Last week’s release of Structure Deck 10: Machine Re-Volt has had a big impact on my inbox. I’ve been flooded with a variety of Gadget decks, many of which put some original twists on what is often regarded as a very straightforward set of monsters.
Today’s subject is actually a submission I received a week or two ago. It was built before the Gadgets were released in our territory, and the deck’s creator was trying to simulate the effects Gadgets provide. I originally planned to just fix a deck that already had Gadgets in it, but this one presented some cool ideas that I really didn’t find anywhere else. It’s not hard to identify the cards that this submitter was using instead of Gadgets, and I’ve never really been able to do this kind of fix before: here’s what the deck’s creator had to say about it!
Hey Jason!
Good old Gadgets. I started building this a while back, before we knew they were coming. Since I wanted to play them so badly, I went looking for a deck that played in a similar fashion to the card-hungry Machines. This is what I came up with.
I can totally control the field with this deck. No special summoning, limited normal summonings, and card spinning are all tied up in one deadly combination. Combine that with the fact that I never run out of cards thanks to Meanae and Thunder Dragon, and you've got one crazy, explosive deck. Since the Gadgets are in fact being released to us soon, if you could transform this into a Gadget deck, it'd be awesome.
Hope you like it,
—Josh S.
NSW, Australia
Josh’s focus on limiting his opponent’s summoning and forcing him or her to make predictable moves is what makes his strategy stand out. Here’s the deck list he sent me, pre-Machine Re-Volt.
Gadget to Be—42 Cards
Monsters: 17
3 Thunder Dragon
3 Vanity’s Fiend
3 Cliff the Trap Remover
3 Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
2 Mystic Tomato
1 Sangan
Spells: 15
3 Back to Square One
1 Book of Moon
1 Graceful Charity
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Premature Burial
2 Reinforcement of the Army
2 Smashing Ground
2 Upstart Goblin
Traps: 10
2 Dust Tornado
2 Forced Back
3 Narrow Pass
3 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
Josh was using Thunder Dragon, Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn, and Cliff the Trap Remover to simulate the extra cards a Gadget player would normally have access to. Now that Machine Re-Volt has hit shelves, we’ll be replacing them all with three copies of Green Gadget, Red Gadget, and Yellow Gadget, but the cards left in between warrant some serious discussion.
First off, instead of pitching extra cards to Snipe Hunter or Chiron the Mage, Josh uses extra Gadgets and dead spells to fuel two powerful effects: Back to Square One and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. Both cards make use of the “spin” mechanic, sending a monster (in the case of Square One) or any card of your choice controlled by the opponent (for Wind Blast) back to the top of the owner’s deck. That doesn’t just remove a problem; it forces the opponent to draw the same card again, meaning that when he or she does you’ll have pre-existing knowledge about how the opponent might act in future turns.
The other thing I liked about this deck was how it shut down special summoning. It doesn’t run Cyber Dragon, and instead opts for three Vanity’s Fiend cards. That seriously hampers the Dragon, Mystic Tomato, Apprentice Magician, and Treeborn Frog, all of which are lynchpin cards in Monarch decks. Even other Gadget builds tend to run at least Cyber Dragon, so Vanity’s Fiend is valuable in several different matchups. What makes it so cool though, is the inclusion of Forced Back. By forcing the opponent to tribute a real monster (instead of a recruiter or Treeborn Frog) you balance out the loss of your own Forced Back and keep the opponent’s big monster off the field. That’s pretty valuable when you’ve got to protect Vanity’s Fiend from Zaborg. It also ensures that your little Gadgets have a clear path to the opponent’s life points, since you can bump away anything that might dare to clog the field.
Keeping those two central points in mind, I’d like to make a few improvements. I think this deck could be a little more consistent, and a couple of key changes can let Josh take even better advantage of the special summoning restrictions. First though, the deck needs Gadgets!
As I stated above, the first cut is an easy one: Thunder Dragon, Cliff, and Meanae will all be removed for three copies of each Gadget Monster. No surprises there. Next, I want to remove the pair of Mystic Tomato cards. With Meanae and Cliff on a permanent vacation there isn’t anything to search out with Tomato’s effect (save Sangan), and the Tomatoes become sort of useless anyway once Vanity’s Fiend hits the field. This brings our count of special summons down, enhancing the deck’s overall synergy. We’ll actually be adding some special summon power back in later, but it’s going to be of a more cohesive nature than Tomato.
The last monster I want to drop is Goblin Attack Force. I’m betting he’s in here as an answer to Cyber Dragon, but I don’t think he plays as nicely with the Gadgets as some other Warriors can. He’ll be dropped for something a bit more synergistic.
Moving onto spells and traps, the first big change I want to make is dropping the three Narrow Pass cards. Not only do I think the average opponent will be hard-pressed to keep more than two monsters out against this deck anyway, it’s also frequently a dead card and a poor draw in the late game. Worse yet, it interferes with some of the improvements I’d like to make once I start adding cards, and makes the deck more vulnerable to Royal Decree and Jinzo. Josh had some really great ideas when he built this deck, but I think they can all work better if we remove this one element.
Three copies of both Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Back to Square One seems very heavy. While these cards are good, seeing too many copies of them too early in the game won’t make for a successful duel, so we need to cut back a little. The difference each brings to the table is worth noting: Phoenix Wing Wind Blast is chainable and can be used on the opponent’s turn. It can also target a spell or trap, while Back to Square One can only spin monsters. At the same time, Square One doesn’t get stopped by Decree and doesn’t need to be set prior to activation. I’m going to drop one copy of each, meaning that the deck is still packing a very committed line of two Squares and two Wind Blasts.
