Deck Profile & Article - Anti-Meta Gadgets

Hey guys, it's GuitarSlam,

Today I want to discuss a deck concept that I started playing around with after my Flamvellsworns weren't nearly as consistent as I would have liked last week. I had tested my Lightsworns (and then Flamvellsworns) for weeks and I knew what it could do. I made a deck profile on YouTube and here on my blog discussing the power and amazing combos that the deck had at it's disposal. Then I get to the tournament and it didn't perform well. Monster clogged hands, no real constructive plays, and just bad draws. This made me remember an idea that I had thought of last year: Unless you're fast enough to keep up with the top decks, you've gotta bring them down to your level.

It's not to say that Lightsworns aren't fast enough to keep up with X-Sabers or Frognarchs, it clearly is. If you open Recharge, Charge, Lumina, Garoth, mill Wulf, there's not much more you could have done. The problem is that that kind of opening only happens once every fifteen games. Most of the time you're getting a hand of monsters and few milling options. Consistency is the key; you may have a lot of speed but if you can't use it when it's needed, there's no point in being fast.

So I began wondering what I needed to do to be successful at the tournament. I knew that I could just chalk up the poor weekend to bad draws and try again but I felt that something drastic needed to be done. I thought about my theory on having speed and consistency and I realized that I needed to remake a deck. I hadn't played anti-meta in about a year but it was time to go back. I began remaking Anti-Meta Gadgets.

The theory behind Gadgets is that you're always going to have a monster in hand with plenty of one-for-one (1-4-1) monster destruction at your disposal. If you can manage to hurt your opponent's game plan drastically while putting a continuous steam of monsters on the field, you're in a really good position. It doesn't matter that Gadgets are a slow deck; they have the ability to drag your opponent down to the same speed. Being really fast and really slow do the same thing when you play X-Sabers; it levels the playing field.

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Monsters: 16

[2] Green Gadget
[2] Red Gadget
[2] Yellow Gadget
[2] D.D. Warrior Lady
[2] Legendary Jujitsu Master
[1] Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
[1] Thunder King Rai-Oh
[1] Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
[1] Tragoedia
[1] Banisher of the Radiance
[1] Wattgiraffe

Spells: 11

[3] Smashing Ground
[1] Fissure
[1] Lightning Vortex
[2] Book of Moon
[2] Dimensional Fissure
[1] Heavy Storm
[1] Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 14

[2] Bottomless Trap Hole
[2] Royal Oppression
[2] Dimensional Prison
[2] Dark Bribe
[2] Threatening Roar
[1] Mirror Force
[1] Solemn Judgment
[1] Torrential Tribute
[1] Starlight Road

If you're not used to Gadgets you may look at this deck list and go, "What? 14 Traps and 16 Monsters?! That'll cause too many clogged hands!" That's an understandable fear but don't worry, it doesn't happen. You only want to draw 1 or 2 monsters in your opening hand because the rest of the cards are going to hurt your opponent.

The Gadgets are included for obvious reasons; they thin the deck and give you a constant flow of monsters. D.D. Warrior Lady is more 1-4-1 destruction and Jujitsu Masters slow down your opponent by making them lose a monsters and stopping them from drawing anything new. Kycoo and Banisher of the Radiance are graveyard hate and both can shut down Infernities and any Frog deck. The tech monster is Wattgiraffe. Don't hate on this card until you've tried it. I thought it was dumb too until I got wrecked by a Wattgiraffe in a tournament (you can read about that in my last tournament report). It's a free 1200 damage that can get past big attackers that are in the way and it also stops Gorz if it hits first when your opponent's field is clear (they take the damage first, then Gorz activates. By then it's too late, Wattgiraffe's effect kicks in). The monster line-up is simple and good at what it does; messing with your opponent.

The spells are even simpler than the monsters. Smashing Ground, Fissure, and Lightning Vortex kills your opponent's field, clearing the way for your Gadgets to poke the life point count. Dimensional Fissure has the same purpose as Kycoo and Banisher. If you take the grave away from a lot of decks now, they fall apart. The rest are staples.

