Ever since Rainbow Dragon dropped in Tactical Evolution, I’ve been tempted to play it in a tournament-level deck, at least for a local. Being a Crystal Beast enthusiast last format (Troop/Dupe really hated Crystal Abundance), I don’t even really care about the competitive advantages the Dragon might offer. If you pummel someone with your 4000 ATK ghost rare, you get serious style points . . . and some afternoons that’s really all I’m aiming for. Rainbow Dragon takes a lot of thought to be played effectively—you need to create a deck that’s counterintuitive to some degree, running more single copies of some monsters than you would otherwise. But the payoff is just really cool.
Reader John H was one of the many who seem to have agreed with me over the past couple weeks, stuffing my inbox with Rainbow Dragon deck submissions. Here’s what he had to say about his creation.
Dear Jason,
I hope you can help me with a deck of mine. I've wanted to run this deck ever since Force of the Breaker came out, and I hope I can get some advice. It tries to use Crystal Abundance as fast as it can, and Rainbow Dragon as well in a pinch, or after Abundance gets its effect off, dealing massive damage and most likely sealing the game in that turn. I only use one of each of the minor Crystal Beasts for consistency and Cyber Dragon helps the deck pack a punch if needed. I hope that you can help me out.
John H.
—Union City, GA
Looks like John’s got the right idea. Here’s the deck he put together:
Crystal Power—42 Cards
Monsters: 19
1 Rainbow Dragon
3 Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus
3 Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger
3 Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth
1 Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle
1 Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle
1 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat
1 Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise
3 Cyber Dragon
1 Sangan
1 Morphing Jar
Spells: 15
3 Rare Value
2 Crystal Promise
2 Crystal Blessing
2 Crystal Abundance
3 Smashing Ground
1 Premature Burial
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Creature Swap
Traps: 8
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Ceasefire
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
2 Dust Tornado
2 Trap Dustshoot
Looking over John’s build, it certainly seems solid, but I’d like to make three different improvements. First, we need to bring this puppy into the new Advanced format. Second, there are a lot of traps for a deck that wants to use Crystal Abundance. Beyond that, John’s not really doing anything proactive to fulfill Rainbow Dragon’s special summoning requirement. He’s using Morphing Jar to get some easy discard power, but he could be doing a lot more to send Crystal Beasts to the graveyard.
So first up, we need to drop two copies of Smashing Ground and at least one Trap Dustshoot to make this deck legal. I considered replacing the second Dustshoot with Mind Crush, but since I need to reduce the deck’s number of trap cards, I’m actually going to go ahead and drop both. We want John’s strategy to be fast and proactive, so that means a priority on spells.
Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted are both easy drops since they can wind up interfering with Crystal Abundance. Neither adds a great deal to the deck, and while reviving Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus or Ruby can be flashy, those moves just aren’t as important as our long-term plans. Creature Swap is another awkward fit: I’m having a hard time figuring out what exactly I’d want to fork over to my opponent in this deck. Sangan and Morphing Jar might be decent Swap fodder, but anything else can actually harm our strategy. Crystal Beasts destroyed on the opponent’s side of the field can be crystallized in the opposing spell and trap zone, meaning the wrong move could make Rainbow Dragon a dead card.
It puzzles me that so many Crystal Beast decks run Dust Tornado. Play Crystal Beasts correctly, and you’ll almost always smile when your opponent activates a piece of trap-based monster removal. Scapegoat just buys you time by stalling the opponent (letting you set up for Crystal Abundance), and while Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute can certainly cause setbacks, careful play with the right build can really lessen their impact. Dust Tornado just isn’t needed here.
Crystal Promise will be removed in favor of a similar card that’s more effective in a fast-paced deck like this one, and that leaves me with just one more card I’d like to make room for. I want to open up one last card slot, so as good as Ceasefire is in this format, I’m going to bounce it to the side deck. It’s not that necessary in a deck that centers on OTKs, and it has the disadvantage of being a trap card (albeit one we can activate at almost any time). It can definitely be rotated in against conservative Monarch builds bolstered by the Apprentice engine, but it just doesn’t seem necessary for any other matchups.
That leaves this deck with 30 cards total, and I’d really like to keep it to a tight 40 in order to keep it fast and efficient. The first additions I want to make are based around getting more monsters into the graveyard. That’ll benefit both Rainbow Dragon, and the integral spell card Crystal Blessing.
Card Trooper is the most obvious pick for ditching Crystal Beasts to the graveyard, and even at just one copy, its contributions here will be significant. I’ll add three copies of Magical Merchant for the same reason: it helps us get to those all-important spells that fuel our most accessible win condition, and it buries copies of Crystal Beasts in the graveyard for use later on. Merchant will also help establish a slower tempo of card exchanges, so any player who tries to rush this deck early will have little impact on our card count and range of options.
