Staples & LCCG

One of the most common questions from a new member is what cards are staples in the CCG. Honestly, there are very few - no certain cards that work universally such as Reborn, Dark Hole etc. But there are a good deal of cards that are always worth considering when constructing your Deck.

tl;dr alert

Monsters
Starting with monsters, the recently Limited Savior Soldier is always a strong addition. Not requiring you to take damage like some TCG counterparts, Soldier can hold off an OTK admirably with a very respectable 2500 body. In-built effect negation is fantastic as well, and will likely shut down your opponent for the remainder of the turn. Due to its lack of restrictions on Summon, it will fit into nearly any deck and except in unlikely scenarios, will always reward your choice.

Another monster for you to consider is Nox Exploiter. This is one of only a few strong hand-Traps in our game, but it's versatility is unparalleled by others of its kind. While it is an inherent minus on use, its various applications make its cost negligible. The ability to shut down attacks and Xyz/Synchro plays during either turn, interrupt combos and nullify threats is what Exploiters brings to the table. Having no restrictions and the ability to dodge most on-field counters, Exploiter will rarely harm consistency while having a tonnes of potential.

Of all the monsters I'm discussing, the least splashable of them is probably Keeper of the Arsenal. However, it can potentially help you more than the more defence-focused Nox Exploiter and Savior Soldier. Having a respectable 1900 Defence, Keeper can comfortably wall most first turn Summons, but that isn't what he's there for. What he's really there for is his unique ability to turn any monster you control into nearly any monster in your Deck. A fantastic consistency engine, Keeper of the Arsenal can grab combo peices at will, with his bulk providing you a stable base to assemble the correct cards. If you find that you have trouble amassing your win condition, this card should be high on your list of solutions.

Before I progress to Spells, I'd like to mention another monster whose stock in the game I feel is rising rapidly. Icevale Witch is on paper not entirely impressive, and I would really advocate it as a Side Deck choice, but on a competitive level in a Metagame that has become more focused on slow grind games, Icevale Witch provides you with a fantastic Anti-Meta option. It's 1700 Defence stat is much more relevant than you might first realize - it walls Nox Deceiver, who is unable to flip the Witch to later pop it, it laughs in the face of each Pteryx and nullifies their searches. It keeps Firetongue Gila at bay and in the face of some faster decks, drags Mezzo, Antennae and other contenders into slow-paced games that they struggle to win.

Spells
I'm sure you all want to know what the best 1 for 1 removal cards are, but the honest answer is that there is no clear-cut superior card.

In terms of monster removal, one of the most common choices is Depraved Extortion, which actually forces your opponent to Tribute a monster for nothing - this helps dodge anti-destruction clauses. Other contenders are Interdimensional Treaty, which you don't have to discard for if the monster isn't removed and also has the perk of being searchable by Interdimensional Skullblade. Scrap Destruction is a strong contender, being a Quick-Play adds the benefit of speed and versatility, though with a 1500 LP cost. Endless Dissension is another option, but some decks lack the ability to consistently feed its cost. Phantom's Decision is an option that many are still fond of, but may not be a good choice for those who like to commit monsters to the field. Of the options presented here, I would personally recommend Scrap Destruction and Depraved Extortion - these two will generally cover enough ground to suit your needs.

One card I'd like to mention separately is Extremely Obvious Spike Trap. While technically a 1 for 1 monster removal card, it doesn't always play out like that. But when you put it into play you can near guarantee that your opponent will be forced to burn a card to get rid of it, whether it is S/T removal or willingly attacking into it in order to get it off the field. On the other hand, they just may not attack at all. It's cards like these that are what make Yugioh worth playing, they can either break even to try and force it from the field or sit back until they gather enough cards to push through it. For the user though almost every scenario is a win-win, because if they leave it on the field, it allows the user to continue as normal, knowing they have a layer of removal protecting them. I'm Ash and this is my favourite Spell in LCCG.

