Fun Deck: Dragon Master Knight Turbo

Some decks are built because they are efficient.

Some decks are built because they have a clean game plan, good matchups and twenty pages of testing behind them.

And then there are decks like this.

It plays Black Luster Soldier, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Ritual Spells, Fusion Spells, Chaos monsters, Fusion substitutes and enough random old-school nonsense to make the opening hand occasionally look like you shuffled three different decks together.

But when it works, it is hilarious.

The goal is basically to turn a bunch of cards that normally look terrible in your hand into gigantic Fusion Monsters and eventually summon one of the coolest monsters from old Yu-Gi-Oh!: Dragon Master Knight.

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The Deck

https://neogoat-platform.vercel.app/deck.html?slug=dragon-master-knight-1789183382761

Main Deck

3 Black Luster Soldier
3 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
3 King of the Swamp
1 Versago the Destroyer
3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
2 Chaos Sorcerer
1 D.D. Warrior Lady
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
2 Advanced Ritual Art
1 Black Luster Ritual
3 Dragon's Mirror
2 Foolish Burial
1 Polymerization
1 Fusion Gate
1 Dimension Fusion
1 Pot of Greed
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Giant Trunade
1 Premature Burial
2 Book of Moon
1 Brain Control
1 Lightning Vortex
2 Royal Decree

Extra Deck

2 Dragon Master Knight
2 Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
1 Five-Headed Dragon
1 King Dragun
1 Fiend Skull Dragon
1 Darkfire Dragon
1 B. Skull Dragon
1 Meteor Black Dragon
1 Gaia the Dragon Champion
1 Thousand Dragon
1 Dark Balter the Terrible
1 Ryu Senshi
1 Thousand-Eyes Restrict

Side Deck

2 My Body as a Shield
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
2 Dust Tornado
2 Des Wombat
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Shield Crush
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
2 Gale Dogra
2 Ragged Records of Rites

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So... What Is This Thing Trying to Do?

The first little engine is actually pretty cute: Advanced Ritual Art + Black Luster Soldier + Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Black Luster Soldier is Level 8. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is also Level 8.

So Advanced Ritual Art can send a Blue-Eyes directly from the Deck to the Graveyard to Ritual Summon Black Luster Soldier.

Normally, putting a 3000 ATK vanilla monster in the Graveyard would not sound very exciting.

Here, that's basically loading ammunition.

Dragon's Mirror lets us banish Fusion Materials from the field or Graveyard to summon our Dragon Fusion Monsters. So every Blue-Eyes we dump is one step closer to something stupidly large coming out of the Extra Deck.

Foolish Burial does the same thing without pretending to be subtle. If we need Blue-Eyes in the Graveyard, we simply put Blue-Eyes in the Graveyard.

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The Actual Dream

Obviously, the big boss we're trying to summon is:

Dragon Master Knight

5000 ATK.

Completely unnecessary.

Absolutely worth doing.

Dragon Master Knight normally asks for Black Luster Soldier + Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. That sounds completely unreasonable until you remember that this deck is packed with Fusion substitutes.

King of the Swamp and Versago the Destroyer can replace one specifically named Fusion Material.

So we don't always need to go through the full anime ritual of assembling everything exactly as printed. King of the Swamp is also useful because it can search Polymerization, meaning the card is rarely completely dead.

And if the proper materials eventually end up in the Graveyard, Dragon's Mirror gives us even more ways to turn that pile of dead cards into something enormous.

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Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon Is Not Just Decoration

The second giant boss is Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Three Blue-Eyes sounds horrible, because it is.

But Advanced Ritual Art and Foolish Burial make it surprisingly possible to get all three copies out of the Deck without ever having to Normal Summon one.

Once enough Blue-Eyes are in the Graveyard, Dragon's Mirror can turn them into a 4500 ATK Fusion Monster.

And once Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon exists, we're already halfway into Dragon Master Knight territory.

This is basically the philosophy of the deck:

Turn bricks into Graveyard resources, then turn Graveyard resources into huge bosses.

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Why Three Dragon's Mirror?

Because that's the fun card.

We're not building a Blue-Eyes Ritual Fusion deck so we can calmly Normal Summon Manju and pass.

Dragon's Mirror is what turns all the setup into a payoff.

It can make Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It can eventually make Dragon Master Knight. And if enough Dragons somehow accumulate in the Graveyard, Five-Headed Dragon is sitting there waiting for somebody to make a terrible decision.

It also loads the banished zone, which becomes relevant because this deck plays one of the most dangerous cards in NeoGoat: Dimension Fusion.

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Dimension Fusion Is Where Things Get Stupid

Dragon's Mirror banishes monsters. Chaos Sorcerer banishes monsters.

Normally that is the cost of doing business.

But then Dimension Fusion shows up.

Suddenly those monsters aren't gone anymore.

A Dragon's Mirror that already converted several monsters into a huge Fusion can indirectly help prepare a ridiculous Dimension Fusion later.

This is definitely not the most reliable thing in the world, but this deck is not applying for a job at a bank.

We're trying to summon enormous monsters.

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The Chaos Package Keeps the Deck Somewhat Normal

Thankfully, not every card in the deck is part of the circus.

Chaos Sorcerer, D.D. Warrior Lady, Breaker the Magical Warrior and Tribe-Infecting Virus give the deck actual interaction when we don't open the perfect pile of Ritual and Fusion pieces.

Manju is also doing honest work. It searches Black Luster Soldier or the Ritual Spell we need, and afterward it becomes LIGHT material for Chaos Sorcerer.

King of the Swamp and Versago give us DARKs.

So even though the deck looks like a Blue-Eyes anime pile, there is a small Chaos engine hiding underneath it.

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Fusion Gate: Because Apparently We Needed Another Fusion Card

Fusion Gate gives us another way to Fusion Summon without needing Polymerization every time.

It's not something you always want to see, but it fits the deck's general plan and creates another way to turn awkward materials into an actual threat.

The Extra Deck also contains a pile of old Fusion Monsters because King of the Swamp and Versago open up strange little possibilities depending on what materials are available.

Are all of those Fusions going to be summoned every tournament?

Absolutely not.

Do I want them in there anyway?

Absolutely.

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Royal Decree Makes Sense Here

This deck invests a lot of cards into its bigger plays.

The last thing we want is to finally assemble our giant Fusion Monster and lose it to some random Trap.

Royal Decree helps clear the road while also letting us keep our own Trap count extremely low.

Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon and Giant Trunade give us additional ways to force through the turn where we finally decide to do something irresponsible.

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The Gale Dogra Side Plan Is Disgusting

Now we get to one of my favorite stupid ideas in the Side Deck: Gale Dogra.

Gale Dogra can pay 3000 LP to send a Fusion Monster directly from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard.

Normally paying 3000 LP to throw your own Fusion Monster into the trash sounds like something you do right before losing the duel.

But this deck can actually use that.

For example, Gale Dogra can send Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon directly from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard.

If Black Luster Soldier is also available in the Graveyard, suddenly Dragon's Mirror has the exact materials it needs for Dragon Master Knight.

So the Side Deck contains an alternate plan that basically says:

Pay 3000 LP. Throw Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in the garbage. Summon Dragon Master Knight anyway.

Beautiful.

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The Side Deck

The rest of the Side Deck is mostly there to stop other decks from ruining our nonsense.

My Body as a Shield helps protect important summons and big monsters. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer attacks Graveyard strategies and can also interfere with opposing Chaos decks. Dust Tornado, Mobius the Frost Monarch, Nobleman of Crossout and Shield Crush give us more straightforward answers depending on the matchup.

Des Wombat is there when burn players decide nobody at the table is allowed to have fun.

And Ragged Records of Rites gives us another Ritual-related option when we want to lean harder into that side of the deck.

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Is This Deck Good?

Define "good."

Is it the most consistent deck in NeoGoat? No.

Can you open multiple Blue-Eyes, a Fusion Spell and a Black Luster Soldier and wonder what decisions in your life brought you to this exact moment?

Yes.

Does the deck occasionally produce hands that look like a twelve-year-old built them after watching three different Yu-Gi-Oh! movies?

Also yes.

But it has enough real engines underneath the nonsense that it can still play actual Yu-Gi-Oh!. Manju searches pieces, Foolish Burial sets up the Graveyard, Chaos Sorcerer gives you interaction, King of the Swamp fixes Fusion hands, and Dragon's Mirror converts all that setup into real threats.

And when the deck finally does what it was built to do, you get to drop a 4500 or 5000 ATK Fusion Monster on somebody playing normal cards.

That counts for something.

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Final Thoughts

Not every NeoGoat deck has to be an optimized tournament machine.

One of the fun things about expanding the old card pool is finding forgotten cards and stupid interactions that suddenly have enough support to become playable.

This deck combines Ritual Summoning, Fusion Summoning, Chaos monsters, Graveyard setup and a bunch of giant monsters that were probably never supposed to exist in the same reasonable strategy.

The result is messy.

The result bricks sometimes.

The result is also extremely fun.

And honestly, if I can Ritual Summon Black Luster Soldier, dump Blue-Eyes into the Graveyard and somehow finish the duel with Dragon Master Knight on the field, I don't really care whether the deck was pretty on the way there.

NeoGoat Rulings That Are Different from Goat Format: Part 2

NeoGoat uses old Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, but we are not playing with a 2005 rulebook.

One of the basic rules of NeoGoat is pretty simple: unless the format specifically says otherwise, we use the current official Yu-Gi-Oh! rules and card rulings.

That also means NeoGoat can change without adding a single new card. If Konami changes a game mechanic or updates the ruling of an old card tomorrow, that new ruling also applies to NeoGoat.

Basically:

Old cards. Modern rules.

Most of the time this doesn't matter much. But every once in a while you get an interaction that works differently from traditional Goat Format. Some of them are pretty weird.

Here are three examples that we can reproduce directly in NeoGoat Pro.

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1. Rivalry of Warlords Can Stop a Flip Effect

Let's start with a situation that looks completely normal.

You have Rivalry of Warlords active and control a face-up Warrior. You also have a face-down Spellcaster.

Your opponent attacks the face-down monster.

The monster still flips face-up before damage calculation. Rivalry doesn't magically stop that part of the battle. Damage calculation also happens normally.

But after damage calculation, you are now controlling two different Types. Because of Rivalry, the newly flipped Spellcaster is sent to the Graveyard.

Here is where the modern ruling matters.

If the attacked monster has a Flip Effect, or another Trigger Effect that would activate after damage calculation, it cannot activate, because Rivalry has already sent that monster to the Graveyard before it gets the chance to activate its effect on the field.

This is different from the old Goat Format interaction, where the Flip Effect could still activate.

It's a tiny rules difference, but in a format full of Flip Monsters, it can absolutely matter.

Don't believe us? You can check the official Konami ruling here . The official Q&A explains the interaction between Rivalry of Warlords, an attacked face-down monster of another Type, and its effect timing.

NeoGoat Pro demonstration:

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2. Deck Devastation Virus vs. Monsters with ? ATK

 

Now we get to the mysterious little ? printed in the ATK box of some monsters.

In old Goat rulings, monsters with ? ATK could be treated as having 0 ATK for effects like Deck Devastation Virus while they were in the hand.

That is not how the current rules handle it.

A monster with ? ATK in the hand does not have 0 ATK. Its ATK is still ?.

And "?" does not automatically mean "1500 or less."

So Deck Devastation Virus does not destroy a ? ATK monster in the hand.

But now comes the funny part.

If that monster is face-down on the field, its ATK is treated as 0 when an effect needs to check its ATK. That means Deck Devastation Virus does destroy it.

And if the monster is already face-up, you look at the ATK it actually has at that moment. If its current ATK is 1500 or less, Virus destroys it. If it is above 1500, it survives.

So the same card can survive Deck Devastation Virus in your hand and then immediately become vulnerable to it once it's sitting face-down on the field.

Yu-Gi-Oh! rulings are beautiful sometimes.

Konami's official database has a ruling using Tragoedia that explains exactly how ? ATK works in these locations: in the hand it remains ?, while a face-down copy on the field is treated as having 0 ATK when its ATK needs to be checked. You can read the official Konami ruling here .

NeoGoat Pro demonstration:

[VIDEO: Deck Devastation Virus vs. a ? ATK monster in the hand and on the field]

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3. Mind Control + Book of Moon Lets You Tribute the Monster

This one is probably the weirdest of the three.

Mind Control says that the monster you take cannot attack or be Tributed.

Simple enough.

So normally you can't steal your opponent's monster with Mind Control and then use that monster for something like Metamorphosis.

But under the current ruling, something strange happens if you take a face-up monster and then turn it face-down with Book of Moon.

You still keep control of that monster until the End Phase...

...but the part of Mind Control that says the monster cannot attack or be Tributed stops applying.

Yes, that means this is completely legal in NeoGoat:

Mind Control → Book of Moon → Metamorphosis

You steal the monster, Book it face-down, and then Tribute your opponent's monster for Metamorphosis.

Traditional Goat Format does not allow this.

Under the old ruling, flipping the monster face-down did not remove Mind Control's restriction. The monster still couldn't attack or be Tributed until the End Phase.

And because Yu-Gi-Oh! rulings apparently weren't weird enough already, there is another detail:

If Mind Control takes a monster that was already face-down, the restriction still applies. Even if that monster is later flipped face-up, it still cannot attack or be Tributed while Mind Control's effect is applying.

So:

• Mind Control a face-up monster → Book of Moon: you can Tribute it.
• Mind Control a monster that was already face-down: you cannot Tribute it.

Same card. Same turn. Different result depending on whether the monster was face-up when Mind Control resolved.

And yes, this one is straight from Konami too. The official Q&A specifically says that if a face-up monster taken by Mind Control is changed to face-down Defense Position, you still control it until the End Phase, but the restrictions preventing it from attacking or being Tributed are no longer applied. You can check the official Mind Control ruling here .

NeoGoat Pro demonstration:

[VIDEO: Mind Control → Book of Moon]

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Why Does NeoGoat Use Modern Rulings?

NeoGoat takes the cards, pacing and deckbuilding style we like from old Yu-Gi-Oh!, but runs them using the current game engine.

That makes the format much easier to maintain.

You don't need one rulebook for regular Yu-Gi-Oh!, another one for NeoGoat, and a folder full of rulings from twenty years ago just to remember how one random interaction works.

