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In my free time, I enjoy playing a lot of YGO. I've played competitively since around 2011: lived through the crazy PePe, Dragon Ruler, Zoodiac and Nekroz formats. More recently, I had to deal with the Firewall FTKs and Gumblar Hand Loops, as well as Sky Striker being what's essentially a Tier 0 deck for a year. But hey, I found those formats more funny than anything. A friend of mine calls YGO the "Killer Instinct of card games" and, quite frankly, I see where he's coming from. Maybe it's more like Marvel vs Capcom though. Despite the more...iffy formats, I still adore this game for the sheer depth it has. There's always something to learn, and almost every archetype tends to find itself getting legacy support these days.
I primarily play Ritual decks, Nekroz and Gishki being my favourite ones. I don't know why, but I find myself drawn to the search power they have, as well as the generic support that they've been getting since around 2017. The recent banlists have been extremely kind to me, bringing Nekroz back to full power, and a few days ago, bringing Evigishki Gustkraken back to 3 after what, 7-8 years? It's insane. I've played both archetypes since release, even in their darkest hours. I don't think I'd still be playing the game if they didn't exist. I think my time with them has finally paid off with them coming back to essentially rogue status.
Since I'm here, I may as well share the current deck I've been working on. It's a pretty weird mishmash of Hieratic-Gishki-Nekroz aiming to Hand Loop with Evigishki Gustkraken, since it went to 3 a few days ago. It has Vanity's Ruler and Mermail Abyssgaios as alternate win conditions, among a couple other funky plays. It can be a bit difficult to pull off, but it's still extremely possible. For those curious about how the traditional Gishki Hand Loop works, this old ass video shows bits and bobs off.
So to not bore everyone, I've put my decklist in a spoiler for those who are interested. There's also a very long guide of sorts, as I want to explain all the ins and outs to it for those looking to try it out!
So to not bore everyone, I've put my decklist in a spoiler for those who are interested. There's also a very long guide of sorts, as I want to explain all the ins and outs to it for those looking to try it out!
This deck is fairly complex with a lot of different avenues to go down. The initial premise of the deck was to bring back the old Hieratic-Gishki Hand Loop strategy, but I soon found that not only did it age like fine wine, it's also got a lot more potential than before. As a rule of thumb: NOTHING in Gishki is Once per Turn. Nothing. They're the reason "Hard" Once per Turns are a thing.
Decklist Drive Link
I've included some combo replays showing Abyssgaios plays and stuff, as well as a file for you to import to whatever simulator you use online.
Decklist Drive Link
I've included some combo replays showing Abyssgaios plays and stuff, as well as a file for you to import to whatever simulator you use online.
Monsters
- 1x Wattaildragon
- 1x Vanity's Ruler
- 2x Hieratic Dragon of Su
- 2x Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit
- 1x Hieratic Dragon of Eset
- 3x Gishki Shadow
- 1x Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz
- 3x Gishki Abyss
- 3x Gishki Vision
- 1x Evigishki Mind Augus
- 3x Evigishki Gustkraken
- 3x Nekroz of Brionac
- 1x Cyber Angel Benten
- 1x Nekroz of Clausolas
- 3x Hieratic Seal of Convocation
- 1x Foolish Burial Goods
- 1x Extra-Foolish Burial
- 1x Celestial Observatory
- 3x Preparation of Rites
- 2x Salvage
- 1x Gishki Photomirror
- 1x Nekroz Mirror
- 3x Gishki Aquamirror
- 1x Nekroz Kaleidoscope
- 1x Nekroz Cycle
- 1x Xyz Revive Splash
- 1x Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss
- 1x Shooting Quasar Dragon
- 1x Shooting Star Dragon
- 1x, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
- 1x Herald of the Arc Light
- 1x Mermail Abyssgaios
- 3x Constellar Ptolemy M7
- 1x Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal
- 1x Kanzashi the Rikka Queen
- 1x Inzektor Exa-Beetle
- 1x Nephthys, the Sacred Flame
- 1x Marincess Coral Anenome
- 1x Cross-Sheep
- 3x Nibiru, the Primal Being
- 3x Denko Sekka
- 3x Gishki Vanity
- 1x Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice
- 1x Harpie's Feather Duster
- 3x Dark Ruler No More
- 1x Called by the Grave
Monsters (26)
Lots of stuff here. I've marked Ritual Monsters in Blue.
