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Doomkaiser Dragon
Card# CSOC-EN043

Doomkaiser Dragon's effect isn't just for Zombie World duelists: remember that its effect can swipe copies of Plaguespreader Zombie, too!
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				Jerome McHale

		The School of Duel — It’s All You - February 03, 2009
		Playing "by the book" is almost guaranteed to let you make the "strongest" move in a given scenario, but it isn’t necessarily going to maximize your chances to win the current duel.

		Almost There — Back In Black (Garden) - January 27, 2009
		When you decide to play Plants, you aren’t risking your life in the tournament on whether or not you can draw a single card eight or ten rounds in a row. You’re engaging in a test of dueling ability that will reward you with wins, almost regardless of what you’re playing against.

		Almost There — Our Dragons Are Different - January 20, 2009
		The entire point of the Hopeless Dragon deck is to play a bunch of Dragons, the bigger the better.

		Almost There — A Word to the Wise - January 13, 2009
		While this build is merely a first look at the idea, I’m confident that anyone who can successfully and consistently put Neos Wiseman on the field will win the game.

		Best of 2008 - Almost There: Garden of Nightmares - January 06, 2009
		When I first sat down and decided to decipher the multitude of text of Black Garden, I had no idea that I would end up playing a deck based around it at Shonen Jump Championship Detroit...

		Best of 2008 - The School of Duel: We Have Standards - December 30, 2008
		A wise player will make the effort to learn why the good cards are good and use this to his or her advantage to turn profits and gain a competitive advantage over others. If that sounds good to you, then this is an article that you won’t want to miss.

		Almost There: Mindwarp - December 23, 2008
		While life point gain has never been a viable strategy, if you can gain life points as a byproduct of doing the things you need to do to win the game, it can be a valuable tool in your arsenal.

		Almost There: First to Seven - December 16, 2008
		I see people at my local store raving all the time about how "broken" it is to stick Destiny Draw on top of your deck and then dump it with Diamond Dude. These people are thinking WAY too small.

		Almost There: There’s Always One - December 09, 2008
		At every Shonen Jump Championship I go to—no matter where—I always find myself matched up against That Guy in the first three rounds...

		Almost There: She Wants to Sell My Monkey - December 02, 2008
		We’ll take a lot of recruiter-esque monsters, add in some anti-metagame tech, toss in a set of Royal Oppression cards, and let the angry monkey loose. How can this possibly go wrong?

		The School of Duel: Just Say Go - November 28, 2008
		The truly frightening thing about Gorz is that he might be lurking in any deck under the sun.

		Almost There: A Return to Simpler Times - November 25, 2008
		Interestingly enough, Crow, Frog, and Forced Back are basically nonexistent a year later, and Destiny Hero - Malicious is unlimited again. Perhaps it’s time for a comeback?

		Almost There: The Rising Cost of Brains - November 18, 2008
		There are two basic reasons that Zombies have wound up back in the public eye despite having only one Day 2 appearance in a heavily hybridized deck...

		The School of Duel: We Have Standards - November 14, 2008
		What makes a card good? This question has been debated since the origins of trading card games, but the qualities that make a card good remain constant throughout.

		Almost There: Garden of Nightmares - November 11, 2008
		Since I first saw the text for this card, I’ve constantly put off figuring out exactly how to make it work owing to it being ridiculously complex to build around and use.

		Almost There: The Oncoming Storm - November 04, 2008
		If there are two things that Teleport Dark Armed Dragon decks need, it’s spell cards and the ability to remove cards in their graveyard from play. Guess what? Those happen to be two things that Spellcaster decks can shut down with ruthless efficiency.

		Crossroads of Chaos Preview: Plant Spectacular! - October 27, 2008
		I’m not really sure how it was decided that Plants would be the previously maligned type that would suddenly become super-powered, but I’m all for playing new, theme-specific versions of cards that everyone else plays alongside their generic counterparts.

		Crossroads of Chaos Preview: Black Rose Dragon - October 26, 2008
		Black Rose Dragon is the third ‘D’ of ‘5D’s’ fame, and she’s capable of destruction that Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend just can’t match.

		Crossroads of Chaos Preview: Rose, Warrior of Revenge - October 20, 2008
		I’d love to tell you about all the new decks this card enables, but quite frankly I don’t even know how many decks become playable just because it’s a level-4 Tuner.

		Almost There: To The Last Dude - October 14, 2008
		What I really wanted was to combine the TeleDAD strategy with Synchro Dude. They share a lot of goals in common, so it shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

		Almost There: The Six Million Dollar Samurai - October 07, 2008
		Instead of outright killing the Six Samurai strategy, I think the Limitation of Reasoning gave it an opportunity to redefine itself in a way that players will actually appreciate.

		Almost There: Rescue Teleport - September 30, 2008
		D.D. Crow is the method of choice for preventing any of this from happening in the first place, so today I present a method of performing a first-turn Synchro summon in such a way that D.D. Crow won’t be able to stop you.

		Almost There: Exercising Restraint - September 23, 2008
		Many people have claimed that Dark Horus in its current form is completely unplayable. These people are very wrong.

		Almost There: Shackled - September 16, 2008
		I watched a lot of matches being played and observed a lot of people preparing their decks for the event, and I barely saw any Little City.

		Almost There: Duped - September 09, 2008
		Before I get to the actual decklist this week, I’d like to take a moment to talk about what decks are going to have to be able to do if they want to survive this format.

		Almost There: Geartown, USA - September 02, 2008
		When I decided to build a deck based around Geartown, my first instinct was to call up Dr. Crellian Vowler and ask him to write an intro for it.