Using modern card rulings helps NeoGoat stay compatible with platforms like Master Duel and other modern Yu-Gi-Oh! simulators, where the current rules are already built into the game. It also avoids giving judges unnecessary headaches. Most judges already work with the current rules used in Advanced and Genesys at official tournaments, so asking them to switch back and forth between modern rulings and a separate 2005-style ruleset would just create more chances for confusion and mistakes. 

If Konami fixes, changes or clarifies a ruling, NeoGoat simply moves with the game.

It can also create new interactions between old cards that didn't exist when those cards originally came out, which is honestly part of the fun.

NeoGoat isn't supposed to be Yu-Gi-Oh! frozen.

It's old-school Yu-Gi-Oh! running on a modern engine.

If Konami changes the rules tomorrow, NeoGoat changes with them.

And whenever one of those changes produces something especially weird, we'll try to reproduce it in NeoGoat Pro so everyone can actually see how it works instead of arguing about it for three hours.

Rules examples in this article reflect current Konami rulings as of September 2026.

Why Pot of Greed Remains in NeoGoat?

Pot of Greed is broken.

There. We said it.

Draw two cards for absolutely no cost is ridiculous. There is no setup, no condition, no Life Point payment, no discard, nothing. You activate one card and end up with two.

But here is the part people sometimes skip:

A card being extremely powerful does not automatically mean the format becomes better when you ban it.

In NeoGoat, Pot of Greed is Limited to one copy, and for now, we think that is exactly where it belongs.

Pot of Greed Is NeoGoat's Critical Hit

The easiest way to explain how we see Pot of Greed is this:

Pot of Greed is basically a critical hit.

You do not get it every game.

You do not build your entire deck assuming it will happen.

But every once in a while, you draw it at exactly the right moment and suddenly the duel changes.

You were running out of cards?

Pot.

You needed one defensive card and one monster to get back into the game?

Pot gives you two shots.

You were already ahead and wanted to keep pushing?

Yeah... Pot can also make things uglier.

That randomness is real.

But we do not think NeoGoat needs to remove every random power spike from the game.

Sometimes the duel becoming suddenly dangerous again is fun.

Sometimes You Actually Need Two Cards

This is one of the biggest reasons we like having Pot around.

There are game states where drawing one good card is simply not enough.

Maybe you need removal and a monster.

Maybe you need something defensive and a way to generate pressure next turn.

Maybe your opponent has slowly pushed you into a position where no single topdeck really gets you back into the duel.

Without Pot, sometimes you already know how the next few turns are going to go.

You are technically still playing, but realistically you are just waiting to lose.

Pot of Greed creates a little bit of tension:

What if I draw Pot?

Maybe the two cards are garbage.

Maybe they are exactly what you need.

But the possibility exists.

And we think that possibility is good for NeoGoat.

Yes, Sometimes the Worse Player Draws Pot

This is probably the strongest argument against the card.

You can play better for several turns, manage your resources correctly, force favorable trades...

...and then your opponent topdecks the smiling green bastard and gets two fresh cards.

That can feel awful.

We are not going to pretend it does not happen.

But Yu-Gi-Oh! already contains variance.

You draw different opening hands. You see your Limited cards at different times. Sometimes you draw the perfect answer. Sometimes you draw your Tribute Monster with nothing to Tribute.

NeoGoat is not trying to become a game where randomness disappears completely.

We want skill to matter a lot.

We just do not believe skill requires every game to become perfectly predictable.

Pot Gives You More Cards. You Still Have to Play Them.

This part gets overlooked because the effect is so simple.

Pot of Greed gives you resources.

It does not tell you what to do with them.

You can still overextend.

You can still waste removal.

You can still attack into something stupid.

You can still use the wrong card first.

You can still turn a great draw into a terrible turn.

Obviously, activating Pot itself does not require some galaxy-brain decision.

You draw two cards. Congratulations.

But the game does not end when Pot resolves.

The interesting part is what happens after the cards enter your hand.

Not Every +1 Feels the Same

This is also why we do not evaluate every powerful old-school card the same way.

There is a big difference between:

• getting more cards yourself,
• filtering through your deck and setting up the Graveyard,
• and ripping cards directly out of the opponent's hand.

All three can create advantage.

But they create very different games.

If my opponent activates Pot of Greed, I might think:

"Well, crap."

But I am still holding my cards.

I still have my plan.

I still get to play.

That matters.

NeoGoat does not judge cards only by how many pieces of cardboard they are worth.

We also care about what kind of experience they create.

Pot Is Powerful in a Very Obvious Way

Another funny thing about Pot of Greed is that everybody immediately understands why it is good.

There is no mystery.

Draw two cards.

That's it.

The power is sitting right there in your face.

Other cards can generate just as much value—or more—but hide that value behind several interactions.

A monster can search another monster.

That monster can enable a Tribute.

The Tribute Monster can remove a card.

The Graveyard can generate another resource later.

Suddenly one starter has generated several pieces of value, but nobody looks at the first card and screams:

"IT SAYS PLUS ONE! BAN IT!"

Pot is easy to blame because its power is incredibly easy to measure.

That does not make it weak.

It just means that visible power and actual impact on the format are not always the same thing.

One Copy Matters

We would feel very differently about three Pot of Greed.

Three copies would stop feeling like a critical hit and start feeling like part of the normal game plan.

At one copy, your deck cannot rely on opening it.

In a 40-card deck, even seeing Pot among your first six cards only happens 15% of the time.

Most games begin without it.

Most hands have to function without it.

Most deckbuilding decisions still have to work without assuming that the grinning pot is coming to save you.

That is important.

Limited Pot is an event.

Unlimited Pot would be infrastructure.

We want the event.

It Also Makes Weird Cards More Interesting

Powerful cards do something else that is easy to forget:

They create valuable things for other cards to interact with.

Spell negation becomes more interesting when there are Spells that genuinely hurt to let resolve.

Spell recovery becomes more attractive when there are strong targets worth recovering.

Cards that copy, recycle, punish, or interact with Spells gain more meaningful decisions when the format contains powerful Spells.

This does not mean we should keep every broken Spell just to make Magic Jammer look cooler.

Obviously not.

But removing powerful cards can have consequences beyond simply removing their own effect.

The card pool around them changes too.

NeoGoat is supposed to have strange interactions, old cards finding new jobs, and weird deckbuilding ideas becoming playable.

We like that.

"But Everyone Plays It"

Probably.

And?

Not every card shared between decks destroys deck diversity.

If a Zombie deck, Monarch deck, Warrior deck, Harpie deck, and Chaos deck all play one Pot of Greed, they do not suddenly become the same deck.

The remaining 39 cards matter quite a bit.

A common staple can absolutely become unhealthy if there are too many of them or if they squeeze deckbuilding too hard.

But we do not think every automatic inclusion needs to disappear.

Some cards can simply be part of the format.

Pot Can Help the Best Deck Too

This deserves its own section because it is an easy argument to oversell.

Pot is not some magical comeback card that only appears when the underdog needs help.

The strongest deck can draw it.

The player who is already winning can draw it.

The guy who opened perfectly can draw it and make you hate life.

That happens.

So our argument is not:

Pot of Greed makes games fair.

Our argument is:

Pot of Greed creates swings, and we think a small amount of that is fun.

Those are very different claims.

Fun Actually Matters

NeoGoat is a competitive format.

But it is also a game people are playing because they want to have a good time.

We care about balance.

We care about skill.

We care about deck diversity.

