What do you think about my Light Deck?

[Vectra]

There are a few clarifications I need to make. This is on the game YuGiOh MD's and so pendulums are not in the game. It uses the September 2013 banlist.

 

Here's the link to the banlist of this game (encase you don't know): Link

 

EDIT: This deck is no longer a light deck. I changed it to a spell-caster deck (But the deck is still called StarBuster).

 

Monster Cards

Crusader of Endymion 3x

Defender, the magical knight 3x

Strength of Prophecy 3x

Arcane Apprentice 3x

Endymion, the Master Magician

Sorcerer of Dark Magic

Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode 2x

Magical Exemplar 3x

 

Spells

Spellbook of Secrets 2x

Spellbook of Power 3x

Spellbook Star Hall 3x

Miracle Synchro Fusion 2x

Rank-up-magic Barian's Force 2x

Terraforming 3x

Magical Citadel of Endymion 3x

Assault Teleport 2x

 

 

Traps

Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell 3x

Assault Mode Activate 2x

Gagaga Shield 3x

 

Extra Deck

Synchros

Arcanite Magician 3x

Tempest Magician 2x

 

Xyz

Number 104: Masquerade 2x

Number C104: Umbral Horror Masquerade 2x

Norito the Moral Leader 2x

Empress of Prophecy 2x

 

Fusions

Supreme Arcanite Magician 2x

 

Any thoughts about my deck?

[Snatch Steal]

*cracks nuckles*

 

Why the heck are you using Card Trader? The card does nothing for you. Don't even argue, it's bad.

Defender the Magical Knight also does nothing for you. Summoning it doesn't guarantee you'll get much out of it, except maybe defending itself or maiden, who already defends herself. Why noble knight artorigus? It's a normal monster that's completely outclassed by Alexandrite Dragon by typing and stats, with the same attribute and level. Why airknight parshath? It's really not a useful card at all. Crusader of endymion doesn't seem to have enough support to be used fully. Why Trust Guardian? It's limited in its synchro capability, and isn't really useful outside of being synchro material. 

Why are you only using 7 cards in your extra deck? You could be using good rank 4s, like Castel, Daigusto Emeral, Silent Honor ARK, etc. Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste must be fusion summoned by a spell card, so you'd have to draw into artorigus and summon a dragon to summon a really bad card for a 3-card combo when you don't really need to.

Call of the Earthbound could be replaced with just about any card ever. You're missing some very important staples, like Dragon Shrine, Dragon Ravine, Trade In, Cards of Consonance, Bottomless trap hole, solemn warning, solemn strike, etc. 

Why is your deck all light attribute monsters, and if you're restricting yourself to just lights, why not add Effect Veiler? 

To say the least, this deck isn't very good, and might explain why you have a problem with Rainbow Neos and Final Countdown.

[Vectra]

Here are my reasons

 

Call of the Earthbound

I combine call of the Earthbound with Maiden because no one will willfully attack her with anything unless they had something to destroy Blue-Eyes when he is summoned whether it is an effect or battle.

 

Crusader of Endymon

Crusader of Endymon is combined with Defender, the Magical Knight and Arcanite Magician (and Supreme). I usually summon Crusader of Endymon with Photon Lead which allows me to normal summon him on the same turn. Like you, this card seemed quiestionable at first but I was willing to give it a try. Suprisingly, it's a great card to use, especially with Arcanite Magician (or Supreme). It can also create, somewhat, a good defense when combined with Defender, the magical knight.

 

Card Trader

I use Card Trader instead of cards like Magical mallet or Reload because 1) It's continuous and 2) I have better use for it than reload and magical mallet (reload is in my side deck). Main reason I'm using either the mentioned cards or card trader is because I want to be able to shuffle my deck encase I need, for example, a trap and my trap is like 5 draws away (obviously you wouldn't know how many draws but still) and Card Trader is like an infinite shuffler. On top of that, Card Trader saved my butt in a few situations where I needed a specific card. For example, one game, I was able to get another Blue-eyes (due to Card Trader) to fuse to make Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragoon and I won the match.

 

Why the heck are you using Card Trader? The card does nothing for you. Don't even argue, it's bad.

