Magnifying Glass: Darkwing Blast

Today we are going to analyze the most interesting (and most playable) cards of the new Darkwing Blast set. The cards we are going to analyze are very important as they will be the bases of the decks of the new format. So, if you don't want to be left behind with your deck, you should definitely go and get them. Also because certain cards, if they enter the meta decks, could see their value increase a lot without taking into account their rarity.

BLACKWING

The Blackwing archetype is based solely on dark attribute winged-beast monsters and was a top tier of the meta many years ago. The main strategy was to special summon as many monsters as possible on the ground and proceed to synchro summons. Furthermore, he could count on excellent spells and traps that allowed those who played the deck to have good control. It was undoubtedly a very solid deck and in the anime, you can see it in action during the Yugioh 5ds season, used by the character Crow.

These days, the archetype is getting some additional support that rejuvenates it a bit. If you are a fan of this deck, run and get the new cards.

The new expansion allows us to get cards that go in combo with the "Blackwing Dragon". This monster is considered the main monster of the archetype (although it was not used much in the old deck strategy). Today, however, we can count on "Suthri - the Illusory Spark" which allows us to summon a token tuner on the ground that will be used to perform a synchro evocation, on "Blackwing - Vata the Emblem of Wandering" which allows us to perform synchro summons using the monsters in the graveyard and finally on the new boss monster of the archetype: Black-Winged Assault Dragon. This monster, under certain conditions, allows us to destroy all the cards on the field. This all depends on the counters  that are collected every time the opponent activates the effect of a monster, so against certain decks that rely on long combos it can be useful. Nothing incredible, currently it remains a deck for fun that has no hope against the mono meta Tearlament.

The cards that you will find in the set will be low rarity and will provide you with an excellent base to create or upgrade your Blackwing deck. Unfortunately, I'm noticing that old cards like Gale the Whirlwind are going up in price, so hurry up and get the cards you are missing.

BYSTIAL

In this post I have already dealt with an in-depth analysis of this archetype and I will not dwell too much.

Bystial is a dragon archetype that relies primarily on special summoning monsters from the hand by removing one light and one dark monster from any graveyard.

Bystial Magnamhut and Bystial Druiswurm can be played anywhere and have a hand trap function as they can be special summoned from the hand during the opponent's turn.

Other monsters like Bystial Saronir and The Bystial Lubellion work well in combination with cards from the Branded archetype.

The Bystial Alba Los instead is the floodgate of the archetype as it negates the effects of all fusion, link, synchro, XYZ and ritual monsters on the field. He too can be used freely in any deck that already contains Magnamut and Druiswurm.

KASHTIRA

Kashtira is a new archetype made up of level 7 psychic-type monsters.

Kashtira Fenrir is undoubtedly the one we're going to use the most as it can be added to any deck. Its effect consists in being able to summon it especially if we don't control monsters (like Cyber ​​Dragon) and, when this card declares an attack or the opponent activates a monster's effect, we can banish a face-up card on the opponent's field.

OBVIOUSLY, WE WILL GO TO BANISH WITHOUT PITY MYSTIC MINE.

Kashtira Fenrir is a truly versatile and powerful card.

The other cards in this archetype are Kashtira Ogre and Kashtira Unicorn which only fit in a deck based on the Kashtira archetype. Currently, a deck dedicated entirely to Kashtira doesn't seem to be very strong, but it could become dominant in the future.

For the moment the card to absolutely look for is undoubtedly Kashtira Fenrir.

NATURIA

The Naturia archetype is also very old and if I'm not mistaken it was released during the time when the X-Saber deck was dominant in the meta. 

This archetype has received new support for its strategy and the most interesting seem to be Naturia Camellia, Naturia Mole Cricket and the quick-play spell card Naturia Blessing.

Mole Cricket allows us to specially summon our Naturia monsters from the deck or to summon itself from the graveyard. Among the monsters that we can summon from the deck, the best choice seems to be Naturia Camellia which allows us to perform further special summons. Finally we can activate Naturia Blessing to evoke our fusions and our Synchro Natura from the extra deck.

The Naturia deck has always been a bit slow and cumbersome as most of the effects of the cards belonging to the archetype are activated in response to the opponent's moves. Now, with these three cards, the deck gets a little more speed. It is not yet a meta deck but we are already starting to see lists that mix the Naturia archetype with the fearsome Ishizu cards that currently appear to be Tier 0.

