Duelists, take notice! The days of running almost 15 Traps without having to worry about robots disintegrating them with laser beam eyes are coming to an end! Mandatory education programs regarding the dangers of ignoring Jinzo and the benefits of allying with him throughExtreme Victory Trap Card Psychic Shockwave will now begin!

Light and Darkness Dragon has been a fixture of Dueling since its release. The thing is, despite how long it’s been around and in use, a lot of Duelists still don’t know how to best use it to their advantage. Here’s are the do’s and don’ts of Dueling with Light and Darkness Dragon!

Now that YCS Charlotte has come and gone, it’s time to look back and figure out what matchups are going to be the most prominent in the coming month. After all, the more you know about them, the better your chances of winning are. One of the big new matchups that we saw at YCS Charlotte was the Dragunity versus Six Samurai.

This matchup happened many times throughout the tournament to be sure, and we even saw a Feature Match happen in Round 8 where we saw Samurai duelist, and eventual winner of YCS Charlotte, Sean Coovert, take a very close victory against Dragunity Duelist Anthony Alvarado. Despite some less than stellar hands, Alvarado was still able to fight Coovert to a close Duel 3 where he finally took his first loss of the tournament, giving Coovert 24 packs in the process because of his status as a Bounty Duelist. But how indicative is this of how the matchup usually goes?

The Six Samurai Deck, new and improved with Storm of Ragnarok’s “Legendary” Six Samurais, has many tricks at its disposal, the most popular of which tend to the multitude of ways to Synchro Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En on the first turn. Between 2500 ATK and the wicked strong ability to negate a Spell or Trap card once during each player’s turn, Summoning Shi En as early as possible is the Samurai Duelist’s first goal. The second goal is making sure he stays on the field until the Duel is won.

Using Shi En’s own effect wisely, coupled with using Trap Cards like Solemn Warning andMusakani Magatama to take care of anything else that troubles you, the Six Samurai Duelist wants to lock down the opponent, leaving them with multiple cards in hand that they simply cannot use, or at the very least, aren’t willing to risk losing until it’s too late. The Six Samurai Deck can also use cards like Double-Edged Sword Technique to bring back the Synchro Materials they used to summon their Shi En the first time and Synchro Summon another. Having two free negations during each turn is insanely good, and can only be broken through with some serious monster effects.
With all that said, don’t count Dragunity Decks out for a second! Using Dragon Ravine, a Dragunity Duelist can either Summon the Level 8 Synchro Monster of their choice, destroy 2 cards, or Summon Brionac. Here’s how: Dragon Ravine allows you to discard a card from your hand in order to either send a Dragon-Type monster from your Deck to your Graveyard, or add a Level 4 or lower “Dragunity” monster from your Deck to your hand.

If you happen to have Dragunity Phalanx in your Graveyard, you can add Dragunity Dux to your hand with Dragon Ravine’s effect. You can then Normal Summon the Dux. Dux’s effect allows you to select one Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type Dragunity monster in your Graveyard and equip it to him as an Equip Card. By Equipping Dux with Dragunity Phalanx, you can activate Phalanx’s effect, which allows you to Special Summon it to your side of the field when it’s equipped to a monster. Since Phalanx is a Level 2 Tuner monster, you can then Synchro Summon with Dux for the Level 6 Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana. Vajrayana then lets you equip the Phalanx once again, and you can Special Summon one more time to Synchro Summon with Vajrayana for a Level 8 Synchro Monster of your choice. Since you can do this every single turn (as long as you don’t run out of Dux or Vajrayana!), this can very quickly overpower your opponent and leave you with the easy win.

That’s not even where the tricks end though. If you have Dragunity Aklys in your Graveyard, you can add Dragunity Legionnaire to your hand with Ravine’s effect, Normal Summon him, and use his effect to equip the Aklys to himself. Legionnaire is able to send a “Dragunity” monster in your Spell and Trap card zone to the Graveyard in order to destroy one face-up monster your opponent controls, that’s pretty much a free destruction effect, considering you didn’t even lose anything in order to do it! That’s STILL not all though, because once it hits the Graveyard, Dragunity Aklys’s effect activates, allowing you to destroy any card on the field. That’s two cards gone for next to no cost, and you still have your Legionnaire on the field to attack with, too!

And of course, in any scenario when you would Synchro Summon Vajrayana, you can Summon Brionac instead.

It’s safe to say that without Dragon Ravine, the Dragunity Deck doesn’t run nearly as smoothly as it does with it. This means the Dragunity Duelist wants to do everything in his power to find and protect Dragon Ravine. Dragunity Decks frequently run 3 copies of Dragon Ravine as well as multiple (at least 2, sometimes 3) copies of Terraforming to go with them. While the multiple copies of Terraforming may seem like they would become dead in your hand after you have Ravine, you can discard them to use Ravine’s effect.

You do not want them to successfully activate and resolve their Dragon Ravine, or its effect. Save your Mystical Space Typhoons for it. Also remember that a Field Spell has to be face-up on the field when its effect resolves in order to do anything, so you can Chain your Typhoon to its effect and your opponent will be out a card in addition to the Field Spell.

You don’t need to make any drastic changes to your gameplan. You still want to SummonLegendary Six Samurai – Shi En right away. As long as you’re careful and intelligent in your negation decisions, you can leave the Dragunity Duelist with no way to win. While you do want to negate your opponent’s Ravine, you have to be careful of your opponent following up withDark Hole to wipe your monsters. Keep a Double-Edged Sword Technique or Musakani Magatama face-down just in case.

If the Dragunity Duelist goes first they might be able to drop Stardust Dragon and several Spell or Trap Cards to go with Dragon Ravine. In this case, you can still use cards like Giant Trunade and Musakani Magatama to protect yourself while you try to escape the situation. Cards you might want to consider for your Main Deck with this in mind are Effect Veiler andLegendary Six Samurai – Enishi. Both of these are useful against a ton of different Decks, and Enishi can wipe a Synchro off the board on either player’s turn.

As far as side deck usage goes, you want to bring in cards like Dust Tornado or even The Six Samurai – Kamon that will help you keep their Ravine off the field, and cards like D.D. Crowthat will allow you to stop their big plays with Dux and Legionnaire, while also removing important Graveyard pieces like Dragunity Phalanx and Dragunity Aklys from play. This also empties out their Graveyard as a whole, leaving Pot of Avarice dead in their hand.

Get Dragon Ravine. Play it. Keep it on the field. Once your Dragon Ravine is active, it can’t be negated by Shi En, even if you activate it’s effect every turn. The first thing to know is that a strong opening field is very hard for a Samurai duelist to deal with. If you have Counter Trap cards as well as Stardust Dragon protecting your Ravine at the end of turn 1 you have a good shot of winning the Duel. Don’t count them out immediately though, there are things a Samurai Duelist can do to get out of that situation.

The most important thing you have at your disposal is your Side Deck. By bringing in cards likeKinetic Soldier, Puppet Plant, and Chain Disappearance, you can limit a lot of your opponents plays. A well placed Chain Disappearance on your opponent’s Kagemusha of the Six Samurai could eliminate all the Tuners from your opponent’s Deck cutting them off from Shi En. If they do get their big Synchro monster to the field, you can easily use Kinetic Soldier to run it down or use Puppet Plant’s effect to steal the Shi En, activate your Dragon Ravinesuccessfully, and use a Tuner monster of your choice to Synchro Summon something with the Shi En. Once again, Effect Veiler can be a very key card to use against an opposingLegendary Six Samurai – Kageki to cut a Shi En combo short.
By making sure you win the Duels where you go first and capitalizing on slow start-ups, you can cruise your way to victory in this matchup. With a loaded Graveyard, there’s little a Samurai Duelist can do to you, since you use a lot of monster effects to do your biggest plays, a Shi En can be little more than a small annoyance to you, and Musakani Magatama can go completely unused while you summon your Level 8 Synchro through Dux and attack over their Shi En. By keeping all of this in mind and using your own discretion and intelligence, you can bring the Samurai powerhouse down to its knees.

