Welcome to the Wonderful World of Dragonmaids!
Ever since the release of the anime "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid", something awakened within several of us. That something is the concept of human females with dragon horns, wings, and a tail BUT dressed as a maid! How crazy is a dragonmaid? We still love it! (Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.)
Of course, with immediate approval from the very author, Konami set out to publish, arguably the most expensive archetype 2019 has ever seen. If you happen to be one of the few owners of this wacky and lovable archetype, this article is for you! Otherwise, you can always settle for the cheaper option of watching the anime this archetype was inspired by (now available on Netflix and all official anime streaming services!)
This will be a general guide on how to use Dragonmaids, fully inclusive of the occasional flex from your wallets.
Domestication and Dragons
Dragonmaids are divided into two different groups: the Maid Form, and their Draconic Form. The Maid Forms will amass resources with their summoned effects. The Dragon Forms each have an activated effect from hand, akin to handtraps. During the Battle Phase, the Maids will summon their respective Dragon Forms, before transforming back at the end.
As they often swap between forms, you can seek to make use of their boss maid, House Dragonmaid to clear fields. The slow yet efficient resource generating nature should lead players to pilot this deck with a tempo/midrange approach.
The game plan is simple: swarm the board with tiny Dragonmaids in their Maid Forms, then transform them all into massive Dragons for huge damage during the Battle Phase!
Alternatively, another popular strategy is just to summon Dragonmaid Sheou, while you back her up with your numerous interruptions in the form of counter and hand traps.
I would recommend fellow readers to check out various Dragonmaid playstyles from Youtube and similar resources, as this article alone is simply not enough to cover the depth of this deck's potential.
Meet the Cleanup Crew
Mesmerizing Maidens
- 2-3 Kitchen (Searches Monsters)
- 3 Parlor (Mills Dragonmaid)
- 3 Chamber (Searches S/T)
- 1-2 Nurse (Revives)
- 0 Laundry
Parlor and Chamber search out Dragonmaid's most important card: Dragonmaid Changeover, to summon Dragonmaid Sheou. Kitchen helps you load dragon forms into the grave, and Nurse is a terrible card to open with, but quickly amasses advantage afterwards. By the way, Parlor is the best Dragonmaid.
Laundry could be the cutest Dragonmaid so far, but lacks any real utility. Her effect does not grant instant or exact advantage, so frankly she's terrible at her job.
Devoted Drakes
- 0 Nudyarl
ONLY Ernus has a relevant effect in the hand and should be run at three. Otherwise, your ratios will rely on your need to fulfill the condition of summoning Sheou's LV5 or higher Dragon material.
Even after embracing her draconic form, Nudyarl continues to display an extraordinary lack of relevance in Dragonmaids. However, if you find yourself running either Laundry or Nudyarl, be sure to use both of them together!
Piloting Dragonmaids is no easy chore. One well-timed interruption from the opponent can severely delay our maidens' progress to deliver a strong board. However, the following will hopefully provide an insight to the accommodation of Dragonmaids.
Standard Procedures
Your first assignment should strive to summon Dragonmaid Sheou, as she is Dragonmaid's form of interruption. Employ Parlor or Chamber to add Dragonmaid Changeover to your hand to complete this task.
Once Sheou has been established, you should summon Parlor as much as possible with her effect. Parlor can mill Tidying, to summon a Dragomaid for extra body, or Welcome, to deny targeting. During your turn, you should summon Chamber to further develop your boards and push for the win!
With the help of multiple extenders, you can summon Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres, or achieve the Elpy + Pisty Duo Combo to develop more interruptions.
An alternative approach is to just summon Sheou with set disruptions. Sheou's constant resurrection will overwhelm the opponent, and you whittle down the opponent with unfair counter traps and hand interruptions. Sheou also packs an omni-negate to tide through persistent decks as well.
Managing your Meta
Dragonmaids are not exactly the best deck to play this format. It is important to prepare special techs for such situations.
Every Dragon deck should incorporate World Legacy Guardragon / Monster Reborn, especially for this grave-reliant archetype. Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms, along with Gold Sarcophagus is another way to add Parlor to hand. Koa'ki Meiru Drago is a solid choice for every Dragon deck, and you can even summon it from Divine Wind of Mist Valley (when you bounce Parlor back!) Pay attention to Changeover: it can help summon strong Fusion Monsters outside of Sheou. Borreload Furious Dragon and Dragonecro are excellent examples to contribute to your roster.
Decklists
Pure Dragonmaids
This is my personal list in real life. I opted for a stronger approach to performing Fusion Summons, even incorporating Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. With this list, you can expect to end on Sheou + Borreload Furious Dragon at the bare minimum. The general plan is always to summon Sheou first. Many cards will either accumulate resources for Sheou or Changeover, and back Sheou up with your interruptions.
Dragonmaids from Asia (OCG)
This is Satanantana Rungnoppakunsi's take on the OCG deck, where he ended up as an eventual finalist during AYT Thailand 2020. It is worth noting that 9 other players also brought Dragonmaids to the event!
SenpaiShu's Rokket Maid Dragon Link
Oh dear, even our lovable ladies have found themselves within the cogs of Dragon Link! The idea behind the inclusion of Dragonmaids is simple: Chamber searches Hospitality, link into Striker Dragon. Hospitality will revive Chamber, and Link both Dragons into Romulus. Afterwards, Parlor will do the same actions, but with Tidying. As this simple combo has proven cost-efficient, you can expect to face standard Dragon Link boards solely from a single maid's summon.
This idea may not have originated from Shunping Xu, but he continues to prove his mastery of dragons by incorporating even the most courteous of Dragons.
Laundry Paleozoic
Is Laundry truly the least useful maid out there? No! Don't blame the player, hate the environment! In this Paleozoic-themed deck, Laundry has easily found herself a staple spot as a generic mill.
Is this deck really Dragonmaids? As long as Laundry is happy to be of service...
Messing with Maids
Our scaly maidens are unfortunately susceptible to generic interruption during the early stages of the game. If you suddenly find yourself surrounded by Dragonmaid owners at your locals, particularly after several stimulus checks, you can always opt to use anti-fusion hate such as Super Polymerization, Kaiju, or just ramp up on your usual handtrap ratios. Dragonmaids has a strong dependence on the Graveyard. Banishing Dragonmaid Changeover will usually cripple them out of Summoning Sheou and other fusions.
My Thoughts, Milord
Unique, unorthodox and underrated. Dragonmaids is the ideal go-to deck for players looking to carve a crater in their savings. If you are fortunate to ever use this deck, be sure to treat your maids well! Destroy your opponents with the power of generosity, hospitality and cuteness.
