After careful consideration, we’ve decided to ship Dr. Vowler back to the sideshow carnival where we found him. That’s right: the good professor’s angst-ridden reign of terror has come to an end here on Metagame.com! Which means I’m back, and since we’re coming off of Shonen Jump Championship Minneapolis and hurtling towards not one, not two, but three year-end Championships, I have a lot on my mind—starting with Crystal Beasts. I think the Crystal Beasts put forth an underwhelming showing at Minneapolis for two reasons. The first is that many duelists simply didn’t want to tip their hand before Nationals—if you have a killer new deck right now, you don’t want to let it out of its cage and into the public light before then. Even after an incredible showing and three Top 8’s at Shonen Jump Championship Anaheim, Demise OTK died due to over-exposure. The average competitor saw the deck, teched against it, and helped blow it out of contention over the course of two successive SJCs. No one wants to find themselves on the receiving end of that pattern come Nats.

Second, there are a lot of misconceptions about how Crystal Beasts should be optimally run, and many of the competitors using the Beasts in Minneapolis just weren’t using optimal builds. Last Resort might be a great card in Sealed, but it just doesn’t stack up against Terraforming in Constructed formats. Anyone who denies the viability of Crystal Raigeki on a wholesale basis hasn’t tested enough. Sure, it might not fit your average Turbo Crystal Beast build, but it’s excellent in many of the other variants, and the defamation targeting that card lately is honestly beyond me.

So today I’d like to look at a Crystal Beast deck. Reader Jason B. was kind enough to submit his to Crellian Vowler, and I’m sure he won’t mind if I address his request instead. I am, after all, a bit nicer than Vowler would have been!

Dear Dr. Vowler,

I’ve written to you before and never made it to one of your lectures, but I hope that you’ll take a look at my deck. Since I first saw what the Crystal Beasts are capable of, I’ve loved the deck idea. However, every time I try and build the deck, I just get run over by

more powerful and popular decks.

Normally, I try and use the Magical Merchant cards to fill the grave with Crystal Beasts and then load my back field using my Crystal Blessings, and then crush my opponent with Crystal Abundance. Since this isn’t the kind of thing you’re going to do in the first few turns every game, I use Waboku and Threatening Roar to hold off my opponents while still taking shots at them with my other Crystal Beasts. I really want to show people that the Crystal Beasts can shine in tournament play and not just sit there like a bunch of rocks. I know that you’ve talked about the Crystal Beasts before, but I still ask you to look at my deck anyway. If you don’t, I fear that my deck and I will be stuck as slackers forever.

Sincerely,

—Jason B.

Fear not! The Crystal Beasts are indeed capable of much more than slackerdom, and I’m confident that we can turn Jason’s deck into something tournament-viable. Here’s the deck list he sent me . . .

Crystal Beast Crush: 42 Cards

Monsters: 21

2 Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus

3 Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle

1 Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise

2 Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle

3 Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger

3 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat

3 Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth

3 Magical Merchant

1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

Spells: 13

2 Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins

3 Crystal Blessing

1 Heavy Storm

1 Crystal Promise

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Rare Value

2 Crystal Abundance

2 Crystal Beacon

Trap: 8

2 Waboku

2 Threatening Roar

1 Mirror Force

1 Last Resort

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Torrential Tribute

There are a lot of play mechanics and unique cards to build your deck around when you set out to play Crystal Beasts. Ruby Carbuncle and Crystal Abundance are win-condition level cards in their own rights. Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins is the basis of one of the most shocking control engines this game has seen, for very different reasons than the obvious ones. Even Crystal Beacon and Crystal Promise create a stellar special summoning suite that can also constitute its own strategy. There’s so much that you can do, and paring those possibilities down to a refined focus can be difficult.

Jason’s done a pretty good job of selecting the centerpieces for his strategy: Rainbow Ruins and Crystal Abundance. Those can be two completely different decks, though, so I’m going to maintain that focus while refining it a little bit more and fixing up some of the problems I think Jason’s running into.

The first problem is the one he described: his Crystal Beasts run into more popular decks and just can’t match their performance. With Demise OTK and DDT at the end of their respective declines right now, I’m going to make a bit of a leap and assume that Jason’s having problems with Monarchs and Gadgets. This seems to bear out when we look at Jason’s trap lineup, which uses two Waboku cards and two Threatening Roar cards. Sure, this could suggest a problem with Demise because all four of these cards can delay the one-turn KO. However, if Demise was the chief problem, then Jason would have used three Trap Dustshoot cards and one Mind Crush in those slots. To me, Jason’s decision indicates that the real problem is more steadily aggressive decks.

The second problem I see is a lack of monster removal. Sure, Jason’s running Ring of Destruction, Mirror Force, and Torrential Tribute, all of which I endorse for use in most Crystal Beast variants. But beyond those, he has Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and that’s about it. Four cards to take down every big monster the opponent throws at him. That’s a problem, and it needs fixing.

I want to start by easing off the total Crystal Beast count. While Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins justifies running a lot of Crystal Beasts, I want to use one of my favorite tricks to get this deck Ruining the opponent even faster. The Cobalt Eagles and Amber Mammoths will be removed, and I’ll drop down from two Ruby Carbuncles to one.

Next, I’m going to remove all three Magical Merchant cards. While Merchant and Crystal Blessing can get a lot of Crystal Beasts into your spell and trap zone quickly, the use of Merchant concedes field presence to the opponent. While Merchant works to establish a slower tempo in terms of raw card presence by denying your opponent the ability to rob you of a card through battle, it also doesn’t defend you very well since it gets knocked off the field by just about anything. I’d prefer to employ an enabling set of cards that don’t leave me so open to attacks. I’ll basically be trading out the Merchants for something that can do that.

Heavy Storm is an exceptionally difficult card to play in any Crystal Beast deck, and while I prefer not to deal in absolutes, I’m skeptical about its use. It seems like this deck is at its best when it has four Crystal Beasts in its spell and trap zone, because then it can use Crystal Abundance and the all-important “draw an extra card” effect of Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins. Heavy Storm will impede the deck’s ability to grow towards those effects, so I’m going to remove it and replace it with something else. I’ll also get rid of Mystical Space Typhoon. This deck gets a lot of Crystal Beasts into the spell and trap zone, but doesn’t really expend them, so we’ll be safe replacing Typhoon with the more versatile Crystal Raigeki. I’m going to drop one of the three Crystal Blessings for the same reason. Drawing multiples in a deck that doesn’t max out on Crystal Raigeki and Rare Value is often a game-losing event, and I want to nip that threat in the bud.

I’m going to refocus towards Rainbow Ruins a bit, and since I’m reducing the deck’s size and adding some cards that thin it, I don’t think we need more than one Crystal Abundance. By the time I’m finished, this deck will be able to control the field well enough that it can wait for Crystal Abundance to appear if needed.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a big fan of Last Resort. While it lends a certain amount of surprise to your use of Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins, it can only be activated when your opponent attacks. That leaves you vulnerable to Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Mobius the Frost Monarch, just to name a few. I’ll be focusing more on the Ruins, so this will remain an important card slot, but it needs to be used a little differently.

Finally, those four trap slots currently occupied by Threatening Roar and Waboku could be used for much more useful tech. I’m going to drop all four to free up space. With that done, let’s add some cards!

First up, a third Sapphire Pegasus is definitely necessary. No other card gets a Crystal Beast into your spell and trap zone with as much ease as this one, so running three is an absolute must. It’s the biggest un-boosted beatstick the Crystal Beasts have, and with it plus another key play, we can get Rainbow Ruins drawing an extra card for us by turn 3.

Pegasus is an excellent opener, but I want to strengthen this deck’s performance in the early game. With that in mind I’m going to employ a Crystal Beast I don’t use as often as some of the others: Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise. The Tortoise essentially demands either a Cyber Dragon, a Monarch, or some big Fusion to take it down in battle. I’ll be taking measures to remove the last two threats, so if the deck is played correctly, then the Tortoise will often draw out a card-for-card monster removal effect. That’s an awesome deal since it costs the opponent options while opening up more of mine, which makes three Tortoise cards worthwhile. As much as I love the attack power of Amber Mammoth, a little more stall seems best in this case.

The first drastic change I want to make is the addition of three Giant Rat cards and a single Rescue Cat. The Rats will let me get to Rescue Cat reliably, and the act of setting a face-down Giant Rat is going to interact tactically with the same play of Emerald Tortoise, creating some confusion for opponents. Once Rescue Cat hits the field, it can be tributed to bring out a pair of Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat cards. Using a complete retinue of Giant Rat will let me block multiple attacks and exhaust my opponent’s offense before I bring out the Cat, ensuring that it survives until my turn where I can use it in main phase 1. From there, I can attack with both Cats with relative impunity. Sending a Rat on a kamikaze mission to get at Rescue Cat in main phase 2 is also viable, but I’d rather juice 1200 or 2400 damage out of the Amethyst Cats if possible.

That’s it for monsters, but I’ll start the new spell lineup with another copy of Crystal Promise. With three Pegasus cards in the deck, Promise becomes incredibly useful, and the slightly lower monster count can be compensated for with more special summoning.

Another Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins and a copy of Terraforming will ensure that Rainbow Ruins sees play in most games. While some might run just two copies of Rainbow Ruins and one Terraforming, I find that drawing multiple copies of Rainbow Ruins isn’t as big of a problem as other multiple field spells can be. The reason? If you ever draw into a second Rainbow Ruins and you have four Crystal Beasts in your spell and trap zone, you can draw for the first Rainbow Ruins, activate the second, and then draw again. You effectively cycle the Rainbow Ruins for another card, thinning your deck without losing anything. This is another reason why Terraforming is better than Last Resort. If you draw Last Resort, you have to bring out your new Rainbow Ruins on the opponent’s turn, meaning that you never get a chance to use the double draw.

Another Rare Value and Snatch Steal round out the spell lineup. I like to use two Rare Value cards in almost every Crystal Beast deck I build, primarily because it ups the worth of Crystal Blessing. In most games, I find that I generally fill the spell and trap zone through the natural course of battle anyway, so Blessing’s utility only remains high if I use a base number of effects that send spell-form Crystal Beasts to the graveyard. In addition, Rare Value helps me recover when I lose field presence. That’s arguably more important in a build that foregoes Rainbow Ruin for Cyber Dragon, since the Dragon makes it easier to leverage cards back into field presence, but I feel it’s still relevant here. As for Snatch Steal, well . . . it’s freaking Snatch Steal, people! Sure, it might clog one of my spell and trap zones, but if I’m keeping the monster my opponent let me take, odds are good that I’m winning the game regardless. Honestly, Snatch Steal never seems to stay on the field long enough for me to worry about it clogging my backfield. It also helps this deck control the opponent’s monsters, which as I mentioned earlier, was a big concern for me coming into this fix.

In fact, all five trap cards I add to the deck are going to be monster control. Two Crystal Raigeki cards will fill the gap left by Heavy Storm and Mystical Space Typhoon, while also providing more versatility. With the Rescue Cat combo and two Crystal Blessing cards, this deck will often have expendable Crystal Beasts, and two Raigekis plus two Rare Value cards provide a balanced outlet. My last addition will be three copies of Pulling The Rug. This is risky when one considers the mid and late game, because at that point you’ll often be packing three Crystal Beasts in your back row, and a set Rug can keep you from setting any of your other traps. But if Pulling the Rug is played skillfully in this deck, then all of Jason’s Gadget and Monarch woes should disappear. They’re especially important as an answer to Raiza the Storm Monarch, which can otherwise clog your draw phase by sending spell-form Crystal Beasts back to the top of your deck. Just be sure to play them carefully.

That’s it for the fix, so check out the recap of the changes I made:

-3 Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle

-1 Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle

-3 Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth

-3 Magical Merchant

-1 Heavy Storm

-1 Mystical Space Typhoon

-1 Crystal Abundance

-1 Crystal Blessing

-2 Waboku

-2 Threatening Roar

-1 Last Resort

+1 Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus

+2 Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise

+3 Giant Rat

+1 Rescue Cat

+1 Crystal Promise

+1 Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins

+1 Rare Value

+1 Terraforming

+1 Snatch Steal

+3 Pulling the Rug

+2 Crystal Raigeki

The final build looks like this.

Crystal Beast Crush—Jason’s Fix: 40 Cards

Monsters: 18

3 Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus

3 Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise

1 Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle

3 Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger

3 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat

3 Giant Rat

1 Rescue Cat

1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

Spells: 14

3 Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins

2 Crystal Blessing

2 Crystal Promise

2 Rare Value

1 Crystal Abundance

2 Crystal Beacon

1 Terraforming

1 Snatch Steal

Trap: 8

3 Pulling the Rug

2 Crystal Raigeki

1 Mirror Force

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Torrential Tribute

This deck now has nine viable opening monsters: you can summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, set Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise, or set Giant Rat. The Rat is actually my number-one pick on turn 1 (provided I haven’t drawn Rescue Cat) because if my opponent attacks on the first turn, I can pull Rescue Cat with impunity. In any other situation, I’d need to worry about Call of the Haunted throwing off my calculations as to when I should search for Cat and when I should search another Rat instead. Once the Cat is out, the opponent either has to let me use it or employ monster removal to get rid of it, the latter being an infrequent scenario.

In the mid-game, you won’t play as aggressively as the Beatdown-oriented Crystal Beast builds we’ve featured over the past few weeks. Instead, the deck fights at a more stick-and-move pace, picking the fights it can win and dealing damage where it can. You don’t need to be recklessly aggressive in order to stack up spell-form Crystal Beasts: take your time if your opponent lets you. Pulling the Rug means that time is on your side in Monarch matchups, and often your best mid-game plays will be follow-up attacks to a well-timed Rug activation.

Play for control, eliminating your opponent’s options even though you may not eliminate his or her cards. Never, ever underestimate the worth of Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins’ various effects. While the “can’t be destroyed,” “draw a card,” and “special summon a Crystal Beast” effects get a lot of press, that damage-reducing effect is an utter beast! While it sounds unimpressive, the ability to mitigate the pressure an aggressive opponent tries to leverage onto you is ridiculously good. It buys you the time you need to make calculated moves instead of desperate ones. As for the “give up a Crystal Beast to negate a spell or trap card” effect, consider this your insurance against three cards: Heavy Storm, Brain Control, and Soul Exchange. All three can work around the patterns this deck needs to adhere to, and Rainbow Ruins has built-in fail-safes to stop them all if you play correctly. It’s important to regard Crystal Promise and Crystal Beacon as a means of supporting this effect. Beacon is especially good, since it won’t pluck a Crystal Beast from your spell and trap zone.

Crystal Beasts can be a top contender in the current format, but they need to be carefully teched, and more importantly, well understood. I’m excited to be on the floor at both Canadian and U.S. Nationals this year, because I’m convinced that at least one of them is going to be a breakout tournament for the Crystal Beasts. When it happens, I’ll be there, and I really can’t wait.

Thanks for sending it in, Jason! Hopefully the fix helps.

—Jason Grabher-Meyer

Got a cool deck that you think could benefit from some advice? Send me a decklist in the format shown in this article, along with your name, location, and a couple of paragraphs describing how the deck works. You can reach me at jdgmetagame@gmail.com.