Introduction to Bystial Thunder Dragon
- Introduction
- Core Engine
- Additional Engine
- Extra Deck
- Techs
- Decklists
- Combos
- Tips
Thunder Dragon
Thunder Dragons is an archetype designed around a very old card from the 2nd ever booster pack Metal Raiders from 2002, Loading... , which I'll be referring to as OG (Original Thunder Dragon). Having a resemblance in playstyle from Chaos Decks from 2004, by trying to trade resources until you can push for Game with your GY setup.
The archetype can be used as a small engine, but I'll say right off the bat that it isn't competitive, nowadays modern decks play as many good cards as possible and the least amount of deck requirements as possible (garnets, bricks, etc), and by least I mean basically none, so if you want to use the archetype it's best to play the whole engine as when you draw multiple of them you have ways to convert into advantage instead of being disadvantageous to draw them. But you can have fun with it, I'm just not gonna cover it on this guide how you should run as a smaller engine as it really depends on the synergy and how you can access them.
Strengths:
- Very resource efficient, it's able to beat a lot of modern decks in grind games.
- Loading... is a powerful floodgate that can be easily summoned due to its alterantive summoning condition.
- The engine with an already setup it's very flexible to deal with different situations, like playing under floodgates, dealing with boss monsters and catching up to its opponent's initial card advantage.
Weaknesses:
- It can be slow due to engine limitations, which includes lack of Thunder Dragon names and restrictions of "use only one effect per turn".
- Relying on 2 card combos to play can result in bricky hands which can't really be circumvented due to engine requirements.
Playstyle
To explore its strengths and minimize its weakness in modern Yu-Gi-Oh it's best played as a mid-range strategy that uses Loading... to slow down your opponent with the help of other side engines and/or non-engine to simplify the gamestate as much as possible, which helps you utilize the value of your cards on subsequence turns, either to OTK turn 3 or grind beyond that.
To reach our turn 3 the engine it's best to be paired with a fair amount of hand traps as it matches with the nature of the archetype to have cards in hand while the engine has easy ways to draw cards and manipulate the hand but it's also a fitting strategy in best of one and in a Loading... environment, as you want more generic cards that have applications in most scenarios while it's also better into board breakers as we do not have easy access to omni negates and our fields can be easily cleared.
Thunder Dragons have a limited amount of starter options, so most builds are centered around Loading... paired with a Thunder-Type monster or with Loading... paired with Chaos-type cards (banish LIGHT and DARK monsters) and often the other is used as a backup Normal Summon.
The former relies on drawing Thunder-type monsters which forces certain deck building choices that decrease your card quality and your ceiling with the advantage of making your plays harder to disrupt.
Solar on the other hand, lets you minimize the Thunder Dragon portion to its minimum allowing higher card quality. And that's where the Bystials come in:
- Bystials are starters when paired with Solar while giving the highest ceiling on a 2c combo;
- They give access to Thunder Dragon effects during the opponent's turn, which circumvents the "use only one effect per turn";
- Loading... gives you access to Loading... and Loading... which are great tools to control the game and to make your grind game even stronger;
- Loading... guarantees follow-up by searching another Bystial.
- They can protect the effects of LIGHT and DARK monsters from Loading... while your opponent controls a monster;
- They can be disruptions against decks with LIGHT and DARK monsters;
- They can be solid top decks when you have TDdark/TDroar in your GY;
- They are more ways of summoning monsters which helps going 2nd a lot with the addition of a high stat line (2500 ATK);
- Bystials increase your card quality.
Thunder Dragon
The heart and soul of the archetype.
It fulfills the Thunder effect in hand to summon Loading... which helps getting advantage or minimizing disadvantage when you draw the engine requirements: Loading... , Loading... and Loading... .
It's a plus one for Loading... 's mulligan effect, gives targets in GY for the Bystials, discard outlet and free fusion material.
Having it in rotation makes your grind game very solid as with Loading... you are able to force cards or simply able to pop 1-2 cards every turn with Loading... .
When Loading... doesn't resolve, OG at least enables Colossus's summon.
Thunder Dragondark
The ROTA of the deck. It's a different kind of ROTA, as it needs to be triggered by banishing it or by sending from field to GY e. g. as material for Tribute, Link, Fusion, etc.
The discard effect being a Quick-Effect comes up in simplified gamestates, as it enables Loading... 's effect. It's also a good way to get it in your GY during your opponent's turn to have access to its other effect during yours, but be aware of Loading... , unless you will banish it from GY, it's not worth the risk losing its effect due to Called by.
