Creative Deck Strategy: Battlewasp Dragun of Red-Eyes

Ever want to consistently summon Dragun of Red-Eyes with 1 card? Then check THIS out!

Looking forward to Dragun of Red-Eyes:

In case you haven’t heard of the meta-warping Fusion monster as it single-handedly redefined the OCG meta, let’s take a moment to discuss Dragun of Red-Eyes (YGOrg Translation). First, it can’t be destroyed or targeted by card effects. Thus great protection. Second, it carries a Ring of Destruction effect that doesn’t target, that can be used a number of times equal to the Normal monsters used in its Fusion Summon. Thus great offense. Third, you can discard 1 card to negate the activation of a card or effect, destroy it, then if you do, Dragun gains 1000 ATK. Thus great… everything? This monster truly has it all, only at the low cost of requiring Dark Magician and either Red-Eyes B. Dragon or any other Dragon-type Effect monster. While this has been traditionally accessed through using Red-Eyes Fusion via Predaplant Verte Anaconda, I personally don’t like this option since your turn is basically over once you summon Dragun. So I went searching for a new combo to bring out our new Dragun lord and savior.

 

The Basic Combo:

Let’s just get the long combo out of the way first. So to pull off a Dragun without locking your Special Summons for the rest of the turn, it turns out you just need to make a Crystron Halqifibrax. So I will start the basic combo from that point:

1. Link Summon Halqifibrax and use its effect to Special Summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion from the deck.
2. Link Summon Linkross (YGOrg Translation) using Halqifibrax and use its effect to summon 2 “Link Tokens.”
3. Synchro Summon Martial Metal Marcher using a Link Token and O-Lion to the zone Linkross points to.
4. Martial’s effect triggers targeting O-Lion and O-Lion’s effect triggers, summoning a “Mecha Phantom Beast Token” and O-Lion to your field.
5. Synchro Summon Muddy Mudragon using Martial and your MPB Token to the zone Linkross points to.
6. Link Summon Protector Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman using Linkross and O-Lion.
7. Activate the effect of Mudragon, Fusion Summoning Dragun of Red-Eyes by using Mudragon and Protector as your material.

Again, this basic combo gets you from 2 monsters (at least 1 of which is a tuner) to Dragun. But as you may have noticed, this combo is very easily expandable just by having additional monsters in play. But before we get to any additional extensions to our basic combo, let’s talk about how we are going to make that initial Halqifibrax. There are many 1-card options to get to the Crystron link in the game, from options such as Speedroid Terrortop summoning itself and adding a Tuner to Normal Summon to other options like Souleating Oviraptor being Normal Summoned, sending Carboneddon to the GY, which then banishes itself to summon Flamvell Guard from the deck. Long story short, we need to decide what our core engine will consist of – for that, I’ll turn it over to the Battlewasps.

 

Bugging Out:

The Battlewasp archetype is a string of WIND Insect monsters designed to Synchro summon after swarming the field, then end the opponent with a combination of battle and effect damage. The problem with the archetype is that it doesn’t have enough powerful ways to make multiple Synchro monsters and maintain advantage at the same time, and there are a ton of restrictions locking you to Insects only. However, the one gift that we were given was the primary searcher and starter for the theme, Battlewasp – Sting the Poison. This Level 2 Tuner can add another Battlewasp to hand whenever it is summoned as its first effect, but as its second effect, it can tribute another Battlewasp to negate the effects of a face-up monster your opponent controls. This second effect is a quick effect too, giving you more disruption capability.

So where does Sting turn into our prized Crystron link? Whenever you add Battlewasp – Pin the Bullseye to the hand with its first effect! Pin can be Special Summoned from the hand whenever you control an Insect monster, then secondly it can inflict 200 to your opponent for each Pin you control. In other words, don’t ever expect to inflict more than 200 effect damage with his second effect. But since Pin places no restrictions on what you can summon, you are golden! So our primary combo to bring out Crystron Halqifibrax is just summon Sting, add Pin, Special Pin, then Link Summon! What other Crystron Link combo can say that it also inflicts effect damage? But where this combo begins to shine above the other 1-card Halqifibrax combos is that it is extremely accessible due to an older Insect support card.

