Every Yu-Gi-Oh! set introduces cool monsters that might be tricky to get out, but have neat effects when they hit the field. Gate Guardian, the Horus the Black Flame Dragon line, and Silent Swordsman LV7 are all part of this prestigious tradition. King Dragun is one of the latest monsters to join their ranks, so let’s take a look at a deck that aims to use it in competitive play.

Dear Jason,

I love your articles! You helped me out in the past with my Dark Paladin deck, so I figured I would try again. Once I saw King Dragun, I knew I had to play it. I built this deck around the King and Tyrant Dragon so they could get on the field and stomp the competition. Tell me what you think!

Thanks,
Ira P.
Northboro, MA

Always short and sweet in his descriptions, Ira’s decks are well-planned and built around cool monsters—at least, the decks that he sends me are! Here’s the deck he submitted this time.

Ira’s King Dragun
41 cards

Monsters: 20
3 Lord of D.
2 Luster Dragon
2 Spear Dragon
3 Troop Dragon
3 The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion
2 Tyrant Dragon
1 Reflect Bounder
2 Rare Metal Dragon
1 Cyber Jar
1 Jinzo

Spells: 13
2 The Flute of Summoning Dragon
2 Polymerization
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Swords of Revealing Light
2 Stamping Destruction
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Premature Burial

Traps: 8
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Magic Cylinder
3 Waboku
1 Mirror Force
1 Dragon’s Rage

Fusion Deck: 3
3 King Dragun

This deck isn’t bad! However, I’ve got a few concerns that mostly revolve around field control. Establishing field control is always tricky, so let’s see what we can do for this deck.

First, both Jinzo and one copy of Rare Metal Dragon need to go. With two copies of Tyrant Dragon already bogging down the deck a bit, we can’t afford to have a lot of potentially dead tribute or special summon-only monsters. Cyber Jar is the only thing that’s preventing me from removing the second copy of Rare Metal Dragon.

I also want to remove the single copy of Reflect Bounder. Is it a great card? Sure! It’s one of my favorites, and it fits well into Chaos and Machine decks. Unfortunately, it has very little synergy with this deck’s strategy, and there’s no reason to include it instead of other cards.

Next, I’m going to remove both copies of Polymerization. This deck relies on fusing monsters, but I think we can strengthen it by increasing access to The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion instead of running Polymerization. By doing so, we’ll maintain card economy, keep our options open, and give ourselves a searchable alternative to Polymerization.

Swords of Revealing Light and all three copies of Waboku will be the next to go. Yes, this deck has some fragile key monsters. No, that doesn’t necessarily mean we need to protect them with defensive cards that don’t have offensive applications. Cards that do nothing but defend are useless when we’re winning—in fact, they can harm the momentum we’re aiming to build.

Next, I’m removing one copy each of Stamping Destruction and Dragon’s Rage. Stamping Destruction is the easiest drop to clear space for the cards I’d like to add. As for Dragon’s Rage, think of it this way: As Scapegoat tech, we have many better options, so we’ll eliminate the “it’s great if I’m attacking goats” argument. The card’s real value is in dealing damage against real defenders. How much damage do we need to punch through to make it worth using this card? Would you pay 1000 life points to use Delinquent Duo? Of course you would, because it’s an amazing card. You’re trading 1000 life points for one card’s worth of advantage, and any duelist would readily make that trade. If you inflict 1000 points of damage with Dragon’s Rage, is it worth it? If you answered “yes,” you might want to think again. An opponent losing 1000 life points and you losing a card is basically the same as being smacked by Delinquent Duo. Would you give up a card for 1500 life points? The answer is probably “no.” The only situation where Dragon’s Rage might be worthwhile is when it’s used with Tyrant Dragon or King Dragun. It’s definitely too conditional to be used in this deck.

Next up, we come to the additions! The first thing this deck needs is three copies of Mystic Tomato. Not only can it fetch Lord of D., but it can also get The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion, which is basically the key to the main win condition. The Tomato can also run off and get Sangan, which isn’t in this build, but may be a good alternative if testing proves that Rare Metal Dragon isn’t worthwhile. It’s with a great deal of reluctance that I’m keeping Sangan out of the deck at this point, but I want to include Rare Metal Dragon because of the deck’s theme. Running three copies of Mystic Tomato will give this deck a much better opening and make it play far more quickly in the long run. Before, the deck couldn’t search for either of its key monsters, and now it can. That’s a huge improvement.

