The Invasion of Chaos has begun, heralding the arrival of Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End. While the focus of many will be on the Constructed uses for the new cards in Invasion of Chaos, I’m going to discuss the strategies available in Invasion of Chaos Limited play.
This week’s article will be an overview of the Invasion of Chaos set and what cards to consider drafting in Limited play, and what cards to just ignore outright. In the following weeks, I’ll focus in on some of the more prevailing archetypes in Invasion of Chaos and how best to pull them together in a draft.
Anti-Spell - Anti-Trap Strategy
In Yu-Gi-Oh!, your spell and trap cards are every bit as important as your monsters. Your opponent will be working with this understanding as well. So how will your opponents react when you begin to eliminate the power of their spell and trap cards?
Gigantes, an Earth special summon monster, has a nasty spell and trap card destroying effect. When this monster is destroyed in battle, all spell and trap cards on the field are destroyed; that effect is going to force your opponent to make some tough decisions. Monster removal options are limited in Draft, giving you a better chance of using its effect as a threat.
Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Magic puts a stopper on a specific spell card, making it so that all copies of that card can’t be activated for the remainder of that duel. In Limited, this card’s “sealing” effect will have minimal impact on your opponent, but in Constructed it can put an end to your opponent’s Mystical Space Typhoons. You will use this one as more of a Magic Jammer for cards like D. D. Borderline.
Tower of Babel gives both players a countdown to devastation. Every spell card activated causes a spell counter to placed upon the Tower. The unfortunate person that places the fourth and final spell counter on the Tower unleashes a 3,000 point shot of self-inflicted damage. Neither player will want to be the one who plays that final spell card, so getting three spell counters on this card will put a stop to your opponent playing spell cards. (This can hurt you as well, so be careful.)
Curse of Darkness is a nasty anti-spell card. While this continuous trap card is face up on the field, any player that activates a spell card takes 1,000 points of damage. If your opponent topdecks a spell card that can get rid of this card, he or she will still have to take 1,000 points of damage just to get rid of it. In the meantime, he or she will need to think twice about activating any spell cards at all.
The super rare Trap Jammer will act as a protective barrier against that sudden, irritating battle phase trap card. In Invasion of Chaos Limited play, you will be using this one against cards like Destruction Ring, A Hero Emerges, and Compulsory Evacuation Device.
The Burn Strategy
Why leave yourself open to surprises with monster attacks when your monster effects, spell cards, and trap cards will be more then happy to do the work for you?
Take Bowganian, for example. As long as this monster card is face up on your side of the field, during your standby phase it will inflict 600 points of damage to your opponent’s life points. You don’t have to do anything at all. Considering that Draft life points begin at 4,000, that 600 counts for a lot more than it would in Constructed. With the right amount of protection, Bowganian can easily win you a duel.
Stealth Bird is another nasty gem. When you flip-summon this monster, its effect deals 1,000 points of damage to your opponent. If you protect it well enough, this could end the duel in four of your turns. Combined with other burn cards in Invasion of Chaos, the duel could be over even faster.
Balloon Lizard is a ticking time bomb. As long as it is face up on the field, you place a counter on it during your standby phase. When Balloon Lizard is destroyed, you will inflict 400 points of damage for every counter on it to the person whose card destroyed it. The longer this card spends gathering counters, the more deadly its destruction becomes.
Anti-Aircraft Flower is a wicked Plant-type monster. When you offer an Insect-type monster as a tribute for its effect, you will deal 800 points of damage to your opponent. Combine this with Pinch Hopper to cycle through more than one Insect-type monster for faster damage. You can also use Multiplication of Ants to change one Insect-type monster into two Insect-type monster tokens. You can then offer both of these Insect-type monster tokens as tributes for the Anti-Aircraft Flower, dealing 1600 points of damage. That’s almost half of your opponent’s beginning life points. Best yet, you could use another Multiplication of Ants to change one of the Insect-type monster tokens into two Insect-type monster tokens, giving you a total of three Insect-type monster tokens to tribute. The Ants really do multiply.
Thunder Crash is best used as a game-ending spell card. Yes, you’ll be destroying all of your monsters, but by doing so, you will deal damage to your opponent equal to 300 times the number of monsters destroyed by the effect of Thunder Crash. With enough monsters, this can easily end the duel. Save this one for the late game.
The rare card Destruction Ring destroys one of your face up monsters to inflict 1,000 points of damage to both players, making it a good way to end a duel in the late game. The previously mentioned Tower of Babel and Curse of Darkness certainly go along with this strategy as well.
If attacking is more your style, then perhaps you would prefer to use the monster card Inferno. Yes its ATK is only 1100, but if your opponent is unfortunate enough to control a weaker monster, Inferno could put the hurt on him or her in a hurry. When you have only 4,000 starting life points, 1,500 points of damage is devastating.
