Dueling like a Mad Scientist: Wind-Up Combos 1.7 + YIP News

[No Data Log]


CONTINUING FROM THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE:


SS = Special Summon


With Shark or Factory (search Shark) in hand in addition to Shark and Magician, the possible ending fields you can have become more lethal and harder to break. For example:

ENDING FIELD: Wind-Up Zenmaity, M. X-Saber Invoker, any rank 5.

CHANGES IN COMBO: Tribute both Magicians for the first two discards, make Invoker with the last Rat+Hunter, then use Invoker to SS Soldier/Warrior and SS Shark from hand. You now have your rank 5. This is especially useful for destroying a set Mirror Force or a troublesome facedown monster with Zenmaioh after you hand loop in the event you go second.


ENDING FIELD: Any rank 3, any rank 4

CHANGES IN COMBO:  Tribute the first Magician for the first discard, then proceed like normal. When the last Rat summons Hunter, SS Shark from hand, use Hunters effect on the last Zenmaity, then xyz Shark and Magician for the rank 4, and Hunter and Rat for the rank 3. Badabing, badaboom.


News about this weeks YIP:


YIP has been canceled this week due to lack of news/market changes. This is a very slow time for Yugioh, both market and gamewise. During these slow times I might make YIP bi or once monthly, because there's just not that much to talk about when nothing is happening =X.

Next time on Dueling like a Mad Scientist, a supplement on non-Hunter combos and strange Wind-Up combos you've probably never seen before! Plus maybe one or 2 more hunter combos for kicks ;). Till next time...

Dueling like a Mad Scientist: Wind-Up Combos 1.3

Data Log 43:


Added Wind-Up Hunter back to my deck, and I have to say its a strange feeling using the Wind-Up loop after spending around a month not using it. I realize fully now how much power and versatility it gives the Wind-Up duelist. I caught my friends completely off guard and found that they radically adapted their playstyles just because of one card in my deck. For one card to have such profound power is unusual. More experimentation is needed to fully document its effects...

And now for the main article!


For today I will just be listing a few different ways to change your field up after a Wind-Up hand loop

INFORMATION:

*When doing the Magician-Shark Wind-Up hand loop, adjust what you tribute based on what you want your ending field to be. This is where M. X-Saber Invoker tries to earns his extra deck space lol. This article assumes you already know how to flawlessly do the Wind-Up loop.

Ending Field 1: M. X-Saber Invoker + Utopia

Changes in the combo: Tribute 1 Magician for first card you discard, summon M. X-Saber Invoker with your last Rat-Hunter, then use Invoker to bring out Soldier/Warrior and xyz with the magician.

Ending Field 2: Zenmaity + Rank 3 of your choice

Changes in the combo: Tribute both Magicians for your first 2 discards. The standard setup that you want to end with

Both these options are pretty basic, but can be expanded depending if you open with Factory/more Sharks, which is what i'll be looking into in part 1.7. Sorry for the lack of content lately but I've been fairly busy as of late. I'll make sure to post alot more content in the future to make up for it! Thanks for reading this (and again I apologize for the lack of length or details. I will supplement it in the next article).

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Dueling like a Mad Scientist: Wind-Up Theory I

Data Log 37:

Been extensively testing E-Tele and Instant Fusion in Wind-Ups as well as fluctuating how much defensive traps I run. The conclusions I'm drawing are first and foremost, whether it be hand or normal traps, you MUST run traps to survive this format. Trying to run Wind-Ups so aggressively that you forgo traps is almost suicide. Maxx "C" and Veiler or normal traps are just too important to survive a format where almost every deck is capable of overextending into a OTK. E-Tele has been working wonderfully, letting me combo out of a hand that would otherwise be terrible if I so choose (lone Rat/Rabbit/Shark in hand become workable with E-Tele). Having the option to go into the Naturia Syncros as well as easy access to Stardust after a combo via lvl 5 Shark is VERY nice, especially at the end of a long Wind-Up combo. The same goes for Instant Fusion, its pretty much almost the same thing as E-Tele except a tiny bit less flexible. The only problem I'm having with E-Tele is deciding how many psychics to run. I've tried variations of 1/2 Psychic Commander, 0/1 Esper Girl, and 1/2 Serene Psychic Witch, to varying levels of success. More experimentation is required...

