Curse of Archfiend (YGO RMD)

[Forci Stikane]

So, I was looking at a couple certain new cards when I noticed a certain synergy between a specific Tuner and specific Synchro. Then, I remembered a little-known trap from a few sets back...and I decided to try making a deck to abuse this. I suppose you could call this a specialized Rat Toolbox of sorts, but I made it with one specific combo in mind. The rest just came together.

Monsters:
2x Jinzo
1x Cyber Dragon

3x Jutte Fighter
1x Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
1x Spirit Reaper
1x Marshmallon
3x Giant Rat
3x Exiled Force
2x Dream Clown
1x DD Warrior Lady
1x Sangan
2x DD Warrior
1x Gyaku-Gire Panda

Spells:
1x Monster Reborn
1x Swords of Revealing Light
1x Heavy Storm
1x Giant Trunade
2x Reinforcement of the Army
2x Book of Moon (or 1x & 1x Pot of Avarice)
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Enemy Controller
1x Brain Control

Traps:
3x Curse of Anubis
1x Ojama Trio
1x Ceasefire
1x Mirror Force

Extra Deck:
3x Red Dragon Archfiend
3x Stardust Dragon
3x Goyo Guardian
3x Colossal Fighter
3x Magical Android

There you have it. With the considerable lack of Normal Monsters today, Curse of Anubis acts as a Threatening Roar/Negate Attack of sorts, but also grants the extra effect of switching everybody into Defense, leaving them wide open for Red Dragon Archfiend to sweep through them. It manages to counter LaDD, Gladiator Beast (thanks to Archfiend's effect), and maybe even certain DAD builds. Unfortunately, there's a considerable problem with the backrow, so Jinzo is there more for good measure than anything else.

(Also, this is a deck I would want to make IRL, so no CCV or Sarcophagus.)

 

[Alter Ego]

Pardon my French, but...Coffin Seller? WTF? xO Pitiful damage against anything not called Lightsworn, a decktype which can just blow it away with Lyla or Ryko anyway, free target for Bestiari, and just all around bad to draw into when what you really want is an answer card to a big threat your opponent is leaning over you with or something to faciliate that final push for victory. Why would you even consider this? D: Also, triple Dream Clown is seriously overkill in a lineup that already features a full retinue of Rat, two Reinforcement, and three Exiled too. You could also drop Mystic Swordsman down to one copy. You have two Reinforcement and three rat; there should be no problems with accessing it as necessary (though personally, I think Ehren would be a better choice since it doesn't just kill but spins to the top of the deck, discard or no). I'd say drop clown down to one novelty copy and patch that gap up with something to give your toolbox a bit more variety, like maybe Lily or Gyaku-Gire Panda (which, you know, would be just about the only excuse I could think of for running Ojama Trio here in the first place). Gyaku-Gire's piercing attack also plays into this little scheme you're trying to pull with Curse of Anubis, allowing you to rack up some really nice damage values on a follow-up, so I wouldn't object even to seeing two copies. D.D. Assailant would also be a nice way to add some non-synchro muscle while simultaneously counteracting the problem that a large part of your lineup has with Gladiator Beasts. Again, you have Reinforcement for search. The Transmigration Prophecy could also be helpful, allowing you to cycle rats (or rat targets) back into your deck or act as a D.D. Crow substitute as the situation warrants.

Also, add a few copies of Magical Android to your extra deck. Sure, you probably won't be synchro summoning it a lot, but it adds another viable synchro combination to the mix and doesn't hinder you in any way, so I don't see why not.

Other than that...eh, will have to return to the matter when my head is a bit clearer. XD But yosh, as a preliminary suggestion:

-2 Coffin Seller
-2 Dream Clown
-1 Mystic Swordsman LV2

+1 D.D. Assailant
+2 Gyaku-Gire Panda
+1 Injection Fairy Lily
+1 The Transmigration Prophecy

+3 Magical Android

Would also like to see Brain Control and/or Mind Control in there to help in racking up synchro material, but I'm too sleepy to think what cuts would be best to help with that right now. :x

 

[Forci Stikane]

Pardon my French, but...Coffin Seller? WTF? xO Pitiful damage against anything not called Lightsworn, a decktype which can just blow it away with Lyla or Ryko anyway, free target for Bestiari, and just all around bad to draw into when what you really want is an answer card to a big threat your opponent is leaning over you with or something to faciliate that final push for victory. Why would you even consider this? D:

It was tossed in at 11:00 PM. Enough said.

