One of my all-time favorite cards is Marauding Captain. It brings a lot to the table, since it can lock down the field, manipulate the opponent’s choices, and be capable of massive aggression. What I really like about the card, though, is that its special summon ability lets you get around some of the intended pitfalls that are attached to a select few monsters. The Captain lets you do some things you just aren’t meant to do, and that interests me.
With the recent removal of Marauding Captain from the semi-limited list in the new Advanced format, this concept becomes easier to exploit. You’ll now be able to abuse the Captain’s effect more often in each duel, as drawing one of three copies of a card is easier than drawing into one of two. While this deck used to be able to depend on Reinforcement of the Army to function as a third and fourth copy of Marauding Captain, it can now be a bit more liberal with how it spends that key search card. That means more options, more flexibility, and in the long run, more victories.
Today we’ll look at a deck from Chris, a judge and former staff member of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Mall Tour program. He’s got a Marauding Captain deck that he needs some help with—he’s never updated it for any Advanced format!
Hiya, Jason! I have another deck that I’d like you to take a look at.
I moved back to Lodi recently, and I’ve dropped out of the game for a while. As you can tell, this deck hasn’t been modified for the new Advanced format. Recently my interest in the game has been continually increasing since judging at some tournaments. I’ve never really played on a higher level, but I still enjoy a good duel. This deck has won me plenty of great matches, and I want to bring it into the Advanced format and see how it handles the new limitations.
You can obviously tell that this deck is all about having fun with the opponent. The big focus of the deck is Terrorking Archfiend. Its effect is amazing, and it leaves people saying "I didn’t know it did that!" Plus, with both Archfiend Soldier and Marauding Captain as my main attacking monsters, Terrorking Archfiend sees a lot of field time. Another great thing that the deck does is thin itself out by keeping monsters on the field. One Apprentice Magician starts a chain of events that keeps my life points protected from three attacks—and who doesn’t love that adorable Gene Simmons tomato?
Here’s what I’m asking: can you give me some suggestions on what cards I can put in here to make it Advanced format-legal and still keep the deck fun and effective?
—Chris T., Lodi, California
We’ll see what we can do, Chris! Here’s the decklist that he sent in.
Marauding Abuse
42 cards
Monsters: 19
2 Terrorking Archfiend
2 Marauding Captain
3 Archfiend Soldier
2 Mystic Tomato
2 Magician of Faith
2 Apprentice Magician
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Sangan
1 Magical Scientist
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Skull Archfiend of Lightning
1 Cyber Jar
Spells: 19
3 Book of Moon
2 My Body as a Shield
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Axe of Despair
1 Graceful Charity
1 Pot of Greed
1 Monster Reborn
1 Change of Heart
1 Snatch Steal
1 United We Stand
1 Raigeki
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
1 Giant Trunade
1 Dark Hole
Traps: 4
1 Ceasefire
1 Mirror Force
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Ring of Destruction
Fusion Deck:
3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
2 Ryu Senshi
1 Dark Flare Knight
1 Dark Balter the Terrible
1 Kwagar Hercules
We’ve got a few problems here that need solutions. The first, and the easiest to deal with, is adhering to the current Advanced format list. We’re going to need to drop a bunch of cards to make this deck legal for Advanced format play. Second, I’m going to rework the monster lineup to create a more cohesive strategy and add some spells to the deck that will really help. Let’s get to it!
First, we need to remove the forbidden cards. Magical Scientist, Witch of the Black Forest, Monster Reborn, Change of Heart, Raigeki, Harpie’s Feather Duster, Mirror Force, Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Ring of Destruction, and one Magician of Faith are all coming out. In addition, we have to remove some of the copies of newly-limited cards. We’ll need to drop two Book of Moon, one Magician of Faith, and one Nobleman of Crossout.
From there, I’m going to remove some of the Archfiends. We’ll keep one copy of Terrorking Archfiend, but I’m going to add in some more tricks for Marauding Captain to special summon to its side, and we’re going to need some room for those. One Terrorking Archfiend will be removed to make space, and Skull Archfiend of Lightning is out too. Instead of just one special summon trick for the Captain, I’m going to be using three, so we won’t have much room for tribute monsters. Finally, because we won’t be too concerned with normal summoning Terrorking Archfiend, I’m removing the three copies of Archfiend Soldier. That’ll give us more space in the deck for versatile effect monsters.
