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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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As you may or may not know, the upcoming Flaming Eternity Sneak Preview events are going to be even cooler than previous Yu-Gi-Oh! Sneak Preview tournaments. Not only will every entrant get a few packs of Flaming Eternity, but they’ll also earn a Cyber Harpie Lady promotional card just for entering the event!
This is one of the game’s long-awaited promotional cards here in North America, and is bound to renew some interest in Harpie decks. Because of that interest, today’s subject is a Harpie deck! Here’s what contributor Mayumei had to say about her deck.
Hi,
I’ve noticed the lack of Harpie-themed decks submitted, so I thought I’d show you mine. I've been working on this for a while, and I’m very proud of it. It seems stable, but if you could look over it, that would be great.
Thanks,
Mayumei M.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Here’s the deck Mayumi submitted.
Mayumei’s Feather Rush
40 cards
 Monsters
1 Harpie’s Pet Dragon
1 Harpie Lady Sisters
1 Luster Dragon
2 Harpie Lady 1
2 Birdface
1 Harpie Lady 2
1 Morphing Jar
1 Cyber Jar
2 Slate Warrior
3 Flying Kamakiri #1
2 The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave
1 Enraged Battle Ox
1 Luster Dragon #2
Spells
2 Harpies’ Hunting Ground
2 Elegant Egotist
1 Pot of Greed
1 Change of Heart
1 Book of Moon
1 Premature Burial
1 Snatch Steal
2 Smashing Ground
2 Enemy Controller
1 Giant Trunade
1 Offerings to the Doomed
Traps
1 Aqua Chorus
1 Call Of The Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Waboku
1 Judgment of Anubis
The deck looks all right, but I think there are two big improvements that can be made. First, I think it could use a little more Harpie. There are some essential themes behind a Harpie deck—swarming with Elegant Egotist and Harpie Lady Sisters and making large attacks with Triangle Ecstasy Spark—and I’m not completely convinced that those are being explored to their full potential. We’re going to adjust the monsters, give the deck more of an offensive punch, and fine-tune some spells to better take advantage of some of the Harpies’ specialties.
Second, I’m going to tweak the spells and traps, to find a balance that I think will be better suited to the future deck. Regular readers know what that means; Waboku’s got a bullseye on it!
The deck’s overall size is good, and it’s focused in the right direction. I’m just going to help the deck continue down the path that Mayumei already set for it.
First, we need to get rid of some of the deck’s tribute monsters. Harpie’s Pet Dragon is too difficult to get out, and then support, to a point of being efficient for the investment it needs. I’m definitely going to drop that. I’m also going to drop the Luster Dragon #2. In a Dragon deck, this can be a decent monster, but we’re not that desperate to keep the Wind theme alive in this deck.
That leaves us with one monster that can’t be normal summoned without a tribute; the single copy of Harpie Lady Sisters. Harpie Lady Sisters is not strictly a tribute monster. Instead, it’s what is known as a “Nomi”—a monster that can’t be summoned except by satisfying specific requirements listed on the card. All tribute monsters are “monsters that can't be normal summoned without a tribute,” but not all “monsters that can’t be normal summoned without a tribute” are “tribute monsters.” It’s an important distinction to make.
Next, I’m going to drop the one copy of Harpie Lady 2. Harpie Lady 1 is just better in my opinion, as it has a decent ATK that can turn lethal with the right support. For example, Rising Air Current gives it 2100 ATK, enough to handle almost any monster.
I’m going to remove the two copies of The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave and Luster Dragon as well. Again, just because they’re Wind monsters doesn’t necessarily mean they should be in this deck. Like Luster Dragon #2, they’re nice for a Dragon deck but a poor selection for this one. I’m also going to drop Enraged Battle Ox. While the Ox’s effect is nice, we can duplicate it to an extent by making some other monster choices. Enraged Battle Ox really belongs in a deck that can protect it by pumping up its stats or overwhelming the opponent from the beginning of the game. This deck just isn’t built to do either of those things.
At first glance, my next change is a bit odd. I’m going to remove the two copies of Harpies’ Hunting Ground. Its ability to destroy traps and spells is nice, but we really need to be using field spell cards to boost the stats of our monsters. We also need to give our key monsters more than +200 ATK to keep them on the field and keep the deck competitive. Harpies’ Hunting Ground will be replaced by a different field spell card once we get to the additions.