With Bystials you have a lot of opportunities to trigger the banish effect throughout multiple turns and during both players turns.
Similar to OG it enables Colossus but it's the most important card to have in rotation, ideally in your GY or hand but having it banished is ok if you have access to Loading... .
Thunder Dragonroar
The E-Tele of the deck, but also how you recover any TD card.
It can either enable the send from field to GY or the discard effect of all your TDs. So make sure you choose correctly as you can only use one of the effects per turn.
It's more bricky than the previous ones, it's played at 2 because it can be tricky to always keep 1 in deck to keep Loading... 's loop live and if you draw the only 1 you'll lose ceiling off your best lines.
It can be played at 3 if it's played with 3x Loading... and maybe Allure of Darkness, so drawing it won't be as bad.
Thunder Dragonhawk
Special summoning any TD that is Banished or in GY, gives a lot of options of follow-up when you can summon TDdark/TDroar. But also an easy way to summon Loading... .
The Loading... effect is a very good option to have, it can help find techs, shuffle back Garnets or cards you can't use, and becomes a lot better with the +1 from Loading... .
Despite its great effects it has less cards to combo with, it's not an extender in most cases where you get disrupted and when paired with Solar it plays in Nibiru where Bystials don't as much, so it's better to run at 1. It can be played at 2 copies with 3x Loading... .
Thunder Dragon Fusion
A searchable fusion spell that also recycles your resources.
A ROTA for any Thunder type monster, but only while in GY and not in the same turn it was sent there. It's one of the best follow-up cards in the game, having the flexibility to add your TDs, Loading... or to even add techs like Loading... and Loading... .
It's played at 1 because you often can't use it turn 1 and most of the times you can it will drain your GY setup. It’s ok at 2 in Aloof focused list with Allures as those usually get more names in rotation. But it's still the biggest burden in your starting hand.
Gold Sarcophagus
Our only 1 card combo.
It's how you can access the effects of your TDs from the deck and how you can easily make Link2s with TDroar's effect and any Normal Summon.
It's important to keep in mind that keeping a banished TDroar for 2 turns helps a lot in grind games, and it's usually something with no downsides.
Batteryman Solar
Solar is a great Normal Summon. It interacts with most of your cards, it can send any Thunder Dragon to be triggered by a Bystial.
It's likely to get hand-trap'd, but since it’s a Thunder monster it can still be tributed for Loading... .
If a Thunder monster is summoned (by either player), it will generate a token if you have room on your field, making it overall your highest ceiling starter. But keep in mind that it can give a lot of Loading... draws, sometimes it’s better to tribute it for Colossus earlier, if you think they might have the insect.
It's also a good follow-up option since it's searchable with Loading... and gives a lot of swarming options with its token and the flexibility to what you can send to your GY.
The foolish effect works on Special Summon, giving options when it can be Reborned with Loading... 's effect.
The Bystial Lubellion
It searches any Bystial, making it more flexible, so you can utilize different names during the same turn.
Having multiples means you are likely to draw it and when you draw multiples you can either play through the opponent's Bystials or be able to banish it to summon your Bystials while being able to summon the other from your hand.
It plays Loading... or Loading... from the deck face-up, so it gives a disruption, or card advantage, while when you go 2nd, it will likely trade disruptions very well.
Bystial Magnamhut
It searches any Dragon during the End Phase.
It's what you should be searching for turn 1 with Lubellion as it will replace itself giving follow-up and a potential disruption, and it's also good to open as you can summon going 2nd during their turn to search Lubellion if you don't have it or another Bystial if you need as a disruption before your Main Phase.
Bystial Saronir
It helps you access any Bystial to be summoned with Loading... or Lubellion in hands with another Bystial, while it can help setting up Regained with Loading... during the End Phase.
Its effect is the easiest to trigger, sent to GY from deck, discard with Loading... , detach from XYZ, etc.
Bystial Druiswurm
It can remove a Special Summoned monster if it leaves the field to the GY, which it's a great disruption, a good way to remove monsters or to force cards when you go 2nd.
It's usually what you want to search off Magnamhut's effect, that way you can summon during their turn and then tribute with Loading... , Link off with Loading... , or simply summon during the Battle Phase to prevent an OTK.
Bystial Baldrake
It's a solid disruption but requires more monsters on the field and can be disrupted more easily. It’s inferior to Druiswurm as you can’t use it to remove monsters your opponents summoned previously and has to be already on field before the summon from the Extra Deck.
It works well with Loading... in your GY, letting you summon another Thunder Dragon to be tributed by Baldrake to get value.
With the amount of Limits on bystials you kinda need to run at 3 if you aren't playing other Chaos-Type of cards, but not needed in a Loading... based list.
Branded Regained
Draw power and you can use it to banish cards from your GY that you want back in your Deck/Extra Deck.
The reborn effect is also very good. As you can link off Bystials during your turn knowing you will potentially be able to reborn them during your opponent's turn, this is also a way to trigger Loading... ’s effect during their turn without having it in hand.
It’s your main target to play from the deck with Lubellion. And it's also fine to draw it as you have ways of using it, overall no downside in running a copy of it and it even has seen play at 2.
Branded Beast
Generic removal/disruption is very solid to have.
During the End Phase you can play Loading... from your GY.
It's important to keep in mind that you can tribute any Dragon while you control a Bystial to activate it, giving some option in weird cases, but almost all your Dragons are "Bystial" with a few exceptions being Extra Deck monsters so this won't come up in most standard lists.
It's pretty bad to open or top deck and most of the time you don't need to have it in deck for your opponent to try stop Lubellion, so I don't recommend it, but it's an option we have available if the meta is centered around a strong Summon that we can remove to stop multiple plays.
Backup Batteryman Solars
Mostly to send TDdark/TDroar, Lubellion or Regained (sending Saronir, to then send Lubellion or Regained) to combo off with the part of the engine you already have. But they have very low value to extend when you already have access to those cards.
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Foolish is a lower ceiling starter but it helps with much needed consistency and it's the ideal extender when Solar doesn't resolve. It's unnecessary in lists with Horus Engine.
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Arma is like an inferior Solar as you cannot turn it into Colossus. But when uninterrupted gives access to more resources as you can utilize it's not once per turn effect by summoning it again with Loading... , a glass cannon, very fragile but gives a higher ceiling.
Aloof Lupine
It’s a great Normal Summon as banishing TDdark or TDroar from hand as cost can play better into disruptions but it requires a fair amount of Thunder monsters to be a consistent starter and playing more Thunder monsters decreases your card quality.
It can be used as an additional Normal Summon for consistency in lists without other engines to help you access your Thunder Dragons.
Ideally you want to play around 12-15 Thunder monsters when you run at 3x copies.
Overall Aloof based lists have either lower ceiling or lower consistency, if you try to compensate one you hurt the other aspect.
Allure of Darkness
Draw power that also triggers TDdark/TDroar.
It's good for decks that try to find specific cards (e.g. in some metas you want to find a certain board breaker) but you should include more DARK monsters when you choose to play it.
It suits better lists with 3x Loading... as those are structured differently and have more DARK monsters.
If you don't have a play and also no DARKs in hand, make sure to set your spells before you try to gamble, don't be Allured by Darkness!
Overall I don't recommend it in Solar based lists.
Horus Engine
The goal of this engine is to set up GY plays or to turbo out Loading... which helps finding our Thunder Dragons.
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Loading... gives access to Horus names provided you have discards. The monsters can be summoned every turn so it's another element for your opponent to worry about. It also gives options going 2nd to clear monsters that you can't just run over. The protection from non targeting destruction isn't relevant.
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Loading... can send itself plus another card from your hand to the GY to add Loading... from your deck to your hand then you draw 1 card and later can be summoned from GY while you control King's Sarc. Being a Spellcaster can enable Loading... into Loading... .
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Besides Imsety I recommend to run only 1 more lv8 as you don't want to commit your hand for lv8s as hand advantage is more valuable for our deck and obviously because those don't do anything by themselves.
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Loading... has the most relevant effect that can come up, feel free to check the other names, but you will mostly use it as a free summon for a 2nd lv8.
When you already have your main engine you can use the 2 level 8s to make Loading... to protect your plays.
The main downside of this engine is losing hand advantage, you use 2-3 cards from your hand (Imsety + 2 discards, but draws 1, King's Sarc + 2 discards and less discards if you open the other lv8) to make 1 rank 8 that can potentially find your engine and be a starter but it may not and it can give your opponent resources (although deck knowledge before you commit to your plays it's pretty good).
Overall, it's a trade of hand advantage for extra consistency, unbrick ability to certain hands and additional grind power.
Extended Bystial Engine
The Bystial Aluber can be searched with Loading... and milled Loading... , and gives access to level 10 Synchros for being a Tuner.
The issue is that we need our Normal Summon most of the time and the times we can use the mill of Saronir to then revive Aluber using Loading... 's effect means we are already in a good position making this engine winmore.
