Pure Poker Knights

I feel like playing Egyptian Gods today and Slifer has always been my favourite but what should I do? Almost all support is written for The Winged Dragon of Ra only, so I'm out of luck I guess... 

STOP at once! You may not know about it but the Poker Knights are what supports Slifer nowadays and it actually works well! Today we take a look at how to play a pure Poker Knight Variant with Slifer added into the mix in all of it's Detail, let's start: 

How do I play Poker in Yugioh?

The Poker Knights are based on Poker Cards and they can easily get 3 Monsters onto the field to summon 1 of 5 Boss Monsters. With that explained you have to understand that all this Deck really wants to do is to summon 2 to 3 Poker Knights and use these for their Boss Monster plays.

The little Extra on top is their Card Advantage. They have a Monster a Spell and a Trap that each return a LIGHT Warrior back to the Deck and themselves back to the Hand to be used without limit during any End Phase not just yours. Combine that with the additional Draw Power and a 8000 ATK Slifer the Sky Dragon is a real possibility within this Deck. Now that's what I like to hear. 

Now this may still sound quite Confusing and that's why I'm gonna Explain this Deck in more Detail below now: 

Who are the three Musketeers anyway? 

To answer that it's King's Knight , Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight. 2 Normal Monsters and one effect Monster. So what do we do with these three Musketeers?  

You wanna summon the L4 Normal Queen's Knight first, most of the time. To do that use the Spell Joker's Straight who setups all 3 Knights at once or you use the Monster Joker's Knight to mill the Queen from the Deck and Copy her name with Joker. In followup turns the Trap Joker's Wild and the Permanent Trap Court of Cards are just a few of many cards who can setup the initial Queen onto the field once more to start again. 

After that it's time for the L4 Effect King's Knight to enter the field who on Normal Summon special summons the L5 Normal Jack's Knight from the Deck onto the field but only if you already control the L4 Normal Queen's Knight. And with that you already control all 3 which turns your Deck fully online. 

If you use Imperial Bower and Joker's Knight you summon Bower first to get any 2 Musketeers onto the field and after that you mill the missing name with Joker's Knight to get all 3 names active like that. 

Or you use Imperial Bower first and then Joker's Straight to have 5 Monsters on the field. Like that you can also go into various Extra Deck plays or end on multiple Boss Monsters in one turn. This is also possible if you activate Joker's Straight first and then summon King's Knight. Just remember that Joker's Straight limits you to LIGHT Warrior Extra Deck plays. 

Until now everything is still pretty simple right? Get 3 Monsters on the field = Profit. Well now it's time to look at the rest of the Deck and see how it all works together. 

I didn't open any of my Starters do I surrender? 

No no no don't loose hope just yet and start reading your other cards. This Deck is not as one sided as one may think at first glance. We didn't draw Joker's Straight , Joker's Knight or Imperial Bower but that doesn't mean we should use the surrender Button. 

The 3rd Joker card Joker's Wild is a great normal Trap which can copy the effects of your 4 in Archetype Spell Cards which we all play to maximum efficiency. Use the Trap in the opponents turn to copy Joker's Straight and follow up with a set Thunderspeed Summon to get an easy Slifer the Sky Dragon interruption during the opponents turn. Remember that Joker's Straight allows you to normal summon any Monster from your Hand not just King's Knight. 

Like this you also get 2 cards back to the Hand during the End Phase that being Joker's Straight and Joker's Wild by shuffling your LIGHT Warrior monsters from the GY back into the Deck. 

Thunderspeed Summon which I just mentioned is a quick play that enables a L10 Tribute summon and if the three Musketeers are active you can search Slifer the Sky Dragon or Arcana Triumph Joker first and then you can summon them. A great card all around for a surprise big chonky dragon or girl. Yes this card also searches The Winged Dragon of Ra but this god has more then enough support within it's own Archetype already. 

You can also use the permanent Trap Court of Cards to get a Musketeer from Hand or GY onto the field every turn. You can even banish the Musketeers from the Hand or GY to Draw 1 to 3 Cards. Only one effect may be used per turn but since it's a permanent Trap you can use it every turn. This card is one of the pillars which makes Slifer in this Deck that much more Formidable. 

