Blackwing

The Blackwing, known as Black Feather in the Japanese version, is an Archetype of DARK Winged Beast-Type monsters making their debut in "Crimson Crisis". In the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime, they are used by Crow. Most of these monsters are somewhat humanoid and have either a tengu or bird-like appearance. (Compare to other humanoid Winged-Beasts to a greater or lesser effect) All Blackwing monsters feature black in their design, usually on their wing feathering. Most are named after types of wind and air currents. They are currently a meta deck with swarming and speed capabilities. When Crimson Crisis was released, this Archetype was very unsupported - only 5 cards of Blackwing were released: Gale the Whirlwind, Sirocco the Dawn, Bora the Spear, Armor Master and "Raptor Wing Strike". Later on, with the release of Raging Battle and Ancient Prophecy the set grew into a highly swarming and powerful deck. The speed it gives with its swarming, along with its additional Synchro Summoning capabilities landed this deck a place on the Shonen Jump Circuit. Also, many new Blackwings will be released in the new set The Shining Darkness

Playing Style
The Blackwing's effects are focused around Swarming and changing the ATK or the DEF of monsters on the field. Because of that, they have an aggressive playing style. Also, because of their Swarming capabilities, they are good for using Synchro Summon (Note that their trump cards are Synchro Monsters). Their support cards rely on their swarm abilities such as Delta Crow - Anti Reverse which can be activated from the hand when you control exactly 3 Blackwing Monsters. Some of them take an advantage from Blackwing's swarming abilities and support it such as Black Whirlwind. Some of them rely on your opponent such as Fake Feather or Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North which needs a monster in the Graveyard to Special Summon. It's highly recommended to avoid using Blackwing - Elphin the Raven and Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain, because their effects are lackluster and contribute little to the victory.

Also, since all Blackwing monsters are DARK Winged Beast monsters, you can add Allure of Darkness for drawing power and Icarus Attack for extra card destruction, if you can't get Delta Crow - Anti Reverse. Dark Eruption would also be a good support as it helps you to get back Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow and Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind  from your Graveyard. It`s also possible to play Mystic Plasma Zone to boost their ATK and DEF although these cards are weak and give your opponent advantages as well, so it's better to play Solidarity for your ATK boosting needs. Their DARK Attribute also qualifies them for DARK support cards from the booster pack Phantom Darkness, and since a few of the Blackwing monsters require another Blackwing monster for their effects, you can use Phantom of Chaos to copy both the name and the effects. Alongside that, many Blackwing decks also run Dark Armed Dragon or The Dark Creator (both are considered DARK-deck staples but aren't needed) for their ability to be Special Summoned through DARK monsters in the graveyard. Dark Armed Dragon sees higher use in Blackwing decks because of his easier summoning requirements and destructive effect - it works well with the Blackwings' aggressive tactics.

Vayu Turbo
The deck is based on getting Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor and getting other high-level Blackwing monsters into the graveyard and then Special Summoning (Vayu only special summons Blackwing Synchros) (because Vayu special summons synchro monsters instead of synchro summoning them, the requirements on the card do not apply, and as per Vayu's effect, the effect is also negated) Synchro monsters followed by swarming the field with other Blackwing monsters. Recycling Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor with Burial from a Different Dimension to perform another Special Summon is a recommended tactic. This also allows you to return Necro Gardna and anything else you might remove with Dark Armed Dragon or Allure of Darkness to your graveyard. To go along with Burial from a Different Dimension, you can add Return from the Different Dimension to summon the same cards to your side of the field to attempt an OTK. Cards that send other cards from your deck to your grave are recommended, as many cards must be in the graveyard to work, such as Vayu, and as removal fodder for Dark Armed Dragon.

Monsters

 * Dark Armed Dragon
 * Dark Grepher
 * the Dark Creator
 * Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor
 * Blackwing - Bora the Spear
 * Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn
 * Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
 * Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow
 * Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North

Spells

 * Burial from a Different Dimension
 * Dark Eruption
 * Black Whirlwind
 * Swallow's Nest
 * Allure of Darkness

Traps

 * Delta Crow - Anti Reverse
 * Icarus Attack
 * Mirror Force

Extra Deck

 * Ally of Justice Catastor
 * Blackwing Armor Master
 * Blackwing Armed Wing
 * Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant
 * Blackfeather Dragon

Steelwings
The basic strategy of this deck is to assemble 3 Blackwings(along with Sirocco and Fane) and use Sirocco's effect to put all of the ATK onto Fane and attack directly with Fane, for immense damage. The easiest way to pull this off is to have a set Ultimate Offering or a Double Summon in your hand, and if your opponent has a Monster, normal summon Sirroco, then use Ultimate Offering (or Double Summon) to summon Fane, then Special Summon 3 Boras (Gale would also work if you don't have 3 Boras in your hand, but doesn't have as much attack as Bora) using their effects. Then, put all the ATK onto Fane and attack directly past your opponents monsters. 500+2000+1700+1700+1700= 7600.