Onto backrow hate, there isn't quite as much S/T removal as there is for monsters. The 3 stand-out options are Splitting Cut, Trap-Setting Dud , or Swift Storm . To a lesser extent, there is Scrap Liquidation though it has fallen out of favour in a Metagame dominated by Traps that your opponent can happily concede for a 1 for 1 of their liking. The main 3 however must be chosen to suit your Deck. For a fast-paced deck, removing as much backrow as possible to enable your plays is of utmost importance, and is likely the only Deck Type to use Swift Storm, likely assisted by use of Splitting Cut for guaranteed removal. A slower paced deck would most likely pick Dud and Cuts for neutral coverage and card advantage. Bear this in mind when constructing your Deck.

The last Spell I shall discuss is probably also the closest card in the CCG to attaining true Staple status - Lifeforce Shield. I touched upon it when discussing the Pteryx Deck earlier this month. This card essentially says "Everything on your field is untouchable and your opponent is bad for trying to play Yugioh". It makes a mockery of any and all forms of removal and turns monsters invincible whenever you want. The fact that it replaces itself is, from a design stand-point, excessively good. If chained to any 1 for 1 removal card, it will force your opponent to drop in card advantage. Add in that it is a Quick-Play and hence can be used whenever the hell you feel like it, Lifeforce Shield is a card that should certainly one of the first cards on your Deck List.

Traps
Traditionally, Trap line-ups in the CCG have practically built themselves due to lack of good varied options. Some cards fill in certain niche roles, but for the most part, you will see a familiar trap backbone to most Decks.

Hostile Negotiation has been virtually unchallenged as supremo S/T negator, though if you can maintain enough Life Points to play it, Acid Spark or Coils of Cocytus may be your preferred option. This is one of the few times in Yugioh in general where the choice really does come down to player preference, as there are good arguments in favour of all. In Hostile's favour is the chance of disrupting your opponents hand and phazing through their backrow. A good assumption is that if your opponent is willing to discard to ensure resolution, then your opponent is either desperate, or needs to ensure a play. If they don't, then their hand is either S/T-free, they're baiting your backrow or they're holding a more relevant card. Utilizing Hostile and making the correct read based on its outcome will go a long way. In the case of Cocytus/Spark, you have pure 1 for 1 negation, that is nearly untouchable. Holding either when making a push for the win isn't far from being backed up by a Solemn Judgment and it is a quality that can't be disregarded. Like I said, it is down to player preference.

In the Effect negation department, there is really only one choice. Effect Disorientation is another Counter Trap but it's scope of use is unfortunately not very wide in comparison to say, Symphony of Pain. However Symphony of Pain has a very fatal flaw - using it can happily allow your opponent to set up or manipulate their Graveyard. This leaves Disorientation head and shoulders above its closest competitor.

Moving on, we have some more familiar Traps: Twister of Rejection; Gift from Diabolus have been in Decks since their inception (or in Diabolus' case, their unbanning) and have proven their worth time after time. Both are, and will likely remain for a long time, dependable, disruptive, chainable Traps. For decks that keep a high card advantage, such as Pteryx, Soul Spark Attack is also a fine choice, bringing extra removal and versatility to the table. Like Lifeforce Shield, responding to removal with this will usually garner a plus in advantage over your opponent.

I hope you all find this informative, and I hope that members new and old find this article helpful while they work on their innovations. I expect that in time we'll find or create more cards worthy of being discussed here and when that happens I'd be glad to pass on the information.

Deck Awareness: Pteryx

Today, I want to talk about the Deck that caused a huge stir when it debuted in last years Fall League Season. Pteryx made it all the way to the final, where Leo eventually fell to Mr. Volcano and his equally impressive Reptile Beat Deck. Reptiles did see some cause for concern with the new Ban List - Razor Scales was Limited, which restricted some control capabilities - but Pteryx was untouched and still has the ability to overwhelm opponents with sheer card advantage.

