I took the Cyber Gear deck to two locals and finished with a combined record
of 8-3. Sure, I had a few wins against
RKD*s, but I also beat some experienced players with tier one decks. The losses were to Infernities, Bujins, and
Lightsworns. Overall, I was pleased but not satisfied. So, I immediately went back to the garage to
tinker some more.
The process led me to consider the criteria for good and poor card
choices. I can summarize my standards with
the following two questions:
1. Will it
be live? Live cards have few if any conditions. They are flexible and serve multiple purposes. Usually they work as stand-alone cards or
combine with nearly every other card in the deck. Most of all, they are the cards that you want
to see late in the duel.
2. Does the
card advance or interfere with the game plan? This question presupposes that you have a
game plan. Many people appear to build decks without them. The plan for the Cyber Gears is to get rid of
your opponent’s monsters with Chimeratech Fortress Dragon or overwhelm them
with a large attack point monster.
Applying these principles to the Cyber Gear deck led me to the
following changes:
The Trap Trinity: Bottomless Trap Hole, Compulsory Evacuation
Device, and Torrential Tribute are considered “staples”. Removing summoned monsters
by banishing, without destruction, or in their entirety interrupts most plays. These cards come with no cost and their
resolution will likely make your opponent a bit salty … and by salty I mean
prone to mistakes.
The three cards are always live and are generally welcome late in the
game. Of the three, Compulse is the most
useful since it can get rid of a threat at the beginning of your opponents
turn. Compulse and BTH also advance the
game plan by keeping Armor on the field.
Torrential, on the other hand, causes problems. This deck wants your opponent to have a
monster. It’s the summoning condition for Cyber Dragon. Torrential removes this condition. Therefore, it is a poorer choice. BTH +1,
CED +1
Return of Limiter Removal: Most players see limiter as a win-more
card. In other words, it won’t turn the
game around. However, this card sets up
the game plan well. Suppose they have
several monsters poised to attack Geargiarsenal. Limiter boosts Arsenal’s attack to 3400
insuring the loss of one of their monsters.
It is unlikely they will have another that can get over 3400. At the end to the turn, Arsenal dies and the
summoning conditions for Cyber Dragon are met.
Since there are 19 monsters in the deck, the card is usually live. Limiter +1
Shards over Planters: My experience with Magic Planter has
always been better in the abstract than in real life. This dichotomy is the
result of the conflict between drawing with Magic Planter and letting the
continuous trap do its job. You don’t want to get rid of DNA Surgery
when it’s active. Planter does work well
with Cyber Network, but that card also gets rid of DNA Surgery. I removed all three.
Shard of Greed, on the other hand, is quite different. Not only is it live all the time, it advances
the game plan by drawing out your opponents MSTs. Once the Planters were out, I had the freedom
to remove other subpar continuous traps.
Removing Cyber Network left me with only 1 target for Cyber Core
Dragon. That problem was easily remedied
by adding another Cyber Repair Network, a superior card until Cybernetic Fusion
Support is released. Shard +1;
Cyber Repair Plant +1; Magic Planter -2; Cyber Network -1; Safe Zone -2
Flexible Draw Cards: Much has been said about Hobanization or
the addition of Upstart Goblin/Reckless Greed.
In general, I am not a big fan.
Drawing Upstart late in the game gets you to the next card in your deck
by giving your opponent 1000 points. Its only worth it if your deck only needs
37 cards. Otherwise, you get to the next
card for free.
If you drop Swift Scarecrow, you will have a 38 card deck and Upstarts may be worth a try. I went with CardCar D. This card offers the flexibility of being fodder for Chimeratech and Power Bond. However, I admit that these are the weakest cards in the deck. Currently, the Scarecrows are in the side deck. Hopefully, further tinkering will resolve this issue.
Here is Cyber Gears 2.0
Cyber Dragon x 3
Cyber Dragon Core x 3
Cyber Dragon Drei x 3
Geargiarmor x 3
Geargiaccelerator x 3
Geargiarsenal x 2
Cardcar D x 2
Power Bond x 2
Forbidden Lance x 3
Shard of Greed x 3
Cyber Repair Plant x 2
Limiter Removal x 1
Fiendish Chain x 3
DNA Surgery x 3
Call of the Haunted x 2
BTH x 1
Compulse x 1
* RKD = Random Kid Deck
No comments:
Post a Comment