But we also care about those stupid little moments where everybody watching the game reacts.

The player with no cards draws.

Looks at the card.

Smiles.

Slaps Pot of Greed on the table.

Everybody immediately knows something might happen.

Maybe the comeback starts.

Maybe he draws two bricks and dies anyway.

Either way, there is a moment.

We think NeoGoat is better when it has moments.

That Does Not Mean Pot Is Untouchable

Keeping Pot today does not mean promising to keep it forever.

If the format changes enough that Pot starts enabling unhealthy loops, speeds games up too much, or starts producing too many games where nothing else matters, then we can revisit it.

That is what a living custom format is supposed to do.

Cards should be judged by the environment they are actually being played in.

Not by reputation alone.

Not because somebody once said:

"Pot of Greed is the most broken card ever printed."

Maybe it is one of the cleanest examples of free advantage ever printed.

Fine.

But NeoGoat's banlist is not a museum exhibit ranking the most offensive card designs in Yu-Gi-Oh! history.

It exists to make NeoGoat fun.

Our Verdict

Pot of Greed is unfair.

Pot of Greed is random.

Pot of Greed is almost certainly going into your deck.

Sometimes it rewards the player who was already ahead.

Sometimes it saves the player who looked completely dead.

Sometimes it draws two mediocre cards and accomplishes very little.

And sometimes it creates exactly the kind of ridiculous comeback people remember after the tournament is over.

We are okay with that.

Pot of Greed should stay at one copy because NeoGoat is allowed to have a critical hit.

We do not want every game decided by one.

We just want the possibility.

One Pot. Two cards. Let the ugly green bastard cook.

Claudio H Wins NeoGoat Pro Tournament with Unexpected Dai Zombies

Win a GGP 11 · Champion’s report

A free Sabersaurus, a deep Zombie toolbox and eleven remarkably different duels carried Claudio H through a perfect five-round run.

Champion: Claudio H  ·  Record: 5–0 matches, 10–1 duels  ·  Deck: Zombie / Dinosaur

Win a GGP 11 belonged to Claudio H. He completed all five rounds undefeated in matches and dropped only one duel, piloting a 42-card Zombie/Dinosaur hybrid whose strangest card was also one of its most important: Sabersaurus.

This was not Normal Monster beatdown. Unexpected Dai turned an empty field into a free 1900 ATK body without spending the Normal Summon. Sabersaurus could immediately apply pressure, stand beside Don Zaloog or a toolbox Warrior, become Tribute material for Jinzo, Thestalos or Vampire Lord, and later supply the EARTH monster needed to summon Gigantes. Around that compact package, Pyramid Turtle and Book of Life gave the deck a second axis that demanded completely different answers.

The champion’s formula: begin with efficient one-for-one exchanges, convert Unexpected Dai into an extra body, then choose the threat the position demands. The deck never has to win the same way twice.

The final podium

ChampionClaudio H

Runner-upnegro jariozo

Third placeLUIS

The road to first place

Round	Opponent	Result	Defining moment
1	Victor peluche	2–0	Thestalos in Game 1; Don Zaloog in Game 2
2	Tego	2–1	D.D. Warrior Lady answered Last Warrior; Lightning Vortex sealed Game 3
3	Josele	2–0	An 18-turn grind followed by a fast Dai–Don–Thestalos line
4	negro jariozo	2–0	Book of Life rebuilt Game 1; Brain Control broke the Jinzo board in Game 2
5	Meme	2–0	Gigantes converted a battle trade into the decisive back-row swing

Round 1 · Claudio H 2–0 Victor peluche

A patient opening and a ruthless finish

Game 1 became the longest duel of the opening match. Victor’s Bottomless Trap Hole removed Breaker the Magical Warrior early, but Claudio refused to overextend. Heavy Storm later opened the field for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, which stripped Book of Moon from Victor’s hand and cleared Fusilier Dragon in battle. Victor rebuilt through Reasoning into Armed Dragon LV5, yet Claudio answered and eventually found Unexpected Dai. Sabersaurus and D.D. Assailant took control of the board, and the duel ended on Turn 16.

Game 2 showed the deck’s faster face. Unexpected Dai produced Sabersaurus, Hyper Hammerhead kept combat awkward, and the two sides traded Mirror Forces. Breaker cleared a key Call of the Haunted, then Reinforcement of the Army found Don Zaloog. Don connected, discarded Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 and helped push Victor down to 400 LP before the game ended on Turn 10.

Round 2 · Claudio H 2–1 Tego

The only loss—and the tournament’s best recovery

Tego presented the most explosive combo deck Claudio faced. In Game 1, Metamorphosis converted Fusilier Dragon into The Last Warrior from Another Planet. D.D. Warrior Lady immediately fought through the lock by banishing both herself and Last Warrior. Claudio followed with Unexpected Dai for Sabersaurus and Reinforcement of the Army for Don Zaloog; Don removed another Fusilier from Tego’s hand, and Heavy Storm ended the resistance.

Game 2 was Claudio’s only defeat of the tournament. Tego assembled a succession of large threats through Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8, The Creator, Dark Magician of Chaos and finally Gatling Dragon. Two heads on Gatling Dragon’s three coin tosses cleared Horus LV4 and Spirit Reaper. Claudio used Soul Exchange to Tribute Gatling Dragon for Ryu Kokki, and Kokki later banished Dark Magician of Chaos in battle, but Tego still found the final attack on Turn 13.

The deciding game was an excellent reset. Tego reached Horus LV8 early, but Mirror Force removed both Horus and King Tiger Wanghu. Pyramid Turtle then recruited Ryu Kokki, which traded with King Dragun, while Don Zaloog attacked Tego’s remaining resources. On Turn 13, Lightning Vortex discarded an otherwise dead Unexpected Dai and removed Horus LV4. The game ended there, and Claudio escaped the round 2–1.

Round 3 · Claudio H 2–0 Josele

Winning the long game, then winning quickly

Game 1 lasted 18 turns and proved that Claudio’s build could survive a real resource war. Unexpected Dai supplied Tribute material for Thestalos, which removed Tribe-Infecting Virus from Josele’s hand and inflicted damage. Don Zaloog repeatedly attacked Josele’s hand and Deck, while Mirror Force, Ring of Destruction and Sakuretsu Armor forced both players to rebuild. Book of Life revived Pyramid Turtle for the last stretch, and Heavy Storm cleared the path for the finishing attacks.

Game 2 compressed the same plan into seven turns. Unexpected Dai summoned Sabersaurus, Reinforcement of the Army searched Don Zaloog, and Don immediately discarded another Tribe-Infecting Virus. Claudio later Tributed Don for Thestalos, removing Mobius the Frost Monarch from Josele’s hand, then upgraded Thestalos into Jinzo. Josele’s Mystical Space Typhoon stopped Premature Burial from extending the field, but Jinzo still switched off the Trap Cards and the match ended before another battle could develop.

Round 4 · Claudio H 2–0 negro jariozo

Beating the eventual runner-up

The first duel was a chain of precise answers. Claudio’s Exiled Force removed Giant Rat; negro jariozo used Royal Decree to protect The Rock Spirit from Bottomless Trap Hole; Claudio answered with Heavy Storm, then turned Gigantes into Tribute material for Ryu Kokki. After opposing removal traded with Kokki and Breaker, Book of Life brought Ryu Kokki back and banished Exiled Force from the opposing Graveyard. Spirit Reaper stripped Tsukuyomi from the hand, and Ring of Destruction stopped a final Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer attack.

