Overview
Originally released on September 26th of 2019, Invoked-Elementsabers wasn't one of the most popular Invoked variants that it is today, nor was it even a meta deck at all, rather, it gained popularity around 2 months later, with archives showing its first appearances in a top cut were in MCS 24, Meta Weekly 99 where it won the tournament, and a week later in November 2019’s KCCup where it also won and had a multitude of placements within top 100. After a couple of hits on the banlist the deck is still going strong, and still shows its dominance, winning MCS 32.
Introduction
Invoked-Elementsabers (shortened to Sabers from now on) is generally a slow-paced control deck that specialises in not allowing your opponent to have fun/play the game, it achieves this through cards like Loading... in combination with Loading... and generic spells and traps (like Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , etc). One of the main gimmicks is that it has great synergy with the Invoked engine, being able to change attributes in the graveyard accordingly to what Invoked Fusion monster you want to summon.
You may have noticed that in the introduction that I said this deck was “generally a slow-paced control deck”, and in some ways that is right, but due to a hit on the most recent banlist, in my opinion, there has now become 2 ways to play. One being with Loading... and the other without. The only difference between these lists on paper is a swap of Malo and Nalu (and the inclusion of Loading... in the extra deck), however in some ways the playstyle changes, as playing Malo requires you to be much more aggressive, which I will address in further detail when we get to the Matchups part of the guide.
Hopefully this guide will teach you how to optimally play Invoked-Elementsabers, how to build the deck, and how not to get stomped in a competitive format.
Core Cards
These are cards that allow your deck to function, which you will need all or most of the required copies to play the deck on a decent level (some exclusions here that we’ll get to):
Invoked Portion
Aleister the Invoker (x3)
Loading... is one of, if not, the most important card in your deck, as it allows you into paths that summon your powerful Fusion monsters such as Loading... and Loading... through his effect of adding Loading... from your deck to your hand with the additional effect of boosting your Fusion’s attack by 1000atk and def points when discarded by his effect. You’re going to need 3 of these bad boys, as it is the one card you will always want to see in your hand at any point of the duel. If you want to see him more, Loading... can be an extra copy(ies) of Aleister as you can simply set it, and next turn you’ll be able to add an Aleister from your deck to your hand by simply revealing a Fusion monster from the Extra Deck.
Invocation (x2)
Simply put, Loading... is amazing, firstly, it acts like Loading... in that it summons Fusion monsters from the Extra Deck by using materials from hand, different to Poly though is that it can use materials from your field and graveyard + your opponent’s Graveyard when attempting to summon an “Invoked” Fusion monster (cards used from the field and/or grave are banished), it can bring also an Aleister back from the banished pile after using it with its second effect. The only problem with this card is that it can be completely dead when Aleister is not present, with those all too familiar ‘Double Dead Invo’ hands always showing up somehow, sometimes making you want to quit the deck entirely due to how frustrating it is to see a hand like that.
Invoked Purgatrio (x3)
Loading... is one of the 4 “Invoked” Fusion monsters that we currently have and arguably one of, if not, the best one in strong contention with Loading... . It’s effects are battle oriented, as he gains +200 attack for each card your opponent controls (similar to Palace), deals piercing damage and can attack every monster your opponent controls, once each. You can opt to play with only 2 on the ladder (Ranked) however as you progress and maybe if you consider playing in tournaments, you'll eventually want to get that 3rd as you will sometimes miss lethal damage solely because you didn’t have it.
Invoked Cocytus (x0 or 1)
Moving on to another one of the best cards in the game, Loading... cannot be targeted, it cannot be destroyed by card effects, and it can attack your opponent and their cards while in defense position meaning most battle traps won't work on it, pretty much, it's a monster.
*Side note - the fact that it’s Limit-1’d means you cannot *currently play Malo when using it (hence the 0 or 1). If the meta is slow-paced, or you’d rather play a grind game with your opponent this is for you. Also, if you're new to, or not very confident with the deck, I recommend you play with this and a Nalu to serve as a crutch.
Invoked Magellanica (x0-2)
Loading... is your Limit-2 of the deck, and is a beefy monster, with 3,000 attack and 3,300 defense. One of the bigger drawbacks of the card is that it has no effect meaning that's literally all it is, a big, beefy monster, but that can also work to your advantage in some cases, as since it is not an effect monster it cannot be targeted by Loading... which is common in the Shiranui and Mirror matchups.
*Side note – With the popularity of Witchcrafters rising Magellanica has become much less relevant, so completely removing it should be considered for better limit-2 cards like Loading... or Loading... .
Invoked Caliga (x1-2)
Last of the Invoked Fusion monsters we currently have, Loading... is the crusher of combo deck’s dreams, acting as your win condition in matchups like Crystron, Hero and Ritual Beast as simply setting it up can be the difference between a win and a loss. Be careful however, as when it is face-up it stops your effects too, meaning you need to search Loading... with Aleister before you change attributes in the grave (or you could choose to not use Aleister if you already have Invocation). Molehu allows us to flip our own Caliga face down to allow us to use multiple effects during our turn.
*Side note - sometimes decks such as Dragunity and Hero have cards that don’t care about Caliga’s effect because they are either Continuous effects or don’t count as monsters at that point (Examples are Loading... and Loading... ). Moreover, Caliga has a synergy with Lava Golem as Lava Golem’s effect is mandatory and that counts as the one effect that can be activated. Thus, your opponent cannot activate any more effects that turn.
To summarise, your Extra Deck should look like this:
With the last slot being up to you *Side note – If playing a Malo variant, you replace Cocytus with Caliga.