When Masterduel came out, one of the first decks I've built was Thunder Dragons. I arrived in competitive TCG when Colossus was just banned, and I wanted to see it's power for myself in a format where this "Mistake on legs" was legal. And boy, did it deliver!
With Bystials cards enabling banishment from the GY and the Thunder Dragon's effects triggering when getting banished, it seems like these two archetypes were made for each other! They support each other's weakpoints and enable each of their effects.
Level 6 Bystials/Thunder Dragon + Assault Synchron also allow for the easy summon of Chaos Ruler in this deck, another valuable playstarter for this strategy, packing the GY, banishing lights/darks and providing a total of 3 level 8 bodies on board for Synchro or Link summons!
Going first, this deck typically makes a 3-4 negate Apollousa, a search-floodgate with Colossus, multiple pops with Titan and the Bystial engine is set-up! Going second, this deck can plow through negates/interruption while having enough gas to clear the opposing board and OTK.
With Thunder Dragon Bystial, you summon multiple gigantic draconic boss monsters, methodically decimate your opponent’s board, maintain resource advantage and when the time is right - swing for game!
Want to see the deck in action? Scroll to the very bottom for the Youtube video!
ARCHETYPES AND RATIOS
Forming the core, the THUNDER DRAGON cards in the maindeck consist of 12 cards. 3 Dragondark, 2 Dragonmatrix, 2 Dragonroar, 2 Dragonhawk, 2 Aloof Lupine, 1 Thunder Dragon Fusion and 1 Gold Sarcophagus. In the Extra Deck there are 2 Titan and 1 Colossus.
Doubling as starters and handtraps, the BYSTIAL cards in the maindeck consist of 10 cards. 3 Lubellion, 2 Saronir, 1 Magnumhut, 1 Druiswurm, 1 Baldrake, 1 Branded Regained and 1 Branded Beast.
Enabling extension, searching, effect activation and milling by turboing out Chaos Ruler, the Synchron cards in the maindeck consist of 5 cards. 2 Assault Synchron and 3 Tuning. In the Extra Deck there is Chaos Ruler.
This deck has 43 cards since almost every card is a starter, key cards are highly searcheable and a slightly bigger deck than 40 cards decreases the chances of hard-drawing this deck's 2 bricks (Branded Regained and Branded Beast).
COMBOS AND GAMEPLAN
The GAMEPLAN with this deck is simple – lockdown the board going first, and OTK going second.
If the duel is forced into a grind-game, the Thunder Dragon resource loop and the previous turn's graveyard set-up can whittle an opponent down. Thunder Dragon Fusion can also be banished the turn after you use it to allow you to search for Thunder Dragonroar, which can be discarded to recover Thunder Dragon Fusion from the banished pile. Provided your GY/Banished Pile set-up, another Titan can be easily made.
GOING FIRST, boards that end on Thunder Dragon Titan, Apollousa, and Colossus is often enough to ensure your survival until the next turn and keep your opponent at a stand still. The board might be even so far advanced that the opponent may straight up surrender, since the boards that deck deploys turn one are almost an FTK with the sheer number of negates, floodgates and interruption present.
GOING SECOND, boards are easily picked apart by your giant beatsticks, Baronne, Thunder Dragon Titan and Accesscode's multiple pops. After breaking an opponent’s board, this deck can combo easily to generate enough gigantic monsters onboard to obliterate your opponent’s lifepoints in one turn.
COMBOS/GUIDELINES
Chaos Thunderdragon's combos are highly variable and hand dependent, especially based on the mills from Chaos Ruler.
As you advance your plays, the hand, GY, banished pile and board tend to get very "snow-bally" accumulating more and more resources as you summon many times, draw multiple cards, build follow-up for future turns.
There are no clear-cut combos for this deck, but here are some guidelines based on what cards you have available on your hand:
- Cross-Sheep + Titan/Colossus: Fusion or special summon a Titan/Colossus to a zone Cross-Sheep points to summon another card from the GY. Depending on your situation, make Apollousa with multiple negates or Accesscode with 2+ pops!
- Aloof Lupine + Thunder Dragon = Cross Sheep -> Apollousa/Titan: Normal summon Aloof Lupine -> Banish Thunder Dragon in hand and Thunder Dragonroar in deck -> Dragonroar eff to summon Thunder Dragondark from deck -> Link off Lupine + Dragondark for Cross-Sheep -> Dragondark eff to search Thunder Dragon Fusion -> Thunder Dragon Fusion eff to summon Titan to a zone Cross-Sheep points to -> Cross-Sheep effect to summon from GY Aloof Lupine -> Link off Cross-Sheep + Aloof Lupine + 1+ more monster(s) for 3-4 negate Apollousa.
- Normal Summon: If you look closely at this deck, this deck only has 2 dedicated normal summons - 2 Aloof Lupines. That is because normal summons are typically saved for the Thunder Dragon monsters, since they all require only 1 tribute. Tributes for your summons are easy to obtain, since almost every monster special summons in this deck. After you summon the Thunder Dragon monster, you can tribute it to special summon Colossus, given you used a thunder monster's effect in the hand that turn.
- Thunder Dragon Fusion in GY: If you manage to reach turn 3+, Thunder Dragon Fusion is your follow-up play. It normally searches Thunder Dragonroar so you can recycle Thunder Dragon Fusion to summon another Titan. It can also search Chaos Creator, which can further summon from the banished pile and trigger more banish effects from your GY!
Remember, the optimal endboard this deck can make going first is 3-4 negate Apollousa, a Titan with multiple pops, a Colossus to lock searching and the Bystial cards set-up in the backrow. That's usually enough to stop all your opponent's plays or have them instantly concede.
Going second, this deck can easily make 8000+ attack on board and with multiple removals with Titan/Accesscode. While achieving gamestate, Chaos Thunderdragon should be able to shrug off most interruption - except floodgates.
Want to see the deck in action? Scroll to the very bottom for the Youtube video!
GENERAL TIPS- Many of this deck's plays occur before committing to summoning a monster on board. Try to fish and bait for your opponent's interruptions before truly committing to your big plays. Bystials are excellent for forcing out interaction!
- If you want to focus more on destroying multiple backrow, creating Thunder Dragon Titan is the ideal play, since it can pop cards on the field multiple times without targeting and can survive being destroyed multiple times (for ex. Torrential Tribute or Conquistador of the Golden Land).
- Since this deck lacks an inherent normal summons and doesn’t really set cards, Denko Sekka can be decent budget option for the backrow decks you will face. She is also searchable off Thunder Dragon Fusion!
- This deck is particularly weak to backrow, floodgates and high impact handtraps like Nibiru, Maxx "C", and Droll & Lockbird.
- Thunder Dragon Colossus is an extremely hard to kill instant-win button vs. common decks Flundereeze and heavily cripples decks like Branded Despia. If all your other plays have been stopped, at least try to get this purple menace out!
- Bystial Thunderdragon doesn't have an obvious "chokepoint" where a well-timed handtrap/interruption can end your turn. This deck slices through low-impact handtraps like nothing! However, try to resolve Chaos Ruler's mill effect, it is super important!
CONCLUDING COMMENTARY
Having enjoyed this deck's weaker incarnation in the TCG, witnessing it's unmitigated power complete with Colossus is a real treat! Colossus is a true powerhouse threat that shuts down many decks and avenues of play. A nice little bonus is the beautiful animation of this beauty everytime you summon Colossus and Titan - which is often the last thing your opponent will see before they surrender or get obliterated!
GLHF Duelists!
-
60
750
930
