Phoenix Blaze Tips & Decklists
Phoenix Blaze! Duel Links 2024 Decks Showcase
Happy New Year! Why are we still playing Yugioh?! Anyway, the first Main Box for Speed Duel 2024 is pretty hype. Bringing in some of the most beloved archetypes into the game with Shaddolls, Suships and support to some older DL decks like Mayakashi and Machina, while giving anime fans the curse of Ra! This box also gives Magical Musketeers and Kozmo the cards that they so desperately needed to enter the metagame with. Oh, and Loading... gets its reprint for F2P Player access, which is gonna be annoying to face on ladder. It's an overload of information, and I’m here to discuss the potential of each of the decks!
Short Background of the Archetype: This is a short excerpt from the Duel Terminal lore. I recommend reading into it yourself.
Out of the depths of darkness, a virus spawned. This virus had made its home in one of the previous heroes of the Duel Terminal lore, Loading... . Master Diamond had been revived after previous battles and was turned into the evil Loading... . Beating foe after foe, Cairngorgon eventually had enough power to turn into the first Shaddoll, Loading... .
Loading... gave birth to previously fallen heroes of the war. Small and big critters, known from famous archetypes. The Shaddolls had a mission. Their goal was to return to the Loading... . This tree was the source of life in the universe, and would have reborn the Shaddolls to their original form. However, their path was destructive. Destroying everyone and everything in their wake.
Shaddoll is an interesting take for a Control/Midrange strategy. The deck is Fusion-focused, using their powerful fusions to control the game while having a secondary Flip Effect playstyle to support it. This deck loves the Graveyard, as almost all of their cards have an effect that activates when sent there by Card Effect... So funnily think of them as Krawlers if they were Fusion based and were actually good.
Shaddolls are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Before the 2021 meta came around, Shaddolls always found a way to be relevant in the meta. Their power thanks to Loading... and their incredible grind game made them always powerful. Paired with certain engines, ahem Invoked and Dogmatika, the deck just becomes a nuisance to deal with. Without Loading... and the existance of Dogmatika... and the fact that Loading... and the other strong Main Deck Shaddolls like Loading... or Loading... won't be in the game yet, let's see how powerful Shaddolls become in the Speed Duel Format.
The Main Core
- The Main Deck Shaddoll Monsters have 2 effects each. 1 Flip effect, and 1 effect when sent to GY by Card Effect. Both effects have some way to generate the player card or field advantage, ensuring you never run out of gas. Note that it HAS to be by Card effect, meaning getting destroyed by battle or discarding/tributing for cost won't activate their effects. Also, you can only use ONE of their effects per turn, meaning you can't use both the Flip and GY effect in one turn.
- The Fusions also share the same sentiment. Having great effects while on field, while letting you add a Shaddoll Spell/Trap when sent to the GY.
Original Form: Loading...
Construct is the best fusion to summon to gain advantage with. Although, it is held back a little by needing you to use a LIGHT Monster to fuse with. The LIGHT Main Deck Shaddoll Monster sucks, so you might be incentivised to play a decent LIGHT Monster like Loading... or Loading... just to be able to guarantee being able to summon Construct.
- On Fusion Summon, you can send ANY Shaddoll card from your Deck to the GY. It lets you access any of your Shaddoll GY effects. Which will net you advantage by virtue of adding a Monster, Special Summoning, or destroying a Backrow with your 3 best monsters. But most commonly, when going first you'll be sending a Spell/Trap, mostly Loading... , to the GY. Thanks to Loading... and Construct's 3rd effect, this can guarantee that you have access to the best Trap card of the deck on your first turn.
- The second effect is pretty decent as well, as it makes Construct a hard wall to deal with while also being able to act as removal for your attacking turns.
Original Form: Loading...
