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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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 Lately, One-Turn KO (OTKO) decks using Magical Scientist have gained tremendous popularity. At U.S. Nationals, they were basically the only deck-type that could outpace the otherwise dominant Chaos decks. Though Scientist decks were, at one point, a sort of hit-or-miss proposition, that time is now long gone.
It’s important to note, however, that that time has passed because Scientist decks have evolved. Dave sent in a Scientist deck that he calls an OTKO deck, but is actually more of an “I’ll win with Scientist eventually deck.” Here’s what Dave had to say:
Dear Jason,
First and foremost, I want to say that metagame.com is a great site and very informative. I am sending in my Scientist OTKO deck that I was recently able to complete. I have run several different decks in the past, and this one is one of the two most strategic that I have ever played. Any help would be welcomed.
Thanks,
Dave
Here’s the decklist that Dave submitted:
Dave’s Scientist OTKO
40 cards
Monsters: 13
3 Catapult Turtle
2 Cannon Soldier
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Sangan
2 Mystic Tomato
2 Mother Grizzly
1 Magical Scientist
1 Fiber Jar
Spells: 22
3 Last Will
3 Reasoning
2 Scapegoat
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Dark Hole
1 Raigeki
1 Monster Reborn
1 Change of Heart
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Premature Burial
2 Poison of the Old Man
1 Painful Choice
1 Card Destruction
2 Reload
Traps: 5
2 Waboku
1 Imperial Order
1 Mirror Force
1 Call of the Haunted
In short, it’s a good Scientist deck, but it’s far from an OTKO deck. The deck runs a lot of cards that get in the way of winning on turn 1, so we need to remedy that by cutting them. In fact, most of the drops we’ll be making are strictly to turn this into a true OTKO deck that can win on turn 1.
 First up are Mystic Tomato and Mother Grizzly. Though they can be quite helpful in a regular Scientist deck by making the opponent thing twice about attacking, they’re useless on turn 1. We’re not trying to maintain board presence or win a few turns down the road. Also, because they’re level 4 monsters, they’re really going to get in the way of Reasoning (most players will select level 4 when playing Reasoning, so we need to make sure the deck has as few level 4 monsters as possible).
Fiber Jar has to be removed for similar reasons. You play Fiber Jar in attempt to get a single free attack, to disrupt your opponent’s set up, or to cover for an overextension. Since this deck doesn’t aim to do any of those things, we need to remove Fiber Jar.
Some of the spells have to go, as well. Raigeki and Change of Heart are highly useful cards, but they don’t help you much if you’re not attacking. Every card in this deck counts, so we need to remove these two, despite the fact that Change of Heart can give us tribute fodder. Remember that if you’re going first and aiming to pull off the One Turn Knock Out, Change of Heart is nothing but a dead card.
Scapegoat has to go. We want to perform multiple special summons on each turn, but Scapegoat prevents that from occurring. Again, this would be a prime card to couple with Cannon Soldier or to gain some defense from in a normal Scientist deck, but that’s not the kind of deck we’re trying to make here.
Poison of the Old Man deals damage on any turn, which is good, but it doesn’t really contribute to the combo at all, so I’m going to suggest moving it to the side deck. It can be sided in against any deck that uses direct damage (and thus could put you at a disadvantage on turn 1 and strip you of your win).
Lastly, we’re going to remove all five traps. None of them contribute to the one-turn kill, so they don’t really fit the theme. I might consider side decking Imperial Order, if only to tech out other OTKO decks, but that’s about it.
 Now we can address the additions. The first thing we need to add are three Gilasaurus. They’re level 3, so they won’t get dropped on a Reasoning when your opponent calls level 4. They’re in the deck to provide tribute fodder for the summoning of Catapult Turtle, as well as to give Cannon Soldier something to tribute in order to trigger Last Will. They make perfect Monster Gate fodder, and in a pinch, they’re fast damage from Catapult Turtle or Cannon Soldier. Three Gilasaurus are a must in any Scientist deck, whether you’re going for the first turn kill or not.
One Serpentine Princess also makes the cut—combined with Monster Recovery, you not only get a new hand, you can also use her effect to special summon Magical Scientist. It’s a great combo, but we’re keeping her to a one-of because she’s a level 4 monster and we have that Reasoning issue to worry about.
