Mystical Knight of Jackal is just cool. It’s got a great ATK and an effect that can destroy an opponent in the mid-game. I’ve been hooked on the idea of using it ever since I saw Curtis playing Simon at Origins.
Simon: “Ok, I’ll attack you.”
Curtis: “Ok, I’ll flip A Hero Emerges. I only have one card . . . special summon Mystical Knight of the Jackal.”
Me: “Sorry, flip what and summon what, now?”
That’s what Curtis does—he radiates awesomeness for others to absorb.
Honestly, when it comes down to mid-game monster exchanges, you couldn’t really ask for anything better than the Jackal. When a game is about to (or already has) come down to topdecking, summoning Mystical Knight of Jackal can end it very quickly. Your opponent can draw all he or she wants . . . only to get the same monster that didn’t help last turn. Of course, your opponent could always not play any monsters, but then he or she risks taking 2700 to the face—not a happy prospect. A reader named Mark sent me his Mystical Knight of Jackal deck, and it’s really quite good. Here’s what Mark had to say about his deck:
Hi,
I built this deck about a week ago, and have been working on it since. It is pretty fun to play, and it contains selections you don't regularly see.
I don't have a Giant Trunade in here, which I like to use to pick my Sword of Revealing Light or Premature Burial back up.
Many monsters in here work very well with Creature Swap, especially the Otohime.
I also like Otohime because (rather than going for trample) I have the ability to switch battle position as desired.
The deck works pretty well—about 50-50 vs. standard Advanced BLS/Chaos Control hybrids. I basically maintain field presence while letting the course of the duel reduce my opponent's hand before coming out with the Jackal. Bringing it out early is not very useful.
I am only running the one Kaiser Seahorse, because there is not much chance of having it and Mystical Knight of Jackal in my hand, playing Kaiser Seahorse, and having it stick around until the next turn. I want to either bring the Jackal back with Call of the Haunted or Premature or, if the Jackal is in hand, bring back Kaiser with Call or Premature.
I want the Last Will to search Sinister Serpent, plus all the other obvious stuff, and I find Last Will a fabulous card that combos well in many situations. There are too many to elaborate, but for a few examples, I love to play Last Will, suicide a Nimble into Reflect Bounder, get two more Nimbles, and haul out Injection Fairy Lily with Last Will. Or play Last Will, summon Exiled Force, offer to destroy something big, haul out Injection with Last Will, special summon Gigantes, and hit for 5300.
I was thinking about including Mirage of Nightmare and Emergency Provisions, as well.
I usually play an Earth/Beatdown deck. I rely on the life gain I get from Nimble Momonga and the search I get from Giant Rat. These are two of my favorite cards. I am rarely concerned with playing either in face-up attack position, and they both hold up well when played like this rather than face down. I usually want them attacked, not burned off with Nobleman of Crossout, Exiled Force, or the Mystic Swordsman/Sasuke Samurai.
Thanks for your time.
- Mark W.
Thanks for sending it in, Mark! It really is a good-looking deck. Here’s the list:
Monsters: 18
2 Mystical Knight of Jackal
1 Jinzo
1 Kaiser Seahorse
2 Otohime
3 Nimble Momonga
2 Giant Rat
1 Gigantes
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Exiled Force
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Tribe Infecting Virus
1 Berserk Gorilla
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
Spells: 16
1 Last Will
1 Painful Choice
2 Creature Swap
1 Premature Burial
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Snatch Steal
1 Change of Heart
1 Enemy Controller
1 Pot of Greed
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Smashing Ground
2 Scapegoat
Traps: 6
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Waboku
2 Raigeki Break
1 Torrential Tribute
There’s not really much I want to do with it. I just want to free up some cards that I think don’t need to be here, and slip in some new tricks, while emphasizing some of the ideas that Mark already has.
That being said, my first drop is Kaiser Seahorse. It’s underpowered as a topdecked attacker, and considering we’re only running two Mystical Knight of Jackal and can’t search for them, a one-of Kaiser Seahorse seems really conditional. I wouldn’t want to solve this by running multiple copies, so I’m going to drop it. The deck maintains board presence well enough that it should be able to summon the Jackal when it wants to. Plus, we’re going to add in some more special summoning, so we’ll be well covered.
Next up, I want to drop the pair of Otohime. I agree that they’re great to Creature Swap, but this deck already has a lot of other good options for that. While Otohime is great at ending the game once a Jackal is out and the opponent is low on options, it’s also a horrible topdeck when you aren’t in control of the game. Nor is it of much use in the early game. It’s a momentum card, and I just don’t see it being better in this deck than some of our other options.