It's still a fun option while committing only 1 main deck slot and 1-2 slots in the Extra.
Runick
It's a mix of board breakers and hand traps compact into Quick-Play Loading... s that can help with consistency due to Loading... 's draw power, while giving free bodies to enable Tribute, Synchro and Link Summons. It replaces the non-engine we would play to work both as engine and non-engine.
The advantage of Runick is the increase in consistency while the disadvantage is lack of room for non-engine, which is affected by the card quality of the Runick spells (as the good ones have restrictions on the banlist).
As other Runick variants, you play a fair amount of Runick Quick-Play Spells so you can open at least 2 to enable Loading... 's Summon to search Loading... and later to use another Spell to trigger it to draw 2-3 cards.
Besides Fountain and Tip, you play the ones that are actually disruptions and good going 2nd and Runick Slumber as it can be used turn 1 without needing to clear your EMZ while it can protect things like Loading... from battle destruction.
Now you add the others in similar amounts so you reach 15-18 Quick-Play Spells to have around 65+% chance to see 2 in your starting hand, (generally you play 15-16 in 40c, and for every 3-4 cards you add you add another QP Runick).
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Loading... has good deckout power and can be used without clearing the EMZ as long as they control a card.
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Loading... gives them a card but can be used without having to clear your EMZ, and has great deckout power.
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Loading... has a conditional activation so not a reliable way to trigger Fountain, but works along Golden Droplet and when they draw off Loading... .
When playing Runick you have to remember you'll skip your next Battle Phase (you need to try to enter your BP). This makes Loading... very important as it's our way to keep your opponent out of resources since we can't always finish off the game quickly, to do so you will need to not use the Runick Spells during their turn.
How to clear your EMZ
You can Tribute Summon over the Runick Fusions which is very common play, you can Synchro Summon Loading... easily or make Loading... or Loading... to then use those as Loading... 's material.
You can use Titan to pop it if you really need to draw off Fountain. Titan can also remove Fountain to add back with Loading... , this is so you can draw again with Fountain in the same turn, but it's not something you should be trying to do, it's more of a desperate play.
Resonator Engine
Sprind requires a level 2 but can also be summoned with a Link 2. It can be used to mill Loading... which can search Loading... .
Every turn Loading... can add Vision from your GY (or deck) which can be Special Summoned as we almost always have DARK monsters on the field that are level 5 or higher.
Sprind can be used to make Loading... which is a nice way to clear your EMZ in a Runick variant, while Runick gives access to a level 2 so we don't waste Link materials.
Vision gives access to a wide range of Synchros but can simply be used as Link material.
You can also use it to make Loading... in time rule settings, which counts as RDA while on the field and GY. It can be recycled with Loading... and used to trigger its Loading... 's effect.
Less Viable options due to Forbidden and Limited List changes
Branded Fusion
Branded engine is still an option to access your ThunDra engine or Lubellion/Regained and Loading... through Loading... . Its downsides are locking into Fusions, requiring the Albaz garnet and trying to add normal summons that search it will just tunnel into Ash Blossom with not many ways to extend afterwards. It increases your ceiling by using Loading... at the end of your combo to summon Loading... .
There are newer lines of plays in the combo section of this guide. But you can check my Branded in ThunDra guide here for more information (it hasn't been updated due to losing it's viability).
The banlist's restrictions mean that you need to run Loading... which you can access with Loading... to give you a follow-up Branded Fusion. So the engine now has 1 starter that doesn't use your NS, requires 2 Albaz and 1 Retribution to give a follow-up (the 2nd Albaz is needed if you open with Loading... play).
Another way you can play a Branded variant is to play near 60 cards with a bigger Branded engine to try to minimize drawing the bricks you have to carry so they don't feel as bad, while some of those won’t even be bricks and can be usable, but this usually feels like a worse Branded Despia deck.
Drawing Albaz isn't as bad when you have Loading... as they can make Loading... and Cartesia can be a semi starter by giving access to Loading... with the effect of Loading... while it can also send Loading... and Loading... to give access to Loading... and Loading... . Cartesia will work better in a near 60 card list as it needs a heavy monster hand to extend through hand traps as the lines are more fragile and you also need to play more deck requirements to have a decent ceiling and a grind game.
Chaos
It's extra copies of Lubellion. And ideally you want to have a DARK target for it. It's not core as it can be a bit bricky to focus too much on Lubellion and will likely make your hands have multiple dead cards. It's also not a great card to have in a meta where Loading... ' decks are around as you can't activate it and it also plays harder into Loading... .
