The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 9

[Truth]

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 9

Drong Waph wer Darastri!!

Dragon Thread Live Chat

Links to previous threads:

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 1

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 2

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 3

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 4

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 5

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 6

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 7

The Official Dragon Discussion Thread - Part 8

Now onto the latest thread.

Thread Contents:

Part I - The Dragons

Part II - The Spells

Part III - The Traps

Part IV - The Support

Part V - Deck Examples

Part VI – Features and Links

Part VII - Looking to the Future

Part VIII - More Deck Examples

Part I - The Dragons!!

Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon /Dark /10*/ 2800/2400/ Effect
This card can be Special Summoned by removing from play 1 Dragon-Type monster you control. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster except "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" from your hand or your Graveyard to your field.

The backbone of the Hopeless and Disaster Dragon decks. This card is what propelled dragons into the tournament scene. Its not self interactive, however, that shouldn't by any means prevent you from running it in 3 copies. This card is the reason dragons are where they are today and has incredible synergy with many of both Disaster and Hopeless decks other cards.

Dark Horus /Dark /8*/ 3000/1800/Effect
Once per turn, when a Spell Card is activated during your opponent's Main Phase, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 DARK monster from your Graveyard.

A level 8 Dark Dragon. Instantly it fits the bill for Allure of Darkness and Trade-In making it an extremely powerful draw engine. Its also a viable target for Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and capable of being dumped via Future Fusion. Its Dark status means it can aid in the summoning of both Dark Armed Dragon and The Dark Creator. You won't often get its effect off, however, if you do it nets you a free Phantom of Chaos, Dark Grepher or Armageddon Knight. This card fits perfectly into Dark Hopeless Dragon variants.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon /Light/8*/ 3000/2500/ Normal

Originally Posted by Kyuusei

What to be said about this majestic beast? It's a monstrous monster that is quite a monstrosity to deal with. Can you tell it's amazing? It's a Trade-In target and White Stone of Legends make it easily searchable. Pretty boss.

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon fuels the most consistent Hopeless draw engine in the game at this present state in time. Clocking in at 3000ATK its easily a match for Dark Horus and although its not a Dark for Allure it comes with its own Tutor in the form of White Stone of Legend making it a superior Trade-In target. Combined with the basic skeleton of a Hopeless Deck its LIGHT attribute means cards like Chaos Sorcerer can fit in even better. It took 7 long years but finally the Engine of Destruction has returned to reign holy terror upon all non believers. Yes. We are a cult. We are Legion.

The Dark Creator /Dark/8*/ 2300/3000/ Effect
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned, by having 5 or more DARK monsters in your Graveyard while you control no monsters. Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard.

If you are running the Dark Hopeless engine you need to be maining a copy of The Dark Creator. DARK for Allure, Level 8 for Trade-In and a self special summoning effect to boot. Its inherent synergy with Future Fusion is blatant. This card is effectively the backbone of the Dragon Nohr variant; place it on top of your deck via Plaguespreader Zombie before you blow up with Phantom of Chaos and your opponent might as well scoop right there and then.

Red-Eyes Wyvern /Wind/4*/ 1800/1600/ Effect
During your End Phase, if you did not Normal Summon or Set a monster that turn, you can remove from play this card from your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Red-Eyes" monster from your Graveyard, except "Red-Eyes B. Chick".

An extraordinary card that gives easy access to the decks boss monster; Red-Eyes Wyvern is a staple whether you are running Hopeless or Disaster. 1800ATK clashes with Stratos, Shura and Laquari, runs over Lyla, Mezuki and Bora and then just craps all over anything less than that in general. Its effect activates in the graveyard so you don't need to worry about Skill Drain slowing it down any. And although it activates in the End Phase don't let that fool you into thinking that makes this card any less potent. This card was reprinted in the Ancient Prophecy Special Edition and is now really easy to obtain a play set of. Its self removal effect also sets up for reuse and abuse with Burial from a Different Dimension.

Dark Armed Dragon /Dark/7*/ 2800/1000/ Effect
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by having exactly 3 DARK monsters in your Graveyard. You can remove from play 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard to destroy 1 card on the field.

Dark Armed Dragon dominated the metagame from the day he was released till the day Konami ripped apart the Tele-DAD deck and is still a solid force to contend with. DARK type for Allure of Darkness and sadly only 1 level short of Trade-In the corrupted Armed Dragon is an incredibly easy dragon to splash into your deck. Should you be playing either the Dark or Nohr variant you want to be maining as many copies of this card as you can, which is at present; 1. Any other deck running enough Darks should seriously consider this as well.

Koa’ki Meiru Drago /Wind/4*/ 1900/1600/ Effect
During each of your End Phases, destroy this card unless you send 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your hand to the Graveyard or reveal 1 Dragon-Type monster in your hand. LIGHT and DARK monsters cannot be Special Summoned.

With the predominance of Twilight and Oppressionwings in tournaments these days Koa'ki Meiru Drago is more valuable than ever. A staple in 3's in Disaster Dragon and easily a solid choice for any other deck that can support it Koa'ki Meiru Drago sports a solid 1900ATK and its effect locks out every power play the top decks make. Heres a basic list of the things it stops:

Judgement Dragon
Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner (effect)
Magical Android
Ally of Justice Catastor
Dark Armed Dragon
Dark End Dragon
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Tragoedia
Blackwing - Vayu, the Emblem of Honour (Effect)
Blackwing Armour Master
Blackwing Armed Wing
Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame (Effect)
Mystic Tomato (Effect)

In a Disaster Dragon deck the trick to utilizing Koa'ki Meiru is to flip it on and off the field like a switch in order to lock out your opponents summons but allow you your own. Provided you think before you act Koa'ki Meiru in no way impedes your own decks special summoning.

Prime Material Dragon /Light/6*/ 2400/2000/ Effect
Any effect that would inflict damage to a player instead increases their Life Points by the same amount. When a card's effect to destroy a monster(s) on the field is activated, you can send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard to negate its activation and destroy the card.

Here is a basic list of cards Prime Material can negate that are commonly played:

Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
Judgment Dragon
Mirror Force
Lightning Vortex
Bottomless Trap Hole
Torrential Tribute
Dark Armed Dragon
Icarus Attack

An incredible protection tool that adds an element of control to Hopeless builds and multiplies the control of Disaster decks. Locking out any form of Burn whilst its on the field Prime Material Dragon's true strength shines in its ability to negate any effect that would destroy one of your monsters with a simple discard. Gyzarus? Lightning Vortex? Bottomless Trap Hole? The list goes on. This card is pretty much standard in most builds now as a single copy and should be considered to be fairly "staple" when constructing a dragon based deck, its benefits are just too incredible to deny.

The White Stone of Legend /Light/1*/ 300/250/ Tuner
When this card is sent to the Graveyard, add 1 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your Deck to your hand.

This card makes the SOL Hopeless engine as well as gives it its name: Stone Of Legend Hopeless. A LIGHT 1 star tuner monster may seem underwhelming at first but it is both searchable via Masked Dragon and dumpable via Future Fusion and it is when it hits the Graveyard that its effect kicks in. As soon as you ditch this card to the Graveyard by whatever means it instantly adds 1 Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your deck to your hand. The effect is mandatory which means it can't miss the timing, however, it also means should you lack the Blue-Eyes in your deck then your opponent is able to examine your deck at their leisure. Capable of fueling the Blue-Eyes engine and creating +3's off of Future Fusion this card is a staple in any deck running Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Being LIGHT and Level 1 it both fuels Chaos Sorcerer and makes for easy synchroing of Level 7 Synchros, also giving access to Arcanite Magician.

Masked Dragon /Fire/3*/1400/1100/ Effect
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster with 1500 or less ATK to your side of the field from your Deck. Then shuffle your Deck.

Easily one of the best recruiters in the game and the Dragon decks only reliable recruiter. Masked Dragon maintains field presence whilst thinning the deck and searching out useful combo pieces. This card truly shines in Disaster Dragon builds where it can grant access to Totem Dragon for tributes, Exploder Dragon for monster removal, Magna and Debris Dragons for tuning, among other cards such as Twin-Headed Behemoth, White Stone of Legend and Divine Dragon Ragnarok. This card is incredibly versatile. Clocking in at 1400ATK it can easily run over card such as Gale and Lumina and can be used to force early Kalut and Honest plays from your opponent whilst losing you no card presence at all much like Colossal Fighter.

Here is a list of cards Masked Dragon can search for:

Armed Dragon LV3
Baby Dragon
Blackland Fire Dragon
Darkblaze Dragon
Debris Dragon
Decoy Dragon
Different Dimension Dragon
Divine Dragon - Excelion
Divine Dragon Ragnarok
Dragunity - Black-Spear
Dragunity - Brandistock
Dragunity - Corsesca
Dragunity - Javelin
Dragunity - Partisan
Dragunity - Phalanx
Dweller in the Depths
Element Dragon
Exploder Dragon
Fairy Dragon
Flamvell Dragnov
Flamvell Guard
Golem Dragon
Gray Wing
Hardened Armed Dragon
Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon
Koumori Dragon
Lancer Dragonute
Lesser Dragon
Lizard Soldier
Magna Drago
Majestic Dragon
Masked Dragon
One-Eyed Shield Dragon
Petit Dragon
Pitch-Dark Dragon
Red-Eyes B. Chick
Stardust Xiaolong
The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave
The White Stone of Legend
Totem Dragon
Troop Dragon
Twin-Headed Behemoth
Wicked Dragon with the Ersatz Head
Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1
Yamatano Dragon Scroll

Exploder Dragon /Earth/3*/1000/0/ Effect
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, destroy the monster that destroyed it. While this card is attacking, any Battle Damage either player takes from a battle involving this card becomes 0.

Reliable monster removal in a rather old school wrapper. Exploder Dragon reminds me of back when Exiled Force used to see play. Recruitable via Masked Dragon the Exploder allows for you to easily remove monsters that are causing difficulty on the field or simply make a 1 for 1 trade and force your opponent into a simplified game state.

Dragon Ice /Water/5*/1800/2200/ Effect
When your opponent Special Summon a monster, you can discard 1 card to Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. There can only be 1 face-up "Dragon Ice" monster on the field.

