Introduction
Welcome to our guide on the best rocks from the box, Triamids! This deck's playstyle is unique, fun, and challenging. Of all the Duel Links decks that have existed, this is by far the most difficult and interactive. Matches can run very long, and resource management is essential for any victory. As you will see from this guide, there are definitely standard plays that must be learned about this deck. The beauty of this deck, however, is in the new situations that arise constantly. Every few duels I discover a new interaction I haven't encountered before or some insane play that feels amazing to pull off properly. There are infinite ways to misplay, but also infinite ways to outplay your opponent. This deck is easy to pick up, but difficult to perfect. Hopefully, after reading this guide, you'll be one step closer to becoming a Triamid Master! (Haha the guide man made a pun.)
Core Cards
Before we go into strategies and interactions, let's first cover the card pool.
Within the Triamid archtype there are 3 different Monsters, 3 different Field Spells, and 1 Trap:
Triamid Master (2-3x):
The only Super Rare monster from the box definitely earns its rarity. This monster is the biggest of the three, sitting at a solid 1800 ATK. Master's primary effect allows you to send any face-up Triamid card you control to the graveyard (including himself) to target any set card on the field and destroy it. This effect is great against backrow, but specifically good against Subterrors. We'll dissect matchups later in the guide. Master's second effect is shared between all three Triamid monsters. Every single one will allow you to send one field spell card from your field to the grave and play another field with a different name from your deck. This is where the deck's creative playstyle comes into effect. Master should be a 2-3 of, depending on whether you play 1 or 2 Loading... .
Triamid Hunter (2-3x):
This monster is easily the best of the three. While you control a field spell, Hunter allots you an additional normal summon of any Rock monster. This effect allows you to establish two monsters on board, which in turn allows you to cycle through two different field spells on your opponent's turn while also fueling your graveyard for Loading... 's effect. Hunter is extremely important, but is also very weak, at a measly 1400 (1900 with Kingolem.) For this reason, some choose to play him at 2 and play 3 copies of Master.
Triamid Dancer (1-2x):
Arguably the worst of the three, but definitely important. Dancer is very weak with only 600 ATK, but has a sizeable DEF of 1900. Resolving her primary effect will be your main goal in every single game. By shuffling any Triamid card from your grave into the deck, you can boost the ATK and DEF of all your Rocks by 500. This is a permanent boost. If she remains on the field for more than a turn and resolves her effect twice, your Master will sit at a sizeable 2800 attack and will be a huge 3300 attack with the Kingolem field spell, as you'll see in a second. Dancer should be played at 1-2 copies. She's not very good to open, however establishing two Dancers allows you to boost your Triamids at twice the speed, letting you hit astronomical amounts of attack very quickly. If you opt for two Dancer, cut Master or Hunter down to two, since 7 monsters is the sweet spot.
Triamid Cruiser (3x):
The Super Rare field spell of the archetype is amazing and boosts the consistency of the deck. You will be utilizing this card endlessly in games, more times than the simple three copies would seem to allow. These field spells have effects while on the field and effects when they're sent to grave. While Cruiser is face-up, you gain 500 Life Points each time a Rock monster is normal summoned (by either player.) Also, when a Triamid monster is normal summoned (also by either player) you can draw one card and discard one card. At the very least, this will allow you to stock your graveyard turn one for usage with your trap and other field spells. At best though, it'll draw you into one of the techs that you play and help establish a fantastic board. This effect will also be great for seeing side deck cards more quickly than normal. When Cruiser is sent to grave you can search your deck for any Triamid monster. This deck has three ways to send field spells to grave: you can use Master's effect to send a Triamid and pop a set card, you can use your Triamid monsters during the opponent's turn to send your field spells to grave, or you can simply play one field spell over top of the other. Yes, this works. The field spells just need to go from the field to the grave, and this game mechanic fulfills that requirement. This will allow you to turn Cruiser into any monster you need when you open it in tandem with another field spell on turn one. Needless to say, Cruiser is an absolute mandatory 3 of.
Triamid Kingolem (3x):
Despite my long-winded explanation of Cruiser, Kingolem is arguably the best field spell. This card is the deck's win condition. While on the field, Kingolem increases all Rock monsters' ATK by 500. More importantly, it stops your opponent from using any cards or effects when your Triamid monsters battle. Yes, this field spell turns all of your Triamids into Loading... . This deck's tiered potential all stems from this simple clause. Kingolem's other effect happens when it's sent to grave, and it allows you to special summon a Triamid monster from your hand. The deck's plays can get even more hectic because of this effect, as you'll see in some scenarios I describe below. Again, all 3 copies are mandatory.