The traps are huge in this deck. They provide protection for
your monsters and stop your opponent's plays. Royal Oppression stops all special summoning (and since you don't do any in this deck, it's an absolutely amazing card to play). Bottomless and D-Prison are more 1-4-1 destruction. Mirror Force, Solemn, Torrential, and possibly Starlight Road are staples. The trap that no one expects is Dark Bribe. A lot of people write this card off because it lets your opponent draw a card. Who cares! If an Infernity player's going to activate Heavy Storm on your field of D-Fissure, Oppression, and Bribe, aren't you happy you can negate Storm? Otherwise your opponent just got the green light to OTK you. If you learn to use Bribe at an appropriate time, it's an amazing card.

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Well that's the deck, I hope you guys enjoyed it. It's really quite cool that a slow deck with a lot of cheap, common cards can have such an impact on the meta. Try this deck out for yourself, you may just put down your plethora of meta decks and come to the dark side (Uklazar would be so happy to know I made a Star Wars reference :P).

See you guys later.

Tournament Report - 7/24/10 - Flamvellsworn

Hey guys, it's GuitarSlam,

As promised, I'm posting up my tournament report for this past weekend. It was a 5 round tourney with a top 8 playoff. As the title indicates, I used Flamvellsworn. I wanna tell you how I did right now, but then you may not read the article :P

Round 1 - Frognarchs

This kid was really cocky (he always is though, what did I expect?). He told me how he couldn't lose to Lightsworns once he saw what I was playing (did I mention he was cocky?). He's a few years younger than I am but I've gotta admit, he's not a bad duelist. He's just plain annoying.

Game 1 - I start off with Solar Recharge to get the milling going. I believe I set a Ryko and pass. He beings the typical Frognarch stuff with Swap Frog and Treeborn. Over the next few turns he starts the Monarch stuff, getting in a Caius and a Raiza. Due to Honests he's down to 3800 lp. I summon Judgment Dragon, nuke the field, summon Aurkus and attack for game.

Game 2 - He wrecked me. I didn't draw particularly well and he got out 3 Raiza on consecutive turns. I was forced to scoop quickly...

Game 3 - This one was more back-and-fourth. We each kept hitting each other for a bit of damage here, a bit of damage there. Unfortunately for me, he got out a Caius the turn before I was going to Celestia for game and I lost :( I can accept losing, but it's pain to lose to a overly cocky kid.

0-1

Round 2 - Light Oppression Stall?

This was easily my weirdest matchup of the day. He was running a lot of stall cards and light monsters that could be boosted by Honest. As the ultimate kicker, his main card was Wattgiraffe (I know what you're thinking. The card's better than it sounds).

Game 1 - I couldn't do anything. Solemn, Dark Bribe, Oppression, and Honest wrecked me. I couldn't believe what I had just lost to.

Game 2 - Same as game 1. I gained a lot of respect for the deck and for the player. It's a really weird deck but if you know how to run it, it shuts down everything that it goes up against.

0-2

Round 3 - Dark Beat Down

Kind of part dark synchro, part dark beat down. I don't know how to classify this exactly.

Game 1 - I used Celestias and Judgments the way they were supposed to be used. Royal Decree really hurt this guy. He didn't have anything to stop my big plays.

Game 2 - Same as game 1. Opening hand of Decree, Recharge (mill Wulf), Celestia, and JD kills people pretty quickly.

1-2

Round 4 - Blackwings

This kid was the brother of the kid that I played in Round 1. This kid was a lot less cocky and overall more enjoyable to play against.

Game 1 - I synchroed into Stardust early and protected him. Royal Decree stopped Icarus once he Kaluted over Stardust. I won after a little bit.

Game 2 - Celestia and Judgment win games. Simple as that.

2-2

Round 5 - Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode

This guy was fairly cool. We talked a little bit after the match but that was it.

Game 1 - My early Decree protected his own Firedogs for when they synchroed into Stardust. After a Colossal Fighter (thanks to Rekindling) and a Judgment Dragon, I won with little difficulty.

Game 2 - He must have pulled crap during the duel because he was playing defensive the entire time. Then when he finally made an offensive push late in the duel I had Mirror Force :P

3-2

I didn't end up making top 8 ('tis the breaks when you lose your first 2 matches). It's alright though, because I was able to watch tton in t8, t4, and the finals! He ended up getting 2nd place, congrats to him :D

Well I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my semi-fail tournament. My deck worked well at times and showed some inconsistencies at others. All-in-all, I'm still satisfied with the day.

See you guys later.

