Home > 2010/04 - 75th SJC - Edison, New Jersey > Deck Profile: Jake Mattern’s Prismadiator Deck

Deck Profile: Jake Mattern’s Prismadiator Deck

April 24th, 2010

Jake Mattern is one of many Duelists who ventured into today’s tournament with a Gladiator Beast Deck. Gladiator Beasts have a versatility that’s tough to match with any other Deck, making them a strong choice for the first SHONEN JUMP Championship of the format. No matter what Mattern goes up against, he knows that his Deck has everything it needs to come out on top thanks to the powers of his Gladiator Beast monsters. His friend, Juan Morales, is playing the same Deck as Mattern and entered the tournament with the same level of confidence in his Gladiators. Mattern built his Gladiator Beast Deck to include Elemental Hero Prisma, which fuels some of his most powerful plays by sending monsters from his Deck to his Graveyard.

Monsters:
3x Test Tiger
2x Gladiator Beast Laquari
2x Gladiator Beast Darius
1x Gladiator Beast Equeste
1x Gladiator Beast Bestiari
1x Gladiator Beast Retiari
1x Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1x Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
1x Gladiator Beast Secutor
1x Elemental Hero Stratos
2x Elemental Hero Prisma
1x Morphing Jar

Spells:
1x Reinforcement of the Army
3x Book of Moon
2x Enemy Controller
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Cold Wave

Traps:
3x Dimensional Prison
2x Gladiator Beast War Chariot
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
3x Dust Tornado
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Trap Dustshoot
1x Call of the Haunted
2x Compulsory Evacuation Device
2x Starlight Road

Extra Deck:
3x Gladiator Beast Heraklinos
3x Gladiator Beast Gyzarus
3x Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
2x Stardust Dragon
1x Colossal Fighter
1x Black Rose Dragon
1x Goyo Guardian
1x Magical Android

Side Deck:
2x Cyber Dragon
2x D. D. Warrior Lady
2x Pole Position
1x Brain Control
1x Gladiator Beast Hoplomus
2x Pulling the Rug
2x Trap Hole
3x Nobleman of Crossout

Mattern made sure to play a wide assortment of Gladiator Beasts in his Deck, so he would be ready for anything. Each time one of Mattern’s Gladiator Beasts survives a battle, he can Special Summon new ones from his Deck with an added effect, unique for that Gladiator. Gladiator Beast Laquari provides the raw strength, while Gladiator Beast Hoplomus provides the defense. Gladiator Beast Retiari can remove cards like Plaguespreader Zombie from his opponent’s Graveyard, allowing him to take control of his opponent’s plays, while Gladiator Beast Equeste lets him return a Gladiator Beast card from his Graveyard to his hand in order to increase his own options. Gladiator Beast Bestiari and Gladiator Beast Murmillo give Mattern access to destruction effects, while Gladiator Beast Secutor and Gladiator Beast Darius give him access to quick, game-winning plays. An unprepared opponent will have a tough time playing against Mattern’s assortment of monsters.

The main Prismadiator combo uses Elemental Hero Prisma and Test Tiger. By sending Gladiator Beast Bestiari from his Deck to his Graveyard, Mattern can turn his face-up Prisma into a Gladiator Beast. Then, he’ll be free to Special Summon a Test Tiger from his hand, and Tribute it to exchange his Prisma with a Gladiator Beast in his Deck. Since Prisma dumps Gladiator Beast Bestiari into the Graveyard, Gladiator Beast Darius is usually the strongest choice to Special Summon from the Deck. It can revive the Bestiari, and the two Gladiators can be fused together to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus from the Extra Deck.

Not only does Gyzarus destroy 2 cards on the field when it’s Summoned, it can also tag back out and leave 2 new Gladiator Beasts on the field in its place. Choosing Gladiator Beast Darius as one of those 2 Gladiators will let you revive a third Gladiator Beast from the Graveyard. If any of those 3 Gladiator Beasts are Gladiator Beast Laquari, you’ll have the necessary components to Summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. A devastating Gyzarus play from Main Phase 1 can lead into a play that locks up the Match in Main Phase 2 with the Fusion Summon of Gladiator Beast Heraklinos.

