Dragon Ruler: A mirror story

YCS London is wrapped up and I would like to congratulate my good friends Luke Smythe and Richard Thompson on their Top 16 and Top 32 performances respectively. Well done to the pair of you.

Today I’d like to share with you an article by Claudio Kirchmair, a UnitedGosus stalwart with multiple Premier Tops to his name. His insight into the current format will no doubt be incredibly helpful in performing to the best of your potential:

Today I’ll share some thoughts on the Dragon Ruler mirror match. The main question being how to approach the match-up - there are a number of different views. The deck’s standard variant concentrates on maintaining and utilizing Dragon Ravine.

CENTRAL STRATEGY

Recently, a number of players have begun using Terraforming to increase their chances of opening Ravine. The deck thinning this causes improves the chance of drawing into Mystical Space Typhoon, Raigeki Break and the like to keep Ravine on the field (when the opponent decides to play his/her own copy). Moreover, the thinning removes the need for Card Trooper - requiring only one slot for Debris Dragon fodder in Trigon. Why play Trooper if you can have Ravine, right?

Three copies of Raigeki Break or Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and the two strongest cards of the format (Return from a Different Dimension and Sixth Sense) form the defining part of this deck’s Trap Line. If that’s not enough then the deck’s draw power in Sacred Swords of Seven Stars and Cards of Consonance allow for more than enough opportunities to get at them.

In other words, Dragon Ruler is the new Tele-DAD. If you don’t believe me, then please go and check out the latest YCS Coverage from London and see how many Dragon Ruler decks made it to Day 2. The Top 4 consisted solely of Dragon Ruler, with the deck taking 7/8 Top 8 slots and 14/16 Top 16 slots, showing its absolute dominance.

So now the question is: Why did Patrik Rieder win with his particular Dragon Ruler build? When we look we see that it was a little bit different from the rest (2-4 cards different to be precise), since the remaining 36-38 cards of the main Dragon Ruler deck are pretty much set in stone - just like Tele-DAD. To answer this question I will try to explain the game plan for mirror match and how Patrik achieved it.

THE MIRROR

Personally, I think the Dragon mirror is all about good resource management. That’s something most players fail to achieve - you have to think about how to come out on top both in card advantage and in damage as those are the deciding factors in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Let’s take a look at how each of our Dragon Ruler cards interacts with this goal:

Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos

So how do we deal damage without losing card advantage? One simple rule suggests that if you summon a big Dragon then you have to deal damage. Blaster is the best dragon for this - being the biggest one he killed by the others except in Kamikaze attacks. Consider that when one player initiates the Blaster war, the other player won’t be able to deal any damage because his Blaster cannot pass his opponent’s – which has already dealt damage. Blaster is the safe Dragon Ruler and should not be used mindlessly.

Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls

Next up is Tidal: with enough attack to be dangerous he only gets killed by Blaster. Tidal is one of the two Dragon Rulers that are risky to summon, as your opponent can clear your back-row and summon Crimson Blader to lock you out of Dragons for a turn. It’s worth considering however that this should only happen if you have no protection whatsoever, and in that case it would not be the best idea to summon Tidal anyway.

These two Dragon Rulers (Along with Xyz and Synchro monsters) are the deck’s primary source of damage - the biggest goal of which is to drop your opponent’s life total to 3200 or lower. Why? Simple: Star Eater. Star Eater’s effect prevents it from being affected by Swift Scarecrow – the Dragon Ruler player’s last line of defence, and we all know how often Dragon Ruler players hide behind Scarecrow.

Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders

In the WCQ Dragon Ruler format, players tended to summon Redox in defence position to avoid getting OTK’d. This format summoning Redox for defence is detrimental to your game plan – you lose resources (by way of one potential Dragon summon) without dealing any damage. Your opponent can now simply establish his field/graveyard and wait until next turn.

So when should we summon Redox? Mainly when we have Maxx “C” in the graveyard and are going to perform a Synchro or XYZ summon. Our opponents are unlikely to respond to Redox with Maxx “C” because they cannot push on the next turn should you just stop. They will therefore allow Redox through, and you will have made a Synchro Summon with no risk of Maxx “C”.

Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms

Tempest is the last of our Dragon Rulers, and the other half of the “Risky to Summon” pair that Tidal started. Tempest’s WIND attribute means that he’s essentially another Debris Dragon if needed. Tempest mostly ends up being banished by Sacred Sword or banished to summon another Dragon Ruler. In doing so he helps us keep our draw engine consistent.

To conclude: “A Dragon summon should deal damage”. Failure to follow this rule will lose you resources, and possibly the late game.

Dragon Ravine

I want to take a moment to talk about the Field Spell mindset. My opinion is that I don’t care if my opponent has faster access to Dragon Ravine, as I’ll just wait with my Ravine until my opponent plays theirs. Why? It is a simple plus one - if they want to protect Ravine then they’ll lose their Mystical Space Typhoon, or even key monster removal Traps like Phoenix Wing Wind Blast or Raigeki Break. In other words, if you play Ravine first, then you’re making a big commitment to the board. That can be a bad spot in my opinion.

I also love to summon Debris Dragon and use Trigon or Card Trooper to summon Ancient Fairy Dragon for the free life gain and my own Field Spell. If you use your Break/PWWB on my Ravine before then you take the risk that my Debris play will end you.

Mystical Space Typhoon

Sometimes I wonder if MST is only there for turn one - to remove opposing back-row before committing any cards to the field, or to kill Ravine. I think that’s pretty weak - playing your own Ravine afterward or going into Ancient Fairy Dragon seems much better. You do not want to MST an opposing back-row if you have set cards, as you risk them chaining Raigeki Break/PWWB on your Ravine/back-row and wasting your MST. This again is reminiscent of Tele-DAD, where your push had to kill your opponent or you lost when they handled your board on the next turn.

Trooper and Trigon

Why should you run Card Trooper? He’s the best level 3 monster besides Trigon, the downside being that you can’t send him to the grave with Ravine. When you summon him with Debris you can activate his effect to mill three additional cards, which can swing the game heavily in your favour. Yes he can be hit by Crimson Blader, but you can protect him with Traps and still get to draw a card if he dies. Trooper is even better during Games Two and Three, where Debunk creates a Dragon lockdown. Dragons will often not even hit the field and your Trooper gives you access to free resources – a mill for two or three colours with Trooper can end the game by itself.

The Trap Game

Now it becomes obvious how we play our removal Traps: we kill opposing monsters so we can hit directly with our Dragons. The fact that we didn’t use any of our Traps on Ravine means that we have more such Traps than our opponent. Conserving your removal is important - a lot of the time you don’t have to kill something immediately because it’s not a real threat.

Why Trap Stun? Because Return from the Different Dimension and Sixth Sense are absurd. Resolving one or both of these cards often just wins you the game. If you look through the Dragon Ruler deck lists you will usually see seven to nine traps - most of which are chainable. Every one of these can be negated by Trap Stun. It is the only card besides Solemn Warning which can negate Return, and the only card full stop that can negate Sixth Sense. Trap Stun breaks boards when your opponent feels safe and helps you to defend if he/she wants to push for the game. It also creates safe ways to resolve Crimson Blader’s effect. Let’s not forget that Trap Stun into Black Rose Dragon will seal the deal for you in most Non-Dragon Ruler matchups.

A short side note on Solemn Warning: I like this card because it’s strong in the Spellbook and Evilswarm matchups. It’s also one of the few true removal Traps, with the 2000 life points cost often being nullified by Ancient Fairy Dragon’s life gain. Its ability to counter to Black Rose Dragon and Return alone is enough to warrant consideration for a slot.

The Synchros

The age-old question: which Synchro monster do I summon? The answer here depends on the state of the game and on your opponent’s deck. Stardust Dragon with protection is the choice if your opponent favours Raigeki Break and Mystical Space Typhoon, Colossal Fighter can prevent a Dragon beatdown and Angel of Zera can be helpful in the late game for getting over Ancient Fairy Dragon or Redox. The popularity of Ancient Fairy Dragon has made Orient Dragon a strong choice, warranting a spot in my Extra Deck simply because of that.