If I was the argumentative type, I wouldn't be asking for advice.

 

 

Maiden can protect herself

Maiden only protects herself once per turn thus, making it a questionable move to put two of them on the field at the same time as it's effects of this type of card can't be activated again.

 

Noble Artorigus

I am fully aware of Alexandrite Dragon as he was in this deck for a very long time along with Artorigus. I kept Artorigus not for the fusion monster, but because he had good defense and Alexandrite Dragon is vulnerable to some to many trap cards that would turn him into defense position.

 

Draco the fusion monster

The fusion monster was there encase of certain situations. For example, Ancient Sacred Wyvern  (which had over 200,000 ATK due to Solemn Wishes) was hit with Blast Sphere. I would've planned for it and I would've already set up my hand to summon Draco to reverse the effect of Blast Sphere and hit the opponent instead. Of course, then, I didn't have Draco but ended up defeating my enemy beforehand with Artorigus.

 

 

Airknight Parshath

Airknight Parshath is there due to it's ability to deal damage no matter the position of the monster and the ability to draw 1 card. I usually use Photon lead (sometimes) to open my way to summon him.

 

Why not Cards of Consonance

I don't use Cards of Consonance anymore because I don't use the Stone of White Legend anymore as I favored Maiden's ability over the egg's ability.

 

Why is it all light?

I restricted this deck to only use lights. Like in my deck, Abyss, it is only darks. In Pyromaniac, it is only Fire monsters.

 

Effect Veiler?

I never heard of this card. I might add it to my deck.

 

Dragon Shrine/Ravine?

What will Dragon Shrine/Dragon Ravine do for me other than send dragons to my graveyard? Blue-eyes is a good tank so why would I discard it to draw 2 cards? I know drawing can be important but I don't know if I wanna discard Blue-Eyes for it.

 

Mass Destruction, Single destruction cards

I've been trying to squeeze in Bottomless Trap Hole, Dark Hole, etc.

 

Solemn Cards

I avoid Solemn cards (except for Solemn Wishes) because I don't have the heal cards to back up the LP I lost. I thought about getting Solemn Wishes again but I don't want to many continuous spell/trap cards as that can quickly take up space in your trap/spell card zone.

 

Silen Horror ARK and Castel

The game does not have Silent Horror ARK or Castel.

 

7 Cards in extra deck?

I have 2 copies of Ancient Sacred Wyveen and Photon for their effects are awesome when combined.  Arcanite Magician is a monster version of Mystical Space Typhoon (except that it's not quick-play) and can potentially have infinite attack as long as I keep Crusader of Endymon on the field which is easier than it seems.

 

Trust Guardian?

I have no synchros whose level is less than 7. On top of that, it gives my syncro monsters an "extra life" if they were to be destroyed by battle. 

 

To be sure that we are on the same page. I'm not disregarding all the advice you have given me.

[Vectra]

Bump. I edited my deck. Green is what I added and Red is what I took away.

[Trebuchet MS]

Personally, I feel the Deck would function a fair bit better if you narrow your scope a bit instead of just tossing in any good card of a specific Attribute. Y'know, start with an archetype and then slip in other cards that work well with the archetype.

[Vectra]

Personally, I feel the Deck would function a fair bit better if you narrow your scope a bit instead of just tossing in any good card of a specific Attribute. Y'know, start with an archetype and then slip in other cards that work well with the archetype.

From what I've seen of Archetypes, it only works if you use that archetype. For example, Elemental Heroes deck only seems to work in a deck full of elemental heroes since almost all of it's support cards say "if an ELEMENTAL HERO [insert restriction here], activate this card." Same with Photons and Galaxy monsters. Same with Laval and any other Archetype I've seen.

 

Unless you are saying to copy an Archetype, can you please elaborate on what you are saying? Or is it simply I'm thinking too narrowly?

[Trebuchet MS]

If your Deck covers too wide a scope and ends up using several sets of cards contained in their own little synergies, there is a good chance that you get sub-optimal cards because what you just drew does not operate as effectively with the other cards you have. For example, Crusader and Defender work well with each other but don't do anything with the rest of the Deck, so getting them without their counterpart out often means you've not really gotten anything particularly good. White Stone of Legend is cool for pulling out Blue-Eyes, but you're a little stuck there if you don't have any efficient ways to bring out Blue-Eyes.

