Pure Spirit Mind

In front of us we see a pure Spirit Deck which plays many different Spirit Monsters as options and wants to achieve total control over any Situation as a going 2nd Deck, most of the time. Let me explain a bit more in Detail how these legendary creatures from Japan work: 

Help me I'm a Spirit!

Spirits like Union or Tuner is a undergroup of effect Monsters which is very small to this very day and has little to no support. Spirit Monsters general rules with a few exceptions are that they cannot be Special Summoned and they return to the Owner's Hand during the End Phase of the turn they are summoned or flipped face up. 

Sounds terrible but imagine a Card which says: Discard the opponents whole Hand or Draw until you have 5 Cards in Hand. Spirit effects are strong and can be reused every turn while hiding behind LP recovery tools and certain other Key Effects. That's what makes them strong. So let's find out how to get started with this Deck:

The Mitama, the Heart and Soul 

Your main 3 Starters are your Mitama Monsters. Aratama can search for any Spirit Monster you like directly from your Deck. With him you have whatever Spirit you need at your disposal and thanks to the nature of Spirit Monsters you can repeat this process every turn or even multiple times in one turn since almost no Spirit Monster has any Once per Turn limitations. 

Nikitama enables an additional normal summon for any Spirit Monster. He's best used to get out your 4 different one tribute Monsters since when he's send to the GY and you control a Spirit Monster you get to Draw one Card. With Konohanasakuya combined your 2 Tribute Monsters will be online too (Except for Amaterasu). 

Or you combine him with Sakitama. He can be revealed in your Hand to Normal Summon any Spirit Monster from your Hand. If Sakitama is tributed in any way you return 1 Spirit Monster in your GY back to the Hand including Sakitama itself. With Sakitama and Nikitama combined you are then also able to set the devastating Amaterasu.

We look at many mandatory effects within this Deck too so feel free to form a Chain in any order you desire to prevent negation from the opponent's card effects. 

With these 3 Mitama alone you have up to 3 Normal Summons in one turn and a free search, potential Draw and recycling on top of that. They truly are your Heart and Soul of your Deck. 

If you fail to find one you can break the conventional Spirit ways and special summon Konohanasakuya. She can be special summoned if you already Control another Spirit Monster. Her GY effect allows to banish her to keep one Spirit Monster on the field permanently. Very nice for your bigger investments in the 2 Tribute department. 

Izanagi is the only non Spirit Monster which can be special summoned by banishing one Spirit Monster from your Hand. He makes the mandatory End Phase Bounce effect of all Spirit Monsters optional which is yet another way to keep them on the field. This becomes even better when combined with Amano-Iwato which makes this Deck very devastating even going first. 

Yamato-no-Kami just like Konohanasakuya is a rare Spirit Monster which can special summon himself by banishing one Spirit Monster from your GY. He can destroy a Spell or Trap card from the opponent when he destroys something by Battle. 

With all these Monsters you will almost always have something to get started. Now how about we talk about how to win from this position now? 

The Shinto Gods descend to Earth

Your Main Goal will be to get out one of the Big 4 Spirit Boss Monsters. Yamata Dragon is the most weakest of them in most cases. With 2600/3100 ATK/DEF he's a rather unusual Dragon. When he inflicts Battle Damage you can Draw until you have 5 Cards in your Hand. There is an argument to just tribute set him and hope the opponent attacks with a 3000 ATK or lower Monster into him, triggering his effect in the process. It's especially effective if the opponent thinks you have a set Amaterasu on the field and wants to trigger it before setting up in Main Phase 2. 

Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi is a 2800/2900 ATK/DEF threat. If he inflicts Battle Damage the opponent has to discard his entire Hand before Drawing during the next turn. This does happen in the Draw Phase so be sure to not skip that phase with Yata-Garasu by accident. However if you happen to combine this card with Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords you can leave the opponent left with zero ressources. You do need the help of Nikitama , Sakitama and Konohanasakuya combined to achieve this kind of Combo in one turn.