Of course, no discussion of Burn cards in Invasion of Chaos is complete without mentioning the infamous Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End. If ever there were an “I Win” card in Invasion of Chaos, this would be it. If you save this monster for the right moment, its effect will end the duel in your favor. Ten cards, just five from each player, will deal 3,000 damage. This card is immediately placed in the “Initial Choice” category. If you get it in a pack, draft it without hesitation.
Beatdown - Monster Removal Strategy
Beatdown and monster removal are common in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Invasion of Chaos offers many options to a player interested in using this strategy. Players running these types of decks will be looking for monster-destroying card effects and strong monsters to deal out punishment.
Let’s begin by looking at the power:
Big Koala, a level 7, Beast-type monster with 2700 ATK and 2000 DEF, is a big fellow for someone to deal with. Given the uncertainty of monster removal in Draft, this Koala can give you more power for the hits that matter and it has a high likelihood of being tribute summoned.
The rare Berserk Gorilla is a Beatdown deck’s dream. A 2000 ATK, level 4 monster that has an effect that is almost inconsequential. If Berserk Gorilla attacking every turn is an issue for you, then just change it to defense position and kiss it goodbye. You can also use Wild Nature’s Release to give Berserk Gorilla one powerful strike.
Chaosrider Gustaph, the super rare, level 4 monster, can be easily powered up to 2000 ATK by removing two spell cards in your graveyard from play.
Granadora is a tough call. Yes, you get a 1900 ATK, level 4 monster that also gives you a 1,000 life point boost when summoned, but it can burn you just as badly if it gets destroyed. I would only use this one if you can protect it from being destroyed and have ways to tribute it.
Next, we have the A Legendary Ocean powerhouse known as Giga Gagagigo. The story of Gagagigo continues in this monster, a level 5, 2450 ATK, and 1500 DEF threat. It’s one of the best single-tribute monsters in Invasion of Chaos and is quite powerful in both Limited and Constructed play. Add Terrorking Salmon as the close companion, and delicacy, of Giga Gagagigo. Terrorking Salmon sports five level stars, 2400 ATK, and 1000 DEF. Either way, you will be getting a strong, single-tribute monster.
The rare Mad Dog of Darkness is a new level 4, 1900 ATK monster with no effect—the ever-popular mainstays of tournament play continue to grow in numbers. Being a Beast-type monster, you can combine this card with Enraged Battle Ox and the spell card Wild Nature’s Release to unleash some damage on your opponent.
Neo Bug, Sea Serpent of Darkness, and Blazing Inpachi round out the non-Effect beatdown monsters with 1800 ATK for the Insect and Sea Serpent, and 1850 ATK for the Pyro.
The new Dark Magician of Chaos joins the roster of beatdown monsters that have the combination of high ATK and monster removal in one card. It’s not a nice monster to go up against.
Manticore of Darkness, Guardian Angel Joan, Dark Driceratops, Black Tyranno, and Levia-Dragon - Daedalus round out the roster of offensive power in the set.
Moving into monster removal, we see the new Fissure, Smashing Ground. This spell card destroys the opponent’s monster with the highest defense value. Those tribute monsters may be in for a surprise.
Some monsters also handle the issue of monster removal with their own effects. Chaos Sorcerer will allow you to remove one face up monster on your opponent’s side of the field from play during each of your turns. This can slowly clear the way for your offensive forces to move in and take over.
But the baddest of them all is Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. Take the monster removal effect of Chaos Sorcerer, then apply it to any monster on your opponent’s side of the field (face up or face down), or just forget about this effect and have it attack. If Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning destroys an opponent’s monster in battle, it may attack again immediately. It doesn’t even matter if your opponent has any more monsters under his or her control. This monster is a force to be reckoned with.
Stay Away From These
Some cards were just not intended to be used in a Draft environment. You should avoid these cards when you see them in your card choices.
Spirit of the Pot of Greed: Odds are good that you won’t be seeing Pot of Greed in Invasion of Chaos Limited. You should only draft this card if you need Light monsters for an already drafted monster, such as Chaos Sorcerer.
Blasting the Ruins: Most Invasion of Chaos drafts consist of three packs for each player, giving each player 27 cards as the max size for their deck. Having 30 cards in your graveyard will not be possible in this type of play. Unless you are somehow playing with 40-card decks in a variation of Draft, you will not want to waste any time with this card.
Dedication through Light and Darkness: Unless you are somehow playing with a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician of Chaos, you might as well forget this one.
Self-Destruct Button: If your opponent is running some serious life gain, then it might be possible to use this card. The vast majority of the time, you will not be using it for anything, and even when you do use it successfully, all you have done is force a draw.
DNA Transplant: This card doesn’t accomplish anything in Draft. It has purposes in Constructed play, but no cards in Invasion of Chaos will truly benefit from it. You are better of letting someone else take it.
Oh, the possibilities . . . until next week remember: think of the Kuribohs.