Verz, My New Interest

Every time new stuff for Duel Terminal comes out, I always have one specific archetype I'm loyal to. At first, it was the Ice Barriers (yeah, that didn't go well), then I moved on to the Genex Ally (really fun deck), and finally moved on to Ritua (not calling it Gishki). However, when the Verz arrived, they caught my attention in a big way.

I really like how they are "contaminated" forms of previos DT characters. What makes it even better is that they actually have some potential to be a pretty fun deck to use. Yeah, there's a version out there that's mostly for Rabbit shenanigans, but I'm not talking about that one. I'm talking about a deck mostly made of Verz monsters.

I like how they cover a lot of bases with their range of effects. They can swarm quite well, as well as manipulate the field (but that one takes a bit more time). What really impresses me are the Xyz cards, which are contaminated forms of one of my favorite archetypes, the Ice Barriers.

I'm going to see if I make a deck based on these guys, just to mess around. Heck, these new things are the only thing keeping my YGO spirit alive until I can find a place to go that I like. Oh well, off to test with the Verz deck.

M12 Illusions

Lately, I have been losing interest in my Innistrad Vampires and gaining more interest in M12's set of Illusions. Normally, I'm not a Blue player since my style is more aggro. However, these Illusions caught my eye as a good balance between aggro and control. Why the perfect control? Well, it's Blue for starters! Anybody knows Blue has the best control. But aggro?

I was surprised as well, but it wasn't until I saw the following card that I was convinced.

So there it was, the one thing that made me want to try the deck out. Most of the new illusions are powerful creatures that are destroyed if they are targeted by any effect. However, since Lord of the Unreal solves that problem and gives them a nice boost, it suddenly turned into an awesome concept. While I know illusion decks don't have much wiggle room when it comes to making the deck, it's still a great mix between aggro and control.

So there's strong creatures that have low mana cost, creatures that buff those illusions and support them, and have all the control that Blue has to offer. How is that not alluring?

I'm going to start playing it soon, hopefully it will be as rewarding as it seems.

Alien Invasion

Lately, YGO has been rather dull for me. But when a game gets dull, that means it's time to switch it up a bit. So to make things interesting again, I rebuilt my old Alien deck with some new tricks.

Aliens, besides Fish and Vanity Gadgets, have been my other signature deck for quite some time. And it's just now that I'm discussing them...

Anywho, here's the deck.

Monsters:
Alien Warrior x3
Alien Ammonite x2
Alien Kid x2
Alien Grey x2
Alien Dog x2
Alien Overlord x2
Alien Telepath
Genex Ally Birdman x2
Machine Emperor Wisel x2

Spells:
Mysterious Triangle x2
Code A Ancient Ruins x2
Gold Sarcophagus x2
Dark Hole
Monster Reborn

Traps:
Planet Pollutant Virus x2
Offering to the Snake Deity x2
Bottomless Trap Hole x2
Call Of The Haunted x2
Fiendish Chain x2
Safe Zone
Mirror Force
Dimensional Prison 

Extra Deck:
Cosmic Fortress Gol'Gar x2
Genex Ally Triforce x2
R-Genex Locomotive
other synchros/xyz monsters

While still keeping true to the Alien theme, as well as the distribution of A-Counters, the deck is focused on exterminating and invading the enemy. With the main Aliens, I can infect my opponent's monsters with their virus, allowing for cards like Mysterious Triangle to help swarm for attacks. Plantet Pollutant Virus and Offering help me exterminate opposing monsters, while helping out my cause. While PPV helps clear the field and distribute counters, Offering allows for not just destruction, but the window for Wisel to enter the field.

Genex Ally Birdman has been working out quite well, allowing for use of Triforce. It's effect isn't wasted either, since the deck meets all 3 element options for it's effect: earth, fire, and light. But there's also R-Genex Locomotive (summoned by combining with Overlord), who can steal the highest level monster my opponent controls. Not just that, Birdman allows me to recycle Alien Dog's effect, allowing for more counter spreads.

As for the continuous stuff, it's more of a control build. Fiendish Chain and Safe Zone assure some surprise shenanigans when combined with Gol'gar.

Deck is really tons of fun to use, so perhaps there's a video soon.

Miracle Blastfan

Back with another YGO deck this week. This time, it's a deck made by a friend of mine that was so bizarre but functional, that I had to feature it here. While there's no official name for the deck, I have begun calling it "Miracle Blastfan."

Why such a name, you ask?

Bring me Birdman at once!

Then I will explain. The deck focuses on special summoning Genex Blastfan constantly as a means to not only gain access to Genex Ally Birdman, but also set up the field for Synchro/Xyz plays. With a wide array of monsters meant to special summon Blastfan, you will be able to get a big monster quite early, and thin your deck in the process.

However, do be careful with Blastfan, as it can miss the timing. However, this deck makes sure the effect will have the highest probability of the deck searching.

Unorthodox deck, but it works!

The deck is meant to just search itself out always for a quick spam, but also notice the Miracle Synchro Fusions in the deck, which specifies the other part of the name "Miracle Blastfan." Since there's a wide array of spellcasters (Blastfan, Monk, and the Gravekeepers), the deck's main bosses are both Arcanite Magician and the Supreme Trainer. And with a good mix of monsters, BLS is also able to fit in quite well. 

Quite a strange deck indeed, but it's quite fun to play with. 