And now please enjoy the main article!


This will more or less be a discussion about Wind-Up theory and the greater purpose of the deck. Its amazing how the goals and purpose of the deck have shifted with each successive release of support. In GENF the only cards released for Wind-Ups were Soldier, Dog, Magician, and Wind-Up Factory. Nobody knew or cared about Wind-Ups at that point (including me for a short while) but at the slight prodding of one of my friends, I checked them out. Starting out as a Gadget-like beat down deck, they have evolved from that into a advantage keeping Stun-like deck, where the many disruptive monsters like Juggler and Knight teamed with the reliable Soldier and Magician, all the while keeping advantage with Factory. With the release of ORCS they have matured into a deck absolutely unrivaled in Xyz summoning power. A deck that I truly believe is one of the most flexible and powerful archetypes to date. Or, as they are most infamously known as, a deck capable of neutralizing an opponent on the first turn of a duel by dropping their entire hand.

So with the cursory introduction out the way, the real questions can now be asked. What is the best way to run the deck? What should the Wind-Up duelist keep in mind? What is the best endgame scenario a Wind-Up player can aspire for? Whats the best way to use each Wind-Up card, and for that matter what are the best Wind-Up cards? Unfortunately these questions have many answers, but I will aspire to discuss what I truly believe every Wind-Up player should know about their chosen archetype as well as my opinions on the answers to the above questions. The first thing I believe every Wind-Up player should know is that through extensive testing I've come to the conclusion that the Wind-Up hand loop, while a very powerful weapon in the arsenal of a Wind-Up player, cannot be counted on to consistently bring you victory as it is now, espically at a large event like a Regionals or YCS. I would personally never go for the 3 card loop, it is sub-optimal and will lose you games if you get unlucky and hit the wrong things. The 4-5 card loop is the only one you should consider ever using, and even then give very serious thought to if it's worth going for. The price you pay for hitting your opponents hand is very steep. 0 Zenmaitys and 0 Rats ensure that unless you have some way to revive rat or Pot of Avarice you will have no explosive plays left in your deck.

All of what I said before only applies to a first turn loop, and mostly if your playing multiple rounds at a major event where probability will bite you eventually. At a locals tourney, as long as your running the best build possible you probably wont have to worry about the random games you'll lose because you discarded the wrong cards from their hand, they drew into Maxx "C" or Veiler, or you just didn't draw the right cards. Its important that if you decide to make the Wind-Up loop your win condition that you run the optimal build because after you loop your opponent first turn your basically telling them "try to break me with what you have left." I am personally very wary of doing the loop first turn unless I draw into multiple Solemns (to make sure my field survives till next turn) or Pot of Avarice (to hit their entire hand). I feel the loop is much more potent later in the game when the odds of dropping power cards they've been holding are much higher, but I realize that many of you do not share this belief so this advice is for you. Tour Guide, Tour Bus, 2 Hunters, and Instant Fusion/Emergency Teleport are absolutely crucial to any Wind-Up deck that is trying to loop first turn consistently. Those cards allow you to beef up your field presence at the end of a loop and do it more consistently, increasing the odds that your setup wont be broken by random power cards. Since everything will be done in the first/second turn, hand traps are obviously preferred.

Konami sold Wind-Ups as the Xyz archetype, so its only natural that this is what they are most proficient at doing. The deck was literally made for doing this and after months of testing I feel like this will be the optimal way to run the deck for the foreseeable future if you are in a competitive mindset. More and more powerful Xyz monsters are being released with each new set, and Wind-Ups will have access to the lions share of them. Being able to toolbox into any Xyz monster and not just rely on whats given to you from your deck is what I feel makes a Xyz focused Wind-Up deck stronger than its variants.

In the next part I'll discuss some lesser known ways to run Wind-Ups, as well as answer the rest of the questions posed in this article. Till next time!

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Dueling like a Mad Scientist: Wind-Up Combos I

Introduction!

In my "Dueling like a Mad Scientist" series of articles, I will be detailing my latest and greatest experiments with the Wind-Up archetype. Pushing Wind-Ups to the limits and finding out everything and anything that they're capable of is my ultimate goal...and then passing the knowledge I learn to you the player! Plus these toys make marvelous test subjects... +_+. It's not torture if it's in the name of science!

