Dec 7, 2010
Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Atlanta was the last YCS of 2010 and many Duelists were trying to make the Top 32 with something new and innovative to give everybody something new to think about over the winter holidays. Also, Starstrike Blast made its competitive debut that and almost every Deck out there made use of new cards like Formula Synchron, Glow-Up Bulb and Shooting Star Dragon. Two of the more interesting Decks to make Top 8 at YCS Atlanta were Lightsworn and Volcanic Quickdraw. We haven’t really seen much of Lightsworn over the last 10 months, and after losing in the Semifinals of YCS San Jose, Volcanic Quickdraw had been off the map as well. It’s a quest for redemption for these two incredibly powerful Decks, head to head in tonight’s Monday Night Matchup!
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The Volcanic cards open up a whole load of possibilities for Quickdraw Duelists. |
Volcanic Quickdraw?
Volcanic Quickdraw is the latest in a long line of variations on the classic Quickdraw Dandywarrior Deck that made its YCS debut several months ago. It makes heavy use of theDebris Dragon / Dandylion combo to Summon Fluff Tokens and Synchro Monsters over and over again until the opponent has nothing left to stop them. What makes this Deck different though are the Volcanic cards it uses, which all aim to add free cards to the Quickdraw Duelist’s hand, so that they can keep discarding cards for Drill Warrior and Quickdraw Synchron.
First off there’s Volcanic Shell, and when it’s in the Graveyard you can pay 500 Life Points to add another copy from your deck to your hand. Volcanic Rocket adds a copy of Blaze Accelerator from your Deck or your Graveyard to your hand for free. Rocket’s also got 1900 ATK, which makes it a strong card to Summon even when you’ve already got Accelerator. Finally, Blaze Accelerator can make use of the Volcanic Shells in your hand by sending them to the Graveyard to destroy your opponent’s monsters. With Shell’s effect to add more copies to your hand, Blaze Accelerator can destroy up to 3 monsters in a row, and many more if you keep sending Shells back to your Deck with Pot of Avarice!
The Deck also makes use of the latest Quickdraw strategies and cards to stay ahead of the game and counter opposing strategies. Most Plant-based Decks are now adding Royal Decreeto their Main Decks and Volcanic Quickdraw is no different, using it to ensure that Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute and (if you activate Decree in advance) Solemn Warning can’t stop your key combos. The other new addition to the Deck is Tuning, a card from Starstrike Blastthat fans of the animated TV series will all know and love. Tuning lets you add 1 “Synchron” monster from your Deck to your hand, and then you send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard. With this you can add Quickdraw Synchron to your hand right away, and sendVolcanic Shell, Glow-Up Bulb, Spore or even Dandylion to the Graveyard, setting up several combos at once!
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Lightsworn's back with a few new tricks. |
Lightsworn is back!
There was once a time when Lightsworn was the most powerful Deck you’d come across at an event, but when new Decks like Quickdraw, X-Sabers and Infernities showed up Lightsworn took a back seat as Duelists chose to go with these new strategies. With the recent success of LIGHT Gemini Beatdown though, Duelists began to wonder how the original LIGHT-based Deck would fare in this new Dueling environment. It turns out the Deck is still strong and a fierce competitor! Lightsworn plays out unlike any other Deck you’ll ever see, as it send several cards from the Deck to the Graveyard every turn to trigger the effects of cards likeWulf, Lightsworn Beast, pay for effects like Celestia, Lightsworn Angel’s and fulfil the conditions for Judgment Dragon, one of the most powerful monsters around.
New Lightsworn Decks also have several other tricks up their sleeve though. Thunder King Rai-Oh’s a very popular card in Side Decks and Anti-Meta strategies as it can shut down Synchro Summons and other key effects like XX-Saber Darksoul and Pot of Duality. Da Lee ran 3 copies in his Lightsworn Deck at YCS Atlanta, one of the main reasons he made it to the Quarterfinals. He also ran 3 copies of Book of Moon which can be used in a wide variety of situations, and 2 Enemy Controllers to shut down attacks and take monsters. As with Volcanic Quickdraw, expect to face Royal Decree when playing against Lightsworn, and the Deck can make use of Glow-Up Bulb as well for extra Synchro Summons, which will be sent to the Graveyard in an instant thanks to all the Lightsworn monster effects.
