With the release of Structure Deck: Lost Sanctuary some days ago, there are currently many Duelists trying to make Agent Decks (this means trying to find money for a Archlord Kristya). Excluding the absence of Kristya (which I personally found unjust and unacceptable) this is probably the best Structure Deck I have seen. This is for two reasons. The one is that reprints many Secret Rare Fairies making them available to the more budget players but the primary reason is that allows the Duelist to follow many different paths in Deck Building.
After one have buy 3 copies of the Lost Sanctuary can choose which style he prefers and build his deck accordingly. Agent is the most common choice since almost all cards are included but there are also Heralds, a powerful control deck or Valhalla Beatdown, a deck that abuses Valhalla to summon powerful Fairies like Archlord Kristya and Athena or Chaos Fairies, a Fairy variant that abuses includes Dark Attribute Fairies making possible the addition of Chaos Sorcerer and the Sky Scourges. But in this article I will present you another Fairy deck, that focuses in one of the most underrated cards ever, Tethys the Goddess of Light.
In this great game of our cards that give you a plus two or more advantage in terms of field/hand presence are very limited. For example Dark Armed Dragon, Judgement Dragon, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute are all cards that can give you a massive advantage in terms of presence if used right. Hence all of them have won a place in the Ban List.
Even though sometimes Hand Advantage is not as important as Field Advantage no one can imply that it is not vital for the rise of a deck as a Top Tier. Take a look at the most powerful deck of the format and you will notice that all of them have ways to draw, to search and generally to replenish their hand. And of all the draw engines/cards there are out there including the banned one like Pot of Greed and Gracefule Charity the most powerful one is in my humble and honest opinion is that of Tethys.
I know what you are thinking: "If Tethys is so broken why then noone plays it? And why it is not in the Ban List?" The answer is that unlike Pot of Greed it needs a deck specifically builded for her. You can throw it randomly to any Fairy Deck but you cannot expect to get not even the ten percent of her true potential. This is for two reasons. The first and most important is that the monster line-up as in most decks it does not surpasses twenty maybe twenty-five monsters and such you have about 50% to get her effect even once. The only deck that could us her effect effectively to some decree is Heralds (with Dawn of Herald as the Ritual Spell). But even in that deck the second reason comes to cut the wings of Tethys. This is Tethys herself. When she comes to the field, the opponent will make tha impossible possible to destroy her before you get her effect even once. So it is not safe at all to leave her in the field and wait next turn in your Draw Phase to get her effect. The only thing you can do is use her effect in the same turn you used her. Simply activate a draw card and you will most likely get about four or five cards at least.
But be careful. Not all cards can be used with Tethys due to her following ruiling:
"You can only activate this effect when a Fairy being drawn was the last thing that happened."
For example you cannot use Upstart Goblin to get her effect since the last thing happened is your opponent getting 1000 life points.
And such I have assembled a deck focusing in getting the effect of Tethys at maximum and with all the support of the Fairies got I dare to say that the result is pretty impressive. Voila, Tethys Turbo!
Monsters x 27
Tethys, Goddess of Light x 3
Archlord Kristya x 2
Splendid Venus x 2
Master Hyperion x 3
The Agent of Mystery - Earth x 3
The Agent of Miracles - Jupiter x1
The Agent of Creation - Venus x 2
Mystical Shine Ball x 3
Herald of Orange Light x 2
Honest x 1
Zeradias, Herald of Heaven x 2
Hecatrice x 3
As you can see the Monster Line-Up is fairly big and Fairy-only to ensure great draw power through Tethys's effect. Tethys herself is included obviously at three copies for it is the core of the deck and a fairly good beater. Next is Archlord Kristya at two copies, the maximum possible. Personally my favorite Fairy (and generally card) is Guardian Eatos as you will most likely have undertand by now but even I must admit that the best Fairy by far is Kristya and that is an undeniable fact. And such there is absolutely no reason to not included since all four of her effect are powerful and it finds incredible synergy through Trade-In and Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen that are included in the Spell Line-Up. Splendid Venus is also included for her powerful effects, her high attack and her eight stars that make her target of Trade-In. I have considered using Tualatin instead of her but I finally decided that both of her effects are nothing to laugh at. But Tualatin or any level 8 Light Fairy-type that can be Special Summoned can be used instead of th Venus.