Dragon Ice is an interesting tech choice that opens up defensive options in Hopeless and Disaster builds. Seeing as it can be discarded for its own effect its optimal usage is in summoning itself from the hand, however, self recursion is always nice. It also doubles as a discard outlet for your bigger dragons.

Debris Dragon /Wind/4*/1000/2000/ Tuner
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 monster with 500 or less ATK from your Graveyard in Attack Position. That monster's effect(s) is negated. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster. The other Synchro Material Monster(s) cannot be Level 4.

Debris Dragon is a level 4 tuner monster that can only summon Dragon Synchro monsters. Being unable to tune with level 4 monsters its immediate usage is tied to summoning level 7's such as Exploder Dragonwing, Black Rose Dragon and Ancient Fairy Dragon. Its ability to revive another monster upon summon is often seen as unabusable in Dragon decks, however, it does present a nice combo with Totem Dragon allowing for easy access to an instant Iron Chain Dragon. 2500ATK for a normal summon is never a bad thing. Debris Dragon is also searchable via Masked Dragon and has 2000DEF to act as a solid wall against Shura's and unpumped Laquari's.

White Night Dragon /Water/8*/3000/2500/ Effect
Negate the activation of any Spell or Trap Card that targets this card, and destroy that card. When a face-up monster you control is selected as an attack target, you can send 1 Spell or Trap Card you control to the Graveyard to change the target to this card.

Released as a Secret Rare in Ancient Prophecy White Night Dragon serves as Disaster Dragon’s latest beat stick. Capable of negating numerous cards in the Metagame and also packing an attack redirection effect White Night is capable of catching opponents off guard and aiding you in dominating the field with ease. Here is a basic list of cards White Night can negate that are commonly played:

Dimensional Prison
Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
Mind Control
Brain Control
Icarus Attack
Book of Moon

Totem Dragon /Earth/2*/400/200/ Effect
This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Dragon-Type monster. If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card in Attack Position. You cannot activate this effect if there are any monsters in your Graveyard that are not Dragon-Type. If this card is Special Summoned with this effect, remove it from play when it is removed from the field.

Self recursion and two tributes? Totem Dragon screams abuse. This card is searchable via Masked Dragon and has amazing synergy with both Light and Darkness Dragon and Yamata Dragon, two high level Dragons that cannot be Special Summoned by Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. It can also act as two tributes for the afore mentioned Darkness Metal and White Night while also serving as Synchro fodder and a simple tribute for a Prime Material Dragon or Genesis Dragon. This card is epic.

Yamata Dragon /Fire/7*/2600/3100/ Spirit
This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned or flipped face-up. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, draw cards from your Deck until you have 5 cards in your hand.

Yamata Dragon is a spirit monster that has never seen much play outside of casual dragon and spirit decks, however, a recent Disaster build pioneered by the Disaster Dragon creator “Dragonalchemist - Richard Clarke” featuring Yamata Dragon as its newest trick has inspired a sudden surge in the spirits play. Yamata holds an untoppable DEF of 3100 and can easily be set for its effect. Requiring 2 tributes and unable to be special summoned it almost seems as if Totem Dragon was made for this card. In a deck designed to simplify the game state this card truly shines. Clearing an opponents back row by shelling out your entire hand hardly matter once you drop Yamata Dragon. After scoring an attack it replenishes your hand in a manner similar to Morphing Jar – allowing you to draw until you have 5 cards. After being summoned it returns to the owners hand, however, this prevents it from destruction on the opponents turn, when big monsters are most vulnerable and allows you to reveal it for the cost of Koa’ki Meiru Drago should you have that in play, preventing your opponent from gaining any knowledge about your new hand.

Light and Darkness Dragon /Light/8*/2800/2400/ Effect
This card cannot be Special Summoned. While this card is face-up on the field, its Attribute is also treated as DARK. When a Spell or Trap Card is activated, or the effect of an Effect Monster is activated, that activation is negated and this card loses 500 ATK and DEF. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, select 1 monster in your Graveyard. Then destroy all cards you control, and Special Summon that monster.

Light and Darkness Dragon is one of the best two-tribute monsters in the game, debatably the best though Dark Magician of Chaos gives it a good run for its money.

The Dragon rose to popularity in the Perfect Circle Monarch variants near the end of the Monarch "Era" where his ability to bring back Disc Commander and save peoples asses from the newly released Crush Card Virus came in handy. In addition to his revival ability the Dragon also has an extremely powerful negation one which allowed it play in random stun variants as well. It was splashed into Strike Ninja and now with the release of Totem Dragon has been run in many dragon builds.

With the release of Genesis Dragon and Totem Dragon my favourite Bi-Polar Dragon has a seen a resurgence in play. It fits perfectly into Disaster Dragon builds and allows for more control and tempo swings whilst also granting a Special Summon upon death. Special Summoning a Genesis can allow you to reclaim your Light and Darkness Dragon next turn, a Koa’ki will prevent Lights and Darks from being summoned, a Totem Dragon can set you up for another two-tribute monster next turn and a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon can set you up for an uber swarm.

Magna Drago /Fire/2*/ 1400/600/ Tuner
Each time this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, it gains 200 ATK.

Its recruitable via Masked Dragon, level 2 and one of the more versatile Dragon tuners. Unrestricted in the type of monster that it synchros for Magna is the typical outlet for Disaster into plays for Brionac and Goyo when paired with a level 4 monster. Coupled with a Masked Dragon it can make a Catastor and Android and this card also boosts and ATK increasing effect provided it does some battle damage.

Genesis Dragon /Light/6*/2200/1800/ Effect
Once per turn, you can send 1 Dragon-Type Monster from your hand to the Graveyard to add 1 Dragon-Type Monster from your Graveyard to your hand. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can return all Dragon-Type Monsters from your Graveyard to your Deck.

Genesis Dragon is an incredible card that only serves to further increase the versatility of the Disaster Dragon deck. Acting as both a discard and recharge outlet Genesis allows players to recycle monsters such as Light and Darkness Dragon, Yamata Dragon and Level monsters while discarding cards they’d rather have in the Graveyard such as Totem Dragon and Red-Eyes Wyvern. It also allows for reverse toolboxing through Future Fusion. Ditch Yamata or Light and Darkness for Five-Headed and keep it in the Graveyard until you need it, then simply drop down a Genesis and grab it back. Genesis can also allow you to ditch a dead in hand monster for later use and can even grab back the might Dark Armed Dragon and Judgement Dragon. Upon death Genesis allows the player to shuffle all dragons in their Graveyard into their deck, this can prove especially useful for decks running Troop Dragon or Level based decks revolving around Horus or Armed Dragon. The key to using Genesis is to remember that both of its effects are optional which gives you control over them but also means they can miss their timing.

Flamvell Guard /Fire/1*/ 100/2000/ Tuner

A level 1 Dragon tuner, Flamvell Guard sports an impressive 2000DEF and is searchable via Masked Dragon. Sadly as far as level 1 Dragon tuners go this card is outclassed by White Stone of Legend and for 2000DEF Debris beats it there, and for a Fire Dragon we already have Magna. Still it’s an extra wall and tuner for those of you who want one and its art is pretty snazzy.

Part II – The Spells

Trade- In/ Spell
Discard 1 Level 8 monster. Draw 2 cards.

Used primarily for drawing through your deck and dumping monsters into your Graveyard. This deck is one of the key engines to both the Dragon Nohr and Hopeless Dragon decks. It acts as a discard outlet for Dark Horus, Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Norleras while also letting you thin your deck and granting you access to more cards.

Allure of Darkness/ Spell
Draw 2 cards, then remove from play 1 DARK monster from your hand. If you don't have any DARK monsters in your hand to remove, send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard.

Another powerful draw card. Allure of Darkness combos extraordinarily well with D.D.R. and Hidden Armoury whilst also burning through your deck and removing dead in hand cards.

D.D.R. – Different Dimension Reincarnation/ Spell
Discard 1 card. Select 1 of your removed from play monsters. Special Summon it in Attack Position, and equip it with this card. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the equipped monster.

Coupled with Hidden Armoury to search this out Different Dimension Reincarnation allows for easy access to monsters removed from play via Allure of Darkness, The Dark Creator, Phantom of Chaos, Chaos Sorcerer, or even Red-Eyes summoning requirement. It also doubles as a controllable discard outlet.

Cards of Consonance/ Spell
Discard 1 Dragon-Type Tuner monster with 1000 or less ATK to draw 2 cards.

This card is another draw card Dragons have access to. It combos extremely well with White Stone of Legend as well as acting as a D-Draw for Dragunitys. Other cards that work well with it are Majestic Dragon and Flamvell Guard.

Foolish Burial/ Spell
Select 1 monster from your Deck and send it to the Graveyard.

An inherent -1 in card advantage and presence has caused this card to see a deterrence in play. Armageddon Knight, Future Fusion and Dark Grepher all do this cards job and better, however, if you need another method of fuelling the Grave this card is always good and as an added bonus doesn’t absorb your normal summon.

Future Fusion/ Spell
Send, from your Deck to the Graveyard, Fusion Material Monsters that are listed on a Fusion Card, and select that 1 Fusion Monster from your Fusion Deck. Special Summon a Fusion Monster from your Fusion Deck with the same name as the selected Fusion Monster during your 2nd Standby Phase after this card's activation. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon.) When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.

The backbone of the Hopeless Dragon and Disaster Dragon decks. This card allows for massive dumps of Dragons and setups for OTK’s and combo’s alike. It gets 5 dragons right where you want them and also prepares to summon a 5000ATK beater in 2 turns. It doesn’t often matter whether or not you even get the Five-Headed Dragon, the discard this card provides is often more than enough to hand game to a Dragon user.

Burial from a Different Dimension/ Quickplay Spell
Select up to 3 Monster Cards that are removed from play, and return them to their owners' Graveyard.

This card is broken. Abusing the RFG mechanic and making cards like Totem Dragon, Red-Eyes Wyvern and Plaguespreader Zombie virtually costless it is also a Quickplay Spell which allows you to bait S/T removal from the opponent and force them into subpar plays. This card shines in Disaster Dragon but also has its uses in Hopeless variants.