Wendi is probably the best Main Deck Shaddoll. Both her Flip Effect and her GY effect lets you Special Summon a Shaddoll Monster from your Deck in Face-down Defense Position. With the added caveat that you can also choose to Special Summon it face-up if you used the Flip Effect. This is a very strong effect as it gives you access to any Shaddoll effect that you want to be using, while also providing you with Link and Fusion Material on the Field.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Wendi is a Psychic and NOT a Spellcaster! Will be relevant with some cards like Loading... .
Original Form: Loading...
Gets you to your other Shaddolls, while having decent removal on its flip.
- On Flip: Squamata is a Loading... , letting you target and destroy a monster on the Field. Pretty decent form of removal, all things considered.
- When sent to GY: You can send any Shaddoll card from your Deck to the GY, similar to Loading... . Unlike Construct however, you'll probably end up using this effect more to send Monsters. As Squamata is essentially a swiss army knife, giving you the option between sending Dragon for Backrow Removal, Hedgehog to add a Monster to your Hand, or Wendi to summon a body on your field to act as a blocker on your opponent's turn. I guess there are other effects too but that would require you to run the less optimal monsters.
Original Form: Loading...
One of your best advantage generators.
- On Flip: You get to add a Shaddoll Spell/Trap from your Deck to Hand. Getting you a way to Fusion Summon with the likes of both Loading... and Loading... . Can also get you Loading... if you haven’t been able to get to Construct yet.
- When sent to GY: You get to add any Shaddoll Monster from your deck to Hand. Very relevant as you can get the name that you need for their effects while also giving you material for a Fusion Summon. Or just for discard fodder I guess.
Original Form: Loading...
Provides you with ways to interact with your opponent’s boards.
- On Flip: You get to return an opponent’s card to the hand. A better Loading... , albeit harder to activate.
- When sent to the GY: It’s a Loading... , letting you destroy any Spell/Trap on the Field.
A Quick-Effect Loading... . Being a Quick-Effect, this can have a lot of implications. As always, you can use to to Fuse on your turn to possible gain advantage through the likes of Loading... . But being able to use it on your opponent’s turn makes it a valuable form of interruption.
- When your opponent activates an effect that includes a special summon, you can chain it to Fusion Summon Loading... , which would lock them from special summoning more that turn. (very effective against Tenyis)
- With a LIGHT Monster, you can make Construct to send any Shaddoll you need.
- Well I guess Loading... and Loading... can come up sometimes, but not as often as the other 2.
Other Playable Archetypal Cards
Original Form: Loading...
Loading... , not to be confused with Loading... , is the archetype’s Link-2 Monster. A LIGHT Monster that has an effect that lets you Fusion Summon a Shaddoll Monster using monsters from your Hand or Field as material. Notably, it doesn’t need to include itself so you can keep it on the field for Link Climbing while still being able to use the effect. Being a Shaddoll name, you can make anything with it, but being a LIGHT it should make it obvious that it’s better to use it for Loading... .
Note that Link Summoning doesn’t activate the Main Deck Shaddoll effects! Also, Construct takes up ANY Flip Monster as Material, which admittedly isn’t really relevant but it does mean you can only use the Main Deck Shaddolls to summon it… or something like Krawlers if you’re feeling funky.
Original Form: Loading...
Falco is… a Level 2 Tuner for a deck that doesn’t have any Synchros! For anyone wondering, it’s only a Tuner because it was a Tuner as a Gusto Monster. Funnily this actually can come up since it gives you an actual option to use a Synchro Toolbox for the Extra Deck.
- On Flip: You can target a Shaddoll Monster in your GY (except Falco) and special summon it in Face-Down Defense position. A decent recycling effect for the Flip archetype.
- When sent to the GY: You can special summon Falco in Face-Down Defense position. Think of it as Loading... ’s effect but you can only summon Falco. Provides you a chump blocker, or more material for Fusion Summoning. Or even just a Tuner to make a Synchro if it sticks.
Original Form: Apparently just Loading... /Cairngorgon but with Pyroxenes... whatever that means.
A Summon Negater!... at the cost of needing a FIRE Attribute Monster to Fuse with. Luckily, Shaddolls themselves have a FIRE Monster with Loading... so you won’t need to use an outside engine to summon Grysta. Grysta’s effect is pretty decent, if you have a Shaddoll in your hand you can send it to the GY in order to negate the special summon of an opponent’s monster. Admittedly not as good as Loading... , but it does let you trigger a Shaddoll in your Hand. The game is pretty much over if you manage to have both Grysta and Winda on the Field at the same time.
Original Form:...... Loading...
A Level 9 Flip Monster, whew. Luckily you’re able to summon this off of Loading... and Loading... so you won’t have to worry about needing to Tribute Set this guy.
- On Flip: A pretty strong removal effect. You’re able to target an opponent’s monster and send a Shaddoll Monster with the same attribute as that monster from your EXTRA DECK to the GY in order to Banish that monster. As of right now it only works on LIGHTs, DARKs, WINDs, and FIREs, which means this will probably not be relevant against EARTH and WATER decks. This also lets you recycle a Shaddoll Spell/Trap, thanks to the GY Effect of the Fusions.
- When sent to the GY: You get to send cards from your top of the Deck to the GY equal to the amount of different attributes on the Field, counting the opponent's field as well. Realistically you’ll be getting about 1-3 mills off of this in an average game, if you’re lucky you can mill a Shaddoll name to use.
Original Form: Loading...
It's the only LIGHT Attribute Shaddoll available right now so there's some merit in playing it so you can make Loading... but is not worth it about 90% of the time. Won't even be talking about the effect.
Original Form: Loading...
This can help you activate your Shaddolls Flip effects!
- On Flip: You’re able to add a Shaddoll card from the GY to your Hand. Pretty decent recycling effect, all things considered.
- When sent to the GY: You can change the battle position of a monster on the Field. You can use this to stall out a Battle Phase, changing an opponent’s attacking monster to Defense. But most notably, you can use this on a Face-Down Shaddoll in order to Flip them Face-up and activate their Flip effects.
Original Form: Loading...
Yeah it kinda just serves the same purpose as the original form, just kinda there to stall out the game by being a wall. Albeit this one is kinda worse since protection from card effects is usually more valuable than battle protection… and this battle protection is only when your monster battles a special summoned monster so it won’t work against their normal summon. You get to choose which monster on your field gets the protection at least.
Loading... is a pretty powerful card for slower versions of the deck. This is one of those cards that you cut from the list if you’re playing an engine. It’s pretty powerful for a pure list, but becomes slower and more of a brick with cards like Loading... or Loading... in the equation.
On a normal trap, you get to send a Shaddoll from your Deck to the GY while making it so you can flip Face-Up any of your Face-Down Shaddolls. This translates to a LOT of value generated. Not only do you get advantage thanks to the GY effect of the sent monster, but you can even potentially get interruption if you have Loading... and/or Loading... set on your field.
NOTE: This is NOT a "Shaddoll" card as it doesn't have it in the name, making it unsearchable in the archetype! Also, pray that Loading... gets added soon so this card's value skyrockets.
Original Form: Loading...
Loading... is only ever played in Mill Heavy strategies of Shaddoll. You usually never want to draw Core as you would very much prefer having it sent to the GY instead through milling since it shares the same GY effect as the fusion monsters. This means you’re able to add any milled Shaddoll Spell/Traps back to your Hand.
The Archive Shaddoll Skill
This skill adds Loading... to your Extra Deck, and 3 copies of Loading... and 1 copy of Loading... to your Main Deck. All of these cards are extremely powerful cards for the archetype, they singlehandedly make the deck top tier… which is probably why they’re locked behind this skill.
The activated effect of the skill is a godsend as well. While it doesn’t look relevant, you have to understand that this lets you add back your 1 copy of Winda back to the Extra Deck, letting you recycle her freely if she’s ever removed from the Field in the first place. This applies to every other Shaddoll Monster as well. Say you’re only playing 1 copy of Loading... and you need its effect, you can shuffle it back with the skill and send it with Squamata or Construct to get the backrow removal!