Hello! This week I'm going to look at a deck based around a theme that we're all familiar with and see a lot, but usually only as a splash in other decks: attackers that can push damage through a defense position monster. This has always been one of my favorite themes in the game. When Fairy Meteor Crush was first released, I bounced between using none, one, or a pair in a high-aggression Beatdown deck that I was quite fond of, and it worked really well. Once Legacy of Darkness was released, I immediately started running two to three Spear Dragons in my main Beatdown deck. Combined with the lone equip card I was using at the time (United We Stand), it often did a huge amount of damage to decks that thought defensive strategies would give them an edge, and it's still something I love using in Beatdown decks.

That said, I've never run a deck where the main theme was to force the opponent into playing defense position monsters, and then using carry-through damage as a main source of a win. It's a cool idea, but just nothing I had the time to check out myself. Luckily, Manuel Letargo, a resident of the Toronto area like myself, did have the time to put such a deck together. Not only that, he was gracious enough to send it in for my suggestions. Here's what he had to say!


Jason,

I am a big reader of your Apotheosis articles, so I thought I'd try to get this new deck reviewed. I would appreciate any input and recommendation for changes.

Manuel Letargo
Toronto, Canada


Here's the decklist Manuel sent in:


Manuel's Trample Deck
42 cards

Monsters
2 Dark Driceratops
1 Airknight Parshath
2 Berserk Gorilla
2 Spear Dragon
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Enraged Battle Ox
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 D. D. Warrior lady
1 Witch of the Black Forest
3 Nimble Momonga
1 Sangan
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Cyber Jar

Spells
1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Monster Reborn
1 Premature Burial
1 Harpie's Feather Duster
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Snatch Steal
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Forceful Sentry
2 Axe of Despair
1 Mage Power

Traps
1 Imperial Order
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Magic Cylinder
2 Robbin’ Goblin


Very interesting deck. I like the overall look of it—the spells in and traps I really agree with. I do think the monster lineup could be reworked, though, and be made significantly more efficient in the long run. It's certainly not bad, but I think by swapping in and out some monsters, we can make it great!

There are three "groups" of monsters that I want to remove from the deck. The first are the three monsters that don't seem to fit the theme or contribute in a congruous fashion to the goal of the deck. Those are Breaker the Magical Warrior, Spirit Reaper, and D. D. Warrior Lady. Breaker the Magical Warrior and D. D. Warrior Lady are both great cards and they have their uses in this deck, but I think the deck needs to be streamlined and made a bit more focused, so, unfortunately, these two great cards have to go. Spirit Reaper I'm definitely going to get rid of—it's a contingency card (meaning it's not very valuable unless you're losing) that really doesn't fit the concepts this deck is built around. We need some wiggle room, so even though Spirit Reaper can be valuable insurance, I'm going to toss it.

Next up, I feel like the submitted version of this deck is trying to be two things at once, a carry-through damage deck and a Beast deck. Although Enraged Battle Ox, Nimble Momonga, and Berserk Gorilla can be potent, this is going to be a very difficult theme to work properly with only a single Enraged Battle Ox in the deck, and unfortunately we don't have room for more. In addition, I don't know if I like the idea of using Berserk Gorilla—I think for such a precise deck, Berserk Gorilla is an improperly indelicate card. I'm not a fan of things I don't have complete control of in Yu-Gi-Oh! Because of these doubts and reservations, I'm going to remove Enraged Battle Ox, Nimble Momonga, and Berserk Gorilla from the deck.

Lastly, I don't feel Dark Driceratops is the best option we have. Basically, for one card, you could either equip an attacker that can deal carry-through damage with an Axe of Despair or other equip spell, likely for a bonus of 1000 ATK or more, or you can tribute it for Dark Driceratops, for a bonus of, at best, probably 1000 ATK. The problem this presents is three-fold. First off, the additional summon can leave you open to Torrential Tribute or Bottomless Trap Hole. You just lost two cards (one tributed, plus the Dark Driceratops). If the Driceratops gets Fissured, you just lost two cards plus a summon. In the case of a monster like Spear Dragon that is given a bonus from an equip spell, you're not potentially triggering Torrential Tribute or Bottomless Trap Hole. If it gets Fissured, you still lose two cards over all, but you're diversified in summoning and will have another monster on the field anyways. For this reason, I'm going to drop the two Dark Driceratops in favour of some more accessibility to equip spells. This is also going to free us up for other tribute monsters.

From the spells, I want to remove Swords of Revealing Light. I'd suggest keeping it in the side deck and swapping it in as needed, instead of using it as a main decked card. I don't think the deck needs the protection of Swords, but hey, test it out. If you find the deck plays a lot better with it, by all means slap it back in.

From the traps, I'm going to remove the two Robbin’ Goblins. I need the card slots they're filling at the moment, and I think it's best to focus on dealing damage and making the base strategy work, instead of augmenting it and hoping for the best. This deck is tricky to run, so focus is going to be needed to accomplish the goals it sets out.