I’m going to drop one copy of Offerings to the Doomed and both copies of Enemy Controller. The deck doesn’t have the combos it needs to get over the proverbial hump created by Offerings’ draw denial, and it doesn’t have the monsters to spare for Enemy Controller’s tribute. Book of Moon is really more versatile, so Enemy Controller will have to go.
Finally, I’m ditching a few traps, both copies of Waboku and the single Judgment of Anubis. This deck needs to keep certain cards out on the field, but I’d rather pump up Harpie Lady 1 or increase my chances of finding one, rather than use Waboku to save one monster for a single turn. This deck can often be a bit weak on the offense, so we need to use those cards on offensive instead of sticking with a one-shot defense. Judgment of Anubis, on the other hand, is too conditional to work in this deck. It only works under certain conditions—make sure the opponent has at least one monster out, and make sure he or she has cards to discard—that this deck just doesn’t want to occur. It’s an incongruous pick despite being well suited for play in a few fringe decks, so I’m going to have to let it go.
 Now that we’ve got some room to breathe, I’m going to add in a few more cards. First, I’m going to replace the high-level monsters I removed from the deck with a second copy of Harpie Lady Sisters. We don’t want to put three copies of Harpie Lady Sisters in the deck, because we’d rather draw into Elegant Egotist. It can search out the Sisters to maintain card presence that way, trading a spell in hand for a monster on the field.
Next, I’m going to add in a third copy of Harpie Lady 1 to make up for the Harpie Lady 2 I removed. Its attack is the best of the available options, and with the addition of the deck’s new field card, Harpie Lady 1 will not only be needed for summoning the Sisters but will also punch the clock of monsters like Berserk Gorilla and live to tell the tale. I’m going to add another Birdface too, to help us accelerate to what we need.
To take advantage of what this deck will be doing for the Wind attribute, I’m going to add in another Slate Warrior and a pair of Spear Dragons. These are going to work better than the other Wind monsters that were previously in the deck. The pressure on defense position monsters and (Scapegoat fans) that was removed with Enraged Battle Ox’s departure from the deck is maintained by Spear Dragon.
And Slate Warrior? Well, it’s Slate Warrior, and it’s even better in this deck than it is in most others. We’ll be boosting the ATK of Wind-attribute monsters, and Slate Warrior’s effect of lowering a monster’s stats fits well into this deck’s early-game plans, when it might not have as many high-ATK options as it could. In any case, it’s a high-utility monster, and in this deck it also offers a nice amount of synergy.
The big change that’s going to enhance ATK? It’s none other than the old standby, Rising Air Current. It gives +500 to the ATK of all your Wind monsters, turning virtually every card in the deck into a total beast. There’s not much to it—getting out this card means that the deck goes from somewhat fragile-but-tricky to completely overwhelming. Getting to this card is a must, and because of that I’m going to keep the overall deck size down, celebrate the deck thinning that Birdface and Flying Kamakiri #1 bring to the table, and keep in the sometimes risky Fiber and Morphing Jars. Harpies’ Hunting Ground is nice, but it’s just not as good as giving virtually everything in the deck +500 ATK.
We need some more spells to take advantage of the focused Harpie theme. A third copy of Elegant Egotist is a must. It’s essentially the point of using this deck, so not running three copies doesn’t make any sense. This is going to get out Harpie Lady Sisters a lot faster, hopefully in multiples. In addition to Egotist, we need to be using Triangle Ecstasy Spark. It’s a great card that covers for this deck’s inability to run Jinzo, makes your Harpie Lady Sisters enormous, and sets you up to make a stunning crushing blow against your opponent. It’s just what you need to make an attack against a field packed with traps and defenders in the mid-game, and it’s a great kill-card in the late game too. It’s a definite must for any Harpie deck.
The other spell I want to add to the deck is one Mystical Space Typhoon. Honestly, if you intend on attacking or being attacked, this card is pretty much a must, especially in a metagame that is slowly adopting field spell cards in serious decks. Lockdown strategies are popular, and Mystical Space Typhoon breaks locks. For that simple fact, it should definitely be considered a staple of any deck that intends on winning through battle.
