Pure Simorgh

JMan1008

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Non-Meta Decks Simorgh Harpie Monarch 40 High Quality

TCGplayer $81.99 / Cardmarket €63.13

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Deck Primer

Like I’m sure a lot of people did, I noticed Master Duel had an achievement for Tribute Summoning 20 monsters in ranked duels and I wanted that achievement. So I went through my options of fun decks to play to get that achievement. First I thought True Draco since they’re a really consistent deck that can Tribute Summon and lock your opponent out of the game very easily, but then I remembered I hate True Draco so I skipped it. Then I thought Monarch since it’s a pretty cool deck and I really like the Monarchs as an archetype. But Monarchs are so damn expensive in Master Duel with all the URs and SRs you have to play in the deck. Next I figured I’d pick up Floowandereeze since it was a new deck, but I hate Floo almost as much as True Draco so I skipped them as well. But that got me thinking of the other Tribute Summon bird archetype that I only knew of because of its broken Link monster. So, I jumped into making Simorghs since I’d already had a ton of their cards from trying to gacha my way into getting Bird of Sovereignty for my Lyriluscs way back when, and I had a ton of fun playing the deck. Its endboards are very straightforward and powerful and it has a surprising amount of open space within the deck that can fit handtraps and something like a DPE engine. And hell, the lore for this deck is also so damn cool to me with the DARK and WIND counterparts battling it out before the two strongest of each Attribute fuse together into Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty to unite their Attributes together.

The more I played the deck there, the more I wanted to try building the deck for TCG play, and after hours of testing builds for the current TCG format, I landed on this deck. Now it is a bit far down the page given how much I wrote, so apologies in advance if you get annoyed trying to scroll back and forth to read my thoughts on the cards and then reading the actual card yourself.

Main Deck:

Pringles:

Simorgh of Darkness (2x): The only in-archetype card that can negate a card, but it somehow has such an easy way to get it on the field. As long as you Tribute Summon a bird (or hell any DARK or WIND monster) and this card is in your hand or GY, this bird swoops in and summons itself. The negation does come with a cost of Tributing 1 WIND Winged Beast, but there’ll be plenty of those flying around the board, and it can even Tribute itself if you need to dodge Spell/Trap effects. Just be aware that it only negates a Spell/Trap, so it’s not super useful against monster heavy decks (which is so many decks rn). I run two since it’s so accessible in the deck and only really needs to hit the GY to be of any use, but you can run three instead.
Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry (1x): This card is so damn good in this deck. While it doesn’t provide ways to interact with your opponent on their turn, it does work like a Monarch in that it bounces up to two cards (they do still target for some damn reason tho) on Tribute Summon as long as the Tributes are only WIND monsters. Now this deck does include three DARK monsters, but luckily Bird of Ancestry counts them as WIND when their effects to be both WIND and DARK are active. So, you can Tribute using a Simorgh of Darkness and then grab it from your GY immediately afterwards. Just don’t play more than one since it does have a tendency to brick your hand.
Simorgh, Lord of the Storm (2x): The other main interaction in the deck. This big bird lets you spin a card (also targeting) whenever a Spell or Trap is activated, just also with a Tribute cost attached like its DARK counterpart (Simorgh of Darkness). It just doesn’t have a Special Summon method like Simorgh of Darkness, and it requires itself to be Tribute Summoned for it to gain this effect anyway, so it is a bit more bricky. Two copies are still perfect for the deck though.
Dark Simorgh (1x): The iconic floodgate bird. Keeps your opponent from Setting any cards, and when paired with Anti-Spell Fragrance it becomes a complete lock on the opponent’s backrow. Before siding, however, Dark Simorgh isn’t gonna be as oppressive without Anti-Spell alongside it, but it does offer a 2700 body (or 3000 with Elborz up) with a way to lock any Trap-based deck (looking at you Altergeist) after it’s summoned.
Simorgh, Bird of Perfection (3x): I’ve played the deck both in Master Duel where this card has not been added yet, and this card makes a world of difference in how the deck plays. Without this card, you relied entirely on Simorgh, Bird of Bringing carrying the entire deck on its back. With this card, you can send a Simorgh of Darkness from deck to GY and grab a “Simorgh” Spell/Trap straight from deck either on its own Normal Summon or right after you Normal Summon another little bird and use their effects. You have to run three copies no matter what, just be aware that the best card in the deck isn’t in Master Duel just yet so the deck is a lot more bricky there.
Simorgh, Bird of Calamity (2x): While this bird’s main utility is dumping Simorgh of Darkness to the GY, it can also dump Simorgh Onslaught and Simorgh Repulsion to modulate the levels of your big birds to make them easier to summon. It also starts the little birds’ trend of being able to Special Summon themselves from the GY if the open has an open backrow but with the restrictions that your Extra Deck is locked to Winged Beasts for the rest of the turn as well as banishing itself when it leaves the field. You don’t really need to run three with Simorgh, Bird of Perfection in the game but running two is still solid. Definitely run three in Master Duel though given how this card’s DARK (and better) counterpart is missing from the game.
Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (3x): You really should run this in any deck that has the room. Stopping searching, dumping, and summoning from deck is just so strong.
Simorgh, Bird of Bringing (3x): This poor bird’s back must hurt from carrying the hell out of this deck. It’s like Aleister but it searches the entire deck, and the cards it can search include every single monster in the archetype, a search card that can set up the GY and grab two monsters from deck, a Giant Trunade that only hits the opponent that can also set up the GY, and the field spell that gives extra ATK and DEF alongside lowering the Tribute cost for a Tribute-focused deck aaaand an extra Normal Summon for a deck that gets effects on Normal Summon. It also includes the handy little bird effect that lets this deck pay the hefty costs of Simorgh of Darkness and Lord of the Storm. You have to run three of them no matter what.
Kurikara Divincarnate (3x): This is a bit of a more recent inclusion in the deck, but by God is this card insane. This deck struggles to play through big monster negate boards, so having a card that can break those boards and become a massive beater is exactly what this deck needs when going second. Not-so great for going first though.
Simorgh, Bird of Beginning (3x): Gives an extra Normal Summon in a deck all about Normal Summoning. It is a bit not great that it doesn’t do anything else, but it gives easy access to Link 2s for the deck as well as extra Tribute fodder on field. Can also make use of the little bird effect to summon itself from grave.

