Road to light, Path of darkness

by **fateless** Wed Dec 30, 2009 6:20 pm

With the recent addition of Starlight Road into the OCG, the metagame has shifted to a state where players running that card would readily (over)invest in their backrow with fewer worries. This gave birth to the Dimensional Eatos deck, one which depended on Macro/Fissure and Skill Drain to attain maximum beatdown potential. Starlight Road is a game breaking card in some senses, and is the card that currently gives the outright best assurance in the survival of the backrow.

However, no matter how powerful a card can be, it can be taken down. (with skillful play and effort) In this article, I'll be showcasing some flaws of the card and the various methods to exploit these tiny flaws. Let us walk down the path of darkness and extinguish this light once and for all.

This article features methods to bypass the power of Starlight Road, if you want to learn more about the card in other aspects, look at Maze's article instead.

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Be as fast as it

The first and obvious component that barely keeps Starlight Road out of the broken zone would be it's status as a normal trap. At Spell Speed 2, Starlight Road can be run over by and made ineffective with the single flip of a Royal Decree. Stardust also makes quick work of it by releasing itself in response to the destruction effect of Starlight Road. (Note the irony) Also consider Royal Oppression, which can shutdown both Macro Cosmos and Starlight Road at a measly cost of 800 Life Points. These are easy and efficient ways to free yourself from the worry of being negated and having the tables turned against you, and are possible due to it's status as a normal trap.

Play by it's rules

Starlight Road creates rules in the game similar to what parents would do to their children at home - follow them or be punished. Punished in this case would mean a sacakble Stardust Dragon on your opponent's field, and that's a huge plus one for them as far as I know it. Starlight Road will punish players that choose to destroy more than one card on the field, and the best way to play against it would be to play around it. Starlight Road cannot do anything if less than 2 cards would be destroyed. Abuse that. Tornado will actually be a good side deck choice, looking at the extensive backrow some Starlight Road players will establish - making each and every one of them effectively a Mystical Space Typhoon. Starlight Road encourages the player to complicate the state of game and fill up their backrow, while you, on the other hand, can simplify it by throwing destruction at them card by card. It'll be a bonus if they attempted to negate your effect, as it'll either remain as an equal trade-off, a loss for them in cost, or even a gain for you (in cases of Dark Bribe). Card advantage is essential in acquiring victory. Starlight Road is worth nothing when there is nothing to protect, and that is the situation one should try to create by dismantling their backrow slowly.

Hold that Storm and let it brew

Until the time is right, of course. Five set cards on your opponent's S/T is just asking for a Heavy Storm. However, don't. If your opponent flips up a Starlight Road you can be screwed for the rest of the game, with Stardust staring right down at you. That won't be nice, right? You're also better off taking out their monsters one by one with Dimensional Prison/Sakurestu Armor than throwing a Mirror Force out and losing a few seconds later.

Think before you play

Now, blowing up the field with Judgment isn't as smart a move as it was before. Think carefully and consider the different approaches you can use to acquire your victory before jumping into them - and the consequences too. Be prepared to face opposition from the opponent's backrow, and plan one step ahead. Again, card advantage is essential to victory. Also, explore other options that you will have otherwise not utilised - cards like Brionac and Giant Trunade can still set you up for an OTK, and it there's nothing Starlight Road can do to stop them.

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And that concludes the walk down the path of darkness. Starlight Road may certainly be powerful, but it is far from invincible. If there's anything I've overlooked, feel free to inform me in this thread. Thanks for reading.