YCS Portland: Top 4 Deck Profile – Joe Alvarez’s Salamangreat
Here’s a look at 4th place Duelist Joe Alvarez’s Deck.
Main Deck: 40 cards
31 Monster Cards
2 Effect Veiler
3 Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay
2 Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit
3 Droll & Lock Bird
2 Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
2 Danger!? Tsuchinoko?
2 Danger!? Jackalope?
2 Sea Archiver
1 Salamangreat Gazelle
3 Salamangreat Foxy
3 Salamangreat Spinny
1 Salamangreat Falco
1 Salamangreat Fowl
1 Salamangreat Jack Jaguar
3 Flame Bufferlo
7 Spell Cards
1 Salamangreat Sanctuary
2 Will of the Salamangreat
1 Salamangreat Circle
3 Cynet Mining
2 Trap Cards
1 Salamangreat Rage
1 Salamangreat Roar
Extra Deck: 15
2 Salamangreat Balelynx
3 Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf
2 Salamangreat Heatleo
2 Salamangreat Miragestallio
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess
1 Hiita the Fire Charmer, Ablaze
1 Knightmare Phoenix
1 Update Jammer
1 Borreload Dragon
Side Deck: 15
2 Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju
2 Mind Control
2 Typhoon
3 Twin Twisters
3 Artifact Lancea
3 Summon Limit
The overall gameplan of this Deck is the same as your standard Salamangreat Deck. You want to Link Summon into Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf, using its effect for repeated value, and controlling the field with your other cards like Salamangreat Foxy, Salamangreat Rage, and Salamangreat Roar. Sunlight Wolf allows you to reuse your two Trap Cards over and over, and Salamangreat Gazelle puts them directly in the Graveyard for Sunlight Wolf to get them.
The Danger! monsters add another dimension of Level 3 Special Summons, allowing further Link Summon options and, most importantly, making it easier to Xyz Summon Salamangreat Miragestallio. There’s an impressive 12 “hand trap” monsters here, giving a huge amount of answers to anything Alvarez’s opponents may try to start. With so many different ones, it’s also very difficult for anyone to accurately play around them. For example, you might expect Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, but play right into a Droll & Lock Bird instead.
This strategy took Alvarez to an impressive 4th place finish. Congrats to him!