A Legendary Ocean rules. It’s my favorite field card in the game—take that, Necrovalley. It’s capable of some awesome combos and also gives an excellent attack boost to turn a bunch of little monsters into total beat sticks. I’ve played against a lot of admirable Water decks in the past, but unfortunately, each fell to spell and trap removal.
Luckily, in the new Advanced format, that’s not as great a concern. Spell and trap removal is now more difficult to play, and the current spell and trap removal cards often have costs attached to using them. The field is ripe for a watery picking, and reader Gene is ready to be the one to harvest the format’s reptilian fruits. Or, in plain English, he submitted a Water deck that is the topic of today’s column. Here’s what Gene had to say about his deck.
I’m Gene from Santa Barbara, California, and I was wondering if you could help me with my deck. The new set, Soul of the Duelist, has a couple of cards that I think can help Water decks become a force to be reckoned with. I also think the deck would do very well in the Advanced format. I tried to add some sort of control element to the deck to suit my playing style, but maybe I should take another approach? The deck seems good on paper, but it doesn’t perform very well when it comes down to crunch time. Could you help me work out the kinks in the deck?
Thanks a lot!
-Gene, Santa Barbara, CA
Thanks for sending it in, Gene! Let’s take a look at the decklist.
Gene’s Watery Control
40 cards
Monsters: 16
1 Levia-Dragon - Daedalus
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
2 Giga Gagagigo
2 Gagagigo
3 Mother Grizzly
2 Mermaid Knight
2 Maryokutai
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Magician of Faith
Spells:18
1 Pot of Greed
1 Change of Heart
1 Heavy Storm
1 Snatch Steal
1 Premature Burial
1 Painful Choice
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 A Legendary Ocean
1 Swords of Revealing Light
2 Big Wave, Small Wave
3 Cold Wave
1 Salvage
1 Creature Swap
Traps: 6
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Raigeki Break
2 Magic Jammer
I can see the Control influences, for sure. However, I feel like the deck is trying to go in two different directions. The first is the control direction with cards like Maryokutai, which is a great pick, and the second is the Big Wave, Small Wave, “I trade my little monsters for big monsters and thug you out,” direction. I think that an offbeat control approach is viable in the Advanced format, so that’s what I’d rather focus on when looking at this deck. Gravity Bind Lockdown decks are far more viable in the Advanced format than they have been in previous play environments, and because of the synergy between Gravity Bind and A Legendary Ocean, that’s the way I want to take this deck.
That being said, we always begin with the monsters. Levia-Dragon - Daedalus is just too big and risky to play in a deck that seeks to control the field through Gravity Bind, so I’m going to remove it. The deck is already tribute-heavy, and lightening that load is going to keep it running smoothly. However, the other tribute monsters will stay.
Second and finally for the monsters, I’m also going to remove Magician of Faith. I’d personally suggest putting Magician of Faith in the side deck instead of in the main deck or removing it entirely. Magician of Faith’s main purpose is going to be to allow you to reuse certain spells that stay on the field, and I’m not sure that that will be necessary in many cases. Still, it will make a strong option for the side deck.
I’m going to remove Big Wave, Small Wave. This card is great, and also a lot of fun, allowing you to quickly turn the tables on an opponent as well as abuse Mother Grizzly’s maintained board presence. However, we need the space, and this card’s emphasis on big, high-level monsters just doesn’t go with the Gravity Bind theme.
Finally, all three copies of Cold Wave are going to be removed. Cold Wave is just difficult to take advantage of. We need the card slots, and it doesn’t serve a specialized or important enough purpose in this deck to justify using it, much less three copies of it.
That’s it for the removals—now for the additions. The only monster I’m going to add is a third Gagagigo. Because Gagagigo is level 4, he’s going to be able to get under Gravity Bind when A Legendary Ocean is on the field, and as the monster in this deck with the highest printed attack that is capable of doing that, he’s very important. He also goes well with A Legendary Ocean without Gravity Bind, providing a strong field presence before you get the combo going.
Next, I’m going to add two Terraforming. A Legendary Ocean must come into play for this deck to dominate the game, and running only three copies of it with a bit of deck thinning isn’t as reliable as I’d want. Not only does Terraforming allow you to reliably get to A Legendary Ocean, but it also thins two cards out of your deck for a single draw instead of just one. That means you’ll be able to get to your Gravity Binds faster than normal. It’s always important to keep deck thinning in mind.
Mermaid Knight loves ATK boosts. This deck has tons of spells and traps that it will be setting and keeping on the field, and because of that, Mage Power fits this deck like a glove. Your opponent will already be occupied with trying to destroy Gravity Bind and A Legendary Ocean. Mage Power adds one more card to the overwhelming list of cards that your opponent just won’t have enough spell or trap removal to destroy in most cases. It’s a safe play for this deck.
Finally, three Gravity Binds need to be included to tie everything together. Gagagigo, Mother Grizzly, Mermaid Knight, and Tribe-Infecting Virus can all attack under it once A Legendary Ocean is in play, and Gravity Bind will also serve to protect your Maryokutai from attack. That makes them a lot easier to play, and lets you capitalize on the decision to use them.
The changes to the deck are as follows.
-1 Levia-Dragon - Daedalus
-1 Magician of Faith
-2 Big Wave, Small Wave
-3 Cold Wave
+1 Gagagigo
+3 Gravity Bind
+2 Terraforming
+1 Mage Power
The final deck looks like this.
Gene’s Watery Control
Jason’s Fix
40 cards
Monsters: 15
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
2 Giga Gagagigo]
3 Gagagigo
3 Mother Grizzly
2 Mermaid Knight
2 Maryokutai
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Sinister Serpent
Spells:17
1 Pot of Greed
1 Change of Heart
1 Heavy Storm
1 Snatch Steal
1 Premature Burial
1 Painful Choice
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 A Legendary Ocean
2 Terraforming
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Salvage
1 Creature Swap
1 Mage Power
Traps: 9
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Raigeki Break
2 Magic Jammer
3 Gravity Bind
The deck is relatively simple to play. From turn 1, you’re looking to establish and protect a lock with Gravity Bind and A Legendary Ocean. You’re attempting to actively thin your deck while aggressively controlling the field through attacks. In this case, the best defense is a good offense.
If the lock doesn’t come quickly enough, you can always use A Legendary Ocean to normal summon Giga Gagagigo and dish out some hurt. If the lock is established, then you can protect it with Magic Jammer and Maryokutai, and you can also have one or two of your high-level monsters lurking as a threat if Gravity Bind is destroyed. Raigeki Break takes care of spells and traps alongside Mobius the Frost Monarch, and, if necessary, they can also punch through a problematic monster.
For side decking, I’d suggest a third Maryokutai and Magic Jammer, just in case. I’d also recommend two or three Giant Trunade to clear the field for a big attack as needed, since you can always replay your lock immediately. Beyond that, you should test the deck and see what gives it problems in your local metagame. Ceasefire might be a good addition since so many decks in the Advanced format run a lot of Effect monsters, especially the popular Warrior deck. Play it by ear.
Thanks for sending in your deck, Gene! Hopefully the fix helps you find more success.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Have a deck to submit? Want to say hi? Get in touch with me via email at Jason@metagame.com.