Deck Submission - Elemental Hot & Cold

Hey there duelists! The Coach is here to get you champions in the making revved up. Today, I'm gonna share with you a deck idea I was given by a duelist who came across my blog. First let me say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to enjoy this blog. I'm doing this for all the Yu-Gi-Oh! fans out there, and keep it up as long as I see that it is helping you the reader out. I've got most of the cards to simulate this deck, and I've ordered the remainder online. When I get them, I'm gonna try this deck out with my dueling circle, and let you know how it did in a later post. I've kept you waiting long enough, so here it is.

ELEMENTAL HERO HOT & COLD version 1.0

Monsters (20)


2x Elemental HERO Bubbleman
2x Elemental HERO Burstinatrix

3x Elemental HERO Heat
2x Elemental HERO Ice Edge
3x Elemental HERO Lady Heat

3x Elemental HERO Neos
3x Elemental HERO Ocean

1x Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab
1x Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin

Spells

1x A Hero Lives

1x Card Destruction
2x E - Emergency Call

1x Fifth Hope
1x Get Your Game On!

1x Hero's Bond

1x Miracle Fusion

1x Parallel World Fusion
1x Polymerization
1x Skyscraper
1x Skyscraper 2 - Hero City
1x Swords of Revealing Light
1x United We Stand

Traps (6)

1x Change of Hero - Reflector Ray

1x Hero Barrier
1x Hero Counterattack
1x Hero Signal
1x Hero Spirit
1x Mirror Force


Extra Deck (6)

1x Elemental HERO Absolute Zero
1x Elemental HERO Flare Neos
1x Elemental HERO Inferno
1x Elemental HERO Marine Neos

1x Elemental HERO Nova Master
1x Elemental HERO Steam Healer

Cards in red are Semi-Limited
Cards in blue are Limited
Cards in black have no limit

This is a very interesting deck. Not only does it center around the Elemental Hero archetype, it takes it a step further showcasing the FIRE and WATER attribute EH monsters. This is almost like dueling with both hands behind your back. I personally look forward to trying this deck out myself. While I'm waiting for my new cards to arrive, let's inspect this deck from top to bottom. First, let's start off with monsters. We should note that EH Neos is a LIGHT monster, but is necessary for getting EH Flare Neos and EH Marine Neos in play. On the WATER side we have EH Bubbleman, EH Ice Edge, EH Ocean, and Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin. For the FIRE side we have EH Burstinatrix, EH Heat, EH Lady Heat, and Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab. This is a pretty balanced deck. We've got EH Bubbleman that can draw a couple of extra cards for you if the timing is right. EH Heat gets stronger with each additional EH monster on the field, and EH Lady Heat dishes up more pain at the end of each turn if you have more EH monsters in play. EH Ocean can recycle monsters from the field or graveyard. EH Ice Edge is a bit on the weak side, but his ability to deal direct damage and destroy Spell or Trap Cards will come in handy.

Next, let's look at the Spell Cards. There are some notable cards among these. E - Emergency Call is good for pulling EH monsters from your deck to your hand. Hero's Bond is a good follow-up, if you already have an EH monster on the field. You can go from one to three monsters in the same turn. This is good for quick Fusion Summoning, or making use of the special abilities of EH Heat or EH Lady Heat. Fifth Hope is a good one if you're in need of some quick cards. If you have at least five EH monsters in the graveyard, shuffle them into your deck, and draw two or three cards depending on what your hand and field are like at the moment. This is good for an EH recycling deck. Get Your Game On! is a very powerful, and very rare card. Most people wouldn't have this unless they attended a certain 2007 tournament. It doubles the power of all EH and Neo-Spacian monsters in play.
 

A Hero Lives is a card for Special Summoning an EH monster of Level 4 or less, at the cost of half of your Life Points. This card is really risky and wasteful, especially if you still have 8000 LP at the time. I would drop this and substitute an H - Heated Heart instead. You've got United We Stand and Skyscraper for additional power, Card Destruction for wiping out your opponent's hand, Swords of Revealing Light for stalling, and Skyscraper 2 - Hero City for reviving monsters from the graveyard. The last Spells to look at are all for Fusion Summoning. Polymerization is for textbook Fusion Summoning, Miracle Fusion is for Fusion Summoning from the field or graveyard, and Parallel World Fusion is for Fusion Summoning with banished monsters. Use them in that order, and you have an almost infinite source of Fusion Summoning materials.

Now let's move on to Traps. There aren't very many, but each can work in the right situation. Hero Signal will replace an EH monster that was destroyed by battle with another from your hand or deck. Hero Barrier will shield an EH monster from attack one time. Hero Counterattack allows you to replace a fallen EH monster, if your opponent randomly picks it from your hand when you play this card. On top of that, you send one of their monsters to the graveyard as a bonus. Hero Spirit can protect you from a lethal attack once, providing you lost a monster in the same turn you play the card. Change of Hero - Reflector Ray is a really nasty card. If an EH Fusion monster is destroyed by battle, your opponent takes damage equal to its level x 300. Since a lot of EH Fusion Monsters have seven or eight stars, that's 2100 to 2400 points of Effect Damage. Our last Trap is none other than Mirror Force. This card is only good if your opponent attacks you. You'll not only destroy that monster, but all other attack position monsters they control at the time of the attack. Save this ace for hitting 2 or more monsters at the same time.

Our next look is at the Fusion Monsters. There are six to choose from in this deck, and each brings something to the table. EH Steam Healer grants you Life Points equal to the ATK of the monster that it destroyed in battle. EH Inferno gets a 1000 ATK boost if it attacks a WATER monster. This is a good choice for a lot of Ice Barrier and Sea-Serpent decks out there. EH Flare Neos gains 400 ATK for each Spell or Trap in play, for a maximum boost of 4800. The catch is, he returns to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. EH Marine Neos is good for destroying a random card in your opponent's hand. EH Nova Master is good for drawing a card after it destroys an opponent's monster. EH Absolute Zero gets stronger for each WATER monster on the field, except itself. It also wipes the opponent's monsters out should it be forced to leave the field. All in all, these are good Fusion Monsters.

Well, that's it for another session with the Coach. I hope you've learned something that you can apply to your daily dueling scenarios. Until next time, keep drawing that card that will turn things around in your life.

Card Spotlight: Amulet of Ambition

     Hey Duelists! The Coach is back again with your dose of duel fuel. Today we're look at a Spell Card that often gets overlooked in the game. I'm talking about the Amulet of Ambition. This card may seem kinda weak due to the need to equip it to a Normal Monster, but the lower the monster's Level, the more useful this card becomes. Equip this to a Level 1 monster, and you could have a game changer on your side. The effect of this card grants you a 500 ATK boost times the difference in levels between your monster and the monster you attack. Let's take a look at three good uses for this card.

     Scenario #1: Your opponent has a Stardust Dragon (Level 8 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF) in play. You play a Cycroid (Level 3 / 800 ATK / 1000 DEF). Equip Amulet of Ambition to change your ATK to 3300. Attack with Cycroid to destroy Stardust Dragon and deal 800 points of damage.

     Scenario #2: Your opponent has Obelisk the Tormentor (Level 10 / 4000 ATK / 4000 DEF) in play. You play Ancient Elf (Level 4 / 1450 ATK / 1200 DEF). Equip Amulet of Ambition to change your ATK to 4450. Attack with Ancient Elf to destroy Obelisk and deal 450 points of damage.

     Scenario #3: Your opponent has Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine (Level 12 / 4000 ATK / 4000 DEF) in play. You play a Mokey Mokey (Level 1 / 100 ATK / 100 DEF). Equip Amulet of Ambition to change your ATK to 5600. Attack with Mokey Mokey and deal 1600 points of damage.

     As you can see, this card has a lot of potential. In addition to giving some power boosts, this card can return to the top of your deck if it is sent to the Graveyard. Use this card to activate other card effects and recycle it for use in battle at the same time. It works best with very low level monsters. Give it a try and let me know about your experiences. Until next time, this is Coach Muramasa saying, get your duel on!

Crystal Beasts, Part 2

Welcome back duelists! Coach Muramasa here to give you a daily dose of duel knowledge to keep you revved up in the field. Today, we'll take a second look at the Crystal Beasts archetype from the GX era. Last time, we looked at the precious gems that make for a pretty intense team. Now, we're going to look at cards that support this group pretty well.

