Triple SD Challenge - Shaddoll Showdown

Hello, everyone! After being late for days due to college, I finally bring to you the Triple Structure Deck Challenge for the Shaddoll Showdown Structure Deck!

Rules are still the same: A 40-card deck made using at least 30+ cards from the Structure Deck. The Extra Deck is free to edit.

Archetype Breakdown

Shaddolls are, at least before this Structure Deck release, an archetype filled with DARK Spellcaster-Type Flip Monsters, having the peculiarity that they also have an additional effect if they are sent to the GY by a card effect; with the only downside that you must choose which effect to use for that card for the rest of the turn. While some of them, including the new support, has some great Flip effects, you most of the time will be using the GY effects due to their easiness to mill within this archetype, and those effects are also good. Their Extra Deck, which is mostly famous and infamous, consists of monsters that cover all Attributes in the game, except DIVINE. All share the same summoning condition of requiring a Shaddoll monster and 1 monster that shares the same attribute as the Fusion monster. This aspect has made Shaddolls since is dayview as very splashable archetype that would saw a lot of variants that would exploit their GY setups; with Lightsworns, Invoked and even Dinosaurs as examples.

The new support coming from the Structure Deck alongside some new outside support granted it Shaddoll monsters of different Attributes in the Main Deck, making the idea of a pure-ish Shaddoll Deck possible while still being able to have access to their Attribute-specific Fusion monsters. Speaking of which, they also got a new generic Fusion monster giving that they now have more monsters with different Attributes in the Main Deck, and some backrow support for both the Fusion and Flip playstyle.

The analysis of the Deck will start with the Shaddoll cards, including the outside support. And then I'll talk about the other cards used in. Due to the nature of the Shaddoll monsters, I'll breakdown their effects in this way: For Main Deck monsters I'll separate the Flip effect and GY effect, while with the Fusion monsters I'll list their effect on Summon (if any), their effect on the field and their GY effect. With that said, let's begin.

Shaddoll monsters from the Main Deck
*Helshaddoll Hollow: This big boi is the FIRE Attribute monster (they only got one for each Attribute other than DARK, so I have to work with it) of the Archetype and is also the biggest monster from the Main Deck in terms of stat line, being a Level 9 FIRE Fiend with 2900 ATK/DEF.
Flip Effect: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; send 1 "Shaddoll" monster with the same Attribute from the Extra Deck to the GY, and if you do, banish the targeted monster. If you haven't played or know about Shaddolls you might think this effect's cost is too much, but keep in mind that all Shaddoll Fusion monsters have a GY effect, can be used as material for Fusions with certain cards and the most popular Attributes in the game, those being EARTH, LIGHT and DARK, can be covered with Shekhinaga, Construct, Winda or their new Fusion monster.
GY Effect: You can send cards from the top of your Deck to the GY equal to the number of different and original Attributes among the monsters on the field. If used normally it can lead to a 2-3 card mill, which it could be good if you're lucky. Even more, some of the new support gives the Deck more interacions with the GY so its good. Only run 1 though, it can be bricky due to his high Level.

*Shaddoll Beast:
Flip effect: You can draw 2 cards, then discard 1.
GY effect: You can draw 1 card.
The only annoying thing about Beast is the fact that it is Level 5, other than that, he's pluses in any way you used him. Some new cards can recycle him a lot,
and his Level can make him bricky, so running 1 is fine. 2 if you seriously need more draw power.

**Shaddoll Dragon:
Flip effect: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; return it to the hand.
GY effect: You can target 1 Spell/Trap on the field and destroy it.
You might have seen this one in Lightsworn builds, whether they actually played Shaddolls or not, due to his backrow popping effect. While his bounce effect is also good but rarely used, he's still pretty good to use.

*Shaddoll Squamata:
Flip effect: You can target 1 monster on the field and destroy it.
GY effect: You can send 1 "Shaddoll" card from the Deck to the GY, except another copy of itself.
His Flip effect can catch someone by suprise and his GY effect can be used on any Shaddoll card, including the backrow (you'll later understand why). You could also run 2, but this build is quite tight already.

*Naelshaddoll Ariel: This is the WATER representative, with a heavy emphasis on banished cards.
Flip effect: You can target 1 of your banished "Shaddoll" monsters and Special Summon it in face-down or face-up Defense Position.
GY effect: You can target up to 3 cards in either GYs and banish them.
She, alognside two more monsters that came in this Structure Deck, gives Shaddoll a way to swarm the field and placing them face-down if you want to use their Flip effects.

***Reeshaddoll Wendi: She is the WIND representative, focusing with the Deck. One of the reasons she's played at 3.
Flip effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from the Deck in face-up or face-down Defense Position, except another copy of herself.
GY effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from the Deck in face-down Defense Position, except another copy of herself.
Now, choose: You want to Special Summon from the Deck or Special Summon from the Deck? I think you might want to Special Summon from the Deck.

