Today we’ll be considering an exciting new deck that seems to be sparking the interests of players across the country. The concept is courtesy of Team Serious Business, and it packs tricks that we haven’t seen in a deck for a while. Though we’ll be making some changes to the build, the original concept remains the same.
Geartown is a combo-based deck which gets its power from its namesake, Geartown. It allows for multiple summons of Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon. Next to that, we have an incredible amount of Machine support to allow for a faster one-turn KO. The deck’s real strength comes from a combo card that I’ve been swearing by since Oja-Exodia fell to the introduction of D.D. Crow: Magical Hats. It allows you to flip a monster into face-down defense position (possibly reusing its effect), search your deck for two copies of Geartown, and then special summon two copies of Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon! If anyone can think of an easier way to thin your deck, get an extra flip from a Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and special summon two Machine monsters with 3000 ATK, I’d like to hear it.
Similar to when Machine decks were rampant among the final tables in 2007, this deck packs a rather strong drawing engine. It wants to rifle through itself quickly to get to the pieces of one of several game-winning combos: this means that almost every hand you draw has the ability to quickly overwhelm an opponent. This is the strength of the deck you’ll be looking to abuse.
The Monsters
The monster lineup is thin because we want to be able to play several cards in a single turn. This relies on us not drawing more than two or three monsters in our opening hand.
Notice that the monster lineup is a drawing engine in itself. Card Trooper, Morphing Jar, Dekoichi, and Cyber Phoenix all draw cards: these represent a majority of our monster lineup. With the exception of Sangan, Reaper, and Morphing Jar, our entire monster lineup is made of Machine monsters. This will grant us more abuse of cards like Limiter Removal, Overload Fusion, and Future Fusion, which all constitute one-turn wins.
The three copies of Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon are the deck’s main weapon. They’ll be special summoned constantly and quickly. With a whopping 3000 ATK, they’ll be able to run through almost any monster (and a good chunk of your opponent’s life points). While its effect seems rather bulky, in this deck it basically reads, "If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any spell or trap cards until the end of the Damage Step." That translates to, "If this card attacks, your opponent can’t do anything about it." Also, if you special summon two while flipping a Dekoichi face down, they’ll have constituted a free card already. That means you don’t have to worry about overextending and finding yourself irreparably behind.
The Spells
The spells are the thickest part of our deck, and they fall into three categories: cards that draw more cards, cards that clear the back row, and cards that end the game.
The cards that end the game are the most interesting. Geartown is simply a powerhouse: it lets you special summon multiple copies of Gadjiltron Dragon or tribute them for just one monster (the former being far more powerful). Overload Fusion and Future Fusion are going to work exactly the same way they did before, allowing us to remove our Cyber Dragon and several other Machines to special summon Chimeratech Overdragon to end the duel. Limiter Removal and Brain Control are going to allow you to make some huge moves, especially when used next to a couple of copies of Gadjiltron Dragon.
The Traps
This is where things start to get interesting. The three copies of Magical Hats is our most powerful combo. It lets you draw cards, thin the deck, and special summon two very, very large monsters. That’s how most games are going to end, and you’ll be setting the move up for the first turn or two.
Traps: 11
1 Mirror Force
1 Crush Card Virus
3 Reckless Greed
3 Magical Hats
3 Solemn Judgment
The three copies of Reckless Greed are going to let you sift through your deck even faster. You shouldn’t be held up by the lack of drawing very often, because your monsters are going to help you get past it. By getting two turns ahead in your draws, you’ll be able to make the dominos fall even faster: that’s what we’re looking to do.
The Mirror Force is our only form of stall, and here is where we can reflect on the deck’s weakness. To use Magical Hats most efficiently, you’ll need to flip a Dekoichi and draw a card first. In order to do that, you’ll need Dekoichi to survive a turn on the field. With the game moving as fast as it is, that’s going to be a problem. This falter in step may hold the deck back until some innovations are made, but I wouldn’t discount that. There’s a lot of splicing that can be done here, whether it be with Destiny Hero monsters or a revisiting of Demise one-turn KO. There are definitely ways around this.
If you occasionally find yourself wanting to play your Monster Reborn to revive your opponent’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon instead of his or her Elemental Hero Stratos, you might find this deck more than a little entertaining. It’s difficult to have more fun playing Yu-Gi-Oh! than when you’re playing a deck with the ability to special summon 3000 ATK monsters. Have fun at the tables overwhelming your opponent and innovating with this new concept, and may Magical Hats always find itself at the top of your deck!
—Ryan Murphy