Pot of Dichotomy
Options win Duels; the more options you have, the easier it is to outplay your opponent. The more cards you see the faster you’ll put together your combos and your key moves, so anything that lets you draw cards or search your Deck can be really powerful. Two of the top strategies today are defined by their draw and search power: Dragon Rulers have built-in search effects and powerful draw Spells, stuff like Cards of Consonance and Sacred Sword of Seven Stars. Spellbooks have the incredible search power of Spellbook of Secrets and Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, and rake in an extra draw every turn thanks to The Grand Spellbook Tower.
And now Shadow Specters evens the odds! Pot of Dichotomy’s a powerful draw spell, not for Dragons or Spellcasters but for the other guys –themes that run all sorts of monster Types, or even non-themed strategies you came up with on your own. Check it out!
At the start of your Main Phase 1: Target 3 monsters with different Types in your Graveyard; Shuffle all 3 into the Deck, then draw 2 cards. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase the turn you activate this card.
If you build your Deck right, Pot of Dichotomy can be even faster and more reliable than the recently Forbidden Pot of Avarice was. The drawback is that playing Dichotomy has to be the first thing you do in your Main Phase 1 and it makes you skip your Battle Phase the turn you play it. That means it works best in Decks that can do two things: run a lot of different monster Types, and make big set-ups without needing to attack. Which Decks fit the bill? Try Constellars!
Constellar Pleiades is the centerpiece of the Constellar strategy, sitting on the field and bouncing away your opponent’s best cards during their own turn. It’s a Warrior, so it’s your first of three monster Types for Pot of Dichotomy. How do you Summon Pleiades? When you Normal Summon Constellar Algiedi, its effect lets you Special Summon another Level 4 Constellar from your hand. Summon Constellar Kaus, and it’ll change both of your monsters to Level 5 so you can overlay for Pleiades.
Since Algiedi’s a Spellcaster and Kaus is a Beast-Warrior, these three monsters are enough for Pot of Dichotomy right there. If you overlay Pleiades for Constellar Ptolemy M7 you can take it a step further too, since M7’s a Machine. Other Constellar monsters bring more Types to the mix: Constellar Sombre’s a Fairy, and Constellar Sheratan’s a Beast. Skipping your Battle Phase is no big deal since Constellars run so many Trap Cards, and Pleiades is so good at keeping your opponent from attacking you.
Evilswarms are a great choice, too. Normal Summon the Warrior-Type Evilswarm Castor and its effect will let you Normal Summon another Evilswarm on the same turn, like the Rock-Type Evilswarm Heliotrope. Combine the two to Summon Evilswarm Ophion to lock your opponent out of their biggest monsters, and since Ophion’s a Dragon-Type you’ll have three monsters for Pot of Dichotomy once Ophion’s destroyed.
Evilswarm Mandragora’s a Plant, Evilswarm Kerykeion’s a Spellcaster, and Evilswarm Thunderbird’s a Thunder-Type. Pot of Dichotomy’s really easy to play in this strategy, and since Evilswarm Duelists run so many Trap Cards on top of Ophion’s anti-Summon effect, skipping a Battle Phase here and there’s no big deal.
Finally, lots of strategies that don’t play a ton of different Types in their core monster lineups can still play Pot of Dichotomy with the help of cards like the above. Maxx “C” is an Insect; Effect Veiler’s a Spellcaster; and Swift Scarecrow’s a Machine. Lots of Decks, even heavily themed Decks, use at least one of these monsters, so if your main strategy involves even just two monster Types, one of these cards might be the third one you need for Pot of Dichotomy.
And don’t forget, having a diverse Extra Deck with monster Types that don’t feature in your Main Deck can make Pot of Dichotomy a go in any Deck!
Take a look at your strategies and count up the different monster-Types you play. You’ll get your first shot at Pot of Dichotomy on November 2nd and November 3rd at the Shadow Specters Sneak Peek weekend, and it could be just what you need to power up your Deck!