Now please enjoy the main article!


Data Log 33:

I took out Wind-Up Hunter from my build, at least for now. The hand loop is getting boring and losing me friends (lol), plus it's hard to see how much Xyz spam Wind-Ups are truly capable of when I'm tributing off my Zenmaitys for Hunter. Not even sure if its worth it, you lock yourself out of the game if they can clear your field after you go into the loop because you have 0 Rats and 0 Zenmaitys. Short of Pot of Avarice or Monster Reborn your pretty low on options left in the deck. And there are a surprising number of decks that can topdeck answers to your field after you loop their hand (HEROs being at the forefront of my mind). Its my current belief that looping your opponents hand is only worthwhile if you have Pot of Avarice in hand to make sure you take everything from them as well as end with a stronger field, as taking 3-4 cards from them is not worth the price of robbing yourself of your best monsters when the game has barely begun. But I digress...here are some basic to intermediate Wind-Up combos I discovered that you might not be aware of...

SS=Special Summon

COMBO 1: The Infinite Blocker (Requires Rabbit in grave and Rat in hand)


1. Summon Rat, SS Rabbit from graveyard with effect
2. Use Rabbit to banish Rat
3. Rat comes back during your next standby phase
4. Switch it from defense to attack, then activate its effect again to SS Rabbit if it died.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 ad infinitum

ENDING FIELD: [Used Rabbit in defense mode] WITH Rat coming back next standby phase.

CARDS USED: 1

Comments: Simple, easy to do combo that juggles a Rat and blocks an attack till whenever you feel like stopping and getting serious.

COMBO 2: The Wombo Combo (Requires Magician and Shark in Hand with with Factory faceup.)



1. Summon Magician.
2. Activate the trigger effect of Shark in your hand.
3. Resolve the effect, SS Shark and activate Magician 1's effect, then resolve it in a separate chain, SS  Magician 2.
4. Activate Sharks effect to make him/her/itself(?) level 3.
5. Activate Factory to add Shark 2 to your hand
5. Activate Magician 2's effect to SS Rabbit.
6. Activate Rabbit's effect to banish Magician 1.
7. Xyz Rabbit and Shark for Zenmaity.
8. Zenmaity SS Rat from the deck.
9. Rat SS Rabbit from the grave.
10. Activate the effect of Shark 2 in your hand; SS it.
11. Rabbit banishes Rat.
12. Activate Shark 2's effect to make it level 3.
13. Xyz Rabbit and Shark for Zenmaity 2/M. X-Saber Invoker
14. Zenmaity 2/M. X-Saber Invoker SS Any Level 4 Wind-Up Monster/Soldier/Warrior
15. Xyz Magician 2 and Any Level 4 Wind-Up Monster/Soldier/Warrior for Rank 4 of choice

ENDING FIELD: [Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity, Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity/M. X-Saber Invoker, Any Rank 4 (preferably Number 39: Utopia)] WITH Rat and Magician coming back during your next standby phase.

CARDS USED: 2 (- 2 Sharks and -1 Magician, + 1 from factory)

Comments: This is a powerful 2-stage play. You get 2 dangerous combo monsters (Zenmaitys) and the means to protect them (Utopia). Not only that, but if somehow your field doesn't survive, you can make another Rank 3 and 4 of your choice next turn with Magician and Rat coming back due to Rabbits effect during your next turn. This play offers unparalleled power and safety and is highly recommended if you think can pull it off.

COMBO 3: The 1 Card Wonder (Requires Rat in hand and any level 3 Wind-Up monster in the graveyard, has 1 variation.)


