I love cycling. It’s a great way to control your own card pool during a game, and for a game designer, it’s a nice way to provide a player with consistency if he or she has the proper skills. As a player, I’m all for game mechanics that reward skill and practice instead of just handing over power on a silver platter.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG hasn’t really had much cycling power in it. To “cycle” a card means to replace that card in the deck and then draw another card. In theory, the ability to cycle through multiple cards in a game should make a deck more reliable in hitting its key cards, and it should make any deck more deadly, because it expands access to options. Don’t like the cards you have now? Cycle them for others!

That’s the theory, at least. Between the time I made my first Dark World deck, which is the one you’ll see here, and my current version, which is the fixed one, Jeffrey Vertrees managed to perform admirably at Shonen Jump Championship San Francisco with a Helping Robo For Combat deck. It used cycling like nothing else before it, and where I failed, Vertrees succeeded. With the information behind his success and my failure, some interesting points arise about the state of cycling in this game and how it differs from cycling in other games.

Anyway, check out my adorably naïve original build of Dark World, which was cobbled together at 2 a.m. soon after Elemental Energy’s Sneak Preview events.

Jason’s Janky Dark World Cycler

41 cards

Monsters: 18

3 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World

1 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World

3 Scarr, Scout of Dark World

3 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

1 Sangan

2 D. D. Assailant

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Exiled Force

2 Mystic Tomato

Spells: 17

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Nobleman of Crossout

3 Dark World Lightning

1 Gateway to Dark World

2 Dragged Down into the Grave

1 Card Destruction

3 Smashing Ground

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Heavy Storm

1 Snatch Steal

1 Dark Hole

Traps: 6

1 Call of the Haunted

2 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Trap Hole

1 Dark Deal

1 The Forces of Darkness

If I were to write a submission letter for this deck, it would probably go like this. Notice how much I sound like an eight-year-old who’s clutching a battered Joey collector’s tin.

Hi, Jason!

I just got all these great new Dark World cards and I want to make a deck. I play lots of different TCGs, and I love cycling, but Yu-Gi-Oh! has never really had any great cycling cards before. I’ve decided to make a Dark World strategy that relies on cycling to dig for a variety of answers while wearing away the opponent’s hand and getting closer and closer to summoning copies of Goldd and Sillva. Scarr keeps me full up on copies of Broww to cycle away, Broww gets me card advantage or more cycling with Dark World Lightning and Dragged Down into the Grave, and Goldd and Sillva eat my opponent’s face! The Warriors I splashed in give the deck some reliability and toolbox flexibility, and Mystic Tomato keeps me on the board while grabbing out copies of Scarr.

What do you think?

Thanks,

—Jason of the Past

Because this letter is from me, in the past, I, in the future, can be as brutal as I want to be. Not only do I not risk offending a reader or coming off as a snob, but as far as I’m concerned, lil’ Jason of the Past is, for all intents and purposes, dead. This deck? Playtesting with it killed both him and his innocent dreams. So I can totally say the following.

Dear Jason,

Thanks for sending in your deck! It looks really . . . creative. I think I can give you a few pointers to help you out.

First off, it turns out that cycling is only good in this game if you’re cycling toward a win condition. This deck cycles plenty of cards thanks to Card Destruction, Broww, and Dragged Down into the Grave, but then it gets . . . more random cards. You’re going through a lot of work to accomplish what is basically nothing.

Second, Scarr is terrible—at least, it’s terrible here. It’s meant for a Control-oriented deck, and judging by this decklist, you don’t really like to use a controlling play style. In fact, you seem more likely to eat the cards described here than make intelligent use of them. Without Creature Swap, Scarr is bad.

Mystic Tomato is horrible without Scarr, and even when it searches for Scarr, it just gets . . . well, more copies of Scarr and perhaps some of Broww. This is unfortunate because none of these cards actually do anything to help you win. You can’t see this, because you’re blinded by a disease I call “OMGShinyNewCards,” but trust me—because I can see into the future that you don’t know exists yet, I can say with all confidence that you’re an idiot.

Wow, Dragged Down into the Grave. Umm . . . awesome? Ideally, you can use this card to steal your opponent’s best card, cycle into something crappy, discard Goldd, Sillva, or Broww, and then either summon a big beater or cycle two cards for two other cards. The problem is that this relies on a number of factors over which you have anywhere from little to no control. First, your opponent has to not draw something good. Second, you need to cycle into killer cards—which your deck isn’t running. Third, you need to have nothing in your hand but the Dark World monster you want to drop.

Dragged Down into the Grave and the Dark World monster are both dead cards before you draw the combo, and even once you have them in your hand, you then need to empty your hand. Dragged Down is just too conditional to be viable in today’s environment, especially for a deck that can’t maintain board presence to save its life.

One copy of Dark Deal when you’re already set up to discard your own Dark World monsters ad infinitum? One copy of The Forces of Darkness? Oh, I see. That’s to get back two copies of Scarr! Scarr is great, huh, Jason? You Suck. With a capital S. Let’s see what we’re dropping from your terrible deck.

-3 Scarr, Scout of Dark World

-3 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World

-2 Mystic Tomato

-2 Dragged Down into the Grave

-1 Dark Deal

-1 The Forces of Darkness

Let’s get to some additions. There’s got to be a workable deck here.

First up, this deck opens weakly and gets smashed by Cyber Dragon. Let’s fight fire with fire and add one in. We’re going to be giving the deck sort of a stick-and-move feel, so losing board presence is inevitable at times. Cyber Dragon will help us recover.

Beige, Vanguard of Dark World is like a weaker Goldd or Sillva that can lend more power to a big attack but still not clog up your hand uselessly. I personally think four high-level Dark World monsters are enough, and running a fifth constitutes an unacceptable risk for a deck that already topdecks poorly. Beige is a nice compromise. It’s great with Card Destruction or Morphing Jar, but it won’t be a dead draw that results in your immediate loss in the late game.

Oh, and Morphing Jar—the deck’s win condition. You should, um . . . you should use that card. I hear it’s pretty good in a deck that needs it to win the game.

Speaking of which, Brron, Mad King of Dark World is the gasoline for this kind of deck, because it makes Dark World go. It’s a beefy little beatstick for a synergy-heavy deck that often gets wiped off the field by sub-par draws and Beatdown strategy, so it’s good for what ails ya in that department. It’s a miniature Card Destruction, and because lil’ Jason is packing some serious one-for-one power, Brron will often get to swing directly. Attacking with Brron instead of another Beatdown monster is often the difference between 2000 damage (or less) and 4100. It’s amazing to attack with Brron, drop Goldd or Sillva, and then attack again. It wins games. A lot of them. Three copies of Brron will fill our needs well.

A third D. D. Assailant and two copies of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive will help us deal with topdecking situations more easily. Dark World Beatdown wants to overextend in the early game, but it often can’t finish the job, and when you’re left with a few cards while the opponent still has lots of cards, that’s “unfortunate” at best.

The spells look fine now that we’ve filled the gaping hole that was Dragged Down into the Grave. Three Smashing Ground is a lot, but it’s going to allow Brron to attack directly more often, and that’s going to be one of our chief win conditions.

Again, defense and board presence is our biggest concern now that we’ve dealt with that little “strategy” issue that Jason of the Past was having, so with the last two card slots in the deck, I’m going to recommend a third Sakuretsu Armor and a Torrential Tribute. All Jasons, past, present, and future, hate Torrential Tribute for being a “contingency card”—one that isn’t helpful until you’re losing the game. But it’s more than that here, and it’ll often act as a proactive method of clearing a clogged field before dropping Card Destruction or Brron for the win.

Here are the final additions I made to my/Jason’s deck.