***Shaddoll Hedgehog: Another Shaddoll monster that is quite famous for how good of a searcher he is for his archetype.
Flip effect: You can add 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap from the Deck to the hand.
GY effect: You can add 1 "Shaddoll" monster from the Deck to the hand, except another copy of itself.
Run it at 3 as well, he's a really good searcher.

**Qadshaddoll Keios: The 3rd monster on the Special Summon Triad of new support, focusing on the hand; while also being the LIGHT representative.
Flip effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from the hand in face-up or face-down Defense Position.
GY effect: You can send 1 "Shaddoll" monster from the hand to the GY, if you do, until the rest of the turn all monsters you control gain 100 ATK/DEF times the
original Level of the sent monster.
He can help if your starting hand is filled with Shaddoll monsters you want to use their Flip effects, while being LIGHT Attribute gives him access to Construct. The attack boost can also be helpful if you need an extra push in the damage aspect.

**Shaddoll Falco:
Flip effect: You can target 1 "Shaddoll" monster in your GY except another copy of itself and Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position.
GY effect: You can Special Summon this card in face-down Defense Position.
He has some good interactions with the GY and with Ariel, Wendi and Keios they can give the Deck a lot of swarming potential. Also, he can be used as a Fusion material in your turn, bring himself back with his effect and then use the Flip effect later.

**Shaddoll Fusion, **El Shaddoll Fusion, *Nephe Shaddoll Fusion:
This 3 cards are Fusion Spells for the Shaddoll archetype. Shaddoll Fusion allows the Fusion of a "Shaddoll" Fusion monster using monsters from the hand or field as materials. However, if your opponent has a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, you can use monsters from the Deck as well. El Shaddoll Fusion can also Fusion Summon a "Shaddoll" Fusion monster using materials from the hand or field as material; with the added fact that it is a Quick-Play Spell. The last one, Nephe Shaddoll Fusion is an Equip Spell that can only be used on a "Shaddoll" monster and by declaring 1 Atrribute. The equipped monster is treated as having that Attribute and it can Fusion Summon 1 "Shaddoll" Fusion monster using materials from the hand or field, including the equipped monster. All of them should be played but the issue has always being the ratios. Some will favor playing more copies of El Shaddoll Fusion than Shaddoll Fusion and vice-versa; while Nephe fell a bit since now Shaddoll has monsters with different Attributes. I decided to play 2-2-1, since each one of them have their uses and Nephe can help out if you didn't open with the needed Attributes.

***Resh Shaddoll Incarnation: This is their new Trap Card, which has 2 effects. The first one targets 1 "Shaddoll" monster in your GY and Special Summon it in face-up or face-down Defense Position. The other effect can be activated from the GY: you can banish it alongside 1 "Shaddoll" card from the GY to either change 1 face-down monster you control to face-up Defense Position or change 1 face-up monster you control to face-down Defense Position. Is a realy good revival card, can make the Flip effects easier to access if the monster you want to activate happens to be set that same turn or to activate the effect of the monster you just revived.

**Shaddoll Core: This is a Continuous Trap that can Special Summon itself as a Level 9 DARK Spellcaster with 1450 ATK/1950 DEF. If it was Summoned this way, it can be treated as any Attribute for the Fusion Summon of a "Shaddoll" Fusion monster. Also, if this card is sent to the GY by a card effect you can target 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap in your GY except itself and add it to your hand. Before the new monsters, this was the main access to other Attributes if you played a pure build, while his recycling effect is helpful to bring back the Fusion Spells. Keep in mind that it can recycle cards even when used as a Fusion material.

**Shaddoll Schism: This is new outside support, being a Continuous Trap. During the Main Phase only, you can Fusion Summon 1 "Shaddoll" Fusion monster by banishing its materials from the field or GY, and then you can send to the GY 1 monster your opponent controls that shares the Attribute of the Summoned monster, this is without targeting. However, the Summoned monster cannot attack directly. This Trap Card grants you a way to still use your Shaddoll monsters from the GY besides Falco and Incarnation, and even Ariel can bring back one of them if you need so. Is pretty good, but since requires setup to use, I don't recommend maxing it. 2 has worked fine with me.

**El Shaddoll Shekhinaga: Finally starting with the Extra Deck, we'll start with the EARTH Fusion. Is a Level 10 EARTH Machine with 2600 ATK/3000 DEF that requires a "Shaddoll" monster + 1 EARTH monster.
On the field: When a Special Summoned monster activates their effect but you have a "Shaddoll" card in the hand, as a Quick Effect, you can negate the activation, destroy that monster and then send 1 "Shaddoll" card from the hand to the GY.
If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap in your GY and add it to the hand. As a note, all except the new Fusion monster share the last
effect. For its summon, I used Mathematician due to how helpful he is for mill decks while also being an EARTH monster, and if you ask: yes, they also have a new EARTH representative called Nehshaddoll Genius, but the decklist was a bit to tight to add it. Run 1 of it if you like so. Shekhinaga is one of your largest walls and can net some effect negation. Run either 1 or 2.