		Almost There: Riding a Wave of Lightsworn - August 26, 2008
		I really wish people would wait until they try the Sneak Preview promos before decrying them as "bad."

		Almost There: All in Your Mind - August 19, 2008
		Since we’re talking about playing Psychic monsters here, it’s only right that we also play six copies of Solemn Judgment.

		Almost There: Synchro School - August 12, 2008
		Over- and undervaluation of specific Synchro monsters is widespread, leading to bad decisions flying left and right that certainly won’t cut it when we reach the first Shonen Jump Championship of the 5D’s era.

		The Duelist Genesis Preview: Splendid Venus - August 06, 2008
		Splendid Venus says "no" to your opponent’s ability to say "no." In effect, you win every counter war before it begins.

		The Duelist Genesis Preview: Charge of the Light Brigade - August 04, 2008
		For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard players saying, "if only (insert favorite type here) had its own version of Reinforcement of the Army."

		The Duelist Genesis Preview: Goyo Guardian - July 29, 2008
		It is my firm belief that this card is going to be the most sought-after Synchro monster at the Sneak Preview.

		Almost There: Vaccination - July 22, 2008
		What if there was absolutely no possible way for Crush Card Virus to get me? Better yet, what if I could build my deck to counter the entire metagame at once and make it completely Crush proof?

		Almost There: Water Park - July 15, 2008
		Between Star Boy and Wetlands, you can make some huge, direct attacking monsters that sometimes destroy spell and trap cards. It’s really quite nasty...

		Almost There: Fate Has Spoken - July 08, 2008
		With time slipping away before The Duelist Genesis previews begin, I figured the only fair way to decide which deck I would definitely cover before previews was to flip a coin. In a very fitting twist of fate, the coin came up in favor of the Arcana Force.

		Almost There: Suppression - July 01, 2008
		The most frightening monster in the entirety of U.S. Nationals was not Dark Armed Dragon or Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and it sure wasn’t Judgment Dragon. It was Prime Material Dragon.

		Almost There: Terrorific - June 24, 2008
		One of the characteristics that define the top decks of this format is the ability to deal with any threat via a monster effect.

		Almost There: The Pulverizer - June 17, 2008
		When it comes to being unstoppable, no monsters do it better than Ancient Gear monsters.

		Almost There: And in the End . . . - June 10, 2008
		There’s a certain thrill attached to the summoning of a boss monster that really can’t be duplicated by anything else in the game.

		Almost There: The Triumphant Returner - June 03, 2008
		It’s probably for the best that pulling off the Future Fusion trick doesn’t put an automatic 8000+ points of ATK on the field...

		Almost There: The Endless Turn - May 27, 2008
		If you think about it, a card that forces your opponent to skip his or her turn is pretty unfair.

		Almost There: CAGE FIGHT! - May 20, 2008
		Going into the St. Louis weekend, there are three big decks that should be in every player’s gauntlet regardless of whether or not he or she is planning on playing the decks.

		Almost There: Covered in Starlight - May 13, 2008
		How would you feel if I told you that Celestia, Lightsworn Angel could be a perfectly acceptable alternative to Judgment Dragon as long as you build your deck with her in mind?

		Almost There: Recharged and Ready to Go - May 05, 2008
		In the field of finishers, the Batterymen have made out like bandits, landing not one but two massive game-ending monsters.

		Light of Destruction Preview: Honest - April 29, 2008
		I’m not going to beat around the bush here. Honest is the best battle trick ever printed.

		Light of Destruction Preview: Glorious Illusion and Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior - April 26, 2008
		There’s a certain thrill that I get from previewing cards that are capable of winning Shonen Jump Championships.

		Light of Destruction Preview: Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Solar Exchange - April 22, 2008
		There is no card you can put on the field that a Lightsworn deck can’t reach out and destroy. Think about that.

		Almost There: All the Time in the World - April 14, 2008
		What is an "alternate metagame," you ask? It’s simple. Imagine that somehow, somewhere along the line, a specific card never existed.

		Almost There: How Enchanting - April 07, 2008
		You may have noticed that over the past few weeks there has been a common theme among the decks I’ve presented...

		Almost There: Every Move You Make - March 31, 2008
		Let’s think for a moment about the overall goal of any combo deck.

		Almost There—Wanted: Brains - March 24, 2008
		If there is one thing I really enjoy about the vast majority of duelists being so completely focused on one deck, it’s that it drives the secondary market prices down on popular cards that I normally couldn’t lay my hands on.

		Almost There: The War Machine - March 17, 2008
		What if the Oppression Gadget deck is just countering the wrong cards?

		Almost There: Oodles of Plants - March 10, 2008
		This week I’m returning to the classic trading card game win condition: beating your opponent over the head with monsters until you win.

		Almost There: The Daily Grind - March 03, 2008
		Phantom Darkness has brought us an all-new way to wipe out our opponents in one turn, and you’ll need Grinder Golem to do it!

		Almost There: Armageddon Unlimited - February 25, 2008
		I submit that anyone who shies away from The Beginning of the End due to its large Dark monster requirement is either a coward or abnormally afraid of Macro Cosmos.

		Almost There: Crystal Lattice - February 18, 2008
		If there’s anything better than being allowed to have three copies of Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in your deck, it’s having the potential to create another three copies of Pegasus

		Almost There: Little Deck of Horrors - February 11, 2008
		Anyone who doesn’t believe I can win on the very first turn thanks to Gigaplant and Lonefire Blossom is free to go.

		Almost There: Nightmare Swing - February 04, 2008
		If there’s one group of cards that I saw people completely undervaluing and maligning at the Phantom Darkness Sneak Preview, it’s the Yubel series of monsters.

		Almost There: Free Monster Economy - January 28, 2008
		The Dark Creator is everything that The Creator always wanted to be and then some.

		Phantom Darkness Preview: Armageddon Knight and Dark Eruption - January 19, 2008
		This kind of power is enough to bring Dark decks back to the mainstream.

		Phantom Darkness Preview: Volcanic Counter - January 14, 2008
		Volcanic Counter is the card that Volcanic decks have been waiting for.

		Almost There: Polar Opposites - January 07, 2008
		I think the biggest reason people haven’t tried out Frost and Flame Dragon is because it can be hard to play.

		Best of 2007, The School of Duel: Pattern Recognition - December 31, 2007
		Think fast: what’s the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG’s most common opening move?

		Best of 2007, Almost There: Sage Advice - December 24, 2007
		With the Sanctuary on call, Counter Fairy decks reach a whole new level of awesome as they gain the ability to smash through the opponent’s field while gaining life points and drawing cards—just for countering something the opponent wanted to do.

		Almost There: Molten Fury - December 18, 2007
		I’m amazed that I don’t hear more about how incredibly good Volcanic Rocket is

		Almost There: Decidedly Nightmarish - December 10, 2007
		No one picked up on the fact that successfully resolving Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror delivers a kick in the face to the most popular deck in the format and can be real game changer.

		Almost There: Null Space - December 03, 2007
		Is the Dragon a good card? Of course it is. It’s so good you can use it to explain college-level mathematics.

		Almost There: Rise of the Impromptu Dragon Lords - November 26, 2007
		You can build this deck primarily from cards found in the new structure.

		Almost There: Happy Little Clouds - November 19, 2007
		Now do you see how devious the Cloudians can be?

		Almost There: Now With Fewer Lions! - November 12, 2007
		The Gladiator Beasts are second only to the Six Samurai in providing a versatile suite of effects to choose from.

		Almost There: In Event of Samurai, Break GLAS - November 05, 2007
		Well, I’m about ready to call this one: of all the current deck types that Gladiator’s Assault supports, the Six Samurai are the big winners.

		Gladiator’s Assault Preview: Necroface - October 31, 2007
		Just from reading that effect, I can come up with a deck designed to win on the very first turn.

		Gladiator’s Assault Preview: Enishi, Shien’s Chancellor - October 23, 2007
		Enishi gives you the freedom to play a deck packed to the brim with cards that dominate your opponent.

		Almost There: Classically Trained - October 15, 2007
		If you were to pick one deck that you considered “classic,” how would you go about making your decision?

		Almost There: Combo Never Dies - October 08, 2007
		There are a number of factors that determine whether or not a deck will survive in a given format.

		The School of Duel: Here We Go Again - October 01, 2007
		Now, I’m speaking to you regarding what one might consider the exact opposite of the National Championships: the first Shonen Jump Championship of a new format.

		Almost There: Dahntahn - October 01, 2007
		For those of you not acquainted with the wonders of Pittsburghese, allow me to translate. “Dahntahn” translates to “downtown,” as in the central portion of a city.

		Almost There: Bound In Chains - September 24, 2007
		I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Zombie decks these days draw a whole lot of cards.

		Almost There: Crystal Clear - September 17, 2007
		These new Hobby League cards are driving me crazy. Just as soon as I think I’ve finally made a given deck as shiny as it can possibly be, Hobby League goes and says otherwise.

		Almost There: Dreadnought - September 10, 2007
		One of the more interesting changes to the new Forbidden and Limited list is the Semi-Limiting of each of the Gadget monsters.

		Almost There: More Magical Tricks - September 03, 2007
		Now we’re left to think of what would happen if that “second Jinzo” became a second Jinzo without the quotation marks: the “real deal” as they say.

		Almost There: Making Waves - August 27, 2007
		These have truly been excellent months to be a duelist, so here’s hoping for more of the same in the next six.

		Almost There—Snakebite - August 21, 2007
		The Venom monsters and their field spell, Venom Swamp introduce a new way of destroying monsters to the game.

		Almost There — GeminimeG - August 13, 2007
		Rare occurrences in this game aren’t strictly limited to things that happen mid-duel. Sometimes, an event occurs within the wider scope of the game that everybody has to take note of.

		Almost There: Legions of the Undead - August 06, 2007
		I am convinced that I would not enjoy being hunted down by a throng of brain-eating zombies.

		Tactical Evolution Preview: King Pyron and Blazewing Butterfly - July 28, 2007
		Tying together all these themes creates a play experience like no other, and it won’t be long now until you can experience it for yourself.

		Tactical Evolution Preview: Chthonian Emperor Dragon and Gemini Summoner - July 22, 2007
		You had better brace yourself, because the Gemini monsters are like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

		Almost There: A Shot in the Dark - July 16, 2007
		I’ve put together the Top 4 decks from U.S. Nationals, and played around with them to see exactly how they work. Three of them are fairly straightforward. One of them isn’t.

		Almost There: The Transmigration Trickster - July 09, 2007
		As I look back on the events of recent weeks—U.S. Nationals, Canadian Nationals, and the European Championships—there is an omission from each and every top decklist that I find truly mystifying.

		Almost There: Return of the Titan - July 03, 2007
		Prometheus was, in Greek mythology, the titan who stole fire from the gods and brought it to mankind. As is often the case in these myths, things didn’t go so well for the titan as soon as Zeus found out what he had done.

		Almost There: Magnetic Moments - June 25, 2007
		By the time you read this, North America will have found itself a set of National Champions.

