Introduction
Dracoslayers are a pendulum-based archetype which boasts a lengthy lore from Clash of Rebellions towards Maximum Crisis. Starring Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer, it seeks out the powers of other pendulum based archetypes like Dinomist and Igknights to right the evils of his enemies. As such, this particular archetype is constantly intertwined with other archtypes during its era. But what about its appearance in the actual card game?
As the Dracoslayers are suited towards supplementing the pendulum gameplan, they were often included in many different pendulum strategies, such as the infamous Performapal Performage (or more commonly known as PEPE) and Pendulum Magicians. After these decks got heavily hit on their respective banlists, some of these members continued to play their parts in other Pendulum decks. In short, some Dracoslayers have been essentials for the pendulum aspect as a whole!
But despite that, pendulums have not tasted consistent victories for a very long time. That was the case, until Dracoslayers received support in Darkwing Blast.
Recently, and to many people's surprise, Dracoslayers managed to snatch 2 out of the top 4 places in Japan Championship 2022. Prior to this, many were expecting the best decks in the format, Ishizu Tearlaments or Spright to occupy the entirety of top cut positions. In fact, nobody had even bothered to read or remember what these cards do!
So what do these cards do? And how did they get that one-up against the other meta decks of format? I am here to break it down for you!
Before we go deeper into this article, I will constantly refer to older Dracoslayers. It may be a good idea to refresh yourself on their effects here!
And if you already know their effects and relevance, then let us move onto these new cards!
The Extended Dracouniverse
To understand the current power level of Dracoslayers, we should first be aware of what the new cards do.
Majesty Pegasus, the Dracoslayer
Majesty Pegasus, the Dracoslayer
Dark/Winged Beast/Effect
Pendulum/Scale 2/2
Level 4 ATK/ 1500 DEF/ 1500
[Pendulum Effect]
- If you have a "Dracoslayer" or "Majespecter" card in your other Pendulum Zone: You can add 1 "Dracoslayer" Pendulum Monster with a different original name from your Deck to your hand, then you can destroy 1 card in your Pendulum Zone.
- You can only use this effect of "Majesty Pegasus, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
[Monster Effect]
- (This card is always treated as a "Majespecter" card.)
- You can discard this card; until the end of this turn, your opponent cannot target "Dracoslayer" monsters you control with card effects, also they cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects.
- If this card is Pendulum Summoned, or Special Summoned by a "Dracoslayer" card's effect: You can add 1 Field Spell from your Deck to your hand, then discard 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Majesty Pegasus, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
Like all pendulum monsters, there is going to be a lot of text to cover today!
Majesty Pegasus can tutor another copy of a Dracoslayer as a pendulum scale, and you can destroy one of your scales right after. This destruction is in-theme with the self scale destruction aspect of Dracoslayers, and it also synergizes with Ignis Phoenix's destroyed effect. This could also potentially fix awkward scalings.
As a monster, it also tutors! But she can only retrieve a field spell upon summon. Otherwise, Majesty Pegasus also has a useful hand effect to protect all your other Dracoslayers from your opponent's effects.
In short, Majesty Pegasus serves as the search engine of this deck, and can easily retrieve missing pieces you require to complete combos, which is a very important requirement for all pendulum decks. She also wields a low number scale, which is the more desirable number in contrast to Ignis Phoenix's value of 7, Dinomight Powerload's 6 and Luster Pendulum's 5.
You may also notice that she is a Majespecter. This allows Majesty Pegasus to tap into Majespecter benefits, such as being searchable from Majespecter Raccoon - Bunbuku and Majesty's Pegasus. This will be a recurring theme in the following Dracoslayers where they wield dual archetype names, to signify their individual alliances with those archetypes.
Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer
Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer
Fire/Warrior/Effect
Pendulum/Scale 7/7
Level 4 ATK/ 1700 DEF/ 1900
[Pendulum Effect]
- During your Main Phase: You can shuffle 1 face-up Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck, then add 1 "Dracoslayer" or "Igknight" monster from your Deck to your hand, except a Pendulum Monster. You can only use this effect of "Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
- You can only use this effect of "Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
[Monster Effect]
- (This card is always treated as an "Igknight" card.)
- If this card on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Dracoslayer" or "Igknight" monster from your Deck, except "Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer", and if you do, it is treated as a Tuner.
- You can only use this effect of "Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
As an alternate form of Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior, this being both exhibits "tuner" and "destroy" relevant effects.
As a pendulum scale, Ignis Phoenix can also tutor monsters from the deck, but requires you already have one pendulum to shuffle back prior. This is usually quite easy to achieve, but not as the first few steps you take during your turn. More notably, you can only add non-pendulum monsters! This is sadly limited to Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer or Igknight boss monsters like Igknight Champion, so this tutor effect does not really contribute to the consistency of this deck.
Its monster effect however, is something else. Simply getting destroyed will spawn a Dracoslayer with a tuner attribute from the deck! This effect is easily achievable from Ignis Heat, Dragonic Pendulum or even Heavymetalfoes Electrumite (sorry Americans). This also triggers Majesty Pegasus' tutor effect, and also gives you the tuner attribute needed to summon Ignis Heat!
Ignis Phoenix's tuner summoning effect is the most relevant part, as summoning and using Ignis Heat's effects play a huge role in piloting this deck. We will find out more later.
Dinomight Powerload, the Dracoslayer
Dinomight Powerload, the Dracoslayer
Water/Machine/Effect/
Pendulum/Scale 6/6
Level 4 ATK/ 1700 DEF/ 1800
[Pendulum Effect]
- You can target 1 "Dracoslayer" or "Dinomist" card in your other Pendulum Zone; Special Summon it. You can only use this effect of "Dinomight Powerload, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
[Monster Effect]
- (This card is always treated as a "Dinomist" card.)
- If this card is Tributed: You can add 1 face-up "Dracoslayer" or "Dinomist" Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to your hand, except "Dinomight Powerload, the Dracoslayer".
- You can only use this effect of "Dinomight Powerload, the Dracoslayer" once per turn.
Thankfully, Dinomight Powerload has the least amount of card text to decipher.
Its pendulum effect is merely to summon another monster out of the scale. This also thankfully triggers Majesty Pegasus' tutor effect. In any case, being able to put out additional monsters to the board without relying on pendulum summoning is always a good effect.
Its monster effect is reminiscent of Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter, where you tribute two pendulums to summon it. This effect allows you to retrieve possibly a Majesty Pegasus for her handtrap effect later on. Otherwise, there is not much to say about this card, other then being this deck's recovery option.
Dragonic Pendulum
Dragonic Pendulum
Field Spell Card
- All "Dracoslayer" monsters on the field gain 300 ATK/DEF.
- You can only use each of the following effects of "Dragonic Pendulum" once per turn.
- If a Dragon "Dracoslayer" monster you control activates its effect: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it.
- If this card on the field is destroyed: You can take 1 "Dracoslayer" or "Dracoverlord" monster from your Deck, and either add it to your hand or Special Summon it.
What field card is Majesty Pegasus meant to search? This is it!
Dragonic Pendulum grants a simple power boost to all existing Dracoslayers. If you used any of the older Dracoslayers (think extra deck Dracoslayers!), you can destroy an additional card on the field! But the best part is, if you somehow decided to destroy itself, this field spell can spawn yet another monster onto the board!
This field spell is a nice addition to the deck, and supplements the Dracoslayer style of summoning Dracoslayers everywhere.
Thankfully there are only four cards to read this time, but how did a mere four cards suddenly allow this pendulum mechanic to top a prestigous OCG event? Let's find out!
Dracoslayer Decklists and Combos
Sueda Takuto's Finalist Dracoslayer (OCG)
This image is taken from Road of the King.
