Metagame.com - Take Your Game to the Next Level

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!
Click here for more

Rise of Destiny Sealed Pack

Curtis Schultz

December 15, 2004

The Rise of Destiny Sneak Preview Weekend has come and gone, but Rise of Destiny Sealed Pack events are just getting started.

This week we will dabble in Sealed Pack, building decks using only the cards in our Rise of Destiny booster packs. In a Sealed Pack event, you are given three or more booster packs with which to construct a minimum 20-card deck. Normally, these events use five packs.

Let’s take a look at the contents of our five packs.

Rares (5)

1 A-Team: Trap Disposal Unit

1 Flint

1 Machine Duplication

1 Chain Burst

1 Covering Fire

Normal Monsters (6)

1 Mighty Guard

1 Bokoichi the Freightening Car

2 Woodborg Inpachi

2 Harpie Girl

Effect Monsters (20)

1 Roc from the Valley of Haze

2 Harpie Lady 2

1 Harpie Lady 3

2 Creeping Doom Manta

2 Tactical Espionage Expert

1 Invasion of Flames

2 Nightmare Penguin

1 Pitch-Black Warwolf

1 Mirage Dragon

1 Fox Fire

1 Raging Flame Sprite

1 Heavy Mech Support Platform

2 Element Saurus

2 The Creator Incarnate

Fusion Monsters (2)

2 Mokey Mokey King

Spell Cards (6)

1 Ballista of Rampart Smashing

2 Mokey Mokey Smackdown

1 Harpies’ Hunting Ground

1 Lighten the Load

1 Back to Square One

Trap Cards (6)

1 Fruits of Kozaky’s Studies

The deck has to have at least 20 cards in it, but we are allowed to use more. Sticking closer to 20 increases the odds of drawing the powerful cards, but it also brings us closer to the danger of depleting our deck. You should not feel obligated to use only 20 cards all of the time.

It’s best to begin by eliminating cards that have no chance of seeing play in the deck either due to a combination involving cards from a previous set, or the lack of a necessary play mechanic within the set itself. By recognizing this, we can remove both Mokey Mokey Kings and Mokey Mokey Smackdown.

Next we examine our rares. The choices here are easy, as each card can function well within the deck. Machine Duplication is the most limited of the five rares. Two Woodborg Inpachis are the only Machine-type monsters with 500 or less ATK in the card pool. Due to this, Machine Duplication can be safely removed from the final deck.

Chain Burst is safe to use, as the number of trap cards in this pool is very small. You can always save the activation of Chain Burst for a better time so you don’t have to deal with the damage.

Flint is risky. It works great when it’s going your way, but as soon your opponent runs out of monsters to equip, your Flint betrays you and goes after your own monsters. Of course, if your equipped monster is destroyed, you can always go after another monster, possibly one that belongs to your opponent.

A-Team: Trap Disposal Unit could function as a trap negator, but the traps found in Rise of Destiny are not likely to be threatening. Divine Wrath could be irritating, but odds are good that it won’t show up. A-Team: Trap Disposal Unit would likely be destroyed in battle and not get the opportunity to use its effect, so it’s probably best if it’s left out.

Covering Fire is a good trap card for Sealed Pack play, and it can be a nasty surprise for your opponent. It works best when the ATK increase is enough to destroy the attacking monster, but if push comes to shove and you really need to reduce some damage from a stronger monster, don’t be afraid to use it.

Roc from the Valley of Haze and Woodborg Inpachi are our big guns. Roc will do the fighting, and Woodborg Inpachi will be the line of defense. Woodborg Inpachi does little beyond providing defense, which won’t stand up after Nightmare Penguin appears and returns it your hand, so only one of them will be used. If there were more copies of Woodborg Inpachi, they would have been a stronger pull when combined with Machine Duplication.

Raging Flame Sprite is a good card in Sealed Pack but mostly when run in multiples. Only one copy was in our five packs, but it has been included due to its potential usefulness. You can expect it to be a target as soon as it hits the field, making early-stage protection necessary.

The Creator Incarnate, Pitch-Black Warwolf, and Mirage Dragon will be used for muscle. Nightmare Penguin’s bouncing effect is very helpful against the stronger monsters in the set and will help to support the deck. Just watch out for Homunculus the Alchemic Being, because no monster can last forever.

Harpie Lady 3 is the least effective of the three Harpies in Sealed Pack play. It can be used due to its combination with Harpies’ Hunting Ground and Harpie Lady 1, but I wouldn’t expect anything from its effect.

Presented below are the 20 cards I would choose for the deck.

Final Deck (20)

Monsters (11)

1 Woodborg Inpachi