I’ll conclude the monster lineup by removing Cyber Jar. We’d prefer to use those Captains from our hand, so seeing them hit the field from Cyber Jar’s effect isn’t going to be pleasant.
We no longer have much use for the two copies of Axe of Despair, because we’re no longer looking to normal summon Terrorking Archfiend. I’ll remove those outright. Then I’ll bump the single Giant Trunade to the side deck. These are specialized cards that we’ll need in some matchups—but not so frequently as to justify having them in the main deck.
We’ve cleared a lot of space—22 cards, to be exact! We can fit in 20 total to take the deck to a tight final count of 40 cards, so let’s get started.
First up are some more “special” friends for Marauding Captain. I’m going to give it a single copy each of Mystic Swordsman LV4 and Rare Metal Dragon to play with. Mystic Swordsman LV4 is a Warrior, so it shares some important synergy with the deck. Its 1900 ATK can really wreak some havoc in battle, but its true strength lies in its effect: taking down defense position walls and effect monsters before they can ever flip over! Rare Metal Dragon is great too, and though it isn’t a Warrior-type monster, it is huge. Its massive ATK value can quickly take control of a game or end it outright.
Because we’ve got two copies of Apprentice Magician, I’m also going to add in Hand of Nephthys, and of course Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys for the Hand to summon. Not only can you seek out the Hand with Apprentice Magician, but you can also special summon Hand of Nephthys when you normal summon Marauding Captain. Then, you can immediately tribute both to special summon Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys.
Since there will be a bit more freedom with Reinforcement of the Army, I’d like to give Chris a few searchable tools. Exiled Force will allow for the destruction of any big, troublesome monsters—while at the same time taking out face-down monsters that could be threatening. A single Mystic Swordsman LV2 will also work against set monsters. Defensive play likely won’t be a big issue for the first month or so of the new format, as it seems that everyone and their grandmother is planning to “go aggro” and play aggressive decks. Set monsters with high DEF values are an issue that’s worth thinking about in advance. And if the Swordsman ever manages to destroy anything without using its effect, it can even level up!
D. D. Warrior Lady and Breaker the Magical Warrior round out my additions to the monster lineup. These cards are simply so powerful that they need to be considered for any deck that you construct. There are no reasons to skimp on any of them here—Chris’s deck has synergy with D. D. Warrior Lady, and it loves the spell and trap removal from Breaker the Magical Warrior. The clearer the road, the better.
Next, we need a few spells that I would consider to be absolute staples of the current format: Mystical Space Typhoon, and Heavy Storm are all highly important cards for Advanced format play, and adding them to Chris’s deck is an important part of updating it for this new environment. Heavy Storm and Mystical Space Typhoon are good in virtually any deck, but they’re especially good in this one. The offensive potential provided by Marauding Captain means that you can quickly dish out huge amounts of damage (provided you don’t hit Torrential Tribute), and the spell and trap removal afforded by these two cards is invaluable.
Changing gears, I want to add one copy of The Warrior Returning Alive as well. Once the Captain hits the field, it might not be able to survive very long, so The Warrior Returning Alive will let us reuse its effect in order to keep those tricky and unpredictable plays coming!
A single Brain Control will aid our ability to rush the field, and one Fusion Sword Murasame Blade will prove invaluable. Fusion Sword Murasame Blade hasn’t gotten much hype lately (despite the excellent prospects for Warrior decks in the new format), but it may make a big impact as a key part of Warrior strategies. It allows virtually any Warrior to take down a Cyber Dragon, and makes your Marauding Captains incredibly difficult to deal with.
One Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell will give us some recourse against monster removal spells. Lots of these will hit the format hard, and one Cursed Seal can shut down an opponent’s plans for the turn while eliminating Reinforcement of the Army from the pseudo-mirror Warrior matchup.
