Prologue
Springans is a FIRE MACHINE archetype that debuted in Blazing Vortex. It's an archetype that is based around XYZ monsters where your main deck monsters attach themselves from the hand, field and GY as XYZ materials. Their core card is their field spell (Great Sand Sea - Gold Golgonda) which lets you summon Springan XYZ monsters without XYZ summoning. This allows you to easily summon Rank 4 & 8 monsters without using your normal summon. This lets Springans be mixed with other engines such as the Scrap and Gadget engine. In this article, we'll be reviewing all of Springan's cards and taking a look at some of the non-archetype options you can consider when building a Springan deck.
Video Counterpart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1y6AwqSI4M&ab_channel=BlueRainTCG
Playstyle & Deck Building
Strategy
Springan's main strategy is to control the board with their XYZ monsters with an endless supply of XYZ materials. Your goal is to 1st establish your field spell as that's what gets the ball rolling. This will enable some extra effects and synergies amongst your cards. Then, use cards like Springan Watch to develop until your board is in a solid position. Unfortunately, Springan has very few archetype cards that disrupt your opponent's play. Therefore, you'll likely need to play non-archetype disruptions to stop your opponent. One option is to play the Curious + Knightmare Gryphon combo to get a S/T of your choice to help you on the following turn.
When going 1st, the 1st XYZ you want to summon is Springan Merry-Maker. Use Merry-Maker to set up your graveyard for the following turn. Next, your play would depend on which non-archetype cards you drew. If you've drawn Scraps, then you can go for a Scrap combo ending in a Link-4. If you've drawn Gadgets, you can go for Gear Gigant X and tap into the Machina part of your deck. Either way, your goal is to make a strong enough board to contest your opponent's turn.
When going 2nd, cards like Nibiru, the Primal Being and Dark Ruler No More are crucial to ensure you'll be able to play. Afterwards, your play will again depend on what options you open with. If you've opened with S/Ts that you want to keep, Springan Ship - Exblowrer is your best choice. If you've opened with very few cards that commit to the field, rushing Zeus is usually a solid line.
Strengths
Springan's strength mainly come from their ability to have infinite XYZ materials. This makes Exblowrer very strong on your turn and also enables 4+ material Zeus quite easily. Being a MACHINE archetype that doesn't utilize their normal summon also helps them synergize with some of the best engines in the game.
Weaknesses
As an archetype that is very reliant on a Field Spell, not seeing it is obviously an issue. Even though you can play up to 10 ways to get to it, I've still ran into hands without seeing one somewhat infrequently. Not seeing Desert is very problematic as it makes it difficult to summon your Springan XYZ monsters. Without XYZ monsters, the whole advantage of your deck is negated. Springan can also brick quite easily with your ending boards being unimpressive.
Deck Building, Theory and Variations
Springan is a deck that can be built in a variety of ways. There are a multitude of MACHINE engines to choose from as well as the Albaz cards (which might be what the deck was meant to be played with). Other options such as FIRE support is also viable as none of Springan's cards restrict you into MACHINEs.
When building your Springan deck, the 1st thing that should come to mind is whether you want to go 1st or 2nd. This will greatly effect your build as it determines whether or not you'll play more board breaking cards or play more disruption cards. If starting, disruption cards like XYZ S/Ts and Barrage Blast are good options to stop your opponent. If going 2nd, board breaking cards like Dark Ruler No More is a great option to ensure you won't be negated indefinitely. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages so make sure you recognize the attributes of each.
Lastely, Springan is still a relatively new archetype and many strategies are unexplored. They may also receive new cards that changes both their playstyle and options. This article is not meant to be an "be-all end-all" guide for Springan. Keep an open mind as it's perfectly possible there are great ideas that are not reviewed in this article.
Cards
Main Deck Monsters
All Springan Main Deck monsters share the effect to attach themselves from the hand, field or GY to a Springan XYZ as XYZ material.
