Welcome, class! As you all take your seats for today’s lecture, I’d like to pose to you a Question. Consider your answers carefully, because I’m interested in hearing from each and every one of you.
Why is no one playing Dark World?
I mean, honestly! Not one, but two duelists win their way to a Day 2 finish with Dark World last year at Shonen Jump Championship Anaheim. They happen to be accompanied by a single Dimensional Fissure deck, and all of a sudden Dark World isn’t worth running. Don Zaloog is seeing more play now than he has in years thanks to his value against the Gadget monsters, and even though Dimensional Fissure is slightly more useful (thanks to the removal of Breaker the Magical Warrior from the Advanced format), it seems as if it would be easily sided against.
Even though Dark World lost its precious Graceful Charity, it also gained three copies of Dark World Dealings, trading in one lucky topdeck for a consistent draw and discard engine. That seems infinitely better. Is the fear of Dimensional Fissure or a mirror match that obviously isn’t going to materialize at this point really worth avoiding the awesome power Dark World offers? I say no! It is certainly not! This week’s contributor, Chris, agrees . . .
Hey there, Teach!
This is my Dark World Devastation deck. I've been running a Dark World Deck for a while, but with the new Advanced format hand and STON’s release, I had some trouble putting this version together. It is as of yet untested, but I digress. The deck’s strategy is obvious I think. Discard a lot, ha! I’m using Broww to keep from emptying my hand a lot of times. The only other thing I can think of is that I was going to try Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World with Dark Deal for a huge swing in momentum.
This deck also has problems with Dimensional Fissure being sided against it. So it would be cool if you could help me with some side or main deck ideas to counter it.
Thanks a lot,
—Chris H.
New York, New York
Chris’s use of the informal and rather offending pronoun “Teach” can be forgiven within this limited context. Here is the decklist he sent me.
Dark World Devastation—42 Cards
Monsters: 23
2 Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World
3 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
3 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
3 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World
2 Magical Merchant
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
1 Night Assailant
2 Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World
2 Gren, Tactician of Dark World
3 Cyber Dragon
Spells: 10
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Heavy Storm
2 Dark World Lightning
1 Card Destruction
1 Pot of Avarice
1 Snatch Steal
2 Dark World Dealings
Traps: 9
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Deck Devastation Virus
2 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Dark Deal
Right off the bat, I can see that Chris has made two common mistakes that are deadly in combination. First, he is running too many Dark World monsters that must be discarded in order to be effective. While this makes his Card Destruction and Morphing Jar very good at times, it also means he’ll have lots of relatively useless cards at others. Beyond that, he is only running six effects that let him easily discard. Though the pair of Dark Deal cards bumps that count to eight total, it is a highly reactive trap that requires action from Chris’s opponent. If that action never comes—either by chance or because the opponent skillfully refuses to play normal spells—then Chris will find himself in even more of a bind.
Fifteen Dark World monsters to discard. Six cards that do it reliably. You don’t need a PhD in math* to see that that isn’t a winning equation.
In addition, while 42 cards may be a safe total for many decks, this one has two that it wants to see every game—Card Destruction and Morphing Jar. As a result, this deck must be 40 cards in size. No more, no less. Let’s begin.
The first change I want to make is kicking Gren, Tactician of Dark World to the side deck. While Gren is useful against Lockdown strategies and Gadgets (where it has frequent non-chainable targets like Widespread Ruin and Bottomless Trap Hole), it’s just not that useful elsewhere. Most decks are running a bevy of chainable cards to set in their back row, and that means Gren is wasted more often than not. Similar to the statement I made about Dark Deal, Gren can also be played around. Skilled duelists already know to avoid setting cards in fear of Dark World Lightning, so even an opponent ignorant of the fact that you use Gren could be outplaying you without even knowing it!
Gren is superb in the side deck, and that’s where we shall put him.
Next, I have never been a big proponent of Broww, Huntsman of Dark World. When all my other Dark World monsters are giving immediate field advantage, his effect seems terribly underwhelming. He’s another monster that you really do not want to normal summon or set, and he swells the number of such in this deck to a rather alarming total. While Broww was perhaps reasonable in the pre-Strike of Neos era, Kahkki is just flat out better, buying you time when you’re on the defensive and creating openings in the opponent’s line when you’re attacking. Broww shall be excommunicated from the deck forthwith!
Magical Merchant seems wholly without point. Yes, it can help Chris get to his Dark World Lightning, Dark World Dealings, and Card Destruction faster, but it also wastes Dark World monsters and Morphing Jar along the way. It loads the graveyard for Pot of Avarice, but that’s going to be disappearing as well. This deck doesn’t use recruiter monsters, and in fact, sends monsters to the graveyard less frequently than what could be considered average. Even if we were to still run Gren, Pot of Avarice is a mid- and late-game card in a deck that already has problematic draws in the early game. We really don’t need it.
Finally, Chris is using Nobleman of Crossout in a deck that’s only running two Dark World Lightning cards. This decision doesn’t even need berating. There is simply no pleasure in a task without challenge.
So, we’ve removed nine cards thus far, meaning that we can add seven before we risk going over the 40 card minimum. Again, it’s important to keep the deck slim since this strategy wants to see a handful of cards every game if possible.
Our first addition will be a third copy of Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World. As I briefly stated above, Kahkki excels because it supports the two big play patterns Dark World tends to follow. In the early game, when an aggressive opponent attempts to outpace you and take advantage of what can oft be a weak opening hand, you can discard Kahkki to keep the impudent opposition under control. Then, when you explode later, discarding Kahkki to destroy one of the opponent’s big monsters can soften them up for Goldd and Sillva. Whereas Broww was once considered a default pick simply because he presented more chances to use your discard effects, Kahkki fills the role while providing a far more useful payoff.
