The extra deck is about as important to Elemental HEROes as the main deck itself. All the powerful monsters are in their, and all variants of the deck have ways to summon them. However, with great power comes a great cost. HEROes have to be very very strict with Extra Deck space, as they easily reach the limit.
The most well known presences in any HERO Extra Deck are the appropriately dubbed "Omni-HEROes." These are the Elemental HERO Fusions that require 1 "Elemental HERO" (except Absolute Zero, which requires any HERO) and 1 monster which has the same attribute as the Omni-HERO.
The Omni-HEROes are as follows:
However, Absolute Zero's biggest asset is his last effect. When it leaves the field in any way (this includes being returned to the Fusion Deck) it nukes your opponent's front line. This turns it into a very aggressive control card, but should not be simply summoned on a whim. The best time to summon him is when your opponent controls at least 1 or 2 monsters they won't want to lose. At this point, Absolute Zero puts tremendous pressure on your opponent, essentially putting them on the back foot. If they get rid of it, they get rid of all their precious monsters too, now whereas monsters can be much more easily regenerated than Spells or Traps can, no one wants to have to fight against an instant Raigeki.
One of the best advantages of this effect is that the controller can abuse the Zero as a Raigeki. Under Fusion Gate it becomes much easier too. The player can simply Fusion for Zero, fuse it with something else (Usually for Shining, which can now have up to 3800 ATK just from this combo) and Raigeki their opponent's field. This card is also even more threatening with the advent of Masked HERO Acid, forming the AcidZero combo, which I'll discuss later.
Overall, Absolute Zero is an Absolute staple in any HERO Extra Deck at at least 2, often 3.
1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 DARK monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 100 ATK for each "Elemental HERO" monster in your Graveyard.
Notable DARK main deck monsters include:
I will, however, explain the 3 Masked HEROes in greater detail. Goka is not included as it is never, ever worth summoning and is a waste of ink and Extra Deck space.
Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change" and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Special Summoned: Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls, and if you do, all monsters they control lose 300 ATK.
Legal as of the 20th of March in the TCG, Masked HERO Acid is what will likely take HEROes to a whole new level, and is what truly allows for the Mask Change build to be competitive.
It doesn't take much to explain how good its effect is, it's a Harpie's Feather Duster, with 2600 ATK and the ability to run over anything 2899 or lower, and crash with anything on 2900, which is nearly irrelevant anyway.
Oh and did I mention it's a Harpie's Feather Duster?
It also has some really nice combos with other cards. The obvious one being Mask Changing a Zero into Acid, which I mentioned earlier. What this does is obvious nuke your opponent's entire field, however it's a little better than that. Due to chain resolution, Absolute Zero activates first (In the TCG at least, as in the OCG one can choose the order of the chain) then Acid chains to it. Because of this, cards like Starlight Road, and Evolzar Dolkka can only be activated in response to the Acid, not the Zero, so regardless of what happens, your opponent loses all their monsters. It should also be noticed that if they do Starlight Road, and summon Stardust, that it will just be destroyed by Zero's effect since it can't interrupt the current chain link to negate it.
A common side-card against HEROes is also Bottomless Trap Hole, and of course Torrential Tribute is ever common. Acid can also dodge these in a combo, with other cards. This can include chaining Mask Change to a Spell, or to another monster's effect. For example, by activating the effect of Ice Edge, and discarding one card, you start a chain. If your opponent has no response to it, then you can chain Mask Change, sending Ice Edge to the graveyard to get Acid. Since the chain needs to resolve before anything else can be activated, the Acid is essentially invincible for its summon. This is because Torrential Tribute and Bottomless Trap Hole are optional cards, which need to meet the correct timing to be activated, and since the last thing to happen was Ice Edge's effect resolving, and not Acid being summoned, they cannot activate them in response.
Mask Change also doesn't specify any type of HERO you need to send, just a HERO monster, so you can send Masked HERO Acid, or Vapor, to summon another Acid.
Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change" and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "HERO" monster from your Deck.
