Introduction
The Dogmatika Lore is finally reaching its climax. Fallen of Albaz has acknowledged his origins, and leads his newfound comrades into battle. This epic journey is chronicled in Structure Deck: Albaz Strike, the latest structure deck in the OCG. This set contains the latest updated versions of his trusty companions, while packing his various transformations past and present into one accessible product. This set also happens to grant Albaz enough power to finally compete for his slice of the pie in the metagame! Without further ado, let us venture with the band of rejects, and find out how capable they are.
Albaz, Branded and Crew
Albaz is supported by two themes: cards specifically quoting "Fallen of Albaz" in their text, and his Branded techniques consisting of only spells and traps. Both are heavily Fusion-centric, and will revolve around manipulating his various draconic forms to edge out advantage. The additional support introduced in Albaz Strike grants numerous support from other existing archetypes in the lore, letting Albaz freely tap into these archetypes as a boost. Albaz and Branded Fusion are incredibly generic cards, which allows for great flexibility in mix-n-matching across other existing Fusion decks. If you enjoy Fusion Summoning, please welcome the Albaz crew!
There is a lot to cover in this article, so please bear with me.
Albaz's Appearance
This whole archetype relies on the individual Fallen of Albaz, so let him introduce his abilities!
Fallen of Albaz
Dragon/Effect
Level 4 ATK/ 1800 DEF/ 0
- If this card is Normal or Special Summoned (except during the Damage Step): You can discard 1 card; Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters on either field as Fusion Material, including this card, but you cannot use other monsters you control as Fusion Material.
- You can only use the effect of "Fallen of Albaz" once per turn.
It is not hard to see the similarities between this card and Super Polymerization; both will consume your opponent's monster for your fusion summoning. Albaz is also blessed with the malleable Dragon attribute and the generic Dark attribute; both of which encompasses the widest variety of needed Fusion materials in the current game. This oddity is also the core for the many impressive monsters introduced later on, so he is an absolute staple in this... this deck named Albaz.
Bunch of Buddies
Trucking alongside are the friends we Albaz made along the way. These monsters bear their names from their original archetypes, but solely dedicate their purposes to supporting this dweeb.
- Unlikely Swordsoul Allies
- Springans Kit
- Tri-Brigade Mercourier
- Albion the Shrouded Dragon
- Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous
Quite frankly, these guys suck a lot, and does not contribute much to actual gameplay. However, their efforts are respectable, and these guys are worth considering in decks later on. Springans Kit is the most useful member. She can serve as an additional body, while recycling important Spells for extended usage. The rest are either inefficient, or irrelevant to supplementing the consistency of any Albaz decks. It is safe to completely ignore these for now.
Casting Contempt
As mentioned earlier, all of Albaz's techniques are fully within the subcategory "Branded." I will list out the more prominent ones here.
The first section originally belongs to the Despia side, and the second to Albaz. Both are versed in the Branded arts, so they can easily intermingle, and be used in either decks. My existing article on Despia here may be more descriptive of the usages of these spells. These spells will see continued usage in Albaz as they pair well with the deck.
Albaz Strike introduces the latest fusion spell wonder - Branded Fusion. With this, you can easily mill any Light/Dark monster- which opens a variety of options and flexibility for the deck. This spell alone will allow players to immediately tap into any of Albaz's formes - especially Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon.
This structure also introduces two other spells, Paradise Branded and Branded Servants. Admittedly, these cards serve the Despia archetype better, reflected by the heavy Despian presence in these artwork.
As per all aspiring archetypes, Albaz also comes with his normal and counter trap. Branded Blade is an extremely powerful trap that spawns multiple strong tokens. However, this is difficult to perform in practice as it is very hard to set up the conditions of banishing multiple Branded cards. Condemnation is the themed counter trap, designed to negate only any forms of summon. Both these trap cards also contain an additional Branded recycling effect, allowing the player to tackle the grind game.
Draconic Dualism
What would a Fusion deck be without their themed Fusion monsters? While Albaz has multiple formes, I will only review the necessary ones, since he does not need to tap into every single form to win.
The first three forms are better suited to their listed archetypes. They all pack unique effects, but admittedly not impactful enough. Interestingly, Albion the Shrouded Dragon fulfills all the different conditions.
The second portion is more dedicated towards Albaz. Albion grants an additional Fusion summon, and when sent to the graveyard, tutors any Branded card. Lubellion does the exact same thing, but recycles the materials instead. These two dragons will constantly develop multiple Fusion monsters on your board. This is important because Mirrorjade, the strongest Albaz fusion to date, requires a Fusion, Synchro, XYZ, or Link Monster for its summoning. Mirrorjade here has an excellent effect to banish any monster as a quick effect, and threatens the opponent's board for clearing it off. Mirrorjade can send Albion as cost, which will set Branded in Red. This interaction allows the Albaz deck to constantly eke out advantage regardless of their actions.