I'm going to start the additions by replacing the two tribute monsters I removed. This deck puts its eggs in one basket alot, so Jinzo is going to be a must. I'd also like to add in a second Airknight Parshath. They're not easy to use, but when they work, they totally win games.

I'm going to add in another Spear Dragon to support the theme of the deck. Since we're basically looking to match up carry-through attackers with equip spells, and then attack, a maximum of carry-through attackers is necessary. It's unfortunate that Spear Dragon becomes a sitting duck after it attacks, but Ring of Destruction, Mirror Force, and Magic Cylinder are all in the deck to protect it. You've also got three pieces of recursion to bring Spear Dragon back as often as possible. Regular readers will notice I didn't remove Premature Burial as I frequently tend to do; it's completely justified in this deck, I think, and well worth the cost. Besides, we're bombarding the opponent with so many things that he or she will want to use spell and trap removal on, that there's no way they can all be blown away (so long as you play around the threat of Heavy Storm and Harpie’s Feather Duster very carefully).

I'm going to give Spear Dragon some playmates, as well. Two Mad Sword Beasts will give us five carry-through attackers in the deck, and even without equips they can often be useful, taking out smaller monsters or acting as bait. My personal favouite, though, is Des Scissors, a new card from Ancient Sanctuary. Though it only has 1000 ATK, that's passable for some purposes, and with equips, it can really shine. Des Scissors's effect deals direct damage to an opponent controlling a monster it destroys in battle. The amount of damage is equal to the level of the destroyed monster times 500, so Des Scissors can really deal a huge amount of damage if played correctly. It's also a Dark attribute monster, which is going to be useful for . . .

Mystic Tomato. This card is a great solve-it-all when it comes to decks that need to maintain board presence, which this one is going to have to do to survive. Synergizing well with other Mystic Tomatoes, Des Scissors, and of course Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest, it's probably one of the best openings in the game, and the thinning and control it gives are utterly superb. I'm going to add in three to help this deck really go the distance and get its key cards without . . . well, without dying!

Last up for the monsters, I'm going to add in a pair of Iron Blacksmith Kotetsus. These are going to give us reliability and choice in getting to the equip spells in the deck, without necessitating that we run too many. For basic setup, it can grab Axe of Despair or Mage Power, or once your offense is already going (or if you're being pinned down) it can search for a Snatch Steal. The versatility of this card is solely dependant on the variety of equip spell cards in the deck in which it is used, so in this deck it's a very high-utility card that won't ever really be a bad draw, barring a Skill Drain.

I only want to add one trap card to the deck, and that's Ceasefire. You're going to be playing really aggressively, so your opponent is often going to be playing monsters face down. As a result, you'll often want to scout the opponent's monsters and see if any are potentially bad targets or harmful to your plans due to a flip effect. Ceasefire is going to give you the information you want to scout for, along with negating any of those potentially nasty flip effects. Beyond that, it's also going to kick in some extra damage, and considering the fact that every monster in this deck is an Effect monster, you're probably going to be able to dish out a good amount of damage whenever you use it. It's a great card, usually a must–side deck in my mind, but in this type of strategy it cries out to be main decked.


So, here's the complete list of changes:

-1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
-1 Enraged Battle Ox
-3 Nimble Momonga
-1 Spirit Reaper
-2 Berserk Gorilla
-2 Dark Driceratops
-1 D. D. Warrior Lady
-1 Swords of Revealing Light
-2 Robbin’ Goblin

+1 Jinzo
+1 Airknight Parshath
+1 Spear Dragon
+2 Des Scissors
+3 Mystic Tomato
+2 Mad Sword Beast
+2 Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu
+1 Ceasefire


And here's the final deck:


Manuel's Trample Deck, Jason's Fix
41 cards

Monsters
1 Jinzo
2 Airknight Parshath
3 Spear Dragon
2 Mad Sword Beast
2 Des Scissors
3 Mystic Tomato
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
2 Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Sangan
1 Cyber Jar

Spells
1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Monster Reborn
1 Premature Burial
1 Harpie's Feather Duster
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Snatch Steal
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Forceful Sentry
2 Axe of Despair
1 Mage Power

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

For side decking, I'd recommend the usual right now—anti-Chaos. You're probably going to want to prioritize Trap Hole over Torrential Tribute in side decking against Chaos decks, just because this deck lays so much down on the field—perhaps two to three Bottomless Trap Holes and one or two Torrential Tributes. Beyond that, a United We Stand might be good, as well as a pair of Wabokus.

The deck has a better potential for a good opening now, thanks mostly due to Mystic Tomato. However, Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu makes a great opening as well, possibly better than Mystic Tomato, and Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest are always good to set or summon on the first turn.

Thanks for sending it in, Manuel! Hopefully the fix helps!


As a reminder, players with deck ideas they would like to see featured in this column can email their requests to jasonatmetagame@yahoo.com. Please include your first name, city and state of residence, decklist in the format used above, and a few sentences about your deck and the challenges and successes you've had with it.