Not the easiest Masked HERO to summon, by any means. It's actually one of the hardest. The only HERO targets that should ever be run for this are Wildheart and Woodsman. Both of which are otherwise terrible. Fortunately, due to the immense search power that E-HEROes possess, they can be run at only 1 so they don't hurt the rest of the deck's consistency. That way, you can summon Dian without its material clogging much.
Summoning it isn't instantly rewarding like Acid is, since you still have to attack and Dian becomes a huge target for Traps and monster removal. However, successfully destroying something with Dian can lead to a massive advantage gain. You can grab any Level 4 or lower HERO from your deck and instantly attack with it. This can combo well with Voltic and Stratos, in particular. Allowing you to deal incredible damage, or to search your deck for more plays.
2800 ATK is nothing to scoff at, running over pretty much every single card this format, only notably losing to BLS and tying with Dark Armed Dragon. This means getting advantage from Dian becomes easy if you can alleviate the fear of backrows cutting into your fun.
It's not so easy to make, so it's not so worth the Extra Deck space, but 1 is advisable in a dedicated Mask Change deck.
Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change", and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.
Not as good as Acid, but virtually just as important. Just by being an option can save you from losing massive advantage, from cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute and Dark Hole. Mostly the latter 2, obviously. You can simply trade in your Acid for Vapor so you don't lose everything you control, and get to keep a 2400 beatstick with effect destruction immunity.
Personally, I'd say to always have 1 of these, no matter how many Mask Changes you run - Obviously only if you have at least 1.
The Omni-HEROes are as follows:
- Elemental HERO Absolute Zero (Water)
- Elemental HERO Escuridão (Dark - Not yet released in the TCG)
- Elemental HERO Gaia (Earth)
- Elemental HERO Great Tornado (Wind)
- Elemental HERO Nova Master (Fire)
- Elemental HERO The Shining (Light)
Which is best is generally subjective, however the most important part to each one is the attribute. However, Absolute Zero, The Shining and Nova Master have inarguably the best effects of the six, and are thus more worth their weight, as it were.
They are much easier to discuss as individuals however, and Super Polymerization plays a huge part in their viability, so onto the cards!
1 "HERO" monster + 1 WATER monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 500 ATK for each face-up WATER monster on the field, except "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero". When this card leaves the field: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 500 ATK for each face-up WATER monster on the field, except "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero". When this card leaves the field: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.
Notable WATER main deck monsters include:
- Elemental HERO Ocean
- Elemental HERO Ice Edge
- Elemental HERO Bubbleman
Notable WATER Super Polymerization targets include:
- Kabazauls
- Wind-Up Shark
- Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaighty
- Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
- Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction
However, Absolute Zero's biggest asset is his last effect. When it leaves the field in any way (this includes being returned to the Fusion Deck) it nukes your opponent's front line. This turns it into a very aggressive control card, but should not be simply summoned on a whim. The best time to summon him is when your opponent controls at least 1 or 2 monsters they won't want to lose. At this point, Absolute Zero puts tremendous pressure on your opponent, essentially putting them on the back foot. If they get rid of it, they get rid of all their precious monsters too, now whereas monsters can be much more easily regenerated than Spells or Traps can, no one wants to have to fight against an instant Raigeki.
One of the best advantages of this effect is that the controller can abuse the Zero as a Raigeki. Under Fusion Gate it becomes much easier too. The player can simply Fusion for Zero, fuse it with something else (Usually for Shining, which can now have up to 3800 ATK just from this combo) and Raigeki their opponent's field. This card is also even more threatening with the advent of Masked HERO Acid, forming the AcidZero combo, which I'll discuss later.
Overall, Absolute Zero is an Absolute staple in any HERO Extra Deck at at least 2, often 3.
1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 DARK monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 100 ATK for each "Elemental HERO" monster in your Graveyard.
