Ah, Union monsters. What could be more tempting than combining two cool monsters into an even cooler monster? That’s right—nothing.

Fusion monsters have already offered that opportunity in the past, with mixed results. But Union monsters let you mix cards to create more resilient investments, so running Union monsters isn’t as risky as playing with a fusion deck. Plus, if you’re using Union monsters, you don’t have to worry about dead cards like Fusion Gate and Polymerization popping up when you don’t need them. While smaller Union monsters can often be poor topdecks, they’ll never be totally useless. Overall, Union monsters are underrated when considering the relatively low risk attached to playing them.

Reader Colin sent me his Union monster deck to fix up and feature in The Apotheosis, and it’s a cool one to do some work on. Here’s what he had to say.

I got the idea to make this deck from an article I saw on Metagame.com about XYZ-Dragon Cannon. The deck I built around the Dragon Cannon didn't work well, so I added Dark Blade and friends. Then, the deck started working. The effect of Pitch-Dark Dragon when it’s equipped to Dark Blade is awesome! If I feel like it, I can fuse the two cards into the great god of graveyard killing itself, Dark Blade the Dragon Knight. The deck works insanely well once the XYZ/Night Assailant combo happens. Without that combo, I just have a Beatdown deck. I wish I had more copies of the X, Y, and Z monsters, but they are hard to get.

Return from the Different Dimension is how I mass summon to get XYZ-Dragon Cannon out. Dark Blade can decimate a Chaos-reliant graveyard or a
Zombie one. The biggest snag is pulling the combos off. I never seem to draw the
XYZ monsters. However, Dark Blade's combo is easy to do because of Frontline Base and the fact that the combo only needs two monsters. Meanwhile, the XYZ combo needs three. Please help me!

Thanks!

Colin
Edmonton, Alberta

Here’s the build of the deck that Colin sent in.

Colin’s Union Monster Deck
40 cards

Monsters: 17
2 Y-Dragon Head
2 Z-Metal Tank
3 X-Head Cannon
2 Pitch-Dark Dragon
2 Kiryu
3 Dark Blade
1 Sinister Serpent
2 Night Assailant

Spells: 15
3 Frontline Base
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Premature Burial
2 Polymerization
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Limiter Removal
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Snatch Steal
1 Creature Swap
1 The Warrior Returning Alive

Traps: 8
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Mirror Force
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Call of the Haunted
2 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Return from the Different Dimension
 
Fusions: 11
2 XYZ-Dragon Cannon
3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight
2 XY-Dragon Cannon
2 XZ-Tank Cannon
2 YZ-Tank Dragon

Colin’s got a pretty decent deck going on, but he’s right—it looks as if it might be a little difficult to pull off the intended combos. There are some cuts and additions that we can make so that the deck is a little more resilient and runs more smoothly and reliably. Those factors are my only concerns in this fix.

I’m going to start by cutting a single copy each of Pitch-Dark Dragon and Kiryu. While drawing a weak Union monster at the wrong time isn’t as bad as drawing Polymerization or Fusion Gate when you don’t need them, running too many synergy-dependent cards will hurt the deck in topdecking and in the opening game. Once some additions are made to the deck, it will be far easier to search out Pitch-Dark Dragon. Kiryu is something that we’ll just have to sacrifice a bit.

Next, I’m going to cut Polymerization. As a general rule, a deck that runs Polymerization needs to be committed to the card, backing it up with other cards like King of the Swamp and Thunder Dragon. That way, you can make the most out of what can sometimes be a pretty risky card. While the idea of using Dark Blade the Dragon Knight is cool, the Fusion monster doesn’t justify running two potentially dead cards. However, I would suggest side decking three copies of Polymerization just in case you run into a deck that can be hurt badly by the spell. Switching in the card drastically changes how the deck plays, so you should reserve that for extreme situations.

Next, I’m going to drop all three copies of Frontline Base. I’m going to add some cards with special-summoning capabilities that draw from the deck instead of the hand. Frontline Base just isn’t the best option. The problem with the Base is that playing it costs you a card. After that, you drop a second card, the Union monster itself, and doing that is useful only on turns when you’ve already played a monster to begin with. That means you’re using three cards in a single turn, and it’s not often a good idea to have an overextension of that scope. Add to that the fact that the Base requires very specific cards to be useful, and I’m not seeing an overall high net worth in the card.

I’m going to move The Warrior Returning Alive to the side deck as well. I initially wanted to remove the spell entirely, but one of the cards I’m adding to the deck will make The Warrior Returning Alive a valid side deck choice.