 

Cards with that can support a wide scope of other cards tend to have very weak interactions (or they're on the F/L List), while if you narrow your scope towards cards designed for an archetype, you get more powerful effects that can only interact with a smaller range of cards, but overall greater synergy as more of the cards you get can do more in a greater variety of situations.

[Vectra]

So you're saying to copy an archetype?

 

As for the crusader, I never thought about it like that. Defender (or trust guardian) and a negate card was often in my hand when I summoned him so he never was rendered useless. I guess I should be glad it never happens (no sarcasm).

 

I used to have "ancient rules" to summon Blue-Eyes but, according to others, I needed things like Mystical Space Typhoon so that card took the place of 2 ancient rules and dark hole. Speaking on "not having room"...

 

I do have a question that puzzled me ever since I started deck-building

Everyone who spoke to me repeatedly mentioned Dark Hole, negate attacks, negate spells/traps, etc. How does one fit all of that in just 40 cards?

 

If you had 3 of the following:

Negate/destroy Traps/Spells

Negate Monster Effects

Destroy Monsters

 

That will be 9 but some "have to" cards are mentioned yet are limited such as: Forbidden Seal, Bottomless Trap Hole, Solemn Warning (which is a lot of LP, especially if you can't gain it back). That leaves you with 12. I wouldn't trust Forbidden Seal as you must discard 1 spell card and, as you see, my spell cards are very useful to just discard them. In my case, that is 11.

 

You need some way to summon from the graveyard AND you need to have a way to negate battles which makes that 17. I'm sort of new to deck-building as there are probably many cards I don't know about but 17 is a huge chunk just for "have to" cards. I wouldn't have room for Photon Lead, Card Trader, Pot of Benevolence. If I was to do that then most of my deck is trap/spell cards which never ended well for me.

 

So my question(s) is: Are these really "have to" cards? How far can a deck exceed 40 before it becomes too big?

[Trebuchet MS]

It is usually most efficient to follow an archetype. Some archetypes have enough design space that you can mix them with a few other select cards (for example, see HAT Decks - Hand/Artifact/Traptrix - which mesh together cards from 3 archetypes, using sheer advantage offered by individual cards to control the board and win, rather than general synergy).

 

Now, for staples, I understand many Decks don't have enough space to run every single one of them. This is why I feel that it's easier to build the Deck around the archetype, and then fill in the gaps with general-use staples. As for which staples to run, put in cards that fill in for where your Deck lacks. Rest of the Deck has good access to targeting removal? Put in Dark Hole and Bottomless to deal with hexproof threats. Lack of S/T removal? Put in some more MST. And so on.

[Vectra]

I see. I will re-edit my deck with what you said. Judging by it's name, Starbuster, should I make it a spell counter deck? I have the deck, Sky Gods, which is "Sanctuary of the Sky" archetype which has proven to be very successful.

[Vectra]

Bump.

 

With some good advice, I decided to pick the Spell Counter Archetype. Meaning, I combined the Spellbook and Endymion archetype which works really well. Any additional advice would be appreciated.

[Trebuchet MS]

Personally not a fan of Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell as part of the main Deck content. Would rather you put it in the side Deck because while it is powerful in certain matchups, it outright blanks on others. Side Decks are for adjusting your Deck to counter certain strategies - the place for "silver bullets" in tournament settings.

 

Shift the three copies of Cursed Seal aside, replace with general control cards like Bottomless Trap Hole or Mirror Force. Your ability to respond to your opponent's plays that aren't Spell Cards are lacking.

 

By far the best monster that can generate Spell Counters is Magical Exemplar, gathering 2 Counters per Spell you activate - double that of any other Spell-based Counter sources. She can also revive your Spellcasters for easy Arcanites, or if Arcanite is already there, be a very easy source of removal. I'd recommend her over Alchemist of Black Spells.

 

Spell Power Grasp is a staple for any Spell Counter shenanigans.

 

If you're running a Spellbook subtheme, I would recommend 1 or 2 copies of Spellbook of Wisdom. It grants good protection to fend off your opponent trying to disrupt your plays with S/Ts.

[Vectra]

Cursed of the Forbidden Spell

The card is used for Guarding "Citedal of Endymion" from being destroyed by my opponent activating a field spell card. I use it against ritual spells, spells like Lightning Vortex, Swords of Revealing Light, etc. Discarding spell cards is of no big deal as I have a lot of them and I can always recover them using Pot of Benevolence, Hidden Spellbook, and by using the special summon effect of Endymion, the Master Magician. 

 

Bottomless Trap Hole/Mirror Force

The reason I don't have these is because Star Hall does all the ATK boosting for me and my deck is full of destroying spell/trap cards. On mainly because I don't want to add any more cards as the deck is already big.

 

Respond to opponent without spell cards is lacking

I didn't know it mattered. I figured spells were more reliable and considering how my deck operates, I figured spell cards would be the way to go.

 

Magical Exemplar vs. Alchemist of Black Spells

I am aware of her abilities. I did not add her because Alchemist (like Crusader) gives spell counters to those who can not use one on the field (example: Breaker the Magical Warrior, Maiden of Macabre, and Arcanite Magician Assault Mode). Nonetheless, I will give her a try.

 

Spell Power Grasp

That's funny because it's in my side deck. I can't find any room for it and my spellbook spells combined with star hall, I felt, was better than using Spell Power Grasp. Spell Power Grasp gives 1 counter to one monster or 2 to Citadel. With my spellbooks, it gave one counter to all my Star Halls and Citadel.. For Monsters, that is where Crusader and Alchemist comes in. I used to loop this card with Pot of Benevolence and Hidden Spellbook; when I had my last Spell Power Grasp, I would use them so when I used the one in my hand, I can just pull another one. Well, Spellbooks did the same thing except that they pulled each other making it easier for you to pull of combos with it, giving you more spell counters for Star Hall and Citadel.

 

Spellbook of Wisdom

I was thinking about replacing it with Mega Ton Magical Cannon. Skill Drain and Exhausting Spell are the two cards I'm afraid of so I'll probably replace Mega Ton Magical Cannon with Spellbook of Wisdom. The only problem is that I have to make room for it.

[Trebuchet MS]

In the current day, a lot of critical plays come from monsters and their effects. The ability to shut them down before they can do anything fruitful like be used to Summon something bigger and meaner that you can't easily take down in a straight battle will prove to be helpful. This is why Solemn Strike is a popular card and not something like Dark Bribe.

 

Of course, that's not to say there are a few problematic Spells that you'd want to shut down, but the chances of encountering problematic monsters are greater. This is why Cursed Seal, being a "silver bullet" that can trip up a Deck that's overdependent on a few select spells, normally sits in the sideboard.

 

I believe you can safely reduce the number of copies of Pot of Benevolence if you need space for other cards. It's never something you want to draw too early in the game. I'm also more comfortable with 2 Terraforming rather than 3 because the third copy runs a significant risk of being a dead draw.

[Vectra]

Any dead draws becomes ammo for Endymion's ability or Forbidden Seal. Due to Lavalval Chain's ability, I can put Endymion on the top of my deck. I don't do it early in the game because all my support cards are for spellcasters so I only use it when I have, at least, 6 spell counters on Citadel. Speaking of Citadel, I really can't risk losing it, especially if it has so many spell cunters which is basically ammo.

 

Extra Terraforms and Extra Field Spells serve as ammo to be used with Forbidden Seal and Endymion.

 

I forgot to mention that Hidden Spellbook is also in this deck. (3 Copies)

 

I heeded your advice and added Spellbook of Wisdom. I think I squeezed in 3 copies (or maybe it was 2) and I played it to make sure my deck wasn't too big. I'm going to see about Bottomless Trap and Mirror Force but I'm pretty sure I stretched it as far as I can. I'll give you an update when I find out.

 

I also heeded your advice about the Magical Exemplar and she has been very useful. Especially when on the field at the same time as Arcanite Magician.

[Sander]

*disregard this post*

[Tinkerer]

Heya! How's the deckbuildin' coming along?

