There has been a lot of hype surrounding the Gadgets, even before their release outside of Asia. Many players heard about them in internet communities, promoted as the cards that were tearing up the Asian metagame. The powerful consistency of having any one of nine cards in your deck start a sequence that lets you search out those various Machines to add to your hand made for a solid deck choice, and when combined with traps like Royal Oppression, forced many popular Chaos decks into defeat.

Now the Gadgets are here in North America. The buzz surrounding them has been nothing less than tremendous. I’ve already begun to read through Regional reports that include players running Gadget decks while other players specifically aim to run anti-Gadget decks. As such, while Shonen Jump Championship Orlando hasn’t yet taken place at the time that I write this, I am sure that at least one Gadget deck managed to Top 8 the event.

The introduction of the Gadgets into the environment has probably caused the greatest level of diversity that we’ve seen in a while, since it’s one of the best battle-oriented decks in the format. But this also means that it’s particularly vulnerable to many strategies that avoid the battle phase. Combo decks are powerful choices against Gadgets, but those strategies tend to have a harder time against those playing more aggressive decks that potentially main deck Royal Decree and have multiple tech cards side decked.

One of the biggest concerns many players have is with the Gadget mirror match. Gadget players will probably be going up against each other a lot at Regional or Shonen Jump Championship events, since the deck is such a solid and consistent choice for a long day of Swiss-style rounds. As such, those better prepared for a mirror match will have a better chance of making the Top 8 at their event.

There are a couple of key cards that can lend an edge in the mirror match. Chiron the Mage has a beefy 1800 ATK, making it a tough challenge for most monsters (other than Cyber Dragon or an opposing Chiron). It also has the advantage of turning any of your spell cards into a form of spell or trap removal—a key strategy against Gadgets, which often run a large complement of Sakuretsu Armor and Widespread Ruin cards.

Another option is Snipe Hunter, which also has the ability to destroy spell and trap cards (although it trades consistency for versatility). Snipe Hunter can take out any opposing Gadget deck threat whether it’s a monster, spell, or trap. The discard cost can also be paid with anything, including extra Gadgets. However, you’re only going to get this result about two-thirds of the time. This means that while you have a powerful option against any card that can hurt your deck, you could also be done in by bad luck. Typically, if you’re using Snipe Hunter, it is either to push for a win, or to keep yourself alive. If it’s the latter, it’s only a temporary reprieve from the opponent’s threats, since you’re trading card for card and not rebuilding your defenses.

Then there’s Lightning Vortex. This card is probably one of my favorite options for the Gadget deck. It’s also no longer limited to one per deck, so players may want to take notice. A Gadget player will frequently have a large hand, since every Gadget monster that is summoned will be replaced with a Gadget of a different color in your hand. This means that your Gadgets contribute strongly to field presence and tempo, since you lose almost nothing when the Gadget is destroyed. You could summon three Gadgets to the field, and then have your opponent wipe them out with Torrential Tribute. You’ll have the same number of cards in hand as before if all you have been doing is summoning Gadgets.

However, even if you are effectively losing card advantage by destroying only Gadgets with effects, it will often be necessary and can still be a powerful blow against a Gadget deck. While the Gadget deck does not have to worry all that much about card counts, it’s a very slow deck with very small monsters. As such, a Gadget player is encouraged to summon more and more Gadgets to the field in order to actually win the duel, since one Gadget will almost never win the duel alone. Because of this, mass removal on the level of Lightning Vortex is fundamental to controlling a field of little Machines.

While the Gadgets do a good job of replacing themselves when summoned, there are only three of each color. If you can destroy multiple Gadgets at once, this significantly cripples the opponent by taking away his or her field. This forces the opponent to spend a few turns re-summoning Gadgets and protecting them via defensive trap cards such as Sakuretsu Armor.  However, while your opponent is trying to build up a field that can actually do something to you, he or she is also giving you extra turns in which to mount an offensive, find key cards to clear the opponent’s spell and trap zone, or simply find more mass removal for the opponent’s next army. Eventually, a Gadget player will run out of Gadgets to summon if he or she doesn’t have Pot of Avarice, leaving him or her with few options with which to win the game and a deck that’s generally poor without a chain of Gadgets to make it better.

Lightning Vortex, in this instance, can control the Gadget player’s greatest concern: the game’s momentum. If a Gadget player is trying to build up to a fast tempo that will let him or her win quickly, Lightning Vortex takes offensive momentum away. Essentially, you are letting the opponent set the tempo of the game with his or her removal cards, such as Sakuretsu Armor, only to slow his or her offense down to a crawl with your own power-play removal options. This makes Lightning Vortex a fantastic card in a Gadget deck, since it helps you clear away multiple opposing Gadgets when you still have more Gadgets to summon. A play like this leaves you with more monsters to summon in the late game while your opponent is struggling to get anything into his or her monster zone.

Lightning Vortex is also a great option for Gadget decks to use against the fast and aggressive decks meant to counter them. Gravekeeper’s Spy, which is meant to be a massive brick wall for Gadgets, becomes null when you play Lightning Vortex to clear it away. Hyper-aggressive Hydrogeddon plays may be able to get the opponent more monsters on the field, but Lightning Vortex can help shut them down while you slowly but surely rebuild.

Expect Lightning Vortex to be a popular card in the coming months. It is essential for the Gadget deck as one of its primary removal weapons. Mass removal has always been powerful, but Lightning Vortex has always been passed over because of its discard cost. With Gadgets running through premiere-level tournaments, this spell card gets a lot better both for and against those little Machines.