Amaterasu is by far the most difficult to summon Boss Monster. She has to be set Face Down first and can be flipped on a following turn. She will also be flipped if the opponent targets her while she is Face Down. This will let you Draw 1 Card too. Now if she's flipped face up every other Card on the field will be Banished which is devastatingly strong. With her 3000/3000 ATK/DEF Statline she's tied with the last Boss Monster too. You may even reset this effect with cards such as Tsukuyomi without the need to resummon her. 

Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords is quite easy to summon. You just need one Normal Summoned or Set Monster as a tribute which makes both Nikitama and Sakitama a one card Combo into this Boss. When he's summoned the opponent can send any Number of Cards he controls to the GY so that Both players can draw an equal amount of Cards. But why should he do that? Well during the End Phase every Card from the Field, GY and banished Zone will be shuffled back into the Deck leaving the field wide open and the Hand the only remaining option for recovery. Thanks to his effect you can recycle your whole Deck to use every Card again which is almost like a Fiber Jar. He alone transformed the Spirit Strategy into an going 2nd Board Breaker Playstyle and he's certainly one of your Key Cards and the reason to not play any Permanent Spells/Traps. Your Hand will always look stacked and cards like Orb of Yasaka and Great Long Nose can prevent you from being OTK'd during this empty Boardstate. 

The depths of the Spirit Realm

There are many more options hidden inside this Deck. I like to call it a "Option Hunter" type of Deck since you can access most of it whenever you want. In this Decklist there is almost no Focus on the Extra Deck. A Rank 4 XYZ Toolbox is a very welcome addition to any kind of Spirit Deck. Just add whatever you like here. Tributing over the Mitama is more useful since you will trigger their mandatory effects and like that you can create unnegatable on summon effects. 

Dark Dust Spirit is a one tribute Zombie Spirit which destroys all other Face up Monsters on the field when he's summoned. He can be easily summoned every turn to have a free Monster Boardwipe accessible at all times. There's even an argument to destroy your own Monsters with it to get Konohanasakuya into the GY or Draw additional cards with Nikitama. Nothing in this Deck is gone forever thanks to Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords. Sakitama is perfect to repeat the summoning of all your 1 Tributes every turn. 

Fenghuang is the same but for Face Down Spell & Trap Cards and it affects the opponents side of the field only. Yet again very useful to be reused every turn. He and Dark Dust Spirit are perfect to be summoned with Nikitama and Sakitama.

Great Long Nose is another one Tribute Monster which wants to inflict Battle Damage with his 1900 ATK Statline. If he does that the opponent skips his next Battle Phase which is very useful for a Spirit Deck which lacks protection overall. Combine him with your Board Breaker bosses and you will easily trigger his effect. 

Amano-Iwato is kinda famous for his Monster Effect lockdown. No Monster effect can be activated as long as he's on the field except for Spirit Monsters effects. He can win a game on his own if the opponent has no out against it. Mirror of Yata is perfect to be equipped with him to keep him on the field and give him additional Battle Protection. There's an argument of going first just because this card exists and often the opponent may struggle to find the answer against him. 

Yaksha is more simple. He can return 1 Spell or Trap from the opponent back to his Hand when he's summoned. He's a sometimes useful card to return cards which Fenghuang couldn't get rid of before since the opponent flipped them face up before. 

Hebo, Lord of the River is very useful since he can target any Monster on the Field and make it a Spirit Monster. It will also be returned to the Hand during the End Phase. It's easy Removal which is slow yet interesting. Equip the opponents Spirit Monster with Orb of Yasaka and destroy your own Monsters in Battle to gain LP as a big brain move.

Asura Priest can attack all Monsters from the opponent once which makes him the Number one option to get rid of tokens and other small Monsters. 1700 ATK with this kind of effect can be quite devastating. Orb of Yasaka can generate massive amounts of LP if combined with this card, especially if equipped multiple times. 

Rasetsu can on summon reveal one Spirit Monster in your Hand to target and return an attack position Monster from the opponent back to his Hand. He also prevents you from Special summoning during the turn you activate that effect which is unfortunate but still makes him useful in plenty of Situations. With his 1900 DEF you might even consider setting him Face Down to use him as a surprise during the opponents turn. 