The basis of the Deck is that each Pteryx is also a Gadget - every time you Normal Summon a Pteryx, it fetches a different Pteryx from your Deck. On 1400 bodies, that may not seem very impressive, but the idea of having a startling number of Traps while maintaining a consistent flow of Monsters can be very difficult to disrupt once it starts going. But the monsters have another quality that shouldn't be overlooked when deck building - Luminopteryx and Nyctopteryx are Light and Dark respectively, allowing the Main Deck access to the powerhouse Deep Chaos Dragon. Backed by flexible Spells and Traps, DCD can quickly push towards a victory with it's impressive Attack stat and the ability to further read an opponents hand or extend your own.

You've seen me talk about how Pteryx uses its backrow to further its ability to control the game, but there are 3 cards in particular that achieve this better than others. Firstly, Soul Spark Attack is a card that might seem similar to people that have ran HERO's in the TCG. A generic Trap version of Gemini Spark that Pteryx can use to amazing effect. Using  it can push to +2 in advatage, if you chain it to your opponents removal and used on a Pteryx that already searched. In addition, Lifeforce Shield grants protection for any card and replaces itself. It is a +0 on paper, but games aren't played on paper. You will often chain the Quick-Play to a removal card, which will force your opponent into a minus. Correct use of Lifeforce Shield serves to further your advantage over your opponent and nullify their outs. Finally, Blizzard is probably the best tool a control deck could ask for. By restricting your opponent to one Summon per turn, you force them to play at your pace, effectively butchering any Swarm deck in your way. But what allows you to beat other control decks is that Blizzard searches ANY Counter Trap in the game for using it. For example you could search Scrap Confusion. Since you already locked them to 1 Summon, if it's a Normal Summon that's gone too. Alternatively you could search Mirror Shot to defend your backrow or Effect Disorientation to thwart any incoming dangerous monsters.

For now, I've finished glorifying the Deck, and I'm sure you want to know how to beat it too. Unfortunately, there is no "quick-fix" solution. The previous method was to use Rotting Eyes and strip cards from their hand away turn by turn, but that option is no longer available. The only real option is to either beat them quickly before they set up, or to match their advantage game. Both are incredibly hard to pull off, but Mezzo can manage option 1, while Greymarch and Nox are options for the second route. If you are playing the mirror match, sided Hellcrescent Strix can make the task much simpler as you steal their searches and put out a bigger monster than any Pteryx. Alternatively, sided Mirror Walls and Icevale Witch can help alleviate the match-up, but your opponent will have a number of answers for these.

Sample Deck List

3|Dsa|Gainsboropteryx

3|Dsa|Luminopteryx

3|Dsa|Nyctopteryx

3|Anv1|Dreadcaster

2|Dsa|Apocalypse Valkyrie

2|Dirb|Big Shield Locker

3|Acrd|Depraved Extortion

2|Dodm|Lifeforce Shield

2|Acrd|Trap-Setting Dud

2|Nasb|Splitting Cut

2|Dsa|Extremely Obvious Spike Trap

1|Dirb|Scrap Destruction

1|Dodm|Support Recharge

3|Dsa|Effect Disorientation

3|Rope|Soul Spark Attack

2|Anv1|Hostile Negotiation

2|Dirb|Blizzard

2|Acrd|Twister of Rejection

1|Acrd|Scrap Confusion

1|Clpc|Gift from Diabolus

1|Acrd|Flash Grenade

1|Enil|Twin Double Crossers

Blog is Back!

First, I want to apologise for the lack of updates. By starting this up, it was with conviction of regular posts aimed at helping out other CCG members and to give interested viewers a taste of what we're offering. By not giving regular articles, I feel that I've let a lot of people down and I'm quite ashamed of it.

However, I am definitely back on track and determined to keep this thing alive with a lot of content and coverage, I owe you all that much at least. Look forward to it!