With both Dragunities and Samurais getting more cards in the not to distant future, it will be interesting to see both decks grow and evolve. We’ll get our second look at them in just a few weeks at YCS Anaheim, so stay tuned!

This past weekend at the YCS in Charlotte we saw Thor, Lord of the Aesir annihilate a dude. It was awesome. And do you know what would be even more awesome? Thor and Loki, Lord of the Aesir annihilating someone at the same time.

So far, it’s really easy to play to play Thor or Odin practically whenever you like. All it takes is one attack against Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts along with a copy of Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant, and you can Summon either Thor or Odin while being able to revive your Aesir at least once. But what about Loki? Sure, you can use the combo to Summon Loki, but you won’t have any “Nordic Alfar” Tuners in your Graveyard to use if Loki is destroyed. Some Nordic Duelists shy away from using Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar because it’s Level 5 and doesn’t play nicely with the Nordic Beasts. But I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Loki once Nordic Duelists get their hands on Mara of the Nordic Alfar!

Mara of the Nordic Alfar is a Level 2 Tuner monster with a twist: When you use it for a Synchro Summon, the other Synchro Material Monsters have to be 2 “Nordic” monsters in your hand. It draws an instant comparison to Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant, which lets you, under very specific circumstances, turn 2 “Nordic” monsters in your hand into 2 Level 4 Token monsters on the field that you can use to Synchro Summon Odin, Father of the Aesir. Mara, however, dodges a lot of problems and lacks key weaknesses that are steering Nordic Duelists away from using Valkyrie.

First, the two monsters you use to tune with Mara don’t necessarily have to be Level 4. TheEinherjar Tokens are always going to be Level 4, but with Mara you can dabble in different combinations. One popular combination is sure to be a Level 3 monster and a Level 4 monster along with Mara to Summon a Level 9 Synchro Monster like the dreaded Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier! Imagine just dropping Trishula whenever you want without needing any prior set-up on the field. Scary, right? Sure. If you’re on the receiving end of it. If you’re dishing it out, it just rocks.

Second, if your opponent tries to use Effect Veiler on Mara, that’s their loss. Like Eccentric Boy, Mara’s Synchro Summon shenanigans aren’t an effect that can be negated. Whereas seeing Effect Veiler when you tried to use Valkyrie’s effect was a prompt for picking up your cards and going on to the next Duel, Mara suffers no such difficulty.

Third, you’re allowed to have cards on the field when you Synchro Summon with Mara. To use Valkyrie’s effect, you need to have no cards on the field and your opponent has to have a monster. With Mara, you never have to let your defenses down for a single second, and you don’t have to wait for your opponent to have a monster. This also means that you can Summon 1 Aesir monster and then immediately follow up with a second on your next turn. Most Duelists pack it in at the sight of one Aesir monster. Two is surely enough to send them running for the exits.

Finally, unlike Valkyrie, the monsters you use with Mara go to the Graveyard along with Mara. With Valkyrie you have to remove 2 Nordic monsters in your hand from play. That makes them ineligible for Pot of Avarice, a Spell that Nordic Duelists have been flocking to as a way to reload their Deck with Nordic Beasts and draw more cards. Using Mara to drop Loki, Trishula, or whatever you happen to have the right materials for loads 3 monsters in your Graveyard at once. By the second or third turn you probably already have 3 monsters in your Graveyard from your first Synchro Summon of the Duel, meaning after you use Mara you can play Pot of Avarice to shuffle 5 monsters back to your Deck and draw 2 cards and leave Mara in the Graveyard to remove for Loki!

Don’t forget, Loki, Lord of the Aesir has an absolutely brutal revival effect. If your opponent destroys him, he comes back from the Graveyard and brings a Trap Card back to your hand. Trap Cards tend to be incredibly useful and powerful, and Loki’s whole deal is that he can negate the opponent’s Traps and recycle your own Traps. In short, you want him on your side of the field.

