u/Captpan6

These aren't intended to be part of their own script. More so I wanted to see if any of these ideas were solid, have a good foundation, need more improvement, or are already in the game.

Nothing's been tested in-game, but discussing a few of these concepts with a few Clocktower players did pique their interest.

I love looking for undervalued cards in GOAT format. I recently put together a strong, competitive deck that utilized three copies of Venus, Kelbek, and Mudora, and while I love assembling whole decks to create value out of oft-ignored strategies, sometimes I feel like cards themselves deserve some attention for being usable in a myriad of situations.

Enter Graverobber. This Trap lets you pilfer a Spell from the opposing GY, with a cost of 2000 if you choose to activate it. The most-commonly used cards like Magician of Faith and Dark Magician of Chaos grant you a Spell from your own GY. More often than not, those Spells fit your deck's strategy than your opponent's. However, I'd argue Graverobber is a necessary side-deck staple, for several reasons.

1. Graverobber counters MoF and DMoC

MoF is a staple for many championship decks and it fits in cleanly with many strategies. The ability to return a used Spell to the hand is a powerful advantage despite the waiting for Flip effects. Countering MoF with Crossout is great, but Crossout has three problems: (1) only two are allowed, and the set monster it targets might not even be MoF, (2) your own MoF(s) could be banished in the process, and (3) if your opponent isn't setting monsters, it's a dead card.

Graverobber is a nifty little surprise that takes away the Spell your opponent targeted. It adds it to your hand temporarily, so MoF's effect has been totally neutralized. Additionally, since Flip monsters are attacked into on your turn, that card could be used by you instead now.

The same goes for DMoC, with a caveat: DMoC doesn't target. However, more often than not it's easy to guess which card is going to be added to the hand - especially in a DMoC/Cannon Soldier loop. Graverobber neutralizes this OTK by taking away the Dimension Fusion needed to continuously return DMoC to the field.

2. Most decks utilize the same Spells anyways

Very few spells in competitive decks are hyperspecific. I've never seen a winner that didn't use Pot or Charity (maybe Duo, but it's rare). The name of the game is control, and having a strong, versatile hand is pivotal for that. But let's say you wanted more, or your draw cards are buried in that deck somewhere and you've yet to draw them. Graverobber can leech off your opponent's drawing cards. Upstart Goblin deposits 1000 LP for drawing one card, which makes spending 2000 LP for Greed just as economical.

But it doesn't just have to be draw cards. Snatch, Heavy, and even Reinforcement can be viable options. The later in the duel this card is used, the more flexible it becomes. That's especially true for decks that utilize Reasoning and Monster Gate. They're begging to have their Spells be pilfered! All for a LP price that is often less than what Solemn costs*.*

3. Graverobber forms an incredible combo with Dust Tornado

One drawback of Graverobber is that it's a Trap, which means you can't use it immediately and activating it takes up a lot of time. Plus, if your opponent does utilize MoF and you've added the Spell to your hand, you won't be able to use it that turn. Or at least you won't be able to normally.

Dust Tornado has a very useful post-backrow destruction effect that allows you to set a Spell or Trap from your hand. If you've pilfered a Spell your opponent was about to add back to their hand, activating DT lets you set that Spell. In doing so, the Spell is not sent back to the GY at the end of the turn. Even better? Activating it does not cost 2000 LP anymore! The only downside to this strategy is it's rendered moot if your opponent has no backrow. While I do see this on occasion, most of those same decks are near-pure Spell decks and you'll in all likelihood use Graverobber to take a milled card.

I'd love to hear thoughts about Graverobber, even if they are arguments against it. I'd also like to hear if this card is in your deck at all, or is side-decked.

Also, very weird choice of cities to recognize. Bismark, but not Denver. Helena, but not Chicago. Fort Alberta, but not...virtually much more important Canadian cities like Winnipeg or Calgary.

It's too bad I was cere-mad all game as the klutz

I thought this was pretty nice. I usually see these in random rural areas and I love doing book exchanges there.

Iran has swallowed Iraq AND Kuwait and is giving Turkiye a prostate exam.

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North Saudi Arabia is underwater, creating a brand new sea ripe for oil rigging.

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Israel's new capital is rusalem, in honor of their wish heritage.

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The Caspian Sea grew a tail to become the Caspian Seahorse and has joined Iran in giving Turkiye a prostate exam.

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Hello? Bahrain? Where are y-oh Iran got hungry again.

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The UAE found a bunch of sand laying around and chose to clog their own strait.

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I rarely ever see Venus utilized in GOAT format, which mystifies me because it can bring out three monsters that you can use for trib summons, opening the door for Monarchs and/or Airknight. And let's say my opponent brings out a Tribe and wipes my field. That's as many as four fairies going to my GY, creating a perfect opening for Mudora - another vastly underused card. Not only can a great number of fairies power it past monsters like Spy and Sorcerer, but it's searchable with Giant Rat.

Also searchable is Kelbek - an 1800 def monster that can hold off many attackers and send them back to the hand. Great against Kycoo, non-powered Blade Knight, and other aggressors (also terrible against Breaker but it is what it is).

There are three Scapegoats for stalling and bringing out TES. Metamorphosis can also convert Monarchs and Airknight into useful fusions.

I've had duels where my opening hand contains one or two Shine Balls, but it doesn't always hurt as bad as it sounds because they deke out Crossout and/or Duo. Plus, many opponents set monsters on their turn rather than attack, opening the door to a trib summon.

My side deck is a complete change of strategy, one that turns it from a solid aggro deck to a burn deck in a pinch. This is great when my opponent is using a burn deck themselves or is trying to deck me out with Needle Worm or something. In those instances, I find that it's great to not only have the Monarchs, but Saturn as well. Unlike most burn cards, Saturn only works with the dedicated field spell. However, I've managed to dish out *incredible* hunks of damage all at once. Surprisingly, it's worked more often than it hasn't. And even when it hasn't, I've only lost by slivers.

I toyed with Decree as the side deck strategy rather than fighting burn with burn, but what I found is that most burn decks have good backrow removal and relying on drawing a Decree is more trouble than its worth. True, I'm relying on a more susceptible draw than Decree in Sanctuary, but even if I fail to pull off the Saturn burn I've won a lot of duels with the non-Saturn damage.

One card I've contemplated with this deck is Creature Swap. A Shine Ball or Goat Token is perfect for that, the latter especially if I want to trib summon but all I have are tokens. I'm not sure which cards to do away with, though, or whether to incorporate one or two.

Another is Solar Ray, a card that's practically built for Venus as it hits my opp for 2400 burn dmg if I have her plus my three Shine Balls. I'm thinking that would make a great side deck option.

Love to hear what you think, and if there's something else I'm missing about this deck or if there's another direction I can/should take it in.