Last up I want to add a couple traps. Specifically, I’m adding two copies of Sakuretsu Armor. Sakuretsu Armor is essentially useful in all phases of a duel, from the opening to the late game. The fact that it can be so useful to this deck in the early game as the deck is setting up and needs to protect Harpie Lady 1 makes it even more important than it can be in other decks. Make no mistake, I’m dropping the Waboku so I can fit these in. When confronted by the idea of delaying an attacker for one turn or blowing it up, I know which option I prefer. If the opponent has more than one attacker, it’s still going to be bad news next turn with or without Waboku, and the odds are good that a single turn of stalling won’t help you out in the long run. It could, but if you’re relying on it, you’ve probably done something wrong.
The total changes look like this.
-1 Luster Dragon #2
-1 Harpie’s Pet Dragon
-1 Harpie Lady 2
-2 The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave
-1 Enraged Battle Ox
-1 Luster Dragon
-2 Harpies’ Hunting Ground
-1 Offerings to the Doomed
-2 Enemy Controller
-2 Waboku
-1 Judgment of Anubis
+1 Harpie Lady Sisters
+1 Harpie Lady 1
+1 Birdface
+2 Spear Dragon
+1 Slate Warrior
+3 Rising Air Current
+1 Elegant Egotist
+1 Mystical Space Typhoon
+2 Triangle Ecstasy Spark
+2 Sakuretsu Armor
Here’s the final version of Feather Rush.
Mayumei’s Feather Rush—Jason’s Fix
41 cards
Monsters
2 Harpie Lady Sisters
3 Harpie Lady 1
3 Birdface
1 Morphing Jar
1 Cyber Jar
2 Spear Dragon
3 Slate Warrior
3 Flying Kamakiri #1
Spells
3 Elegant Egotist
3 Rising Air Current
1 Pot of Greed
1 Change of Heart
1 Book of Moon
1 Premature Burial
1 Snatch Steal
2 Smashing Ground
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Triangle Ecstasy Spark
1 Giant Trunade
Traps
1 Aqua Chorus
1 Call Of The Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Sakuretsu Armor
 The deck doesn’t open as strongly as it initially did. It’s missing the layer of protection given by that The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave can afford it. However it still has a solid opening thanks to the copies of Birdface and Flying Kamakiri #1.
In exchange for this slight giving of ground in the opening, we’ve got a far stronger early game that can facilitate the deck’s key combos, primarily Elegant Egotist and Harpie Lady 1, on a quick and reliable basis. All you want to do in the early game is swarm with Egotist and get out Rising Air Current. Once you’re done, you’ll likely have a better board presence than your opponent, both in sheer numbers of monsters as well as in the actual strength of those monsters’ stats.
This deck’s goal in the midgame is to either dominate the field and run the opponent low on cards on a faster-than-average clock, or, to do so if it hasn’t gone off yet. Aqua Chorus helps the most here, as the midgame is when you’re most likely to have multiple monsters out of the same name. Sakuretsu Armor and Smashing Ground are very valuable here, as they help you gain advantage as quickly as possible. Once you get some pressure going, Spear Dragon can be amazing, as the opponent starts getting desperate and puts monsters in defense position.
The late game should be cleanup. If you’re around turn 7 and haven’t hit your swarm or your Rising Air Current yet, the odds are good that you won’t do well. However, if one or both of these conditions has been achieved, you’ll likely do very well. If you’re swarming, you’ve pretty much won against most decks, and if you have Rising Air Current in play, you’ll definitely be outperforming the opposition when it comes to topdecking.
A side deck for this deck is tricky to dictate from my position. It should likely be tech-based, as balanced, conversion, and extension models of side decks don’t really fit this deck. For that reason, it’s difficult for me to give any solid advice other than to pay attention to your metagame and your matchups. Figure out what gives you trouble, and then include cards that can easily solve the problems you’re having. The key word here is “simple.” You only want to use cards that work well on their own, as you won’t be using many of them, and the deck needs to focus on its central combos instead of any new ones.
Hopefully that helps you out, Mayumei. Thanks for sending in your deck!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Have a deck to submit? Want to say hi? Get in touch with me via email at Jason@metagame.com. |
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