The Warrior’s Triumph Structure Deck didn’t just reprint a ton of great cards—it also rekindled interest in one of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG’s most unique monsters. Gearfried the Iron Knight was once the center of the most brutal One-Turn KO deck of its time. Combining with Butterfly Dagger – Elma and Royal Magical Library to create an infinite draw engine, Gearfried allowed duelists to easily get through their decks to score all five pieces of Exodia. Only the removal of Butterfly Dagger from the format halted the deck, and then Gearfried the Iron Knight faded out of the tier 1 scene.
Fast-forward to today. Blast with Chain has been featured in many successful Pharaoh Tour decks in Europe, and duelists in North America have given the card heavy testing. Though Blast with Chain is primarily used as an answer to Mobius the Frost Monarch and as a generic 2-for-1 card in the face of Dust Tornado, its combo potential with Gearfried the Iron Knight is still remarkably high. Several readers have sent me their Gearfried / Blast with Chain decks over the past couple of months, and today I want to have a look at one.
Here’s what Cameron G. had to say about his build, which he calls “Rusty Toolbox”!
Greetings Jason,
First of all, I love the articles you've written. As a matter of fact, I often bring them up when my team meets. I find your writing insightful and informative. Because of this, I would appreciate it if you would take a look at a deck I made recently (from the remnants of a Warrior's Triumph Structure Deck) that’s centered around my favorite Warrior, Gearfried the Iron Knight.
The deck's main purpose is to make painful 1-for-1 trades via card effects, and dominate the battlefield. I find that Blast with Chain helps to punish Mobius, while Smoke Grenade of the Thief serves as quick hand disruption until Don or Reaper can stick to the field. The only real problem I'm running into is losing Gearfried too early, or topdecking the equip cards. I've considered using My Body As a Shield in the main deck, but room is scarce.
Thanks for your time, and for taking a look.
Keep up the good work,
—Cameron G., Bardstown, Kentucky
Cameron’s deck is a good example of how you can quickly build a tournament-competitive strategy from Structure Deck cards. Here’s the deck list he submitted:
Rusty Toolbox
41 cards
Monsters: 18
3 Gearfried the Iron Knight
2 Command Knight
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Exiled Force
1 Don Zaloog
1 Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Blade Knight
1 Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight
1 Sangan
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Night Assailant
1 Magician of Faith
1 Twin-Headed Behemoth
Spells: 13
2 Reinforcement of the Army
2 The Warrior Returning Alive
2 Smashing Ground
2 Smoke Grenade of the Thief
1 Dark Hole
1 Premature Burial
1 Scapegoat
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps: 10
3 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
3 Blast with Chain
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
The decks looks like it can perform pretty well, but I’ve got two primary concerns. The first is board presence. I’m a little wary of this deck’s ability to keep its platoon of Warriors on the field. Second, even though Cameron has incorporated several cool tech cards into his deck, I’m not sure that he’s using the best ones for his deck in particular. While Cameron had his own set of problems, which he voiced in his e-mail to me, I think that taking care of these two issues will set everything right. My goals with the fix will be to help the deck maintain board and card presence a little bit better, and help it tackle the average North American metagame with a bit more ease, thanks to some more intuitive card choices. If I can accomplish that, Cameron will find that topdecking equip cards will be easier to handle, and he won’t need to play Gearfried as early. Let’s get to it!
While the pair of Command Knights can be frustrating with their high DEF, I don’t think this deck has the swarm capability to make the most of their ATK-boosting effect. Most of the additions that I want to make are in the monster department, so that means that most of the cards I choose to drop will also need to be monsters. Otherwise, I’d wind up with an unbalanced, monster-heavy version of Cameron’s build that wouldn’t perform very well in the early or mid-game. The two Command Knights are an easy drop. They don’t have the proper support here, and there are more favorable cards that could have their place. Both will be removed.
Next, I’m going to drop the one copy of Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight. Again, this can be a great card if you’re playing a rush deck that plans to empty its hand quickly. But this deck plays to a more neutral tempo whenever possible, and it won’t want to overextend very often, especially in the early game. It’s not packing the plethora of strong topdeck monsters that many duelists are using nowadays, and I feel that slapping two or three copies of Cyber Dragon and two D. D. Assailant into the deck list would really be working against what Cameron is trying to accomplish. Instead of adding in a ton of pricy cards, I’m going to drop Swift Gaia.
Moving on, I’m not sure how Night Assailant wandered into this decklist. Maybe it took a wrong turn somewhere, or maybe it was given some bad directions, but either way, this isn’t where it’s supposed to be. While a monster that can destroy another on the field is nice, it’s basically just a 1-for-1 like Sakuretsu Armor or Smashing Ground. Night Assailant doesn’t do much here beyond speeding up the duel, and this deck doesn’t look to play out as quickly as Return from the Different Dimension or Strike Ninja strategies. It’s a great card, but it’s not right for what we’re looking to accomplish.