Insect Imitation was released all the way back in Pharoh’s Servant and has only had 1 reprint since! This card from the fourth main set of the game lets you tribute 1 monster, then Special Summon an Insect from your deck that is 1-level higher than the tribute monster. Now, instead of just relying upon Sting, you can also look to Imitation + any Level 1 monster to begin the basic combo outlined above, since Sting summoned from the deck still adds Pin to hand. The primary reason I like this combo is that Pin is not a dead draw, because even if you draw your sole copy alongside Sting, it still results in a Haqlifibrax play. The same cannot be said of the Oviraptor combo listed earlier. Now there is another benefit to using this Insect engine, because it becomes much easier to employ a Level 1 engine as well. If you didn’t read either of my other recent articles employing a Level 1 engine, feel free to check it out in Gravekeepers and in Cubics.

In this build, we want tuners in particular, so we’ll start by including a Glow-Up Bulb (also a 1-card Halqifibrax in its own right) and Tenyi Spirit – Adhara and Jester Confit, the latter two being easily Special Summoned from the hand. Since we are running so many Level 1 monsters (and summoning Level 1 tokens during the combo), we definitely need to run Where Arf Thou? to accelerate our Level 1 engine. And then lastly, we arrive at a familiar sight – Magicians’ Souls, however this time, we are using it for a different purpose. See, if we have Souls, we can use its last effect to summon Dark Magician to the field to use as Fusion Material, letting us use O-Lion and Linkross for something else during our combo. This also unlocks Dragun’s second effect, since you are now using a Normal monster in its Fusion Summon! With that, let’s check out today’s sample decklist to see how it comes together before we get into more advanced combos.

 

Sample Decklist:

Open the spoiler below to view the sample decklist.

 

Let’s Talk About the Other Additions:

First, let’s talk about the tech options that I have in the sample list. The Called by the Grave is used to minimize disruptions during the combo, as is the Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended. You probably also noticed the large Level 1 engine of hand traps – this is to expand upon the pool that Where Arf Thou? can search in a pinch, as you can pull the hand trap you need for the opponent you are facing. I’ll go into other great options in the Additional Tech Options section of this article down below. Another engine you may have noticed is the Instant Fusion one, since Instant Fusion + any monster results in a Dragun combo due to the existence of Sea Monster of Theseus. Then the final techs are all about providing disruption options in the case that you have to go second with the deck.

Resonance Insect works in the deck since it is searchable by Insect Imitation by tributing any Level 3 monster (such as your MPB Token), also, whenever it is sent to the GY, you can search your copy of Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju for spot monster removal.  Resonance can also be used to ‘chainblock’ your Halqifibrax’s effect, assuming you can get a tuner onto the field without using your Normal Summon. Options such as Destrudo or Instant Fusion excel here to make this combo possible. One final point – Why Gadarla over Kumongous? Because it is a WIND monster, making it able to out a Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty enabled Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds if you must go second. The other main deck removal option in this build is Tenyi Spirit – Vishuda, which can both function as an free Special Summon from the hand as well as monster removal while you control one of your Link Tokens, your MPB Token, or your copy of Dark Magician. Thus both of these tech options are flexible, which is what you are looking for in a build designed to disrupt the opponent where it hurts.

 

Expanding Our Basic Combo:

Now that you’ve seen the decklist, let’s talk about a couple advanced scenarios that ends on a board with a bit more disruptive potential. Since your Insect engine is very effective at fielding a 1-card Halqifibrax, the rest of your hand can be centered around trying to extend your play further. For example, consider having a hand including Battlewasp – Sting the Poison and any 2 extenders, in this example, let’s use Jester Confit and Tenyi Spirit – Vishuda.

