Blue-Eyes Trap House

No audacious claims here that this is 'the best, most consistent, least bricky Blue-Eyes deck ever'. Players would do right to view any claims like that with a lot of skepticism, especially if they lack documented success in competitive play. For my part, I have not competed with this deck in a tournament yet, though I plan to take it to locals while Skill Drain is still at x3--if for no other reason than to have fun playing Blue-Eyes again.

But the reason I've embraced this build at all is because of the success of other players who have taken similar builds--the Blue-Eyes Trap Control build--to locals and won. HaltessiaGaming (YouTube channel name) has won several OTS local tournaments playing this variant of Blue-Eyes, gradually over time moving towards a heavier fusion build. Credit to HaltessiaGaming, his YouTube deck profiles and combo videos go over the theory behind his deck-building strategy in great detail. Whether players take up the trap-control build or not, they're worth studying for competitive players because of how fearlessly they cast away long-held deck-building dogma around 'how you have to run Blue-Eyes'. Practice is the sole criterion of truth, and the fact that no other Blue-Eyes builds are seeing success--let alone topping--tournaments speaks for itself.

Dogma is Dead

I was skeptical of the Blue-Eyes control build for some time--mainly turned off by how fragile a strategy revolving around True Light seemed. But what really got my attention with HaltessiaGaming's build was that, originally, he played the vanilla Blue-Eyes White Dragon at x2 and the Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, which is treated as the vanilla on-field or in-grave, at x1.

That's basically heresy among Blue-Eyes players, who have feverishly insisted that the vanilla is played at x3 and the Alternative White Dragon at x2 (some die-hards insist on playing it at x3 but this is no longer widely accepted). Of course this is Blue-Eyes we're talking about so the x5-6 level-8 dragons--all of whom are considered 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' on the field or in-grave, mind you--are joined with a host of other level-8 dragons. The high probability of opening with an unplayable hand necessitates running other cards like Trade-In at x3, which Blue-Eyes players have rationalized as a 'draw engine' (in fact, Trade-In mills the deck but only replaces itself and the level-8 monster discarded, making it a +0). "It's called Brick-Eyes for a reason," says the old saying. Of course the deck bricks. It's loaded up with unnecessary monsters that certain players feel an attachment to including but rarely go live by themselves!

In my other deck profiles, I've talked in some detail about deck-building theory as it relates to Blue-Eyes and bricking. Blue-Eyes decks haven't had an issue searching their signature monsters or getting them out onto the field. The main issue is how overloaded these decks have been with extenders and boss monsters, who not only show up in opening hands in place of critical starters but, more importantly, take up valuable deck space that would normally go towards hand traps, board-breakers and other cards you would traditionally associate with 'going second'. Its consistency is problematic, sure, but even the boards it creates have tended to lack staying power into turn-2.

Worse still, traditional Blue-Eyes staples like Trade-In are absolutely devastating targets for an opponent to hit with Ash Blossom, blowing out 33-40% of a player's opening hand depending on whether they went first or second. A lot of the Blue-Eyes staples have had similar vulnerabilities, notably Melody of Awakening Dragon (played below), but the generic discard-1 cost of Melody is easier to fulfill and can often mitigate the damage of disruption (for example, by discarding either of the White Stones).

What did the Battle of Chaos support do for BEWD?

Thanks to the new support released in Battle of Chaos, a lot of the fundamental weaknesses associated with Blue-Eyes decks can be fixed. Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon has practically replaced Alternative as the main level-8 extender to get on the board with its powerful, non-targeting bounce effect, its field protection of other cards, and its outrageously simple summoning requirements. Jet Dragon is a boss monster that can easily function as a hand trap--its one drawback being its requirement that a Blue-Eyes White Dragon be in grave.

Similarly, Dictator of D. is a badly needed special summon that foolishes Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the deck for cost and can easily bring out any of the deck's big dragons from the grave. Its effect designating the target for opponent attacks comes up less frequently but can make an impact in shoring up an established board. It acts a lot like Magicians' Souls does for Dark Magician decks, albeit without the now-coveted draw power of the latter, and gave the deck another essential starter alongside Sage With Eyes of Blue, the White Stone of Ancients and--sometimes--the White Stone of Legend. I won't go into the specific combo lines here since others have outlined this and more in detail already, but Dictator + Sage practically gets the deck to full-combo.

