Today's submission is a cool deck based around a theme that isn't seen very often but is definitely one of the coolest available: Dragons! The submission comes from Chris, in Lodi. Here's what he had to say.

Hey there Jason,

I've noticed how you've been fixing these decks. I got a pretty nice Dragon deck, but it doesn't always deliver the goods. I run it by getting my Dragons out ASAP to rip apart my opponent's life points. Regen cards like The Shallow Grave and Monster Reborn help a whole lot. I have cards like Imperial Order and Magic Cylinder to keep my Dragons out there. Well, here it is.

—Chris, Lodi, CA


Thanks, Chris! Let's take a look at the deck list you sent in:

Dragon's Gold
43 Cards

Monsters
2 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
1 Cyber Jar
2 Lord of D.
2 Luster Dragon #1
2 Luster Dragon #2
1 Magician of Faith
1 Sinister Serpent
3 Spear Dragon
3 Troop Dragon
1 Tyrant Dragon
1 Witch of the Black Forest

Spells
1 Change of Heart
1 Dragon's Gunfire
1 Graceful Charity
1 Harpie's Feather Duster
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Painful Choice
1 Pot of Greed
1 Premature Burial
1 Raigeki
1 Swords of Revealing Light
2 The Flute of Summoning Dragon
1 The Shallow Grave
1 United We Stand

Traps
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Imperial Order
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Reckless Greed
2 Ultimate Offering
1 Waboku


Dragon decks can be really interesting. Through the Lord of D./The Flute of Summoning Dragon combo, you have the potential to get some of the biggest hitters in the game onto the field without having to pay their tribute costs. The combo can also function as sort of an uber–Marauding Captain, allowing you to get three monsters total into play for the turn cost of one. Of course, this comes with the cost of over-extension—to get those three monsters into play, you're going to be using up four in-hand cards.

Considering that a Warrior deck can be crippled just by a single Dark Hole after a Marauding Captain over-extension, you need to be very careful choosing when to use this combo. It's certainly very viable, but you need to make sure that when you do commit to the big over-extension, you can protect it and use it to win the game very, very quickly.

There are some cards that take advantage of the Dragon subtype, like Dragon's Gunfire. However, none of these cards are particularly amazing, and really, we need to focus on using the Dragons' main strength—the Lord of D. combo. I'll also keep the theme of to-the-field recursion. It adds resilience, flexibility, and variety to the deck, and I'm glad to see that you've recognized that.

With that as the overall intent of this fix, we've got a few goals in mind. The first is to cut the deck down. Blue-Eyes, Tyrant Dragon, and Luster Dragon are not searchable, but we need to have reliable access to them to use the synergies that we're prioritizing in this deck. So, though exactly 40 cards might not be necessary, 43 seems a little high—the closer to 40 I can get it, the better.

The second goal is going to be to restructure the deck to support the two main strategies. We’ll maximize the potential of the Lord of D./The Flute of Summoning Dragon combo and protect it, as well as keeping the theme of recursion.

So, let's begin!

First, we're going to need to make some room. I'm going to start by removing one of the Luster Dragon #1s. It's an unfortunate move to have to make, but in today's fast metagame, the chances of having too many dead cards in your opening hand when you're running five tribute monsters and several cards that are only useful in combination with other cards is deadly and needs to be avoided. Ironically, to protect the viability of your combos, a lot of the cards that are going to be removed are ones that would appear to support the combos themselves. I'm going to leave the other four tribute Dragons, but be prepared for the odd opening hand that will still be wince-worthy—there just isn't much to be done to avoid it.

Magician of Faith is also going to be removed. Though it can do very well for this deck in the mid and late games, getting back Monster Reborn and Premature Burial, it's another dead card in the early game.

Dragon's Gunfire is going to be the first spell card to get pulled. This is an example of a Dragon-centric card that, though interesting and uniquely applicable to this type of deck, just isn't central to our key goals and is of limited utility (despite even its dual-effect option). Though virtually all big attackers used to have low defense, the game has recently taken a turn for the different in offering cards like Archfiend Soldier, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and other big hitters with defense enough to withstand Dragon's Gunfire. There are also a lot of Effect monsters that are seen in many decks that will also be invalid targets (think Witch of the Black Forest, Tribe-Infecting Virus, and Mystic Tomato). Though it can be nice to ping Spear Dragons and Goblin Attack Forces, the card is just too conditional for the current environment and most metagames within that environment. So it's gone.

