Ursarctic: a fully comprehensive guide

Mecha Bears from Outer Space (in about 3~ minutes of reading time)

Ursarctic is a fun deck with a large array of builds that have only grown in strength since their release in May 2021. This build hopes to perform a midrange style of gameplay with the goal of putting up a sufficient turn 1 board and being able to grind out on turns 2 and 3. We achieve this by performing the 'Alpha Radiation' combo to end on Baronne de Fleur, Ursarctic Septentrion and Ursarctic Big Dipper as well as using Ursarctic Radiation to maintain a full hand. 

Here is an Atlantean version that is less reliant on Baronne de Fleur so it can be cheaper: https://ygoprodeck.com/deck/349795

Everything You Need to Know to Play RIGHT NOW 

Basic Combo: We call 'basic combo' ending on Ursarctic Septentrion and Ursarctic Big Dipper 

Ursarctic Mikbilis + any Lv8 Ursarctic monster + any Lv7 or higher monster

1. Activate 'Mikbilis' effect allowing you to tribute the Lv7 or higher monster to Special Summon 'Mikbilis'

2. On summon, the effect of 'Mikbilis' triggers allowing you to Special Summon the Lv8 Ursarctic from your hand (the Lv8's effect can trigger here)

3. Special Summon Ursarctic Polari using 'Mikbilis' and the Lv8 Ursarctic monster

4. On summon, the effect of 'Polari' triggers activating Ursarctic Big Dipper from your deck

5. Activate 'Polari' effect, using the effect of 'Big Dipper', banishing the 'Mikbilis' to summon the Lv8 Ursarctic monster from your GY

6. Special Summon Ursarctic Septentrion using 'Polari' and the Lv8 Ursarctic monster, this should leave you with 2 Big Dipper counters 

The requirements to perform 'Basic Combo' are different depending on the Lv7 Ursarctic monster being used, Ursarctic Mikpolar allows you to use 2 Lv7 or higher monsters instead of requiring 1 and a Mega-bear. The rest have the same requirements as Mikbilis but the order of operations is different.

Alpha Radiation Combo: ending on Ursarctic Septentrion, Ursarctic Big Dipper and Ursarctic Radiation 

Ultimate Bright Knight Ursatron Alpha + a Lv8 Mega-bear + any Lv7 or higher monster (or a searcher for a Lv7 or higher monster)

1. Special Summon the Mega-bear using the Lv7 or higher monster as a tribute

2. Special Summon 'Alpha', using its own effect, simultaneously searching Ursarctic Radiation  

3. Activate 'Radiation'

4. Special Summon Ursarctic Polari using the Mega-bear and 'Alpha'. 

5. On 'Polari' summon, it activates Ursarctic Big Dipper from your deck and triggers 'Radiation' to allow you to draw 1

6. Activate the effect of 'Polari' to special summon the Mega-bear from your GY, 'Big Dipper' allows you to banish 'Alpha' from your GY as cost.

7. Special Summon Ursarctic Septentrion from your ED using 'Polari' and the Mega-bear

8. On 'Septentrion' summon, 'Radiation' triggers allowing you to draw 1

This combo leaves you the usage of your Normal Summon so you can then draw into engines giving you a more robust endboard. You can also use Ursarctic Mikpolar but it requires two Lv7 or higher monsters or Ursarctic Slider which is much less valuable when considering the next combo...

Anti-Nibiru Diva Combo: If you open Deep Sea Diva this is the best way to protect yourself

1. Normal Summon Deep Sea Diva

2. On 'Diva' Summon, Special Summon Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince from your deck

3. Activate 'Neptabyss' effect, sending Atlantean Dragoons to the GY for the cost, to add Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon to your hand

4. Chain 'Dragoons' effect to add a second 'Poseidra' to your hand

5. Synchro Summon Tatsunoko using 'Neptabyss' and 'Diva'

6. Synchro Summon Baronne de Fleur using 'Tatsunoko' and one of the 'Poseidra' in your hand

Over the course of the 'Anti-Nibiru Combo' you retain Poseidra in your hand. This means that you can use 'Diva' to summon 'Barrone' and also perform Alpha Radiation Combo as a part of a 3-card combo. With the number of Deep Sea Diva searchers we play, after performing the 'Alpha Radiation' combo, the probability of seeing 'Diva' is 77%. You can add 1 more of either Duelist Genesis or Deep Sea Aria increasing the likelihood by 5% to 82% which makes an excellent case for replacing 1 copy of a Mega-bear for either of the former.