The same can be said of Twin-Headed Behemoth. The Behemoth is a neat card that can ward off monster destruction—to use something like Sakuretsu Armor against the Behemoth is to waste a card, thanks to the Behemoth’s effect. But again, there are monsters that this deck needs, and space has to be made for them. That makes Twin-Headed Behemoth an obvious candidate to be removed.
I need to pull the single copy of Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, too. Again, there are other Warrior monsters that share a similar ATK with Sasuke, and they’ll provide more benefit to the deck in the long run. The Ninja is primarily run because its effect can destroy Spirit Reaper, but remember that this deck is running two copies of Smoke Grenade of the Thief. Smoke Grenade is a dead card without Gearfried the Iron Knight to attach it to, so it will often be sitting around in your hand. If Gearfried isn’t around, you can always toss the Grenade to your opponent’s Spirit Reaper and watch the ensuing fun! Because the Grenade is an equip spell that targets the monster it’s attached to, it gives this deck two more ways to destroy Reaper. In my mind, that makes Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke a safe drop.
Finally, I’m going to be adding one spell to the deck, so I want to remove one to make room. This list has multiples of several Warrior monsters, so I don’t feel that The Warrior Returning Alive is particularly important. This deck is packing several cards that are dead draws in the early game. Smoke Grenade of the Thief is often useless in your opening hand, and Blast with Chain is also a mid-game card in most duels. We can’t afford to be running anything that performs poorly on early turns, or else fast decks will easily be able to wipe this one out. Because it’s weak in the early game, The Warrior Returning Alive is my last drop.
Taking its place will be Snatch Steal, which is simply too good to pass up in a battle-oriented strategy. Though it’s useful in virtually anything other than a Lockdown deck, we’re actually going to be supporting Snatch Steal more than the average duelist. How’s that, you ask? I’m going to be adding a copy of Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu.
Kotetsu is currently one of my favorite cards in the format, and with good reason. If you aren’t familiar with its flip effect, it lets you search your deck for any equip spell and add it to your hand. In terms of card management, it replaces itself when he’s destroyed, contributing to a neutral tempo. Being able to slow down the duel is important when you’re facing fast decks. Secondly, it can fetch that Snatch Steal we just added. If you ever want to see an opponent change their attitude, just show them that you have Snatch Steal in your hand. They’ll suddenly start setting monsters, and this deck thrives on that fact.
It also loves the ability to go and grab a Smoke Grenade of the Thief when it needs one. Fetching the Grenade, Kotetsu can act as both an answer to Spirit Reaper and support for when Gearfried arrives on the field. That gives you versatility and options, which are both excellent things to have.
A second copy Blade Knight would do very well. It’ll give us topdecking power in the late game, but it will also help keep Flip Flop duelists under control. Blade Knight’s ability to shut down flip effect monsters is rivaled only by Mystic Swordsman LV2, and Blade Knight is just the bigger monster of the pair. Size wins out when you’re contemplating which monster to run a second copy of, so I’m going to add another Blade Knight as part of my fix.
D. D. Survivor will also help fill the gap left by Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, and it will accomplish the important goal of expanding our toolbox. D. D. Assailant sees a huge amount of play just about everywhere, and D. D. Survivor is the best answer this game has. Any battle-oriented deck running Warriors needs to be using at least one Survivor, and a pair isn’t a bad idea. We’ll add just one, in order to keep this deck as flexible as possible.
However, I will commit to two copies of Mystic Tomato. Capable of special summoning Don Zaloog, Spirit Reaper, and Sangan, the Tomatoes will give us more control over how the deck performs. It will also give us a wall in battle, and allow field presence to be maintained when an opponent goes on the offensive. It isn’t a Warrior monster, but the Tomato is a natural fit for this deck’s needs.
Last up, since we removed the one tribute monster we’ve got some room for another. This deck is all about culling resource advantage, and Mobius the Frost Monarch can do that like nothing else. Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu and Mystic Tomato can each act as tribute fodder, so the addition of Mobius makes sense. Its effect can often draw out the opponent’s set Mystical Space Typhoon or Dust Tornado too, and if either happens to be aimed at your set Blast with Chain, well, then they’ve played right into your hands. Heck, you can even tribute summon Mobius, target your face down Blast with Chain with its effect, and then chain the Blast to turn it face up. When Mobius’s effect resolves, Blast with Chain will be on the field attached to a monster, and thus you’ll be able to turn one of Mobius’s shots of spell and trap removal into a monster exchange.