To help abuse Reasoning and to get some spell recursion going, I’m going to add a single Dark Magician of Chaos. We don’t want to see him in opening hands, but if he comes out with Reasoning or Monster Gate, we’ll probably be very happy.
The deck needs a slew of spells, and we’ll stick to the standard tricks for a Scientist OTKO deck when choosing which ones. Some of the additions are already represented in the current decklist, but we just need a couple more—Reload and Mystical Space Typhoon. Reload is important because it gets you to your Reasonings, Monster Gates, and other key cards. Mystical Space Typhoon is important because of the number of traps that can hurt this deck if you don’t go first: Torrential Tribute, Imperial Order, and several other traps can really throw a wrench into your carefully laid plans, so multiple Mystical Space Typhoons are necessary.
Up next, the new stuff. Monster Recovery is basically a Reload that’s either undercosted or powerfully combined with Serpentine Princess. Again, it helps you get to your Reasonings and Monster Gates, so it has to be included. I’m adding a pair.
Dragged Down Into the Grave makes your 40-card deck, in effect, a 37-card deck. It thins the deck while providing you with an extra draw, and since we need to keep the deck as tight as humanly possible, we’ll add three of them here.
Three Monster Gates are also a must in this deck. It combos beautifully with Gilasaurus and acts as a lynchpin card, allowing you to exchange the monsters you don’t immediately need for those that you do. It’s a staple of OTKO strategies and, in many situations, can be a game-winning card.
Lastly, I’m going to add in two A Legendary Ocean. With A Legendary Ocean in play, Catapult Turtle gets treated as a level 4, which means it can be normal summoned from the hand without a tribute. It’s not a common trick to see, but it’s really worth playing.
So, the changes are as follows:
-2 Mystic Tomato
-2 Mother Grizzly
-1 Fiber Jar
-1 Raigeki
-2 Scapegoat
-2 Poison of the Old Man
-1 Change of Heart
-1 Imperial Order
-1 Mirror Force
-1 Call of the Haunted
-2 Waboku
+3 Gilasaurus
+1 Serpentine Princess
+1 Dark Magician of Chaos
+1 Reload
+1 Mystical Space Typhoon
+3 Dragged Down Into The Grave
+2 A Legendary Ocean
+2 Monster Recovery
+3 Monster Gate
And the decklist looks like this:
Dave's Scientist OTKO—Jason's Fix
40 cards
Monsters: 12
1 Dark Magician of Chaos
3 Catapult Turtle
2 Cannon Soldier
3 Gilasaurus
1 Sangan
1 Magical Scientist
1 Serpentine Princess
Spells: 28
3 Last Will
3 Reasoning
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Premature Burial
1 Painful Choice
1 Card Destruction
3 Reload
2 Monster Recovery
3 Dragged Down Into The Grave
3 Monster Gate
2 A Legendary Ocean
A third Mystical Space Typhoon is definitely good side deck material, but other than that, there isn’t much else the deck needs—it plays the same no matter what it’s going up against. A few Barrel Behind the Door and Poison of the Old Man should probably go in, just in case you hit a direct damage deck, but feel free to forego the usual Torrential Tributes and other forms of Chaos tech that most side decks run.
The deck plays in very complicated ways, but operates on some simple concepts; your objective is to get Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle into play on turn 1. There are many ways you can do that. You could do the classic combo, playing two Last Wills and then sacrificing Cannon Soldier to itself. Or, you could do one Last Will and use a Cannon Soldier and a Gilasaurus. You can Reasoning to get your monsters into play, you can use Gilasaurus and Monster Gate, you can use Serpentine Princess and Monster Recovery, or you can play A Legendary Ocean and keep Reloading and Recovering until you hit the Catapult Turtle (which you can now normal summon without tributing). The deck has a lot of options, and it’s that range of options that makes it strong.
Dave’s deck is now a full-fledged OTKO Scientist deck. It will win on turn 1 between 75 percent and 90 percent of the time (depending on his draws and decisions when he plays it), and that truly makes it a deck to be reckoned with. Thanks for sending it in, Dave!
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
Have a deck to submit? Want to say hi? Get in touch with me via email at Jason@metagame.com. |
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