The Phantom Knights of Scythe Lock

The Phantom Knights of Scythe Lock

Phantom Knights may have lost Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad (63504681) in Master Duel, but with Predaplant Verte Anaconda (70369116), Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer (60461804), Artifact Dagda (7480763), Artifact Scythe (20292186), and the entire Adventure engine still legal, it hardly shifts the power of Phantom Knights in a best-of-one format. We even recently got The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales (25538345) back at 3. The banlist hits for Adventure don't really effect this deck either, as Water Enchantress of the Temple (30680659) can be accessed at any time due to it being a target for Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500). This deck can consistently, every game, even through moderate interruption, put out a board with a negate, DPE, and lock your opponent out of their extra deck, then have the resources to make Accesscode Talker (86066372) and kill your opponent when your turn comes back around. The deck is also really powerful going second as the Adventure cards help a lot with saving the week parts of your combo and dealing with your opponent's threats.

Deck Guide

Typical Combo Going First:

1. Get 2 level 3 monsters on the field. (Normal summon Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (14558127) if you have to.) Attempt to get The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine (98827725) in hand if you can using PK GY effects for future plays.

2. Make Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500). After Cherubini is summoned, avoid special summoning to zones he points to, except for Link monsters.

3. Send Water Enchantress of the Temple (30680659) for cost. Because it is sent as a cost, your opponent cannot actually interact with Cherubini at all to prevent this from happening, other than by somehow destroying it before you activate its effect.

4. Banish Water Enchantress of the Temple (30680659) from GY to add Rite of Aramesir (3285551) to hand.

5. Activate Rite of Aramesir (3285551) and activate Fateful Adventure (39568067) from deck.

6. Normal/special summon a monster any way you can to trigger Fateful Adventure (39568067), add Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon (38745520) to hand. Do not equip it yet.

7. Activate Fateful Adventure (39568067) to add Wandering Gryphon Rider (2563463) to hand, then send Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon (38745520) to grave. Activate its effect to equip itself to token. Special summon Gryphon Rider.

8. Get another monster on the field any way you can. Use any two monsters other than Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500), Wandering Gryphon Rider (2563463), or the token to make Artifact Dagda (7480763).

9. Activate The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine (98827725), searched from any PK effect or from starting hand, then chain Artifact Dagda (7480763) to set Artifact Scythe (20292186) from deck.

10. Link The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine (98827725) for Link Spider (98978921). This is done because Predaplant Verte Anaconda (70369116) specifically requires Effect Monsters, and Shade Brigande is treated as Normal Monster.

11. Use Link Spider (98978921) and Artifact Dagda (7480763) to make Predaplant Verte Anaconda (70369116), use its effect to activate the effect of Fusion Destiny (52947044) to special summon Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer (60461804) to zone Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500) is pointing to, this gives it destruction immunity (even from its own effect).

12. Set relevant spells/traps, end turn.

13. In opponent's Draw or Standy Phase, activate Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer (60461804) effect to pop itself and the set Artifact Scythe (20292186). Opponent can no longer special summon from the Extra Deck, you still have a negate on Wandering Gryphon Rider (2563463), and your DPE and Predaplant Verte Anaconda (70369116) are immune to destruction. If opponent tries to attack Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500), you can send Verte to GY to protect it, as it can be useful in future turns.

Notes:

• If you open cards that start the Adventure engine, you can send any PK card you need in the GY by the effect of Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500).
• If you open Fusion Destiny (52947044) in starting hand, the typical best play is to use Artifact Dagda (7480763), Link Spider (98978921), and Wandering Gryphon Rider (2563463) to make a 3-material Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess (4280258) for 3 monster negates instead of a single omni-negate, then activate Fusion Destiny at the very end of your turn.
• Feel free to use Wandering Gryphon Rider (2563463)'s effect to negate any interruptions that could prematurely end your combo, especially Nibiru, the Primal Being (27204311) if you did not open Crossout Designator (65681983).
• When going second, your primary goal is to get to get enough monsters on field to Knightmare Unicorn (38342335) and any other one monster, while dealing with your opponent's threats as you do so to make Accesscode Talker (86066372). Then, with whatever remaining resources you have, attempt to make Predaplant Verte Anaconda (70369116) with any two monsters to summon Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer (60461804) and attack for game with DPE and Accesscode. If things go poorly, try to attack with a The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (62709239) boosted by The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (63821877) in the Battle Phase. In MP2, rank it up into Downerd Magician (72167543) then into Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder (90448279) for 2 Quick-Effect non-once-per-turn board wipes. You should be set from there.

Card Choice Explanations:

1 Nibiru, the Primal Being (27204311) - We play one copy of Nibiru as a target for Crossout Designator (65681983) as the Phantom Knights can be weak to a well-timed Nibiru (though the Adventure Engine does wonders to alleviate this problem), and to draw into when our opponent is attempting to play through our Maxx "C" (23434538). I run it at one because I do not want to see it in my starting hand.

1 Destiny HERO - Dasher (81866673) - I debated a lot between running Dasher or Destiny HERO - Malicious (9411399) as a Fusion Destiny (52947044) target, and although Malicious is better than Dasher on future turns, it requires you to run an extra brick which hurts the deck's consistency significantly for a very low benefit considering games end so quickly in this meta, so I decided on Dasher instead.

1 The Phantom Knights of Stained Greaves (88544390) - Most PK decks do not run this card when not utilizing a Rank 4 Xyz engine, so it may be confusing to see it here. Because this card provides an extra special summon on a new name, it has come in clutch in more games than I can count. Having hands excessively clogged by Phantom Knights names feels really bad, and this card is an effective way to turn that issue into a benefit. Its run at 1 because of the numerous ways to get it into your graveyard with the engine.

3 The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak (90432163) - Most PK decklists will only run 2 of Ancient Cloak, but this is honestly my favorite normal summon in the deck (due to Adventure engine locking you out of The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales (25538345)'s effect when normal summoned), and therefore I want to see it in my opening hand, hence running it at three.

Card Alternatives

1 Psychic Tracker (30227494), 1 Psychic Wheeleder (3233859), 2 Emergency Teleport (67723438) - I use this small Psychic engine to get to Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (58699500) more easily, which is the key to your entire deck. This can be substituted for a Danger engine if you prefer: run 3 Danger!? Tsuchinoko? (99745551) and 1 Danger!? Jackalope? (43694650). This engine can provide some free graveyard access and some card draw, which are both very useful, but I've found I'm not lucky enough for it, as I frequently get my PK traps in the grave which shuts down the effect of The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine (98827725).

1 Destiny HERO - Dasher (81866673) - If you prefer, you can switch out Dasher and 1 other card from the deck (your preference) for 2 Destiny HERO - Malicious (9411399), which gives you a more easily accessible special summon the turn after using Fusion Destiny (52947044).

1 Leviair the Sea Dragon (95992081) - This card is only particularly significant in the grind game in a scenario where you are beginning to run out of resources. In the modern metagame (especially for this deck), this is fairly rare. So if you wish, you can swap Leviair for the Rank 4 Xyz engine and run Time Thief Redoer (55285840), who is a powerful boss monster in his own right and is very useful in a scenario where your Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer (60461804) has been outed.