Deck Profile - Flamvellsworn

Hey guys, it's GuitarSlam,

For my first "real" post I've decided to put up a deck profile. This time I'm going to discuss my current main deck (though I use that term lightly, I switch decks constantly :P); Flamvellsworn. In case some of you don't know what Flamvellsworn is, it's a Lightsworn deck with the Flamvell synchro engine thrown in. I don't want to go too far into explaining the deck just yet. Here's the deck list with the explanation following. <--- Why is this here?

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Monsters: 23

[2] Judgment Dragon
[1] Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
[2] Celestia, Lightsworn Angel

[2] Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
[1] Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
[1] Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
[2] Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
[1] Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid
[2] Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
[2] Honest
[1] Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
[1] Card Trooper
[2] Flamvell Firedog
[2] Flamvell Magician
[1] Necro Gardna

Spells: 11

[3] Solar Recharge
[1] Charge of the Light Brigade
[2] Rekindling
[1] Brain Control
[1] Heavy Storm
[1] Giant Trunade
[1] Cold Wave
[1] Foolish Burial

Traps: 6

[2] Beckoning Light
[2] Royal Decree
[1] Mirror Force
[1] Torrential Tribute

Extra Deck: 15

[15] Standards, just make sure to run plenty of level 8's

Alright, let's take a look at the monsters. The standard Lightsworn crew's all here; Judgment Dragon, Lumina, Celestia, etc. The classic line-up that dominated the September 09 format. We all know what they do; thin your deck by milling cards in your end phase and gaining advantage through it. Whether you send a Wulf and special summon him, mill a Necro to protect yourself, or simply load the grave full of different Lightsworns for Judgment Dragon, you're almost always gaining some sort of advantage over your opponent.

The next part of the monster line-up is where this deck separates itself from standard Lightsworn decks. I've decided to run my favorite synchro engine in Yugioh, the Flamvells. It's amazing that so much synchro power can come from only two monsters. When Firedog kills a monster and sends it to the grave, you get to special summon Magician from your deck. You can either attack or simply end the battle and synchro into any level 8 synchro that you want. Stardust, Colossal, Thought Ruler, any of them. Even if you mill your Flamvells, no problem. You'll just use Rekindling to get 'em back.

And with that, onto the spells. Triple Solar Recharge and a Charge of the Light Brigade allows for extra draw power and a lot of milling. Foolish dumps Wulf for an instant summon and the rest are staples or protection. Now let's talk about the MVP spell. Rekindling.

Opening with a Rekinding (or even 2) is one of the best feelings in this deck. This amazing spell allows you to special summon as many Fire types with 200 Def from your grave as possible. This lets you bring back both your Flamvell Firedogs and Magicians at any time during the game. You can use Firedogs effect, synchro for a Stardust, and then use Rekindling to get them back and synchro into a Colossal Fighter! Use Rekindling to get your Flamvells back after milling them with your Lightsworns so they're never dead! Rekindling is the power card in this deck (besides Judgment Dragon, obviously) and allows for some super quick wins.

The traps are fairly simple. Double Beckoning Light lets you reuse your Judgment Dragons, Honests, and Celestias. Mirror Force and Torrential are staple destruction that should never be left out. The final traps are 2 Royal Decree. This card will negate all traps on the field (other than itself) for as long as it's face up. This will protect your explosive synchro plays and allow your Judgment Dragons and Celestias to enter the field safely.

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So I hope you guys liked the deck and enjoyed reading about it. It's a really fun deck to play if you like big explosions and powerful monsters wrecking face (and who doesn't love those two things, right?). If you guys have any suggestions for the deck or just want to say something about it, please leave a comment!! Try playing this deck out for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

See you guys later.

The Beginning...

Hey guys, it's GuitarSlam,

Well, I've finally decided to make a blog all about the Yugioh tcg. I know that I have my YouTube channel (which myself, tton, Uklazar, and a new guest plan on making videos for again soon) but I really wanted a chance to type out my ideas.

From this blog, you can expect deck lists, tournament reports from my local tournament, and my general thoughts on the Yugioh tcg. I know I'm not the most reliable poster in the world (with my multiple bouts of inactivity on YouTube) but I think that I'll be posting more often here on blogger. I don't have to go through the trouble of making a video and I love to write so a blog seems like the perfect thing for me.

Now don't worry, I still plan on making videos for my YouTube account. This is just going to be a place for people to go to if they want to read some extra details about my decks or find out information about my feelings toward Yugioh. I hope that everyone enjoys this blog :D

See you guys later.