Gishki is one of my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh Archetypes for its history: it used to be notorious for FTKs, Hand Loops and generally degenerate strategies. The way these happened also had a very large effect on card design in general; the implementation of Once per Turn Clauses and forcing Anti-Search tech cards to be printed. On top of all this, it was a big part of Duel Terminal lore and still gets stuff relating to that today: look at the new Shaddoll Support! These days it's somehow still got things it can do, although it is quite gimmicky in general. This deck aims to OTK the opponent in...a rather elaborate way.
My deck uses Gishki Zielgigas primarily, so it's important to understand what he does. He'll give you a free card - and a free non-targeting send to the deck if you draw a Gishki Monster - in exchange for 1000 LP. Given Gishki Aquamirror can bring him back to the hand if there's a Ritual in the grave, using a Zielgigas to summon another is a very reliable strategy: with enough ways to get the Aquamirror back, this can be an effective loop until you have only 1000 LP left.
The aim of the deck is to abuse the hell out of this, digging through the deck for as many extenders as possible. This can be done through Salvage to get Shadow and Vision to loop, Surface for a free summon (Vision into Link plays), Avarice or Moray of Greed for draws, Impcantations for a free Zielgigas summon, and more. There are tons of resources the deck burns through to build a small but powerful board. Once the loop is finished and 2 Zielgigas are on the board, you can either attack with them and go into Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max to burn for game, or use Number 35: Ravenous Tarantula to boost your attack to an upwards of 10k and instantly win.
The new banlist was very important for this deck, as it banned Thunder Dragon Colossus, the greatest threat to the deck. It also brought back Pot of Avarice which is extremely abusable due to the graveyard getting stacked with monsters very quickly. In terms of recent sets, the release of Marincess Coral Anenome and Clotheep (although the latter has yet to be imported to the TCG) also gave the archetype much-needed extenders to combos, further bolstering its potential to keep going during a loop.
Until Clotheep is released in the TCG, replace it with Borreload Dragon and Sky Cavalry Centaurea. These cards help the deck in removal, although they are definitely not as helpful.
As a side strategy, I've got Zaborg, the Mega Monarch, in my deck. Using this and sending Elder Entity N'Tss, Toadally Awesome and Herald of the Arc Light to the grave gives a humongous plus in card economy. With this, you get more than enough resources to loop and then even make a board. The best way to dump him on the board is with multiple Zielgigas on the field while Aquamirror is in the grave, or after using some Impcantations.
In the case that Zaborg is either unavailable or you don't feel there's a good situation for the self-pop, there are alternative Normal Summons;
- Deep Sea Diva enables you to end on a Herald to force banishes, although this card can be cut for alternate cards.
- Beautunaful Princess brings out Gishki Abyss for a search, this can be used with One For One for a virtually free search.
- Gishki Abyss searches the entire archetype, most notably Gishki Shadow and Vision who can start the Zielgigas Loop.
- Gishki Beast can bring back a Gishki, which is useful during a loop.
- Abyss for a search, and then a Link play.
- Shadow for a Rank 4 play, you can use Abyss Dweller or Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir through this. He can also help squeeze out a Zielgigas
- Vision is worse than both of these in terms of Extra Deck plays but can help squeeze out another Zielgigas.
- All of these can bring out the new Clotheep, who greatly assists in loops due to being able to Draw 2 and then discard Rituals for Aquamirror or Vision to use with Surface. This also enables Marincess Coral Anenome, who can bring back Abyss for another search, although you can't use your Rank 10s after.
Zaborg can also be removed in exchange for Vanity's Ruler, another powerful 2-tribute monster who can win games on its own due to locking the opponent out of Special Summons. Side decking it is valid, but it's not always necessary.
The deck does have flaws, especially in that going second is pretty much all it can do. The deck lacks any protection whatsoever, and while it can play through negates if it opens well (in fact it can easily go through 2 or 3 in some cases), having your key cards removed is common. This is why I define the deck as blind second, as a Gishki board is one of the most fragile in the game. You can use Mound of the Bound Creator to protect Zielgigas, but two pops are all it takes to oust that. Droll & Lock Bird is also devastating to the deck, causing the draw loop to come to a swift end. As a result, Called by the Grave an imperative side deck card. If you want something to stop yourself from getting screwed over by going first, it is fine to add Number 81: Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Super Dora into the Extra Deck.
In terms of matchups, I'm not entirely sure as the format has basically been reset. In a general sense, the deck does well against any that doesn't;
- Lock you out of Special Summons (Summon Limit is a common "you can scoop now", True Draco carries it frequently too which doesn't help)
- Have a ton of removal (Dinosaurs tend to mow the deck down in this department, but going second usually makes this part less of an issue)
- Pile on more than 3ish negates (Pendulum opening well is a big problem here)
- Prevent Searching (Thunder Dragon Colossus is banned so this is pretty much a non-issue now)
What, that's a good bunch of decks? Well, I never said this was gonna be very meta relevant. I do think it's a Rogue Deck, but I am a touch optimistic. Gishki does very well against decks with large boards and little recovery, as Zielgigas can just wipe away any dangerous cards with good draw luck. It can play through a good few negates if it opens well (although some hands can be virtually unusable in the face of multiple negates), which makes this strength much better. It is very, very capable of OTKing an unprepared opponent.
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