Volcanics

Ok this post was inevitable.  Volcanics have been my favorite archtype since I begun playing more then three years ago and they are the deck I use in real life (although that deck is terrible).  They are really fun to play, but the deck is just too slow for today's meta.

You can't talk about Volcanics without talking about Blaze Accelerator first.  Blaze Accelerator lets you discard any Pyro-type monster in your hand with 500 or less ATK to destroy 1 monster your opponent controls, with the only downside that you cannot declare an attack.  This is the bread and butter of the deck.  It does so much damage to your opponent.  Then, you can send this Blaze Accelerator to the graveyard to activate Tri-Blaze Accelerator.  This is a much more powerful card.  You can send any Pyro-type monster (regardless of it's attack) to the graveyard to destroy one monster your opponent controls and inflict 500 damage to them.  Since all the Volcanic monsters are Pyro, this card lets you inflict massive damage to your opponent.

Now back to the Volcanic monsters.  First, there's Volcanic Shell.  This card is the perfect Blaze Accelerator fodder.  At 100 ATK it isn't good for battle, but it is able to be sent to the graveyard with blaze.  Once it's there, at the small cost of 500 life points, you can add another one to your hand.  That is fantastic because it lets you destroy your opponents monsters so easily.  Next, there's Volcanic Rat.  It's a normal monster so theres not much to say other then how it is Blaze fodder.  Don't run this.  The next Blaze fodder is, in my opinion, the best. Volcanic Scattershot.  Whenever it is sent to the graveyard, except as a cost, your opponent loses 500 life points.  That is great in this burn deck.  Not only that, but if it's sent to the graveyard for Blaze, you can send two more from your hand or deck to the graveyard to blow up your opponents field and inflict 1000 damage.  Finally there's Volcanic Counter.  It's not particularly great for Blaze Accelerator, but that does set it in the graveyard for it's effect to go off.  You must remove it when you take battle damage and your opponent loses life points equal to the amount of damage you take as long as there's another FIRE monster in your graveyard.  It's self explanatory really.

Moving on from the Blaze targets, there's Volcanic Blaster.  It's the searcher of the deck.  When it's destroyed you put a Volcanic on top of your deck.  This card really could be a lot better.  Sure it's designed to get you Blaze fodder, but it could at least at it to your hand.  Your really better off running Sangan unless you often use this to pull out a Rocket/Slicer/Hammerer/Doomfire, but really this card is unneeded.  Another monster is Volcanic Slicer.  This card inflicts 500 damage to your opponent at the price of it's attack.  I think this is good, especially in combination with other stall cards.  Not really much else to say.  The last non-tribute non-Blaze fodder is Volcanic Rocket.  This card is fantastic.  It has high ATK (1900) and when you summon it, it gives you a Blaze Accelerator to your hand.  Really it is great and it should almost always be run.

Now for the tribute monsters.  There are only two and the first is Volcanic Hammerer.  Volcanic Hammerer inflicts 200 damage to your opponent for every Volcanic monster in your graveyard.  While it's true that Volcanics load their grave with monsters, this card is generally outclassed by Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch and so I don't find it useful.  Finally we move on the the boss monster, Volcanic Doomfire.  This has got to be the most disappointing boss ever.  It requires you to give up your  Tri-Blaze Accelerator for a monster that has no protection.  It needs some effect that helps your defense.  While the ability to force your opponent to battle it, and a monster destroying effect is also good, this card really isn't worth it most times.

I have already discussed most of the spell and trap support, but there are a few left to talk about.  First there is Wildfire.  For 500 life points and a Blaze Accelerator you can nuke the monsters and you get a 1000 ATK token.  This is great if your opponent has a commanding field presence and you just don't have a Scattershot or anything to blow them up with Blaze.  Next there are a few traps.  While it is not direct support, Firewall is perfect for this deck to stall.  It's straight forward really.  This deck sets your grave up with lots of Pyro monsters and this gives them a use.  Finally there is Volcanic Recharge.  This card is decent until you realize just how badly Pot of Avarice and Royal Firestorm Guard outclass it.  avoid running this card.

Well thats it for my longest entry so far.  I might post a Volcanic deck list later, but I don't have one that I stick with so I might now.  Thanks for reading and be sure to enter your E-Mail adress in the box on the side to get updates!