Dark World headed into Washington carrying a decent amount of hype, and for good reason. In a format where monster removal is less common, the value of Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World invariably rises. The Apprentice Engine was a huge force, giving Dark World Lightning more monster targets than ever before, with fewer copies of Card Trooper to destroy in the process. With Brain Control now Limited, the fear of losing two copies of Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World or Sillva, Warlord of Dark World to a single spell play is all but gone.
So it seems like a good time to look at a Dark World deck, and that’s exactly what reader Mike S. graced my inbox with. Here’s what he had to say about his build.
Jason,
With the new format upon us and the sudden de-Limitation of Protector of the Sanctuary, I’ve decided to go back to a deck I was playing about this time last year. There are two big combos this deck can pull out—either one of which will nearly always result in a game win—but the deck can also go for a slower game and come out on top. First, the Morphing Jar/Creature Swap combo can easily devastate my opponent’s hand and field if I have just one or two Dark World monsters in my hand. Second, and more difficult, is using Card Destruction/Morphing Jar with a chained Call of the Haunted to completely empty my opponent’s hand, dropping a couple of 2300 ATK beatsticks in the process. The main problem this deck faces is Monarchs (as does every deck!) and also the mirror match (although I have a perfect side for this). Any suggestions or improvements you can make would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
—Mike S.
Somerset, UK
Sounds cool! Here’s Mike’s decklist:
Dark World Explosion—40 Cards
Monsters: 20
3 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
2 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
3 Brron, Mad King of Dark World
3 Hydrogeddon
2 Protector of the Sanctuary
2 Exiled Force
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Magician of Faith
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
Spells: 15
3 Dark World Dealings
3 Dark World Lightning
2 Gateway to Dark World
2 Creature Swap
1 Premature Burial
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Card Destruction
1 Swords of Revealing Light
Traps: 5
2 Deck Devastation Virus
1 Mirror Force
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute
The primary concern I have with this deck is that it’s simply too complicated. Dark World can succeed, but whenever you build a deck you need to evaluate the risks you’re taking and then decide if the payoff justifies them. This is going to guide most of my decisions, as I drop synergy-oriented cards and replace them with high-utility options.
As much as I hate to do it, the first card I need to drop is Protector of the Sanctuary. Yes, the Call of the Haunted combo is cool and it works, but what doesn’t work is more important—namely, Dark World Dealings can’t be activated when Protector is on the field, axing one of the most important cards from the deck. Protector of the Sanctuary is going to be a hindrance more often than it will help, and even with a ton of skill and experience, drawing dead cards that would otherwise be game-winning is just less than ideal.
Next, I’ll chuck both copies of Exiled Force. Like I said, Kahkki is amazing right now, and with eight ways to discard it before counting Brron, Mad King of Dark World, it’s really easy to use. While most decks would need to waste a normal summon on Exiled Force, we don’t have to because of the deck choice that’s been made, and that’s something we definitely want to exploit.
The last monster I’ll drop will be Hydrogeddon. By all means, side deck these if you wish, but the main deck just doesn’t need them. With all the monster removal hammering away at face downs, we won’t need Hydrogeddon to deal with things like Apprentice Magician. As for monsters like Gadgets, I’d really rather be attacking over those with Brron anyway in order to discard cards and use potent effects. We’re not using Rush Recklessly or Shrink, so we can’t support Hydrogeddon adequately.
Gateway to Dark World makes for some beefy Brron support, but it’s also difficult to use at times. I want to create a deck that can go off in a single turn, and while Gateway can be very useful, it doesn’t really fit my agenda. It’s relatively slow (being a mid-game or late game card only), and it’s another spell that might wind up doing nothing in my opening hand. I really don’t want to run that risk when it’s so easy to avoid.
The same goes for Creature Swap. Sure, I could send Morphing Jar over to my opponent, sneak in and attack and explode, but that’s about all I’d want to do with Swap. This deck is running two cards to try and get off a single far-fetched combo, and that’s just not really worth it. Recruiters were very popular at Shonen Jump Washington, so that’s another factor that contributes to my decision to drop Creature Swap.
