Skill Drain Deck A Skill Drain Deck uses the Trap Card " Skill Drain " ( A . K . A . " SkD " ) to remove the negative effects from monsters like " Goblin Attack Force " , " Chainsaw Insect " , " Giant Orc " , and " Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei " and use them for pure power purposes . Aside from the cards listed above , " Fusilier Dragon , the Dual - Mode Beast " is a much - played monster and " Beast King Barbaros " is a high valued monster with " Skill Drain " . They can be Normal Summon ed without Tribute s being offered since it has a provision for it in its effect , which in turn , cuts their ATK s . However , " Skill Drain " would remove the ATK limit so you ' d immediately have their original ATK . You can also include " Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür " for another huge monster . Monsters such as " Zombyra the Dark " which can be played without " Skill Drain " are perfect for " Skill Drain " decks for versatility . Cards like " Chainsaw Insect " , " Big Shield Gardna " , " Majestic Mech - Ohka " , " Mist Archfiend " , and cards with otherwise questionable advantages , suddenly become very playable with " Skill Drain " active . " Giant Kozaky " is perhaps the best to play with this deck , since it has 2500 ATK and 2400 DEF , and will not be destroyed by its effect . A " Vice Dragon " is also a great trump for this Deck , since he is Special Summoned and his ATK - cutting effect is negated , turning him into a 2000 ATK beatstick . " Armor Exe " can attack at the turn he was Summoned with " Skill Drain " , but due to its maintenance ( that is not negated by " Skill Drain " ) he shall only last one turn ; so it ' s a nice addition , though is not as usable if " Skill Drain " is not available compared to other Level 4 Monsters of similar ATK . And of course , since " Skill Drain " will not negate effects that do not resolve on the field , " Solemn Judgment " and " Divine Wrath " are very worthy choices , and " Soul Drain " clears this up perfectly . " A Cat of Ill Omen " and " Mask of Darkness " may be necessary in order to draw " Skill Drain " or to recover it . Even if you already have a " Skill Drain " active , you can use either of the aforementioned monsters to obtain another , activate it , and give it up for " Magic Planter " to speed up the Deck . " Berserk Dragon " and " Ultimate Obedient Fiend " are also a great addition to this deck since they have an attack penalty and since this deck has many Level 8 Monsters that are easy to summon such as " Beast King Barbaros " ( tribute for " Berserk Dragon " ) they ' re easy to summon . Other cards to negate with " Skill Drain " are " Yubel " , " Yubel - Terror Incarnate " , and " Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare " , since their first effects resolve on the field , and " Skill Drain " also takes care of " Yubel " ' s effect of growing into its other forms . However , " The Ultimate Nightmare " cannot evolve further into another form , hindering its effectiveness . You may consider including " Final Attack Orders " in the deck as well , as it will nullify the effects of many of the cards you will use , such as " Goblin Elite Attack Force " and " Giant Orc " . With the release of " Forbidden Chalice " in the Raging Battle set , " Skill Drain " decks have seen a significant increase in power as this card allows you to negate the effect of one monster and increase its ATK by 400 . An ideal use for this card in a " Skill Drain " deck would be to activate it on either " Fusilier Dragon , the Dual - Mode Beast " or " Beast King Barbaros " if " Skill Drain " is not on the field , restoring their ATK back to its original amount and increasing it by a further 400 until the End Phase . " Skill Drain " decks work well with " Royal Oppression " . Since many decks focus on Special Summoning quickly , " Royal Oppression " will shut down Special Summons while slowing the pace of the game to match the rate of Normal Summoning strong monsters . " Solemn Judgment " / " Dark Bribe " are very useful cards that not only force opponents to waste cards such as " Dust Tornado " and " Mystical Space Typhoon " but that protect " Skill Drain " as well . A great card to combo with " Skill Drain " is " Necrovalley " . While " Skill Drain " negates the Monster Effects on the field , " Necrovalley " negates the effects involving the Graveyard . To prevent common monster effects that activate in the graveyard , such as " Mystic Tomato " and " Sangan " , you may consider using or side decking " Shadow - Imprisoning Mirror " to prevent DARK monsters ' effects and " Light - Imprisoning Mirror " to prevent LIGHT monsters ' effects . You may use " The Tricky " with " Secret Village of the Spellcasters " with " Skill Drain " for a Lockdown , preventing your opponent from activating Spell Cards . There are several effects to overlap with " Skill Drain " . If you are using a " Fusilier Dragon " Aggro Deck , use " Pole