 

If you're looking to trim fat from your Deck to make it faster, you could remove the Hidden Spellbooks. Pot of Benevolence outclasses it and it helps generate counters. Hidden Spellbook may be nice to keep your Spellbooks a little more live, but it is really slow and (if you were in a losing position) not something you would want to draw. Also, Transmigration Prophecy is strictly better in every way.

 

I'm not a super huge fan of Cursed Seal, even in spell-heavy decks. Spell-heavy decks especially are prone to losing tons of advantage really quickly. Cursed Seal doesn't help this as you are using 2 cards (Curse + a spell) to stop only 1 card + possible options. I admit, hitting an opponent's field spell is significant, especially if they're using Terraforming, but it really isn't worth a card that promotes some power for the sake of running dead spells.

 

On that note, you can also cut down on the Terraformings (to 2). It may be all good for having access to Magical Citadel, but if the deck being too unwieldy is the issue, this is a definite way to trim it. This is also kinda a follow-up to the Cursed Seal point. The third Terraforming is likely to be dead. Yes, you could use it as fodder for another card, but it would be infinitely more useful if you had a spell that could be used on its own as well as fodder.

 

I'd also recommend removing the Assault Mode cards. Without any way of searching Assault Mode Activate and you being just as likely to draw Arcanite Magician/AM, it is just another case of possibly drawing into the wrong card at the wrong time. The fact that Arcanite isn't really a "on-demand" Synchro just makes this pair, while enormously powerful, not particularly helpful.

 

Card Trader is kinda bound to the Deck since you're using Assault Mode cards. However, if you remove the latter, you can also cut this card out. Its strength lies in helping you fix your hands, but it takes a turn to kick in, making it pretty slow for a spell. Honestly, there isn't any real reason to remove this, but if you're trying to cut things further and you remove the Assault Mode cards, this could be removed without a hassle.

 

Removing all of these would cut your Deck back down to 40-41 cards, I believe? I also have alternate additional suggestions, but they would be most effective if the deck was limited to 40 cards (suggestions included), so you'd need to cut it down to 35-36 or so.

 

Good luck!

[Vectra]

I took out Card Trader, Arcanite Assault Mode, Assault Mode Activate, all 3 copies of Forbidden Seal, and 1 copy of Terraforming

 

And then I added 2 copies of Field Barrier, 1 copy of Solemn Warning, and 2 copies of Mirror Force.

 

Hidden Spellbook

As it does take one turn to get the spells back n my deck, would it be best to keep it to recycle my spellbooks over and over? The Spellbooks boosts up my Star Halls by 1 counter each including my Citadel. Spell Book of Power and Spell Book of secrets hunts down other spells books in my deck making it really easy to get any Spellbooks (including Hidden Spellbook).

 

And would it be best especially with Pot of Benevolence? I could use HIdden Spellbook and then use Pot of Benevolence to get it back.

 

Question about Mirror Force and Solemn Judgment: 

I know that Trebucket MS said that my number of trap cards is lacking but would it be better to use Magical Dimension? Magical Exemplar can easily revive whatever monster it is if I play only 2 spell cards (all my monsters are level 4) and Endymion can be special summoned using the Citadel along with granting me the ability to add 1 spell card to my hand.

 

What do you think?

 

And I want to thank you all for taking the time to help me with this. I'm quite new to deck-building.

[Trebuchet MS]

Ah, yes, Magical Dimension is a great addition to any Spellcaster Deck. I keep forgetting it exists.

 

I'm also amused at how Hidden Spellbook, an old card from a long time ago, actually works with the rest of the Spellbook archetype. Can be searched with Secrets, although it doesn't boost up Star Hall. But since it just puts them back in your Deck, I'm not exactly fond of it, so I'd recommend 1 at most. If you want something that can potentially endlessly juggle itself with other copies, I'd recommend you look into The Transmigration Prophecy since that card has utility in interfering with the opponent's Graveyard plays too.

[Vectra]

Why does it matter if it goes into my deck or my hand since the spellbooks pull each other out anyways? I'll make it one copy and use Transmigration instead so I don't have to wait until it's my turn.

 

Also, I took out Miracle Fusion and some other cards and added in 3 copies of Gagaga Shield. Twice per turn, the equipped monster can not be destroyed by battle or card effects. Combine that to keep Defender on the field, it can make a great combo.

 

Why do you take out Miracle Fusion

To be honest, I always favored Arcanite more than Supreme because Supreme can only destroy one card per turn where Arcanite can destroy as many as he wants in one turn. Combine that with Exemplar, Star Hall, Crusader, Citadel, and Alchemist, this card can do a lot more damage than Supreme. Supreme does have the "draw 1 card" ability but I rarely use it.

 

No need to use it to try to draw Endymion because I can use Lavalval Chain's ability and send Endymion to the graveyard to then special summon him from the graveyard.

 

Spellbook of Wisdom

That was some great advice. It guarded my Maiden of Macabre.I have a question about this card: If I was to chain this with magical dimension, would the monster I tribute negate the tribute? If so, can I still special summon a spellcaster and destroy a monster on the field?

[Trebuchet MS]

If you have a monster affected by Spellbook of Wisdom and also targeted by Magical Dimension, you do not Tribute that monster. However, because you don't Tribute, you also do not get to SS a Spellcaster or destroy a monster.

[Vectra]

That makes since and did you know about Imperial Iron Wall? Cards cannot be banished so would that send Benevolence to the graveyard instead? Enabling me to loop all my spellbooks to my heart's content.

[Trebuchet MS]

Introducing 1 card for the sake of synergizing with 1 or 2 other cards while not exactly working very well with the rest of the Deck is not the best course of action.

[Vectra]

Nevermind, the game concludes that if Pot of Benevolence cannot be banished then it cannot be activated.

[Vectra]

Bump. I have changed the deck and I want to explain some of the changes that might seem questionable.

 

Why do you still have Forbidden Seal?

@Trebucket and Mr. Melon, I know that you guys aren't fans of forbidden seal but I had to replace something with Field Barrier because I can't have too many continuous cards active (for obvious reasons). I wanted to keep at least two zones open which is why I limited Star Hall to two.

 

No Benevolence?

I took out Pot of Benevolence because Strength of Prophecy had an ability that defeated the purpose of me having pot of benevolence.

Once per turn: You can shuffle 1 "Spellbook" Spell Card from your Graveyard into your Deck to target 1 face-up Spellcaster-Type monster on the field; increase its Level by 1 and its ATK by 500. Since Exemplar can summon monsters I didn't find use for it, and then Endymion can take a spell card from my graveyard to my hand (when special summoned)

 

Royal Decree

I have Royal Decree because I don't use Trap Cards (except for Forbidden) and so it can really only hinder my opponent. Combined with Forbidden Seal, I can permanently destroy some of their spell cards as well(which can create a lot of dead draws for them). Of course, you may think "what if you use Decree before you can use Forbidden?" I don't activate Decree as soon as I set it. I wait until I need to (for example, Skill Drain). Also, Defender saved me from a lot of mass destructions (Dark Hole, for example, he saved all 4 other spellcasters including himself). On top of that, no one can use Forbidden on me if I have Royal Decree on the field so this card also protects my spell cards from other Forbidden Seals.

 

Half-Shut

For the "Half-shut" I needed a card that can potentially make an attack backfire since it can also be used on my enemy. It won't be destroyed but my enemy will still take damage. I also thought about using Offering of the Doomed. Also, the spell card needed to be quick-play so I could activate it on my opponent's turn which is why I'm not using cards like Lightning Vortex.

 

Dark Magician

Dark Magician was added when I saw Skilled Dark Magician. It's stats are pretty amazing for a level 4 and didn't want it's effect to go to waste so I added Dark Magician to then find the Warlock whose effect can give me a great advantage: when a normal spell card is activated, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. With the help of Lavalval Chain, it shouldn't take that long to get Warlock in my hand.

 

 

Awesome Combo I found out

If I need a specific spell card, if I have at least 6 spell counters on Endymion, I can use Endymion's ability to discard a spell card, destroy himself, and then special summon him again to gain the spell card I am looking for. Isn't my first choice but it is an option.

 

Any thoughts?