1. Special Summon Tenyi Spirit – Vishuda from your hand.
2. Normal Summon Battlewasp – Sting the Poison, triggering its effect to add Battlewasp – Pin the Bullseye from deck to hand.
3. Special Summon Pin using its effect.
4. Link Summon Halqifibrax using Sting and Pin, and use its effect to Special Summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion from the deck.
5. Link Summon Linkross (YGOrg Translation) using Halqifibrax and use its effect to summon 2 “Link Tokens.”
6. Synchro Summon Martial Metal Marcher using a Link Token and O-Lion to the zone Linkross points to.
7. Martial’s effect triggers targeting O-Lion and O-Lion’s effect triggers, summoning a “Mecha Phantom Beast Token”, and O-Lion.
8. Synchro Summon Muddy Mudragon using Martial and your MPB Token to the zone Linkross points to.
9. Link Summon Cross-Sheep using Linkross and O-Lion.
10. Special Summon Jester Confit from hand.
11. Link Summon Protector Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman using Confit and Vishuda.
12. Activate the effect of Mudragon, Fusion Summoning Dragun of Red-Eyes by using Mudragon and Protector as your material.
13. Trigger the effect of Cross-Sheep, summoning Martial back from the GY.
14. Synchro Summon Herald of the Arc Light using Martial and your second Link Token.

That last play can be achieved by any two extenders, be it Instant Fusion, Destrudo, Glow-Up, Confit, either Tenyi monster, Souls, or a searcher for any of those options like One For One, Foolish Burial, or Where Arf Thou? But this next combo actually becomes much more efficient when you have 1 extender that is Souls or Where Arf to search out your copy of Souls. Check it out:

1. Normal Summon Battlewasp – Sting the Poison, triggering its effect to add Battlewasp – Pin the Bullseye from deck to hand.
2. Special Summon Pin using its effect. {If needed, use Where Arf Thou? to search Magicians’ Souls from the deck.
3. Link Summon Linkuriboh using Pin.
4. Link Summon Halqifibrax using Sting and Linkuriboh, and use its effect to Special Summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion from the deck.
5. Link Summon Linkross (YGOrg Translation) using Halqifibrax and use its effect to summon 2 “Link Tokens.”
6. Synchro Summon Martial Metal Marcher using a Link Token and O-Lion to the zone Linkross points to.
7. Martial’s effect triggers targeting O-Lion and O-Lion’s effect triggers, summoning a “Mecha Phantom Beast Token”, and O-Lion.
8. Synchro Summon Muddy Mudragon using Martial and your MPB Token to the zone Linkross points to.
9. Link Summon Cross-Sheep using Linkross and O-Lion.
10. Use the effect of Magicians’ Souls, sending Dark Magician from your Deck to the GY, then sending Souls to the GY to bring back that Dark Magician.
11. Activate the effect of Mudragon, Fusion Summoning Dragun of Red-Eyes by using Mudragon and Dark Magician as your material.
12. This triggers the effect of Cross-Sheep, summoning Martial back from the GY.
13. Synchro Summon Herald of the Arc Light using Martial and your second Link Token.

This play results in the same monsters in your end board as the first scenario, but this time Dragun’s effect is fully unlocked since you use Dark Magician as material and it took less resources. That means you have 3 more cards in hand to help you prevent your opponent from playing the duel. If you’d rather value your LP over another negate, you can use your remaining Link Token to bring back Linkuriboh instead. Then, use Linkuriboh as material to summon Secure Gardna to prevent the effect damage in the End Phase! Either way, this is one powerful combo, and one that is fairly consistent. With just shy of a 60% of opening Souls or a Where Arf while running Upstart, this combo is also extremely consistent! Remember, you can technically still Let’s consider one final combo which unlocks another cool option for the deck: Kaiju-proofing your Dragun. The following example hand came up in a test duel: Armageddon Knight, Instant Fusion, Called by the Grave, Where Arf Thou?, and Insect Imitation.

