Magical Warrior make a good compliment to this deck.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Tourney Report 12/3/11
There's something to build on with this Jurrac deck. I went 1-3 against four of the top decks in the metagame, but I made them work for their wins. Well, except for the TGU Agent deck I played in round two.
Round one, I played against a Karakuri deck and was able to win 2-1. Good start, even with a few of the Karakuri monsters having a higher defense than the Jurracs' attack. I was able to punish my opponent for trying to use cards like Nisamu and Inashichi.
Round two, TGU Agents. My opponent played four Tour Guides in the two games we played. LOL Yugioh. Even when I mounted some offense, he was smart to not leave a Mystical Shine Ball on the table that I could easily destroy.
Round three, Dark World. My draws were horrible in the first game, opening with two Jurrac Aeolo and the one Flamvell Magician in the deck. Second game, Raioh popped up his ugly head and I draw Bottomless Trap Hole the turn after he hit the field. I didn't draw a Lance, Mind Control, or anything else that would have helped me get him off the field. Yay.
Round four, Machina Gadget. Game one ended with me having a Stardust Dragon and a Evolzar Laggia on the field. Game two, he played the gadget gameplan to perfection, using trap removal to simplify the game state while nibbling away with gadgets. Game three, he gets a Kycoo on the field and (once again) I don't draw any removal to get it off the field. Le sigh.
I think I need to play Smashing Grounds in the deck to help deal with problematic monsters. I wanted to play Dimensional Prisons, but that's too slow. I'm definitely taking the Jurrac Gallim out of the deck. Terrible card.
We'll see what happens next week.
Round one, I played against a Karakuri deck and was able to win 2-1. Good start, even with a few of the Karakuri monsters having a higher defense than the Jurracs' attack. I was able to punish my opponent for trying to use cards like Nisamu and Inashichi.
Round two, TGU Agents. My opponent played four Tour Guides in the two games we played. LOL Yugioh. Even when I mounted some offense, he was smart to not leave a Mystical Shine Ball on the table that I could easily destroy.
Round three, Dark World. My draws were horrible in the first game, opening with two Jurrac Aeolo and the one Flamvell Magician in the deck. Second game, Raioh popped up his ugly head and I draw Bottomless Trap Hole the turn after he hit the field. I didn't draw a Lance, Mind Control, or anything else that would have helped me get him off the field. Yay.
Round four, Machina Gadget. Game one ended with me having a Stardust Dragon and a Evolzar Laggia on the field. Game two, he played the gadget gameplan to perfection, using trap removal to simplify the game state while nibbling away with gadgets. Game three, he gets a Kycoo on the field and (once again) I don't draw any removal to get it off the field. Le sigh.
I think I need to play Smashing Grounds in the deck to help deal with problematic monsters. I wanted to play Dimensional Prisons, but that's too slow. I'm definitely taking the Jurrac Gallim out of the deck. Terrible card.
We'll see what happens next week.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Building JurracVell
Last Saturday, I acquired two Evolzar Laggia. They were basically the last pieces I was waiting for before playing the build of Jurracs that I threw together.
3 Jurrac Guaiba
3 Jurrac Velo
3 Jurrac Dino
3 Jurrac Aeolo
1 Jurrac Gallim
3 Flamvell Firedog
1 Flamvell Magician
3 Fossil Dig
2 Rekindling
2 Forbidden Lance
1 Book of Moon
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Pot of Avarice
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Safe Zone
2 Evolzar Laggia
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 TG Hyper Librarian
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Orient Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Jurrac Giganoto
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Using Flamvell Firedog or Jurrac Guaiba to get a synchro/xyz monster with one card is a powerful strategy. Especially Guaiba into Laggia. People who've had the displeasure to play against Rabbit decks may have run into this.
Guaiba attacks a low attack or defense target, sometimes assisted by Book of Moon or Forbidden Lance. Guaiba searches out either another copy of itself or a Velo. Overlay for Laggia. Now your opponent has to expend resources to get Laggia off the field before they can attempt to put their gameplan into effect.
And if they do get rid of Laggia, you have the resources to do it all over again.
You usually see a deck like this max out on Rekindling. I went down to two because Rekindling is terrible in the early game and drawing multiples before you have your graveyard stocked with monsters usually leads to a loss. I replaced one with a Pot of Avarice, because even though it has no synergy with Aeolo and Rekindling, it'll give me a chance to reuse my monsters from my extra deck.