Even without Test Tiger in his hand, Mattern can set up some great plays with Elemental Hero Prisma. He can send either Gladiator Beast Bestiari or Gladiator Beast Laquari from his Deck to his Graveyard by revealing Gladiator Beast Gyzarus or Gladiator Beast Heraklinos from his Extra Deck. That’s exactly where he needs his Gladiators if he wants to revive them with Darius before performing a Fusion Summon or if he wants to return them to his hand with Equeste later on. Using Prisma’s effect early on to get Gladiator Beasts into the Graveyard increases the strength of his tag-ins throughout the Duel.

When Jake Mattern Side Decks in Cyber Dragon against Machina Gadget Decks, he gets another option for Prisma to change into. By transforming his Prisma into Cyber Dragon, Mattern can fuse Prisma with his opponent’s machines to wipe out his opponent’s field and Special Summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon from his Extra Deck. Since Mattern runs Elemental Hero Stratos and Reinforcements of the Army to search his Deck for Prisma, he can reliably get it into his hand to initiate the powerful plays it creates.

In addition to a full defensive line-up including Dimensional Prison, Bottomless Trap Hole, Compulsory Evacuation Device, Book of Moon, and Enemy Controller to make sure his Gladiators can attack and tag-out, Mattern is also running 3 copies of Dust Tornado. This is a great card choice for Gladiator Beast Decks this format. It can eliminate copies of Royal Oppression that would ordinarily shut down an entire Gladiator Beast Deck, or clear the opponent’s Spell and Trap Card Zone before attempting an all-out play with Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. Mattern also takes advantage of the second ability of Dust Tornado, which lets him Set a Spell or Trap Card from his hand after activating it.

“I like setting Dust Tornado on my first turn. It lets me destroy my opponent’s back row on the End Phase and set Gladiator Beast War Chariot with the effect of Dust Tornado,” Mattern told me. Then, if his opponent has a Defense Position monster, he follows up his play by Normal Summoning a Gladiator Beast, Special Summoning Test Tiger, and sending his Gladiator Beast back to his Deck with Test Tiger’s ability in order to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Secutor in its place. He can ram his Secutor into his opponent’s defense position monster, flip Gladiator Beast War Chariot to negate the monster’s effect, and score 2 new recruits with his Secutor’s ability. By choosing to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Equeste and Gladiator Beast Laquari, he can return Gladiator Beast War Chariot from his Graveyard to his hand and immediately fuse for Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. This leaves him able to negate the effects of Monster Cards, Spell Cards, and Trap Cards, clinching the match.

Once Gladiator Beast War Chariot hits the Graveyard, Mattern can continuously recycle it throughout the Duel. Every time a Gladiator Beast tags out and Equeste tags-in, Mattern gets another opportunity to negate a monster’s effect and destroy that monster with Chariot. Maintaining this loop can easily lock his opponent out of the game.

Mattern also likes to use Dust Tornado to Set cards in his hand before his Morphing Jar flips face-up. Mattern told me he likes to flip Morphing Jar after committing a lot of cards to the field. To protect the cards he commits to the field, including the 17 Trap Cards in his Main Deck, Mattern is playing 2 copies of Starlight Road.

Many opponents activate cards like Heavy Storm, Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force, and Icarus Attack to destroy 2 cards, expecting to negate a Starlight Road Mattern will flip by using the effect of Royal Oppression. But with 3 copies of Dust Tornado in Mattern’s Deck to destroy Royal Oppression when it tries to negate Starlight Road, many of Mattern’s opponents will have to face a Stardust Dragon they unwittingly allowed Mattern to Summon and are unprepared to take down.

Mattern chose to keep Heavy Storm, Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force out of his own Deck, fearing Starlight Road from other competitors. This was a wise decision. Stardust Dragon can be a hassle for Gladiator Beast Duelists to destroy, since Stardust Dragon will take down any Gladiator Beast that tries to destroy it. Instead, Mattern is relying on cards that can clear the field 1 card at a time, like Dimensional Prison and Dust Tornado.

It’s clear that Mattern put a lot of thought into building his Deck in preparation for the new format. While the classic strategy of using Cold Wave, Elemental Hero Prisma and Test Tiger to clear the opponent’s field with Gladiator Beast Gyzarus is present in Mattern’s Deck, there are also several new tactics Mattern can use with his Deck that a lot of opponents are about to see for the first time. This innovation may be enough to let Mattern bring Gladiator Beasts back to the top of the competitive scene.

JAKE MATTERN