I love pandas. Even though science can’t agree on whether the noble Ailuropoda melanoleuca is a member of the bear or raccoon family, I say it’s more adorable than the cutest bear and raccoon put together, and thus it shouldn’t matter anyway. Take that, science!
As far as Yu-Gi-Oh! is concerned, I happen to be rather partial to . It’s got one of the best effects in the game, but it’s also got access to some of the greatest support cards available. While many duelists are aware of the Panda’s potential, lots of duelists (even those who play decks that are built around the angry bear) are unaware of some of their techier options. Today’s submission comes from just such a duelist, so that’s why we’re looking at his deck. Here’s what he had to say about it.
Dear Jason,
I’m a huge fan of your articles and I love what you do with the decks that are sent to you. I have a deck here that could use a little help. The deck is focused on Beasts, and the main strategies focus around Maji-Gire Panda, which works surprisingly well with the Ojama tokens.
Even if I don't manage to pull off the Ojama/Maji combo, I can still rely on my big hitters: Muka Muka, Bazoo, and the Gorillas, to control the game and even pull off a win. The one problem I notice is the fact that the deck relies too much on my monsters. I don't seem to have any support for my pandas and apes. Whatever help you could give me would be much appreciated.
—Adam M
Here’s the decklist that Adam sent to me. I took the liberty of giving it a name that befits the amazing quantity of awesomeness contained within each Panda across the world.*
Panda Pwnage
41 Cards
Monsters: 20
2 Enraged Muka Muka
2 Bazoo the Soul-Eater
1 Sangan
2 Berserk Gorilla
2 Gigantes
2 Gyaku-Gire Panda
2 Enraged Battle Ox
1 Jinzo
1 Cyber Jar
2 Maji-Gire Panda
1 Tsukuyomi
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Giant Rat
Spells: 12
2 Gaia Power
1 Dark Hole
1 Premature Burial
1 Smashing Ground
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Nobleman of Extermination
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Heavy Storm
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Snatch Steal
1 Scapegoat
Traps: 9
2 Michizure
1 Call of the Haunted
3 Ojama Trio
1 Dust Tornado
2 Sakuretsu Armor
Beast decks can be very good, and they’re superb in combination with Ojama Trio. However, I think that we can make a ton of improvements to Adam’s deck. Not only are we going to play with the Beast theme a bit and show Adam some tricks that he can use, we’re also going to rotate in some cards that are commonly seen in tournaments. The result is going to be a viable and surprising Beatdown variant.
First up, those Enraged Muka Mukas have got to go. Though each can be enormous if you have enough cards in your hand, you need to have at least three cards just sitting around to get it up to 2400 ATK—the most common ATK value for a single-tribute monster. While some clever play with Giant Rat can bring Enraged Muka Muka to the field for free, Adam is only running one Rat, and I think he could be doing cooler things with it. Sorry, Muka Muka. I’ll have a Panda show you to the door.
Speaking of which, I have to drop some Pandas. Wow, I feel so mixed about this. On one hand, I love Pandas. On the other hand, Maji-Gire Panda just isn’t nearly as good as its Gyaku-Gire cousin. Though Maji-Gire Panda can become very threatening very quickly, monsters just don’t stick around long, thanks to Smashing Ground and Sakuretsu Armor. In fact, we’re going to try and build this deck to adapt to that trend and defeat it, so Maji-Gire Panda doesn’t fit with our vision.
Sorry, Panda. Once you’re done showing Muka Muka out, please gather your things and leave.
*sniffle*
Without Maji-Gire Panda, there’s little use for Scapegoat. In fact, it might clog up the field and prove to be detrimental. Gaia Power also presents a huge risk. This deck isn’t using D. D. Assailant, and many opponents will be running it. Seeing them bumped up to an unseemly 2200 ATK is beyond unfortunate, and we really can’t let that happen. There are better ways to boost ATK, and again, it all comes back to those Beast-specific tricks I was talking about earlier.
I’m going to drop a Gigantes and a Jinzo, too. Some of the more important cards that I want to add are traps, and unfortunately, both of these monsters get in the way of that. I’ll be replacing them with an alternate tribute monster, though I’ll keep one copy of Gigantes around. Injection Fairy Lily will also be rotated out for a different monster. I love Lily, but it just won’t be needed in the deck by the time I’m done.