Also, triple Dream Clown is seriously overkill in a lineup that already features a full retinue of Rat, two Reinforcement, and three Exiled too. You could also drop Mystic Swordsman down to one copy. You have two Reinforcement and three rat; there should be no problems with accessing it as necessary (though personally, I think Ehren would be a better choice since it doesn't just kill but spins to the top of the deck, discard or no). I'd say drop clown down to one novelty copy and patch that gap up with something to give your toolbox a bit more variety, like maybe Lily or Gyaku-Gire Panda (which, you know, would be just about the only excuse I could think of for running Ojama Trio here in the first place). Gyaku-Gire's piercing attack also plays into this little scheme you're trying to pull with Curse of Anubis, allowing you to rack up some really nice damage values on a follow-up, so I wouldn't object even to seeing two copies.

The thing about Dream Clown, though, is that its effect triggers on Curse of Anubis, which is something that Exiled can't do. On top of that, it gives a much needed 3-Star for summoning that all-important Red Dragon Archfiend. I'm okay with dropping it to 2, but to 1? ...I'm not so sure on that.

I was also considering tossing something with Piercing in to take advantage of that, too, but I was thinking of something like Spear Dragon since it has set muscle and the negative effect isn't exactly a problem since Curse of Anubis would be doing the same thing, anyway. Still, Panda is rat-searchable, and is another of those 3-Star monsters, so I'll go with that.

D.D. Assailant would also be a nice way to add some non-synchro muscle while simultaneously counteracting the problem that a large part of your lineup has with Gladiator Beasts. Again, you have Reinforcement for search. The Transmigration Prophecy could also be helpful, allowing you to cycle rats (or rat targets) back into your deck or act as a D.D. Crow substitute as the situation warrants.

Muscle, yes (though I may prefer Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke over it here for the destruction effect, even if it's wide open on my opponent's turn). Counteracting Gladiator Beasts, though, there's already half of the monster lineup to do that (two DD Warriors & Lady, 3 Exiled Force, 2-3 Dream Clown, Grand Mole), let alone the aforementioned Archfiend + Curse of Anubis combo that even breaks through that precious Waboku, so I'm not so sure that's necessary. As for The Transmigration Prophecy, it may be a poor choice overall, but I would honestly take Pot of Avarice over it for the sake of recycling rat fodder.

Also, add a few copies of Magical Android to your extra deck. Sure, you probably won't be synchro summoning it a lot, but it adds another viable synchro combination to the mix and doesn't hinder you in any way, so I don't see why not.

Sure, why not.

Would also like to see Brain Control and/or Mind Control in there to help in racking up synchro material, but I'm too sleepy to think what cuts would be best to help with that right now. :x

I was actually looking to add Brain Control, too, but I didn't see what I could remo--

...Oh, I'm such an airhead.

-2 Creature Swap
-1 Book of Moon
+2 Enemy Controller
+1 Brain Control

And:

-2 Coffin Seller
-1 Dream Clown

+1 Gyaku-Gire Panda
+1 Book of Moon/Pot of Avarice

+3 Magical Android

...What would your opinion be on adding in Dark Mirror Force? I'm also thinking of somehow getting Mask of Darkness in there, to recycle that Curse of Anubis...

 

[Alter Ego]

Muscle, yes (though I may prefer Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke over it here for the destruction effect, even if it's wide open on my opponent's turn). Counteracting Gladiator Beasts, though, there's already half of the monster lineup to do that (two DD Warriors & Lady, 3 Exiled Force, 2-3 Dream Clown, Grand Mole), let alone the aforementioned Archfiend + Curse of Anubis combo that even breaks through that precious Waboku, so I'm not so sure that's necessary. As for The Transmigration Prophecy, it may be a poor choice overall, but I would honestly take Pot of Avarice over it for the sake of recycling rat fodder.

Objection. Dream Clown is hardly counteracting gladiator beast by any stretch of imagination. It has low stats, making it easy to trounce in battle, and needs to be on the field for a turn before you can use its destruction effect. (and even if we summon it by rat, we'd need a way to keep Murmillo from flat-out blowing it up) Besides, after we pull that effect off once, it becomes gladiator fodder for another two turns before we can blow something up again. (one for switching it back to attack, another for getting the destruction effect again) Even with the Anubis synergy trick, I'm pretty iffy about it. Also, Exiled is only good as a response to gladiator beasts (specifically, big ones like Gyzarus or Heraklinos); it's not something whose simple presence on the field will limit the gladiator player's moves, especially to the degree that D.D. monsters or mole (the only full anti-gladiators in this lineup) do.