Position " to turn " Fusilier Dragon " into a 2800 ATK anti - Spell beatstick and " Burden of the Mighty " to neutralize the ATK power of Meta monsters . Because it only negates effects that resolve on the field , " Skill Drain " Decks are free to use " Cyber Dragon " , " Stardust Dragon " , " Exiled Force " , any searcher monsters , and , to a lesser extent , " Vampire Lord " and " Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys " . You cannot use Light - Imprisoning Mirror or Shadow - Imprisoning Mirror with Transplant to act as Skill Drain . The Continuous Effects will be able to get round it , as they don ' t activate . Weakness . One deck type that can have an advantage over " Skill Drain " Decks is a " Dark World " Deck because they rely on sending cards in their hand to the Graveyard to activate their effects , which " Skill Drain " cannot stop . Skill Drain now has a partner , which it combos well with : Soul Drain . This takes care of most problems . Another weakness of " Skill Drain " decks are decks that revolve around Synchro Summoning . Since you usually don ' t need monster effects to summon " Stardust Dragon " or " Colossal Fighter " ( which are nearly unaffected by " Skill Drain " ) , Synchro decks pose a problem for " Skill Drain " decks and whenever " Colossal Fighter " is summoned you cannot destroy it with any cards in your deck . " Skill Drain " decks are weak against swarming to an extent because they require high ATK beatsticks which are slower to Summon to maintain the advantage . Beware of destructive Spell and Trap cards such as " Lightning Vortex " , " Mirror Force " , " Heavy Storm " , and " Mystical Space Typhoon " . Without powerful monsters on the field or any Spells and Traps to back them up , " Skill Drain " decks become very vulnerable . With the limitations revolving around " Skill Drain " decks , such as the card itself , it is hard to draw and wish for " Skill Drain " to come to your hand whenever you want it to . Dueling against meta decks such as , " Lightsworns " poses a huge threat , even though " Skill Drain " decks are meant to destroy decks that consist of many effects , and can prove that having a mirror match with one another is pointless , as " Skill Drain " works for both sides and can easily become useless ( not to mention unneeded ) if another is on the field . Since Meta monsters possess high score ATK power , and there are matchless effects like " Cyber Dragon " , " Exiled Force " and " Stardust Dragon " , " Skill Drain " might get overcome easliy . " Spiritualism " is also a great threat against this Deck , since it will not be stopped by " Solemn Judgment " or " Dark Bribe " and wipe out " Skill Drain " easily . It is also worth mentioning that Quick - Play Spell Cards which flip monsters face - down ( such as " Book of Moon " ) can bypass " Skill Drain " by chaining to the activation of a monster effect , as " Skill Drain " does not affect face - down monsters and the effect will resolve . This " Book of Moon Combo " is most commonly seen in " Gladiator Beast " Decks . Specific Types of " Skill Drain " Decks . " Default " SkD . This is the common " Skill Drain " deck where the main purpose is negate the effects of " Beast King Barbaros " and " Fusilier Dragon , the Dual - Mode Beast " ' s turning a non - Tributed monster into a real threat to your opponent ' s Life Points . It can include " Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur " , which can be Special Summoned by removing both monsters . " Big Shield Gardna " negates targeting effects while Face - down ( unaffected by " Skill Drain " ) and won ' t change to Attack Position after attacked . Usually , other monsters like " Night Express Knight " , " Majestic Mech - Ohka " , " Mist Archfiend " , " Chainsaw Insect " , " Goblin Elite Attack Force " , " Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei " and " Giant Orc " are there for increasing the strategy . Archfiend Skill Drain . This Deck uses the " Archfiends " as the core of the deck . " Skill Drain " neutralizes the opponent ' s monster effects , including those of the " Archfiends " but they won ' t be affected way too much , allowing you to use their ATK power . " Pandemonium " may be used to block the maintenance cost of the " Archfiends " and heightens the synergy of this Deck , making this Deck easy to handle . Dark Skill Drain . Unlike TeleDAD , this deck revolves around the cards " Skill Drain " , " Mystic Tomato " and " Forbidden Chalice " . Because most of the monster effects work in the Graveyard ( such as those of " Tomato " , " Destiny Hero - Malicious " , and " Plaguespreader Zombie " ) , " Skill Drain " does not hurt the deck - it just hurts the opponent ' s deck . " Cyber Valley " and " Machine Duplication " are great choices along with " Destiny Hero - Plasma " . If you considered Beast King Barbaros and Malicious for this deck , you could put in Dogma , then a few draw engines for speed . They work really