**El Shaddoll Construct: The main boss monster of the Deck, while also being the most splashable of them alongside Winda since it is the LIGHT Fusion monster, needing 1 Shaddoll monster + 1 LIGHT monster.
On Summon: You can send 1 "Shaddoll" card from the Deck to the GY.
On the field: At the start of the Damage Step, if this card battles an Special Summoned monster: Destroy that monster.
Also has the recycle effect.
This monster has seen its time on the Limited list just for how good it is in general. There are, even to this day, many LIGHT monsters that could benefit from being used as a material giving that Shaddoll Fusion can use materials from the Deck if the conditions are met. It also makes her, and pretty much every Attribute-exclusive Fusion monster to be a good target for Super Polymerization plays.

*El Shaddoll Grysta: This one is the FIRE Fusion monster, which has an effect kind of similar to Shekhinaga. It requires 1 Shaddoll monster + 1 FIRE monster.
On the field: When your opponent would Special Summon a monster but you have a "Shaddoll" card in the hand, as a Quick Effect, you can negate the Summon, destroy that monster and then send 1 "Shaddoll" card from the hand to the GY.
It also has the recycle effect.
This one is a bit less played, since their are some conditions in which you can and cannot activate his negation due to rulings. That doesn't mean it isn't good to have it around if needed.

**El Shaddoll Apkallone: This is their new Fusion monster, which requires any 2 "Shaddoll" monsters with different Attributes.
On Summon: If this card is Special Summoned (not just by Fusion): You can target 1 face-up card on the field and negate its effects while it remains there.
On the field: Cannot be destroyed by battle.
If it is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Shaddoll" card from the Deck or GY to the hand, then discard 1 card.
Its on Summon effect can be used many times since its not limited to only Fusion, providing the lockdown of 1 face-up card on the field; which is great against floodgates or continuous effects. Its GY effect differs from the rest, since it works with any card. The discard downside can be used in your favor to trigger the effect of the "Shaddoll" monsters.

**El Shaddoll Winda: Lastly, we have the DARK representative requiring 1 Shaddoll monster + 1 DARK monster. She alongside Construct and Apkallone are their most accesible Fusion monsters while also being very splashable in Winda and Construct's case.
On the field: Both players can only Special Summon monsters once per turn.
It also has the recycling effect.
Due to her low level (being 5), it can be Summoned with Instant Fusion. That being said, is one of the most hated floodgates due to how easy is to summon and how much it can slow the pace of a duel.

*Shaddoll Construct: Their only Link monster, being a Link-2 monster with 1200 ATK pointing Left and Right. During the Main Phase, you can Fusion Summon 1 "Shaddoll" Fusion monster using monsters from the hand or field as materials. If this card is in the GY, you can send 1 "Shaddoll" card from the hand or face-up in the field to the GY to Special Summon this card. It can also work as a constant Fusion enabler, giving that it can use itself as material, recycle itself and being a LIGHT monster gives it access to Construct or Apkallone. Run 1 if you like. The Extra Deck is pretty tight though.

Now, let's talk about the non-Shaddoll cards:
*Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning: I think this card doesn't require introduction since how much of a powerhouse he still is today, after all these years. Since this deck runs a fair share of LIGHT monsters, any Chaos monster with reliable effects can be pretty much added here. BLS is pretty much the best option, but if you need more than just on-target banishing or double attacking; Chaos Dragon Levianeer, The Chaos Creator and Chaos Grepher are also pretty solid.

*Timaeus the Dragon of Destiny: This one is the odd pick, coming way into the future with the new Dark Magician support from the Battle of Chaos set that was announced recently. Is a Level 8 LIGHT Dragon that can be Special Summoned from the hand by sending 1 Spellcaster monster OR 1 Spell/Trap that lists "Dark Magician" in its text from the hand or field to the GY. While it might look confusing at first, the Spellcaster monster doesn't need to list "Dark Magician", and most of the Shaddoll monsters are Spellcasters; so it can become a large body while also triggering the sent Shaddoll monster. On the field, it can Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster using materials from the hand or field as materials, including at least 1 Spellcaster monster. It can grant you more Fusion Summons while its LIGHT Attribute can help to bring Construct faster. I only put 1 for test purposes, and I can safely say its pretty good and running 2 might not be a bad idea.