1. Normal Summon Armageddon, triggering its effect to send Destrudo the GY.
2. Activate Instant Fusion, summoning Sea Monster of Theseus.
3. Link Summon Halqifibrax using Armageddon and Theseus, and use its effect to Special Summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion from the deck.
4. Link Summon Linkross (YGOrg Translation) using Halqifibrax and use its effect to summon 2 “Link Tokens.”
5. Activate Where Arf Thou?, adding Souls to hand.
6. Synchro Summon Martial Metal Marcher using a Link Token and O-Lion to the zone Linkross points to.
7. Martial’s effect triggers targeting Theseus and O-Lion’s effect triggers, summoning a “Mecha Phantom Beast Token”, and Theseus.
8. Activate Imitiation, tributing the second Link Token and summoning Sting from the deck.
9. Sting’s effect triggers, adding Pin from deck to hand, then activate Pin’s effect to summon Pin from hand.
10. Link Summon Cross-Sheep using Linkross and Sting.
11. Synchro Summon Muddy Mudragon using Theseus and Pin.
12. Activate the effect of Souls, sending then summoning Dark Magician to your field.
13. Activate the effect of Destrudo, targeting Muddy and summoning itself back as a Level 1 Tuner.
14. Synchro Summon Herald, using Destrudo and your MPB Token.
15. Activate the effect of Muddy,
16. Fusion Summoning Dragun of Red-Eyes by using Mudragon and Dark Magician as your material.
17. This triggers the effect of Cross-Sheep, summoning Souls back from the GY and increasing the ATK of your monsters by 700.
18. Link Summon Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians using Souls and Cross-Sheep, and since there are 3 Spells in the GY, it gains 3 Spell Counters.

This variation of the combo certainly uses a lot of resources, but you end with a Dragun that can be summoned back from the GY with Selene during your opponent’s Main Phase since Dragun is a Spellcaster-type monster. On top of the omni-negate provided by Herald of the Arc Light (which will search Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended) when tributed, you still have your Dragun plus a card in hand to discard. While this combo shouldn’t happen reliably enough to rely upon, it should put your opponent into a severely restricted game state where they are forced to take their actions extremely carefully and make their turn count. Speaking of reliability, I wanted to show you just how consistent this deck can make some of these end boards, so I ran a couple simulations.

 

Hand Simulations:

To test out the consistency of this variant, I built a model to simulate test hands and determine the outcome of that hand. This model was tested assuming a 5-card hand ONLY, so this would be the consistency if going 1st. As these were run under the current rules, I distinguished between Dragun ending in the Extra Monster Zone (EMZ) and Main Monster Zone (MMZ) for your reference. Obviously this will no longer be relevant in the near future when the new rules go into effect in April. The possible results of this simulation were:

1. Dragun in EMZ
2. Dragun in MMZ, summoned with Dark Magician, Secure Gardna in EMZ
3. Dragun and Herald in MMZ, Cross-Sheep in EMZ
4. Dragun, Millenium-Eyes, and 1 Link Token in MMZ, Cross-Sheep in EMZ
5. Dragun in MMZ, summoned with Dark Magician, Herald in MMZ, and at least Cross-Sheep in EMZ
6. Dragun not possible
7. Dragun possible only with a successful extra draw due to Upstart Goblin

The following chart shows the distribution of 100 test hands using this model:

In short, this build is extremely consistent at getting Dragun. Even though there is always a chance of not opening a successful Dragun combo, you have a chance of ending on that board and more. This may not convince you that this is the best way to get to Dragun when the new Predaplant link exists, but hopefully it shows you the potential reliability and consistently that this build could offer.

 

Other Level 1 and Tech Options:

