Just weeks ago, I was extolling the virtues of , discussing how it would breathe new sparks of life into the Batteryman deck strategy. Granted, I didn’t think anyone would actually go and build a Batteryman deck, but as always, I underestimated the resourcefulness, creativity, and skill of my readers!
I received not one, but three Batteryman decks in the days that followed, all of which were pretty good. In the end, I chose one sent by David C., from Florida, to showcase and tweak. If you’ve cracked open a few Voltech Dragons, you’re definitely going to want to keep reading!
Hey Jason,
I’m a big fan of your articles and have always tested out many of your fixes in decks, and gotten ideas from you. After reading your preview article on Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon and the Batterymen, I scurried off to my trunk of cards—sifting through my old extras—and found some of the cards the deck needs.
I tested and tested using proxies of Batteryman D and the Voltech Dragon in my Batteryman Deck till I could get them at the Sneak Preview. It still needs lots of work and I’ve been stuck on some issues with this deck, like dead draws in the late game, and Batteryman C getting destroyed too early to power up my Machines. So I thought of your articles and gave it a whirl.
I have only one request, and that's to build the deck without Cyber Dragon. They are so hard to get a hold of now, and I'm still trying to get one from a friend.
Thanks in advance,
David C., Brandon, FL
Here’s the decklist David sent me!
Homicidal Batteries
40 Cards
Monsters: 18
2 Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon
3 Batteryman AA
2 Batteryman C
2 Batteryman D
3 Steamroid
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Marauding Captain
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Magician of Faith
1 Sangan
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
Spells: 15
3 Smashing Ground
2 Battery Charger
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Inferno Reckless Summon
1 Graceful Charity
1 Snatch Steal
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Premature Burial
1 Book of Moon
1 Heavy Storm
Traps: 7
3 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
David is capitalizing on the two primary strengths offered by a Batteryman deck: a deadly one-turn KO, and late-game dominance powered by Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon. The basic idea is to lean on the opponent in the early game with multiple copies of Batteryman AA. If you can get out all three at once, they can attack for a total of 9000 damage. With Marauding Captain and Battery Charger special summoning copies of AA to the field, you can activate Inferno Reckless Summon and bring out all three copies in a single turn. Even if you lose a Batteryman or two to the graveyard, Battery Charger and Inferno Reckless Summon can special summon them back. That means that even if you press for the OTK and hit something like Mirror Force, you’re not down and out.
Of course, your supply of in-hand cards peters out as the duel progresses, and eventually you won’t be able to keep multiple copies of Batteryman AA or C on the field. That’s where Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon really becomes useful, allowing you to trade one of your Batteryman monsters for a souped-up beatstick. Again, your special summoning cards are going to make it easier than normal to keep tribute fodder on the field.
It’s a pretty good build, despite the problems that David has experienced with it. Overall, I think his late game challenges with poor topdecks and a lack of precision with his copies of Batteryman C can be solved with a simple tightening of the deck’s focus.
First, Batteryman D needs to go. While it’s a boon to open in Sealed Pack play, it’s trumped by Cyber Dragon and Smashing Ground in Constructed. This deck packs plenty of non-Thunder monsters too, so the restriction of attack targets offered by Batteryman D isn’t particularly useful. On top of that, while the effect Batteryman D grants Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon is quite good, I don’t think it’s as useful as a 1000 ATK bonus or the ability to pierce through defense position monsters. We need to make some room in the monster lineup, and Batteryman D is the weakest link in the chain. Both copies will be removed.
I’ll remove one Steamroid as well. While removing Machine monsters from the deck could limit the utility of Batteryman C, I’ll be filling this slot with another Machine monster anyway. I really like the idea of Batteryman C making Steamroid a 2800 ATK attacker while keeping it at 1800 ATK on defense, but I don’t think that’s worth three card slots. Two copies of Steamroid should be enough.
From there I’ll just remove two more cards: one Smashing Ground and one Sakuretsu Armor. I’ll be making some changes to help this deck maintain field presence, so all the monster destruction won’t be quite so necessary.
The first addition I want to make is a pair of Shining Angel cards. These will give David the precision that he said the deck was lacking, letting him dig out extra copies of Batteryman AA or Batteryman C when needed. In addition, the Angels are going to keep monsters on the field when the deck comes under heavy fire, compensating for the lost Sakuretsu Armor. You’ll be able to search out D. D. Warrior Lady to remove big blockers when you go to win the game, and you’ll also be able to think the deck slightly to get to your key combos. Shining Angel is a must for any Batteryman deck.
Next, I’ll add two copies of the hottest new Machine card on the block. Cyber Phoenix will benefit from Batteryman C’s ATK boost, reaching a respectable 1700 ATK while protecting your Steamroids from targeted effects. In addition, the Phoenix’s draw effect will keep your in-hand count up and your options open, allowing you to over-extend slightly with Marauding Captain without risking the loss of card presence in the long run. Deck thinning and protected over-extension are big assets to this deck, and Cyber Phoenix brings both to the table.
Finally, I want to add one more copy of each of the deck’s key cards. A third Battery Charger and a third Voltech Dragon will keep it focused and accurate, letting it reliably outperform other decks in the late game. The great thing is that these cards are not dead draws in the early game. As long as you’ve got a single Batteryman AA, you’ll have a use for Battery Charger, and the addition of Shining Angel to the deck will allow us to quickly get to multiple copies. That means the deck can be even more aggressive, and a third Battery Charger will support that trend. In turn, the extra Charger and the pair of Shining Angel cards will make it even easier to use Voltech Dragon, justifying the addition of a third copy to the deck.
All in all, it’s not a drastic set of changes: I removed five cards and added six. The change is going to be dramatic, though, as the deck will play faster and harder than it ever has before. Here’s the recap.
–2 Batteryman D
–1 Steamroid
–1 Sakuretsu Armor
–1 Smashing Ground
+1 Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon
+2 Shining Angel
+2 Cyber Phoenix
+1 Battery Charger
The revamped version of the deck is as follows:
Homicidal Batteries: Jason’s Fix
41 Cards
Monsters: 20
3 Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon
3 Batteryman AA
2 Batteryman C
2 Steamroid
2 Cyber Phoenix
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Marauding Captain
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Magician of Faith
1 Sangan
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
2 Shining Angel
Spells: 15
2 Smashing Ground
3 Battery Charger
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Inferno Reckless Summon
1 Graceful Charity
1 Snatch Steal
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Premature Burial
1 Book of Moon
1 Heavy Storm
Traps: 6
2 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
Nothing’s really changed about what the deck aims to do—I’ve just refined David’s build to do the same things a bit better. Shining Angel makes the deck faster at getting out Batteryman AA, while Cyber Phoenix and Battery Charger keep monsters on the field. That means you can afford to be more aggressive, and in doing so, you’ll create one of two situations.
If you are constantly attacking and the opponent draws into a fair amount of monster removal, he or she will have to use it to fend you off. While that might stymie your attempts to deal damage, it will also leave the opponent with little recourse in the mid- and late game. Of course, that happens to be when your big guns, the Voltech Dragons, usually start hitting the field.
The second scenario your aggression creates is an early game one-turn KO. If you have a shot at offing the opponent with three Batteryman AA cards, take it, even if you run the risk of rushing headlong into Sakuretsu Armor. If your attempt to press for an early victory is stymied, this deck can often try again on successive turns.
If you have a choice of effects for Voltech, be sure to choose very carefully. Though a 3400 ATK beatstick is going to dominate the field, piercing damage can turn the opponent’s Spirit Reaper into an instantaneous victory for you in a matter of moments. It’s a good idea to search the opponent’s graveyard and judge what the rest of his or her remaining monsters probably look like. Two Reapers and a few flip effect monsters in the graveyard? Go for the big ATK. But if it looks like the opponent might be setting a lot of cards, go for the piercing damage. If you’re playing a full match, pay special attention to what pops up on your opponent’s side of the field. Memorize his or her monsters in early games, and you can apply that knowledge by analyzing the graveyard in later duels.
When it comes to matchups, this deck will generally perform like the average Beatdown. Your only special concern is Chaos Sorcerer: losing Batteryman AA to the out of play area is really rough on your early game. Remember that Book of Moon will block Chaos Sorcerer’s effect, so if you’re in a Chaos Control or Chaos Return matchup, consider holding onto Book of Moon until you absolutely need it. You might even want to side deck Interdimensional Matter Transporter and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer to make sure that the Sorcerer can’t remove your important monsters.
The Batteryman monsters are unique in a lot of ways, including their distribution. No other deck theme has been released in tiny pieces across three different sets. It’s literally taken a year for this deck to come together, but now that all the pieces are in place, it’s surprisingly competitive! Don’t believe me? Try this deck for yourself, and get ready for a massive shock!
No pun intended.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer