Bill: Okay, I attack your face-down monster with my Dark Magician of Chaos and . . .

Rob: I flip Waboku. Nice try. You flipped Magician of Faith with that attack, so I’ll get back my Dark Core.

Bill: Argh!

Rob: My turn. I’ll summon Tsukuyomi to flip Magician of Faith face down. I play Dark Core and discard a Sinister Serpent to remove your Dark Magician of Chaos from play. I then attack for 1100.

Bill: Okay . . . I still have 3800 life points, though.

Rob: Nope. Now I’ll sacrifice my Wave-Motion Cannon to deal 3000 damage to you. Finally, I’ll flip Call of the Haunted to revive my Cannon Soldier, which will sacrifice my monsters to finish you off.

Bill: Argh . . . well, I lost again to that amazing and super Tsukuyomi. (Writer’s note: it’s terrific! Go use it! No more Tsukuyomi plugs this article, I promise!)

Rob: Yeah. The burner cards I use, such as Wave-Motion Cannon, really help Tsukuyomi. Alone, it’s not enough to actually deal damage to you.

Bill: Burner cards are great for other decks too. Tom has his control obsessed hands on a one-turn kill deck using Magical Scientist.

Tom: MUWAHAHA! Die from the blazing power of my Pyramid Turtle and the creepy yet annoyingly broken power of my Magical Scientist! Squirm as you realize that you can’t even draw your first card before I defeat you! Bow down to me!!! Hahahahaha!

Bill: Obviously this proves that Tom is completely insane.

Rob: Yeah, and didn’t he lose his last match?

Tom: Um . . .

*Bill and Rob point at Tom and laugh. Tom looks at his $100 Yata and walks away, ignoring them.*


Just for clarification for new Yu-Gi-Oh! players, the term “burner” refers to decks that rely on effects that deal damage to the opponent’s life points, such as the effects of Cannon Soldier, Catapult Turtle, and Wave-Motion Cannon. Unlike other decks, a burner deck does not rely on reducing the opponent’s life points to 0 through attacking.

The burner deck has been around since the creation of Yu-Gi-Oh! The concept of such a deck is rather simple: reduce your opponent’s life points to 0 through your card effects. However, duelists have many different ways of achieving this goal. In fact, the burner deck is just a general name for a variety of decks. For example, a duelist like Tom might decide to use a burner strategy to defeat the opponent in one turn. Perhaps Rob wants to force his opponents to keep a powerful titan on their field that will slowly but surely melt away their life points. Maybe Bill wants to put aside his beatdown deck and focus on gaining life with Fire Princess.

There are so many themes in burner that covering all of them would take too long. You’d be giving up on this article before I could finish them all. Instead, I’ll focus on specific burner cards: Cannon Soldier/Catapult Turtle, Wave-Motion Cannon, Fire Princess, and Lava Golem.


Card Breakdown

Catapult Turtle and Cannon Soldier both have similar effects. Cannon Soldier is a level 4 monster with a below average ATK and a good effect for burner decks. For every monster you offer as a tribute to Cannon Soldier, you can deal 500 damage to your opponent’s life points. This cost may seem steep, especially since average tournament decks only have around fifteen to eighteen monsters. However, Cannon Soldier is most useful during the end of a duel when the opponent only has around 1000 to 2000 life points left. At that time, Cannon Soldier makes the perfect finishing blow.

In a burner deck, 500 life points are nothing to scoff at. As a personal strategy, I usually break down burner damage into fractions of the opponent’s starting life points. Cannon Soldier can instantly take away 1/16 of the opponent’s original 8000 life points. If Cannon Soldier is used with Scapegoat, I can knock away 1/4 to 5/16 of the opponent’s starting life. Looking at damage as fractions or percentages makes the effect seem a little more worthwhile . . . though this is mainly personal strategy and planning.

Catapult Turtle is very similar to Cannon Soldier in most ways. It’s harder to play, however, because of its higher level and its attribute of Water. Many decks run Mystic Tomato and can benefit from having multiple Dark monsters. Cannon Soldier is another choice for your Mystic Tomato effect, along with Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan. However, Catapult Turtle is an essential element in the Magical Scientist One-Turn Kill deck (I neglected to mention this deck in my coverage of Magical Scientist, so now would be a good time to bring it up). This will be explained later.

