Introduction to S-Force
S-Force (Security Forces) is an archetype that debuted in the set Blazing Vortex. It is comprised of monsters from the ever-growing pool of Dark and Light. They vary in types, having Warrior, Spellcaster, Cyberse and Psychic sprinkled all around. The archetype relies on banishing and columns, seemingly akin to Mekk-Knights. Oh and one last cool thing to note - they're tied to Time-thief and Psy-Frames (and I:P Masquerena, apparently).
The Security Forces
S-Force Justify is the archetype's very own boss monster. It's interesting since it has a quick-effect to negate a monster's effect AND move it to a zone that it points to. That definitely helps in fulfilling some of the column-based effects of the other monsters. Oh, and did I mention that it can banish up to THREE monsters when it attacks? Yeah, it's pretty good.
S-Force Rappa Chiyomaru is the main agent of the archetype. She can banish an S-Force monster from the hand as cost to then return herself to hand and special summon an S-Force monster from deck. And whenever we see "Special summon X monster from your deck," it's a pretty good card.
S-Force Gravitino is another important piece to the puzzle. It's what you want to have in hand to banish off of Chiyomaru - you'll see in a second why. This, when Normal or Special Summoned, allows you to add an "S-Force" card from your deck to hand. In addition to that, any opposing monster that is in the same column as your S-Force monsters will get banished when they leave the field. The only gripe that you'd possibly have is it's a level 5, meaning it cannot be normal summoned without tribute.
S-Force Pla-Tina is why you'd like to banish Gravitino from your hand. Chiyomaru can summon Pla-Tina from the deck, and then Pla-Tina will be able to summon back the Gravitino from the banished zone. This interaction will allow you to get two monsters onboard plus a search for another S-Force card.
S-Force Orrafist and S-Force Professor DiGamma round up the current agents of the Security Forces. These two are pretty underwhelming. Orrafist acts like a Ghost Ogre, but with a cost to banish, and DiGamma merely changes an opposing monster's battle position.
Security Apparatus
S-Force Bridgehead is the archetype's field spell. Oh, you guessed it correct - it searches. What a surprise, right? Well, the mere fact that it's S-Force's very own Reinforcement of the Army makes it an extremely strong card for consistency.
S-Force Showdown is another useful tool for the archetype. You usually want to use its first effect to special summon from the hand. The reason being, you'd need the extra body to get to the Link monster, more often than not. Don't sleep on the second effect, though! In the grind game, getting a monster back from the graveyard could be just the thing that you need to restart your engine.
S-Force Specimen is the only trap card that the archetype has as of the moment (spoiler alert: they're getting an extremely good one in Lightning Overdrive). While this card is underwhelming, it is one of the only few options that are currently available to this newly-released S-Force archetype. It does have some cool uses, however, since you can revive Chiyomaru, and she will be live since its ability is a quick-effect.
Requesting Back-up! - Supplementary Engines
The Security Forces innately have only one starter - Chiyomaru. That being said, it needs one or more supplementary engines to help it with consistency. The good thing is that Chiyomaru is actually a warrior. And you know what means! It's Isolde time, baby!
Phantom Knights... in S-Force?
Phantom Knights have gotten popular as of late as an arguably Tier 2 deck. This is due to the release of The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales. The Phantom Knights engine has become really strong because of this card. It can take up your normal summon and dump Ancient Cloak to allow you to search and eventually summon Silent Boots. And what have we got at that point? You guessed it - two warriors for Isolde. The plus side of this engine is the fact that it has a higher ceiling. You could potentially make Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess with the right hand, in addition to searching a Fog Blade at the end of the combo. All that into consideration, Phantom Knights are definitely a viable engine for the S-Force strategy.