Here are the changes I made to Cameron’s deck.
-1 Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight
-1 Night Assailant
-1 Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke
-2 Command Knight
-1 Twin-Headed Behemoth
-1 The Warrior Returning Alive
+1 Blade Knight
+2 Mystic Tomato
+1 D. D. Survivor
+1 Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu
+1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
+1 Snatch Steal
And here’s the final version, complete with fixes!
Rusty Toolbox: Jason’s Fix
41 cards
Monsters: 18
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
3 Gearfried the Iron Knight
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Exiled Force
1 Don Zaloog
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
1 Goblin Attack Force
2 Blade Knight
1 Sangan
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Magician of Faith
2 Mystic Tomato
1 Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu
1 D. D. Survivor
Spells: 13
2 Reinforcement of the Army
1 The Warrior Returning Alive
2 Smashing Ground
2 Smoke Grenade of the Thief
1 Dark Hole
1 Premature Burial
1 Scapegoat
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Snatch Steal
Traps: 10
3 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
3 Blast with Chain
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
I went over 40 cards, but I don’t feel like that’s a big issue in this case. , Reinforcement of the Army, and Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu all thin the deck, after all. If you’re wary of going over the magic 40, feel free to drop the second Smoke Grenade of the Thief. Kotetsu can search it out, so having a pair available isn’t quite as important as it once was. Still, I’d personally use the 41-card version that I outlined above.
How you play the deck depends on how early you draw into Gearfried. You probably don’t want to be summoning it in the early game. Instead, wait until you’ve drawn out a few copies of Smashing Ground or Sakuretsu Armor, so you can be sure that Gearfried will stick around for a while when it hits the table. For the first few turns of the duel, just play as if this were a regular Warrior deck, with the addition of Blast with Chain. Try and claim card advantage whenever possible, and don’t forget that Blast does more than just destroy a card under certain conditions. That 500 ATK bonus can make many of your monsters big enough to take down Cyber Dragon, and a 1900 ATK Don Zaloog is an imposing sight.
The mid-game is where you want to start using your tricks. If you’re competing against a fast deck, let them play themselves out. A single chained Blast with Chain that earns you two cards for your one will often be enough to win a game. However, this is also the time to use those Gearfried combos. The ability to suddenly reduce the game to topdecking, especially if you have an extra card beyond what the opponent has, is this deck’s big strength. The sudden use of a Blast and a Grenade together will be enough to leave virtually any opponent reeling, and if you can destroy a monster in battle on the same turn you use Blast with Chain or Grenade, you can sit back and relax. The real key to playing the deck is the surprise factor. Most duelists won’t expect what you have planned for them, and they won’t be able to deal with the sudden shifts in game conditions that you can create.
In the late game, when things come down to topdecking, Blast with Chain becomes a vicious card. It can make your monsters huge and let you dominate the field, or it can blow away that one monster or trap the opponent needed to remain competitive. It’s in topdecking situations where the versatility of Blast with Chain truly shines. Being able to destroy a card in any row, be it a monster or a spell or trap, is invaluable.
This deck has a favorable matchup with other Warrior variants, including Return from the Different Dimension. Its flexible disruption and its strength in the mid and late games make Rusty Toolbox a threatening opponent. Just be careful of Cyber Dragon—that 2100 ATK can be troublesome if you don’t have an immediate answer.
Beware of Soul Control and Flip Flop Control. You need to make the most of your Blade Knights in both of these matchups in order to ensure that the tempo of the duel stays quick. If an opponent has five cards in hand, he or she won’t mind losing one to a Grenade, and one of your chief advantages going into the duel will be nullified. When facing either of these decks, you should play as aggressively as possible. Time is not on your side, and as good as Blast with Chain is, you’re only running three. Save them and use them judiciously, especially when facing down Soul Control. Your primary use for Blast with Chain in the Soul Control matchup is to take out face-down copies of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and Magical Merchant, as well as earning 2-for-1 trades whenever possible. Destroying Mobius isn’t a bad idea either, but you need to be proactive with the use of your Blasts whenever possible.
For everyone who has emailed me their Gearfried / Blast decks, give this one a try! It’s a good fit for the average North American metagame, and with some clever footwork, it can perform really well in the latter portions of a duel. It’s inexpensive to throw together too, so it can make a great secondary deck for any duelist!
Thanks for sending it in, Cameron! Hopefully the fix helps!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Do you have an Advanced format deck you could use some help with, or that you just want to show off to the world? Do you want to see it appear in a future Apotheosis article? Send it to me at Jason(at)metagame(dot)com, with your name, location, and explanation of how the deck works—I might take a crack at it!