Notable DARK main deck monsters include:
- Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
Notable DARK Super Polymerization targets include:
- Any Inzektor monster
- Any Dark World monster
- Any Malefic monster
- Most Gravekeeper's monsters
- Caius the Shadow Monarch
- Chaos Sorcerer
- Dark Armed Dragon
- Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
- Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo
- Spirit Reaper
- Tour Guide from the Underworld
- Wind-Up Hunter
- Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon
- Number 50: Black Corn (OCG only)
- Number 96: Dark Mist
- Ally of Justice Catastor
- Hyper Librarian
- Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
As you can see, HEROes can't make it easily, and looking at its effect, they don't really want to. The most important thing for Escuridao is the fact that it allows you to use DARK monsters as Super Polymerization targets. As you can see, the list of commonly used DARK monsters in the current metagame (and undermeta) is huge, and includes a large array of very important targets, most notable Inzektors and arguably Shi En with the boost Six Sams got from the banlist, and the supposed boost they will obtain in the Summer.
While Escu isn't yet in the TCG, once it is it will make HEROes as a whole a much stronger deck, making Super Poly able to send ANY monster your opponent controls, due to having 6 Omni-HEROes. (Obvious exceptions to this rule are the 3 Egyptian Gods as they are DIVINE.)
His role is so incredibly simple that there really isn't much to say about him, his Super Poly targets list does virtually all the talking. However it should be noted that it does absolutely nothing against Rabbit, except for take Gorz should they drop it, which can be game changing in itself.
Once he is released in the TCG he will become a staple at 2 in any E-HERO build, his ability to just take monsters is unrivalled by any other Omni-HERO, however Nova Master does come very close in the current metagame.
1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 EARTH monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Fusion Summoned: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, its ATK is halved and this card gains the same amount of ATK.
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Fusion Summoned: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, its ATK is halved and this card gains the same amount of ATK.
Notable EARTH main deck monsters include:
- Elemental HERO Wildheart
- Elemental HERO Woodsman
- Maxx "C"
Notable Super Poly targets include:
- Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
- Elder of the Six Samurai
- Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan
- Wind-Up Rabbit
- Wind-Up Rat
- Gachi Gachi Gantetsu
- Gem-Knight Pearl
- Wind-Up Zenmaister
- Naturia Barkion
- Naturia Beast
- Naturia Landoise
- Scrap Dragon
Again, an Omni-HERO with a relatively extensive target list, albeit not as abusable as other Omnis. One of its fallbacks is its lack of any real good ability. Although it can be good to be guaranteed to run over any given monster and deal at least 2200 damage, it's still not a great effect as it doesn't provide you with any immediate advantage and doesn't really give a control element. It is very important though, due to its Super Poly targets.
Of all its targets the Naturia synchros are of very high importance, especially Beast as it can shut down about 50% of the entire deck, as HEROes rely very heavily on Spell cards to conduct their moves.
It isn't really a very beneficial card, and without many decks swarming EARTH monsters it isn't that great for Super Poly either, however with Six Sams being a rising budget choice it is also a very useful card for getting rid of Naturias, and its ability to remove other monsters should not be overlooked, and its beatdown effect can be gamechanging if used properly.
It should also be noted that it is a Mask Change target for Daian, which is very, very important.
In a non-Mask Change deck, it should be run at either 1 or 2. In a dedicated Mask Change deck, then it should be preferably run at 2.
1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 WIND monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Fusion Summoned: Halve the ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters your opponent controls.
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Fusion Summoned: Halve the ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters your opponent controls.
Notable WIND main deck monsters include:
- Elemental HERO Stratos
- Daigusto Emeral (OCG only)
- Gaia Dragoon, the Force of Lightning (OCG only)
- Leviair the Sea Dragon
- Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh
- Stardust Dragon
The metagame has never really been pleasant to Stratos' Dad, giving very few targets for a not-so-great effect. Because of this, there becomes very little reason to run him, and even less of a reason to summon him in most cases. If you are able to make this card in HEROes, without the use of Super Poly, it means you have Stratos and a HERO with a better attribute, in which case you should definitely be going for that Omni instead.
Really, there is little to no reason to run it at all, WIND just simply isn't a competitive attribute in the metagame, and until that changes this should either be run at 1 or none at all.
1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 FIRE monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned in other ways. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle: Draw 1 card.
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned in other ways. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle: Draw 1 card.
