Unveiling- The Dark Scorpions
In all of my dueling years, I have never seen a deck based on the infamous Dark Scorpion Burglars.
They are arguably the most synergistic group of monsters in the YuGiOh world. They are all Warrior type monsters, meaning they benefit from all the advantages Warriors get, like Marauding Captain, The Warrior Returning Alive and Reinforcement of the Army. They all have exceptionally low ATK and DEF values, and they all have some sort of disruption effect that activates whenever they do Battle Damage to your opponent.
Let's take a look at the individual cards that make this magnificent set of monsters, spells and traps.
The Boss
Don Zaloog
Lv4
ATK: 1400 DEF: 1500
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Select 1 random card from your opponent's hand and discard it to the Graveyard.
- Send 2 cards from the top of your opponent's Deck to the Graveyard.
What we you see here is the leader of the gang. Don has the effect of either randomly discarding a card from your opponent's hand or sending 2 cards from the top of your opponent's deck. These effects make Don Zaloog a good choice for any deck (Including CC (!!!)). Choice is always good, especially when it comes in a monster that is strong like him.
The Beauty
Dark Scorpion "“ Meanae the Thorn
Lv4
ATK: 1000 DEF: 1800
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Add 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Deck to your hand.
- Add 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Graveyard to your hand.
The base of all Dark Scorpion decks. With Meanae face down on the field, you can surprise your opponent with her solid 1800 DEF. She is the Sangan of the deck, with awesome search ability, able to bring her teammates from either your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. Remember though, she cannot search for Don Zaloog, but no need to worry about that, since Reinforcement of the Army takes care of that.
Also don't forget that Meanae can add even spells and traps, including Mustering of the Dark Scorpions and Dark Scorpion Combination.
The Braun
Dark Scorpion "“ Gorg the Strong
Lv5
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1500
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Return 1 Monster Card on your opponent's side of the field to the top of its owner's Deck.
- Send 1 card from the top of your opponent's Deck to the Graveyard.
Gorg isn't exactly the powerhouse of his type, but he can sure pack a punch on your opponent. When you activate Gorg's effect, you have a choice of either Bounce or Deck Depletion. Because those effects are not that powerful, Gorg isn't worth running in a Dark Scorpion deck, and does not stand up to his fellow teammates' standards.
The Bandit
Dark Scorpion "“ Chick The Yellow
Lv4
ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Return 1 card on the field to its owner's hand.
- Pick up 1 card on the top of your opponent's Deck (Your opponent does not look at the card). Select the top or the bottom of the Deck and return the card there
When Chick deals Battle Damage to your opponent you have a choice between 2 awesome effects to activate. The first, being a bounce effect, can disrupt your opponent's plans, and make him waste a summon next turn just to retrieve his advantage. The second is more what Chick is about. When you activate the second effect, you benefit no matter what choice you make. Firstly, you get to see the next card your opponent draws, meaning you can prepare your field. Secondly, if the card is way too dangerous for you, you can put it at the bottom of the deck, which then you can be sure that you won't see it again (You can also leave it at the top if you see that it is a bad topdeck).
The Brains
Cliff the Trap Remover
Lv3
ATK: 1200 DEF: 1000
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Destroy 1 Spell Card or Trap Card on the field.
- Send 2 cards from the top of your opponent's Deck to his/her Graveyard.
While Cliff is not as powerful as Don Zaloog, he is surely #2 of the group. When he deals Battle Damage to your opponent, you can choose between an instant Mystical Space Typhoon effect which is always helpful, or a Deck Destruction effect similar to his leader. Cliff is also useful against Burn type decks, as he is under Lv4 (Able to get past most defenses) and has an effect that devastates your opponent's backfield.
Support
Mustering of the Dark Scorpions
Normal Spell
You can only activate this card when there is a face-up "Don Zaloog"(s) on your side of the field. You can Special Summon from your hand any of the cards that include "Dark Scorpion" in their card name, or are named "Cliff the Trap Remover". (You can only Special Summon up to 1 card with each card name.)
Probably the best support for Dark Scorpions in the game. Mustering allows you to summon any Dark Scorpion monster to your side of the field, as long as you summon only 1 monster with each card name, and you have a Don Zaloog on your field. No cost, no catch. This card can generate huge advantage to your favor by filling your field with the Dark Scorpions that are thirsty for Life Points.
