The following cards are the most important for Dragon decks, more specifically for the generic build, as there are a few cards that get left out in other designs.
Let's begin with the first card.
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
DARK / Level 10 / 2800 / 2400
[ Dragon / Effect ]
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing 1 face-up Dragon-Type monster you control. Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster from your hand or Graveyard, except "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon".
There are a few different cards we can talk about next, but I think I'll stick with the one you're more likely to play as much as you will REDMD:
Divine Dragon Apocralyph
DARK / Level 4 / 1000 / 1500
[ Dragon / Effect ]
Once per turn: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 Dragon-Type monster in your Graveyard; add that target to your hand.
Apocralyph really gave dragons a boost when it came out in Order of Chaos. Its effect makes it easy to get what you want in your Graveyard in your Graveyard and what you want in your hand in your hand. Best of all is that if you have a card in hand and REDMD in the Graveyard, you're essentially Normal Summoning REDMD! Plus, as a DARK monster, it works great in Chaos Dragon builds as summoning fodder for Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Chaos Sorcerer, Lightpulsar Dragon, and Darkflare Dragon. It's also summonable from the Deck by Summoner Monk if you happen to tech that card in too, as well as a target for Masked Dragon, meaning it's very easy to get out onto the field. Most decks will run 2, but if you're feeling lucky, want to test, or run a low Spell and Trap count, then you can try it at 3.
Well, now that we've gotten to quite possibly the two most influential cards in the Deck, let's try for something that may not be seen in every Dragon deck, but is a staple for sure in most Disaster variants:
Red-Eyes Wyvern
WIND / Level 4 / 1800 / 1600
[ Dragon / Effect ]
During your End Phase, if you did not Normal Summon or Set a monster that turn: You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 "Red-Eyes" monster in your Graveyard except "Red-Eyes B. Chick"; Special Summon the targeted monster from the Graveyard.
It's a real shame the Attribute they gave to Red-Eyes Wyvern. If it was DARK like every one of its Red-Eyes brethren, it would be infinitely more usable! Now, obviously, you won't be using this card to revive Red-Eyes B. Dragon from your Graveyard, that would be meaningless. No this card has one meaning and one meaning alone: resurrect Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. That's it, there's no other reason to run this. It does have other advantages, of course, it's Level 4, making it an easy target for Summoner Monk to go into a Rank 4 Xyz or just Normal Summon a beater that can run over Jurrac Guiaba. But even then, those points pale in comparison, and in general, they're trying to meet the same function. Using it as Xyz Material can make Lavalval Chain (though not in the TCG quite yet) to dump Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon whilst at the same moment, detaching Red-Eyes Wyvern to the Graveyard, thereby completing the objective of having Wyvern and REDMD in the Graveyard at the same time. In Disaster, you should be running this card at 3 most of the time. If a build needs space, you can move it to 2 and in certain other decks, like Chaos Dragons, which utilize Lightpulsar Dragon more than most, you shouldn't need to run it at all (stupid attribute...)
Now for my namesake:
Koa'ki Meiru Drago
WIND / Level 4 / 1900 / 1600
[ Dragon / Effect ]
During each of your End Phases, destroy this card unless you send 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your hand to the Graveyard or reveal 1 Dragon-Type monster in your hand. LIGHT and DARK monsters cannot be Special Summoned.
If anyone tells you that this is a bad card, smack them in the face for me, will ya? Thanks. Now our good friend Drago may not be in the same amazing category of top-tier anti-meta cards that he used to be thanks to two decks which will not be named (but involve rabbits and insects respectively), but he's still a very important card to run in any Disaster deck. Just off the top of my head, Koa'ki Meiru Drago stops Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Tragoedia, Tour Guide from the Underworld, Inzektor Dragonfly plays if they didn't get rid of it with Hornet's effect, as well as Disaster's sibling decks Chaos Dragons, Twilight Dragons, and Hieratic Dragons. Unfortunately, he isn't all that he had been, so he's best run at 1, with maybe one or two more waiting in the side deck for the right matchup. I'll have an article all about him later, as there are certainly going to be questions about why he should be played.
Totem Dragon
EARTH / Level 2 / 400 / 200
[ Dragon / Effect ]
This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Dragon-Type monster. If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card in Attack Position. You cannot activate this effect is there are any monsters in your Graveyard that are not Dragon-Type. If this card is Special Summoned with this effect, banish it when it leaves the field.
Now it should be obvious why this guy is so cool. If you control no monsters during your Standby Phase, you can Special Summon him, giving you a nice +1 right off the bat as well as giving you the ability to make a Tribute Summon that would normally be a -2 become a +0. It's also perfectly capable of being the target for REDMD to summon it, since it would be banished if it left the field anyway. Speaking of that banishing effect, you're also perfectly capable of Special Summoning it with REDMD and using it as tribute fodder since the effect that allows it to be used as 2 tributes works either which way. This little trick is possibly best used when running Yamata Dragon. Since Yamata can't be Special Summoned on its own, all you have to do is keep using REDMD's effect to continuously revive Totem Dragon and you'll be able to use Yamata and its amazing draw power effect to your heart's content.
Now for the card that turns Disaster into a toolbox:
Masked Dragon
FIRE / Level 3 / 1400 / 1100
[ Dragon / Effect ]
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck.
