Duel Masters

First Decks - Nature/Water

First Decks
Deck #1 -- Nature/Water
Welcome to the First Decks article series. Like many of you I'm just now getting my first look at the new Duel Masters cards, and I'm really looking forward to playing my first duel. What I'm going to do in these articles is quickly build four decks so that my friends and I can start playing the game. I have four copies of every card and some friends coming over to play in about an hour, so I'd better get started.
I'm going to make two single-color decks and two multi-color decks. That way I can see what both styles look like and play them against each other. I haven't yet decided which civilizations to do which way, so I'll start by building a single-color deck. Then I'll see whether it needs another civilization added or if it can stand on its own.
This first deck will focus on Nature cards.
Laying out all the Nature cards, I see that there are far fewer spells than creatures, so I'm going to work on the spells first. The Shield trigger ability is an aspect of the game that's pretty new and I'd like to see it in play so I'm going to try and work a few shield trigger cards into a deck.
The two Shield trigger Nature spells are Natural Snare and Dimension Gate. Natural Snare has a casting cost of 6, the highest cost of all the Nature spells. It allows you to choose one of your opponent's creatures in the battle zone and put it into his mana zone. This spell is expensive but it's a great way to take down a powerful, opposing creature, and it could really help you out of a bind if it came up in your shield zone. For 3 mana, Dimension Gate allows you to search your deck for a creature and put that creature into your hand, after showing the creature to your opponent. Natural Snare I really like; Dimension Gate I'll put in the "maybe" pile while checking out the non-Shield trigger spells.
Pangaea's Song, Ultimate Force, and Aura Blast are the remaining spells. Pangaea's Song moves one of your creatures to your mana zone, Ultimate Force puts the top two cards of your deck into your mana zone, and Aura Blast gives each of your creatures in the battle zone power attacker +2000 until the end of the turn. If Natural Snare is going to be my creature killer, then I don't think I need power attacker. The ability to move one of my creatures to the mana zone might be handy, but I think I'll really want my creatures in the battle zone. This leaves Pangaea's Song and Dimension Gate in my "maybe" pile. I'm adding Ultimate Force to the deck in the hope that its mana pull will help me build up mana faster than my opponent so that I can bring out big creatures before he's ready for them.
For creatures, I'm going to look for any special abilities that mesh well with my spells. The most common special ability on Nature creatures relates to gaining more mana. That goes well with Ultimate Force. More mana is generally a good thing, and it's showing me a direction for this deck. I'm going to gear this deck toward building up mana as quickly as possible to overrun my opponent. With that in mind, here are my creature selections:
Mighty Shouter-- 3 cost, 2000 power. When this creature would be destroyed, put it into your mana zone instead.
Bronze-Arm Tribe -- 3 cost, 1000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, put the top card of your deck into your mana zone.
Coiling Vines -- 4 cost, 3000 power. When this creature would be destroyed, put it into your mana zone instead.
Poisonous Mushroom -- 2 cost, 1000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may put 1 card from your hand into your mana zone.
Thorny Mandra -- 5 cost, 4000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may put one creature from your graveyard into your mana zone.
Red-Eye Scorpion -- 5 cost, 4000 power. When this creature would be destroyed, put it into your mana zone instead.
Storm Shell -- 7 cost, 2000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, your opponent chooses 1 of his creatures in the battle zone and puts it into the mana zone.
Deathblade Beetle -- 5 cost, 3000+ power. Double breaker. Power attacker +4000.
Ten cards, four copies of each, and it's a legal 40 card deck. Check it over for weaknesses and then call it done.
Imagining how it would play, I am a bit worried about running out of cards in my hand. Having a ton of mana won't do me any good if I don't have any creatures to cast. I think what this deck needs to supplement its mana production is some card drawing, and card drawing is found in only one place: the Water civilization.
I've selected two cards from the Water civilization to help this deck: Aqua Hulcus is a 3 cost, 2000 power creature with the ability "When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may draw a card." Brain Serum is a 4 cost spell that allows you to draw 2 cards. It's also a Shield trigger.
That should help, but it might not be enough. I'm going to add in Aqua Soldier as well, a 3 cost, 1000 power creature that returns to your hand instead of being destroyed. That's somewhat like drawing an extra card, and with all my mana I shouldn't have a problem paying for it over and over again.
There's one more card in the Water civilization that looks like it may work well in this deck -- Tropico. Tropico is a 5 cost, 3000 power creature that can't be blocked while you have at least 2 other creatures in the battle zone. As I plan to have lots of creatures in the battle zone, and "can't be blocked" is a pretty good ability, this might be a good card to include.
Choosing what to pull out of the deck is difficult. I can't help but note that the final deck has very little in common with the original concept, but these things happen sometimes. A little playtesting probably will change the deck, perhaps back closer to what it started as, but here's the decklist I'm going with for now:
4 x Mighty Shouter -- 3 cost, 2000 power. When this creature would be destroyed, put it into your mana zone instead.
4 x Bronze-Arm Tribe -- 3 cost, 1000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, put the top card of your deck into your mana zone.
4 x Coiling Vines -- 4 cost, 3000 power. When this creature would be destroyed, put it into your mana zone instead.
4 x Poisonous Mushroom -- 2 cost, 1000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may put 1 card from your hand into your mana zone.
4 x Thorny Mandra -- 5 cost, 4000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may put one creature from your graveyard into your mana zone.
4 x Deathblade Beetle -- 5 cost, 3000+ power. Double breaker. Power attacker +4000.
4 x Tropico -- 5 cost, 3000 power. This creature can't be blocked while you have at least 2 other creatures in the battle zone.
4 x Aqua Soldier -- 3 cost, 1000 power. When this creature would be destroyed, return it to your hand instead.
4 x Aqua Hulcus -- 3 cost, 2000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may draw a card.
4 x Brain Serum -- 4 cost, Shield trigger. Draw up to 2 cards.
On to the next deck.

First Decks - Darkness

First Decks
Deck #2 -- Darkness
Welcome back to the First Decks article series. What I'm doing in these articles is quickly building four decks so that my friends and I can start playing the game. I have four copies of every card and some friends on the way over. One deck down, three more to go.
For this deck, I'm going start with the Darkness cards.
Darkness is the home of the Slayer ability. Creatures with the Slayer ability destroy their opponent even when they lose a battle. As soon as I saw this ability, I knew I had to try a deck that centered around it. My first card for this deck is Creeping Plague, a 1 cost spell that grants all of your creatures Slayer ability for one turn. I'm also choosing Dark Reversal, a 2 cost spell that returns a creature from your graveyard to your hand. Dark Reversal is also a Shield trigger.
The remaining Darkness spells are very tempting to me because they lend themselves to my favorite kind of deck -- denial -- but I'll have to leave them for another time. For now, I'm focusing on Slayer.
The first two creatures are easy to choose; they're the two creatures with Slayer already built in. Gigagiele is a 5 cost creature with 3000 power. His only special ability is Slayer. Bone Assassin, The Ripper is a 4 cost creature with 2000 power that also has Slayer as its only special ability.
Now I need to decide what other creatures will work best with my Slayer theme.
When a Slayer taps to attack, it's almost certain that any opposing creature is doomed. My strategy is to force my opponent to decide, as often as possible, if he really wants to face my creatures in battle. With Creeping Plague I can make anyone a Slayer, so a good addition to the deck would be some low cost shock troops to get maximum effect from my Creeping Plague. Writhing Bone Ghoul is 2 cost and 2000 power with no special abilities; Skeleton Soldier, the Defiled is 4 cost, 3000 power, also with no special abilities. They'll make great Creeping Plague targets.
For defense I'm going to try out Bloody Squito and Dark Clown. Both are Blockers that are destroyed even if they win a battle, but they're very low cost for high power with Blocker. They're only one-shot defense, but one shot should be all I need. Just in case it isn't, I still have Dark Reversal to get those cards back in my hand. As a bit of added insurance in this area, I'm going to put in Gigargon, an 8 cost creature with 3000 power who returns two creatures from the graveyard to your hand when he comes into play.
That leaves me with one more card slot open to complete my 40 card deck. I'm considering Bone Spider or Zagaan, Knight of Darkness. Bone Spider is another disposable shock troop for Creeping Plague to target with a cost of 3 and a power of 5000. Bone Spider is destroyed even if it wins a battle but with the Slayer ability granted by Creeping Plague, it won't go alone no matter what happens. Zagaan, Knight of Darkness, on the other hand, is a 6 cost, 7000 power Double breaker. I'm going to use Zagaan, Knight of Darkness and see how the Double breaker action goes.
Final Decklist:
4 x Dark Reversal -- 2 cost spell, Shield trigger. Return a creature from your graveyard to your hand.
4 x Creeping Plague -- 1 cost spell. Whenever any of your creatures becomes blocked this turn, it gets "slayer" until the end of the turn.
4 x Gigargon -- 8 cost, 3000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, return up to 2 creatures from your graveyard to your hand.
4 x Gigagiele -- 5 cost, 3000 power, Slayer.
4 x Skeleton Soldier, the Defiled -- 4 cost, 3000 power.
4 x Zagaan, Knight of Darkness -- 6 cost, 7000 power, Double breaker.
4 x Writhing Bone Ghoul -- 2 cost, 2000 power.
4 x Bone Assassin, the Ripper -- 4 cost, 2000 power, Slayer.
4 x Dark Clown -- 4 cost, 6000 power, Blocker. This creature can't attack. When this creature wins a battle, destroy it.
4 x Bloody Squito -- 2 cost, 4000 power, Blocker. This creature can't attack. When this creature wins a battle, destroy it.
Now, on to the next deck.

First Decks - Fire
First Decks
Deck #3 -- Fire
Welcome back to the First Decks article series. In these articles I'm quickly building four decks so that my friends and I can start playing the game. I have four copies of every card and some friends on the way over. Two decks down, two more to go.
For this deck I'm going to focus on Fire cards.
With the Fire civilization, it's all about the attack -- attack your opponent, attack his tapped creatures, and with the special abilities on some of the Fire cards you can even attack his untapped creatures. In fact, that last ability is so cool that I want to make it my first card selection for this deck: Chaos Strike, a 2 cost spell that lets you choose one of your opponent's untapped creatures and attack it as though it were tapped. I'm also selecting Magma Gazer, a 3 cost spell that adds "power attacker +4000" and "double breaker" to one of your creatures until the end of the turn. The power attacker addition is nice but I selected the spell mainly for its "double breaker" aspect. When I hit my opponent's shields, I want it to hurt.
I'm also going to take a third spell for this deck -- Tornado Flame is the only Fire shield trigger in the base set. It has the potential to really help out by destroying one of your opponent's creatures with a power of 4000 or less, especially if this spell comes out of the shield zone.
Knowing that I'm going to be attacking as hard and as often as possible, I want a good variety of creatures for this deck -- low cost Humans and Dragonoids for the early game and high cost Armored Dragons and Armored Wyverns for the late game.
My first few creatures are easy to select. Deadly Fighter Braid Claw and Brawler Zyler are low cost creatures for the early game, and Bolshack Dragon with Gatling Skyterror should make a good showing in the late game.
Deadly Fighter Braid Claw -- 1 cost, 1000 power. This creature attacks each turn if able.
Brawler Zyler -- 2 cost, 1000+ power. Power attacker +2000
Bolshack Dragon -- 6 cost, 6000+ power, Double breaker. While attacking, this creature gets +1000 power for each fire card in your graveyard.
Gatling Skyterror -- 7 cost, 7000 power, Double breaker. This creature can attack untapped creatures.
From there I added two mid-range creatures, both with a casting cost of 4 -- Rothus, the Traveler, and Super Explosive Volcanodon.
Rothus, the Traveler -- 4 cost, 4000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, destroy 1 of your creatures. Then your opponent chooses 1 of his creatures and destroys it.
Super Explosive Volcanodon -- 4 cost, 2000+ power. Power attacker +4000.
I still have room for one more card. My general rule for deck building is that if a card is good enough to have in your deck, it's good enough to have four copies of. If it isn't good enough to have four copies of, it probably shouldn't be in your deck. At this point, however, I'm having a hard time deciding which card to include.
I'm looking at two cards that I would qualify as 'maybes'. They are potent but also have drawbacks that balance them to the point where I'm not certain including four copies of either card in my deck would make the deck better.
Explosive Fighter Ucarn -- 5 cost, 9000 power, Double breaker. When you put this creature into the battle zone, put 2 cards from your mana zone into your graveyard.
Scarlet Skyterror -- 8 cost, 3000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, destroy all creatures that have blocker.
A cost of 5 for 9000 power is great but the loss of 2 mana is rough. It's not that I can't see paying this cost and getting good value for it, it's that I can't see paying this cost more than once in a game. Something similar is true of Scarlet Skyterror. The price is so high, and its ability so devastating, that I can't see playing more than one copy per game. That leaves me with two options. I can pick one, put in four copies, and drop any extras that come into my hand for mana, or I can go with two of each and see how that plays out.
Final Decklist:
4 x Tornado Flame -- 5 cost spell, Shield trigger. Destroy 1 of your opponent's creatures that has power 4000 or less.
4 x Magma Gazer -- 3 cost spell. One of your creatures gets power attacker +4000 and double breaker until the end of the turn.
4 x Chaos Strike -- 2 cost spell. Choose 1 of your opponent's untapped creatures in the battle zone. Your creatures can attack it this turn as though it were tapped.
4 x Deadly Fighter Braid Claw -- 1 cost, 1000 power. This creature attacks each turn if able.
4 x Brawler Zyler -- 2 cost, 1000+ power, power attacker +2000.
4 x Bolshack Dragon -- 6 cost, 6000+ power, Double breaker. While attacking, this creature gets +1000 power for each fire card in your graveyard.
4 x Gatling Skyterror -- 7 cost, 7000 power, Double breaker. This creature can attack untapped creatures.
4 x Rothus, the Traveler -- 4 cost, 4000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, destroy 1 of your creatures. Then your opponent chooses 1 of his creatures and destroys it.
4 x Super Explosive Volcanodon -- 4 cost, 2000+ power, Power attacker +4000.
2 x Explosive Fighter Ucarn -- 5 cost, 9000 power, Double breaker. When you put this creature into the battle zone, put 2 cards from your mana zone into your graveyard.
2 x Scarlet Skyterror -- 8 cost, 3000 power. When you put this creature into the battle zone, destroy all creatures that have blocker.
One more deck to go.

First Decks - Light/Water

First Decks
Deck #4 -- Light/Water
Welcome back to the First Decks article series. In these articles, I'm quickly building four decks so that my friends and I can start playing the game. I have four copies of every card and some friends on the way over. Three decks down, one more to go.
In this last deck I'm going to use Light and Water civilization cards.
The last time I mentioned Water civilization cards I added Tropico, a Water creature that can't be blocked when you have at least two other creatures in play. I noticed then that "can't be blocked" seemed like a very good ability. As it turns out, both Light and Water have this effect in their civilizations. In my Light/Water deck, I'm going to focus on avoiding creature vs. creature battles completely and getting right to the shields of my opponent by using as much "can't be blocked" as possible.
The easiest place to start is with the "can't be blocked" creatures from the Water civilization because there are only three of them.
Candy Drop -- 3 cost, 1000 power. This creature can't be blocked.
Faerie Child -- 4 cost, 2000 power. This creature can't be blocked.
King Depthcon -- 7 cost, 6000 power, Double breaker. This creature can't be blocked.
With the "can't be blocked" ability, the power really doesn't matter on offence. All it needs to do is break a shield. The low power on Candy Drop and Faerie Child makes them weak on defense, should they be attacked while tapped. One good way to protect these guys is with some blockers.
King Coral -- 3 cost, 1000 power, Blocker.
Ruby Grass -- 3 cost, 3000 power, Blocker. This creature can't attack players. At the end of each of your turns, you may untap this creature.
I chose these two because of their relatively low cost and because they each possess secondary abilities that are fairly rare among blockers. King Coral doesn't so much have an ability as the lack of restriction. King Coral is a blocker that can attack both creatures and players, which makes him a sneaky threat that an opponent might overlook. Ruby Grass untaps at the end of each of my turns, ensuring that no matter what I do on my turn, this card will be ready to defend me on my opponent's turn. This may not come up much, but you never know.
I'm going to include one more blocker in this deck.
Gran Gure, Space Guardian -- 6 cost, 9000 power, Blocker. This creature can't attack players.
In addition to being my defense against big attackers, Gran Gure, Space Guardian can also attack tapped creatures, and with 9000 power, it's going to crush most things it can attack. To assist Gran Gure, Space Guardian, and because it's a generally useful spell as well as a shield trigger, I'm going to add Solar Ray.
Solar Ray -- 2 cost spell, Shield trigger. Choose 1 of your opponent's creatures in the battle zone and tap it.
That leaves three card slots remaining in my deck and a lot of options. There's Laser Wing, a Light spell that allows me to choose 2 of my creatures and give them "can't be blocked" for a turn. That's in keeping with the theme for my deck but I think I have the "can't be blocked" thing pretty well covered already. I like Crystal Memory, a Water shield trigger spell that lets me search my deck for a card and put it in my hand. Then there's a wide variety of creatures to choose from in both the Light and Water civilizations.
One creature that stands out as having the potential to assist my deck is Toel, Vizier of Hope. It's special ability reads, "At the end of each of your turns, you may untap all your creatures in the battle zone." This is another layer of protection for my "can't be blocked" creatures that could be very useful.
For my last card, I'm going to choose the 6000 power, double breaker, Urth, Purifying Elemental.
Final Decklist:
Candy Drop -- 3 cost, 1000 power. This creature can't be blocked.
Faerie Child -- 4 cost, 2000 power. This creature can't be blocked.
King Depthcon -- 7 cost, 6000 power, Double breaker. This creature can't be blocked.
King Coral -- 3 cost, 1000 power, Blocker.
Ruby Grass -- 3 cost, 3000 power, Blocker. This creature can't attack players. At the end of each of your turns, you may untap this creature.
Gran Gure, Space Guardian -- 6 cost, 9000 power, Blocker. This creature can't attack players.
Solar Ray -- 2 cost spell, Shield trigger. Choose 1 of your opponent's creatures in the battle zone and tap it.
Crystal Memory -- 4 cost spell, Shield trigger. Search your deck. You may take a card from your deck and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
Toel, Vizier of Hope -- 5 cost, 2000 power. At the end of each of your turns, you may untap all your creatures in the battle zone.
Urth, Purifying Elemental -- 6 cost, 6000 power, Double breaker. At the end of each of your turns, you may untap this creature.
That's all four of the decks I need. Now it's time to play a few games and see how they do.