Ultimate Fusion, too, is an outstanding extender that really ties a tighter fusion build together with the trap-control variant. When using Blue-Eyes White Dragons from the field, it pops face-up cards on your opponent's field. More importantly, though, it recycles its fusion materials by shuffling them back into the deck. This singular function enables Blue-Eyes decks to play fewer level-8 bricks since it keeps replenishing search and summon targets for cards like Dictator of D., the White Stone of Ancients and Melody of Awakening Dragon to grab. It's also a quick-play, allowing it to synergize exceedingly well with traps like True Light (which can also search and set Ultimate Fusion).

Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon, a two-year old card, has finally found its moment too. It's able to search and add Jet Dragon to hand during the End Phrase when summoned off the White Stone of Ancients and serves as a level-8 body for Formula Synchron to make Baronne de Fleur off Halqifibrax's second effect. Polymerization at x1 helps potentially get a Blue-Eyes from hand to grave without recycling it back into the deck, but Abyss Dragon also searches it to net a +1 on summon--provided a BEWD is in the graveyard already. But equally significant, in-grave, players can banish Abyss Dragon to give their dragons a +1000 ATK boost, allowing two Blue-Eyes White Dragons and/or Jet Dragon to OTK an opponent. Obviously the card has skyrocketed in price, and while it's certainly optimal, it's also not necessary. Neither of HaltessiaGaming's two builds, for instance, used Abyss Dragon.

Blue-Eyes Trap House & Skill Drain

Konami's decision to return Skill Drain to x3 had major implications for the format. Eldlich decks saw an immediate boost from the infamous continuous trap's return to unlimited play. But as HaltessiaGaming's deck profile and theory discussions have pointed out, Blue-Eyes decks can benefit immensely from Skill Drain too. Even when it was limited to x1, most Blue-Eyes decks played Skill Drain. The reasons are clear: Most of the monster effects that summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon and its counterparts resolve off the field, allowing the deck's core beatdown strategy to play around the otherwise devastating floodgate. Most Blue-Eyes monsters are at 3000 ATK or more, effects aside, making them formidable in matchups with decks that require an elaborate choreography of monster effects to climb into big extra deck monsters. Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, the new fusion monster released in Battle of Chaos, is also unaffected by trap cards, meaning that if the Tyrant Dragon is already on the field when Skill Drain resolves, its effects are not negated.

But Skill Drain isn't the only advantage Blue-Eyes has in this format. With so many decks using Artifact Scythe to restrict use of the extra deck, Blue-Eyes trap-control builds can play around another devastating floodgate. With the amount of on-field protection offered by main deck cards like True Light and Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon, players can maintain and even win with a board without relying on the extra-deck.

These are just features of the format. Some obnoxious Blue-Eyes dogmatists have flippantly dismissed the trap-control build for relying on Skill Drain x3 to win, arguing that without the trap, the deck couldn't win. Sure. That's true. But that's exactly the nature of any format. The restriction or un-restriction of certain cards changes the lineup of decks that can perform well or poor. What works in one format won't necessarily work in another format, owing in part to a particular deck's strengths and weaknesses. Blue-Eyes decks have a lot of weaknesses, even now, but this is a format that also showcases its potential strengths. Not only is there nothing wrong with playing to those strengths in the format; it's a necessity for competitive-minded players looking to bring out this iconic creature of destruction.

Final Thoughts

Blue-Eyes probably isn't a viable strategy beyond the local level, even with the new support. The deck still has consistency issues, albeit much fewer than previous eras, and there's a lower power ceiling for the deck in general. Some of this is mitigated by playing more hand traps and real traps, but other than making Baronne de Fleur via Halqifibrax, you're not able to throw many negates on-board. With that in mind, the trap-control variant plays a longer game than many Blue-Eyes players are familiar with--a long game that makes liberal use of True Light to keep pace. That brings obvious vulnerabilities too. And while I'm convinced that playing 2x BEWD, 1x Alternative White Dragon is a better ratio for consistency in general--you want to be able to play your opening hand, after all--occasionally you run into the issue of not being able to activate certain effects without a BEWD on-field or in-grave. Cards like Foolish Burial, Dragon Shrine and obviously Dictator of D. tremendously help with this.

In closing though, I appreciate those players who take a look at new support and aren't afraid to roll back existing deck-building dogma. They're seeing some success--the most Blue-Eyes decks have seen in at least a year--and that's worth taking note. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Good luck and have fun, comrades.