So what monsters are best to use with Mara? If you’re running a Deck with a lot of Nordic Beasts, consider adding Garmr of the Nordic Beasts to your Deck. You can Special Summon it as a big defender with Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Alfar, add it to your hand with Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir to use with Mara, or just Set it to thwart early attacks from monsters like XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and any of the basic Gladiator Beast monsters. It’s also a DARK monster, as is Mara, so if you’re running more DARK monsters like Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and Vanadis, you might even be able to add Allure of Darkness or Dark Armed Dragon to your Deck to get some extra power!

No matter what kind of Nordic Deck you play, keep Mara of the Nordic Alfar in mind asExtreme Victory approaches. If you’ve been looking for a nice, convenient way to Summon Lokiand fuel his effect, this is it!

TITLE:"Moving Towards the Future" is the one-hundred-and-fifty-second episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

With a new format come new Decks, new Duels, new tactics, and also the return of the Monday Night Matchups! This week we’re looking at the matchup that decided Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Charlotte and seeing what happens when 2 of the fastest Decks around collide. It’s Fish versus Samurai!

Both of these Decks are able to overwhelm opponents in a single turn, moreso Fish than Six Samurai now that Gateway of the Six is Limited. With Fish the aim is to SummonSuperancient Deepsea King Coelacanth and use its effect to Special Summon 4 more Fish-Type monsters from your Deck (2 Oyster Meister and 2 Fishborg Blaster usually). After that you Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter and Armory Arm to instantly defeat your opponent (by equipping Arm to your opponent’s monster you can keep using your Colossal Fighter to attack into it and your opponent loses a huge chunk of Life Points every time) or bring out Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon and attack with all of your high ATK monsters directly. When the Deck doesn’t have its main combo set up the aim is to defend for as long as possible with various Frog monsters (Dupe Frog being the most reliable) while getting ready to Tribute Summon Coelacanth as soon as possible.

Six Samurai needs no introduction as it’s been the one Deck everybody’s been talking about for the past month. What a Samurai Duelist often tries to do is Synchro Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En and back it up with wither Musakani Magatama or Solemn Warning to “lock out” the opponent. The Deck can still make huge plays with Gateway and Double-Edged Sword Technique though, sometimes ending Duels just as quickly as Fish aims to do.

The key to beating Samurai is in stopping their Set Spells and Traps from ruining your Duel-winning combo, as once it goes off you have enough Synchro options to deal with whatever monsters they control. Solemn Warning is the most threatening as it will stop you from Summoning Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth, and also negate its effect if your opponent lets you Summon it. Solemn Judgment, Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute are Trap Cards you have to face no matter what deck you play against, and some Samurai Duelists are even trying out Compulsory Evacuation Device and Royal Oppression in order to give themselves more protection options when they have a Shi En on the field.

Outside of Book of Moon, all of the cards your opponent will most likely be playing to stop you are Trap Cards, so Trap Stun will be of great use to you when you’re up against Six Samurai.Trap Stun won’t “lock up” your Treeborn Frog in the Graveyard either, as you can activate it at the start of your Standby Phase before Special Summoning Treeborn right after it. Giant Trunade is another key card you’ll need to ensure your combo goes off safely, and if your opponent controls a Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En you may need to have both Trunadeand Trap Stun ready so that your opponent can’t negate everything. Another card to watch out for is Effect Veiler, but at the moment not many Samurai Duelists are using it in their Main Decks so you should be safe from its effect in Duel 1.

For Six Samurai, the aim in this matchup should be to defeat your opponent before they get a chance to pull off their Coelacanth combo, getting in Life Point damage wherever possible and then have a way to deal with Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth when your opponent tries to Summon it. Any Solemn Warnings should be saved for the Coelacanth itself, andLegendary Six Samurai – Shi En should be used to negate Giant Trunade and Trap Stun the moment your opponent activates them. It might also be a good idea to Set any Spells and Traps you have when you Summon Shi En, in order to make your opponent think you have enough cards to stop their big play, and slow them down enough to seal the Duel with your attacks over the next few turns. One of the best cards to bluff your opponent with is Double-Edged Sword Technique, and if you can make your opponent think it’s a Solemn Warning you can swing things in your favour in a huge way when you’re ready to activate it.

