One of the characteristics that define the top decks of this format is the ability to deal with any threat via a monster effect. It’s most obvious when you look at the Gladiator Beasts, whose sole purpose is to control the field via monster effects. That said, Dark Armed Dragon and Lightsworn decks do some serious field control of their own via similar mechanics. The eponymous Dark Armed Dragon can wipe out any three cards when it hits the field, and between Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, and Judgment Dragon, Lightsworn decks have an exceptional amount of control over, well, everything. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some way to punish them for wiping out your field one or more times each turn? Of course it would, and I like to think that’s why Yubel exists. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other monster or series of monsters in the game with as powerful a deterrent attached to them as the Yubel monsters from Phantom Darkness. If you destroy Yubel, the field-wiping Yubel - Terror Incarnate hits the field. If you remove Terror Incarnate from the field, the eight-faced scourge, Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare, drops and obliterates any monster it touches while burning the monster’s controller for its ATK. It’s a tremendously nasty strategy . . . and it’s picked up a new toy thanks to Light of Destruction.

When most duelists first saw Limit Reverse, their immediate thought was to use it to revive Destiny Hero - Disk Commander a few extra times. Obviously that’s a very strong play, but apparently my mind is wired somewhat differently than most players, because for some reason, when I first saw Limit Reverse, my immediate thought was, "Wow, I can’t wait to revive Yubel with that!" In fact, Limit Reverse is probably the best thing to happen to Yubel decks since Crush Card Virus became available in a purchasable product. Since the overarching goal of the Yubel deck is to make your opponent’s monsters and removal cards worthless, having more ways to accomplish this is very welcome, especially when it doesn’t come attached to Doom Shaman. Have you ever wished a Gladiator Beast player would just not attack for a change, that Judgment Dragon wouldn’t be able to hose you for just 1000 life points, or that Dark Armed Dragon would have to pump all its ammo into one card instead of wiping your entire field? At the risk of sounding like a crazy televangelist, all these things are possible with Yubel!

Monsters: 19

2 Yubel
2 Yubel - Terror Incarnate
1 Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare
1 Sangan
1 Destiny Hero - Disk Commander
3 Dark Grepher
3 Armageddon Knight
3 Doom Shaman
3 The Calculator

 Traps: 8
1 Torrential Tribute
3 Limit Reverse
3 Begone, Knave!
1 Crush Card Virus

For those of you unaware of the basic interactions that the deck makes use of, here’s a quick primer. Doom Shaman is the Il Blud equivalent for Fiend-type monsters. As a Gemini, Shaman counts as a normal monster in your hand, on the field if you haven’t turned on its effect yet, and most importantly, in the graveyard. This allows you to use Silent Doom and Swing of Memories to pick Doom Shaman out of your graveyard with a special summon, leaving your normal summon free to switch on its effect. Yubel is a Fiend-type monster too, so you claim priority after the Gemini-summon and activate the Shaman’s effect to special summon Yubel from your hand or graveyard. Keep in mind that, like Gigaplant, this isn’t a targeting effect, making it more resilient in the face of D.D. Crow. Note that given the choice, it’s better for your opponent to remove Yubel with Crow than the Shaman itself since that Bottomless Trap Hole can hit Shaman whereas it can’t touch Yubel. Additionally, you have more copies of Doom Shaman to work with. For all your opponent knows, you only play one of each Yubel, making Crow on Yubel or Yubel - Terror Incarnate a better play than removing Shaman.

The key interaction that drove the original version of the deck was the way that Doom Shaman, Swing of Memories, and Yubel stack up during the end phase. You basically have your choice between resolving Swing and destroying Doom Shaman or tributing Doom Shaman to Yubel. Doom Shaman is removed from the field regardless of which effect you choose to resolve, and this causes the special summoned Yubel to be destroyed—triggering its effect and allowing you to pull Yubel - Terror Incarnate from hand, deck, or graveyard. Then, since it’s the end phase, Yubel - Terror Incarnate triggers and destroys every monster on the field except itself. Afterward, you can basically just sit there until you draw into The Calculator and get Begone, Knave! on the field. Calculator becomes huge as a result of Yubel - Terror Incarnate, and Begone, Knave! will return it to your hand to ensure that you can continuously swing. Begone, Knave! also has this fun property of making Gladiator Beast players pay dearly if they choose to attack owing to the Magic Cylinder-like effect that each Yubel incarnation carries. Be careful though, as your opponent can still tag out at the end of the battle phase if he or she swings on Yubel or Yubel - Terror Incarnate. The problem does not exist, however, with Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare since it simply swallows the monster whole.

The set-up for your Yubel shenanigans is really quite simple and very much akin to the set-ups used by Dark Armed Dragon players to get exactly three Dark monsters in the graveyard. Sure, you may not have Destiny Draw to accelerate your draws at the same time, but you still have access to a full set of both Armageddon Knight cards and Dark Grepher cards in addition to no limits on what cards can and can’t be in the graveyard. At that point, technically all you need in the graveyard is a Yubel, but to maximize your revival options, you’ll also want a Doom Shaman kicking around. Foolish Burial can get both of them there in addition to letting you dump The Calculator if you’ve got Premature Burial in hand and you’re itching to convert it into a ton of damage. Destiny Hero - Disk Commander made the cut since he’s fantastic with Limit Reverse and another target for Crush Card Virus. He’s also easily dumped into the graveyard by anything you’re going to be pitching monsters with.

The addition of Limit Reverse is really what makes this deck worth looking at, as we head from U.S. Nationals and the European Championships into the weekend of Canadian Nationals. Cards get destroyed by effects a lot in high-level play. Your ability to win correlates directly to your ability to recover from or mitigate the effects of cards like Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and Judgment Dragon. Yubel does that in a way that no other card can, and the thing that’s really pushed it further than anything else is Limit Reverse. The card can act as a Pot of Greed, sure, but more importantly it can function as Negate Attack followed by Dark Hole, even if it’s destroyed by something like Heavy Storm, Gladiator Beast Bestiari, or Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.

Even in the face of Dark Armed Dragon, Limit Reverse wins out unless your opponent has a method of putting even more Dark monsters into the graveyard. Let’s say you have Limit Reverse and Yubel - Terror Incarnate out. Your opponent does tricks with Dark Grepher to allow for a double Dark Armed Dragon drop. Your opponent may not know it yet, but he or she’s in serious trouble. Sure, the opponent can clear out your Terror Incarnate and the resultant Ultimate Nightmare, but what happens if he or she tries to attack or use Dark Armed Dragon to blow away Limit Reverse? That’s right: the opponent gets hosed. Yubel just comes back. Judgment Dragon can get around the situation, but it’ll cost the Lightsworn player 3000 life points to do it. Even then, he or she would have to win that turn or else face the prospect of Yubel - Terror Incarnate simply reappearing on your next turn. Finally, Gladiator Beasts can only really kill one monster at a time without blowing all their copies of Test Tiger. What happens when they do decide to go all out, only to find that the trap they blasted with Bestiari was a Limit Reverse? That’s right: hosed again.

There’s real potential in this deck. The main issue is just one of finding the most efficient way to win the game once you get the lock set up and protected. I’m personally a fan of The Calculator, but there could be infinite ways to win out there. Heck, you could play Abyssal Kingshark as a beater that can survive Terror Incarnate’s wrath each end phase. Would it be good? I don’t know, but the option exists. It’s the fact that there are so many options with the potential for success that makes me really enjoy playing right now, and I hope you enjoy it too. Until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!