Following up on last week’s post about my unexpected descent back into the Yu-Gi-Oh! rabbit hole, I figured it was only right to talk a bit more about the actual deck that’s been carrying me through Master Duel ranked.
The primary motivation for building this specific deck was pure, unadulterated nostalgia for Seiyaryu. It’s a relatively straightforward, honest control strategy built around popping cards with Starry Knight, Starry Dragon. But to actually survive modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, nostalgia alone is a pretty blunt blade to be reliable.
While the Starry Knight engine does a lot of the heavy lifting, I realized the deck needed a higher ceiling to actually close out games. So, I mixed in another package entirely: the Invoked engine.
For those out of the loop, “Normal Summon Aleister” is basically a meme in the Yu-Gi-Oh! community at this point, and for good reason. By adding 3 copies of Aleister the Invoker and 3 copies of Invocation, the deck gets access to a ridiculous recycling loop. I can use Aleister and Invocation to fusion summon Invoked Mechaba (an absolute powerhouse that can negate almost anything). Then, from the graveyard, I can use Invocation’s effect to shuffle itself back into the deck and return Aleister to my hand, ready to do the exact same thing next turn for another Mechaba. It gives the deck a much-needed boss monster presence while I wait for my Starry Knights to align.
Sometimes, though, you just don’t open with your searchers. To prevent myself from getting immediately steamrolled while I wait to draw into Rayel or Aleister, I threw in a “monster loop” package: 3 copies each of White Dragon Wyverburster, Black Dragon Collapserpent, and Assault Wyvern. They act as a fantastic buffer, replacing themselves when they leave the field and ensuring I always have a body on board to absorb attacks from my opponent until I can get my main engines running.
For my non-engine package, I’m currently running 3 copies of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, 2 Effect Veilers, 2 Infinite Impermanence (which I desperately want to up to 3 once I get the crafting points), and 1 Evenly Matched (again, need more crafting points).
Dropping a well-timed Infinite Impermanence allowed me to completely stopper both a VS-K9 deck and a very scary Raidraptor board. As for Evenly Matched, it very nearly saved me from defeat against a Blue-Eyes deck when my opponent went full anime, swarming the board with five monsters including three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Dropping that trap from my hand and forcing them to banish all but one card was immensely satisfying, even if the final result still lead to my defeat. At the very least I turned my opponent’s five-board juggernaut into a one-monster beater that, with the Wyverbuster + Assault Wyvern + Collapserpent loop meant they could only take me out through a protracted standoff.
But my absolute favorite inclusion has been my joke cards: a single copy each of Trap Hole and Raigeki, for old time’s sake. The joke actually paid off spectacularly against an Elemental Hero player. They spent what felt like ten minutes comboing off to summon an absolutely massive, unbreakable board. When it was finally my turn, I just casually dropped Raigeki and wiped the entire thing clean. Too bad they didn’t have any negates. From there, I did my Mechaba fusion, used the Starry Dragon loop to pop their one remaining back row card, and attacked directly for game.
Looking ahead, the plan is to keep grinding those solo mode gems so I can flesh out the rest of those staples to strengthen the deck against the modern combo heavyweights dominating the ladder, like Mitsurugi and Yummy.
The Decklist
Monsters
- 3x Starry Knight Rayel
- 3x Starry Knight Orbita
- 2x Starry Knight Flamel
- 1x Starry Knight Astel
- 3x Starry Knight, Starry Dragon
- 3x Aleister the Invoker
- 3x White Dragon Wyverburster
- 3x Black Dragon Collapserpent
- 3x Assault Wyvern
- 3x Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
- 2x Effect Veiler
Spells
- 3x Starry Knight Balefire
- 2x Starry Knight Ceremony
- 2x Starry Knight Sky
- 3x Invocation
- 1x Raigeki
- 2x Pot of Extravagance
- 2x Ties of the Brethren
- 1x Reinforcement of the Army
Traps
- 3x Starry Knight Blast
- 3x Starry Knight Arrival
- 2x Infinite Impermanence
- 1x Evenly Matched
- 1x Trap Hole
Extra Deck
- 3x Invoked Mechaba
- (Various Rank 4/Link fodder for Pot of Extravagance)
Dominic Dayta 
Leave a comment