Maharaghi can manipulate your next Draw by choosing if you want the top Card in your Hand or on the bottom of the Deck instead (Before Drawing after that). He's always nice to have in case you wanna manipulate your Draw to your liking. 

Izanami can discard one card to get one Spirit Monster from your GY back to the Hand. Your plays won't always happen uninterrupted so she's a nice backup tool to have. Also she can bring cards like Konohanasakuya into the GY easily or switch around cards in the GY you wanna banish with Yamato-no-Kami.

Tsukuyomi is very versatile and a more well known Spirit Monster. She flips one Monster Face Down no matter on which side of the field. You can prevent your Spirits from returning back to the Hand or get one of the opponents Monsters into an uncomfortable position. You might even wanna reset a used Amaterasu to repeat her powerful effect once more. 

Yata-Garasu needs no introduction. If he inflicts Battle Damage the opponent skips his next Draw Phase. The whole Deck is circled around removing cards from the field to secure a direct attack with this card. If the opponent ends up in this position he most likely lost the game by that point since he won't be able to draw ever again. 

Now with the Monsters out of the way what's left is the Spell & Trap choices in this Deck. The direct Spirit Spell & Trap lineup looks very suspicious and weak but bare with me. There's 2 equip spells we play which sounds awful in a Deck with self bouncing Monsters but just stay with me and let me explain.  

Orb of Yasaka has a effect in which both the Monster and Orb of Yasaka return to your Hand when your Monster returns to the Hand during the End Phase. The other effect is that whenever the equipped Monster destroys an opponents Monster by Battle you gain LP equal to the Original ATK of the destroyed Monster. With Asura Priest you can generate a lot of LP and with your bigger Bosses you can achieve similar things. Since Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords is so central to your Strategy it's all about LP and Hand advantage in this Strategy. 

Mirror of Yata makes the End Phase Bounce effect of your Spirit Monsters optional and if the equipped Monster would be destroyed by Battle, Mirror of Yata is destroyed instead. Having this card on any of your Big Boss Monsters or on Amano-Iwato can create some serious trouble for the opponents Strategy. Summon Amano-Iwato, equip Mirror of Yata = Pass Turn, is kinda good against pretty much every Deck. 

There are many other Spirit related Spell/Traps which I tested out but all of them are either to slow or to weak to make any impact at all. 

In total there's a lot to choose from in this Deck and the many options and unusual and strong effects are the strength of this Strategy. 

The Spirit World is destabilizing 

This Deck is slow. Very slow to be true. Going first all you can really do is try to setup Amano-Iwato and keep him on the field to stop Monster Effects. You might wanna consider one of your Extra Deck options here too. This Strategy shines going 2nd since your removal and lockdown options are your Huge benefit in this Deck. 

But even then you will never be in an position to OTK so you gotta think about how to survive the opponents onslaught the following turn without many defensive tools. Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords is helpful in that regard just as every other Removal and Stun tool that you play. Adding a card like Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir might be good too since he can buy precious time too. 

Another obvious weakness is a matchup against agressive OTK Decks. Gren Maju Da Eiza is your sworn arch enemy for sure. 

You have to be a experienced Duelist to use this Deck in a correct way. A understanding of the nature of mandatory effects is necessary to get out the most with this Deck. It's certainly capable of delivering miracles sometimes. Since you can chain mandatory effects in any way you desire you can easily summon Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords and many other Spirit friends with no chance for direct interaction. 

Final Spiritual Words

Overall this deck can surprise the unprepared opponent and win out of nowhere. Against strong offensive Decks it's difficult to keep up with this slower Control Strategy but it certainly works almost always if you know what to play and when. 

It's very capable in dealing with difficult Boardstates thanks to many options available at any time and especially a Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi and Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords combination pretty much guarantees a win for you if they connect. And they will connect since you can deal with nasty cards before that. 

