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Deck Profile:
Tom Walter
Today Tom Walter is running Plant “Skill Drain”. Take a look:
| Monsters | Spells | Traps | Side Deck | Extra Deck |
| 3 Beast King Barbaros 3 Thunder King Rai-Oh 3 “Lonefire Blossom” 2 “Tytannial, Princess of Camellias” 2 “Mystic Tomato” 2 “Legendary Jujitsu Master” 1 “Cyber Dragon” 1 “Snipe Hunter” 1 “Sangan” 1 “Card Trooper” |
3 “Pot of Avarice” 2 “Lightning Vortex” 2 Trade-In 2 “Book of Moon” 1 “Monster Reborn” 1 “Heavy Storm” 1 “Mystical Space Typhoon” |
3 “Skill Drain” 3 “Bottomless Trap Hole” 2 “Threatening Roar” 1 “Mirror Force” 1 “Torrential Tribute” |
3 “Debris Dragon” 3 Mirror of Oaths 2 “Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn” 2 My Body As A Shield 2 “Mind Crush” 1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness 1 “Dust Tornado” 1 Dandylion |
If you’ve never seen a Deck like this, it’s essentially two strategies united towards a common goal. First is the familiar “Skill Drain” engine. It features 3 copies of “Skill Drain”, 3 copies of “Beast King Barbaros,” and 2 “Legendary Jujitsu Master”. “Skill Drain” negates Barbaros’ ATK reduction effect, a widely-recognized fact that has made Barbaros a staple of “Skill Drain” strategies. Slightly less common is the knowledge that “Legendary Jujitsu Master’s’ effect will resolve while “Skill Drain” is on the field, provided Jujitsu Master is destroyed by battle and is in the Graveyard when its effect would resolve.
The other component of the Deck is a “Pot of Avarice” draw engine, centered on 3 copies of “Lonefire Blossom” and a pair of “Tytannials, Princesses of Camellias”. “Lonefire Blossom’s” effect can be activated under “Skill Drain,” and since one “Lonefire Blossom” can search for another it’s a great way to fill your Graveyard for “Pot of Avarice” – 3 Lonefire plus the monster the third one searched out comprise 80% of the requirement for activating “Pot of Avarice.”
“Mystic Tomatoes” give “Lonefire Blossom” alternate cards to search for, and add more defense in an aggressive environment. The Tomatoes can search out “Sangan”, and if “Lonefire Blossom” can’t be drawn naturally “Sangan” can fetch the first copy as needed. “Cyber Dragon” provides more attack power, “Card Trooper” lends some muscle while filling the Graveyard for “Pot of Avarice”, and almost all these cards work with “Skill Drain” on the field.
From there the rest of the Deck is purely control oriented. Three copies of “Thunder King Rai-Oh” enjoy high utility due to their high ATK and easy Summoning. They also provide two potent control effects, one of which still works once “Skill Drain” has been activated. “Snipe Hunter” won’t work with “Skill Drain” in play, but does help fill the Graveyard with monsters for “Pot of Avarice”. And it’s a great way to use those copies of “Tytannial, Princess of Camellias” you wish you hadn’t drawn.
A pair of “Trade-In” can be used with “Beast King Barbaros” or the Tytannials, while two “Lightning Vortexes” provide even more control (and another use for those dead cards when they start filling your hand). Walter is Main Decking two copies of “Threatening Roar” as well, which combo nicely with the copies of Vortex. “Threatening Roar” blocks big over-extensions and “Lightning Vortex” then punishes them by clearing the over-invested field.
“Book of Moon” and “Bottomless Trap Hole” are still must-play cards in the eyes of many competitors, and they’re present here in Walter’s build. From there the Deck list is rounded out by faithful standbys like “Mirror Force” and “Torrential Tribute”.
The result is a fast, aggressive Deck that can put all the top strategies at a major disadvantage – all while generating free cards and big threats without Tributing. A single monster with the size of “Beast King Barbaros” or “Tytannial, Princess of Camellias” can be a dominating force in a tournament like this one. When two monsters of that size are teamed up and one of them is wielding Tytannial’s defensive effect, things get even harder for the opponent.
Tom Walter’s Deck has been exceptionally well optimized for high utility and quick aggression, demonstrating real insight into how this game works. I’d be shocked if he didn’t make Day 2 this weekend.
Jason Grabher-Meyer