Springans Branga
Springans Branga is the Level 8 searcher of the deck. It can banish itself along with another Springan monster to add 1 Springan card from your deck to your hand. This effect, is not limited to searching monsters and can also search S/T. Branga is a card that has advantages and disadvantages. Searching for S/Ts is great but banishing monsters is not. Since the deck doesn’t have any in-archetype banish recursion, monsters that you’ll banish often stay banished. Furthermore, if you’re met with Ash Blossom, you’ll be banishing 2 monsters with little compensation. Despite this, being able to search S/Ts is quite handy. S/T like Springans Watch is among some of the best cards in the deck. Branga is also a Level 8 which makes it a 1-card discard for Machina Fortress (if you choose to play it). Having 500 ATK also makes it a target for Machine Duplication.
3-Of : Branga is a solid search card that you really don't want getting Ash'd. While the cost to activate Branga is steep, it feels wrong to not play the search card of an archetype at 3.
Springans Captain Sargas
Springans Captain Sargas is a Level 8 with a disruption effect. It can detach a material from an XYZ monster you control during your opponent’s turn to destroy a face-up card on the field. Sargas also gives a Springan XYZ monster that has it as material +500 ATK. Sargas’s effect seems nice but ends up conflicting with a lot of cards you would potentially play. Cards like Barrage Blast and XYZ Block are traps that already detach XYZ materials for their effects. Similarly, you may not want to detach XYZ materials from every monster you control. Cards like Zeus need multiple XYZ materials to be an active threat. Despite this, Sargas is a solid card to have on board if you’re going 1st or lack disruption.
1-Of : Sargas looks alright but anything more than 1 seems like you're asking to Brick. Having it as an option is nice and at the very least it's still a name for your deck.
Springans Pedor
Springans Pedor is a Level 4 that can tribute itself to special summon 1 Springan monster from your GY. XYZ monsters summoned through Golgonda cannot be summoned by this effect as they are not properly summoned 1st. Pedor is a monster that helps you cycle into a different Springan in your GY. The usual choice for this is Rockey as it has an on-summon effect. It can also summon a Springan XYZ monster if you've summoned it properly 1st. Pedor is also a Level 4 which is useful for summoning Rank 4 XYZs. It also has 0 ATK which makes it a target for Machine Duplication.
3-Of : Usually, I'd say Pedor isn't good enough to play at 3. However, if you're running a Machine Duplication heavy build, playing it at 3 seems okay.
1/2-Of : I've been thinking about this ratio for a while and I'm leaning towards 2 over 1. This is because I don't want to banish my sole Pedor with Branga and it feels better if I can banish 1 and not have to worry about needing it later.
Springans Rockey
Springans Rockey is a Level 4 that recovers a Springan monster or Golgonda from your GY when it's summoned. This effect is alright but nothing special as it doesn't really matter where Springan monsters are as long as you can see them. This effect does have some synergies with Machina Fortress as you can fetch a Level 8 to discard for Fortress's summon. Rockey's problem is that it won't get summoned enough, as there are usually better options. You'd often prefer summoning Scrap Recycler over Rockey. If Rockey is your best option, it probably means you've bricked and is losing the game. It also shares the same advantages of being a Level 4 as Pedor.
1/2-Of : The reason for this ratio is mainly the same reason as Pedor's ratio. If you play 1 of one of them, you'll probably play 2 of the other.
Springans Brothers (Lightning Overdrive)
Springans Brothers is a Level 4 that special summons a Springan from your GY if it's sent from hand or deck to the GY. There is a bunch of good ways to discard Brothers which makes it very good. The 1st obvious way to discard it is using your Golgonda. Brothers can also be sent to the GY by Merry-Maker and Watch. Similarly, non-archetype cards are also good for this such as Foolish Burial and Machina Fortress. Brothers is an extender that can get you an appropriate monster for your situation. If you need a Level 4 to XYZ with, Brothers can supply you with one. If you have Machine Duplication without a target, Brothers can get you that too. It also has 300 ATK which makes it a target for Machine Duplication.