The one card I don't have for the deck is Evolzar Dolkka. Dolkka is a good monster to add to the dino toolbox, but I'm not in a hurry to drop $40 for a toolbox monster. When I do get my hands on one, however, it'll probably replace the Roach in the extra deck.
Also note the absence of Pot of Duality. This deck special summons almost constantly that Duality would hinder the gameplan of this deck too often.
The deck doesn't really miss Duality, though, because of the three Fossil Dig that get you any dinosaur you need at the time from your deck.
Jurrac Guaiba: Natch.
Jurrac Velo: A recruiter for the rest of your Jurracs (if destroyed in battle while in attack mode). He also provides a level four body for Laggia.
Jurrac Dino: Level three tuner with a really solid ability. If Dino destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can tribute a Jurrac you control during your end phase to draw two cards. Pot of Greed is good, right?
Jurrac Aeolo: Level one tuner that brings the deck together. His 200 defense means that Firedog and Rekindling can special summon him. He also can be tributed to special summon any other level four or lower Jurrac from your graveyard.
The side deck would be a combination of the usual stuff (third MST, Debunks) and two or three Gozen Match. All your monsters are fire and a nice chunk of your extra deck is fire so it won't hinder you too much. Doesn't work as well as with Karakuri, but...
All told, this is a solid, fairly cheap deck to put together that has decent game against the top decks in the format.
3 Jurrac Guaiba
3 Jurrac Velo
3 Jurrac Dino
3 Jurrac Aeolo
1 Jurrac Gallim
3 Flamvell Firedog
1 Flamvell Magician
3 Fossil Dig
2 Rekindling
2 Forbidden Lance
1 Book of Moon
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Pot of Avarice
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Safe Zone
2 Evolzar Laggia
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Steelswarm Roach
1 TG Hyper Librarian
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Orient Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Jurrac Giganoto
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Using Flamvell Firedog or Jurrac Guaiba to get a synchro/xyz monster with one card is a powerful strategy. Especially Guaiba into Laggia. People who've had the displeasure to play against Rabbit decks may have run into this.
Guaiba attacks a low attack or defense target, sometimes assisted by Book of Moon or Forbidden Lance. Guaiba searches out either another copy of itself or a Velo. Overlay for Laggia. Now your opponent has to expend resources to get Laggia off the field before they can attempt to put their gameplan into effect.
And if they do get rid of Laggia, you have the resources to do it all over again.
You usually see a deck like this max out on Rekindling. I went down to two because Rekindling is terrible in the early game and drawing multiples before you have your graveyard stocked with monsters usually leads to a loss. I replaced one with a Pot of Avarice, because even though it has no synergy with Aeolo and Rekindling, it'll give me a chance to reuse my monsters from my extra deck.
The one card I don't have for the deck is Evolzar Dolkka. Dolkka is a good monster to add to the dino toolbox, but I'm not in a hurry to drop $40 for a toolbox monster. When I do get my hands on one, however, it'll probably replace the Roach in the extra deck.
Also note the absence of Pot of Duality. This deck special summons almost constantly that Duality would hinder the gameplan of this deck too often.
The deck doesn't really miss Duality, though, because of the three Fossil Dig that get you any dinosaur you need at the time from your deck.
Jurrac Guaiba: Natch.
Jurrac Velo: A recruiter for the rest of your Jurracs (if destroyed in battle while in attack mode). He also provides a level four body for Laggia.
Jurrac Dino: Level three tuner with a really solid ability. If Dino destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can tribute a Jurrac you control during your end phase to draw two cards. Pot of Greed is good, right?
Jurrac Aeolo: Level one tuner that brings the deck together. His 200 defense means that Firedog and Rekindling can special summon him. He also can be tributed to special summon any other level four or lower Jurrac from your graveyard.
The side deck would be a combination of the usual stuff (third MST, Debunks) and two or three Gozen Match. All your monsters are fire and a nice chunk of your extra deck is fire so it won't hinder you too much. Doesn't work as well as with Karakuri, but...
All told, this is a solid, fairly cheap deck to put together that has decent game against the top decks in the format.
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