Looking Forward- Mermail

Today we are going to be focusing on the Mermail archetype, and I have a special article from a good friend of mine Luke Symthe. So without prolonging this anymore, here we go; 

So let’s talk about Mermail.

I'm sure you've seen the Aqua Spirit Xyz build that took both Bobby Barone and Sorosh Saberian into the Top Cut of YCS Toronto (With Saberian barely missing out on the crown itself) and is very quickly becoming the standard Mermail build for Tier 2 Events.

Are we likely to see this version of the deck take down the format? Probably not – the deck handles a resolved Crimson Blader quite poorly, though not for the reasons you might expect (more on that later) and simply isn’t well enough equipped to deal with a stream of resources that is (for all intents and purposes) endless…

Does that mean that Mermail won’t win any events along the way? Not at all. In fact, I’m of the opinion that the only Matchup in which Dragon Ruler is superior to Mermail is Dragon Ruler. That’s right, I’d rather be playing the Mermail deck in EVERY other matchup (well, except maybe Infernity Game 1, but that’s always a bit of a coin toss).

Let me explain what I mean:

Mermail’s versatility is unmatched

The Dragon Ruler deck tends to start all its moves in the same way, and they all tend to take the same form (Summon a Dragon or Two, swing, end/Dracossack – maybe Debris Dragon on a particularly inventive turn).By comparison, Mermail can start from effectively any monster with Mermail in its name and go literally anywhere their controller wants to. This makes Dragon Ruler relatively linear when compared to Mermail. That in of itself should speak worlds for Mermail, since Dragon Ruler is one of the most adaptive and versatile decks ever devised...

Be it Abysslinde making a suicide attack, the Normal Summon of Abysspike or the activation of Abyssteus, the Mermail deck performs in the gear that its player wants it to at all times, and shifts between those gears flawlessly when ready to dish out massive damage, break an opposing lock, or simply put the game in a position that’s impossible to come back from.

What does that mean for the rest of the Meta? Simply that the Mermail deck is incredibly difficult to mitigate without its direct counters (Graveyard prevention). Mind Drain preventing Abyssteus and Abyssmegalo in the hand? Abysspike -> Atlantean Heavy Infantry. Relying on those Spell/Trap cards to get you through? Atlantean Marksman says you’d better hope they’re chainable. They are? Abysslinde thinks the damage step is a different story.

Your field is never safe against Mermail. Not ever. The more cards you put onto the field, the more cards you stand to lose.

While the Atlanteans are the main reason behind this, it’s the Mermail monsters, specifically Abysslinde, pulling the strings from the background.

Abysslinde creates a situation in which a player might be physically able to attack, but they’re actually prevented from doing so by a face-down Abysslinde. Why? Because a set Abysslinde is an implied Abysspike, which in turn is an implied activation of Atlantean Heavy Infantry or Atlantean Marksman. At best it’s an implied 2700ATK monster, and between the 2 there are Abyssgundes and Tidals that just generally prevent you from gaining anything out of an attack.

Did you set something that you should really have saved for later? Too bad, now if you attack you leave it vulnerable to Marksman.  Your failure to be efficient with your cards has cost you your battle phase not only this turn, but every turn until you’re able to deal with Abysslinde.

Your opponent has a Spell/Trap card? Same situation – can you deal with a surprise Abysslinde during the battle phase? If you can’t then your attack will force you to choose - lose your set card or be unable to set Spells/Traps this turn.

And that’s without even mentioning Abyss-Sphere or Tidal (by name, anyway…). I could write entire articles - maybe even a Thesis - on why Abyss-Sphere is such a fantastic card. How its interaction with both players not only defines how the Mermail deck is played and played against, but changes the way those players look at and play the game as a result. Cards like that don’t come about very often, and maybe one of these days I’ll write that article.