Weenie Decks: Small Battles of Big Proportions

Weenie decks are something we see in both Yugioh and Magic, with both being considerable decks in any style of the game itself. So what are weenie decks? Basically, weenie decks consist of a deck that relies on smaller fighters to gain victory and overpower your opponent. So let's take a look at Weenie Decks for both Magic and Yugioh.

Magic Weenie Decks:

In MTG, weenie decks consist of decks that function well with everything being of a cost of 3 mana or less. This includes creatures, auras, equipments, and instants that combine to make the deck a force to be reckoned with. In weenie decks, most creatures would cost between 1 and 2 mana, with creatures of 3 mana still seen but in lesser numbers. Creatures with converted mana cost 4 or more normally tend to be the "boss monsters" of the deck, usually having some kind of relation to the deck. In times, weenie decks may use Planeswalkers as their boss monsters as can be the case of Elspeth.

Elspeth not only can create 1/1 soldiers, but make your smaller creatures a lot more powerful. There are other planeswalkers that follow their own distinct strategy, but some such as Garruk (the new one), Gideon Jura (with his final ability), and Ajani Vengeant can all be good considerable bosses for weenie decks.

But weenie decks aren't all low cost creatures, they also depend on stuff to turn them into considerable opponents. Whether it be Auras or Equipments, these cards can easily turn your 2/1 weenie with flying (random example) into a 4/3 flying with double strike, for example. Cards like these provide easier control of the game, as you can not only gain bigger creatures for a lower cost, but keep mana reserved for any defensive spells you might play.

As a final verdict, MTG weenie decks rely on a combination of low cost cards to overpower your opponent and swarm the field with an army of small creatures that can do big damage. Weenie decks are known for gaining big advantage in early games, so they can be a force to be reckoned with.

Yugioh Weenie Decks:

Now, while YGO doesn't have any resource system, it can still have weenie decks. These, however follow a similar concept of using small monsters to gain big advantage, but weenie decks here have changed across the ages. Most weenie decks now have the ability to Synchro summon massively, but since the bosses come from the Extra Deck, the main deck can still consist of weenies to make the deck work. However, there are still decks that are true to the weenie deck nature, while there are others in similar nature but use their weenies for a bigger purpose.

The first weenie decks we see in YGO are level 3 or lower monsters that are the core of the deck, and have a strategy that revolves around them. An example of a pure weenie deck in YGO can be a Wetlands oriented deck. All their monsters are level 2 or lower and use the field to gain a major buff that allows them to compete with the big monsters on their own. Not only that, but it gives them access to bigger monsters with greater ease. For most cases, these weenie decks use either fields or continuous effects (from either spells, traps, or the monsters themselves) to gain attack, while mostly ignoring equipments (contrary to MTG where auras and equipments buff individual monsters).

And then there's the other type of weenie deck, which uses a combination of level 3 or lower monsters to gain access to bigger monsters (such as Synchros or Xyz). Decks like these consist of massive swarming with said creatures and bring out either 1 or 2 big monsters by either using their effects to recruit from the deck or be used in conjunction with other monsters to gain advantage. Weenie cards that fit this category are monsters like The Immortal Bushi, Deepsea Diva, Junk Synchron, and Tour Guide From the Underworld.

Said monsters can for bring their own massive plays. Junk Synchron can be summoned if Bushi is on the field to bring back a level 2 and make a Junk Destroyer, one of the boss monsters of their deck. Diva recruits for easy level 5 synchros on her own, or combined with another Diva can make 2 synchros if combined with other monsters. As for Tour Guide, it can make an Xyz monster out of thin air due to it's effect.

Final Verdict:

While MTG Weenie Decks may be of a similar fashion, they all tend to be pretty powerful on their own. Meanwhile, YGO Weenie Decks tend to have multiple purposes. While one of their weenie styles may be similar to the MTG mentality of small creatures gaining huge power, it's the "weenie swarm for big bosses" strategy that is predominant in this game.

Weenie decks can be a force to be reckoned with if not careful. Just because you see small monsters, doesn't mean they are easy to deal with. For these decks, there's strength in numbers.

Vanity Gadgets: The Tengu Wars

With my previous Plant match ending badly, as well as the new TCG rulings for Xyz monsters, I have been struggling with the thought of remaking a specific deck and using Tengu to support it.

However, it's the one deck that was my most fun creation and most successful one in tourneys. But I struggled against using Tengu for a while, until I gave in and decided to use it in the deck. The name "Tengu Wars" comes from the time this format sees itself, since all decks that battle all have Tengu in them. And since "Vanity Gadgets" was the creation many know me for, it marks a new chapter in the "VG" saga.

A while back I said I was working on an upgrade for the deck, but it was eventually turned into Gravekeeper's.

So here it is, the new chapter of Vanity Gadgets, "The Tengu Wars"

Two Attempts at Xyz Fish

Well, as some of you might know, I'm quite the fan of playing Fish decks. And with the Xyz already out and more on the way, it's only natural that I give my shot at making 2 versions of Xyz oriented Fish decks. Now, while they still support a few tuners, they only use one Fishborg for both access to lvl 8 synchros via Coelacanth or access to Shooting Star Dragon. But the main tuner here is Royal Swamp Eel, as it can give access to level 7/8 synchros and Rank 4 Xyz when needed. With such versatility, I figured I could give it a shot.

Here's deck #1: Phantom Fish, Xyz Edition



Running the Genex/Sunfish engine, the Phantom variant makes full use of well...Phantom of Chaos itself. The variant had issues since after taking Coelacanth's effect, it was just a sitting duck. But now it's all different since you can use Phantom for an Xyz summon and have more options when you set up your field.

