Okay, I admit it. I, like the vast population of the dueling world, never thought that a deck based around fusing Cyber Dragons could work. And boy, was I ever wrong.
Shawn Kelly is one of the Team GG members here today playing something totally new, and so far he’s been successful. Undefeated, he’s running a deck that fuses Cyber Dragons into bigger monsters through the use of Power Bond and The Light – Hex-Sealed Fusion.
Check out the list.
Monsters: 19
3 Cyber Dragon
2 Proto-Cyber Dragon
2 The Light – Hex-Sealed Fusion
1 Jinzo
2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
1 Cannon Soldier
2 Cyber Phoenix
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Sangan
2 Cyber-Stein
1 Exiled Force
1 Magician of Faith
Spells: 16
2 Enemy Controller
2 Giant Trunade
1 Limiter Removal
1 Last Will
2 Power Bond
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Graceful Charity
1 Megamorph
1 Scapegoat
1 Snatch Steal
Traps: 5
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force
2 Royal Decree
1 Call of the Haunted
Three Cyber Dragon, two Proto-Cyber Dragon, and two The Light – Hex-Sealed Fusion are the core of the deck. Those and two Power Bond give Kelly up to seven fusion material monsters and four ways to fuse them. That gives the deck redundancy and consistency without giving it too many dead or situational cards. Cyber Dragon is a powerful card on its own, and The Light can act as both “fuser” and “fusee,” so this deck doesn’t need very narrow and specific draws to accomplish what it aims to do.
Limiter Removal and Megamorph give more punch, and also have a lot of synergy with Cyber-Stein. They set the tone for the rest of the deck. Three Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive not only provide draw power to get Kelly to his key cards, but they’re also Machines, meaning they can benefit from Limiter Removal. Cyber Phoenix, Jinzo, and Cannon Soldier round out the Machine lineup. Phoenix keeps Sakuretsu Armor, Book of Moon, and Enemy Controller off of your big fusions while giving more draw power, and it gives the deck another way to protect a potential win. Jinzo does the latter as well, and Cannon Soldier turns those situations that are near-victories into real ones.
Isn’t it just beautiful? The rest of the deck’s monsters are standard support, but Kelly eschews things like Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, Chaos Sorcerer, and even D. D. Warrior Lady for his specialized monster lineup. He’s committed himself to his deck’s theme, and now he’s reaping the rewards.
A pair of Enemy Controller open up a turtling opponent, turning small monsters to attack position so that Cyber Twin Dragon can punch damage through them. In addition, they take care of the deck’s one big fear: Spirit Reaper. “If I can keep Reaper off my back this deck just wrecks everything” remarked Kelly, when I asked what cards slow him down. Controller doesn’t just free up clogged fields, but it also allows Kelly to get some use out of Proto-Cyber Dragon when he doesn’t have any other immediate use for them. They’re one of the deck’s few potentially dead cards, so using them as Controller fodder can often be a good call when a win isn’t in sight.
Giant Trunade is more OTK support, working with Cyber-Stein or just clearing the way for one of the deck’s legitimate fusion summons. Last Will is also in the category of general OTK support backing up Cyber-Stein, but Kelly’s in a position where if he fusion summons a monster with an on-field fusion material, Last Will replaces the lost field presence. Combined with the fusion summon itself, the play results in a conversion of card advantage into field advantage. With monster presence being so important in this format, that’s a powerful ability to have. It can pull Cannon Soldier for the burn win, or it can bring out Cyber Phoenix to ensure that an attack doesn’t get bumped away by a defensive effect that targets. This deck is so synergetic that it’s scary.
The traps are also somewhat unconventional, combining three big power cards with a pair of Royal Decree. Again, the point here is to make sure that when a win is possible, it goes through and nothing disrupts it. At the same time, it of course counters a Return player’s attempt to go for game and costs them half their life points. A lot of decks use Royal Decree. This one just happens to use it better, and use it to do more stuff.
The deck’s nothing short of brilliant. There are a lot of smart, great decks here that are 3-0, but this one’s probably my favorite. The amount of commitment that Kelly shows by not running D. D. Warrior Lady, Spirit Reaper, or anything else that many other duelists would consider to be staples of the format is remarkable, and while as a reporter I have to remain neutral, I certainly wouldn’t be unhappy if he made the Top 8 this weekend.