Masked Dragon may seem pretty slow. After all, players tend to cringe and back away from the words "When this card is destroyed by battle" since in today's fast-paced game, you're more than likely to run into cards that'll destroy Masked Dragon before it can even activate its effects. But that isn't too much of a concern in Disaster, after all, there really isn't anything better. Masked Dragon can search Divine Dragon Apocralyph, Totem Dragon, itself and Exploder Dragon, as well as the only tuners you should be running, Delta Flyer, Dread Dragon, and The White Stone of Legend. With all the backrow defense that Dragons run, your more than likely going to have enough to force the Opponent to inevitably attack Masked Dragon and destroy it in battle anyway, so really, there's not to much of a reason not to run this if it works in the deck. Basic builds and their main variants should run 2-3, certain builds like those based around the Blue-Eyes Engine or Chaos Dragons should not run any.
For our last two monsters, let's work in moderation:
Exploder Dragon
EARTH / Level 3 / 1000 / 0
[ Dragon / Effect ]
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Destroy the monster that destroyed it. While this card is attacking, any Battle Damage either player takes from a battle involving this card becomes 0.
So its purpose should be obvious. It's perfect for setting and waiting for your Opponent to run headfirst into it and lose their monster, or sending it in Banzai-style to die and take out the opposing monster in a blazing ball of fire. It's summonable by about every card in the deck that can manage it (i.e. REDMD and Masked Dragon) meaning you can easily get it on the field to do all the dirty work that you need it to get done. You know... I love it when a card is THIS straightforward. Run one in basic Disaster builds, it'll be tough to use anywhere else.
Delta Flyer
WIND / Level 3 / 1500 / 900
[ Dragon / Tuner ]
Once per turn: You can target 1 other face-up monster you control; increase its Level by 1.
Speaking of straightforward! Actually this card takes a bit of thinking to use properly, but its basic principle is simple: Synch for a wide range of monsters. Summonable by Masked Dragon(note that it's also searchable by Dread Dragon, which searches Level 3 or lower dragons), Delta Flyer is the only Tuner you should be running in the deck besides possibly one Dread Dragon and should, like the past few monsters, only be ran in certain decks. Unfortunately, Dragons don't have too much on the side of Special Summoning tuners so, as it is, we'll have to stick with this bugger.
Now onto the two spells that you'll specifically see in Dragon decks.
Future Fusion
Spell / Continuous
Reveal 1 Fusion Monster in your Extra Deck and send, from your Main Deck to the Graveyard, the Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on that Fusion Monster Card. During your 2nd Standby Phase after this card's activation, Special Summon 1 of that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck and target it with this card. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon.) When this card leaves the field, destroy that target. When that target is destroyed, destroy this card.
Let me be very clear about my feelings for this card: I love it dearly, it is a staple in Dragon Decks and I don't know how far Disaster would have come without it, but it should be banned. With Five-Headed Dragon in the Extra Deck, Future Fusion's effect becomes "Send 5 Dragon-Type monsters from your Deck to the Graveyard and in two turns, if this card is still here, kill your Opponent." ...actually, it should totally say that. This basically means that you can send 2 Wyvern, 2 REDMD, and a Totem Dragon to the Graveyard and at the End Phase, you'll have at least one 2800 ATK beat-stick with the ability to bring out all your other monsters. Frankly, in many cases, just opening with this card means you'll win. No one really cares about the fact that it can summon Five-Headed Dragon, the main point of this card is the part where it fills your Graveyard with cards like Red-Eyes Wyvern, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, Totem Dragon, or Lightpulsar Dragon. The 5000 ATK beat-stick that shows up two turns later just happens to be a cool bonus. Always run the 1 that Konami's banlist has allowed you.
Dragon Ravine
Spell / Field
Once per turn, during your Main Phase: You can discard 1 card to activate 1 of these effects:
● Add 1 Level 4 or lower "Dragunity monster from your Deck to your hand.
● Send 1 Dragon-Type monster from your Deck to the Graveyard.
I can imagine that Konami had two things in mind when they made this card: 1: Dragons and Dragunity will LOVE this card. 2: It should make Dragons good enough to ban Future Fusion. Here's the thing though: none of that happened. Dragon Ravine, admittedly, isn't played in a lot of decks. Personally, I like it, I use it in a variety of different Decks. I've even ran two of them instead of Future Fusion in one of my decks (I know, blasphemy, right?). In Dragon's, it's basically a restricted Future Fusion, able to dump a monster a turn. If you open with Wyvern or REDMD, you'll be able to Summon REDMD that End Phase. It's a cool card, not the best. I like using it, but if you do, only use it at 1 bar a few decks (any that run the Blue-Eyes engine can benefit from two as well as any Disaster/Dragunity hybrid decks).
So that's it for staples. Any other cards in a Dragon deck are usually just sensical, and I can get into at a later point. I'll try to post again soon with either a card summary, a deck summary, addressing current stories involving Dragons in the meta (I know there are many of you who want me to talk about Chaos Dragons), Useful techs, or any questions you send to me.
But until then, thanks for reading and goodnight.
Questions? Contact me at mnraiko@hotmail.com
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