Treeborn Frog is a very obvious pick. With eight tribute monsters that can often act as dead cards and a frequent need for extra defensive bodies, the Frog is a spectacular choice! Add to that the fact that it’s a convenient discard for Dark World Lightning or Dark World Dealings, and you have a must-use for virtually any Dark World build.
My primary focus for this deck is bringing the number of must-discard monsters more into line with the actual number of discard methods employed. Thus far I’ve pruned the monsters that necessitate a discard effect in order to be useful, back by four (I’ve removed three Broww and two Gren, and added one Kahkki). But I’ve done nothing to add to the total count of discard effects. So, with that in mind, one each of Dark World Lightning and Dark World Dealings are immediate additions. Then, since I’ve removed so many monsters, I’ll add two copies of Brron, Mad King of Dark World. With Kahkki creating unexpected openings, Brron is just the card to let us pounce when the opponent thinks we are unable to put forth a devastating front.
The last addition I’ll make to bring us up to 40 cards is Confiscation—a must for virtually any deck, but especially one that has particular cards it fears. Nobleman of Crossout on Morphing Jar is a game-losing blow. Dimensional Fissure, Macro Cosmos, and Banisher of the Radiance—all of the threats this deck hates to go up against—can be pre-negated by discarding that card from the opponent’s hand before he or she gets to use it. In the average deck, it’s worth paying 1000 life points just to discard the opponent’s best card and learn about his or her hand. Here it’s even better, and will go a long way towards stopping the Dimensional Fissure problem Chris was worried about.
So, all eyes to the blackboard!
-3 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World
-2 Gren, Tactician of Dark World
-2 Magical Merchant
-1 Pot of Avarice
-1 Nobleman of Crossout
+1 Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World
+1 Treeborn Frog
+2 Brron, Mad King of Dark World
+1 Dark World Lightning
+1 Dark World Dealings
+1 Confiscation
My version of the deck is as follows! Let it grace your eyes with its concise, macabre eloquence!
Dark World Devastation—Vowler’s Much Better Version—40 Cards
Monsters: 20
2 Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World
3 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
3 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
3 Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World
2 Brron, Mad King of Dark World
3 Cyber Dragon
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
1 Night Assailant
1 Treeborn Frog
Spells: 11
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Snatch Steal
1 Confiscation
3 Dark World Lightning
3 Dark World Dealings
1 Card Destruction
Traps: 9
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Deck Devastation Virus
2 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Dark Deal
The deck is now faster. Much faster. With a refined base of must-discard monsters and four more cards to get them into the graveyard, the entire deck spends less time waiting about as if it were looking to take public transit. Dark World is all about high-impact two-card combinations that serve to devastate the opponent, and this improved version simply generates more of those plays on a per-duel basis.
As for the concern about Dimensional Fissure, it’s easily solved! Simply trade both copies of Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World and both Dark Deal cards for three Dust Tornado cards and a tech card of your choosing. Chiron the Mage, Snipe Hunter, Giant Trunade, and any number of other spell and trap removal cards are a perfect fit, so pick the one that’s right for your metagame.
This deck is short on ideal opening plays when you go first, but setting Sangan, Treeborn Frog, or Night Assailant are all viable plays on their own. Morphing Jar protected by a set Dark Deal can be devastating as well, so do not underestimate that option. From there, it’s all about putting pressure on your opponent. Kahkki can buy you the time you need before you completely unleash your forces, and with Brron now in the deck, it can be a lot safer to use Dark World Lightning on a set spell or trap card that could be chained. Don’t think of that situation as failure: think of it as clearing the way for Brron!
With relatively little monster removal in the deck, Cyber Dragon is going to be important to your survival. Do not be liberal with its use: it’s best to special summon Cyber Dragon when it allows you to press through a hit with Brron. As you begin to practice with this build, you’ll see a pattern of several different Cyber Dragon plays forming. I’ll outline some of the most common:
—If the opponent controls one monster: you special summon Cyber Dragon and normal summon Brron. You attack the monster with Cyber Dragon and then hit directly with Brron, special summoning Goldd or Sillva for an additional 2300 damage.
—If the opponent controls two monsters: you special summon Cyber Dragon and activate Dark World Lightning to destroy one of them. You normal summon Brron, attack to destroy the monster with Cyber Dragon, and then hit with Brron directly for a special summon. This scenario assumes that the monster you discarded for Lightning was not a Dark World monster. If it was, all the better.
In addition, consider the impact of Dark World Lightning and Kahkki. In one fell blow, you can wipe the field clean of both a spell or trap card and a monster, or do away with two monsters at once! Kahkki makes this deck an entirely different beast, and goes a long way towards improving its stability.
If you’re looking for a quintessential, dedicated Dark World build to try in your testing gauntlet, I’d most certainly recommend this one. Making full use of the new tricks available to these feared and mighty monsters, it is a force to be reckoned with even in its less advantageous matchups. Speed! Destruction! All with a graceful sophistication that lets your opponents know you’re much more clever than they are!
Who could ask for more than that?
—The Delightfully Devious, Merrily Malevolent Crellian Vowler, PhD
Are you a dismal slacker? Do you feel the need to seek help from someone clearly superior to you in every way? Don’t worry—just send me your Advanced format decklist, a few paragraphs describing what the deck does, and your name and location to: VowlerIsSoAwesome@gmail.com. I may take pity on you and feature your deck in my next lecture!
*Just a PhD in Dueling.