You may notice that this list runs Union Carrier, Heavymetalfoes Electrumite and Fairy Tail - Snow, all of which are currently banned in the TCG, the former two also currently being banned in the OCG. That being said, the fundementals of the deck does not change with or without these cards.
The inclusion of Beyond the Pendulum and access to Heavymetalfoes Electrumite has given this deck plenty of options to play around with! Some notable cards you might not recognise are Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon in the main deck, and World Ocean Dragon - Zealantis in the extra deck. Otherwise, the deck is fitted with the maximum amount allowed for the player to tutor all the Dracoslayers out. Tuning Magician gives this deck more options to tap into Ignis Heat.
After looking at this list, do you get the gist of the combos? Well for the confused, here are the combo lines!
You will notice that the steps generally goes like this:
- Summon Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior.
Ignis Heat's effects are not HOPT, meaning you can use its effect more then once per turn! Make sure to use its effect to continuously summon Dracoslayers from the deck. - After using Ignis Heat, put it in the GY by linking it away.
- Search Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon using one of the many options available in the deck. Sky Iris is the best way to do this, which is searchable through Majesty Pegasus' effect.
Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon has an effect in the scale to revive fallen Dragon Synchros, and this should target one of your Ignis Heats. When Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon destroys itself for this effect, you could potentially chain Astrograph Sorcerer to claim yet another Revolution Dragon from your deck for a second usage! - On Ignis Heat's second summon, you can use its effects again to summon yet another Dracoslayer AND shuffle one of your opponent cards.
If you understand where this is going, the whole idea is to constantly use Ignis Heat's effects over and over again within the same turn!
By continuously using Ignis Heat's effect to summon as many Dracoslayers from your deck as possible, you can easily tap into your entire extra deck arsenal, including using Union Carrier to equip and place Fairy Tail - Snow into your GY. Zealantis is also another way to "refresh" Ignis Heats on your field, allowing you to reactivate them again.
Most of the time, you are able to end on strong boards including Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess, Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy, Abyss Dweller and more.
If you happened to go second, Ignis Heat's ability to shuffle opponent's cards is not HOPT. You can also use this approach to slowly spin all your opponent's board presences back into the deck, before hitting hard with big monsters of your own!
The new support cards and newer cards in the format has allowed Ignis Heat as a card to be summoned way more easily under more protection as well. Ignis Heat packs very devastating effects, and we should rightfully use them to overwhelming victory.
But unfortunately, this list exists in a particular format. How should we build it now? Here is my take.
Dracoslayers Now (TCG)
Like mentioned before, the gameplan without banned cards is still the same. Summon Ignis Heat and swarm the field with all your little Dracoslayers enough to summon your bigger and stronger extra deck monsters. This deck now relies on Artifact Scythe as an alternative win condition, to counter a possible Dark Ruler No More.
The possibilities with this deck is endless, since Ignis Heat is able to summon Dracoslayers repeatedly over and over within the same turn.
Here are some combos you might want to view to learn more about the style of this deck:
Video Links
- LeoDGaming's OCG combo profile (check out his channel, he has a vast collection of OCG related combos for this deck!)
- MisterDinnerFlex's TCG combo
- TCG Dracoslayer in action
- Japan Championship - Dracoslayer Vs Ishizu Tearlament
There are currently many videos showcasing the variety of combos this deck is able to perform, which I cannot hope to possibly cover all here.
In conclusion
Dracoslayers has certainly taken the OCG metagame by storm as suddenly appearing as a legitimate threat against Ishizu Tearlaments and the now extinct Spright. Ignis Heat was regarded one of the most broken cards of its era, and now there finally exists an archetype that is able to completely use this power and more. This hyper combo deck has managed to wedge itself within the titans of the tier and rise towards possible competitiveness.
As the general theory behind this archtype has finally solidified, it could easily be the TCG's turn to take this deck out for a spin. Will this deck be good or not in the so-very-different metagame in America? Only time will tell, but at least the pendulum mechanic is back on the pie chart again.
