lest talk dragonity deck

When I first heard that Order of Chaos would have Dragunity support in it I immediately opened my word processor and started typing. However, let me make one thing clear: I'm not writing this because I think that Dragunity decks in the future will be good. I'm writing this because I think that the deck is good right now. So how good is it exactly? How does the strategy stack up to the current competition? Perhaps most importantly, why should you run Dragunity? Let's talk.

Looking back: March 2011

The Dragunity archetype was fully released in 2010 in the OCG, but it would be over a year until the Dragunity Legion structure deck would hit TCG shelves. March already feels like forever ago, and it was a very different place then. Book of Moon had just been limited and offered Dragunity the chance it needed to get plays through a vicious backrow. Trishula, Reborn Tengu, and T.G. Hyper Librarian had yet to hit the scene, but there was Six Samurai running around. Between YCS Charlotte and Anaheim four Dragunity decks would make it into the Top 32. And then we never heard from the deck again.

Okay, so the deck made a splash in competitive play for a bit. At any rate, it completely fell off the radar and was virtually never heard of again. The deck was just too slow for the format, and once Plants really started taking off there simply was not a chance for Dragunity to do anything even with new support like Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite. I dropped the deck completely between April and August, only picking it up again a few weeks before the format change. It was during that time that I discovered that Dragunity are still very good, but lack that killer edge that other top tier decks have.

Dragunity in the Current Format

There are so many good reasons why people should try Dragunity, but there are just as many reasons why it is a deck to stay away from. This duality presents an interesting case that I believe can be solved by good deck construction, so let's talk about the core strategy of Dragunity. Firstly there is Dragon Ravine; the Field Spell gave the deck a shot at championship level competition. Ravine is an incredibly powerful card that makes the whole strategy come to life. Recruiting copies of Dux and Legionnaire while sending Phalanx and Aklys to the grave at a discard cost, and being able to repeat this process every turn makes Dragon Ravine a one card engine.

If there is one thing that this deck is known for it is the first turn Stardust Dragon play that it makes nearly every duel. With six copies of Dragon Ravine (three Field Spells and three Terraforming) along with three copies each of Dragunity Dux and Dragunity Phalanx, it is almost too easy to put a level 8 Synchro monster on the field every turn. The deck plays a very effective “protect the Stardust Dragon” strategy, and that is just as effective as ever. Stardust presents an interesting situation for the opponent that applies pressure right away, and promises to keep up that pressure as long as a duelist has access to Ravine.

The infamous “summon Stardust Dragon and set 3” along with Ravine on the field is still an awesome play even with the changes this format. Mystical Space Typhoon at three and Heavy Storm returning is virtually a non-issue when you factor in Stardust. Unless the opponent is packing a number of other Spell and Trap removal options then chances are that your field set up will be mostly safe. Still, it is by no means unbreakable. The backrow needs to be composed of cards that are designed to protect Stardust while remaining useful even after it has been tributed.

Building to Beat the Metagame.

The main strengths of the Dragunity deck come from its ability to apply pressure early and continuously. For that reason, disruption is hard to retaliate against. Cards like Effect Veiler, Maxx “C”, and D.D. Crow are huge problems that Stardust and MST can't solve. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw Maxx “C” was that it was going to make playing Dragunity impossible. Now players are running it in threes. The boss monsters of this format are all tough to deal with, and most of them can shut down your plays entirely. Master Hyperion and Grapha can be negated by Stardust, but they can also attack over it. Archlord Kristya and Black Luster Soldier end games outright for obvious reasons.

Then there is the side deck. While Dragunity is not being seen in the metagame much, it is still on the wrong side of side decking trends. Cards like Dimensional Fissure and Chain Disappearance simply ruin the strategy. This might very well be a terrible format to run the deck in, but if you can get around these negatives, then there is quite a bit that this deck can offer.