The term “control” can mean many different things. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, control typically refers to a hand-destruction deck with a sprinkling of field control cards. One deck type is emerging, however, that controls the opponent completely. Bradford sent in a deck that is capable of total control, but it tries to accomplish many other things, as well. Consequently, the deck needs to be focused. The end result is something highly playable, fairly original (although I’ll give two people full credit for the base idea later on in the column), and something that should be a lot of fun to play!
Here’s what Bradford had to say about his deck:
H. I've got a deck that is truly about control. Many players say they have a control deck when they really mean they have some hand disruption cards. That’s not “controlling” what your opponent can and can not do; with that in mind, here is the deck.
This deck conforms to the new restricted list and the current forbidden list. It also contains cards from the latest set.
What the Deck Does:
Ok, I know I just said a control deck takes over what your opponent can and can’t do, but it’s also a first turn knock-out deck as well, and it can side deck into an almost typical Magical Scientist Turn 1 win. It already has Jowgen the Spiritualist, Last Turn, and Wall of Revealing Light in the main deck.
The traps can create a lock or a turn 2 win. The control lock in this deck is based around Ojama Trio and Spatial Collapse, along with Offerings to the Doomed. Set your two Ojama Trio traps and your Spatial Collapse, and then set your Offerings to the Doomed. Then, during your opponent’s draw phase, activate your Ojama Trio to give him or her three tokens. Follow that up with Offerings to the Doomed, destroying one of the tokens. Then use your other Ojama Trio to give your opponent a full field. Activate Spatial Collapse. Your opponent is locked and unable to play anything. This will give you enough time to bring out your Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle, or Last Turn and Jowgen, for the win.
I've also put numerous other options into the deck. Okay . . . perhaps this isn’t total control, but it does have options.
Thanks!
-Bradford, Jersey City, NJ
Let’s take a look at Bradford’s deck!
Bradford’s Total Control
52 Cards
Monsters: 17
3 Stone Statue of the Aztecs
1 Protector of the Sanctuary
1 Morphing Jar
1 Magical Scientist
2 Catapult Turtle
1 Cyber Jar
1 Fiber Jar
3 Jowgen the Spiritualist
3 Gilasaurus
1 Dark Magician of Chaos
Spells: 22
3 Last Will
3 Offerings to the Doomed
2 Prohibition
2 Book of Taiyou
3 Book of Moon
2 Scapegoat
2 Enemy Controller
1 Change of Heart
2 Metamorphosis
Traps: 13
3 Wall of Revealing Light
2 Last Turn
2 Staunch Defender
3 Ojama Trio
3 Spatial Collapse
Fusion Deck: 29
1 Fusionist
1 Dragoness the Wicked Knight
1 Super Roboyarou
1 Darkfire Dragon
1 Cyber Saurus
1 Sanwitch
1 Metal Dragon
3 Dark Flare Knight
2 Roaring Ocean Snake
2 Punished Eagle
2 Empress Judge
3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
2 Ryu Senshi
2 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Ojama King
2 The Last Warrior from Another Planet
Side deck: 15
3 Shield & Sword
2 Poison of the Old Man
3 Reasoning
2 Catapult Turtle
2 Ground Collapse
3 Drop Off
Interesting! The Ojama Trio/Spatial Collapse lock has been utilised effectively in the past, originally by Canada’s Mike Fan. Metagame.com’s own Curtis Schultz improved on Mike’s design soon after. It’s a brutal strategy worth all the attention it receives.
That said, this deck is huge—52 cards—and is currently trying to be way too many things at once. I think the deck can be great, but it needs some focus. I’m going to rebalance it to focus entirely on the Ojama Trio/Spatial Collapse total control lockdown. It should run really well, and should also be pretty surprising to anyone who faces it.
I want the deck to be centered on the total lockdown win, but I really like the Stone Statue of the Aztecs/Staunch Defender combo with Ojama Trio, too. I think Stone Statue of the Aztecs is a good opener for this deck, as it provides some of the defense we need. I also like Staunch Defender because it’s a great defensive card if you’re willing to make sacrifices. If the target of Staunch Defender is destroyed after Staunch Defender successfully resolves, the opponent’s monsters can not attack it because it’s gone. It’s a nifty little last-ditch play that can really come in handy. We’ll add a bunch of other monsters that love to be attacked, too.
So . . . a Total Control + Stone Statue of the Aztecs combo deck it’ll be. First things first, though. We need to drop some cards!
Catapult Turtle, Jowgen the Spiritualist, and Gilasaurus all support themes that are no longer in this deck. They’re easy, fast cuts that free up space. Protector of the Sanctuary gets removed, as well. Comboing it with Morphing Jar is a cute trick, but having only one copy of each (with no way to search for either) is not the smartest plan.
Fiber Jar also gets cut. We need to be constantly working through the deck to get at the critical cards, so resetting the game won’t do much for us. I’ll take consistency over the chance for a lucky play any day.
Lastly, Dark Magician of Chaos doesn’t fit into this deck. He’ll be the last monster we remove.
As for spells, Last Will and Metamorphosis no longer fit the deck’s theme. Metamorphosis is still playable, but its utility will be arguable in the fixed build. Besides, we really need those two card slots.
Prohibition also gets removed. There’s a wide array of decks in the Advanced format, and the only cards you can expect to see in common between them (to provide an opportunity for proactive instead of reactive plays with Prohibition) will usually be one-ofs. The low utility of Prohibition renders it unplayable in this deck. Prohibition doesn’t contribute to the key combo, and though it can protect some key plays, other cards do so more efficiently.
