It’s clever, right? It’s a Gadget deck, that also plays a Giant Rat toolbox! Ratty! The lack of food is getting to me! The Gadget/Ratbox deck is an idea that’s been tossed around quite a bit on forums and in playtest groups since before the release of SD10, but it’s one that as of yet hasn’t quite been done right. Today, Paul Levitin has thrown his lot in with the un-Limitation of Lily and the incredible amount of excellent cards available in the Earth attribute. Check out the deck he’s using this weekend:
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Card Trooper is amazing. Paul runs a full compliment of the Robby-esque robot instead of a third set of Gadget monsters. Why? It’s because Card Trooper is essentially an adjustable Gadget that does the self-replacing when it leaves the field as opposed to win it arrives. Its maximum ATK is also greater than that of any of the Gadgets, and when it does replace itself upon its destruction, it does so with a draw rather than a guarantee of another Gadget. This is actually quite helpful when you think about it, because a Gadget really isn’t going to help you when what you really need is a spell or trap or Lily.
Speaking of Lily, Paul definitely has the right idea running only 2 rather than a full 3. Three copies of Injection Fairy Lily is just too much strain on a player’s life points unless he or she plays a lot of life point replenishing cards. Nimble Momonga would certainly be a thematically correct choice for this sort of deck, but you also have to take into consideration the fact that this is an aggressive deck at heart. The flying squirrels just don’t fit into the aggressive strategy this deck attempts to employ. Like all Gadget decks, Paul has plenty of removal packed in. Out of the 9 traps in his deck, 8 of them destroy monsters and the 9th can effectively destroy a monster as well if it brings back Exiled Force. Exiled Force, by the way, is run in threes here, taking full advantage of the recent changes to the Limited list. Normally I’d argue against running three of Exiled Force, but I think that this is a case of, “If the card fits, play it.” Paul just checked back in with me and is 4-0 at this point with his Ratty Gadget deck. Things are looking good for a Top 16 appearance for the deck, and, if it happens, you’d better keep an exterminator on call. Your local tournaments might just end up infested with Giant Rats . . .