Branded Thunder Dragon (January 2022)

Branded Fusion is one of the most ridiculously powerful cards ever printed. This one card and it’s archetype, “Albaz” singlehandedly makes most fusion decks faster, stronger and more resilient. Notable decks that benefit from this branded buffoonery are Cyber Dragons, Buster Blader, and for this deck profile I’m featuring Thunder Dragons!

Losing Colossus nearly two years ago at the start of 2020 that killed the eternal “TOSS” format, Thunder Dragons have lost their meta tier 1 status and became considerably weaker as a rogue deck. Branded Fusion changes this humble status of this former heavyweight meta champion by enabling the deck viable and powerful going first and going second options!

Summon multiple gigantic draconic boss monsters, methodically decimate your opponent’s board, maintain resource advantage through both archetype’s resource loops and when the time is right - swing for game!

ARCHETYPES AND RATIOS

The THUNDER DRAGON cards in the Main Deck consist of 16 cards:

3 Thunder Dragons, 3 Thunder Dragondark, 2 Thunder Dragonmatrix, 1 Thunder Dragonroar, 3 Aloof Lupine, 1 Thunder Dragon Fusion, 2 Ready Fusion and 1 Gold Sarcophagus. In the Extra Deck there are 2 Thunder Dragon Titan and 1 Kaminari Attack. Several extra Thunder Dragon cards are cut from this decklist like an extra copy of Matrix, Roar Thunder Dragon Fusion, and Dragonhawk to make space for staples and the Albaz cards.

The BRANDED cards in the Main Deck consist of 13 cards:

1 Aluber the Jester of Despia, 2 Fallen of Albaz, 3 Springans Kitt, 3 Incredible Ecclesia, and 1 Iris Swordsoul, 3 Branded Fusion. In the Extra Deck there are 3 Albion, 2 Lubellion, and 2 Mirrorjade. 1 Starving Venom and 1 Titaniklad serve as additional “superpoly” targets for Albaz.

The SHADOLL cards are a minor package in this deck, consisting only of 2 cards: Winda and Qashaddol Keios.

The STAPLE cards in this deck take up 10 slots in this deck. 3 Allure of Darkness serve as draw power, and 6 handtraps 3 Impermanence and 3 Dimension Shifter. 1 Called By the Grave provides protection from handtraps and a potential disruption for the opponent. I chose to make the staples in this decklist affordable, but they can be replaced by more potent (and expensive) cards like Lightning Storm and Forbidden Droplet.

COMBOS AND GAMEPLAN

The GAMEPLAN with this deck is simple – control the board going first, and OTK going second.

If the game manages to lasts several turns, both Branded and Thunder Dragon cards recycle themselves and provide sizeable resources. At the end of every turn, Incredible Ecclesia recycles herself + Albion grabs you another Branded Fusion from deck. Thunder Dragon Fusion can also be banished the turn after you use it to allow you to search for Thunder Dragonroar, which can be discarded to recover Thunder Dragon Fusion from the banished pile. Since these two archetypes recur almost indefinitely, you should be able to outgrind your opponent in resource war.

GOING FIRST, boards that end on Thunder Dragon Titan’s destruction and Winda’s floodgate are often enough to pressure your opponent’s gameplan to a standstill.

Simply use Branded Fusion to dump to the GY the light Shadoll monster Keios to fuse into Albion, then use Albion’s effect to make Winda! Keep in mind you only have one summon to make after making Winda, so be sure to combo off properly making Thunder Dragon Titan first, then making Winda afterward.

GOING SECOND, boards are easily picked apart by Thunder Dragon’s multiple pops and Mirrorjade’s banish. Incredible Ecclesia works together with her bestie, Fallen of Albaz to “superpoly” away your opponent’s problematic monsters. All of this often accomplished without using your normal summon! After breaking an opponent’s board, this deck can easily generate enough gigantic monsters onboard to obliterate your opponent’s lifepoints in one turn.

COMBOS with this deck simple but take practice to fully master. Combos are typically hand-dependent, but end with a board full of Thunder Dragon and Branded fusion monsters. In addition to the combos featured earlier, here are some examples of additional combos:

Thunder Dragon + Ready Fusion: Activate Ready Fusion to summon Kaminari Attack, then special summon Thunder Dragon Titan by banishing Kaminari Attack and your Thunder Dragon in hand. It is ideal to banish Thunder Dragondark for this effect, since banishing it allows you to search for an essential Thunder Dragon combo piece like ammunition for Thunder Dragon Titan or Thunder Dragon Fusion.