Sabersaurus dealt repeated damage in Game 2 before the duel moved into a much denser exchange. Soul Exchange let Claudio Tribute an opposing Mystic Swordsman LV2 for Vampire Lord, which survived Torrential Tribute by returning on the next Standby Phase. Negro jariozo eventually Tributed Gigantes for Jinzo and destroyed Vampire Lord, but Claudio untapped with Tribe-Infecting Virus and Brain Control. Brain Control targeted Jinzo, and the duel ended there: a 2–0 victory over the player who would finish second.

Round 5 · Claudio H 2–0 Meme

One final conversion from tempo to inevitability

Unexpected Dai appeared twice in Game 1. The second copy was the critical one: Sabersaurus became Tribute material for Jinzo, allowing Claudio to clear Blade Knight without worrying about the back row. Meme answered with D.D. Warrior Lady to banish Jinzo and added Breaker the Magical Warrior, but Claudio’s final turn produced Gigantes and Don Zaloog together. Gigantes traded with Breaker, threatening to wipe the remaining Spell and Trap Cards, and the game ended during that battle.

Game 2 was short but interactive. Claudio used Unexpected Dai for Sabersaurus, attacked through Dekoichi and watched Meme establish Chaos Sorcerer. Pot of Greed found more material, Smashing Ground removed the first Sorcerer, and Shrink won the next combat for Meme. The official replay records Claudio as the winner on Turn 5, completing the 2–0 sweep, the undefeated match record and the title.

Watch all five rounds

The complete replay presentation contains every game from Claudio H’s winning run.

Watch the full replay video Open the published deck

Why the deck worked

1. Unexpected Dai broke the Normal Summon economy. Claudio could add 1900 ATK, then still Normal Summon Don Zaloog, a Warrior answer or a Tribute monster. Eight Dai activations appear across the eleven replays, including two in the first game of the final round.
2. The recruiters made removal productive. Pyramid Turtle converted battle into Spirit Reaper or Ryu Kokki, while Giant Rat provided another route into the EARTH and Warrior toolbox.
3. Every large monster solved a different problem. Thestalos attacked the hand, Jinzo switched off Traps, Vampire Lord returned after destruction, and Ryu Kokki fought the biggest monsters in the field.
4. The combat math was never safe. Two Shrink and one Rush Recklessly let ordinary attackers trade above their printed stats. D.D. Warrior Lady, D.D. Assailant, Hyper Hammerhead and Exiled Force punished opponents for committing a single boss monster.
5. The Side Deck could change the rules of a matchup. Soul Exchange answered established bosses; Banisher of the Radiance and Skill Drain attacked Graveyard and effect-heavy strategies; Royal Decree punished Trap decks; and King Tiger Wanghu threatened low-ATK engines.

The empty Extra Deck is part of the appeal. Claudio did not win by assembling one spectacular combo. He won by making more useful plays than the opponent, turn after turn, from the first free Sabersaurus to the last well-timed Brain Control.

Champion decklist

Claudio H · Zombie / Dinosaur · 42 Main · 0 Extra · 15 Side

Monsters — 21

• 3 Sabersaurus
• 1 Ryu Kokki
• 1 Jinzo
• 1 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
• 1 Vampire Lord
• 1 Gigantes
• 1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
• 1 D.D. Assailant
• 1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
• 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
• 1 D.D. Warrior Lady
• 1 Hyper Hammerhead
• 1 Don Zaloog
• 1 Giant Rat
• 3 Pyramid Turtle
• 1 Exiled Force
• 1 Spirit Reaper

Spells — 14

• 2 Unexpected Dai
• 2 Book of Life
• 1 Heavy Storm
• 1 Reinforcement of the Army
• 1 Pot of Greed
• 1 Lightning Vortex
• 1 Smashing Ground
• 1 Mystical Space Typhoon
• 2 Shrink
• 1 Rush Recklessly
• 1 Premature Burial

Traps — 7

• 2 Bottomless Trap Hole
• 1 Mirror Force
• 1 Torrential Tribute
• 1 Sakuretsu Armor
• 1 Ring of Destruction
• 1 Call of the Haunted

Side Deck — 15

• 1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
• 1 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
• 1 King Tiger Wanghu
• 2 Banisher of the Radiance
• 1 Cipher Soldier
• 2 Soul Exchange
• 1 Nobleman of Crossout
• 1 Brain Control
• 1 Book of Moon
• 1 Enemy Controller
• 1 Royal Decree
• 2 Skill Drain

Replay note: This chronicle was reconstructed from eleven complete NeoGoat YRPX replay traces covering all five rounds. Card actions, game winners and turn counts follow the recorded duel timelines. The published deck entry is dated September 6, 2026.

Turn Healing Into Damage: Darklord Nurse Reficule

The Card We Forgot: Darklord Nurse Reficule in NeoGoat

What if Soul Taker stopped being fair removal and became burn damage at the same time? Darklord Nurse Reficule is legal at three in NeoGoat August 2026, and the current metagame gives her a surprisingly practical job: punish the same midrange decks that expect every duel to become a long exchange of removal, recruiters, Graveyard value and Tribute Summons.

Reficule is not a new September reveal. She was added to NeoGoat some time ago, remained legal and then quietly disappeared into the card pool without receiving serious competitive attention. This is not an introduction. It is a rediscovery.

NeoGoat has already shown that availability and discovery are not the same thing. Gemini Imps has been part of the format since the beginning, yet players are only now starting to use it and understand where it belongs. Sometimes the next important piece of technology is not waiting in a future update. It is already sitting inside the current pool.

Darklord Nurse Reficule may be another one of those cards.

Why rediscover Reficule now?

The NeoGoat Pro metagame sample through August 25 contains 135 locked decklists, 192 meaningful completed table results and 278 deduplicated tournament replays. Monarch variants represented 24.4% of the online field with a 57.9% match win-equivalent; Chaos represented 19.3%; Zombie represented 14.1% with 59.1%; and Warrior/HERO represented 11.9% with 56.8%.

The newest public results continue pointing in the same direction. Monarch won Cartoncito Cards on September 1, 2026. HERO Hybrid and Beastdown shared first place at Pelon Cards on August 29, while Monarch, Chaos and Zombie occupied the August 27 podium.

You can review the complete public archive on the NeoGoat Tournaments page and browse current lists in the NeoGoat Deck Library.

Those results do not automatically prove that Reficule is favored against the field, but they explain why her engine now has a meaningful target. Soul Taker is already useful against Monarch bodies, Chaos Sorcerer, HERO threats and large Zombie monsters. With Reficule or Bad Reaction to Simochi active, the same removal card also inflicts 1000 damage.

Rain of Mercy creates a 2000-LP difference by healing its controller while damaging the opponent, and Upstart Goblin becomes a draw spell that also burns for 1000.

There is also real resistance. Burn had only one entry in the August online sample and finished 0-3, while Des Wombat appeared in 38.5% of registered Side Decks and Royal Decree appeared in 40.7%. A serious Reficule deck therefore cannot be an all-in combo that stops functioning when one Continuous Trap is answered. It needs useful cards, a normal route to victory and a coherent post-side plan.