Finally, I’m going to do the same with one of the two copies of Return from the Different Dimension. It’s a nice bit of tech in any deck to counter Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and the trap works especially well here, but I need to cut one last card. Return from the Different Dimension is the easiest card to drop.

Now, on to the additions! Colin mentioned that he had difficulty getting extra copies of the Z and Y monsters. That’s fine, because there’s a better alternative! Both Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank are Light monsters with an ATK of 1500 each, so Shining Angel can grab them. Two copies of the Angel will fit in nicely. Also, Pitch-Dark Dragon and Night Assailant are Dark monsters that are eligible for special summoning with Mystic Tomato, so one copy of the Tomato would do well here too.

Sangan is almost a staple in this format. Since I added Mystic Tomato, the Fiend will also be a great addition to this deck. Sangan can grab virtually all of the deck’s combo monsters, and it’s integral to getting the double Night Assailant combo going. One copy of Sangan is a must for Colin’s deck.

With two copies of Shining Angel and one copy of Sangan giving it support, I like D. D. Warrior Lady’s chances of rocking out loud. A single big monster could cause this deck some problems, and D. D. Warrior Lady is one of the best answers in the format. The Warrior is a strong opener and a great topdeck in the late game, plus the card has excellent synergy with the rest of the deck. The card isn’t nearly as hard to find as it used to be, so it makes a great addition.

We happen to have a great blend of Light and Dark monsters, including some that you want to send to the graveyard. In goes Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. This deck’s combos are all about removal, and the Soldier gives you that, as well as resiliency, raw power, and game-winning unpredictability. Love it or hate it, this card is amazing, and any deck that can use it should be doing so.

Next up, losing Frontline Base allows the deck to run Heavy Storm with relative ease. Card advantage is key, and Heavy Storm is one of the few remaining two-for-one cards. Colin’s original reasoning for not including the spell is sound, but now that the deck has changed a bit, Heavy Storm is an obvious candidate for inclusion.

Finally, I want to add two copies of Book of Moon to the deck. Not only is the spell a great defensive card, but it also works well with our newfound ability to bring out Night Assailant with Mystic Tomato. It’s the best bait and switch ever.

The final changes look like this.

-1 Pitch-Dark Dragon
-1 Kiryu
-3 Frontline Base
-2 Polymerization
-1 The Warrior Returning Alive
-1 Return from the Different Dimension

+2 Shining Angel
+1 Sangan
+1 Mystic Tomato
+1 D. D. Warrior Lady
+1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
+1 Heavy Storm
+2 Book of Moon

The final build is as follows.

Colin’s Union Monster Deck: Jason’s Fix
40 cards  

Monsters: 21
1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
2 Y-Dragon Head
2 Z-Metal Tank
3 X-Head Cannon
1 Pitch-Dark Dragon
1 Kiryu
3 Dark Blade
1 Sinister Serpent
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
2 Night Assailant
2 Shining Angel
1 Mystic Tomato
1 Sangan

Spells: 12
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Premature Burial
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Limiter Removal
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Snatch Steal
1 Creature Swap
1 Heavy Storm
2 Book of Moon

Traps: 7
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Mirror Force
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Call of the Haunted
2 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Return from the Different Dimension
 
Fusions: 11
2 XYZ-Dragon Cannon
3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight
2 XY-Dragon Cannon
2 XZ-Tank Cannon
2 YZ-Tank Dragon

Colin’s deck can now open the game with a lot more strength. D. D. Warrior Lady, Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel, and Sangan are all great turn 1 plays, with Night Assailant also being acceptable. From there, the goal is to whittle your opponent down by the mid-game so that when you slap two of your key monsters together or summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon, your monster can shine and won’t be threatened by removal effects.

This is not an early-game deck. Don’t be fooled by Limiter Removal, because you shouldn’t look to win with this deck before turn 4. Against fast, battle-based decks, you’ll want to make good use of Shining Angel, Mystic Tomato, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Night Assailant so you can outlast your opponent. It can sometimes be worth the risk to make a big press with one of the two-monster Dragon fusions, but only take that risk if it feels right. Don’t bother playing out a Dark Blade union until you’re sure that it can survive.

The major challenge that this deck faces is in a Lockdown Burn matchup, so make sure to side deck against it thoroughly. It makes sense to side deck Giant Trunade and two more copies of Limiter Removal. While an early-game victory shouldn’t be your goal, even one Limiter can turn Giant Trunade or Heavy Storm into a win.

That’s it for this one! Thanks for sending your build in, Colin. I hope that the fix helps!

-Jason Grabher-Meyer

Are you interested in seeing your deck featured in this column? Send a decklist formatted like the one in this article, your name, and your hometown to Jason@metagame.com, and your deck might be used in a future Apotheosis article!