A revolution has begun, and the battleground is Invasion of Chaos! The downtrodden Reptiles and Dinosaurs have banded together, while the Beasts, Winged-Beasts, and Beast-Warriors have found their leaders with the arrival of Enraged Battle Ox and Manticore of Darkness. Wild nature has been unleashed in Invasion of Chaos Limited play, and the time has come for players to choose their sides.

Each monster type has its own respective plans and strategies. Due to the randomness of booster pack contents in Draft, it might not be possible to completely focus in on one specific plan, but familiarity with the various plans is key for identifying what you have at your disposal.

Let’s begin with the Reptiles and Dinosaurs. Reptiles and Dinosaurs are two monster types that have not seen much development in the course of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but Invasion of Chaos came along and changed all that. Now the Reptiles and Dinosaurs have made a comeback. The Dinosaurs in Invasion of Chaos are mostly about power: high ATK monsters for dishing out damage with effects to match. The Reptiles are more about finesse, using effects to manipulate the field. The two come together with the spell card Ultra Evolution Pill, which allows a Reptile to essentially evolve into a Dinosaur.

The main problem faced by the Dinosaurs is their rarities. Dark Driceratops is a rare, while Black Tyranno is an ultra rare. This leaves the connecting Ultra Evolution Pill, which is also a rare, mostly meaningless in Draft. Unless you bring the rares together in an initial draft, do not concentrate on the Reptiles and Dinosaurs joining forces completely.


Dinosaurs

Hyper Hammerhead is the baby of the bunch, ATK-wise, but its effect is not. Hyper Hammer’s goal is to knock opposing monsters out of the way and allow your monsters a clear shot at the opponent.

Dark Driceratops is the defense crusher. It is strong enough to take out most defending monsters in the set and adds in the ATK > DEF effect for some overflow damage.

Black Tyranno is the powerhouse of the Dinosaurs. If the only cards your opponent controls are defense position monsters, your Black Tyranno may attack directly. This can be combined with Stumble and Zero Gravity to put the opponent’s monsters into defense position, allowing more opportunity for direct attacks. At 4000 starting life points, direct attacks are decidedly more lethal.


Reptiles

Giga Gagagigo is the powerhouse of the Reptiles. A single tribute for a powerful attacker won’t be a bad thing to have in a Draft deck.

Granadora is commonly associated with the character Marik from the anime and manga series. Granadora is a level 4, 1900 ATK beater, but comes with a decidedly risky feedback of 2000 damage when it is destroyed. This is a monster best used as the offering for a tribute, making sure that the damage never occurs.

Gale Lizard is used somewhat like the old Hane-Hane from back in the days of Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon. You select an opponent’s monster and return it to his or her hand if Gale Lizard is flipped. This can help remove a monster that has become a pest and works well to remove special summoned monsters, forcing them to be special summoned again.

Balloon Lizard is the ticking time bomb from my previous Burn article. Given enough time, Balloon Lizard can end a duel in a sudden spark of damage. Just don’t use this one with Ultra Evolution Pill, or you won't get Balloon Lizard’s effect.

Don Turtle is the weenie swarmer. If you draft a few of them, it can be possible to get two or three out in one turn and have some tribute fodder for your next turn.

As stated previously, unless you draft one of the rare Dinosaurs, Dark Driceratops, or Black Tyranno, Ultra Evolution Pill will have no real worth in your deck. The Reptiles have a better chance of uniting on their own, so you may want to side with them as an extension of your draft deck. I recommend selecting Black Tyranno or Dark Driceratops if they appear in your packs.


The Beasts, Beast-Warriors, and Winged-Beasts (here after referred to as the three Beasts) combine a variety of effects for various situations. Some are bred for power, some for support, and others for disruption. They are united by Enraged Battle Ox, a rare card that gives them the ability to have ATK>DEF overflow damage. The ultra rare Manticore of Darkness can be used as a revivable attacker—a monster that can be destroyed but then revived at the cost of another Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged-Beast type monster.

The three Beasts of Invasion of Chaos work best as an extension of Beatdown. Monsters like Berserk Gorilla and Mad Dog of Darkness have no other plan in mind. The super rare Wild Nature’s Release, limited to just the Beast and Beast-Warrior type monsters, is a good way of dealing your opponent one deciding stroke.


Beasts

Big Koala is the two-tribute powerhouse of the Beasts. Certainly large and somewhat non-menacing looking in its Eucalyptus-eating Zen state, the Big Koala is a common and readily available way to take out monsters via its strong ATK. Pair this guy up with Enraged Battle Ox, and the opponent is in for some punishment.

Soul Tiger functions purely as a defender. It offers no ATK with which to do anything else, but it can suddenly be changed into a fearsome attacker by way of Wild Nature’s Release.

Ojama Yellow and Ojama Black . . . well . . . they're for other purposes. Mainly, they are the Light monsters that will be removed for Chaos Sorcerer, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End.

Mad Dog of Darkness is the new 1900 ATK, level 4 kid on the block. Fido comes packing a mean bite, and it can get even meaner with Wild Nature’s Release or Enraged Battle Ox at its side.

Des Kangaroo is a supporter. Its 1700 DEF won’t help its effect much, but if combined with Yellow Luster Shield, you can get around this. Just don’t expect the opponent to attack it again afterwards.

Berserk Gorilla is the raging Beast of the offense. This one doesn’t take kindly to being in defense position, even going so far as to destroy itself when that occurs. Your Gorilla wants to attack, so it might be best to support that plan. The Gorilla is a 2000 ATK, level 4 monster.

Fenrir is best left to Water-based decks. Without enough Water-monsters to support its special summon, you cannot expect much from this card. It also has a weak ATK, leaving it vulnerable to a revenge attack from the opponent.


Beast-Warrior

Manticore of Darkness is the single-tribute master of the Beast-Warriors in Invasion of Chaos. It has a nasty use in Constructed play for getting Exodia into a player’s hand, but in Limited, its utility comes down to its revival ability as a means of keeping a strong monster in play. The only real fear this card has is removal effects like Chaos Sorcerer and the Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, since they will remove the Manticore of Darkness from play and prevent it from returning.

Enraged Battle Ox is a first pick card for your draft and will help determine your future monster selections. The only downside to Enraged Battle Ox is its ATK. At 1700, you may not be able to keep it from being destroyed on a following turn by an opponent’s higher ATK monster, of which there are plenty in Invasion of Chaos. You will be looking at Enraged Battle Ox as the last piece of a swarm strategy. It is the monster that will give its fellows the final push to victory.


Winged-Beast

Stealth Bird is a card recommended for Burn decks, but not so much in anything else. It can be nice as a threat to your opponent if he or she had elected to ignore it while it was set, but if you're not running any protection, you can expect it to have a target placed firmly on its head for destruction.

Sacred Crane has no reliable chance of being special summoned in Limited play, thus you are be better off ignoring it. It will serve as a 1600 ATK monster.


Wild Nature’s Release, Enraged Battle Ox, Berserk Gorilla, and Manticore of Darkness will be the first pick cards for the three Beasts. If you draft any of these four cards, you should also consider supporting them with any good three Beasts cards you can obtain, like Mad Dog of Darkness and Big Koala.


Until next time, remember—your Mad Dog of Darkness wants steak.