That leaves us with four empty card slots to work with. I think Call of the Haunted is a great way to fill one of them, while some board control would be nice for the last three. I’ll use that final group of slots for three Smashing Ground. It’s no secret that your opponent is often going to try and fight out of a losing position by attacking your Marauding Captain. When he or she does, Marauding Captain will probably be destroyed—but next turn, the monster that attacked will be vulnerable to Smashing Ground and you’ll have a clear path straight to the opponent’s life points. In an environment that seems destined to be filled with decks running two copies of Royal Decree, Smashing Ground is a safer means of destroying monsters than Sakuretsu Armor.
The final changes to the deck are as follows.
-1 Magical Scientist
-1 Witch of the Black Forest
-1 Magician of Faith
-1 Monster Reborn
-1 Change of Heart
-1 Raigeki
-1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
-1 Terrorking Archfiend
-1 Skull Archfiend of Lightning
-3 Archfiend Soldier
-1 Cyber Jar
-2 Axe of Despair
-1 Giant Trunade
-1 Pot of Greed
-1 Graceful Charity
-2 Book of Moon
-1 Nobleman of Crossout
-1 Ring of Destruction
+1 Mystic Swordsman LV4
+1 Rare Metal Dragon
+1 Hand of Nephthys
+1 Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys
+1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
+1 Exiled Force
+1 D. D. Warrior Lady
+1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
+1 Heavy Storm
+1 Mystical Space Typhoon
+2 Reinforcement of the Army
+1 The Warrior Returning Alive
+3 Smashing Ground
+1 Brain Control
+1 Fusion Sword Murasame Blade
+1 Call of the Haunted
+1 Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell
The fixed version of the deck looks like this.
Marauding Abuse: Jason’s Fix
40 cards
Monsters: 19
1 Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys
1 Terrorking Archfiend
1 Mystic Swordsman LV4
1 Rare Metal Dragon
3 Marauding Captain
2 Mystic Tomato
1 Magician of Faith
1 Hand of Nephthys
2 Apprentice Magician
1 Sangan
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
1 Exiled Force
Spell Cards: 17
1 Book of Moon
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Snatch Steal
1 Brain Control
1 Fusion Sword Murasame Blade
1 United We Stand
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Reinforcement of the Army
1 The Warrior Returning Alive
3 Smashing Ground
1 Dark Hole
2 My Body As A Shield
Trap Cards: 4
1 Ceasefire
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell
1 Call of the Haunted
Marauding Captain now has a few more tricks up its sleeve, and there’s a lot more spell and trap removal clearing the road for it. Not only do Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm protect against troublesome traps, but Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys also makes short work of any green or purple opposition that you might encounter.
The Phoenix itself is a very strong addition to the deck, presenting a threat that your opponent will have to keep dealing with. This is great for Chris, because his deck is focused on shunting out more monsters than an opponent can handle and overrunning the opponent with sheer numbers. While the Phoenix is only one monster on its own, it continually eats up your opponent’s solutions to the “too many monsters” problem. The combo potential between Hand of Nephthys and Marauding Captain is just deadly icing on an already lethal cake.
This deck can play like a normal Beatdown deck and attempt to win in the mid- or late game—but it can also try to force a win in the first few turns if it gets Marauding Captain and some support for the Captain’s effect. What makes this deck so dangerous is the fact that it’s unpredictable. Your opponent will never know when he or she might be crushed by Marauding Captain and a shocking mystery guest. The pair of Smashing Ground helps keep opponents off balance, and the result is a deck that does well in the hands of a veteran player who can quickly shift gears from offense to defense.
That said, the Lockdown Burn matchup can be a bit rough. This deck isn’t packing Chaos Sorcerer to remove sources of consistent damage like Stealth Bird and Solar Flare Dragon, and it has few monsters that can scoot under a Gravity Bind. Because of that, it’s important that the side deck contain not just the single Giant Trunade from Chris’s original build, but also two more. Dust Tornado is often better tech for the Lockdown matchup, but this deck will probably need only a single turn to take down an opponent. Giant Trunade is the card of choice because it can remove multiple locking elements at once, as opposed to Dust Tornado’s single destruction.
Thanks for sending it in, Chris! Here’s hoping that the fix helps.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Do you have an Advanced format deck you could use some help with, or just want to show off to the world? Want to see it appear in a future Apotheosis article? Send it to me, at Jason(at)metagame(dot)com and I might take a crack at it!