Surfacing allows for more Xyz and Synchro shenanigans as you can revive any lvl 3 and combine with Genex Controller for a Brionac or make a Revise Dragon. It's also a bit more flexible with traps, since there's no reason to use Treeborn here. However, room is tight but Surfacing is a card of choice and can be changed for more defenses if needed.

The next deck sounds ridiculous when you hear it, but I think it can be quite fun to use.

Deck #2: Rabbit Fish

So yea, as one would assume...it makes full use of Rescue Rabbit. However, this one does support the Frog engine for tributing, but it's still not fully focused on synchro as seen with only one Fishborg. 7 Colored Fish and Root Water make excellent Rabbit targets and can be sent back to the deck via Moray, or the can simply be summoned via Coelacanth. As usual, it runs 2 copies of Royal Swamp Eel to give access to some synchros, but mainly to give access to Rank 4 if necessary.

Coelacanth has been dropped to 2 since the main focus isn't an OTK, but it's still a focal point of the deck. However, Rabbit's assistance makes up for the loss of 1 Coelacanth, but it can also be adjusted to personal preference.

As for the extra deck, here's more or less what I'm looking into.

Phantom Variant:

Stardust Dragon
Formula Synchron
Shooting Star Dragon
Thoughtruler Archfiend (or any other lvl 8 synchro)
Brionac
Gungnir
Black Rose Dragon
Inverz Roach x2
Revise Dragon
Black Ray Lancer x2
Utopia/White Knight Illuminator/Evigishki Merrowgeist/Vylon Disigma x3 (in any combination you want)

Rabbit Fish Variant:

Stardust Dragon
Formula Synchron
Shooting Star Dragon
Any other lvl 8 Synchro
Gungnir
Black Rose Dragon
Black Ray Lancer x2
Revise Dragon
Inverz Roach x2
Evigishki Merrowgeist
Utopia
Vylon Disigma
White Knight Illuminator

Extra decks are very flexible here, but more or less these are what mine would look like in this case.

The great part about the Xyz variants is that the extra deck can become more and more flexible as time goes on and we get more Xyz monsters. But for now, it's only something that just came to me while trying to recreate my Fish deck.

Crusher Control

So it's time to post one of my newest decks, Crusher Control. I originally just teched a few copies of Genex Ally Crusher in my Blackwings but didn't know it could be epic in it's own deck. But once I found out, I quickly got to work.

First off, let's look at the main card of the deck!

Once per turn, when you Normal Summon a monster with this card's Attribute, you can select and destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

So the main concept of the deck is to get out Crusher on the field as fast as possible, keep it alive, and gain control of the field. But Crusher can't do it alone. That's where the backup comes in. By using other DARK attribute monsters whose effects also destroy or remove from either the field or hand, it allows for an additional destruction via Crusher's effect. In essence, a Crusher and a Breaker can get rid of 2 backrow, or 1 backrow and 1 monster. Either way, it's a good way to keep control, and a really fun deck.

So here's my version of Crusher Control

Monsters:

Genex Ally Crusher x3
Breaker, The Magical Warrior x3
Mystic Tomato x2
Don Zaloog x2
Cliff The Trap Remover (random tech is epic)
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer x2
Sangan
BW Gale The Whirlwind
Spirit Reaper
Caius, The Shadow Monarch

Spells:

Dark Hole
Book of Moon
Shrink x2
Monster Reborn
Mystical Space Typhoon x2
Smashing Ground x3

Traps:

Dimensional Prison x2
Bottomless Trap Hole x2
Seven Tools of the Bandit x2
Compulsory Evacuation Device x2
Torrential Tribute
Mirror Force
Royal Oppression
Call of the Haunted
Solemn Judgment

Deck is really fun to play. So much disruption that it's hard to keep up. That's all for today.

Hook Line and Sinker, Gone Fishing

For many years, Fish have been the laughing stock of the Yugioh world (along with Thunder and Sea-Serpents) as the least supported types in the entire game. But now they are getting some noteworthy attention and could make an impact in the future metagame, under the right circumstances of course. Plus, they have been one of my favorite types for years now.

This is Archetype Analysis: Fish

Learning to Swim

Back during the "First Era" of Yugioh, the only Fish that ever saw use was Terrorking Salmon and 7-Colored Fish in ALO Beatdown. The rest were just spares that barely got to anything (Soul Eater, Flying Fish, Tongyo) by being just too weak to even try any kind of beatdown strategy during that era. There were other Fish released with effects, but they were mostly lackluster or not fitting any particular strategy. This was the bane of Fish for many years until we got a miracle in Tactical Evolution.

Tactical Evolution finally brought a meaning for Fish, and that was to cause destruction and have some sort of control. Cranium Fish was meant to destroy face-downs, Abyssal Kingshark dodged non-targeted destruction, and the others somehow just had a level of synergy between them. But all in all, it still wasn't enough to make a solid Fish deck. That is, until the godsend arrived a few packs later.

Super Special Awesome Deepsea King Magikarp is Here!

While it is true that Phantom Darkness brought the game a ton of powerful cards, there was one that was quite overlooked until now. It was where the world came to know of Coelacanth's existence as the boss of all Fish. However, the giant was here, but still barely had an army to lead. The deck by then became a simple swarm-control deck, using Coelacanth and Cranium Fish as the main attackers while keeping the field full of Fish for Golden Flying Fish to destroy. Little did people know that this king of fish was soon going to become a force to be reckoned with...

An Exclusive Ocean, How the TCG Boosted Fish

But even with the presence of Coelacanth, Fish were still feeling incomplete in their arsenal. That is, until TCG Exclusives began spitting out new toys for Fish. They first gave us our first tuner, Royal Swamp Eel. At an instant, the deck turned into an OTK deck just by being able to swarm 4 fish that gave access to 2 level 8 synchros and could go for 8000 damage. But it wasn't done yet, we got the ability to recycle our fish via Metabo-Shark and a way to speed the deck up via Nimble Sunfish.

Frogs and Temples, How Fish are Making an Impact

Once all our support finally arrived, we had a full school of fish at our disposal. And so, we created various versions, but only 2 have known great success: Froggy Fish and Mausoleum Fish.

Froggy Fish consisted in using the Frog engine (composed of 3 Swap Frog, 1-2 Treeborn and 1 Ronintoadin) to not only thin the deck, but also set up tributes for both Coelacanth and Monarchs alike. While it's a slower paced deck, it can be quite explosive under the right setup, but it's always keeping field presence and runs more like a Frog Monarch deck due to this.

And then there's Mausoleum Fish (my current variant). It's more of a control build, allowing for Mausoleum to grant access to cards like Vanity's Fiend, LADD, End of Anubis, and the usual Coelacanth. It tends to use cards like Snowman Eater and Thunder King Rai-Oh sometimes in the main deck to counter strategies directly from game 1. It's a whole lot more explosive than Froggy Fish, but allows for a larger degree of control. Currently it is the newest and fastest growing variant out there, but both Froggy Fish and Mausoleum Fish are strong contenders and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Here's an old video on my old Froggy Fish build, along with a tiny guide of how it plays out. Note: it's a build from the previous format.

And here's my current Mausoleum Build:

Monsters: 21

Coelacanth x3

Vanity's Fiend x2

Gorz, Emissary of Darkness

Thunder King Rai-Oh x2

Royal Swamp Eel x3

Tongyo x2

Metabo-Shark

Oyster Meister x2

Nimble Sunfish x2

Golden Flying Fish

Fishborg Blaster

Morphing Jar

Spells: 16

Mausoleum of the Emperor x3

Moray of Greed

Card Destruction

Terraforming

Giant Trunade

Pot of Avarice

Mystical Space Typhoon x2

Book of Moon x2

Gold Sarcophagus x2

Monster Reborn

Dark Hole

Traps: 3

Call Of The Haunted

Royal Decree x2

Extra Deck: 15

Shooting Star Dragon

Formula Synchron

Stardust Dragon

Scrap Archfiend x2

Mist Wurm

Colossal Fighter

Black Rose Dragon

Magical Android

Goyo Guardian

Iron Chain Dragon

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

X-Saber Urbellum

Thoughtruler Archfiend

New Heroes Have Arrived

Managed to find some time to update some stuff here. I just had to, especially after seeing the new Masked Hero cards.

First off, the card that really grabbed my attention and makes the deck a lot more fun than before: Mask Change.

Quickplay/Spell

Send 1 face-up "Hero" monster you control to the Graveyard, and Special Summon 1 "Masked Hero" monster with the same Attribute as the selectedmonster from the Extra Deck.

This card is just amazing, especially if you combine it with Masked Hero Goka and Masked Hero Vapor (most notably Vapor). Goka is a fire Hero fusion that gets stronger for each Hero in the grave, and Vapor is a Water Hero fusion that is unable to be destroyed by card effects. Both can only be summoned via Mask Change from the Extra Deck.

Now here's the fun part, Masked Hero Vapor already has good compatibility with Absolute Zero, since you can use Mask Change to clear field for a direct attack and summon a Hero that can only be stopped by battle (or simple removal, but shhhhh...).

There's also another Hero, Vision Hero Adoration.

Warrior/Fusion/Level 8/Dark

2 "Elemental Hero", "Destiny Hero", "Evil Hero", "Masked Hero", or "Vision Hero" monsters
Once per turn, select 1 Hero monster you control other than this card and 1 monster your opponent controls. Your opponent's selected monster loses ATK and DEF equal to your selected monster's ATK until the End Phase. (Still unconfirmed at the moment, but just in case).

What makes this Hero interesting is the compatibility with all Hero cards, as well as finally having that Dark hero fusion that was missing (even though some wanted it to be an E-Hero). It also has an attack modifying effect (hopefully that's it, since it isn't bad) that can help cut your opponent's bigger monsters down to size.

And last, there's another spell for heroes...A Hero Arrives

Spell

Activate only if you control no face-up monsters. Pay half of your Life Points to Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Hero" monster from your Deck, except "Hero Kid".

While it is a risky card to use and will probably the least used out of the previous cards mentioned tonight, it serves as a last resort for any Hero deck.

With the Masked Heroes finally arriving soon in the OCG, let's hope these aren't the only ones. They are very fun to use and could really give Hero decks a boost.

1-2-3-Pescao! (Mausoleum Fish)

Well, my Fish deck has gotten a bit better since it's last version. It has gotten a bit of a remake while still keeping my old Mausoleum concept.

1- Removed EBI Chacu Challhua in favor of other tribute monsters.

2- Used Rai-Oh and Vanity's Fiend as discussed by a few members of the Fish thread to add a degree of control.

3- Now using 2-3 copies of Royal Decree as well as the lone Call of the Haunted as my only traps. Decree allows me to freely swarm without the worry of Solemn Warning, Solemn Judgment, Dark Bribe, Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, and other disruptive traps.

