Hey guys and gals, Matt returns for another shot at deck experimentation as a result of the HA7 release.
When I sat down and decided to play Evilswarms, I anticipated a deck of wonders that most men (and woman) dare not dream of. Instead, what I got was a fairly unexciting deck that boasted very little complexity beyond “Summon Ophion… …wait to win?”
I needed more, something that gave me the opportunity to put down monsters whose inherent purpose was not XYZ fodder. I decided that Ninjas, Dinosaurs and Rabbits would form the base of the deck, with support that could be dropped or reinforced, depending on how the deck performed. Here’s a link for your reference: [Link].
Rabbit provides both Ophion and Laggia. The goal is to ensure Rabbit is always live with the crazy amount of Normals in the deck. It’s not a new concept (VerzLaggia), but it fit my direction perfectly.
The high Normal Monster count is intended to be a positive aspect of the deck. The Heliotropes can be recycled back into the deck with Infestation Infection when they’re drawn, summoned alongside Evilswarm Castor, or used as a 1950 body to get over pesky defensive monsters and Thunder King. There’s also the added bonus of Daigusto Emeral being able to bring these Normal Monsters back for additional plays.
The Sabersauri work in tandem with Rabbit and Hanzo to be brought out of the deck quickly. For any that are drawn, Evilswarm Salamandra, (as well as Hanzo) can be summoned alongside it to make Laggia, since Salamandra is a Dinosaur. Of course, 1 stray Sabersaurus is a great tool to test an opponent’s defenses, allowing Ophion and Laggia to troll in the shadows.
From his inclusion in articles and many podcasts, Hanzo returns to add a notable amount of control and redundancy to the deck. Similar to his function in Ninja Dragons, Hanzo provides information as to what an opponent can or cannot answer, and continues to offer himself as a trojan horse.
Hanzo can summon both Sabersaurus and Evilswarm Salamandra, and acts as food for Salamandra’s atk boosting effect. The benefit to Hanzo is that, whether or not Super-Transformation is successful in taking their monster, you still get to summon yours – they can lance or protect their monster all they want. Like Ophion, he also delivers monster-level hate. Where Ophion is more preventative, Hanzo can be very reactionary and a decent top deck.
Bahamut invoked a personal incentive to make this deck. The fact that it mutates Evilswarm (or Steelswarm) monsters into a permanent version of Change of Heart is entirely too enthralling.
It’s not the most reliable monster (like Number 11: Big Eye), but it also doesn’t punish you for trying to have fun and win after its summoned. Konami seemed to think ahead when they allowed Bahamut to detach an Xyz material as the cost for its effect, while they left the discarding of the monster and taking control of the opponent’s monster to happen at resolution of the effect.
Many Fingers in Many Pies
Other than Rescue Rabbit, there’s no convenient way to summon Ophion without running a mixed bag of crappy Evilswarm monsters. That’s not to say the monsters won’t do their job, but as mentioned earlier, their sole purpose is that job. So, in order to keep things lean and provide room for expansion, tweaking, etc, this deck has access to the monsters that are driving the deck’s main goal forward. The combination of Fossil Dig and Infestation Infection act like a pseudo ROTA, ending with a Castor in hand.
Sad Faces
Evilswarm Mandragora is an interesting monster that’s both splashable and great for the archetype as a whole. So why isn’t it here? Mandrago is a double edged sword in that it allows too many opportunities to invest in the field. In a more standard Evilswarm, or even SwarmLaggia deck, it would function like Castor, increasing the consistency of turns that end in Ophion or Rank 4s. But, that’s more of the same-old-same-old kind of playstyle that this deck avoids, providing a natural buffer between big plays.
However, Monk and Upstart Golden Ninja aren’t as play-and-win. Evilswarms, and this deck in particular, do have a lot of spells and traps that could be discarded for their effects. In a deck where normal monsters are the focus, these guys feel like too much of a tangent.
Smoke and Mirrors
Considering you could just buy some HA7 packs, this deck isn’t very expensive. It manipulates a lot of cards, can thin the deck quickly, and organizes the graveyard for Dark Armed with relative ease. The most important factor, though, is that it’s not boring.
Evilswarm Kerykeion
It’s not here because I wasn’t 100 percent confident that it would release in the upcoming Lord Tachyon pack, but it has since been confirmed. Kerykeion (what a terrible name) will add a lot of really easy Rank 4s, since you can banish dead “ilswarm” Xyz mosnters (in addition to your regular ilswarms), and add their material back to your hand. It would completely change my outlook on the deck and encourage me to run Tour Guide and definitely Monk.
Thanks a lot for this Matt! I was almost going to trade away my Evilswarms because they didn’t do much other than Ophion. I’m going to see if I can make these too!
Also, I’m working on building a competitive build of a Valkyrion deck, I might submit my preliminary build for FiF next time. Lots of good but forgotten cards, and lots of advantage!
I’m glad I could help! As in Kyle’s volcanic article, Evilswarms are reasonably slash-able, but you just have to be selective.
That would be awesome! Valkyrion all the way!
Could you explain more about a few cards? I’m particularly curious about Reckless Greed. Does skipping two draw phases work well? Also, DAD; is he consistent? Lastly, what made you decide to run two Maxx “C” and one Veiler? And why main deck those?
Sorry it’s a bit lengthy, I’m trying to understand more about cards and consistency in the deck, as well as synergy of certain cards.
Sure, I’d be happy to elaborate a little more:
Reckless Greed isn’t necessary, it was a risky inclusion to test an idea. Imagine needing one more Evilswarm in your hand for Castor, or an Infestation Pandemic to protect an Ophion play, or a Rabbit. This deck doesn’t draw, other than Reckless, but it does have a considerable amount of search power. Just because you’re locked out of your draws, doesn’t mean this deck cant summon Hanzo or Rabbit, turning Super-Transformation into your draw, or giving you the opportunity to use two Heliotropes to attack before XYZing. That, coupled with the fact that you can bait out an MST with Reckless, is why I added it.
With DAD, I can’t say I’ve run into moments where I was disappointed to have it. You’ve got to remember, with Salamandra, you can police your graveyard in advance, or after the fact. Removing 2 monsters from your graveyard is a huge help. Also, Diagusto Emeral is a fun Rank 4 that can pull Heliotropes out of your Graveyard, or return monsters back to the deck. So. Main Deck and Extra Deck Graveyard manipulation does a good amount of work to keep DaD happy.
I take back what I said earlier, this deck does have another draw card, Maxx “C”. I honestly don’t have any reasonable justification for running 2 MC and 1 Veiler. Veiler is definitely the most helpful in practice. It allows you to plan on how best to protect Ophion/Laggia. I guess it might surprise people who are expecting to deal with the backrow that is consistent with “Evilswarm” decks, proceeding to summon their monster to get over Ophion/Laggia, only to have Veiler dropped on them because they were so focused on the other stuff. The problem is that it’s blah against a lot of decks, and that thought prevented 2 Veiler, 1 MC.
As with the Maxx “C”, I was worried about not drawing enough, and the C doesn’t “really” get in the way, since you can Bottomless or Chain anything SS to the field. But they could easily be taken out for Warning, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm. I’m sure you’ve noticed they’re not in there, so making those kinds of changes, if they’re in-line with your play-style, could only help the deck I’d imagine.
So basically, the 4 cards you mentioned are, accurately, the most out of place cards in the deck haha.