The suffix “box” has been applied to numerous strategies in the environment. Monsters focused on the Earth attribute and searchable by Giant Rat can contribute to the “Rat toolbox” archetype. Decks built around Apprentice Magician and his bag of tricks are often referred to as falling under the “Apprentice toolbox” build. Perhaps the most famous of them all is the Warrior Toolbox, introduced at Shonen Jump Seattle ages ago.

All of these different box-type decks are based on a sturdy concept: versatility. Giant Rat branches into utter field domination through Injection Fairy Lily, assured monster removal through Exiled Force, and even hand disruption through Amazoness Chain Master. In all of these cases, one monster (Giant Rat) has allowed your deck to achieve a wealth of options. Apprentice Magician, too, can search out either assured monster removal through Old Vindictive Magician or graveyard manipulation through Magician of Faith. Both are incredibly versatile.

Yet Warrior Toolbox is the forefather of all of these different archetypes. When first introduced, the concept of using one card (in this case, Reinforcement of the Army) to search out a bevy of answers to any situation was unheard of. Don Zaloog could swing on an open field, Exiled Force could destroy any monster, D.D. Survivor could swing in the D.D.-infested environment, Mystic Swordsman LV2 could destroy face downs, D. D. Warrior Lady could remove Sangan, and so on. The thought of the toolbox build has inspired something even greater from my mind.

I would like to proudly present Wonderbox!

Creating Advantage through Wonderbox!

Let’s begin with a few disclaimers. No, the deck strategy does not revolve around Wonder Garage. Also, the name was completely arbitrary and does not actually denote anything wonderful.

Actually, Wonderbox! is a modified form of Warrior toolbox that I thought up in preparation for the regional following Shonen Jump San Jose. It revolves around the two most powerful Warrior monsters in the environment, and a certain combo mechanic that unites the two.

The two monsters I refer to are Strike Ninja and Freed the Brave Wanderer, absolute behemoths in a format where Monarchs and heavy trap defenses reign supreme. Since both have identical stats and mirrored activation costs (and were released in the same set), it’s safe to assume that the Light Freed and the Dark Strike Ninja were intended to be opposites of sorts. Any deck that attempted to unite the two—especially in previous Chaos-based formats (with one Light, one Dark removal required)—would run into troubles uniting the strategies.

However, the desire to unite the two has been a pet project for many a famed duelist, including Bryce Thompson and Team Overdose’s Kris Perovic. You see, running a perfect Wonderbox! deck, featuring both Ninja and Freed requires immaculate deck construction. You need the perfect amount of Light and Dark monsters to fuel the graveyard, since either will be a dead draw otherwise. The deck suffers from both the drawback of the Freed-Light deck and the Strike Ninja-Dark deck!

By developing swiftly in the early game, however, you can create a late-game juggernaut that uses Freed to remove the big threats, and Strike Ninja as an almost indestructible monster that jumps all over the field for 1700 damage a turn! The idea is simple; unite Freed and Strike Ninja with two copies of Reinforcement of the Army for the ultimate Wonderbox!

Constructing the Monster Line-up of Wonderbox!

Unlike other archetypes, Wonderbox! is a demanding little bugger. It requires numerous slots devoted to both Light and Dark monsters. Let’s separate the list into Light and Dark support.

Light Monsters: 13

2 Freed the Brave Wanderer

3 Thunder Dragon

3 Cyber Dragon

2 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

1 Magician of Faith

1 Magical Merchant

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

The Light monsters appear to be a bit unusual. Sure the Dragons, Zaborgs, DDWL, and Magician of Faith look good—along with the two copies of Freed—but what about the other choices?

Magical Merchant sends monsters to the graveyard. That’s a good thing for this deck. In fact, we’d run even more if not for the presence of Thunder Dragon, which will combine with Snipe Hunter to unite the Light and Dark attributes. One Snipe Hunter will allow you to fill your graveyard with two Light monsters and a Dark by the time it hits the graveyard. This combo is incredibly powerful for the purposes of Wonderbox!

Dark Monsters: 9 

1 Strike Ninja

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Sangan

2 Snipe Hunter

2 Mystic Tomato

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Jinzo

The Dark monsters are all pretty self-explanatory. We have Mystic Tomato leading into our Snipe Hunter cards and Spirit Reaper. Thankfully, a lot of the great support monsters in the game are Dark types! The tribute monster Jinzo will help us set up our Return from the Different Dimension. All in all, this is a spicy set of monsters.

Finally, let’s close it with “Monsters named Treeborn Frog” support.

Monsters named Treeborn Frog: 1

1 Treeborn Frog

Constructing the Spell and Trap Line-up of Wonderbox!

My favorite spells, for your viewing pleasure:

1 Graceful Charity

1 Confiscation

1 Heavy Storm

1 Premature Burial

1 Nobleman of Crossout

In this case, we’re going to forgo Mystical Space Typhoon, seeing as how the deck is packed with floaters, has Jinzo, and uses Snipe Hunter to great effect.

Spell Support for Wonderbox!

1 Scapegoat: Essential for slowing the game down to fuel our graveyard, it also helps protect our life points against our own Jinzo and nasty cards like Brain Control.

2 Reinforcement of the Army: Wonderbox! would simply be a brown, cardboard box without the wonderful boost that Reinforcement provides.

1 Rush Recklessly: This card simultaneously allows our Tomato to trade with an opponent’s Cyber Dragon and defends Snipe Hunter against Breaker the Magical Warrior. Too good to ignore here, especially when you consider that it may help pump monsters up to destroy with our Freed!

1 Creature Swap: Again, the synergies with this card are too solid to ignore, although I favor running just one for consistency reasons.

1 Enemy Controller: Both defensive and offensive, Enemy Controller allows both Freed and Strike Ninja to attack unopposed over almost every commonly played monster in the game.

The common support traps we’ll be using are:

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Mirror Force

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Torrential Tribute

All four of them fit in this particular case.

Trap Support for Wonderbox!

2 Sakuretsu Armor: These cards help to protect our numerous weaker monsters from being destroyed.

1 Bottomless Trap Hole: A Bottomless Trap Hole should help ward off Breaker and other beefy monsters.

1 Return from the Different Dimension: A card that can definitely win the game, it’ll likely bring back two 1600 ATK Thunder Dragon cards, or even a Jinzo that can seal the deal for your side.

Expected Matchups with the Best Decks in the Format

Short of an opening hand featuring two Thunder Dragon cards, this deck packs very few weaknesses. Snipe Hunter holds up quite well to Gadget monsters, and is one of the very few monsters in the game that can actually take down a Monarch unassisted.

I played this deck to great success in the regional, losing to a few fluke matchups and generally reinforcing my faith in the build. Try it out with your own tweaks; it’s guaranteed to provide some spice to your dueling life!