1a. Summon Rat, activate effect to SS level 3 Wind-Up from grave.
2a. Xyz Rat and level 3 Wind-Up for Zenmaity
3a. Zenmaity SS Rat from the deck.
4a. Activate Rat's effect to SS level 3 Wind-Up from grave.
5a. Xyz Rat and level 3 Wind-Up for Zenmaity 2.
6a. Zenmaity 2 SS Rat from the deck.
7a. Activate Rat's effect to SS level 3 Wind-Up from grave.
8a.Xyz Rat and level 3 Wind-Up for Zenmaity 3.
9a. Zenmaity 3 SS Soldier from deck, activate effect to boost attack. (6700 damage total) OR IF SHARK IN HAND
9b. Zenmaity 3 SS Soldier from deck, activate effect to boost attack.
10b. Activate Sharks effect in hand; SS it (8200 damage total)

ENDING FIELD, SCENARIO A: [Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity x3, Wind-Up Soldier with 2200 ATK]
CARDS USED IN SCENARIO A: 1 Card, 6700 Damage.


ENDING FIELD, SCENARIO B: [Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity x3, Wind-Up Soldier with 2200 ATK, Wind-Up Shark]
CARDS USED IN SCENARIO B: 2 Cards, 8200 Damage.

WILD WIND-UP DECK USED 8200 DAMAGE INTO OPEN FIELD!

ITS SUPER EFFECTIVE! 



Comments: The true power of Wind-Up Rat unleashed! 1 Card making 6700 damage is ludicrous, it's very easy to win games with this combo after your opponent has taken the tiniest scratch. With a Factory or Shark in hand, the damage is lethal instantly. Don't be afraid to use this combo the instant you smell blood, but watch out for Gorz!

COMBO 4: The Dark Option (Requires Magician and Shark in hand.)



1. Summon Magician.
2. Activate the trigger effect of Shark in your hand.
3. Resolve the effect, SS Shark and activate Magician's effect, then resolve it in a separate chain, SS Magician 2 from deck.
4. Activate Sharks effect to make it level 3. SS Rabbit from deck (you can substitute Rabbit for any level 3 Wind-Up monster).
5. Xyz Rabbit and Shark for Zenmaity 1.
6. Xyz Magician and Magician 2 for Utopia.
7. Zenmaity SS Rat from deck.
8. Rat SS Rabbit from grave.
9. Xyz Rat and Rabbit for Zenmaity 2
10. Zenmaity 2 SS Rat from deck.
11. Rat SS Rabbit from grave.
12. Xyz Rat and Rabbit for Zenmaity 3
13. Zenmaity 3 SS Any Wind-Up with 1000+ from deck. (8000+ Damage)


ENDING FIELD: [Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity x3, Number 39: Utopia, Any Wind-Up with 1000+ Attack]
CARDS USED: 2 Cards, 8000+ Damage.


Comments: Why loop the hand when you can attack for game? Variations of this combo make it workable in a non-open field (summoning Kitten at the end of the combo for a face-down monster, Snail for a face-down trap) at the cost of your opponent having to take a bit of damage in order for you to get game (200 for kitten, 900 for snail.) I will present variations and improvements of this combo in future articles as admittedly its probably the most important one.



COMBO 5: The Illuminati Agenda (Requires Magician and Shark in hand, a returning or already present Rabbit, and a open field on your opponents side to attack for game.) [WARNING: EXTREMELY SILLY COMBO]


1. Summon Magician.
2. Activate the trigger effect of Shark in your hand.
3. Resolve the effect, SS Shark and activate Magicians effect, then resolve it in a separate chain, SS  Magician 2 from deck.
4. Activate Sharks effect to make him/her/itself(?) level 3. SS Magician 3 from deck.
5. Activate Rabbits effect, triggering Magician 3's effect; SS Rabbit from the deck with Magician 3 (you can substitute Rabbit for any level 3 Wind-Up monster).
6. Xyz Magician 1, 2 & 3 for Number 10: Illumiknight!
7. Activate the effect of Number 10: Illumiknight (Optional)

9. Xyz Rabbit and Shark for Zenmaity 1.
10. Zenmaity SS Rat from deck.
11. Rat SS Rabbit from grave.
12. Xyz Rat and Rabbit for Zenmaity 2
13. Zenmaity 2 SS Rat from deck.
14. Rat SS Rabbit from grave.
15. Xyz Rat and Rabbit for Number 20: Giga Brilliant! (In keeping with the whole light motif.)
16. Activate the effect of Number 20: Giga Brilliant. (8400 Damage)


ENDING FIELD: [Number 10: Illumiknight, Number 20: Giga Brilliant, Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity x2] All monsters have 300 more attack.