If your opponent doesn’t have all the cards they need to win the Duel, they’ll often be defending themselves with multiple Dupe Frogs (with 2 on the field you won’t be able to attack) so you should use your Shien’s Smoke Signal or Reinforcement of the Army to getHand of the Six Samurai (or Legendary Six Samurai – Mizuho if you use it) and then destroy one (or both) of the Frogs with its effect and attack over the other one. Your opponent will addSwap Frog to their hand in order to set up a Tribute Summon (by Special Summoning itself before sending Treeborn Frog or Ronintoadin to the Graveyard) so when you’re attacking get ready for a Coelacanth to hit the field in the next few turns.

There are some cards that Six Samurai Duelists aren’t using that may be of huge benefit in this matchup. First up is Effect Veiler, which can shut down several stages of the Fish combo. Most Duelists have this card in their Side Decks already, but with Fish Decks becoming more popular thanks to their success at YCS Charlotte it may be a good idea to move a Veiler or 2 to the Main Deck to shut them down. The other card to consider is Dimensional Fissure, something that very few Duelists are prepared for right now. While Dimensional Fissure is face-up any monsters that would go to the Graveyard are removed from play instead, and the Fish Deck is far more reliant on Special Summoning monsters from the Graveyard (Treeborn Frog,Ronintoadin and Fishborg Blaster being 3 examples) than most so it will struggle while you control this card. Back it up with a Shi En and there’s almost nothing they can do! If you’re Side-Decking this card you can swap out your Double-Edged Sword Techniques for it in Duel 2 since you won’t be using your Graveyard as much.

Both of these Decks are very strong, can win Duels in an instant and are difficult to stop. Now that you’ll see them both on the top tables more often this is one matchup you need to be prepared for!

Maxx “C” is a simple card that can be tough to use. By sending Maxx “C” from your hand to your Graveyard during either player’s turn, you can draw a card for each monster your opponent Special Summons that turn.

The best way to use Maxx “C” is to Chain it to an opponent’s effect that Special Summons a monster. That way, you’re guaranteed to draw at least 1 card with the effect of Maxx “C”. Chaining the effect of Maxx “C” to the effect of a card like Treeborn Frog, Monster Reborn,Junk Synchron, or Debris Dragon, will instantly net you a card, replacing the Maxx “C” in your hand. Then, if your opponent wants to use his newly acquired monster in a Synchro Summon, or Special Summon any other monsters that turn, you’ll be able to draw even more cards with Maxx “C”. That puts your opponent in a tough spot, where he’ll be forced to decide whether he should cut his losses and end his turn with the one Special Summoned monster, or press on and let you draw more cards that could lead to his eventual demise.

You can also use Maxx “C” on your own turn, before attacking a monster like Dandylion, XX-Saber Emmersblade or Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, each of which has an effect that Special Summons at least 1 monster to the field. This way, you get to draw cards on your own turn, and immediately put those draws to use.
Some Duelists like to pitch Maxx “C” from their hands before an opponent even attempts to Special Summon any monsters. That way, if the opponent tries to perform a Special Summon that doesn’t use the Chain, like the Special Summon of Cyber Dragon, Chaos Sorcerer,Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, or Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, the Duelist who sentMaxx “C” from his hand to his Graveyard can still draw a card for each of those Special Summoned monsters. Unfortunately, this can be a risky play. Most opponents will only Special Summon monsters after you pitch Maxx “C” from your hand if they’re able to defeat you that turn. Otherwise, they’ll be willing to wait until their next turn to unleash all of their Special Summons, and you’ll have lost your Maxx “C” without drawing any cards.

Keeping this in mind, Maxx “C” works well in Decks that use cards like Battle Fader or Swift Scarecrow that can be used to end the Battle Phase. If your opponent decides to make all his Special Summons anyways in an attempt to defeat you this turn, drawing either of those cards can turn your opponent’s Duel-winning drive into a delightful disaster.