I’m also dropping the Waboku. This deck maintains board presence extremely well, has recursion tricks, searches well, and has its fair share of walls. Other than as a mid or late game stall, I don’t think Waboku is useful. One could make an argument for it in a bad early game situation, but really, we can solve that by running a better card that won’t get you get stuck drawing into Waboku. It’s a good card in the right deck, but it definitely belongs in the side deck here.
I’m going to drop one of the Scapegoats for the same reason. A pair of Scapegoats is a great idea for many decks, but here, I’d prefer to run the second copy as a side deck card. There are other cards that I think the deck can benefit from more.
Now, let’s discuss additions. First up, I want to add another copy each of Gigantes and Berserk Gorilla. The Gorilla is a great card in most situations, and Gigantes can really give the deck some necessary speed. Its stats are good, and though drawing two of them in an opening hand might hurt, the deck has lots of ways to protect itself. Also, the pair goes from a liability to an asset as soon as you hit the mid-game. Two Gigantes gives the deck a bit more muscle and a bit more offensive unpredictability.
I’m going to steal Curtis’ trick—A Hero Emerges is so ridiculously underrated that I just have to include three copies of it here. Special summoning Jinzo or Mystical Knight of Jackal is great, but there are also a large number of nice picks that you can drop in response to an opponent’s attack. It’s especially nice if your opponent thinks he or she will be swinging against an open field, or if your opponent goes for a big offensive push, turns everything to attack position, and runs into your Jackal with . . .
. . . Staunch Defender. I’m including one. It’s true that I’m totally Staunch-happy of late, but honestly, it’s a very valuable card in any deck that uses a lot of really, really big guys, or in one that uses a lot of monsters to maintain board presence. This deck does both of those things, so I feel that running a single copy of Staunch is valid.
So, the final changes look like this:
-1 Kaiser Seahorse
-2 Otohime
-1 Waboku
-1 Scapegoat
+1 Gigantes
+1 Berserk Gorilla
+3 A Hero Emerges
+1 Staunch Defender
And the deck looks like this:
Monsters: 17
2 Mystical Knight of Jackal
1 Jinzo
3 Nimble Momonga
2 Giant Rat
2 Gigantes
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Exiled Force
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Tribe Infecting Virus
2 Berserk Gorilla
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
Spells: 15
1 Last Will
1 Painful Choice
2 Creature Swap
1 Premature Burial
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Snatch Steal
1 Change of Heart
1 Enemy Controller
1 Pot of Greed
1 Mystical Space Tyhpoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Smashing Ground
1 Scapegoat
Traps: 9
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Raigeki Break
1 Torrential Tribute
3 A Hero Emerges
1 Staunch Defender
I didn’t make too many changes, but it’s a little bit faster, a lot more unpredictable, and can go off with less notice. The A Hero Emerges gives you three more ways to get out Mystical Knight of Jackal, and the altered deck will play a little bit tighter (despite it actually being one card larger). Miguel Flores took second place at the Gen Con So Cal Shonen Series Championship with a 44 card deck, thinned by Momonga and Giant Rat, so 41 cards is in no way extreme.
The deck still plays the same way that Mark described it. Your goal is to make card-for-card exchanges, whittle the opponent down into the mid-game, and then drop Mystical Knight of Jackal. The Knight then slaps the opponent silly, forcing him or her to draw the same monster every turn. Hopefully, it’ll be an unhelpful one. To be even more brutal, you can play Staunch Defender and potentially clear the opponent’s field. Depending on what monsters he or she has, it’s basically “game over” the moment you pull it off.
The important thing to remember is that the deck needs equal, or close to equal, hand counts heading into the mid-game. So, watch out for early game control moves. Confiscation or a mid-game Black Luster Soldier can really hurt this deck, but it has answers to most things.
For the side deck, you want to include the cards I mentioned earlier (Waboku and Scapegoat), plus some serious Lockdown tech. Not only should you run a few Giant Trunades and maybe a couple of Dust Tornados, but you should also consider two or three copies of Enraged Battle Ox. Mystical Knight of Jackal can punch through defense-position monsters with its effect.
Thanks for sending it in, Mark! Hopefully, the fix will help you out a bit.
-Jason
Have a deck to submit? Want to say hi? Get in touch with me via email at Jason@metagame.com.