Quick Article #7: Scientist Control

I’ve been having some interest in the Scientist Control deck I’ve been posting in my latest tournament reports, both online and in person. One player in particular emailed me directly to ask me some very good questions regarding how the deck plays, combos, match-ups, siding, and then some queries about specific card choices (such as Number 56: Gold Rat and Evilswarm Ouroboros). Since I don’t think it’s too much of stretch to assume there are more people interested than just the few who have talked to me, I’ve decided to use the quite detailed answers to the aforementioned player for the basis of this short article, describing how I play deck.

Its main goal is to get out Scientist – the heavy tendency in the construction towards drawing, searching and Special Summoning is primarily geared towards finding Magical Scientist and putting him on the field. For a first turn play, I’m going to be trying to lock the opponent out of their first turn (a second turn play will obviously be more intent on creating the best possible response to the opponent's first turn set up); depending on what the opponent is using (that is, what their Spell/Trap/Monster ratio is like, what their play patterns and possibilities are, etc.), and depending on what I’m able to find and create, some combination of Number 16: Shock Master, Photon Strike Bounzer or Evilswarm Ouroboros, backed up by my Spells and/or Traps – Imperial Order, Crush card Virus, Delinquent Duo, etc. – and/or Effect Veilers, is going to be my final set up. The aim, again, is to lock the opponent out of their turn, so the pilot needs to be able to read what they're playing, and what they'll be trying to, and able to, accomplish.

That said, though, the deck has many other options. The Chaos monsters, as well as being discard/removal fodder for the draw engine, can also be Summoned when needed. By the same token, Light and Darkness Dragon, again primarily a discard target, is also a very powerful option to be Summoned when Scientist isn't available, and is quite easily done with all of the Special Summon options. Other Monsters make Crush Card Virus live, the Extra Deck does contain a couple of Synchro Monsters which can be summoned with Effect Veiler, the Magical Scientist/Dark Strike Fighter FTK is possible, and even just Elemental Hero Stratos with some control cards can be a decent opening play. It all depends on the opening hand – the pilot will need to be able to gauge the amount of stuff he or she can do, which only comes with experience. When I play the deck, I can see my final set up from my opening six cards, and plan what I'm going to do anywhere from the second possibly play up to the twentieth possible play in advance.

If I’m going to be playing against FTKs, I'll need Hand Traps; Effect Veilers are already Mained, so the Side Deck will generally consist of Droll & Lock Birds, Hanewatas, Neko Mane Kings, Maxx "C"s, Elephant Stature of Disaster, depending on what I expect to play against. Battle based matchups are quite good, although I may want to Side more battle based cards – Snatch Steal, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm and Harpie's Feather Duster, that sort of thing. Also, some Hand Traps, such as Maxx "C" and D.D. Crow, can be good for battle based match ups – Dark World, heavy Special Summoning strategies – so I’ll consider Siding those, as well. The Side really depends on what I expect to play, and then changes accordingly. My Side, even for the same deck, is different at every tournament.

On the subject of Number 56: Gold Rat: during my turn, I quite often end up with Destiny Hero – Disk Commander and Magical Scientist on-field, and, in this scenario, rather than making a few exceeds (which obviously cost Life Points with Scientist) and leaving those two, low ATK Monsters susceptible to attacks, I summon Thousand Eyes Restrict and overlay the three for Gold Rat. I then get to draw another card, shuffle back a dead card (or my second Malicious, always helpful), put Disk Commander (by detaching him to activate Rat's effect) back into the Graveyard for another revival and draw, and have a LIGHT target if Rat hits the Grave. It seems like an odd choice, and I got a bit of crap for it at the time, but it really is very good here.

Evilswarm Ouroboros is for when I have Imperial Order. If I've drawn the Trap Card, I don't want to Summon Shock Master and call Spells – I'll already be cutting out Spells with Imperial, and doubling up on effects, except when making a fancy surprise combo, is useless. Therefore, unless I need to cut out Monster effects (which I'm most likely going to be doing with Photon Strike Bounzer or Effect Veiler anyway), I'll make Ouroboros to take another card from the opponent's hand instead.

I hope this clears up some questions that might have formed around this deck, especially since I unfortunately never got around to writing any others pieces about it.