“A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack . . . now you tell me.”—Marauding Captain

Dragons are a long-time favorite among players in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. While they may not often be the actual focus of a player’s deck, a Dragon is a likely ally in battle. The Dragons in Yu-Gi-Oh! are some of the most well known monsters in the game, such as Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8, and the focus of this week’s deck, Red-Eyes B. Dragon. This week we’ll examine a type-limited deck that uses only Dragon-type monsters with a focus on using Red-Eyes B. Dragon.

Vengeance Has Red Eyes

Monsters

3 Red-Eyes B. Dragon

2 Red-Eyes B. Chick

3 Luster Dragon

3 Masked Dragon

3 Spear Dragon

2 The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave

Spells

3 Inferno Fire Blast

1 Pot of Greed

1 Painful Choice

1 Premature Burial

1 Change of Heart

1 Snatch Steal

2 Dark Factory of Mass Production

3 Stamping Destruction

1 Heavy Storm

2 Tribute Doll

1 Hammer Shot

2 Non-Spellcasting Area

Traps

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Torrential Tribute

2 Skill Drain

The Dragon with the Red Eyes

Red-Eyes B. Dragon has a few weaknesses that need to be addressed in order for this deck to function:

Red-Eyes B. Dragon has the misfortune of being a level 7 monster. Tributing two monsters to summon it is the last approach you will want to take. The first solution that this deck uses is the new Red-Eyes B. Chick. This little dragon hatchling is bound to bring its mother running, and it will do so with only the loss of one monster. Your next trick is to use Tribute Doll and bring your Red-Eyes B. Dragon into play with only one tribute of any monster you control. This option keeps your Red-Eyes from attacking during the turn, but it does bring it into play.

Trying to fish Red-Eyes B. Dragon out of your deck relies mostly on pure drawing power, but there is one trick you can use. To do it, you will need Painful Choice and Dark Factory of Mass Production. Now, your opponent might actually give you the Red-Eyes B. Dragon when it’s presented among the five selected cards. If this is the case, then you have what you needed. Dark Factory of Mass Production is the backup plan in case he or she gives you another card. This could happen once your opponent realizes what you’re doing with Painful Choice.

On its own, Red-Eyes B. Dragon only has its ATK and DEF. If you want to expand the abilities of your Red-Eyes, you need to use support cards. That is where the meat of this deck begins.

Champions of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon

Inferno Fire Blast is 2400 points of damage from one card effect, which is considerable. The obvious downside is that your Red-Eyes B. Dragon cards will not be able to attack during the same turn. This is not always a problem. For example, if you use Tribute Doll to bring Red-Eyes B. Dragon into play, it will not be able to attack that turn. Why not use Inferno Fire Blast and get something out of the deal?

While Non-Spellcasting Area doesn’t seem to function with Inferno Fire Blast, it does offer some good protection for your Red-Eyes B. Dragon. It will also protect Luster Dragon and The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave. This one won’t save you from effects like Tribe-Infecting Virus, but that’s where Skill Drain steps in.

You will note that none of the Effect monsters used in this deck have any issues with Skill Drain. Remember that Skill Drain does not prevent you from activating the effects of your monsters. If the monster is not face up on the field when its effect resolves, the effect will not be negated. This means that Red-Eyes B. Chick will still special summon Red-Eyes B. Dragon, Masked Dragon will still special summon a Dragon with 1500 or less ATK, and Spear Dragon will no longer shift to defense position after it attacks (though it will lose that nice ATK>DEF damage).

Finally, who needs Mystical Space Typhoon when Stamping Destruction is not limited and deals damage? It is not difficult to have a Dragon in play for this card. If you insist on using your Mystical Space Typhoon, then pull one of these out, but it isn’t entirely necessary.

Reinforcements of the Red-Eyes

The following cards can be used as strategic alternatives.

This deck does not rely heavily on trap cards, so a couple of Royal Decrees could easily step in and take trap cards down a few notches. Due to the associated cost factor, I opted not to include this card in the main deck. It also stops your Skill Drain in its tracks, which isn’t good.

With a different focus for the deck, Super Rejuvenation could be included to offset the use of tributes. Spirit Ryu, Gray Wing, Burst Breath, and other Dragon-related cards should be used to satisfy the demands of both the deck and the Super Rejuvenation. Super Rejuvenation already mixes well with Tribute Doll and the times you actually tribute summon Red-Eyes B. Dragon.

The deck currently mixes some elements of Burn together with Beatdown. This theme can be taken even further by removing some of the offensive strategies in order to focus on the Burn theme. Ceasefire, Magic Cylinder, Nightmare Wheel, and a wide array of other cards can be blended in to pick up the pace of the game. You may need to ditch Skill Drain and Non-Spellcasting Area in order to make this work, which will weaken Red-Eyes B. Dragon and your other normal monsters.