The engine NeoGoat actually has

This is not a modern Nurse Burn deck copied into an older environment. NeoGoat's strict August card pool does not include Gift Card, The Paths of Destiny or Dark Cure. The available engine is smaller and more honest:

• Reficule or Simochi plus Soul Taker: destroy a face-up monster and inflict 1000 damage instead of giving the opponent 1000 LP.
• Reficule or Simochi plus Rain of Mercy: gain 1000 LP while the opponent takes 1000 damage.
• Reficule or Simochi plus Upstart Goblin: draw one card and inflict 1000 damage.
• Mystic Tomato: recruits Reficule directly from the Deck after being destroyed by battle.
• Summoner Monk: turns a surplus Spell into immediate access to Reficule in the Lock Burn build.
• The Eye of Truth: reveals the opponent's hand and becomes repeatable Standby Phase damage while a converter is active.

With three Reficule, three Bad Reaction to Simochi and seven immediate payoff Spells, a six-card opening hand contains at least one direct converter and one payoff approximately 43.8% of the time.

In the Chaos build, adding three Mystic Tomato raises the chance of opening Reficule, Simochi or a recruiter to approximately 80.8%. That number represents access rather than a guaranteed combo—Mystic Tomato still has to reach battle—but it shows that the strategy is not completely dependent on naturally drawing one specific Continuous Trap.

Deck 1 — Reficule Chaos Control

This is the recommended build for a serious tournament. Rather than asking the entire deck to serve Reficule, it places the reversed-healing package inside a recognizable Chaos Control shell.

Thunder Dragon provides reliable LIGHT material and improves hand management. Reficule, Mystic Tomato, Breaker the Magical Warrior and Spirit Reaper supply DARK monsters. Chaos Sorcerer then gives the deck a proven way to generate advantage and close games when the burn plan is disrupted.

Main Deck — 40

• Monsters (17): 2 Chaos Sorcerer, 3 Darklord Nurse Reficule, 3 Mystic Tomato, 3 Thunder Dragon, 1 Blade Knight, 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior, 1 D.D. Warrior Lady, 1 Sinister Serpent, 1 Spirit Reaper, 1 Tribe-Infecting Virus.
• Spells (15): 2 Book of Moon, 1 Brain Control, 1 Heavy Storm, 1 Mystical Space Typhoon, 1 Nobleman of Crossout, 1 Pot of Greed, 1 Premature Burial, 3 Rain of Mercy, 3 Soul Taker, 1 Upstart Goblin.
• Traps (8): 3 Bad Reaction to Simochi, 1 Bottomless Trap Hole, 1 Call of the Haunted, 1 Mirror Force, 1 Ring of Destruction, 1 Torrential Tribute.

Side Deck — 15

2 Dust Tornado, 2 Pulling the Rug, 2 Nobleman of Crossout, 2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, 2 King Tiger Wanghu, 2 Royal Decree, 2 Des Wombat, 1 Smashing Ground.

Extra Deck: none required.

Deck Builder: Darklord Reficule Chaos Control

Why the Chaos shell works

The greatest advantage of this version is that its cards remain functional when the conversion effect is missing. Soul Taker is removal. Book of Moon is interaction. Brain Control can create a Tribute or game-ending push. Nobleman of Crossout attacks defensive openings, and Chaos Sorcerer can win through ordinary resource exchanges.

Bad Reaction to Simochi is therefore an additional threat rather than the only reason the deck exists. The opponent may successfully answer the burn engine and still lose to Chaos Sorcerer, Mystic Tomato pressure, Ring of Destruction or a normal sequence of control cards.

The transformation Side Deck

Royal Decree is not meant to be sided in casually alongside three copies of Bad Reaction to Simochi. It supports a deliberate transformation: remove Simochi and several reactive Traps, keep Reficule as the monster-based converter, and play a more conventional Chaos strategy that is less vulnerable to opposing backrow hate.

King Tiger Wanghu also requires deliberate siding. Its effect can destroy newly summoned Reficule, Mystic Tomato, Spirit Reaper and Sinister Serpent, so it is not a free addition to the normal configuration. It belongs in matchups where much of the low-ATK package is leaving and shutting down opposing recruiters or small utility monsters is more important than maintaining the complete Reficule engine.

Deck 2 — Reficule Lock Burn

This is the more spectacular—and more uniquely Reficule—version. Instead of using Chaos Sorcerer as a secondary route to victory, it tries to buy enough turns for reversed healing, The Eye of Truth, Nightmare Wheel and Stealth Bird to finish the duel.

It produces the most memorable Reficule games, but it is also the version most exposed to Royal Decree, Mobius the Frost Monarch and concentrated Spell and Trap removal. Its success depends heavily on sequencing rather than simply setting every defensive card available.

Main Deck — 40

• Monsters (13): 3 Darklord Nurse Reficule, 3 Mystic Tomato, 2 Summoner Monk, 1 Marshmallon, 1 Morphing Jar, 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior, 1 Tribe-Infecting Virus, 1 Stealth Bird.
• Spells (14): 2 Book of Moon, 1 Heavy Storm, 1 Mystical Space Typhoon, 1 Pot of Greed, 1 Premature Burial, 3 Rain of Mercy, 3 Soul Taker, 1 Swords of Revealing Light, 1 Upstart Goblin.
• Traps (13): 3 Bad Reaction to Simochi, 2 The Eye of Truth, 2 Nightmare Wheel, 2 Solemn Scolding, 1 Mirror Force, 1 Ring of Destruction, 1 Call of the Haunted, 1 Gravity Bind.

Side Deck — 15

1 Dust Tornado, 2 Pulling the Rug, 1 Nobleman of Crossout, 2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, 2 Ojama Trio, 3 Secret Barrel, 1 Ceasefire, 1 Level Limit - Area B, 1 Torrential Tribute, 1 Magic Cylinder.

Extra Deck: none required.

Deck Builder: Darklord Reficule Lock Burn

The hidden reason Solemn Scolding belongs here

Solemn Scolding can only be activated if it is the only Set card in its controller's Spell & Trap Zone. That exact wording is the reason this deck can support it.

Bad Reaction to Simochi, The Eye of Truth, Nightmare Wheel, Gravity Bind and an activated Call of the Haunted remain face-up after activation. They no longer count as Set cards. The ideal Lock Burn field is therefore not five cards face-down. It is a collection of active Continuous Traps with Solemn Scolding as the only card still Set.

From that position, Scolding can negate Heavy Storm, stop the activation of Royal Decree, answer a critical monster effect or prevent Jinzo and Mobius from establishing themselves. In particular, negating Jinzo's Summon is much safer than allowing it to reach the field and disable the entire Trap engine.

The 3000-LP cost is real and prevents Scolding from being used as generic interaction. Rain of Mercy partially reduces that pressure, but Scolding should still be reserved for the card that would dismantle the board or immediately decide the duel.

How the Lock Burn engine fits together

Multiple routes to the conversion effect

The deck contains three Reficule and three Bad Reaction to Simochi. Mystic Tomato can recruit Reficule from the Deck, while Summoner Monk can discard an unnecessary Spell to Special Summon her directly.

That gives the deck eleven listed routes to its central effect, although Tomato and Monk remain conditional. Tomato needs to be destroyed by battle, and Monk needs both a Spell to discard and a Reficule remaining in the Deck. The important point is that the strategy is no longer completely dependent on drawing an unsearchable Continuous Trap.