Deck Profile: Mezzo

In the build-up for our up-coming set, I've been tinkering with a few old decks and a couple of old faces for a strong Deck that would be able to compete with what will arrive in Deep-Sea Assault. Eventually, I settled on probably the most notorious Deck-Type in this fair CCG - Mezzos. The quintessential Synchro Summon Archetype, once feared for it's alarming consistency and its ability to put a host of powerhouse Synchro Monsters on the field in the blink of an eye. Since the Deck has suffered slightly in being hit by the ban-list, these Fairies fell out of favour, but with a bit of rejuvenation in the Decklist, could compete at the highest level once again.

3|Nasb|Mezzo Rogue

2|Nasb|Mezzo Chiptune

1|Nasb|Mezzo Galen

2|Flfs|Ghost Lanturn

2|Anv1|Goetia Conjuror

1|Rope|Vivian, Angel of the White Passage

2|Enil|Savior Soldier

2|Clpc|Nox Exploiter

1|Dirb|Eccentric Electron

3|Nwor|Swift Storm

3|Ww3|Vowing the Will

2|Dirb|Scrap Destruction

2|Flfs|Refueling

2|Dodm|Lifeforce Shield

2|Acrd|Depraved Extortion

1|Acrd|Quick-Chance

1|Anv1|Mitosis

1|Enil|Enchanting Circle

1|Dodm|Support Recharge

2|Anv1|Hostile Negotiation

2|Acrd|Twister of Rejection

1|Clpc|Gift from Diabolus

1|Enil|Twin Double Crossers

1|Acrd|Summoner Synchron

1|Dirb|Fiend Solider

1|Anv1|Shameful Artist

1|Flfs|Rumbler Tumbler

1|Dirb|Dark Swordlord

2|Nasb|Mezzo Beat

1|Dirb|Starshot Cannon

1|Enil|Fiend Magician

1|Ww3|Interdimensional Vortexlord

1|Res1|Rainbow Tail

1|Ww3|Ghora End Dragon

1|Flfs|Volcana the Dark Flame

1|Nwor|Meteor Force Dragon

1|Anv1|Monster of the Maelstrom

What I imagine is the first thing you'll notice is the small number of Traps run in this Deck, as I'm sure people are used to the line-up reaching double figures, especially in my case. However, space has been made by cutting out the more situational Traps, allowing me more space for tech choices, consistency cards and of course, a few hand Traps. That's not to say however that these Traps are an afterthought, Hostile Negotiation is my S/T negator of choice, Diabolus is a semi-Staple monster remover, Twister is a lovely and chainable Monster bouncer and Xyz/Synchro killer, while Twin Double Crossers is a personal tech I am experimenting with, which I will cover in more detail later.

Now, I suppose I ought to talk about the focus of the Deck. Quite simply, its goal is to summon huge Synchro monsters at breakneck speeds and pound your opponent into submission. With the rise and popularity of Xyz Monsters, this kind of Deck is declining, but you'd be a fool to discount the threat Mezzo Decks possess. Using the simple 6 card Mezzo engine, you have the ability to churn out the likes of Monster of the Maelstrom at no loss of card advantage. Yup. A simple Galen discard for Chiptune, Special Summon your Chiptune, pay 1000 to grab Rogue, Normal Summon Rogue and revive Galen. Level 9 Synchro hits the field and in the grand scheme, it cost you nothing. Failing that, any combination of just 2 Mezzo's can net you a Synchro, and if you can't reach Level 9, you can usually hit 6 and drop Mezzo Beat - the Archetype's boss monster. This Level 6 Generic Synchro monster swings for 2400 and has a plethora of effects that are triggered by banishing a card from your Grave, with perhaps the sweetest being the ability to banish cards from your opponents backrow by removing a Mezzo in your Grave.

Due to the listing of cards in the Mezzo engine, it leaves a lot of room in the monster department, which I have capitalized on by adding the Goetia engine. As covered by Leo before, Goetia Conjuror can Tribute a card, including itself, to Special Summon a Fiend from your Deck (provided it is the same Level as the Tributed Monster). This means Goetia can Tribute itself to Special Summon Ghost Lanturn. Now, Lanturn brings two important things to the table. The first is clear right off the bat, it's a Tuner that can Special Summon itself, which is also nice. However, its main use is its ability to bring Light Monsters, like your Mezzo's back to your hand, ready to refuel your combo's. This is the same reason Vivian is in the Deck, though she does have a very nice Summon block effect that can come in handy.