Next, I want to add a copy of Snatch Steal. Big monsters are going to try to pick on our smaller ones, and Snatch Steal will turn those situations in our favor. It’s a good card that’s worth considering in any battle-based deck, especially one with large and important tribute monsters.

Two copies of Book of Moon will also make the cut, because the card offers both defensive and offensive capabilities. You can special summon Cyber Jar with Mystic Tomato and then use Book of Moon on the Jar when it looks vulnerable. That’s a pretty cool trick.

For the same reason, I’m going to add two copies of my current pet card, Windstorm of Etaqua. It’s an attack-blocking, defensive powerhouse for protecting those copies of Lord of D., and it’s a nice piece of Scapegoat tech that can let you hammer through any weak defenders. Windstorm is perfectly at home in this deck.

Finally, I want to add even more field control in the form of two copies of Smashing Ground. This deck thrives on big attacks but can choke when confronted by Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, so it’s important that we pack some offense-oriented field control options alongside Book of Moon and Windstorm.

The final changes are as follows.

-1 Jinzo
-1 Reflect Bounder
-1 Rare Metal Dragon
-2 Polymerization
-1 Swords of Revealing Light
-1 Stamping Destruction
-3 Waboku
-1 Dragon’s Rage

+3 Mystic Tomato
+1 Snatch Steal
+2 Book of Moon
+2 Smashing Ground
+2 Windstorm of Etaqua

Here’s the fixed build of the deck.

Ira’s King Dragun: Jason’s Fix
40 cards

Monsters: 20
2 Tyrant Dragon
3 Lord of D.
2 Luster Dragon
2 Spear Dragon
3 Troop Dragon
3 The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion
1 Rare Metal Dragon
1 Cyber Jar
3 Mystic Tomato

Spells: 14
2 The Flute of Summoning Dragon
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Stamping Destruction
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Premature Burial
1 Snatch Steal
2 Smashing Ground
2 Book of Moon

Traps: 6
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Mirror Force           
2 Windstorm of Etaqua

Fusion Deck: 3
3 King Dragun

Now, the deck runs much faster, bringing out King Dragun almost reliably by turn 2. Dragon decks are all about overextending. If you can take an opponent down on turn 2 or 3, then by all means, go for it!

Otherwise, your early game should be spent trying to make sure that you can go off in the mid-game. Make one-for-one trades in battle and on the field as often as you can while hanging onto whatever you need to get at Lord of D. and The Dark. Once an opponent’s cards are depleted, go for the fusion or Tyrant Dragon if the fusion isn’t quite available yet. Since it can attack twice, Tyrant Dragon makes a great back-up plan. While it costs you cards, one successful battle phase will put an opponent behind as well, and you’ll be up by one very big Dragon. Remember to play to Tyrant Dragon’s strengths. If you think your opponent has Sakuretsu Armor, go ahead and attack with Tyrant to see if you can draw the trap out, because the Dragon will negate and destroy it.

This is very much a mid-game deck, so if you make it to the late game and get into a topdecking situation, you may have problems. Your main strength there will be your many spell-speed 2 field control effects. Don’t be afraid to hang onto Book of Moon if your gut tells you that the duel is going to take a while. Book and Windstorm can be game-winning cards when paired with Spear Dragon, so don’t underestimate the Dragon’s power in the late game. Though it was once used a great deal, it’s underplayed right now, so most players won’t predict the havoc that a single copy can wreak.

Again, I’d suggest testing Sangan in place of the remaining Rare Metal Dragon, as it may not fit this deck’s tempo for some players. For your side deck, including Burn tech like Ceasefire and Giant Trunade is a very good idea, and it may be worth including the one copy of Stamping Destruction that I removed from the main deck. Divine Wrath is also a good idea for a number of matchups, but this deck will generally fare well against anything it faces.

That’s it for this cool spin on a traditional Dragon deck! If you’re looking for a way to use all those copies of King Dragun you’ve been collecting, give them a shot in a deck like this. You’ll be surprised at just how viable it can be!

-Jason Grabher-Meyer

Are you interested in seeing your deck featured in this column? Send a decklist formatted like the one in this article, your name, and your hometown to Jason@metagame.com, and your deck might be used in a future Apotheosis article!