Hieratic Dragon: deck recipe

“Hieratic” monsters focus on Special Summoning and destroying cards by Tributing other monsters of their own archetype; when Tributed, most of these cards have the ability to Special Summon Normal Dragon-Type monsters from the hand, Deck or Graveyard, but their ATK and DEF become 0.

The first time we saw a “Hieratic” monster was back when the Structure Deck: Dragonic Force was released, then the archetype received some “support” in Valiant Souls and now it looks like we are getting three more cards. The reason why this archetype has had no impact at all up to this point is quite simple, their mechanic is geared towards something that is not in the game yet: Xyz Summoning.

There would be nearly no point in Special Summoning monsters with no effect and take away their stats, one of the only things that they have going for them, if it wasn’t for Special Summoning something from the Extra Deck that requires multiple monsters of the same Level to be on the field; it’s kind of ironic that we are receiving support for an archetype that focuses on Xyz Summoning right after the release of 5D’s.

Leaving everything else aside, some of these new cards do have potential in Duel Links thanks to their removal effects, so they might see some play before the advent of the next big update.

Just like Hazy Flame Cerbereus, you can Normal Summon this Level 5 monster without having to Tribute, but its original ATK will become 1000; after Normal Summoning this card, you will be able to Special Summon either Hieratic Dragon of Su or Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet from your hand, triggering Eset’s effect and Special Summoning Galaxy Serpent from your hand, Deck or Graveyard,

Hieratic Dragon of Eset has another effect that allows you target a face-up Normal Dragon-Type monster on the field and make the Level of all “Hieratic” monsters currently on the field become the Level of that monster; this effect is not particularly useful in this deck as the only monster you can target with it is Galaxy Serpent, a Level 2 monster.

Hieratic Dragon of Su is a Level 6 monster, which means that you can Special Summon a Level 8 Synchro (Stardust Dragon) using him and Galaxy Serpent.

This card is able to, once per turn, destroy a Spell/Trap Card your opponent controls by Tributing another “Hieratic” monster from your side of the field or your hand; if you Tribute a Hieratic Dragon of Eset from your hand, its effect will still activate, Special Summoning a Normal Dragon-Type monster from your hand, Deck or Graveyard.

Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet is very similar to Hieratic Dragon of Su, the only differences is that it’s a Level 5 monster and its effect can destroy a monster on the opponent’s side of the field instead of a Spell/Trap Card. With Nebthet and Su, the deck is already able to deal with anything on the field that doesn’t have protection, they can get rid of cards like Amazoness Onslaught or Amazoness Queen and then attack aided by Beatdown!.

Since Nebthet is a Level 5 monster, it could be used to Special Summon a Level 7 Synchro, together with Galaxy Serpent, but unfortunately we don’t have any good generic Synchros at the moment.

The “Hieratic” of the deck, Hieratic Dragon of Nuit is a Level 4 Dragon-Type monster that doesn’t have the ability to Special Summon Normal Dragon-Type monsters when Tributed—Nuit has to be targeted by a card effect in order to activate this effect.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon is here for one reason only: giving access to Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon. You can Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from your hand, Deck or Graveyard using Hieratic Dragon of Eset, Su, Nebthet or Nuit’s effect.

Both of these cards are here to avoid OTKs: Paleozoic Canadia is an excellent form of protection against common decks such as Fur Hire and Sphere Kuriboh is a Hand Trap, which means that it is obviously unaffected by cards like Hey, Trunade! and Cosmic Cyclone.

Paleozoic Canadia can be Special Summoned from the Graveyard by chaining it to a Trap Card and be used as Tribute Material for one of your Level 5 or higher “Hieratic” monsters.

Stardust Dragon is the best—and the only—generic Level 8 Synchro in the game, its effect allows you to negate common forms of removal such as Treacherous Trap Hole; in order to activate Stardust Dragon’s effect you need to Tribute it, but the monster will come back during the End Phase of that same turn.

You can Special Summon this card with Hieratic Dragon of Su and Galaxy Serpent.

Flamvell Uruquizas is a Level 6 Synchro Monster with piercing damage and the ability to increase its ATK each time it inflicts Battle Damage to the opponent, it’s a good card to keep in the Extra Deck primarily for the first part of its effect.

You can Special Summon this card primarily with Hieratic Dragon of Nuit and Galaxy Serpent.

With so many Dragon-Type monsters in the deck, it’s a shame that Synchro Summoning Azure-Eyes is not that easy; this Level 9 Synchro can temporarily protect all Dragon-Type monsters you control from targeting and destruction effects.

You can Special Summon this card with Red-Eyes B. Dragon and Galaxy Serpent.

Gravity Warrior is another option that you should keep in your Extra Deck, it can reach up to 3000 ATK and it can switch opponent’s Defense Position monsters into Attack during the opponent’s Battle Phase.

This deck has a pretty easy time summoning high Level monsters, so Beatdown! fits perfectly; the changes the Skill underwent relatively recently matter very little as most of the times Level 5 or higher monsters are going to be the only ones face-up on your side of the field before the Battle Phase.

• This deck, like many others, dislikes going first: setting up a board early is not ideal given how easy it would be to dismantle it. Without Paleozoic Canadia or Sphere Kuriboh in starting hand, going first can easily result in a loss.

• While the “once per turn” negation from both Wiz, Sage Fur Hire and Silent Magician don’t really hurt the deck, common cards such as Paleozoic Canadia and Treacherous Trap Hole are enough to prevent “Hieratic” monsters from activating their effects and/or prevent you from Synchro Summoning.

• Hieratic Dragon of Su and Nebthet without Hieratic Dragon of Eset or Nuit are pretty much dead cards.

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