Quick Article #2: The Disk Commander Discourse

A few days ago, some fellow Pojo.com members were discussing the use of engines in the modern Chaos deck, and specifically the engine centred around reviving Destiny Hero - Disk Commander many times in order to draw cards. I joined in the discussion, as I often do whenever an interesting topic appears in the Traditional Format sub-forum, and will publish here what I said; I will do so for two reasons: firstly, talking with other players, especially on a written forum like Pojo.com, allows for a greater depth of discourse on a single idea (in this case, engines) than do the general deck essays I compose for this blog; and, secondly, reiterating what I said there, which is a place altogether disparate to this website, should give an interesting insight, I think, into what happens 'behind the scenes', as it were.

This first quote came about at the beginning of the conversation, after the Disk Commander engine was mentioned in the first place and some discussion between other members ensued:

"The Disk Commander engine is incredible: superior access to cards is what a deck strives for in any card game, not just Yu-Gi-Oh!, and even just reviving Disk Commander once (and, of course, being able to do so with the consistency a full-fledged engine allows) gives you huge momentum. Being able to then revive Disk Commander again, and even many more times, is just sick... exactly what the Traditional Format should be about. I myself have already published one deck using the Disk Commander engine, and I'm currently working on another, a DARK-centred Control deck based on versatility and resilience rather than pure power. I will also be using a full Destiny Hero engine, that is with Destiny Draw and more Destiny Heroes.

Now, once upon a time (that is, back in the days of triple Destiny Draw and double Allure of Darkness - oh, my God! how I miss those days!), it would be unnecessary to play what we now consider the "Disk Commander engine", but it would sadly seem these days are never coming back. However, having said that, I still consider Destiny HEROES to be on top of the Traditional Format, whether it be in FTK, OTK or Control format, they just need some supplimentation through either the Disk Commander engine or the addition of Trade-In. This latter one is also something I am currently testing.

Anyway, I just thought I'd insert my two cents: I saw discussion of Destiny Heroes, and, well, hopefully without sounding exceedingly arrogant, I'm an expert on the subject. Again, it is my firm belief that Destiny Heroes are on top of the Traditional Format; the speed, consistency and versatility they offer is second to none - just something to think about.

-Jamie"

I was then asked to expand upon what I said previously (the user who instigated the thread in question had previously been utilizing an engine centred on Hidden Armory, hence the mention of said engine in the second section of the quote):

"********: I don't really want to give away too much - I hate giving away secrets before I reveal them (oh, wow, that sounded so lame, but it's true) - but I suppose I don't mind showing the engine for the DARK Control deck: I'm still about halfway through the testing stages, but it looks like this at the moment:

3 Armageddon Knight
3 Limit Reverse
1 Elemental Hero Stratos
1 Destiny Hero - Disk Commander
1 Destiny Hero - Fear Monger
1 Destiny Hero - Plasma
1 Destiny Draw
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Scapegoat

I dropped the Graceful Revivals from this build in favour of a more versatile engine, and the added instant speed of Destiny Draw allowable by a third discard target. The full Trade-In engine, as well as the deck I'm playing it in, is still top-secret (that sounded even more lame) and will be for a long time - that deck is my long-term project, and won't be published for quite a while.

********: the Hidden Armory engine is very good (I plan to use it at least once more, myself), I wouldn't discount it simply on a whim. It depends on what you prefer, as long as you have solid reasoning to back up your decision.

The Disk Commander engine, in its most basic, fundamental form, would be the following:

3 Armageddon Knight
3 Limit Reverse
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Destiny Hero - Disk Commander
1 Reinforcement of the Army

These nine cards fit underneath the Monster Reborn and Premature Burial you should already be playing - the only reason I specifically include Call of the Haunted in the engine is because I don't believe it's an automatic inclusion in Traditional.

Anything on top of those nine cards is purely optional and down to personal preference: I usually like to play at least Elemental Hero Stratos and Destiny Hero - Fear Monger for extra deck thinning and revival options; I ran two Graceful Revival in the Chaos Return deck I published because I was focussing on Chaos only (that is, there were no Tuners, no alternate win conditions of any kind, just Chaos) and I needed the extra reliability the Trap Card gave me for drawing; and the engine for the DARK Control deck aforementioned includes Destiny Draw, which is allowed due to the addition of another discard target, and the added versatility of a Hero like Plasma and its associated copy of Scapegoat.

Again, it really comes down to personal preference. These are only things that I have found through testing and research myself, but I would never, ever declare that I know everything there is to know.

-Jamie"