Dark Scorpion Combination
Normal Trap
You can only activate this card when there are "Don Zaloog", "Cliff the Trap Remover", "Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow", "Dark Scorpion - Gorg the Strong", and "Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn" face-up on your side of the field. During this turn, any of these 5 cards can attack your opponent's Life Points directly. In that case, the Battle Damage inflicted to your opponent by each of those cards becomes 400 points.
Dark Scorpion Combination was supposed to be the "ace" of the Dark Scorpions. When you have all 5 of them on your field, they can attack your opponent directly, dealing 2000 damage altogether. Of course there are many downsides to this card, but the most obvious one is that you need all 5 of them on your side of the field (!). This is near impossible in today's Meta, as D.D. Assailants and other removers are running rampart here. However, there is an upside: When you activate Dark Scorpion Combination and your attacks go through, each Dark Scorpion gets to activate it's effect, meaning you get a huge boost in advantage.
Overall, Dark Scorpion Combination isn't worth running because of the impossible task of getting all 5 Dark Scorpions on the field.
The Deck
Here is a basic version of how a Dark Scorpion deck should look like (In my opinion)
19|Monsters
»o3|Don Zaloog
»o2|Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow
»o2|Cliff the Trap Remover
»o3|Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn
»o1|Mobius the Frost Monarch
»o1|Marauding Captain
»o1|Goblin Attack Force
»o1|Breaker the Magical Warrior
»o1|Morphing Jar
»o1|Cyber Jar
»o1|Sangan
»o1|Mystic Tomato
»o1|Exiled Force
»19|Spells
»o1|Reinforcement of the Army
»o1|Snatch Steal
»o1|Dark Hole
»o1|Mustering of the Dark Scorpions
»o1|Big Bang Shot
»o2|Giant Trunade
»o1|Premature Burial
»o1|The Warrior Returning Alive
»o2|Rush Recklessly
»o1|Smashing Ground
»o1|Confiscation
»o1|Heavy Storm
»o1|Nobleman of Crossout
»o1|Book of Moon
»o1|Mystical Space Typhoon
»o2|Enemy Controller
»o3|Traps
»o1|Call of the Haunted
»o1|Torrential Tribute
»o1|Mirror Wall
»41|Cards
The Dark Scorpions mix very well with the general Warrior Toolbox theme, and also benefit from its support. This means that this deck is all purposed. Cyber Jar, Marauding Captain and Mustering give me swarm force, meaning that I will dominate the field with them. Goblin Attack Force is my Anti Cyber Dragon tech, which lets me get rid of those buggers. Exiled Force, Breaker the Magical Warrior and Mobius the Frost Monarch are here to add to the deck's playability.
The Dark Scorpions themselves also add to the "All purpose" theme, as each one has his own unique effect. Don Zaloog gives you Hand Control, Cliff gives you backfield (Spell and Trap) Control, Chick gives you a peek at your opponent's plans and gives you a chance to disrupt them, and Meanae is the backbone that puts all of them together.
The spell lineup is maxed out, since there are so many support cards to add. Big Bang Shot works brilliantly with the Dark Scorpions, giving them more raw power and trample, to activate their effects more easily. It also synergizes with Giant Trunade here, as you can equip Big Bang Shot to your opponent's monster, and activate Trunade, resulting in the removal of the equipped monster (And you even get to keep your Big Bang Shot). Mustering of the Dark Scorpions is the trump card of the deck, and converts the Hand Advantage Meanae gives you into Board Advantage. Rush Recklessly and Mirror Wall are also crucial to the deck, and make the disadvantage of the Dark Scorpions' low stats into an advantage. Basically with Mirror Wall active, your Don Zaloog can beat anything attacking it that is lower than 2800 ATK, and still get its effect through. Rush Recklessly acts in the same way as Mirror Wall does, only more offensive. You can activate Rush Recklessly when your Dark Scorpion is attacking and surprise your opponent by activating it.
All in all, the Dark Scorpions are a force to be reckoned with, even if they look small.
Thank you for reading my article. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
ShooKs
(C) Copyright of Shookymaster 2006 cogonline.net
In all of my dueling years, I have never seen a deck based on the infamous Dark Scorpion Burglars.
