OCG usher in 2017 with the demise of Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin. The Level6 Pendulum has finally bit the dust, landing in the Forbidden section of the January 2017 Forbidden and Limited List. While there are numerous methods to compensate for the loss of Kirin, I decided to enlist the help of a few new friends from SD31: Pendulum Evolution while retaining the Zoodiac engine.

Decklist

Performapal King Bear and Dragoons of Draconia are probably the lesser known cards in the deck. Both are included as they are Beast-warrior pendulum monsters, one with a high scale and another with a low one. This helps in the pendulum summoning aspect as Zoodiac Broadbull can help fetch a corresponding scale when required. In fact, one Zoodiac Marmorat on field and you can get both of them; use the second and third Zoodiac Marmorat for the xyz summon of a 2nd copy of Zoodiac Broadbull

Despite being a 42 card deck, there is sufficient deck-thinning and searching involved that makes unplayable hands a rare occurrence.

And yes, you can also play a single copy of Zoodiac Viper if that is to your liking.

Astrograph Sorcerer

2500/2000 Scale 1, Level 7 Pendulum Effect During your Main Phase: You can destroy this card, and if you do, place in your Pendulum Zone, or Special Summon, 1 “Stargazer Magician” from your hand or Deck. You can only use this effect of “Astrograph Sorcerer” once per turn. Monster Effect If a card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect while this card is in your hand: You can Special Summon this card, then you can add 1 monster from your Deck to your hand, whose name matches the name of 1 monster that was destroyed this turn. You can banish this card you control and 1 “Pendulum Dragon” monster, 1 “Xyz Dragon” monster, 1 “Synchro Dragon” monster, and 1 “Fusion Dragon” monster from your hand, field, and/or Graveyard; Special Summon 1 “Supreme King Dragon Zarc” from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon.)

SD31 of the OCG introduced two new pendulum cards that can join forces with Metalfoes. One of which is Astrograph Sorcerer, a Metalfoes player latest best friend. Pay no attention to its pendulum effect or the part of its monster effect where you get to summon the almighty Supreme King Dragon Zarc. You won’t be using much of either.

Instead, you will mostly be summoning Astrograph Sorcerer directly from your hand with its own effect. Astrograph is capable of summoning itself out when a card(s) is destroyed, making it go amazingly well with Metalfoes. Also, apart from the S/T destruction your opponent has prepared for you, the occasional battles which your monster lose and get destroyed can provide a window of opportunity for Astrograph to be special summoned.

There is an extra bonus embedded into Astrograph’s effect. You get to add a monster, not a card, but just a monster, which has been destroyed this turn upon its special summon. Sure you can special summon it when you get hit by Twin Twisters, but if up to that point of the turn, no monsters have been destroyed, no adding can be done.

At this point, I would like to list out a few interesting OCG rulings.

First off, if you control one of your opponent’s monsters, or cards, which is usually the case when you summon out Fullmetalfoes Alkahest, and that said card gets destroyed, you can add a card of that name from your deck to hand when you summon Astrograph Magician. This is provided you do have a copy of that card in your deck as well. E.g. Fullmetalfoes Alkahest steals your opponent’s Maxx “C”. Maxx “C” gets destroyed by Twin Twisters. Astrograph Sorcerer special summons itself with its own effect. You get to add your Maxx “C” from your deck.

add a card of that name from your deck to hand when you summon Astrograph Magician. This is provided you do have a copy of that card in your deck as well. When Performapal King Bear adds Astrograph Sorcerer back to your hand during the End Phase, and it destroys itself as a result, the Astrograph Sorcerer you had just added to your hand can summon itself to the field. The destruction of Performapal King Bear provides a suitable activation window for Astrograph Sorcerer to summon itself out. (And yes, you get to add another copy of Performapal King Bear.)

How it will be ruled in the TCG, remains to be seen.

Astrograph Magician helps you set up your field easier as it can fetch you another Metalfoes from your deck during your first turn, when Metalfoes does their “target, destroy and set”. This paves the road for a Fusion Summon or resource gathering. Also, it shares the same level with the Metalfoes Volflame, and players can even add a Rank7 into the mix. However, there are Extra Deck space constraints. But if I could, I would reserve a slot for Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon.

Violet Poison Magician

Pendulum Effect Once per turn, if a DARK Spellcaster-Type monster you control battles, before damage calculation: You can make that monster gain 1200 ATK, then destroy this card. This ATK increase lasts until the end of the Damage Step. Monster Effect (This card is always treated as a “Fusion Dragon” card.)

If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can target 1 face-up card on the field; destroy it.

Out of all the four humanoid dragon forms, Violet Poison Magician is perhaps the most helpful to Metalfoes. The destruction effect comes in handy when dealing with Imperial Order or Anti-Spell Fragrance, the two floodgates which spell doom for all Pendulum decks. Metalfoes are no exception. Simply suicide with Violet Poison Magician or place it in a vulnerable position on the field, wait for it to get destroyed and it will take a floodgate down along with it. Speaking of which it does have an impressive 2100DEF.

The Pendulum effect goes well with its monster effect – when it is destroyed by its own pendulum effect, you can also trigger its monster effect. That being said, there aren’t many DARK Spellcasters in a Metalfoes deck except for Astrograph Sorcerer and another copy of Violet Poison Magician. But the attack boost is always appreciated, knowing that you have a way of defeating monsters such as Vanity’s Fiend by battle.

