Aster Phoenix’s Destiny Hero monsters got a big boost from Power of the Duelist, but they’ll get even stronger with the release of the new Aster Phoenix Duelist Pack next month. In the meantime, a reader named Andy has sent me his Destiny Hero deck. He was brief in describing it, but he’s got his one major point down:

I have been making adjustments to my Destiny Hero deck for a while now and I want to hear your say! Right now I’m not really sure which Destiny Heroes to focus on, so I just kind of used them all. Let me know what you think!

—Andy L.

Ahh . . . the sweet siren song of an unexplored theme. Like many duelists who send me decks, Andy is eager to explore a new deck type, but doesn’t really know how to refine the wide selection of options. Destiny Hero monsters offer a ton of unique strategies: Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude, Destiny Hero - Dasher, and several others can make up entire strategies on their own. Andy’s decklist reflects that he’s not really sure which direction to take Aster’s sinister team.

Destiny Demolition—39 Cards

Monsters: 19

3 Destiny Hero - Captain Tenacious

2 Destiny Hero - Doom Lord

3 Destiny Hero - Defender

3 Destiny Hero - Fear Monger

2 Destiny Hero - Dasher

2 Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude

1 Destiny Hero - Double Dude

1 Destiny Hero - Dogma

1 Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster

1 Destiny Hero - Blade Master

Spells: 14

2 Smashing Ground

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 D - Spirit

1 Graceful Charity

1 Premature Burial

1 Dark City

1 Giant Trunade

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Scapegoat

2 Clock Tower Prison

Traps: 6

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Mirror Force

1 Destiny Signal

1 D - Shield

1 Destiny Mirage

Unfortunately, running all the Destiny Heroes and a smattering of their unique support cards doesn’t make for a winning strategy. However, I love working with this kind of decklist because it’s like a big block of marble that I can sculpt any way I like. The end result could be a very focused Dasher, Double Dude, or Diamond Dude deck, but I want to try and keep the spirit of Andy’s “Lots of Destiny Heroes” theme alive. So, I’m going to focus on supporting several different Destiny Heroes in order to create unique effects and situations that other decks can’t achieve.

With that said, I need to make some pretty big cuts! Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster and his Clock Tower Prison will be the first drops from the decklist. In order to run Dreadmaster effectively (or even just Clock Tower on its own), you really need to build around them carefully. Neither will fit in a broad Destiny Hero deck, so they need to be removed for a future strategy.

Destiny Hero - Blade Master and Captain Tenacious can both be useful, but they’re difficult to set up and each is pretty situational. I want to create a deck that can react to the opponent’s moves but still press with big offensives. Neither of these monsters can really help me in that. Diamond Dude will be dropped since he really needs a deck built around him, and one copy of Destiny Hero - Defender will get the axe as well. That does leave two copies of Defender though, and he’s going to play a starring role in some of the finished deck’s plans.

Some of the themed support needs to be removed in order to make room. I’ll be ramping up the copies of at least one particular Destiny Hero support card, but some need to be cut. D - Spirit is best in a Dogma-centric deck, and Dark City needs something that can protect it. Destiny Mirage doesn’t exactly jive with my plans, and Destiny Signal seems a bit situational. The only other spells I want to drop are two copies of Smashing Ground—we’ll have plenty of removal left once I’m finished with the fix.

In rebuilding the deck, I really want to focus on the summoning tricks and outstanding field presence that the Destiny Heroes can maintain. Doom Lord rips threats off the field, Defender stops opponents in their tracks, and Fear Monger keeps them both going while maintaining field presence for tributes. Dasher and Double Dude both swarm while creating more tribute fodder and a correctly played Dogma represents the payoff of all your efforts, quickly creating a win.

Another Destiny Hero - Doom Lord is a must—the ability to remove any threat from the field is great. Not only does it stop potential attackers and deprive the opponent of tribute bait (Treeborn Frog hates him), it also clears away defenders for your attacks. Another Dogma gives this deck a clear strategic finish, and another Double Dude gives him more support.

Just because this is a Destiny Hero deck doesn’t mean it has to use Destiny Hero monsters exclusively. Sangan and Breaker the Magical Warrior belong in just about anything that seeks to enter battle, while Treeborn Frog should be in any high-tribute deck that can support it. In addition, since this deck is all about tributing, the same support that works for Monarchs will work here: specifically, an Apprentice engine. Two Apprentice Magician cards, one Old Vindictive Magician, and a Magician of Faith will make sound additions.

From there, two Reinforcement of the Army cards will let us search out the right Destiny Hero for the job. Doom Lord, Fear Monger, and Defender are all great cards within certain situations, and Reinforcement will let us be selective about which ones we see.