The union between Naturia and Ishizu is made possible by another card in the Darkwing Blast expansion: Vernusylph of the Misting Seedlings.

This card allows us to add to our hand an Earth-Fairy type monster such as Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard, Mudora the Sword Oracle, Agido the Ancient Sentinel, and Keldo the Sacred Protector. Later we can summon an Earth-type monster from the graveyard.

Consequently, we have a deck that offers a whole series of Naturia cards that negate the opponent's effects and Ishizu cards that send those cards to the graveyard to be summoned and then return them to the deck to be able to reuse them again.

DRACOSLAYER

Two Dracoslayer decks finished second and fourth at the last National YCS Japan which took place in August 2022, and represented the only real alternative to the mono meta created by the Tearlament + Ishizu Cards deck.

The cards to look for are definitely Ignis Phoenix, the Dracoslayer and Majesty Pegasus, the Dracoslayer.

This is a deck that depends a lot on Heavymetalfoes Electrumite which in OCG is limited while in TCG it is still forbidden, so it is not yet possible to talk about a Dracoslayer decklist or to evaluate the impact it will have on the current meta.

If you like the Dracoslayer archetype, I recommend that you retrieve these cards in the hope that Electrumite will be playable again as soon as possible.

LADY LABRYNTH OF THE SILVER CASTLE

Although the name clearly refers to the "Labrynth" archetype, this card is an excellent generic monster for all those decks that set face-down cards.

If we have a face-down card on our field, our opponent cannot target Lady of Labrynth of the Silver Castle with card effects and also cannot be destroyed.

Additionally, this card can be special summoned from the hand when a normal trap card is activated.

Seems to be a great card for a Burn Deck!

TEARLAMENTS RULKALLOS

It requires Tearlaments Kitkallos to be summoned and is a huge addition to the already very strong Tearlament deck.

This card makes our Aqua-type monsters indestructible (and all Tearlaments monsters are Aqua-type) and negates and destroys the opponent's cards that have the effect of special summoning other monsters by sending other Tearlament monsters to the graveyard so that they can. activate their effects and make new summons for fusion.

Also, if this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard by a card effect, it can return to the field.

BROKEN. BROKEN. BROKEN.

FREKI THE RUNICK FANGS

Runicks get a new fusion monster that boosters the deck's already solid strategy. During the last YCS of Utrecht 2022 the deck Runick mixed with Spright managed to beat and probably surprise Tearlament who had his cards removed from the game that are activated when they go to the graveyard. Probably tier 1 or 2 but I don't think it will have any hope against tier 0 Tearlament - Ishizu.

MEREOLOGIC AGGREGATOR

This rank 9 xyz monster works as a kind of Foolish Burial for the extra deck as it allows us to send a monster from the extra to the graveyard. The mind immediately goes to Elder Entity N'tss and Garura the Wings of Resonant Life which, once sent to the graveyard, allow us to destroy a card on the field and draw a card from the deck respectively. 

This card also allows us to recycle the cards we sent to the graveyard by attaching them to itself as xyz materials so that we can send them back to the graveyard and activate their effects again.

It is a monster that acts as a recycler of effects that are activated in the graveyard and in addition to N'tss and Garura, some excellent targets are Toadally Awesome and Herald of the Arc Light.

Mereologic Aggregator also has a great effect that is activated when it goes to the graveyard as it negates the effects of a face-up card on the field until the end of the turn.

Great when used in combo with Ultimate Slayer.

WOLLOW, FOUNDER OF THE DRUDGE DRAGONS

A generic xyz with a very interesting effect that allows us to shuffle the cards in the opponent's graveyard into the deck and summon monsters from the opponent's graveyard to our field.

Very useful because it allows us to control the opponent's graveyard and is also easy to summon as it is a rank 6 that can be special summoned through the level 6 Bystial monsters that we find in the same expansion.

SPRIGHT SPRIND

Although the name suggests that it is a card belonging to the Spright archetype, the effect of this monster works great with Tearlaments. In fact, Spright Sprind allows you to send a level 2 monster from the deck to the graveyard and the perfect target is Tearlaments Merrli which, once in the graveyard, will allow us to perform a fusion summon. 

I don't think Tearlaments needed more support in this expansion but it's clear that Konami wants to make it the dominant deck at all costs.