Playing with the Underdogs

Alright so I spent the last several hours playtesting on Duel Network. The first few matches I used an old Elemental Hero Neos / Chaos deck updated for the recent banlist. Not a Chaos Neos deck, but a Neos Chaos deck, as in I'm using Chaos Sorcerer and not Elemental Hero Chaos Neos. People always get confused whenever I say the name, lol.

It was not actually my intention for the deck to win any of my games. I was just trying to some kill before I went to sleep, but the few successes I had with Neos Chaos encouraged me to try another formerly underdog deck: Ice Barriers. DN had recently added the Photon Shockwave expansion to the list of available cards, minus the Xyz Monsters, which have yet to be implemented. This meant I now had access to Preacher <3.

After some quick browsing for something to start with, I found Zeron's decklist on Pojo Forums worth consideration. To reduce the risk of any potential dead draws, however, as his original decklist ran 5 Tribute Monsters—3 of which were Level >6—I dropped the General Grunard of the Ice Barrier for a Samurai of the Ice Barrier. After 5-6 games I had a decent grasp of the strengths and limits of the deck.

My main concern is with the IBs that they require others to use their effects. When I played against Gravekeepers, there was little my poor Dance Prince could do if I couldn't get another IB out. And when I did, Necrovalley enabled her to be run over by everything and sealed any potential Preacher/Surfacing/Gantala/Salvage plays.

Speaking of Salvage, I can begin to see why some people don't like running it. It's absolutely painful to draw into sometimes, especially early game. Since Pot of Duality is going to be reprinted soon, it could possibly serve as a viable (and cheap) alternative.

Defender (not Blizzd) and Cryomancer did their jobs very well and Arcanite Magician is a must have in the extra deck. In fact, between Black Rose, Gungnir, Arcanite, and Scrap Archfiend, Level 7s form the bulk of my extra deck, if I even need to use it. Often times swarming the field can end games by itself.

The deck definitely has potential, it just needs little something more to make it flower better. Strategist + Medallion gets the engine going easy enough but if the graveyard isn't protected, you're in for a world of hurt.

Remember players the game ends with you.