First up is Crystal Beacon. This Spell Card lets you Special Summon a CB monster from your deck, providing that you have at least 2 Crystal Beasts in your Spell & Trap Zone. Slip 2 or 3 of these in your deck to pull the team of seven together faster for Rainbow Dragon. (8/10)

Rare Value is another Spell Card that requires at least 2 CB monsters in your Spell & Trap Zone. Your opponent will pick one to send to the graveyard, and you will get to draw a couple of cards for your loss. Play this after a "Crystal Beacon". (6/10)

Crystal Blessing a good card for recycling CB monsters from your graveyard back to your Spell & Trap Zone. Use this along with "Crystal Beacon" and "Rare Value" to quickly get your magnificent seven in play in a couple of turns. (7/10)

Crystal Promise lets you move a CB monster from your Spell & Trap Zone to your Monster Zone as a Special Summon. Consider CB Emerald Tortoise for defense, or CB Sapphire Pegasus for offense. (7/10)

Crystal Release is a good Spell Card for giving a CB monster an ATK boost. In addition to this, when it is sent from the field to the graveyard, you get to pull a CB monster from your deck to your S/T Zone. Equip this to CB Topaz Tiger, CB Amber Mammoth or CB Sapphire Pegasus. (8/10)

Now let's take a look at a couple of traps. Rainbow Path is a good card to use, as it not only negates an opponent's attack for the cost of a CB monster in your ST Zone, but it also allows you to pull a "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" from your deck. (5/10)

The last card to take a look at is Rainbow Gravity. This trap may be your ace in the hole. All you have to do is get all seven CB monsters on the field or in the graveyard, and then you can pull a "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" from your deck or graveyard. (7/10)

That does it for another dueling session from the Coach. Take good care of those of gems, and let shine through in your next duel. Until next time, keep on dueling!

Crystal Beasts, Part 1

What's shakin' duelists? The Coach is back for your next Yu-Gi-Oh! lesson. Today, we're gonna take a look at an interesting archetype form the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX era. The Crystal Beasts are a series of seven monsters that are inspired by the colors of the rainbow. These precious gems have a special ability that allows them to be placed in the Spell & Trap Zone. You'll find out a little later why this is important. Let's take a look at the members of this exclusive club.

First up is Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle. Its special ability allows it to Special Summon other CB monsters from the Spell & Trap Zone to the Monster Zone. This is a good way to recycle your monsters and keep your field with a minimal defense. (6/10)

Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth has a special ability that makes it a shield for other CB monsters. Consider equipping this card with an Equip Spell or Field Spell that boosts ATK and you could end up trashing your opponent's offense. (6/10)

Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger has a special ability that gives it an ATK boost during the Damage Step of an attack. Give him an ATK boost beforehand to guarantee success against almost any monster. (5/10)

Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise is a good choice for protection. Its 2000 DEF will help stall your opponent. On top of that, its special ability allows you to switch a monster you attacked with during your turn to DEF position. This can only be done during your Main Phase 2. (6/10)

Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus is a typical level 4 monster with 1800 ATK. Its special ability allows it to put a CB monster from your hand, deck or graveyard into your Spell & Trap Zone. This is good for working to that seven CB combo. (7/10)

Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle has a special ability that allows it to take a CB monster you control and place it on the top of your deck. This is a good way to recycle another CB monster that was in your Spell & Trap Zone. (5/10)

Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat has an ability that allows it to attack your opponent directly. If it chooses to do that, the damage inflicted is only half. Consider powering up this card with an Equip Spell Card. (5/10)

Rainbow Dragon is the result of getting all seven Crystal Beast monsters between your field and graveyard. This card is a powerhouse level 10 monster with 4000 ATK and 0 DEF. In addition, this behemoth of dragons can activate a special ability that allows it to send all CB monsters you control to the graveyard and gain 1000 ATK for each one. You could easily gain up to 9000 extra attack with this effect, for a whopping 13000 ATK. This would make for an intense one hit knockout to your opponent. Its other special ability allows you to remove all CB monsters you have in the graveyard to shuffle all cards on the field back their owners' decks. (9/10)

Rainbow Dark Dragon is the dark side of Rainbow Dragon. It also can only be Special Summoned, but with a different condition. By removing 7 different DARK monsters with different names, you can put this bad boy in play. Its special ability allows you to boost this monster by removing from play all other DARK monsters you control, as well as the remaining DARK monsters in the graveyard, for a 500 ATK boost per monster. This isn't as powerful as Rainbow Dragon's ability, but could rival its strength just the same. (8/10)

There you have it gem collectors. The Crystal Beasts and their Rainbow Dragons exposed to you. Join us next time for more dueling tidbits. Until then, get your game on!