I'm going to drop Shallow Grave as well. Though it supports the recursive sub-theme of the deck, it can really help a lot of decks that are out there right now. There are lots of possibilities for things your opponent could take that can completely screw up your plans, or give them card advantage, including Mystic Tomato, Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, D. D. Warrior Lady, a properly-summoned Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Cyber Jar, Fiber Jar, Spear Cretin, Spirit Reaper, and more, could all cause serious harm to this deck if an opponent gets a chance to reuse them. With Premature Burial, Monster Reborn, and Call of the Haunted all in the deck, you've got enough recursion as it is. Shallow Grave presents too much of a risk for this deck, in my opinion.

I'm also going to remove Swords of Revealing Light and Waboku. If the deck works properly, these cards really won't be needed. A Blue-Eyes White Dragon rarely needs a great deal of protection. Sure, the Spear Dragons and the Lord of D.s could benefit from them, but there are more important spells and traps that we need to get in here that are going to have a higher utility. Both cards are always great in topdecking situations, but they're not quite suited to this deck well enough to oust the other cards that could be filling these slots.

Lastly, the Reckless Greed and the two Ultimate Offerings are going to be lifted from the deck list. Reckless Greed needs to be used in decks that use synergetic cards to overcome its cost, the most popular of those being Jar of Greed and Offerings to the Doomed. It's a terrific, very under-rated card at the moment, but in this deck it just doesn't fit. The two Ultimate Offerings are nice, allowing you to get out your tribute monsters a bit faster, but really with the Lord of D./The Flute of Summoning Dragon combo in place, you're already going to be burning your hand for over-extensions enough.

Now that we've got some room to add in some cards, the first thing going in is a third Lord of D. Sure, he's searchable, but with D. D. Warrior Lady being so popular in the current environment, and with Nobleman of Crossout, Dark Core, and Dark Balter the Terrible (via Magical Scientist) becoming so popular in many metagames, it's best just to run a third Lord of D. instead of adding a Sangan. If Sangan could search for more in the deck I wouldn't hold that opinion, but the deck is packed with a lot of high-attack monsters, and that's what's guiding this decision. A second advantage this decision gives is that it means you have a higher chance of getting the combo out in the first couple turns of the game. This is key, because you're going to be able to win a lot of games by over-extending and dominating the field in the very early turns of the game, chiefly because your opponent won't see it coming and won't commit to the field appropriately.

With this thought in mind, the deck also demands a third The Flute of Summoning Dragon. I'll add that as well.

Snatch Steal is a great card for nearly every deck, but especially a deck like this. Why? Because the only thing better than monster advantage that costs 1000 life points a turn is free monster advantage because you tributed that monster you used Snatch Steal on for a Dragon. With this many tribute monsters in your deck, you're really going to get the maximum potential out of Snatch Steal, not to mention that you have several Lord of D.s to play to the field in face-up attack position to bait the opponent to drop a face-down monster that you can then use as tribute or just as an attacker. It's also going to provide tech against Injection Fairy Lily, which can be a serious concern since it's one of the few defensive walls in the game that can stand up to the better Dragon cards. Snatch Steal is a gamebreaking card in any attack-oriented deck, but it's especially deadly in one like this. It's an ultra-rare, but most areas tend to have quite a few in circulation, so it's generally not that difficult to get.

Back to protecting the Lord of D./The Flute of Summoning Dragon combo, and the over-extensive attack that follows it. Trap cards hurt this deck. Though Lord of D. can protect your Dragons from Trap Hole and Ring of Destruction, it can't protect them from cards that don't specifically target them, such as Mirror Force, and he can't prevent Waboku from resolving. The normal answer to this conundrum would be Jinzo, but the deck already has quite a few tribute monsters, and I'm not in a hurry to add any more. However, the deck isn't running a full complement of Mystical Space Typhoons—it should be. I'm going to add one more to bump the total count to the maximum of three; this will provide some more help against troublesome trap cards, as well as big attackers that have been pumped up with equip cards to the point where they're big enough to take on your Dragons. Because you're now running three Mystical Space Typhoons in addition to Imperial Order and Sinister Serpent, you may want to consider running Mirage of Nightmare. I haven't added it to the list, because Mirage of Nightmare is in my mind a flavor card—it works for some and doesn't work for others. However, if it does work for you, I'd heartily encourage using it, especially in a deck like this where you'll be able to use it to get to your Dragons very quickly and recover your hand after you've over-extended. If you do opt to run it, you might be able to drop the remaining Luster Dragon #1. It's worth testing, for sure.