		The School of Duel: US Nationals Part 2 - June 20, 2007
		Welcome back to School of Duel’s special pre-Nationals lesson. When we last left off, I was going to talk about Monarch decks for a while.

		Almost There: Fractured Reality - June 18, 2007
		By the time you read this, U.S. Nationals will be less than a week away. At this point, I’m assuming that everyone already has their main decks nailed down pretty solidly.

		The School of Duel: The Final Push - June 18, 2007
		This is it. U.S. Nationals is this Saturday. Are you ready for it?

		Almost There: Mass Hysteria - June 11, 2007
		Last week, I talked about the deck that Commandant turbo-charges. This week, I’ll take the opposite side and look at everything that makes Harpie Queen and the family of cards she serves deserving of the attention that they’re getting.

		Almost There: Anti-Tomb Raiders - June 04, 2007
		Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try to disbelieve it, Zeradias, Herald of Heaven—while number one in my book—was not the most acclaimed of the field spell searchers by the general public. The recipient of that particular honor is somewhat unclear, but we have it narrowed down to two of the six searchers: Harpie Queen and Gravekeeper’s Commandant.

		The School of Duel: New Cards, New Ways to Play - May 29, 2007
		I must say, it’s been a real struggle waiting for Force of the Breaker to become legal for premier events, and it’s clear that I’m not the only one who feels that way.

		Almost There: Sage Advice - May 29, 2007
		With the Sanctuary on call, Counter Fairy decks reach a whole new level of awesome as they gain the ability to smash through the opponent’s field while gaining life points and drawing cards—just for countering something the opponent wanted to do.

		Almost There: Crystal Beast Persuasion - May 21, 2007
		Right now, it seems to me that the most attention anyone is paying to the Crystal Beasts is taking notice of the huge secondary market value of Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, but anyone tempted to sell may want to reconsider, because that card is the foundation for one of the fastest non-combo decks the game has seen in ages.

		Almost There: The Cyberdarkness is Rising - May 14, 2007
		There’s nothing quite like hoping and hoping for something new to come out for your favorite deck only to find at the next Sneak Preview that your dreams have been fulfilled.

		Almost There: Volcanic Burn - May 07, 2007
		Burn decks have seen a huge resurgence in popularity lately, partly as a result of Jasmin Gauthier’s 2nd place finish at Shonen Jump Championship Montreal, but primarily due to the fact that it’s an excellent metagame call right now.

		Force of the Breaker Preview: Volcanic Rocket - May 03, 2007
		If you’ve checked out the website for the Force of the Breaker Sneak Preview (and you really should, considering that the event is taking place tomorrow and Sunday), you already know that the special Sneak Preview card you’ll receive for playing in the event is called Volcanic Rocket.

		Force of the Breaker Preview: Elemental Hero Captain Gold & Gravekeeper’s Commandant - April 26, 2007
		Force of the Breaker seeks to change everything by introducing a new cycle of cards that will change the way we think about playing field spells.

		The School of Duel: Pattern Recognition - April 16, 2007
		Think fast: what’s the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG’s most common opening move?

		Almost There: Spellfire - April 16, 2007
		The main thing that I needed to figure out when I started to build this deck was whether I was going to try to be aggressive or defensive with it.

		Almost There: Striking Like Lightning - April 09, 2007
		This deck is, in a word, terrifying for everyone involved.

		Almost There: Gearing Up - April 02, 2007
		I’m a huge fan of the Ancient Gear monsters. Maybe not as big of a fan as the esteemed Dr. Vowler, but a fan nonetheless.

		The School of Duel: Side Decks Are for Winners - March 26, 2007
		I really don’t know how else to put it: if you want to win a Regional or a Shonen Jump Championship, you need a side deck, plain and simple.

		Almost There: Advanced Smashing Techniques - March 26, 2007
		By the time you read this, Shonen Jump Championship Columbus will be over and done with, and more than likely, I will have had a lot to say about Advanced Ritual Art in the coverage from that event.

		Almost There: Big City - March 19, 2007
		I don’t know about any of you, but watching Joey Skiles play at Shonen Jump Championship Houston was inspiring. I knew Elemental Hero Stratos was good, but I had never actually seen someone play the card in his namesake deck.

		Almost There: Downsizing - March 12, 2007
		About ten months ago, the dueling world was shocked to learn that Shrink, one of the most coveted cards that hadn’t yet seen an American release, would be the new exclusive Shonen Jump Championship prize card for the foreseeable future.

		Almost There: Code of the Samurai - March 05, 2007
		When was the last time you looked at a new set of monsters and said, “Wow, someone is going to do some serious damage with these guys?”

		The School of Duel: In With the New - March 05, 2007
		We have a new set and a new Forbidden and Limited list, and in honor of these, this week’s School of Duel is all about how new decks are devised.

		Almost There: Cycle of Rebirth - February 26, 2007
		My favorite part of the new Forbidden and Limited list isn’t so much what went on the list as it is the cards whose limitations were loosened or eliminated completely.

		The Strike of Neos Sneak Preview: Grandmaster of the Six Samurai - February 22, 2007
		At the Sneak Preview, Grandmaster of the Six Samurai is fair game for both open dueling and any flights you might enter, and that means that the decks you’ll play and play against will be a lot closer to what you might expect in an actual tournament-level deck.

		Strike of Neos Preview: Great Shogun Shien - February 17, 2007
		I know that the waiting is the hardest part, but if you read my preview of Grandmaster from last Monday you’ll notice that I did manage to drop a couple of hints as to Shien’s exact effect.

		It’s Called “Grandmaster” For a Reason - February 10, 2007
		Over the weekend, the dueling world was introduced to what might be the most important promotional card ever produced: Grandmaster of the Six Samurai.

		Almost There: Say Hello to Mr. Laser - February 05, 2007
		Those Solemn Judgment cards from the rest of your Champion Packs will help, so make sure you dig them out!

		The School of Duel: A Proverbial Wrench in the Works - January 30, 2007
		This week, we’re going to take all the principles and strategies introduced in the last installment of School of Duel and tear them apart to expose the Gadgets’ weaknesses.

		Almost There—Ancient Gear Heads - January 29, 2007
		In terms of deck quality, GX has been an absolute godsend for people who enjoy building character decks.

		Almost There – The Snowball Effect - January 22, 2007
		For those of you who don’t know, the “snowball effect” refers to something that starts small and gets progressively larger as time goes on.

		The School of Duel – The Clockwork Coup - January 15, 2007
		Tomorrow should be the day that you can all rush your local gaming store to get your hands on the new Machine Re-Volt Structure Deck.

		Almost There: 8000 Point Dash - January 15, 2007
		Ever since I first saw the previews for Mausoleum of the Emperor, I’ve wanted to build a deck around its incredibly powerful effect.

		Resolutions - January 08, 2007
		Allow me to present a few things that almost any Yu-Gi-Oh! player would like to accomplish this year, along with some hints at how to go about them.

		Best of 2006: Almost There – Just Say No . . . to Everything! - January 01, 2007
		I’ve probably worked longer and harder on this one deck than any other deck I’ve built for any game in my entire life.

		Best of 2006: Lessons to Be Learned from US Nationals - December 25, 2006
		The stories contained within this article are just as humorous and relevant now as they were six months ago when I originally wrote it.

		Almost There: Counter Your Blessings - December 18, 2006
		This week, I’m going to put my own spin on the Counter Fairy burn deck.

		Almost There: Epidemic - December 11, 2006
		This is what many players would call an “anti-meta” deck: a deck that seeks to combat the most popular deck in the metagame by fully exploiting its weaknesses.

		The School of Duel: Building a Better Tomorrow - December 11, 2006
		The main thing I want to talk about this week is a method of evaluating cards based on whether they directly contribute to your strategy, conditionally contribute to your strategy, or conflict with your strategy.

		Almost There: Can’t Touch This! - December 04, 2006
		The monster line-up in this version of the Clockwork deck is specifically designed against current deckbuilding trends in order to minimize the time spent dealing with the opponent’s monsters.

		The School of Duel: Risky Business - November 27, 2006
		Play to win and keep in mind what you stand to gain from taking a given risk. You’ll see a drastic improvement in your decision-making abilities.

		A New Page - November 27, 2006
		The real story of Shonen Jump Championship Anaheim is all the innovation present at the event and the incredible level of success that rewarded the innovators and their efforts.

		Almost There: The New Upgrade - November 20, 2006
		Decks based around the Cyberdark monsters are actually pretty nasty if you think about it, because they’re fully capable of dishing out a continuous stream of 2100+ ATK monsters without ever needing to tribute anything.

		Almost There—Completely Degenerate - November 13, 2006
		If I could combine the restriction on special summoning with total removal thanks to Degenerate Circuit, the resulting deck would in theory invalidate many current strategies.

		Almost There: Get Out of My Face! - November 06, 2006
		This is a good deck to play if you’re looking to expand your skill set beyond the simple card counting that many “virtual pros” like to shove down our throats.

		The School of Duel: Knowledge is Power - November 06, 2006
		This week, I’m going to talk about ways to gather information in-game, along with how to use that information to make good plays.

		Cyberdark Impact Preview: Cyber Shadow Gardna - November 02, 2006
		All in all, Cyber Shadow Gardna is one of the most unique and exciting cards in the game.

		Cyberdark Impact Preview: Justi-Break - October 27, 2006
		In my opinion, the real problem is that normal monsters don’t really have a headliner card that jumps out at you and makes you want to use them. Fortunately, that’s all about to change with Justi-Break!

		The School of Duel: Enemy Controller - October 20, 2006
		Every couple of weeks, I’ll take a look at some facet of the game that people often have difficulty understanding or executing.

		Almost There—World Series - October 16, 2006
		Maybe it’s just my own personal distaste for most burn-centric strategies, but the Fire deck I’ve been tinkering with lately is all about buffing your monsters up and creating more “must eliminate” targets than your opponent can reasonably deal with.

		Almost There — Rats! - October 09, 2006
		Ratbox uses a variety of versatile Earth monsters to keep the opponent off guard until it can bring in the big beaters to finish things off.

		Almost There — Lost at Sea - October 02, 2006
		This week I want to take things a step further and try to eliminate any chance the opponent has to even draw a card that can beat you, let alone use it.

		Almost There: Brave New World - September 25, 2006
		The first Shonen Jump Championship of the new format has come and gone, and we’ve been left with more questions than answers.

		Almost There — Blown Away - September 18, 2006
		The primary goal of this deck is to set up a situation where you can attack your opponent unopposed, but your opponent can’t attack in return.

		Almost There: Just Like Magic - September 11, 2006
		The overall focus of this deck is to create an efficient beatdown machine where each card interacts nicely with each other card.

		Neos Tin Giveaway Results - September 11, 2006
		The response was overwhelming, and reading through each and every entry was an adventure in itself.

		Almost There: Flash!! Flood - September 04, 2006
		I’ve wanted to make a better build of the HERO Flash!! deck for some time now, and with the release of Neos and the changes to the forbidden and limited list, now is the time!

		Metagame.com’s Elemental Hero Neos Tin Giveaway! - September 03, 2006
		The Neos tin is sure to be a hot seller, and Metagame.com wants help you get your hands on one.