Gold Sarcophagus/ Spell
Select and remove from play 1 card in your Deck. During your second Standby Phase after this card's activation, add the removed card to your hand.

A generic Tutor that takes 2 turns to resolve. Gold Sarco is highly useful for searching out cards such as Heavy Storm and Future Fusion. It’s also highly combo-able with D.D.R. and Burial from a Different Dimension and allows for all forms of big play set ups.

Hidden Armoury/ Spell
Send 1 card from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard. Add 1 Equip Spell Card from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. You cannot Normal Summon or Set the turn you activate this effect.

The highly anticipated Hidden Armoury does not disappoint. Inherent synergy with D.D.R., Allure of Darkness, Phantom of Chaos, The Dark Creator and able to work around Red-Eyes Wyvern’s limitation this card is a must for any deck running D.D.R.. Should we ever get Premature Burial back this cards use will only increase. Being able to grab from the graveyard effectively gives you 4-5 D.D.R.’s in your deck.

Part III - The Traps

Deck Devastation Virus/ Trap
Tribute 1 DARK monster with 2000 or more ATK. Check your opponent's hand, all monsters your opponent controls, and all cards they draw (until the end of your opponent's 3rd turn after this card's activation), and destroy all monsters with 1500 or less ATK.

Hopeless Dark Variants run an average of 8-9 viable targets for this card so it’s no surprise it pops up in side decks and main decks rather commonly. Wiping out all monsters with less than 1500ATK was utterly devastating to last formats decks, sadly in this current format it only seems to help set up for Vayu and Mezuki plays and as such this cards play has diminished. It combo’s well with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, by tributing off a Dark Horus or the like you can simply revive the tributed monster with Darkness Metal’s effect leaving your opponent without any 1500ATK or less monsters and you with 2 2800+ monsters to wreck face. Did I mention you get to see their hand, set monsters and everything they draw for 3 turns?

Eradicator Epidemic Virus/ Trap
Tribute 1 DARK monster with 2500 or more ATK, and choose Spell Cards or Trap Cards. Check all Spell and Trap Cards on your opponent's side of the field, you opponent's hand. and all cards they draw (until the end of your opponent's 3rd turn after this card's activation), and destroy all cards of the chosen type.

Hopeless variants may run a ton of 2000ATK+ monsters but just how many of them are 2500ATK+? Most of them. 3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal and 3 Dark Horus instantly throw in 6 targets for this card. For the price of an expendable Horus it grants you virtually free reign for 3 turns. Locking an opponent out of Spells early game can hand you the duel on a silver platter and against Oppressionwings taking out their Bottomless Trap Holes and Royal Oppressions leaves their little birds grounded before your dragons. Mmmm, lunch. Did I mention you get to see their hand, set cards and everything they draw for 3 turns?

Burst Breath/ Trap
Tribute 1 Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field. Destroy all face-up monsters on the field whose DEF is equal to or less than the ATK of the Tributed monster.

BOOM! Tribute 1 Dragon and wipe out the field. This is the Dragons Mirror Force, their Icarus Attack, their epic of epicness. Any decent dragon can breathe fire and this is it. A single Totem Dragon can clear an entire field of Celestia, Lyla and Wulf. Need I say more?

Call of the Haunted/ Continuous Trap
Select 1 monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.

This card used to be a staple. Then it got banned. Then it came back without its faster recursion brethren and has been seeing less play. A slow card, it still grants a free Special Summon and is chainable for however much that counts with it being Continuous and can be included painlessly into any Disaster or Hopeless variant. For Those running Dragon Nohr traps are pretty much taboo so I wouldn’t go there.

Part IV - The Support

Phantom of Chaos /Dark/4*/0/0/ Effect
Any Battle Damage this monster inflicts to your opponent becomes 0. Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 Effect Monster in your Graveyard. Until the End Phase, this card's name is treated as that monster's name, and it gains that monster's effect(s) and ATK.

This card gets more and more incredible with each new card that is released. Its ability to bypass the mechanics designed to balance powerful cards are too useful to overlook. Capable of stealing the effect of The Dark Creator, Norleras, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon or even Dark Armed Dragon itself this little puddle is run in 2-3 copies in any Dark or Nohr Variant of Hopeless. Its removal effect sets up for combos with D.D.R. and Hidden Armoury while also granting you the effect of the monster it stole. Back when we had Crush Card its 0ATK frame also made it viable fodder for that but even now it is still a target for Allure of Darkness.

Armageddon Knight /Dark/4*/1400/1200/ Effect
When this card is Summoned, you can send 1 DARK monster from your Deck to the Graveyard.

Dark Grepher /Dark/4*/1700/1600 Effect
You can discard 1 Level 5 or higher DARK monster to Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can discard 1 DARK monster to send 1 DARK monster from your Deck to your Graveyard.

Virtually the same card. Dark Grepher and Armageddon Knight serve the role of dumping DARK monsters into the Graveyard. Dark Grepher plays to a more aggressive style. Tossing out far more DARKs than Armageddon at the cost of in hand resources. Armageddon maintains your card presence but only allows for 1 dump. Both Dark Warriors they also double as searchable targets for Reinforcement of the Army and as fodder for Allure of Darkness. Use whichever one suits your play This card is pretty much use to help dump Dark monster to the graveyard for REDMD effect or help fuel the graveyard for The Dark Creator/ Dark Armed Dragon. It helps out a lot so I recommend it to those who are playing the Dark Variant of Hopeless Dragon.

Morphing Jar /Earth/2*/700/600/ Effect
FLIP: Both players discard their hands and draw 5 cards.

While Flip Effects in general may be considered too slow for this format Morphing Jar's effect greatly rewards those who can pull it off. Completely replenishing your hand with 5 card while dumping dead ones into the Graveyard this card is both highly abusable and very solid in a more stable format. As it stands if you have the balls, go for it.

Plaguespreader Zombie /Dark/2*/400/200/ Tuner
You can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard by placing 1 card from your hand on top of your Deck. When this card is removed from the field after being Special Summoned by this effect, it is removed from play.

The best tuner in the game at present Plaguespreader Zombie comes with a self recursion ability and a DARK status. Weighing in at less than 1000ATK doesn't mean much anymore but should Crush Card Virus ever make its way off the banlist then this card an wreck havoc in tandem with it. Being DARK makes it Allure fodder and its self removal effect makes it prime to abuse with Burial from a Different Dimension. Being Level 2 it makes easy Goyo and Brionac with Level 4 monsters.

Chaos Sorcerer /Dark/6*/2300/2000/ Effect
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard from play. Once per turn, you can remove 1 face-up monster on the field from play. If you activate this effect, this card cannot attack during this turn.

Blue-Eyes is Light, Red-Eyes is Dark. Chaos Sorcerer is pretty obvious. It adds control and monster removal to decks packing enough Darks and Lights to summon it and its an incredibly powerful card. Its effect can be activated on Priority and provided your opponent has a face-up monster it will at least always be a +1. It’s also a handy method of removing those pesky Judgement Dragons and Stardust Dragons while giving access to Arcanite Magician for those of you running White Stone of Legend and Flamvell Guard.

Part V – Deck Examples

Traditional Dark Hopeless

This deck is the traditional Hopeless deck. It utilizes high ATK monsters to swarm the field and create OTK's.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 21
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Dark Horus
2 The Dark Creator
1 Prime Material Dragon
1 Sky Scourge Norleras
1 Dark Armed Dragon
3 Armageddon Knight
3 Phantom of Chaos
2 Red-Eyes Wyvern
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Morphing Jar

Spells: 17
3 D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation
2 Gold Sarcophagus
2 Hidden Armoury
2 Trade-In
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Foolish Burial
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Future Fusion
1 Heavy Storm
1 Giant Trunade

Traps: 2
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force

Dragon Nohr

This deck is an evolution of the traditional Hopeless deck. This particular build was inspired by James Laurents day 2 finish with Norleras OTK. It focuses on clearing the field via Norleras and setting up for similar swarms as the traditional Hopeless for game.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 23
1 Dark Armed Dragon
2 Red-Eyes Wyvern
3 Sky Scourge Norleras
3 The Dark Creator
3 Dark Grepher
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Dark Horus
1 Summoner Monk
3 Phantom of Chaos
1 Plaguespreader Zombie

Spells: 17
3 Trade-In
3 Hand Destruction
1 Burial from a Different Dimension
2 Upstart Goblin
1 Future Fusion
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Foolish Burial
1 Card Destruction
1 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Reinforcement of the Army

Disaster Dragon

Deck Creator: Richard Clarke

Disaster Dragon is a deck created by Richard Clarke aka "Dragonalchemist" for details on the deck see here.

Main Deck: o41

Monsters: o21
oo3 Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
oo3 Koaki Meiru Drago
oo3 Red Eyes Wyvern
oo3 Masked Dragon
oo2 Exploder Dragon
oo2 Totem Dragon
oo1 Yamata Dragon
oo1 Prime Material Dragon
oo1 Genesis Dragon
oo1 Magna Drago
oo1 Debris Dragon

Spells: o12
oo1 Heavy Storm
oo1 Brain Control
oo1 Mystical Space Typhoon
oo1 Stamping Destruction
oo1 Lightning Vortex
oo1 My Body as a Shield
oo1 Future Fusion
oo1 Burial from a Different Dimension
oo2 Book of Moon
oo2 Gold Sarcophagus

Traps: oo8
oo1 Torrential Tribute
oo1 Mirror Force
oo1 Royal Oppression
oo1 Solemn Judgment
oo2 Burst Breath
oo2 Bottomless Trap Hole

SOL Dragon

SOL Dragon is a variant of the Blue-Eyes engine. Innovated by Yanni aka me. Its more consistent than Hopeless and like Disaster plays more to control and aggressive disruption than simple OTK swarms.

For more info on it, check here.

Main Deck: 41

Extra Deck: 15
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
2 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2 Arcanite Magician
1 Ancient Sacred Wyvern
1 Magical Android
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Dark End Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Colossal Fighter

Monsters: 25
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
1 Elemental Hero - Stratos
2 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Prime Material Dragon
3 White Stone of Legend
2 Red-Eyes Wyvern
1 Destiny Hero - Plasma
2 Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude
2 Destiny Hero - Malicious
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Dark Armed Dragon
3 Tragoedia

Spells: 14
1 Future Fusion
1 Lightning Vortex
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Destiny Draw
1 Scapegoat
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Burial from a Different Dimension
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Brain Control
2 Trade-In

Traps: 2
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force

Part VI – Features and Links

In this section I'll post links to feature matches in SJC's and Hopeless Dragon videos on Youtube and the like. If there are any other Dragon blogs out there let me know and I'll link them up.

Disaster Dragon Feature Matches:

DragonAlchemist’s Nationals Report

DragonAlchemist – Nationals Feature Match

DragonAlchemist's SJC LA Report

DragonAlchemist – SJC LA Feature Match #1

DragonAlchemist – SJC LA Feature Match #2

Aldo Garcia – Feature Match

ShadowNeji115217's Locals Report

EvilFly's Tourney Report

DarthLuigi36 Finals Match Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Hopeless Dragon Feature Matches:

Dale Bellido vs. Ervin So

Dragon Blogs:

The Draconic Bard - Yours truly

Other Links:

Disaster Dragon Wikia

[Truth]

Part VII – Looking to the Future

In the really distant future dragons have a new Tuner monster in the form of "Dread Dragon" from The Shining Darkness. This new tuner can double as a recruiter and will likely replace Magna Drago in many dragons variants.

Something else to look forward to that we do not yet have a confirmed release date for is the "Dragunity" monsters from the Duel Terminals. They will likely be released in a Hidden Arsenalesque fashion later.

Part VIII – More Deck Examples

D.E.T. - Dragon Exodia Turbo

This deck focuses on using Cards of Consonance coupled with The White Stone of Legend as a draw engine to fuel the deck until it draws Exodia.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 17
3 Tri-Horned Dragon
3 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
1 Left Arm of the Forbidden One
1 Left Leg of the Forbidden One
1 Right Arm of the Forbidden One
1 Right Leg of the Forbidden One
1 Exodia the Forbidden One
3 The White Stone of Legend
2 Flamvell Guard
1 Sangan

Spells: 17
2 Allure of Darkness
1 Card Destruction
1 Dark Factory of Mass Production
1 Summoner's Art
3 Super Rejuvenation
3 Trade-In
3 Card of Consonance
3 Upstart Goblin

Traps: 6
3 Common Charity
3 Reckless Greed

Maximum Sniper!

A variant of the ever popular Disaster Dragon deck.

Monsters: o20
oo3 Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
oo3 Koaki Meiru Drago
oo3 Red Eyes Wyvern
oo3 Masked Dragon
oo2 Koaki Meiru Maximus
oo2 Exploder Dragon
oo1 Prime Material Dragon
oo1 Genesis Dragon
oo1 Magna Drago
oo1 Totem Dragon

Spells: o14
oo1 Heavy Storm
oo1 Brain Control
oo1 Mystical Space Typhoon
oo1 Stamping Destruction
oo1 Lightning Vortex
oo1 My Body as a Shield
oo1 Future Fusion
oo1 Burial from a Different Dimension
oo2 Book of Moon
oo2 Gold Sarcophagus
oo2 Iron Core of Koaki Meiru

Traps: oo7
oo1 Torrential Tribute
oo1 Mirror Force
oo1 Solemn Judgment
oo2 Burst Breath
oo2 Bottomless Trap Hole

Horus Control

A combination of the Horus Lockdown and Disaster

Monsters: 22
1 Debris Dragon
1 Dragunity - Blackspear
1 Exploder Dragon
1 Genesis Dragon
2 Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6
1 Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8
3 Koa'ki Meiru Drago
1 Magna Drago
3 Masked Dragon
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
2 Prime Material Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
2 Red-Eyes Wyvern

Spells: 14
2 Book of Moon
1 Brain Control
2 Enemy Controller
1 Future Fusion
2 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Heavy Storm
1 Level Up!
1 Lightning Vortex
2 My Body as a Shield
1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 4
3 Royal Decree
1 Mirror Force

Solsworn

A variant of SOL Dragon utilizing the Lightsworn Engine over the D-Hero one.

Main Deck: 40

Monsters: 22
3 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
2 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Dark Armed Dragon
2 Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Prime Material Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
2 Red-Eyes Wyvern
2 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3 The White Stone of Legend
2 Tragoedia

Spells: 14
2 Allure of Darkness
1 Brain Control
3 Charge of the Light Brigade
1 Future Fusion
1 Heavy Storm
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Solar Recharge
2 Trade-In

Traps: 4
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute

[McTwitch]

Subbin' fellow bros.

[ShadowNeji115217]

no snazzy title for it this time around Yanni?

[Truth]

Sorry, I was just rushing to get it up. Normally I have it made in advance but this time I thought Bahamut would do it so I hadn't bothered.

[DragonAlchemist]

Thaynes - With Genesis, you pretty much want to use it as a reverse toolbox card, dumping in hand Totems, Wyverns, etc for Dragons you need at the moment, LaDDs, Yamata, REDMD, anything...