Spells:

Harpie’s Feather Duster (1x): Clears backrow in a deck that loves open backrow on the opponent’s field. You’ve gotta run the one copy you can.
Simorgh Onslaught (3x): While the discard cost can cause this card to brick, it searches two birds with different attributes for you. Now, before Bird of Perfection was released, you were really only grabbing Dark Simorgh or Simorgh of Darkness alongside the WIND target of your choice. But now, you get to grab the best card in your deck as well as a card that works right alongside it. It’s just an insane search card. And it can even help with summoning your big birds more easily with its GY effect that lets you lower their Level by 1.
Simorgh Repulsion (1x): Another card with a discard cost, but it bounces the opponent’s entire backrow to hand while being searchable by two monsters in the deck. It even has the same GY effect as Onslaught, giving it more utility. Just don’t play more than one or two given how bricky it can be
Pot of Prosperity (3x): Between Prosperity and Extravagance, Prosperity helps you way more with unbricking your hand. It basically says “banish some of the Extra Deck you don’t even use to dig through your deck for exactly what you need right now”. Extrav’s extra card is very useful, but I value Prosperity way more in the deck
The Monarchs Stormforth (3x): Given how little this deck uses the Extra Deck, the restriction given by Stormforth really doesn’t matter all that much. And given you’re almost always Tribute Summoning using one Tribute, it’s basically just spot removal for your opponent’s monsters
Elborz, the Sacred Lands of Simorgh (3x): I know I said earlier that Bird of Bringing was carrying this entire archetype on its back, but this Field Spell is pretty much essential for starting your plays. If you can’t find this card, you’re not snagging an extra Normal Summon for free, you’re not lowering the Tribute cost very easily, and you’re losing your big birds to a Blue-Eyes. Bird of Perfection makes finding this card ludicrously easier now, but if you’re playing on Master Duel you might want a Terraforming as well just to find this card more consistently.

Traps:

Infinite Impermanence (3x): This really could be any other handtrap, but I really like Imperm in basically every deck. It’s even more useful in this deck given how it has no real way to negate a monster’s effect

Extra Deck:

This deck rarely ever goes into the Extra Deck (even if Sovereignty was legal) so all these cards can be swapped for anything really. Whether that’s a pile of 15 random unsummonable cards or 15 cards that all synergize with the deck better than any of the cards I included, the Extra Deck is usually locked up pretty tightly with all the little birds locking you into Winged Beasts when they Special Summon themselves.

Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand: Quick effect monster negation at the cost of two of the big birds. It can also be used to protect a card that’s about to be popped or bounced or really anything.
Aegaion the Sea Castrum: Allows you to banish a card from the opponent’s Extra Deck and gains some ATK too. Just a bit less good than Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker since it’s randomly chosen. Still a solid card and can provide monster destruction as well.
Tornado Dragon: Quick effect Spell/Trap destruction for a deck that looooves empty backrows. Since we’re only playing three Level 4s in the deck (and they’re all the same card), it’s a bit tough to summon, but it’s still a very useful option for the deck. Castel, the Skyblaster Mustketeer: Castel is probably the best card you can summon while locked into Winged Beasts. It gives a Book of Moon effect and can spin a card instead if you need that. Same camp as Tornado Dragon though, where it’s rough to summon in the deck
Totem Bird: This is one of the three Rank 3 Winged Beast cards in the game. The others being Number 49: Fortune Tune and Raidraptor Fiend Eagle. This also happens to be the best of the three with the utility it can provide a gummy boardstate. If your board needs a Spell/Trap negate and Simorgh of Darkness is a bit out of reach, Totem Bird can fill that role very well. Just be warned that we are only playing two Level 3s in the deck, so this situation is very very rare. But it’s still a solid card to include regardless.
Kikinagashi Falco: Other than the Lyriluscs, this is the only Rank 1 Winged Beast monster. It’s a bit of a “just to keep me alive for one more turn” type card and works well at that job given that two Simorgh, Bird of Beginning in hand can make any Rank 1 with ease while also being very vulnerable to have out on the field alone. You can use the Lyriluscs instead or alongside this card though if you value their utility. Or hell, you could use any other Rank 1s too, but be careful about the Winged Beast lock if you do.
Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess: Just more monster negation in a deck that has no monster negation. I have yet to summon this card though given how the deck is almost always locked into Winged Beasts past three monsters on board, so you can definitely swap this card for a more reasonable option. There are just barely any good generic Winged Beast extra deck monsters to fill that gap.
Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Chaos: Unlike Apo, this card can come up and is helpful with dealing with high attack monsters (since 3200 is basically the cap of this deck), but it does need to run over something else first to be able to contest a monster like that. It does get its protection effect very easily in this deck though which is why it’s worth including.
Hraesvelgr, the Desperate Doom Eagle: After the ban of Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty, this became the best monster you could slot into its spot. It helps clear out the GY of problematic cards and can even become a 4800 if the stars align for you. It rarely ever comes up though.
Knightmare Phoenix: Now I hear you asking “JMan, why are you only playing Phoenix and no Unicorn too?” And the answer to that is very simple. If you hit three summons in this deck and can make a Unicorn, you will already have access to two other forms of bouncing/spinning. With how variable the Extra Deck for this deck is, you can absolutely swap something for a Knightmare Unicorn if you’d like. Onto Phoenix though, it’s just another way to pop Spells and Traps but much easier to summon than Tornado Dragon. Just a bit miffed that it’s a Fiend instead of a Winged Beast, but we can’t win ‘em all.
Dharc the Dark Charmer, Gloomy: Out of the two Charmers I included in the deck this one is a bit tougher to summon given how the deck plays less DARKs than WINDs, but Simorgh, Bird of Perfection is such an amazing card for the deck so you usually have the material if you desperately need it. Gives some searchability when it’s destroyed as it gets you another Bird of Perfection and even Dark Simorgh.
Wynn the Wind Charmer, Verdant: The more generically useful Charmer for the deck as every single pair of Simorghs the deck can produce can make Wynn. Unlike Dharc that only has two search targets, this card has . . . two search targets. Yeah, it’s not really as impressive as I thought when I first built the deck. It does also search Bird of Divinity and Bird of Protection if you run those cards in the deck but running Bird of Protection is not the best choice
Pentestag: This is your win condition against Number 59: Crooked Cook during game one. Simorgh, Bird of Divinity is a much easier win condition during games two and three, but you can avoid the game three altogether with Pentestag.
Knightmare Cerberus: Pops a monster in a deck that has no way to natively pop a monster. Bouncing and spinning is usually better removal though, which this deck can do easily, but having a generic way to pop a monster is still useful since both those options involve Tribute Summoning.
Salamangreat Almiraj: Linking off a Normal Summoned Simorgh, Bird of Beginning into this card and then Special Summoning the Bird of Beginning with its own effect can let you Tribute Summon any of the big birds without even needing Elborz on field. This comes up very rarely, but it is useful in that situation. It’s also useful for the same situation but with Simorgh, Bird of Bringing instead. You Normal Summon Bird of Bringing, and then either activate Elborz or search it out to be able to Normal Summon either Dark Simorgh or Simorgh of Darkness without needing a big WIND bird in hand to lower the Tribute cost.

