Notes & Combos

I’m not much of a Master Duel player since I mostly focus on the TCG competitively, but with the recent banlists and Dracotail entering the format, I decided to give the Duelist Cup a try—and I honestly had a great time. In my opinion, Master Duel is in one of its healthier formats right now, even with Maxx “C” still existing. I hate decks that fold to the roach and I’ve always loved Fire Kings, so that’s what I ended up playing. Surprisingly, the deck felt extremely strong. It plays cleanly under both Maxx “C” and Fuwalos thanks to the Jurrac engine, while still setting up deceptively powerful fields. Drawing Kirin plus Megalo going second is almost always an auto-win, and the deck can push through nearly any end board that isn’t backed by multiple omni-negates. Dracotail Sting can be a problem, which is why I chose to main deck Ghost Belle. Belle doesn’t conflict with Impulse as long as you sequence correctly and are patient. I will say, though, this deck takes a lot of practice. It isn’t something you can just pick up and expect free wins. The lines aren’t linear, and there are tons of small decisions when breaking boards going second or interacting with your opponent while setting up going first. Misplaying those moments can easily throw away very winnable games. Fire King is an incredbily fun and rewarding deck if you put the time into it though. And will make you a better player the more and more you use it.