Gishki Monsters
The bread and butter of the deck. Nothing they have is Once per Turn, allowing for many loops to come from their very existence. These cards were part of the GishKill FTK back in March 2013. Since Gustkraken is back at 3, the deck can go for a Hand Loop instead, effectively being an FTK in and of itself. It's very unlikely the opponent can come back from their entire hand being put not in the graveyard, but the deck.
These facilitate the Hand Loop, as when tributed to summon Evigishki Gustkraken (unless it's Eset, who is only tributed by Su and Tefnuit), they all float into Wattaildragon. This is also helpful if a certain Extra Deck monster is out, as I can plus even more off of their uses. They have a generic search spell - Hieratic Seal of Convocation - to bring them to my hand, so I rarely find myself without them.
The Nekroz monsters are great parts of the deck and enable it to go second. I could possibly tinker with the ratios here and add more, but I've found it to be fine as-is. Being WATER monsters, they're also helpful for summoning Marincess Coral Anenome, as well as playing under its restriction. All of these cards have Hard Once per Turn clauses, so re-summoning or getting another copy of them won't allow me to reuse their effects.
These monsters are part of different engines.
These are primarily consistency boosters and ways to Ritual Summon. Ritual Spells are marked in Blue. Note that all Ritual Spells used here will require the exact levels to perform a summon. This is different from most Ritual decks, such as Megalith or Demise Turbo. You need to adapt and play around this inherent weakness. I've built the deck around this, thus why every Ritual is L6 except Clausolas, who we rarely summon here The L6 Hieratics are also supremely helpful here. Keep in mind that Gishki Shadow, Gishki Vision and Shurit all act as the full requirement, so if you don't have the L6s available, you can likely still pick up one last summon.
Card types have been marked as follows; Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Link. All Xyz monsters are Rank 6.
Lots of stuff here. I've marked Ritual Monsters in Blue.
Gishki Monsters
The bread and butter of the deck. Nothing they have is Once per Turn, allowing for many loops to come from their very existence. These cards were part of the GishKill FTK back in March 2013. Since Gustkraken is back at 3, the deck can go for a Hand Loop instead, effectively being an FTK in and of itself. It's very unlikely the opponent can come back from their entire hand being put not in the graveyard, but the deck.
- 3x Evigishki Gustkraken
- The premise of the deck. It's basically a better Topologic Gumblar Dragon: upon summon, you can check up to two cards in the opponent's hand, and send them to
Brazilthe main deck. This is riskless; there's no coming back when sent to the deck, unlike the graveyard. No Dark World effects are procing here, fella. Being L6, it can also be used for Rank 6 plays, which we'll get into later: it's super important. I have no idea why this card went to 3, and while I'm not complaining, it's extremely degenerate LOL - Gustkraken can be searched by; Gishki Vision, Gishki Abyss, Preparation of Rites, Herald of the Arc Light
- The premise of the deck. It's basically a better Topologic Gumblar Dragon: upon summon, you can check up to two cards in the opponent's hand, and send them to
- 1x Evigishki Mind Augus
- Currently Limited, but I don't think I would run more than one at the moment anyway. This is primarily here as a name, a tribute for Gustkraken, and the most important part: resource reuse. Mind Augus can be summoned with any of my Hieratics and get Aquamirror back in the deck on its own, rather than by bringing a Ritual to hand. I like this bit, even if it's minor. Outside of this, it can recycle; Gishki Shadow, Gishki Vision, Salvage, Gishki Photomirror, Celestial Observatory, Extra-Foolish Burial, Preparation of Rites, anything that I have issues getting back. This deck cannot deck out so long as Aquamirror and Mind Augus aren't banished.
- Mind Augus can be searched by; Gishki Vision, Preparation of Rites, Herald of the Arc Light
- 3x Gishki Shadow + 3x Gishki Vision
- The main searchers of the deck: Shadow searches Gishki Ritual Spells, Vision searches Gishki Ritual Monsters. Never run them at any less than 3, no matter what a random Redditor tells you. A common weakness of Gishki is while it always has access to its monsters, it has issues getting its Ritual Spells back. This card can be looped with Constellar Ptolemy M7, which allows for a Hand Loop combo. This is central to the deck's strategy. Note that Gishki Shadow and Gishki Vision are both Salvage targets as well, which means this can effectively act as a Pot of Greed that gets you your best cards. In addition, they can serve as a whole tribute for a WATER Ritual Monster: not just Gishki, but your Nekroz cards as well. This is handy in a tough spot and can score you one last Gustkraken Hand Loop.
- In my decklist, these will search;
- Shadow: Gishki Aquamirror, Gishki Photomirror
- Vision: Evigishki Gustkraken, Evigishki Gustkraken
- Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow can be searched by; Gishki Abyss
- Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow are Salvage targets.
- 3x Gishki Abyss
- Literally Armageddon Knight if it was honest about what it does. When summoned in any way, it'll search a Gishki monster with 1000 or less Defense, except itself. The best part? This isn't once per turn! As a result, you can reuse its effect through Marincess Coral Anenome, any revival spell, anything at all. This card can gain you a ton of advantage if you utilize it correctly. Given the way I've made my deck, Gishki Abyss is essentially the Manju of the deck: you summon it, fetch Shadow or Vision, then discard them to search what you need. This stacks the grave, sets up for Salvage, and really helps for later combos.
- In my decklist, Gishki Abyss will search; Gishki Shadow, Gishki Vision, Evigishki Gustkraken
- By extension, Gishki Abyss can search every Gishki Ritual Monster and Spell in the deck.
- Gishki Abyss is a Salvage target.
These facilitate the Hand Loop, as when tributed to summon Evigishki Gustkraken (unless it's Eset, who is only tributed by Su and Tefnuit), they all float into Wattaildragon. This is also helpful if a certain Extra Deck monster is out, as I can plus even more off of their uses. They have a generic search spell - Hieratic Seal of Convocation - to bring them to my hand, so I rarely find myself without them.
- 2x Hieratic Dragon of Su
- This card can tribute Tefnuit or Eset to summon itself while they bring out Wattaildragon, allowing for a Rank 6 play off the bat. In addition, when tributed itself, it can do the same. Given Hieratics can all summon Wattaildragon from the Hand, Deck or Graveyard, I only need one of it! Being L6, I will commonly use this to summon Evigishki Gustkraken while bringing out Wattaildragon, thereby allowing me to summon Constellar Ptolemy M7. Then, I can detach Gustkraken to bring a card like Gishki Shadow to my hand, while using Gishki Aquamirror's effect to bring Gustkraken back to my hand as well. This is where the loop comes from.
- Su can be searched by; Hieratic Seal of Convocation
- 2x Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit
- The Cyber Dragon of the deck, essentially. If tributed, it summons Wattaildragon, just like Su. Being L6, it's essentially another Su outside of its inherent summon condition. It's easier to bring out than Su overall, which is nice. It can't be summoned going first, however, so if you can't use it for a Ritual Summon, it's completely dead. In this case, it's strictly Celestial Observatory fodder.
- Tefnuit can be searched by; Hieratic Seal of Convocation
- 1x Hieratic Dragon of Eset
- This allows me to go first; I normal summon it without tributing while using it to summon Su. Tefnuit is dead going first, so this also makes up for that minor setback to running it. It can be bricky, as unlike the others, it's L5. I usually try to search this through their search spell I'll go over later. Like the other Hieratics, it summons Wattaildragon when it's tributed.
- Eset can be searched by; Hieratic Seal of Convocation
The Nekroz monsters are great parts of the deck and enable it to go second. I could possibly tinker with the ratios here and add more, but I've found it to be fine as-is. Being WATER monsters, they're also helpful for summoning Marincess Coral Anenome, as well as playing under its restriction. All of these cards have Hard Once per Turn clauses, so re-summoning or getting another copy of them won't allow me to reuse their effects.
- 3x Nekroz of Brionac
- The main purpose of Brionac is its use as either; Gustkraken fodder, R6 fodder, or an out to Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. If discarded, I'll be able to search a Nekroz monster that isn't itself. Since it can search Clausolas, Brionac can set up for a summon pretty much on its own, so it's a great part of the deck. Since Nekroz Cycle can summon it from the Graveyard, it's an amazing asset there too. There's also a funky play with Kaleidoscope and Quasar that I'll go over later. There's actually another with Constellar Ptolemy M7 as well, but once again, we'll get to it later.
- In my decklist, Brionac searches; Nekroz of Clausolas, Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz
- By extension, Brionac searches the Nekroz Ritual Spells, thanks to Clausolas.
- Brionac can be searched by; Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, Preparation of Rites, Herald of the Arc Light
- 1x Nekroz of Clausolas
- Clausolas acts as a negate to Extra Deck monsters when it's on the field, but has more purpose outside of that. If I discard it, it'll bring a Nekroz Ritual Spell to my hand, which in itself can allow for a Ritual Summon using Nekroz Cycle and Shurit. Since it's a Salvage target, it's really helpful in getting Shadow or Vision out the grave if I fail to use both.
- In my decklist, Clausolas searches; Nekroz Kaleidoscope, Nekroz Cycle, Nekroz Mirror
- Clausolas can be searched by; Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, Preparation of Rites, Herald of the Arc Light
- Clausolas is a Salvage target.
- 1x Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz
- Words cannot express how happy I was to see this guy go to 3. But, only 1 is needed here. It acts as an entire tribute for a Nekroz Ritual Monster while searching a Warrior Nekroz monster; in this case, it's just Brionac. Since it's a Salvage target, it goes towards that and is much easier to reuse than you would expect.
- In my decklist, Shurit searches; Nekroz of Brionac
- By extension, Shurit searches every Nekroz Ritual Monster and Spell in the deck, thanks to Brionac's properties.
- Shurit can be searched by; Nekroz of Brionac
- Shurit is a Salvage target.
These monsters are part of different engines.
- 1x Cyber Angel Benten
- If tributed by a card effect at all, Benten will search a Fairy monster. It exists in my deck solely to search Vanity's Ruler. Some decks will use Benten as a possible way to search Manju or Senju, but since I don't use them, this is its sole reason for existing. Some decks run 3 of this, but I've never found a pressing need for it. Preparation of Rites works just fine. Since it's L6, it's Gustkraken and Brionac fodder, which gives me ample opportunity to use it to get the Ruler to my hand.
- In my decklist, Cyber Angel Benten searches; Vanity's Ruler
- Benten can be searched by; Preparation of Rites, Herald of the Arc Light
- 1x Vanity's Ruler
- One of this deck's win conditions. Vanity's Ruler requires two tributes, but they're very easy to get to with this deck's rampant special summoning. While it can't be special summoned, I very rarely normal summon, so it works perfectly. It's a one-sided version of Vanity's Fiend, so while the opponent can't special summon anything, not even from the Extra Deck, I'm free to keep going off unopposed. This is a game-ending card if allowed to hit the field.
- Vanity's Ruler can be searched by; Cyber Angel Benten
- 1x Wattaildragon
- It's the L6 Dragon with the highest Atk. No other real qualities, it's just here to be summoned by the Hieratics when their effects go off, allowing me to do Rank 6 plays.
These are primarily consistency boosters and ways to Ritual Summon. Ritual Spells are marked in Blue. Note that all Ritual Spells used here will require the exact levels to perform a summon. This is different from most Ritual decks, such as Megalith or Demise Turbo. You need to adapt and play around this inherent weakness. I've built the deck around this, thus why every Ritual is L6 except Clausolas, who we rarely summon here The L6 Hieratics are also supremely helpful here. Keep in mind that Gishki Shadow, Gishki Vision and Shurit all act as the full requirement, so if you don't have the L6s available, you can likely still pick up one last summon.
- 3x Hieratic Seal of Convocation
- Non-once per turn search of any of the Hieratic Monsters I went over up above. What else is there to say? It's great.
- 1x Extra-Foolish Burial
- At the cost of half my LP, which is hardly relevant in today's game where an open board is an OTK, I can send Herald of the Arc Light directly from the Extra Deck to the graveyard. I would use Gale Dogra, but it became an issue during testing due to the normal summon requirement. This is effectively a free search of my entire Ritual engine, which is certainly spicy. I only use one due to the Hard Once per Turn clause, as this deck's main aim is to hand loop and kill you, and I don't find myself in dire need of it all the time.
- 1x Foolish Burial Goods
- I use this to send Gishki Aquamirror to the grave in the case I need to get a Ritual back sometimes, but this isn't the real reason I run it. I use it to send Xyz Revive Splash to the grave for its GY effect, which lets me rank up a WATER Xyz Monster, namely Kanzashi the Rikka Queen. This allows me to summon Mermail Abyssgaios! Since it's a hard once per turn, I run 1 for deck space purposes.
- 1x Celestial Observatory
- A very powerful card that unbricks my hand like a wrecking ball at a destruction site. If it weren't a Hard Once per Turn, I'd run 3. It puts an L6 monster to the bottom of my deck to draw 2, which is virtually every monster card in my deck. It's saved my ass a number of times. I would run 2, but deck space became an issue, and the hard once per turn cards were the first logical cards to cut down on.
- Targets; Hieratic Dragon of Su, Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, Nekroz of Brionac, Evigishki Gustkraken, Evigishki Mind Augus, Cyber Angel Benten, Wattaildragon
- 3x Preparation of Rites
- Jesus christ, what a card. Searches every Ritual monster in my deck (see above), and can bring a used Ritual Spell back to my hand. Essentially a Pot of Greed for this deck, I really don't think it would function without it. It's crucial for recurring my Nekroz Ritual Spells in particular, as I run a bit fewer of those than usual.
- 2x Salvage
- I would run 3, but I saw it way too often. 2 feels just right, but you can increase it if you prefer it. This is akin to Preparation of Rites in that it's basically a Pot of Greed: I can bring 2 WATER monsters with less than 1500 or less Attack from my Graveyard to my hand. This, coincidentally, works with Gishki Vision and Shadow, essentially providing me with a beefed-up Pre-Preparation of Rites should they be down there. I've set up the deck to work perfectly with this card, and if you have it in your hand, you have a hand loop and a half heading the opponent's way. It also acts as a nice recovery option after a beatdown in some situations. Broken card.
- This card isn't all roses, and it's a big reason I run it at 2; it not only requires grave setup, but it also requires two cards in the grave. Ergo, it can situationally be a nasty brick. Think of it like Pot of Avarice.
- Targets; Nekroz of Clausolas, Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, Gishki Vision, Gishki Shadow, Gishki Abyss
- 1x Gishki Photomirror
- Pay LP equal to a Gishki Ritual Monster's Level x500, and summon it without the use of a monster. Since my Rituals are L6, this essentially means I pay 3000 for a free summon. This provides a 2-card Ritual summon using Shadow/Photomirror and Vision/Gustkraken alone. I wouldn't use it all the time though, as you should ideally be using the Hieratics to summon your Rituals and gain card advantage. As an additional note, you can use Extra-Foolish Burial and Photomirror while having 1k LP left.
- Photomirror can be searched by; Gishki Shadow, Herald of the Arc Light
- 3x Gishki Aquamirror
- This card carries the deck on its back. By tributing monsters with a level equal to the monster I'm summoning, I can summon a Gishki Ritual Monster. Essentially, tribute an L6 monster, summon the Evigishki. And that's not all! By adding an Evigishki to my hand, Aquamirror goes back into the deck as recovery. Due to this, tributing a Gustkraken (or Mind Augus) to summon Gustkraken will bring the tribute back to the hand immediately, making a costless Ritual Summon. Brionac and Benten do not work for this, as it's restricted to Gishki Ritual Monsters. This is not once per turn, which is a big reason as to why the loops work.
- While you should ideally be using Gustkraken or Mind Augus to bring out a Gustkraken, prioritize a Hieratic, as they will summon Wattaildragon to extend plays much further. This especially applies if Preparation of Rites is in the hand, as it can bring Gishki Aquamirror back to your hand while grabbing another Ritual Monster.
- Aquamirror can be searched by; Gishki Shadow, Herald of the Arc Light
- 1x Nekroz Mirror
- A great card to use with Shurit, this helps in the late-game where I may not have the resources to summon Brionac in my hand or on the field. By banishing Brionacs or Shurit from the grave, I can get a last one out. This has allowed me to make the Mermail Abyssgaios play much more easily.
- Nekroz Mirror can be searched by; Nekroz of Clausolas, Herald of the Arc Light
- 1x Nekroz Kaleidoscope
- Sends a card from my Extra Deck to the grave to summon Nekroz Monsters whose levels equal the sent monster's. This is usually used for Unicore in traditional Nekroz decks, but I don't play that here. This is used to summon Brionac, sometimes two, which helps get to my R6s and such quicker.
- Targets: Shooting Quasar Dragon (12 - 2 Brionacs), Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss (9 - Brionac+Clausolas), Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (6 - 1 Brionac).
- 1x Nekroz Cycle
- The main Nekroz Ritual Spell. By tributing monsters, I can summon a Nekroz from the hand or graveyard. This, coupled with Brionac's discard effect allowing Clausolas to search this, makes Brionac a 2-card Ritual Summon. While a Hard Once per Turn, you can run two if you need to see it more often. Due to deck space, I prefer not to.
- 1x Xyz Revive Splash
- You may have questioned "Hey, Plague, how do you summon Mermail Abyssgaios?" throughout this. Here's your answer: my heat option. By sending this card to the grave with Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal or Foolish Burial Goods, you can rank up Kanzashi the Rikka Queen into Mermail Abyssgaios. This is card is absolutely disgusting and I have no idea why it was printed. You don't want to draw this, as there's not really a way to get it out your hand.
Card types have been marked as follows; Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Link. All Xyz monsters are Rank 6.
- 1x Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss
- I can only summon this through Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, but he serves a good purpose outside of this: an L9 send for Nekroz Kaleidoscope to summon Brionac and Clausolas. It's an untargetable beatstick that rips a card out of the opponent's hand if destroyed by battle too, so it's worth carrying. Many decks are petrified of Beatrice due to this card.
- 1x Shooting Quasar Dragon + 1x Shooting Star Dragon
- This is an L12 send for Nekroz Kaleidoscope, which is used to summon 2 Brionacs from my hand. Using this, I can summon Inzekor Exa-Beetle with the 2 Brionacs and equip it. Now here's the funny part: the second Quasar leaves the field, it'll summon Shooting Star Dragon from the Extra Deck. It doesn't need to actually be summoned for this, meaning Exa-Beetle makes the play. It's a pretty difficult one to make due to the requirement of having 2 Brio and 1 Kaleido in hand, but it's very worth it.
- Shooting Star Dragon is great. It's a Once per Turn destruction negate that acts as battle protection as well. 3.3k beatstick is also nice, though I don't run any Tuners, so that's out.
- 1x Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
- An L6 send to summon a Brionac should I find the need to do so. No other purpose, any L6 Synchro can work here. Mainly picked Brionac for the lore, really.
- 1x Herald of the Arc Light
- Send with Extra-Foolish Burial to score a search for any Ritual Monster or Spell. Anything marked in Blue in the main section is searchable by Herald.
- 1x Mermail Abyssgaios
- This is summoned through Xyz Revive Splash, using Kanzashi the Rikka Queen. This is a Gravity Bind on legs that can negate every card your opponent has once per turn. It's a difficult beast to summon due to our limited dumping capabilities, but extremely worth it.
- 3x Constellar Ptolemy M7
- The heart and soul of the Gustkraken loop. By summoning these continuously, you can hand loop your opponent pretty easily. However, you may want to take the Kanzashi -> Abyssgaios route if you can.
- 1x Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal
- Yep, we can hard summon Beatrice. This card is great, as it acts as a Foolish Burial for any card. Being able to send Xyz Revive Splash is integral to the Abyssgaios play without Foolish Burial Goods, so this card has a lot to offer. In addition, it floats into Dante upon dying to the opponent, which is something not all decks can out.
- 1x Kanzashi the Rikka Queen
- This card was at first my choice for the Abyssgaios play and nothing else, but I found out it's actually incredible support for this deck. If I tribute a card at all, be it through Hieratics, making Vanity's Ruler or Ritual Summoning, it acts as a Monster Reborn for 1 material. While it negates the effects and turns the card into a Plant, it hardly matters. This can be used to get more Ritual fodder, M7/Beatrice materials, and more. It also gets protection through tributing summoned monsters, but that doesn't often come into play.
- 1x Inzektor Exa-Beetle
- Exa-Beetle is solely here for the Shooting Star Dragon play mentioned earlier. It doesn't really have another purpose, but it can be used to screw with the opponent's grave setup, I guess?
- 1x Nephthys, the Sacred Flame
- This is a bit difficult to make, but gains effects based on the number of Ritual monsters used to summon it. With 3, it's untargetable, indestructable and has 4800 Attack, making it very difficult for some decks to out. This is a much simpler win condition against rogue decks, essentially.
- 1x Marincess Coral Anenome
- This is used to bring Gishki Abyss out to get another search, which I usually do after I've normal summoned it, but only late into the turn as it locks me into WATER monsters. I can do it after summoning Nephthys, as a Link Arrow points left, which while difficult is cool to look at I guess lol. It can target anything Salvage does overall, so I can also use this with Shurit.
- Due to the summon restriction, you can't special summon Hieratics, M7 or Beatrice for the rest of the turn. As a result, you need to go into this once you've either hand looped your opponent with M7 enough to go without, or want to commit to the Abyssgaios play. It's not overly difficult, which is why it's here, but you need to be aware.
- 1x Cross-Sheep
- If I summon a Gustkraken in one of the zones Cross-Sheep points to, I can draw 2 and discard 2 to refresh my hand. Every Ritual Deck should have at least one of these in their Extra.
- 3x Gishki Vanity
- This is an archetypal hand trap for Gishki, which prevents the opponent from doing anything if a Gishki Ritual Monster is summoned, or when a Gishki Ritual Spell is activated. As a result, Gustkraken's effect cannot be negated. This is exceedingly powerful and really helps if the opponent is Ghost Ogre-happy.
- 3x Denko Sekka
- I hate Altergeists and Sky Strikers, so I always carry this in case of any deck in particular that runs back row. Anti-Spell Fragrance completely fucks this deck, so I need this here.
- 3x Nibiru, the Primal Being
- I use this alongside Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice to prevent big boards from building up that can threaten me going second (which I will be after winning a game...). By summoning the token in Defense position, I can remove it using her during the combo while not only playing under Marincess Coral Anenome, but also facilitating the Abyssgaios play.
- 1x Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice
- Another Rank 6 option I found while looking for WATER monsters that I liked! By detaching a material, all Defense-position monsters the opponent controls are wiped. This helps with Nibiru, as well as fighting off decks like Guru Control. Since it's a WATER monster, it works as an Xyz Revive Splash target for Abyssgaios, and can also be summoned under Marincess Coral Anenome's restriction.
- 1x Harpie's Feather Duster
- No reason not to side this generic S/T removal. Glad it's finally off the list.
- 1x Called by the Grave
- Had space, so I thought I'd slot it in. It's a shame it went to 1, but I've just gotta work with it. Solid card overall.
- 3x Dark Ruler No More
- If Nibiru isn't favourable against the combo deck, this will be. This allows Brionac to wipe away all the stupid beefy monsters in the way.
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for like the first 2 games and then facing lockdown, omni-negate decks with Apollusa. Alot of the reasons for why I first quit like excessive power creep and not getting to play the game still haunts this game. Also, figuring out link summon was a problem, especially since I started playing on Duelingbook first (then switched to YGOPRO).
