Deck Profile: Dragoon Victor Santana’s Dragunity Deck
With Dragunities still so new in Championship-level Dueling, a lot of great Duelists are approaching the deck from different perspectives. We showed you the focused, control-heavy build played to a Top 16 finish by Frazier Smith. Now, let’s look at a teched out version that was used by Victor Santana that does some cool stuff and has some great moves that Smith’s Deck can’t quite replicate.
Victor Santana’s Dragunities – 40 Cards
Monsters: 16
3 Dragunity Dux
3 Dragunity Legionnaire
3 Dragunity Phalanx
2 Dragunity Alkys
2 Dragunity Arms Mystletainn
1 Dragunity Brandistock
2 Effect Veiler
Spells: 16
3 Dragon Ravine
3 Terraforming
2 Pot of Avarice
3 Cards of Consonance
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Giant Trunade
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon
Traps: 8
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Icarus Attack
1 Mirror Force
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
“The easy access to Stardust Dragon, and what we believe to be the card of the format – Thought Ruler Archfiend – gets the Deck off to a big start.” To make sure he gets that big first turn play, Santana goes a little further than some Duelists by running Dragunity Arma Mystletainn and skipping Pot of Duality (which would interfere with his Special Summons). Mystletainn stands in for Dragunity Dux in an opening hand that includes Dragunity Phalanx: Santana can Normal Summon Phalanx; send it to the Graveyard to Special Summon Mystletainn; then equip that Phalanx and Special Summon it to make a Level 8 Synchro Summon. It lets him make that Level 8 play in certain situations where Dux alone wouldn’t get the job done.
Mystletainn is useful beyond the early game, too. When Santana Summons Dragunity Legionnaire and uses its effect to grab and throw a smaller Dragunity, he can send that Legionnaire to the Graveyard for Mystletainn’s Special Summon. Then Mystletainn can grab Phalanx and make a Level 8 Synchro. That’s cool for a few reasons: first, it puts that Legionnaire to work – a monster that would often just be run over in battle on the following turn if it wasn’t backed by Icarus Attack. It’s alot tougher for Decks like Gladiator Beasts to take advantage of a 2100 ATK monster than it is a smaller monster like Legionnaire (which can be an easy mark for any monster that gets an effect when it wins a battle, like Flamvell Firedog or Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame). But the really big deal is that Mystletainn lets you keep the pressure on your opponent when it wouldn’t be possible to do so otherwise. Santana can use Legionnaire’s effect to destroy a card or two, and then immediately make a Level 8 Synchro Summon to follow up. That’s an aggressive, Duel-winning move that just can’t happen without Mystletainn. It can even let him overcome Effect Veiler: if the effect of Dragunity Dux or Legionnaire is negated with Veiler, that monster can still be sent to the Graveyard for Mystletainn and Santana will make a Level 8 Synchro anyways. With Veiler being such a popular pick over the weekend, having such a huge answer to it is sure to become integral to this Deck’s future success.
Santana is playing 6 Dragunity Tuners total: 3 of the must-run Dragunity Phalanx; 2 Dragunity Aklys; and 1 Dragunity Brandistock. Again, Brandistock allows for some interesting plays other Dragunity Decks won’t be able to make. Under the threat of Royal Oppression, Brandistock can turn Dragunity Dux into a 1900 ATK double-attacker. It’s a nice combo with Mystletainn, too, letting it dish out up to 4200 Battle Damage on a Duel-ending turn: more damage than would be possible if the Mystletainn was Tuned to Phalanx for a Level 8. A single Brandistock may not seem like a big deal, but it opens up a lot of little plays that can help Santana buck his opponent’s expectations and score unexpected wins.
The strength of Icarus Attack really can’t be over-stated: with Book of Moon now Limited, Decks that can cut off their opponent from Synchro Summons are at a big advantage. Icarus can eliminate both halves of a 2-monster Synchro Material pair, or it can eliminate 1 of the 2 would-be-Materials plus a back row card. That allows Santana to continue playing aggressively on his next turn, eliminating the remaining monster with an attack. Icarus has always been a Duel-shaping card, but it’s even more useful now in the wake of Book of Moon’s departure.
With a bit more emphasis on his openings and some off-theme tech picks, Santana’s strategy is quite different from Frazier Smith’s: comparing the 2 Decks side-by-side is a great exercise for aspiring competitors. There’s a lot of room for personal style choices in the Dragunity archetype: we’re likely to see lots of different takes on the strategy. With so many choices, the priorities of the individual Duelist really shines through.