Mermail’s Dragon Ruler does what only Dragoons could do better

However, right now we need to look at Tidal, because it’s the main reason that Mermail stands head and shoulders above all non-Dragon Ruler decks. A simple quote from Patrick Hoban explains this better than I can with an essay:

“Activating Traps costs you cards. Dragon Rulers don’t cost you cards”

Tidal is a completely free Special-Summonable Level 7 monster in a deck full of easily Special-Summonable Level 7 monsters. Look no further than Dragon Ruler to see how ridiculous that is. It provides the Mermail decks with not only the kind of semi-endless resource that non-Dragon Ruler decks can only dream of (in the form of a 2600ATK stick no less), but a way to turn a used Abyssteus or Abyssmegalo into Mermail Abyssgaios or Dracossack.

This gives the Mermail deck an element of the endless resource benefit that the Dragon Ruler deck has, with an added bonus – Tidal’s WATER attribute makes it a high-class discard for any Mermail that needs that particular cost (i.e. virtually all of them). The ability to discard Tidal to another card’s effect and then special summon it back from the Graveyard is reminiscent of the Baby Dragons of last format. That makes every Mermail monster the same kind of effect as Stream, Dragon Ruler of Droplets.

Can you imagine if Tidal had Blaster or Redox’s secondary abilities? By which I mean the “Discard this card and a FIRE/EARTH monster to do X” abilities. Doesn’t bear thinking about, does it? Redox’s is the most ridiculous, since it would effectively read [Discard this card and 1 “Mermail Abyssgunde”: Target 2 “Mermail” monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon them.] Take a moment to think about that, I’ll wait… How about if another WATER Dragon-Type monster with a relevant effect existed?

This is why Tidal had to be the worst Dragon Ruler in a vacuum.

Mermail’s threat to end the game is ever-present

While the Dragon Ruler deck rarely runs out of resources, it doesn’t usually inflict lethal damage in a single turn (barring Return from the Different Dimension). The loss of Speed from the banning of the Baby Dragons means that it’s not that easy to assemble 8 Dragons to remove for a huge swing, and often not a good idea if you can - remember that Dragon Ruler only plays 17 Dragons, so removing 8 of them uses up nearly half its Dragon ruler summons for the game (with the exception of Redox, who can munch on Maxx “C” and Card Trooper).

What this means is that you usually get a turn of preparation before you have to face the draconic horde, a turn to set traps and summon monsters to keep it at bay.

Mermail isn’t interested in giving you that turn of preparation – a normal summoned Abysspike may well be a thinly-veiled threat to end you right now in a flurry of Sea Serpents (and maybe the odd Dragon…)

While the Mermail deck is fantastic at playing the control game - with its Atlanteans making profitable trades and its Mermail monsters controlling the board - it can just outright win the game from virtually any position if you give it even a hint of a weakness in your defence.

That intrinsic, constant threat that you may simply lose the game on any given turn is a huge part of why Mermail is what it is.

Abyssocea has added to this ability in a huge way. It’s not quite the same as the Atlantean Marksman-Atlantean Dragoons relationship that governed the Pre-Tachyon format, but it still means that Abyssteus and any WATER monster can put as much as 4200 damage on the table. That leaves the Mermail player 4 cards to find the other 3800.

Add Tidal to this mix and you’d better hope that they can’t feed him a Level 4 monster…

The deck may not even wait until its own turn to deal with opposing Spells/Traps/Problem monsters. An Abyss-Sphere at the end of the Main phase puts the Mermail deck in a position to special summon both Abysspike and Abyssturge at the end of the opposing turn (Assuming one or the other is in the Graveyard and Abyssgunde is in hand) and also destroy an opposing Spell/Trap card.

That scenario trades Abyss-Sphere for an opposing card and 2 monsters totalling 3300ATK, netting +2 in the opponent’s End Phase and setting up for a turn of unimpeded Mermail shenanigans.

So with all its fantastic matchups, why isn’t Mermail ruling the game? Well, like I said earlier, the problem rests with Dragon Ruler having endless resources that take the form of large Dragons. There’s another reason though, so let’s look at that.

The Problem of Crimson Blader

Yeah, this guy.

Remember earlier, when I said that this deck doesn’t recover well from Crimson Blader? There are a number of reasons for that, but oddly enough the stopping of Level 5 or higher (Specifically Level 7) monsters isn’t the main one. The issue is that Crimson Blader’s effect starts a chain.

