Yesterday, we covered the first new deck release for the Rise of the Duel Monsters set for Kaijudo. The second deck, titled “Rocket Storm”Â, is very much different from Sonic Blast. Firstly, it uses three different civilizations, a first for pre-made decks, and it also is the first of these decks to feature cards from the light civilization. With another exclusive card to sweeten the deal, it’s pretty easy to say that I was excited to try this one out.
The exclusive card for this deck is another Tatsurion, but an interesting one at that. Wrist-Rockets Tatsurion, as he’s called, is a level seven card with five thousand attack. That seems kind of low, but he’s got a neat ability to make up for it. His rocket launcher ability destroys an opposing creature with two-thousand or less attack points when he comes into play AND whenever he attacks. If your opponent has a lot of weak creatures on the field, he can clear them in a few turns. This works great against someone using Essence Elf to boost their attacks, or someone using Aqua Seneschal to draw cards. He’s lacking double breaker though, so he doesn’t really count as a finisher.
Let’s start off with the light cards. Light is a very interesting civilization because one of its signatures are blockers that offer heavy fire power for little cost. Sun-Stalk Seed, Jade Monitor, Keeper of the Clouds, and Grand Gure, Tower Keeper all fit this role. Each of these creatures also has the skirmisher ability. This means they can’t attack shields, but they can still attack creatures. These monsters will basically allow you to control the field and keep any threat at bay. Grand Gure, for example, offers nine-thousand attack points for a mere six mana. There are very few cards out there that can deal with him. Your opponent will need to find or use a spell quickly or risk never being able to attack again. There are also a few cards that tap enemy creatures, which is useful as well. Stormspark Blast will tap all of your opponent’s creatures. This allows you to attack shields without fear of being blocked, or take out any creature you choose via battle. I think the light civilization is my new favorite.
The fire side of the deck features a pretty standard idea, but offers different cards than the other two decks that have been featured. The red cards utilize the powerful attack ability that grants additional attack power when that creature is battling. Drakon Weaponsmith, for example, starts out with a measly one-thousand attack for two mana. When he attacks, he gets a bonus two-thousand. That makes him strong enough to take out most early threats. With those light cards to back him up, you won’t have to worry about reprisals because you’ll have a blocker at the ready. The deck also features Bolshack Dragon, a wicked finisher that gains attack power for each fire creature in your discard pile. With six-thousand attack to begin with, he can become a true monster. Plus, he’s got the double breaker ability.
Lastly, we have the nature cards. These offer a myriad of support options. Return to Soil is good for getting rid of a pesky low level opponent, Power Surge gives all of your creatures a temporary boost, and Rumbling Terrasaur is the basic staple powerhouse on turn five. The green cards also offer Karate Carrot and Splinterclaw Wasp, both of which have the powerful attack ability. Three copies of Razorhide add cards to your mana zone whenever they attack. Basically, you’re covered no matter what direction you want to go with here.
The deck has a couple of weaknesses that need to be addressed. The creature removal is spotty at best. There are a number of cards that are great at eliminating weaker creatures, but none that can counter something truly powerful (except Grand Gure of course). I’m pretty sure it was meant to counter the Sonic Blast deck, so it’s fitting that this deck’s weakness reflects the weakness of that deck. After all, if your opponent doesn’t have any strong creatures, why worry about removing them? The deck is also really lacking when it comes to level five cards. It has two copies of Rumbling Terrasaur, one Meteosaur, Splinterclaw Wasp, and a Halon. Only the wasp fits the tone of the deck, and it just seems that some different cards could have fit better.
Let’s see what we can do about improving this deck. Firstly, the light cards have a blocker at levels two, three, four, and six. Keeper of Twilight fills the gaping hole at five and gives you a strong blocker at every turn should you need it. Current Charger is a nasty little creature that untaps all of your other creatures at the end of your turn. That means you can attack with your blocker, and then block with him as well. Nasty. Rally the Reserves lets all creatures with guard and/or skirmisher attack as if they didn’t have those abilities. This played at the right time allows you to overwhelm your opponent with a sudden strike from all of your light creatures. A couple copies of Essence Elf would be nice as well, as they boost all of your creatures, turning your blockers into nightmares and your attackers into something that can survive a reprisal should you not have a blocker ready. Plus, they gives you a ton of great level two options. I’d also replace the two copies of Draglide with Pyro Trooper. Pyro Trooper fits the deck much better thanks to his powerful attack ability. You can safely remove the green vanilla cards (creatures with no special abilities) in order to make room for some of these options. Honestly, Brave Giant is likely to end up in your mana zone anyway.
Overall, I really dig this deck as well. Light civilization cards seem pretty awesome, and the three color scheme works quite well. With a few tweaks, this deck has an answer for pretty much everything an opponent can throw at it. Battling the Sonic Blast deck with this one will prove quite interesting.
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