Since Maxx “C” only has 500 ATK, you can also Special Summon it from your Graveyard with the effect of Debris Dragon. With Dandylion now Limited, it’s harder to reliably get Dandylioninto your Graveyard so that you always have a monster to Special Summon with Debris Dragon’s effect. Fortunately, the Level 2 Maxx “C” gives you another option to Special Summon. By Tuning Debris Dragon with Maxx “C”, you can instantly Synchro Summon Iron Chain Dragon. Add another monster into the mix, and you’ll be able to make a higher-Level Dragon like Black Rose Dragon or Stardust Dragon instead. Maxx “C” can also be Special Summoned from your Graveyard by the effect of Junk Synchron, allowing for an instant Level 5 Synchro Summon.

Since the effect of Maxx “C” can be activated from your hand, it’ll be hard for your opponent to see it coming. That makes it a great card for disrupting your opponent’s plans. With some skillful use of Maxx “C”, you can set up your plays and get ahead of the competition!

After the release of the latest Forbidden & Limited Cards list, many Duelists seem to be writing off Blackwings as no longer a competitor. With two Book of Moon and two Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow eliminated from the Deck, as well as the loss of an Icarus Attack and (in many builds) a Solemn Warning, some people no longer see Blackwings as an option. It’s just not true though, and it’s very unfortunate to see so many Duelists taking that stance.

As someone who loves the Blackwing Deck to death, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the rumours of its demise is greatly exaggerated. All it takes is a little creativity, a little skill, and a little bit of logic. First off, Goyo Guardian isn’t allowed anymore, but Blackwings have the advantage of having access to not only Brionac, but their very own Level 6 Synchro,Blackwing Armed Wing. You can still have 3 copies of Blacking – Blizzard the Far North, so Level 5 and 6 Synchro Monsters are still really easy to Summon. And Blackwing Armed Wingis awfully good, especially when you need to punch Duel-winning damage through Fluff Tokens, Nordic Beast Tokens, and Set Darksouls.

You don’t even need to change the basic strategy of your Deck if you don’t want to, because you still have great cards like Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, and Blackwing – Bora the Spear. You can add in more cards to help disrupt the Decks you’re expecting to play against most, like adding D.D. Crow to help against Monarch, Plant, and Fish Decks, or Maxx “C” to help you draw enough cards to survive a Six Samurai or X-Saber onslaught and fight back. If you want, you can even  take a different approach to Blackwings by using monsters like Dark Grepher and multiple copies of Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor. No matter how you decide to you’re your Blackwing Deck,  you still have cards like Allure of Darkness, Pot of Duality, and Cards for Black Feathers to help you draw the cards you need, even the newly Limited and Semi-Limited cards!

With YCS Charlotte rapidly approaching, it will be interesting to see just how many Blackwing Decks make the cut to Day 2. While many Duelists have decided Blackwings are gone for good, I’m sure that they’re just getting started!

Time flies when you’re having fun, and I daresay it has never flown as fast as it has since the release of Storm of Ragnarok. Nordic monsters, Six Samurai, and a bunch of cool cards that work in lots of different Decks?  Storm of Ragnarok is certainly a tough act to follow, so we’re going to get a head start with an exclusive very sneak peek at one of the all new World Premiere card’s from Extreme Victory!

Now, if you’ve read the Extreme Victory web page, you’ve already heard of the new Tech Genus (T.G. for short!) and Meklord monsters. They’re locked in a battle for survival between human emotion (the super-powered T.G. Synchro Monsters!) and cold, efficient machine logic (the army of Synchro-Destroying Meklord Machines!) But what you might not know is that Extreme Victory also has cards that go great in Decks you already play! This is one of them.

Cards that negate Summons have become increasingly popular over the past few months.Solemn Warning¸ which was recently Semi-Limited by the March 1^st, 2011 Forbidden & Limited List, is now being played in pairs in just about every competitive Deck. Solemn Judgment, which was first released in Metal Raiders, has been floating around the tournament scene even longer. That’s why if you’re planning to enter a tournament, you should know how to stop these cards from negating your Summons.

