Deck Profile: Feroze Ramcharan

​Feroze Ramcharan is one of the star members of Team Nexus, and a well-versed, well-recognized Level 3 judge. Though his efforts at running Machines in the first Shonen Jump Championship last year at Gen Con So Cal met with resistance, he’s persevered to create a very cool Machine variant that’s taken him to impressive standings midway through today.

Here’s the Gravity Bind Machine deck Ramcharan was running.

 

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​Monsters: 18
1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning
1 Cannon Soldier
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
2 X-Head Cannon
1 Roulette Barrel
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Cyber Jar
2 Mechanicalchaser
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
2 Night Assailant
1 Jinzo
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Reflect Bounder
1 Magician of Faith

Spells: 17
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Snatch Steal
3 Limiter Removal
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Scapegoat
1 Graceful Charity
1 Card Destruction
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Enemy Controller
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Pot of Greed
1 Giant Trunade
1 Premature Burial

Traps: 7
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Gravity Bind
1 Ceasefire
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force

Side:
1 Emergency Provisions
1 Book of Moon
1 Giant Trunade
2 Barrel Behind the Door
1 Dust Tornado
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Divine Wrath
3 Royal Decree
2 King Tiger Wanghu
2 Mobius the Frost Monarch

The deck is essentially a teched-out version of the Machine decks that did so well in the final days of the pre-Advanced format. It uses X-Head Cannon, Mechanicalchaser, Reflect Bounder, and Jinzo to create its main offense, pumping them unpredictably with Limiter Removal. The ability to use Limiter Removal in the damage step makes it difficult to counter, especially with cards like Waboku. Limiter Removal also makes a single face down card and even a weak attack position Machine into a total beast, which is daunting if you’re considering attacking into it. 

The deck also deters offensive actions through the use of Gravity Bind, Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, and Magic Cylinder (from the side deck). The problem with Machine decks after the release of the Advanced Forbidden and Limited lists was that nothing could cover for the deck’s over-extensions—Fiber Jar was gone and Mirage of Nightmare, needed to accelerate the deck to its key cards, was also removed from the format. Ramcharan has worked around that issue with a plethora of defense-oriented traps. 

He’s also got more support monsters than previous builds of the deck, including Night Assailant to give card advantage with Card Destruction and Graceful Charity. Tribe-Infecting Virus presents a risk in the face of Snatch Steal, but Ramcharan plays it with a careful subtlety that generally prevents it from becoming a liability. Two Nobleman of Crossout keep the road clear for your big attackers, and Giant Trunade does the same thing. This deck shunts out big one-shot attacks, and when it does, it needs those shots to sink into an opponent instead of a monster.

Beyond its inclusion of Gravity Bind, the deck runs the usual spread of battle-oriented powerhouses in the trap category. The essential beauty of Ramcharan’s deck is that it’s not as complicated as others would make it. He’s got a standard concept, he varies it in a few key ways, and he’s created a unique deck that doesn’t directly depart from the concept and tenants of its source. Ramcharan demonstrates an understanding of what made the proverbial gears of old-school Machine decks turn, and his updated version respects those old concepts without bogging the deck down in traditional play trends.

Machine decks are in for a lot of changes over the coming months, and this is a great starting point. Feroze Ramcharan has solved the problem facing Machines—coverage for over-extensions—with grace and simplicity, and this will make a great starting place for any Machine deck you may wish to build. Give it a shot yourself!

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Metagame.com (2005)

This article was originally written by Metagame.com, what was formerly the official website for large Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament coverage.  It has been preserved by GoatFormat.com so that players can learn from this historical tournament coverage.