Destroying Violet Poison Magician to set a Metalfoes Spell/Trap, profit? Violet Poison Magician’s inclusion allows Metalfoes to have an out to plenty of threats, be it floodgates or monsters, as long as they are face-up. This is something Metalfoes desperately needs, seeing how either Imperial Order or Anti-Spell Fragrance may simplify the games a little too much.

Additionally, both DARK Spellcasters are Scale1, a low scale, which has been in short supply in a Metalfoes deck even since Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin started dwindling in numbers. The increase in Scale1s help to balance the ratio of high and low scales in the deck, reducing the chances of a brick hand. I placed only 1 in my Main Deck and sided the remaining two simply because I felt that I was lacking a Scale1. So feel free to tweak the ratio according to your personal preference.

Zoodiac Engine

The Zoodiac engine remains in the deck. You profit so much in resources that there is no excuse for not running it. Zoodiac Drancia doubles as an alternate form of destruction to out any face-up threats and floodgates. Nevertheless, this current playing style requires a new thought process and play to rush out the Zoodiac companions. I won’t exactly call it a combo, but I will list it down since it might not be that obvious to the newer players. I have also previously wrote about the standard Zoodiac plays plays here, although it was in the context of Yosenjus.

Combo and plays

Play 1

Metalfoes monster + Level 3 pendulum monster + Eccentrick Archfiend

Place your Metalfoes monster and Level 3 pendulum monster on the pendulum scales. Using your Metalfoes card pendulum effect, destroy the Rank 3 and proceed to set Metalfoes Combination from the deck. Set Eccentrick Archfiend on the pendulum scale. Use its effect, target and destroy Metalfoes Combination. Metalfoes Combination effect triggers in the graveyard. Search out a matching scale to pendulum summon out both your Level 3 monster and Eccentrick Archfiend from your Extra Deck. Proceed to xyz summon into M-X Saber Invoker.

The same play can be replicated with the use of Sangan instead of a Level 3 pendulum monster. Normal summoning Sangan, destroy it with a Metalfoes pendulum effect. Set Metalfoes Combination and search out a Level 3 monster from your deck using Sangan’s effect. From there on, perform the aforementioned step 3 to step 5, this time using the searched Level 3 and Eccentrick Archfiend for an xyz summon. The target searched by Sangan can’t be activated, but it can be summoned. Just do note that the searched Level 3 monster needs to be below 1500ATK to fit Sangan’s criteria.

Play 2

Goldriver + Steelren + Eccentrick + Steelren/Goldriver

Place your two identical copies on the scales. Destroy one to set Metalfoes Combination from the deck. Place Eccentrick Archfiend on the scale. Destroy Metalfoes Combination to search out Metalfoes Silvered from the deck. Place a corresponding scale, retaining Metalfoes Silvered in hand. Pendulum summon out Metalfoes Silvered from hand, Eccentrick Archfiend and your Metalfoes monster from the Extra Deck. Proceed to xyz summon into M-X Saber Invoker.

With an extra Metalfoe monster in hand, you get to bring an additional Metalfoes monster to the field. Fullmetalfoes Alkahest can help with strengthening the board, making it tougher for your opponent to break. The normal monster fusion requirement can be fulfilled by Dragoons of Draconia, which can be searched by the Zoodiac Broadbull. Either that or you may end up drawing into another Metalfoes monster when you resolve Daigusto Emeral’s effect.

Understandably, this play requires a more demanding hand requirement. Steelren’s role can be replaced by either Metalfoes Volflame or Metalfoes Bismugear, but with the latter, you lose out on an additional Metalfoes monster on the field.

Conclusion

I mentioned there are plenty of other methods available to take up arms. One of which is using Amorphage Sloth as a replacement to Kirin. Amorphage Sloth has a nice lockdown effect that can counter the Zoodiac and The Invoked decks, but I feel that it is underwhelming in the face of Kaijus and Artifacts engines that are so commonly played in the OCG. I can always fall back on Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow or even try some gimmicky cards such as Future Fusion.

The current modifications made to the deck allows it to retain its competitive edge while catering to predicted threats such as Imperial Order and Zoodiac Drancia. It is possible to add more “Magician” pendulums to the mix, making a Metalfoes-Magician deck. But I would rather play a Metalfoes deck with some Magician cards as tech.

Although played at only one copy, Sangan helps out plenty by being capable of searching out hand traps. Artifact Lancea, Counterattacking “C” and D.D. Crow are all searchable and can be reserved for the following turn. For this reason, plenty of them are played at 1-2 copies instead of the traditional playset, leaving me with more space to cater to siding against other decks.

Metalfoes have came a long way since its debut. Marching alongside Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow into Ultimaya Tzolkin plays, a playing style which players were initially doubtful of, it is now joining Zoodiacs to combat other meta decks. Metalfoes will always have the capacity to adapt and survive; it is just so malleable, which is part of the reason I love the deck. We are currently two weeks into January, and for the OCG it means that Maximum Crisis has already hit the shores. With tons of new cards added to the game, Metalfoes are about to enter another modification to its build and engine.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

That’s all for now.

Signed,

Ken Sir