To continue with my theme of abusing the new Forbidden and Limited list, and integrating the newly Unlimited cards into the Traditional format, I’m going to recreate a deck that I had a lot of fun with in the past: a Pot of Avarice Turbo strategy. The idea of the deck is to pack it with many creatures—including Chaos monsters—and use Magical Merchant to quickly load the graveyard. You’ll be drawing more cards and special summoning more monsters than your opponent will be able to handle.
This deck is rather inconsistent, but it’s a great way to learn to shift from a conservative early game playstyle to an aggressive late game. If you find yourself counting cards too often, or wanting the game to slow down during the late stages, you’re going to need to learn how to keep pace with any opponent. That way, if you play against a duelist with a conservative playstyle, you’ll be able to push him or her into uncomfortable territory, or—if your opponent successfully pushes the speed of the game to a sprint—you’ll be able to keep up.
The greatest outward weakness of this deck is a remove-from-play theme in the hands of your opposition. If you plan on playing this at a local, make sure to side deck heavily to halt any opponent who wants to throw a wrench in the deck’s gears with Macro Cosmos, Banisher of the Radiance, or Dimensional Fissure. A few copies of Twister or Dust Tornado might help, and I suggest keeping those options open if you plan to use this competitively.
The Monsters
As I said before, the monster lineup is going to be thicker than normal, to maximize the number of monsters Magical Merchant will send to the graveyard before giving you a spell or trap. Obviously, you’ll be averaging less than one monster per use of a Merchant, but don’t let that small number discourage you. Repeated Merchants, combined with Card Destruction and other similar graveyard-stocking Traditional cards, will help keep the Pot of Avarice engine rolling.
You’ll notice a rather large amount of monsters that are difficult to play in the early game: again, this deck is focused on the mid-game, where you’ll be dominating. Normally, you’ll be yielding an early lead and playing the comeback game with this deck. The Norleras and Dark Magician of Chaos are monsters better suited to be in the graveyard (the former being abused with our two copies of Phantom Chaos) and we’ll be using that to our advantage. Notice how powerful Sinister Serpent and Treeborn Frog become in a deck based on getting things to the graveyard. To abuse the power of an early Treeborn Frog, I’ve included three copies of Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, which are likely to be reused many times in one game.
If a Chaos monster falls into the graveyard, remember that you won’t have to worry. You’ll be able to either put it back into your deck with Pot of Avarice or use its effect with Phantom of Chaos. However, try not to use the latter unless necessary, as it creates a one-time-only situation by removing the monster it mimics. You’re going to want to use and reuse your Chaos monsters. Other than the monsters that benefit from a quickly filled graveyard, every monster is designed to speed the theme.
The Spells
Obviously, we’ll be starting with three copies of Pot of Avarice, since it’s our central card. We’ll be hoping to use all three copies during a single game, and it isn’t that rare of a feat. Notice that the deck runs an incredible amount of cards that draw others, specifically ones that fill the graveyard in doing so. Mirage of Nightmare, Card Destruction, and Graceful Charity become powerhouses in this deck, filling your graveyard and giving you the cards you need to win quickly.
We also have two copies of Foolish Burial, which will have a vast number of monsters to search for. Dark Magician of Chaos is an excellent choice if you’re holding a monster recursion card, while Treeborn Frog will be searchable for when you have the Zaborgs. You should be getting to these cards quickly as well, considering the vast amount of card drawing the deck produces.
The Traps
The Trap lineup calls for only two copies of Royal Decree, to help ensure the success of your massive attacks, and one copy of Call of the Haunted to abuse the fast filling of your graveyard.
Playing this deck is going to be a bit difficult at first for a lot of players, especially ones who have been playing since the renowned "Black Luster Soldier Format," which included three copies of Scapegoat and rewarded conservative players. Newer players started the game in formats which rewarded such aggression, so this will just affirm their skills in the mid to late game. However, if you are one of those players who has watched the game evolve into the fast-paced sprint it is today, I suggest trying this deck to reveal holes in your aggressive play. Have your friends look over your shoulder as you test and discuss how each of you would have chosen to play the hand. Learn from each other, progress in your play, and improve your win consistency.