Triamid Fortress (1-2x):
This field spell is the normal rarity one, and deservedly so. It's definitely the more niche of the three field spells. Fortress gives all Rock monsters a 500 DEF boost and protects your Triamids from card destruction effects, living up to its name. When it's sent from field to grave, you can add a Triamid monster from your graveyard to your hand. Normally this is better beyond the early turns, however if you utilize Cruiser's drawing and discarding effect then Fortress can be useful much earlier than normal. These reasons leave it cut before any of the other field spells, so it should be played at 1-2 copies. You don't really want to see it in your opening hand, but you definitely want it to cycle through and get fuel in your graveyard for Pulse.
Triamid Pulse (1-3x):
And finally, the one and only archetypal trap card in the deck. This card has been around for quite some time and saw use in Magnets way back in the beginning of 2018. However, it was only able to banish Rock monsters in that deck. Now, we can utilize it to its full potential in the deck it was made for. Pulse allows you to banish two cards (Rock-type Monsters, Field Spells, or a combination of the two) to activate one of its three effects. The first effect is the best and by far the most utilized: destroy one face-up card on the field, plain and simple. I have never seen the second or third effects be utilized until the release of this archetype. The second effect allows you to special summon a Rock monster from your graveyard in defense position, which can be very handy to block attacks. You can also use this effect during your opponent's End Phase in order to use another Triamid monster's effect to filter through and trigger another field spell. The third and final effect I have barely used, and I've only ever needed to in severely grindy games (upwards of 20 or 30 turns.) The third effect allows you to shuffle back up to three field spells and draw one card. Keep in mind though that this is after you banish two cards from the graveyard, so you don't have infinite resources. You will deck out slower though, which is great if stall decks ever become relevant again.
Tech Cards
Being a mostly pure deck that benefits off of maximizing its archetypal cards, it's very difficult to fit tech cards into this deck. There are limited slots for non-archetypal cards because the deck loses consistency when it can't maximize its resources. That being said, the tech choices that we do play need to be very high impact in order to warrant slots in the main deck. The least important cards of the archetype that are cuttable in order to make room for techs are Loading... and Loading... . Fortress, however, is the first card to go because it bricks when you open multiple copies, and you don’t want it in your opening hand. Pulse also bricks in multiple copies, however it has much more value than Fortress because it pops cards and resummons monsters from grave turn after turn. Cutting Fortress down to one or two copies frees up some space in the main deck. Also, since we’re playing Balance, we can freely add more trap cards without throwing off the Balance ratio of our main deck, because as long as we have 7 of each type while playing 21-23 cards, we’re guaranteed to open at least 1 of each. Once you hit a new number that is divisible by 3, you need to play that many of each type to guarantee opening at least 1 of each. For instance, if we were to bump our main deck count to 24, we would need to play 8 of each. A main deck count of 25 or 26 would still need at least 8 of each, but once we hit 27, we would need to play 9 of each, and so on and so forth. Here are some tech cards to consider.
Treacherous Trap Hole:
The main problem this deck faces is getting over big monsters; backrow is not an issue. We have Kingolem to prevent effects on attack and Master to pop set cards preemptively. Treacherous helps us deal with the monster issue and will allow us to easily attack directly with a Kingolem active, ensuring a victory the majority of the time it's used. Absolutely a mandatory tech card to play, use at least 1 copy.
World Legacy Clash:
The interactions this card has with the deck are fantastic. World Legacy Clash allows you to use its effect in the Damage Step of an opponent's attack and banish a monster you control. If you banish the monster being attacked, you can both block the attack of the opponent's monster (because your opponent won't be able to redeclare an attack after entering Damage Step) while also reducing the attack of a second monster your opponent controls. However, the truly amazing interaction comes during the End Phase when your monster returns to the field. If your toggle is ON, you will be able to reuse the monster that was just returned and cycle through another field spell in your deck. Since each monster has a soft once per turn effect (meaning you can only use that specific card's effect once per turn), its effect will be ‘refreshed' when it returns to the field, as if it's a brand-new monster. This is essentially the same as having two separate monsters, allowing you to filter through two field spells on your opponent's turn. The only downside is that it will conflict with your spell ratios in Balance builds, so there isn’t any room for it unless you choose to play The Ties That Bind or Sealed Tombs.
Paleozoic Canadia:
Both a tech and a counter, this card has very good synergy with Triamid Master. Since Master is able to destroy set cards, you can easily flip down something like Loading... and destroy it without your opponent being able to protect with Neos Fusion. This also offers crucial protection and allows you to get to your following turn without losing resources, effectively placing you in a great position to begin snowballing with Dancer boosts.
Fiendish Chain:
Brand new in Selection Box Vol. 3, this card is a great addition to any control deck. Both preventing monster effects and attacks gives it the versatility that’s needed in a backrow card to fit multiple situations. With this card, we can negate Blackwing synchros, Darklord monsters, Shiranui synchros, Molehu and Aleister, Magician’s Rod, and Cyber Dragon Core or any Cyber Dragon fusion. This card is expensive but will certainly be a staple in more decks than just Triamids. It’s worth getting if you can afford it.