This week, I’m bringing out a deck from my personal collection* to share with you, and it’s one of my favorites. I call it “The Power of Television,” owing to the fact that I made the original draft of the deck while I was watching Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Initially I hadn’t expected the deck to play very well, especially when you consider the fact that I put zero playtesting into it and derived its contents based on what I thought would happen if Zane and Syrus combined their deck strategies and then converted them to real life. The result went 4-0 in a local tournament the next day, entertained many people with its wacky exploits, and was an absolute blast to play with. I’ve modified it a bit to improve its chances against cookie-cutter–type decks, but the basic principles remain the same.

“The Power of Television”

Monsters: 19

3 Cyber Dragon

3 Drillroid

3 Steamroid

3 Gyroid

2 Gear Golem the Moving Fortress

1 Jinzo

1 Reflect Bounder

1 Morphing Jar

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Sangan

Spells: 16

2 Power Bond

1 Limiter Removal

3 Enemy Controller

1 Book of Moon

1 Swords of Revealing Light

2 Giant Trunade

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Dark Hole

1 Snatch Steal

1 Premature Burial

Traps: 5

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

3 Sakuretsu Armor

Fusions: 5

2 Steam Gyroid

2 Cyber Twin Dragon

1 Cyber End Dragon

This deck is obviously based on achieving a win with Power Bond, preferably by using it with two Cyber Dragons to bring a 5600 ATK Cyber Twin Dragon to the field to wreak havoc on your opponent. This sounds easy enough, but as we all know, the most common opening move by the player who goes second is to special summon Cyber Dragon, normal summon Don Zaloog or Spirit Reaper, and then start picking apart his or her opponent’s hand. With this deck, if the opponent manages to get to your hand right away, you’re in trouble. The first thing to know when playing this deck is how to prevent that from happening to you.

The first change I made from the original deck was to add in two copies of Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, as opposed to two copies of Kinetic Soldier. The main reason for this change was that while smashing the opponent’s Warriors into nothingness is a good thing, the Soldier wasn’t helping against anything else. Specifically, it wasn’t doing anything to help against that first-turn Cyber Dragon and subsequent Spirit Reaper or Don Zaloog. The truth is, no one wants to attack a face down monster with any Warrior other than Mystic Swordsman LV2. Similarly, no one wants to attack a visible Kinetic Soldier with a Warrior, unless that Warrior can skip the damage calculation step. Kinetic Soldier also can’t stand up to Cyber Dragon regardless of what mode you have it in, so Kinetic Soldier had to go into the side deck to make way for Gear Golem the Moving Fortress. While the Golem might still get nailed by Mystic Swordsman LV2, its 2200 DEF is enough to fend off Cyber Dragon on the first turn—and that’s the best defense you’re going to get from a level 4 Machine monster.

Your next viable option for defending on the first turn is Gyroid. Gyroid is an excellent defensive maneuver, as well as an important card for the theme of the deck. While Spirit Reaper might be completely indestructible in battle, it can still be taken down by a simple Enemy Controller. Gyroid eliminates this weakness at the cost of only being able to survive one fatal attack per turn. It also comes with better stats than the Reaper and other Machine-type monsters, making it a valid candidate for Limiter Removal. It’s also one of the fusion material monsters that’s needed for the dreaded cutesy Helicopter of Doom—otherwise known as Steam Gyroid.

All right, so that last part isn’t so exciting, but the rest of it is quite good and it’ll be more than enough to frustrate your opponent. You also have the minimalist version of the standard trap lineup with three copies of Sakuretsu Armor and Torrential Tribute there to blow up any monsters you deem unfit to be on the opponent’s field. You can also use any of the Enemy Controllers or the Book of Moon to block an attack as well. The Enemy Controllers are there for a different and much more sweet purpose, and I’ll get to that next.

As I said above, the preferred method of winning is by using Power Bond to fuse two or more Cyber Dragons together to create a massive monster and then beat up your opponent. This can sometimes be difficult, considering that the only fusion material monster you can use for that Cyber Dragon fusion is Cyber Dragon. Since you can only have three Cyber Dragons in your deck, the chances of having two of them in play at the required time aren’t as high as you’d like them to be.

