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About Exo
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I'm able to answer any and all questions related to the English Yu-Gi-Oh! game itself. This includes, but isn't limited to:

Deck Fixes: These can either be making suggestions and improvements on a deck you've already built, or building a deck from scratch for you. In either case, please give an idea of the kind of deck you're building, the level of play you're planning to use it in (fun games, small tournaments, regionals etc), and roughly the kind of budget you're on.
Please format decks in a way that's easy to read. The standard way is to put each card name on its own line, with a number before it indicating how many you're playing. Please split decks into Monsters, Spells and Traps.
I can offer fixes for OCG (Japanese) decks, but please allow more time in this case, as I may need to research some of the cards you're playing.

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Level 2 Judge Qualification,
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I've been playing the game since its release in the UK, and have a match win rate of 75%, taken over the five year period since I began organised play. I Placed in the Top 16 of UK Nationals 2008, and have numerous tournament wins and Top 8 placements, both in standard locals, and in regional events.

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BSc (Hons) Degree in Mathematics

You are here: Experts > Kids > Kid's Toys and Games > Yu-Gi-Oh > Remove from Play+Skill Drain Deck

Yu-Gi-Oh - Remove from Play+Skill Drain Deck

Expert: Exo - 11/4/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello I quit playing Yu-Gi-Oh for about 3 years but have recently gotten back into it and I thought that it's about time to switch to a new deck. I've had my eye on a Removal from Play+Skill Drain Deck for a while now. However, since I quit playing Yu-Gi-Oh for a while I'm unfamiliar with the game and feel as if I'm just playing it for the first time again. I need help in constucting a deck that could be used in local/school tournaments and also follows the 2009 September ban list, but is also flexible enough to change over time as the meta game changes. Thank you for your time and I hope you can help me. :)

ANSWER: Ok, so RFP Skill Drain, that's perfectly fine, since the 2 go together fairly well. We'll not be able to play Synchros properly here, since any synchros that don't have their effects negated by Skill Drain get them negated by removal from play...
However, we'll include 2 copies of Rose, Warrior of Revenge anyway, since it'll let you get Destiny Hero - Defender off the field should you lose Skill Drain, and to Synchro with D.D. Scout plane to make big Monsters.

I'll start with a Small E-Hero Engine consisting only of Stratos and 2 Defender. You'll be aiming to summon Stratos on turn 1 - before Skill Drain gets flipped, so there shouldn't be a problem there.

Naturally, we'll also play 3 D.D. Survivor, and 2 D.D. Scout Plane.
Out Tributes consists only of 3 Beast King Barbaros, who Skill Drain makes into a 3000 ATK no-tribute monster, 2 Fusilier Dragon and Cyber Dragon.
3 Cyber Valley help us out, since their first effect isn't negated by Skill Drain

3 Beast King Barbaros
2 Fusilier Dragon, the Dual Mode Beast
1 Cyber Dragon
2 Destiny Hero Defender
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
3 D.D. Survivor
3 Cyber Valley
2 D.D. Scout Plane
2 Rose, Warrior of Revenge
(19)

For Spells, the obvious ones are the basic staples, though Heavy Storm is omitted in this case.
We play the obvious 3 Dimensional Fissure, and add to it with 1 Smashing Ground and 2 Fissure to keep the opposition's field clear.
2 Book of Moon and Reinforcement of the Army complete the line.

2 Book of Moon
3 Dimensional Fissure
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Brain Control
1 Smashing Ground
1 Reinforcement of the Army
2 Fissure
(11)

For Traps, we'l include our 3 Skill Drain, and 1 Macro-cosmos, as well as Solemn Judgment to Protect them.
We finish up with the base 5: Return from the Different Dimension Replacing Call of the Haunted in this case.:

2 Bottomless Trap Hole
3 Skill Drain
1 Macro-Cosmos
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Return from the Different Dimension
(10)

For 40 cards total.
Give that a try, see how it works.
If you have any further question on it, feel free to ask a follow-up question.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your help, so far I have gotten ahold of almost every single card in the list the only problems I'm running into now is my wallet. For the current moment in time I am unable to buy/trade for these cards:

1 Cyber Valley
2 Rose, Warrior of Revenge
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Mirror Force

I was wondering if you could show me some substitutes I could use until I can scrounge up some more money buy or trade for those cards. Also I was wondering if you could explain the purpose of Destiny Hero Defender and Elemental Hero Stratos in more detail. Thank you again for your time, I really appreciate it. :)

Answer
Replacing the Tuners is relatively easy, you just play Copies of Krebons instead, which allows you to replace Valley with Teleport for the moment.
If you're unable to get Teleport, then you'll have to play the Krebons without it... playing Gale the Whirlwind instead.

For Solemn and Mirror Force, since there's nothing that really comes close to replacing Force, you'll have to play Dark Bribes for the moment.

The reasoning behind Stratos is actually fairly simple:
If you look at the deck, it has very few good opening summons. If I don't have Cosmos or Skill Drain, you're looking at just the 3 Valley and Stratos. Battle oriented builds that rely on continuous spell and trap cards are usually marred by the fact that they're not searchable by anything that's remotely playable in an aggressive deck.
You've also got the problem that Skill-Drain Cosmos is a deck of 2 halves, and ending up with a mismatch of these 2 halves isn't a good thing either. Fusilier Dragon's pretty useless with Cosmos, and Skill Drain doesn't do Scout Plane any favours either.
Stratos provides a decent opening summon, and a way to get Defender. Defender combos with a lot of stuff in this deck, and in the absence of Skill Drain or Cosmos, provides a first turn set that can be removed from the field before its effect gets in the way, by either Cyber Valley or Rose, which are usually components of the Cosmos Deck.
Basically, Defender is the piece that ties the 2 halves of the deck together. Stratos just happens to get it while being an 1800 ATK floater...

Since you're missing the copies of Rose and a Valley, putting Tuners in their place is near vital, as without its combo pieces, Defender's just another monster that's useless without Skill Drain. The Krebons give you a few extra decent opener summons too.

Hope that helped.

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