Against the Burning Abyss! : TOP 10 Side Deck Ideas

(Arcknight) Good Day RespectYGOers! Welcome to the era of the “Burning Abyss” (October 2015). By now, I’m quite sure that a lot of promising duelists around OCG scene have already invested on their shiny “Dante, the Traveler of the Burning Abyss” and its eloquent counterpart “Beatrice, the Eternal Lady”. But before I share some of my utmost knowledge regarding “Burning Abyss” hate, let us first discuss things that make these Melabranches so competitive!

 

By Deviantart.com (kilerpoyo)

  Overview:

This theme has started its first arah in TCG where it became one of the very first competitive TCG exclusive archetypes following “Noble Knights”. The deck itself involves diverse play style ranging from Aggro (Beatdown with Dante),Control and swarm. Sending monsters (“Burning Abyss” effect monsters) to the graveyard is their major way of gaining overwhelming advantage. Their powerful generic rank 3 Boss monster “Dante,the Traveler of the Burning Abyss” seems to be the go to engine to trigger their mechanism. 

In line with this huge commotion in TCG was the advent of the recent “Extra Pack 2015” in OCG which has all the “Burning Abyss” cards you would want to start your own travel like what “Dante” did. In addition, another huge support came in the form of “Beatrice the Eternal Lady” which added a whole new flavor to our dish. 

With so much culture shock going on, the biggest question is,” How can I withstand a ‘Burning Abyss’ match-up?” Well, since you are already here and reading the last part of my introduction, help yourself with this array of “Burning Abyss” hate cards and prepare to be enlightened!

 ( Rays of light appear )

This is not the end of your dueling carreer.....

Below are the top 10 tech cards/decks that you may(or may not because no one is forcing you anyway lol) use when facing this match-up. Let’s begin!

Top 10: Macro Cosmos/ Dimensional Fissure

As I have said awhile ago, this deck involves a lot of its plusses around the graveyard. So what you are going to do is to forbid them from going onto their hide-out. Without their key mechanic, it will be easy for you to control their plays. But watch out for sudden “Mystical Space Typhoons” and Eccentric Archfiends”.

Top 9: Mask Change II/ Masked HERO Dark Law

M.Hero Dark Law and Masked Change II

 HERO duelists were partly sorrowful for the limitation of “Elemental HERO Shadow Mist”. But we still have a trio of “Masked HERO Dark Law” and DARK attribute can take advantage of “Mask Change II” to summon this floodgate. Time to banish those “Melabranches”.

Top 8: Soul Drain

Though limited in TCG I suppose, OCG has the maximum number to increase the chances of drawing into it. That means by paying a thousand life energy (Yes, In the series, they pay their soul lol) you can now prevent your opponent from activating effects that occur in the graveyard and you know what that means(I’m looking at you Dante, don’t block Beatrice lol).

Top 7: Book of Moon

Now that it’s semi-limited in OCG we can now take advantage of this card using the self destruct mechanic of “Burning Abyss”. That is, if there is a face-up monster not named “Burning Abyss” the time you special summon the effect monsters, they destroy themselves, decreasing their chances of having an established field and that includes set monsters. As long as 1 of their monsters is face down, they cannot swarm the field.

Top 6: Stygian Dirge

This continuous trap card has the ability to downgrade the levels of those melabranches by 1.Meaning, they cannot Xyz summon “Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss” for as long as this trap card remains face up.

Top 5: Maxx “C”

This type of deck relies on special summoning and if you cannot beat them, “Draw” them. For as long as they special summon, you can draw cards. It’s their discretion if they will take the “Maxx ‘C’” challenge or refrain from swarming.

Top 4: Flying “C”

Just like book of moon, it prevents your opponent from swarming by staying on your opponent’s field. To add, it can also prevent them from Xyz summoning and I am looking at you once again Dante!

Top 3: Vanity Space/ Vanity’s/Majesty Fiend/ Archlord Kristya

Neither player can special summon. Neither player can special summon and activate the self summon effects of Melabranches. Enough said. Just be careful in using these cards because it might hinder your strategies as well. 

Top 2: Prohibition

If you’re annoyed with the advantage that any card can bring, you have all the right to prohibit them. This amazing card can prevent players from using or activate the effect(s) of any card that you have declared for as long as this card remains face-up. No, I am not looking at Dante solely this time. Let’s proceed.

Top 1: The Legendary Dominion of Monarchs

Aside from “Burning Abyss”, the newest “Structure Deck R” packing these enormous “Monarchs” is making a huge buzz in the tournament scene as well. Jam-packed with several consistency cards such as the amazing “Pandeity Monarchs” and “Idea the Heaven Knight”, there is no doubt that this deck has the guts in combating top tier decks. Combined with their horrifying field spell card called “Dominion of the Legendary Monarchs”  which prevents your opponent from using their entire Extra Deck,it will be easy for a “Monarchs” Player to control the game vs. “Burning Abyss”,”Tellarknight”,”Evilswarm”,”Clownblade”,”Masked Heroes” etc.

Conclusion:

Yu-Gi-Oh! was always been, and always will be a diverse game. In every format, there will be decks that will remain undisputed and decks that will leave the limelight for a moment. But players are creative, intelligent and patient. No matter how strong a deck is, players can still find a way to control it.

Til next time!

Arcknight signing off!

Credit to: Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia for the card images.