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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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Last week, we looked at three common deck themes, Beatdown, Control, and Hybrid. We’re going to continue our series this week with a look at some different deck themes that share some common strategies, swarm and overextension. "Swarm" in a TCG refers to a rapid buildup of cards, in this case, monster cards. "Overextension" means expending a lot of resources in a hurry to build up your field and overwhelm your opponent. Decks that are built around swarm and overextension tend to focus on speed, not stall, since they usually aren’t able to withstand a longer game.
You’ll notice that the decks in this category also revolve around types of monsters. The search functions and other swarm effects will usually only work on monsters of the same type, so you’ll find these decks easy to recognize once monsters of the same types start appearing. Let’s separate the decks into the different themes that feature these strategies, and examine them one by one.
 Warrior
The Warrior deck deals in speed, speed, and more speed. It uses a swarm of smaller monsters, most in the 1800 ATK and under range. Warrior decks get all these monsters out quickly by using Warrior-specific spell cards and monster effects. The ability to search precisely for the monsters, using cards like Reinforcement of the Army or Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan helps give the duelist access to the monsters that will most suit the situation, and Marauding Captain’s effect (allowing a special summon of another level 4 or lower monster) fills up the field in a hurry. The intent is to overwhelm the opponent and race for the win. It's this ability to push an overextension without warning that makes the Warrior deck so deadly.
Here’s a look at the cards you’d be likely to find in a Warrior deck:
Spell and Trap Cards
—Core spell and trap cards, as discussed in a previous article (check the archives if you’ve missed it)
—Reinforcement of the Army
—Fusion Sword Murasame Blade
—The A-Forces
—The Warrior Returning Alive (less commonly seen)
—Heart of Clear Water (less commonly seen)
Monster Cards
—Blindly Loyal Goblin
—D. D. Warrior Lady
—Goblin Attack Force
—Mataza the Zapper
—Freed the Brave Wanderer
—Freed the Matchless General
—Dark Blade
—Gearfried the Iron Knight
—Strike Ninja (less commonly seen)
—Warrior Dai Grepher
—Karate Man
—Zombyra the Dark
—The Fiend Megacyber
—Exiled Forces
Monster, spell, and trap cards will vary from deck to deck, but the basic idea is the same: use the spells and effects to get a lot of monsters out very quickly, and rush your opponent into defeat.
Time to move from Warrior decks to our next archetype, which saw a real boost after the release of Dark Crisis. It’s the . . .
 Zombie/Vampire Deck
The Zombie/Vampire deck uses Zombies and Earth types to create swarms, or situations in which the opponent would not want to attack. Zombie type monsters have some spell cards and effects that make them difficult to get rid of, so the Zombie/Vampire deck relies a lot on recursion to return previously destroyed monsters to the field and to help bring out new ones—a fitting sort of strategy for Zombies! You think you’ve defeated them, and they come right back and bring their friends.
The lynchpin card is Pyramid Turtle. Pyramid Turtle’s effect will allow the duelist to get any of the three major monsters out on the field—the flexibility to bend the strategy of the deck is what makes Zombie/Vampire decks hard to defeat. Vampire Lord, Patrician of Darkness, and Spirit Reaper are all key to the deck, and all are searchable with Pyramid Turtle. The knowledge that once Pyramid Turtle is destroyed, a real threat will be coming out makes many duelists reluctant to attack, so the Turtle can also provide a viable wall. Once the main monsters get into play, Book of Life provides excellent additional recursion—as well as tech against chaos decks—since it removes a card from the opponent's graveyard.
So, here’s a rundown of the cards you’ll find shambling towards you in a Zombie/Vampire deck:
Spell and Trap Cards
—Core spell and trap cards
—Call of the Mummy
—Book of Life
—Premature Burial
Monster Cards
—Pyramid Turtle
—Vampire Lord
—Spirit Reaper
—Patrician of Darkness
—Giant Rat (to get to the Pyramid Turtles faster)
—Royal Keeper
—Wandering Mummy
—Poison Mummy
—Master Kyonshee
—Des Lacooda
—Despair From the Dark
Like the Warrior deck, the idea is to keep your field filled with monsters and quickly reduce your opponent’s life points. Vampire Lord will also punch some holes in your opponent’s strategies as it starts stripping cards from his or her deck. Recursion is what keeps the deck moving along. Monster and spell choice will vary, but the Pyramid Turtle/Vampire Lord/Patrician of Darkness/Spirit Reaper combo is a mainstay of the deck.
Now let’s move on from Zombies and Vampires to killer robots, and study the inner workings of . . .
Machine Decks
 Machine decks focus on using Limiter Removal to give one single, huge push to win the game. Though Machines might look weak, often a face-down Limiter Removal (or three) can completely turn the tide of the game. It uses Fiber Jar and Cyber Jar to cover itself when it overextends but doesn't quite finish the game, and uses Magical Scientist for the regular Scientist monsters, plus Machine Fusions that can also benefit from Limiter Removal. Machine decks can be overwhelmingly devastating, to the frequent surprise of the opponent. Limiter Removal is a quick-play spell card that can be activated even during the damage step, and that’s where the surprise of massive amounts of unexpected damage comes in.
Cards that keep Machine decks ticking—you can see a combination of the following:
Spell and Trap Cards
—Core spell and trap cards
—Limiter Removal
—Painful Choice
—Book of Moon (less common)
Monster Cards
—Magical Scientist
—Cannon Soldier
—X-Head Cannon
—Mechanical Chaser
—Reflect Bounder
—Jinzo
—Cyber Jar
—Fiber Jar
—Battle Footballer (less commmon)
—Chaos Emperor Dragon (less common)
Fusions to use with Magical Scientist
—Thousand Eyes Restrict
—Ryu Senshi
—Dark Balter the Terrible
—Fiend Skull Dragon
—Metal Dragon
The sheer volume of damage that a well-played Machine deck can dish out makes it a deck that needs to be defeated in a hurry. It’s not uncommon to see Machine decks end the duel in under three turns. It can be a difficult deck to master, since a duelist’s sense of timing needs to be finely developed, but it is fast and powerful.
That covers the most common types of swarm and overextension deck themes. It is harder to experiment with them, since specific cards are needed for each one, but take a look through your collection and see if you’ve got the makings of one of these decks. Build what you can, and have a go at trying a swarm strategy. Remember, playing a deck is the best ways to learn its weaknesses, so even if you don’t like the strategy, gaining a deeper knowledge of how it works will better enable you to defeat that type of deck.
Next week, we’ll be studying another area of deck themes by focusing on archetypes that base their strategy on the interaction of specific types of cards. You’ll see some similarities from this week’s lesson, since the swarm decks also depend upon the compatibility of specific types, but the strategies will vary more from deck to deck. Stop by next week and continue your studies!
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