Introduction

As the new era of Yugioh ushers in without introducing another summoning method, we are left to continue revising the prior summoning aspects which we are already familiar with. However, one archetype completely rejects the notion of Extra Deck summoning: the medieval clan of Dogmatika.

By limiting or denying the use of the Extra Deck, the Dogmatika obtains strong effects. They either generate advantage or repel the power of Extra Deck Monsters. Without the use of powerful Extra Deck Monsters, players using this engine will mostly be forced to adapt to a Tempo/Midrange or Control variant.

With such a strong allergy to the use of the Extra Deck, let us review the benefits this cult's dogma has to offer.

Identifying the Doctrine

• 1-3 Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous
• 1-2 Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted
• 0-3 Dogmatika Maximus
• 3 Nadir Servant
• 0-2 Dogmatika Punishment

You will notice that many of the Dogmatika cards rely on the presence of "a monster summoned from the Extra Deck". Thus, players will need to fulfill this criteria by relying on their opponent to summon one, or summoning one themselves. As such, let's review the members of this archetype.

Preachers of the Dogma

Dogmatika Ecclesia is the titular heroine of the Dogmatika story. She is also the dogma of the deck. Ecclesia easily summons herself for free with the presence of ANY Extra Deck Monster. This does not disrupt any core strategies. She also cannot be destroyed in battle with an Extra Deck Monster. This effect is relevant, as many decks looking for a final push rely solely on these monsters.

Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the shining knight of strength. Fluerdelis packs an effect from the hand to negate a monster on the field. While this effect may seem simple, this effect does not target, and does not activate on the field, bypassing many counters.
Fluerdelis is also the vanguard of this package, as it powers up other Dogmatikas permanently from an attack, easily threatening lethal if left unchecked.
By retrieving Fluerdelis with Ecclesia, the player can tutor both an interruption from the hand and a chance to swing huge damage!

Dogmatika Maximus, the adversary of the extra deck. Maximus empties a portion of both players' extra deck per turn. This can cripple an opponent's resources if they are not prepared for this encounter. Throwing cards from the Extra Deck can also help reveal information about the opponent.

The ruling states that the player resolving Maximus has to send the two cards FIRST. This might result in a counter send by the opponent. However, the player using Maximus can easily benefit from his effect, as I will cover later on in this article. Maximus should be considered a consistency piece, but can serve as a simple board-breaker with N'tss. 

Gospel of the Dogma

Nadir Servant is not only able to tutor from the main deck, but is able to recycle from the graveyard as well. 
Like Maximus, dropping a beneficial monster from the Extra Deck can also net you more resources, resulting in an increased advantage.
This unfair profit has currently landed itself in the Semi-Limited section of the OCG 2020 List.

Dogmatika Punishment has a similar effect to Nadir Servant, but destroys an opponent’s monster instead. However, the summoning restriction denies your extra deck summons for 2 entire turns. As such, this is a strong disruptive trap card you can consider in many control or stun decks.

Side Branches of the Dogma

You may have noticed that several Dogmatikas directly send cards from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard. Several Extra Deck Monsters will synergize in the form of useful GY effects. Sending them to the Graveyard will generate card advantage for you in the form of tutoring cards, or disrupting your opponent’s turn.

• Titaniklad the Ash Dragon
• Elder Entity N’tss/Fossil Warrior Skull Knight (removal)
• Wind Pegasus @Ignister (removal)
• PSY-Framelord Omega (recycles)
• Herald of the Arc Light (utility)
• Shaddoll (utility)

Titaniklad the Ash Dragon, the draconic antagonist of the archetype. Summoning this powerful beast may be impressive, but he truly shines when he reaches the Graveyard. During the End Phase, it searches or summons a Dogmatika from the deck. Summoning Dogmatika Ecclesia during this phase allows you to avoid Effect Veiler, and even an opposing Fleurdelis.

Elder Entity N’tss is your form of destruction when sent to the Graveyard. Fossil Warrior Skull Knight could be run as a weaker alternative, depending on your specific situations.

Wind Pegasus @Ignister will provide a layer of protection as it becomes an issue if your stuff would be destroyed by your opponent. This will make your opponent reconsider about destroying your cards.

Recycle and Consistency

PSY-Framelord Omega will recycle a potential target like Sky Striker Ace - Raye or Salamangreat Jack Jaguar back into the deck, or simply shuffle any card that you might want to use again.
Maximus utilizing Omega and N'tss is a small neat combo that makes your opponent lose resources every turn. The inclusion of Omega is also a reduced burden on stuffing your Extra Deck with goodies, as Omega can recycle them all.

Herald of the Arc Light will tutor your deck for ANY Ritual card. This allows many Ritual based decks to adopt the Dogmatika crew into their mix, as Rituals do not conflict with Dogmatika. Searching for Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended for added insurance is also a cool option.