well with Destiny Draw and Trade - In . Zombie Skill Drain . Zombie " Skill Drain " is a viable deck type because of " Pyramid Turtle " . The fact that it searches for monsters based on DEF ( with a high upper limit ) means that it can search out powerful beatsticks such as " Ryu Kokki " , " Malevolent Mech - Goku En " ( who benfits from this Deck ) , and " Paladin of the Cursed Dragon " , which other decks simply cannot do . " Mezuki " ( unaffected by " Skill Drain " ) may help you Special Summon a Zombie from the grave such as " Vampire ' s Curse " or " Goka , the Pyre of Malice " . A " Plaguespreader Zombie " has also a great advantage due to its self - revival effect , which may also set up a Tribute fodder , or maybe a Synchro monster . You don ' t have to use Synchro monsters ' effects , just use them for beatsticks . Plant Skill Drain . Although not as common an option as other types of " Skill Drain " decks , Plants have two large assets that still work with " Skill Drain " . The first is " Lonefire Blossom " , which will work under " Skill Drain ' s " influence if it tributes itself . The other is " Tytannial , Princess of Camellias " , which also works under " Skill Drain ' s " influence if it tributes itself , and has the advantage of having high ATK and the ability to be special summoned with " Lonefire Blossom " . Also of note is " Mystic Tomato " , " Lord Poison " , " Dandylion " , " Violet Witch " and " Botanical Girl " which all also have an effect that activates off - field . You can also add " Beast King Barbaros " ( staple ) and " Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis " . Because " Beast King Barbaros " , " Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis " and " Tytannial , Princess of Camellias " all are level 8 , you can use them as discard fodder for " Trade - In " . That adds speed and consistency to the deck . Light Skill Drain . Since the effect of " Honest " is not affected by " Skill Drain " , a good and solid version of this deck could be built around LIGHT Monsters . " Thunder King Rai - Oh " is a good choice , since it negates a Special Summon and it ' s a target to " Honest " , although his effect negates searching effects if " SkD " is not active . Some versions include " Elemental Hero Neos Alius " and " Elemental Hero Stratos " ; the last one should be Summoned before activating " Skill Drain " in order to generate Card advantage . This version always mounts three copies of " Beast King Barbaros " and should not be confused with " Little City " ( described below ) , since this deck is not Elemental Heroes - oriented . Little City . " Main article : Little City Deck " < br > Little City uses " Skill Drain " in combination with " Skyscraper " , which can boost the ATK scores of attacking Elemental Heroes . This is combined with powerful , level 4 heroes such as " Elemental Hero Captain Gold " , " Elemental Hero Neos Alius " , and " Elemental Hero Stratos " . " Honest " is also often used in this deck . Necrofear Skill Drain . This deck focuses on getting fiends in the graveyard to remove from play to special summon " Dark Necrofear " . Many of the monsters used in this deck have effects that activate in the graveyard such as " Giant Germ " , " Newdoria " , and " Slate Warrior " , so " Skill Drain " can be very effective & deadly choice for this deck . Spirit Skill Drain . This deck uses the effect of " Yamato - no - Kami " and " Izanagi " to swarm the field , along with " Susa Soldier " , who also have a great ATK . It can also use " Beast King Barbaros " as an optional support . The only weakness is that you can ' t use the drawing effect of " Yamata Dragon " , or the hand destructive effect of " Hino - Kagu - Tsuchi " . Toon Skill Drain . This deck focuses on using Class A Toon Monsters to swarm the field . Class A Toons are " Toon Mermaid " , " Toon Summoned Skull " , " Manga Ryu - Ran " , and " Blue - Eyes Toon Dragon " . Class B Toon " Toon Dark Magician Girl " is also possible for this deck . Out of the Class C Toons , only " Toon Goblin Attack Force " would be useful . The idea of this deck uses the Hand ability of Class A and Class B Toons , they can be Special Summoned while " Toon World " is on the field . " Toon Summoned Skull " and " Toon Dark Magician Girl " would still require one tribute to Special Summon . " Manga Ryu - Ran " and " Blue - Eyes Toon Dragon " would still require two - these can be fulfilled by Special Summoning " Toon Mermaid " for free . With " Skill Drain " active , the Class A and Class C Toons can attack on the turn they were summoned . Class A and Class B Toons would not have to pay 500 Life Points to attack . The best part of this would be the effect all three Classes have , the monsters will not be destroyed if " Toon World " is . The Class A and B Toons can still attack directly if their abilities are not negated later even with " Toon World " removed from the field . Macro Skill Drain . This deck revolves