Face Card Fusion is a normal Spell which can summon a Light Warrior Fusion which we have 2 different ones by using Material in the Hand or Field. If you control a Musketeer doesn't matter how many you can use a Monster from the Deck as Material too. This card is an easy route into Idaten the Conqueror Star who may then search Joker's Knight to setup a Link-3 Arcana Extra Joker. More on this Link target and the other Fusion target we have a little later. 

Royal Straight is yet another quick play spell which can send all three Musketeers from the Hand or Field to the GY to summon Arcana Triumph Joker , Arcana Extra Joker , Arcana Knight Joker or it's exclusive target Royal Straight Slasher from Hand, Deck, Extra Deck or GY. This card can be very devastating during your turn thanks to the existence of Royal Straight Slasher and can get a defensive semi Tower Monster like Arcana Knight Joker onto the field during the opponents turn. It needs some setup which is unfortunate but once the Recycling Loop is established this card is your "Win" Button. 

That's it for the rest of the Spell and Trap lineup. Remember that since we also play Slifer the Sky Dragon cards like The Revived Sky God , Thunderforce Attack or more generic Divine cards like Ultimate Divine-Beast may be an option too so if you wanna go all out in terms of God cards replace Royal Straight Slasher and all of his setup with these cards to get more out of Slifer in exchange for Consistency. 

The Joker has a Ace in his Sleeve

All three Joker cards which are Joker's Knight , Joker's Straight and Joker's Wild have an additional GY effect. During each End Phase if they are in the GY you can shuffle a LIGHT Warrior from the GY back into the Deck to add that card back to your Hand. 

Not only does this recycle your Full Combo Setup every turn it also generates further Hand advantage for Slifer and since it's a Monster, Spell and Trap which all come back to the Hand your Arcana Boss Monsters gain profit from it as well. You are not even limited to the Musketeers only, so feel free to Recycle your out of Archetype options too, even so most of the time you will recycle the Musketeers. 

Arcana and Egyptian Forces united!

It's Boss Monster time. Like mentioned earlier this Deck has 5 Boss Monsters. Let's see what the whole payoff for this Strategy is at the end of the day: 

Arcana Extra Joker is a Link-3 Warrior with 2800 ATK who needs 3 Monsters with different Names as Material. It's Link arrows are upper center and lower left and right. If he or a Monster he points to is targeted by an effect you can discard the same Type of card (Monster, Spell, Trap) of the activated Card to negate that activation. This is a soft once per turn so multiple copies of this card can use this effect multiple times. You can even use this effect to prevent targeting on an opponents Monster like Equip Spells if he's pointing to that Monster. 

If this Link summoned card is destroyed by Battle you can special a Queen's Knight from Deck (Or any other L4 Normal Monster) and add a L4 Warrior from the Deck to your Hand. With that you can search King's Knight who may then fulfill his Condition to summon Jack's Knight. 

Technically with the Joker cards combined you can Loop this card every turn if the opponent has a stronger Monster to run into but there may be an even stronger option for you to summon instead of just him. He's the upgraded form of King's Knight in terms of lore. 

Arcana Knight Joker is a L9 Warrior Fusion Monsters which needs the three Musketeers as Material. His Statline is a menacing 3800/2500. As a soft once per turn if he's targeted by an card you can discard the same type of Card (Monster, Spell, Trap) to negate that effect. Unlike Arcana Extra Joker he negates the effect and not the activation which is an important difference. For Example an activation can be negated in Damage Step too. 

Outside of his very formidable ATK Statline there's not much to talk about him. He's the upgraded form of Jack's Knight in terms of lore. 

Arcana Triumph Joker is a L10 Maindeck Warrior with ?/2500 Statline. She can be summoned from the Hand or GY by sending all three Musketeers from Hand or Field to the GY. Note that you may also summon her with 2 Tributes. Her summon condition is also not limited to any kind of once per turn. 

She also gains 500 ATK for every Card in both players hands. Maxx "C" may just turn out to be a friend for you with her on the field. 

