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Deck Profile – Lance Leonhardt’s “Skill Drain” Zombies
Round 1 is over, the match slips are being cut for Round 2, and Lance Leonhardt has chalked up his first win of the day! Armed with his own take on a modern Japanese classic, Lance is Dueling today with a Zombie “Skill Drain” Deck, carefully teched to fit his metagame predictions
Lance Leonhardt’s Deck
| Monsters (21) | Spells (5) | Traps (15) | Side Deck | Extra Deck |
3 Beast King Barbaros |
2 Book of Moon |
3 Solemn Judgment |
For a lot of readers, this Deck will contain few surprises – but if you’ve never seen one like it, it’s really a strategy you should be familiar with. It could go without saying, but “Skill Drain” is exceptionally powerful in this format – it shuts down every trick in the Gladiator Beast and Blackwing playbooks, and causes some serious problems for Lightsworn as well. If a Duelist can get “Skill Drain” onto the field and protect it with a card like “Solemn Judgment,” victory is often assured – the opponent’s Deck simply won’t work. With that in mind, all a “Skill Drain” Duelist needs to do is figure out which monsters to play himself.
Zombies are a popular option because “Pyramid Turtle” gives such easy access to big, field-dominating attackers. Since “Pyramid Turtle’s” effect activates in the Graveyard, it isn’t negated by “Skill Drain,” and Lance uses the Turtle to Special Summon three other monsters: “Malevolent Mech – Goku En,” “Paladin of the Cursed Dragon,” and “Mezuki.” Goku En and “Paladin of the Cursed Dragon” are extremely difficult to top in raw ATK when “Skill Drain” is on the field, while “Mezuki” is more of a preliminary choice for those situations when “Skill Drain” isn’t available. Lance explains…
‘When I don’t have “Skill Drain” out yet and my opponent attacks “Pyramid Turtle” with a Gladiator Beast, I always bring out “Mezuki.” If he brought out Goku En or the Paladin in such a scenario, he’d just lose that monster to “Gladiator Beast Murmillo” at the end of the Battle Phase: the opponent would Special Summon it and activate its effect to destroy Lance’s Zombie. But Summoning “Mezuki” instead makes Murmillo a tough call – destroy “Mezuki” with Murmillo’s ability and “Mezuki” will just be removed to Special Summon “Pyramid Turtle” again. The turtle would then attack Murmillo and the Gladiator Beast Duelist would be back where he started, now down a monster. “Mezuki” acts as a deterrent to Murmillo and forces the opponent to pick another Gladiator Beast, which leaves Lance with the field presence he needs to stay in the game.
“Beast King Barbaros” is a no-brainer in triplicate for any Deck running “Skill Drain.” With “Skill Drain” on the table, Barbaros becomes a 3000 ATK monster that can be effectively Normal Summoned without Tribute, another threat that’s impossible to overcome with sheer ATK. Even without “Skill Drain” backing it, Barbaros can still run over anything in a Gladiator Beast Deck barring a boosted copy of “Gladiator Beast Laquari,” giving the Deck staying power right from turn 1.
Three copies of “Honest” make “Malevolent Mech – Goku En” and “Paladin of the Cursed Dragon” even more difficult to defeat in battle, and “Book of Moon” continues to become the card of the day, featured in every Deck we’ve looked at. Here, it’s yet another layer of insurance against the handful of monsters that can actually overcome Lance’s key beatsticks in battle.
“Plaguespreader Zombie” brings an element of Synchro Summoning to the strategy, but it also allows Lance to play “Crush Card Virus” – a big difference between his build and some of the more classic Japanese versions. With “Pyramid Turtle” to search out Plaguespreader as soon as Crush Card is drawn, Lance can activate “Crush Card Virus” with a level of reliability most Decks can only envy. Doing so means he takes out all opposing big monsters, giving yet another way for his monsters to dominate the field and keep a controlling presence.
Two “Royal Oppressions” don’t conflict with much that Lance has opted to main. “Pyramid Turtle’s” effect works in the Damage Step, when “Royal Oppression” can’t negate it. Oppression is another line of defense against Gladiator Beasts and opposing Synchros, and the same “Solemn Judgments” that protect “Skill Drain” from “Heavy Storm” can keep the Oppressions safe, too. From there, the Deck’s trap lineup is fleshed out by a handful of perennial favorites: “Trap Dustshoot” for control and information about the opponent’s hand, “Mirror Force” and “Torrential Tribute” for more protection, and three “Bottomless Trap Hole” – the latter being a very popular choice here today largely due to the threat of “Rescue Cat” (and its feline cohort, “Gladiator Beast Samnite.”)
“Skill Drain” is doing exceptionally well here this weekend, and Lance’s Deck is one of the best to put it to use – we may see big things from him here this weekend!
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