I can't help but notice the glaring omission of Dark Hole. In a deck that can deal 7000 damage or more from just a single turn's worth of summoning due to its key combo, you want to be able to clear the field very, very badly. Dark Hole is a must for nearly any deck, but especially a deck that can be hurt so badly by Spirit Reaper or Fiber Jar.

Moving on, there are two generally useful traps that should definitely be in here: Mirror Force and Ring of Destruction. Mirror Force is can be the hardest card in the game to get. It's an ultra rare from an older set, and it's incredibly powerful. It commands a weighty price in both cash and trade, but if you can get one, it's useful in virtually any deck. Breaker the Magical Warrior hurts its viability slightly, but really, I think people exaggerate Mirror Force's downside. Any card that has uncosted potential to give such astounding card advantage is worth owning. Ring of Destruction used to be somewhat difficult to get, being a high-utility card that is desirable for most decks, but thanks to the new Invasion of Chaos Special Edition packages, there are many of these in circulation. Getting one, if you don't already have one, shouldn't be too difficult, and the card is very useful in a deck like this. Dealing 3000 damage to both players can often be enough to win if you're at an advantage or force a tie if you're at a disadvantage.

That's it for changes. The total suggestions are as follows:

-1 Luster Dragon #1
-1 Magician of Faith
-1 Dragon's Gunfire
-1 The Shallow Grave
-1 Swords of Revealing Light
-1 Waboku
-1 Reckless Greed
-2 Ultimate Offering

+1 Snatch Steal
+1 Lord of D.
+1 Mystical Space Typhoon
+1 The Flute of Summoning Dragon
+1 Dark Hole
+1 Mirror Force
+1 Ring of Destruction

The finished deck list looks like this:

Dragon's Gold—Jason's Fix
41 cards

Monsters
1 Luster Dragon #1
2 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
1 Tyrant Dragon
3 Spear Dragon
3 Troop Dragon
2 Luster Dragon #2
3 Lord of D.
1 Cyber Jar
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Sinister Serpent

Spells
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 The Flute of Summoning Dragon
1 Pot of Greed
1 United We Stand
1 Harpie's Feather Duster
1 Heavy Storm
1 Change of Heart
1 Premature Burial
1 Painful Choice
1 Monster Reborn
1 Raigeki
1 Graceful Charity
1 Snatch Steal
1 Dark Hole

Traps
1 Imperial Order
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction


Your strategy in the early game is going to depend both on the contents of your hand and the pace of the game—you're going to need to start in whatever gear is demanded of you. If you have the Lord of D./The Flute of Summoning Dragon combo ready to go, and your opponent plays light on the first couple of turns, press and try to take the game early. If the combo doesn't come out right away, try to hold out and gain some card advantage so that when it does become available, you'll be ready to take on your opponent.

Fear Imperial Order. Remember that if an opponent chains it successfully against your The Flute of Summoning Dragon, and Imperial Order is allowed to resolve, you're not only down a card and left with your strategy stopped dead in its tracks, but you're also stuck with a Lord of D. on the field. Use your Mystical Space Typhoons wisely for this reason, and try to have one ready to commit to forcing through your combo, if possible.

Some cards worth considering sidedecking are Ceasefire, Different Dimension Dragon, Mirage of Nightmare (if you don't main deck it), Interdimensional Matter Transporter, and Dragon Capture Jar. Dragon Capture Jar is an interesting tech card in a deck like this, not only providing dynamic field positioning possibilities, but also chaining against Mirror Force. (It can't destroy any of your Dragons if they're in defense position when it resolves.)

Thanks for sending it in, Chris! I hope that helps!


Want to submit your deck to be featured in this column? Want to say hi? Email me at jasonatmetagame@yahoo.com to submit your deck. Please include your first name, city and state of residence, your decklist in the format used above, and a few sentences about your deck and the challenges/successes you've had with it.