Card Spotlight: Delta Crow - Anti Reverse

Hello duelists! Muramasa the Coach here with a special look at a Trap Card from the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's era. I'm talking about Delta Crow - Anti Reverse. This card requires a "Blackwing" monster to be on your field in order to activate it. With it, you can blow away  your opponent's Spells and Traps to the graveyard. In addition to that, if you have exactly three "Blackwing" monsters in your graveyard, you can activate this card from your hand, as if it was a Spell Card.

This card can be the centerpiece of a good Blackwing deck In order to make full use of it, let's look at some strategies on how to set up for its use from your hand.

Strategy #1

1. Special Summon "Blackwing - Gust the Backblast" using its effect.
2. Special Summon "Blackwing - Bora the Spear" and "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind" from your hand with their effects.
3. Synchro Summon "Blackwing Armor Master using "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind" and "Blackwing - Bora the Spear".
4. Tribute "Blackwing - Gust the Backblast" for "Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn".
5. Activate "Delta Crow - Anti Reverse".

Strategy #2

1. Activate "Black-Winged Strafe" and send "Blackwing - Gust the Backblast" to the graveyard.
2. Normal Summon "Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North".
3. Special Summon "Blackwing - Gust the Backblast" from the graveyard.
4. Special Summon "Blackwing - Bora the Spear" using its effect.
5. Synchro Summon "Black-Winged Dragon" or "Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant" using your three "Blackwing" monsters on the field.
6. Activate "Delta Crow - Anti Reverse".

That's all folks! Another look into the world of Duel Monsters. Come back next time for another daily dose of all things Yu-Gi-Oh. Rev it up!

Monster Mechanics: Part 2

Hello Again Duelists,

     It's that time again! I'm here to give you the second half of my look at Monster cards. Today we're going to look at Attributes and Types. Duelists who wish to make decks that specialize in a particular Attribute or Type may want to pay attention to this.
     There are seven Attributes: Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Divine. Let's take a look at them:

Light - The pure and virtuous monsters that the good clean duelists like to use. They tend to favor Fairy-type monsters and Thunder-type monsters over all others. The Lightsworn monsters are one of the more famous groups of Light monsters. Another group is the Worm monsters. Some others worth noting are Blue-Eyes White Dragon (one of my favorites), Elemental Hero Neos and Marshmallon.

Dark - The bad boys of dueling. These tend to be quite popular with a lot of duelists out there. Most of the bad guys in the different Yu-Gi-Oh! series favored these. Some of the most famous Dark monsters include the Gravekeepers, Exodia the Forbidden One, Dark Magician, the Blackwings, and a lot of the Fiend-types.

Earth - Quite a few monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! were of the Earth attribute. Most of them are either Beast-types, Warrior-types or Rock-types. Some notable Earth monsters include the Karakuris, Man-Eater Bug and the Ancient Gears.

Fire - These monsters will leave you feeling the burn. Mostly Pyro-type monsters make up this attribute, and include some lethal choices such as Flame Swordsman and Lava Golem. Some popular groups of Fire attribute monsters include the Volcanics and the Flamvells.

Water - Monsters of the high seas make up this group. Aqua-types and Sea-Serpents make up the majority of this attribute. Some personal favorites include Number 32: Shark Drake, the Ice Barrier monsters and Nightmare Penguin.

Wind - These monsters will blow you away! Mostly containing Winged Beast-types, these creatures can come together fast, and hit you pretty hard. The cream of the crop includes Stardust Dragon, the Harpie Ladies, Mist Valley monsters and Dragunity monsters.

Divine - Perhaps the most powerful and sacred of all monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!, this attribute is a very small group. They tend to be hard to get your hands on, and even harder to build a deck around. When the word Divine is mentioned, the name that goes along with it is the well-known Egyptian God Cards.

So there you have it, the seven attributes revealed. Think about which attributes appeal to you, and how you'd like to build a deck around one or two of them. This is the Coach, signing off!