This is probably the most hand Trap heavy deck I've built in a long time, and this has been forced from necessity - as the TCG has evolved, so have we and we have a similar use and need for hand Traps against problem cards - Savior Soldier serves as an OTK blocker and beater, Electron stops opponents effects from getting out of hand and Nox Exploiter assists greatly in breaking up attacks and combos. As the Deck focuses on assembling combo pieces, it is important that they can be utilized safely, and the speed in which these Traps can protect you are of great significance.

As usual, there are various Staple to Semi-Staple cards which are run due to how effective they are, Scrap Destruction is fast chainable removal, Swift Storm deals with backrow quicker but less permanently to allow pushes to go through, and Extortion assists in taking down pesky self-protecting monsters. But in this Spell line-up are more than a few underused cards. Going down the list, we first have 3 copies of Vowing the Will. This is simple, the Deck lives and dies on how quickly it reaches Galen or Chiptune, and this will ensure that Chiptune reaches your hand (or Rogue, or if you need a hand Trap, Exploiter or Electron). This card aids the consistency that was lost when Galen was Limited, Chiptune was Semi'd and Ampule was banned. Next is Refueling and by association, Support Recharge - how effective is your Galen if its targets are in the Grave? These cards put Synchros and Mezzo's back into your Deck ready for another offensive push. We have Lifeforce Shield, which is a highly effective chainable protection card that replaces itself on use, and ensures that your Synchro's can carry on about their business, or make sure your opponent can't disrupt you midway through a play. Quick-Chance grants immediate access to a Level 1 Monster, which can be Electron or Lanturn for Synchro purposes, or Goetia to go into Lanturn. A useful tech card to have. There's also Mitosis, which bounces a monster to your hand to make Level 1 Tokens - this is simply for diversifying the Synchro monsters you can play but you can also combine this with cards like Twin Double Crossers. Enchanting Circle grants you the ability to take control of an opponents Monster, again this is handy for hitting different kinds of Synchro monsters. My teched Trap of choice, Twin Double Crossers is made live easily as the Deck can leave monsters about very often, which you can trade with your opponent. Even better, you could swap over a Nucleus Token and completely disrupt your opponent as they try to counter-attack.

Finally, the Extra Deck is built for variety. The deck has a lot more options than the basic engine would suggest and can adapt to so much through its Extra Deck options. The only card in multiples is Beat, as getting 2 on the field will wrap up a game for you very quickly due to its wide range of effects, not to mention the ease of which it can be Summoned.

Thanks for reading, and remember that with Mezzo's and Antennae's about, Synchro Decks are as strong as ever and more than ready to beat back any Xyz Monsters in their way.

LeoMence vs Ash (Single Duel)

This is a historic occasion for LCCG - our very first Duel Coverage Article! Our Duelists today were myself, piloting Plant Synchro, and LeoMence, who was using an Antennae Deck.

Leo wins the die roll and opts to start. He sets one card to each row and passes play over.

Ash sets one monster and two cards to his backrow and ends his turn.

Leo draws to 5 cards in-hand and activates Spell Search, discarding 1 card to add a Level 4 or lower Spellcaster to his hand, giving him his Antennae Inventor. He summons Inventor and activates its effect, adding a Machine Antennae to his hand - Antennae Preservationalist. He sets a card to his backrow and attacks Ash's face-down monster. Ash responds with Soul Spark Attack, attempting to destroy his monster and Leo's Inventor to get a draw, but Leo chains his Hostile Negotiation! Soul Spark fizzles without doing anything and Leo's Inventor smashes the set Nightglown Blossom.

Leo then flips up his face-down Keeper of the Arsenal and Overlays his monsters to Xyz Summon his RT-67 Gadgetron. This ends his turn.