Notable FIRE main deck monsters include:
- Elemental HERO Heat
Notable FIRE Super Polymerization targets include:
- Any Laval monster (OCG)
- Jurrac Guaiba
- Wind-Up Magician
- Evolzar Laggia
- Evolzar Dolkka
- Wind-Up Zenmaines
The list of targets this card has for Super Poly may not be extensive, but as you can see it is incredibly important. Most players should know that the best deck in the current metagame is Dino Rabbit. Both of its most important cards are targets for this card. As are Jurrac Guaiba and Wind-Up Zenmaines, where the former is ever-present in Rabbit and the latter is common in absolutely everything and is probably the most used Xyz this format.
Its effect is also incredibly. A built-in Horn of the Phantom Beast effect helps this card pay for itself instantly. It's the reason that Elemental HERO Heat is even worth maining, purely because it allows this card to be made ridiculously easy. Technically you could also use Jurrac Guaiba in your own main, and run Laggia HERO, where both Laggia and the Guaibas become Miracle Fusion targets, for this. In HEROes, draw power is something that is coveted so much, but nearly impossible to utilise, which Nova Master fixes easily, especially since you can search Heat to make summoning him a breeze.
With the current metagame it is an incredibly important option and should be ran at 2, no lower.
Did I mention Super Poly sends Zenmaines so what your opponent thought was a good shield is now useless, rotting in the Graveyard?
1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 LIGHT monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 300 ATK for each of your banished "Elemental HERO" monsters. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can target up to 2 of your banished "Elemental HERO" monsters; add those targets to your hand.
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 300 ATK for each of your banished "Elemental HERO" monsters. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can target up to 2 of your banished "Elemental HERO" monsters; add those targets to your hand.
Notable LIGHT main deck monsters include:
- Elemental HERO Neos Alius
- Elemental HERO Voltic
- Effect Veiler
- Emissary of Darkness Token
- Thunder King Rai-oh
Notable LIGHT Super Polymerization targets:
- Any Photon monster
- Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
- Thunder King Rai-oh
- Emissary of Darkness Token
- Number 20: Giga Brilliant
- Number 39: Utopia
- Number C39: Utopia Ray
As you can see, its ability to be made with Fusion Gate or Miracle Fusion is pretty much entirely superior to it being made with Super Poly, much like Absolute Zero. However the monsters it can use with Super Poly can be very important. Making this card with Super Poly, however, can be just as good as making Escuridao, in terms of what you get, unless you previously have HEROes banished, have Miracle Fusion, or D-Fissure or Macro Cosmos is active.
This card is HEROes boss. He stands stronger than any other of the Omni-HEROes when made through either Miracle Fusion or Fusion Gate, with a 300 boost from every banished HERO. Meaning in most cases he has 3200+. This makes him incredibly hard to destroy, but when your opponent does manage to destroy him, you get all your advantage back by returning 2 banished Elemental HEROes to your hand. In almost any situation these should be Stratos, and another HERO that is either usable at the time, in the near future, or is important for a Fusion summon if you control Fusion Gate, or have it in your hand.
This ability makes The Shining an incredibly good control boss to sit on, but it also makes it so your opponent is scared to use a Torrential Tribute, or Dark Hole on it. However, it does become very prone to monster removal very quickly, as your opponent will desperately try to deplete how many Shinings you have left, since you only have 3. Because of this, you should play him somewhat cautiously, but he still is a more "mindless" boss than any of the other Omni-HEROes.
His ability in itself, and ease of summoning through anything not named Super Poly, and its ability to steal BLS for your own boss make it an absolute must at 3 in any E-HERO Extra Deck.
Now, of course, the Omni-HEROes aren't all the monsters a HERO deck should be running in their extra deck, however they do take up almost the entirety of it. Because of this the remaining choices should be made very, very carefully.
Some good Extra Deck monsters for HEROes include the following cards:
- Masked HERO Acid
- Masked HERO Daian
- Masked HERO Vapor
- Blade Armor Ninja
- Number 39: Utopia
- Ally of Justice Catastor
- Stardust Dragon
I will, however, explain the 3 Masked HEROes in greater detail. Goka is not included as it is never, ever worth summoning and is a waste of ink and Extra Deck space.
Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change" and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Special Summoned: Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls, and if you do, all monsters they control lose 300 ATK.
Legal as of the 20th of March in the TCG, Masked HERO Acid is what will likely take HEROes to a whole new level, and is what truly allows for the Mask Change build to be competitive.
It doesn't take much to explain how good its effect is, it's a Harpie's Feather Duster, with 2600 ATK and the ability to run over anything 2899 or lower, and crash with anything on 2900, which is nearly irrelevant anyway.
Oh and did I mention it's a Harpie's Feather Duster?
It also has some really nice combos with other cards. The obvious one being Mask Changing a Zero into Acid, which I mentioned earlier. What this does is obvious nuke your opponent's entire field, however it's a little better than that. Due to chain resolution, Absolute Zero activates first (In the TCG at least, as in the OCG one can choose the order of the chain) then Acid chains to it. Because of this, cards like Starlight Road, and Evolzar Dolkka can only be activated in response to the Acid, not the Zero, so regardless of what happens, your opponent loses all their monsters. It should also be noticed that if they do Starlight Road, and summon Stardust, that it will just be destroyed by Zero's effect since it can't interrupt the current chain link to negate it.
A common side-card against HEROes is also Bottomless Trap Hole, and of course Torrential Tribute is ever common. Acid can also dodge these in a combo, with other cards. This can include chaining Mask Change to a Spell, or to another monster's effect. For example, by activating the effect of Ice Edge, and discarding one card, you start a chain. If your opponent has no response to it, then you can chain Mask Change, sending Ice Edge to the graveyard to get Acid. Since the chain needs to resolve before anything else can be activated, the Acid is essentially invincible for its summon. This is because Torrential Tribute and Bottomless Trap Hole are optional cards, which need to meet the correct timing to be activated, and since the last thing to happen was Ice Edge's effect resolving, and not Acid being summoned, they cannot activate them in response.
Mask Change also doesn't specify any type of HERO you need to send, just a HERO monster, so you can send Masked HERO Acid, or Vapor, to summon another Acid.
Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change" and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "HERO" monster from your Deck.
Not the easiest Masked HERO to summon, by any means. It's actually one of the hardest. The only HERO targets that should ever be run for this are Wildheart and Woodsman. Both of which are otherwise terrible. Fortunately, due to the immense search power that E-HEROes possess, they can be run at only 1 so they don't hurt the rest of the deck's consistency. That way, you can summon Dian without its material clogging much.
Summoning it isn't instantly rewarding like Acid is, since you still have to attack and Dian becomes a huge target for Traps and monster removal. However, successfully destroying something with Dian can lead to a massive advantage gain. You can grab any Level 4 or lower HERO from your deck and instantly attack with it. This can combo well with Voltic and Stratos, in particular. Allowing you to deal incredible damage, or to search your deck for more plays.
2800 ATK is nothing to scoff at, running over pretty much every single card this format, only notably losing to BLS and tying with Dark Armed Dragon. This means getting advantage from Dian becomes easy if you can alleviate the fear of backrows cutting into your fun.
It's not so easy to make, so it's not so worth the Extra Deck space, but 1 is advisable in a dedicated Mask Change deck.
Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change", and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.
Not as good as Acid, but virtually just as important. Just by being an option can save you from losing massive advantage, from cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute and Dark Hole. Mostly the latter 2, obviously. You can simply trade in your Acid for Vapor so you don't lose everything you control, and get to keep a 2400 beatstick with effect destruction immunity.
Personally, I'd say to always have 1 of these, no matter how many Mask Changes you run - Obviously only if you have at least 1.
2 Level 4 Warrior-Type monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up "Ninja" monster you control; this turn, that monster can attack twice during each Battle Phase.
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up "Ninja" monster you control; this turn, that monster can attack twice during each Battle Phase.
Typically, not the greatest of Extra Deck monsters, however with the use of Bubbleman he becomes a very easy-to-summon 2200 beater which can attack twice, possibly swinging for 4400 damage, giving you a massive Life Point advantage.
Basically, it should be run in any deck that utilises Bubbleman, even as a tech, as it becomes very easy to summon, and just running 1 is usually enough.
Yeah, I got kinda lazy towards the end of this entry, but I'm tired and just want to get it posted.
Hope you enjoyed reading, if you have any criticism then please don't hesitate to say so.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day.
Hey now that the new cards are out... how many mask changes would you recommend? I currently run one only because I only have 1 Dian and 1 Acid atm...
ReplyDeleteI like your blog... I have been running E-heros for many years now, ever since Flamewingman, and I have to say that I'm looking forward to E-heros slowly creeping into the top meta...
Depends on how you really want to build your main deck. Some time in the next few days I'll have it written up. In a more stun oriented variant then only 1 or even no Mask Changes are really necessary. It all depends on what monster lineup you decide on. If you're going with a Fusion Gate build, then I'd recommend up to 3, and build your monster lineup around summoning Zero, and then teching in either Wildheart or Woodsman so you can summon the Dian. If you go with the Tour Guide variant, you can easily run 2-3 because it focuses on bringing out Wildheart.
DeleteLike I said, hopefully in the next few days, I'll have another post up about the types of decks, and there's absolutely tons, so I can't exactly recommend any particular numbers without knowing the main deck/what build it is.
I run a hybrid fusion gate/stun deck with 2 gates, 2 super poly, and 3 miracle fusion, along with a combination of around ten other trap/ spell disruption cards. I have a very low monster count... rounding up to only 8 heros and your typical veiler etc... i find sometimes that it's a dead draw since i run 2 earth heros and 2 water heros but usually i search for alius first with stratos... i find that my deck works well against windup inzector but just fail's at backrow dependant decks like watt and tiki...
Deletebasically do you think it should be ran in the main deck or just in the side when i play against backrow orientated decks?
Simply put, I'd advise against mixing Gate and Stun, they're two entirely different playstyles, and don't mix very well. Pick one, and go with it. Mask Stun's good if you run 2 Ice Edge, 2 Ocean and 1 Wildheart with 2-3 Mask Changes, whereas with Gate you can dedicate to them more offensively, with a differently oriented monster lineup.
DeleteI feel like when you play Hero's it's not about consistency, rather it's when you are inconsistent, that's what gets people off. Running pure Gate or stun has huge flaws since if you run Gate you become especially vulnerable to monster effect abuse due to the lack of traps in the deck... on the other hand stun does not dish out damage fast enough.
ReplyDeleteE-heros have two weaknesses: draw power and back-row control... They are really reliant on getting out that monster and hoping to god that they do not bottomless it or D-prison it when you attack. M-Hero Acid takes care of the backrow problem which is good but that leaves Monster effects... The best solution to this is basically not letter your opponent have any monsters on their field so they can chain effects... to do so you need a few CED,BTH,SW, and Solemn Judgements. Plus running 3 gates sucks when you always draw two of them...
With their multitude of search cards they can be made very consistent. Consistency should be the focus of any deck, or else they'll never be able to compete with bigger decks. HEROes thrive off of being very consistent and being able to greatly upset the big decks due to their anti-meta properties. Fusion Gate builds will run numerous ways to bait backrows before trying to make something big, and BTH and D-Prison are very rare in the main deck, meaning that you can capitalise on that game 1. Stun on the other hand is consistent because it grabs Alius easily, and there are so many cards that can work with a lone Alius that it still remains consistent.
DeleteSorry what i meant by "inconsistent" was that there are many ways to play E-hero's because there is basically a fusion for any situation due to the wide range of effects that the hero's bring.
DeleteI am not really sure what you mean by "baiting" with fusion gate since anything you get out of it still becomes removed from play instead of going to the graveyard. Unless you use parallel World Fusion ( which in my opinion is way too situational and basically ruins your monster control since it goes back into your deck, of course unless you use them on fused monsters)Fusion gate still rapes your hand and usually you are left to top-deck after using it. Even if you get the Shining out, if it gets negated or BTH'd then his effect is still useless, absolute might get away with BTH though...