*Electromagnetic Turtle: Its a Level 4 LIGHT Machine that during your opponent's Battle Phase can banish itself to end it. This effect is a once per Duel effect, but is often milled or used for a Fusion Summon due to its Attribute and good defensive effect.

***Mathematician: Is a Level 3 EARTH Spellcaster monster that when it is Normal Summoned you can send 1 Level 4 or lower monster from the Deck to the GY. When this monster is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY: you can draw 1 card. Its mill effect is its most used effect, helping you trigger the Shaddoll's GY effects. The draw effect is a nice plus too.

*Magicalized Fusion: This one is an interesting tech. Is a Spell card that allows the Fusion Summon of a Spellcaster Fusion monster by banishing its materials from the field or GY, pretty much how Dragon's Mirror works. Since they are many Spellcasters in the Deck, I though adding 1 copy of it and 1 Quintet Magician as a Plan B.

**Pot of Avarice: This Deck can consume a lot of resources due to how much milling and searching can do. Pot of Avarice can help to recycle your used monsters and giving you 2 cards.

***Super Polymerization: Is a Quick-Play Spell that requires to discard 1 card to activate. You can then Fusion Summon 1 Fusion monster by using materials from both fields. Also, neither player can activate cards or effects in response to it. Since the Shaddoll Fusions are kind of generic in terms of their materials, Super Poly can easily remove from your opponent's field a problematic monster and give you a Fusion, without your opponent being able to stop it.

*Quintet Magician: Is a big Level 12 DARK Spellcaster with 4500 ATK/DEF and requires 5 Spellcaster monsters to be Fusion Summoned. If those 5 Spellcaster monsters had different names between each other, on its Fusion Summon, you can destroy all cards your opponent controls. While on the field, it cannot be destroyed by card effects, can't be used as a Fusion Material and it cannot be Tributed. Being one of the few monsters in the game that cannot be Kaiju'd, his nuke effect and big statline paired with tolerable protection makes him an impressive optional boss monster.

*Mysterion the Dragon Crown: This one is also a tech choice, giving that I'm using Timaeus. Is a Level 8 LIGHT Spellcaster with 3000 ATK/1500 DEF that requires a Spellcaster monster and a Dragon monster. It cannot be used as Fusion material and loses 100 ATK for each of your banished cards. If a monster uses its own effect to Special Summon itself or any monster(s) with its same original Type, you can target 1 of those monsters: banish it and banish all monsters on the field with the same original Type. Decks that focus on only one Type of monster (like Spellcasters, Dragons, Cyberse, Rocks, Beast-Warriors, etc.) are pretty common both casually and in the Meta and monsters that can Special Summon more of them are pretty common as well, even Shaddolls have a few share of them. Mysterion can provide an easy wipe of said monsters, although watch out to now blow yourself up the process.

*Accesscode Talker: Another card that doesn't need that much introduction for how heavily it is played online. Emphasis on online since +$100 dollars is a very high price to most players. Still, it currently is one of the best finishers. If you want a budget option, Borrelsword Dragon is always there.

*Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians: Is a Link-3 LIGHT Spellcaster with 1850 ATK and points all Bottom (Bottom-Left, Bottom & Bottom-Right). It requires 2 or more monsters, including at least 1 Spellcaster monster. On its Link Summon, you can place 1 Spell Counter on it for each Spell Card in your GY. During the Main Phase, as a Quick Effect, you can remove 3 Spell Counters from your field to Special Summon 1 Spellcaster monster from the hand or GY in Defense Position to a zone it points to. Is mostly used as an extender for more Fusion plays and for link climbing into Accescode/Borrelsword.

*Subterror Behemoth Fiendess: Even though it was design for Subterrors, it is the best Link monster to play with Shaddolls. Is a Link-2 EARTH Wyrm with 2000 ATK, points Bottom-Left and Bottom-Right and requires any 2 Flip monsters. It can send 1 Flip monster from the Deck to the GY to Special Summon 1 monster from your hand in face-down Defense Position. Once per turn, if one of the monsters this card points to is flipped face-up, you can add 1 Flip monster from the Deck or GY to the hand. Since Reincarnation can flip your Shaddoll monsters and Schism can use materials from the GY for Fusion Summons, this is an overall nice card to have at disposition.

And that's it for this Deck.

I'll have to make an announcement: Since school started again a month ago, I'll upload decks probably more late than ever. At least except 2 or even 3 decklist per month, but not on a consistent schedule. Since tomorrow is the beginning of October, although the website posts this as the next day idk, the next decklist will focus on the Zombie-themed Structure Decks that had been released in Yu-Gi-Oh!, with those being the Zombie Madness, Zombie World and Zombie Hoard Structure Decks; in which I'll implement a new rule for the remaining Structure Decks for this series.

Oh, btw, I'll post the Starter Deck: Yugi list later, just as a throwaway.