4- Using a single copy of The Creator. While it may seem unorthodox, The Creator helps for those post-swarm plays and revival of used up synchros and/or Coelacanth to keep field advantage.

5- Using 2 Nimble Sunfish instead of 3. 2 Sunfish allows me to only dump Fishborg quickly and then use the second one for tribute or discard. 3 seemed a little redundant in this build.

6- This deck can summon Shooting Star Dragon so well, its not even funny! One game my field was Shooting Star, Stardust, and The Creator as a recovery play.

7- Gold Sarcophagus helps the deck move a lot better than I thought, since it allows for the only consistant search of Coelacanth.

8-Using 3 copies of Oyster Meister really helps summon Shooting Star Dragon a lot easier, hence why the 3 copies instead of the usual 2.

And now...for the decklist

Monsters: 22

Coelacanth x3

The Creator

Vanity's Fiend x2

Gorz, Emissary of Darkness

Thunder King Rai-Oh x2

Royal Swamp Eel x3

7-Colored Fish x2

Metabo Shark

Oyster Meister x3

Nimble Sunfish x2

Golden Flying Fish

Fishborg Blaster

Spells: 15

Mausoleum of the Emperor x3

Moray of Greed x2

Terraforming

Pot of Avarice

Mystical Space Typhoon x2

Book of Moon x2

Gold Sarcophagus x2

Monster Reborn

Dark Hole

Traps: 3

Call of the Haunted

Royal Decree x2

Extra Deck: 15

Shooting Star Dragon

Formula Synchron

Stardust Dragon

Scrap Archfiend x2

Mist Wurm

Colossal Fighter

Blackrose Dragon

Magical Android

Goyo Guardian

Iron Chain Dragon

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

X-Saber Urbellum (soon to be replaced by Gungnir)

Thoughtruler Archfiend

Hopefully there should be some videos of the deck in action soon. But that's all for now.

Lanista and Nova Master

Finally the effects of both Gladiator Beast Lanista and Elemental Hero Nova Master have been confirmed.

Ya al fin los efectos de Gladiator Beast Lanista y Elemental Hero Nova Master han sido confirmados!

First off, Lanista's effect/Primero, el efecto de Lanista

When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Gladiator Beast"monster, you can select 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster in your Graveyard.Remove it from play and this card's name becomes the name of the monster you removed from play until the End Phase. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 "Gladiator Beast" monster from your Deck, except "Gladiator Beast Lanista".

While I'm a bit relaxed that Lanista isn't treated as Bestiari at all times (as rumored), it still holds a lot of potential for two main reasons: Icarus Glads are more playable and secondly, it gives birth to a whole new playstyle for Glads (that is, if my idea catches on).

Mientras estoy relajado que el efecto de Lanista no lo trata como Bestiari en el campo (como se estaba rumorando), todavia tiene un gran potencial, ya que hace el deck Icarus Glads mas funcional y da a crear un nuevo estilo de juego a los glads (eso es, si mi idea llega a algun lado).

Lanista's ability to remove a Gladiator Beast in the graveyard from play and take it's name can be quite useful for when Equestes is already down or for an emergency Gyzarus/Heraklinos play.

La habilidad de Lanista para remover cualquier gladiador y coger su nombre es bastante util cuando Equestes ya esta fuera de uso o para una jugada emergencia involucrando Gyzarus/Heraklinos.

Having 1800 attack is also a nice boost, since it can stand on it's own if drawn early game. And as mentioned before, having it be a Winged-Beast gives it much more support for Icarus Attack.

Teniendo 1800 de ataque es bueno tambien, ya que puede manejar por si mismo en el campo si lo tienes temprano en el juego. Y como mencionado, le da mas ayuda a Icarus Attack por ser Winged-Beast.

The other idea for Lanista is yet to come...because it involves a deck with this other new card...

La otra idea para Lanista todavia falta en revelar...posiblemente porque involucra un deck con esta otra carta...

Elemental Hero Nova Master

Warrior/Fusion/Level 8/Fire

1 "Elemental Hero" monster + 1 FIRE monster This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, draw 1 card.

Finally a hero to fuse with fire. Gemini City gets another nice card to add to it's arsenal. Not only can it run Absolute Zero with Gemini Lancer and/or Snowman Eater, but now Evocator Chevalier gives us access to Nova Master and still serves as great support for Gemini Spark.

Por fin un heroe que se puede unir con fuego. Gemini City recibe otra carta buena en su arsenal. Ya se puede combinar con Snowman Eater/Gemini Lancer para Absolute Zero, pero ahora Evocator Chevalier nos da acceso a Nova Master y todavia recibe gran ayuda de Gemini Spark.

And while this is great in Gemini City, it also adds some synergy to Prisma Glads. Now, while it's very rare for players to use the E-Hero fusions in Glad decks, Absolute Zero, Gaia, Great Tornado, and now Nova Master are all accessible in Prisma Glads.

Y mientras es bueno tenerlo en Gemini City, tambien añade una gran ayuda a Prisma-Glads. Y aunque es bien raro por jugadores usar fusiones de Heroes en sus decks gladiadores, cartas como Absolute Zero, Gaia, Great Tornado y ahora Nova Master son accesibles en Prisma-Glads.

This is where the new concept involving both Nova Master and Lanista comes into play...

Aqui es donde mi nuevo concepto usando ambos Nova Master y Lanista entra en juego...

