Burning Abyss is a popular archetype that's pretty timeless! Recent unlimits to most of its key cards gave it a new lease on life. As a result, Trap BA has been able to sneak some tops here and there.
While the more competitive versions of the deck rely on costly staples and the power of Dragoon, you are still able to play the deck in a decent manner without busting your wallet!
Today we'll be taking a look at how to play Trap BA on a budget. Also, a bunch of the staple cards will see an eventual reprint in the 2021 Mega-Tins, so that's something to look forward to!
Fiendish Confidants
First let's start things off by looking over the Malebranches that you do play! All of them have their particularly decent-ish effects, so some are just played for their names.
King of the Hill
Graff is without a doubt the best main Deck Malebranche out of the bunch, and it's easy to see why. If it's sent to the GY, you get access to any member of the gang you need!
This allows for a lot of combo plays and field presence. In the grind game, constantly getting off Graffs is crucial for staying alive and maintaining card advantage. Fiendish Rhino Warrior is another good card for the deck, and it loves sending Graff to facilitate some combo plays. Tour Guide can also leverage into it if the player wishes to.
I highly recommend running 3 Graff, but some would argue for 2.
Overseer of Loops
Cir is the second most important one of the deck. He makes bad hands playable and good hands even stronger! Not only that, Cir facilitates heavy resource looping in combination with Dante! SEGOC with Chain Link 1 Cir and Chain Link 2 Dante gives the deck a lot of grind potential. This unit is also important in some combos we'll get to later.
In terms of how many to run, you're free to choose anywhere between 2-3. Desires variants want to max out, while some are content with just 2. The third copy is really nice in longer games, which the deck tends to get into a lot if you don't have access to the high-powered finishers on a budget.
End Phase's Favorite
Scarm is another important piece in the BA puzzle, netting you a flexible search in the End Phase. Tour Guide is usually your go-to as it enables crazy follow-up, but other options depending on what you need are also fine. You normally don't want to summon Scarm with its effect unless it's necessary, but it's fine in a pinch. At the end of the day, it's also a great card to mill or discard. 2-3 works with this one.
The Remove Button
Aside from being a prolific Yugituber, Farfa is another potent Malebranche that focuses on disruption! This effect is simple and can even be protected via SEGOC chains! Thanks to that, it's difficult to stop this from going off, only stopped by the likes of Called by the Grave or getting the monster out of the way.
In a clutch situation, removing your own stuff on the field with Farfa is also something to keep in mind! For example, clearing away the Primal Being Token so you can continue your plays, or an opponent's Contact "C". Farfa is also great to pave the way to push for game! Running 2 copies works out.
Emergency Extender
Libic is a little more on the niche side, but has strong applications when he does come up! The ability to summon a BA monster from the hand with its effects negated is a godsend in crusty board states! It also lets you push aggressively, as well as being a trigger effect you can SEGOC with. 1 is fine in Trap BA.
Lethal Lad
Barbar is another fine 1-of in the deck, having decent utility in pushing for more damage! Banishing the cards is also nice if you aim to do stuff with Leviair the Sea Dragon! That 900 can easily add up, and it can even be recycled should you wish to push for more. Another important factor is that it gives a massive boost to any of your BA monsters with Cherubini. Dante with 4200 attack bowling over something is both terrifying and hilarious.
The Lich and the Taxi
Alich is another niche card in the arsenal but her effect comes up decently every now and then. Do note that you aren't able to stop on summon effects, but being able to stop Ignition ones is good in a pinch. It also pairs up nicely with Farfa if you want to bombard the opponent with disruption. Lastly, using it to negate your own Dante to SEGOC for effects is also fairly relevant.
Calcab's effect is even more strange than most, but it's still a name and is the least terrible out of the remaining ones.
1 copy is fine for both.
The Main Characters
Trap BA often revolves around these particular cards supported by the trap cards to outgrind and outpace the opponent! Let's go over them and why they're so important for the deck.
Poster Child
Dante is the cornerstone of the archetype, bringing a lot of setup and grind all in one card! For the price of 2 level 3s, you have access to a pretty sticky monster! In addition, his ability to recur any BA card save for himself is quite good too.
Dante is also quite a decent beater for the deck, which tends to lack some damage output due to the BA clause and the Malebranche's middling stats. Hitting for 2500 is great, and it can also shift back to DEF position after battle.
Most importantly, of course, Dante can climb into Beatrice, which is one of the strongest selling points of Trap BA!
Feel free to run 2-3 Dante.
The Dream
Beatrice is one of the best monsters in the deck, unlocking a massive amount of toolbox options and grind! Thanks to the deck's easy access to it, the standard endboard is often the Eternal Lady herself, backed up by some Trap cards! Once established, Beatrice is a dangerous threat that can spiral out of control if the opponent is ill-prepared.
Milling any card from the Deck to the GY is extremely powerful, and your options are limitless for this! Burning Abyss monsters are often a great choice, as they all have flexible and adaptable effects depending on the situation! Farfa for removal, Scarm for searching, Alich for negation, and so on.
Since you'll be detaching a BA monster, you're also able to SEGOC these effects to make them harder to stop.
You aren't limited to just BAs though, as cards like Absolute King Back Jack become deadly when dumped by Beatrice. Being able to get a free trap card that you can use that turn alongside stacking your next draw is no joke.
For more lucrative options, certain BA players are experimenting with Artifact Dagda + Beatrice! She can then mill Shaddoll Dragon to pop the Scythe and lock the opponent out of the Extra Deck, which is a nasty combination.
Other options to consider are Naelshaddoll Ariel and Necroworld Banshee with Zombie World!
As a bonus, should Beatrice get destroyed by battle or card effect, you get access to a pretty sick Fusion in Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss! Both sit comfortably in the Extra Deck at one each.
New Blood
Cherubini is the newest addition to the deck and it helps quite a lot! It's a solid way for trap BA to Link climb, set up plays, and even protect your BA monsters from effect destruction, including their own effects! It also sends for cost, which is another great benefit of it all. Oddly enough, this Link can even protect itself! Because of this, it's good practice to set a card before activating its effect in case of a stray Gamma or so.
While you won't always make him turn 1 as other options are better, he's firmly planted as a key 1-of in the Extra Deck to be called upon when needed.
Infernal Decklist
Well, it wouldn't be Trap BA if we didn't include the Trap cards, right? Our suite of purple cards is tailored for budget play, but if you have access to powerful options like Ice Dragon's Prison, they're great for the deck too.
Fiend Griefing is one of the best Trap cards for the deck, as it provides a lot of incredible value! Not only are you removing monsters in your opponent's GY, but you can also mill any Fiend of your choice! This is great as you can then access the power of the Burning Abyss toolbox, or Back Jack's trap assistance.
Torrential Tribute is a powerful staple for Trap-based decks in the current format, and the benefits are two-fold here as most if not all of your BAs will be floating should you use it. Needle Ceiling or Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss are alternative options if you want to get spicy.
Solemn Strike and Imperial Order are fairly self-explanatory, being a couple of the best Traps in the entire game in modern times.
As for the monsters, both Fiendish Rhino Warrior and TGU are incredible support for the deck and then some! Definitely max out on these.
The particular 1-ofs in the side all work with Beatrice if you want to experiment with them. And lastly as mentioned before, Dagda plays are also cool.
Nightmare Shark and Stone King Darius are funny options in the Extra Deck, and Lava Golem is one in the side too.
Sample Routes
Last but not least, let's look at some sample plays that you can pull off in Trap BA! They aren't too complicated but do take some time getting used to, especially if you want to play around hand traps.
Fiendish Rhino Warrior + a non-Graff or Cir BA / Tour Guide of the Underworld / Graff + a non-Cir BA
= IP or a Link-2 + Beatrice
For demonstration purposes, we'll go with Rhino Warrior.
Normal Summon Rhino, SS a non-Graff BA, overlay into Dante. Dante effect to mill and detach Rhino. Rhino effect to dump Graff, which then brings out Cir! Link both away for IP and perform the Dante/Cir loop. Cl1 Dante to add back Cir, Cl2 Cir to SS Dante. Lastly, you can go into Beatrice.
This ends on Beatrice + I:P which is pretty solid! A conservative approach you can do is summon Beatrice as the 4th summon to help play around Nibiru post-siding.
Cir + any non-Cir BA = Gravity Controller + Beatrice!
Cir comes in clutch here, making subpar hands pretty good actually!
Normal Cir, SS the other BA and make Dante in the Extra Monster Zone. You can mill if you want (don't detach Cir), but either way you make Gravity Controller! Then trigger Cir and Dante's effects to revive Dante and add back cir, and then go into Beatrice.
As long as you can establish Beatrice and some Trap cards, you'll be in a fine spot.
Conclusion
And that concludes our write-up on Budget Trap Burning Abyss! While we won't be able to cover every single facet of the Deck, I hope this serves as a decent introduction to the deck! Keep calm and overlay for Dante everyone! Until next time.