Second Decks

Second Decks
In my First Decks articles, I quickly built four Duel Masters decks to play against each other so we could get a look at the various civilizations and play strategies and how they worked. Now it's time to see how those decks did and what can be done to improve them.
Fire
My single-civilization Fire deck was pretty straightforward, and it played that way. Bring out cheap creatures, attack, repeat. This deck turned out to be a good one for teaching new players as the strategy was simple and it gave them a good first look at how to play the game without overwhelming them with too many decisions. That's all well and good for the first day or so, but it became clear that this deck needed a bit of work to be competitive once we had few games under our belts and were looking at really getting into the strategy of Duel Masters.
Darkness
The other single-civilization deck I made was the Darkness Slayer deck. I was curious to see if a deck centered on the Slayer ability could be effective. As it turns out...not so much. Not that the deck was completely devoid of potential, but after a few games I determined that for the Slayer theme to really be viable there needed to be a lot of Slayer creatures in the deck, enough that you could sacrifice them over and over again against your opponent's creatures and still have creatures to spare. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough of them in the base set to really pull this off. In the end I decided to scrap this deck concept and work on combining Fire and Darkness into a creature killing deck of destruction. More on that later.
Light/Water
When I was building this deck it was with the intention that it would eventually become the deck I played on a regular basis. I really like the defensive nature of the deck and the huge Blockers the Light civilization is capable of bringing into play, especially Gran Gure, Space Guardian. The other thing I noticed is that Toel, Vizier of Hope, originally added to the deck because it looked interesting, turned out to be the backbone of the deck. Toel's ability to untap your cards at the end of your turn is frequently the difference between winning and losing--it keeps your attackers safe from reprisal and frees your Light Blockers to attack tapped creatures on your turn without having to sacrifice using them against your opponent's attackers on their turn.
Nature/Water
I remember when making this deck thinking, "Mana acceleration and card drawing, this deck could be pretty good." The deck turned out to be far better than just 'pretty good', and it quickly became evident that it was better than the other three. So much better, in fact, that this deck is the primary reason the Fire and Darkness decks were scrapped and rebuilt--neither of them could compete with the Nature/Water combination.
New Rules
No, the Duel Masters rules didn't change, but my rules for making decks did. When I built the first decks Duel Masters was still several weeks from its English release. I was using photocopies of cards placed into card sleeves and Japanese cards with the translations written on slips of paper and stuck into the card sleeves with the card. Now that the game has been released in English, however, my friends and I have bought many, many boosters, and this new generation of decks will be built with the restriction that I have to use cards I actually have. For the Commons and Uncommons this isn't a big deal, but as we move into the Rares and beyond, I may have to go with less than four of a given card, or try and find suitable replacements amongst the other cards.
The Next Generation
Fire/Darkness/Nature
Of all my decks, this one has seen the most revision. Version after version of the Fire/Darkness combo was tested, from strict creature denial, to small creature blitz, to monster over-run led by Zagaan, Knight of Darkness. Many of the decks tested well, especially the all-out denial deck, using Death Smoke, Ghost Touch, Terror Pit, Crimson Hammer, and Tornado Flame. But then, something happened--I attended a little informal tournament for Duel Masters and caught a glimpse of a Fire/Darkness Deck that splashed a little Nature in it as well, and I thought to myself, "Hrm.. that's not a bad idea." After a bit of tinkering, the result was one of the more potent decks I've seen.
4x Bronze-Arm Tribe -- for the mana acceleration.
2x Natural Snare -- To deal with creatures like Aqua Knight who just won't die.
4x Tornado Flame -- Creature killer
4x Rothus, the Traveler -- Also a creature killer
2x Magma Gazer -- Good for when you have only one small creature out to take an early shield lead, or in the late game to help Gatling Skyterror or one of your other heavy hitters take out even the largest of Blockers.
2x Meteosaur -- Good against small creature decks; otherwise, drop for mana.
2x Gatling Skyterror -- Will win a game against small creature overrun decks almost singlehandedly.
1x Astrocomet Dragon -- It's good to have someone who can beat Gran Gure, Space Guardian if you find yourself up against one.
4x Dark Reversal -- If you need more creature removal, go get Rothus, the Traveler; if you're facing a small creature overrun deck, pick up Gatling Skyterror or Vampire Silphy.
4x Swamp Worm -- Yes, he's a bit expensive, but still decent. If I had more Terror Pits, I'd have fewer Swamp Worms in this deck.
4x Death Smoke -- If you play Darkness, you have this spell in your deck--it's powerful, the cost is low, and it's a Common.
2x Terror Pit -- A Shield Trigger Death Smoke that can target anyone. I need to trade for some more.
2x Vampire Silphy -- Devastates small creature decks.
2x Bloody Squito -- Summon them early, but let them sit until you're low on shields--they're a good deterrent for attackers and could buy you that one last turn you need to win.
1x Gigargon -- If you get him early it's an easy decision to drop for mana, but if you get him late he can fetch Gatling Skyterror or someone else for you.
1x Deathliger, Lion of Chaos -- Like Astrocomet Dragon, Deathliger is a good creature to have on hand late in the game to deal with unpleasant Blockers or other obstacles.
Strategy – Never forget that this is a creature kill deck--take every opportunity to attack your opponent's creatures. Only when your opponent is completely out of creatures should you go after him directly, breaking his shields and eventually (we hope), winning. If you delay your final attack on your opponent for a couple turns to first take out his creatures, then you stand a better chance of surviving whatever tricks he might have hidden in his shields.
Light/Water
This deck is good, but it's just not quite at the level it needs to be. The whole concept of a Blocker heavy deck is precarious, largely because a well-timed Holy Awe will render all the blockers in the world useless. The trick to making the deck competitive is knowing it has this weakness. The most recent change I've made to the deck is to remove Crystal Memory and replace it with Miele, Vizier of Lightning.
4x Spiral Gate -- As this deck relies on its 5 and 6 cost creatures, buying an extra turn or two in the early game can be very helpful.
4x Revolver Fish -- 5000 is a very good power for a blocker, stronger than most creatures in the game--it requires a real heavy hitter to overcome it. A fourth turn Revolver Fish really slows down your opponent's attack.
2x Brain Serum -- More cards = good.
4x Candy Drop -- The attackers in this deck are few but they cannot be blocked.
4x Faerie Child -- See comment for Candy Drop.
2x King Depthcon -- See comment for Faerie Child.
4x Toel, Vizier of Hope -- Toel's ability to untap your creatures at the end of your turn is key to keeping your relatively weak Candy Drop and Faerie Child alive. Toel also allows you to attack your opponents creatures on your turn with your Light Blockers and still have them untapped to defend you on your turn.
4x La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian -- Early game defense or a late game disposable Blocker.
4x Senatine Jade Tree -- Stops early attackers and does well countering tapped creatures on your turn.
3x Gran Gure, Space Guardian -- If I had 4, there'd be 4 in the deck.
3x Holy Awe -- This card is not as useful in this deck as it might be in other decks as you'll rarely need it on the attack. The hope here is that it will come up as a Shield Trigger, stalling an attack coming at you and allowing you to counterattack on your turn.
4x Miele, Vizier of Lightning -- A new addition to the deck, Miele may work well, allowing you to snipe off your opponent's creatures with your Light Blockers.
1x Hanusa, Radiance Elemental -- If all else fails, maybe bringing out the biggest creature in the base set will help.
Strategy – This deck revolves around key creatures Gran Gure, Space Guardian, Candy Drop, Faerie Child, and Toel, Vizier of Hope, so keep your eyes out for the creature kill spells like Death Smoke and Terror Pit. If you can get your opponent to cast a few of those cards early against your less important targets like Senatine Jade Tree or Revolver Fish, you'll come out ahead in the long run. Go slow and delay as often as possible to build up your defenses, then chip away at your opponent's shields while your Blockers work on his creatures. Don't forget that Miele, Vizier of Lightning and Toel, Vizier of Hope can also attack your opponent should he happen to not have any Blockers in play.
Nature/Water
To be honest, I don't know that this deck has gotten much better over time. The concept is simple: bring out creatures and mana as fast as you can until eventually you're bringing them out faster than your opponent can deal with. If anything, recent attempts to make the deck a little more versatile may have weakened it a bit. The addition of a Blocker and the move to include Illusionary Merfolk in the deck have been the most recent changes, but it may be that this deck's best form is strictly banzai overrun.
4x Brain Serum -- As discussed earlier, more cards = good.
4x Revolver Fish -- They really are an excellent Blocker for the price.
4x Aqua Hulcus -- Creature + free card = Still Good.
4x Aqua Soldier -- Excellent shock troops. Attack with them first each turn to see if your opponent wants to tap a Blocker just to destroy a creatures that will be back again next turn.
2x Aqua Knight -- Like the Aqua Soldier, but bigger.
2x Tropico -- Has the 'can't be blocked' trait when you have 2 other creatures in the area, which is often, and combos with the Illusionary Merfolk's card drawing ability. Remember to attack with Tropico first if you're worried about losing other creatures to Blockers later that turn.
2x Illusionary Merfolk -- In the deck exclusively for the 'Draw 3 Cards' combo with Tropico.
4x Bronze-Arm Tribe -- Like Death Smoke, this is a Common that sees a lot of play.
4x Mighty Shouter -- Attack with this guy even against blockers that can destroy him--either your opponent decides to let you through in the hopes of drawing a good shield, or you're up a mana for next turn. Either way you're ahead.
2x Poisonous Mushroom -- More mana acceleration.
4x Coiling Vines -- Just like the Mighty Shouter, but at 3000 power the Coiling Vines will defeat the smaller Blockers.
1x Deathblade Beetle -- If I had a couple more of these I would include them in the deck to help power through the late game Blockers.
1x Thorny Mandra -- Nice effect but a little expensive.
Strategy – One of the great things about Duel Masters is the shield system. To win the game you have to give your opponent card advantage, as every shield you break gives him a card. The biggest advantage you have with this deck is that you really don't have to worry about losing card advantage when you destroy a shield. There's so much card drawing in this deck that giving your opponent one when you attack isn't that big of a deal. Attack early and attack often. For the Coiling Vines and Mighty Shouters, attack recklessly as you'll benefit from the mana later should they be destroyed. For creatures like Poisonous Mushrooms and Aqua Hulcus, let them sit until you've built up a bit of an army, then swarm attack your opponent and overrun his defenses. If you lose a few creatures along the way, no big deal, you'll make more.







Online Demo Rule Book Card Strategy Deck Strategy Play Strategy Official Rulings






GenCon 2005 Decks
Winning Decks
Let's take a look at the winning decks from the GenCon 2005 Duel Masters Invitation Circuit Open events! We don't have all the decklists in, but we do have the winning decks from both days.Let's check 'em out!
Friday's event was taken by Ken Whitworth's Baby Blocker Blitz deck:
Baby Blocker Blitz
Total Cards: 41Creatures: 35Spells: 6
CIV
# of Cards
0
0
19
0
22
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Mist Rias, Sonic Guardian
4
Magris, Vizier of Magnetism
4
Vess, the Oracle
4
La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian
3
Zepimeteus
4
Aqua Hulcus
4
Aqua Guard
4
Marine Flower
4
Corile
3
Diamond Cutter
3
Energy Stream
Saturday's victor was Tom Capor and his 3 Civ Control deck:
3 Civ Control
Total Cards: 47Creatures: 28Spells: 19
CIV
# of Cards
10
17
0
0
20
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Bloody Squito
3
Emeral
4
Aqua Hulcus
4
Locomotiver
3
Thrash Crawler
4
Corile
4
Illusionary Merfolk
2
Bazagazeal Dragon
3
Dark Reversal
2
Energy Stream
4
Phantom Dragon's Flame
4
Searing Wave
4
Terror Pit
2
Lost Soul
Noel Ferguson's Dark Flames deck took 4th place on Friday:
Dark Flames
Total Cards: 46Creatures: 26Spells: 20
CIV
# of Cards
24
22
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
2
Gatling Skyterror
4
Pyrofighter Magnus
4
Rikabu the Dismantler
4
Horrid Worm
2
Purple Piercer
2
Gezary, Undercover Doll
4
Kooc Pollon
4
Propeller Mutant
4
Apocalypse Vise
4
Terror Pit
4
Tornado Flame
2
Venom Charger
2
Energy Charger
4
Ghost Touch
Saturday's 3rd place finisher was Michael Dahmane's Blue / Black Control deck:
Blue / Black Control
Total Cards: 40Creatures: 28Spells: 12
CIV
# of Cards
0
14
4
0
22
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Aqua Guard
4
Emeral
4
Aqua Hulcus
2
Crystal Paladin
4
Corile
3
Illusionary Merfolk
1
Crystal Lancer
3
Bloody Squito
3
Locomotiver
4
Hopeless Vortex
4
Terror Pit
4
Holy Awe
In 8th place Saturday, Richard Puski's Darkness / Fire deck:
Darkness / Fire
Total Cards: 42Creatures: 22Spells: 20
CIV
# of Cards
22
20
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
2
Bloody Squito
4
Pyrofighter Magnus
2
Marrow Ooze, the Twister
2
Rikabu's Screwdriver
4
Locomotiver
2
Twin-Cannon Skyterror
2
Propeller Mutant
2
Magmarex
2
Deadly Fighter Braid Claw
2
Critical Blade
4
Tornado Flame
4
Phantom Dragon's Flame
4
Terror Pit
2
Proclamation of Death
2
Dark Reversal
2
Burst Shot
Nathan Ferguson took 7th with his Black Eye deck:
Black Eye
Total Cards: 41Creatures: 31Spells: 10
CIV
# of Cards
0
41
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Purple Piercer
4
Propeller Mutant
4
Marrow Ooze, the Twister
3
Horrid Worm
3
Cursed Pincher
3
Bloody Squito
2
Daidalos General of Fury
2
Gray Balloon, Shadow of Greed
2
Chaos Worm
2
Junkatz Rabid Doll
1
Writhing Bone Ghoul
1
Photocide Lord of the Wastes
4
Ghost Touch
3
Critical Blade
3
Terror Pit
Kenneth Albin took 6th with a Light / Darkness / Fire deck:
Light / Darkness / Fire
Total Cards: 48Creatures: 33Spells: 15
CIV
# of Cards
32
9
7
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
3
Emerald Grass
4
Senatine Jade Tree
1
Wandering Braineater
1
Bolshack Dragon
4
Brawler Zyler
4
Immortal Baron, Vorg
2
Meteosaur
1
Scarlet Skyterror
2
Armored Blaster Valdios
3
Explosive Dude Joe
4
Rikabu, the Dismantler
1
Twin-Cannon Skyterror
3
Bombat, General of Speed
4
Death Smoke
3
Crimson Hammer
4
Terror Pit
4
Tornado Flame
John Askren had a 3rd place finish with his Sub 2 deck:
Sub 2
Total Cards: 40Creatures: 26Spells: 14
CIV
# of Cards
24
16
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
2
Engineer Kipo
2
Rikabu's Screwdriver
2
Kooc Pollon
4
Deadly Fighter Braid Claw
2
Pyrofighter Magnus
2
Mini Titan Gett
2
Propeller Mutant
2
Lupa, Poison-Tipped Doll
4
Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude
4
Marrow Ooze, the Twister
2
Crimson Hammer
2
Searing Wave
4
Volcanic Arrows
2
Comet Missile
4
Critical Blade
Greg Zuvich took this All Fire deck to 6th place:
All Fire
Total Cards: 42Creatures: 28Spells: 14
CIV
# of Cards
42
0
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Deadly Fighter Braid Claw
4
Rikabu, The Dismantler
4
Kooc Pollon
4
Pyrofighter Magnus
2
Mini Titan Gett
4
Rikabu's Screwdriver
4
Engineer Kipo
2
Baby Zoppe
3
Phantom Dragon's Flame
4
Comet Missile
4
Tornado Flame
3
Volcanic Arrows
Adam Gossai took 7th place with this deck:
Darkness / Water
Total Cards: 42Creatures: 28Spells: 14
CIV
# of Cards
0
22
0
0
20
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Vampire Silphy
4
Locomotiver
4
Horrid Worm
2
Crystal Lancer
2
Crystal Paladin
4
Aqua Hulcus
4
Aqua Surfer
4
Aqua Jolter
4
Terror Pit
4
Death Smoke
4
Spiral Gate
2
Hopeless Vortex