The payoff cards still do something alone

Soul Taker is the most important payoff because it remains useful before Reficule appears. Destroying a Monarch, Chaos Sorcerer, HERO Fusion or large Zombie can be worth giving the opponent 1000 LP when survival requires it. Once the conversion effect is active, the same card becomes removal and burn simultaneously.

Upstart Goblin replaces itself, while Rain of Mercy gains LP that can help support Solemn Scolding. These cards are weaker without a converter, but they are not as completely inert as the dedicated combo pieces found in larger modern Nurse Burn engines.

The lock buys turns; it is not an FTK

Marshmallon, Swords of Revealing Light, Gravity Bind, Nightmare Wheel and Book of Moon slow combat. Stealth Bird supplies repeatable damage when the duel becomes static, while Morphing Jar can rebuild an exhausted hand.

The Eye of Truth reveals the opponent's options and threatens 1000 damage during each opposing Standby Phase in which they hold a Spell. Without Reficule or Simochi, however, that same effect heals the opponent. It should not be activated automatically merely for information.

The deck is trying to make each additional turn increasingly uncomfortable. It does not need to establish a permanent prison; it only needs enough time for Soul Taker, Rain of Mercy, Eye, Wheel, Bird and Ring of Destruction to complete 8000 damage.

Important sequencing

1. Do not Set every Trap automatically. Solemn Scolding becomes unusable while any other card remains Set in the Spell & Trap Zone.
2. Activate the Continuous Traps before relying on Scolding. Once Simochi, Eye, Wheel, Gravity Bind or Call of the Haunted is face-up, it no longer conflicts with Scolding's activation condition.
3. Establish the converter before committing Rain of Mercy or Upstart Goblin whenever possible. Those cards are dramatically weaker when they resolve without Reficule or Simochi.
4. Use Mystic Tomato as a bridge into Reficule. Do not expose the Nurse first when Tomato can absorb an attack and recruit her at the end of the Battle Phase.
5. Keep a Spell available for Summoner Monk, but do not discard the only card answering the current board. Soul Taker is often more valuable as immediate removal than as Monk's cost.
6. Do not wait forever for the perfect combo. Soul Taker is removal, Book of Moon is interaction and Ring of Destruction can end the duel. Use them normally when survival requires it.
7. Save Solemn Scolding for structural threats. Heavy Storm, Royal Decree, Jinzo, Mobius or a game-ending Summon are more important than a replaceable monster or minor piece of removal.

Side Deck plan

Monarch

Pulling the Rug punishes Tribute Summons in both builds. The Lock Burn version can also bring in Torrential Tribute and Ojama Trio. Ojama Tokens occupy monster zones and cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon, creating congestion while Secret Barrel and Ceasefire convert the wider field into damage.

Soul Taker remains essential. Even without a converter, efficiently removing a Monarch is often worth the opponent's 1000 LP.

Chaos and Zombie

Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer attacks both strategies at the resource they need most: the Graveyard. Nobleman of Crossout improves the matchup against Flip monsters and defensive openings, particularly when the opponent is trying to slow the duel and accumulate resources.

Recruiters and wide monster fields

The Lock Burn version can transform toward Ojama Trio, Secret Barrel, Ceasefire and Level Limit - Area B. This package gives the deck another route to victory when the opponent is prepared specifically for Reficule.

The Chaos version can use King Tiger Wanghu against low-ATK engines, but only as part of a deliberate transformation. Wanghu also destroys several monsters in the Reficule deck, so it should never be sided in without deciding which parts of the original engine are leaving.

Fast aggression

Torrential Tribute and Magic Cylinder move into the Lock Burn Main Deck when surviving one additional Battle Phase matters more than keeping Solemn Scolding continuously live. This is a deliberate trade: after siding, Scolding does not always need to remain the deck's only defensive structure.

Royal Decree and backrow removal

Dust Tornado joins Mystical Space Typhoon, Heavy Storm and Breaker the Magical Warrior. Lock Burn can also use Solemn Scolding to negate Royal Decree when its activation would shut down the engine.

A face-up Reficule remains the safest converter because Royal Decree cannot negate her monster effect. The Chaos version can go one step further and use its own Royal Decree after removing Simochi and most of its reactive Traps, forcing the opponent to fight a more conventional monster deck after siding heavily against Burn.

Burn

Des Wombat gives Reficule Chaos Control a direct answer to opposing effect damage. The Chaos shell also possesses enough normal monster removal to answer the opponent's Des Wombat when necessary.

Which version should you play?

Reficule Lock Burn is the more distinctive choice. It creates the most dramatic games, uses Solemn Scolding in a genuinely unusual way and can punish opponents who approach every matchup as another midrange exchange. It is also easier to attack after siding and demands stricter sequencing from its pilot.

NeoGoat Pro · Win a Goat Grand Prix Entry · Winner's report

FIRE Takes the Trophy

Chapa's road to the Win a GGP 9 title: recruiter battles, recycled resources, and the damage that kept adding up.

Champion: Chapa  •  Deck: FIRE Midrange

A 100-ATK monster becomes the target of a winning attack. A discarded Solar Flare Dragon comes back to hand, only to pay for another board-clearing effect. And a Thunder Dragon in the opponent's hand becomes the last 500 damage of a duel. Chapa's Win a GGP 9 run had plenty of moments that explain why this FIRE deck is more than a collection of monsters sharing an Attribute.

His first-round win was administrative: Arena did not arrive in time. The action covered here begins in round two, with seven saved games across the matches against Nikito, Costeño, and KrlosPollo. Some of those games were played in player-created manual rooms, so their room labels alone do not tell the whole tournament story.

The winning list

The published list has 40 Main Deck cards: 18 monsters, 16 Spells, and 6 Traps. Its threats range from Spirit of Flames and Blazing Inpachi to Solar Flare Dragon, Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, and the Lonefire Blossom–Sylvan Hermitree package. UFO Turtle, Bonfire, Unexpected Dai, and Oil keep those threats accessible or help rebuild after removal.

Click the image to enlarge it. Use the decklist page below to download the playable .ydk file.

View decklist & download .ydk Watch the tournament replays

On the decklist page, choose Download Deck to save the .ydk and test the list in NeoGoat Pro. The page also lists one Extra Deck card and six reconstructed Side Deck cards; the latter are not proof that the original sideboard contained only six.

The route to the title

Round	Opponent	The story
1	Arena	No-show win; no played duel is credited to this round.
2	Nikito	Three games against Dragons and a demanding Trap lineup.
3	Costeño	FIRE's recovery tools against Chaos and hand pressure.
4	KrlosPollo	A grinding fight against Plants, EARTH threats, and Monarchs.

Replay coverage: three of the seven files reproduce through a recorded win. Four stop before a terminal result, so the descriptions below stop at the last recoverable action. Chapa's title and the first-round no-show are organizer-confirmed; incomplete recordings are not used to invent finishing turns.

Round 2 — Nikito: finding a way through the back row

Game 1: FIRE under pressure

Nikito's opening game put Chapa on the defensive. Luster Dragon and Giant Orc supplied pressure, while Bottomless Trap Hole interfered with Chapa's summons. A later direct attack by Tribe-Infecting Virus left Chapa at just 100 LP. His next Tenkabito Shien was met by Solemn Judgment. The recoverable sequence reaches an Oil activation, but not a terminal win message—an important limit on what this file can tell us.