Keeping Destiny Hero - Defender around might seem like an odd choice, but you really have to play against this thing to understand how obnoxious it is. Almost nothing can take it down in battle, and when you finally use up Exiled Force or Smashing Ground to get rid of it, you feel . . . well, you feel cold and sad. When Dogma drops a turn later and you don’t have any monster removal to get rid of him, you feel even worse. I really can’t express how underrated and surprisingly good Defender can be, and with some support he’s even better.

Take D - Shield. Not only can it keep tribute bait on the field or turn Doom Lord into an unstoppable field control engine, it allows for some great plays with Defender. First, set Defender. Then watch as the opponent’s monster crashes into it. The opponent takes some damage. Next turn, change Defender to attack position, set a monster, and set D - Shield. Changing Defender to attack will prevent it from giving the opponent a free card, and when he or she sends a smaller monster to destroy it, activate D - Shield in response: Defender turns to defense and the opponent takes a whack of damage. This is funniest if the opponent attacked with something like Magician of Faith or Apprentice Magician, suffering backsplash in the amount of 2000 or more life points.

Enemy Controller can provide similar tricks, tributing Defender right before his draw effect kicks in. You can abuse Treeborn Frog or tokens from Double Dude in a similar fashion. Destiny Heroes don’t have very big stats, so the protection provided by Enemy Controller is a welcome presence. We’ll add two of those, plus two D - Shield cards.

The last card I feel the deck needs is Ring of Destruction. We want to keep our monsters on the field and destroy the opponent’s, so Ring is a must. It can also be a great combo with Dogma: slash the opponent’s life points with Dogma’s effect, then Ring him or her for the last 3400 damage. Brutal stuff.

The changes to the deck are as follows:

-1 Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster

-1 Destiny Hero - Blade Master

-3 Destiny Hero - Captain Tenacious

-2 Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude

-1 Destiny Hero - Defender

-2 Clock Tower Prison

-1 D - Spirit

-2 Smashing Ground

-1 Dark City

-1 Destiny Signal

-1 Destiny Mirage

+1 Destiny Hero - Doom Lord

+1 Destiny Hero - Double Dude

+1 Destiny Hero - Dogma

+1 Sangan

+1 Treeborn Frog

+1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

+2 Apprentice Magician

+1 Old Vindictive Magician

+1 Magician of Faith

+2 Reinforcement of the Army

+2 Enemy Controller

+2 D - Shield

+1 Ring of Destruction

The final list for Destiny Demolition, which is still rich in delicious Destiny Heroes, looks like this.

Destiny Demolition—Jason’s Fix—40 Cards

Monsters: 21

3 Destiny Hero - Doom Lord

2 Destiny Hero - Defender

3 Destiny Hero - Fear Monger

2 Destiny Hero - Dasher

2 Destiny Hero - Double Dude

2 Destiny Hero - Dogma

2 Apprentice Magician

1 Old Vindictive Magician

1 Magician of Faith

1 Sangan

1 Treeborn Frog

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

Spells: 12

2 Reinforcement of the Army

2 Enemy Controller

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Graceful Charity

1 Premature Burial

1 Giant Trunade

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Scapegoat

Traps: 7

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Mirror Force

3 D - Shield

1 Ring of Destruction

Opening with this deck is pretty easy—Treeborn Frog, Apprentice Magician, or Defender are all great options. Defender is particularly entertaining because it tends to get a really nice look of “what the heck am I playing against?” from the opponent. He or she will either immediately assume you’re stupid, or fear your evil genius. In my book, either of those are good impressions to make.

From there your goal is twofold. First, you want to maintain field presence. You’re going to need that to tribute out Destiny Hero - Dogma, which is your primary win condition. Second, you’ll want to draw out the opponent’s removal cards. Once Dogma hits the field, he has to stay there for a complete turn cycle in order to claim his effect, so you really want the opponent to use a couple of Smashing Ground cards or defensive traps before Dogma arrives.

Despite the relatively low stats most of these monsters have, you have enough removal and special summoning that you’ll often be attacking directly. Fear Monger, Dasher, and Double Dude all ensure that you keep up a steady flow of mid-sized attackers, and Enemy Controller and Doom Lord take care of the biggest roadblocks in your way.

I really can’t extol the virtues of D - Shield enough. Sure, having it on the field blocks Treeborn Frog and can create a loss of cards in the case of Mobius or

This deck can definitely compete on the local level, and it’s got a lot of tricks that your opponents won’t see coming. It’s guaranteed to generate some confused looks, and if you can’t wait until February to get your Destiny Hero fix, then this deck can tide you over!

—Jason Grabher-Meyer

Working on a deck for the new Advanced format? Looking for some help, or just want to see your creation right here on Metagame.com? Send it to me, and you might see your deck featured in an Apotheosis column! I’m Jason (at) metagame (dot) com, and I’m always looking for cool new decks to write about.