Ash draws to 4 cards, and flips up his set Twister of Rejection, bouncing Gadgetron back to its Extra Deck. Next he Normal Summon Rilfsak and pokes away 1150 of Leo's Life Points, inflicting the first damage of the Duel. Ash follows this with a Set Spell/Trap and ends his turn.

Leo draws and sets a card to his backrow and Normal Summons Antennae Preservationalist, and then Special Summons Antennae Radar. Using Radars effect, he changes Preservationalist to Defense Position to destroy Ash's lone backrow, but the Scrap Destruction is chained! Ash gives up 1500 LP to try and destroy Antennae Preservationalist, but Leo continues the chain with Emergency Broadcast! His Trap returns Preservationalist safely to his hand and wipes out Rilfsak to boot, allowing Radar a free swipe, dropping Ash down to 5800 Life Points.

Ash draws and summons Iele, then uses Plant Attraction to add another from his deck to his hand! He sets a card to his backrow and Iele attacks over Radar to bring Leo down to 6550.

Leo draws to 3 cards in hand and 1 S/T set. He summons Antennae Preservationalist and attacks Iele, but Ash discards Iele from his hand to boost his other ones ATK by 1000! The Antennae falls and costs Leo a further 800 Life Points, but Leo revives his Antennae with Isis' Last Wish, also boosting Preservationalist's ATK to 1700. Leo then passes play to Ash.

Ash draws, and his only move for the turn is to switch his on-field Iele to Defence Position.

Leo sets a card to his backrow, and runs over Iele, though this triggers the effect of the other in the Grave, allowing it to return to Ash's hand. He then ends his turn.

Ash summons Verdant Dryad and attacks Antennae Preservationalist, discarding Iele to raise its ATK to 2400, but Leo responds with Soul Spark Attack destroying both Dryad and his Antenna, and then drawing because of it.

Leo draws for his turn, sets 2 cards to his backrow to join the other, and Summons another Antennae Preservationalist, which attacks safely to bring Ash down to 4600 LP.

Ash draws and activates his face-down Junk Salvage, paying 1000 LP to activate it. Leo chains Hostile Negotiation to try and negate it, but Ash discards another copy of Junk Salvage to see the original go through! Ash then returns his Nightglown Blossom and both Iele's to his hand via the effect of Junk Salvage.

Next, Ash Normal Summons Phoenixian Flytrap, and uses its effect to discard Blossom and destroy Antennae Preservationalist. Flytrap's direct attack goes on without a hitch, dropping Leo to 4750.

Leo activates a Junk Salvage of his own, going down to 3750 to return Radar, Inventor and Keeper of the Arsenal from his Graveyard to his hand. He Normal Summons the Inventor and uses its effect to bring an Antennae Preservationalist from his Deck to his hand, before ending his turn.

Ash draws and then Normal Summon Blooming Flower of Hope, a level 1 Tuner which gains 1 Level for each Plant in its owners Graveyard. He then used Flytrap's effect again, discarding Iele to destroy Leo's face-down Swift Storm. Blossom started at Level 5, and then used its effect, banishing Nightglown Blossom to Special Summon 1 "Flower Bud Token" which copied Blossoms' Level (1), also reducing Hope to Level 4 due to less Plants in the Grave. Ash then Tuned his 3 monsters to Synchro Summon the devastating Ghora End Dragon! Flytrap's secondary effect activated on hitting the Graveyard, returning the Banished Blossom to the Graveyard. Ghora End Dragon then attacked Antennae Inventor and destroyed it, reducing Leo's LP from 3750 to 2050. That concluded Ash's turn.

Leo simply drew and set a monster, before passing play back.

Ghora attacked and destroyed the set monster.

Leo Normal Summoned Antennae Preservationalist and ended.

Ghora End attacked, but Leo activated Emergency Broadcast to return his Antennae to hand and destroy Ghora, but the Synchro monster negated the effect by moving to Defence Position. During his Main Phase 2, Ash manually returned Ghora End Dragon to Attack Position before ending his turn.

Leo set 1 monster and ended his turn.

