Kashtira's invasion of ladder starts with the Masterduel selection pack "Flames of Fury" released on October 10, 2023! Not only does the deck have increased consistency and more in-archetype summons, Kashtira now has a clear win condition, the "Macro-Cosmos + Drident" on legs, and destroyer of worlds, metagames and strategies - Ariseheart!
Ariseheart by himself is a format warping monstrosity since it renders ALL graveyard centred strategies null and void! Not only is he very beefy with a 3000+/3000+ ATK/DEF statline, he can target banish anything on the field as a quick effect, dealing with anything on-field that endangers him! Finally, his XYZ materials will never run out, since he can attach everything from the banish pile (even face-down cards!) everytime something gets banished, which will happen very often in duels with Kashtira.
Unfortunately, Masterduel's banlist has immediately hit the consistency of pure Kashtira on-release with the limit of Pressured Planet Wraitsoth and the ban of Terraforming not so long ago, so that's three full starters that is not in the deck! Pot of Prosperity has also been limited to 1, which is unfortunate since the card was very free to activate in Kashtira due to not needing their Extra Deck much. That is 5 entire consistency cards missing in an already bricky deck!
Despite the inconsistency to the strategy due to the banlists, post Flames of Fury Kashtira is a powerhouse that is sure to warp the entire Masterduel meta and that every deck will have to respect and fear.
ARCHETYPES AND DECKBUILDING
Post Flames of Fury Kashtira with the Masterduel banlist is unfortunately not at full power due to the consistency hits (The OCG loves to do this). Meaning there are only 6 one-card combos (3 Unicorn + 1 Planet Wraitsoth + 2 Planet Pathfinders (to search Wraitsoth). Fortunately, there are multiple 2-card combos available. (Covered in the next section below).
To increase the deck's consistency, NON-KASHTIRA cards are included like 2 Psi-Beast, 2 Planet Pathfinder and 1 Reinforcement of the Army. Of course, 1 Pot of Prosperity is included (would have been 3 if not for the banlist). Triple Tactics Thrust, also a new card from Flames of Fury can also grab from deck Kashtiratheosis which can summon a Kashtira from deck given you have a target on the field.
10 KASHTIRA monsters are present in this deck - even 1 Ogre, 1 KashScareclaw and 1 KashTear so that you have as many names possible to be used with Kashtiratheosis. With Reinforcement of the Army and Planet Wraitsoth, you have a grand total of 12 cards that access Kashtira monsters.
This deck is numbered 40 to make it as consistent as possible, since it suffers bricking issues.
The classic MAXX "C" PACKAGE of 2 Ash, 2 Maxx, 1 Crossout and 2 Called By is included so the pilot can navigate and win win their way through the "Maxx C minigame." 1 Nibiru is included as a Crossout target since Kashtira is susceptible to Nibiru.
The newest addition to the compulsory deckbuilding is the "TTTHRUST" PACKAGE, consisting of 3 Thrust, 1 Talents, 1 Evenly Matched, 1 Appointer of the Red Lotus and 1 Impermanence. This way, you can punish your opponent even more for handtrapping you, especially with Maxx "C." Also, going second you have more chances to break boards so that you can actually play the game. Thankfully, TTThrust also can search for Kashtiratheosis, further increasing consistency in the deck.
COMBOS AND GAMEPLAN
The win condition of this deck is Ariseheart. On top of being a midrange control beatdown deck, this strategy now turbos out its floodgate boss monster to completely shut the opposing player down of plays (Kashtira is basically another flavour of Floowandereeze). That being said, Kashtira is a classic example of a "Protect the Castle" strategy - that castle in this case is Ariseheart. Despite it's beefy stats, quick effect banish and floodgate effect, Ariseheart has no inherent protection, making it fragile.
Also, Shangri-Ira's field-lockdown may be annoying for most players, but a full-field lock isn't nearly as possible nowadays with the pre-emptive ban of Diablosis. For now, the field-lock is mostly a gimmick that doesn't contribute much to a win (At least in the first couple turns).
Here is the basic 1-card combo:
Kashtira Unicorn = Ariseheart (Banish Floodgate + Target/Banish), Shangri-Ira (Resource Generator, summons another Kash in Stand-by + field lockdown), + Fenrir + Unicorn.
- Special summon Unicorn.
- Activate Unicorn's effect to search Kashtiratheosis.
- Activate Kashtiratheosis, summoning Fenrir from deck in defense position.
- Activate Fenrir's effect to search for Riseheart.
- Special summon Riseheart from hand (possible since you control Kashtira monsters).
- XYZ summon Shangri-Ira.
- Activate Riseheart's effect to banish from deck Kashtira Big Bang, making him level 7 and banishing facedown 3 cards from the top of your opponent's deck.
- CL1 Shangri-Ira to block one of your opponent's zones, CL2 Big Bang to add either Unicorn/Fenrir from under Shangri-Ira to hand and summon to the field.
- Overlay on top of Riseheart Ariseheart, since Shangri-Ira's effect has activated this turn.
- On the opponent's stand-by phase, summon from deck either Fenrir/Unicorn.
Here is the anti-Nibiru combo to obtain Kashtira Ariseheart in only 4 summons. Sometimes vs. some decks, it is good enough to just pass on Ariseheart to win!
(Anti-Nibiru) Kashtira Unicorn = Ariseheart (Banish Floodgate + Target/Banish).
- Repeat steps 1-5 in the first combo.
- Activate Riseheart's effect to banish from deck Kashtira Big Bang, making him level 7 and banishing facedown 3 cards from the top of your opponent's deck.
- XYZ summon Kashtira Ariseheart using Fenrir + Unicorn + Riseheart.
The two card combos in this strategies are variants of the first 1-card combo with about the same endboard, but with a different ways to get Unicorn. Here are the 2-card combos:
Fenrir/Psi-Beast + Kashtira Birth = Ariseheart (Banish Floodgate + Target/Banish), Shangri-Ira (Resource Generator, summons another Kash in Stand-by + field lockdown), + Fenrir + Unicorn.
- Special summon Fenrir -> search Unicorn/Normal summon Psi-Beast and banish Unicorn from deck.
- Activate Kashtira Birth.
- Normal summon Unicorn (possible since you control Birth) or special summon Unicorn from the banished pile.
- Repeat steps 2-10 on the first 1-card combo.
Any Kashtira Monster (Not Unicorn) + Kashtiratheosis = Ariseheart (Banish Floodgate + Target/Banish), Shangri-Ira (Resource Generator, summons another Kash in Stand-by + field lockdown), + Fenrir + Unicorn.
- Summon the Kashtira monster.
- Activate Kashtiratheosis, targeting your Kashtira monster. Summon Unicorn from deck.
- Repeat steps 2-10 on the first 1-card combo.
If you cannot complete the main combo, you can try to equalize the board in a simplified gamestate with Kashtira monsters, something that Kashtira excels at when Kashtira Birth and Preparations are set up.
If you want to play very greedy, and want to go for the full "zonelock" on your opponent, it is only possible in the scenario where you can summon 4 level 7s on the field coupled with Riseheart. If you acomplish such a feat, make two Shangri-Iras, then activate Riseheart's effect to banish face down. Both Shangri-Iras will activate, locking down two of your opponent's zones. Afterwards, you can overlay on top of Riseheart -> Ariseheart. On your opponent's turn, you can further lock zones with double Shangri-Ira very quickly until your opponent cannot even play!
Going second, Kashtira monsters can clear/simplify the board by themselves during the battlephase since they're all big beatsticks, especially Fenrir. Also, Triple Tactics Thrust combined with all the other staples/handtraps in the deck should make it possible for the duelist to play going second. The strategy even has easy access to Zeus, which is a boardwipe.
In a grindgame, Unicorn, Fenrir Shangri-Ira and Birth generate immense amounts of resources every turn. From a single Unicorn, even if your entire field is gone, you can recover a full army!
GENERAL TIPS
- The Kashtira archetype excels at cracking established boards. Be methodical on how you break boards with this deck - use Main Phase 1 and the Battle Phase in it's full potential. After carefully breaking your opponent's board and baiting out interruption, you can then proceed to full combo into this deck's hero - Ariseheart!
- If you lose the "Maxx C minigame," this deck can easily pass on simple boards such as Unicorn + Fenrir + Birth. Full comboing to Ariseheart isn't worth giving your opponent 4+ extra cards.
- Appointer of the Red Lotus gives back your opponent's card at the next End Phase. If you stuff the card under Ariseheart as XYZ material when it gets banished, you get to keep it permanently and they will not get their card back!
- If you use Pot of Prosperity and Ariseheart is already in the field, banish Infinitrack Goliath and the Fossil cards. Ariseheart can attach these cards and gain various benefits! If Goliath is attached, it cannot be destroyed by card effects. if Fossil Wagon or Skull Knight get attached, if Ariseheart leave the field they will go to the GY and become a S/T destruction or monster destruction respectively.
- In this format, it's good to shotgun Maxx "C" and Dimension Shifter in the draw phase, since you won't get a chance to chain to a Kashtira's inherent summon. Also, lots of Triple Tactics Talent is running about with Thrust in the card pool.
- Want to see the deck in action? Scroll to the very bottom for the Youtube video!
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The haunting spectre of capitalism and the literal embodiment of anger has arrived in Masterduel in full force - in the form of Ariseheart coupled with Kashtira's second wave of support! The identity of the deck changed from beatstick control to floodgate banish turbo, invalidating most GY-oriented decks forever warping ladder (until a banlist invevitably shafts this deck lol). With Flames of Fury release, Kashtira truly will unleash hell on Masterduel Ladder and on every duelist unfortunate enough to face it. Perhaps we'll experience another Tier 1 format for the next couple months again (oh joy)!
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