to serve as the material? Just wait until you realize the other potential benefits!

Introduction:

As always, a sidebare before I begin. This deck will be using many cards that are easily seen as being ‘meta’; however, I hope that you can look past that. The strategy I will be introducing you to today is more focused on the true power of the whole Dracoslayer theme, rather than only a shade of its potential to support the insane Performapals. Now that this caution is out of the way, let’s begin!

Onto our Ritual monsters of choice, we have quite the array of options. Once you limit it down to Dragon-type Ritual monsters, you are left with 9 options, but not all of these are good options. So i’m going to narrow it down to the following, outlined in the table below with each’s benefits:

• Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon – Level 7 Ritual monster, so has synergy with Level 3 and Level 4 Pendulum monsters, both of which are represented by Normal Pendulum monsters. In addition, you can also lean upon Metalfoes Wolflame to serve as a single material. When summoned, it is a one-sided Giant Trunade to which your opponent cannot respond. Additionally, it requires your opponent to pay 500 LP to activate any cards or effects. It effectively clears out any potential obstacles for your OTKs, plus it applies a time limit to your opponent due to the LP costs.
• Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon – Level 8 Ritual monster, so clearly works best with Level 4 Pendulum monsters. I don’t think I need to state just how powerful this Ritual monster can be, the immunity to targeting and destruction can leave your opponent grasping at straws. The other part of his effect, the doubled piercing damage, means that games end quickly once he hits the field. 
• Amorphactor Pain, the Imagination Dracoverlord – Another Level 8 Ritual monster that reaps the aforementioned benefits. Upon summoning, your opponent then skips their next Main Phase 1, pretty much blockading any hope at a counteroffensive. While they can dip into Main Phase 2 to get an answer onto the field, it can give you the time you need to extend your winning push over 2 turns. The second and definitely more important part of his effect is that Amorphactor completely negates the effects of Ritual, Synchro, and Xyz monsters. Lastly, when he leaves the field, you get another Dracoverlord to add to your hand, typically either Vector or Lector, whichever Pendulum scale that you require.
• Lord of the Red – The last Level 8 Ritual monster that you should be considering. While Gravity just limits the number of plays and Amorphactor just delays them, Red is the only Dragon-type Ritual that truly lets you respond to your opponent’s cards and effects with pure destruction.
• Paladin of Dark Dragon – This Ritual is not like the others. Being Level 4 grants him the unique characteristic of only needing one tribute to Ritual Summon. His main purpose is to be summoned with 1 Normal monster, and then use his effect to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from the deck, which then brings Paladin right back. 

Key Cards:

• Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
  • There is no comparison to this searcher, his Level and effect cannot be trumped. Also, in this Dracoslayer-heavy variant, he can overlay alongside Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer to form Bujintei Tsukynomi for additional draw power.
• Spiritual Whisper
  • A Manju that triggers upon being Pendulum Summoned. Also comes with the additional ability to not be destroyed by battle once per turn, but you will rarely make good use of that effect. Lastly, it is WIND so you can overlay into Lightning Chidori as needed.
• 3 of the Ritual Monsters contained in the above chart
  • When running a Ritual deck, you want to avoid bricking as much as possible. In a deck where you can easily Ritual Summon back from the Graveyard, there is really no need to run more than 1 copy of each Ritual. In exchange, you can just choose to run more searchers for those Rituals.
• Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
  • Part of the Normal Pendulum entourage, also works well by bringing in all of the Extra deck support of the Dracoslayers. 
• Vector Pendulum, the Dracoruler
  • Again, part of the Normal Pendulum entourage and is searchable by Amorphactor when he falls to the Graveyard.
• Lector Pendulum, the Dracoruler
  • The highscale Pendulum Dracoruler monster, searchable by Amorphactor as well as by Draco Face-Off.
• Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
  • This Pendulum monster is limited for a reason, and he works even better in a deck build around the slayers.
• Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon & Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon
  • Searchable Pendulum scales via Sky Iris, also they have decent monster effects if you actually get to Pendulum Summon them.
• Advanced Ritual Art & Odd-Eyes Advent
  • Can’t have a Ritual deck without Ritual Spells.
• Draco Face-Off
  • Powerful search spell for a Pendulum scale that also loads a Pendulum monster into your Extra deck. Can’t beat that.
• Preparation of Rites
  • Only if you run Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon.
• Dark Factory of Mass Production
  • Turns Advanced Ritual Art into a double Pendulum monster search.
• Sky Iris
  • Searcher for Pendulum scales and Odd-Eyes Advent. I don’t really think this needs any more justification.
• Daigusto Emeral
  • Turns out a generic Rank 4 Xyz can actually be a key card for a Ritual deck. Not only does it recycle Odd-Eyes Gravity back to the deck if you need to resolve a Preparation of Rites, but it is also great at recovering all of the Normal Pendulums ditched to the Graveyard during Ritual Summons.

Additional Tech Options to Consider:

Many of the following cards are simply additional options to augment your Pendulum backbone to your Ritual deck. Remember that you can always consider more Trap cards as well if you really need to fill more space, but I have a strong feeling that space will be very hard to find.

• Metalfoes engine – By throwing in 2 Wolflame, a Silvird and 2 Combination, you can build the pool of Normal Pendulums that you can send for Advanced Ritual Art. Also, if you do draw into one of the Metalfoes, you will have a slow way to build up both Pendulum scales. So to be clear, you do not have to stick to just one Pendulum Engine: feel free to experiment with combinations.
• Sea Dragoons of Draconia – Normal Pendulum support, but it also serves as a Level 3 high-scale to send with Advanced Ritual Art. 
• Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon – Support for the large number of Dragon-type monsters in your deck, in particular to bring back some of your Ritual monsters after they leave the field. Required if you choose to run Paladin of Dark Dragon as another Ritual monster, since this is his main purpose.
• Forge of the True Dracos – One of the most powerful Draco cards, but it does have a very large activation requirement. Although a field-wipe is generally worth it when all of the cards go to the deck.
• Master Peace, the True Dracoslayer – The boss monster of the Draco archetype, it gives disruption to your deck, plus it floats when it is destroyed. It is best combined with Forge, but it is always another option to consider even if you don’t choose to run Forge.
• Igknight Reload – Draw power for any Pendulum deck, so it is always a tech option to consider.
• Pendulum Rising – Lets you turn your Manju or Whisper into one of your Level 4 Pendulum monsters. I personally like the quicker access to Luster Pendulum, but space can be an issue.
• Dragon Shrine – Loads the Graveyard with both a Normal and a Ritual for you to then bring back with Dark Factory of Mass Production or Odd-Eyes Advent.
• Gospel of Revival – Can be used to bring back Red, Gravity, or Amorphactor, and then it protects your Rituals from being destroyed.
• Unexpected Dai – Special Summons any of your Normal Pendulums directly from the deck, particularly effective in variants that use Master Peace.
• Urgent Ritual Art – Allows for you to Ritual Summon during your opponent’s turn. This play can be quite unexpected and quite powerful; however, it is only useful if you have already Ritual Summoned and if you have a Ritual Spell in the Graveyard without having a Ritual monster on the field.

Check out my sample decklist hidden in the spoiler below:

SpoilerMain Deck:
||| Manju of Ten Thousand Hands
||| Spiritual Whisper
| Amorphactor Pain, the Imagination Dracoverlord
| Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon
| Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon
||| Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
| Metalfoes Goldriver
|| Metalfoes Wolflame
||| Vector Pendulum, the Dracoverlord
||| Lector Pendulum, the Dracoverlord
| Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
| Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon
| Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon
||| Advanced Ritual Art
|| Dark Factory of Mass Production
| Draco Face-Off
||| Odd-Eyes Advent
| Preparation of Rites
||| Sky Iris
| Twin Twister
|| Metalfoes Combination

Extra Deck:
|| Dinoster Power, the Mighty Dracoslayer
| Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dragoslayer
| Bujintei Tsukuyomi
| Cairnogoron, Aniluminescent Knight
| Castel, the Skyblaster
|| Daigusto Emeral
| Diamond Dire Wolf
| Gagaga Cowboy
| Lightning Chidori
| Majester Paladin, the Ascending Dracoslayer
| Number 39: Utopia
| Number c39: Utopia Ray
| Number S39: Utopia the Lightning