Albion effect  + Thunder Dragondark in GY = Search Thunder Dragon card: If Thunder Dragondark is already in the GY, Albion can banish Thunder Dragondark to create Lubellion. Doing so will trigger Dragondark’s effect to search for any Thunderdragon card that you’re mission.

Ready Fusion + Branded Fusion = Mirrorjade: After using Ready Fusion to create Thunder Dragon Titan, a Kaminari Attack should be in the banished pile. The Branded Fusion combo line (Albion -> Lubellion -> Mirrorjade) can use Kaminari Attack in the banished pile as one of the materials to fuse Mirrorjade, without using up one of your Branded Dragons already on the field!

There are more situational combos that a pilot can do with this deck, but it’s largely dependent on the game state, cards in hand, and what the opponent has. That’s why it’s crucial to practice this deck so one can optimize play. I’d describe Branded Thunder Dragon as easy to play, but hard to master.

GENERAL TIPS

• Ideally, this deck can feature monsters like Dragoon, Blue Eyes Tyrant Dragon and Invoked Mechaba! All you have to do is use another garnet in your deck, The Light -Hex-Sealed Fusion, dumped off Branded Fusion for the summon of Albion. Albion then makes your fusion of choice, using Hex-Sealed’s fusion substitution ability!


• Your hand going second will likely have ways to fuse into your Branded and Thunder Dragon monsters, but try to bait/break your opponent’s interruption first before heading into your main plays.


• If you want to focus more on destroying multiple backrow, creating Thunder Dragon Titan is the ideal play, since it can pop cards on the field multiple times without targeting and can survive being destroyed multiple times (for ex. Torrential Tribute or Conquistador of the Golden Land).


• Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer fits comfortably in this deck, but the inclusion of other cards in Branded Thunder Dragon reduces consistency, lessens access to boardbreakers, etc. If you can put this guy in your deck, I highly recommend it!


• Since this deck lacks an inherent normal summons and doesn’t really set cards, Denko Sekka can be sidedeck option for backrow heavy games. She is also searchable off Thunder Dragon Fusion!


• Chaos cards/chaos engine function wonderfully with this deck. If you’re willing to let go of staples or increase your decksize beyond 40, I recommend fitting Chaos Space, Chaos Dragon Levianeer, Chaos Creator (searchable off Thunder Dragon Fusion), Chaos Valkyria, etc.


• This deck is particularly weak to backrow, floodgates and high impact handtraps. Be sure to side properly to counter your opponents!


• When siding with this deck in-between games, the cards able to be switched the most are the 3 Allure of Darkness (sacrificing consistency), the 3 Dimension Shifter, and the Ecclesia cards (3 Incredible Ecclesia, 1 Iris Swordsoul). Replace these 10 cards with whatever you like going first or second!


• Dimension Shifter works incredibly well with this deck. Careful of using this card since it cuts off some combo lines for both Thunder Dragon and Branded!


• The Branded Albaz and Lubellion require a discard for their cost, and Thunder Dragons provide ample fodder for discards. Dragondark especially loves being in the GY, since it can potentially be banished by Albion’s effect, triggering Dragondark’s search effect.


• Verte Anaconda can be used should you lack access to either Branded or Thunder Dragon fusion. Just keep in mind you can’t summon Verte the same turn you used Branded Fusion since you’re locked into fusion extra deck monsters for the rest of the turn.


• Lubellion can recycle any monster cards used for its fusion effect in the GY or banished pile, including Thunder Dragon monsters. Keep this in mind if you’re running out of particular cards in your maindeck/extra deck!

CONCLUDING COMMENTARY

The synergy between these decks almost seem like these two archetypes were designed to support each other! For example, Branded Fusion mills Thunder Dragons to the GY, Albion banishes Thunder Dragons in the GY to fuse while triggering their effects, Mirrorjade recycles Extra Deck monsters in the banished pile, Thunder Dragons maintain hand advantage serving as discard fodder for Branded cards… The synergies between these two are incredible!

I’ve enjoyed the simple control/beatdown strategy of Thunder Dragons for years, combining it with multiple different variants such as Chaos and Rokket to propel this deck forward. With their new bestie Albaz and friends, Thunder Dragons gains an entirely new dimension of power and playability! Who knows, maybe in the future Thunder Dragons may reclaim it’s mantle of tier 1 meta deck once more! Just please don’t unleash Thunder Dragon Colossus again Konami, that card was ridiculous.