Next there are the new Agents. Master Hyperion has been included as the final level 8 Monster, his all powerful effect, his self-summoning ability and his raw attack. Earth is a searcher for Jupiter and Venus (and even Hyperion with The Sanctuary in the Sky in the field) plus she is a tuner giving the deck some Sychro Summon capabilities. Jupiter, the final new agent is a very powerful one, as it is not only has a massive main body of 1800 ATK and increase his attack (or any other Light Fairy) by 800 at the cost of an Agent in the Graveyard but also has a second effect that can be used with The Sanctuary in the Sky in the field allowing you to summon a Light Fairy banished Monster. And since there are no Nomi/Semi-Nomi or non Light-Fairy Monster in the deck, as long as you have something removed from play, he can bring it back (this is especially good with Kristya since the only way for your opponent to get rid of her properly is by removing her, then Jupiter can come into play and bring her back for a new round of assaults and special summon negating). Jupiter is the main reason for The Sanctuary in the Sky to be in this deck (even if it gives a good boost to every Agent) and he has been included in three copies for it is also fodder for Hyperion. The final Agent added is an old one Venus, who have been included along with three Mystical Shine Balls for her powerful effect providing the deck with easy Synchro fodder, mainly for Trishula.
Heralds of Green and Orange Light are for their synergy with the incredible draw power of Tethys. Plus the Orange one is a tuner allowing for more Synchro access if needed. Honest is obviously included since all the monsters are Light and he is Fairy and I have to say that if I could add five of him I would since he is really powerful in this deck. Finally Zeradias and Hecatrice can search for two very important Spells of the deck, plus they fill the Graveyard for Hyperion to use.
Spells x 10
Trade-In x 3
Magical Mallet x 3
Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen x 2
The Sanctuary in the Sky x 1
Monster Reborn x 1
Trade-In is the one of the two draw cards included at three copies since there are seven targets. The second card is a more unpopular one. Magical Mallet is almost never used in most deck and for a good reason: it returns the card in the deck (hence it does not thin the deck and it does not fill the grave with monsters) leaving you with a minus one. But in this deck Tethys will pay back for the minus one and I have prefered it over Hand Destruction since it does not give the opponent any draw power and it can be used always as long as you have one card in hand unlike hand destruction where you and your opponent must have two cards at least in hand. I have decided not to use Cards from the Sky due to it's awful drawbacks ,one may say that first turn it does not matter but you cannot have Tethys out first turn withoun Special Summon hence this cards sucks in this deck (if not generally).
Now for the Non-Drawing Spell Cards. These cards allong with the traps should be as less as possible to ensure maximum effectiveness from Tethys. Hence they are totally seven, four spells and three traps. Valhalla is a very important part of the deck and such I had added two copies, which along with the triple Hecatrice are sufficient. One The Sanctuary in the Sky along with double Zeradias are enough also since Sanctuary is not deadly important and even if you keep it in the field for one turn is enough to use the effects of the Agents. The reasons that I have prefferd to go with triple Hecatrice/double Valhalla and double Zeradias/single Sanctuary, even with the risk of drawing a dead Hecatrice, are I believe obvious but I will still explain them to give a more round view of the deck. First is the acceleration of Tethys that does not stop with the searchers as it does with the Spell Cards and the searchers can empty the deck from the brakes of Tethys in advance ensuring an even greater acceleration. Also they fill the grave with monsters for the Hyperion to use and they thinn the deck which is always good. The only staple card included is Monster Reborn due to the powerful cards that stack in the Graveyard though Trade-In I have preffered it instead of Dark Hole or Giant Trunade, even though here is mostly a personal choice.
Traps x 3
Royal Decree x 3
That was I believe somewhat expected. For quite some time I used to run triple Herald of Purple Light but due to Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment I decided to change it to Decree which turned to be pretty nice and very rarely a bad card or a brake for the acceleration of Tethys in an early point.
In this deck Tethys is much like Magical Merchant except that it do not stop in draw spell cards and you get to keep all the cards before the Spell/Trap Card. My current record is twenty seven cards (including Draw Spells) and with almost all me deck in hand I had wreak havoc to my opponent (with a Brionac, a Kristya, a Tethys and a double Hyperion if my memory serves me well). This deck can beat with strong fairies like Kristya, Hyperion and Venus and can OTK fairly easily if you can summon any three of them in the field (Monster Reborn helps here). My by far favorite combo of this deck is summon Tethys through Valhalla or Monster Reborn or have it from the previous turn and use her effect as much as possible (by now you must have like nine cards in your hand at least), then summon Earth or Orange Light and Synchro for Black Rose and nuke the field. Then summon any three of the Beaters and attack for game. The best part: if Kristya is one of the beaters you do not have to be afraid of Gorz or Tragoedia or Battle Fader.