They are arguably the most synergistic group of monsters in the YuGiOh world. They are all Warrior type monsters, meaning they benefit from all the advantages Warriors get, like Marauding Captain, The Warrior Returning Alive and Reinforcement of the Army. They all have exceptionally low ATK and DEF values, and they all have some sort of disruption effect that activates whenever they do Battle Damage to your opponent.
Let's take a look at the individual cards that make this magnificent set of monsters, spells and traps.
The Boss
Don Zaloog
Lv4
ATK: 1400 DEF: 1500
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Select 1 random card from your opponent's hand and discard it to the Graveyard.
- Send 2 cards from the top of your opponent's Deck to the Graveyard.
What we you see here is the leader of the gang. Don has the effect of either randomly discarding a card from your opponent's hand or sending 2 cards from the top of your opponent's deck. These effects make Don Zaloog a good choice for any deck (Including CC (!!!)). Choice is always good, especially when it comes in a monster that is strong like him.
The Beauty
Dark Scorpion "“ Meanae the Thorn
Lv4
ATK: 1000 DEF: 1800
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Add 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Deck to your hand.
- Add 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Graveyard to your hand.
The base of all Dark Scorpion decks. With Meanae face down on the field, you can surprise your opponent with her solid 1800 DEF. She is the Sangan of the deck, with awesome search ability, able to bring her teammates from either your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. Remember though, she cannot search for Don Zaloog, but no need to worry about that, since Reinforcement of the Army takes care of that.
Also don't forget that Meanae can add even spells and traps, including Mustering of the Dark Scorpions and Dark Scorpion Combination.
The Braun
Dark Scorpion "“ Gorg the Strong
Lv5
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1500
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Return 1 Monster Card on your opponent's side of the field to the top of its owner's Deck.
- Send 1 card from the top of your opponent's Deck to the Graveyard.
Gorg isn't exactly the powerhouse of his type, but he can sure pack a punch on your opponent. When you activate Gorg's effect, you have a choice of either Bounce or Deck Depletion. Because those effects are not that powerful, Gorg isn't worth running in a Dark Scorpion deck, and does not stand up to his fellow teammates' standards.
The Bandit
Dark Scorpion "“ Chick The Yellow
Lv4
ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Return 1 card on the field to its owner's hand.
- Pick up 1 card on the top of your opponent's Deck (Your opponent does not look at the card). Select the top or the bottom of the Deck and return the card there
When Chick deals Battle Damage to your opponent you have a choice between 2 awesome effects to activate. The first, being a bounce effect, can disrupt your opponent's plans, and make him waste a summon next turn just to retrieve his advantage. The second is more what Chick is about. When you activate the second effect, you benefit no matter what choice you make. Firstly, you get to see the next card your opponent draws, meaning you can prepare your field. Secondly, if the card is way too dangerous for you, you can put it at the bottom of the deck, which then you can be sure that you won't see it again (You can also leave it at the top if you see that it is a bad topdeck).
The Brains
Cliff the Trap Remover
Lv3
ATK: 1200 DEF: 1000
Dark/Warrior/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
- Destroy 1 Spell Card or Trap Card on the field.
- Send 2 cards from the top of your opponent's Deck to his/her Graveyard.
While Cliff is not as powerful as Don Zaloog, he is surely #2 of the group. When he deals Battle Damage to your opponent, you can choose between an instant Mystical Space Typhoon effect which is always helpful, or a Deck Destruction effect similar to his leader. Cliff is also useful against Burn type decks, as he is under Lv4 (Able to get past most defenses) and has an effect that devastates your opponent's backfield.
Support
Mustering of the Dark Scorpions
Normal Spell
You can only activate this card when there is a face-up "Don Zaloog"(s) on your side of the field. You can Special Summon from your hand any of the cards that include "Dark Scorpion" in their card name, or are named "Cliff the Trap Remover". (You can only Special Summon up to 1 card with each card name.)
Probably the best support for Dark Scorpions in the game. Mustering allows you to summon any Dark Scorpion monster to your side of the field, as long as you summon only 1 monster with each card name, and you have a Don Zaloog on your field. No cost, no catch. This card can generate huge advantage to your favor by filling your field with the Dark Scorpions that are thirsty for Life Points.
