Gunkans
Hello! This is a Gunkan Suship guide by
. Gunkan is a flexible Xyz-focused archetype able to summon a number of Level 4 monsters onto the field with relative ease. Gunkan revolves largely around Loading... and Loading... , whose name counts as Gunkan Suship Shari for almost every relevant interaction. The Gunkan Extra Deck monsters do not include a true boss monster, but all have utility and provide a free draw when made from a Gunkan Suship Shari. I think Gunkans have potential as an engine for non-Xyz focused decks, but for the time being, I'll be writing about Gunkans from the perspective of Xyz Summoning.- Main Members
- Spells & Traps
- Support
Gunkan Suship Shari & Shari Red
As a Normal Monster, there's not much to say about Gunkan Suship Shari, other than it's basically an auto-include at 3. We benefit from Normal Monster support thanks to its status as such, most notably Loading... . Gunkan Suship Shari Red counts as Loading... in almost every situation- It's not while banished or as Xyz Material. This means it can be retrieved through Loading... , a pretty significant search tool. By revealing another Gunkan Suship Shari in your hand, you can special summon Shari Red and another Effect Gunkan from deck to immediately make the corresponding Xyz monster.
Gunkan Suship Shirauo & Shirauo-class Carrier
Shirauo is, in my estimation, the most misaligned Gunkan monster. Often excluded entirely from decklists, Shirauo has a very generous Special Summoning condition, being able to be Special Summoned from the hand while you control a Shari or an Xyz Monster with Loading... attached as material. Note that Loading... as material does not fulfil that condition. Once on the field, Shirauo can Special Summon yet another Gunkan card from hand, and then will stack your deck putting Shari on top, prepping for Loading... 's effect. Loading... is often the best target for Loading... 's Summon from hand effect, immediately able to retrieve Loading... , again revealing the Shari used by Red to get the materials for a second Xyz summon, and drawing a card in the process to boot. The deck often doesn't find a field spell necessary, but your opponents' also work just fine for the minor attack increase and protection from destruction.
Gunkan Suship Ikura & Ikura-class Dreadnought
Ikura is the first of the "topping" Gunkan cards. It has a more restrictive Special Summoning condition than its brother Shirauo, requiring you to control a Shari, but it allows you to summon a Shari if you can find one in the top 3 cards of your deck, which you can guarantee by using the effect of Loading... or Loading... . Otherwise, you'll just activate and pray before Xyz-ing away Ikura. Loading... is the most aggressive of the Xyz Gunkans, but ultimately just a combo piece. Its relatively low attack means the second attack isn't as useful, and the card destruction is most usefully paired with Loading... since it will be attacking directly.
Gunkan Suship Uni & Uni-class Super-Dreadnought
Uni is the sole level 5 in the Gunkan package, but don't hold it against him. He doesn't stay that way for long. It can be Special Summoned from hand by revealing a Shari, and it brings the Shari along for the ride. On the field, it can change the level of a Gunkan from 5 to 4, or from 4 to 5. This provides relatively easy access to Rank 5 Xyz, but because this effect also adds a Shari to hand, it can be negated with Loading... . The Uni-class Super-Dreadnought is the Gunkan's "boss monster," if you can call a 2900 attack monster a boss. It's surprisingly sturdy, with a Quick-Effect negate in the main phase, although it's only face-up cards on the field. What's especially nice is that it's as many cards as Gunkan Xyz monsters you control, so negating two or even three cards is quite possible. It also attacks directly for easy ZEUS making, and triggers the Loading... 's destruction effect.
Gunkan Suship Catch-of-the-Day
A nice continuous spell which tends to get you wins by timeout. You show the opponent a Shari, and then a Gunkan Monster in your Extra Deck, and your opponent can choose any non-Shari Gunkan Main Deck Monster to add to your hand. If there are none of the requested topping remaining in the deck, Catch-of-the-Day is shuffled back into the deck. Oftentimes Catch-of-the-Day works like a Loading... , since you get one card for showing a Shari and another for making an Extra Deck Gunkan Monster with that Shari. I think the card advantage is significant, and you can activate multiple per turn, so I'd run one or two.
Gunkan Sushipyard Seaside Supper Spot
Our field spell, which has nice synergy with Loading... and Loading... . It triggers the Shirauo-class Carrier's protection when a Field Spell is active and stacks the Deck for Ikura. It also has a minor burn and float effect for when your Xyz Suships are destroyed. I don't love it, personally, but you have easy access and the protection and making Ikura more consistent could come in clutch. Maybe try one.
Painful Decision
It may not technically be a Gunkan card, but Gunkans get so much value from Painful Decision that I don't feel right including this anywhere else. Because Painful Decision cares about card names in deck, Loading... can be discarded for Painful Decision to search for the Effect Monster Loading... . This is even better than it seems, because a big drawback of Painful Decision would be that it could not normally be used to find a specific Monster more than once per game, since you can only run three copies of a card with one name, but this feature of Shari allows us to run six cards with that name. I'd run at least two, no questions asked.
Gunkan Suship Daily Special
The only Gunkan trap card, except for Loading... . Daily Special is another way to get monsters in your hand, I guess. I think the best part is the ability to recycle Gunkan cards in the GY, allowing more uses of Loading... . But I don't think that Gunkans have enough impact to play a grind game, and being a trap, I've largelty ignored Daily Special. Let me know if you feel it's better than I'm giving it credit for.
Support Options
Here are some additional cards and engines that can cooperate with Gunkan for your consideration. The Gunkans alone aren't quite enough to make a complete deck, so explore your options and choose what you find complements your goals and playstyle best.