((If you want to inflict a few more points of damage with this method, summon the same monsters and activate Mystic Plasma Zone. 1000+2500+2200+2200+2200= 10,100. You can also use the effect of Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow to add 1400 damage.))

Monsters

 * Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain
 * Blackwing - Bora the Spear
 * Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn
 * Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
 * Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow

Spells

 * Lightning Vortex
 * Dark Eruption
 * Black Whirlwind
 * Swallow's Nest
 * Double Summon
 * United We Stand
 * Allure of Darkness

Traps

 * Ultimate Offering
 * Delta Crow - Anti Reverse
 * Icarus Attack
 * Waboku
 * Dark Illusion
 * Mirror Force

Extra Deck

 * Blackwing Armor Master
 * Blackwing Armed Wing
 * Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant
 * Goyo Guardian
 * Stardust Dragon
 * Black Rose Dragon
 * Red Dragon Archfiend

Synchro Monsters
Because Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind is incredibly easy to summon, and Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North automatically brings a LV. 4 or lower monster back upon being summoned, the Blackwings make Special Summoning Synchro Monsters very easy. With Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North you can easily make a LV. 6 Synchro Monster if you already have a LV. 4 or lower monster in your graveyard. The LV. 6 Blackwing Synchro, Blackwing Armed Wing, is a weaker Synchro than Blackwing Armor Master. If you would only be able to Synchro Summon a LV.6 Synchro Monster, then Goyo Guardian is usually the better choice. However, because of Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind the Blackwings can easily Synchro Summon Synchro Monsters. This is because the LV.4 Blackwings are Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame, who can summon a Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind from the graveyard by destroying a monster, and Blackwing - Bora the Spear who can be Special Summoned as long as there is another Blackwing on the field. Because of their potential to create LV.7 Synchro Monsters with such ease, Blackwing Armor Master, Dark Strike Fighter (banned from in Advance Format as of September 2009), and Black Rose Dragon are among the top choices. If your opponent has several more cards on the field than you do, summoning Black Rose Dragon to clear the field is a very worthwhile choice. LV.8 Synchro Monsters are somewhat harder to pull off with the Blackwings then LV.7s. The Blackwings are very strong in battle and Stardust Dragon can offer the protection from card effects. To Special Summon a LV. 8 Synchro Monster with the Blackwings, it is usually best to summon Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn and then follow up by Special Summoning Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind. Even if you do not have Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind in your hand, it can easily be searched out with Black Whirlwind after Normal Summoning Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn. This way is the easiest way for most Blackwing decks to summon LV.8 Synchros. The strongest Blackwing monsters, Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant, released in Stardust Overdrive, has been widely dismissed by many Blackwing duelists due to his exceptionally difficult summoning requirements. Specifically, the requirement for 2 or more Non-Tuners disallows the use of Sirocco+Gale forming him. However, once Synchro Summoned, Silverwind the Ascendant provides much support to his fellow Blackwing monsters by granting them an effect akin to Dark Resonator and the clearing of your opponent's field.

Draw Power
Blackwings have a lot of available draw power and deck manipulation. Because of their DARK attribute, they can use Allure of Darkness to run through the deck faster. Reckless Greed can also be used to run through the deck as well. Because the Blackwings can be sent to the Graveyard quickly, by effects such as Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow(who discards himself to the Graveyard) and Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind (who can be used in a Synchro Summon, putting himself and another Blackwing in the Graveyard), Pot of Avarice is a great card to use. To go through monsters even faster, you can use Magical Merchant to send monsters from the top of the deck to the graveyard until you draw a spell or trap card. With the use of Allure of Darkness and Pot of Avarice, Reckless Greeds can be used to increase draw power of the deck so you will almost constantly be drawing new cards. Even though Pot of Avarice thickens the deck, you can prevent this by returning destroyed Synchro Monsters; also, cards such as Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame and Black Whirlwind to thin the deck out very quickly.

Weaknesses
Blackwings have some problems mantaining Hand and Field Advantage due to the overwhelming speed with which Blackwings are summoned, a player can (and often will) find his/her hand depleting quickly, thus lacking resources in case his/her plans goes wrong (such as in the case the opponent counters a massive Swarming with a mass-destruction card like Torrential Tribute or Lightning Vortex). Also, although the deck is capable in itself of winning with a simple Beatdown strategy, its most impressive Monsters are Synchro Monsters, meaning anti-Special Summoning strategies will often work to cripple a Blackwing player's strategy. Blackwings can also fall to Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror as it will negate many of their effects, for example Gale's effect to halve ATK and DEF. Blackwing's swarming can be stopped by Summon Limit. Also, in the OCG, there is a new anti-dark card, Holy Light.