Level Nine Synchro Monsters: endboards dependent on Ursarctic Big Dipper, Ursarctic Radiation or Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince 

- Opening Ursarctic Big Dipper means that you should summon Ursarctic Polar Star instead of Ursarctic Polari to gain the bonus floodgate from the effect of 'Polar Star'. When used in conjunction with 'Big Dipper', 'Polar Star' effect leaves itself on the board to allow you to use a Mega-bear to Synchro Summon a Lv9 as well as 'Star Septentrion'.

- Opening Ursarctic Radiation means that you can use the effect of Ultimate Bright Knight Ursatron Alpha to search 'Big Dipper' instead. If you do, you can then summon 'Polar Star' for the bonus effect.

- If you had to Normal Summon Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince to be able to perform the 'Alpha Radiation Combo' you can then use a Lv8 Ursarctic monster to Synchro Summon a Lv9 monster. Never Normal Summon 'Neptabyss' unless you have to; the Lv9s are here as a pivot, not the primary goal. 

- You can use Deep Sea Diva and a Lv7 but since we don't play a high density of Lv7s and it is a waste of a 'Diva' unless you have already used all copies of 'Neptabyss'. Diva can be used with Polari to summon Polar Star or Tatsunoko.

Extra Information: For certain circumstances or decision-making

- If you had to dig for Deep Sea Diva using 'Ice Barrier' you would summon Icejade Gymir Aegirine instead of Baronne de Fleur, this is an important case for the Lappis variant that I have linked at the top of the article since you can summon Adamancipator Risen - Dragite instead under WATER lock.

- If you open either copy of Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon in a hand with 'Diva', you will want to add Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince from the effect of Atlantean Dragoons. This means that you can summon Herald of the Arc Light using Tatsunoko whilst still holding a 'Poseidra' in hand for the 'Alpha Radiation Combo'.

- 'Diva' + any Ursa monster (that we are playing) is 'Basic Combo' but not 'Anti-Nibiru Combo'. You summon Ursarctic Polari using 'Neptabyss' and 'Diva' and then try to summon any Lv8 Ursarctic monster. Ultimate Bright Knight Ursatron Alpha can search Ursarctic Departure and you can use both copies of 'Poseidra' to summon Ursarctic Mikpolar and whichever Mega-bear you subsequently search. Or just 'Baronne' pass with 'Diva'...

- All instances mentioning 2 Ursarctic monsters in a combo can be replaced by 'Departure' and any card to discard. Likewise, all mentions of a singular Ursarctic monster can be replaced by Foolish Burial Goods as it can send 'Ice Barrier' to the GY where it can search add any Lv5 or higher WATER monster. 

- If you have the ability to search an Ursarctic monster which you will use as tribute fodder, you should almost always search 'Mikpolar' to fulfill that role as you can special summon it with the effect of 'Baronne'. This is the best way to gain bonus resources from cycling 'Baronne'.

- You are meant to side-in Ursarctic Radiation over Deep Sea Aria and 1 copy of Ursarctic Megabilis if you are going against a deck that revolves around monsters with levels. If you feel like you are getting Ash'd too much you can also side it in as a protection card since it chain blocks every summon of an Ursarctic from hand or Extra Deck.

This is the end of the 3 minutes of reading time, all you truly need to know to play this specific build right now. I have put TL;DRs in for if you want to skim over the next few parts but you don't have to since it's 5x the length...

How to Build Ursarctic so That You Can Make the Deck Your Own:

Strengths: 

- Turn 0 interaction on your Lv8 Mega-bears: Ursarctic Megapolar, Ursarctic Megatanus and Ursarctic Megabilis ('MST', 'BoM' and 'D.D Crow')

- Drawing 7 from the effect of Ursarctic Radiation. 

