Quick, name the bravest monster in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!.
The first prerequisite is that the monster must have the word “brave” in its name—otherwise it’s not brave enough to warrant consideration, right? After scouring the database of cards, only one monster stands up boldly to the task. Without a shadow of a doubt, Freed the Brave Wanderer is the bravest monster in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!.
What does bravery net you in a collectible card game? Well, Freed is a Light monster that packs a nice effect. By removing two Light monsters in the graveyard, you can get rid of one of your opponent’s monsters. So let’s see, my New Grounds column analyzes underplayed and underrated strategies that can generate enough advantage to contend with the current format. For an archetype to be considered, it has to be both themed and provide incentive to use a theme.
The theme of the “Brave and the Bold” deck is clear. Use a lot of Light monsters to fuel graveyard support, then drop Freed the Brave Wanderer and make your opponent cry. Compared to other combos such as Bazoo the Soul-Eater, Strike Ninja, and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer that involve manipulating graveyards, Freed stacks up quite favorably.
It will immediately cut out Bazoo, Cyber Dragon, D. D. Survivor, the Monarchs, Chaos Sorcerer, Blade Knight, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and others from play. Those monsters that it can’t destroy through effects, such as D. D. Warrior Lady and D.D Assailant, it will naturally either destroy by battle or cancel out completely. The card has enough field presence to remove the weaker threats, and it can also immediately remove your opponent’s bigger threats with minimal risk to yourself. Provided the Light monsters are good in their own right, this sounds like a good deck idea, right? Let’s get to work.
Monsters: 20
3 Magical Merchant
2 Freed the Brave Wanderer
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Magician of Faith
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke
1 Blade Knight
1 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch
1 Airknight Parshath
1 Sangan
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
2 D. D.
Assailant
1 Treeborn Frog
1 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Don Zaloog
You can immediately see the different synergies in this monster count. First, the three copies of Magical Merchant both mill out extra Light monsters for you to remove and also discard copies of Treeborn Frog. The Frogs are then special summoned to the field, providing you with stability and opening up avenues for Cyber Dragon, Airknight Parshath, and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch.
Light monsters are always searchable with Reinforcement of the Army. You can search for monster removal with Warrior Lady, flip effect management with Blade Knight, defense-position manipulation with Sasuke, and hand disruption with Don Zaloog. The two copies also let you search out the primary win condition.
You generally want to summon Freed with priority to immediately take out stronger monsters. However, it also works as a simple normal summon to take out face-down monsters in a pinch. Freed’s very versatile. The alternate win condition of this deck is to fuel the graveyard with many Light monsters, then make a huge push with Return from the Different Dimension. To achieve this end, the two copies of D. D. Assailant provide an alternate method of removing cards from play.
Spells: 13
1 Dark Hole
1 Snatch Steal
1 Premature Burial
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Scapegoat
2 Enemy Controller
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
2 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Rush Recklessly
The spells should achieve one objective. Monster removal is not it, however, since any monster with ATK higher than 1700 should ideally be destroyed by Freed. Rather, the main goal is to control the tempo. Scapegoat and Swords, in addition to numerous normal summons, should help slow the game down drastically. The only monster with less than 1700 ATK you would want to use Smashing Ground on is Spirit Reaper, but Enemy Controller is the alternative and works rather well.
The goal is to slow the game down to fuel the graveyard and draw into Freed the Brave Wanderer. Once you begin to mount an offensive, the opponent should buckle under the weight of your options.
Traps: 7
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Dust Tornado
1 Return from the Different Dimension
2 Sakuretsu Armor
The ideal maneuver is to use Dust Tornado at the end phase, set Return from hand, and summon Freed next turn. Destroying the opponent’s monster allows you to then special summon extra Light monsters from your graveyard and win the game in a single turn. Only one copy of Return is included, because Freed’s effect is rather situational in this current metagame, as is D. D. Assailant’s. They’ll likely be destroyed by spell or trap monster removal than by battle. The rest of the traps are fairly self-explanatory.
Mechanics of Advantage: The Brave and the Bold
Chaos Sorcerer is supremely powerful because it summons, uses priority to remove a monster, and then must be destroyed by spell or trap removal. This leads to an advantageous trade for you, where your opponent expends two resources (his or her removed monster and the card he uses to destroy Sorcerer) for your one resource.
We’re aiming to make Freed work the same way. Use priority to wipe a monster, then clear a monster like Dekoichi, Frog, or Sangan out of the way. If your opponent can’t summon another heavy hitter, he or she either has to take 1700 from a floater or move even more defensive.
As Levitin and Santiago showed with their Bazoo Spectrum deck, cards that can push the advantage for game-ending life point swings are also huge. Unfortunately, the downfall of their deck was the lack of advantage it generated. This deck aims to both use Return as a win condition and generate advantage while fueling monsters for its effect. The combination means you can suddenly end the game at any given turn while maintaining a sizable field and hand presence over your opponent.
Ability to Counter the Metagame
The format has shifted to one that involves lots of defensive monster sets. The power hitters are generally Monarchs, Cyber Dragons, and Chaos Sorcerer. The top-tier decks aim to simply set a bunch of monsters that offer resource manipulation or other such utility, and then summon a wave of heavy monsters to seal the deal.
Your deck has access to the same tempo-slowing mechanisms that the cookie-cutter decks do. However, you’re building up to a far more powerful win condition than theirs. At your disposal, you have essentially three versions of “priority Chaos Sorcerers,” Return from the Different Dimension, and the D. D. monsters. This leads to incredibly solid draws across the board.
Whether the tempo is slow or fast, the deck can adapt and dominate. If your opponent starts summoning a horde of monsters to force tempo, take a look at what can happen.
Turn 1: You set Merchant and Dust Tornado.
Turn 2: Opponent summons Cyber Dragon, attacks. Sets a monster and a spell or trap. You destroy it in the end phase.
Turn 3: You use Reinforcement of the Army or simply summon Freed. With Merchant and a Light monster that it may have discarded, you use priority to remove Cyber Dragon from play. You destroy the face-down monster.
Strategies to Use in a Matchup with a Cookie-Cutter Deck
Again, you want to stabilize your draws by using Merchants to mill for draw cards. If you sense them overextending the field a bit too much, you can special summon Cyber Dragons to clamp down on their flow. Reinforcements of the Army provides a versatile toolbox effect that lets you handle almost anything.
The moment you draw Scapegoat, you can set the tempo to your desire. The two, three, or even four extra draw phases you get to peek at with the tokens on the field will enable you to achieve all sorts of combo-based victories. When your opponent puts a monster on the field with 1800 ATK or higher, you can then begin pushing for additional card advantage. Freed will simply destroy the opponent’s monsters, and then you can either beat him or her down with mid-range hitters or set up for a huge Return push.
The New Grounds Verdict: Try it out for yourself!