The Extra Deck is pretty much classic with some Light-only Synchroes just to break the monotony and three Level 9 Synchro since this deck has easy time Synchroing for this particular level (mainly with Venus/Earth combo which is easier to pull than in the average Agent deck due to Valhalla).
Extra Deck x 15
Ally of Justice Catastor x 1
Magical Android x 1
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x 1
Gaia Knight, Force of Earth x 1
Ancient Sacred Wyvern x 1
Black Rose Dragon x 2
Avenging Knight Parshath x 1
Light End Dragon x 1
Red Dragon Archfiend x 1
Scrap Dragon x 1
Stardust Dragon x 1
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x2
Mist Wurm x 1
All in all this is a very powerful beatdown deck and despite having many common cards with other fairy decks, plays really differently. Also this deck is very unique, from the perspective that is the only deck in Advanced Format that can draw more than twenty cards with unbelievable easiness and without any kind of loop. This is a deck that can proudly stand aside the other Fairy Variants and even do great against the current Meta. It is really a deck I am proud of.
Thanks for reading and till next time.
-Eatos
Bibliography
Kaiza, 2011, Advanced Duel Academy, "Kaiza's Guide to the Tower in the Sky - Designing an Agent Deck"
http://lsacademy.forumotion.com/t3180-kaiza-s-guide-to-the-tower-in-the-sky-designing-an-agent-deck
This is the 2nd version of the deck. Things changed :
Removed : Herald of Green Light x 2, The Agent of Wonders - Jupiter x 2, The Agent of Judgment - Saturn x 1
Added : The Agent of Creation - Venus x 2, Mystical Shine Balls x 3
After one have buy 3 copies of the Lost Sanctuary can choose which style he prefers and build his deck accordingly. Agent is the most common choice since almost all cards are included but there are also Heralds, a powerful control deck or Valhalla Beatdown, a deck that abuses Valhalla to summon powerful Fairies like Archlord Kristya and Athena or Chaos Fairies, a Fairy variant that abuses includes Dark Attribute Fairies making possible the addition of Chaos Sorcerer and the Sky Scourges. But in this article I will present you another Fairy deck, that focuses in one of the most underrated cards ever, Tethys the Goddess of Light.
In this great game of our cards that give you a plus two or more advantage in terms of field/hand presence are very limited. For example Dark Armed Dragon, Judgement Dragon, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute are all cards that can give you a massive advantage in terms of presence if used right. Hence all of them have won a place in the Ban List.
Even though sometimes Hand Advantage is not as important as Field Advantage no one can imply that it is not vital for the rise of a deck as a Top Tier. Take a look at the most powerful deck of the format and you will notice that all of them have ways to draw, to search and generally to replenish their hand. And of all the draw engines/cards there are out there including the banned one like Pot of Greed and Gracefule Charity the most powerful one is in my humble and honest opinion is that of Tethys.
I know what you are thinking: "If Tethys is so broken why then noone plays it? And why it is not in the Ban List?" The answer is that unlike Pot of Greed it needs a deck specifically builded for her. You can throw it randomly to any Fairy Deck but you cannot expect to get not even the ten percent of her true potential. This is for two reasons. The first and most important is that the monster line-up as in most decks it does not surpasses twenty maybe twenty-five monsters and such you have about 50% to get her effect even once. The only deck that could us her effect effectively to some decree is Heralds (with Dawn of Herald as the Ritual Spell). But even in that deck the second reason comes to cut the wings of Tethys. This is Tethys herself. When she comes to the field, the opponent will make tha impossible possible to destroy her before you get her effect even once. So it is not safe at all to leave her in the field and wait next turn in your Draw Phase to get her effect. The only thing you can do is use her effect in the same turn you used her. Simply activate a draw card and you will most likely get about four or five cards at least.
But be careful. Not all cards can be used with Tethys due to her following ruiling:
"You can only activate this effect when a Fairy being drawn was the last thing that happened."
For example you cannot use Upstart Goblin to get her effect since the last thing happened is your opponent getting 1000 life points.
And such I have assembled a deck focusing in getting the effect of Tethys at maximum and with all the support of the Fairies got I dare to say that the result is pretty impressive. Voila, Tethys Turbo!
Monsters x 27
Tethys, Goddess of Light x 3
Archlord Kristya x 2
Splendid Venus x 2
Master Hyperion x 3
The Agent of Mystery - Earth x 3
The Agent of Miracles - Jupiter x1
The Agent of Creation - Venus x 2
Mystical Shine Ball x 3
Herald of Orange Light x 2
Honest x 1
Zeradias, Herald of Heaven x 2
Hecatrice x 3
As you can see the Monster Line-Up is fairly big and Fairy-only to ensure great draw power through Tethys's effect. Tethys herself is included obviously at three copies for it is the core of the deck and a fairly good beater. Next is Archlord Kristya at two copies, the maximum possible. Personally my favorite Fairy (and generally card) is Guardian Eatos as you will most likely have undertand by now but even I must admit that the best Fairy by far is Kristya and that is an undeniable fact. And such there is absolutely no reason to not included since all four of her effect are powerful and it finds incredible synergy through Trade-In and Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen that are included in the Spell Line-Up. Splendid Venus is also included for her powerful effects, her high attack and her eight stars that make her target of Trade-In. I have considered using Tualatin instead of her but I finally decided that both of her effects are nothing to laugh at. But Tualatin or any level 8 Light Fairy-type that can be Special Summoned can be used instead of th Venus.
Next there are the new Agents. Master Hyperion has been included as the final level 8 Monster, his all powerful effect, his self-summoning ability and his raw attack. Earth is a searcher for Jupiter and Venus (and even Hyperion with The Sanctuary in the Sky in the field) plus she is a tuner giving the deck some Sychro Summon capabilities. Jupiter, the final new agent is a very powerful one, as it is not only has a massive main body of 1800 ATK and increase his attack (or any other Light Fairy) by 800 at the cost of an Agent in the Graveyard but also has a second effect that can be used with The Sanctuary in the Sky in the field allowing you to summon a Light Fairy banished Monster. And since there are no Nomi/Semi-Nomi or non Light-Fairy Monster in the deck, as long as you have something removed from play, he can bring it back (this is especially good with Kristya since the only way for your opponent to get rid of her properly is by removing her, then Jupiter can come into play and bring her back for a new round of assaults and special summon negating). Jupiter is the main reason for The Sanctuary in the Sky to be in this deck (even if it gives a good boost to every Agent) and he has been included in three copies for it is also fodder for Hyperion. The final Agent added is an old one Venus, who have been included along with three Mystical Shine Balls for her powerful effect providing the deck with easy Synchro fodder, mainly for Trishula.
Heralds of Green and Orange Light are for their synergy with the incredible draw power of Tethys. Plus the Orange one is a tuner allowing for more Synchro access if needed. Honest is obviously included since all the monsters are Light and he is Fairy and I have to say that if I could add five of him I would since he is really powerful in this deck. Finally Zeradias and Hecatrice can search for two very important Spells of the deck, plus they fill the Graveyard for Hyperion to use.
Spells x 10
Trade-In x 3
Magical Mallet x 3
Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen x 2
The Sanctuary in the Sky x 1
Monster Reborn x 1
Trade-In is the one of the two draw cards included at three copies since there are seven targets. The second card is a more unpopular one. Magical Mallet is almost never used in most deck and for a good reason: it returns the card in the deck (hence it does not thin the deck and it does not fill the grave with monsters) leaving you with a minus one. But in this deck Tethys will pay back for the minus one and I have prefered it over Hand Destruction since it does not give the opponent any draw power and it can be used always as long as you have one card in hand unlike hand destruction where you and your opponent must have two cards at least in hand. I have decided not to use Cards from the Sky due to it's awful drawbacks ,one may say that first turn it does not matter but you cannot have Tethys out first turn withoun Special Summon hence this cards sucks in this deck (if not generally).
Now for the Non-Drawing Spell Cards. These cards allong with the traps should be as less as possible to ensure maximum effectiveness from Tethys. Hence they are totally seven, four spells and three traps. Valhalla is a very important part of the deck and such I had added two copies, which along with the triple Hecatrice are sufficient. One The Sanctuary in the Sky along with double Zeradias are enough also since Sanctuary is not deadly important and even if you keep it in the field for one turn is enough to use the effects of the Agents. The reasons that I have prefferd to go with triple Hecatrice/double Valhalla and double Zeradias/single Sanctuary, even with the risk of drawing a dead Hecatrice, are I believe obvious but I will still explain them to give a more round view of the deck. First is the acceleration of Tethys that does not stop with the searchers as it does with the Spell Cards and the searchers can empty the deck from the brakes of Tethys in advance ensuring an even greater acceleration. Also they fill the grave with monsters for the Hyperion to use and they thinn the deck which is always good. The only staple card included is Monster Reborn due to the powerful cards that stack in the Graveyard though Trade-In I have preffered it instead of Dark Hole or Giant Trunade, even though here is mostly a personal choice.
Traps x 3
Royal Decree x 3
That was I believe somewhat expected. For quite some time I used to run triple Herald of Purple Light but due to Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment I decided to change it to Decree which turned to be pretty nice and very rarely a bad card or a brake for the acceleration of Tethys in an early point.
In this deck Tethys is much like Magical Merchant except that it do not stop in draw spell cards and you get to keep all the cards before the Spell/Trap Card. My current record is twenty seven cards (including Draw Spells) and with almost all me deck in hand I had wreak havoc to my opponent (with a Brionac, a Kristya, a Tethys and a double Hyperion if my memory serves me well). This deck can beat with strong fairies like Kristya, Hyperion and Venus and can OTK fairly easily if you can summon any three of them in the field (Monster Reborn helps here). My by far favorite combo of this deck is summon Tethys through Valhalla or Monster Reborn or have it from the previous turn and use her effect as much as possible (by now you must have like nine cards in your hand at least), then summon Earth or Orange Light and Synchro for Black Rose and nuke the field. Then summon any three of the Beaters and attack for game. The best part: if Kristya is one of the beaters you do not have to be afraid of Gorz or Tragoedia or Battle Fader.
The Extra Deck is pretty much classic with some Light-only Synchroes just to break the monotony and three Level 9 Synchro since this deck has easy time Synchroing for this particular level (mainly with Venus/Earth combo which is easier to pull than in the average Agent deck due to Valhalla).
Extra Deck x 15
Ally of Justice Catastor x 1
Magical Android x 1
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x 1
Gaia Knight, Force of Earth x 1
Ancient Sacred Wyvern x 1
Black Rose Dragon x 2
Avenging Knight Parshath x 1
Light End Dragon x 1
Red Dragon Archfiend x 1
Scrap Dragon x 1
Stardust Dragon x 1
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x2
Mist Wurm x 1
All in all this is a very powerful beatdown deck and despite having many common cards with other fairy decks, plays really differently. Also this deck is very unique, from the perspective that is the only deck in Advanced Format that can draw more than twenty cards with unbelievable easiness and without any kind of loop. This is a deck that can proudly stand aside the other Fairy Variants and even do great against the current Meta. It is really a deck I am proud of.
Thanks for reading and till next time.
-Eatos
Bibliography
Kaiza, 2011, Advanced Duel Academy, "Kaiza's Guide to the Tower in the Sky - Designing an Agent Deck"
http://lsacademy.forumotion.com/t3180-kaiza-s-guide-to-the-tower-in-the-sky-designing-an-agent-deck
This is the 2nd version of the deck. Things changed :
Removed : Herald of Green Light x 2, The Agent of Wonders - Jupiter x 2, The Agent of Judgment - Saturn x 1
Added : The Agent of Creation - Venus x 2, Mystical Shine Balls x 3
Very nice article. I will try the deck for sure as soon as I find a second Kristya and two Venus.
ReplyDeleteMay I purpose though the addition of double Dimensional Alchemist instead of Jupiter and the one copy of Green Light. At least this is how I will try the deck since Alchemist gives additional speed which is always good and can retrieve Kristya and stuff even without the Sanctuary. What do you think about it?
Nice work either way!
L? Another Death Note fan! Yayyyy! L rocks! (I was just watching the anime)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your good words. I myself have thought of using Dimensional Alchemist and I had try him for a bit. Speed Bonus is nice indeed. But I removed him for Saturn as it has better synergy with the deck. And such if you add him, Saturn is the card I suggest to remove instead of Jupiter along with a Herald of Green Light. Either way it's opt to you, thanks for posting.
Yeah Fairies deck!! I am a big fan of those cards... You can understand this by my name :D
ReplyDeleteKristya power!!
Anyway, very nice article! I tried the deck and I could say it is as good as you show it. However I prefer the Herald deck! ;)
I think you can also use The Agent of Wisdom - Mercury as it has a good drawing effect.
An other card you can put in the deck is the monster card Arcana Force EX-The Dark Ruler. The effects of this card are both great (that's weird for the arcana force monsters) the only problem is to summon it because it can be special summon only if you sent 3 monsters from the field to the cemetery. What do you think?
Good job btw!! :)
PS
I am a big fan of Death Note too!! :)
May I ask in what will Mercury help? I mean you want to activate a Draw effect the turn Tethys is summoned not wait till the next with an "all powerful" Zero Attack Monster in the field hoping for him to survive. Additionally this deck is nothing like Infernities, instead it loves big hands so Mercury is absoloutely out of question.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Dark Ruler I do not find him bad since he can be summoned using the Mystical Shine Balls but I do not find him necessary either. I mean you can OTK with him but it may be a dead draw really often.
Thanks for reading my verbiage and posting