- The best monster interruptions in the game. An archetypal 'Extra Deck Skill Drain' and 'QE Snatch Steal' is absolutely absurd.

Weaknesses:

[TL;DR we need to use powerful Extra Deck bosses to alleviate the weaknesses inherent in Ursarctics]

- The archetypal boards are very weak to S/T disruption since everything can be destroyed by one Raigeki or Evenly Matched.

- The deck is innately inconsistent at doing anything other than 'Basic Combo' in a world where 'sit on half a skill drain pass' is not even nearly viable. 

- If you get hand-trap'd or just interrupted once you are unable to perform at all, 'Ursarctic Radiation' fixes this slightly but it's still bad.

The deck's fragility is exemplified by the lack of inherent S/T negation and the combos are very weak to hand traps, these problems are solved by Baronne de Fleur otherwise you may also use Adamancipator Risen - Dragite or Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon. There are quite a few ways to summon these monsters early into combos. Lv3 Tuners and Lv2 non-Tuners to Synchro Summon Baronne with the Ursarctic monsters, Lv8 non-Tuners and Lv7 Tuners to Special Summon Ultimaya Tzolkin. Any 1 card Lv8 Synchros can summon 'Dragite' and, if they use a Lv2 Tuner to get there, they could use Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon to summon 'Baronne'.

Making Decisions, Turn 0 or Midrange:

[TL;DR 'Turn 0' builds aim to create a simplified game state by interacting on the opponent's turn for which the solid backbone of 'Basic Combo' can take over, it's a blind second aggro build but a lot of fun. The rest of the article talks about ] 

The best builds of any deck are ones that accentuate the deck's strengths and shore up its weaknesses. There may be more problems than the ones listed but I believe these to be the most important.To enhance a deck's strengths you should define the deck's requirements for performing their combos and look into other avenues to fulfil those requirements. Implicit in 'Turn 0 Interaction' and 'Alpha Radiation Combo' is 'Basic Combo', therefore improving either of the former bolsters the latter. 

Ursarctic Mikpolar and Ursarctic Megatanus, given the requirements for Basic Combo are fulfilled, can Book of Moon on your opponent's turn. This, combined with the flexibility of using a Mystical Space Typhoon or D.D. Crow, creates the basic case for a 'Turn 0' build. All utility is based on matchups which means that, if Ursarctic Megapolar and Ursarctic Megabilis are less useful, you can summon them but you won't get a sufficient return on investment. Similarly, you can run Hop Ear Squadron, requiring a high density of Lv7 Ursarctic monsters, to Synchro Summon Stellar Wind Wolfrayet or Navy Dragon Mech (similar to Nibiru, the Primal Being or Effect Veiler). This would prop up the likelihood of valuable 'Turn 0' interaction to be a reasonable ~54%. You should run this in conjunction with going-second tools to improve your chances.

Unfortunately, there are no 3-card combos that involve interrupting on the enemy turn and retaining the capacity to consistently activate Ursarctic Radiation to win in the midgame. You can optimise for that but you need to be playing 33~ish Lv7 or higher monsters. Not copies of Lv7 or higher monsters like Foolish Burial Goods, you need to be playing that many monsters which could be viable but is a high deck-building cost. There is possible innovation within the Horus cards as an Ultimaya Tzolkin turbo build. 'Ultimaya Tzolkin' is the main mode for 'Turn 0' builds.

If BoM doesn't solve your problems you have a solid foundation to jump back on with 'Basic Combo' but there wouldn't be a consistent way to build advantage. If you open 'Radiation', you can draw 2 cards through 'Basic Combo' but that won't recoup enough resources for a consistent large swing. In almost all situations you won't be opening copies of 'Radiation' whilst also playing 'Turn 0' so the win condition is to create a simplified game state for which the solid backbone of 'Basic Combo' can take over.

Since the support in DUNE, midrange builds have become so much stronger. Basically, the win condition is to set up sufficient turn 1 boards whilst abusing Radiation draws to grind out in the midgame. There are many variants of midrange and they have their own positives and negatives. I chose to hone in on midrange because Radiation is one of the best feelings in the game. You can tell if a build is midrange because the density of copies of Lv7 or higher monsters is around the mid to low 20s. I play 21, 30 if you count the Deep Sea Diva and Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince.

What are the Main Midrange Variants?

[TL;DR Atlantean probably isn't even the best variant. I could write a lot more on each of them but for the sake of clarity I haven't]

Pure: https://ygoprodeck.com/deck/the-ocg-build-350903

Pure has shown itself to be pretty good. We have an OCG build shown as an example and it can help us learn what makes a Pure build good. It leverages your Ursarctic Radiation draws into hand-traps. These hand-traps can be Normal Summoned to summon your Lv10 Synchros to create a well-rounded board or be held. It plays 21 copies of Lv7 or higher monsters which shows it's a midrange build, Pure probably requires Ursarctic Mikpolar at 3 and maybe even more Lv7s since you're meant to use tune them with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Especially,  since we don't have Maxx "C" to synch with the Mega-bears.

Icejade: https://ygoprodeck.com/deck/meadow-s-5-3-regionals-build-351047

Icejade has some incredible resilience in the GY effects that synergise greatly with a midrange game plan. It also has more flexibility on turn 2 than the other midrange variants because of Icejade Manifestation allowing you to cheat out Icejade Gymir Aegirine early. The longevity is incredible in this build, so much so it's considerable for the best variant. There is some unfortunate anti-synergy with using Icejade Ran Aegirine as fodder for the 'Alpha Radiation Combo' to then draw into Icejade Aegirine or Icejade Cradle and be unable to search 'Ran Aegirine'. My favourite part is that you can both summon Ultimaya Tzolkin and Baronne de Fleur in this deck, It's really cool. This build runs 29 copies of Lv7 or higher monsters, 31 if you count baby Aegirine.

Atlantean has the best conversion rate for hands meaning it bricks the least which is quite weird if you look at the build. The only real bricks are Ice Barrier and Atlantean Dragoons because of the nature of Ursarctics. Atlantean also has the best hand requirements so you can even increase the number of non-engine, I'm just highly averse to adding non-engine. Just like baby Aegirine, Deep Sea Diva is 1 card 'Baronne' but you have an easier time post-'Alpha Radiation Combo' and there are also more lines to 'Baronne' if 'Diva' gets negated because of Tatsunoko.

There's also room for innovation in P.U.N.K, Visas/Mannadium and Kashtira. Kashtira is just good no matter what, you will find keeping Kash cards on the field is just more valuable than using them to do Ursarctic things. I think the best ones do play a big Kash package with Birth and Unicorn. Visas Amritara and Lv2 Tuner monsters have incredible synergy with Ursarctics

Optimising Midrange for the 3-Card Alpha Radiation Combos:

[TL;DR Alpha is way better than Mikpolar but Mikpolar has a lot of potential in decks greater than 40 cards]

- Ursarctic Mikpolar + a Lv8 Ursarctic monster + Ursarctic Slider

- Ultimate Bright Knight Ursatron Alpha + a Lv8 Ursarctic monster + a Lv7 or higher monster

Here are the three choices that you can make:

1. 'Alpha' and Fodder with fewer copies of 'Mikpolar'. This version has the most generic requirements and therefore focusing on it could gain the greatest returns. 

2. 'Mikpolar' and 'Slider' with fewer copies of 'Alpha'. 'Slider' can help play through enemy interruption and is an additional interruption for your Ursarctic end board. Also, given you fail to see your combo pieces you can more easily fall back onto the basic combo.

This is an example: https://ygoprodeck.com/deck/ursarctic-atlantean-mikpolar-gurnards-version-341908

3. Both 'Alpha' and 'Mikpolar' at ~3. If you choose both 'Alpha' and 'Mikpolar' that means that you cannot play 'Slider' and will have to increase the number of Lv7 or higher monsters. This build requires that you play Radiation at 1 because we just do not have the space.