3-Of : For the same reasons of playing Pedor at 3, it's a potential Machine Dulication target.
2-Of : Despite Brothers being possible your best main deck Springan, it's played at 2 because it's very easy to access. Having 3 will make it clog and having 1 means you might run out.
Supreme Archserpent Golgonda (Lightning Overdrive)
Supreme Archserpent Golgonda is not a Springan monster but works with Golgonda so we'll mention it anyways. It's a Level 8 REPTILE that can summon itself from the hand or GY if there is a face-up Field spell. It also protects Golgonda from destruction and has 3000 ATK while it's on the field. Naturally, you'd figure that you would XYZ with it for a Rank 8 and then use it indefinitely. Archserpent is another card that looks good on paper but questionable in practice. Let's review some of the problems.
Firstly, Archserpent is a difficult card to see. Since you won't naturally play search cards for it, you'll need to either draw it or dump it with Foolish Burial. Secondly, it's a REPTILE which isn't doing you any favors. Being a non-machine means you can't summon Platinum Gadget with it. You could use it to Link into something else but that takes away from it being a re-usable extender. Lastly, there isn't much space in the Extra Deck to play many Rank 8 XYZs. The Rank 8 you'll be summoning most consistently is Exblowrer which can be summoned off your Field Spell.
0-Of : There may be something I'm missing that makes Archserpent good but I'm just not seeing it. It's difficult to make Rank 8s in this deck naturally and it's not like we needed a 3000 ATK beater either. Overall, it almost seems like Serpent is better to counter Springan than to be played in it.
Spells & Traps
Great Sand Sea - Gold Golgonda
Great Sand Sea - Gold Golgonda is your Field Spell and the core card of your deck. If you control no Springan XYZ monster, it lets you discard a Springan card to special summon one. This effect has 2 options; a Rank 4 (Merry-Maker) and a Rank 8 (Exblowrer). We'll talk more about these cards in their section. Golgonda also has another effect which prevents an opponent's monster from attacking if a XYZ monster you control leaves the field via. card effect. This is activated through the effect of your Springan XYZs which have an effect to run during your opponent's main/battle phase.
2/3-Of : Golgonda is your core card which is why you might be wondering, why wouldn't I play this at 3. Well, it's because you have a lot of ways to search for it... and I mean A LOT of ways. Springans Booty and Springans Watch are both ways to tutor Golgonda. Combined with the natural copies you'd be playing and Terraforming, that's 8-10 ways to see Golgonda in your opening hand (depending on your ratios).
Springans Watch
Springans Watch is a Terraforming that turns into a Reinforcement of the Army + Foolish Burial if you have Golgonda active. Watch is great as it gets you your Field spell if you don't have it and is 2 of the best staples in 1 card if you do. It can also be used as an extender by sending Brothers to the GY, activating it's effect to revive a Springan monster. If you have Machina Fortress in your GY, Watch can add Branga which is a Level 8. This lets you discard Branga to summon Fortress and get Branga in your GY.
3-Of : Watch is a card that just does a lot for your deck. It gives you setup, progresses your development and at worst gets you Golgonda. Try to activate Watch while Goldgonda is already active to ensure maximum value.
Springans Booty (Lightning Overdrive)
Springans Booty is a continuous spell that has an active effect and a passive effect. Its active effect lets you send it to the GY to activate Golgonda from your deck or GY. Its passive effect prevents an opponent's monster from activating its effects when a XYZ monster you control leaves the field by a card effect. Similarly to Golgonda, this is usually activated when your Springan XYZ runs from the field. It may be hard to find the timing to activate Booty's effect to gain the most value from it. Since Booty has to activate before a monster uses its effect, it's relatively useless against on-summon effects. The best way to use Booty is waiting for your opponent to summon a monster with an effect that he has to manually activate. An example of this is Predaplant Verte Anaconda which doesn't activate its effect on summon.
