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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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It is certainly satisfying to have your monsters dish out the punishment. Invasion of Chaos delivers more then enough muscle for that purpose, with powerhouses like the ever funny to pronounce Giga Gagagigo, the enormous and cuddly Big Koala, the sea-dwelling menace Terrorking Salmon, and the man himself—Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning.
The goal in using Beatdown is to dish out the attacks with strong monsters and use monster removal cards combined with spell- and trap-disrupting effects to prevent the opponent from slowing you down. Invasion of Chaos provides a bit of everything in this regard, so your options are open in terms of how you want to best support your beatdown strategy.
Let’s examine some of the choice monsters for dishing out the punishment in Invasion of Chaos:
 Giga Gagagigo: The story of Gagagigo takes a sad turn, as its attempt to strengthen itself to fight evil has led it to madness. While this is an interesting backstory on the card, it has no bearing on us playing it. (It is fighting for us, after all.) Giga Gagagigo will be a menace in A Legendary Ocean decks, where its true power shines, but in Invasion of Chaos Limited play, Giga Gagagigo works very well as a single-tribute powerhouse.
Terrorking Salmon: The big fish is not far behind, working in much the same way Giga Gagagigo does. Each is a common, so odds are good that one of the two could find its way into your deck.
Big Koala: Another big animal, this one comes in as a two-tribute monster. While this can be an issue in Constructed play, in Limited you're less likely to have trouble finding the monsters to tribute. Your odds of keeping monsters in play are much better in Limited, where the usual monster removal spells (Raigeki, Dark Hole, and so on) aren't a part of the equation.
Mad Dog of Darkness: The new level 4, 1900 ATK monster on the block, this guy used to be Outstanding Dog Marron, but he has since succumbed to the Invasion of Chaos and turned into a force of power. As a rare there is some chance this one will appear in the draft.
Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness, Neobug, and Blazing Inpachi: These three round out the offensive, non-Effect line with an 1800 - 1850 ATK range. They are each commons and have a fair chance of appearing in your draft.
Berserk Gorilla: The offensive menace of the level 4 group, the Berserk Gorilla likes to attack and does not like to back down. The need to attack during each of your battle phases is hardly a limiting effect under normal circumstances, but it can be if you find yourself running into a trap. You can easily solve this problem by changing it to defense position, but doing so will also destroy your Berserk Gorilla.
 Ryu Kokki: This guy doesn’t like Warriors and Spellcasters much. Even if Ryu Kokki isn’t strong enough to take out that Warrior or Spellcaster it battled, its effect will make sure that the opposing monster is destroyed anyway. It's also a single tribute powerhouse, so either way you're getting your money's worth from it. (You can expect to see it in Constructed, paired up with Pyramid Turtle)
Dark Driceratops: Give me a big, single-tribute monster, and then throw in some ATK > DEF damage, and I’m a happy guy. If you see this one in your pack, you should draft it and then plan around it using its ATK > DEF damage effect to make your opponent’s defending monster almost inconsequential.
Black Tyrann Another two-tribute powerhouse, only this one has an added benefit against monsters in defense position. If your opponent only has monsters in defense position, the Black Tyranno can attack directly. Not a bad deal for such a strong monster.
Levia-Dragon Daedalus: It another good two-tribute monster, but its effect is impossible to achieve in Invasion of Chaos Limited. You'll get more use out of this effect in Constructed play, where it's a lot of fun to use.
Guardian Angel Joan: Another strong two-tribute monster with a built in life gain effect when it destroys an opponent’s monster in battle. The amount of life points you can gain from this effect will make it more difficult for the opponent to pull off a comeback.
Monster Removal
We have our powerhouses, oh yes we do. Now that we know who our enforcers will be, let’s see what will get our opponent’s pesky monsters, spells, and trap cards out of the way.
The best card for this job is Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. It will get rid of any monster you don’t want to see anymore, or you can use it to potentially attack twice during the battle phase. This is the powerhouse of Invasion of Chaos and is not to be underestimated. It should also be a first pick if you see it in your draft.
Dark Magician of Chaos is also great for a combination of beatdown and monster removal. The monster it destroys in battle is removed from play. Not a bad deal at all. The only issue with Dark Magician of Chaos is its “removed from play” penalty when destroyed or removed from the field. This should not be a real concern for you, as there isn’t any reliable way to revive Dark Magician of Chaos from your graveyard in the Invasion of Chaos Limited environment.
The biggest basher on the block is the new Smashing Ground. This is the sibling of Fissure, only now we want the monster with the highest DEF. This one can take out the tribute monsters just as easily non-tribute monsters; keep an eye out for this one coming back after your big guys.
Compulsory Evacuation Device will clear that one pesky monster out of your way for one turn. It also works as a nice irritant to the special summon monsters like Gigantes, Silpheed, and Chaos Sorcerer.
Hyper Hammerhead has an ATK that may not take out that blocker, but its effect will make sure the blocker leaves the field anyways. It can be good when you haven’t yet gotten out your heavy hitters for clearing out those 2000 and 2100 DEF monsters.
Freed the Brave Wanderer requires a cost of two Light monsters to activate and can only be used once per turn, so it's a bit sketchy.
Spell and Traps
Gigantes: Gigantes combines a 1900 ATK beatdown monster with the threat of Heavy Storming the field. Naturally, Gigantes isn’t something the opponent will want to destroy in battle if his or her spell and trap cards on the field are important, but other beatdown players might not care so much.
Crimson Ninja: The Trap Master of the Ninjas.
Trap Jammer: This one can be helpful during your battle phase to stop a trap card like Compulsory Evacuation Device, Zero Gravity, or an unexpected Energy Drain.
Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell: This more of a defensive card. It is an easy-to-obtain form of Magic Jammer that also stops your opponent from activating multiple copies of the same spell card you stopped.
What to Shoot For
So what are we looking for in our packs if we want to go Beatdown? The basic idea is to try and get the high ATK monsters along with any Smashing Grounds you can nab. (You don’t want those coming back after you.) Keep to a balance and minimize the number of tribute monsters vs. non-tribute monsters. Remember that your minimum deck size is twenty cards, so loading up on tribute monsters can lead you to a bad situation.
The best bet is to balance out your monsters. Two or three normal summon monsters for every one-tribute monster should suffice, but lean towards three when dealing with a two-tribute monster. If you draft a Giga Gagagigo or Terrorking Salmon, it would be good to get two monsters like Blazing Inpachi or Soul Tiger to be around on the field in the meantime while you're waiting for your heavy-hitters to come out to play.
You can play around with this rule of thumb, naturally. Some players are more comfortable with fewer monsters in their decks than other players would be. Be sure to mix in whatever spell and trap disruption you can.
What Can Get in the Way
D. D. Borderline can be very detrimental to your forces. Your options for destroying it after it has resolved to the field are almost non-existent, so the best bet is to try and counter it when it is played. Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell will do the trick. Orca Megafortress of Darkness can offer a Cannonball Spear Shellfish as a tribute to destroy it as well, but that requires a very fortunate draft. Either method relies on luck. You might have drafted the Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, but not actually have it when needed. D. D. Borderline can be a nasty thing to run into early in the game.
Gale Lizard will be a threat to your tribute monsters, much like a Hane-Hane was in the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh! It means you will have to tribute summon all over again, which is disruptive but not a long-term threat.
Chaos Necromancer can be a surprise in the late game. If you have been dispatching of your opponent’s monsters for some time during the duel, this monster will only grow more powerful. During the early game, though, it won't be a threat.
Silpheed adds in a bit of hand disruption when destroyed in battle. This may not be of great concern in draft, but it could get lucky and nick an important card from your hand.
Stumbling will work against your beatdown as a way for the opponent to slow your progress.
Zero Gravity will disrupt your offense for one turn. “Begone, Knave!” could be a threat, but mostly just to your tribute monsters.
Good First Picks
-- Commons --
Giga Gagagigo
Terrorking Salmon
Ryu Kokki
Big Koala
Smashing Ground
-- Rares --
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Dark Magician of Chaos
Black Tyranno
Dark Driceratops
Mad Dog of Darkness
Until next time . . . keep a candle burning for Gagagigo.
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