This is an example: https://ygoprodeck.com/deck/ursarctic-atlantean-3-mikpolar-351111

Since 'Slider' is a 33% to open, it's irrational to build around the 3-card 'Mikpolar' variation of the combo and so I chose to run 'Mikpolar' at 1. There are still 4-card 'Mikpolar' combos that you can build around but they are more bloated and require a density of 33-ish copies of Lv7 or higher monster to be viable. At the baseline, the 'Alpha' and 'Mikpolar' build runs 31 copies of Lv7 or higher monsters and may need some more but it is feasible. There is some space to innovate in builds that run greater than 40 cards where 'Mikpolar' can help the deck shine.

Something to mention, you can perform Alpha Radiation Combo as a 3-card with 'Diva', 'Mikpolar' and a Mega-bear but you will have to use up both copies of Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon as tributes. This means you need to bank on drawing into 1 of the last two remaining Lv7s in the deck to Synchro Summon with Tatsunoko for Baronne de Fleur and it will not be pre-Nibiru. 

Choosing the right number of Ursarctic Radiation copies is a hard case to call... 

[TL;DR Radiation is dependant on protection and matchup]

We should classify what Ursarctic Radiation does. In the build displayed, it's a combo piece that increases the consistency of seeing Deep Sea Diva  whilst recharging your hand to play on consecutive turns and also chain-blocking Ursarctic Special Summons from the hand and Extra Deck. If opened, 'Radiation' gives the ability to summon Ursarctic Polar Star instead of Ursarctic Polari, increases the likelihood of seeing 'Diva' even further and also chain blocks your Ultimate Bright Knight Ursatron Alpha and Ursarctic Mikpolar searches. This gives a really good case for running 3 copies of 'Radiation', replacing Deep Sea Aria and 1 copy of Ursarctic Megabilis. 

The hypothetical combo would be to activate 'Radiation' then perform the Alpha Radiation combo but search Ursarctic Big Dipper and summon 'Polar Star' instead, whilst ending with 5 cards in hand. This is a 4-card combo and an 81% chance to see 'Diva'. If you do not open Radiation you will have a 71.1% chance to see 'Diva', so, if you do make the changes described, you will have a 6% lower success rate 66% of the time. A third of the time you will have a 3% increased success rate. This collates to an average success rate of around 74.4% at a 3% decrease.

'Radiation' can also unbrick a hand if you open [Radiation + a Mega + Fodder] to draw into any 1 of 'Alpha' or its searchers. The likelihood of seeing 'Alpha' given 'Radiation' and a Mega summon in the opener is 75.2%, whilst the probability of just seeing Alpha in the opener is 74.2%. With this build, the probability of seeing a Mega-bear, which is a requirement in the opener, decreases by 3% (not including the use of FBG). All of this culminates in questioning if 'Radiation' can truly be considered a 'consistency card'.

Regardless of the permutations of Mega-bears and 'Diva' searchers you will, in all cases, decrease success rate or reduce flexibility by removing non-engine. It's not a bad card by any means but its propensity to increase consistency is marginal at best. The greatest case for 3 'Radiation' is the pseudo-protection it provides in combination with all the other benefits. I believe this means that 1 'Radiation' is necessary and any more should be considered based on how much protection you want or matchups that require Polar Star and to cycle Big Dipper through backrow hate.

Why Atlantean and Why This Version of Atlantean?

[TL;DR It solves a lot of your problems and running a 1-card Polari is just not enough. There's more info in the Lappis variant article]

Lappis variant: https://ygoprodeck.com/deck/349795

Summoning Baronne de Fleur consistently - before Nibiru is online - radically improves the deck, especially when you even have the ability to combo as usual. Deep Sea Diva also isn't the be-all and end-all; in many hands, you are quite happy that 'Diva' gets negated allowing you to continue with Alpha Radiation Combo which is your main win condition. At which point you can always use Diva and Ursarctic Polari to summon Ursarctic Polar Star to look for a Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen angle.

