Seeing for the first time the archetype of "White Forest" in the newest set Infinite Forbidden, I immediately thought about their potential applications to Runick since it seems like both archetypes synergize well with each other! White Woods interacts with spells, draws additional cards, and easily facilitates synchro summons due their ability to spam out tuners. Meanwhile Runick adds additional draw power, extra synchro bodies, and adaptability due to their toolbox quick-play spells. These two were made for each other! Thus a new Runick variant was born (MAN I LOVE RUNICK)!
Rciela turns enables a search for any White Forest card for a low cost of a spell/trap discard, further fueling your GY with Runick spells. Silvera acts as a quick-play "book of the eclipse" setting facedown your opponent's entire field. Finally, Diabell recovers ANY spell/trap from the GY, while enabling a quick synchro during your opponent's turn!
These white forest girls mean business, since they make synchro plays ridiculously easy whenever and wherever they are played. The amount of card advantage both strategies generate outpace most decks of the format in a prolonged grindgame, easily winning duels with a myriad of synchro-based interruptions. Diabellestar's "synchro" archetype certainly shows a lot of promise as a synchro engine - especially when it's paired up with a defensive powerhouse like Runick!
Want to see the deck in action? Scroll to the very bottom for the Youtube video!
ARCHETYPES AND DECKBUILDING
White Forest Runick is made up of two different archetypes and one support engine.
The WHITE FOREST section of the strategy are synchro-enablers, allowing the pilot to summon multiple synchro boss monsters to the field. White Forest cards also synergize very well with spell cards, since they use them as cost to enable them to spam tuners and synchro material on the field. The starters are 3 Astellar, 2 Elzette and 3 Silvy - all searchers and summoners from deck. 1 Rucia used as a searchable extender of the deck. 3 Tales of the White Forest (searcher), 1 Beware of the White Forest (target destroy), and 1 Woes of the White Forest (interruption) are used since they all reset themselves on the field when they are sent to the GY as cost for a monster effect, perfect to sending to the GY with Runick Hugin.
A TOY BOX engine is used to further fuel the White Forest portion of the deck. Toy Box and Toy Soldier search each other, and Toy Box sets two cards from deck - giving White Forest plenty of spells to send to the GY as cost. The Toy Box monsters also summon themselves to the field whenever they're sent to the GY, so it gives additional bodies for synchro summons! Finally, Toy Box has a surprise battle phase effect to destroy attacking monsters by sending a set card to the GY, offering further defensive play. It is composed of 2 Toy Box, 2 Toy Soldier and 1 Toy Tank.
RUNICK offers an alternative win condition of this deck by banishing your opponent's deck. Runick also increases the deck's consistency and grindgame since it allows for a draw 1-3 per turn. The Extra Deck Runick monsters such as Hugin and Geri are perfect synchro material, serving as level 2 and level 4 bodies. The Runick Extra Deck monsters are used at 1 each, since only 1 of each is generally needed per duel and the Extra Deck is super tight since it needs space for Synchro monsters.
Contrary to other decks, White Forest Runick has only 1 STAPLE card which is Called By the Grave. Since it's all "engine" cards, White Forest Runick has a lot of gas and can generally play through 1-2 interruptions, especially when the Toy Box engine is involved.
COMBOS AND GAMEPLAN
The strategy of White Forest Runick is to control/banish your opponent's resources until they surrender or deck-out. The strategy also generates a lot of ATK on board so the duelist can potentially attack for game! This strategy interrupts your opponent with Silvera's fieldwide "Book of Eclipse," Chengying's banish, and Diabell's quick-synchro into Chaos Angel's banish. That is in addition to drawing 3-4 cards (which are potentially Runick quick-play spell interruptions) per turn with the Runick Fountain!
White Forest Runick combos are somewhat linear. They consist of climbing to Synchro 6s -> 8s -> 10s and potentially 12s as the combo goes on. Depending on your hand, White Forest Runick duelists end on a mix of Chengying (banish), Dis Pater/Crystal Wing (negate + destroy), Diabelle (quick synchro), Silvera (set opponent's entire field) and several Runick spells in hand. These boards are generally enough to stop an opponent's turn and outresource them with both White Woods and Runick!
Here is the optimal opening combo for White Forest Runick:
Any Runick Quick-Play Spell + Astellar + Toy Box + Any Discard = Diabell (Quick synchro -> Chaos Angel's banish/protection), Chengying (banish), Woes of the White Forest (Quick synchro -> Silvera's set of your opponent's board), 2-4 Runick spells in hand with Fountain, Draw 2 (Rucia and Tri-Edge both draw 1), follow-up for next turn in hand and GY.
During draw phase, (to play around Droll/Veiler) activate your Runick quick-play spell to special summon Hugin from your Extra Deck.
Activate Hugin's effect to discard any card from hand to search for Runick Fountain.
Enter Main Phase. Activate Toy Box and set from deck Toy Soldier and Toy Tank.
Normal summon Astellar. Activate Astellar's effect sending your set Toy Soldier to GY to summon Silvy from deck.
CL1 Silvy's effect to search for Elzette, CL2 Toy Soldier's effect to summon itself from GY.
Activate Toy Soldier's effect on field to search for a level 4 light from deck, that being Rucia.
Synchro summon Rciela using Silvy + Hugin.
Activate Rciela's effect on-summon sending your set Toy Tank to search from deck Woes of the White Forest.
CL1 activate Astellar's trigger effect to summon herself from GY, Cl2 Toy Tank's effect to summon itself from GY.
Activate Elzette's effect to summon herself from hand sending Woes of the White Forest to GY and adding any White Forest monster from deck to hand (follow-up for next turn).
Activate Woes of the White Forest's GY effect to set itself on the field when sent to GY.
Special summon Rucia from hand. Activate Rucia's effect sending Toy Box the GY to draw 1 card.
Synchro summon Diabell using Rciela + Elzette.
Activate Diabell's on-summon effect to re-add your any spell/trap from your GY to hand (this is optional, but if you have an extra spell/trap, do it!)
Synchro summon Crimson Dragon using Rucia + Toy Tank + Toy Soldier.
Activate Crimson Dragon's effect add Synchro Rumble from deck to hand.
Activate Crimson Dragon's effect targeting Diabell so it can return itself to synchro summon Crystal Wing from your Extra Deck.
Activate Either Rucia or Silvy's effect in the GY to return Rciela to the Extra Deck to summon themselves from the GY.
Synchro summon Tri-Edge Master using Rucia/Silvy + Astellar. Draw 1 card with Tri-Edge Master's effect.
Activate Synchro Rumble to summon from GY Rucia/Silvy. Synchro summon Chengying using Tri-Edge Master + Rucia/Silvy.
Activate Runick Fountain. If you have any other Runick spells, activate them so you can possibly extend your Synchro plays and draw 1-3 cards.
During your opponent's turn, quick synchro with Diabell for Chao Angel's banish/protection. Afterwards, you can summon from GY Rucia/Silvy by shuffling back your Diabell, then activate Woes of the White Forest to quick-synchro into Silvera to set your opponent's entire field face-down. All these synchro plays recur your White Woods engine from the GY (Astellar resummons herself and Elzette adds herself back to hand). In addition, you can banish your opponent's cards with Chengying and interrupt them with your Runick quick-play spells!
For your next turn, your additional draws and White Woods recursion should allow you to out-resource your opponent!
Obviously due to the mass amount of handtraps in this format you aren't always going to achieve this board and gamestate. This strategy can shrug off low impact handtraps like Ash, Imperm and Veiler but cards like Droll/Shifter almost always completely end your turn. Hands always differ as well, leading to different endboards - but generally it consists of several synchro boss monsters with Runick Fountain + spells.
Going second, you pray you can break your opponent's board with Runick spells + the natural amount of gas that White Forest has with Toy Box. Otherwise, when siding for second, side out your entire Toy Box engine (5 cards) along with Woes of the White Woods, Beware the White Woods and Synchro Rumble for an additional 8 boardbreakers from your Side Deck. Decks generally don't have a spell/trap negate or you can bait the negate with a Flashing Fire or a Freezing Curses, then break the board wide open with a Lightning Storm of a Evenly Matched. From there, you can play your White Forest Runick as normal.
GENERAL TIPS
The Extra Deck is really tight! If you want more space take out the Crimson Dragon package including Crystal Wing and Dis Pater from the Extra Deck and Synchro Rumble from the Main Deck. Potential cards to add to the Extra Deck are additional Runick monsters, TY-Phon, Bagooska and Daigusto Emeral.
If you want more space in the Main Deck for staples, take out Synchro Rumble, and the 5 Toy Box cards from the Main Deck.
When you summon Hugin, always try to discard a White Woods spell/trap since they reset themselves from the GY if discarded as cost for a monster effect.
To break your opponent's board as you go through your synchro combo, summon Silvera (sets every monster of your opponent's facedown), Coral Dragon (destroy 1), Chengying (banish), S:P Little Knight (banish), and Sleipnir (banish). This is in addition to any Runick spells you have!
White Forest Runick generates a surprising amount of attack on the board. You can potentially attack for game by controlling your opponent to a standstill, and purposefully not using a Runick spell so you can attack!
Every turn, be sure to enter Battle Phase so that it's automatically skipped so you can potentially attack your next turn.
The cards you side out for your Side Deck in games 2-3 are the Toy Box Engine, Synchro Rumble, Woe/Beware the White Woods and Runick Dispelling/Smiting Storm.
Want to see the deck in action? Scroll to the very bottom for the Youtube video!
CONCLUDING REMARKS
As a seasoned Runick duelist, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the White Forest cards synergize extremely well with the strategy! While Runick provides extra synchro bodies, draws, consistency and fuel, the White Forest cards raise the power ceiling by spamming out tuners to enable massive Synchro bosses! The recursion that both decks have will most definitely outresource your opponent in a prolonged grindgame. Not only are these forest ladies beautifully aesthetic, they are dangerously lethal synchro powerhouse when combined with Runick.
GLHF Duelists!
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