The Upstart Goblin cards aren’t really necessary now that we’ve got Gadgets to provide ample deck thinning. I’ll be running fewer Warriors, so I’ll also drop one Reinforcement of the Army while keeping one copy in the deck. Finally, the Dust Tornado cards no longer seem important, since Gadgets really don’t mind removal like Sakuretsu Armor.
Even after adding in the nine Gadgets, we’ve still got eleven free card slots before this deck hits a total count of 40. I’m going to start by adding a monster that I consider to be a must-play for any battle-oriented strategy: Breaker the Magical Warrior. While I’m not the type to declare anything a “staple,” Breaker is useful in just about any deck that wants to win by attacking. I’ll also add D. D. Assailant and D. D. Warrior Lady, both of which will be searchable via the remaining Reinforcement of the Army. These monsters are especially good here, because as soon as they hit the table it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll be taking at least one card with them when they’re destroyed or removed. That helps us simplify the duel quickly, amplifying the effects of the Gadgets.
The only remaining monster that I’d like to add is Treeborn Frog. Frog and Premature Burial will be the only special summon cards in this deck, and they were selected for a very straightforward reason: while each is shut off by Vanity’s Fiend, they’re also incredibly helpful in actually getting the Fiend into play. Treeborn Frog provided a strong impetus for the removal of Narrow Pass from the deck. If Pass remained, its status as a continuous trap would keep Treeborn Frog from being useful.
One of the great things about this deck is that it keeps the opponent’s field clear. Over time that means a lot of small hits from your Gadgets: that’s pretty good, but you can speed things up and create an alternate OTK with surprising ease. All the deck needs is Ultimate Offering. Activate it, keep the opponent defenseless with Forced Back, Wind Blast, and Back to Square One, and you can fill the field with Gadgets for a game-winning push. This is another great option that wouldn’t be possible if we were still using Narrow Pass.
From there I just want to add some more common control cards to round out the deck. Confiscation is a great spell that goes into almost everything I play, especially now that I don’t have to worry about paying for (or being beaten by) Cyber-Stein. It builds on this deck’s theme of hand scouting, helps eliminate potential threats before they arise, and simplifies the duel. Another Smashing Ground and two Sakuretsu Armor cards give us an extra layer of monster control, while Ring of Destruction and Mirror Force are more must-plays for anything battle-oriented.
So, the final list of changes to the deck is as follows:
-3 Thunder Dragon
-3 Cliff the Trap Remover
-3 Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn
-1 Goblin Attack Force
-2 Mystic Tomato
-1 Back to Square One
-2 Upstart Goblin
-1 Reinforcement of the Army
-3 Narrow Pass
-1 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
-2 Dust Tornado
+3 Green Gadget
+3 Red Gadget
+3 Yellow Gadget
+1 D. D. Assailant
+1 D. D. Warrior Lady
+1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
+1 Treeborn Frog
+1 Confiscation
+1 Smashing Ground
+2 Sakuretsu Armor
+1 Ultimate Offering
+1 Mirror Force
+1 Ring of Destruction
The final version of the deck looks like this . . .
Gadget to Be—Jason’s Fix—40 Cards
Monsters: 18
3 Vanity’s Fiend
3 Green Gadget
3 Red Gadget
3 Yellow Gadget
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
1 D. D. Assailant
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Sangan
1 Treeborn Frog
Spells: 13
2 Back to Square One
1 Book of Moon
1 Graceful Charity
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Premature Burial
1 Reinforcement of the Army
3 Smashing Ground
1 Confiscation
Traps: 9
2 Sakuretsu Armor
2 Forced Back
2 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
1 Ultimate Offering
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction
Like most Gadget decks, this one can’t open as strongly as something packing recruiter monsters. If it gets attacked on turn 1, it’s probably going to take the hit, because it’s not packed with the six to nine defensive traps that the average Gadget build runs. With that said, it comes alive on turn 2 and starts making aggressive pushes against the opponent very early.
Deciding when to bring out Vanity’s Fiend can be tricky. On the one hand, you’d like him out as early as possible to stop the opponent from getting his or her effects. On the other, you don’t want to see Vanity blown away the moment he hits the table. In general, I’d suggest throwing caution to the wind and erring on the side of aggression, bringing Vanity out as soon as you can. One handy trick you can use to minimize the risk this presents is to ensure that Red Gadget is on the field: since Red Gadget has a DEF of 1500, it’s the one Gadget monster that can shield Vanity’s Fiend from Smashing Ground.
Your main objective no matter where the game stands is to deal damage. While card advantage is nice, eventually you’re going to have to give up cards for Wind Blast and Square One. You want to ensure that when you do, it creates situations that you can turn into wins. When to use these cards is the other critical choice this deck demands.
Against Monarch strategies, Josh should win almost all the time, especially if you get Vanity’s Fiend out early and protect it. Against Gadget decks you’ll need to be a bit more careful. If you open with Forced Back and some removal, by all means, go ahead and try to score damage early. Sure, Forced Back on a Gadget monster costs you a card, but the opponent doesn’t get his or her additional Gadget, and you have one less monster on the field to worry about. Forcing the opponent to draw Gadgets thanks to Wind Blast and Square One is also surprisingly damaging, despite the fact that doing so will cost you a card in the long run. If you can make your opponent draw nothing but Gadgets for a few turns, all the extra Gadgets in the world won’t help him or her defend from your attacks, and that’s good news for you.
Could this deck take a Regional? I definitely think so. While it demands a bit of practice due to the different tempos it can be played at, it’s got great matchups against the two most hyped decks in the format. Even when put up against Chain Strike Burn, it can hold its own, sweeping games with a turn 2 Ultimate Offering or just building so fast that the opponent can’t create the necessary chains in time.
This should serve Josh well in the coming weeks and, if you’re looking for a more complicated Gadget variant, it might be good for you too!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer