Welcome back everyone, as we continue to explore the unexplored regions of GateRuler deckbuilding. Today, we’ll be reviewing one of the two ‘Robot Fusion‘ style decks; namely, Masuraoh Exo-Armor Fusion Form “Kongou”, as indicated by the title. With the ability to gain double charge shield on top of having its STK increased by a card like Draconoid Dreadnaught “Fuse-ikazuchi”, it undoubtedly can be categorized as one of the stronger synergy-based juggernauts in the game’s present state.
The Decklist(s)
For the purposes of this sub-archetype, I have elected to rely on Wonderverse as the secondary color option. The reasons for this decision are twofold. Primarily, pink offers stellar defense with units like Lady of the Grail and Dash Jordan – Space Adventurer serving as exceptionally strong sentinel summons. Furthermore, Space Yurei functions as intended with its usual damage manipulation services; allowing us to remove particular combo pieces stuck in the damage zone. Of course, we also have The Two Paths which operates in a dual capacity; as a potential draw 2 or CNT removal.
That being said, Wonderverse is not the only choice you can opt for when building this sub-archetype. Volnar is also an exceptionally good option in this instance. While it is lacking by comparison, strictly in terms of defense, with cards like Dark Knight Vamel and Cat Sith in Boots being somewhat one-dimensional, there are some areas in which this color combination is clearly superior. Utmost and foremost, Volnar succeeds in offering more draw power. With cards like Astromancy costing 1 energy/resource, one could draw into their combo pieces at a much quicker rate. Furthermore, this draw power is compounded by the existence and use of Skystrike Arrow which also has the added benefit of being able to disrupt dropzone-centric combos. On a final note, the Volnar iteration is also easier to tech towards local metagames. With inexpensive defense-oriented and Giant Killer effects, as well as draw power not being contingent on CNTs (like Wonderverse), it becomes remarkably easier to swap cards in and out, like Festival of Flowing Lanterns, Fell Dragon Temple and Skystrike Arrow, for potentially more locally relevant/impactful Units, Events, and Field spells.
Lastly, it is necessary to address the choice of Ruler, especially since one of the combo pieces only has an OD skill, which we will not be able to take advantage of. In a word; Control. Overlord, by virtue of it being a hand-ruler, affords us the opportunity to hold onto our combo pieces for when we are absolutely ready to initiate the summoning sequence. Thusly, we can cut down on the element of randomness that is perpetually in existence in drive-ruler influenced decks.
Combo Plays
The basic combo of the archetype is as follows: if you have both Exo-Armor Trooper Masuraoh-01 and Exo-Armor Tank Unit Masuraoh-02 on the field, you can use the second card’s standard action, “Masuraoh Ultimate Fusion”, to summon Masuraoh Exo-Armor Fusion Form “Kongou” directly from your deck, placing the two combo pieces under the newly summoned unit, effectively giving it double charge shield. Thankfully, this is not the only way to summon Kongou as the Unit can simply be played from hand at a cost of 1 energy/resource under Overlord.
While the card may not be extremely impressive in terms of offensive prowess, Set 3’s Military Special Rare Draconoid Dreadnaught “Fuse-ikazuchi” can easily fix that issue by increasing its STK for each copy present on the field, which translates to a whopping amount of damage, especially since Kongou has the double attack keyword. However, the usefulness of the Special Rare does not end there since it can serve as a veritable win condition in its own right with its Mobile Fortress special summoning skill, which may be used both offensively and defensively.
Of course, Combat Engineer Unit “Inagi” is not the only low-level Military attributed Unit you can combo with the special-summoning effect of Draconoid Dreadnaught “Fuse-ikazuchi”. Other included cards like Type 100 Tank and Hardsuit Assault Team “Jinrai” serve their own particular purpose due to their reduced cost or higher vanilla stats but if you require a few more utility buffs, you may also include cards like Yomajin New York Assistance Force.
Final Thoughts
As alluded to in the introductory section of this article, there are two different types of ‘Robot Fusion‘ style decks available presently in the game. The first, which we have covered today, focuses on the creation of Masuraoh Exo-Armor Fusion Form “Kongou” while the latter (and perhaps better known) supports the creation of Dai-Jinki, the Three Regalions Combined.
If one were to compare the two ‘Boss’ cards, it becomes clear that the latter, clearly, is a superior payoff, both in terms of stats and abilities. But if this is the case, why have we chosen to initially focus on Masuraoh instead of Dai-jinki? Well, to put it bluntly, while Dai-jinki is technically the superior payoff, the amount of investment required to reach it is hardly worth the effort. However, on the other hand, Masuraoh though technically somewhat weaker, in comparison, is substantially easier to summon thus ensuring gameplay consistency, which is crucially more important, in my view, than potentially high-rolling the creation of a “superior” unit.
As such, it is quite unlikely that I will be doing a deck profile about Dai-Jinki, the Three Regalions Combined. Only usable in drive decks, both of which have very poor synergy with the sub-archetype due to level restrictions and the timing of their drives, the ‘boss’ monster simply requires too many combo pieces that all need to be present on the field for the summoning effect to trigger. As such, at the present time, I chose to provide a profile on the next best thing: Masuraoh Exo-Armor Fusion Form “Kongou”.
On a final note, please do not despair about the lack of coverage concerning Dai-Jinki. We have already received confirmation that both transformations will be receiving support in set 4. What is more, there is even a small possibility that we can combine the two into a singular archetype, at least according to the latest card reveal: Guardian Deities.
I do sincerely hope you enjoyed this write-up. If you are curious to see more, do not forget to give me a follow on Twitter and if you would like to be a part of the creative process that goes into doing these write-ups, you can also check out my Patreon.
Special shout-out and kind thanks to C. Sweeney & Kenny as my first ‘GateRuler’ related Patrons.
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