Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the most famous of all YuGiOh cards, so it’s no surprise that new Blue-Eyes support cards are being printed in sets even in 2022. But, as Blue-Eyes debuted at the game’s inception, it’s technically playable in the widely popular fan-funded format of Goat Format.  For those who are unaware, Goat Format is based on the Yu-Gi-Oh tournament format played during the summer of 2005, using cards legal through the release of The Lost Millennium set.

While Blue-Eyes decks are meta contenders in 2022 YuGiOh, as well as on Master Duel and Duel Links, the strategy involving three vanilla 3000 ATK monsters is not a popular one in the Goat Format. However, that’s not to say those who Stan Blue-Eyes haven’t tried. In fact, the excellent GoatFormat.com offers two potential strategies revolving around Blue-Eyes White Dragon. These strategies are a Kaibaman Blue-Eyes deck and a Paladin of White Dragon Ritual deck. Which of these is better?

Is Kaibaman the Best Blue-Eyes Goat Deck?

Let’s first look at the Kaibaman strategy. Being a LIGHT-attribute monster, Kaibaman is easily fetched out from the deck with the recruiter Shining Angel. He’s also a Warrior, so he can be searched with Reinforcement of the Army. Kaibaman is so good for this strategy because you can Tribute him to Special Summon a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your hand. But, that’s only one aspect of this strategy. 

You also have Fusilier Dragon, which is a Level 7 Monster who can be Normal Summoned without a Tribute, at the cost of cutting his Attack and Defense stats in half. Not only is it a DARK-attribute monster to fuel Goat Format GOAT Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, but it’s also a target for one of the best Spell cards in the format, Metamorphosis. It just so happens that King Dragun is a level 7 Fusion monster that helps with protecting your Dragons, as well as letting you Special Summon a Dragon monster from your hand into play each turn.

As good as this list looks on paper, it is highly dependent on having a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in your hand, although it has enough control tools and the Fusilier / King Dragun Metamorphosis play to give you alternate plays. However, there is yet another potentially strong Blue-Eyes goat deck option.

Is Paladin of White Dragon the Best Goat Format Blue-Eyes Deck?

While Paladin of White Dragon is hardly the best Ritual monster by modern YuGiOh standards, back in 2005, it was still a very playable card. It’s also very easy to set up thanks to Manju of the Thousand Hands, Senju of the Thousand Hands, and Sonic Bird to get the necessary pieces to your hand. While it’s certainly no Blue Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, it’s a 1900 ATK body that can be tributed to Special Summon a copy of Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your hand or Deck. Yes, it can also search your deck, something Kaibaman can’t do.

Since you’re running predominantly Level 4 monsters anyway, Paladin of White Dragon is going to be easy to summon. In addition to the Ritual floaters, you have Breaker the Magical Warrior (my second favorite YuGiOh card of all time) for Spell/Trap removal, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive for draw power and Tsukuyomi as a control piece. In addition, you have Magician of Faith, the flip monster, to get back your White Dragon Ritual Spells as well as other useful Spell cards. Also, since the deck has only one monster that’s not LIGHT or DARK attribute (Sonic Bird is a WIND attribute), you can play the GOAT himself, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, my favorite YuGiOh card of all time.

While I find the Kaibaman build of Blue-Eyes in Goat Format a decent strategy, it’s extremely dependent on you consistently drawing one of your three copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The Fusilier / Metamorphosis / King Dragun plan is fine, but I prefer the much more balanced control-oriented Paladin of White Dragon strategy. Thanks to all of the floaters, there’s much more of a card advantage engine built into the Paladin strategy, and the deck can function even without the Ritual monster hitting the board.

If I were to choose one Blue-Eyes Goat Deck, it would definitely be the Paladin of White Dragon build. While I’m certainly a fan of Kaibaman, there’s a reason why he was never widely played in tournaments. You need a lot to go right for Kaibaman to be useful, and while King Dragun is great, the strategy simply isn’t going to be as consistent as the Paladin deck, which has control tools to hang in the game until you put your pieces together.

Which Goat Format Blue-Eyes deck would you prefer to play? As far as I’m concerned, as long as I get to play Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning in one deck, I’m good for it.

~ Amelia Desertsong