Since April 1, I’ve noticed that an increasing number of duelists don’t respect Burn decks. Some players don’t like them because it’s frustrating to deal with Level Limit – Area B. Others dislike Burn because they have to dedicate large portions of their side decks to stopping it. Regardless of what people may say about it, Burn remains a legitimate and powerful strategy for knocking an opponent’s life points from 8000 to 0, and it’s definitely something you’ll need to look out for on the tournament scene. Today, we’ll be looking at a Burn Lockdown deck that is incredibly tough to beat when played well.

Face Down Fury
40 cards

Monsters: 15
2 Des Koala
2 Stealth Bird
3 Big Shield Gardna
2 Spirit Reaper
1 Magician of Faith
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Cyber Jar
1 Morphing Jar
1 Lava Golem
1 Sangan

Spells: 16
1 Pot of Greed
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Graceful Charity
1 Lightning Vortex
2 Book of Moon
2 Scapegoat
2 Level Limit – Area B
3 Wave-Motion Cannon
3 Chain Energy

Traps: 9
3 Secret Barrel
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Judgment of Anubis
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Just Desserts

I’ve played against this deck many times, and I can say with certainty that it is the scariest deck I have ever played against. It gets inside your head. Nearly every card in it is chainable, dangerous, lousy to attack, or a combination of the three. The goal of the deck is to make your opponent take damage or pay life points for everything he or she does. You can achieve this goal in three different ways. The first way is to have at least one copy of Chain Energy active so that your opponent will lose at least 500 life points for each card he or she plays. Another way is to play nothing but monsters that punish the opponent for surviving. For example, Big Shield Gardna forces an opponent to waste resources that he or she paid for with life points, plus it doubles as a giant defensive wall that your opponent will hate attacking. Des Koala punishes an opponent for leaving cards in hand, and Stealth Bird creates an 8-turn clock. Finally, you can use the many burn spells and traps at your command, from the looming field presence of Wave-Motion Cannon to the quick-hitting Secret Barrel.

Of course, winning with Burn isn’t that easy. If it were, everyone would be playing it. There are two main problems that must be overcome when playing this deck. First, as tempting as it may be to overextend for a quick kill, don’t do it. It’s better to set only one or two face-down cards at any time to reduce the chances of losing lots of cards to a single Heavy Storm. Second, be very careful with Chain Energy. It’s an extremely powerful card when used correctly, but if you play it at the wrong time, you may find yourself in a world of hurt. Try not to play Chain Energy unless you’re in a situation where it will take your opponent at least two or three cards to get around your defenses for that turn. The fun doubles if you have two copies out and your opponent is forced to take 2000 to 3000 damage in order to get around a single copy of Big Shield Gardna.

Why should you consider playing Burn at your next Regional event? Despite the deck’s stall elements, it works quickly. Because almost every card in the deck does damage, there’s a good chance that your opponent’s life points will steadily decrease as the game goes on. In addition, the Burn deck runs three copies of the ultimate stalemate breaker, Wave-Motion Cannon. That’s important, because many games against Burn turn into stalemates when the Burn player can’t draw any more burn cards and the opponent can’t get through Level Limit – Area B. A single Cannon can easily end a game, especially if your opponent is having trouble drawing spell and trap removal. Finally, this deck has an excellent endgame due to all of the burn cards. If you can get your opponent’s life points low enough, Chain Energy will completely prevent him or her from playing more cards. A lucky Secret Barrel or Just Desserts can end the game just as quickly, especially if your opponent has some sheep tokens out.

The best way to beat a Burn deck is to win the first game against it. A large part of the Burn deck’s advantage over other archetypes is the element of surprise. If you have a main deck capable of dealing with Burn and a side deck to match, you shouldn’t have too much to fear from most Burn decks. Another good way to beat Burn is to run extra pieces of spell and trap removal or possibly some level 3 or lower monsters like Mystic Swordsman LV2 in your main deck. My preference for dealing with Burn decks is to use Chiron the Mage. Chiron is an excellent choice due to its extreme versatility. Against aggressive decks, it can act as an extra form of spell and trap removal as well as an 1800 ATK monster. However, Chiron truly shines when playing against Burn. The card greatly improves the quality of your draws by turning every spell you draw into a virtual Mystical Space Typhoon that can get around Chain Energy. I was surprised to see Chiron only in the side decks of some Top 8 competitors. As players have more time to explore the current Advanced format, Chiron will begin to see more main deck play.

Operating Manual

When playing this deck, your initial first-turn play should be a face down copy of Big Shield Gardna, a copy of Wave-Motion Cannon or Secret Barrel, and a copy of Chain Energy. Try to ration your monsters as much as possible, because you don’t have as many of them as most other decks. Remember, Big Shield Gardna is there to draw out Nobleman of Crossout and potentially do some quick battle damage from failed attacks by your opponent. Don’t overextend! For games 2 and 3, you may want to consider side decking in a copy or two of Divine Wrath to deal with the inevitable Mobius the Frost Monarch and Chiron the Mage.

When playing against this deck, try to get Jinzo out as quickly as possible. Most of your monsters won’t be effective against this deck, so if you have Chiron the Mage, more power to you. Save Heavy Storm for when it can get rid of three or four cards. Pay special attention to Wave-Motion Cannon, because if you leave it alone for too long, it can ruin your day. In games 2 and 3, Mobius and Chiron are your best friends. I also recommend running Silent Swordsman LV5 due to its ability to attack through Level Limit - Area B and Swords of Revealing Light.

Final Notes
           
This week, the final notes are brought to you by our local Burn expert, who has a special message for those of you who want to try out a Burn deck.

CH: Burn is an overlooked, underappreciated deck. It’s not just about stalling behind Level Limit and Gravity Bind. There are many different ways to play Burn, and you aren’t limited to one set of monsters, spells, or traps. Experiment with it, have fun with it, and don’t stop playing it just because the people you play against don’t like it.

Well said. Until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!

Next Week: Rooooaaaaaarrrrrrrr!