Card Strategy
Spinning Totem
Mono-Nature strategies have always been about their creatures. Sure, Nature has useful control cards like Natural Snare, but the order of business for a Mono-Nature deck is creature aggression. With swarms that can include accelerated appearances by creatures like Fighter Dual Fang, these decks are known for packing an explosive mid-game that can overwhelm slower decks. However, this attack-oriented plan can run into a major obstacle: blockers. When your goal is to win through non-stop attacking and you don’t have many creature removal cards, not being able to dismantle your opponent’s defenses can cause your deck’s momentum to fizzle out and put you in a losing position. Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction provides mono-Nature duelists with an interesting creature to help combat the blocker problem: Spinning Totem.
Instead of attacking with the 5-mana Spinning Totem, you can tap it to enable any of your attacking Nature creatures to automatically break an opponent's shield if blocked. With Spinning Totem, your opponent won’t be able to reap the full benefits of playing with his blocker creatures--they might be able to peg off some of your weaker creatures when they attack, but their ability to prevent shield breaks is completely stripped away with Spinning Totem’s effect. Even when your opponent is playing defensively, you have shots at maintaining your deck’s aggressive momentum.
With Spinning Totem at your disposal your opponent won’t have the luxury of discouraging your attacks with his blocker presence. Go ahead and send Mighty Shouter careening into your opponent’s Thrash Crawler--with Spinning Totem in play, Mighty Shouter is going to grant you some mana and shield advantage if blocked. Being able to break shields with your smaller Nature creatures when they battle beefy blockers far outweighs the risk of losing them.
As a 4000 power creature, Spinning Totem has a decent chance at staying in the battle zone long enough to use its effect at least once. While bounce cards like Corile can greatly slow down your ability to use Spinning Totem, some widely played creature destruction cards like Searing Wave can’t touch it. Besides, with Nature’s mana acceleration, you have chances to summon it sooner than your opponent might be able to deal with it. When played later in the game, you might have several creatures with dangerous effects (like Cryptic Totem) in your battle zone already; summoning Spinning Totem at that point will present your opponent with even more difficult decisions regarding which creature to remove first. Also, Spinning Totem is a sitting duck when tapped, as mono-Nature decks lack blockers. But even if you only use its effect once, Spinning Totem can still give you an edge.
Nature’s tiny, mana advantage creatures like Bronze-Arm Tribe and Elf-X can greatly benefit from pairing with Spinning Totem. While those creatures help you flood your battle zone, Spinning Totem transforms them into deadlier threats. They become a bigger part of your attack plan with Spinning Totem, and are no longer ineffective attackers when facing blockers.
Nature creatures with at-destruction triggered effects also combine well with Spinning Totem. In addition to Mighty Shouter, you can be more reckless in your attacks with Obsidian Scarab and Ambush Scorpion; if they’re destroyed when blocked, your opponent might have to contend with you shunting another copy from your mana zone into the battle zone--all while losing shields. Even if your Nature creatures don’t have at-destruction effects, you can use Fruit of Eternity to send them to your mana zone if they would be destroyed. Your opponent surely won’t like losing his shields and accelerating your mana supply at the same time.
Pressing attacks with Cryptic Totem in the ranks applies even more pressure on your opponent. Provided his blockers can’t destroy Cryptic Totem, it can help ensure that broken shields can’t be used immediately to prevent the rest of your Nature creatures from exploiting Spinning Totem’s effect.
Lastly, Nature supports Spinning Totem with tutor cards. You can use Rumbling Terahorn to fish copies of the creature out of your deck when your battle zone is stocked with hitters, and then turn the 3000 power Rumbling Terahorn itself into a more formidable threat with Spinning Totem’s effect. Brutal Charge’s utility is also greatly enhanced when combined with Spinning Totem--the spell can be a dead card in hand when you’re not able to deal with your opponent’s blockers. But with Spinning Totem, your Nature creatures have a greater shot at breaking shields when your opponent’s defenses are in place, and you’ll be able to comb your deck for the creatures you need with Brutal Charge when they do.
If you’re looking for a way to spice up your mono-Nature decks, try playing with Spinning Totem; its effect can complicate your opponent’s thinking game and decrease the effectives of his stall tactics--things you want to do to your opponent anyway.

Cryptic Totem

Spells like Terror Pit and Holy Awe are often splashed in decks running no other Darkness or Light simply based on their high utility as shield trigger cards. Many who do this use shield manipulation cards like Mana Nexus and Emeral in order to increase the chances of having those splashed spells end up as shields. Shield manipulation is a widely popular tactic because it's geared towards creating card and mana advantage over an opponent, and it's effective in Control, Beatdown, and Combo strategies alike. Not to mention, shield manipulation plays can be highly frustrating for an opponent, as they can disrupt his attacking plans and complicate his thinking game. As shield manipulation plays and splashes have firmly secured their tactical importance in the game's most dominating decks, so have plays that aim to decrease their effectiveness, like Bolmeteus Steel Dragon. With the coming of Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction, duelists seeking to counter shield manipulation tactics and decks that are comprised mostly of shield trigger cards now have another powerful tool at their disposal: Cryptic Totem.
For six mana, Nature's Cryptic Totem sports the double breaker ability and decent 6000 attack power, which is pretty much standard fare for late-game beat-sticks. However, Cryptic Totem also packs a very intriguing negation effect that sets it apart from other late-game beat-sticks that are saddled with summoning sickness. While Cryptic Totem is tapped, your opponent can't use the "shield trigger" ability of his shields. As soon as you tap Cryptic Totem to declare its attack, its effect prevents your opponent from being able to cast for free any shield trigger cards you break. Instead, those broken shields remain in your opponent's hand--he'll have to free up mana to use those cards against you.
Cryptic Totem's effect can undo any work your opponent performed manipulating his shields to reap mana advantage, and prevent him from utilizing a random trigger like Holy Awe to stop you from sweeping his shields. If your opponent can't destroy Cryptic Totem during its round of summoning sickness (with cards like Hopeless Vortex), or with a blocker when it attacks, then he stands lose the mana advantage cards like Terror Pit would grant him as triggered plays. When you're able to place limitations like Cryptic Totem's negation effect onto your opponent's options, and thus hinder his ability to reap certain advantages from his cards, you minimize the effectiveness of your opponent's card plays, and swing control of the duel to your side of the table.
And here's the biggest monkey wrench Cryptic Totem's jams into your opponent's well-laid plans: it extends its shield negation trick to the rest of your attacking field while it's tapped. To get the most mileage out of this benefit you'd lead off your attacks with Cryptic Totem. Once that's tapped, you can safely overextend your attacking options and push for the win, if your hitters outnumber your opponent's shields and he cannot block them. Even though in some cases Cryptic Totem's effect may not be as debilitating as Bolmeteus Steel Dragon's (because your opponent is able to place broken shields into his hand), it's still a very dangerous effect. It affords you the chance to launch attacks without worry of your opponent being able to use triggered creature destruction or tapping cards that could disrupt your attacking plans or diminish your battle zone presence. With a properly timed Cryptic Totem attack and a healthy field size, its shield negation effect can be utterly game-breaking.
Resource control cards combine wonderfully with Cryptic Totem; pairing it with the aforementioned Bolmeteus Steel Dragon is likely to cause an opponent a tremendous amount of worry. With both shield trigger negation creatures on the field, your opponent stands to lose up to four of his shields without reaping the full amount of card and mana advantage they could provide as triggers or as more options in hand. Whether you're outright destroying your opponent's shields or simply making him pay the full price for his trigger spells, you're still exercising a great deal of control over his options.
You also can use hand robbing cards like Locomotiver and Lost Soul--in conjunction with Cryptic Totem--to help chip away some of the card advantage you grant an opponent after you've launched attacks under Cryptic Totem's protective cover. Plus, with hand destruction options packed into your deck you may be able to discard creature removal cards from your opponent's hand, and thus leave him with less chances to get rid of Cryptic Totem. And, to ensure that your field of attackers are able to knock off all your opponent's shields in one full sweep, you can cast Holy Awe first--with your opponent's defensive wall tapped, he will be at the mercy of your attacks and likely will be faced with an unpreventable game loss.
If you're looking for a way to supplement your deck's Control options, or a way to add more firepower to your Beatdown strategy, Cryptic Totem could be a worthwhile addition to your deck. While an opponent works diligently to build up mana advantage plays in his shield zone, you can use Cryptic Totem to make his efforts go to waste. Nice!

Rumbling Terahorn
A recent trend seen in many winning Duel Masters strategies has been decks running 50-60 cards, in a desire to fit in more playing options. Tutor cards are especially important to such decks because they help duelists wade through such large stacks to reach cards when they’re needed. Whether you choose to build a "hefty" deck or play with a more compact one, Rumbling Terahorn can help ensure that you’re reliably able to make your deck’s most crucial creature plays.
For 5 mana, when you summon Rumbling Terahorn you get to search your deck for a creature, put that creature into your hand after showing it to your opponent, and then shuffle your deck. Rumbling Terahorn’s creature search effect allows you to immediately replace it in your hand with another creature from your deck when you summon it. This is a very helpful effect, as summoning Rumbling Terahorn doesn't drain your hand, yet increases your battle zone presence, thus gaining you card advantage.
The creature option that you pluck from your deck with Rumbling Terahorn is non-random, so you’re able to set up the exact creature play that you need when you need it. If you’ve assembled evolution material like Aqua Hulcus in your battle zone, you can use Rumbling Terahorn to fish out a copy of Crystal Paladin and evolve it next turn. Or, if your opponent is trying to build a swarm field using small creatures, you might search for Vampire Silphy to stop him. Your opponent will know what creature you’ve grabbed from your deck, and thus will be able to telegraph your next play--however, if he can’t discard cards from your hand, there's little he'll be able to do about it.
Like other tutor cards that can search for creatures, Rumbling Terahorn allows for singleton and doubles of creatures in your deck. You can include fewer copies of your creatures and still have a solid chance of grabbing them when needed. Running four copies of Scarlet Skyterror is far from ideal, but you might want to run a single copy of the creature as a teched answer to blocker-heavy deck strategies. Essentially, Rumbling Terahorn allows you to diversify your deck with expensive creatures without them weighing down your deck or clogging your early hands. Even when you run four copies for your creatures Rumbling Terahorn decreases your need to rely on naturally drawing creatures from your deck in order to use them.
Rumbling Terahorn’s search effect also gives you the opportunity to gather information about your playing options so you can make more informed plays. When you search for a creature, taking note of the cards you’ve already played and the cards in your hand will enable you to figure out which cards are in your shield zone. That in turn gives you the opportunity to change plans if the creature you need for a certain play is tucked away in your shield zone. The more you know about your overall options, the better your ability to plan your plays during the duel.
In addition, Rumbling Terahorn’s shuffle effect can send a good card to the top of your deck. Even though the card shuffled to the top of your deck is random--and could easily be useless to your current needs--there’s still a possibility that the card shuffled to the top will be a useful one.
While Rumbling Terahorn’s 3000 power isn’t enough to keep it safe from cards like Searing Wave, it’s enough to kill many commonly-played creatures, and trump a few blockers. Even if your opponent destroys Terahorn shortly after its summoned, you’ll still gain an immediate advantage--another card in hand. And, its at-summoned effect places a limitation on the type of removal your opponent will want to use to answer its presence. Rumbling Terahorn isn’t the type of creature your opponent will want to bounce since you’ll just re-play it and grab another creature from your deck.
As a Horned Beast, Rumbling Terahorn has even more utility as evolution material--you can use it to summon Niofa, Horned Protector. Plus, a really cool "creature search chain" can be setup with Niofa and Terahorn; when you summon Rumbling Terahorn, you can use it to search for Niofa. On your next turn when you evolve Rumbling Terahorn into Niofa, you can use that behemoth to grab another Rumbling Terahorn from your deck. Barring your opponent discarding cards from your hand or destroying your creatures, you can continue to thin your deck for more copies of Niofa and its evolution material. Nice!
Rumbling Terahorn also pairs exceedingly well with creatures and spells from other civilizations. Water’s bounce cards like Spiral Gate can help you re-use Rumbling Terahorn’s effect to thin your deck for more creatures, and the creature’s shuffling effect can enhance Garatyano’s deck stacking ability by funneling a new set of cards to the top of your deck. You can use Dark Reversal to retrieve Rumbling Terahorn, and re-summon it to grab a great finisher like Bazagazeal Dragon from your deck. Searching for Light’s Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q with Rumbling Terahorn can help set up future spell plays. Lastly, Rumbling Terahorn’s creature search can help you get more Nature creature options in hand to stock the field for Cataclysmic Eruption’s mana destruction effect.
Rumbling Terahorn is a very potent deck-searching tool that can infuse reliability into your decks. While Charmilia, the Enticer’s search effect is cheaper and reusable, it’s slower than Rumbling Terahorn’s and could be destroyed before you’re able to use it. Dimension Gate is also cheaper, and could even do its search trick for free, but Rumbling Terahorn provides you with more creature presence to use against your opponent, and another target for your card effects. Rumbling Terahorn is a high-utility creature that can help increase the efficiency of many deck strategies. If you’re running a mono-Nature Beatdown deck, a Combo deck that depends on certain creatures, or a multi-civilization Control deck that includes Nature, give Rumbling Terahorn a try.

Innocent Hunter, Blade of All
Nature has always been an important civilization for Control and Beatdown strategies alike. Whether you need to develop your mana supply quickly to churn out a massive creature swarm, or to play powerful cards like Searing Wave when they afford the most advantage, chances are that Nature has a creature or spell capable of helping you get the job done. While Stomp-a-Trons of Invincible Wrath offers even more mana advantage cards, the set also provides an interesting Nature creature geared towards smoothing the flow of decks using more than one Evolution race: Innocent Hunter, Blade of All.
Though Innocent Hunter is a very weak creature--at 1000 power just about anything can destroy it--its effect is all about flexibility. For 4 mana you get a creature that can evolve into an Evolution creature of any race. Yes, any race. Innocent Hunter can become Ladia Bale, Chaos Worm, Armored Blaster Valdios--you get the point. It's a versatile creature that can be a welcome addition to strategies incorporating different Evolution lines. Evolution creatures are a key part of many deck strategies due to their lack of summoning sickness and their impressive effects. However, an important part of playing Evolution creatures is having base creatures of the same race in play to evolve from--a requirement that is much easier for certain races to fulfill than others because they have a wider selection of high-utility or affordable base creatures. And it's even more challenging to build smooth-flowing decks that focus on two or more Evolutions from different races.
That's where Innocent Hunter's "evolve into anything" ability can help.
As a Nature creature, Innocent Hunter is going to be paired with mana producers like Bronze-Arm Tribe and Faerie Life. In addition to extra mana speeding the appearance of a costly Evolution, with Innocent Hunter as a base creature you can circumvent the need to pack several other expensive base creatures. You also won't need to dedicate as much deck space to base creatures for multiple Evolution races, and with access to Nature's Dimension Gate you can speed up Evolution summoning even more. All of this results in decks with multiple Evolution lines sporting more manageable mana curves, greater flexibility, and speedier Evolution summoning.
If you ignore Innocent Hunter's special ability for a moment, you could simply use it as a regular Beast Folk, and Evolve it into Fighter Dual Fang or Barkwhip the Smasher. A deck using only the Beast Folk Evolutions really won't get the most efficient use out of Innocent Hunter, however--that race has an abundance of cheap base creatures with greater utility than Innocent Hunter. In order to make Innocent Hunter worth you should consider Evolutions that lack a solid selection of relatively cheap base creatures.
While Innocent Hunter can help make many Evolutions worth experimenting with in Nature based strategies, one of the best candidates is Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits. The main problem with playing Alcadeias isn't that it has a lower degree of utility than some of its base creatures (like Uberdragon Jabaha), or that it's overshadowed by creatures with a similar effect like Astral Warper. It can be difficult to play Alcadeias because its base Angel Command creatures are rather costly plays. Aeris, Flight Elemental clocks in at 5 mana and is the cheapest Angel Command worth running in a deck hoping to summon Alcadeias. The other solid choice is Urth, Purifying Elemental. While not a horrible play if your aim is to summon Alcadeias, Urth isn't exactly ideal when it comes to affordability--it costs the same amount of mana as Alcadeias. Innocent Hunter paired with Aeris provides a less mana-intensive setup.
Running Alcadeias in a deck with the mana producing Beast Folk creatures not only gets the creature into play sooner, but it gives Nature/Light strategies something that they were in dire need of--a robust counter to Control strategies that thrive off of non-Light spells like Terror Pit and Searing Wave. Now with Innocent Hunter as a base creature for both Fighter Dual Fang and Alcadeias, Light/Nature decks can evolve their small attackers into two behemoths sooner using creatures that won't freeze up huge chunks of mana in the late game. The result is a deck that the can derail most opponent's well-laid plans as early as the mid-game, which can be utterly devastating.
While Innocent Hunter isn't an impressive creature on its own, it can help several Nature-based decks sporting more than one Evolution race run more smoothly. It can even make Evolutions that don't see much play more intriguing to experiment with in casual and tournament level strategies. If you've been itching to run underplayed Evolutions like Phantasmal Horror Gigazald, or you're looking for ways to smooth out expensive Evolution lines, then try out a Nature-based strategy with Innocent Hunter. If you're lucky, Innocent Hunter being able to evolve into any Evolution creature will keep your opponent guessing what power plays you'll make during the duel.