Decks without fusion gate, like stun decks, which is how I started playing heros, might run polymerization and King of the swamp along with Miracle fusion. This is pretty good since King of the swamp basically means you can bring out a lot more of the non-traditional fusions out with wildheart and sparkman if you run one of each... and it's a water. However the rate in which you fuse is much slower and consistent than running no fusion gate. Also the fact that you are wasting at least 4 (2 poly 2 king) cards just on fusion when you can have 2 fusion gates and have the same effect. I would much rather have 2 Thunderking than two KofS. Running a non-fusion gate deck also means that you basically loose the strongest fusion in the deck and it's potential, the shinning. Obviously there is no way to reborn the shinning 3 times without fusion gate.
When I play meta this is usually how it goes... If i am lucky and i go first and not get my whole hand destroyed by wind-ups...
usually i draw at least one monster or search card, some fusion card, and at least one disrupter like compulsory. You would most likely search for stratos set compulsory, pop their inzector/wind-up, they get pissed and end... maybe draw another disruption card or search for another monster, fuse a monster and normal summon a monster... attack for around 4k. Usually the game ends by the 3rd turn.
Hero's can't rely on royal decree if that's what you mean when you play fusion gate because in the current meta games are usually decided by round two since most are monster reliant.
My bad so long... I love talking E-heros
So instead of inconsistent you meant unpredictable?
DeleteBasically the idea is to bait out their use of backrows with your monsters before going for a Fusion Summon, Ice Edge is a key part of this, as his summon alone can force Torrentials Tributes and Solemns. Now, your point about Shining getting BTH'd or negated: Bottomless is an incredibly rare card to get mained, so its impact is irrelevant, game 2 you can side into S/T removal to be safe from it anyway. Also, negating it: If a monster is summoned by Fusion Gate, rulings state that it cannot be negated. Solemn Warning can also not be chained to Fusion Gate since it doesn't immediately SS a monster, Solemn Warning has to be chained to the initial activation of a card that would special summon a monster at resolution.
You shouldn't be running KotS. Your only ways to fuse in Stun should be using Miracle and Super Poly. If you're running Mask Stun then also Mask Change. I haven't been feeling well for a while, so as soon as I am I'll actually get around to making an article on different decks.
Wind-Ups have dropped in popularity and the chances of them going first AND being able to loop you are incredibly slim. Only around 21% chance of actually occuring, in a Wind-Up matchup, with what's essentially a 3-of-everything build, provided you don't even run Veilers/Maxx C, with each of those the odds of a successful turn 1 loop drops further. Your matchup against Inzektors and Wind-Ups are actually pretty similar, and especially against Inzektors you rely greatly on Gemini Spark and Hero Blast. Skill Drain is also a possible option for a Stun build.
I didn't mean Decree at all, in fact I'd advise against it, especially in a 3 MST format.
No problem at all with it being long, evidently I love talking E-Heroes too, or else I wouldn't have written the article.
Also to answer your other post on Vision Heroes here: Adoration is worse than any of the Omni-HEROes, so it's useless. Trinity, however, is a good tech in Fusion Gate HEROes, I just forgot to include it, mostly because it's also often a waste of space, but you can run Safe Zone, and make it into a more reliable OTK while also allowing for the Ocean-Stratos loop.
Ahh, man haha so glad I ran into this post, learned a lot! It did not strike me that gate stopped SW, totally forgot. I stopped playing 4 years ago and just got back 3 months back.
DeleteAfter seeing Hero Beatdown that topped 4th in YCS Long beach, I can see what you mean by consistency.
I think the reason why my deck has ended up the way it is was because my locals main 3 decks... chaos dragons, wind-ups, inzectors, and random anti-meta decks...
I don't run hero blast in my deck, which is why I think I can get away with 2 gates in my deck without it getting out of hand.
yes i don't run KofS anymore... It was fun when i was and bringing out the beastly Shining flare wingman... :) It was too inconsistent as i rarely got to do that and i usually just used it for zero material.
I'm on a budget at right now since i just started again... so i dont have cards like skill drain, maxx c, forbidden chalice, forbidden lance, safe zone etc... I feel like forbidden chalice and safe zone would be sweet in my deck...
