Jul 13, 2010
X-Sabers have quickly been gaining popularity and can be a tough Deck to play against. Now, it’s more important than ever to be able to defeat them. Three of the players from the United States who qualified for this year’s World Championship did so with X-Sabers, including the eventual Champion! If you’re planning to enter any big tournaments, you’re bound to go up against some X-Saber Duelists. Luckily, there are some cards and strategies you can use to help you defeat X-Sabers!
X-Saber Decks swarm the field by Special Summoning monsters with the effects of cards likeRescue Cat, XX-Saber Boggart Knight, XX-Saber Faultroll, and Gottoms’ Emergency Call. Then, they attack the opponent with that swarm of monsters to win the Duel. They use Synchro Monsters like XX-Saber Hyunlei and Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier to clear the opponent’s field and make game-ending attacks. XX-Saber Darksoul and XX-Saber Emmersblade search the Deck for the X-Saber monsters needed to make this all happen.
XX-Saber Gottoms and X-Saber Airbellum can also be used by X-Saber Duelists to discard cards from the opponent’s hand. This limits the opponent’s options or gets rid of monsters likeBattle Fader and Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness, which could save the opponent from an X-Saber onslaught. When X-Saber Decks can’t finish off an opponent in a single turn, they can usually Tribute a bunch of monsters with the effect of Gottoms to wipe out the opponent’s hand and extinguish any chance of the opponent’s recovery. Tributing Darksoul even lets the X-Saber Duelist refill his hand in the End Phase.
X-Saber Decks have a lot of powerful tricks, but once you know how they work, you can start taking advantage of their weaknesses. Since X-Saber Duelists rely on Synchro Summons and other Special Summons to bring powerful monsters onto the field, cards that prevent Special Summons, like Vanity’s Fiend and Archlord Kristya, can render an X-Saber Duelist unable to make any strong plays. X-Saber Decks need their strongest monsters to take down cards with as much ATK as Vanity’s Fiend and Archlord Kristya, so Summoning them to the field can be devastating to an X-Saber Duelist.
Vanity’s Fiend and Archlord Kristya can be tough for an X-Saber Duelist to defeat, since they prevent players from Special Summoning monsters. Royal Oppression can also be used to hinder an X-Saber Deck, since it can negate Special Summons. But many X-Saber Duelists have adapted to the popularity of Royal Oppression by using cards like Dust Tornado and Trap Stun to stop it. Some of them even play Royal Oppression themselves to stop opposing X-Saber Decks!In addition to stopping your opponent from Special Summoning X-Sabers, you can attack your opponent’s reliance on XX-Saber Darksoul and XX-Saber Emmersblade to defeat him. Darksoul and Emmersblade allow X-Saber Duelists to assemble the cards they need to swarm the field and win the Duel. XX-Saber Darksoul lets the X-Saber Duelist add an X-Saber from his Deck to his hand during the End Phase of the turn it’s sent from his side of the field to the Graveyard. XX-Saber Emmersblade Special Summons an X-Saber to the field when it’s destroyed in battle.XX-Saber Boggart Knight, XX-Saber Faultroll, and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight are just 3 cards that can all be grabbed from the Deck with Darksoul. All of them can be important when trying to put together game-winning plays.Thunder King Rai-Oh can be used to shut down Darksoul’s effect. Rai-Oh prevents players from searching their Decks for cards to add to their hands, so attacking Darksoul with Rai-Oh will let you safely eliminate Darksoul without worrying about the bigger threat that it normally adds to your opponent’s hand. Since Rai-Oh can also negate a Special Summon (remember, Synchro Summons are Special Summons too!), it can be tough for an X-Saber Duelist to take down Rai-Oh without losing a strong monster of his own.Instead of using Thunder King Rai-Oh to stop Darksoul, you can use Mind Crush to force your opponent to discard the cards he searches for with Darksoul’s effect. This will disrupt his combos and weaken his plays. Attacking an X-Saber Duelist’s hand can be a powerful strategy.Use these cards to counter your opponent’s XX-Saber Darksoul!
Since X-Saber Duelists will Set their copies of XX-Saber Darksoul and XX-Emmersblade, you need to be careful when attacking Set monsters while facing an X-Saber Deck. Letting your opponent search his Deck for a new X-Saber to add to his hand or Special Summon to the field may bring you one turn closer to defeat. But you can’t always avoid destroying your opponent’s face-down monsters. If you do have to attack a Set monster, try using a monster that’ll give you a benefit for doing so.
Since XX-Saber Darksoul and XX-Saber Emmersblade have low DEF, you can easily destroy them in battle. In addition to Thunder King Rai-Oh, who can take down Darksoul without giving your opponent a search, monsters like Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, Flamvell Firedog, and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight are strong choices to use when attacking face-down monsters. They can attack over a Set Darksoul or Emmersblade and Special Summon an additional monster by destroying it. This extra Summon will help to offset the effect of your opponent’s Darksoul or Emmersblade.
Use these cards to destroy your opponent’s Defense Position Darksouls and Emmersblades. Then, you’ll get to Special Summon a free monster.
You can also use cards like Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos to remove Darksoul and Emmersblade from the game whenever they would be sent to the Graveyard. Since their effects when they go to the Graveyard, these cards will prevent them from using their powers!
Trap Cards like Gladiator Beast War Chariot can be used to negate the effects of Darksoul and Emmersblade. Attacking Darksoul or Emmersblade with a Gladiator Beast and then usingGladiator Beast War Chariot to negate that monster’s effect can really hurt an X-Saber Duelist! Tagging out for Gladiator Beast Equeste and reusing the Chariot can make the Duel even harder for an opponent.
Don’t forget, sometimes you can completely avoid attacking your opponent’s face-down monsters! Infernity Duelists can leave an opponent’s copies of Emmersblade and Darksoul on the field until the very last turn of the Duel. Then, they can use Mist Wurm to get rid of all of the opponent’s monsters before winning the Duel on that turn. X-Saber Duelists can sometimes use Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier to return all of the opponent’s Set monsters to his hand before attacking for the win.
Use these cards to return Darksoul and Emmersblade to your opponent’s hand without triggering their effects!
here are also some strong cards you can Side Deck against X-Saber Decks. Gottoms’ Emergency Call, for instance, Special Summons 2 X-Sabers from either player’s Graveyard while there’s a face-up X-Saber on the field. You can chain it to your opponent’s Gottoms’ Emergency Call or the effect of his XX-Saber Faultroll to steal a monster that he wanted to Special Summon. This will prevent him from Special Summoning any X-Sabers. You can also useGottoms’ Emergency Call to Special Summon XX-Saber Fulhelmknight from your opponent’s Graveyard to negate attacks, or Special Summon XX-Saber Hyunlei and XX-Saber Gottoms to attack your opponent with his strongest monsters.
Dark World monsters like Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World can also be strong cards to Side Deck in against X-Saber Decks. X-Saber Duelists commonly discard cards from the opponent’s hand, and striking an opponent’s Dark World monster will trigger its effect. If an X-Saber Duelist discards Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World from your hand, you’ll be able to Special Summon it to the field and destroy all of your opponent’s monsters or Spell and Trap cards!
A strong Side Deck can give you the edge against X-Saber Decks.
X-Sabers can be tough to beat, but with the right cards and some well-planned strategies, you can visibly improve your Duels against them.