Finally, I’m going to drop Nobleman of Extermination and the two copies of Michizure. Though I’m actually a big advocate of Nobleman, I think it’s meant to be used in a techy deck that runs Widespread Ruin instead of Sakuretsu Armor. If you play your cards right, you can remove all of your opponent’s Sakuretsu Armors from the game without costing yourself any potential field control. Instead of adding another copy of Extermination and telling Adam to switch from Sakuretsu Armor (about $3 each) to Widespread Ruin (currently going for $25 or more online), I’m just going to drop the one Nobleman.
As for Michizure, it’s just kind of behind the curve. One-for-one trades like Sakuretsu Armor and Bottomless Trap Hole, which exchange one of your cards for one of the opponent’s monsters, are the norm now. Michizure is a two-for-one trade in your opponent’s favor, so it isn’t really a strong choice in the current format.
This frees up thirteen slots in the deck, and that’s plenty of room to both make use of some cool Beast cards and employ some more standard tournament staples.
First, I definitely want to make amends to all of Panda-kind by adding a third copy of Gyaku-Gire Panda to the deck. With Ojama Trio, the Panda has three targets to punch through and gains 1500 ATK. That’s 2300 ATK right there. If the opponent controls another monster or two, the Panda’s ATK value climbs even higher.
Another two copies of Giant Rat will let us search for those Pandas as needed. They’ll also allow us to retain board presence when the opponent’s monsters outnumber ours, and they’ll give the deck precision. I’m going to add a single Rescue Cat for the Rats to search for, too. The Cat is superb in this deck because it can be tributed to special summon a pair of Pandas from the deck. Not only can such a move easily win a duel, a pair of Pandas can usually take down two of the opponent’s monsters. Considering all you tributed was the Cat, that’s an easy two-for-one trade in your favor.
I’m going to replace Injection Fairy Lily with Exiled Force, simply because is more versatile. With three Gyaku-Gire Panda in the deck, we’re not wanting for attack power, but some flip effect monsters can cause problems. Cyber Jar can really hurt if you’ve got a full field, and Beasts love to swarm. Exiled Force will not only take care of problem monsters, but it will also clear the field of Spirit Reaper. This isn’t a problem for the Ox or Pandas, but Berserk Gorilla hates Reaper when it’s all by its lonesome.
The final monster I’d like to add is Mobius the Frost Monarch. Not only does Mobius stay off your own toes when you’d like to activate trap cards, you can have a lot of fun tributing Rescue Cat’s minions. You were going to lose those monsters anyway, after all. You need to ensure that when your big attackers swing, they hit, and Mobius can make that happen.
That’s it for monsters, but I’ve got more than just Rescue Cat up my sleeve. First up is Wild Nature’s Release, a powerful spell card that adds the DEF of a Beast or Beast-Warrior monster to its ATK for a turn. The powered-up monster explodes into a ball of fur and unpleasantness at the end of the turn, but that rarely matters! Play Wild Nature’s Release on a Panda and it gains a whopping 1600 ATK. Enraged Battle Ox and Berserk Gorilla get 1000 ATK apiece too, which is far from shabby. Quite often, a single Panda streaking into an Ojama Trio will end the game, when combined with the added ATK from Release. Opponents don’t tend to see it coming, so I think it’s worth running a copy.
Next, I want to add a pair of Beast Soul Swap. Not only can Beast Soul Swap trade one monster for another, it also allows you to just pull a Beast off the field and drop it back again. Why would you want to do that? There’s actually a huge list of reasons. Here are a few of my favorites.
Sakuretsu Armor: If you attack with a Beast and the opponent uses Sakuretsu Armor, you can save the monster by yanking it off the field. When it comes back into play, Sakuretsu Armor doesn’t “know” that it’s the same monster, and its effect disappears. Just be careful of Widespread Ruin. It doesn’t target a monster, so this trick won’t work on it. Then, that monster can try and attack again.
Trap Hole/Bottomless Trap Hole: Same deal. You summon a Beast, the opponent flips a Hole of some sort, and you snatch the monster back before it can be destroyed. The opponent still gets a one-for-one trade, but you’re not losing a monster.
Anything that targets: In fact, anything that targets a Beast you control can be stymied by Beast Soul Swap. Snatch Steal, Brain Control, and many other effects can be disrupted.
Attacking twice: If you were astute, you might have noticed that in the Sakuretsu Armor paragraph, I mentioned that the Beast dropped to the field by Soul Swap can attack again. Basically, Beast Soul Swap lets any of your Beasts attack twice in a single turn. You lose one card in the process, but if you’re swinging with a Gyaku-Gire Panda into Ojama tokens, you can often win the game with that double attack. Heck, a double direct attack from Berserk Gorilla will do 4000 damage. That alone is too good to ignore. Beast Soul Swap will give Adam just the edge he needs to pull off ridiculous wins when nobody sees them coming.
