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Doomkaiser Dragon
Card# CSOC-EN043


Doomkaiser Dragon's effect isn't just for Zombie World duelists: remember that its effect can swipe copies of Plaguespreader Zombie, too!
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Deck Profile: Diethrich Shelton-Evans
Jason Grabher-Meyer
 

Lots of players run Lockdown Burn, and seemingly even more do now that the new Advanced format has rotated in. But, in a field of cookie-cutter Burn decks, Deithrich Shelton-Evans stands apart. The reason? Check out his deck list!

Evans’s Burn: 45 cards

Monsters: 11
3 Lava Golem
3 Giant Germ
2 Des Koala
1 Sangan
1 Cyber Jar
1 Morphing Jar

Spells: 17
3 Toll
3 Chain Energy
3 Wave-Motion Cannon
3 Scapegoat
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Heavy Storm
2 Level Limit – Area B

Traps: 17
3 Ojama Trio
3 Just Desserts
3 Secret Barrel
3 Curse of Darkness
2 Gravity Bind
1 Ceasefire
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Magic Cylinder

Side Deck: 15
3 Giant Trunade
3 Jowgen
2 Solemn Judgment
2 Wall of Revealing Light
2 Last Turn
1 Book of Moon
2 Cat of Ill Omen

Yes, that is a 45-card deck sitting at table one . . . or at least it was during one of today’s rounds. Shelton-Evans’s deck, which is reminiscent of a deck played successfully at last year’s Canadian National Championship, isn’t based around the idea of locking down an opponent and then taking them apart with renewable effects and one-shot damage. Instead, the deck locks down an opponent, then punishes them for playing cards. It also punishes them for not playing cards. Pretty brutal, huh?

How does the deck achieve its goals? Well, integral to its success are Curse of Darkness, Chain Energy, and Toll. Each dishes out damage to the opponent for playing spell cards, playing any cards, and for attacking respectively. With the opponent subdued and holding onto cards in their hand, they’re ripe for a smacking with Secret Barrel and Des Koala.

The deck can open pretty weakly, though. Giant Germ can maintain board presence, but the deck really isn’t running many monsters, and though Gravity Bind and Level Limit – Area B can turn a weak opening into a ridiculously untouchable one, those cards aren’t always the easiest to draw. That said, given some time this deck can slow down an opponent’s building momentum and stop them in their tracks, especially if the opponent isn’t a big risk taker and doesn’t feel like powering through Shelton-Evans’s defenses at the cost of 4000 or 5000 life points. In short, this deck eats wimps and cautious players for breakfast.

A big strength of the build is the unique side deck—it seems as if total conversion side decks might be more popular in the new format, and it looks as if this type of Burn deck mixed with Last Turn themes is a winning combination. Since some of the cards necessary for Last Turn are great in this type of Burn deck too, Shelton-Evans has managed to find a total conversion side deck that he can use as a tech-based side deck as well. That’s pretty great, and it gave him a side decking ability far greater than most of the players competing.

With Advanced format players playing slightly more cautiously and slowly than before, this type of deck can really shine. Anyone using a synergy-based deck should take heart in Shelton-Evans’s success, as his innovative Burn build shows that, as many hypothesized, the new format is indeed slower than its previous incarnation. If you’ve been interested in running a high-risk deck, this might be the right time!

 
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