Ravioli Experiment

Did you know some madlad won the Australia nationals with a pure Sacred Beasts deck? In 2020? Yeah, that happened. In that guy's case, it was effectively just the three Sacred Beast structure decks smashed together. I tried it out, and...wow, a lot better than expected. However, it had some glaring weaknesses.

1. Disrupt that normal summon and you'll scoop.


2. Effect Veiler.


3. It's a brick house.

So, I figured I'd take a crack at it and see if I could fix those glaring weaknesses. Short version: I couldn't. However, I did add a little more consistency and less risky plays, as well as a few outs to situations that would've bricked the vanilla deck completely.

PROS: 

You'll raise plenty of eyebrows that you're running a Sacred Beasts deck.

You'll raise more eyebrows if you win.

Not too expensive, and majority of your tech comes from structure decks.

The deck profile is adaptable; need more power output? Add Raviels. Need more control? Swap in a Cerulean Skyfire and another Hamon.

Replacing someone's boss monster with a turtle and then one punching that turtle for an OTK is hilarious.

Extra deck is supplemental, not crucial to your victory. If someone stops your extra deck summons, you still have your win condition.

CONS:

Hand traps can absolutely destroy your combos. With Called By The Grave currently at one, if you've already bricked and they hand trap you twice, you're susceptible to an OTK yourself.

Because this is a budget deck list, I've intentionally left out more expensive cards such as Infinite Impermanence, Evenly Matched, and Lightning Storm. As a result, you'll be more vulnerable to these cards. Beware the non-budget player.

Although I've never been shut down by a floodgate, in theory one could disrupt you very badly.

Raviel is your win condition. If you run out of Raviels or otherwise cannot summon one, you have to rely on Hamon or possibly summoning Armityle. Hamon is (relatively) weak and cannot OTK with this deck profile, and Armityle is very rarely a good option. Trilojig is in the same boat; the burn damage is rarely relevant, and he doesn't interact with other cards in the deck all that well.

Deck space is extremely tight. You will very rarely run three copies of anything, as this deck is prone to bricking without versatility. Even then bricks do happen and will cost you the game at least half the time.

No, seriously, Effect Veiler will ruin your day.

HOW TO PLAY:

If given the choice, go second. If you're stuck going first, your Sacred Beasts are vulnerable to removal, so hopefully you drew a hand trap of your own or some backup searchers. It's debatable what your ideal opening hand would be with this deck. I've modified this deck to be as versatile as possible with whatever hand you get, but ideally you want Raviel Lord of Phantasms, Dark Beckoning Beast, Chaos Summoning Beast, and then you're comfortable with several options depending what you're up against.

Going first, you'll want Called By The Grave or Lost Wind, since this can protect your combo and then help you disrupt your opponent's board. Since deck space is tight, you don't have room for error; think carefully which link in the chain you target. It's not a bad play favoring Hamon over Raviel, since he has high attack that will rarely be run over short of Utopia or a Blue-Eyes boss monster, and this makes a decent fake out for your opponent. If your opponent doesn't know how the deck works, they will likely assume that they're disrupted your win condition significantly. This means they have wasted valuable resources on your decoy, leaving Raviel less competition to punch through.

Going second, you ideally want a Fallen Paradise or a Kaiju; Interrupted Kaiju Slumber, Gameciel, or Radian are all fine. Though Kaiju Slumber has the best results, it is also the easiest to disrupt with a counter trap, but if it goes off you can turtle drop your opponents board, set yourself up with Radian, and then continue play normally. If Kaiju Slumber does get countered....well, at least it didn't hit one of your field or continuous spells. The key goal is to prevent disruption while ensuring you can hit your opponent hard. This deck does poorly against dedicated control, but it can beat over large bodies very easily.

SHORTHAND TIPS:

• Fallen Paradise is powerful, but does not make you invincible. It can and will get blasted with Twin Twisters or Mystical Space Typhoon, and usually there is a follow up. Be prepared for that.


• Raviel, Lord of Phantasms is your undisputed win condition. It is absolutely imperative that he survives and remains attacking without being disrupted. Your top priority is his attack power, not his tribute or token generation effect. If possible, try to bait your opponent into thinking the opposite.


• Fallen Paradise provides protection and draw power once you have any Sacred Beast out. If possible, prioritize that combo. This is effectively a Pot of Duality without the drawbacks, albeit with more setup.


• Don't underestimate Almiraj's ability to protect Raviel. Fallen Paradise can be destroyed, but Almiraj adds another layer of armor. As long as Raviel is on the board and still able to attack, it will eventually bring down your opponent.


• Raviel Shimmering Scraper's attack boost is a quick effect. Remember that you can use this on your opponent's turn and during their battle phase if timed correctly. I've won games when my opponent played a large monster with slightly more attack than Raviel, waited for the opponent to declare their attack, and then used Shimmering Scraper's quick effect to double Raviel's attack and deal a huge blow to the opponent. Sometimes, it wins me the game. Attack boosts are just as defensive as offensive.


• Armityle and Trilojig are not your friend and are a last resort. They should never be your goal or win condition. Trilojig can only be protected by Mound of the Bound Creator, and provides no advantage other than an unexpected burn on an opponent with low life points. Armityle's 10,000 attack on your turn is a potential OTK...if the attack goes through. Remember, Fallen Paradise only prevents destruction and targeting from cards effects, but not boardwide negates or non-targeting. Your attack can still be negated, which then leaves you with an empty board or a 0 attack monster that is now stuck in attack position. It might not be destroyed by the battle, but you certainly can be.


• Mistake should only be used when absolutely necessary. When well timed, it disrupts your opponent's ability to repair or build their board. When poorly timed or used before your board is properly established, you've disrupted majority of your own deck. You want to draw as much as you search. An ideal board with this deck utilizes a mixture of both. Mistake can be used interchangeably with Hyper Blaze depending on what you're up against.


• Your extra deck is a decoy. You will not often use it unless the game is already going very bad or very heavily in your favor, and usually it will just be Almiraj to protect your Raviels. However, if your opponent wastes resources disrupting or attacking your extra deck, those resources cannot be spent on preventing your actual win condition. This deck has a lot of weaknesses; mind games are your friend.


• Though the decklist this is based off of won Australia nationals, I would not expect this to become meta any time soon. You could potentially tear up locals, but this deck does not have an answer to Paleozoic Frogs, Salamangreats, Zoodiac AA-Zeus, or any deck with multiple counters in a single turn. To make the most out of this deck, you need to know what you're up against, and a careful disruption followed up by a beefed up Raviel punch is your goal.

And, that's about it. A lot of this deck is trial and error, and I highly recommend you use this against bots or trial games before you dip into locals or higher grade tournaments. I would definitely not recommend more expensive upgrades until you know every trick this deck can throw out and have your plays mapped out at least a turn ahead with every hand. I've left some of the nuance plays out of this, since it really is better learning by experience. This decklist is still very much a first draft and I'm still working it over, but so far I am quite happy with where it landed. I encourage you to comment and post suggestions on ways to alter or improve this deck.

The Sacred Beasts support is a breath of fresh air in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG, and if Konami sees a positive reaction to vintage archetypes that actually plays well, we might see more older or obscure archetypes become relevant as opposed to casual niche. Either way, enjoy. :)