Finally she can discard a Monster, Spell or Trap to destroy all Face up cards of the same type from the opponent. This also is not a once per turn. All in all she's easily the strongest of the three Arcana Boss Monsters and a recurring Threat not to be underestimated. 

She's the upgraded form of Queen's Knight in terms of lore. Queen's Knight may have been the weakest in the past but her upgraded Form turns out to be the strongest of all the Arcana Bosses. 

Royal Straight Slasher is a L6 Maindeck Warrior with 2400/1350 Statline. He needs Royal Straight To be summoned and can't be summoned through other means. While on the field he has 2 hard once per turns. You can send 5 Monsters with levels 1 to 5 from your Hand and/or Deck to the GY to destroy all Cards from the opponent. When he's destroyed by Battle you can target up to 3 LIGHT Warrior Monsters in your GY and special summon them.

He has 2 very devastating effects. The 2nd effect can even bring back your Arcana Boss Monsters not just the Musketeers and the first effect is a clean Boardwipe for the opponents field only. 

Sadly the Archetype is missing it's own Level 1, 2 and 3 Monsters so I play some replacements. The one and only Sasuke Samurai #3 (Well actually he's already the third), Two-for-One Team and Triple Star Trion.

Obviously there are targets which would trigger if they get send to the GY too, but I stick with LIGHT Warriors here to be able to easily shuffle them back into the Deck with the Joker Recycling loop. Having a Boardwipe with Royal Straight Slasher more then once is a safe way to victory and Royal Straight summons him from basically anywhere. 

Royal Straight Slasher is most likely the upgraded Form of Joker's Knight.

The Final Boss which the Deck is centered around is none other then Slifer the Sky Dragon himself. His Normal summon cannot be negated. He gains 1000 ATK/DEF for every card in your Hand and every Monster the opponent summons in Attack position will loose 2000 ATK and will be destroyed if it reaches 0 ATK through this effect. 

Summoning him during the opponents turn can turn every Link based strategy into an Nightmare. With his unique Divine Attribute and Divine Beast typing he has immunity against quite a few cards by nature. 

The one downside is that if he's Special summoned he will be send to the GY during the End Phase of that turn but in this Decklist specifically that's most likely not happening and turns into an upside against an opponents Monster Reborn. In case of an Raigeki happening you can use Daigusto Emeral to bring him back into the Deck. 

Using the Joker recycling cards and Court of Cards will have him Stand at roughly 6000 ATK minimum. Use Court of Cards again and draw for turn to get a 10000 ATK Slifer and maybe even more. More Joker recycling = More ATK. Thunderspeed Summon can search and summon him so he's always there to be big trouble for the opponent. 

That's it for the Boss Monster lineup for our Strategy here. Just a short word on the LIGHT Warrior targets if you happen to summon them. 

If Sasuke Samurai #3 inflicts Battle Damage the opponent draws until he has 7 cards. That sounds terrible but in an OTK Situation he will give Arcana Triumph Joker a hefty 3500 ATK Boost from the opponents Hand alone. 

Two-for-One Team let's each player show a card in their hand and if both are the same type Monster, Spell, Trap he triggers 3 different effects. Monster: Both can special their revealed Monster, Spell: Both Draw 2 cards, Trap: Both mill 2 cards from the top of the Deck. The Spell effect is a 2000 ATK Boost for Arcana Triumph Joker and the Monster effect can cheat out said card or even Slifer for one turn. The Trap reveal is able to mill some good cards for the GY but is also a little risky. 

Triple Star Trion comes back to the field in the End Phase if tributed for a tribute summon. That's nice since you can tribute in both players turns so don't underestimate this little trio. 

Short comments on additional Spice

The Extra Deck we see here is filled with stuff to strengthen the overall Consistency and Power of this Deck. Idaten the Conqueror Star can be summoned with 2 L5 or higher Warrior Monsters and searches a L5 Warrior Monster on summon. He has some Battle related effects too and is a good Face Card Fusion target if you are missing a way to bring the three Musketeers onto the field. 

So Joker's Straight locks into LIGHT Warrior Extra Deck summons that's why stuff like Constellar Pleiades can be found here. He's just a good guy in every Situation with his universal Bounce effect. 

Same applies for Heroic Champion - Claivesolish who severely strengthens the OTK Potential of this Deck all by himself. A Imperial Bower and Joker's Straight opening is an swift OTK thanks to this card. 

Daigusto Emeral is here to recycle 3 Monsters and Draw a card and you can even use his revival effect to bring back normal Monsters. He's not a LIGHT Warrior but comes pretty often. 

Imperial Princess Quinquery is L5 support and brings out more L5 Monsters easily. Jack's Knight can turn into Joker's Knight thanks to her. 

Lyna the Light Charmer, Lustrous is a slow search option to get Starters or steal opponents LIGHT Monsters. 

And Hip Hoshiningen , Ferocious Flame Swordsman and Defender of the Labyrinth all three give an ATK Boost to your Monsters and have some kind of recycling on top of that. Just the right guy no matter the Situation is the thought behind them. 

3 Jack's Knight and a Dream 

As always every Deck has it's weakspots and it's no difference with this one. As the headline might already suggest the potential to Draw a useless Brick Hand in a Deck with 6 vanillas is certainly here. The three Musketeers are essencial to bring the Deck up to speed but also hold it back if you draw 3 of one of them. 

Old Boss Monsters like Arcana Knight Joker are also something every modern Deck can deal with nowadays. The real deal is Arcana Triumph Joker Which is why the whole Fusion Strategy is almost unncessary. I say almost since a card like Idaten the Conqueror Star is very useful to unbrick and even Arcana Knight Joker is still a 3800 ATK Body which is big and threatens OTKs easily. 

With a few of the right cards this Deck can OTK pretty easily but going second you might find yourself unable to do just that since an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring can crush all your Dreams. On the other Hand Maxx "C" will happily let the opponent Draw cards until he stops smiling the moment a very chonky Arcana Triumph Joker enters the field. 

Going first your best bet is to setup a Slifer interruption in the opponents turn which may just be enough to crush his Strategy alltogether. Court of Cards and the Joker Recycling loop can also set you up for a devastating chain of Boss Monster summons in one turn. I remember once summoning Slifer and all 3 Arcana Bosses in one turn against Swordsoul. That was a great Duel since he didn't surrender and just let it happen. 

In total this Strategy is not perfect like every Deck but it surely is better then your average Egyptian God Deck. You know the ones with Egyptian God Slime and all that The Winged Dragon of Ra focus. 

Final Divine Words

I tried my best to keep it short and easy to understand with this Deck profile. This Deck turns out to be a Yugi classic which actually works like a well rounded Strategy. It's also a very fun Deck which you don't see to much in Master Duels High Ranks. Slifer will always be my favourite of the egyptian gods and I'm glad he found his home in this Poker Knights Strategy.

If you like Slifer, Poker Cards or Yugi in general and want to play a fun Deck try it, you won't regret it^^ It's pretty decent and can get you towards Platinum league and higher with some Heart of the Cards Power. 

Final Rating: 

★★★★★★★ OTK Potential

★★★☆☆☆☆ Defensive Tools

★★★☆☆☆☆ Control Options

★★★★★★☆ Removal Options

★★★★★★★ Recovery/Recycling

★★★★★★☆ Card Advantage

Overall Rating: ★★★★★☆☆  32/42★

Poker Master Rules

Like always there's a few cards with some less obvious rules which I'm gonna talk about here. 

Slifer the Sky Dragon: His ATK reduction effect only triggers if a Monster is summoned in Attack Position. 

Arcana Triumph Joker: Unlike many modern cards this card has no once per turn limitations. 

Joker's Knight: Milling a Musketeer from Deck is a Cost to summon him from the Hand. 

Face Card Fusion: Unlike with other cards in this Archetype you only need to control one Musketeer to use the additional effect of this card. 

Joker's Wild: This card can copy the whole effect of the 4 Spell cards which have the three Musketeers in it's name. These Spell cards do not come with costs so after activating this card you resolve the milled Spell card just like how it's written on the Spell Card but as the effect of Joker's Wild. 

Arcana Extra Joker: He can prevent targeting from opponents Monster who he points to as well.