Monster Mechanics: Part 1

Monster Mechanics: Part 1

Hello Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists,

     Today I'm giving a bit of  a history lesson. To those new to the YTCG world, you've probably learned about the three types of cards: Monsters, Spells, and Traps. I thought I'd look into the Monster Cards first. Over the years, there have been thousands of Monster Cards released. They can be grouped into 6 different Attributes, 21 Types, and come in 6 colors.

     Normal Monsters: These cards come in yellow. There aren't a lot of special ones, but they can be used to summon more powerful monsters. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the most powerful normal monster to date.

     Effect Monsters: These cards are orange in color and each has one or more special abilities. Their effects range from summoning other monsters in their place when they get destroyed, to filling a field quickly when they are summoned. These cards make up the majority of a duelist's deck.

     Fusion Monsters: These cards are purple, and summoned by blending 2 or more other monsters together. Some of the most powerful fusion monsters can have 4000 or more ATK and DEF points. These cards were introduced in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series, but gained a lot of fame in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX era.

     Ritual Monsters: These blue cards are summoned by offering monsters whose combined levels are greater than or equal to the level of the ritual monster to be summoned.

     Synchro Monsters: These white cards are summoned by using a Tuner monster with 1 or more non-Tuner monsters. The catch is that the sum of the levels of the monsters must add up to the level of the Synchro Monster being summoned. These cards were introduced in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's era.

     Xyz Monsters: These dark colored monsters are summoned by stacking 2 or more monsters of the same level together, and applying the monster of the same "Rank" on top of it. The monsters beneath the Xyz monster are "Overlay Units" that may be used to activate its special ability. These cards were introduced in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal era.

      Pendulum Monsters: These dual-colored cards are half monster, half spell card. Pendulum summoning is the latest edition to the game, and makes things very interesting. I'll cover this in greater detail in a future post.

 

     So, there you have it. A basic history of the types of Monster cards out there. Next time, I'll give a breakdown of the Attributes and Types. Until next time, keep on dueling!

More Dark Magician

Hey there duelists! Coach Muramasa is back again. As promised, here is the other half of our look into the Dark Magician. Slip on your bathing suits, because we're diving into the spellcaster's pool. Last time, we looked at the Dark Magician, and some of his intimidating forms. Now, let's see if we can find some cards that will help him blast your opponent away to the shadow realm.

 First up is the teacher's pet, or Dark Magician Girl. This Level 6 Spellcaster-type has 2000 ATK and 1700 DEF. With her special ability, she gets stronger for each Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos is in either graveyard. She draws strength from her master, and also lends some to him at times as well. Like the Dark Magician, she can be on the frontlines in a Spellcaster-type deck. (5/10)

 Skilled Dark Magician is a Level 4 with 1900 ATK and 1700 DEF. His special ability allows him to Special Summon a Dark Magician in exchange for tributing him with 3 Spell Counters. He gathers a Spell Counter each time a Spell Card is activated. If you have to draw him on your opening hand and at least three Spell Cards, you can have a Dark Magician in your first turn. Keep in mind that when you Special Summon the DM, you can pull him from your deck, hand or graveyard. This card can lead to a variety of monster recycle decks. If you use him, go ahead and slip three of him in your deck. (9/10)

 Magician of Black Chaos is one of the oldest Ritual Monsters. By using the Spell "Black Magic Ritual", you can sacrifice monsters from your hand and field whose levels total 8 or more, and Special Summon this card from your hand. This card doesn't have any special abilities, just really decent ATK power. (4/10)

 Dark Eradicator Warlock is the Dark Magician with a special ability. Each time a Normal Spell Card is activated, your opponent gets slammed with 1000 points of Effect Damage. Between this and the 2500 ATK chunks taken out of their Life Points, you could have the duel won on your second or third turn. (9/10)

Next up is Magician's Valkyria. This monster acts as a Spellcaster-type shield for your other heavy hitters. Your opponent can only target her if there are other Spellcaster-type monsters on your field. You'll want to power her up or protect her with something, otherwise she's just a one trick pony. (5/10)

 Now, let's move on to Spells for a Dark Magician deck. Thousand Knives is a good card for taking out something stronger than the DM. If he is in play when you activate this card, you can stick it to a monster your opponent controls. Use this on that Blue-Eyes White Dragon that a Kaiba wannabe might be tempted to use against you. (7/10)