Card Strategy

Kyuroro
The Cyber Lords are an interesting race. Like many Water creatures they lack raw power, but they compensate for their lackluster stats with a host of exciting creature abilities. Emeral, Corile, and Marinomancer are heavily played in both casual and competitive deck strategies due to their card- or mana-advantage effects, wonderful synergy with other cards, and their ability to fuel Illusionary Merfolk’s superb card drawing. Cyber Lords are well exploited, but some of the Cyber Lords that go virtually unnoticed are also worthy of exploration in at least casual deck strategies.
Though Kyuroro sports a measly 2000 power for 6 mana, this Cyber Lord packs a nifty effect that can help you limit your opponent’s decision-making abilities, and enhance your shield manipulation tactics. While Kyuroro is in your battle zone, whenever an opponent's creature would break a shield, you choose the shield to break instead of your opponent. This seemingly insignificant effect can be a bit more useful than it first appears. Normally, your opponent gets to choose which one of your shields his creature breaks, meaning that if he has some way of knowing what your shields are (perhaps by using cards like Wyn, the Oracle), he can avoid any nasty shield triggers, such as Terror Pit. With Kyuroro, you turn the tables on your opponent by having his creatures break the shields that you want to set off. You’re taking away some of the freedom he has when it comes to the end result of his attacks.
Sure, you could select any one of your shields willy-nilly and have your opponent’s creature break it. But that’s not much different from simply allowing your opponent to chose the shield his creatures break. Kyuroro’s effect isn’t really effective unless you know more about the options you have in your shields zone. For that reason, shield manipulation cards are great to partner with Kyuroro. When you use Emeral or Trenchdive Shark to set shield triggers like Holy Awe into your shield zone, you’ll know exactly where they’re located, and can choose those shields to break when they'll benefit you the most. Even if you set a non-trigger card like Apocalypse Vise in your shield zone to trade for another option with Emeral, you can use Kyuroro to give you back that option when you’re ready to use it.
Running Kyuroro in a Water/Nature deck gives you access to mana acceleration cards like Faerie Life that can help get Kyuroro into play sooner, when you’re likely have more shields lying around. A Water/Nature deck also allows you to partner the creature with Mana Nexus. Sure, your opponent will know what shield you’ve created with Mana Nexus, but he might want to hold off breaking them--which Kyuroro can help prevent him from doing if he decides to attack. Nature also provides tutor cards like Rumbling Terahorn, which enables you to run less copies of the marginally useful Kyuroro and still be able to pluck it from your deck when you’ve set up your shields.
Light’s Telitol, the Explorer pairs exceedingly well with Kyuroro. Telitol allows you to see all of your shield zone options in one quick swoop. So, you’ll be able to orchestrate shield breaks with greater ease, as you’ll know the identity of all your shields. Also, if you use cards like Sphere of Wonder that create shields randomly with cards off the top of your deck, Telitol can help you discover the identity of those shields so you can more effectively time their breaks with Kyuroro.
Lastly, being a Cyber Lord means Kyuroro can provide the necessary creature presence for you to draw three cards with Illusionary Merfolk. Its utility as a part of a draw combo helps extend Kyuroro’s usefulness in your deck, especially since there may be times when you don’t have shields to spare, or your opponent is able to keep Kyuroro’s effect from happening by destroying your shields with Bolmeteus Steel Dragon.
While Kyuroro’s effect can be handy with the right setup, there are some things that you must keep in mind when using the creature besides Bolmeteus Steel Dragon’s shield destruction. First, Kyuroro’s effect doesn’t immediately impact the game when you summon it. It has to survive to your opponent’s attack phase for its effect to be of any use. At 2000 power many things can send the creature packing to your graveyard, so you might want to run Dark Reversal to get copies back in hand. Also, your opponent might wait to attack with his creatures until he can make a key move like attacking with Cryptic Totem first, which can leave Kyuroro’s effect having little impact on his options. Like many cards, Kyuroro takes a bit of careful planning to utilize properly.
If you’re looking for a way to spice up your casual decks that use shield manipulation cards and Illusionary Merfolk, give Kyuroro a try. While Kyuroro’s effect isn’t the most powerful one going for the Cyber Lords, and is rather involved to use properly, it can provide an exciting and unexpected way to trip up your opponent’s plans.


Aqua Agent

While the Charger ability has garnered some attention lately, Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction also introduced another interesting mechanic: Stealth. Creatures with stealth for a certain civilization cannot be blocked while your opponent has any mana from that civilization in his mana zone. For example, a creature with Light stealth cannot be blocked while your opponent has any Light mana in his mana zone. These creatures offer a neat way to combat the potency of multi-civilization decks with blockers, since you could run a few creatures with different stealth abilities to "punish" your opponent for diversifying his deck’s mana base. Or, they can be a cool way to trump your opponent’s mono-civilization deck’s blockers. And, some creatures with stealth, like Valkrowzer, Ultra Rock Beat, can be very intimidating adversaries in the right metagame, due to their impressive stats and additional abilities such as Double Breaker. While there are several creatures with stealth worth noting, one of the Water stealth creatures, Aqua Agent, is especially intriguing.
At 2000 power for 6 mana, Aqua Agent is likely to be dismissed as just another expensive Liquid People base creature. While it does sport a poor power-to-cost ratio, Aqua Agent has two useful abilities that can help compensate for its lackluster stats. As previously mentioned, Aqua Agent has Water stealth. If your opponent has any Water mana in his mana zone, then his blockers aren’t going to be immediately effective answers to the threat Aqua Agent poses--unless they can attack tapped creatures. Since the majority of Water’s blockers cannot attack, however, an opponent relying on them for defense will have to find a different way to stop Aqua Agent from having clear shots at his shields or small, tapped creatures. Aqua Agent’s Water stealth ability puts your Water-using opponent on a fast clock to remove it, and can force him to change his immediate plans in order to deal with the creature.
While having Water stealth can be a solid trump to your opponent’s defenses, the ability is only useful if your opponent has Water mana. If your opponent doesn’t play with Water cards, then Aqua Agent is a seriously high-priced 2000 power attacker. Luckily, it has another potent effect to save it from being a dead weight in your deck during those times; when Aqua Agent would be destroyed, you may return it to your hand instead. Suddenly Aqua Agent’s bout with summoning sickness isn’t terribly hard to bear--if it’s sent packing before it can attack it'll only be gone temporarily. That is, unless your opponent can make you discard Aqua Agent from your hand (with cards like Lost Soul), or place it into your mana zone (with cards like Freezing Hammer). Even if he is able to do either of those things, however, you can always curb the damage by running cards like Thrash Crawler and Dark Reversal to undo his handiwork, and put Aqua Agent back into your hand. Thanks to its indestructibility, your opponent could tie up mana and burn several creature removal options trying to deal with it. And, with both of Aqua Agent’s abilities online, the creature could become a constant deadly threat for your Water opponent to face.
Of course, as a Liquid People creature Aqua Agent also has utility as evolution material for Crystal Paladin, Crystal Lancer, or Crystal Jouster. Like the cheaper Liquid People base creatures Aqua Solider and Aqua Knight, Aqua Agent’s indestructibility can help give your Liquid People evolution decks more resiliency against creature destruction strategies. Cards like Searing Wave are capable of wiping out an entire field of small creatures, and can really throw a monkey wrench into a Water player’s evolving plans since many of the Liquid People base creatures have power 3000 and below. With Aqua Agent thrown returning to your hand when destroyed, you’ll have less chance of being stuck with un-evolved evolution creatures without any way to play them. You’ll also have access to even more unblockable tactics for your deck. Plus, Aqua Agent being evolution material helps prevent it from being a dead weight if your opponent turns out not to have Water mana.
Aqua Agent’s return-to-hand ability also has another benefit. If you don’t want to sacrifice other cards in your hand to build mana in the late game, you can simply force your opponent to destroy it, placing it in your mana zone once it returns to your hand.
Lastly, Aqua Agent lends itself to a few nifty card plays due to its indestructibility. For Water and Light deck pairings, using Full Defensor with Aqua Agent is rather interesting touch. You could turn Aqua Agent into an expendable blocker that simply returns to your hand after preventing a bigger creature from breaking a shield or destroying one of your tapped creatures. And, using Aqua Agent to fulfill the cost for cards that require you to destroy your own creatures (like Intensive Evil) won’t hurt your options as much, as the sacrificed creature returns to your hand.
Stealth creatures’ viability as tournament-worthy plays rests largely on whether a certain civilization is commonly played in your area. Water stealth is likely to be one of the more useful stealth abilities because the civilization is present in many of the metagame’s most dominant and popular deck strategies. If Water is a widely played civilization in your area, give Aqua Agent a try. Its indestructibility and Water stealth effects help make it worth experimenting with as either evolution material or a "teched" answer to your opponent’s Water based strategies.
Deck Strategy
Reap Tide
If it’s sheer draw power byou’re looking for, mono Water has always been a top pick. The only other really strong option is a Mongrel Man deck based on swarm creatures that can combo with his effect. Before the release of Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction, Water had a few “big bombs” of draw, but now they’ve received one of their best yet: the mighty Cosmic Nebula! A big Cyber Virus evolution, Cosmic Nebula is a reliable and powerful weapon for the armies of the sea.
So this week, I’m bringing you a deck focused on draw power. The more cards in your hand, the more options you’ve got available. The hitch? Well, this deck is so focused on draw power that actually attacking with it is going to be a bit difficult at points. It will need even more control and creature-bounce than other mono-Water strategies require in order to survive, but fortunately, we’ve come to the right civilization.
Now then, we need some Cyber Viruses; I chose 4 each of Marine Flower and Steam Star. Marine Flower can’t attack, but it’s a cheap, effective blocker that costs a single mana, and with 2000 power, it can hold its own against most weenie creatures. The best part? It’s so inexpensive you can usually get Cosmic Nebula out on the same turn you summon the Flower! Steam Star is cheap as well, and it is a more offensive pick--necessary synergy for the deck, since you need to be able to rush the opponent when you’re ready. Both of these creatures can evolve into Cosmic Nebula, which will double the cards we draw each turn. It’s a bit fragile, but battle-worthy, and once it hits the table you start gaining some twisted card advantage. It can be a surprise attacker if it’s absolutely necessary any time on or after turn six, but keep it safe – it’s more useful for its effect.
Hypersquid Walter and Emeral provide the Cyber Lords needed to trigger the effect of Illusionary Merfolk, the deck’s second big drawing engine. Walter helps you draw additional cards all on his own, and Emeral allows you to set down some of those freshly-drawn shield triggers you’ve been hoarding thanks to your massive card advantage. The Merfolk can also provide decent offense too, and aren’t to be underestimated in battle.
4 copies each of Spiral Gate and Teleportation are a must for this deck, as control is what will keep you alive through the mid-game. I’m also adding 2 copies of Riptide Charger. It is more expensive than Spiral Gate, but the charger effect builds your mana, so you’re not wasting the cards you’ve worked so hard to draw. Brain Serum and Crystal Memory fill out the deck, supporting the strategies and providing even more draw and search power.
Reap Tide
Creatures: 22
4x Marine Flower
4x Steam Star
3x Cosmic Nebula
4x Emeral
3x Hypersquid Walter
4x Illusionary Merfolk
Spells: 18
4x Spiral Gate
4x Teleportation
2x Riptide Charger
4x Brain Serum
4x Crystal Memory
The deck starts slowly, so you’ll need to resign yourself to losing a few shields early on against most decks. But when it comes right down to it, broken shields in early game = more hand advantage, right? This is where we’re heading with this deck in the first place. And once Emeral starts swapping around your shields and Spiral Gate is going off all over the place, it's suddenly all part of your evil plan! In the mid-game you’ve got a lot of options for control, so it’s important to summon some creatures in the early-game, provided you aren’t playing against Darkness or Fire (which can destroy those creatures en masse). You’re looking to win in the late game around turn 7, so keep your opponent off balance long enough to get there and take the game with a couple of small attackers.
Don’t forget that you can bounce your own creatures with several of your effects; plenty of the creatures in the deck will give you a real advantage if you judiciously re-use them. This deck can easily gather cards until you have fifteen or more cards in hand--the number of cards you have will generally be determined by the focus of your mid-game, but you’ll usually have a lot regardless of what your opponent shunts out. Do keep an eye on your remaining cards; you don’t want to deck out.
If you enjoy having infinitely more options than your opponent, and love to see the look on his face when he is holding two or three cards to your twelve, then this is the deck for you.

Card Strategy
Nariel, the Oracle
When it comes to disrupting an opponent’s strategy, many duelists opt to use resource denial cards that only negatively impact their opponent’s options. Unlike Burst Shot, asymmetrical disruption cards like Apocalypse Vise remove your opponent’s options without limiting your own. And, you don’t have to fret about when to play your copy of Apocalypse Vise--its use is simple, and rarely has a downside.
While global locks like Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits can negatively impact both players’ options, they can have such a crippling effect on an unsuspecting opponent that you’re able create advantages for yourself even though they restrict your choices too. For example, with Alcadeias in play you gain virtual card advantage as each of the non-Light spells your opponent draws become dead cards. Since your opponent can’t use cards like Searing Wave to annihilate your field, Alcadeias’ global lock can give you the extra turns you need to win, especially if your deck isn’t weighed down with many non-Light spells.
That brings me to the interesting global lock that Nariel, the Oracle can create--with this 4 mana Light creature in play, creatures that have power 3000 or more can't attack. Nariel’s effect prevents more than 300 creatures in the game from attacking, including many of the most commonly played creatures (like Illusionary Merfolk). The ability to disrupt an opponent’s attacking plans for even a small amount of time can be quite useful. Some games are often decided by one player carefully timing his attacks so that he leaves his opponent with very little opportunity to use his shield trigger cards to prevent wins. Nariel mucks up your opponent’s "perfect timing" efforts by placing a restriction on the type of attacks he can make. When your opponent’s field contains large creatures like Bolmeteus Steel Dragon, which would otherwise overwhelm your defenses or make you lose other resources, these creatures instead become ineffective field presence until your opponent removes Nariel.
Nariel’s lock isn’t particularly powerful because your opponent’s small creatures can still attack and it’s an extremely weak creature. But, it can help you dictate the terms of the duel. Your opponent is forced to deal with Nariel in order to advance his strategy at its most optimal pace, provided large creatures are needed for him to win. He now has to work around your strategy, and may have to expend a kill on Nariel that he was saving for a different threat. Plus, every card that he draws that doesn’t help him circumvent or disrupt Nariel’s lock gives you time to take further advantage of it. If Nariel stays in your battle zone for more than one turn it can starve off a round of devastating attacks, provide enough time for your tiny hitters to win the game, or give you the chance to set up plays that strengthen its lock or that further disrupt your opponent’s plans.
Granted, Nariel locks down attacks on your side of the board as well. But, you can build your deck to function under the lock so that Nariel doesn’t significantly cripple your ability to press for the win. It’s important to note that Nariel doesn’t prevent itself or creatures like Mini Titan Gett from attacking. You could construct a Fire/Light deck that employs quick attackers like Deadly Fighter Braid Claw and pair them with blockers like La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian that can attack tapped threats even with Nariel in play. With such a deck, Nariel’s effect could give you the chance to keep your opponent’s larger creatures a bay for a turn or more while not affecting your ability to launch attacks with your creatures.
Light also supports your efforts to minimize Nariel’s negative impact on your options with Diamond Cutter and Miracle Portal. Both of those spells can help break Nariel’s lock for a turn by enabling you to attack your opponent with creatures that have 3000 or more power. Diamond Cutter is especially inviting because it would allow you to run several large creatures with crippling effects, like Cryptic Totem. That way, you can impose Nariel’s restrictive effect on your opponent, and yet have a shot at utilizing the attack-triggered effects of those larger creatures to undermine his strategy.
Blockers that can untap after blocking are especially fun to partner with Nariel. Since your opponent’s smaller creatures can still attack with Nariel in your battle zone, blockers like Spiral Grass can disrupt your opponent’s attacking options by discouraging another range of attacks altogether. Your opponent surely won’t send creatures like Emeral or Aqua Hulcus slamming into Spiral Grass, because the creature will simply untap to destroy the next small victim. Delaying attacks from your opponent’s creatures regardless of their power could provide the extra turns needed to draw into a card like Diamond Cutter for the win, or a card like Apocalypse Vise to reduce your opponent’s playing options even more.
Plus, there’s another cool way to exploit your opponent’s tiny hitters being able to attack with Nariel under your control. You could include Slime Veil in your lineup, and force your opponent to send his small guys careening into your bigger blockers, or blockers like Spiral Grass. You can hinder your opponent’s ability to press the attacks he wants, and force him to attack when he doesn’t want to--you get to dictate your opponent’s options on a larger scale.
While the soft lock that Nariel, the Oracle creates can be easy for certain opponents to overcome, it could throw a monkey wrench in your opponent’s plans, even if only briefly. Give Nariel a spin in your next fun Light deck, and see what clever ways you can devise to frustrate your opponent with it!

