Improving (Herald of) Perfection

Two very different Herald of Perfection Decks debuted at YCS Virginia.  Russel LaParre made Top 8 at that tournament with a Deck that used Dawn of the Herald to Ritual Summon Herald of Perfection, while former Champion Jessy Samek played Advanced Ritual Art instead, using it to send Fairy-Type Normal Monsters to the Graveyard for his Ritual Summons.  These 2 strategies both grew in different directions, when Duelists like Andrew Lindskog, Jeff Jones, and Chris Duff Dueled their way to the top cut playoff rounds at YCS Chicago with Herald Decks.

All of those Duelists brought unique innovations, discovering new strengths to outplay the competition.  By taking a look back at prior successes, plus a look forward at cards that might see play in the future, we can show you how to take your Herald Deck to the next level.

The Ritual Art version of the Herald Deck is all about speed: it’s built to Ritual Summon Herald of Perfection on the first turn as often as possible, and isn’t very concerned with much else.  While Samek ran Happy Lover and Mokey Mokey as his Normal Fairy-Types, the Duelists at YCS Chicago switched up that lineup to make the Deck faster, more reliable, and to explore new options.

Andrew Lindskog played Dunames Dark Witch, a Level 4 Normal Fairy that made his Deck more consistent – and gave him another strong attacker with 1800 ATK.  Lindskog’s Deck played a lot of cards like Hand Destruction and Upstart Goblin that let him draw cards. If he only played Level 1 and Level 2 Normal Fairy-Types, he might draw them and then not have enough monsters in his Deck for Advanced Ritual Art.  By including the Level 4 Dunames and the Level 6 Gyakutenno Megami, he made sure he could Ritual Summon his Herald in every scenario except ones where he unluckily drew every single Normal Monster in his Deck.  He also had more combinations of Normal Monsters that he could send to the Graveyard to make 6 Levels, so he’d have an easier time getting 4 Fairies to the Graveyard so he could Special Summon Archlord Kristya.

Jeff Jones played Gyakutenno Megami too, but he used it alongside the Ritual Monster Ruin, Queen of Oblivion.  By playing Gyakutenno and 6 low-level Normal Fairy-Types, Jones was able to Summon Herald of Perfection, get back Advanced Ritual Art with Preparation of Rites, and then Summon Ruin in the same turn.

These cards can help you get more out of your Dawn of the Herald Deck.

On the other side of the fence, a variety of cards can help you get the most out of a Dawn of the Herald build.  This version of the Deck plays Tethys, the Goddess of Light – the Ritual Art version usually doesn’t.  With 3 copies of Tethys and 3 Archlord Kristya, Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen lets the Herald Duelist Special Summon huge Fairy monsters with great effects.  A turn 1 Kristya can lock X-Sabers and Infernity out of the Duel, while an early Tethys could draw you an overwhelming number of cards.

Majestic Mech – Ohka is a Level 6 Fairy-Type with 2400 ATK.  You can Special Summon it with Valhalla, but even if you don’t play Hall of the Fallen, Ohka is a powerful choice.  Like Spirit of Purity and Light, you can discard Ohka on its own for a Ritual Summon with Dawn of the Herald and then return Ohka to your hand with Dawn’s effect.  But unlike Spirit, you can Summon Ohka any time, and it has higher ATK.

Magical Mallet helps you get to the cards you need, and it also lets you use Tethys’ effect as soon as she hits play.  It’s usually tough to use Tethys’ ability: opponents will do whatever they can to destroy her before she has a chance to draw you a fistful of cards.  Mallet lets you activate Tethys’ effect the same turn she’s summoned: as long as just 1 of the cards you draw with Mallet is a Fairy, you’ll trigger Tethys’ ability.

Forbidden Chalice can negate some of your opponent’s best effects – or your own!

Whether you play Advanced Ritual Art or Dawn of the Herald, your Deck can create 1 of the most feared set-ups in Dueling: Herald of Perfection with Archlord Kristya.  When the Herald is in Defense Position, nothing save a handful of Special Summons like XX-Saber Gottoms andVolcanic Queen can take it out.  But with Archlord Kristya on the field, none of those Special Summons are possible.  This is a tough field to put together: you’d normally have to Ritual Summon Herald, have exactly 4 Fairies in the Graveyard, and Special Summon Kristya.  ButForbidden Chalice lets you do the combo backwards: you can Summon Kristya to control the Duel (either with its own effect or with Valhalla), then negate its effect with Chalice and Summon Herald of Perfection when you have the cards you need.  Once Chalice’s effect wears off in the End Phase your opponent is at your mercy.

Chalice is also a great card to use on your opponent’s monsters.  It can negate XX-SaberHyunlei’s destruction effect, or XX-Saber Gottoms’s discard ability.  It can stop Infernity Archfiend from searching out Infernity Launcher too, shutting down the Infernity Deck’s big turn.  It stops Gladiator Beast plays and negates Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North’s effect.  Beyond all that effect negation, Chalice also boosts the ATK of a monster, so you can use it to destroy monsters you wouldn’t normally be able to attack.

Herald Decks are still evolving, and there’s a lot of room for creativity and clever strategy.  Both Decks literally just keep getting better!