• Level 1 Alternatives to replace 5 ‘hand trap’ slots:
  • Dotscraper – Additional Level 1 non-tuner that can float into additional Link material, also can trigger when sent to the GY by One for One, Foolish Burial, or Insect Imitation. Downside is that this normally will require your Normal Summon and offers no disruption during the opponent’s turn.
  • Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones – Effectively an additional Level 1 non-tuner, it also counts as a Spell for Selene or an additional discard later in the turn if you bring back Souls with Cross-Sheep. Downside is that this requires a Kagari in the extra deck for the second benefit, and extra deck space is tight.
  • Time Maiden – Another Level 1 non-tuner, but this allows you to run a Timelord for your primary removal option. Downside is that this doesn’t mesh well with your Tenyi options.
  • Red Blossoms from Underroot – Since you are using Links, Synchros, and Fusions, this can definitely work in here. Downside is that it can only be inherently summoned during the 2nd turn or if your opponent has used a copy of Impermanence.
  • Performapal Five-Rainbow Magician – Excellent going 2nd option that can prevent your opponent’s face-up monsters from activating their effects to disrupt your plays. Downside is that it is just a worse version of these other non-tuner options when going first, as it has no Special Summon capability.
  • Turbo Booster – A level 1 non-tuner extender that offers nothing else, just an extra body to Link Summon with.
  • Chobham Armor Dragon – A level 1 non-tuner that gives you an extra DARK monster back to hand when used for a Link Summon, which can let you spend more resources going into your best end board. Downside is that it has no special summon capability from the hand during your combo.
  • Magical Hound (YGOrg Translation) – Level 1 tuner that can Special Summon itself from the hand while bouncing an opponent’s face-up spell/trap card. The negative of this option is that it can only be Special Summoned from the hand when you are going 2nd.
  • D/D Lamia and Dark Contract with the Gate – This small engine guarantees you a Special Summoned monster when starting with Gate. This can also be expanded to include D/D Savant Kepler as well, which is also a Level 1 monster that searches Gate. This enables a 1-card Normal Summon of Kepler to go into Halqifibrax. Downside is the extra space to make this engine work well.

• Other Tech Options to replace Sauravis, Resonance, Kaiju, and/or Called slots:
  • Field Spell Suite: Dragon’s Ravine, Terraforming, Secret Village of the Spellcasters, Set Rotation – This gives your deck a stronger end board locking spells or forcing your opponent to summon a Spellcaster first. As the second field for Rotation, Ravine can be used to get Destrudo to the GY in a pinch to get that Tuner for your Dragun play.
  • Counter Trap Suite: Solemn Judgment, Solemn Strike – This option gives your deck more disruption to prevent your opponent’s plays when you go first. However, these are dead weight when going second, which you will probably have to do at some point.
  • Infinite Impermenance – Dual-purpose option that can be used to negate monsters on your opponent’s board to enable your plays when going second, or a going first option to add further disruption.
  • Performapal Popperup – Draw Power that gives you the power to get to your stronger combos more frequently. This option works well in this variation of a Dragun strategy since you are not reliant upon having Red-Eyes Fusion, Dark Magician, and Red-Eyes B. Dragon in the deck to get out your Dragun most efficiently.

 

Conclusion:

We made it – a ton of convoluted combos, many paragraphs about consistency in executing those combos, and a ton about cards we have yet to see confirmed for release in the TCG. But that doesn’t mean that they will never arrive here – with a lot of the necessary components for the combo being released in Duel Overload, it is only a matter of time until Dragun arrives to shake up our game. It’s only best to prepare ahead of time and try to creatively include options that can make the use of this powerful Fusion monster. Lastly, I hope this opens your eyes to the possibility that the Predaplant link is not the only path to Dragun, because it definitely isn’t. It may be consistent, but it requires extra cards that can muddy your initial hands, hence what led me to explore this option. If you don’t like the 100% focused option, consider using this combo in other decks. Just throwing in Instant Fusion and O-Lion in Altergiest for example enables the combo! At any rate, I wish you the best moving forward, and I’ll catch you next time when I return with a fully TCG-legal strategy (and one that doesn’t use Souls!!!)!

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Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! I really want to see some input from you! If you wish to see a CDS article about the archetype, theme, or strategy you love, feel free to private message me on the YGOrg Discord server, the YGOrganization Forums, or just post a comment in response to this article on our Facebook page with your ideas to keep under consideration! On most YGO-related communities my username is Quincymccoy, so feel free to reach out. As of now, I have a couple of outstanding requests that I am looking at: Cyberse, Shaddoll, and Speedroid.