CARDS USED: 2 Cards (Rabbit will come back next turn. Not that there will be a next turn...), 8400 Damage

Comments: My personal ace combo, this will embarrass anyone you use it on guarenteed, especially if you shout something corny like "FADE TO THE LIGHT!" or "YOUR DEFEAT WILL BE HERALDED BY A SHINING LIGHT!" before you attack for game. A waste of resources unless you plan on winning in 1 turn (or you want to have a awesome looking field!).

And that concludes the first "Dueling like a Mad Scientist" article. Thank you for reading and please tell me what you thought of it by commenting! Until next time!

Regionals Preparation: Rogue Decks II

To wrap up this segment, I'm going to list 5 cards (in no particular order) that people should think about siding for the Rogue matchup. This will mostly be a way to review and wrap up the last article, so here we go:

1. Torrential Tribute:

There's no reason not to run 2 of this in any deck that can feasibly run it. It gives you the best of both worlds, a field clearing card that can contain even the largest swarm, or a single target nuke that can hit a surprise boss monster, clearing your opponents board of any and all problem monsters so you can make a big push next turn. Maxing this card will single-handedly help your chances against Rogue decks (Or any deck that summons monsters for that matter).

2. Dimensional Prison


This card is in prime form against Rogue decks that employ problem beatsticks, like Wanghu, Thunder King, Grapha, Krystia, and Barbaros. Where Book of Moon or Fiendish Chain would fail to completely contain them, D-Prison cleanly kills them and sends them to the void, where they will likely never bother you again.

3. Bottomless Trap Hole


This card has fallen out of favor with most people due to its reactive nature, the presence of priority in the TCG, and it being a terrible topdeck in comparison to the usuable-when-top-decked D-Prison. But it has something that cant be found in D-Prison: Its extremely potent when it goes off, often stopping combos involving larger combo monsters completely. It can be chained after Rescue Rabbits effect resolves, removing 2 of their monsters and dealing a crippling blow to the deck. And it can hit big boss monsters with removal effects like DAD and Hyperion even if they use priority to target Bottomless, a fatal flaw in D-Prison that's left many a D-Prison user with a sour taste in their mouth.While it may not be as good as it has been in the past with all the removal flying around, I cant deny that it offers some serious benefits to those with the skill and the guts to use it.

4. Smashing Ground


When your using a deck that combos off (Like Wind-Ups or Inzektors), the last thing you want to see is a Thunder King, Laggia, Dolkka, Doomcalibur, or any other problem/Antimeta monster on your opponents board. Combo decks like this are all about speed and flow, and nothing kills the flow of that deck more than a jarring problem monster eating up your resources. Not only that, but setting a D-Prison or Torrential to try to snare them ruins your flow as well and leaves you a sitting duck to whatever your opponent happens to do next turn to ruin your simple plan. Smashing Ground shines in the heat of the moment, when you just need no strings attached removal of a big or troublesome monster that doesn't require your normal summon or combo pieces. Used like this, Smashing Ground will take you far.

5. Mirror Force


At this point the reasons why not to have this maindecked either are "I hate Inzektors and I'm scared they'll blow it up" or "My deck only uses the Solemn Brigade as my traps." This card is just way too powerful against Rogue and Meta decks alike to not be considered for the main deck, or at the very least the side. This card is a absolute slayer against Wind-Ups, sinking their fleet of boats instantly when they push in damage after they combo off. Its just as useful against any Rogue deck that swarms beatsticks (Like Dragons, Karikuri, or Dark Worlds), devastating people who just plain don't expect to see it when they go for damage/game. It plays one-for-one removal or mass removal with equal finesse, its all about how you use it.

At this point in closing I think I need to clarify what links all these decks that I've labeled "Rogue decks." If you look for patterns in the styles the decks play, you'll notice that:

• Most Rogue decks play heavier backrows than whats considered normal in the meta to try to slow down and control the pace of the game since they lack the speed of meta decks.
• Most Rogue decks employ high attack "Boss Monsters" that are not Syncro/Xyz monsters. These monsters boast huge bodies and usually have destruction or lockdown effects that activate with priority when they're successfully summoned. They then net plusses for the player that summoned them or lock an opponent out of the game.
• Most Rogue decks do not heavily focus on Xyz/Syncro summoning, though most have access to them.