The last card I’ll add for the sake of sending Crystal Beasts to the graveyard is Card Destruction. I’m a firm believer that Card Destruction is necessary in almost every Crystal Beast build: not only does it get important cards into the graveyard, but also it lets you turn your big hands into stellar card filtering. If you don’t have Crystal Abundance and need it, Card Destruction is often the best way to get to it.
Next, two copies of Lightning Vortex and another Crystal Abundance will give this deck the field clearing power it needs. Vortex is particularly important because it gives you something to do with synergy-heavy spells like Crystal Blessing or Rare Value when you don’t have the proper conditions met to activate them.
Finally, those two copies of Crystal Promise will become copies of Crystal Beacon instead. Though Beacon may not be as useful as Promise in the early game, it’s a clear winner in the mid and late game, and it’s especially good in decks that seek to use Rainbow Dragon. The reason? Beacon is one of the only cards that can search the deck for any Crystal Beast, and that searchability will make it easier to fulfill the Dragon’s summoning requirement. Just need one more Crystal Beast to bring out Rainbow Dragon? Crystal Beacon can seek that monster out directly, or you can grab Sapphire Pegasus instead, and use its effect to place the Crystal Beast you really wanted into your spell and trap zone.
Here are the changes I made to John’s deck:
-2 Smashing Ground
-1 Creature Swap
-2 Crystal Promise
-1 Premature Burial
-2 Trap Dustshoot
-2 Dust Tornado
-1 Ceasefire
-1 Call of the Haunted
+1 Card Trooper
+3 Magical Merchant
+2 Crystal Beacon
+1 Card Destruction
+2 Lightning Vortex
+1 Crystal Abundance
The final build is as follows:
Crystal Power—Jason’s Fix—40 Cards
Monsters: 23
1 Rainbow Dragon
3 Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus
3 Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger
3 Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth
1 Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle
1 Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle
1 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat
1 Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise
3 Cyber Dragon
1 Sangan
1 Morphing Jar
1 Card Trooper
3 Magical Merchant
Spells: 15
3 Rare Value
2 Crystal Blessing
3 Crystal Abundance
2 Crystal Beacon
1 Smashing Ground
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Card Destruction
2 Lightning Vortex
Traps: 2
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force
This deck can now deploy both Rainbow Dragon and Crystal Abundance much faster than it could before. Granted, it also runs the risk of discarding those cards, but with three copies of Abundance instead of two, the deck should always be able to preserve one of its four big finishers. It’s important to remember that while John can win with Rainbow Dragon, he doesn’t need to bring it out every single game: he can claim victory without it, making for a balanced and resilient strategy.
Your ideal opening play is almost always Magical Merchant, though Card Trooper, Morphing Jar, and Sangan are also reasonable. Merchant is just the most reliable of the group. Card Trooper is best played for an immediate attack and Morphing Jar takes some setup (and sometimes luck) to be at its best. Open with Merchant if you go first and have the option to do so.
In the early game, your priority should be to fill your spell and trap zone (as well as your graveyard) with Crystal Beasts. You need to play aggressively in order to keep your opponent’s offense under control, but you have Lightning Vortex for when your opponent gets unruly. Don’t be afraid to occasionally hold copies of Rare Value that you’re capable of activating. While it looks like an “activate as soon as you can” card at first glance, doing so can sometimes land you only a single Crystal Beast in your back row, rendering the cards you draw dead. If your opponent is content to slow-roll the early game, you should probably let him or her.
Provided you have the right Crystal Beasts in the right places, you can topdeck very well. Both Crystal Abundance and Rainbow Dragon are instant wins in a simplified game, so don’t be afraid of making card-for-card trades. Again, your success in the late game is dependent on how well you managed and developed your infrastructure earlier on. Crystal Beasts are more than just a slam-bang turbo deck, so take your time deciding important moves.
This deck foregoes the control elements of Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins in favor of a bit more field control and easily the splashiest signature monster since Blue-Eyes. If you have a Rainbow Dragon in your collection and would like to try it out at a local tournament, a deck based around the same principles as this one can be a ton of fun. Remember: it’s all about infrastructure and paving the road for moves several turns in the future. Keep that in mind and you’ll have no problem dishing out your share of wins with Jesse Anderson’s ultimate behemoth.
Till next time, I’m,
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Got a cool deck that you think could benefit from some advice? Send me a decklist in the format shown in this article, along with your name, location, and a couple of paragraphs describing how the deck works. You can reach me at jdgmetagame@gmail.com.