One of the cool things about Marauding Captain is that if you have two Captains on the field, your opponent can’t attack you. Each Captain hops up and down in front of your opponent, saying, “Hit me! Come on!” and the opponent’s monsters just can’t choose. They just sit there, bewildered and incapable of taking offensive action.
While this is a cool trick that’s relatively easy to pull off (thanks to Reinforcement of the Army), a number of effects can disrupt one of the naughty Captains and leave the other vulnerable to a good smashing. Book of Moon can turn a Marauding Captain face down, turning off its effect. Smashing Ground can stomp on one and blow it off the field. Alternatively, Lightning Vortex or Dark Hole can destroy both Captains at once, leaving you with no hope of regaining your lock.
Today’s reader has created a Marauding Captain lock deck, but he’s combined it with another type of lock for some extra insurance. Here’s what he had to say about it.
Earlier this summer I was looking through some commons. I found a particular card, and I also found a good combo card to go with it, but I still could use a lot of help.
This is a Stall/Control style deck focused on two different types of locks, the first being a Marauding Captain lock, and the second being D. D. Borderline and Chaosrider Gustaph. Thanks for taking the time to look at this deck!
—Matt T., Indianapolis, IN
Here’s the decklist that Matt submitted.
Dual Lock
40 Cards
Monsters: 10
2 Chaosrider Gustaph
2 Marauding Captain
2 Cannon Soldier
2 Flying Kamakiri #1
1 Sangan
1 Exiled Force
Spells: 24
2 D.D.Borderline
3 Last Will
2 Reinforcement of the Army
2 The Warrior Returning Alive
2 Magic Reflector
3 Soul Release
2 Reload
2 Creature Swap
2 Pot of Greed
1 Heavy Storm
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Premature Burial
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps: 6
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell
2 Magic Cylinder
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction
This deck is built on a highly original premise, using two rarely-seen lock strategies to keep an opponent off balance. However there are some brief legality issues with the list that we’ll need to fix, and the deck doesn’t do a lot once it goes into stall mode—it has no win condition. We’re going to do everything that we can to make this deck legal for the Advanced format, while simultaneously helping it achieve victory in a grinding fashion!
First, both copies of Pot of Greed need to go. It was limited before the change to the Advanced format, but now it’s been forbidden outright! Magic Cylinder is also limited, but we’re going to remove both copies. The reason for doing this is that once our lock is in place the opponent can’t attack anyway, so Cylinder becomes a dead draw.
I’m also going to remove the three copies of Soul Release. I’ll be making it easier to get to Chaosrider Gustaph, and I don’t think Soul Release will be needed. While it’s good for keeping D. D. Borderline in working form, it doesn’t do much else aside from possibly preventing the summoning of monsters like Chaos Sorcerer and Gigantes. We can’t risk having dead draws like that—they’re poison to a complicated deck like this one. With Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning gone from the environment, this range of monsters doesn’t strike quite as much fear in a duelist’s heart.
Next, I’ll remove both copies of Creature Swap. Other than Flying Kamakiri #1 and Sangan, there’s nothing this deck would want to give an opponent, and the fact that it’s running so few monsters makes Creature Swap a hard choice to justify.
Finally, I’m going to move the one copy of Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell to the side deck, and recommend adding one more on top of it. You’ll likely need these in game two of any match in which you won the first duel, because your opponent may rotate in multiple copies of Giant Trunade. Aside from Giant Trunade and Smashing Ground though, there are very few spells that see play in multiples nowadays. Necrovalley does, but you can side deck as needed if you come up against Gravekeepers. While it might be a viable side deck call against Warriors as well (so that you can block Reinforcement of the Army), the importance of doing so will come down to your personal play style.
The new format will also require us to drop Mirror Force and Ring of Destruction from the deck.
We’ve cleared twelve spots in the decklist. Let’s go ahead and add some cards to bring the Dual Lock strategy up to speed!
First, we need an extra copy each of D. D. Borderline and Chaosrider Gustaph. Why build a deck around a handful of cards and then not maximize your chances of drawing them? Extra copies of each will allow you to bounce back when your opponent destroys one in an attempt to throw you off balance, plus Chaosrider Gustaph can be an incredibly powerful attacker when it’s properly maintained. The new Advanced format also lets us run three copies of Marauding Captain. We’ll add in a third so that we can get to it more reliably.
