Deck Profile: Jae Kim (on behalf of Hugo Adame)

Hugo Adame and Jae Kim are both longstanding members of Team Savage. Well-recognized figures in the Internet community, both are respected for their deck building and dueling skills. Today, only one was in attendance.For personal reasons that Team Savage does not yet wish to publicly disclose, Adame was not in attendance at today’s competition. By his wish though, Jae Kim is playing his friend’s favorite deck: “I figured if I played his deck he could sort of be here in spirit.”And that’s why Jae Kim is playing . . . wait for it . . . a Dark Magician deck.

​Now, the deck isn’t jam-packed with Dark Magician tricks: it’s really more of a coup-de-grace deck than an out-and-out theme deck, per se. But still, odds are good that somebody is going to be taken out by a Dark Magician today, and that, combined with the continuing drama of Team Savage, is just too interesting to not give a nod too.While Adame didn’t go overboard with Dark Magician-dependent synergies, he did accomplish something really cool. The synergy between Dark Magician and Skilled Dark Magician allows the deck’s coup-de-grace finisher (the theme monster you’re trying to get into play, usually just because it makes a duel more fun) gives the deck an edge over other “finishing move” strategies. Because the deck doesn’t need to tribute to bring Dark Magician to the field, you’ve actually got a viable way to bring out a very high-powered monster without a tribute. Adame’s succeeded in turning a “fun deck” concept, that of ending a duel with a monster you randomly happen to like, into a deck that’s viable in a competitive format.The rest of the deck is a flavorful Chaos variant. The Dark attribute of Dark Magician and his Skilled pals allows them to slip into a Chaos build with relative ease. Cards like Airknight Parshath and D. D. Assailant are standard powerhouses for the current Advanced format, and the deck keeps its options open with a single copy of Tsukuyomi and two Scapegoats in order to abuse the Thousand-Eyes Restrict Lockdown concept. Other monsters, such as Mystic Swordsman LV2 and Magical Merchant, are single-card tech that you can often find in Team Savage decks. Though Mystic Swordsman LV2 is run by many other teams and individuals, too, it’s a top pick for Team Savage in particular, while Magical Merchant has been run as a form of pseudo-search in conjunction with Call of the Haunted and Premature Burial by the team since Shonen Jump Championship Los Angeles back in the first week of April.Also a popular pick among more standard powerhouses Adame ran is My Body As A Shield (MBAAS). A debated pick for the Tribe-Infecting Virus and Lightning Vortex–dominated environment, MBAAS has seen play in decks Kim has been running for months. Though it’s received lukewarm results in his decks and the decks of other duelists, it’s especially good here. The reason? While all decks enjoy maintaining board presence and benefit from doing so, this one takes that concept even further. Dark Magician is a big investment once it hits the field, and spell counters can sometimes take a while to stack up on Skilled Dark Magician. My Body As A Shield gives Adame, and thus Kim, another way to ensure that those investments and effects stay on the table for long periods of time and thus increases their efficiency.The traps are fascinating, and are based around the same theory: Call of the Haunted and Ring of Destruction are obviously beneficial, but Royal Decree is the real star. Again, it keeps the deck’s board presence protected from Sakuretsu Armor and Mirror Force, helping Kim do what he needs to do today by protecting Dark Magician and Skilled Dark Magician. The reason that Adame didn’t run Mirror Force? Well, look at the two non-Decree traps he did run—both Ring and Call of the Haunted can be set and, in most situations, immediately activated next turn. That means they can be used when drawn instead of cluttering up the field once Royal Decree hits. Mirror Force is slightly more conditional, and could potentially just sit around locked in face-down position. Not using Mirror Force prevents this situation from ever occurring.Overall, this deck is a great example of how one can incorporate creativity and raw fun into a competitive strategy. Some praise of Adame and Kim is definitely due just for trying something fun in a field that is often downright business-like in its level of seriousness, and it’s pretty incredible that an intense player like Jae Kim would take a step back from his usual must-win role to pay tribute to his friend.Here’s hoping for Dark Magician in the Top 8!Monsters: 171 Dark Magician1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning1 Airknight Parshath1 Breaker the Magical Warrior2 Skilled Dark Magician1 Sangan1 Sinister Serpent3 Magician of Faith1 D. D. Warrior Lady1 D. D. Assailant1 Tsukuyomi1 Exiled Force1 Mystic Swordsman LV21 Magical MerchantSpells: 201 Pot of Greed1 Graceful Charity1 Delinquent Duo1 Premature Burial1 Snatch Steal1 Mystical Space Typhoon1 Heavy Storm2 Nobleman of Crossout1 My Body As A Shield2 Book of Moon1 Lightning Vortex1 Smashing Ground1 Reinforcement of the Army1 Swords of Revealing Light2 Scapegoat2 MetamorphosisTraps: 42 Royal Decree1 Ring of Destruction1 Call of the HauntedSide:2 Neko Mane King1 Reinforcement of the Army1 Mystic Swordsman LV21 D. D. Assailant1 Bottomless Trap Hole1 Ceasefire1 Torrential Tribute1 Tribe-Infecting Virus2 Mobius the Frost Monarch2 Waboku2 Chain Disappearance Fusion:3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict1 Dark Paladin2 Reaper on the Nightmare1 Darkfire Dragon1 Giltia the D. Knight1 Musician King1 Ojama King1 Dragoness the Wicked Knight1 Charubin the Fire Knight3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight2 King Dragun3 Ryu Senshi3 Dark Balter the Terrible2 Fiend Skull Dragon1 Gatling Dragon1 Dark Flare Knight

Metagame.com (2005)

This article was originally written by Metagame.com, what was formerly the official website for large Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament coverage.  It has been preserved by GoatFormat.com so that players can learn from this historical tournament coverage.