The DARK target will serve as utility and are the ones that will help get off the draw effect from Space since you don’t want to banish Lubellion unless you have multiples.
In order of utility and consistency, the further down the less uses and value it has (more likely to be dead weight):
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Collapserpent, also accompanied by Loading... , gives extra link material while it’s the easiest way to use Loading... ’s Draw, the "Baby Dragons" also work on their own as you can make Loading... or can give a body for a tribute summon more easily so those won't be as bad of a burden to open when you don't have anything else, which can't be said about the next ones.
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Emperor has a lot of utility as you can add banished Dragons to your hand. It also serves as a basic Chaos extender, but it's utility comes only when you are already playing the game.
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The Chaos Creator is also accessible with Loading... . It’s a good follow-up option and has nice synergy with Loading... and Loading... as you can special summon your opponent’s banished monsters, while it can also recycle your banished monsters.
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Thunder Dragonduo has some niches, like being able to destroy monsters by battle to search any Thunder monster and potentially triggering an effect of your Thunder Dragons. It's also very accessible.
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Chaos Dragon Levianeer is also a Dragon so you can also search with Magnamhut’s effect. It has a powerful effect when you go 2nd to destroy up to 2 cards on the field and you are also able to chain block its effect with your Thunder Dragons making it a little harder to negate it and going 1st it has a solid hand rip effect by banishing 3 DARKs. It requires more GY fuel meaning it usually comes in play when they don't disrupt you and you were allowed to get the resources in GY, meaning it just feels like it's winning but in reality it's just a flashy play, while it doesn't help you play, e.g. even if you can attack over an Apollusa made with I:P, the Apollusa prob got enough value already when you were trying to enable its summon and you likely won't be able to do much afterwards.
Loading... is basically a combination of what I just mentioned with the facts that you are more likely using these when you are already playing than not and having unknown disruptions in hand will almost always be superior to random hand rips.
Thunder Dragon Colossus
It's your main turn 1 goal.
Decent splashable boss monster but for this deck it's a pseudo Link 1 that will trigger your Thunder Dragon effects.
Its protection effect triggers your TDs, giving you card advantage or making your opponent avoid doing so, which indirectly protects your other monsters from mass destruction cards.
You can use its protection effect to trigger TDs by attempting to destroy it with Loading... , or by trying to crash during Battle which also will proc the banish effects during Damage Step making it harder to interact with.
Stopping your opponent from adding cards from deck to the hand before they deal with it, makes them take less optimal lines, which technically doesn't make them lose card advantage directly but definitely prevents them from plussing much.
Thunder Dragon Titan
When a Thunder-Type monster's effect is activated in the hand, you can chain Titan to destroy a card on the field. The key factors here are:
- If you activate the Thunder effect in hand, your opponent will be able to respond, which can prevent you from chaining Titan.
- In a mirror match, you have to be careful to not give free value with your ThunDra effects in hand.
It's a great board breaker, despite being chain blockable, it will most of the time force cards or they will get destroyed. It's also very good in simplified game states where your opponent doesn't have many options to prevent its effect from going off.
It's not a great turn 1 disruption as your opponent has likely a lot of ways to work around it. It's better to summon it only if shuffling TDs won't affect your follow-up and/or if you have 1 Quick-Effect discard. Summoning turn 1 is also a way to get Loading... in the GY.
It can be used to trigger Thunder Dragon effects by destroying itself (of Colossus) so you can apply the protection effect banishing the ThunDras you want to trigger.
You need 2 copies to establish the resource loop (more in the Combo section), a 3rd copy helps so you can recycle more names instead of having to recycle Titan while also letting you keep 2 Titans on the field.
Cross-Sheep
It's great to Reborn low level monsters to utilize their effects on your follow-up or just simply to Link climb. Try to summon Colossus in the middle zone, that way you can make sure you will be able to summon Cross-Sheep so it points to Colossus, but the most left or right zones work as well.
Sometimes you can also get the boost effect when you have Loading... helping to OTK or to beat over certain monsters with protection.
I:P Masquerena
It's a flexible disruption during opponent's Main Phase as you can go into Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... or even Loading... and also can bait them into the Battle Phase which gets you another turn.
It's also another way to trigger Thunder Dragons and Loading... during opponent's turn, a Bystial with TDroar in GY you can get a lot of monsters on the field to give more options for I:P.