+1 Cyber Dragon

+1 Beige, Vanguard of Dark World

+3 Brron, Mad King of Dark World

+1 D. D. Assailant

+2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

+1 Morphing Jar

+1 Sakuretsu Armor

+1 Torrential Tribute

The final decklist is as follows, and to celebrate the fact that it’s now at least 56 percent less crappy, I’ve given it a new name! Merry Christmas, Janky Dark World deck!

Jason’s Way Less Crappy Dark World Deck

40 cards

Monsters: 19

1 Cyber Dragon

3 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World

1 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World

3 Brron, Mad King of Dark World

1 Beige, Vanguard of Dark World

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

1 Sangan

3 D. D. Assailant

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Exiled Force

1 Morphing Jar

Spells: 15

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Nobleman of Crossout

3 Dark World Lightning

1 Gateway to Dark World

1 Card Destruction

3 Smashing Ground

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Heavy Storm

1 Snatch Steal

1 Dark Hole

Traps: 6

1 Call of the Haunted

3 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Trap Hole

1 Torrential Tribute

We’ve accomplished two important goals, which are: first, stop sucking; and second, actually having a defined series of ways to win.

This deck is looking to press for wins through overextension. It wants to exchange little jabs in a duel, trading monsters here and there and giving and receiving one-for-one trades until it’s cocked and loaded with a Goldd or Sillva. Once it is, those exchanges of jabs give way to a big haymaker punch—either through Morphing Jar, Card Destruction, or Brron, Mad King of Dark World.

It plays off the current trends in the Advanced environment by making one-for-one trades just as often as any other deck, and in doing so, it mitigates the risk of taking a ton of damage early in the duel. That said, it can break tempo by dropping a big monster or two, and when the pace of a duel has slowed, it wins games in the same way that Return from the Different Dimension does. You’ll usually win by swinging with Brron and then smashing with a fresh Goldd or Sillva that was summoned with Brron’s effect.

Morphing Jar and Card Destruction are still game-winners and often will be at the moment you draw them. They’re especially important in the Lockdown Burn matchup where this deck can’t hold its own. I won’t dictate a suggested side deck, but the one that I’m currently working on usually packs eight cards to deal with Burn. Yes, the matchup is that bad.

Against a typical Beatdown or Warrior Toolbox build, this deck can wreak some havoc. It likes the tempo those decks try to create. “Fast tempo tastes like delicious candy to me,” said Sillva, Warlord of Dark World in a recent candid interview. And Dark World monsters love candy. Even more than they love Goblin Attack Force.

As for Control matchups, those taste even better. This deck has four monsters that are virtually auto-wins when they’re discarded by an opponent’s effect, and they’re not to be underestimated. I’ve played the Control matchup a lot, and just a single Goldd or Sillva ruins the opponent’s chance for a win and causes a shift in momentum that is impossible to overcome. You’ve also got Beige, who is great at shutting down double-Don or double-Reaper attacks. That’s nice, considering how popular Don and Reaper are going to be again now that we’ve seen the Top 8 from Shonen Jump Championship San Francisco.

If you’ve been looking for a slightly more intuitive build of Dark World Swarm/Beatdown, this deck might be for you. It needs skill, patience, and a good side deck, but once you get used to playing it, this variant can do very well. Fair warning: this kind of deck takes serious adjustment, much like Empty Jar was a challenge for most duelists when they first picked it up. It’s different, and it’s difficult when you initially attempt to play it. But, it’s a real winner in most metagames right now, and it’s got nowhere to go but up.

All joking aside, the submitted deck actually was my first late-night attempt at a Beatdown deck, and the fixed version is the one that I’m currently tweaking. Pole Position might make its way into the build, and I really want to add in Magician of Faith, so keep those in mind if you decide to give this a shot.

Until next time, thanks for reading! And thanks to you, Jason of the Past. I hope (and know) that this deck fix both will (and won’t) help you. Since you’re already running it.

—Jason Grabher-Meyer