And that just about wraps up this article! Hope you enjoyed reading it! Be sure to tell me what you think about it and what type of articles you would want to see in the future by commenting!

Regionals Preperation: Rogue Decks

Starting to prepare for the April 14 Regionals waaay out in Portland, OR. After piloting my Wind-Up deck in its first big debut at the last Seattle regional and going 6-3, obviously im going to have to make some changes if I want to make top cut this time around. One of those changes is preparing for the suprising amount of Rogue decks that I saw last time around that I was ill-prepared for, in both side and the main.

These decks don't play by the rules that most of the top decks this format live and die by. Decks like T.G. Stun, Jurracs, Dark Worlds, Dragons, and Agents play by completely different rules, are weak to cards normally not seen this format in top main or side decks. Unless you understand what your dealing with, they can AND will ruin your chances of making top 8. This post will be a quick list of things to keep in mind when facing these decks:

RULE #1:  YOUR HAND TRAPS ARE (MOSTLY) USELESS
Most rogue decks boast a healthy resistance to hand traps that most people include in their main decks without a second thought. Whats worse, those same people do not realize how completely ineffective their hand traps are, and do not side them out or have proper side deck cards for the rogue matchup to side into! How effective do you think Maxx "C" is against a deck that lives and dies by its inherent special summoned boss monsters, like Dark World? How much will it hurt a Dark World player when you use Veiler against their Grapha? What monster can be Veiler'd at all in that matchup? What about the T.G. matchup? Veiler almost always hurts less than if you would have sided it out for removal, thats for sure. Maxx "C", Effect Veiler, most hand traps shine their brightest against decks with combo pieces that reach their ideal setups in steps that can be interrupted, like Wind-Ups and Inzektors. They are only marginally useful, or not useful at all against Rogue decks that imploy inherently summoned boss monsters with huge bodies like Hyperion, Grapha, Malefic Cyber End Dragon, or even a T.G. Rush Rhino w/ Horn equipped. Problem monsters that most Rogue decks use, such as Thunder King, King Tiger, and Doomcalibur are almost always normal summoned and come out with effects that are instantly troublesome. To be frank, they dont give a crap about your hand traps, and neither does the duelist your facing most likely.

RULE #2: REMOVAL IS THE NAME OF THE GAME
Most Rogue decks counteract their lack of speed and explosiveness with hyper-aggressive tactics. Hard removal is the only thing that will really stop most Rogue decks cold. Things like Smashing Ground, Dimensional Prison and Mirror Force really put in work against these decks, as removing their monsters is much more of a problem when you dont have the speed to easily replace them. D-Prison their Grapha and that player is hurting, Bottomless a Hyperion and you've delt a major blow. Dealing with monsters by themselves without causing you, the player, to have to combo off should be the goal of your side decked cards for Rogue. Staring down a field full of REDMD and other beefy dragons, which card would you rather have, the Mirror Force you decided to not side because it doesnt do well against Inzektors, or the Fiendish Chain that you currently have faceup that was equipped to a big dragon before it got removed for REDMD. Which brings me to my next point:

RULE #3: FIENDISH CHAIN IS CUTE, BUT YOU CAN DO BETTER
By and large its a bad idea to leave Fiendish Chain in against most Rogue decks. Its very hot and cold, sometimes hitting minor combo monsters like Venus or Desendent, but completely failing at containing boss monsters or anything with 1900 or more by itself. Chain a Hyperion and your still going to have to deal with it with another card or by comboing next turn. That Fiendish Chain might as well have been a Waboku for all the good it did you. Against hardcore Antimeta Rogue decks its a absolute joke. What in T.G.s do you want to use Chain on? Barbaros so it can go to 3k? What about any other their expendible T.G. monsters? Tengu? All bad choices. Chain on any monster in Dark Worlds is also hilariously bad. Chain is just bad at dealing with problems by itself that aren't combo pieces stranded on the field with their effects negated.

I hope this helped you realize what just doesnt cut it against Rogue decks, part 2 of this article will talk about good cards to use against the Rogue matchup.

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Enjoy and leave feedback!