[ShadowNeji115217]

sounds reasonable lol

[Truth]

I'm really liking the Dragon Exodia deck. The draw possibilities Cards of Consonance opens up are pretty neat.

[ShadowNeji115217]

sounds interesting

[epiphany808]

Originally Posted by Yanni

I'm really liking the Dragon Exodia deck. The draw possibilities Cards of Consonance opens up are pretty neat.

lol yah that deck is pretty tight, card of consonance also made that Dark paladin deck i'm playing a little more stable

[gambit1977]

Hows everything going all my Sniper build didnt run so well need some more testing

[EvilFly]

I see there is a new thread in town. Bether subscribe to this before something bad happens.

[MythIntoLegend]

Congrats on the new thread guys.

[ShadowNeji115217]

Originally Posted by gambit1977

Hows everything going all my Sniper build didnt run so well need some more testing

Whats you Sniper build? the one i used didnt have that many consistency issues

[burke163]

The Sniper built is running pretty good for me. I dont get off Maximus every match but when I do its pretty devestating. Genesis Dragon is good for getting dragons you can't special summon back to your hand. For instance Light And Darkness Dragon and Yamata Dragon. Its also good to fetch a Darkness Dragon and start spamming your Dragons. Great card is great.

[SkaterTrainer]

Subbing dawgs

Disaster almost done, just waiting on the SE.

[Tenebrae]

Subscribe. I was able tog et my hand on cards of consonance x2. Not sure if i want to play them yet, but i defo like the idea of putting together a SOL variant and running amok with BEWD.

[Great Harlequin]

Thanks for the responses on the Gadgets/Glads Question. Dragon players are so much friendlier than other players!

Just needed some confidence to build them and if they can handle control based builds as well I'm sure Disaster could go really far. Prime Material and Trap Stun will work wonders!

Yanni, that deck looks very tight - only suggestion that could possibly be of use is Pot of Avarice given X-sabers? Maybe side deck worthy at least?

Off to buy my Disaster deck now, thanks guys! And subbing.

[burke163]

I just spend the last ten minutes looking for Yanni's Exodia deck. THen I look at his sig and the link is right there. *facepalm* :P Very nice deck Yanni. I cant really think of anything to change. I was going to recommend Backup Soldier but I'm guessing you went with Dark Factory because its faster and doesnt have the 5 monster requirement.

[Kokuendan]

Of course we are lol. Whee! New thread! Subbing.

I really like the Dragon Exodia deck. Now that I think about it, I've never witnessed someone drawing all of the Exodia cards irl,

[MythIntoLegend]

Originally Posted by Great Harlequin

Thanks for the responses on the Gadgets/Glads Question. Dragon players are so much friendlier than other players!

Just needed some confidence to build them and if they can handle control based builds as well I'm sure Disaster could go really far. Prime Material and Trap Stun will work wonders!

Yanni, that deck looks very tight - only suggestion that could possibly be of use is Pot of Avarice given X-sabers? Maybe side deck worthy at least?

Off to buy my Disaster deck now, thanks guys! And subbing.

Get out n00b Dragons can only be played by pros >=[

Just kidding. You should really experiment with decks and see what works for you, as you can see there are sample builds but everyone has a different play style haha.

[McTwitch]

i've got a ruling question o_O;;
If you special summon REDMD, and call priority, but they respond with bottomless trap hole, and you continue to use priority to special summon prime material dragon from the grave, can you use prime material to negate the bottomless? keeping REDMD alive?

[MythIntoLegend]

Originally Posted by McTwitch

i've got a ruling question o_O;;
If you special summon REDMD, and call priority, but they respond with bottomless trap hole, and you continue to use priority to special summon prime material dragon from the grave, can you use prime material to negate the bottomless? keeping REDMD alive?

This is not the Q&A section of the site GDI...

[Truth]

Originally Posted by MythIntoLegend

This is not the Q&A section of the site GDI...

That doesn't mean we can't answer questions related to dragons Myth.

Originally Posted by McTwitch

i've got a ruling question o_O;;
If you special summon REDMD, and call priority, but they respond with bottomless trap hole, and you continue to use priority to special summon prime material dragon from the grave, can you use prime material to negate the bottomless? keeping REDMD alive?

It resolves backwards. You summon Red-Eyes, declare priority and use its effect, but that doesn't declare a target, they then chain Bottomless, then it resolves --> Bottomless removes Red-Eyes --> Red-Eyes revives card of your choice. Because you don't declare a target you can opt to summon another dragon that may be more suited to the field since that Bottomless is gone but Prime won't save Red-Eyes.

[Kokuendan]

Originally Posted by McTwitch

i've got a ruling question o_O;;
If you special summon REDMD, and call priority, but they respond with bottomless trap hole, and you continue to use priority to special summon prime material dragon from the grave, can you use prime material to negate the bottomless? keeping REDMD alive?

No, because your opponent would chain to REDMD's effect. Thus, it would resolve first. You still get Prime, but REDMD's gone.

EDIT: Darn, Yanni beat me. We really need to get to Page 2.

It takes me forever to scroll all the way down on my Wii because of the OP. >.>