Dark Scorpion Combination
Normal Trap
You can only activate this card when there are "Don Zaloog", "Cliff the Trap Remover", "Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow", "Dark Scorpion - Gorg the Strong", and "Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn" face-up on your side of the field. During this turn, any of these 5 cards can attack your opponent's Life Points directly. In that case, the Battle Damage inflicted to your opponent by each of those cards becomes 400 points.
Dark Scorpion Combination was supposed to be the "ace" of the Dark Scorpions. When you have all 5 of them on your field, they can attack your opponent directly, dealing 2000 damage altogether. Of course there are many downsides to this card, but the most obvious one is that you need all 5 of them on your side of the field (!). This is near impossible in today's Meta, as D.D. Assailants and other removers are running rampart here. However, there is an upside: When you activate Dark Scorpion Combination and your attacks go through, each Dark Scorpion gets to activate it's effect, meaning you get a huge boost in advantage.
Overall, Dark Scorpion Combination isn't worth running because of the impossible task of getting all 5 Dark Scorpions on the field.
The Deck
Here is a basic version of how a Dark Scorpion deck should look like (In my opinion)
19|Monsters
»o3|Don Zaloog
»o2|Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow
»o2|Cliff the Trap Remover
»o3|Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn
»o1|Mobius the Frost Monarch
»o1|Marauding Captain
»o1|Goblin Attack Force
»o1|Breaker the Magical Warrior
»o1|Morphing Jar
»o1|Cyber Jar
»o1|Sangan
»o1|Mystic Tomato
»o1|Exiled Force
»19|Spells
»o1|Reinforcement of the Army
»o1|Snatch Steal
»o1|Dark Hole
»o1|Mustering of the Dark Scorpions
»o1|Big Bang Shot
»o2|Giant Trunade
»o1|Premature Burial
»o1|The Warrior Returning Alive
»o2|Rush Recklessly
»o1|Smashing Ground
»o1|Confiscation
»o1|Heavy Storm
»o1|Nobleman of Crossout
»o1|Book of Moon
»o1|Mystical Space Typhoon
»o2|Enemy Controller
»o3|Traps
»o1|Call of the Haunted
»o1|Torrential Tribute
»o1|Mirror Wall
»41|Cards
The Dark Scorpions mix very well with the general Warrior Toolbox theme, and also benefit from its support. This means that this deck is all purposed. Cyber Jar, Marauding Captain and Mustering give me swarm force, meaning that I will dominate the field with them. Goblin Attack Force is my Anti Cyber Dragon tech, which lets me get rid of those buggers. Exiled Force, Breaker the Magical Warrior and Mobius the Frost Monarch are here to add to the deck's playability.
The Dark Scorpions themselves also add to the "All purpose" theme, as each one has his own unique effect. Don Zaloog gives you Hand Control, Cliff gives you backfield (Spell and Trap) Control, Chick gives you a peek at your opponent's plans and gives you a chance to disrupt them, and Meanae is the backbone that puts all of them together.
The spell lineup is maxed out, since there are so many support cards to add. Big Bang Shot works brilliantly with the Dark Scorpions, giving them more raw power and trample, to activate their effects more easily. It also synergizes with Giant Trunade here, as you can equip Big Bang Shot to your opponent's monster, and activate Trunade, resulting in the removal of the equipped monster (And you even get to keep your Big Bang Shot). Mustering of the Dark Scorpions is the trump card of the deck, and converts the Hand Advantage Meanae gives you into Board Advantage. Rush Recklessly and Mirror Wall are also crucial to the deck, and make the disadvantage of the Dark Scorpions' low stats into an advantage. Basically with Mirror Wall active, your Don Zaloog can beat anything attacking it that is lower than 2800 ATK, and still get its effect through. Rush Recklessly acts in the same way as Mirror Wall does, only more offensive. You can activate Rush Recklessly when your Dark Scorpion is attacking and surprise your opponent by activating it.
All in all, the Dark Scorpions are a force to be reckoned with, even if they look small.
Thank you for reading my article. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
ShooKs
(C) Copyright of Shookymaster 2006 cogonline.net
) can attack!