Ash drew and activated Amiable Bounty - by banishing 2 S/T's in his Graveyard (namely 2 Junk Salvage's) he could Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant from his Deck. He pulled out Verdant Dryad and used it's effect, discarding Hostile Negotiation from his hand to Special Summon Rilfsak from his Grave. He then Synchro Summoned Phoenixian Plant Fighter using Dryad and Rilfsak, and attacked the face-down monster with his Fighter. For good measure, he discarded Iele to boost it's ATK by 1000, letting his monster Pierce Keeper of the Arsenal 3400 to 1900, dealing 1500 damage and clearing the way for Ghora End Dragon to seal the victory!

Ash is forced to fight through a number of strong backrows and advantage gaining cards to eventually put his combo cards together and finish strongly with a pair of Synchro monsters!

Card of the Week: Sludge Demon

This weeks card is just one of the powerhouse monsters available to players that prefer to utilize Fusion monsters over the more mainstream Synchro's or Xyz monsters.

Dark/*******/Fiend/Fusion/Effect/ATK:2300/DEF:2100

1 FIRE monster + 1 DARK monster. When this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell or Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step. When this card destroys a monster in Battle you can reduce the ATK of this card equal to half the ATK of the Destroyed monster to Special Summon that monster to your side of the field.

First, allow me to allay any fears you may have over any potential difficulty in actually Summoning the Demon, or any similar Multi-Attribute Fusion Monsters. Here in LCCG, we try to promote effective use of almost any kind of card you care to name, including Fusion Monsters. With a large amount of Fusion support, searchability, toolboxing and Fusion subs, it's never been so easy to compete with the oldest residents of your Extra Deck. For instance, if you were to run what I call Vanilla Fusion - a deck that relies heavily on use of Fusion Substitute monsters and Normal Monster support - you could Fusion Summon Sludge Demon using a variety of cards including Keeper of the Arsenal, Dharc Dark Corrupt, Hiita Fire Scorch, Ruby Chameleon or Scarlet Sibyl, not to mention that most of these are interchangeable and easy to use for other Fusions. Truly, Fusion monsters have the most flexible and toolbox focused Extra Deck around, and their Main Deck matches that fact superbly.


Sludge Demon itself is certainly no pushover, and it has a very rare but very effective benefit of closing down Spell/Traps while it is attacking. It is an effect that is seldom seen both in LCCG and the TCG, but there is no denying its usefulness. Your opponent wants to activate Flash Grenade? Tough luck. Perhaps they want to use Antennae Tune-Up? Nope. Psycrush? No chance. And that's only half of what Sludge Demon has in its arsenal - if it destroys a monster by battle, you can drop a few of your Demons ATK Points to Special Summon the monster it just ran over to your side of the field! This opens up so much to a Fusion Deck Duelist, as it will add a free monster that you can Fuse with almost any monster in your Deck. Since Sludge Demon has a decent ATK to begin with, it's very simple to bring it out and take a monster from your opponent that they've worked hard to put into play, and since your opponent can't respond to Sludge Demon's ATK with their backrow, they're almost powerless to stop you.


On to some combos now. You may or may not have realized, but Sludge Demon is the only Multi-Attribute Fusion Monster that requires a FIRE Attribute monster as part of its Summoning Conditions. It just so happens that a certain Chameleon that searches out Fusion cards (ie. Advanced Polymerization) is also a FIRE monster. So, you can discard your Ruby Chameleon to search out The Time and Space Chamber - you're two thirds through setting up Sludge Demon - any DARK monster in your Grave (or Fusion Substitution monster) will then allow you to bring Sludge Demon into play. 