Lastly, I’m going to remove the two Book of Taiyou. That makes the Stone Statue of the Aztecs/Staunch Defender combo a bit trickier to pull off, but it frees up necessary card slots. Taiyou has very little use in this deck outside of the combo, so it’s too much of a hassle to play.
The last spell I’m removing is one copy of Enemy Controller, strictly for deck size. I’ll leave one in because it’s a great card, especially in the fixed version of the deck, but something had to give.
For traps, Last Turn and Wall of Revealing Light get removed. This combo is archetype-worthy, but it’s not the deck we’re trying to build.
We’ll add monsters that directly aid our primary objective, beginning with three Mystic Tomato and three Shining Angel. They provide defense until you draw your combo. They’re also excellent opening moves when played with Stone Statue of the Aztecs. In addition, both cards thin the deck significantly—a high priority for this deck.
Mystic Tomato and Shining Angel also allow you to special summon two important cards. The first is Cannon Soldier. Cannon Soldier provides us with a reliable and simple way to win once the total lock is in place, and also combos well with Scapegoat in a pinch. It’ll function as monster removal when combined with Enemy Controller and Change of Heart, and can be used with Magical Scientist to create a victory.
To get with Shining Angel, we’ll add three copies of D. D. Warrior Lady. D. D. Warrior Lady is an awesome defensive card, but she also combos exceedingly well with Staunch Defender. In such a case, the monster attacking first will be forced to attack D. D. Warrior Lady, which can then remove it from play (a great play if you’re duelling someone who likes to attack with their biggest monsters first). Then, because D. D. Warrior Lady is no longer on the field, no other monsters controlled by the opponent can attack that turn. Pretty neat, eh?
Since we want to get to the combo as quickly as possible, we’ll add two spell cards to help us rip through the deck. Those are Card Destruction and Painful Choice. Both will help us get to Spatial Collapse and Ojama Trio quickly, and on turn one, they’ll help establish the immediate lock by searching out Offerings to the Doomed.
I’m adding one more copy of Staunch Defender. It’s very high-utility in this deck. Staunch Defender prevents attacks, baits strong monsters into monsters you want to be attacked, and fuels the Ojama Trio/Stone Statue of the Aztecs combo. Three are a must, and no matter when you draw one, it’ll probably be useful. It’s difficult to play against, and it’s likely that your opponent won’t know the important rulings about the card (such as the “if the target gets destroyed, you can’t attack anything else” ruling).
Lastly, I’m going to add a Ring of Destruction for added control, and two Magic Jammer to protect the lock once it’s in place.
Here are the final changes:
-1 Protector of the Sanctuary
-2 Catapult Turtle
-3 Jowgen the Spiritualist
-3 Gilasaurus
-1 Fiber Jar
-1 Dark Magician of Chaos
-3 Last Will
-2 Prohibition
-2 Book of Taiyou
-2 Metamorphosis
-3 Wall of Revealing Light
-2 Last Turn
-1 Enemy Controller
-1 Book of Moon
+3 Mystic Tomato
+2 Cannon Soldier
+3 Shining Angel
+3 D. D. Warrior Lady
+1 Card Destruction
+1 Painful Choice
+1 Staunch Defender
+2 Magic Jammer
+1 Ring of Destruction
Here’s what the final deck looks like:
Bradford’s Total Control - Jason’s Fix
40 Cards
Monsters: 17
3 Stone Statue of the Aztecs
1 Morphing Jar
1 Magical Scientist
1 Cyber Jar
3 Mystic Tomato
2 Cannon Soldier
3 Shining Angel
3 D. D. Warrior Lady
Spells: 11
3 Offerings to the Doomed
2 Book of Moon
2 Scapegoat
1 Enemy Controller
1 Card Destruction
1 Painful Choice
1 Change of Heart
Traps: 12
3 Staunch Defender
3 Ojama Trio
3 Spatial Collapse
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Magic Jammer
Fusion Deck: 29
1 Fusionist
1 Dragoness the Wicked Knight
1 Super Roboyarou
1 Darkfire Dragon
1 Cyber Saurus
1 Sanwitch
1 Metal Dragon
3 Dark Flare Knight
2 Roaring Ocean Snake
2 Punished Eagle
2 Empress Judge
3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
2 Ryu Senshi
2 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Ojama King
2 The Last Warrior from Another Planet
Your mission is to get either the Stone Statue of the Aztecs combo out as quickly as possible, or to establish a total control lockdown with Spatial Collapse and Ojama Trio tokens. It takes some skill to play, but with practice, it can be quite devastating. In a pinch, you can use Cannon Soldier and Magical Scientist or Scapegoat to dish out some damage and keep pressure on the opponent.
The deck has numerous defensive options and lots of synergy, and it maintains board presence exceedingly well through Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel, Stone Statue of the Aztecs, and D. D. Warrior Lady.
The Fusion deck is fine, but the side deck needs a serious reworking. I’d consider running it in a tech-centric form—playtest your deck and see what gives you trouble. Then, side deck cards that will help you handle decks and strategies you find particularly difficult to beat. In addition, it might be a good idea to side deck Ceasefire and Reckless Greed. Reckless Greed combos nicely with Offerings to the Doomed, and Ceasefire helps you deal more effect-based damage for a surprise finish. It can also be used to draw out spell and trap removal in the early game while still dealing damage. It’s great in this deck.
Thanks for sending in your deck, Bradford! Hopefully, the fixed version will run with some more focus and speed, and win even more games!
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
Have a deck to submit? Want to say hi? Get in touch with me via email at Jason@metagame.com.