The unusual yet amazing Strength of this Deck are the many Mandatory effects. Especially if combined with your Mitama Monsters you can create "Chainblocks" which will make the opponent unable to negate your big payoff effects. It's always nice to see some big Removal effects resolving without any chance for the opponent to negate them. 

Give it a try and summon some Spirits from ancient Japan upon your opponent! 

Final Rating: 

★★☆☆☆☆☆ OTK Potential

★★☆☆☆☆☆ Defensive Tools

★★★★★☆☆ Control Options

★★★★★★★ Removal Options

★★★★★★★ Recovery/Recycling

★★★★★★★ Card Advantage

Overall Rating: ★★★★★☆☆ 30/42★

The mysteries within the Spirit World

There are quite a lot of special rules revolving around these Spirit Monsters. Be sure to check them out to get a better understanding on how the Deck works: 

Spirit Monster Rules: 1. A Spirit Monster is only returned to it's owner's Hand once during the End Phase of the turn it is summoned or flipped face up. 2. "Cannot be Special Summoned" is not an effect and cannot be negated. 

About "Chainblocking": This is an unofficial term which revolves around Chaining effects in any way you want. If more then one Mandatory effect is activated at the same time you can decide in which order you want the Chain to resolve before the opponent can chain his cards to it. Like that you can protect your effects from being negated. 

Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords: 1. During the End Phase you can choose to return this card to your Hand first and after that shuffle all cards from the Field, GY and Banished Zone back into the Deck. 2. His whole effect triggers on summon. During the End Phase without starting a Chain and with no window to respond his effect will resolve. 

Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi: Discarding the whole Hand during the Draw Phase is the very first thing to happen during that turn. No cards can be activated at that time since this effect already activated after inflicting Battle Damage the previous turn and only finishes resolving at the Start of the Draw Phase. 

Fenghuang: If the opponent chains Spell and Traps to this effect and they are now Face Up they won't be destroyed by this effect. 

Izanagi: His effect is a permanent effect and it's not affected by cards such as Amano-Iwato who prevent the activation of Monster effects except for Spirit Monsters. 

Yamato-no-Kami: His Konohanasakuya and Izanagi's special summon condition are not treated as an effect but Cost/Condition instead. 

Great Long Nose: The opponent skips his next Battle Phase means he has to enter the Battle Phase in order for it to be skipped, otherwise even after multiple turns this effect can finish resolving. 

Amano-Iwato: Non Spirit Monster effects cannot be activated no matter from which place GY, Deck, Banished Zone and so on. 

Asura Priest: 1. He can attack every Monster one time. If an attack is negated he can attack that same Monster once again. 2. He doesn't have to attack all monsters and the attacks doesn't have to be in order. You can attack with other Monsters too and then continue attacking with Asura Priest.

Konohanasakuya: Her special summon is a condition and not an effect.

Nikitama: 1. As soon as this card is summoned the additional normal summon effect is applied. It does not activate. 2. If this card leaves the field you may still perform an additional Normal summon. 3. The Draw effect like many other Spirit effects is mandatory and can easily be chained in any order if for example you tributed him for Fenghuang or Dark Dust Spirit.

Sakitama: The effect which normal summons a Monster is like Ultimate Offering and does not waste your Normal Summon for the turn. It does stack with cards like Nikitama enabling up to 3 Normal summons in one turn. 

Orb of Yasaka: The recycling effect is a mandatory when effect which cannot miss timing. 

The Mandatory List

Below I list every Card which has an Mandatory trigger effect in this Deck which are 13 in total: 

Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords 

Amaterasu 

Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi 

Yamata Dragon 

Dark Dust Spirit 

Fenghuang 

Great Long Nose 

Maharaghi 

Tsukuyomi 

Yata-Garasu 

Nikitama 

Sakitama 

Orb of Yasaka 

Finally a little example for your imagination: 

Summon Nikitama, tribute Nikitama to summon Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords, Chain 1 activate Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords & Chain 2 activate Nikitama. Now the opponent may chain his effects. 

Every Counter Trap already missed it's timing to negate Tsumuha-Kutsunagi the Lord of Swords effect and can only be chained to Nikitama. Same applies to cards like Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess.