Field Control through SWARMING
Andrew J. Mueller
URjustSOL
Andrew J. Mueller
URjustSOL
Today, I'm going to talk about an important aspect of Beatdown Yu-Gi-Oh! called swarming. Swarming is an aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh! that allows you to generate a superior attacking force to overwhelm your opponent's monsters and/or defenses. This usually results in a large amount of Life Point damage being done in a single turn.
Swarming: The ability to rush the field with more monsters than one could normally summon during a turn.
Beatdown: The process of reducing your opponent's Life Points to zero (0) through attacking. This is usually accomplished with high attack 4-star monsters, or through rushing the field with a large number of monsters.
The basic swarming or recursion cards for any deck are Monster Reborn (banned in Advanced Format), Call of the Haunted and Premature Burial. Honestly, if you're going to be a top contender in a premier event like Regionals, Nationals, Worlds or a Shonen Jump Tournament, you WILL be running Call and Premature. They're too good, too useful not to run them in almost every deck. That's why they're both restricted to 1 per deck.
Two of the most powerful and non deck-specific swarming cards are Dimension Fusion and Return from a Different Dimension.
IOC-094
Dimension Fusion
Spell
Pay 2000 Life Points. Both players Special Summon as many of their monsters as possible that have been removed from play.
Ultra Rare
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EP1-EN008
Return from a Different Dimension Trap
Pay half of your Life Points. Special Summon as many of your monsters as possible that have been removed from play on your side of the field. During the End Phase, remove from play all monsters that were Special Summoned by this effect.
Common
These 2 cards can have incredibly devastating effects by summoning up to 5 monsters to your side of the field. Each has its own cost and restrictions on the summoned monsters, so deciding which one to include in your deck will depend on your play style and deck strategy. Cards like Soul Release, Dark Necrofear, DD Warrior Lady, Bazoo the Soul Eater and Black Luster Soldier "“ Envoy of the Beginning can assist in removing cards in your graveyard from play.
How else do we swarm? What specific deck types allow you to swarm? Let's look at the following deck types and the cards that allow them to overwhelm opponents.
Warriors
Perhaps one of the leading swarming decks (or at least the oldest) is warriors. Based around these cards from LOD:
LOD-018
Marauding Captain
3-star, Earth, Monster/Effect
1200/400
As long as this monster remains face-up on the field, your opponent cannot select another Warrior-Type monster on your side of the field as an attack target. When this monster is Normal Summoned successfully, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand.
Ultra Rare
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LOD-028
Reinforcement of the Army
Spell
Move 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. Your Deck is then shuffled.
Super Rare
LOD-030 The Warrior Returning Alive
Spell
Select 1 Warrior-Type monster in your Graveyard and return it to your hand.
Rare
The key to this deck is Marauding Captain. When normal summoned, he allows you to special summon another level 4 (or lower) monster from your hand. Not just another Warrior, but ANY monster. Favorite candidates included Goblin Attack Force, Giant Orc, Rare Metal Dragon, Injection Fairy Lily or Berserk Gorilla. Other possibilities were "tech" monsters like Exiled Force, DD Warrior Lady or possibly Magical Scientist.
Ignore Marauding Captain's second ability of protecting other Warriors. Assume he's going to get destroyed by battle during your opponent's turn. It doesn't matter if you can continue to bring out superior forces on your side of the field.
The two spell cards listed don't swarm the field themselves, but allow you to either fetch Marauding Captain from your deck (or another Warrior if you already have MC in hand) or retrieve him from your graveyard.
A typical situation would be:
Your turn: Summon MC, special summon a Berserk Gorilla.
Their turn: They summon a monster, attack and kill MC.
Your turn: Use RotA to get MC back, summon MC and special summon another Gorilla
Very quickly, you have assembled a superior field presence.
Zombies
Another swarming deck type is Zombies. This deck is based primarily around these cards from PGD:
PGD-038
Call of the Mummy
Continuous Spell
If there is no monster on your side of the field, you can Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster from your hand. You can use this card's effect once per turn.
Common
PGD-026
Pyramid Turtle
4-star, Earth, Monster/Effect
1200/1400
When this card is sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle, you may select 1 Zombie-Type monster with a DEF of 2000 or less from your Deck and Special Summon it to the field in face-up Attack or Defense Position (no Tribute is required for monsters of Level 5 or more). The Deck is then shuffled.
Rare
PGD-033
Book of Life
Spell
Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster from your Graveyard in face-up Attack or Defense Position and remove 1 monster in your opponent's Graveyard from play.
Super Rare
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As you can see, these cards can help fill up the field very quickly. Call of the Mummy can special summon ANY level Zombie. This is true for Book of Life as well. Book of Life also helps control your opponent's recursion opportunities by removing monsters from their graveyard. Pyramid Turtle is important because unlike to-the-field attribute searchers like Mystic Tomato or Shining Angel, Pyramid Turtle is a type searcher with a very, very loose restriction. It searches on DEF only and can bring out monsters such as Ryu Kokki whose 2400 ATK can match up against Mobius or Jinzo, Patrician of Darkness and even Vampire Lord.
Gravekeeper's
Perhaps the number three swarming deck is another PGD-based deck using these cards:
PGD-059
Gravekeeper's Spy
4-star, Earth, Monster/Effect
1200/2000
FLIP: Select 1 monster that includes "Gravekeeper's" in its card name with an ATK of 1500 or less from your Deck and Special Summon it in face-up Attack or Defense Position. The Deck is then shuffled.
PGD-065
Gravekeeper's Chief
5-star, Earth, Monster/Effect
1900/1200
You can have only 1 face-up "Gravekeeper's Chief" on your side of the field at any time. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your Graveyard is not affected by "Necrovalley". When you Tribute Summon this monster, you can Special Summon 1 monster that includes "Gravekeeper's" in its card name from your Graveyard.
PGD-100
Rite of Spirit
Trap
Select 1 Monster Card that includes "Gravekeeper's" in its card name from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack or Defense Position. This card's activation and effect is not affected by "Necrovalley".
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These cards are pretty simple to understand. When the Spy FLIP's, bring another Gravekeeper's from the deck to the field (1500 ATK or less). When you tribute summon the Gravekeeper's Chief, bring any Gravekeeper's monster out of the graveyard to the field (except another Chief). There are NO statistical restrictions on this special summon. Rite of Spirit is basically an unrestricted Call of the Haunted for Gravekeeper's.
Don't underestimate the importance of swarming the field, but also remember that many of these cards are best when used in a deck specifically built around them, or at least with theme synergy. Swarming decks can do large amounts of damage quickly and are top contenders for winning tournaments.
-Enjoy!
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