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Doomkaiser Dragon
Card# CSOC-EN043
Doomkaiser Dragon's effect isn't just for Zombie World duelists: remember that its effect can swipe copies of Plaguespreader Zombie, too!
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Hi all! Jason here, with the first of many deck "fix" articles that I'll be writing over the coming months. Today, we're going to take a look at a submission from Phil, a more advanced player looking to broaden his horizons. He's trading in his usual Beatdown deck, at least for a few games, for a deck based around Magical Scientist--one of the top picks from Magician's Force. This is a great example of a deck that carries both of the key themes of a Scientist deck but could still benefit from a bit of advice. New decks are always difficult to play and build, and Scientist decks are no exception. Luckily, Phil has played upon both foci of the archetype; before we get started, let's review what those are.
 First, the deck focuses on what Magical Scientist is famous for: the big one-turn combo kill. If you're not familiar with that idea, the basic concept is to use the Scientist to special summon several 2100 ATK Fusion monsters and then launch them at the opponent for 1050 damage each with Catapult Turtle. Each monster that's special summoned with the Scientist costs 1000 life points. When executed seven times at the beginning of the game, this combo places the Scientist player at 1000 life points and leaves the opponent with 650. The combo is ideally sparked by the opening play of two Last Wills, followed by a Cannon Soldier that tributes itself to deal 500 damage. This triggers the two Last Wills, allowing for the special summoning of a Magical Scientist and a Catapult Turtle to the field. If this is followed up by the aforementioned bombardment of seven 2100 ATK Fusion monsters, then the opponent is left with just 150 life points. The Scientist can then be tributed to the Turtle to deliver the coup de grace, ending the game with a final 150 damage. If you go first and pull two Last Wills and a Cannon Soldier, it's game over if you go through this sequence. However, the combo of Scientist and Catapult Turtle can often end the game at points beyond the first turn. On the second turn and beyond, the goal is to be just ahead of the opponent on life points so that the combo can be used to clinch a win. Phil obviously prioritizes this highly (as he should), and is running three each of Magical Scientist, Cannon Soldier, Catapult Turtle, and Last Will to maximize the chance of drawing the combo on the first turn. He's even running a couple copies of Reasoning to help get Scientists or, preferably, Turtles onto the field as quickly as possible.
The second goal of the Scientist deck is to abuse the little bald-headed fellow's ability to function as a proverbial Swiss Army Knife. There are lots of great Fusion monsters with desirable effects that the Scientist can place at a player's disposal for a single turn, for the low cost of just 1000 life points. Phil understands this as well, and has opted to run Dark Balter the Terrible for its ability to negate normal spell cards, and Thousand Eyes Restrict for its role as a piece of monster removal--absorbing one monster and destroying it by leaving the field at the end of the turn, and possibly attacking a second monster before doing so. These are both textbook examples of the Scientist's effect being used to bring versatility to the deck, and that's a theme we're going to expand upon.
So, let's take a look at Phil's build:
Magical Scientist--Phil's Submission
39 Cards
Monsters
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
3 Cannon Soldier
3 Catapult Turtle
1 Cyber Jar
1 Fiber Jar
3 Magical Scientist
1 Sangan
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Witch of the Black Forest
Spells
1 Dark Hole
1 Giant Trunade
1 Graceful Charity
1 Harpie's Feather Duster
1 Heavy Storm
3 Last Will
1 Monster Reborn
1 Monster Recovery
1 Poison of the Old Man
1 Pot of Greed
1 Premature Burial
1 Raigeki
2 Reasoning
1 Scapegoat
Traps
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Imperial Order
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Mirror Force
1 Negate Attack
1 Waboku
Fusion Deck
3 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Punished Eagle
3 Roaring Ocean Snake
3 Super Roboyarou
3 Thousand Eyes Restrict
There we have it. Like I mentioned above, the deck succeeds in using both major functions of Magical Scientist: achieving the combo kill and exploiting the versatility of available Fusion monsters. However, we can take this deck to the limit by expanding on these priorities. We're going to make changes to the deck to add more options, refine focus, and make it play a little bit faster. The deck is currently 39 cards--we'll have to fix that as well, but it's not a big issue and is quite easy to correct. Since the deck is so focused on specific card combinations, we're going to try to keep it as small as possible (but we'll aim for 40).
 That aside, our first changes will focus on the Fusion Deck. We'll divide this into three sections: combo contributors (those 2100 ATK monsters), monsters with desirable effects, and extras. So far, we've got Punished Eagle and Roaring Ocean Snake for combo contributors. Let's add three copies of Empress Judge to help forward this goal in case of Prohibition or another effect that might harm the deck if it only has six 2100 ATK monsters. These won't be problematic to acquire since Empress Judge is a low rarity. For desirable effects, the deck is also best off packing at least one Fiend Skull Dragon and at least one Ryu Senshi. The Dragon can negate flip effects, and Ryu Senshi can negate trap cards. Both of these are really useful at the right time. These are super rare cards, but since they're not top cuts from their set (Legacy of Darkness) they shouldn't be too hard to get singles of. If you can get three, that's great, but even one of each will help. We're also going to add a Reaper on the Nightmare or three. You'll see why this card is desirable in a Scientist deck once we look at adding new spell cards. We can leave Super Roboyarou in the extra category. It doesn't do much in the deck, but hey, if it makes you happy, the Fusion deck can be as large as you want with no effect on gameplay whatsoever. If there was ever a place for a deck mascot, that would certainly be it!
Moving along, let's look at the monster balance in the main deck. The monsters that make the combo work are the basis of the deck, so three copies of each are a must. Witch and Sangan are essential for their search effects, and Sinister Serpent makes a good blocker as well as gives hand advantage and a free tribute for Cannon Soldier if the opportunity presents itself. Breaker the Magical Warrior is just too good to not include. It can act as a wall against Control decks and as insurance against face down Torrential Tributes and Ring of Destructions. Tribe-Infecting Virus is an excellent card to balance the field with when needed, and Cyber Jar can function as both massive card drawing to work towards your combo and wholesale wiping of the field when things get ugly. We're going to cut Fiber Jar. Though it's nice to have a reset button when things go wrong, we really need to dedicate all the cards in the deck to furthering its offensive ability and speed. Fiber Jar might come in handy every now and then, but it can be outplayed by a skilled opponent and doesn't enhance the focus of the two themes we're working with.
We're going to add a Jinzo, again to protect Magical Scientist, Catapult Turtle, and the Fusions from a variety of nasty trap cards that can break the combo between activation and resolution or stop it from even beginning--Torrential Tribute, Ring of Destruction, Ceasefire, and Last Turn are the major concerns here. Then, we'll add three copies of Nimble Momonga, which will give field presence, defense, and extra life points to make the combo kill possible once the Scientist and the Turtle hit the field. We're also going to add three Mystic Tomatos. Like the Momongas, these preserve field presence and prolong defense, but they also give you access to Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, and Magical Scientist with their effect. Momonga and Tomato also thin the deck, yanking cards out of it at a faster rate than just a single draw per turn. This is essential for any deck that needs to draw the pieces of a combo to win. Jinzo can be a bit tricky to trade for, but Tomato and Momonga should be pretty easy to get since they're only rares.
Next up, the traps could use a little reworking. Though Waboku and Magic Cylinder are great defensive cards, they fall into the same category as Fiber Jar--good, but not focused enough on the goals of the deck. Negate Attack isn't as good as Waboku in most cases. Though Negate Attack actually ends the battle phase, protecting facedown monsters from being flipped and protecting them from Sasuke Samurai, it requires a trigger, which means that it can't be chained to spell/trap removal like Mystical Space Typhoon and Harpie's Feather Duster. So Waboku, Cylinders, and Negate Attack are out, leaving Imperial Order and Mirror Force. Imperial Order will stay as protection from any number of threats, and Mirror Force will stay in hopes that it can both provide protection and create an opening for offensive action. We're going to add Ceasefire, an ultra rare from Pharaoh's Servant. With all the Effect monsters in the Constructed environment right now, along with the number that are in this deck, Ceasefire can deal some serious damage when played ambitiously. This damage can be used to create the gap needed to end the game with the combo kill or to clinch a win on its own. Call of the Haunted stays in because it's going to function defensively to create a surprise blocker, and it can help thin the deck or search for necessary cards by summoning Tomato, Witch, or Sangan.
The spell cards need to be thinned now that we've added seven monster cards and only removed two total. Giant Trunade will be yanked since the deck doesn't really need a lot of spell/trap removal--it's a rarity, but it's true. Some decks just don't need a great deal of offence in the spell/trap field. Scapegoat, despite being an excellent card, can clutter the field as well as provide easy targets for Spear Dragon or Airknight Parshath. For this deck, an unexpected 1900 damage can really ruin the player's chance at winning, so Scapegoat must be dropped. Premature Burial costs life points, and the deck already has Call of the Haunted anyways, so it also gets axed. Lastly, Poison of the Old Man is removed because it does what the deck is doing anyways (creating a difference between the life point totals of both players by direct increase and decrease), and Monster Recovery is sent packing because it's rare that a monster is particularly desirable to remove from the field in this type of deck.
In return for all the cutting, we're going to add in two Creature Swaps. These work wonderfully, giving the opponent a Tomato, Witch, Sangan, or Sinister Serpent. You get the effects of these monsters when they're destroyed in battle, and if you give them to your opponent in attack position, it means that you might be able to get some damage in by attacking them. This card is also superb with Reaper on the Nightmare. Give your opponent a Reaper in attack position, and now all of your 2100 ATK Fusion monsters can attack it, dealing a good amount of damage through to the opponent. This is often an excellent play, since you can attack with each Fusion monster and then launch them all at your opponent with Catapult Turtle in main phase 2--very nice.
The final fix looks like this:
Magical Scientist--Revamped Version
40 cards total
Monsters
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
3 Cannon Soldier
3 Catapult Turtle
1 Cyber Jar
1 Jinzo
3 Magical Scientist
3 Mystic Tomato
3 Nimble Momonga
1 Sangan
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Witch of the Black Forest
Spells
2 Creature Swap
1 Dark Hole
1 Graceful Charity
1 Harpie's Feather Duster
1 Heavy Storm
3 Last Will
1 Monster Reborn
1 Pot of Greed
1 Raigeki
2 Reasoning
Traps
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ceasefire
1 Imperial Order
1 Mirror Force
Fusion Deck
3 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Empress Judge
3 Fiend Skull Dragon
3 Punished Eagle
3 Reaper on the Nightmare
3 Roaring Ocean Snake
3 Ryu Senshi
3 Super Roboyarou
3 Thousand Eyes Restrict
Looks good! PROOF ENUF, this shit is a war.We've managed to expand our options in the Fusion deck, make the deck faster and more reliable, and increase the focus on our main objectives, all while keeping the deck at an easy-to-manage 40 cards. This deck should play well, getting the combo kill off as soon as possible and achieving a high level of resiliency in the meantime.
Thanks for sending it in, Phil--I hope the fix helps.
Thanks for reading! (
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