What that means is that simply setting an Abysslinde isn’t an answer to Crimson Blader. Under normal circumstances you’d have access to Atlantean Heavy Infantry, which would mean that either of Abysslinde or Abyss-Sphere can get rid of any monster your opponent controls – Abysslinde fetches Abysspike or Abyssturge, which discards the Heavy Infantry to remove the threat from the board.

This does not work with Crimson Blader…

Why? Because Crimson Blader’s effect is a mandatory Trigger Effect, While Abysslinde is an optional Trigger Effect. That makes Crimson Blader link 1 in any chain that results from it destroying Abysslinde in battle (regardless of which monster is attacking), which in turn means that an Abysspike summoned from Abysslinde will not be able to activate. Crimson Blader not only cuts off the top end of the Mermail deck, it also prevents the deck from using its standard method to search for outs. This twin-pronged attack on the deck’s problem-solving engine is the real issue that Crimson Blader presents.

The Maxx “C” Achilles Heel

Wow this little guy hurts a lot.

While the Dragon Ruler deck tends to shrug off Maxx “C” by simply summoning Blaster or Redox first, the Mermail deck doesn’t have it so easy. While Tidal can help to lure the insect out early, the best players will hold it for the best case scenario if they have a choice.

That scenario is that you just discarded Abyssgunde for Abyssmegalo - not only will Maxx “C” replace itself from the Abyssmegalo summon, but you’ll be forced into one of 4 horrible plays:

1.     Just end, leaving Abyssmegalo vulnerable to attack and wasting Abyssgunde.

2.     Trigger Abyssgunde to give your opponent an extra card, and leave both Abyssmegalo and the Abyssgunde target vulnerable.

3.     Make Abyssgaios, giving your opponent 3 draws, but removing your attack vulnerability.

4.     Try to swing for the game. If you fail you will likely lose.

None of those is a great play, especially with Dragons threatening Crimson Blader on the next turn.

The fact is that the Dragon deck’s monsters are generally so much less vulnerable to battle than Mermails are, and its ability to both handle the insects better and dish them out itself is a pivotal reason why the Dragon matchup is so poor for Mermail.

The Future

So how does the deck go forward from here? Finding a way to deal with Dragons that doesn’t hurt your game plan against other decks would be best, but that’s easier said than done.

I’m not sure Hand-Traps are the way to go with this. As we’ve already discussed, Dragons have a level of invulnerability to Hand-Traps that makes it hard to find a correct time to use one.

Hand-Traps also tend to create hands that don’t contain enough Water monsters to make a reasonable push. In Game 1 Mermail wants all its cards to be pushing its game plan forward. That means less reactive cards/defensive cards, and more cards that make Mermail do what Mermail is meant to do.

Not forgetting of course that with all the different decks that see play this format, a Hand-Trap is not going to be useful the majority of the time. Think about the number of decks that people play at YCS Events:

Dragon Ruler

Dragunity

Mermail

Prophecy

Fire fist

Evilswam

Constellar

Infernity

Geargia

Herald

STUN

Blackwing

Madolche

Inzektor

Chain Strike Burn

How many of these decks is Maxx “C” useful against? Half? Less?

How about Effect Veiler?

Even the Dragon Ruler decks nowadays are starting to move to less hand Hand-Trap and more hard-counters like Vanity’s Emptiness and Skill Drain. It remains to be seen whether this will continue as we approach the final 3 YCS Events of 2013 in San Mateo, London and Turin.

The Mermail deck is more than capable of playing hard counters in the maindeck too (Torrential Tribute is already quite common). Finding which ones work best is the issue.

We may see Deep Sea Diva return to play, since it’s an excellent way round an already resolved Crimson Blader – simply search for Abyssleed from the Abysslinde that was destroyed, then drop Diva for Armory Arm and Equip. You’ll even get 3700 damage out of the equation.

Realistically, Armory Arm is almost a good enough reason to play Diva on its own, since surprise damage wins so many games nowadays. Access to Armades just cements the deal further – giving you a way to deal with problematic monsters unopposed or simply to force opposing Lances for no value.

Let’s not forget Armades’ impact on the mirror… That out to Abysslinde you were looking for? Look no further.

Whether Dragon Ruler will rule the meta or not, Mermail is still a hell of a deck, and is definitely worth a play for anyone that wants to understand Chain and End Phase mechanics better, or just wants to have a go at something new.

Beware though, that with Atlantean Dragoons and Deep Sea Diva limited you’ll not be getting any Abyssmegalo/Atlantean Dragoons auto-win hands.

Nowadays this deck is as good as its player makes it.

September 2013- What's in Store?

Hey Guys, I'm back and bigger than ever.

As you all know, I'm in America for the year, but that doesn't mean my interest in the game has gone with it. I've been actively following the game and keeping up to date with the meta. My closest card store is called alternate Universe and it's where Frazier Smith plays. I say locals, it's like a 2 hour bus ride away and I haven't been bothered to travel there just yet.

However I do intend on going o the ARG open in Ohio.

Since the format begun we have had a YCS and the first of many ARG opens, which had tremendous success. This has given shape to the meta and shown us what decks are dominant and which are flops.

The most notable player of success in these events has been Patrick Hoban, who is fresh off his North American nationals win, a 3rd place finish at YCS Toronto and his 1st place finish at the ARG in Ft Worth Texas. Talk about a run of success.

This is where I want to start, Hoban piloted his Dragunity Dragon Ruler deck to these finishes.
I've tested the deck but I am really not a fan of it.
The deck includes the 4 Dragon Ruler monsters played in 3-off's in combination with some of the dragunity engine, most notably Dux, Phalanx and dragon ravine.
It has access to many plays such as easy access to level 8's, rank 7's and Hieratic Dragon of King Atum in order to pull out Red Eyes Darkness Meal Dragon from your deck for easy OTK potential.
The deck has incredible sygenery and can abuse dragon ravine to make very quick and explosive plays very early on in the game to put mass pressure on the opponent.
The deck has been described as the new 'Tele-DAD' due to being able to set up a strong position field then being able to lock it down with Vanity's emptiness, a card I will be discussing later (spoilers).

Next up we have the 'normal' Dragon Ruler decks, like what i'm playing at the minute and am really enjoying.
It's a fairly more interesting deck with less linear plays. It involves playing copies of debris dragon, card troopers, hand traps and 1 star tuners. The main focus of this deck and the Dragunity deck are similar, make 8 star synchro monsters quickly and lock the board up.
I played against someone and taught him how powerful Crimson Blader (spoilers) was in the dragon mirror match.
I thought having to know how to play the deck last format was imperative, but this format getting advantage of all your dragons is so important because card incremental card advantage is extremely relevant again.

Next up is Spellbooks. A deck that was the bane of my competitive career last format, and this format is no better. In the hands of a good player, the deck is insanely powerful. Getting to draws a turn and having the ability to search your deck almost at will is huge. However at least this format the deck doesn't have the ability to summon Jowgen on turn one and then make their Blue Boys 2000atk beaters with star hall which seems to have rotated out of favour.
The deck is fairly linear and is one of the best toolbox decks ever, having the incredible ability to search for what you need at almost any time.
The deck reincorporates High Priestess of Prophecy again in order to have a 'boss' monster and make use of an incredibly powerful card.

A deck that was all hype in my eyes when the banlist came around is Blackwings. I'm really not a fan of this deck yet and never have been.
I will give the deck merit however, the deck is a very good control deck and if it opens the terrifying double/triple whirlwind then if has a constant advantage stream, coupled with backrow this can be a truly horrible deck to play against.

Another deck I would like to discuss would be Mermail, but I'm hoping to get my good friend Luke Symthe to write an article for me on the deck fresh off his YCS trial win at Trading post games, Belfast.
I believe this would give you all an insight I couldn't provide into the deck.

In my eyes, the format is shaping up to be a one deck format, and that seems to be dragon ruler variants. I don't like saying things like that, but as for now the most consistent deck seems to dragon ruler, if you are going to YCS London please be prepared to face that deck at the top tables and be sided for it.

I have man more articles coming up and I will try to get them out before YCS London. I am very busy here but everyone needs a constructive outlet and I hope this can be mine.

Until next time readers
Enjoy,
AJ