Often, the Fortune Ladies are used as nothing more than a big fat draw engine to help you get to other cards. They're your ammo supply but by no means your guns. It's not because they aren't strong enough, by all means they can actually produce some serious muscle, but these Ladies can be rather unwieldy to get onto the field in the first place. However, there're some brilliant Yugitubers that have focused a a ton of energy towards figuring these women, out and I was rather impressed by the build of one Mr. 5pr1ngr011.
Often when I'm covering a strategy that's new to me, I'll find the most recent, successful variant that I can and then use it as a starting point for my own version. I'll then update it to make sure that it's in line with the current Forbidden and Limited List and make it as competitive as possible. And if it's for this column, adaptations are often made to keep things budget friendly. When I was testing this build, it was just so easy to play with that I felt like I was being passed down some sort of ancient knowledge. It may sound like obnoxiously high praise but if you understood the days of struggle I've suffered at the hands of these little Ladies then you'd understand – it's well justified. As hard as I tried, I couldn't make the deck any better. Sure, you could add fluff to it like Soul Charge and the Hands, but testing proved that those cards did nothing to improve consistency, nor the basic combos that made this deck great to begin with – in fact, they muddled it up quite a bit.
So what I've got for you guys today is just good news to pass along. It IS possible to build a consistent – and cheap(!) – Fortune Lady deck and I'm excited to show it to you guys. Kudos to you, 5pr1ngr011, wherever you are: you've done the near-impossible. Here's the deck…
DECKID=100564As you can see, it's a fascinating cross between Fortune Ladies and Falcon Control. This build might seem strange to wrap your head around at first, but it makes a lot of sense in application.One of the biggest problems with Fortune Ladies is that you need them to be in so many different places all at once. To use Fortune's Future you have to have a Lady removed from the game, but if you want to abuse any of Fortune Lady Dark's effects there's got to be Fortune Ladies in the graveyard. On top of all of that, Fortune Lady Light will only pull a Fortune Lady from your deck and if you have any desire to use Fortune Lady Water then you have to have another Lady on the field. It's plain to see that you've got a lot to manage all at once.
You, Me, And The Pots Of GreedI mean seriously, Future Visions is a card entirely focused on making cool Fortune Lady things happen. Whenever a monster is Normal Summoned Future Visions will banish it until the controller's next Standby Phase. Fortune Lady Light is often the start of all of your combos and it's important that you get her off the field whenever the opportunity arises. Whenever Fortune Lady Light is removed from the field by card effect, you can Special Summon a Fortune Lady monster from your deck. Future Visions is great for that because Light is one of those "When… you can" monsters that have to have their effect be the last thing to happen, or else you'll miss the opportunity to use it.
The second cool "draw 2" card is actually a monster – Fortune Lady Water. If you Special Summon Fortune Lady Water while you control another face up Fortune Lady then you'll draw two cards. It's just that simple. Resolving a Call Of The Haunted is practically a +3! You get the Water from your graveyard and you get to dig two cards deeper into your deck. It really isn't hard to see why this strategy is touted for its potency as a draw engine.
Bringing The Beef!#####CARDID=7187#####
Your last two Fortune Ladies are pretty much just quirky spot removal. Whenever you Special Summon Fortune Lady Fire with the effect of another Fortune Lady, Fire's effect will activate; destroying a monster on your opponent's side of the field and inflicting damage equal to the monsters attack. On the other hand, Fortune Lady Wind will destroy a number of spell and trap cards your opponent controls up to the number of Fortune Ladies you control. If you have a large field, it's quite possible to Mega Mobius the crap out of your opponent. Depending on the deck you're up against it's the sort of thing that could win you games.
So a few notes about some important cards. First off, Wonder Wand is absolutely brilliant here. It may seem counter-intuitive at first because it forces Fortune Lady Light to miss timing, but that isn't its purpose. This card is pretty much the missing key to Fortune Lady consistency. Sometimes, you're going to open up with a Fortune Lady that you just can't use with the cards you currently have. So instead of just sitting with it dead in your hand, Wonder Wand gives you the opportunity to trade both in for two fresh, new cards and to load your graveyard up in the meantime. It's simple but it makes a world of difference here. Lastly, Mist Valley Falcon and Future Visions are just too funny together. For you to get your monster back the next turn, Future Visions has to stay on the field the whole time. What's going to happen if say, some little bird dude keeps bouncing back that Future Visions every single turn? Well, let's just call it endless Bottomless Trap Hole, shall we?
Alright, Buck. Where's The Bang?With the right Side Deck, it wouldn't be unthinkable to nab your invite with this deck. Do you have experience with it, personally? Think this build is great? Think it's crap? Let me know in the comments section below!
-Zach Buckley
Team Nofatchx