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Turbo Warrior will be especially useful against Ryko and Celestia. |
What can Volcanic Quickdraw do against Lightsworn?
Both of these Decks use Royal Decree, so there’s very little in the way of either Deck busting out its biggest combos from the moment the Duel starts. If you’re playing Volcanic Quickdraw, the aim is to get Dandylion into the Graveyard right away, and to hold off on Debris Dragonuntil the Lightsworn Duelist builds up their field. Your opponent will be able to Summon several monsters at once during the Duel, thanks to Wulf, Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner andCharge of the Light Brigade. Once they’ve got their monsters on the field Summon Debris Dragon, get back Dandylion and wipe them all out with Black Rose Dragon! You won’t be able to do this when Thunder King Rai-Oh’s on the field though, but that’s where Blaze Accelerator and Volcanic Rocket can come in handy. Both Rocket and Rai-Oh have 1900 ATK, so you’ll be able to destroy Rai-Oh in battle and then Synchro Summon later on. Accelerator will let you destroy Rai-Oh, Judgment Dragon or any Synchros they Summon thanks to its effect.
Another card you’ll be able to get much use out of is Turbo Warrior, which you can Summon through Quickdraw Synchron. It can’t be targeted by the effects of Level 6 or lower monsters, so it’s safe from the effects of Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Celestia, Lightsworn Angel. One last thing to watch out for is the number of different “Lightsworn” monsters in your opponent’s Graveyard. Once that number hits 4 you can expect to see Judgment Dragon at any time, so you should always have cards ready to either take it down, or mount a comeback should it destroy everything on your field.
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Thunder King Rai-Oh's a key card at the start of the Duel. |
How can Lightsworn Duelists take down Volcanic Quickdraw?
The key to winning this matchup is to just do what your Deck does best; fill up the Graveyard, shut down the opponent with Thunder King Rai-Oh, and then get rid of everything withJudgment Dragon. With Thunder King Rai-Oh on the field your opponent won’t want to Synchro Summon, as you can send Rai-Oh to the Graveyard to negate the Summon, and you can also shut down the effects of Volcanic Rocket, Volcanic Shell and Tuning, stopping your opponent from getting free cards. Another key card in this matchup is Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid. Its effect stops both players from targeting “Lightsworn” monsters with card effects, so you’ll be able to stop Scrap Dragon, Blaze Accelerator, Book of Moon, Caius the Shadow Monarch and Enemy Controller. This leaves them with only Black Rose Dragon to take care of your monsters, and if you’ve got Rai-Oh on the field even that’s not an option!
You’ve got plenty of other cards in your Deck that work well against your opponent as well.Ehren, Lightsworn Monk can send Defense Position monsters straight back to the Deck where they’re harder to access, and sending back a Dandylion could be a game-winning move! WithBook of Moon and Enemy Controller you can also send stronger monsters away by turning them to Defense Position, even Synchro monsters like Scrap Dragon and Junk Destroyer. If your opponent wipes your field clean with Black Rose Dragon, you’ve still got Necro Gardnain the Graveyard to stop their next attack, and Judgment Dragon in your hand if they sent enough Lightsworn monsters to the Graveyard. Your Side Deck also has several problem cards for your opponent, with D.D. Warrior Lady, Dimensional Fissure and Banisher of the Radiance being the most powerful.
Both of these Decks have been given a new lease of life thanks to the achievements of Duelists at YCS Atlanta (and also YCS Milan where both decks did well), so be sure to try them out at your local tournaments over the holiday season, and when you come up against one of these use the tips above to take them down!
