The Cyber Style in Yu-Gi-Oh is a very interesting case. You have the ever-so-powerful Cyber Dragons and the lackluster Cyberdarks. Together, you get one of the most iconic archetypes from the GX era. In this series, I plan to go through the popular cards and Decks of the Cyber Style. This way, we can analyze the impact of the Cyber Style on the competitive Yu-Gi-Oh history. From its early days of Cyber Dragon in anything Machine related to Cyber Dragons becoming its own Deck. This study will compile of the overall history of the Cyber Style.

Introduction

We've studied the early cards of Cyber Style, now we get to the point of seeing them in action. As mentioned, there are various different Decks that made use of the archetype. From more OTK focused strategies to a control-based focus of generating advantage. These cards were handy in various different Machine Decks throughout the years. It all started with Cyber Dragon being splashed in almost every Deck and evolved into a more Machine toolbox focus. This piece will look at the cards and what they offer to the successful Decks throughout the years. I won't cover every Deck just using Cyber Dragon, as that would mean I'd post thousands of Decks. That card has various uses from tribute fodder to Chimeratech Fortress Dragon access. This piece is mainly focused on the Machine toolbox and what Cyber Style added to the arsenal.

Cyber-Stein OTK

As mentioned in part 1, while Cyber-Stein isn't officially part of the archetype, its history is well associated with some of the cards. It's 5000 LP cost was often used to summon powerhouses like Cyber Twin Dragon or Cyber End Dragon. Having either a 2800 ATK double attacker or a 4000 ATK piercer made for perfect OTK tools. With that said, you still needed more to provide the 8000 damage needed for an OTK. Thankfully, we had several options. Firstly, the 5000 LP cost meant you should have low enough LP to use Megamorph. This way, you can double the ATK of your Dragons to hit the opponent's LP hard. Second, Limiter Removal is a great card to double your Machine's ATK, which your Dragons were. Finally, if you couldn't do enough damage already, you had extra options to deal damage. 

OTK Assisting

Other Equip Spells like United We Stand were useful to give your monsters a slight boost. You could also throw in some burn cards like Cannon Soldier, Poison of the Old Man, or Ceasefire to do a little extra. You could even throw in the massive nuke of Ring of Destruction for more massive damage as well. 

Now as for the consistency of the OTK. Last Will is perfect to get Cyber-Stein from Deck, something the previously mentioned Cannon Solder can trigger. You also had other ways to trigger the card like Exiled Force popping a monster to clear the way for more damage. On the other hand, LP gaining cards were also useful for having the 5000 LP cost for Stein. Poison of the Old Man could give you 1200 LP if you weren't using burn, and Nimble Momonga made for a viable way to get some LP back during this period. Scapegoat is also useful for protecting your LP, as well as boosting with United We Stand. The Deck was built to quickly pull off the OTK, which helped Cyber-Stein be the first emergency ban in the game.

Cyber Machine Toolbox

After looking at the OTK potential of Stein, we'll now dive into the toolbox potential of Cyber Dragon and Cyber Phoenix. Cyber Dragon was perfectly at home in anything Machine related back in the day. It being a 2100 ATK Special Summon just for the opponent having a monster was great. You couldn't really use a Machine beatdown strategy without Cyber Dragon and its versatility. On the other hand, Cyber Phoenix offered a lot more on paper. The targeting protection it provided to your Machines was great. Anything from the Gadgets, to Jinzo, to Card Trooper appreciated the free protection that Phoenix offered. Destroying Phoenix in battle was also good for you, as it netted you a free draw afterwards to continue your game plan.

Toolbox Versatility

Now, for all the Decks and how they made use of this potential. First off, you had the Gadgets, who were great for keeping card advantage. Red Gadget searched Yellow Gadget, who then searched Green Gadget and then back to Red. Therefore, these cards were useful at keeping up card advantage and building up damage on board. Phoenix was a great addition with its floating effect and targeting protection, while Cyber Dragon gave the big ATK option the Gadgets lacked on their own. 

Jinzo was another good Machine around this period, as his effect to shut down Traps was extremely useful. Adding extra targeting protection for Jinzo with Phoenix is great, and your Dragon can be free fodder to summon Jinzo. On the other hand, you also had Spell Canceller to be a Jinzo for Spells if need be.

Finally, we see Card Trooper and its similar floating effect. Having a second card to let you draw on destruction was good, but Card Trooper had something different to offer. Its mill effect was good to load up the grave with anything you might want there, while also giving Card Trooper an ATK boost. Even if you didn't need the mill, getting a 1900 body at the very least was pretty good. On the other hand, it loaded up certain effects like Bazoo the Soul-Eater to offer another beater, or Treeborn Frog to revive.

Why It Was Successful

The reason these cards were successful was because of the versatility. Phoenix was hard to remove with effects, and destroying it in battle wasn't optimal. Even if the opponent wanted to remove it, you could try and protect it with your own Trap Cards. Same goes for a card like Card Trooper, and the Gadgets generate the advantage whether the opponent destroys it or not. Jinzo and Spell Canceller were good boss monsters. You had a ton of useful effects in a Machine toolbox, and that isn't to mention Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and his free draws. This toolbox provided good potential damage and tribute fodder, which is why you saw a ton of Machine Decks over the years. It mixed well with Monarchs, burn cards, banishing cards for Dimension Fusion. There were several options to have success with Machines.

Chimeratech OTKs

Now we get into the toolbox trying some OTK power with Chimeratech Overdragon. Overdragon was a powerful Fusion that could get to astronomically high ATK if you use enough materials. The only thing was getting to those materials. You likely weren't going to have a ton of cards in hand to Polymerization out an Overdragon. The most reliable source for Fusion Materials was the graveyard, and this was thanks to Overload Fusion. Now to load up the grave, you naturally would get monsters in the grave over the course of a duel. With that said, you need quicker ways to load your grave if you want to win fast. This is where Future Fusion came into play and changed everything about the Cyber Style.

Future/Overload Fusion Combo

Future Fusion could reveal your Overdragon and send all the Machines to the graveyard needed to summon your Overdragon, including the main material being Cyber Dragon. Now, you didn't want to summon Overdragon with Future Fusion, otherwise Overdragon sends Future Fusion to grave and destroys your boss. This is why you want to wait to use Overload Fusion and Future Fusion together. This way, you can immediately summon Overdragon instead of waiting two turns just for Overdragon to basically nuke itself. Other ways to load the grave were using your Machines for tribute fodder, or Card Trooper's mill that can get more extensive with Machine Duplication. Many variations of Chimeratech OTK found success thanks to the ease of the combo, and it was still useful after Overload Fusion and Future Fusion were limited.

Cyber Valley Shenanigans

Finally, we get to the fun that Cyber Valley offered on its release in 2008. Now, while the history of Cyber Valley mostly strays away from Cyber Style, I'd be remised to not cover the card. Cyber Valley helped OTK and control Decks in its own way. This was mainly done through its three effects. 

The Effects

First, you got the Battle Phase ending effect that let you draw a card, helpful in stalling out a game. Second, you got the draw 2 effect by just removing it and another face-up monster you control, getting you to potential Traps or OTK cards like Dark Armed Dragon, Dimension Fusion, or Return from the Different Dimension. Finally, you got the effect to return a card in grave on top of your Deck at the cost of banishing Valley and a card in hand, mainly to redraw the power cards in the Deck, and it synergized with the previous draw effect and Machine Duplication. Cyber Valley offered consistency and versatility to several OTK Decks of past, as well as many different control Decks to keep the game in your pace. It isn't seen anymore, but it certainly had its time in the spotlight.

Conclusion

While it might of been for just a short period of time, the Cyber Style defined the GX era metagame. Zane Truesdale's cards put Machine Decks at the forefront of the metagame for a couple of years, making it a highly respected and powerful force. Machines were extremely popular during this era, which is why we might see Machine specific counters like System Down or Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. When it was all said and done, Cyber Style left an impact on this game worth remembering and made it a fan favorite archetype. While the Machine toolboxes did die off after the GX era, we eventually saw a rise of Cyber Style once again. Next time, we'll get into the style evolving into being a pure strategy and the support the archetype received in recent years.