Right to Left
It wouldn't seem like it at first, but a small Lefty Driver - Righty Driver engine is amazing in this deck. Yes, they're Earth Machines and they are good in other decks. However, you can synchro these two into Goyo Defender, which is a Level 3 Synchro Warrior monster that can special summon another copy of itself from the Extra Deck. Oh, and it's not once per turn. That means that off of 1 Righty Driver, you're going to get 3 level-3 Warriors on the field. This is cool since if you have an extender such as Fire Flint Lady, then you can use two of the Goyo Defenders to XYZ into Bamboozling Gossip - giving you a layer of protection from hand traps, all while still being able to combo off using Isolde.
There are other variants that create synergy with the deck. Mathmechs, being cyberse, are useful. Chaos variants are also possible, since the deck is mainly composed of Darks and Lights. I won't discuss them in detail but just keep in mind that they're out there and ready for exploration!
Security Forces Techs
There are A LOT of cool cards that can be used in conjunction to this archetype. I'll list a few ones here.
Draw Power
The archetype only has one extra deck monster. You only really care about that, and Isolde - depending on the build. That being said, draw power cards like Pot of Prosperity and Pot of Extravagance are going to do wonders.
Old friends and new trends
There are several extenders that are clearly going to fit perfectly with this deck. Super Quantum Red Layer and Fire Flint Lady are the obvious choices - being warriors and all. And speaking of warriors, you can sneak in a single copy of Immortal Phoenix Gearfried (searchable off of Isolde for follow up). You can also incorporate Magicians' Souls! Having a field spell that only protects from battle after searching - this can be used as fodder for a Souls draw. It also helps that you don't have to play Apprentice Illusion Magician since Pla-Tina is a level 6, Dark Spellcaster monster.
Reinforce Truth, albeit a trap, can also work. You can summon Chiyomaru in your opponent's turn and activate its effect to get any S-Force monster on the board. Reasoning could also work, since depending on the build, you could literally be running monsters with levels 1 to 6. And lastly, Edea the Heavenly Squire is an interesting choice. Notice how Chiyomaru has 800 attack and 1000 defense? Seems familiar? Yep. That's because of Monarchs. This also makes it so that One for One will turn into an extender for the deck as well. However, you have to be cautious since after resolving Edea, you won't be able to go into your Extra Deck Monsters. Just something to keep in mind.
When in Doubt, Go Control
The deck is still in its infancy, and there are many different variants out there. Control is certainly one of them. Being able to run There Can Be Only One is a huge plus. If you recall, the S-Force main deck monsters have Warrior, Psychic, Cyberse and Spellcaster as their types. This allows usage of one of the better floodgates in the game.
Typical control cards are always going to be useful too. Ice Dragon's Prison, Torrential Tribute, Needle Ceiling, Solemn Strike - you name it. You can even potentially use cards like Dimension Shifter and Dimensional Fissure since you don't really care about your monsters getting banished.
S-Force Extra Deck Versatility
Ah, yes. The trusty-old AA-Zeus. Poke for damage, overlay, and clear the entire board. This archetype can go into this bad boy too! Whether it be through its supplementary engine or just summoning out two Gravitinos, it's definitely possible. With two level-5's you can go into Constellar Pleiades for spot removal or straight-up attack and overlay into Zeus. You can make a pit-stop and slap Constellar Ptolemy M7 on the Pleiades that didn't use its effect, allowing your Zeus to have 4 materials for 2 sends.
Let's not forget about Pla-Tina. It's another main deck monster that you can summon multiples of through a duel. This gives you the option to go into Virtual World Phoenix - Fanfan against Eldlich, Norito the Moral Leader for negation, or Utopia Beyond to push for game (or you know, you could overlay Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger for a 2-send Zeus).
Conclusion
S-Force is still a relatively new archetype in the game. It already has some interesting variants that could potentially take it to the rogue category, and it will only get better! S-Force Chase, S-Force Edge Laser, and S-Force Dog Tag are yet to be released and will dramatically improve the deck's power level. Is it able to compete against the current meta? The answer is probably not. Will it be able to? I truly believe so. We just have to wait to find out.