It's a very flexible turn 1 play when the meta doesn't have cards like Loading... , letting them using 2 cards to trade for 2 of your cards but in other hand it's great in metas with mass destruction removal as you can chain I:P to make the monster you summon indestructible by card effects.
Spright Elf
It can give target protection to your monsters while you can also use it to reborn a Link 2 on your follow-up. You can easily make it with Cross-Sheep which can compensate for the Link materials.
It also has a decent perk from protecting Loading... from Loading... , when used during the Main Phase.
It can also be used to summon Colossus since it's a Thunder monster.
Despite these perks it's usually not ideal to prioritize it as your play going first, as if Colossus doesn't do much against their deck or if they have a different way to out it, it ends up being a waste of resources that could've been used into a disruption.
Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess
It can be summoned before making Colossus to protect from Loading... or as you use Loading... as material, letting you negate a late Loading... to protect your search.
Also can't go wrong with generic monster negates.
Chaos Angel
Great removal option going 2nd, while also a decent wall to overcome when summoned with both LIGHT and DARK monsters as material which we can easily do.
Sky Striker Ace - Azalea
Decent removal option going 2nd. Almost always you won't have the right amount of Spell in GY to keep it on the field, but usually you just want to force a disruption or remove problems, and if they negate it or if you don't destroy the target you get to keep Azalea to use as Link mat.
S:P Little Knight
Great option to make with I:P during their turn as it can banish one of their cards right away. It also has the quick effect to remove itself (or another monster you control) and any other monster until the end phase which can be a disruption or a way to protect your monsters.
It's a nice going 2nd option as it trades very well, but it can sometimes be used to banish your ThunDras from your GY as a follow-up play if you need to, while it's also a starter with the Runick and Horus Engines when you only have access to Loading... as those give you an Extra Deck monster to use as its material.
It can also force your opponent to go into their Battle Phase to clear it which can ensure to get to your next turn.
Underworld Goddess of the Closed World
Great to remove unaffected monsters, but still a nice way to catch your opponent off guard if they have a Link 2 monster on their field and they let you summon 3 monsters which we don't have much trouble doing, not only removes their Link 2 but it negates all their monsters (permanently) if they don't have a way to negate Goddess which has to be with a targeting effect, and even if they play around it, it makes so you don't commit into link plays before they start firing off disruptions.
It also has a negate for effects that would summon from the GY.
Runick Fusions
Hugin as mentioned will be used every game to access Loading... . What you discard will depend on your hand, I would prioritize in this order:
- Runick Spells when you have 3-4 of those
- Loading... or Loading... when you have a Bystial and no Loading... , otherwise you would tribute summon them to clear the EMZ.
- Extra Lubellions
- Loading... if no access to Thunder Dragon cards.
Hugin can be used to protect a card from destruction, since it's a replacement effect you can chain a Runick Spell to summon it in response to said effect.
Geri and Freki are mostly for their Levels to make Loading... but can be used to stall when needed, while you might need Geri to grab back Fountain from your GY.
Them being LIGHT and DARK monsters gives the option to be recycled with Loading... .
Generic Toolbox
The rest of your Extra Deck can be filled with generic options to deal with what your engine can't or to facilitate plays.
Generic Rank8s for Horus Engine
Synergistic Techs
Hand Traps
- Hand Traps suit the slower playstyle and help get to simplified game states where your engine performs better than most decks.
- They indirectly protect your engine from Loading... which can likely end the game if it resolves banishing Loading... .
- You can draw them during their turn with Loading... 's effect, Thunder Dragonhawk and Maxx "C"'s effects and be usable right away and the option to shuffle them into the deck during your turn when you need engine.
Effect Veiler
Veiler a few extra benefits as you can protect it from Loading... 's effect with your Bystials or to simply enable their summon, and you can also recycle it with Loading... .
Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended
Negates effects that target our monsters, which can protect from hand traps or your end board pieces.
It's quite searchable with the effects of Loading... and Loading... .
Dimension Shifter
It's a very sacky card when you open against a deck that uses their GY or relies on sending cards to it as a cost, but it's an impactful minus against decks that don't care about D. Shifter, which happens a lot more in best of 1.
It doesn't rely work well with Solar based lists, despite comboing exactly with Solar or Foolish Burial, it prevents you from activating cards that need to be send to GY for cost like Loading... and the Horus cards and it's very difficult to OTK without drawing exactly Solar, and if you don't OTK you will have to survive their 5-6 card turn with no GY meaning your follow-up is very lack luster if you even have one.