Fire Princess is one of the most unique burner cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Its effect creates an offensive strike against your opponent’s life points whenever you gain life. Her statistics are below average for her level, though Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, and UFO Turtle can fetch her. This may sound like a weird suggestion, but UFO Turtle is a decent card to use in certain burner decks because it can summon both Fire Princess and Solar Flare Dragon.

Lava Golem is similar to Fire Princess in terms of what style of burner deck you need to fully support it. Only a stall deck will prevent the Lava Golem you graciously gave to your opponent from beating you into the ground while it drips molten rock on your opponent’s life points. Its ATK and DEF are great . . . too bad you don’t get to use it. The primary goal is to either coax the opponent into attacking with Lava Golem by ending your turn without monsters, or to make them think twice before attacking by summoning a monster they won’t want to attack (Amazoness Swords Woman comes to mind in this situation).

Wave-Motion Cannon, like the other two burner cards, also works most efficiently in a stall deck. The damage this card can deal to your opponent is tremendous, but it may be best go settle with 2000 or 3000 damage. Leaving Wave-Motion Cannon vulnerable to spell and trap removal for too long is a risky move, and frankly, it would suck if you’re about to enter your sixth standby phase with this card on the field when your opponent plays a Giant Trunade or a Heavy Storm. In that situation, your opponent will probably say something along the lines of: “Wow, you certainly blew it. Thanks! *thumbs up*”.


The Cards in the Metagame

It’s been ages since Fire Princess has been effectively used in a tournament. Unfortunately people view it as lacking in power, and it’s hard to blame them for reaching this conclusion. With Chaos still a large threat to almost any deck, it’s hard to put your faith in Fire Princess. Lava Golem and Wave-Motion Cannon are in the same boat; both cards are overlooked as viable options for a tournament-worthy burner decks.

It’s easy to believe Lava Golem could be made into a strong deck type. The only problem is keeping it on your opponent’s side of the field. Wave-Motion Cannon can deal quite a bit of damage, but it’s often ignored since most tournament decks run six forms of spell and trap removal, excluding Chaos Emperor Dragon. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to run these decks and successfully win a tournament. It’s just a really difficult task to complete, and most tournament duelists take an easy road by playing what is typically seen as tier one in the metagame.

Cannon Soldier and Catapult Turtle, on the other hand, are very popular choices, particularly for the Magical Scientist One-Turn Kill deck. While the deck is a rare sight, the One-Turn Kill deck usually reaches the Top 8 of most regional tournaments.


Ways to Use/Counter These Cards

Burner cards are built for combos, whether simple or complex. I won’t go into every single combo, but I will discuss the most played and most effective ones.

While I neglected to mention this in the Magical Scientist analysis, Catapult Turtle can be used to defeat your opponent on your first turn . . . and I don’t mean your first attack. I mean your first turn before your opponent even draws his or her first card! As long as your life points are nearly equal to or higher than your opponent’s are, you can do this combo. Magical Scientist can special summon Fusion monsters of 2100 ATK or higher, while Catapult Turtle can then sacrifice those monsters to deal damage to the opponent. For every monster you summon through Magical Scientist, you’ll lose 1000 life points, but for every fusion monster of 2100 ATK or greater you sacrifice to Catapult Turtle, the opponent will suffer 1050 to 1100 damage. If both you and your opponent were at 8000 life points before this, by the time you have only 1000 life points left, your opponent will have only about 500 life points left. And you still have Catapult Turtle and Magical Scientist that you can sacrifice to finish the opponent off. This combo can successfully be done on the first turn with the aid of cards such as Cannon Soldier, Gilasaurus, Reasoning, Last Will, and Monster Gate.

Cannon Soldier can also be used in another vicious first turn kill. However, unlike the Catapult/Magical Scientist combo, this one takes more cards to pull off and has been overlooked for a while. You need to have a Cannon Soldier face up on the field, along with Spell Economics. Summon Dark Magician of Chaos somehow (whether it’s from graveyard recursion or deck thinning cards like Reasoning). Sacrifice Dark Magician of Chaos to Cannon Soldier, which will remove it from the game. Play Dimension Fusion to special summon Dark Magician of Chaos once again, and return that Dimension Fusion to your hand with its effect (remember that you pay no life points to activate Dimension Fusion). Sacrifice Dark Magician of Chaos once again to Cannon Soldier, play Dimension Fusion, rinse, repeat, run through the spin cycle, place in the dryer, and realize after my annoying little reference that you have your opponent is in an infinite loop. Eventually you’ll drop your opponent’s life points to 0. Besides that, Cannon Soldier is also used in a combination with Scapegoat, which inflicts an easy 2000 points of damage to the opponent if all you’re doing is sacrificing the Scapegoats. Peten the Dark Clown also works very well with Cannon Soldier for a solid 1500 damage.

The main combo associated with Fire Princess involves keeping the opponent from attacking it while you send three [Marie the Fallen Ones] to the graveyard as soon as possible. You’ll be dealing between 500 and 1500 damage every standby phase. Cards such as Cure Mermaid also work with Fire Princess. Stall cards like Gravity Bind and Level Limit - Area B help Fire Princess tremendously. This strategy is basically the same for Lava Golem. It’s all a matter of protecting the cards you control that keep your opponent from attacking.

Both Fire Princess and Lava Golem have some weaknesses you can exploit if you’re forced to fight against them. Decks that use Fire Princess rely on their continuous life gain cards. Removing their Marie the Fallen Ones and Cure Mermaids from the graveyard and field slows the deck tremendously, giving you a chance to find a method of attack. Lava Golem decks are weak to a variety of cards, such as spell and trap removal that can take out the opponent’s stalling cards. This gives you a chance to attack with the fiery leviathan your opponent so graciously gave you . . . Sacrificing Lava Golem works too, though your opponent may be running Mask of Restrict, so be careful.

Cannon Soldier and Catapult Turtle have no real weaknesses. Even if you attempt to destroy the monsters, the owners have priority to use their effect at least once before you have the chance to respond. Be sure to remove these monsters from the field as fast as possible in any way you can. If you’re unlucky enough to face these monsters in a One-Turn Kill deck, and your opponent is going first, then all I have to say is good luck next duel.


Are They Overrated/Underrated?

While both Cannon Soldier and Catapult Turtle see play, their effects outside of the One-Turn Kill decks are often overlooked. You may occasionally see a burner deck utilizing Cannon Soldier or Catapult Turtle, but it’s rare. Both of these cards are underrated.

Fire Princess and Lava Golem are highly underrated. Fire Princess is a very difficult card to work with, but with the massive amount of life gain cards available to duelists, she can be a real nuisance to the opponent while she’s alive. Be sure to protect her from being destroyed, as her statistics aren’t too impressive for a level 4 monster. Lava Golem not only acts as a burner threat to the opponent, but also as monster removal to pesky flip effect or annoying continuous effect monsters such as Jinzo. In the worst case scenario, you’ll be sacrificing two of your opponent’s monsters that could deal more than 3000 damage to give them a 3000 ATK monster you don’t intend to kill. Even if you take the direct attack, it’s still a lighter blow than the combined force of the opponent’s original monsters. Perhaps you can utilize Lava Golem’s attack to your advantage. Inferno Tempest certainly comes to mind in this situation.

Be sure to check back into Metagame.com for my next analysis on some extremely annoying flip effect monsters. One can turn the game in your favor with its ability to re-use spells, and the other can be annoying no matter what your opponent does to you. Check back to read about the Yin and Yang of flip effects: Magician of Faith and Night Assailant.

Got any questions, comments, flames, praises of Tsukuyomi, or success stories with Tsukuyomi that you care to share? Or perhaps you’d like to tell me to quit talking about that annoying Spirit? I’d love to hear them all . . . well, most of them. Email me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com and I’ll be sure to get back to you!