The obvious solution to getting around Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment before they can negate your monster’s Summon is to activate Trap Stun or Royal Decree before Summoning your monster. Since Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment are Counter Trap Cards, you can’t Chain Trap Stun or Royal Decree to negate them. But if you activate Trap Stun or Royal Decree before attempting to Summon your monster, you can be confident that your monster will safely make it to the field.

There are other cards you can also use to get around the Summon negation of Traps likeSolemn Warning. Spell and Trap Cards like Mystical Space Typhoon, Nobleman of Extermination, and Dust Tornado, for example, can take down Solemn Warning before it’s activated. Breaker the Magical Warrior can force your opponent to negate its Summon or risk losing Solemn Warning to Breaker’s effect.

Sometimes, you can play around Solemn Warning without even drawing any cards that negate or destroy it. Instead, you can lead your opponent to activate Solemn Warning when you Summon your weaker monsters. When your opponent is low on Life Points, he’ll usually be inclined to activate Solemn Warning as soon as he can. If he allows a Summon to go through and starts taking attacks, he knows that he’ll quickly dip below 2000 Life Points, and then won’t be able to use Solemn Warning anymore.

For example, suppose your opponent has 4000 Life Points and a Solemn Warning face-down with no other cards on his side of the field. You have Elemental Hero Neos Alius (1900 ATK) in your hand, along with Miracle Fusion. You can use that Miracle Fusion to Summon Elemental Hero The Shining (2600 ATK) by removing 2 monsters from your Graveyard. Do you Summon Alius or activate Miracle Fusion first?

If you activate Miracle Fusion first, there’s no doubt that your opponent will negate it with his face-down Solemn Warning. He’ll pay 2000 Life Points and drop down to 2000 Life Points. He knows that if he doesn’t activate Solemn Warning, The Shining will attack him directly and he’ll lose even more than 2000 Life Points, and then be unable to activate Solemn Warning later in the Duel. After your opponent negates the Miracle Fusion, the best move you’ll be able to make involves Summoning Neos Alius and attacking, dropping your opponent down to 100 Life Points and giving him a turn to retaliate.

But what if you Summon Elemental Hero Neos Alius before activating Miracle Fusion? If you Summon Neos Alius first, your opponent may activate Solemn Warning to negate its Summon, fearing that he won’t be able to get it off of the field before it drops him below 2000 Life Points. Then, you can activate Miracle Fusion and end the Duel with The Shining! If your opponent suspects that you have Miracle Fusion, and as a result, chooses not to activateSolemn Warning to negate Neos Alius’s Summon, activating Miracle Fusion second and letting your opponent negate it puts you in the exact situation as the previous scenario, with Alius on the field and your opponent at 100 Life Points at the end of your turn.

By attempting to Summon your weaker monsters first, you can often bait out Solemn Warningso that your strongest monsters will make it to the field and finish your opponent off.

Another way to play around Solemn Warning is by quickly damaging your opponent so that he drops below 2000 Life Points and is unable to activate Solemn Warning. The 2000 Life Point cost attached to Solemn Warning’s activation is pretty hefty, and if your opponent can’t afford the Life Point payment, Solemn Warning will be of no use to him. Aggressively Summoning monsters with high ATK and using them to inflict Battle Damage to your opponent is usually the best way to drop him below 2000 Life Points before he gets the chance to Set Solemn Warning.

Trap Cards that can negate the Summons of monsters are powerful, but if you can negate them, destroy them, or play around them, they won’t cause you nearly as much trouble as they otherwise could. Practice Dueling against these cards, and you’ll quickly learn the best ways to deal with Summon negation.

With all the great new monsters and Spells in Structure Deck: Dragunity Legion, it’s easy to forget that some of the best cards for Dragunity Decks aren’t Dragunity cards!  Today we’ll look at some of the best off-theme cards for your Dragunity Deck, and talk about how Dragunity Duelists can play them in ways other Duelists can’t.