Heroes of Rome / Heroes de Roma

Monsters: 16
Gladiator Beast Laquari x2

Gladiator Beast Bestiari

Gladiator Beast Lanista x2

Gladiator Beast Equestes x2

Gladiator Beast Darius x2

Gladiator Beast Murmillo x2

Gladiator Beast Hoplomus

Gladiator Beast Samnite

Elemental Hero Prisma x2

Elemental Hero Stratos

Spells: 15
Gladiator's Proving Ground x2

Reinforcement of the Army

Miracle Fusion x2

Parallel World Fusion x2

Book of Moon x2

Giant Trunade

Dark Hole

Monster Reborn

Cold Wave

Mystical Space Typhoon x2
Traps: 9
Gladiator Beast War Charriot x2

Trap Stun x2

Bottomless Trap Hole x2

Dimensional Prison x2

Torrential Tribute

Now then, let me explain why this deck has and doesn't have certain things:

Ahora a explicar por que el deck tiene y no tiene ciertas cosas:

No Test Tiger / La ausencia de Test Tiger

This deck just didn't have room for it, mostly since it's meant more as a fusion utility deck rather than just a full Gladiator deck. They can be added if you want, but this is what I have for now...

El deck no tenia espacio para el tigre, mayormente por la estrategia enfocada en fusiones y no tanto la estrategia tradicional de los gladiadores. Se puede añadir al deck, pero esta es la idea que tengo por ahora...

Miracle Fusion/Parallel World Fusion

Here's where Lanista comes in handy. While taking the names of other gladiators helps for fusions on the field, it also helps prepare the removed from play monsters for Parallel World Fusion. Parallel helps recycle all those monsters lost by either Miracle Fusion, Lanista's effect, or any other reason and replenishes the Graveyard for future Equestes and other fusion plays. In a way, it keeps recycling itself to keep the fusions coming.

Aqui es donde Lanista entra a su gran uso. Mientras su habilidad de coger el nombre de los otros gladiadores ayudan a fusionar en el campo, tambien prepara la zona fuera de juego para una jugada de Parallel World Fusion. Parallel ayuda reciclar esos monstruos perdidos por Miracle Fusion, el efecto de Lanista o alguna otra razon, y ademas vuelve a llenar el cementerio para jugadas futuras involucrando a Equestes y para mas fusiones.

And last but not least, the Extra Deck...

Y ultimamente, el Extra Deck...

Gladiator Beast Gyzarus x2

Gladiator Beast Heraklinos x2

Elemental Hero Absolute Zero x2

Elemental Hero Gaia x2

Elemental Hero Great Tornado x2

Elemental Hero Nova Master x2

Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste (with Super Polymerization in side deck)

Chimeratech Fortress Dragon (via Cyber Dragon in side deck)

That's probably all for this week...

Esto es todo por esta semana, o por lo menos pienso...

New Fish Deck: "ChacuCanth"

I have brought back an old form of my Fish deck which involved one of the Earthbound Immortals in it's key strategy. It didn't have a name before, but it's now called "ChacuCanth"

He vuelto a revivir una variación de mi deck Fish cual involucraba uno de los Inmortales Terrestres en su estrategia principal. Antes no tenía nombre, pero ahora se conoce como "ChacuCanth"

The basic concept of this deck: bring out Coelacanth or Chacu Challhua as quickly as possible with both Mausoleum of the Emperor and Gold Sarcophagus. While it still has the basic Coelacanth OTK in the deck, it revolves around a different aggro strategy that can have both big Fish attacking. The swarm now serves as support, but will occasionally be used as the classic OTK.

El concepto basico del deck: traer a Coelacanth o Chacu Challhua lo mas rapido posible por medio de Mausoleum of the Emperor y Gold Sarcophagus. Mientras el OTK clasico sigue en el deck, no es el fin principal, ya que tiene una estrategia agresiva cual coge ventaja de ambos peces.

Monsters: 18

Coelacanth x2

EBI Chacu Challhua x2

Royal Swamp Eel x3

Nimble Sunfish x3

Oyster Meister x3

Golden Flying Fish x2

Fishborg Blaster

Phantom of Chaos

Sangan

Spells:16

Pot of Avarice x2

Moray of Greed x2

Mausoleum of the Emperor x2

Terraforming

Giant Trunade

Mystical Space Typhoon x2

Book of Moon x2

Dark Hole

Monster Reborn

Gold Sarcophagus x2

Traps: 6

Fish Depth Charge x2

Trap Stun x2

Torrential Tribute

Call of the Haunted

Blackwings, a New Force in Anti?

Blackwings have taken a backseat to the meta during this format. But they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Blackwings han cogido un paso hacia atras en el meta durante este formato, pero siguen siendo una potencia competitiva.

During this time, perhaps we can consider new options for our feathered friends. What kind of options? Well, the arsenal of Anti just became an allied force for Blackwings. How so? With Black Whirlwind now limited, we have a few more options we can use in this deck.

Durante este tiempo, podremos considerar algunas nuevas opciones para nuestros amigos voladores. Pero que puedo considerar? Pues, cartas del arsenal del "Anti" se han convertido en un aliado para los Blackwings. Como es posible? Con Black Whirlwind ahora limitado, tenemos espacio para mas opciones en el deck.

First off, Thunder King Rai-Oh becomes a better option now. Yes, people used it back when Whirlwind was at 2 during the previous format, but it now has even less of a backlash. Not just that, but Rai-Oh can be used in conjunction with our next Anti contender for Blackwings...

