Continuing the topic of Limited-Sealed from last week's article, now we're going to look at Kaiba’s Evolution Starter Deck. The master of Blue-Eyes White Dragon has come to reclaim his throne of dominance with the Invasion of Chaos. Of the two Evolution Starter Decks, Kaiba’s boasts the best-built theme, utilizing Lord of D., Kaiser Sea Horse, and Paladin of White Dragon to get Blue-Eyes into play. The addition of cards from Invasion of Chaos only makes the theme come together more smoothly.
The Strengths
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Unlike Yugi, Kaiba’s key monster has plenty of support to ensure its arrival to the field. The Lord of D./The Flute of Summoning Dragon combo is the original method introduced from the first Kaiba Starter Deck. Summon Lord of D. to the field, and then play The Flute of Summoning Dragon to special summon up to two Dragon-type monsters from your hand. Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Hyozanryu, and Luster Dragon #2 are the main choices. After you get the combo, Lord of D. also continues to offer its protective effect for your Dragons.
Paladin of White Dragon is a ritual monster from Magician’s Force that can be offered as a tribute from the field to special summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It also has a nice effect against set monsters, which helps Kaiba overcome the high-DEF monsters in Yugi’s deck.
Kaiser Sea Horse is the new power of the deck. This monster will let you summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon (or any other Light level 7+ monsters) for a single tribute. The only issue facing this monster is its stats, which are low enough that it will need to be protected.
Monster Removal
Fissure, Tribute to The Doomed, Nobleman of Crossout, and Trap Hole are Kaiba’s main monster removal effects. They offer an effective range of targeted and non-targeted removal to help counter Yugi’s defensive strategies.
Burst Breath is one of Kaiba’s surprise monster removal cards. It works best when used with the 1000+ ATK Dragon-type monsters in Kaiba’s deck, like Koumori Dragon and The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave. You can combine Burst Breath card with D. Tribe, allowing you to tribute monsters that wouldn’t normally be Dragons for its effect. It can work well in a pinch, but remember that it will go after your face-up monsters as well.
Monster Searching/Revival
Unlike Yugi, Kaiba has effective ways of both searching for and reviving monsters. Kaiba's two options for monster revival are Monster Reborn and Premature Burial, both of which are quite well known and effective and will support any cards you mix in from Invasion of Chaos.
Kaiba’s monster searching options are great. Mystic Tomato will get your Lord of D. into play and set you up to play The Flute of Summoning Dragon on the following turn, or you can use the Tomato to fetch Witch of the Black Forest. Witch of the Black Forest will let you get most of the level 1–4 monsters in Kaiba’s deck, including Paladin of White Dragon. It will also work well with most of the 1800+ ATK monsters you might get from your Invasion of Chaos packs.
The Weaknesses
Kaiba’s deck lacks offensive strength, something one wouldn’t normally associate with the Kaiba character. Your best bet is to replace monsters like Skull Red Bird, Mystic Horseman, and Kojikocy with the higher ATK monsters from Invasion of Chaos.
The deck relies on quite a few spell cards, so Curse of Darkness and Tower of Babel can cause it some trouble. Dust Tornado can help clear them away, but you're relying on the luck of the draw for that one. A good strategy would be to replace some of the ineffective spell and trap cards, like The Inexperienced Spy, with more effective cards, like Zero Gravity.
The deck has little in the way of spell and trap removal. De-Spell and Trap Master are about the best Kaiba has. You can remedy this by using monsters like Gigantes and Crimson Ninja and traps like Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell and Trap Jammer.
The Invasion of Chaos
Gigantes can work well as an addition to this deck. Kaiba doesn't have much in the way of continuous or event-specific trap activations, and the deck contains a good number of Earth monsters that are needed to special summon Gigantes. Silpheed can also be used due to the number of Wind monsters in the deck.
Looking at Light monsters, Guardian Angel Joan can actually work in this deck thanks to Kaiser Sea Horse. The combination of a high ATK and a life gain effect can be a bit daunting for the opponent. Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands will be a great addition to bring Paladin of White Dragon and White Dragon’s Oath together.
The Chaos monsters can also be worked into this deck with relative ease. Light and Dark monsters are plentiful in the Kaiba Evolution Starter, so you won’t have to look far. Chaos Sorcerer is the most likely to show up and should make a welcome addition to the deck, especially since you can combine him with Light of Intervention. Naturally, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End are most welcome additions.
Balloon Lizard is also a good choice for defensive purposes. Its added burn damage effect will make it something your opponent doesn’t want to destroy, especially if it has been accumulating counters for a while.
Smashing Ground is another good monster removal option for Kaiba’s deck. Stray Lambs might come in handy when you are not behind on monsters, but it will not protect you for long when you're in trouble. The Lamb tokens do offer support for tribute summons, which is useful. Heart of the Underdog can be helpful in overcoming the lack of draw power in the deck. Wild Nature’s Release can be used with Battle Ox and Mystic Horseman for some quick damage. While the likelihood of bringing them together isn’t great, it is something to remember.
A Hero Emerges can work well as a back-up plan when all of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon summoning plans have failed. It can also help to overcome Kaiba’s lack of surprising, game-changing traps. Energy Drain can help the deck overcome its low number of high ATK monsters.
Until next time . . .
Send all comments, suggestions, and Menchi recipes to: curtis@metagame.com