Since there are a lot of new cards coming together, I believe the easiest way to learn a deck is to view a sample decklist. Behold!
Albaz Despia
This is currently the best way to play an Albaz Deck. The whole deck is dependent on the resolution of Branded Fusion, so Aluber can help retrieve it straight from the deck. Despia is also an excellent complement to the Fusion strategy, so might as well throw the package in. As you may have noticed, the core cards take up very little deck space, allowing the pilot to add in any special techs like handtraps. I chose to cut the Phoenix Enforcer package since I have no idea if the next banlist will nerf it or not.
The ideal thing to do is to find and activate Branded Fusion. Branded Fusion alone will develop Mirrorjade with possibly a set Branded in Red ready to summon Guardian Chimera. This playstyle is similar to pure Despia, but now more consistent and disruptive. Here is a simple combo line for this deck:
Aluber + 1 card = Mirrorjade + Guardian Chimera
- Summon Aluber. Add Branded Fusion.
- Activate Branded Fusion, sending Albaz and Despian Tragedy to summon Lubellion.
- Despian Tragedy will trigger, and you should add Ad Libitum. Similarly in the same chain, Lubellion should activate to fusion summon. Return Lubellion on the field and Albaz in the graveyard to summon Mirrorjade.
- Mirrorjade, once on field, should activate to banish your Aluber (or any other monster) by sending Albion.
- At the end of the turn, Albion in GY should set Branded in Red to your field.
This effectively ends your turn with a set Branded in Red, ready to disrupt your opponent on their turn.
- On the opposing turn, you should use Branded in Red. Banish Mirrorjade, Ad Libitum and anything else to summon Guardian Chimera.
- Guardian Chimera will resolve, destroying and drawing cards. Ad Libitum in the same chain can summon Mirrorjade from the banished zone.
- Mirrorjade, now fresh from the banish zone, can now use its banishing effect once more.
This combination allows you to develop two threats at any point of the game. This combo is easily to develop, and requires little resources to produce. Guardian Chimera will also draw you cards, potentially handtraps to further disrupt your opponent! and Mirrorjade constantly dropping Albion grants you Branded cards every turn.
Of course, there are lengthier combo lines involving these cards, so I will link them respectively below. Please check them up in your spare time, as this deck will definitely be relevant in the near future.
Tofu's All Fusion Branded Fusion combo videos, and part 2
NTUCGM's chinese explanation of Albaz, and their combo videos
Techs
Like all good fusion decks before and after this, Albaz is quite flexible with other fusion techs. Tofu's video showcases the many ways you can toy around with archetypes, but here are some additional suggestions.
- Frightfur Patchwork, Edge Imp Chain and Polymerization
This set of cards are often referred to as the Frightfur package. These cards are excellent at recouping and refueling the necessary losses need to Fusion Summon, including Lubellion's cost to discard. This package is excellent for extending and maintaining resources, only at the mere cost of sacrificing a lot of deck space. - Necroworld Banshee and Zombie World
Branded Fusion can dump Necroworld Banshee directly to the graveyard, instantly tutoring Zombie World. Zombie World is currently a fantastic card that can directly stop the advances of Floowandereeze and Brave Wyrm, and other select archetypes. - Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss
Farfa is an excellent way to aggressively push for game, and also triggers from the usage of Branded Opening. This idea used to be incorporated from Destiny Fusion, but only Konami knows the future of that card.
All these techs stem from Branded Fusion's ability to send any Light or Dark monsters as fuel. This list will only continue to grow, but it is fine to take note of the current ones.
Counters
The easiest way to stop an opposing Albaz is to merely stop Branded Fusion from resolving. Otherwise, you should aim to power through their two disruptions, or stop Branded in Red from resolving as well. Unfortunately, Nibiru, Lancea, Dimension Shifter and Retaliating "C" are quite useless against this strategy, so leave them in your side deck! Despite everything, Albaz can not compete in the resource department. Either outlast them enough, or push aggressively for game to finish the player off! Just beware of possible opposing Super Polymerizations.
My Thoughts and Ending
To be honest? I only played Pure Despia at one point because Albaz Strike was delayed in Asia for a whole month. Playing that helped me understand Albaz lines better. Otherwise, Albaz is shaping up to be the next meta contender, being extremely flexible while holding back on resources. Being able to play around multiple popular handtraps feels amazing, and poking with big beefy purple cards is another guilty pleasure of mine.
As the Dogmatika lore begins to wrap up with the next few sets, we can definitely expect even further support in the upcoming main sets. Stay tuned for the conclusion of this epic!