Speaking of attacking, this deck needs a way to win, and I don’t think Chaosrider Gustaph can do it on its own. I’m going to add in three copies of Stealth Bird. It’s a renewable source of large amounts of damage each turn, and unlike Solar Flare Dragon, Stealth Bird can protect itself from Lightning Vortex and Smashing Ground. One will be enough to lay an opponent low in a few turns, and Chaosriders can take care of any threats an opponent might build to try and take advantage of a break through your lock. Multiple Stealth Birds make an opponent sweat, but be careful to use them only when you can be sure of their safety,
I’ll add one copy of Card Destruction, too. I’ve been giving this card some heavy use lately in combo decks, because it helps you dig for the essential components of your strategy. Activating it costs you a card in the long run (you don’t get to draw for Card Destruction itself, only for the remaining cards in your hand), but it can be worthwhile despite the loss of Sinister Serpent. Card Destruction can help you get to D. D. Borderline, Marauding Captain, and Chaosrider Gustaph in the early game where you struggle to lock down the field. Later on, it can help you get to the Stealth Birds that you need in order to win. It’s a simple card, but it’s highly effective in any combo-dependent deck.
I want to add one Confiscation and two Smashing Ground. Both are absolute staples of the current Advanced format, and few decks should be without either one. Smashing Ground will take out any problematic effect monsters or big threats that can’t be attacked over, while Confiscation will eliminate problems like Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm before they ever get a chance to hit the table. In addition, it gives intelligence about the opponent’s hand and can be invaluable for determining how to approach a given situation.
Finally, I’ll add in two copies of Royal Decree. While Royal Decree can be tricky to find, its reprinting in Dark Beginnings 2 has put it well within the reach of the average duelist. We’re only running one trap thus far (just Call of the Haunted), so the pair of Decrees will fend off Bottomless Trap Hole, Sakuretsu Armor, and Widespread Ruin. It will also stymie Torrential Tribute, which is a huge concern for this deck if it goes into swarm mode. Remember to chain Royal Decree whenever possible. Negating a one-shot trap with its effect will net you a quick piece of card advantage, and that’s not something that’s easily done in the new Advanced format.
Here’s my final list of changes to the deck.
-2 Pot of Greed
-2 Magic Cylinder
-2 Creature Swap
-3 Soul Release
-1 Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell
-1 Mirror Force
-1 Ring of Destruction
+1 D.D.Borderline
+1 Chaosrider Gustaph
+1 Marauding Captain
+3 Stealth Bird
+1 Card Destruction
+1 Confiscation
+2 Smashing Ground
+2 Royal Decree
The fixed deck itself is as follows!
Dual Lock: Jason’s Fix
40 cards
Monsters: 15
3 Chaosrider Gustaph
3 Marauding Captain
2 Cannon Soldier
2 Flying Kamakiri #1
1 Sangan
1 Exiled Force
3 Stealth Bird
Spells: 22
3 D.D.Borderline
3 Last Will
2 Reinforcement of the Army
2 The Warrior Returning Alive
2 Magic Reflector
2 Reload
1 Card Destruction
1 Heavy Storm
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Premature Burial
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Confiscation
2 Smashing Ground
Traps: 3
1 Call of the Haunted
2 Royal Decree
We’ve now maximized the deck’s reliability, and it has plenty of ways to get to its key cards. Card Destruction and Reload let us accelerate toward the three copies of D. D. Borderline. Flying Kamakiri #1 can search for Chaosrider Gustaph, and you can also bring it out with Last Will or Reinforcement of the Army. The same goes for Marauding Captain!
Once you establish your dual lock and your opponent can’t attack, you should aim to keep him or her suppressed with lots of careful attacks from Chaosrider Gustaph. It can become big enough to take down virtually anything in its way (short of Cyber Dragon), so use it to destroy your opponent’s most threatening monsters whenever possible. Most decks react to being locked down by summoning as many monsters as possible. If they finally bring your walls down and attack, they’ll be able to win the game right then and there. Using Chaosrider Gustaph to keep the opponent’s numbers down ensures that even if he or she gets through your pair of locks, he or she won’t be able to steal the duel out from under you.
Like any Lockdown deck, you want to establish control as fast as possible, and the early game is spent doing this. In the mid- and late game you can hopefully take your time burning your opponent into defeat with Stealth Bird. If you don’t have a complete lock in the first few turns, don’t despair—even just one of your two locking strategies can hold off an opponent and buy you time to take control of the game. Never give up with this deck, and don’t underestimate the power of just summoning Marauding Captain and bringing Chaosrider with it in a pinch. Doing so can incur 3200 damage, and not many Lockdown decks can boast such an offensive potential.
There’s no special matchup advice for this one, aside from the fact that you might want to side deck some Des Koala and Solar Flare Dragon for when you’re paired off against more conventional Lockdown Burn decks. In theory, duels against Beatdown and Control based archetypes should go well for you provided your draws are decent, so just stick to your strategy and don’t go off half-cocked. Play carefully and patiently. If you’ve never played a field control deck before, this one may take some getting used to.
If you want something that will make your opponent blink and scratch their head, this is the deck for you. It’s an incredibly different playing experience compared to most strategies, and using it just for fun every now and then can really keep your dueling skills sharp. Since it’s relatively inexpensive to build, it can be a nice retreat from your usual Chaos deck.
Thanks for sending it in, Matt! I hope the suggestions help!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer