Last week, we discussed the Archfiends themselves; this week, we will look into the Archfiend support cards. I will also list some potential uses for the Archfiend support cards in draft and some strategies that you can utilize in your draft deck to take advantage of the Archfiends as a whole.
First, let's take a look at the Archfiend support cards and how they fare in draft.
Pandemonium Watchbear: This monster's purpose is only served if you can draft the Pandemonium field spell card. In Constructed play, this would make sense as a counter to the spell and trap card destruction that is quite common, but in draft the Pandemonium Watchbear's effect will not be important, since Spell Vanishing is the only card in Dark Crisis that could potentially destroy Pandemonium. Pandemonium Watchbear would not protect Pandemonium from being returned to the hand, so Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow gets around the Watchbear's effect.
Falling Down: It's Snatch Steal for the Archfiends. Falling Down can help you to get your opponent's face-up monsters out of the way of your attackers, and you can use the monsters you take as more muscle or fodder for tributes. The big problem you face with this card is the 800 damage it will inflict to your life points during your opponent's standby phases. Unlike the Archfiends, Falling Down will wipe you out if you have 800 or fewer life points. Use great caution when playing this card.
Falling Down can be activated if you have Archfiend's Oath face-up on your side of the field.
Checkmate: Needless to say, without Terrorking Archfiend, this card isn't going to do you much good. If you draft Terrorking Archfiend, then I would definitely recommend using this card in your draft deck along with other Archfiend cards. Your only real concern will be Sakuretsu Armor, which is a targeting effect that your Terrorking could possibly negate anyways. Frozen Soul is another possible surprise, and Staunch Defender would end the direct attack entirely.
Archfiend's Oath: This card doesn't serve much purpose in an Archfiend draft deck other than to give you another way to activate your Falling Down. You could try to use its effect, but in a draft deck, you would need to get lucky for it to work in your favor. It's best if used in combination with another card that would let you know what the top card of your deck is.
Pandemonium: The field card for your Archfiends. If you can draft this spell card, you won't need to worry about paying life points for your Archfiends anymore, and the search effect is also very useful. This card can be a beneficial draft, as it would allow you to play Shadowknight Archfiends without the disadvantage of their high life point payments.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is deck destruction. Each time you search your deck for an Archfiend, you may be helping your opponent get one step closer to decking you out.
Battle-Scarred: When you pay, so will they. The card may seem risky at first, because if Battle-Scarred is destroyed, your Archfiend monster targeted by will also be destroyed, but the shared life point payment is more beneficial than you may think. The added life point loss to your opponent can help you a lot, especially if you're running Shadowknight Archfiends. Because each player starts with only 4000 life points, Battle-Scarred could end matches quickly.
Archfiend's Roar: This is some of the only monster recursion you're likely to use in Dark Crisis draft. The purpose of this card will be to revive a fallen Archfiend and use it for one more attack. At 500 life points per activation, it should be used sparingly.
Dice Re-Roll: Give your Archfiends another chance to stop targeting effects. The Archfiends with bad odds will benefit more from the extra chance, but you may want to save it for your heavy hitters like Shadowknight.
So what can we do with our Archfiends? The beauty of the Archfiends is that they have no specific use. They can be used for a variety of different purposes.
Let's take a look at one strategy: a heavy offense. For this deck, you will want to draft high ATK monsters along with the trap Final Attack Orders. By doing this, you will be able to use Shadowknight Archfiend more effectively.
Cards to Draft
Commons
Shadowknight Archfiend
Gagagigo
Blindly Loyal Goblin
Nin-Ken Dog
Maju Garzett
Gravity Axe - Grarl
Rod of the Mind's Eye
Pandemonium
Falling Down
Final Attack Orders
Battle-Scarred
Sakuretsu Armor
Altar for Tribute
Rares
Infernalqueen Archfiend
Archfiend Soldier
Great Maju Garzett
Terrorking Archfiend
Skill Drain
The purpose of this deck will be offense. You want your opponents' face-up monsters in attack position so that it will be easier for you to overrun their defenses. Final Attack Orders will help you out by locking all face-up monsters into attack position. Any monster flipped by an attack will be shifted to attack position, thus keeping D. D. Trainer and Battle Footballer from being real threats. At only 4000 starting life points, a quick swarm can end the match for you in no time.
Rod of the Mind's Eye will speed up the damage process. You will often find yourself involved in monster versus monster battles. Normally these attacks won't add up to much damage, but with Rod of the Mind's Eye, you will do 1000 battle damage with the attack. This amounts to one quarter of your opponent's starting life points, an effect that should not be underestimated. Shadowknight Archfiend won't benefit from this, though, because a direct attack from a Shadowknight will normally result in 1000 points of battle damage anyways due to its effect, making the Rod of the Mind's Eye a non-issue in direct attacks.
Pandemonium will be used to avoid the life point payments for your Archfiends. Keep in mind that it will also give this benefit to your opponents. Battle-Scarred will be used to add damage during each of your standby phases for doing something you were already doing anyways: paying for your Archfiends. Pandemonium and Battle-Scarred will obviously not work at the same time, but having both in your deck will open up your options.
Gravity Axe - Grarl is a good equip card for anyone to use in draft. It can aid you in locking down your opponent's attack position monsters and prevent them from being changed to defense position once your big guys have come into play. Keep in mind that your opponent may have Really Eternal Rest in his or her draft deck, or might be using Cyber Raider.
Falling Down will be used to remove your opponent's monsters from your path and take control of them. This is not a tactic that you will want to use for long, as the 800 points of damage you will take from Falling Down during your opponent's standby phase is punishing in draft. If you combine Altar for Tribute with Falling Down, you can eliminate this problem and gain life points at the same time.
Sakuretsu Armor may not be entirely necessary for this deck, but it will keep your opponents from using it against you.
Maju Garzett will benefit from the high ATK monsters in the deck. It will also offer a way to tribute Shadowknight Archfiends if they're becoming too much of a drain on your life points. Great Maju Garzett, if drafted, will also work very well for this purpose.
Next up is the Checkmate strategy. This plan involves having Terrorking Archfiend, so if you don't see one, I wouldn't try this plan. The idea is to use Terrorking and the spell card Checkmate. Your other Archfiends will be there to support this plan.