Side Deck:

Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju (3x): While this is the worst Kaiju in a pure Kaiju deck, it’s the best Kaiju to include in any other deck at the moment given how Floowandereeze (the not based bird deck) can toss a Stormwinds on the field to lock you out of every single Kaiju other than Gadarla
Simorgh, Bird of Divinity (1x): This card is a bit strange. It doesn’t really help out the playstyle of the deck all that much, but it does act as this deck’s version of “Cowboy for game” and can give you a win condition against some decks that you’d be powerless against (like the Crooked Cook deck mentioned earlier
Droll & Lock Bird (3x): A very powerful handtrap that can end the game against some decks. It also ends the game against you however, so just be aware that if your opponent has the same mindset as you on including Droll in the side board, you will lose that game
Change of Heart (1x): Now, most decks want to abuse this card as an extra Mind Control to help with extending Extra Deck plays. I, however, love using it as it was used waaay back when it was released. Either helping close out games by attacking with your opponent’s monster as well or by Tribute Summoning using your opponent’s card with no real restrictions
Cosmic Cyclone (3x): Mystic Mine insurance. And additional backrow removal
Anti-Spell Fragrance (3x): Can combo with Dark Simorgh to completely lock the opponent from accessing their Spells and Traps. I just don’t include it in the main deck since going second with Anti-Spell is a bit of a bad time
Red Reboot (3x): Insurance against Trap decks (i.e. my least favorite deck in the game, Altergeist). I just wish it was at two or three instead.

Other Options:

Called by the Grave: Handtraps are brutal for this deck as you almost always need a searcher to resolve to make your plays. It’s a one of though, so nine times out of ten you’re gonna get handtrapped without this card, so it’s really up to you whether it warrants the inclusion. If Called by the Grave gets put to two or three though, definitely run it in the deck
Simorgh, Bird of Protection: Easily the worst card in the archetype as all it does is bounce a backrow on Normal Summon. However, this can help with bouncing a devastating floodgate before committing to more plays which is useful. It’s just not very likely that you’d value wasting your Normal Summon on Bird of Protection to achieve that instead of using a backrow removal card. It also looks really funky to me with those dog legs, but that might just be me.
Simorgh Sky Battle: With Bird of Sovereignty banned, this card is the best for providing targeting protection to your birds. It also has another effect that can bounce everything to the hand by sending itself and two big birds with different Attributes to the GY and then burning for 500 to each player for each card bounced. I just can’t see the effect going off, but it is definitely a viable option for the deck.
Scatter Fusion: While Brilliant Fusion is (rightfully) banned, we can still use the newly released Scatter Fusion to fill that gap in our deck since we don’t really use the Extra Deck. However, I did try using Scatter Fusion to summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite for an extra Normal Summon, but it doesn’t stack with the additional Normal from Bird of Beginning and the deck already has its own built-in ways to bring out the big birds more easily with Elborz and the GY effects of the other Spells lowering the Tribute cost. It’s still a fun idea to toy around with though.
The Monarchs Erupt: Look, it’s another card that makes use of the deck’s lack of need for an Extra Deck. This one also has some downsides too. While the Skill Drain effect on non-Tribute Summoned monsters is really really useful, it does shut down the effect of Dark Simorgh and every single little bird. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t impact Simorgh of Darkness as long as it Tributes itself for cost though, but I could be wrong. It could be fun to make a build of the deck around this card though, but it seems a bit wonky
Kujakujaku: When I first started building the deck I was looking for a way to offset the Tribute cost of the big birds, I found this card. It gives you a Level 4 or lower WIND monster from deck or GY when Tributed, which is pretty great honestly. It just requires your Normal Summon or some extra help to be useful which kinda sucks
Tri-Brigade Shuraig the Ominous Omen: While I personally like playing decks more pure, Shuraig is by far the best Winged Beast monster you can put in the Extra Deck for this deck. It’s just tough to make in the first place, but that goes for most of the Extra Deck anyways.

All-in-all this deck performs surprisingly well against some competent strategies. As long as Droll doesn’t resolve against you, this deck can put out some impressive turn one boards and even break boards reasonably well on the play. Just don’t summon Bird of Ancestry against a Floowandereeze player or you’re going to get completely clapped. If you have any question about the deck or even some suggestions, please let me know. Otherwise I hope at least some of you try the deck for yourself and see just how interesting such a simple-seeming deck can be.

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