 Everyone who has ever watched the original Yu-Gi-Oh! knows of the DM's signature attack. Dark Magic Attack is a Spell that allows you to wipe out your opponent's Spells and Traps if you control a face-up Dark Magician. Use this to take out those annoying stall traps, like Gravity Bind or Swords of Revealing Light. I really like the art on that card. (9/10)

 Magicians Unite allows you to combine the might of your Magicians' force and let one of them have 3000 ATK during that turn. The catch is, only that single Spellcaster-type may attack that turn. Use this on a monster that has the ability to deal direct damage or piercing damage. (6/10)

Mage Power is an Equip Spell Card that grants a 500 ATK and 500 DEF boost to a monster for each Spell or Trap Card you have on the field. This gives you a maximum boost of 3000 ATK and 3000 DEF. Stick this on DM, and the duel could easily be over. Just make sure you clear your opponent's Spells and Traps first. The last thing you want to happen is for a nasty Mirror Force or something worse to pop up and ruin your duel. (9/10)

 Now let's look at a couple of Trap Cards. Magic Cylinder is a good trap to block a lethal attack, and give your opponent the damage instead. Use this to crush them if they attack with a 3000+ ATK monster. (7/10)

The final card of the day is Pitch-Black Power Stone. This card is good if your Spellcaster-type deck uses a lot of Spell Counters. You get 3 Spell Counters that you may move to other cards once per turn. Slip three of these in your deck and use them with Skilled Dark Magician, and you'll get DM in play in no time. (6/10)

That does it for another lap around the Dark Magician pool. I hope you consider this card for your Spellcaster-type deck, or even an all around deck. Coach Muramasa signing off for now. Hit the showers!

Dark Magician

Hello again duelists! Coach is here to talk about one of the oldest and greatest monsters of all time. He was Yugi's ace, and my personal favorite Spellcaster-type monster. I'm talking about that mystical menace, the Dark Magician! This Level 7 monster has 2500 ATK and 2100 DEF. While he doesn't have any special abilities, he has a variety of cards that support him as the ace in a deck. Today, we're gonna take a look at some of the Dark Magician's various forms achieved through Fusion and other Special Summoning methods.

 First up is Dark Sage. This Spellcaster-type is a Level 9 monster with 2800 ATK and 3200 DEF. To call forth this heavy hitter, you have to tribute a Dark Magician that has been successfully affected by Time Wizard. Also, when this happens, you can pull a Spell Card of your choice from your deck. That will come in handy if you need to pull that one card to turn things around for you, or to ensure a win if you already have the advantage. (6/10)

 

 Next up is Dark Magician Knight, who pulls a change-up and goes from being a Spellcaster to a Warrior. His stats are the same as Dark Magician, but he gains a special ability that allows him to destroy any one card on the field at the time. Wipe out that face down Mirror Force, or even a continuous Spell Card or Trap Card like Gravity Bind. You could just as well take out a high ATK or DEF monster is that's what's standing in the way of you winning or losing the duel. This card sees a lot more play than Dark Sage, and is easier to summon. All you have to do is play Knight's Title in order to summon him. (8/10)

Here we have Dark Paladin with 2900 ATK and 2400 DEF. By Fusing Dark Magician and Buster Blader, you get a powerful Spellcaster-type that can negate your opponent's Spell Cards by discarding a card of your own. This card also has an ability that grants it an extra 500 ATK for each Dragon-type either player has in the graveyard. This card is a good choice for taking on Dragon-type decks. (8/10)

Last, and certainly not least, is Dark Flare Knight. Dark Magician switches to a Warrior-type again by Fusing with Flame Swordsman. While this is a step backward being a Level 6 monster with 2200 ATK and 800 DEF, its special ability will make up for it. No matter what you are fighting, you will not take any damage from a battle that involves this card. On top of that, if this card is destroyed, you get to Special Summon a Mirage Knight from your hand or your deck. As long as you don't have your monster's ability negated, you can use this card to block a heavy hit from your opponent. (5/10)

That's all for now folks. We dipped our feet in the Dark Magician's pool. Next time, we'll look at some cards that support this master spellcaster. Until then, it's time to duel, somewhere...

Dueling Styles

What's shakin' duelists? Today we're gonna take a look at the different ways to duel. In my personal dueling circle, there are a total of five of us. We each are really good at dueling, but we have our own approaches. We duel one another at least twice a week, and have done so over the last seven years. Sometimes we duel one on one, other times two on two. We've even done three on one duels, and the occasional five duelist free for all. No matter what setup we use, we always have a good time. There are never any hard feelings, and it inspires us to become better duelists. Here is a summary of our dueling styles.

First up, is me, Muramasa the Coach. I prefer using a deck that favors Synchro Summoning. I have at least three Fusion and three Xyz monsters in my Extra Deck. The other nine spots are always Synchro Monsters. I keep at least one Ritual Monster in my deck at any given time. My deck favors Dragon-type monsters most of the time. When I play by non-tournament rules, I like to use a lot of the forbidden cards. When I play by tournament rules, I use cards that fill my monster zones as quickly as possible to allow for a Synchro Summon in the first or second turn. I get called the Coach a lot, because I volunteer some of my free time teaching newcomers to the game, and giving my circle suggestions and advice on how to improve their own decks.

Next, there is my best friend, Sentinel the Guardian. He likes to use a more defensive strategy. His deck has a lot of high DEF monsters, and he prefers to counterattack rather than attack. Sentinel loves to Tribute Summon, and then Special Summon the monsters used as tribute back from the graveyard. He also is a big fan of Ritual Monsters, and keeps a fair number of them in his deck. He does a bit of Fusion Summoning, Synchro Summoning, and Xyz Summoning, but only keeps one or two of each in his Extra Deck. He updates his Spells and Traps quite often, and a fair amount of his dueling might comes from that. Sentinel is a good partner, because he always has your back in a duel, no matter how crazy a duel it is.

The third member of our duelist circle is Venus the Heartbreaker. We call her that because every guy she duels outside of our circle falls in love with her dueling skill. I mean, she's quite lovely as well, but with us, it's more about the skills. Venus loves to Xyz Summon more than anything, and is a big fan of cards that allow for piercing damage. Her deck is centered about Fairy-type monsters and all of those that have "cute, cuddly art on them". She makes for a good partner because of her choice of Quick-Play Spell Cards and Counter Trap Cards.

Next is Chaos, the Destructor. He is our most hardcore duelist, because when he's done, most of the cards used in the duel end up in the graveyard. He likes to duel fast and loose, and won't hesitate to send cards to the graveyard to get the one or two he needs for the win. Chaos keeps the field clear a lot of the time, using Spells and Traps that either wipe it clean, or send a card or two to be banished from the game. His deck is fairly balanced between Warrior-types, Machine-types, and Spellcaster-types. His Extra Deck is half Fusion and half Synchro, with an Xyz Monster thrown in once in a while.

Last, and certainly not least, is Serenity the Enlightened. She is the younger sister of Venus, and a real tough cookie in the dueling arena. The monsters in her deck are only Effect Monsters. The same holds true for her Extra Deck. Serenity's Spells and Traps cover the weaknesses that her Effect Monsters can't take care of. When we duel by non-tournament rules, she loves to use Exodia the Forbidden One for a quick win. Although she is a bit younger than we are, she holds her own in a five duelist free for all. She either comes in first or second a lot of the time.

So there you have it, duelists. I've given you a peek into my dueling world. We've shared a lot of memories over the years, and still look forward to each and every duel we are gonna have. In the future, I'll share with you some specific strategies and combos the five of us use. Until next time, keep on duelin'!

Deck Analysis

Hello Duelists!

The Coach is back again. Today I'd like to talk about deck building. I've been in the game for quite a while, and I've helped build a lot of decks over the years. I've had a 91% success rate of dueling, and continue to build decks for fun, just to keep up with what's out there now. If you have a deck you'd like me to look at and give some advice to, I'd be more than happy to help out. I'll also post a deck on here from time to time, and give you a chance to give suggestions as well. Keep on dueling!

Welcome to the Coach's Blog

Hello from the Coach

Greetings to all the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG fans out there. I am Muramasa, a 17-year veteran of the YTCG. I've been in the game since the beginning, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I've given advice to almost 100 players of the game. Most are family and close personal friends. I now wish to help out people near and far online. If you have a question about the game, or need your deck tuned up a bit, I'm here for you. I'll also be posting tips and suggestions about the cards of the past, the present and the future. So let me again say welcome, and I look forward to working with each and every one of you. So, let's rev it up!