With those changes made, I have eleven card slots left to fill: a very good number for what I’d like to accomplish. The first addition is a no-brainer to me—this deck is crying out for three copies of Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World. It rips apart Zombie decks at the seams by taking Pyramid Turtle out of the picture. It counters big Monarchs, destroys Destiny Hero - Fear Monger, and perhaps most importantly, it simplifies the duel at a fearsome pace. While activating Dark World Lightning to target a set spell or trap can be risky, Kahkki will frequently make that play worthwhile by clearing the way for Brron to drop Goldd or Sillva, while also taking out your opponent’s biggest monster. Kahkki’s potential really can’t be overstated.
Next, Treeborn Frog provides this deck with defense in a pinch, a great discard for Dark World Lightning or Dark World Dealings, and the perfect tribute bait for when you just draw too many tribute monsters. Call of the Haunted is the only conflicting card that we’re running, but as long as the opponent doesn’t Brain Control one of your monsters to tribute it away, you should be fine.
Spirit Reaper provides more defense, as well as a great follow up for that Kahkki/Dark World Lightning play I mentioned two paragraphs ago. You’ll occasionally find that your opponents will simply refuse to set monsters because of Dark World Lightning, and in doing so they make themselves predictable. That makes it easy to knock them around with Reaper, so it’s an option we’d definitely like to have.
The last monster additions I’ll make are three copies of Cyber Dragon. This deck can draw unbalanced hands, and when it does, it needs to be able to put up a fight. Cyber Dragon may be the easiest, most versatile attacker ever made, especially for a deck that runs a whopping nine monsters it never wants to play directly to the field. It helps you create big, unexpected attacks, and it keeps your opponent from eating you alive.
Finally I’ll add three flexible high-utility spells to keep this deck from getting too bogged down. Smashing Ground can clear monsters too big for Goldd or Sillva to attack over. Brain Control can add to your attacking hordes or steal away a monster for tribute, while Book of Moon fills a variety of important functions. First, it stops attackers or turns monsters with weak DEF to defense mode. It creates nasty plays with Morphing Jar, and it sets you up for a game-winning Dark World Lightning when your opponent just refuses to set monsters. It can even interrupt Zombie Master’s effect, turning it face down on the chain after your opponent has discarded in order to stymie the special summon (a play which I expect to become more important as this format stabilizes). Together, these three cards will bring some much-needed reliability to this deck and help Mike with his Monarch problem.
So here are the changes I made:
-2 Exiled Force
-2 Protector of the Sanctuary
-3 Hydrogeddon
-2 Gateway to Dark World
-2 Creature Swap
+3 Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World
+1 Spirit Reaper
+1 Treeborn Frog
+3 Cyber Dragon
+1 Smashing Ground
+1 Brain Control
+1 Book of Moon
The final build looks like this!
Dark World Explosion—Jason’s Fix—40 Cards
Monsters: 21
3 Cyber Dragon
3 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
2 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
3 Brron, Mad King of Dark World
3 Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Magician of Faith
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Treeborn Frog
1 Spirit Reaper
Spells: 14
3 Dark World Dealings
3 Dark World Lightning
1 Premature Burial
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Card Destruction
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Smashing Ground
1 Brain Control
1 Book of Moon
Traps: 5
2 Deck Devastation Virus
1 Mirror Force
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute
The changes have had three major impacts on the deck. First, we’ve streamlined things and taken better advantage of the Dark World theme by trading some of the original monsters for copies of Kahkki. If you’re going to play a theme deck, know the reasons for doing so and then make use of them. You don’t want to go overboard, but you don’t want to undershoot either, and the Dark World monsters are capable of more than just dropping 2300 ATK beatsticks. Second, we’ve made the deck less awkward through the removal of conflicting cards like Protector of the Sanctuary and Gateway to Dark World, both of which can interfere with other important spell cards. Finally, we added a lot of cards with high utility in order to help smooth the deck’s performance over all four parts of the duel—the opening, early game, mid-game, and late game.
The result is a deck with fewer tricks, but a lot more speed and reliability. It’s still weak on the opening turn, but it now has Spirit Reaper and Treeborn Frog to set in addition to Sangan and Morphing Jar (both of which were present in the original build). The early game can result in big hits that guide momentum thanks to Brron, Mad King of Dark World, and the mid-game is a lot less muddled. It’s important to remember some of this strategy’s more unique options. As simple as they may look, learning how to play Brron, Kahkki, and Deck Devastation Virus in various matchups takes some time, so don’t be discouraged if your first outing has ups and downs.
Dark World is one of the fastest, most aggressive decks in this format, and this build is suited for any level of competition. Thanks for sending in your deck, Mike!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer