Bringing this up because I saw a few opinions on Card Trooper in agents and was very surprised at a few of the misconceptions that are out there.

Let me start off by saying that Trooper should only be run in Agent builds that use Call of the Haunted. Agents have evolved from the synchro-savvy deck they were before into a more focused boss monster deck. It’s similar in philosophy to the Chaos Dragon deck, where your main goal is to set yourself up to drop some fatty monsters. What people don’t seem to realize is that is where the similarities end. Chaos Dragons is/was a very aggro deck. While Agents CAN be aggro, they’re more focused on control with a little bit of an anti-meta aspect to it.

Before we actually get into the actual function of Card Trooper, let’s take a closer look at the deck. Below is something CLOSE to my personal build. I wasn’t going to post it at first, but then I realized how easy it is to find now thanks to Pro’s replay system.




The main point of the deck is, and always has been, to “float” monsters onto the field until you’re setup for a boss monster drop in an advantageous situation. This version of the deck takes that concept to the next level and introduces boss recurrence with 3x Call of Haunted. Now you see Card Trooper with Call of the Haunted, and one is tempted to think “ok so I mill til I drop a boss monster…got it”. While that is definitely scenario that CAN come up, it’s definitely not the most common, nor is it the best way to play the card.

This deck has the ability to thin the deck immensely and dig for monsters in the form of the agents. It ALSO has the ability to CONTROL your grave using Herald of Oranges, Venus, Earth, Card Trooper, Hyperion, and Call of the Haunteds. This deck is not about blind milling. It is nothing like Chaos Dragons in that sense. It is much more about controlling what you actually have in your graveyard, and using that to your advantage. Negating a turn 1 play with Herald of Orange and dropping a hyperion or Kristya as a cost would normally seem like a loss on your end. However, with Call of haunted, it sets you up nicely for the next turn. This is just ONE example of how the deck operates. You can think of Troopers, Calls, Heralds, even TGU as an “engine” for the deck to set yourself up for some awesome plays. Chaining Call of the haunted on TKRO or Kristya when your opponent plays and effect that those cards would fizzle is an amazing aspect of the deck. Being able to chain Call onto sangan or Trooper in circumstance of destruction (mst, heavy, etc), just makes COTH in this deck THAT much more versatile. Along with a hefty trap line up, this deck manages to offer a bunch of options for its user in a variety of situations.

…but this thread isn’t really about how the deck as a whole operates. It’s more about why CARD TROOPER is specifically beneficial in this deck. Here we goo:

He’s a floater. For those of you that are new to the term, this means he’s a monster you can summon that can replace itself. These types of monsters are desirable in lots of decks because it puts your opponent in a position where removing it would generate advantage for you.

Venus bluff. This is related to the previous point of him being floater. But once your opponent knows what you’re playing (like you searched for Venus with Earth), they will be prepared for the Venus. Many games I’ve summoned Earth T1, searched Venus then passed…while my opponent sets his cards then passes back to me. I can read the TT or BTH. Venus is too pivotal of a card in the deck just to throw away to a BTH or TT . Because trooper floats, I’ll usually summon him if there are set cards. This throws my opponent off because BTH doesn’t work, and TT wouldn’t gain him any advantage.

He crashes with Thunder King for a +1. This is a huge point actually. Thunder King is a bane to this deck as it negates your search power as well as puts your special summoning in an awkward place. Unless you have removal, you usually have to sacrifice a boss in order to get rid of TKing. Trooper gets rid of this threat easily and nets you a +1 in the process!

Chainable summon to MST on COTH. With MSt at 3, your COTH’s will get hit frequently. However, card trooper (along with Sangan) is a GREAT fall back to mst. More plusses!

Level 3. This is actually a big plus. Outside of TGU/Sangan, your only other level 3 is Venus. After Venus gets the ball brigade out, it’s usually able to stay on the field for another turn. This opens up lots of options including going into a rank 3 with the aid of card trooper. Rank 3’s are instrumental in this deck as it adds another dimension to how this deck can tool box solutions to problems. Leviair is huge here in conjunction with Hyperion. The fact that Trooper floats this whole time makes your plays even more versatile.

Mills when you need it. Yes, he mills…but you do not mill just to mill. You only mill if you need the attack, or you’re REALLy digging for something. I typically only “blind mill” with him if I have a Card Trooper along with a Hyperion in hand and no other way to get fodder for Hyperion. Either that, or I ONLY have card trooper + COTH as playable cards in my hand and I want to dig for something useful for COTH. As stated before, this deck Is not like Chaos Dragons and similarly, shouldn’t be milled like one. However, the mill provides a fast and easy way to dig for the cards you need. If I have a card trooper in my hand, and NO other plays (and something too big to get over)…sometimes I will simply set it to get the draw and move my deck forward. Again this is NOT a blind mill deck and should not be treated like one.

A lot of people seem to get stuck on that last point, and remove him because milling didn’t work out for them. Anyone that plays this deck needs to understand that all these cards need to be used in the best situations they possibly can for the cards you have in hand. Just because you have card Trooper in hand doesn’t mean you should summon it and just mill for the hell of it. You need to think about what other options you have, and what. IMO this deck would easily be the best deck of the format if it wasn’t prone to drawing cloggy hands. It has sooo many options.

Anyway…hope this helped u guys out. Feel free to discuss it more.

Keeping it pro. Knowing by a whole page reference on why and how to use Card Trooper. Gives me a different insight, and even players of Obelisk level can learn from this. Idk my own playstyle and gameplay, seems to be a mix of countless duels of things learned from different randoms, and turning it into my own. I don't know if that makes me unoriginal, but hey, thats how I play xD.