It’s been three hours since the first Last Chance Qualifier began, and only twenty-four duelists remain in this single-elimination tournament. Most of these duelists, who don't want to risk one of their last chances to qualify for tomorrow’s U.S. National Championship, are running decks that have been proven to be reliable, such as Chaos Warrior and Goat Control, also known as the Thousand-Eyes Lock. However, one of these duelists has decided to break away from the norm with a deck focused on an incredibly underrated card.
Jeff Rizzo is currently sitting at table four and is playing against Vincent Didiano. Unfortunately for Vincent, he will not be able to predict what exactly is in Jeff’s deck. It’s not Goat Control, and it’s certainly not Chaos. Jeff Rizzo is running a Skill Drain deck. Let’s take a look at it:
Monsters: 17
3 Fusilier Dragon the Dual-Mode Beast
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
3 Goblin Attack Force
3 Berserk Gorilla
3 Giant Orc
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
3 Toon Goblin Attack Force
Spells: 12
1 Snatch Steal
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Swords of Revealing Light
2 Enemy Controller
1 Graceful Charity
1 Premature Burial
1 Pot of Greed
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps: 11
3 Skill Drain
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Call of the Haunted
2 Solemn Judgment
2 Final Attack Orders
1 Dust Tornado
1 Torrential Tribute
Side Deck: 15
1 Metamorphosis
1 Smashing Ground
2 Scapegoat
1 Book of Moon
1 Mirror Force
2 Magician of Faith
1 Airknight Parshath
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Tsukuyomi
1 Don Zaloog
1 D. D. Assailant
1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning
As you can see, this build is definitely different from the conventional tournament deck. Instead of focusing on multiple strategies, Jeff’s deck focuses purely on an aggressive rush with his monsters. In fact, only two of his monsters actually have an ATK less than 2000! While Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast may have 1400 ATK for a short time, the simple activation of Skill Drain shoots Jeff’s robotic monstrosities to 2800 ATK. This is especially nasty when an unsuspecting opponent declares an attack against any of Jeff’s Fusilier Dragons. It’s hard for an opponent to actually break through Jeff’s monsters, especially if Skill Drain is activated early in the duel. At this point, even if the opponent has Jinzo ready to summon or Breaker the Magical Warrior ready to crush Jeff’s trap card, Skill Drain’s effect will negate their abilities.
If you’re looking for the ultimate in Scapegoat hate, then take a look at Jeff’s choice to run two copies of Final Attack Orders. If an unsuspecting Goat player attempts to stop an attack with a herd of Sheep tokens, then Jeff’s trap card will immediately change those tokens to attack position. This is very bad for Jeff’s opponents, as most of Jeff’s monsters will deal 2000 damage or more with each attack. Aside from working well against those Goats, Final Attack Orders allows Jeff to deal damage even if he’s attacking face down defense position monsters, since those monsters will be switched to attack position in the damage step once they’re flipped face up. It’s also a nice surprise card if Jeff doesn’t have Skill Drain ready—it can switch his defending Goblin Attack Forces to attack position if the opponent declares an attack against them.
Jeff’s side deck consists of a complete Chaos conversion, in case the opponent has any side deck solutions to Jeff’s Skill Drain shutdown. It’s a pretty generic switch, although Tsukuyomi serves a dual purpose of re-using Magician of Faith and doubling an effect-summoned Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast.
Things are looking good for Skill Drain in the future. Jeff’s doing well in his round four match, and he’s looking to be one of twelve duelists left in this last-chance qualifier. If he succeeds in earning his invitation, you can bet that Metagame will keep you updated on his progress tomorrow!