The most reliable way to OTK under D. Shifter (besides with Solar) is with Aloof Lupine's line to access more resources which enables more easily the double Titan (3200 ATK x2) then overlaying them during MP2 into Loading... for the remaining damage.
Overall it's best suited for Best of 3 settings as you have the option to play it only when you know it's effective.
Forbidden Droplets
You can use it to fill your GY to make your Bystials live, it also triggers Loading... and Loading... (if sent from the field). It can be used to remove your monsters from the field going 2nd letting their effects resolve while you negate something else, making it hardly costly to use.
Super Poly can be a good board breaker option and when you can summon Garura with it, it will help make a rank 6, but you also get to draw 1 off Garura when sent to GY to go plus.
Hand Trap Heavy
Imperm and Veiler in this list are the more flexible cards and are usually the ones you will be swapping for a different hand trap or other non engine.
Board Breakers
This is usually how you would build a list with board breakers, you have Allure to help find them if you need 1-2 specific ones, but since it's best of one you definitely want cards that work going first in best of 1.
Horus Engine
Having more ways to access your engine also means you don't need as many Bystials, you can remove 1-2 for non-engine without making a negative impact.
Aloof Focused with Horus
You can choose to play Loading... as another way to thin your deck over playing extra TDroar and TDhawk, but those are better to see in your starting hands.
Branded
You can run Super Polymerization with its targets over the Links in the Extra Deck. I was never happy on how this list plays so you can try to cook to your taste from here.
Runick
Budget Friendly
Most of the combos are very straightforward, the others rely on using all the ThunDras you open to take advantage of them which might not be intuitive at first but they aren't difficult once you get used to them, the difficult part is actually resource management and to play around hand traps.
The Basics
- Your first goal is to establish Loading... but also trying to get card advantage while doing it.
Most of the time you will use Loading... 's banished/send from field to GY effect to add Loading... or either Loading... or Loading... when you draw the other, this way you have TDF in your GY for next turn, with access to TDdark it will give you a lot of OTK options or the option to establish a Loading... resource loop.
Loading... is mostly used as an early step to trigger TDdark, while getting an additional body on the field. And when you already have a way to trigger TDdark or access to it, you can usually be greedy and try to resolve Loading... 's mulligan effect. Which is something you can do to convert hands filled with ThunDras into different engines or hand traps.
To play safer beyond turn 2 it's better to save roar's effect to establish a better grind game or to use it to add TDdark when you don't have it in hand as a way to disrupt them with Titan during their turn.
- Your 2nd goal is to have disruption(s) along Colossus.
Loading... is quite flexible and easier to summon while it can be very good when paired with Loading... .
When you draw Loading... it's very easy to summon Loading... before summoning Colossus, that way you don't play into Loading... and you can also protect Loading... 's search if you want to. It's also the best way to protect yourself from Loading... as you won't leave a 2nd DARK monster on the field.
Alternatively, if they seem to have a disruption that they aren't using you could guess it's Loading... and they are saving for Colossus. You can choose to use the Link material to make Loading... and I:P to invalidate the Imperm while you have a disruption with I:P, and alternatively you can search Loading... with Loading... if you have in your list.
Loading... which can be setup by Loading... , gives a disruption for multiple turns. A couple of Link options to strengthen your turn 1 board. Ideally you want to have a Bystial in your hand during their turn, so if you only have Lubellion you will search Loading... as it will search another Bystial, if you already have a Bystial, just add Saronir, as it gives access to Regained.
Loading... gives more follow-up and with a fair amount of hand traps and with other disruptions on your field, it becomes a better turn 1 card than Beast and why I don't even recommend running Branded Beast.
When your hand doesn't have Hand Traps or it's just filled with ThunDras you should try to resolve Loading... 's mulligan effect to convert those cards into disruptions.
Combo Replays
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Gold Sarc. and Gold Sarc + a normal summon Duelingbook Replay
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Solar + Lubellion (safer opening) Duelingbook Replay
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Solar + Lubellion into Elf + I:P (If they are saving Imperm) Duelingbook Replay
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Solar + Lubellion (Sprind into Vision Resonator) Duelingbook Replay
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Solar + Lubellion (less draws vs Loading... ) (2x combos) Duelingbook Replay
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Solar + Lubellion (Beast + Regained) Duelingbook Replay
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Armageddon Knight + Bystial Duelingbook Replay
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OG/TDdark + Lubellion Duelingbook Replay
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OG/TDdark + Lubellion + Vision Resonator/Crimson Gaia Duelingbook Replay
Any Bystial instead of Lubellion in these lines only changes that you won't have Regained/Beast on your field and Bystial search in the End Phase (if no Magnumhut).
Foolish Burial instead of Solar means you don't have enough materials for Apollousa but still enough for I:P/S:P.
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Aloof + TDdark/TDroar Duelingbook Replay
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Horus engine + Solar or TDdark in the 5-10 cards from the top of our deck (5 from hand, Imsety's draw or 4 mills from Z. Vampire) Duelingbook Replay
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Horus engine + TDdroar in the 5-10 cards from the top of our deck (5 from hand, Imsety's draw or 4 mills from Z. Vampire) Duelingbook Replay
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The Bystial Aluber line for a LV10 Synchro Duelingbook Replay
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Branded combo for Regained and Beast:
- BF + TDdark Dueling book Replay
- BF + Lubellion Dueling book Replay
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Cartesia + Lubellion + LIGHT/DARK Duelingbook Replay
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Cartesia + Lubellion + TDdark Duelingbook Replay
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Converting ThunDras into other engines or non-engine Duelingbook Replay
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Titan loop (includes Cross-Sheep follow-up play) Duelingbook Replay
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3 Runick Spells + Batteryman Solar Duelingbook Replay
Playing around Hand Traps and Board Breakers
There's no straight up play into every hand trap, you need to play with the mindset to avoid that every play you do doesn't invalidate another card in you hand, e.g. if you have Loading... it might be intuitive to banish Loading... from deck as it gives more advantage but if you have another copy in hand it would make so an Loading... would trade 2 for 1 and you might not even have a play in the following turns, if you instead banish Loading... you can still use the TDroar to get the banished TDdark which at least fulfills Colossus' summoning condition and gets a target in GY for a Bystial, if you don't have a Bystial, you are likely to draw one and when you do, there's already a good target in your GY to start your plays.
I recommend to start with plays that will impact your turn the most if disrupted, with the exception of do plays that don't matter if disrupted e.g. using Lubellion effect first when you already have a Bystial, this might give information and there's always the chance your opponent uses a hand trap on the first thing they see.
There's a lot of straight up plays like:
- Starting with OG effect when you have Solar and Lubellion would make sure you don't pass to a Loading... which is very different if it was Loading... , then you would start with Lubellion and if they use Droll you can chain TDdark.
- Using Runicks in the Draw Phase to avoid Droll, to at least give access to Fountain.
- When you don't have an out to Maxx "C", it's better to send TDdark with Solar's effect, that way, you have the option to give 2 draws or 3 if you have access to Lubellion to play Regained and not a minimum 4 because of Solar's token if you were to send TDroar.
- Apollusa or S:P before commiting to Colossus to avoid Loading... 's value.
- Let Maxx "C" resolve when you have Loading... if they use at a weird spot that might indicating they have Ash Blossom which can be worst if it resolve vs a lot of hands. The same can be said if they use when you summon Solar and have an Loading... .
- Delaying Regained effect to summon Magnumhut to avoid playing into Loading... early.
Chain Blocking
Sometimes you have an important effect that you want to go through when if they are able to use Loading... you might end on no disruption and maybe not even any follow-up option. This can also be used when you go 2nd into other disruptions.
There are a couple of ways to Chain Block, I‘ll list the more common ones: Loading... banishing a Thunder Dragon, since Magnamhut is the only Bystial with an effect if it's Special Summoned. You can activate a Thunder Dragon as CL1 and Magnamhut as CL2.
Loading... and Loading... have effects when sent from field to GY (like the Thunder Dragons), which is a nice way to trigger multiple effects in a chain, protecting what's more important to resolve.
Link, Fusion and Synchro monsters can also provide chain block protection, like the Knightmares and Loading... or by Chaining a Runick Spell to an effect that banishes your ThunDras, so Hugin can be used to chain block or to be chain blocked.
Resource Management
The better your resource management is, the easier your grind games will go, as long as you have your engine going, you should usually have your win set on turn 3/4 without really needing to rely on top decks.
With a lot of ways to banish from you GY, Bystials, Chaos monsters and the protection from your Fusions, it's important to recycle your banished Thunder Dragons:
- Prioritizing TDhawk's effect to summon a banished TD instead of one in GY;
- Banishing your TDs from GY before shuffling them back with Loading... ;
Be careful to not shuffle into your deck your Thunder Dragondark if it means you won't have access to it next turn, with Loading... or with Loading... , it might be worth waiting for another opportunity to trigger it over losing access to TDdark.