All 1-card Polari variants, specifically the best one being 'Diva' and Guitar Gurnards Duonigis, cannot perform at the same level as the Duo-Poseidra variant. If you Normal Summon 'Diva' you have the choice of getting a boss monster or summoning a Lv8 Tuner Synchro monster. You cannot do both so you are weak to cards like Evenly Matched. The Lv8 Tuner not being an Ursarctic monster creates anti-synergy with Alpha meaning that you are incapable of performing the 3-card Alpha radiation combo (which is your win condition). Also, you need to run a low density of Ursarctic monsters for the change in hand requirements due to performing a 1-card Polari to become markedly more efficient. You're only going to start seeing value on turn 3 with specifically the Driver engine. It's just not enough...

Duo-Poseidra has a really easy time summoning powerful monsters from the Extra Deck every turn. Whereas the Lappis variant has a much more bloated Extra Deck which loses a lot of its access once you lose the ability to summon Lappis Dragon. But still, the Lappis variant does have a stronger endboard if you had to use 'Ice Barrier' to dig for 'Diva' since you can summon Adamancipator Risen - Dragite. You will also still have access to Lv10 Synchro monsters but, due to the bloat, you cannot run the toolbox monsters that you would want. The low density of Ursarctic Extra Deck monsters feels bad to me.

The Lappis variant plays an additional hard brick, the weight of double Atlantean Dragoons and a Lappis Dragon truly does drag the build down. However, 'Ice Barrier' becomes a conditional brick in the Lappis variant since you can use Lv6 Synchros to discard over the course of your combos. This means that in over 62% of the cases where you would draw 'Ice Barrier' it is not a brick. This includes discarding by using a Normal Summoned Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince whilst falling back onto Basic Combo. The Lappis variant has its place as a more cost-effective build that can keep up in its own right but the lower flexibility differentiates itself such that Duo-Poseidra is just better. 

Important card choices

Deep Sea Aria is equal or better than Duelist Genesis in all cases. If you open Ursarctic Mikpolar, Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon and Duelist Genesis you can't activate Duelist Genesis but you could have activated Deep Sea Aria. Since Duelist Genesis searches Synchro Overtake, If your 'Overtake' gets Ash'd you will still be able to activate 'Aria' but you wouldn't be able to activate another 'Overtake'. 

The argument for 2:1 Ursarctic Polari to Ursarctic Polar Star is that Ursarctic Radiation allows you to put Ursarctic Big Dipper back into rotation if it gets popped. Honestly, I think it goes both ways for the ratios. If you have no way of cycling 'Big Dipper', Polar Star is distinctively better at summoning Ursarctic Septentrion or Ursarctic Grand Chariot without help and so is better on the crack back. 'Big Dipper' also has a really good time in the grind game and 'Polari' has a soft spot in my heart so I keep flip-flopping either way...  v(-_-)v

Shamisen Samsara Sorrowcat for combo builds summonable through Diva and Neptabyss/Polar Star/Polari. Usually, you have to forego Radiation draws in these circumstances for an extra negation. I don't think it's worth playing, but it's important to mention. It's usually included with 'Merry Melffys' as it's a nice interruption.

Merry Melffys is a good Lv4 on the crack back but is rarely summoned otherwise.

Ruddy Rose Dragon absolutely destroys GY decks, it is a really powerful inclusion given good meta reads.

Stellar Wind Wolfrayet is a Lv9 Synchro Nibiru. I don't play it because if you get Raigeki'd it's specifically worse than Shenshen. Playing for anti-Raigeki, or more specifically S/T tempo swings, is the whole point of this Baronne-centric build. Wolfrayet is quite satisfying to activate, play it if you want to.

Don't play Ultimate Flagship Ursatron or do as long as you're having fun. The problem is that you trade a snatch steal and 2 draws for an MST and D.D Crow, it's a cool resource engine but Radiation is a better one. 

Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju should be in the side deck of any build playing Ice Barrier, maybe even in the main.

Diviner of the Herald with Herald of the Arc Light into Illusion of Chaos and Magicians' Souls into Dark Magician is a cute 1-card Polari engine, its the most bloated and unhelpful one. But it is there...

Thank You For Reading This Far