3-Of : Booty should be played at 3 because it helps you access Golgonda and is one of your few disruptions that can be searched. While it's not the best disruption, it serves a double purpose and you would probably play it at 3 just for the tutoring effect anyways.
Springans Blast!
Springans Blast! is a trap that lets you choose 1 of your opponent's main monster zones (or 2 if you control an Albaz Fusion) and negate the effects of monsters in that zone until the end of the turn. It also prevents monsters in that zone from attacking directly. If there is no monster in that zone, the zone becomes unusable for that turn. Blast is a gimmicky card that can be used in a variety of ways. The main use will be to negate an opponent's monster but it also has a more gimmicky use like splitting your opponent's board. This can be used to disrupt your opponent's Link arrows or give you a more ideal target zone for Blowrer.
0/1-Of : Blast seems like an alright card but is also outclassed by some of the staple or generic disruption traps in the game. It feels like Blast is a less flexible version of Infinite Impermanence at worst and a gimmicky fun card at best.
Springans Call!
Springans Call! is a trap that special summons a Springan monster or Fallen of Albaz from your GY. It can also banish itself along with a Fusion from your GY to attach an Albaz Fusion to a Springan XYZ monster as material. Call seems like Call of the Haunted at a glance but also has a cheeky disruption hidden within it. The main poison of this card is to summon back Albaz and then use it to fuse with your opponent's monster during their turn. Though this is good in theory, it might be difficult to accomplish as it 1st requires Albaz to be present in your GY. Call's banish effect is also hard to activate as it 1st needs a Fusion in the GY. This generally requires you to have Dogmatika Punishment setup 1st or an Albaz prior.
0/1-Of : Similarly to Blast, Call seems like a gimmicky fun card that can be ran if you want to. I could also be wrong about this as I haven't tested Albaz much.
Extra Deck Monsters
Springans Merry-Maker (Lightning Overdrive)
Springans Merry-Maker is the Rank 4 option that gives you setup for your opening turn. The most common opening play is to use Golgonda to summon Merry-Maker by discarding a Springan monster. If Merry-Maker is summoned from the Extra Deck, it's a Foolish Burial for a Springan monster. This lets you send Brothers to summon the Springan monster you used for Golgonda. Merry-Maker also has an effect that can run from the field during your opponent's main/battle phase. If you run while it has 2+ materials, it also lets you send an Albaz Fusion from your deck to the GY.
1-Of : Merry-Maker should be played at 1 because after using it to set up, you won't be summoning it again. After using Merry-Maker initially, it turns into a XYZ material holder and a potential Zeus later on.
Springans Ship Exblowrer
Springans Ship Exblowrer is the Rank 8 option that lets you play Battleships in Yu-Gi-Oh. During your turn, you can choose 1 of your opponent's non-extra monster zones and destroy any cards in that zone along with any cards next to that zone up to the number of XYZ materials detached to activate this effect. This effect is mainly used to clear boards if you have cards such as S/T that you want to keep for later. Exblowrer is also great with Barrage Blast to disrupt your opponent during their turn. If you do not, it's usually better to go for Zeus as it's a stronger clear and disruption. Exblowrer also shares the effect with Merry-Maker to run during your opponent's main/battle phase.
1/2-Of : Like Merry-Maker, you're probably not summoning Exblowrer more than once per game. However, you're more likely to go into Exblowrer twice over Merry-Maker twice so 2 is fine if you have the space. The 2nd Exblowrer is also good to summon another Zeus.
Sprind the Irondash Dragon
Sprind the Irondash Dragon is the Albaz Fusion of the archetype. It requires 1 effect monster that was special summoned this turn and a Fallen of Albaz to summon it. It has an effect that lets it change columns during your main phase to destroy all other face-up cards in that column. Sprind also has a more commonly used GY effect that lets you summon a Springan monster or Albaz from your deck during the end phase. This can let you summon Albaz to fuse away your opponent's monsters before your turn starts. Spring will mainly be sent to the GY via. Dogmatika Punishment and sometimes Sprigans Call!. It provides a good follow up for your next turn but might be too slow in actual play.
1-Of : I've personally played Sprind at 1 as a target for punishment. Though I rarely go into it, when it does come up it's nothing crazy. Perhaps it will be better if you play a more prominent Albaz package.
Non-Archetype Cards to Consider / Honorable Mentions
Staples : Dark Ruler No More, Monster Reborn, Terraforming
Staples like Monster Reborn and Terraforming act as extenders and consistency cards for your deck. Monster Reborn can help you reuse Scrap Recycler and Golem multiple times in a turn. Terraforming helps get you to your coveted Field Spell. Dark Ruler No More is your best tool to break boards going 2nd.
Scrap Package : Scrap Recycler, Scrap Golem, Scrap Wyvern, Scrap Raptor, Crystron Rosenix
The Scrap engine is good because Springans don't utilize their normal summon. This allows you to use your normal summon for Recycler. Scraps works well with Springan because they help fuel your GY and gives you an easy way to summon a Link 4. This Link 4 is usually Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess. Scrap Wyvern also has some synergies with Platinum Gadget as it can destroy Platinum triggering its effect to summon a Gadget from deck. The only bad thing about playing this engine is that Golem is a terrible card to draw. Rosenix can be discarded for Fortress as it's a MACHINE but Scrap Golem is just a brick.
Gadget Package : Gold Gadget, Silver Gadget, Platinum Gadget
The Gadget engine gives you easier access into Rank 4 XYZs. This can be Merry-Maker if you don't draw your field spell but there are also other Rank 4s to choose from. Gear Gigant X is a good Rank 4 that can help you search for most monsters in your deck. There are also other staple Rank 4s that we'll mention later. Gadgets also float which can come in handy when defending against an attack.
Machina Package : Machina Fortress, Machina Unclaspare
Machina Unclaspare is a new Machina released in Blazing Vortex. This monster can special summon itself if it's added to your hand except by drawing it. This gives it synergy with Gear Gigant X. On summon, Unclaspare can send 1 Machina monster from your deck to the GY. It also comes with a restriction that locks you into MACHINE monsters for the rest of the turn.
Machina Fortress is the other part of this package. Fortress is usually sent to the GY through Unclaspare and is great because it's so easy to summon. With multiple Level 8s, Fortress can easily be summoned through a single discard. You can also summon it by discarding 2 Level 4 MACHINES and if you discarded Brothers, it also triggers its effect. Fortress also helps get Rosenix out of your hand if you happened to draw it and applies a lot of pressure on the field. It's a strong attacker with an effect that activates to pop a card if its destroyed by battle. People also often forget to read Fortress's 2nd effect which cuts a card from your opponent's hand if it's targeted by your opponent's monster effect.
Machine Duplication
Springans have a few monsters with sub-500 ATK which makes Machine Duplication a decent card to consider. I personally like playing Dupe at 1 as it lets me not rely on it but still have access to it, in case I draw it. Playing Dupe at 3 sometimes feels bad because you won't always be able to get a 500 ATK MACHINE on field.
XYZ Spells & Traps
During the ZeXal era, there were a bunch of S/T printed known as XYZ S/T. These XYZ often synergized with XYZ monsters and included strong effects at the cost of detaching XYZ materials. These include but are not limited too; XYZ Gift, XYZ Import, XYZ Block and XYZ Reborn. Take a look at some of these to see if any of them interest you! You can also search these cards with Generation Force.
Disruptive Traps : Torrential Tribute, Dogmatika Punishment, Barrage Blast
As we mentioned earlier, Springans lack a way to interact with the opponent during their turn. Therefore, we must look towards non-archetype cards to help with this problem. These are some of the traps that I've found to be strong in the Springan deck.
Torrential Tribute is good because your XYZ monsters can run from the field when it's activated. It can also catch your opponent off-guard and ruin their offense.
Dogmatika Punishment is good because it synergizes with Sprind and also makes the Dogmatika matchup much easier. It also doesn't conflict with Springan too much as we don't need to summon as often when we have a Exblowrer to work with.
Barrage Blast is a continuous trap that lets you detach any number of XYZ materials from MACHINE XYZs to destroy that many cards. Its a very powerful trap that can easily pop 2-3 cards and since your XYZ materials recur infinitely, Barrage can supply tons of value. Barrage also has a GY effect where if a MACHINE XYZ monster is destroyed, you can burn your opponent by banishing it along with Barrage.
Staple Rank 4s : Abyss Dweller, Tornado Dragon, Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir
With the Gadget package, Rank 4 XYZs are easy to summon. Staple Rank 4s like Abyss Dweller and Tornado Dragon come in and out depending on the meta. Alternative options include Bagooska, Cairngorgon and any other Rank 4 you find to fit your needs.
Gear Gigant X
Gear Gigant X is a MACHINE Rank 4 that can search a Level 4 or lower MACHINE monster from your deck. It was very popular in Geargia format as it floats and supplies you with advantage. In Springan, Gigant can't float but can help you get to Springan Brothers or Machina Unclaspare which are both great for advancing your setup.
Train Package - Number 27: Dreadnought Dreadnoid, Number 81: Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Super Dora, Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav MAX, Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe
This MACHINE XYZ package takes up a lot of space in your Extra Deck so it's up to you if you want to play it. This package usually starts with Number 27 running over a monster. Then, there are a few different pathways you can go down.
The defensive route goes into Number 81 which can sit on the field until next turn or straight into a 4 material Zeus. The offensive route goes into Gustav MAX to burn for 2000, following up into summoning Liebe and then into a 4 material Zeus. This does take up a lot of space so if you do play it, you'll need to cut something else.
Curious, the Lightsworn Dominion + Knightmare Gryphon (maybe)
Curious, the Lightsworn Dominion can be summoned through utilizing the Scrap Package. It helps you dump another MACHINE into the GY but can also dump a S/T if you want to play Knightmare Gryphon. Solid choices for this combo include Imperial Order or Rivalry of Warlords. Alternatively, you can play Curious without Knightmare Gryphon and turn it into an Apollousa afterwards.
Divine Arsenal AA-Zeus - Sky Thunder
If I had to be honest, Divine Arsenal AA-Zeus - Sky Thunder is probably what makes your deck somewhat playable. It goes without saying as one of the strongest non-archetype cards in the game and is easily summoned in this deck. It can also easily have 4 materials with upwards of 6 materials under perfect conditions. Zeus is great for controlling the board and disrupting your opponent. It also has great stats and creates an immediate threat on the board. If you thought dealing with Zeus with 2 materials was rough, try dealing with it while it has 6.
Design Issues & Going Forward
Springan is a new archetype and like many other archetypes, seem 1 card away from being decent. What they need is more ways to interact with their opponents during their opponent's turn. It would have been great if Exblowrer could pop cards on both turns as it would give the deck some more disruption. Overall, it's a cool concept that's both unique and fun to play. I'm not sure what it needs to be better but at least it gives us something to look forward to in the upcoming sets.
Conclusion
To close things off, Springans is a cool archetype that resembles to me, what seems like Missles and Launchers. It has some cool art and a unique effect in terms of Exblowrer. I don't know about any of you, but it sounds interesting to think about sinking someone's battleship in Yu-Gi-Oh. Springan might never be anything close to competitive, but the deck is cheap since everything is all common or bulk holos. Feel free to check it out if you're looking for something new to play casually or in local free tournaments.