Mist Rias, Sonic Guardian

When it comes to deck manipulation, many strategies rely on Water’s card drawing creatures and spells. Water is home to some of the best forms of "guaranteed" card drawing--cards that don’t require other cards to be played, shields to be broken, or other creatures to be in the battle zone for you to draw cards with them. Commonly played Water draw cards like Energy Stream are potent choices, but draw cards from other civilizations also have solidified their utility in top deck strategies. Light’s Mist Rias, Sonic Guardian has been an asset to Swarm, Combo, and Control decks since its release, and continues to shape many deck strategies even though its card drawing effect must be triggered.
With Mist Rias in your battle zone, you may draw a card whenever another creature is put into the battle zone. If you have two copies of Mist Rias in your battle zone and summon another creature, then you get to draw up to two cards from your deck. Mist Rias’ draw effect is continuous, so you may could end up drawing many cards with it, depending on how long it’s in your battle zone. Its effect is also optional, so you won’t be forced to deck yourself with it.
While Mist Rias’s draw effect must be triggered and is a late-game play at 5 mana, it can help you thin your deck for new options as you fill your battle zone. Playing a creature like La Ura Giga suddenly becomes a shot at drawing a good card like Terror Pit. Each time you summon a creature from your hand you lose a card in hand, and Mist Rias offers a way to replenish your hand size when you summon another creature. You can even use Mist Rias to build up your mana supply if you don’t need to play (or don’t have enough mana to play) the cards you draw with it.
The fact that you can draw cards on your opponent’s turn when he puts a creature into the battle zone makes Mist Rias even tastier. If your opponent can’t readily remove this creature, then he may hold back on summoning his own creatures to avoid giving you fresh options. If he does summon something, then he’ll give you another option from your deck that you can use against him later. Mist Rias is not a creature your opponent wants to see linger in your battle zone for long, and it immediately puts pressure on him to find a way to deal with it.
Don't forget, as a Guardian, Mist Rias can serve as a base creature for Guardian Evolutions creatures like Ladia Bale, the Inspirational. Even though you won’t get to draw cards anymore when you evolve Mist Rias into one of its races’ Evolutions, being evolution material gives it greater utility in Light strategies focused on Guardian evolutions.
At 2000 power, Mist Rias is vulnerable to many small creature destruction cards like Crimson Hammer, and is a prime target for creature bounce. If your opponent removes it before another creature is put into the battle zone, then Mist Rias’ 5 mana price tag might leave you feeling that you’ve wasted your time. But, if it stays out for more than one turn it can help you gain solid hand advantage. Playing Mist Rias when you have some cheap creatures in hand and enough mana to summon them at the same time can help you get use out of the creature before your opponent is able to remove it.
Even with its drawbacks, Mist Rias can be a very worthwhile investment, especially when supported with cards that help you exploit its effect. Mist Rias’ draw effect is ripe for abuse in a deck running lots of cheap creatures. In the late game with a few one mana cards like La Ura Giga in your hand, you could turn Mist Rias into a card drawing engine. You could suddenly stock your battle zone with many cheap blockers to answer your opponent’s attackers, or with cheap attackers to outnumber his shields thanks to each cheap creature played triggering another card draw. If your opponent cannot discard your hand or remove many of your creatures from the field with Searing Wave, then he might be faced with a losing situation.
Adding Nature into the equation could give you shots at swarming with Mist Rias. Having lots of mana to work with gives you the power to summon several creatures in one turn, especially if they are cheap creatures. That in turn gives you more chances to thin your deck with Mist Rias. Drawing more cards could put more creatures in hand, and thus fuel even more creature plays and card draws, so long as there’s mana available to use.
Besides mana acceleration, Nature’s mana conservation could also help you abuse Mist Rias effect. Elf-X lets you pay one less mana for all your creatures, and pairs nicely with Mist Rias. Even if you don’t have lots of mana, paying less for your creatures could help you stock your battle zone and hand more quickly, if both creatures remain in your battle zone together and your deck has several cheap creatures.
Decks with spells whose effects depend on the number of creatures you have in your battle zone can also benefit from Mist Rias. Mist Rias’ draw can keep the creature options flowing from your deck, and thus help increase the number of creatures you have out to use with Cataclysmic Eruption or Hydro Hurricane’s mana disruption effects. With Hydro Hurricane, Mist Rias adds to the Light creature count that can bounce your opponent’s mana. Diamond Cutter decks can also benefit from Mist Rias igniting cheap creature swarms, and the spell has the benefit of turning newly played creatures into instant attackers.
Lastly, Mist Rias is great to pair with other card drawing creatures. When you summon creatures like Magris, Vizier of Magnetism, and draw cards with them, you can also draw a card with Mist Rias. You stand to thin your deck even faster for new options with such creatures packed into your deck.
Mist Rias can be one of the most explosive card drawing engines in the game when properly supported, due to its triggered draw mechanism. If you’re looking for a way to give your Light deck an edge, not to mention a very exploitable way to draw extra cards, then give Mist Rias a try. If you’re lucky, your opponent might not suspect the way you plan to "abuse" the creature (or have enough time to stop you from doing it).
Deck Strategy

Angel Command Deck

If there’s any single race of creatures more affiliated with the concept of "big, over-priced mostly unusable guys," it’s definitely been the Angel Command. While virtually all of the Angel Command creatures before the release of Shadowclash of Blinding Night saw a bit of play splashed into Light decks, none really made a massive impact. With costs starting at six mana, they were an expensive race to play that served merely to flavour decks already using Light as a major focus.
Shadowclash of Blinding Night changed all that, with the release of the best Angel Command to date and their first evolution, Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits. Alcadeias has the best natural stats mana can buy, and his effect is totally killer: once he hits the field no spells other than Light ones can be cast. He shuts down virtually every deck except for dedicated mono-Light and some builds of mono-Nature, stopping Darkness and Water dead in their tracks.
Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits makes an Angel Command deck worth playing. So that’s what we’re going to build.
We want to get Alcadeias out into play as quickly as possible, so this is going to be a Nature/Light deck. Nature is not only going to let us get Alcadeias out before turn six on a strict mana-acceleration basis, but it’s also going to make sure we can reliably search out Alcadeias and the Angel Command we want him to evolve from.
That said, we need to look at the evolution material for Alcadeias first. Shadowclash brought us our first Angel Command to cost less than six mana: the five mana, 9000 power Aeris, Flight Elemental, which is great on its own but extra-nice when we’re paired off against Darkness. Aeris won't quite be enough, however, so we need to look at the cost-six ranks for more potential inclusions. The best out of the group, at least in my opinion, is Urth, Purifying Elemental--as a double breaker, Urth can really dish out some hurting, and its untap effect not only keeps it safe from counter-attack, but can also combo nicely with Full Defensor (which we’ll be adding later).
Beyond that, we need three copies of Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits. We could definitely get away with two, and then use some of Nature’s creature-search to seek them out, but we really want to get Alcadeias into play as fast as possible in every duel, so not having to spend mana on Dimension Gate or Rumbling Terahorn will give us some more freedom and speed. To balance the deck and give it some mid- and late-game longevity--along with just being a good turn-one play--we’re also going to use four copies of La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian.
On the nature side, cheap acceleration is our main concern. We won’t have the deck space, or more importantly the free turns’ worth of mana, to use Fighter Dual Fang in the deck, so we’re going to run four Poisonous Mushrooms, four Bronze-Arm Tribes, and two Mighty Shouters. If we can play a Mushroom on turn two and a Bronze-Arm on turn three, we can get Aeris out on turn four and Alcadeias out on turn five, which is pretty crushing. On top of that, we’re going to run four copies of Exploding Cactus to take advantage of the fact that this is a Light/Nature deck. The Cacti will provide us with some cheap mid-level attackers, and can also make a first-turn La Ura Giga even more devastating than it usually is.
Spell-wise, we really want to keep the total number of Nature spells to a minimum. I’m going to run three Dimension Gates, since they can be valuable at basically any point of the game and add to the deck’s nice total of shield triggers in the early game. They also make sure you go off in the mid-game, allowing you to nab Aeris or Alcadeias if you can’t draw into them naturally. Once Alcadeias hits they’re dead cards, but they’re important to the deck’s reliability.
On the Light side, we’ve got some really great spell options that fit this deck to a T. Since Alcadeias is so huge, anything that lets us tap stuff the opponent has can effectively serve as creature removal. So we have even more reason to run Holy Awe and Solar Ray. As shield triggers these two cards give an awesome defensive barrier, but we’re going to add to that effect even more by running three copies of Full Defensor. Not only will Full Defensor make this deck even harder to attack, but when cast from the hand it combos neatly with Urth, Purifying Elemental, and it can make really good use of those used-up Poisonous Mushrooms and Bronze-Arm Tribes. Committing Alcadeias to blocking makes sure nothing can get through (short of Purple Piercer), and Mighty Shouter makes the perfect sacrificial blocker.
So, the deck looks like this:
Jason’s Angels - 40 cards
Monsters: 27
4x Poisonous Mushroom
4x Bronze-Arm Tribe
2x Mighty Shouter
4x Exploding Cactus
4x La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian
4x Aeris, Flight Elemental
2x Urth, Purifying Elemental
3x Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits
Spells: 13
3x Dimension Gate
4x Holy Awe
3x Solar Ray
3x Full Defensor
The deck’s goal is simple: spend the first few turns getting out what mana acceleration you can, then drop Aeris and evolve it into Alcadeias as fast as possible. From there, control the board and pick off your opponent’s creatures one by one while building and protecting your own horde. When the time is right, strike, and claim victory.
The earlier the deck gets Alcadeias out the better, because Alcadeias is what puts you in the driver’s seat of the duel. If you can get him out by turn five, perfect--you’re ready to rock and are probably going to win. If you get Alcadeias out but are being threatened by a swarm, make liberal and immediate use of Full Defensor and your tap spells to attack your opponent’s monsters. Multiple Aeris’ spell doom for just about any deck--they can’t attack players, but odds are very good that they can attack and destroy any creature the opponent can drop. They’re cheap for their power, and along with Urth you’ve got a potent team of Angel Commands to clear the path for Alcadeias. It’s surprising just how fast the game can become locked in your favour once Alcadeias is summoned; get him out and you’re well on your way to winning the game.
Try it for yourself!

SPF 45 - Light Blocking Power
If you've been reading my articles, you'll notice that I'm not a big fan of blockers. Up until now, I've only used blockers in one deck article. However, that's all going to change!
With Evo-Crushinators of Doom hitting the scene, some of your old blocking friends are back and better than ever. Guardians, known for their stopping power, have even more kick now. With the two Guardian Evolutions, it's possible to get some huge blockers out and own the zone. We've got Ladia Bale, the Inspirational, a 9500 blocker that not only can attack (a rarity for a blocker), it’s also a double breaker! We also have Diamond Cutter, which allows blockers that normally can’t attack a player to do so (as well as allowing any newly-summoned creatures to ignore summoning sickness). Who doesn't want to send Gran Gure, Space Guardian over to beat up on their opponent? Finally, if your opponent is playing blockers, I've made sure to toss in a couple Larba Geer, the Immaculate to tap them, allowing you to attack unimpeded!
When playing with blockers, it's important to make sure that they are untapped on your opponent's turn to make sure they can block. With Toel, Vizier of Hope, you can make sure they’re all untapped at the end of your turn (along with the rest of your creatures). Now you'll be able to attack with your Ladia Bale and still have it as a blocker.
With La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian, Reso Pacos, Clear Sky Guardian, Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian, Szubs Kin, Twilight Guardian and Gran Gure, Space Guardian in your deck, you'll have Guardians of every casting cost from 1 to 6-- except for 2, as there just aren’t Guardians with a 2 casting cost. So, in order to fill this gap, I've added Emerald Grass--just remember that it’s a Starlight Tree, and not a Guardian, so you won’t be able to evolve it.
One of the best things about Light blockers is their cost-to-power ratio. Most creatures in this game have a power equal to their casting cost x 1000. However, the Light blockers are all 1000 power above that. Odds are, on the 4th turn, your opponent is dropping a 4000 creature, and you'll be able to have a 5000 blocker out to stop it. Also, unlike some of the other blockers, you can attack your opponent's creatures with light blockers, especially when you’ve tapped his creatures with something like Holy Awe. We're packing 4 of those in to make sure you can wallop on your opponent's creatures.
I've also added Logic Cube to search for Holy Awe or Diamond Cutter to really finish the game. Since Diamond Cutter is a card that you only need to cast once to win, I've only put 2 in the deck. However, with Logic Cube, you really have 6 chances to draw it when you need it.
Okay, now that we’ve talked about the different parts of the deck, here’s the whole thing laid out for you:
4 La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian - 'Base'
4 Emerald Grass - 'Base'
2 Larba Geer, the Immaculate - 'ECoD'
4 Reso Pacos, Clear Sky Guardian - 'ECoD'
4 Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian - 'Base'
4 Szubs Kin, Twilight Guardian - 'Base'
2 Toel, Vizier of Hope - 'Base'
4 Ladia Bale, the Inspirational - 'ECoD'
2 Gran Gure, Space Guardian - 'Base'
4 Logic Cube - 'ECoD'
2 Diamond Cutter - 'ECoD'
4 Holy Awe - 'Base'
One thing you need to watch out for when playing this deck is Crystal Paladin--returning all of your blockers to your hand usually means a win for your opponent (unless you manage to get Holy Awe as a shield trigger, but that just delays the inevitable). If you want to play a two-civilization deck, I'd suggest adding Darkness, as its creature destruction cards are unrivaled. Next article I'll be looking at another civilization and building another Evolution deck. At the end of it all, my friends and I will play a few big games and let you know which Civilization is the victor. Which do you think will win?
Jeremy MuellerOwnerGamers Solutionhttp://www.GamersSolution.com

Card Strategy
Magmadragon Jagalzor

Creatures with summoning sickness afford your opponent the chance to remove them from the battle zone before they can reduce his playing options. Even if they sport impressive stats, creatures like Zagaan, Knight of Darkness usually don’t elicit an extreme amount of worry when your opponent has creature destruction options in hand. However, creatures that can attack instantly like Twin-Cannon Skyterror provide your opponent very little time to react to them. If your opponent can’t stave off their attacks with blockers, or doesn’t have shield trigger destruction cards tucked into his shield zone, he can be faced with the inability to maintain control of the duel. Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos provides another tool to help you limit your opponent’s maneuverability and increase your capacity to win, even though it has summoning sickness: Magmadragon Jagalzor.
For 6 mana, you receive a Volcano Dragon with the double breaker ability and 6000 attack power. Based just on those stats, Magmadragon Jagalzor isn’t anything special, even though it’s evenly priced, escapes Searing Wave’s clutches, and can evolve into behemoths like Super Terradragon Bailas Gale. What really makes Jagalzor an exciting creature is the Turbo Rush ability it can gain until the end of the turn; with it, each of your creatures in the battle zone gets "speed attacker." Suddenly, your opponent has to deal with your newly summoned creatures being able to break his shields or attack his creatures if you’re able to activate Magmadragon Jagalzor’s Turbo Rush effect--and that includes Magmadragon Jagalzor itself! Being able to turn itself into an instant double breaker juggernaut in addition to transforming your other creatures into speed attackers makes this Dragon one truly threatening creature for your opponent to confront.
Magmadragon Jagalzor’s Turbo Rush effect places huge amounts of pressure on your opponent to either have blockers out that can prevent your other creatures from breaking shields, to have creature destruction options tucked in his shield zone, or to be able to remove Magmadragon Jagalzor so it can’t do its trick more than once. With Jagalzor in tow and the ability to break one of your opponent’s shields, you could speed up the attack momentum of your deck considerably by adorning scary hitters like Bolmeteus Steel Dragon with the speed attacker ability, producing an explosive round of attacks that help you accelerate your wins. Even if you’re unable to turn your creatures into speed attackers on the turn you summon Magmadragon Jagalzor, if it remains in your battle zone for more than one turn your opponent will have to contend with it being able to break two shields as well, as its Turbo Rush effect. Without answers to Magmadragon Jagalzor or your other creatures, your opponent might be faced with an avoidable game loss.
Of course, in order for Magmadragon Jagalzor to provide those services, its Turbo Rush effect must be triggered--another one of your creatures must break a shield once Jagalzor is in play. It’s extremely advantageous to be able to break a shield the turn you play Magmadragon Jagalzor, so that your opponent has less chance of disrupting your attack plan. In order to transform Jagalzor into a truly effective option, you need to maintain your field presence, bypass your opponent’s defenses, and become aggressive once you summon it. Running this creature in aggressive strategies that have a sufficient amount of creature removal like Searing Wave, or that include anti-blocker tactics like Crystal Paladin, can help you more effectively use Magmadragon Jagalzor to overwhelm your opponent. Beatdown decks are also able to field many creatures into the battle zone rather quickly, which can give you more chances to activate and exploit Jagalzor’s effect.
In addition, having other dangerous threats in your battle zone like Cryptic Totem presents your opponent with multiple targets that he must dispose of quickly, and often forces your opponent to spend his creature kill on Magmadragon Jagalzor when he might prefer to use it on a different threat. The result is that you’re able to maintain more options by virtue of still having a very threatening creature on the board--even if that creature isn’t the one you desired the most. When you dictate how your opponent spends his resources, you throw him off track, and force him to play the game on your terms.
Since it’s a Dragon creature, you also can employ some of the Dragon-specific cards to support Magmadragon Jagalzor. Cocco Lupia is an obvious support creature, as its mana conservation effect can help you summon it as early as your fourth turn! If you use cards like Faerie Life to summon your creatures sooner, you can include Dracodance Totem to reclaim the copies that were pitched into your mana zone. And, if you enjoy trumping your opponent’s creature destruction tactics, you can include Kyrstron, Lair Delver in your lineup--if your opponent destroys Kyrstron, he’ll give you a chance to summon Magmadragon Jagalzor for free! If your opponent doesn’t quickly destroy Kyrstron, you can destroy it yourself with cards like Burst Shot to claim its effect. It’s already difficult to deal with Jagalzor’s potential to increase the number of attacks you can make in a turn, but with Kyrstron, your opponent might have to deal with that happening when he’s least prepared. Nice!
If you haven’t tried Magmadragon Jagalzor in your Aggro or Aggro-Control strategies yet, give this Dragon a shot. It takes some planning to exploit its effect, but the time and effort you invest into using the creature could pay off wonderfully by giving you the means to launch game-winning attacks sooner.

Überdragon Bajula
Mana destruction decks operate under a simple principle: if you can effectively deny your opponent access to his mana, then you control the duel. Mana makes all your opponent’s non-shield trigger plays possible, and without a sufficient amount of it he can’t do much to obstruct your path to victory. Once your opponent is struggling to rebuild his mana, it shouldn’t be long before you’re able to launch your killing blow--especially if the instrument you’ve been using to reduce his mana and shield count is Uberdragon Bajula.
When you evolve one of your Dragon creatures into the seven mana Uberdragon Bajula, you gain a 13,000-power attacker brandishing the ability to break three shields and destroy up to 2 of your opponent’s mana each time it attacks. Attacking with Uberdragon Bajula just once can result in a massive loss of resources for your opponent. And it even lacks summoning sickness--ouch! It can be demoralizing for your opponent to face Uberdragon Bajula due to the sheer amount of pressure it places on him to destroy it--and that’s after it has weakened your opponent’s ability to meet that challenge by zapping his mana supply.
Uberdragon Bajula’s triple breaker ability reduces the amount of time and resources you’ll need in order to win. If your opponent had all his shields when you summoned Uberdragon Bajula, then you’ll basically cut the number of attacks needed to win in half when it breaks his shields. When you’re able to take fewer turns to apply that type of game-winning pressure, you give your opponent even less time to react to your plays. Plus, instead of making plays to advance his own strategy, your opponent must quickly switch gears to answer Uberdragon Bajula. That, in turn, enables you to establish the terms of duel.
And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Each time Uberdragon Bajula attacks not only do you gain the shield breaking capacity of three creatures, but you’re also afforded the equivalent of two free Mana Crisis plays. Its mana destruction effect gives you the chance to safeguard Uberdragon Bajula because you can target a specific civilization and starve off creature destruction plays like Terror Pit. Your opponent will have to sacrifice two card draws to re-build his mana zone to its previous level--only to see it reduced again by a subsequent attack. When your opponent can’t pay for the cards in his hand, those cards diminish in their intended value because your opponent may need to use them as mana instead of casting them. Your opponent could play Snork La, Shrine Guardian to safeguard his mana, but if he needs to use that creature to block Uberdragon Bajula then he likely won’t be able to keep his mana-saving antics up for long.
To top it off, Uberdragon Bajula wielding 13,000 power makes it extremely difficult to deal with because most cards that can destroy it require a decent amount of mana to cast, and some cheap ones like Death Smoke won't be able to touch it most of the time. Finally, not many creatures can destroy a 13,000 power creature once it’s tapped, which affords Uberdragon Bajula with a great deal of stability. Sure, your opponent could toss his blockers into its path, but if they aren’t huge walls like Sasha, Channeler of Suns he’ll simply be delaying the inevitable.
Uberdragon Bajula’s effects become even more deadly when partnered with other mana destruction cards. First up, Uberdragon Bajula pairs nicely with its own mana-crunching evolution material, Bolzard Dragon. If you have Bolzard complementing it in your battle zone, then you could demolish your opponent’s mana by up to three cards on a single turn. Playing Mana Crisis gives you more chances to slow the pace of your opponent’s card plays before you summon Uberdragon Bajula, crippling his ability to deter your plans. And, if you really want to kick the mana destruction up a notch, you can run creatures like Engineer Kipo and Fortress Shell, and stagger your mana destruction plays throughout the duel.
Running creatures like Bolmeteus Steel Dragon and Cryptic Totem with Uberdragon Bajula will really frustrate your opponent. A dwindling mana supply might force him to rely on his shield triggers help him out of tight spots--and that likely won’t be possible with those shield trigger-negating creatures supporting Uberdragon Bajula.
Of course, Uberdragon Bajula is only going to be a menacing threat if you can get it into the battle zone, which isn’t exactly an easy task given that most Dragon creatures have summoning sickness and tend to be expensive. Luckily there are some affordable base creatures like Magmadragon Melgars and Necrodragon Giland, which both cost 4 mana. Plus, Cocco Lupia can put Uberdragon Bajula into play for five mana, and your summoning efforts can be greatly helped by running mana acceleration like Faerie Life.
When Uberdragon Bajula is tucked away in your mana zone, you can use Dracodance Totem to retrieve it. The best part? Using Dracodance Totem this way won’t decrease your mana supply because you’ll simply exchange the two creatures. Pulling Uberdragon Bajula from your deck when you’re ready to evolve it can be accomplished using Nature’s tutor cards like Dimension Gate. And, once you have Überdragon Bajula in your battle zone, you could summon Kip Chippotto to give it more chances of staying there longer to do its handiwork.
Also, if your opponent has pegged away some of your Dragon base creatures, or Uberdragon Bajula itself, you can use Dimension Splitter to put those options right back into your hands. And the awesome Cranium Clamp can knock cards out of your opponent’s hand that could remove Uberdragon Bajula; losing options from his hand and his mana zone can seriously cripple your opponent’s ability to make strong card plays.
Playing a very commanding threat like Uberdragon Bajula grants you chances to define the terms of the duel. Separately, its stats are enough to make your opponent pull out his hair. When all of its effects are able to come online, Uberdragon Bajula can generate mind-blowing resource advantage for you. And, that’s great news!
Deck Strategy

Crimson Tide

So far, I’ve hit every civilization but one: Fire. I’m actually rather partial to the Fire Civilization, so today I’m going to cover a mono-Fire rush deck. This type has been popular pretty much since the introduction of the game, but I’m going to update it with cards from Stomp-a-Trons to take advantage of some of Fire’s greatest strengths: speed, power, and creature destruction, all at a bargain price.
For this deck, I’m going to keep the numbers simple--four copies of every card. Most of them are commons or uncommons, so the deck shouldn’t be too difficult to build. The main idea here is to fill up your field with cheap, fast attackers, neutralize or destroy any blockers that stand in the way, then launch a rapid strike against your opponent’s shields--and do it as quickly as possible!
To maximize the speed of the deck, I want to take advantage of Speed Attackers. Rikabu, The Dismantler doesn’t have a very strong attack, but he’s inexpensive and can stay on the field, so he’ll fit in just fine. Cutthroat Skyterror provides some muscle--inexpensive at 3 mana, it’s got an impressive 5000 power. It can’t attack players, and it has to return to the player’s hand at the end of each turn, but it can handle most 3-drop creatures, and will be difficult to block early in the game.
Mini Titan Gett provides an inexpensive power attacker, and Choya, the Unheeding helps preserve your field advantage when taking on blockers. Especially if you’ve opted to give Choya double breaker using some of the other cards in the deck--your opponent is almost going to have to block it, tapping out one blocker. Two tap-ability creatures will work well in this deck: Rikabu’s Screwdriver will help clear out blockers, and Migasa, Adept of Chaos can turn the wimpiest little Fire creature into a double-breaking force to be reckoned with.
Spells are chosen for their low cost, and focus mainly on creature destruction. Crimson Hammer is an old favorite in this kind of deck, and Comet Missile is just too good of a deal to pass up, since blockers are really going to hurt this deck. Chaos Strike will enable one of your creatures (Cutthroat Skyterror might be your best bet) to take out one of your opponent’s untapped creatures. Magma Gazer will supercharge any of your creatures, giving it a huge +4000 power boost as well as double breaker for one turn.
Here’s what we’re looking at:
Crimson Tide
Total Cards: 40Creatures: 24Spells: 16
CIV
# of Cards
40
0
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Rikabu’s Screwdriver
4
Rikabu The Dismantler
4
Choya The Unheeding
4
Cutthroat Skyterror
4
Mini Titan Gett
4
Migasa, Adept of Chaos
4
Chaos Strike
4
Crimson Hammer
4
Comet Missile
4
Magma Gazer
This is probably one of the most inexpensive decks you’ll ever build, both from a mana perspective--it clocks in at just over 2--and on a per-card basis. No foil here!
In the early game, get as many creatures on the field as you can. Use your spells judiciously, taking out each threat as it emerges. Once you’ve reduced the number of blockers, tap Migasa, Adept of Chaos and use Magma Gazer to break as many shields as possible and win quickly.
Anything that slows down weenie rush decks is going to hurt this deck, so beware of cards like Vampire Silphy and Searing Wave. Hand destruction will hurt too, since you need to keep your hand filled with a lot of cheap little swarmers to replenish your field. The creatures and spells are cheap, so you’ll need very little mana to swarm your opponent for the win. Speed is your ally --the longer the game goes on, the harder it will get for you, since you have no blockers and no fatties (big creatures).
Rush decks are fast and enjoyable to play, and a good choice when you don’t have a lot of the more expensive foils. If you haven’t experimented with it yet, you should definitely give it a shot. If you’ve played it before, update it with some of the newer cards and try it again!


No Smoke Without Fire
Well, I enjoyed doing last week’s deck so much that I decided to have another go, dipping back into the box, and seeing what I found. There wasn’t much for Light, but there were some decent Fire cards. I decided that I’d gotten such good Darkness choices last time that I’d keep most of those, and add in Fire to get a Fire/Darkness creature destruction deck.
Fire got some great cards in Stomp-a-Trons! The new speed attackers are excellent, and some of the tappable-ability creatures are solid choices too. I actually had a hard time choosing what to put in, there were so many options. In the end, I selected some cheap creatures, some power attackers, and some good effect creatures. Let’s take a look!
For Fire, I put in 2 copies of Picora’s Wrench, a decent little 2000-power creature. Next came 1 copy (all I got!) of Rikabu’s Screwdriver, to get rid of pesky blockers. 4 Choya, the Unheeding, who will stay on the field if he’s blocked, which is great for making up the field presence that Cutthroat Skyterror and Pyrofighter Magnus sacrifice in exchange for their speed attacker abilities. 3 Migasa, Adept of Chaos tap to give one of your Fire creatures double breaker, which can work beautifully with either of the speed attackers. 3 Torchclencher provide good power for the cost as long as you’ve got other Fire creatures in your battle zone; 1 copy of Automated Weaponmaster Machai is a good power-for-mana value as well.
You’ll remember a lot of the Darkness creatures from last time. 3 Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude provide either cheap mana or extra field presence, or combine nicely with Lupa, Poison-Tipped Doll. Oh, and Lupa + a fire double breaker = a potentially hard choice for an opponent with blockers. 3 copies of Junkatz, Rabid Doll gives the deck another decent 2000 power 2-drop, and 4 Grinning Axe, the Monstrosity with "slayer" are a must to help eliminate any threats on your opponent’s side of the field. Finally, take 2 Cursed Pincher to block in the later game, keeping your shields intact.
This deck is light on spells, since I didn’t pull a lot for Fire. I wish I had more Comet Missile, but had to settle for two. Spastic Missile can take out a medium-small creature, and then there are 4 copies of good ol' Death Smoke and 2 Proclamation of Death, to back up your slayers. Here’s the final build!
No Smoke Without Fire
Total Cards: 41Creatures: 32Spells: 9
CIV
# of Cards
21
20
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
2
Picora's Wrench
4
Choya, the Unheeding
1
Rikabu’s Screwdriver
2
Cutthroat Skyterror
2
Pyrofighter Magnus
3
Migasa, Adept of Chaos
3
Torchclencher
1
Automated Weaponmaster Machai
3
Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude
2
Lupa, Poison-Tipped Doll
3
Junkatz, Rabid Doll
4
Grinning Axe, the Monstrosity
2
Cursed Pincher
2
Comet Missile
1
Spastic Missile
4
Death Smoke
2
Proclamation of Death
Nothing here costs more than 4 mana, putting the curve at about 2.5. The idea behind this deck is to use your spells and creature effects and abilities to wipe out your opponent’s creatures, leaving his shields open to your low-cost onslaught. You won’t have anything to drop on your opening turn (Lone Tear would be wasted), but by turns two and three you should be able to take your pick of Fire and Darkness. Get a few creatures on the field before you start zipping in and out with the speed attackers, and use your spells judiciously to take out the biggest threats. There’s a lot of blocker hate in this deck, and it combines beautifully with the Migasa, Adept of Chaos/speed attacker synergy. Both speed attackers are cheap, and if you can drop two on turn six with no blockers on your opponent’s side...well, unless there are some good shield triggers down, that’s four shields gone and possibly a win.
Like last week’s deck, this one isn’t going to fare very well against nature acceleration, and creature destruction or bounce that normally wouldn’t really hurt a Fire/Darkness "weenie" build will be a problem for this deck, mainly due to the creature synergy. Still, it’s not a bad build with only one box to pull from. If you still haven’t made up your mind to try Deck-In-A-Box, what are you waiting for? Trust me, you’ll enjoy it--get yourself a box and see what you can build!

Card Strategy
Phantasmal Horror Gigazald

Cards in hand are multifunctional options; they can become mana, creature threats, or answers to threats--anything that you need them to become in order to properly unfold your strategy. Because cards are extremely precious commodities that can be transformed into other resources, hand control cards have been firmly cemented into numerous strategies to help prevent opponents from gaining resource advantage from their cards. While hand discard choices like Locomotiver have graced many decks since their introduction, there are some fun and competitive options that duelists overlook due to requiring support to utilize--options like Phantasmal Horror Gigazald.
The 5 mana Phantasmal Horror Gigazald can provide the basis for a hand discard engine when you’re able to evolve it from a Chimera creature. Instead of attacking with Gigazald, you can tap it to force your opponent to randomly discard a card from his hand. Losing card options can really hurt your opponent, especially if he doesn’t have any graveyard recursion. When you chuck cards from your opponent’s hand, you’re not only denying him the chance to use those cards to build up his field or constrict your range of options, but he also won’t have the chance to use those cards to build his mana supply. Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s tap effect can bring your opponent’s tempo to a crashing halt by slowing down the rate of his card plays, which gives you more chances to dictate the terms of the duel.
And, that’s just the half the picture. The really enticing aspect of Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s tap effect is that the creature allows each of your Darkness creatures to tap instead of attacking to use it! Your opponent not only must contend with your Darkness creatures destroying his creatures in battle or breaking his shields, but he must also view them as potential threats to the options he has in hand. That, in turn, exacerbates the amount of pressure you apply on your opponent to react to your plays. Plus, Gigazald’s discard effect ensures that your opponent will be left with fewer--or even ineffective--ways to complete that task.
In addition, Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s effect can provide some psychological comfort and flexibility in terms of the choices you can make during your battle phase. If your opponent has ample defense in place, little creatures like Marrow Ooze probably aren’t going to be effective attackers. However, with Gigazald’s effect in tow they’ll provide more effective field presence by discarding cards from your opponent’s hands when they can’t break his shields or overrun his tapped creatures. You also might decide to be more aggressive with as you’ll be able to minimize the amount of card advantage your opponent reaps from his shied zone by following up attacks with Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s tap effect. It gives you more chances to safeguard your creatures by discarding creature removal from your opponent’s hand, which also might prompt you to attack boldly.
Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s hand discard effect can be a very robust tool--the challenge is getting the creature into play. Although Gigazald isn’t a very expensive creature to summon, there’s a limited supply of desirable and affordable Chimera evolution material. The most likely candidates for evolving are Gigazoul and Gigastand, as they are 3 and 4 mana to summon, espectively. Also, Gigastand has an effect that can prevent its destruction so that you have evolving options on hand, though at the price of discarding a card. You could also experiment with Gigaclaws, as it has a very nasty discard effect on its own.
Because Phantasmal Horror Gigazald only packs 5000 power, has vulnerable evolution material, and its tap effect leaves your creatures open to retaliatory attacks, it’s best to complement Gigazald’s effect with other resource denial cards. Locomotiver, Propeller Mutant, Gigaclaws, and Horrid Worm are nice choices because they’re already very annoying hand discard creatures on their own, and they can use Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s effect when it wouldn’t be ideal to attack with them. Hand discard spells like Lost Soul, Ghost Touch and Cranium Clamp can afford you with more time to use Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s effect, as well as offer less involved ways to restrict your opponent’s access to his cards. Creature destruction cards like Apocalypse Vise can help you protect your creatures by removing would-be attackers that can destroy them in battle, and stave off shield breaks so you have more time to get your discard engine working.
Also, cards that return creatures to your opponent’s hand pair exceedingly well with Gigazald. You can use Aeropica or Aqua Fencer to send cards in your opponent’s battle or mana zone flying to his hand so your Darkness creatures can discard them via Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s effect. Doing that will help ensure that your opponent has an even more difficult time both maintaining field presence and responding to your card plays.
Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s effect can turn each of your Darkness creatures into harbingers of doom; if your opponent can’t remove it from your battle zone then he’ll quickly face losing options from hand. If you’re looking for something different do with a Control strategy, then give Gigazald a spin--the creature’s ability lends itself nicely to a deck focused on hand control, and could catch some opponents completely off guard.