And eww...Avarice? No, just no. D: If I thought that you had enough cyclables for that reason alone to warrant deckspace, then yes, but you don't. You only have your set of rats and their respective targets to benefit from being put back in the deck and very few means to stack enough monsters in your graveyard to pull avarice off since you have next to no special summons and no dumping effects, meaning that the pot is very liable to just clog up your draws at the worst of times, not to mention being highly vulnarable to D.D. Crow, which is a regular pick - if not in main then at the very list in side - for all of the top decks right now. The thing with Transmigration is that it's flexible. It doesn't just put cards back in your deck, it's also chainable (allowing you to bait out removal effects or out-chain crow), has a far lower threshold for use than Avarice, is capable of slowing down buildups for Dark Armed or Judgment Dragon, and acts as a one-card answer to screw up a number of effects, including those of Monster Reborn, Zombie Master, and Gladiator Beast Darius. It's the sum of all these things that made me recommend it; not just the recycling bit. Pot of Avarice is highly liable to be a dead card, whereas Transmigration will basically always make itself useful for something. :x

As for Dark Mirror Force...I'd avoid it, to be honest. The thing is the fact that that trap requires your opponent to attack. When they're attacking, they most likely won't have their defense squatters deployed yet, waiting to put them in play until after the attack if they want any, so I just don't see nailing anything of significance with that as very likely. Tragedy already seems like a better option, on account of allowing you to be proactive and use it as a follow-up to Jutte or Enemy Controller.

Even so, I wouldn't run more than one or - possibly, POSSIBLY - two copies of it, really. It's still kind of situational, and you don't want too much situational in one deck, really.

 

[Forci Stikane]

Objection. Dream Clown is hardly counteracting gladiator beast by any stretch of imagination. It has low stats, making it easy to trounce in battle, and needs to be on the field for a turn before you can use its destruction effect. (and even if we summon it by rat, we'd need a way to keep Murmillo from flat-out blowing it up) Besides, after we pull that effect off once, it becomes gladiator fodder for another two turns before we can blow something up again. (one for switching it back to attack, another for getting the destruction effect again) Even with the Anubis synergy trick, I'm pretty iffy about it. Also, Exiled is only good as a response to gladiator beasts (specifically, big ones like Gyzarus or Heraklinos); it's not something whose simple presence on the field will limit the gladiator player's moves, especially to the degree that D.D. monsters or mole (the only full anti-gladiators in this lineup) do.

And eww...Avarice? No, just no. D: If I thought that you had enough cyclables for that reason alone to warrant deckspace, then yes, but you don't. You only have your set of rats and their respective targets to benefit from being put back in the deck and very few means to stack enough monsters in your graveyard to pull avarice off since you have next to no special summons and no dumping effects, meaning that the pot is very liable to just clog up your draws at the worst of times, not to mention being highly vulnarable to D.D. Crow, which is a regular pick - if not in main then at the very list in side - for all of the top decks right now. The thing with Transmigration is that it's flexible. It doesn't just put cards back in your deck, it's also chainable (allowing you to bait out removal effects or out-chain crow), has a far lower threshold for use than Avarice, is capable of slowing down buildups for Dark Armed or Judgment Dragon, and acts as a one-card answer to screw up a number of effects, including those of Monster Reborn, Zombie Master, and Gladiator Beast Darius. It's the sum of all these things that made me recommend it; not just the recycling bit. Pot of Avarice is highly liable to be a dead card, whereas Transmigration will basically always make itself useful for something. :x

As for Dark Mirror Force...I'd avoid it, to be honest. The thing is the fact that that trap requires your opponent to attack. When they're attacking, they most likely won't have their defense squatters deployed yet, waiting to put them in play until after the attack if they want any, so I just don't see nailing anything of significance with that as very likely. Tragedy already seems like a better option, on account of allowing you to be proactive and use it as a follow-up to Jutte or Enemy Controller.

Even so, I wouldn't run more than one or - possibly, POSSIBLY - two copies of it, really. It's still kind of situational, and you don't want too much situational in one deck, really.

That was my argument on Exiled: that it would be a target for Rat (or just brought out with Reinforcement) once Gladiator Beast is done with their cycle. Even if they bring Murmillo out to kill it on a Rat summon, that would be killed right back by most monsters, barring a Waboku or even random Maniaca. ...Hmm, now that I think about it, when I said Dream Clown was a counter, the real "power card" in that scenario was Curse of Anubis.

Now, now, I was just saying that I would take Avarice over it for the sake of recycling (honestly, you would be surprised how often I could come up with five monsters in a deck with little to no dump/search methods, but that's beside the point). And I know Transmigration has chaining purposes (albeit a bit less now that Premature, CotH, Magician of Faith, and even Disc Commander are gone), but it could also be a dead draw in a bad situation when I need to deal more with a direct threat than an indirect one (something that *most* cards here can do in one form or another). ...How about a compromise:

1x The Transmigration Prophecy
2x Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (I touched on this a bit already, but works with Jutte & Curse)
2x Mask of Darkness
2x DD Crow

^Side deck. I can swap it in if the situation/deck warrants it. And, if one of the mained cards doesn't work out so well in testing, I'll swap it out for Transmigration, no questions asked.

With Dark Mirror Force, I was more thinking of chaining it with Curse, resulting in a full field removal...but that would be just as situational. Good point.

(...Wait a minute...how would Transmigration work as a counter to Darius when the player could just dig out whatever monster it was trying to summon, anyway?)