Deck Profile: Steven Kraml’s Remove Brainwashing Deck
With a 6-3 record heading into the final round, Steven Kraml is running a strategy that Summons huge monsters like Volcanic Queen, Lava Golem, and Grinder Golem to his opponent’s field, then takes them all back with Remove Brainwashing and Owner’s Seal!
Monsters: 22
1 Morphing Jar
1 Battle Fader
2 Caius the Shadow Monarch
3 Gravekeeper’s Commandant
3 Gravekeeper’s Spy
3 A Cat of ill Omen
3 Volcanic Queen
3 Lava Golem
3 Grinder Golem
Spells: 11
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Book of Moon
3 Necrovalley
2 Vicious Claw
3 Owner’s Seal
Trap Cards: 11
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Dust Tornado
1 Mirror Force
2 Starlight Road
3 Nightmare Archfiends
3 Remove Brainwashing
Owner’s Seal is a one-shot Normal Spell Card that lets Kraml retrieve all the monsters he’s given to his opponent, but Remove Brainwashing is the real heart of the strategy. It’s a Continuous Trap that acts as a constant Owner’s Seal. Not only does it serve as the basis for Kraml’s Deck, but it’s also stops the opponent’s cards like Brain Control or Mind Control.
With Remove Brainwashing in the mix, Kraml can Special Summon Grinder Golem and its 2 Grinder Tokens. Remove Brainwashing will get him the Golem back, and from there he’ll be able to Tribute a Grinder Token to activate Nightmare Archfiends. This Trap Card will Special Summon 3 new 2000 ATK Nightmare Archfiend Tokens to the opponent’s field, and Remove Brainwashing will send them to Kraml’s side. With just 3 cards, all of which Kraml runs three copies of, he can Special Summon 5 monsters with a total of 9000 ATK. That’s just 1 of the cool plays Kraml can pull off on a regular basis.
Because Remove Brainwashing is so important, Kraml runs a suite of cards to search it out reliably. He runs 3 copies of A Cat of Ill Omen. Its Flip Effect lets him search his Deck to place a Trap Card on top of it. If he controls Necrovalley, the Cat’s effect will let him add the Trap Card straight to his hand instead. Just taking Remove Brainwashing from the Deck is obviously far better than placing it on top to draw it later, so that places a premium on Necrovalley.
Necrovalley gives Kraml a boost in X-Saber and Infernity matchups. Necrovalley keeps cards from being targeted if they’re in the Graveyard, which means no Infernity Mirage, Infernity Launcher, XX-Saber Faultroll, or Gottoms’ Emergency Call. It also boosts the ATK and DEF of Kraml’s Gravekeeper’s Spies and Gravekeeper’s Commandants, making them into strong defenders and attackers respectively.
Necrovalley isn’t the only card that’s effective against popular Decks in the competition this weekend. Lava Golem and Volcanic Queen are both being Side Decked by many Duelists, since each can Tribute an opponent’s Herald of Perfection. Kraml’s been working on this deck for the better part of 3 years, and it just so happens that right now, a lot of the deck’s most integral cards are really good against today’s popular strategies.
Kraml’s Deck is more than just a cool stack of combo tricks with some splashy plays. It represents a strong message to Duelists who pick a Deck, stick with it, and continue honing their craft: every dog has his day. Today is Kraml’s day, and his strong showing with a totally unique and off-the-wall Deck is well-deserved.