Gigaclaws
Controlling the flow of resources is the guiding principle behind any Control strategy. When you create resource advantage over your opponent using cards like Searing Wave, you’re afforded chances to dictate the terms of the duel. To address the task of controlling access to key resources, many Control players use hand discard tools like Lost Soul. Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos adds another deadly hand discard weapon to the Control player’s arsenal: Gigaclaws.
Although you invest five mana to receive only a 2000 power creature, Gigaclaws has a powerful Turbo Rush ability that might persuade you to use it. If any of your other creatures broke any shields this turn, Gigaclaws gets the following Turbo Rush effect until the end of the turn: Whenever Gigaclaws attacks, your opponent discards his hand. Gigaclaws discarding your opponent’s entire hand could create massive card advantage, especially if it also made your opponent lose a small creature like Kamikaze Chainsaw Warrior in battle. Gigaclaws doesn’t even have to survive past one round of attacks to have a lasting negative impact on your opponent’s options; so long as you’re able to use its Turbo Rush effect at least once, you’ll likely tip the scales of the duel in your favor.
Cards in hand are an extremely important resource; they’re needed to make plays and build mana. When you shave options from your opponent’s hand, you undermine his ability to summon many creatures to the battle zone, counter your moves, and build a proper mana supply. Your opponent will be forced to rely on his next card draw or any shields your creatures broke in order to make plays, and those options might be less effective than the cards Gigaclaws discarded. If Gigaclaws discards many of your opponent’s cards, or extremely important ones, then his range of motion will be severely constricted and he might face a resource gap that he can’t overcome.
And that’s exactly the situation that you want your opponent to face.
Knowing that your opponent’s deck must cough up a capable answer next turn or else he can’t do anything effective to counter your plays might provide the impetus you need to press for the win. Or, you might make certain plays more freely because they’re not as risky when your opponent lacks a hand. Even if your opponent is able to recover some options with a good topdeck like Energy Stream, if he cannot immediately capitalize on those options or remove Gigaclaws, then he may be faced with losing those cards in the near future.
Gigaclaws having such an imposing effect makes it a juicy target for your opponent’s creature destruction cards. That can be strategically valuable, however. If your opponent doesn’t have a card like Searing Wave on hand or you use Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade to catapult Gigaclaws out of the target range of certain removal cards, your opponent may be forced to use expensive cards like Terror Pit when he’d rather save them for a different threat like Cryptic Totem. In a subtle way, just by simply existing in your battle zone Gigaclaws can manipulate your opponent’s choices. Not bad for such a small creature.
On the downside, Gigaclaws is a more involved card to play than Lost Soul, and is susceptible to a lot of weenie kill. However, there are some cards and tactics that can help you get more mileage out of Gigaclaws’ effect. First up, creating chances to activate its effect is very important--Gigaclaws won’t be able to discard your opponent’s hand unless another creature has broken one of your opponent’s shields on the turn you want to attack with it. You can use cards like Holy Awe, Comet Missile, Marine Scramble, and Crystal Paladin to neutralize your opponent’s defenses so your other creatures break shields and trigger Gigaclaws’ Turbo Rush effect. And, surrounding Gigaclaws with cards like Apocalypse Vise or Cranium Clamp can limit your opponent’s ability to remove it from your battle zone, and increase your chances of being able to trigger its discard effect more than once.
For the times when your opponent doesn’t have a hand, and thus where Gigaclaws effect isn’t as helpful, you can partner the creature with creatures or spells that return cards to your opponent’s hand. You can use Hydro Hurricane to bounce cards from your opponent’s battle or mana zone, and then follow up that play by discarding those cards with Gigaclaws. That way, you can remove bigger creatures that could destroy Gigaclaws in battle, or deplete your opponent’s mana supply to delay his devastating plays. A similar principle applies to using Divine Riptide to bounce cards in both player’s mana zones, followed up by an attack from Gigaclaws. You can also perform the same strategic moves on a smaller scale using Aeropica, Aqua Fencer, and Aqua Surfer. The result is that you’re able to increase Gigaclaws’ importance to your strategic options.
Also, as a Chimera creature, Gigaclaws serves as Evolution material for Phantasmal Horror Gigazabal and Phantasmal Horror Gigazald. Those Chimera Evolutions have the added benefit of complementing Gigaclaws’ Turbo Rush ability. If your opponent plays with any Light Civilization cards, then Phantasmal Horror Gigazabal might help you trigger Gigaclaws’ discard effect by breaking a shield uncontested with its Light Stealth ability. Phantasmal Horror Gigazald’s discard effect could help you cripple your opponent’s ability to answer Gigaclaws’ presence, and thereby afford it greater longevity.
With Gigaclaws, you’re exercising greater control over your opponent’s options, and obstructing his path to victory in a very crippling way. While Gigaclaws’ Turbo Rush effect requires more effort to use effectively than other choices, it’s still a very worthy option to explore. Few things are as demoralizing to your opponent than making him lose every single option he has in hand, especially if he doesn’t have strong battle zone presence. If you haven’t given Gigaclaws a spin in a deck yet, try it out!
Deck Strategy

Maximum Overdrive
by Julia Hedberg
I’ve always liked mono-Dark hand destruction decks, so when I looked over Thundercharge of Ultra-Destruction, I was happy to see some new cards that give a real boost to this kind of deck. It’s a good, solid archetype--the fewer cards your opponent holds in hand, the more limited his or her options become. This is great news for you! Hand destruction decks are occasionally lacking in power, and I’ve got a card combo in this deck that covers that angle very well. Check it out!
Now then, there are some older, "classic" creatures here, but most of them are from the more recent sets. 4 copies each of Horrid Worm and Marrow Ooze, the Twister are old favorites, and basics in this type of deck. Locomotiver becomes very popular as well with its shield trigger effect--I’ve added four copies. The rest of the creatures are new--Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude is a good one-drop, and Gezary, Undercover Doll is a three-drop creature with Nature stealth (there are plenty of decks out there with a Nature acceleration engine, so there’s a pretty good chance that your opponent will have Nature cards in his mana zone). Propeller Mutant is a great new creature for hand destruction--two-drop and, when it's destroyed, your opponent discards a card. I’ll add four copies of each of these, giving some new levels of strategy to the deck.
The final creature choice is 4 Battleship Mutants. This creature is actually pretty useful--you tap it to give the rest of your Darkness creatures double breaker and +4000 power for that turn. That’s worth reckoning with (especially when Gezary’s Nature stealth is active!). Since any powered-up creature who attacks will be destroyed at the end of the turn, it combines beautifully with Propeller Mutant (get that discard effect, especially if your opponent is loath to attack or block it) as well as Marrow Ooze, who has to be destroyed after he attacks anyway. Battleship Mutant isn’t cheap--6 mana--but by turn six you should have more or less depleted your opponent of cards, and readied yourself for the kill.
The deck is light on spells, relying on creature effects for the most part. 4 copies of Ghost Touch will help you lighten your opponent’s hand, while 4 Dark Reversal can bring Propeller Mutant, Marrow Ooze, etc back from the grave when you need them. Finally, 4 copies of Creeping Plague will help take out blockers that can impede your Battleship charge.
The final build:
Maximum Overdrive
Total Cards: 40Creatures: 28 Spells: 12
CIV
# of Cards
0
40
0
0
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Battleship Mutant
4
Propeller Mutant
4
Locomotiver
4
Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude
4
Marrow Ooze, the Twister
4
Horrid Worm
4
Gezary, Undercover Doll
4
Dark Reversal
4
Ghost Touch
4
Creeping Plague
Even with the addition of Battleship Mutant, the mana curve is just 2.5--it’s a fast deck with plenty of early game options. Begin with Marrow Ooze, and work your way up to Propeller Mutant and Horrid Worm. Ideally, Locomotiver will come out as a shield trigger, but when you get to turn four, assess the game before summoning it. If your opponent has no cards in hand, you might be better off bringing out multiples of less expensive creatures. Gezary, Undercover Doll will be a great asset if your opponent is running Nature--especially once you bring out Battleship Mutant, who will be a 6000 power double breaker that can’t be blocked. Two rushes at that point should be enough to finish off your opponent, unless he has plenty of blockers or some good shield triggers.
It can be an uphill battle if you’re paired against a hand replenishing deck, or one designed to take out swarms, but as long as you keep your opponent’s hand as small as possible, it will be harder for him to muster a counterattack. That’s the strength of hand-destruction--it keeps your opponent so starved for options that he just can’t fight back. It’s fun to play, once you’ve learned what moves to make and when. If you haven’t tried it, you definitely should--and even if you’ve played hand destruction in the past, see what some of the newer cards can do for your previous build.

Compost of DOOM!

You know, ever since those 13-drop spells came out in Stomp-a-Trons of Invincible Wrath, I’ve wanted to build a deck that could get one into play. Games are usually more or less over by turn 13, though... what to do? Well, there are a few different ways to pull it off, and here’s one that I came up with.
It’s a Darkness/Nature build that combines creature destruction with mana acceleration, leading to a big rush at the end, followed by Invincible Abyss. Bam! How do I do it? Well, Battleship Mutant is back, but in this deck he’s paired with Fruit of Eternity. The idea is to break as many shields as possible, then send the attacking creatures to the mana zone to cast Invincible Abyss, clear your opponent’s field of creatures, then take out the remaining shields for the win. Creature destruction effects and spells will help keep you in the game long enough to pull all this off. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?
Battleship Mutant/Fruit of Eternity is an expensive combo, so we’ll need an acceleration engine along with plenty of cheap Darkness creatures to exploit. I’ll start off with 4 copies of Battleship Mutant, to make sure I can get one when I need one. 4 copies each of Marrow Ooze, the Twister and Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude give us a nice pool of one-drop Darkness creatures, (including some blockers). 4 Gezary, Undercover Dolls give us an edge against anyone running Nature, while 3 Grinning Axe, the Monstrosity’s "slayer" ability will help eliminate the opponent’s strongest threats. Finally, for Nature, I’ve added 4 copies each of Mighty Shouter and Bronze-Arm Tribe, to get to the combo as quickly as possible.
Spells are split between Darkness and Nature--3 copies of Creeping Plague will help eliminate blockers, as will 4 Critical Blades, clearing out the field in preparation for the big charge. 4 Fruit of Eternity will improve your odds of having one in hand when you need it, and 3 Dimension Gate will help you pull out the exact creature you need, if you aren’t drawing into it. And for the crowning touch: 2 copies of Invincible Abyss. It is hard to guarantee you’ll hold a copy when you need it, but the odds are good that by turn eight or so, you’ll have drawn at least one.
Here’s what I’ve got:
Compost of DOOM!!
Total Cards: 42Creatures: 26Spells: 16
CIV
# of Cards
0
27
0
15
0
QTY
CARD NAME
CIV
4
Battleship Mutant
4
Marrow Ooze, the Twister
3
Gezary, Undercover Doll
4
Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude
3
Grinning Axe, the Monstrosity
4
Mighty Shouter
4
Bronze Arm Tribe
4
Fruit of Eternity
3
Dimension Gate
3
Creeping Plague
4
Critical Blade
2
Invincible Abyss
Invincible Abyss makes this deck more expensive to run than most, so you’ll need that acceleration. The gameplay is straightforward--Marrow Ooze to begin with. Choose your three-drops wisely--you’ll need to put some of the nature creatures out to get the mana acceleration going, then choose between Gezary and Grinning Axe as you think best. If you want to focus on creature destruction, go with Grinning Axe, while if your opponent has some Nature in the mana zone and you’d like to take a shield or two, use Gezary. Keep a few on the field to use with Battleship Mutant, as well. Don’t waste your one-drops, either--they’re a vital part of the Battleship charge, especially if you really want to enrich your mana zone. Use your destruction spells and Dimension Gate to shape the game to your purposes, and, when you’ve got it set up, take out your opponent’s shields. If he or she is still around on the next turn, open up that Invincible Abyss, then go after any remaining shields.
This deck is tricky to pull off, since you’ll need ten mana for the Battleship/Fruit of Eternity combo. If you’ve set up your acceleration and used your creature destruction well, you should be about ready to go by turn seven or so. Sure, it’s a lot to pin on a late-game strategy, but just look at it this way--picture the excited look on your opponent’s face when you actually cast one of those gargantuan spells. Don’t you think your opponent deserves to experience that thrill? Sure you do! I think so, too.

Play Strategy
Get Any Creature From Your Graveyard

Though there are many different recursion cards, ones that can return any creature from the graveyard and place it into your hand are among the most heavily played choices. While not all such cards are tournament-worthy, the greater flexibility and other resource benefits they provide make many of them stand out from recursion cards that have more restrictive target ranges. Not surprisingly, all of the "recur any creature" graveyard retrieval cards hail from the Darkness civilization. Let’s take a look.
First up, Dark Reversal costs 2 mana, and lets you grab any creature from your graveyard to address the needs of your game position. If simply tossing another blocker in his way would check your opponent’s offense, then Dark Reversal can fish out a Bloody Squito to handle that task. Since Dark Reversal is so cheap, it’s easier to hard-cast it in the late game, and then summon the creature it recurs on the same turn, (provided your mana zone is as stocked as it should be). Making those plays on the same turn offers fewer chances for your opponent to disrupt your plays. However, even though Dark Reversal costs 2 mana, it doesn’t have solid early game utility; it’s likely to become mana early in the duel. Instead, Dark Reversal is often a late-game play; you’ll have more creature targets for the spell after you’ve lost some critters in battle, or due to your opponent’s card effects.
Dark Reversal also offers a chance to reap some mana advantage--by playing it for free as a shield trigger you save 2 mana. That, in turn, frees up some mana that can be used to summon a creature or cast a spell that grants you more resource advantage. Plus, Dark Reversal is a nifty recursion target itself, as it can be combined with Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian to ensure that you’re able to continuously recur spells or creatures from your graveyard.
Corpse Charger is similar to Dark Reversal, but delivers mana advantage in an entirely different manner. Corpse Charger lets you recur any creature from your graveyard, and then becomes a source of mana due to its Charger ability. So, it provides two resources—a replacement card that is a decidedly better option, and mana to accelerate your plays. The mana advantage it provides isn’t a one-time shot like Dark Reversal--Corpse Charger remains in your mana zone to accelerate more expensive plays--like Apocalypse Vise)--and could possibly help you play another card on the same turn if you have been accelerating your mana earlier with cards like Faerie Life. Corpse Charger also helps you circumvent needing to build mana using the cards from your hand, and does so non-randomly, unlike using Bronze-Arm Tribe to produce more mana.
As recursion cards are stronger draws in the late game when you have ample targets in your graveyard, Corpse Charger’s four mana price tag is very fitting, since it usually won’t be played until the mid- to late-game. Plus, it has stellar synergy with cards that can retrieve options from your mana zone. Retrieving Corpse Charger from your mana zone with Thrash Crawler enables you to have that Darkness spell on hand to recur Thrash Crawler, which then gives you shots at continuing to recycle both cards.
Amber Piercer really doesn’t see any competitive play these days. But, when it was first released, it was utilized in quick attack Darkness/Fire decks to help keep the pressure on an opponent. Whenever Amber Piercer attacks, you may return a creature from your graveyard to your hand. It’s like a cheaper, smaller Gamil, Knight of Hatred that isn’t limited to only Darkness creatures. Because Darkness/Fire’s small creatures like Marrow Ooze are easy to destroy, or have self-sacrificial effects, having a way to keep your hand stocked over several turns proves very useful, provided Amber Piercer survives its summoning sickness and can hang around. Amber Piercer can recur creatures even when it is destroyed while attacking, . Plus, you can recur another Amber Piercer to give yourself shots at recurring two creatures in one attack phase. Unfortunately, Amber Piercer’s 2000 power for 4 mana and lack of an at-summoned effect keeps it from warranting play in the current metagame.
Gigargon was once deemed undesirable due to being pricey, but has received reconsideration thanks to some ingenious use of the creature at the North American Continental Championship. Considering that cards like Bronze-Arm Tribe and the Chargers can help get it into play faster, the 8 mana Gigargon is becoming a more attractive recursion choice. When you summon Gigargon, you can recur up to 2 creatures. At the core, it provides the service of two Dark Reversals, minus the mana advantage--you get to grab back two creatures to advance your plays, based on what you need the most. You can grab back two blockers to drag the duel on longer, or an Evolution creature like Crystal Lancer and its evolution material to have a game-winning play next turn. Or, you can recur some at-summoned effect creatures like Phal Eega and Forbos that can lead to even more card advantage oriented plays.
What really makes Gigargon a great recursion play for some Control decks is the fact that it’s not a spell. Gigargon provides a 3000-power body in your battle zone, so you don’t "waste" your 8 mana when you summon it for its recursion effect. It grants a hefty amount of card advantage, as it immediately provides two optimal card choices in hand and a creature to attack with (or to use as a target for cards like Aqua Sniper). If your opponent cannot discard the creatures you recur with Gigragon, then he may be faced with several new threats to answer.
Keeping your hand stocked with options is extremely important, as it helps you out-maneuver your opponent and expand your range of motion. Recursion cards offer greater control over what type of options you’ve able to accumulate in hand. Though the tactic is usually more pronounced in Control decks--as they are more focused on maintaining superior card options than other strategies--recursion cards can help many different deck strategies. When building your next killer deck, check to see if any of the recursion cards we covered can be useful to your strategy and worked into your deck. Hopefully, one of them can help you throw your opponent off-track and weaken the impact of his most powerful play counters (like Lost Soul).