Primero que todo, tenemos a Rai-Oh como una de esas opciones. Es cierto que en el formato pasado muchos lo usaron, pero ahora tiene menos concecuencia. No solo eso, pero Rai-Oh se puede usar en conjunto con la proxima carta "Anti" para los Blackwings...

Skill Drain! That's right, with so many effect monsters being crucial for victory nowadays (looking at you, Faultroll), it seems like a good idea to at least main 1 copy of Drain, since it can lock down your opponent at crucial moments.

Skill Drain es esa carta. Con tantos efectos siendo crucial para llegar a la victoria hoy dia (mirandote a ti Faultroll), se ve como una idea para tener aunque sea una sola copia en el deck, ya que puedes usarlo a tu ventaja.

Any other aspects of Anti that Blackwings can use? Of course! Kycoo is a fun option to try. While many would object to it, it can certainly inflict some serious hurt on big decks right now (X-Sabers, Glads, Lightsworn, and Infernity) by removing their key cards from play.

Que otro aspecto de "Anti" pueden usar? Kycoo es una opcion divertida para probar. Mientras muchos no le ven el punto, puede causar un gran daño a muchos decks (tal como Saber, Lightsworn, Gladiator e Infernity) al remover sus piezas claves del juego.

And while the other options of the deck may not be considered Anti, they do indeed help the deck a great deal. Delta Crow is that card. With people now losing their fear of Heavy Storm, Delta makes a great surprise move that I think all Blackwing decks should main.

Y mientras otras opciones no se consideran "Anti," pueden ayudar al deck. Una de estas cartas es Delta Crow, cual acaba de recibir una gran potencia ya que Heavy Storm esta fuera. Delta Crow es una carta que todos los decks Blackwing deben tener una copia si la pueden conseguir.

And for fun, add 7-Tools just to see your opponent's face when you get the upper hand with such an old card.

Y para divertirse un rato, añade 7-Tools para ver la cara de tu oponente al cambiar el juego con una carta tan vieja, pero util.

Mojaturia

A new deck has been reportedly been doing well in my area, and it's a concept that I suggested to my friend long ago. A mixture between a Moja beast deck and add the control aspects of Naturia, which gave birth to a deck I officially call "Mojaturia."

While I don't have time right now to post a guide for Mojaturia (have to go to work soon, and got lots of studying to do), it will be up soon.

However, here's a video of the deck in action so you can see how it works...

Birds of Chaos

So with the new format, my Blackwing deck lost just 1 Whirlwind (could have been worse, so I'm happy). With that, I decided to have some fun with the deck and try out something new.

Con el formato nuevo, mis Blackwings solo perdieron un Black Whirlwind (cual pudo ser peor). Y con eso, he decidido divertirme y probar una idea nueva para el deck.

What motivated me? My new copies of Vayu!

Que me motivó? Mis copias nuevas de Vayu!

I decided to try a new engine for the deck, combining the Blackwings with cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh, Chaos Sorcerer, and Dimensional Alchemist.

Traté de usar un nuevo "engine" para el deck, combinando mis Blackwings con cartas como Thunder King Rai-Oh, Chaos Sorcerer y Dimensional Alchemist.

My purpose was to make an engine that recycles. With cards like Allure of Darkness, Cards for Black Feathers, Vayu, and Dark Armed Dragon (still don't have one) that remove from play Blackwings constantly, why not have some of those cards come back for further use?

Mi propósito de el nuevo deck es hacer un "engine" que recicla. Con cartas como Allure, Cards for Black Feathers, Vayu y DAD (aunque no la tengo) que remueven Blackwings del juego, me parecio bien buscar una forma para darles mas uso a las cartas removidas.

That's where cards like Dimensional Alchemist and D.D.R. come into play. Recover a BW synchro used for Vayu's effect, a BW tuner used for Chaos Sorcerer, a Rai-Oh that got removed for some reason. Also, it makes Cards for Black Feathers hurt a bit less when it comes to decide what to remove.

Ahi es donde cartas como Dimensional Alchemist y D.D.R. entran en juego. Recupera un synchro de BW que se usó para el efecto de Vayu, un BW tuner usado para Chaos Sorcerer o hasta un Rai-Oh que ha sido removido. Tambien hace que Cards for Black Feathers no duela tanto al tiempo de remover.

What's the best card to remove and bring back via Alchemist? Blizzard would be my main choice.

Cual es la mejor carta para devolver a la mano por medio del efecto de Alchemist? Blizzard sería mi mejor opción.

Other than that, the deck remains mostly a standard Blackwing deck.

Pero ademas de estos cambios, el deck sigue siendo un deck regular de Blackwing.

So let's see how it goes...

Vamos a ver como va...

Monsters: 20

BW Sirocco the Dawn x2
BW Shura the Blue Flame x3
BW Bora the Spear x2
BW Blizzard of the Far North x2
BW Kalut x3
BW Vayu x2
BW Gale
Thunder King Rai-Oh x2
Chaos Sorcerer
Dimensional Alchemist x2

Spells: 11

Black Whirlwind
Giant Trunade
Book of Moon x2
Allure of Darkness
Cards for Black Feathers (still don't have it, so I'm using Return from the D.D. instead)
Dark Hole
Monster Reborn
D.D.R.
Mystical Space Typhoon x2

Traps: 9

Bottomless Trap Hole x2
Royal Oppression
Icarus Attack x2
Torrential Tribute
Trap Stun x2
Skill Drain

The deck isn't still 100% finalized, but this is the current version I'm going to test for the moment.

El deck todavia no está 100% completo, pero esta es la versión que estoy usando por el momento.