around " Skill Drain " and " Macro Cosmos " / " Dimensional Fissure " . This differs with the normal " Skill Drain " Deck by focusing more on field control . The main strategy is keeping your opponent ' s field empty while you normal summon a powerful monster and deal some battle damage each turn . " Macro Cosmos " and or " Dimensional Fissure " paired with " D . D . Survivor " are used to keep the field presence , while " Skill Drain " and " Beast King Barbaros " are used for both beatdown and field control . The monsters lineup are non - tribute monsters with high attack points , that ( preferably ) gets around both " Skill Drain " and " Macro Cosmos " . Good monsters to consider is " Majestic Mech - Ohka " . It can be summoned without tribute and stay on the field when " Skill Drain " is on the field , or it can be tribute summoned with " D . D . Survivor " when " Macro Cosmos " is face up for a free tribute ( " D . D . Survivor " will come back to the field in the end phase ) . A " Dimensional Fissure " should be an alternate key card to " Macro Cosmos " . An essential support for this deck is " Burden of the Mighty " , as it neutralizes the enemy ' s ATK power . It also solves problem with many powerhouses , dragging the ATK of Monarchs down to 1800 , " Stardust Dragon " to 1700 , makes most of the monsters in this deck superior in ATK power . Although it alone cant be used for another powerhouses like " Goyo Guardian " ( down to 2200 ) , " Judgement Dragon " ( down to 2200 ) . One for one removal cards are good in this deck : " Exiled Force " , " Dimensional Prison " , " Smashing Ground " , " Fissure " , " Bottomless Trap Hole " , etc . This deck relies heavily on those continuous spell / trap cards , thus makes S / T negation cards essential for this deck . Good negation cards are " Solemn Judgment " , " Dark Bribe " or to a lesser extent Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell . A good thing too add is the combo of " Macro Cosmos " / " Dimensional Fissure " and " Gravekeeper ' s Servant " . The combo will be that its make a lock down causing your opponent can ' t attack . Note : Don ' t use " Cyber Valley " because " Skill Drain " will negate the 2nd effect , if there ' s no " Skill Drain " on the field you can tribute " Survivor " or " Scout Plane " to activate the 2nd effect so you can draw 2 card and " Survivor " or " Scout Plane " will be back on the field at the end of your turn . However , you may use its 1st effect to protect your field from an attack and draw 1 card each time you do . Chaos Skill Drain . This kind of Deck relies on the LIGHT and DARK effects that are active in the Graveyard , or someones that got penalty like " Fusilier Dragon , the Dual - Mode Beast " and " Majestic Mech - Goryu " . No more than 3 copies of " Thunder King Rai - Oh " and " Doomcaliber Knight " are then used . Since this Decks make use of LIGHT and DARK monsters , Chaos monsters like " Chaos Sorcerer " and " Sky Scourge Norleras " might be useful . " Vice Dragon " may be used , since it greatly speeds up this Deck . Malefic Skill Drain . Since the introduction of Malefic Monsters , it is possible to summon high attack point monsters as early as first turn . However these monsters have numerous drawbacks . But with " Skill Drain " you are able to negate these negative effects and simply use it as a beatstick . Furthermore , by paying half your points when one of these Malefic monsters is destroyed you can summon , from hand or grave , the titanic " Malefic Truth Dragon " . Not only does this make up for the lost monster but this dragon has a whopping 5000 Atk points , allowing you to decimate your opponent with relative ease . But even if SkD is out , you can still only have one Malefic monster out at a time . The malefic monster on the field may be negated , but the one in your hand is the one which has the effect stopping you . Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür . A deck centered around summoning Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür can be very effective under Skill Drain . Though the core is the same as a deck that just uses Beast King Barbaros and Fusilier Dragon , the Dual - Mode Beast , this deck also requires the use of several other Beast - Warrior and Machine monsters as fodder for Barbaros Ür . Some good examples include Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei , Lionhearted Locomotive , and Reborn Tengu , whose effect is not negated by Skill Drain . Berserk Dragon can also be included , as he is easily summoned with Barbaros and Barbaros Ür being level 8 monsters . Road Synchron is good to include , as he is a Machine , he can be used for a variety of Synchro Summons with or without Skill Drain , and he can be used for a Rank 4 Xyz Summon , such as Gem - Knight Pearl or . For speed and consistency , Maxx " C " can be included for massive draw power in the early game , and Cardcar D can be used for quick drawing and for Barbaros Ür .