Beyond those additions, I just want to put in a few slightly less exotic spells and traps. This is an aggressive Beatdown variant, so it’s going to need a little bit more field control in order to stay competitive. While each monster your opponent controls will add to the ATK of Gyaku-Gire Panda, it’s still important to keep the game under control, and you won’t be able to do that without a few more copies of Smashing Ground and Sakuretsu Armor. I’m going to add two more Smashing, and one more Sakuretsu. Smashing Ground are pretty difficult to find in many areas, so feel free to use Fissure if you need a substitute. It isn’t ideal, but the chief goal is to be making those one-for-one trades.
Here are the final changes I made to the deck.
-2 Enraged Muka Muka
-2 Maji-Gire Panda
-1 Gigantes
-1 Jinzo
-1 Injection Fairy Lily
-1 Nobleman of Extermination
-2 Gaia Power
-1 Scapegoat
-2 Michizure
+1 Gyaku-Gire Panda
+2 Giant Rat
+1 Rescue Cat
+1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
+1 Exiled Force
+1 Wild Nature's Release
+2 Smashing Ground
+2 Beast Soul Swap
+1 Sakuretsu Armor
The final version of Adam’s aggressive Beatdown variant is as follows.
Panda Pwnage: Jason’s Fix
40 Cards
Monsters: 19
1 Gigantes
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
2 Bazoo the Soul-Eater
1 Sangan
2 Berserk Gorilla
3 Gyaku-Gire Panda
2 Enraged Battle Ox
1 Cyber Jar
1 Tsukuyomi
3 Giant Rat
1 Rescue Cat
1 Exiled Force
Spells: 11
1 Dark Hole
1 Premature Burial
1 Smashing Ground
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Heavy Storm
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Snatch Steal
1 Wild Nature’s Release
2 Smashing Ground
Traps: 10
1 Call of the Haunted
3 Ojama Trio
1 Dust Tornado
3 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Beast Soul Swap
The deck doesn’t open as strongly as some Warrior decks do nowadays, so you need to be careful with your first-turn plays. If you get a Giant Rat in your opening hand, you’re set, but anything else can result in the quick loss of a monster, and we want to avoid that. Sangan and Cyber Jar are acceptable, but not really ideal. If you go first, you’ll probably always want to set a monster, but try and bluff or make plays to protect it. Sakuretsu Armor is a great way of doing this, but Swords of Revealing Light is actually an acceptable first-turn play—especially if it makes the opponent play defensively, allowing you to drop an Ojama Trio and a Panda or two.
You want to go off with this deck as fast as possible. If you can activate Ojama Trio and press for a quick win in the early game, by all means do so. This deck can be tricky to play because it’s got slightly sub-par stats in most cases. It relies on synergy and tricks for its wins, so while you’ll often be able to dominate the field with Berserk Gorilla, sometimes you’ll find yourself dodging attacks and playing tricky. You need to. You can’t just drop monsters and press advantages like you normally would, because the opponent will easily level the playing field with slightly larger ATK values. Pick your spots, and attack with precision instead of brute force.
That said, you’ll often win the game in topdecking situations with the right combo. While a single Enraged Battle Ox might not do well on its own when everyone’s in “draw and hope” mode, it can easily win the game if you’ve got Beast Soul Swap to throw into the mix. Both Swap and Wild Nature’s Release can be immensely powerful in the late game.
If you hate Spirit Reaper, then this is the deck for you. All the pierce damage and the ability to buff up single monsters with Swap and Release punishes defensive play, and the great part is that most opponents will never see it coming. This strategy can easily contend with those at the top tier right now, and since it’s packed with common and normal rare cards, Beasts can be a great secondary deck for a veteran duelist who wants to run two decks but is on a limited budget.
Try it out for yourself!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
P.S. I owe a big shout-out to my man Jeremy Lozon, a young duelist from Toronto. He’s going through some surgery next week, so I wish him the best. Get well soon, Jeremy!
*And wow, let me tell you, that’s not a lot of pandas. It’s formally estimated that only 1600 Giant Pandas are left in the wild today, with another 160 being kept securely in captivity. That makes it one of the most endangered species in the world, and it’s a tragedy compounded by the fact that, well . . . pandas are really adorable. I mean, I understand that the world has a shortage of whales too, but I don’t think I can hug a whale.**
**Yeah, I’m pretty sure if I just walked up to a panda and tried to hug it, it would maul me. But I can dream, right?