Notes & Combos

This is the deck that secured my King of Games rank in February, still in the early stage of the ranked ladder. It is a very anti-meta deck, extremely effective against the current Tier 1 deck, Branded Despia, mainly due to its strong OTK potential and its ability to consistently establish monsters that are unaffected by card effects. On Turn 1, my primary play is Ancient Gear Howitzer. Besides functioning as a very solid defensive wall, it is unaffected by card effects, which makes it particularly strong against threats such as Mirrorjade, Forbidden Droplet, Book of Eclipse, and other common meta interactions. The deck’s Turn 1 game plan revolves around the synergy between Ancient Gear Howitzer and the Ancient Gear engine. When Howitzer is destroyed, I can Special Summon Ancient Gear Tanker directly from the deck, which in turn allows me to revive Ancient Gear Howitzer from the Graveyard, creating multiple layers of defense on the field. If Ancient Gear Howitzer is destroyed again, it is still possible to access Ancient Gear Dark Golem, generating additional advantage by searching cards during the opponent’s turn. This structure opens up several defensive lines of play, allowing the strategy to be adapted depending on the matchup. Although Droll & Lock Bird is an interesting option against some meta decks, I chose not to run it, as it can interfere with my own searches during the opponent’s turn. Instead, I opted for Effect Veiler, which fits the deck’s overall game plan better and provides greater flexibility. To consistently access Ancient Gear Howitzer, I use Ancient Gear Hunting Hound, which can be easily Summoned through Ancient Gear Catapult or the second copy of Ancient Geartown. Another important aspect of the list is the choice between two commonly used defensive cards in this deck: Kiteroid and Construction Train Signal Red. Most players usually run two copies of one of them, or one copy of each. In my case, I chose to play only a single copy of Kiteroid. Although Construction Train Signal Red is a strong card, its main drawback is the fact that it must be placed on the field, which makes it relatively easy to deal with — for example, by being banished by Mirrorjade’s effect or removed by other means, resulting in the loss of a defensive “wall” quite easily. Kiteroid, on the other hand, fulfills its defensive role without needing to be Summoned to the field, offering immediate protection against direct attacks and providing greater defensive consistency with less vulnerability. Additionally, Kiteroid is clearly superior in discard scenarios. If I ever need to send it to the Graveyard — for example, through the effect of Ancient Gear Dark Golem — it does not become a dead card, as it can still be banished from the Graveyard to negate an attack. This is not the case with Construction Train Signal Red, which loses its defensive value once it leaves the field. For this reason, I chose to run only one of these defensive cards, since I usually end my turn with Ancient Gear Howitzer on the field, already providing a solid initial layer of defense. Therefore, I do not see a need to stack multiple forms of protection. Instead of using Gear X a second time at the end of the turn to search for another defensive option, I prefer to go into Number 60, focusing on additional draws and increasing my chances of finding key staples during the duel. Recently, I also included Drill Driver Vespenato in the list, replacing Underworld Goddess, which was ultimately removed due to lack of usage. While there are situations where she can be very impactful, Vespenato has proven to be more practical overall. I usually Summon Drill Driver Vespenato using Number 60 as material. Besides working as a good bait, this avoids leaving Number 60 exposed on the field and still ensures some level of interaction if Vespenato is destroyed, as it allows the recovery of monsters from the Graveyard. I also recently took this deck to a tournament, further reinforcing how solid it remains in the current meta. The most difficult matchups tend to be Tachyon and strategies that rely on Kaijus or monsters with very high ATK, but overall, the deck’s performance against the meta has been extremely positive.