		Almost There: The Roid Revolution - August 28, 2006
		Power of the Duelist has brought some exciting new Vehicroid cards into the fold, and the new forbidden and limited list has eliminated the biggest threats to this fledgling deck type.

		Almost There – Just Say No . . . to Everything! - August 21, 2006
		The basic concept of the deck is quite simple: you get to choose which moves they make, and for each move you decide to deny, draw a card!

		The New Forbidden List and You - August 21, 2006
		“It’s a whole new duel,” and I’m ready to enjoy it starting in a couple of weeks.

		Almost There: Not Another Chimeratech Overdragon Deck - August 14, 2006
		It’s no secret that Chimeratech Overdragon is perhaps the hottest card from the Power of the Duelist set.

		Almost There – Four to Doomsday - August 07, 2006
		The primary focus of this deck is to get at least 4000 points of potential burn damage on your side of the field, then play Cold Wave and summon Destiny Hero - Dogma.

		Power of the Duelist Preview: Destiny Hero – Dogma - July 29, 2006
		Destiny Hero - Dogma is the centerpiece of a new burn deck strategy utilizing the other Destiny Heroes.

		Power of the Duelist Preview: Chimeratech Overdragon and Overload Fusion - July 21, 2006
		It’s big, it’s nasty, and if you think for even a second that you’ll be able to make your way through a major event without seeing it, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise.

		Almost There: Back to the Different Dimension - July 17, 2006
		The main allure to playing this deck is the priceless look on everyone’s face the first time the combo goes off.

		Almost There: Mechanical Mayhem - July 10, 2006
		The basic goal for this deck (or any Machine deck, for that matter) is to dish out an obscene amount of damage as quickly as possible with little or no regard for one’s personal health or well-being.

		Almost There: Relative Dimensions - July 03, 2006
		Shonen Jump Denver marked the first time that a Macro Cosmos deck made it anywhere near the Top 8.

		Almost There: Gateway to the Past - June 26, 2006
		I want to put all the tribute monsters that have fallen out of favor into one deck and make it work.

		Almost There: Fairyswap - June 19, 2006
		My favorite cards all do things that no other cards can quite duplicate. I suppose that’s why I enjoy Creature Swap and Mystic Box so much.

		Lessons to Be Learned from US Nationals - June 12, 2006
		While my main focus at the event was on my duties as a judge, it’s impossible to be at a tournament for ten hours with so many excellent players in attendance and not pick up any tips or tricks to help develop my skills as a player.

		Almost There: Battery Powered - June 05, 2006
		The primary focus of this deck is to tie up your opponent’s monster zones with Ojama tokens, force those tokens into attack mode, then special summon 9000 points worth of ATK power with Batteryman AA and Inferno Reckless Summon.

		Almost There: Experience the Strike Ninja Difference - May 29, 2006
		As a fan of clever and interesting decks, I couldn’t resist the allure of Strike Ninja, and as such, I’ve made it my deck of choice for the past month or so.

		Almost There: Diamond Dudes Are Forever - May 22, 2006
		The cool thing about the Destiny Heroes is that their effects are all about manipulating the future.

		Almost There: Gilford and Sons - May 15, 2006
		Now it’s finally time to unveil the deck based around one of my most favorite monsters in the game: Gilford the Lightning

		Enemy of Justice Preview: Forced Back - May 08, 2006
		Sometimes the simplest effects in the game can be the most powerful and thought-provoking.

		Enemy of Justice Preview: Macro Cosmos and Grand Convergence - April 30, 2006
		I’m here with a pair of common cards, but they aren’t just any common cards. They’re two of the most powerful cards ever printed.

		Tournament Pack 8: On Monarchy - April 27, 2006
		For the past six months, the Monarch cards have been the monster kings of swing in card presence and momentum at the highest levels of play.

		Almost There: Steal That Monster! - April 17, 2006
		If there’s one thing that I like more than smashing someone with a huge monster, it’s smashing him with his own huge monster.

		Almost There: Calling Down the Lightning - April 10, 2006
		Zerato is a more balanced incarnation of every Traditional player’s favorite thunderbolt-dropping spell, and it’s a ton of fun to play.

		Almost There: Heart of Darkness - April 03, 2006
		The primary focus of this deck is to lord over control-based decks and outrun aggressive decks by combining a huge removal package with plenty of beatdown power and a side of Fiend support.

		Almost There: The Last Stand - March 27, 2006
		Today, my goal is to achieve absolute dominance of the board, and I’m going to do it with a Fusion monster.

		Enemies of Justice Beware: HERO Flash!! - March 20, 2006
		You’re about to be treated to your first preview of May’s upcoming Enemy of Justice expansion.

		Almost There: It’s Not Easy Being Green - March 13, 2006
		It may not seem like it, but this deck is capable of doing some dirty, dirty things to an unsuspecting opponent.

		End of an Era: From Elemental Energy to Shadow of Infinity - March 06, 2006
		I’ll be taking a look at some of the decks that have shaped the game over the past month, built by top players from Europe, Canada, and the United States.

		Almost There: Multiplicity - February 27, 2006
		The multiplicity monsters, as I call them, are monsters that gain fantastic powers if you have extra copies of them in the graveyard.

		Almost There: Something That’s Been Bugging Me . . . - February 20, 2006
		The Sneak Preview for Shadow of Infinity has come and gone, and I hope that everyone who went to it had a great time.

		Shadow of Infinity Preview: Raviel, Lord of Phantasms - February 13, 2006
		4000 ATK and DEF for a level 10 monster is certainly Big, but how does Raviel stack up in terms of Scariness?

