The First Post: Deck Rules and Fire King Revival!

Hey guys, I figured I should start off with a deck profile so you will get a sense of how I plan to operate for this blog.

In general, the decks I make must adhere to the 3 Golden Rules:

• Cheap! (or relatively budget anyway). I am but a poor student with little income. How budget is budget? Complete Main Deck and Side Deck should be under $50. Anecdote: I've heard a guy call his Macro-Rabbit deck "budget" BEFORE Rescue Rabbit, Evolsaur Laggia and Dolkka were promos. Therefore, his idea of a budget deck was under $200. Please tell me (or him) that he is crazy.
• Easy to run. I have little interest in running decks like Dark Worlds, where you play  8-10 cards per turn, or Wind-Ups where you must unleash crazy combos to end your turn with a field of 4 XYZ monsters.
• Still relatively competitive. I still want to be able to attend a tournament with this deck and put up a fight (and hopefully win) with it.

If  you are in agreement with my 3 Rules, then please read on:

To start off this blog with a bang, I figured I would introduce a deck that has quickly become one of my favorites: Fire King Revival

Fire Kings, you say? Not Fire Fists? Yes, that Onslaught of the Fire Kings structure deck was quite overshadowed by the release of the Fire Fists in the Cosmo Blazer booster pack.
Here is my take on the Fire King Deck:

Monsters: 17
3 Fire King Avatar Barong
2 Fire King Avatar Kirin
3 Fire King High Avatar Garunix
3 Flamvell Firedog
1 Neo Flamvell Hedgehog
2 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla
1 Gorz, The Emissary of Darkness
2 Swift Scarecrow

Spells: 16
3 Onslaught of the Fire Kings
3 Circle of the Fire Kings
2 Rekindling
2 Fire Formation - Tenki
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Heavy Storm
3 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 7 
3 Call of the Haunted
2 Torrential Tribute
2 Raigeki Break

Total Main Deck: 40

Suggested Side Deck:
Still in progress, but this is what I have so far:
1 Flamvell Hedgehog
1 Swift Scarecrow
2 D.D. Crow
2 Shrink
2 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
2 Malevolent Catastrophe

Total Side: 10 (for now)

Suggested Extra Deck:

2 Black Rose Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
2 Number 50: Blackship of Corn
2 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Photon Papilloperative
1 Steelswarm Roach
2 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon

Total Extra Deck: 15

First off, let's talk about the $$ budget $$.

The base of this deck is essentially the Onslaught of the Fire Kings Structure Deck. Getting 3 of these means you're halfway done (or by all means, buy the cards individually). I managed snag a steal of a deal on Amazon and picked up 3 for $17 which includes a $5 gift card I used up.

If you already possess some "staple" cards (Dark Hole, Monster Reborn, Mystical Space Typhoon, etc.), then only other cards left in the Main and Side Deck that duelists may not always possess are Neo Flamvell Hedgehog, Swift Scarecrow, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla, Fire Formation - Tenki, Raigeki Break, Malevolent Catastrophe, Shrink, and D.D. Crow. All of these are cheap (under $1-2 for a playset of each), so good luck hunting! 

*I will likely have a future post with advice on where to find cards cheap!*
That leaves the Extra Deck.
My suggestion: Bring your own! My Extra Deck isn't always budget, but usually it is.

I know, I know, Black Rose isn't very budget. Well, hopefully you already have 1 or 2. If not, they are the most expensive card in this deck ($12 or up!). BUT, I will probably reiterate this a few times, you do not have to follow this deck list card for card. If you want to add or remove something, go right ahead! The deck I'm suggesting  isn't the law. I simply put Black Rose here anyway because it fits perfectly in this deck for a couple of reasons (which I will elaborate next time). Please use your own ideas, originality and creativity. It makes for a more fun deck and game!

The rest of the Extra Deck is Xyz's. These are simply the ones I own and use. Feel free to use your own. However, some Xyz monsters fit better than others (another topic I will elaborate further). And yes, I know Blackship of Corn and Gagaga Cowboy are the most expensive ones here. If you have them: great! They make for great game-enders. Otherwise, plenty of other Xyz's will suffice (as long as they are Rank 3 or 4).

Next time, I will discuss the deck itself. Each and every card is in there for a reason. We might even get into some strategy! Until next time:

- Fossil D