One of the things I enjoy doing most is cracking open the spoiler for the newest Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG set and trying to find ideas for new New Grounds columns. I must say I was quite excited to see the new super rare Cyberdark Horn from Cyberdark Impact. The thought of having a huge 2200 or 2300 ATK monster that could create piercing damage in a Cyber-Stein-infested environment was too much to resist. The strategy based around Cyberdark Horn seems like a worthy one for a New Grounds column, so let’s go ahead and get started.

Creating Advantage through the Cyberdark Concept

Playing a few fun matches with several Comic Odyssey players showed me the power of the card. Cyberdark Horn has stunning potential. By using a base of stable Dragon monsters such as Twin-Headed Behemoth and Masked Dragon, we can create an unstoppable Enraged Battle Ox-type monster that doesn’t fall down immediately to Cyber Dragon. The threat of 1500+ damage a turn is too much to ignore here.

Horn has the opportunity to attach a solid monster to its frame when it’s summoned. The maximum obtainable ATK with this deck is 2300, but even a Masked Dragon would give it the power to run over Cyber Dragon unassisted. Since the monster creates piercing damage and protects itself in battle against cards like Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and Jinzo due to its second effect, this deck is very difficult to dominate through attacks. I had the chance to run a blind playtest with it against superstars from Team Super Friends, Odyssey, and Overdose, and liked it tremendously.

The basic goal is to hold on to field presence with a recruiter strategy centered on the underrated common Masked Dragon. We can take advantage of the different life point interactions surrounding piercing monsters to create a solid, aggressive, controlled strategy.

Build: Cyberdark Impact

General Synergies and Goals:

1) Maintain stable field presence while sending Dragon monsters to the graveyard.

2) Bring out Cyberdark Horn to shift the game.

Pivotal Cards:

1) Masked Dragon

2) Cyberdark Horn

Constructing the Monster Line-up of the Cyberdark Concept

The deck should focus on the synergy between Cyberdark Horn and the different Dragons at our disposal. Since Twin-Headed Behemoth and Masked Dragon are the only level 3 or lower Dragons with a decent effect and enough ATK to make a difference for Horn against monsters like Cyber Dragon, it would be a great idea to focus on getting those monsters in play as fast as possible.

While UFO Turtle is great for finding Masked Dragon, using one narrow recruiter to search out another seems like a mistake. We’re going to separate the meat of this decklist into Dragon/Horn support and generic support. The goal is to get a Horn with a solid ATK-value Dragon attached as soon as possible.

Dragon/Horn Support:

3 Cyberdark Horn

3 Masked Dragon

1 Twin-Headed Behemoth

3 Magical Merchant

1 Morphing Jar

The three copies of Masked Dragon and Cyberdark Horn are givens. They make sense within the frame of the deck. Behemoth is the best search for Masked Dragon and works as one of the few unassisted pure floaters in the game (along with Sangan and Treeborn Frog).

I want to use three copies of Magical Merchant to send the Dragons to the graveyard. It seems like a great idea to help expedite Pot of Avarice and thin the deck out of useless monsters such as unboosted Horns and Masked Dragon (which is an underwhelming card to draw when you could just discard it through an effect). The inclusion of Morphing Jar should help as well.

Generic Support:

1 Sangan

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Treeborn Frog

1 Night Assailant

1 Asura Priest

1 Mask of Darkness

3 Cyber Dragon

1 Injection Fairy Lily

2 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

The general support is self-explanatory. Frog, Sangan, and Breaker are great monsters in this environment. Night Assailant works in conjunction with Graceful Charity and provides face-down removal in a Robbin’ Goblin-based strategy that desperately needs it.

The Asura Priest deals with a few of the deck’s biggest weaknesses, such as monsters like Hydrogeddon. It also helps take care of floaters such as Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, works with Creature Swap, and applies steady pressure to the opponent. Three copies of Cyber Dragon are used in conjunction with your Dragons and provide solid field presence. Zaborg will let you convert some of your dead monsters on the field into a huge threat while maintaining life point advantage.

Finally, Lily is a game-ender that also lets you take supremacy over any other monster on the field.

Constructing the Spell and Trap Line-up of the Cyberdark Concept

Let’s start with the power six.

Graceful Charity

Confiscation

Premature Burial

Heavy Storm

Mystical Space Typhoon

Nobleman of Crossout

All six will be included. The conceptual spell base looks like this.

Conceptual Spell Support:

1 Creature Swap: With our Dust Tornado/Robbin’ Goblin engine that ensures advantage through battle, Creature Swap will be the primary form of monster removal. It works incredibly well with numerous monsters in the deck, including Merchant and Asura Priest.

1 Pot of Avarice: Too good to ignore.

1 Last Will: Last Will can be used to immediately fish out the Masked Dragon you are seeking. It contributes to field presence incredibly well.

1 Book of Moon: This versatile quick-play spell can help you defend against Brain Control, protect against battle, and reuse flip effects with Merchant. Very solid.

Onward to the trap powerhouses, of which we’re using two.

Mirror Force

Ring of Destruction

We can cut Call of the Haunted and Torrential Tribute from the expected line-up. Let’s take a look at the conceptual trap support for our strategy.

Conceptual Trap Support:

2 Robbin’ Goblin: While the recent rise in the use of Dark World worries me, it may just be a temporary aberration. We’ll obviously have to retool this strategy if Dark World grows too huge, but for the moment this is a great card for the deck. Especially in conjunction with . . .

2 Dust Tornado: Two Dust Tornado cards is a proven, effective tool that clears the path for big moves in battle. You can set the Goblin from hand and perform all sorts of combat tricks.

1 Magic Cylinder: Necessary for creating the type of life point gaps that our piercing monsters can exploit.

1 Ceasefire: The heavy rise of flip effects such as Dekoichi makes this card playable once again. It’ll help preserve your field and end games.

Expected Matchups with the Best Decks in the Format

I’ve already played many excellent duelists with the deck. It had some great success.

The deck can create incredibly quick life point swings, then the Robbin’ Goblin and floater mechanics help create disparity in in-hand options that can be used to end the game. Reusing Cylinder and Ceasefire through Mask while swinging with 2200 ATK piercers is incredibly synergistic. If Dark World runs wild at San Jose, however, I’d advise cutting the Robbin’ Goblin for Torrential Tribute and Call of the Haunted.