Saving the best for last, every Shaddoll fusion monster has a trigger effect when sent to the grave. The older ones like El Shaddoll Winda lets you retrieve a Shaddoll S/T from your grave, while the new El Shaddoll Apkallone lets you trade a card in hand for any Shaddoll card.

HERESY

Letting an opposing Dogmatika Maximus resolve on you will whittle your Extra Deck by two cards. The Dogmatika player can reap the sweet gains from the aforementioned cards, but why shouldn't you too?

• Cyber Dragon Nova
• Fossil Warrior Skull Knight
• Predaplant Chimerafflesia

Cyber Dragon Nova lets your special summon a Machine Fusion monster instantly when sent to the grave by an opponent's card. This forces the opponent to deal with another threat. You may choose either a counter Invoked Mechaba, or the powerhouse of Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine.

At first glance, Elder Entity N’tss is a more popular disruption compared to Fossil Warrior Skull Knight. But why run the latter? A much-needed fourth copy of N’tss? The answer lies on the timings that they activate. A resolved N’tss will make you vulnerable to Triple Tactics Talents, which could be a potential game-breaker.

Sending Predaplant Chimerafflesia in a fusion based deck will search your deck for any Fusion Spell. They could be tech cards like Super Polymerization/De-Fusion or even engine cards like Thunder Dragon Fusion and Shaddoll Fusion.

The Dogmatika Precepts

The Dogmatika cards are not only able to function as starters, even as extenders of other decks. With Dogmatika, your end goal is to end with Dogmatika monsters on the field, Dogmatika Fleurdelis in your hand, and sometimes with a Dogmatika Punishment ready. Here are some combos that you should preach:

• Ideal combo that generates a minimum of +2 card advantage using 1 spell:
  1. Nadir dumps ≥1500 ATK to search for Ecclesia. (+0)
  2. Resolve mill victim A. (this will be dependent on your deck, which is commonly either El Shaddoll Apkallone or Herald of the Arc Light)
  3. Summon Dogmatika Ecclesia to add Dogmatika Maximus. (+1)
  4. Summon Dogmatika Maximus by banishing mill victim A.
  5. Activate Maximus to mill Titaniklad and victim B from the Extra Deck.
  6. Resolve mill victim B.
  7. During the End phase, activate Titaniklad to either add Ecclesia for a follow up, or Fleurdelis for negation. (+1)
  Every mill victim you resolve will also generate relevant card advantage.

With all these in mind, here are several tips you should note with the Dogmatika engine.

• All of the main deck monsters can special summon themselves for a free Synchro, Xyz or Link material, despite their main effects restricting the Extra Deck.
• Dogmatika cards should dump 2500 ATK< monsters to get the best out of their effects. In no particular order, the main targets are usually:
  - N’tss/Fossil Warrior Skull Knight
  - Titaniklad
  - Apkallone/Herald of the Arc Light/engine

• Most of the restrictions only apply after using the main effect of the Dogmatikas. The player should only resolve their Dogma after applying their deck's main concept, including summoning from the Extra Deck.

Dogma Decklists

Dogmatika is currently a popular engine by itself, as it promises consistency and positive trades for the player. To fully benefit from the uses of Dogmatika, the following lists attempts to incorporate the Dogma variants to the fullest.

Invoked Dogmatika

The concept of Invoked Dogmatika is also the simplest.
By summoning Aleister the Invoker, you can summon Invoked Mechaba. The process will also leave one Salamangreat Almiraj in the GY, so that Dogmatika Maximus can easily summon itself. Maximus will then proceed to send Shaddoll Apkallone to add Shaddoll Ruq to hand.
Thus, The ideal end board will normally a Shaddoll Ruq ready to summon El Shaddoll Winda, backed up by Invoked Mechaba and Dogmatika cards.
You may find this article a general guide on the deck and its inner workings.
It is also worth noting that the Dogmatika ratios normally fluctuate a lot, but my version here will emphasize on Dogmatika Maximus.

Nekroz Dogmatika

As Rituals are not included in the Dogma's Creed, they can easily pair as such.
This example showcases Nekroz Dogmatika, where the Dogmatika cards will consistently throw Herald of the Arc Light into the GY for repeated searches. Supplied with Dogmatika's natural grind game, many Ritual decks can expect to out-value other decks towards victory.
You may be interested in another variant of Dogmatika Nekroz here, that uses Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon.

My Tenets and Conclusion

Dogmatika is currently one of the most popular decks in the OCG. It is possible to expect the same thing in the TCG, as it has proven to be extremely consistent. Dogmatika can only get stronger as more Extra Deck Monsters with graveyard effects are released in the future.
However, it is unfortunate that Dogmatika cannot be played as a pure archetype as of now. Instead, the Dogma Creed shines by supporting archetypes like Shaddoll or Ritual. It is worth exploring many other variants of Dogmatika!