Bushi's Small Soldiers

With only a few days to go until the DREV sneak, I wanted to find a way to mess around with Bushi before I combined it with my Amazoness Deck.

Then it hit me, why not make a new kind of Bushi deck? Perhaps if we use Level 3 or lower warriors and boost them with Solidarity? That's when the idea turned into a reality (or at least a small fun deck).

Bushi's Small Soldiers

Monsters: 18

The Immortal Bushi x2
Marauding Captain x2
XX-Saber Fulhelmknight x2
Mataza the Zapper x2
Blizzard Warrior x2
Tune Warrior x2
Amazoness Blowpiper x2
Mystic Swordsman LV 2
Exiled Force
Jutte Fighter x2

Spells: 14

Reinforcement of the Army
Foolish Burial
Level Limit Area B
Shrink x2
Solidarity x3
Giant Trunade
Mystical Space Typhoon
Pot of Avarice
Pot of Duality
Book of Moon x2

Traps: 8

Bottomless Trap Hole x2
Royal Oppression x2
Compulsory Evacuation Device x2
Gravity Bind
Torrential Tribute

Now then, time to explain some of the options here in this deck.

Jutte Fighter is here mostly to run over things the warriors won't be able to run over, with the Solidarity boost. It's also helpful to have it as a tuner when you have no Oppression or Level Limit/Gravity Bind on the field. But it's mostly there for removal of bigger opponents.

Amazoness Blowpiper can also serve a similar purpose as Jutte Fighter, but using it's ATK weakening effect instead.

Blizzard Warrior is there mostly for an added touch of control, since you can manipulate your opponent's next draw upon destroying a monster via battle.

The Supreme Trainer

Spellcaster/Fusion/Level 10

1 Spellcaster-Type Synchro Monster + 1 Spellcaster-Type monster
This card cannot be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck except by Fusion Summon. When this card is Fusion Summoned, place 2 Spell Counters on it. This card gains 1000 ATK for each Spell Counter on it. Once per turn, you can remove 1 Spell Counter from a card you control to activate 1 of the following effects:
● Select and destroy 1 card on the field.
● Draw 1 card

Well, looks like this is quite the interesting card for my Gravekeeper's...

Bueno, parece que esta es una carta interesante que puede servir con mis Gravekeeper's...

Note that while it is an Arcanite Magician, it requires just a spellcaster synchro and any other spellcaster.

Fijate en como todavia tiene el nombre de Arcanite Magician, pero requiere cualquier synchro de tipo Spellcaster.

Diva-Spy is just got it's new boss. Flip Spy, search any Gravekeeper, summon Diva and search for Reese/Diva. Tune Diva and Spy for Tempest/Explosive. Attack with synchro, Gravekeeper and this card that helps the deck too...

Diva-Spy tiene su nuevo "boss card." Voltea a Espia y busca cualquier Gravekeeper, pon a Diva en juego y busca a Reese/Diva. Envia a Diva y Espia para Tempest/Explosive. Ataca con el synchro, el Gravekeeper que sobra y despues activas esta carta que ayudara a esta version...


With Super Polymerization, you can safely attack and summon Supreme Trainer with no problems. And since Gravekeeper's don't mind the discard (thanks to Stele), it's the ideal fusion card for this deck.

Con Super Polimerizacion puedes atacar e invocar a Supreme Trainer de forma segura. Y como los Gravekeeper's no les molesta el descartar (gracias a Stele), es la carta ideal para fusion para este deck.

Zero Fish: Destiny Edition

Well, I'm off to take a break from Fish for a while. Need to take some time with another water deck and refresh ideas for Fish. But before I go on that fishing break, I will leave here the other version of Zero Fish.
This one uses Destiny Heroes (mostly Malicious and Dasher) and a few other Dark monsters to feed both D-Draw and Allure.

While not my favorite version of Fish, it's one of the craziest ones I have done.

So here it is:


And with this last Fish deck in some time, I go off to search for other water decks to turn to.

Perhaps the Ice Barriers from HA02, or maybe giving another shot at Sea-Serpents...

Shooting Star and Scar-Red

Star Strike Blast has some new incredible "boss" synchros. And for once, they are actually quite simple to summon (unlike the Savior dragons).

(Effects weren't written down due to not being 100% confirmed yet)

First runner is Scar-Red Nova Dragon, the easiest one to summon by far.


All it needs in Red Dragon Archfiend and 2 tuners for the summon.

Flamvells can summon it via Rekindling (summoning Firedog, Magician, Archer, and Baby)

One RDA with 2 Deep Sea Divas is another way.

Blackwings can use Blizzard to revive Mistral to gain easy access to 2 tuners.

Junk Synchron + Turbo Synchron is another excellent way of doing so.

Fish can also do it, considering they can summon Formula Synchron like nobody's business...

And speaking of Fish...

This guy is going to get abused in Fish once it comes out!


I think Fish decks can bring this guy out with little to no effort.

Summon Coelacanth and proceed to swarm with 1 Oyster Meister, 2 Royal Swamp Eel, and 1 Golden Flying Fish/Metabo-Shark. All while keeping Fishborg Blaster in your graveyard or hand to discard for Coelacanth's effect.

Tune RSE with the first lvl 4 Fish to make Stardust, then tune the other RSE with Oyster to make Gungnir (can't wait for this card to get to the TCG) and leave off a token.

Discard a card to special summon Fishborg from the graveyard and tune it with the token for a Formula Synchron.

Proceed to go nuts.