Fortunately, your opponent is there to help you out. You see, in most matches, you’re going to be playing against a Reaper Rush, Tomato Control, or Warrior deck, and what monster do all of those decks play, almost without exception? Cyber Dragon. Remember, Power Bond doesn’t care which player owns the Cyber Dragon you’re fusing, as long as it’s either on your side of the field or in your hand. There are plenty of ways to turn a Cyber Dragon on the opponent’s field into a Cyber Dragon on your field. In the main deck, these ways include three copies of Enemy Controller and a single Snatch Steal. Since the goal of the first turn is to set up a defense that the opponent’s Cyber Dragon and Spirit Reaper can’t get through, it makes sense that your second order of business would be to win the game.

We know what the win condition of the deck is—now it’s time to see how we can do it without interference from the opponent. Step one to Power Bonding your way to victory is to have the cards that are required for the fusion. That means either Steamroid and Gyroid, or multiple Cyber Dragons. With multiple Cyber Dragons, it’s quite common to snag one of your opponent’s Dragons by tributing the monster that hopefully wasn’t destroyed on their first turn to take control of the opposing Cyber Dragon and fuse it with one in your hand. Obviously, you’ll also need a copy of Power Bond to do this.

Step two is to clear out the opponent’s backfield and any face down monsters that he or she might have. Clearing the backfield is easy, because you’ve got Giant Trunade, Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon, and, to a lesser extent, Breaker the Magical Warrior and Jinzo to help. Face down monsters tend to be a problem, but if you’re facing off against Spirit Reaper and Cyber Dragon, your opponent won’t have any face down monsters. If you’re doing this later in the game, that might not be a true statement. This is where the three copies of Drillroid come in. It’s an obvious inclusion in Machine- or Vehicroid-based decks, and it’s a sound choice in many mainstream decks as well, especially those that run multiple Enemy Controllers. Taking out defense position Spirit Reapers and D. D. Assailants is something that anyone can appreciate, and face up or face down, Drillroid is there to get the job done. You’ve also got Nobleman of Crossout, but you don’t want to have to depend on Limited spells unless you absolutely have to.

This brings me to another important point about the deck. Notice that I’m running three of each of my key monsters and at least three cards with the same type of effect as each key spell.** For example, I have three cards that remove all spells and traps from the field. I have four cards that let me take control of an opponent’s monster. Redundancy of effect is one of the biggest things that many players don’t take into account when they’re building decks. In fact, most players strive to do just the opposite, preferring to play “toolbox” decks that can achieve almost any effect required to help them succeed.

The problem with toolbox decks is that they rely on the luck of the draw and several search cards to try and keep the cards that are required to win the duel. This deck is on the opposite end of the spectrum: it’s a deck that’s supposed to win by doing the exact same thing in every duel. In this case, you’ll sacrifice a variety of effects for great consistency, which is directly opposed to toolbox strategies that sacrifice consistency for a variety of effects. This may be a result of seeing Yugi follow the same pattern week after week to defeat his opponents,*** but in general, I tend to be a fan of more consistent strategies.

This is an excellent deck for use in exhibition matches,**** and it’s a good one to take to local tournaments as well. Heck, with some work and some serious playtesting, I’d bet this type of deck has the potential to do well in a Regional or Shonen Jump event. Some players have already been trying out Power Bond as a side deck card, but as I pointed out in a previous article, there are better uses for Power Bond. This was the kind of deck I was referring to in that article, and now you have it at your disposal as well. Happy dueling over the holidays—and until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!

Jerome McHale

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NEXT WEEK: Winter is just around the corner, and as we all know, the king of winter is Mobius the Frost Monarch. While Mobius has always been seen as a splashable card and an important part of Soul Control, it’s also possible to build a deck based entirely around using Mobius to generate advantage. Check it out next week when I’m “All Snowed In.”

*Personal collection, meaning decks that I have physically built and carry around with me to all the events I attend. This is one of the three or four decks that I’m likely to duel you with if you meet me during my free time at an event. The rest . . . are a secret.

**With the exception of Power Bond. Power Bond is a dangerous card, and I don’t just mean its nasty side effect. It can be an awful topdeck, and one of the previous versions of this deck contained only one Power Bond with a copy of Different Dimension Capsule taking up the other empty slot.

***That pattern would be, “Get knocked around a bit, summon Dark Magician, then use various support cards that may or may not exist to win.”

****You know, an exhibition match? Where the point is for the players to show off their deckbuilding and dueling skills to their peers and have a good time doing so? Maybe it’s just a judge thing . . .