Brave Token Tenyi (September 2021)

The converging journeys of an otherworldly hero and dragon monk join together to form a surprisingly competent deck! Brave Token and Tenyi are archetypes focused on supporting their respective normal monsters. Combined together, Brave Token provides 7 copies of Called by the Grave to ensure that Tenyis can actually play through interruption like Ash, Impermanence and Nibiru! Simultaneously, Brave Token gets the firepower and support it desperate lacks as it pumps out big beatsticks like Tenyi Spirit Sahasrara and Draco Berserker of the Tenyi. The Tenyi toolbox can also be used like a targeted bounce from Tenyi Spirit Vishuda and +2 draw/protection from Flawless Perfection of the Tenyi! As both archetypes are deployed to the field, these archetypes cover each other’s weaknesses and in turn strengthen each other forming one deck of beautiful synergy.

Tenyi’s arch nemesis are handtraps – they are generally unable to play through Nibiru (since they summon 10+ times during their main combo and cannot recover if field wiped) or when their chokepoint, Shaman of the Tenyi is negated.

With the introduction of the BRAVE TOKEN PACKAGE, Tenyis are more resilient playing through handtraps since Brave Token functions as 7 extra copies of “Called by the Grave.” Wandering Gryphon Rider provides an omni-negate before the 5th summon, allowing the Tenyi player to play through Nibiru. This combo is accessible if you have Aquamancer of the Sanctuary, Foolish Burial (target is Aquamancer, banish it from the GY to get Rite of Aramesia), or Rite of Aramesia in hand, since they allow the summon of Wandering Gryphon Rider (the omni-negate). If you open Aquamancer/Aramesia, you only summon twice, including the Gryphon.

The MAIN COMBO of the deck requires Rite of Aramesia, Vessel for the Dragon Cycle and any Tenyi:

1. Activate Rite of Aramesia. SS Brave Token, place Journey of Destiny from deck to field. (This is good ash bait. If they ash it, then you can continue your Tenyi combo).


2. Special summon any Tenyi, then link summon Monk of the Tenyi.


3. Journey of Destiny adds Dracoback from deck to your hand when you summoned.


4. Activate Vessel of Dragon Cycle, dump Mare Mare into the GY and search for Tenyi Spirit, Ashuna (this is the best Tenyi for comboing since it’s an extender).


5. SS Ashuna.


6. Activate Journey's effect, adding Gryphon to your hand while discarding the Dracoback equip.


7. Activate Dracoback equip GY effect, equip it to Brave Token.


8. SS Gryphon. This is the end of your Brave Token Combo. The rest is standard Tenyi combo. (This is the 5th If your opponent uses Nibiru, you can negate it).


9. Link summon Shaman of the Tenyi using Monk + Ashuna.


10. SS from GY Mare Mare with Shaman of the Tenyi, then discard any card (preferably a Tenyi card since they activate in the GY.) This is the most crucial chokepoint of the deck, now protected by the Brave Token Package!


11. SS Mare Mare tokens thrice with it’s effect. Link summon Linkriboh with a token. Then link summon using Shaman +2 tokens to make Tenyi Spirit – Sahasrara.


12. Banish Ashuna from the GY to summon any level 4 Tenyi from deck. Synchro summon Berserker of the Tenyi (Or Baxia if you want to clear the board) using Mare Mare + Level 4 Tenyi.

With just three cards. your board should look like this:



This board can now play through negates, nibiru, handtraps. It is very consistent to make since any Tenyi could make this board, and there are 7 ways to access your Brave Token omni-negate (and the original Called By the Grave.)

Going first you have a formidable board. You have battle protection (Linkuriboh), a banish (Draco Berserker), Token Generator/Protection (Sahasrara) and an omni-negate (Wandering Gryphon Rider).

Going second you can OTK easily. You have a bounce (Dracoback the Dragon Steed), an omni-negate (Wandering Gryphon Rider), multiple targeted shuffles (Baxia) and several big bodies on board (Sahasrara). If Vishuda is in the GY, you can bounce a card on the field.

The strength of this board depend highly on drawing into Vessel of the Dragon Cycle or somehow putting milling Mare Mare into the GY (perhaps with Foolish Burial or discarding it from hand) since it’s the best revive target for Shaman of the Tenyi. Boards that are made without Mare Mare are considerably weaker, perhaps only ending on Brave Token, Wandering Gryphon Rider and the Tenyi Link-3s/or Sahasrara.

These two decks also SYNERGIZE quite well since both archetypes discard from the hand for cost for the activation of key cards like Journey of Destiny and Shaman of the Tenyi. Aquamancer of the Sanctuary and all Tenyi monsters activate by banishing from the GY. Brave Token is spashable in decks that don’t use their normal summon card effect and Tenyi doesn’t use it since all it does is special summon.

Other than the 9 card Brave Token package, the rest of this deck is fairly standard Tenyi. No explanation needed for the rest of the cards – I just wanted to showcase the power of the Brave Token package in a deck that desperately needed a way to play through hand traps.

General Tips – I’ve play tested this online quite a bit, and here is what I learned playing it.

• Activating Rite of Aramesia is good ash bait. If they ash it, then you can continue your Tenyi combo. Just hope they don’t have Nibiru in hand!


• Don’t summon Gryphon before you have the material on board to summon Shaman of the Tenyi. Gryphon is an effect monster, which turns off all your Tenyi’s ability to SS from hand!


• When discarding cards, always try to discard a Aquamancer, any Tenyi monster, or Heavenly Dragon Circle since they have beneficial effects in GY.


• Foolish Burial goods target is Heavenly Dragon Circle, and once banished from the GY, search either for Flawless Perfection of the Tenyi or Fists of the Unrivalled Tenyi. Even though these are one-ofs, you basically have 7 copies of each card!


• The flex-spots in this deck are Pankratops, Feather Duster, Monster Reborn and Raigeki. You can even cut 1 Heavenly Dragon Circle and Tenyi Spirit Shthana. You can customize your deck however you like with these 6 flex-spots, whether you put in handtraps, solemns, or board breaking cards.


• The latter half of the Tenyi combo needs Mare Mare dumped in the GY to be summoned by Shaman of the Tenyi. If you don’t have Vessel of the Dragon Cycle in hand, you can dump it with Foolish Burial. If Mare Mare is already in your hand, then you can discard it with Shaman’s or Journey of Destiny’s effect.

Concluding Commentary

Inspired by the success of this package in the OCG, I thought I would experiment a little bit using Brave Token with a favourite budget deck of mine I’ve built a while ago to give it a little powerboost. The superior deck to combine with Tenyi is still Swordsoul, combining the Tenyi’s special summons and toolbox effects with Swordsoul’s offensive firepower. However, Tenyis hold a soft spot in my heart – and having them play through interruption with the power of an “isekai MC (which is basically me, the duelist)” is thematically suuuuper cool! Overall, Brave Token Tenyi is still a middling rogue deck, and it allows for Tenyi to play comfortably through the handtraps that plagued it’s combos. Don’t underestimate it’s power, it can OTK in an instant, generating 8k+ damage on board with several forms of non-destroying removal. It can also create a formidable first turn board with a combo protected by an omni-negate.

Mark my words – Brave Token is META DEFINING for combo decks. I look forward to splashing the Brave Token Package in other combo decks, not only because it’s an additional 7 copies of a better Called by the Grave – I love watching degen isekai anime trash and it’s cool I finally get to see it in Yugioh!

That’ll be it for now, GLHF Duelists!