Special mention must be made also for Sludge Demon's Level - it's just in the reach of Preparations of Fusions - so just by having Sludge Demon in your Extra Deck, you are free to re-use Ruby Chameleon AND your Fusion Spells. If you feel like it, you could bring in Fusion Cage. With this card, your Sludge Demon can not only shut out backrow when attacking, but also be fearless of any hand-traps your opponent might be packing, or pesky monsters your opponent may try and outplay you with. If you do try that route, you can use It's Raining Spells to tutor copies of Fusion Cage to your hand, and while you're at it, set up your Grave with Djinn's or specific Attribute monsters for use with The Time and Space Chamber. You could also use It's Raining Spells to bring Natural Resource Replenishing (for Fusion Spell recycling) or Ascending Spirit (for Fusion Material recycling) from your Deck to your hand. With Ascending Spirit, this can mean extra Ruby Chameleon use when you've fused for Sludge Demon.


Of course, if you choose to utilize Sludge Demon in a Djinn Fusion deck, there is definite ability to make this monster-stealer even more deadly - like using Prognosticator. Destroying a monster by battle not only forces it to switch sides, but also rips a card straight from your opponents hand. Using Releaser means that your opponent is stuck with weaker monsters as they are unable to Special Summon, meaning Sludge Demon has easy pickings. You could use Disserere to further consolidate protection from Traps. 


There really is so much support out there for Fusion Monsters, and Sludge Demon benefits from it all ten-fold. It's a fantastic card and in the large toolbox Fusion Duelists have, it's certainly one you wouldn't do without.

Pre-Reset History Part #1: The Reason

Many of you might not remember the pre-reset game and how it played out. We had some crazy decks, archetypes and cards. So for the LCCG blog, I am going to be doing a series talking about the pre-reset and how it went. Today, I am going to talk about why it reason and the format that caused it.

Personally, I called this Chaos Format. No, not because of a Chaos Deck ruining the game, because every deck was broken in its own way and it was a very annoying format. One deck came away as the most successful though; Starchaster. Starchaser was an archetype, originally submitted by Tomtekorv, which had previously flown under the radar when he left. A couple players had discovered the deck and began to abuse its power. The deck could easily drop lots of their monsters, and had quite a few cards that made them consistently a deadly force. Here is the LCCG Leaderboard deck layout:

Top Decks:

# - Name – Wins – Loses – Draws – Points

1.       Starchaster – 8 – 1 – 0 – 16

2.       Supreme – 7 – 5 – 0 – 14

3.       Aquean – 6 – 2 – 0 – 12

4.       Dark Shock – 4 – 5 – 0 – 8

5.       Alchemic – 3 – 3 – 0 – 6

6.       A Soldiers Glory – 3 – 2 – 1 – 7

7.       Insects – 2 – 0 – 0 – 4

8.       Spirit Oppression – 2 – 1 – 0 – 4

9.       Harmony Mech – 2 – 4 – 0 – 4

10.    FIRE – 1 – 2 – 0 – 2

The rest is pretty irrelevant, as those decks were not great/good in that format. So looking at this, you can see two more decks that were good; Supreme and Aquean. Supreme, being my creation, was a synchro spam archetype that focused on getting monsters from the Graveyard. It also had Supreme Declaration, which shut down your opponent’s special summons, which back than was extremely hard to remove back in the day, which ultimately saw it get edited and moved too one.

Aquean was another big threat back in the day. It was based on bouncing cards back to the deck and could quickly gain advantage over the opponent by doing this. With many cards that could get many Aqueans on the field and bounce the opponent’s cards, it was easily one of the best decks. This archetype was made by another former member, ZeroChill.

This will go down as one of the most hectic formats to every grace LCCG. With many decks that had consistent sacky plays, it was a format not many enjoyed playing at times. The top 3 worst formats (between ban-list changes) were pre-reset, which showed our lenience that we quickly fixed after resetting.

So what caused the reset is probably what we all want to know. Well, me and WereLord were on chat one day, discussing how broken the game had gotten and we came up with the idea to reset (leaving ENIL and FLFS as per Seattleite’s suggestion for a base core and because of Duel Arena progress). We reset the LCCG not to long after, and now we are here, playing, advancing further than last time and still having a good balanced gamestate.

That is part one of these series of articles, next up we will talk about the 2^nd worst format ever, and the deck that ruled the hell.