Game 2: a vanilla monster does the finishing

The second game showed another side of the deck. Nikito brought out Luster Dragon and Goblin Attack Force, then established Skill Drain. Chapa answered the developing board with Torrential Tribute and used Molten Destruction to make his ordinary FIRE bodies much more threatening. UFO Turtle attacked for 1,900, and a sided-in Bottomless Trap Hole removed Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast.

After a later Fusilier hit back, Chapa used Bonfire and Smashing Ground, then summoned Blazing Inpachi. With the Field Spell boosting it to 2,350 ATK, Inpachi landed a direct attack that left Nikito at 1,250 LP. Its next direct attack ended the game. This was not a complicated combo finish: removal plus a large Normal Monster was enough.

Game 3: the slow burn, then the swap

The deciding recording is the most distinctive of the match. Early exchanges included UFO Turtle and Masked Dragon recruiting replacements, followed by Chapa using Lonefire Blossom to reach Sylvan Hermitree. Nikito's Mirror Force answered that threat, but Chapa rebuilt with Charcoal Inpachi and Solar Flare Dragon.

Solar Flare delivered six separate 500-damage End Phase hits before Nikito finally removed it. A key chain along the way involved Solar Flare, Dust Tornado, Royal Decree, and Solemn Judgment. Nikito survived that exchange, but paying for Solemn and absorbing more burn left little room for error.

With another Royal Decree established, Chapa changed Charcoal Inpachi to Attack Position and activated Creature Swap. Nikito received the 100-ATK Inpachi; Chapa received Twin-Headed Behemoth, tributed it for Thestalos, and attacked his own former monster. The resulting 2,300 battle damage ended the duel.

The moment to watch: Charcoal Inpachi goes from protecting the burn plan to becoming the opponent's weakest point. Creature Swap and Thestalos turn that small body into the winning attack.

Round 3 — Costeño: Oil keeps the engine running

Game 1: rebuilding after Torrential

Costeño's Chaos deck interrupted Chapa's first attempt to establish two Solar Flare Dragons with Torrential Tribute. Chapa shifted immediately to a different threat: Spirit of Flames attacked directly for 2,000, and Blazing Inpachi later added another 1,850.

The game continued through Book of Moon, Heavy Storm, and Don Zaloog. Chapa rebuilt again, this time with Tribe-Infecting Virus and Breaker the Magical Warrior. Their direct attacks reduced Costeño to 750 LP, while Chapa still had 8,000. That is where the available reconstruction stops; it preserves the pressure, not the final action.

Game 2: one Solar Flare, two discard costs

The second game was less comfortable. Chaos Sorcerer and Don Zaloog gave Costeño both field presence and hand pressure, and Chapa fell to 3,400 LP. His response was a particularly good demonstration of why Oil belongs in this list.

Chapa summoned Tribe-Infecting Virus, discarded Solar Flare Dragon, and destroyed Chaos Sorcerer. He then activated Oil, recovering that Solar Flare Dragon and Blazing Inpachi. Discarding the recovered Solar Flare paid for a second Tribe activation, this time removing Don Zaloog. Tribe followed with a direct attack. Oil had turned a spent monster into another removal effect while also replenishing Chapa's hand.

Later, Solar Flare Dragon supplied the damage. Two turns of direct attacks and End Phase burn took Costeño from 4,200 LP to just 200. Chapa then tributed Solar Flare for Thestalos. The Monarch discarded Thunder Dragon, and the resulting 500 effect damage ended the duel without requiring another attack.

Why this sequence matters: the deck can use FIRE monsters as attackers, recruiters, tribute material, or discard fuel. Oil lets some of those cards perform more than one job.

Round 4 — KrlosPollo: recovering from 1,900 LP

Game 1: both players have the Plant engine

The final-round opponent appears as krlos in the replay files. His list combined Plant access with EARTH threats and Monarchs, creating a matchup in which Chapa was not the only player able to turn Lonefire Blossom into a much larger monster.

One striking exchange came when KrlosPollo used Brain Control to take Chapa's Lonefire Blossom, then used it to access his own recruiter sequence. Chapa answered on the following turn with Oil and another Lonefire line into Sylvan Hermitree. Later, Torrential Tribute reset the field, and another Oil helped Chapa rebuild with Blazing Inpachi.

Neither player escaped the grind untouched. The recording eventually reaches a Ring of Destruction exchange involving Legendary Jujitsu Master, leaving Chapa at 1,800 LP and KrlosPollo at 2,000. The file does not preserve a reproducible finish beyond that position.

Game 2: Breaker reopens the game

Chapa established an early Thestalos, but KrlosPollo fought back with Royal Decree, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, and then direct attacks from D.D. Survivor and Gigantes. By the end of that assault, Chapa was down to 1,900 LP.

Breaker the Magical Warrior was the turning point in the preserved sequence. Chapa first used its boosted ATK to defeat D.D. Survivor, then spent the counter in Main Phase 2 to destroy Royal Decree. His Traps were available again: when KrlosPollo summoned his own Breaker on the next turn, Chapa answered with Bottomless Trap Hole.

Chapa rebuilt with Thestalos and Solar Flare Dragon. A direct Thestalos attack and Solar Flare's End Phase damage brought KrlosPollo down to 2,600 LP. Chapa then added a second Solar Flare, and Thestalos attacked over Hydrogeddon for another 800. The last recoverable position has Chapa still at 1,900 and KrlosPollo at 1,800, with Chapa's two Solar Flares and Thestalos established.

The recording stops there, before those End Phase effects or a final result can be reconstructed. What it does show is the recovery: from facing lethal pressure to rebuilding a field that threatened damage through both battle and effects. Chapa went on to take the tournament title; the missing final actions are not filled in here.

What this run says about FIRE

The memorable finishes came from different cards, but the games shared a few recurring patterns:

• Recovery mattered as much as the opening. Oil repeatedly helped Chapa keep playing after removal or turn discarded monsters into fresh resources.
• The deck could change its plan. It won a recorded game with a Molten Destruction–boosted Normal Monster, another with Creature Swap and Thestalos, and another with Thestalos's effect damage.
• Small amounts of burn changed the endgame. Solar Flare's 500-damage increments narrowed the opponent's options and made later attacks or discard damage decisive.
• Sideboard tools had visible impact. Bottomless Trap Hole and Royal Decree appear in the post-side games, helping Chapa contest large summons and demanding back rows.

That is the appeal of Chapa's winning build: it is a FIRE deck with several ways to finish a game, and enough recovery to keep looking for one after its first threat is answered.

Watch the run & try the deck

Watch the recorded games below, then download the list and test it in NeoGoat Pro. Pay particular attention to the Creature Swap finish against Nikito and the Oil–Tribe sequence against Costeño: they show how much work a seemingly modest card can do in this deck.

If the embedded player is unavailable, watch the video directly on YouTube.

Get Chapa's winning decklist (.ydk)

Sources and scope: organizer-confirmed tournament context; Chapa's three saved games against Nikito, two against costeno, and two against krlos; and the published winning decklist. Round one was a no-show win, not a played victory over Arena. Manual-room games are included according to the organizer's tournament context. Unrecoverable replay endings are left undescribed, and no cause is assumed for the missing data.