The Rank 4 Xyz Toolbox Boys
There are a lot of possibilities here, but I think these few are the highlights of what Gunkans could reasonably put on the field. Loading... is helpful for recycling Loading... , to the point where he's become a core part of how I build my Extra Deck. Loading... is one of the strongest monsters ever printed, and Loading... 's ability to attack directly makes Summoning it trivial. Loading... is ZEUS' little brother. Loading... is a desperation play in case of Loading... , but will often be negated or ignored entirely. Loading... is a powerful Graveyard hate tool, if you know your opponent is playing Tearlaments or Snake-Eyes. Loading... is a bit of a gimmick card, giving you supreme all-in combo potential. Loading... is minor interaction, changing the target of a targeted effect, and Loading... is a way to find Loading... . Loading... can work as an out to any sort of combat tricks or float effects, but he wants another Utopia buddy to summon him. There are many more Rank 4 Monsters you could use, so please share what you're finding most useful in the comments.
Sakitama, Aratama, and Kagetokage
These guys are generic Level 4 extenders. Loading... is the nicest of all of them, since it can always Normal Summon itself, no questions asked. Loading... can find Sakitama, if you want an easy one-two combo. Loading... is a budget option that will simply follow whatever you Normal Summon onto the field for free.
Small World Bridge
Loading... is an interesting card that lets you search for missing combo pieces. It actually lets you search for a lot of different things, if you build around it properly. Between Loading... and Loading... , you can reliably bridge from one Gunkan to another that you want to look for. You can also find Ash or Dogoran as you see fit. Loading... works as a bridge for Aqua monsters, and Loading... is another FIRE Attribute target and bridge.
You can use this website made by Killburne to find Small World bridges easily!
Unexpected Dai
Loading... turns Loading... into a Loading... , but it's a dead draw on any turn besides the first. It's a strong card, but I personally feel that Xyz Monsters made with Shari draw enough cards that I don't want to run the risk of drawing it later. If you're running a dedicated going-second strategy, Unexpected Dai offers powerful consistency.
Springans & Utopic Draco Future
As far as I'm concerned, Gunkans and Springans are best friends. These guys make going first a strong strategy, with the ability to make Loading... and send one Level 4 to GY, then make Loading... , fetch Loading... , detach materials from "Champion" Sargas, find another Level 4, and then summon two Level 4's and one Rank 4- precisely the ingredients for Loading... into Loading... . Loading... is another fantastic interaction you can search for, if you happen to draw Tally-Ho! without "Champion" Sargas.
Zoodiacs
Loading... provides a way to consistently summon a Level 4 body, which can make its own interaction in stacking a big pile of Zoodiacs ending in Loading... . It can also be used as a second material for the creation of Loading... , or with Loading... , can attack directly and create a game-ending threat in Loading... . They're an all-around solid engine that's notable for being light on Main Deck space. You also have the option to forego the Main Deck monsters entirely, beginning your Zoodiac pile with two monsters into Loading... and going from there.
Mathmech
Mathmech is another Level 4 engine that can easily cooperate with Gunkans. Loading... can importantly provide additional protection for your side of the field, and can be easily summoned using Loading... . Ideally, the play is building Loading... , adding Circular, Circular pitching Loading... , Alembertian tributes itself to summon Nabla and triggering Circular which adds Superfactorial, then using Nabla's effect to summon Diameter from grave, then making an Extra Deck play to return Circular and Diameter to GY to activate Superfactorial on your opponent's turn. This takes a lot of board space, so be careful how you use your monster zones!
Mathmech also plays well with Links and Synchros, and I'll be exploring those and updating the guide soon.
Adventure & Friends
Gunkan is not desperate for the effects of Normal Summoned monsters, so the Adventure archetype can provide removal and protection through Loading... and Loading... . Loading... and Loading... can be used as a two-in-one to immediately Summon Loading... , who will send Loading... to GY, who can then activate her effect to search Loading... , which establishes Loading... . Loading... give you something to do with any unwanted Level 3 monsters that tag along with the Adventure engine.
Note that the Adventure Token summoned by Rite of Aramesir can not be used for the summon of Xyz monsters.
Utopia Double OTK
This silly little package is easy enough to understand: Summon Loading... , add Loading... to hand, make Loading... , attack, negate your own attack with Utopia's effect, then activate Double or Nothing! to swing for 10,000 damage. If you draw Double or Nothing!, you won't be able to activate Utopia Double's effect, and if your opponent has no monsters, you won't be able to attack at all, so be careful.
The main idea behind the Gunkan engine is to use Shari to Special Summon out the rest of your Gunkan monsters. Loading... can activate its effect in hand by revealing a Shari, and Special Summon them together. From there, you can Special Summon out Loading... and use Shirauo's effect to Special Summon Loading... and set a Shari for Ikura to Special Summon with its on-field effect. Uni can also use its effect to add another Shari to hand, and with Loading... and another Shari in hand, you can instantly Summon a Gunkan Xyz from your Extra Deck. Using Shari as an Xyz Summon material for a Gunkan Extra Deck monster allows you to draw a card, refilling the hand.
Going first, you'll be relying on non-Archetype cards to protect your board, but going second, the combination of the Loading... and the Loading... can negate and destroy a number of cards on their own.
As a basis for deck building, I would start with the following:
Then begin adding your hand traps and non-engine cards, adjusting what's here as you see fit. You also may find you prefer not to run Catch-of-the-Day, in which case you can comfortably drop to 1 Shirauo and Ikura.
Special thanks to
for being the guy I bounce ideas off of, and for helping with Gunkans specifically. You can find me on the MDM Discord @fddcsjxk, I'm happy to talk Gunkans with anyone trying to push the deck to succeed.