“Why risk lives needlessly on the battlefield when your armaments will do the work for you?” —General Freed


The burn strategies in Ancient Sanctuary are varied in a way similar to those of Invasion of Chaos. Monsters, spells, and traps can each be used to generate the damage necessary to overcome the need for direct combat.

In this week's article, we will examine the major burn strategies in Ancient Sanctuary and how to best support them, with attention paid to the difficulty in bringing them together in a draft.


Saturn – Judgment Burn

The Saturn – Judgment burn strategy relies on drafting two cards: The Sanctuary in the Sky and The Agent of Judgment - Saturn. Due to the respective rarities of these two cards, your chances of accomplishing this are minute. That said, if you do find the two together, it would be wise to not overlook them.

The most difficult of the burn strategies to pull together, this one is also the most effective. Saturn’s job is accomplished by getting the duel to a point where your life points are twice those of your opponent. This can be achieved by a variety of means, not limited to the use of the burn cards.

Basic combat can accomplish this goal rather quickly. The only time this becomes an issue is when you use the effect of Saturn, which prevents you from having a battle phase during a turn in which you would activate its effect. Support cards offer the alternative to combat. Goblin Thief is one of the most effective, creating a difference of 1000 life points between yourself and your opponent. Solar Ray is another great addition, taking advantage of the abundance of Light monsters in Ancient Sanctuary to deal out damage. With just a few Light monsters, you can easily deal the damage necessary to allow Saturn’s effect the chance to finish the duel.

As mentioned in my previous article on the Agents, Drain Shield is a great addition to this strategy if it can be acquired.


Needle – Scissors Burn

The Needle – Scissors burn strategy is an aggressive style relying on battle to achieve its end. The effect of the respective monsters, Needle Burrower and KA-2 Des Scissors, only activates when they successfully destroy a monster in battle.

The first hump to overcome is the rarity of the cards. Needle Burrower is a super rare while KA-2 Des Scissors is an uncommon, so odds are you will see a KA-2 Des Scissors before you will see the Needle Burrower.

The best support you can give to this strategy is a way to overcome the ATK of your opponents' monsters. Boosting the ATK of these monsters will not be possible when limited to the cards in Ancient Sanctuary, so alternate means need to be utilized. You will need to find ways to manipulate your opponent’s monsters into potentially weaker positions with cards like Earthquake. Overcoming the DEF of a defense position monster will be easily accomplished with Micro Ray.

The work is worth the payoff, as just one successful attack can easily result in a great deal of damage. For example, destroying a level 4 monster would cause 2000 points of damage, half of your opponent's initial life points.


Solar Flare Burn

Solar Flare burn is the easiest of the three major burn strategies to pull together. Solar Flare Dragons are commons in Ancient Sanctuary, and thus have good odds of being pulled together. Just two Solar Flare Dragons face-up on your side of the field can be enough to achieve victory, due to their effect relating to attack prevention.

Backfire stands as an additional punishment if your opponent would destroy one of your Solar Flare Dragons. Wall of Revealing Light can be used to protect your Dragons when it runs solo, if you are willing to spend the life points. You can recover from this expenditure with Mystik Wok. Wall of Revealing Light will work very well toward protecting your Solar Flare Dragons from attacks and is readily available as a common alongside Solar Flare Dragon.

Level Limit – Area B can also be a great part of this strategy, but it offers its own problems. The DEF of Solar Flare Dragon isn’t its strongest suit, so having it shifted to defense position can be a problem if you do not have two or more of them face up on your side of the field. Level Limit – Area B also acts as a deterrent to more aggressive styles of play, so it won’t combine well with the offensive burn strategies.


Extensions of Burn

Atomic Firefly is a risky burn card, but it can be effective in achieving some quick damage. The card's main weakness is its need to be face up already when it's attacked. In order to achieve this you would need to summon it or flip it face up before your opponent’s attack is declared.

Man-Thro' Tro' is the cannoneer for the Human-Wave deck. Its objective may not function well as the sole aim of a strategy, but it does work well as a support element. Dealing 800 points of damage from a single effect is considerable when the initial life point totals begin at 4000. Try to save this one as a finishing move.

Dora of Fate is a wild card in terms of burn. Its effectiveness varies based on the conditions of your opponent’s monsters and those in your hand. It can potentially unleash upwards of 2000 damage easily when used against the various level 4 monsters prevalent in most decks, but in draft you can expect to see a wider array of monster levels in play that will alter this outcome. This card will require patience and practice.


Next week . . . choices in Ancient Sanctuary.


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