With the new ruling on Royal Oppression, we’ve been handed an almost completely new game to play. The repercussions of this change may not yet be fully understood: Oppression is now better thought of as Royal Decree . . . but for special summoning. Before, you only locked cards in your opponent’s hand (what many players called "implied card advantage," meaning that, although it doesn‘t directly affect how many cards your opponent has, it does affect how many options your opponent has, which is really all that matters). Now you allow an opponent to attempt a special summon, negate it, and then lock cards in your opponent’s hand. The idea is to basically leave your opponent with next to no outs in his or her deck, and drawing very few cards to attempt a comeback.
What does this mean to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG? Royal Oppression forces the game to slow down, similar to the time when it was legal to play three copies of Scapegoat. Neither player can summon more than one monster per turn (until Royal Oppression is destroyed), which raises the bar on a lot of decks. Today, we’ll be looking at one of the decks that improved a great deal from the ruling change: Volcanic Monarchs. It’s a control-based deck that hopes to slow the game to a halt, take control, and inevitably leave an opponent without options.
Consider how devastating it is for an opponent who can only play one monster per turn while you have Soul Exchange and Prime Material Dragon in your hand. That’s the game state Adam Corn was relying on at Shonen Jump Championship Philadelphia. However, we’re going to stray from Corn’s build to explore Volcanics, and how powerful they are next to Monarchs. This deck was first piloted in the States by Miguel Albarran and team Kamikazi Krew at SJC Chicago in 2007. It utilizes the ability to discard Volcanic Shell for free monster destruction with Blaze Accelerator, disruption with Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and the potential for amazing turns with Wild Fire, destroying the field and creating a Token monster to be tributed for a Monarch on the following turn. You’ll also have to note that—with all the chainable traps—you’ll be smacking Gladiator Beast decks left and right! The conditions are perfect for this deck: a changed ruling on Royal Oppression, a great format of decks for it to compete against successfully, and the relatively cheap cost to create it.
The Monsters
Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest will almost always search a Volcanic Shell first and a Sinister Serpent second, as the Shell can be used with Blaze Accelerator. Volcanic Rocket is simply amazing right now, since it can run over Elemental Hero Stratos and most Gladiator Beast monsters, and it doesn’t mind being destroyed by Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.
We’ll be playing various chainable defensive cards, which will help us protect our two copies of Dekoichi. Many players may remember how amazing it was to flip a Dekoichi and begin attacking with it, because most opponents are unwilling to use a card to stop it. To quote Jason in an article from 2006, "If you get the chance, don’t hesitate to turn the duel into a game of ‘protect the Dekoichi.’ The little trains are just as good here as they are elsewhere." Jason recognized how powerful that "game" was and is. Almost an entire format was based around Dekoichi—don’t discredit its impact just yet! Past that, we play the Monarchs. They have an incredible time being played next to Volcanic cards: Wild Fire will give you tokens to tribute, chainable traps will protect your Dekoichi (to later be tributed for a Monarch), and you’ll have the ability to whittle an opponent down to very few cards (which will let you shut him or her out of the game with a single Monarch on the field).
The Spells
Notice that, as usual, Painful Choice finds a way to become the most ridiculous card ever printed. You’ll be able to put both your Sinister Serpent and Volcanic Shell into immediate circulation. The copies of Wild Fire played with the lone Blaze Accelerator are really the knot that ties the two archetypes (Monarchs and Volcanics) together.
The Traps
The three copies of Royal Oppression take this deck from a strong option to a top competitor, creating even more dead cards in your opponent’s deck. Consider that your opponent has six cards to start: Soul Exchange and Thestalos (or any Monarch card) will destroy two of them (half if the opponent wants to respond with something to destroy your Monarch). Then your opponent may try to special summon a monster, which Oppression will negate and destroy. That means on turn 2, your opponent is likely down to three cards. Combine that with the fact that Oppression turns a majority of many decks into dead draws, and you basically just won the game!
If you’re sick of games that end in less than five minutes, give this deck a try. You’ll be slowing the pace to a halt, controlling your opponents, and doing it for a rather small price! Switching the deck to the Advanced format is going to take some serious changes, as many of the card choices were based on having two copies of Sangan and another Volcanic Shell engine (Witch and Serpent). Then again, there are already articles regarding the deck and great players who have topped with it just a click away (not to mention your own innovation, of course). Hope to see you at the final tables. Good luck and have fun!
—Ryan Murphy