Rulebook
Learning to Play the Duel Masters game
Setup
Both players do these things to set up for a game:
Shuffle your deck.
Take 5 cards from the top of your deck, but don't look at them. Put them in a row in front of you face down. These face-down cards become your shields.
Draw 5 cards from the top of your deck.
Decide who goes first.
How to Win
Attack your opponent with your creatures. Each time one of your creatures attacks your opponent and isn't blocked, it breaks a shield. When your opponent has no shields left, have one of your creatures attack him one more time to win!
Turn Order
1. Start your turn.Don't do anything during this step of your turn if you don't have any "tapped" creatures in the battle zone or tapped cards in your mana zone. Tapped cards are cards that you turned sideways on a previous turn to show you used them for something. You won't usually have any tapped cards until you have already played a couple turns of the game.
If you have any tapped cards, untap them now to show that you get to use those cards again this turn.
2. Draw a card.Important! Only the person who plays first skips drawing a card on his first turn. This is a rule that wasn't explained on the quick-start foldout.
Drawing a card means taking it from the top of your deck and putting it into your hand.
As soon as you draw the last card of your deck, you lose.
3. Put 1 card into your mana zone.You can put only 1 card (of any type) into your mana zone from your hand each turn, unless a spell or effect allows you to put more. You don't have to put a card into your mana zone each turn if you don't want to. There's no limit to the number of cards you can have in your mana zone.
Put the card into your mana zone upside down so you can read its mana number.
Cards in your mana zone can get mana for you. Mana is like money. You use it to pay for creatures and spells.
Important! Cards in your mana zone can't do anything but give you mana. Ignore all the text on them except for their mana numbers.
4. Summon creatures and cast spells.If you want to, you can summon any number of creatures and cast any number of spells during this step. You can do these things in any order.
How to cast a spell
Choose a spell from your hand. The cost for a spell is in the upper left corner. If you can't pay the cost, you can't cast the spell.
You pay a spell's cost by tapping cards in your mana zone for mana. At least 1 of the mana must be the same civilization as the spell.
Example: To cast a nature spell that costs 4, tap at least 1 nature card in your mana zone. The other 3 cards you tap may be of any civilization.
After you pay for a spell, do what it says. If you can't do everything it says, that's okay. Just do as much as you can. Then put the spell into your graveyard. Keep your graveyard face up next to your deck.
How to summon a creature
Choose a creature from your hand. The cost for a creature is in the upper left corner. If you can't pay the cost, you can't summon the creature.
You pay a creature's cost by tapping cards in your mana zone for mana. At least 1 of the mana must be the same civilization as the creature.
After you pay for a creature, put it into the battle zone. There's no limit to the number of creatures you can have in the battle zone.
Important! Creatures can't attack on the turn you put them into the battle zone because they have summoning sickness. They will be able to attack on your next turn.
How to summon an evolution creature
An evolution creature is a special kind of creature that will be introduced in the first Duel Masters expansion. Summoning an evolution creature works just like summoning a regular creature except you can summon an evolution creature only when you have the correct race of creature already in the battle zone. The evolution creature tells you what race of creature you need to have.
Once you summon an evolution creature, put it on top of the creature it "evolves" from. Leave that creature underneath the evolution creature, but ignore it. Only the evolution creature's name, abilities, color, and power matter.
Evolution creatures don't get summoning sickness even if the creature they evolved from had summoning sickness, so you can attack immediately after you put them into the battle zone.
There's no limit to the number of evolution creatures you can put on top of each other.
You can't ever evolve another player's creature, even in multiplayer games.
If an evolution creature is moved from the battle zone to anywhere else, then the whole pile moves, not just the evolution creature on top.
As long as the evolution creature is in play, it and the card it evolved from count as only one card. As soon as the pile ends up somewhere other than the battle zone, they are separate cards again. So if a spell makes you put your evolution creature into your mana zone, you get that many separate cards in your mana zone.
5. AttackYou can attack with your creatures in the battle zone. You can't attack with creatures you just put into the battle zone this turn, because they have summoning sickness. (Remember that evolution creatures are special and don't get summoning sickness!)
As many of your creatures as you want can attack each turn. Choose one, have it attack, choose another one, have that one attack, and so on.
Tap a creature you want to attack with and say what you want it to attack. It can attack your opponent or one of his tapped creatures in the battle zone.
When a creature taps to attack, you don't have to tap cards in your mana zone, too. Once you've paid to summon a creature, you don't have to pay to have it attack.
Attacking your opponent
When one of your creatures attacks your opponent and it isn't blocked, it "breaks" one of your opponent's shields. That means you choose one of those shields. Your opponent then picks up that shield and puts it into his hand.
When your opponent has no shields left, if one of your creatures attacks him one more time, you win the game.
Some creatures can break more than one shield when they hit your opponent. They say "double breaker."
Important! If your opponent has fewer shields than your attacking creature can break, your creature doesn't knock out your opponent, just however many shields are left.
Attacking a tapped creature
When one of your creatures attacks one of your opponent's tapped creatures in the battle zone and it isn't blocked, then the creatures battle.
Each creature has a power number in its lower left corner. The creature with the higher power wins the battle. The loser's owner puts it into his graveyard. If the creatures have the same power number, then both creatures go to their owners' graveyards. Some creatures have "+" after their power. This means that the creature's power can get bigger because of something in the creature's text box. Make sure to read what it says!
Attack effects
Some of the creatures in upcoming sets have extra effects when they attack. When you want one of your creatures to attack, choose which creature you want to attack with, tap it, and choose what it's attacking. Then do any effects that happen because that creature is attacking. After that, your opponent can choose blockers.
Blocking an attack
Only creatures with the "blocker" ability can get in the way to stop creatures from attacking what the attacking player wants them to attack.
You can use one of your "blocker" creatures to stop any attack. When your creature blocks, you have to tap it, so it can block only if it's untapped. Summoning sickness doesn't stop a creature from being able to block.
When a creature blocks, it battles the attacking creature. The attacking creature can't attack what it was going to attack (your opponent or another creature), because it must now battle the blocker.
The creature with the higher power wins the battle. The other creature's owner puts it into his graveyard. If the creatures have the same power, then both creatures go to their owners' graveyards. Some creatures have "+" after their power. This means the creature's power can get bigger because of something in the creature's text box. Make sure to read what it says!
Order of attack steps
What happens first can sometimes matter during an attack. The following rules talk about the order in which things happen.
When you tap your creature to attack your opponent, do any effects that say they happen "when this creature attacks." Then, if your opponent doesn't block, follow any other instructions on your creature that apply. Then break shields (or win if no shields are left).
When two creatures battle, first follow any instructions on your creature that apply. Then your opponent follows any instructions on his creature that apply. Then compare the powers of the two creatures. If one creature's power is lower, put it in its owner's graveyard. If the powers are the same, put both creatures in their owners' graveyards. Then follow any card instructions that apply after the battle.
6. End your turn.Tell your opponent you're done. Now it's your opponent's turn! Continue taking turns until one of you wins.
Duel Masters is TM & © 2007 Wizards/Shogakukan

Introduction
Welcome to the wonderful world of Duel Masters! You are a young boy out to become the best Duel Master player ever while tracking down a card that was stolen from your house in the dead of night! A worldwide tour awaits you as you set off to reclaim what is rightfully yours!
Now, this may seem a bit daunting since there are 180 different cards that can help make up a deck. Further complicating that is the splitting of these cards into five distinct and very different Civilizations: Fire, Water, Darkness, Light, and Nature. It is a daunting task but we have some good news for you!
IGN has once again stepped up to the plate, delivering another homerun guide for the intelligent gamer! You want strategies for dueling? What about a rundown of the Five Civilizations and the 180 cards? Maybe you just need some direction on where to go and how to do it within the game? Well, IGN is here on all fronts, dealing the strategies that will get you to the very top of the Dueling Masters world!
Dueling Cards
Before you begin to change your deck based solely on the ability of your cards, remember that you will need to have cards (ranging from 1 to 9 mana) to cast, as you will need to have those early mana cards to play with till you enter into the stronger portion of your deck.
Basics

Each portion of a turn in duel is instrumental in your success, requiring great understanding of the effects each move will have on the outcome of the action. The separate portions are as follows:
Five cards at random are taken from your 40 card deck and set up as your five shields. These cards will remain off limits until they are "broken" by an enemy attack, sending the cards into your hand where they become playable.
After the play is made, a new card (from the top of your deck) will be drawn before the beginning of the turn for the duelist.
You will also have five cards in your hand to begin the game. At the beginning of each turn, you are given the option of choosing a card (Spell or Creature) to put into your "mana pool", which is what you "tap" (ie use) to call upon a creature or spell held within your hand. Note that the creature being called has to be summoned by the same amount of mana as stated on the card AND the mana being used has to contain at least one card the same Civilization as the card being used.
If you have any creatures capable of attack in play, the attack phase will be your option of using them against your foe. Note that a creature that was just summoned will have "Summoning Sickness", disabling them for attack during your current turn. Spells that are being used will be discarded into your graveyard after they have been used.
Once you are done this phase (or if you are unable to attack in any way), the opposition will get to go.
This will continue till one hit is landed upon a duelist, after all five of their shields have been "broken". The duelist remaining is the winner of the duel, gaining experience and a booster pack (in story mode)!
Now, any attacking creature has a "power level", which is also like their health. If they attack a creature with less of a power level than their creature, the opposing creature will be destroyed. If they attack a creature with a higher power level than their creature, their creature will be the one that is destroyed. Equivalent power levels for both creatures in battle will result in the demise of both creatures.
For a creature to enter into a battle with another, one of two conditions must be met: the creature under attack must be tapped (not on defense) or a Blocker (creature that can intercept an attack if the duelist so desires) must be tapped to step into a fight. There are a few creatures that can ignore the rule of a creature needing to be tapped, and some creatures can avoid the attempts of a Blocker to step into the way of your intended target.
Make sure to read each card carefully before playing it, as many have certain capabilities that other do not. The following are the different capabilities a creature may possess (note that some creatures possess multiple capabilities):
Double Breaker (shown as a "2" on the card/creature stats) allows a creature to destroy two shields in one attack.
Evolution cards (states that they are evolutions on the card as well as a white star) will not only increase the strength of a lesser creature, but it will often add on new abilities as well. Note that the evolution is only for a one specific group of creatures within a Civilization, not for all creatures of that Civilization. Also note that the evolution will get too attack that turn, as it does not suffer from Summoning Sickness.
Power Attackers (marked with a "+" on the card/creature) have a set power level they defend on, but when they attack they have a bonus added on to that base level. These beings are often vulnerable, but they are great for clearing out a higher-end creature from play.
Slayer ability (denoted with a skull on the card/creature) is a Dark Civilization specialty, taking an attacking creature down with them if they are out-powered. This makes these creatures tough to kill because a player might be reluctant to lose a creature of their own when doing so.
Shield Triggers (marked on the Spell Card as having the ability) are Spells that are found in your shields, which will give you the option of using them, as their shield is "broken". This comes at no cost to your mana pool, making them a great way to get some work done while on your opponent's turn (possibly disabling the opponent's attacks temporarily).
With all of this info in mind, it is now time to decide upon what style of play you wish to employ while dueling. The next section will run down the basics of each of the Civilizations, giving pros and cons to choosing between them. If you want specifics about each card a Civilization holds, check out the Dueling Cards section for the details of each and every of the 180 cards within the game.

Civilizations
With five Civilizations to look into, a wide variety of questions must first be answered. Do you like to play a fast deck, looking to beat your enemy early? Do you prefer to play defensively, sitting back to build power up to overwhelm your opponent? Do you play a Civilization that is cheap or expensive when it comes to mana? What about Civilizations that build mana quickly or destroy it for a short term gain? All of these are very important questions, as they will dictate which Civilization is the best one for you to use.
Note that any one Civilization may not suit the style of dueling you seek, so combining two Civilizations into one deck is also an excellent way to create your own combo Civilization. The speed attack of a Fire Civilization with the defensive capabilities of a Water Civilization may be a perfect fit for some, while the mana-producing capabilities of a Nature Civilization may be a perfect way to get the more expensive mana Dark Civilization. It all up to you, so experiment and develop the perfect deck for you, remembering that a deck with four or five Civilizations mixed into it may prove to be unwieldy and too unbalanced to be effective.
DarknessIf you are a fan of the high-end monsters and spells, then this is the Civilization for you. They have powerful attackers, creatures with a natural slayer ability (if they lose a battle, they take the victor with them), and they have what are probably the most damaging spells within the game (Terror Pit for example can remove any creature from your opponent's side of play).
All of this sounds like a great deal, but there are definite side effects. The most damning thing with this Civilization is that it is a high consumer of mana for most creatures, meaning that you will have to make due with few creatures at first, which can be a terrible handicap if your opponent is getting their monsters out quickly. Also, some of the higher end Dark creatures will need to sacrifice lesser monsters to get them into play. Many of the creatures that are brought into play will be destroyed after winning a battle or blocking one attack, so they will be used up quickly, making it possible for opponents to disable your Dark creatures.
The Darkness Civilization is one that depends upon its special abilities of its creatures as well as the specialized attack spells. If you are a fan of a higher turnover of monsters with some special magical attacks, then this is the Civilization for you.
LightIf you prefer a defensive style with some of the best Blockers mana can buy, then this Civilization will appeal to you. The strength of a Light Deck depends upon getting these nifty defensive geniuses out quickly into the field, which is quite possible thanks to their lower mana costs when compared to other Civilization Blockers. Light also boasts some impressive spells, with the ability to tap the opponent's creatures, making them vulnerable or even making their Blockers able to attack power shields or even the opposing Duelist!
Despite their defensive prowess, Light decks are often lacking in early attackers, opting instead to sit back behind Blockers. This would be fine, except that an opponent with the ability to destroy creatures with spells will be able to eliminate the defensive net of blockers used to protect the shields while the attacking creatures are brought into play. Although Light has some great spells, it does not have any destructive spells like other Civilizations, making it tougher to remove really hard to defeat creatures from the battle zone.
If you like a defensive style that builds up an impressive force to overwhelm the opposition, then this is the Civilization for you. They do have a fairly good mana to creature ratio, allowing them to get some good creatures into play quickly, though the true power of their creatures is not apparent till about the fourth or fifth mana. Light can be played as a stand alone civilization, though they are well assisted by another civilization like Nature to help get mana quicker or Dark for their scary spells.
FireIf you prefer all out offense with no thought of a defense, then the mighty power of the Fire Civilization is for you! Low mana costs are a benefit for most creatures, allowing for a lot of quickly played, high-powered creatures in play earlier than other Civilizations can. Also, some fire monsters can attack untapped creatures, giving them a distinct advantage in wiping out those pesky creatures that untap after each round. Also, Fire is up there with Dark for having access to those incredibly destructive spells, able to wipe out entire creatures of your oppositions with ease!
Now, with all of this speed and attacking capabilities, this Civilization suffers in defense. Perhaps the toughest thing about this Civilization is that they get no defensive help from Blockers as they do have any! The mana burning that is accompanied by some of the creatures as they enter the fight can also slow down your charge to take out the enemy with higher-end monsters, but then the idea is to overwhelm your opponent quickly, meaning those high-end cards should rarely have to be used by a skilled Fire Civilization player.
Fire Civilization is for the player who relies on pure attacking ability and destructive spells, not for the player who likes to sit back and amass a strong group of monsters. This is a Civilization that is tough to play as a stand alone deck, mainly due to the lack of defensive capabilities what so ever.
WaterWater... sleek, powerful, deadly. It has long been a defensive deterrent while teaching Man the follies of trying to resist her powerful ways. In Duel Masters, the Water Civilization prospers at defense, utilizing lots of strong Blockers. In combination with that, it also has many creatures that can slip by opposing blockers as well as spells and special effects of appearing creatures, both being able to wash away opposing creatures into their opponent's hands.
However, Water also lacks a strong showing from its early attackers, often being too weak to bypass the shields of the opposition. This disadvantage can dig a hole for Water if it faces a strong, fast deck, making it too beat up and weak later on when the power of the Civilization begins to shine through.
Definitely a Civilization that relies on sleek movements and sly spells to get by on, it also makes an excellent annoy-the-opposition deck. If loaded with lower end mana creatures and spells to perform the bounce ability this Civilization is famous for, your opponent may never get any creatures established in the battle, making the battle VERY lopsided. You may wish to include some lower mana level fire creatures, giving Water something to get in their early to do some attacking, building towards the strong creatures and bouncer spells Water thrives on.
NatureNature is a bountiful thing... which also has the benefit of being in this game mana wise. Nature excels at increasing its mana pool quickly, allowing it to get a lot of creatures (including the strongest it has) into play in a hurry. Even some of the spells it utilizes will increase your mana pool quickly. With Nature, it is rare to see the battle area empty of creatures for long.
Nature does poorly on defense, as many of its creatures are weaker in power level, often depending upon Power Attackers. This makes them formidable on the attack, but fairly vulnerable on the counter-attack. Also, an overall lack of higher-end power house creatures makes them less likely to win a battle the longer it goes along.
Nature is a Civilization that depends upon quick building of a mana pool, allowing for multiple creature summons early in a match. Nature also has a few blockers, but it needs to be an aggressive Civilization to be truly successful, trying to get it's evolutions into play quickly. Nature does well with a Fire Civilization partner (produce mana to get stronger fire creatures into play) or a Light deck (Nature fights the early battles until the Light can establish its defenders and strong high-end cards).
Which Civilization (or Civilizations) you choose to make into your playing deck, remember to choose a style that suits you and your preference for play. However, sometimes it is wiser to use a Civilization based on what you know of your opponent's deck, instead choosing a deck made to counter their style of play. Also note that mixing two Civilizations into one will often cover for a glaring weakness another possesses, making for a stronger deck overall. As you progress through the game, be sure to check the Dueling Cards section for specifics on which cards to dump from your deck while keeping others.
WalkThrough
First off, you will need to choose a starter deck. You can choose from any of the five Civilizations, so choose wisely (see the Civilizations section for the details on each type). (it is also advisable to take out any cards that you do not like and replace them with extras you have that suit your style).You will then be thrown into the fray, trying to defeat your friend, so use your previously learned knowledge to wear him down, making sure to always have a blocker in place, not allowing the opponent to break your Shield Cards down. Just remember that you want to get your more powerful creatures out of your hand into your mana pool to start, but after getting the pool to 4, start working in the more powerful cards along with your defensive creatures to make your opponent lose.