		Shadow of Infinity Preview: Ancient Gear Drill - February 06, 2006
		This card is of monumental importance to the game, because it does something that only two other cards in the game can do. It lets you search for a spell.

		Almost There: Swap Meet - January 30, 2006
		Today I want to celebrate a truly janky card that has, until very recently, been almost entirely unplayable. I’m talking, of course, about Ameba.

		Almost There: Elemental Heroes—A True Underdog Story - January 23, 2006
		All it takes to bring the best players down is a solid game plan and the will to win.

		Spellcaster Week: The Rest of the Story - January 19, 2006
		It’s true that a common version of Breaker the Magical Warrior and two copies of Magical Dimension are more than sufficient reasons to pick up a copy of the Spellcaster’s Judgment Structure Deck, but that’s not all the deck has to offer.

		Spellcaster Week: Magical Rampage - January 16, 2006
		A Spellcaster Burn deck is an interesting concept, but today I want to build a deck around what Spellcasters traditionally do best: rush the field and smash things.

		The Calm Before the Storm - January 09, 2006
		I’m going to share some of the data that I’ve obtained from analyzing and trying out some of the top decks from Bremen and Shonen Jump San Francisco

		Best of 2005: Almost There: The Different Dimension Deck - January 02, 2006
		This was one of my all-time favorite decks to build and play.

		Best of 2005: Playtesting: Not Just for Vs. System Any More - December 26, 2005
		This article is by no means a perfect guide to the ultimate method of playtesting, but it's certainly a good start.

		Dimensional Analysis and You - December 19, 2005
		On December 1, Elemental Energy became legal for premier-level events, and players wasted no time in trying out the new cards at the San Francisco Shonen Jump Championship.

		Almost There: Chemistry 101 - December 12, 2005
		This week I’ve built a Water-based deck that lets you do plenty of drawing, summoning, destroying, and bouncing—and that’s just with your monsters.

		Almost There: All Snowed In - December 05, 2005
		What we have here is a deck that combines the special summoning capabilities of Spellcasters with the lockdown properties of Anti-Spell Fragrance and Cold Wave to reduce your opponent to relying only on monster effects and combat to squeeze out any advantage.

		Almost There: The Power of Television - November 28, 2005
		I know exactly what all of you readers out there want, and you can have it right now.

		Almost There: You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry - November 21, 2005
		It’s a proven fact that Ojama Trio makes me angry.

		Warrior’s Triumph: Looking Beyond Royal Decree - November 07, 2005
		Today I’m going to discuss why you shouldn’t just write off Gilford the Legend, Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, and Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade, and hopefully I’ll also inspire you to get out there and try out some underplayed Warrior variants.

		Elemental Energy Preview: One Wild Knight - October 30, 2005
		Elemental Hero Wildheart is proof that in order to be good, a card doesn’t need to have seven lines of text written in 3-point font.

		Elemental Energy Preview: Elemental Anger Issues - October 24, 2005
		Elemental Hero Angryman prefers to take out its opponents in a fit of blind rage.

		Almost There: Sword and Shield - October 17, 2005
		When I look at the Top 8 lists from Atlanta, what I don’t see is an accurate representation of what we’ll be seeing for the next few months.

		Almost There: Fang and Flame - October 10, 2005
		What we have here is a Control deck that’s based on locking down as many of your opponent’s cards as possible.

		Almost There: It Came From Beyond the Graveyard - October 03, 2005
		If you’ve played in the new format at all, you’ve probably realized that it’s totally different from the one we’ve played in the past six months.

		Almost There: Rocketman! - September 26, 2005
		One of the hardest parts of playing in a new format is figuring out exactly what’s important in that format.

		Tin Week: Rocket Warrior - September 20, 2005
		The main purpose of Rocket Warrior continues to be its ability to allow your weaker monsters to defeat stronger monsters.

		Almost There: Dragonfire! - September 12, 2005
		One of the interesting things about Dragon decks is that every player has their own conception about what a Dragon deck should look like.

		Almost There: Have Some Spirit! - September 05, 2005
		One of my absolute favorite things about playing this deck is that you generally don’t care if you end a turn with no monsters on the field.

		Almost There: Secret Agent Man - August 29, 2005
		What if you could do something constructive with all that life you gained? Something like, maybe a massive Burn effect aimed at your opponent’s face? I like this idea.

		GX Deck Week: Syrus’s Vehicroid Deck - August 22, 2005
		Jaden seems to appreciate him, but the fact remains that most of the GX cast don’t think of Syrus as much of a duelist. It’s a real shame, as he has what is easily one of the best decks on the show.

		Great Moments in Shonen Jump Championship History, Part 3 - August 18, 2005
		The New Jersey Shonen Jump Championship brought a new team to the forefront of the tournament scene.

		Great Moments in Shonen Jump Championship History, Part 2 - August 16, 2005
		Los Angeles proved to be an excellent tournament for those looking to win with new and creative deck types.

		Great Moments in Shonen Jump Championship History, Part 1 - August 14, 2005
		In honor of all the previous Cyber-Stein winners, let’s have one more look at the decks that have shaped the dueling world as we know it.

		Almost Here? Cybernetic Knock-Out - August 08, 2005
		My mission today is to design a deck that summons out Cyber End Dragon as fast as possible and send it on a destructive rampage through your opponent’s life points.

		Cybernetic Revolution Preview: Skyscraper - August 01, 2005
		Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, when combined with Skyscraper, has enough ATK to take down Black Luster Soldier and deal 3000 points of damage while you’re at it.

		Cybernetic Revolution Preview: Cyber End Dragon - July 25, 2005
		Do you like big monsters?

