Hey guys, it's GuitarSlam,
Well, even from London I'm going to give you guys an update (I know, I'm so nice :P). I've gotten a request to make deck profiles for two different decks - Classic Monarchs and Gladiator Beasts. I have a complete Glad deck ready but I think it'd be better to talk about my favorite deck type of all time: Monarchs.
The best Monarch deck this format is clearly Frognarch, or Frog Monarch. Now I've play tested with Frognarchs and understand the strategy but, although it's extremely good, it's definitely not my favorite Monarch variant. No, the deck that I love is what I began running last year, Classic Monarch. This type of deck revolves around dark monsters and flip effects, kind of like Cornarchs from the Tele-DAD era. I know it's not as fast as Frognarchs, but it sure is a whole lot of fun to play. So without further ado, I bring you... Classic Monarchs!
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Monsters: 23
[3] Caius the Shadow Monarch
[2] Raiza the Storm Monarch
[2] Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
[2] Prime Material Dragon
[2] Destiny Hero - Malicious
[1] Dark Armed Dragon
[2] Krebons
[1] Psychic Commander
[2] Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
[2] Gravekeeper's Spy
[1] Gravekeeper's Guard / Descendant (players choice)
[1] Plaguespreader Zombie
[2] Mask of Darkness
Spells: 10
[2] Book of Moon
[2] Soul Exchange
[1] Allure of Darkness
[1] Emergency Teleport
[1] Heavy Storm
[1] Mystical Space Typhoon
[1] Pot of Avarice
[1] Brain Control
Traps: 8
[2] Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
[2] Raigeki Break
[2] Bottomless Trap Hole
[1] Torrential Tribute
[1] Mirror Force
Alright, let's start examining the deck. The Monarch line-up is fairly standard: triple Caius is a must, along with doubles of Raiza, Thestalos,
and Prime Material. These cards give you advantage by removing your opponent's cards while Prime protects your other monsters. Malicious matches up really well with the double Krebons, allowing for a level 8 synchro easily. It can also be tributed for a Monarch if you really need tribute fodder. Dark Armed's run for obvious reasons - you run a lot of darks and have ways to control the number in your graveyard.
Dekoichi, Spy, Guard/Descendant, and Mask of Darkness are all flip effects that give this deck speed and power. Dekoichi is a free draw, Spy gets either more tribute fodder or destruction power, and Mask allows us to reuse our plethora of disruptive traps.
The spell cards are extraordinarily simple. Protection due to Book of Moon, destruction with Storm, MST, recycling with Pot of Avarice, and even Soul Exchange. Add in an Allure and an E-Tele for speed and you have a simple, effective spell line-up.
The traps of this deck really allow it to mess with your opponent. Double Wing Blast and double Raigeki Break both either slow down your opponent or get rid of threats on their side of the field. A lot of people have questioned my decision to run Raigeki Break in this deck, but here's why: Discarding in this deck isn't a bad thing (Malicious, Plague, PoA) and Stardust doesn't run around crazy like it used to. It's personal preference; if you'd rather run Divine Wrath or Compulsory Evacuation Device over Raigeki Break, go for it. I personally like the added destruction that Raigeki Break offers.
*An Alternative Idea*
If you wanted to make this deck a little faster (which I'm actually thinking about doing) you could make a few small changes to the monster cards that will dramatically increase the speed of the deck. Here's what I might do as an alternative to the given set:
-2 Mask of Darkness
-2 Gravekeeper's Spy
-1 Gravekeeper's Guard
+2 Dandylion
+2 Ryko
+1 Pot of Avarice
This se
t of monsters would probably be a bit more successful on the competitive circuit. By adding more destruction with Rykos (and milling to speed up the deck) along with the token abuse that Dandylion allows with the Wing Blasts and Raigeki Breaks, you're going to have more tribute fodder and speed through your deck quicker. I think that with the extra milling and the fact that you're going to want to reuse your Dandys, an extra Pot of Avarice will round off the changes nicely.
So there you have it. A classic Cornarch-esque deck with plenty of power. If you wanna go really old-school Monarch, go with the first build. If you wanna go the route of a bit more speed, give the second build a try. Both decks are fun and can surprisingly hold their own very well.
See you guys later.
[3] Caius the Shadow Monarch
[2] Raiza the Storm Monarch
[2] Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
[2] Prime Material Dragon
[2] Destiny Hero - Malicious
[1] Dark Armed Dragon
[2] Krebons
[1] Psychic Commander
[2] Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
[2] Gravekeeper's Spy
[1] Gravekeeper's Guard / Descendant (players choice)
[1] Plaguespreader Zombie
[2] Mask of Darkness
Spells: 10
[2] Book of Moon
[2] Soul Exchange
[1] Allure of Darkness
[1] Emergency Teleport
[1] Heavy Storm
[1] Mystical Space Typhoon
[1] Pot of Avarice
[1] Brain Control
Traps: 8
[2] Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
[2] Raigeki Break
[2] Bottomless Trap Hole
[1] Torrential Tribute
[1] Mirror Force
Alright, let's start examining the deck. The Monarch line-up is fairly standard: triple Caius is a must, along with doubles of Raiza, Thestalos,
and Prime Material. These cards give you advantage by removing your opponent's cards while Prime protects your other monsters. Malicious matches up really well with the double Krebons, allowing for a level 8 synchro easily. It can also be tributed for a Monarch if you really need tribute fodder. Dark Armed's run for obvious reasons - you run a lot of darks and have ways to control the number in your graveyard.Dekoichi, Spy, Guard/Descendant, and Mask of Darkness are all flip effects that give this deck speed and power. Dekoichi is a free draw, Spy gets either more tribute fodder or destruction power, and Mask allows us to reuse our plethora of disruptive traps.
The spell cards are extraordinarily simple. Protection due to Book of Moon, destruction with Storm, MST, recycling with Pot of Avarice, and even Soul Exchange. Add in an Allure and an E-Tele for speed and you have a simple, effective spell line-up.
The traps of this deck really allow it to mess with your opponent. Double Wing Blast and double Raigeki Break both either slow down your opponent or get rid of threats on their side of the field. A lot of people have questioned my decision to run Raigeki Break in this deck, but here's why: Discarding in this deck isn't a bad thing (Malicious, Plague, PoA) and Stardust doesn't run around crazy like it used to. It's personal preference; if you'd rather run Divine Wrath or Compulsory Evacuation Device over Raigeki Break, go for it. I personally like the added destruction that Raigeki Break offers.*An Alternative Idea*
If you wanted to make this deck a little faster (which I'm actually thinking about doing) you could make a few small changes to the monster cards that will dramatically increase the speed of the deck. Here's what I might do as an alternative to the given set:
-2 Mask of Darkness
-2 Gravekeeper's Spy
-1 Gravekeeper's Guard
+2 Dandylion
+2 Ryko
+1 Pot of Avarice
This se
t of monsters would probably be a bit more successful on the competitive circuit. By adding more destruction with Rykos (and milling to speed up the deck) along with the token abuse that Dandylion allows with the Wing Blasts and Raigeki Breaks, you're going to have more tribute fodder and speed through your deck quicker. I think that with the extra milling and the fact that you're going to want to reuse your Dandys, an extra Pot of Avarice will round off the changes nicely.So there you have it. A classic Cornarch-esque deck with plenty of power. If you wanna go really old-school Monarch, go with the first build. If you wanna go the route of a bit more speed, give the second build a try. Both decks are fun and can surprisingly hold their own very well.
See you guys later.
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