Yes Adoration is 99% useless. However the only reason I keep him in my deck is to get rid of pesky reapers. Trinity on the other hand I feel like catches people off guard a lot... it has been such a great contribution to my deck it's just crazy... Its because usually I only play him during late into the game. By this time he's already used up his backrow and thinks he's got the upper hand with 3 or more beaters on the field... Miracle fusion and OTK him.
Yeah get that Deck build blog up... I'll be sure to read it
Going back to locals tonight I'll update you how I do
Yeah, Joe Giorlando's build was really interesting. I for one was super happy that a HERO deck managed to top 4 the biggest TCG event in history.
DeleteYeah, makes sense, your locals will play a big part in how you'll build your general deck, I base most of my decks around focusing on how they'd do well at an event, mostly because I can't afford to play IRL but I've been running Heroes since I began playing competitively.
Hero blast actually sounds like it'd be more beneficial for you, especially if your locals runs Inzektors a lot, of course this depends on your build. If you're running triple Alius, it should always be there @2.
Snowman Eater and the WATER Heroes are much better Zero fodder, as I'm sure you realise by now.
Yeah, it's a shame some of the good cards cost quite a bit. Skill Drain is still a really nice basis for the deck, just a shame that you absolutely need every card in the extra deck and that really adds to cost.
Reaper is one of the very few cases it's useful, but even then it's not great. Oh and you can't Miracle Fusion a Vision HERO. It specifically states it has to be for the summon of an Elemental HERO.
I'll get it up soon, hopefully. I dunno how long I'm gonna be unwell, it really takes the mood out of typing up the article because it's such a long one.
Also, is there some specific reason Utopia was not included?
ReplyDeleteI did include it, just didn't go into detail because I felt it was unnecessary.
DeleteYes, I remember reading it now but I forgot since I read this blog last week. My bad. There is on thing though... Vision Hero's what are your insights on them. Just curious because I feel that V-hero Trinity is such a useful card... has won me so many games with indestructible monsters!
DeleteLame ... played 3 rounds and lost to 2 inzector decks... both games 2/1 and I forgot to side out my super poly in one of them... sigh...
ReplyDeleteCame back and decided to side in "Tyrant's Tirade" since I don't have skill drain... haven't tested it against anyone yet, but it doesn't seem that hard getting two monsters out... and it stops hand traps as well as anything on the field...
haha yes vision hero... I think i won a few matches i shouldn't have with miracle fusion then...
Confirmation about Hero blast... My opponent compulsed his monster when i activated hero blast and he said I don't get Alius back to my hand since there was no target... I didn't argue with him but now that i read it I feel like you do... Am i right?
Yes, please get better VERY SOON! I want to read your blog for E-Hero Decks :)
That sucks, but it's one of the matchups you need to sorta expect to lose with HEROes.
DeleteYeah, Tirade is a heck of a lot worse than Skill Drain, it really costs way too much in a 3 MST format. I'd definitely advise getting a couple of Drains. xD
Just remember not to cheat in future, no one can fault you if you didn't know or realise it, especially if they didn't. It's an easy to mistake to make though, I've made it before.
With Hero Blast, returning the HERO is the main part of the effect, it can be done whenever, as the final part is optional, so you don't ever HAVE to destroy a monster.
Heh, thanks. Hopefully gonna be feeling good again soon, since I really want to write up about the decks, I've just been really down in the dumps recently because of being unwell.
Tirade's payoff is so much better though... I mean it completely shuts off wind-up's and inzectors since shark can't special summon from the hand nor can inzector mantis equip itself to any inzector on the field. Yes MST can be annoying but i usually don't need more than 2 turns with a open field to win... plus i'm running dark bribe and SJ in my deck so it shouldn't be that hard keeping it alive, unless they do draw into 2 or 3 MST.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought too about Hero blast...
Sounds serious dude. What's making you sick?
Eh, I just really don't like the fact that its activation in itself is already a -2. Just a triple MST format and a continuous card with such a high cost seems off.
DeleteMy immune system's very weak, basically, so I find it harder to deal with regular illnesses than most people do, so nausea lasts longer than it should.
Don't worry about it... or do... whatever :)
ReplyDelete