		Almost There: Exodia the Forbidden One - July 18, 2005
		I admit it—ever since I saw the first episode of the TV show, I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for Exodia. I mean, who wouldn’t?

		Almost There: The Different Dimension Deck - July 11, 2005
		The key to successfully using symmetrical cards is to find a way to “break” their symmetry so that any ill effects are applied only to the opponent.

		Deck Profile: Andy Wilson's Reasoning/Monster Gate/Exodia Deck - July 09, 2005
		I’ll bet that most people who are reading this took one look at the title and thought to themselves, “There’s no way in the world that this can work!” Well, you’re wrong. It can work, it does work, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it.

		Almost There: The Gravekeepers - July 04, 2005
		These summer months offer the perfect opportunity to tweak and perfect all those cool decks that you made over the past year that didn’t quite work out right.

		Building the Gauntlet: When Combo Attacks! Part 2 - June 27, 2005
		The purpose of the Empty Jar deck is to run an opponent’s deck out of cards so that the next time he or she tries to draw a card, he or she will lose.

		Building the Gauntlet: When Combo Attacks, Part 1 - June 20, 2005
		This week, I’m going to do my best to arm you with the knowledge and tech you’ll need to fight off the forces of Combo.

		Building the Gauntlet: Transformation Sequence - June 13, 2005
		Unwilling to give up their Fusions, some players turned to another nasty little common for their fix, so the Metamorphosis deck exploded onto the scene.

		What You Don’t Know . . . - June 06, 2005
		There's an old saying that goes, “What you don't know can't hurt you.”

		Building the Gauntlet: Rise of the Machines - June 03, 2005
		The release of the new Ancient Gear monsters in The Lost Millennium is like Christmas come early for Machine deck players.

		The Lost Millennium Preview: TLM-EN024 - May 23, 2005
		Today’s preview card makes me a happy person, because it’s similar to a card that I really, really like—Big Shield Gardna. Check this one out!

		The Lost Millennium Preview: TLM-EN046 - May 16, 2005
		It’s that time again—that amazing time when the entire dueling world scours the Internet for any and all information about the contents of the new Yu-Gi-Oh! set.

		Building the Gauntlet: Animal Instinct - May 09, 2005
		This is basically a Beatdown deck. The purpose is to smash your opponent as quickly as possible with big monsters.

		Building the Gauntlet: Get Fired Up! - May 02, 2005
		Regardless of what people may say about it, Burn remains a legitimate and powerful strategy for knocking an opponent’s life points from 8000 to 0, and it’s definitely something you’ll need to look out for on the tournament scene.

		Building the Gauntlet: Zombies - April 25, 2005
		Giving the Zombie deck access to another copy of Vampire Lord has greatly increased the deck’s resilience, especially against nasty cards like Lightning Vortex and Tribe-Infecting Virus.

		Building the Gauntlet: The Warriors’ Master Plan - April 18, 2005
		This week, I’m going to look at the two main variants of Warrior decks that you’re likely to face at Regionals or the Shonen Jump Championships: Warrior Swarm and Warrior Control.

		Playtesting: Not Just for Vs. System Any More - April 10, 2005
		Every weekend after a Regional tournament in my area, I go to the local card shop and inquire about how everyone did. I hear about how a player missed their chance at making the Top 8 because he or she failed to realize that something else could have been done something to win the game in question.

		Historical Perspectives: The Most Extreme “Burnination” Challenge! - April 04, 2005
		Whenever someone asks me what was the most difficult deck to play during the first year of the game, the answer is always the same—Burn.

		Historical Perspectives: Forbidden and Limited List Timeline, Part Two - March 21, 2005
		The new format has been widely hailed as the salvation of the game. Players who had quit due to the dominance of Chaos flocked back to the game to take part in the new, healthier environment.

		Historical Perspectives: Forbidden and Limited List Timeline - March 14, 2005
		Now that the new Forbidden and Limited lists have been announced, it’s a good time to put these changes into historical context.

		Historical Perspectives: M4CH1N3 L4NGU4G3 - March 07, 2005
		Today I’m going to talk about another one of those decks that the guy in your store with all the money used to play—the Machine deck.

		Historical Perspectives: Send in the Clowns! - February 28, 2005
		Today’s deck is all about clowns—specifically, Dream Clown.

		Flaming Eternity Preview: Card #020 - February 21, 2005
		Today’s preview card is a fascinating monster that will appeal to all the Spellcaster fans out there.

		Flaming Eternity Preview: Lightning Vortex - February 14, 2005
		Now we have a new addition to the rather small list of legal mass removal spells in Advanced format Yu-Gi-Oh!

		Historical Perspectives: Blinded by the Light - February 07, 2005
		If the Light deck was so good, why didn’t anyone play it?

		Historical Perspectives: Swordsmen and Genies and Summoned Skull, Oh My! - January 31, 2005
		For all the new players, feast your eyes on the very first tier 1, tournament-winning deck: Fiend/Spellcaster Beatdown.

		Historical Perspectives: The Deck Seen ’Round the World - January 24, 2005
		On August 10, 2003, Ng Yu Leung won the 2003 World Championships, beginning a Yu-Gi-Oh! revolution.

		Historical Perspectives: The First Netdeck - January 18, 2005
		I firmly believe that the Internet was and still is a key factor in Yu-Gi-Oh!’s success and popularity.

		The Art of Side Decking - November 19, 2004
		Since the Advanced format began, players have been trying to figure out what decks will be the next big thing.

		The New Warriors - October 29, 2004
		Even Warriors have found new life through the addition of Blade Knight and Command Knight, and it’s Warriors that I want to talk about today.

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