While many Duelists today are running Dandylion, few are using it in a Deck like Stephen McGann is. Stephen McGann’s Plant Toolbox Deck uses Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias or other monsters from his Deck, and Koa’ki Meiru Gravirose to send Plaguespreader Zombie and Dandylion from his Deck to his Graveyard. Based on the situation, McGann can get most of his monsters exactly where he needs them.

Monsters:
1x Dark Armed Dragon
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1x Tragoedia
2x Lonefire Blossom
1x Tytannial, Princess of Camellias
1x Caius the Shadow Monarch
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
1x Koa’ki Meiru Gravirose
1x Cactus Bouncer
2x Mystic Tomato
2x Dandylion
1x Card Trooper
2x Cyber Valley
1x Plaguespreader Zombie
1x Debris Dragon
1x Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind
1x Sangan

Spells:
3x Mark of the Rose
2x Smashing Ground
1x Mind Control
1x Brain Control
1x Heavy Storm
1x Allure of Darkness
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Foolish Burial

Traps:
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Dimensional Prison
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Mirror Force
1x Call of the Haunted

McGann’s Deck is all about getting the cards he needs, when he needs them. Since Lonefire Blossom gives him access to any Plant in his Deck, McGann can call out the Plants he needs pretty easily. McGann’s use of Koa’ki Meiru Gravirose also helps him dig deeper into his Deck and load up his Graveyard with the monsters he wants in there. Mystic Tomato, another Plant-Type monster in McGann’s Deck, lets him dig for the cards he needs too. Depending on the situation, he can choose to Special Summon another Tomato, Sangan, Plaguespreader Zombie, or Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind.

The main strength of McGann’s Deck lies in its ability to support 3 copies of Mark of the Rose. “Mark of the Rose can really turn a game around,” McGann admitted. He likes to trade off cards with his opponent and then use Mark of the Rose to swing the game in his favor. With Plaguespreader Zombie and Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind in his Deck to Tune to the monsters he steals from his opponent, plus Caius the Shadow Monarch to Tribute his opponent’s monster for and Cyber Valley to remove his opponent’s monster from play after stealing it, McGann has no problem putting all of his stolen monsters to use. In addition to his 3 copies of Mark of the Rose, he’s also playing Mind Control and Brain Control, making the betrayal of his opponents’ monsters inevitable. McGann can also use his Fluff Tokens from Dandylion for many of the same situations he would use his opponent’s monsters. With Koa’ki Meiru Gravirose, Foolish Burial and Card Trooper available to quickly get Dandylion into the Graveyard, generating Fluff Tokens is a breeze for Stephen McGann.

Another favorite card of McGann’s is Cactus Bouncer, which can lock down his opponent and clinch the Duel while he has another Plant-Type monster on the field. “Cactus Bouncer is awesome,” McGann told me. “I love using that one copy to lock down my opponent.”

McGann’s Deck runs a lot of simple removal for his opponent’s Spell, Trap, and Monster Cards, including Breaker the Magical Warrior, Smashing Ground, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Dimensional Prison. “When I can get my opponent and me both on topdeck, I usually win. My Deck draws better since it plays all of the monster theft,” McGann told me. The ability to steal opposing threats can instantly shift the Duel in his favor.

Mark of the Rose seems to be an underrated card in the current format. With Monarchs rapidly gaining popularity, it wouldn’t be surprising to see other Duelists taking advantage of monster theft the way Stephen McGann did in his Plant Toolbox Deck.