Blackwing



"Blackwing", known as "Black Feather" ( Burakku Fezā) in the Japanese version, is an archetype of DARK (and one LIGHT) Winged Beast-Type monsters making their debut in "Crimson Crisis". In the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime, they are used by Crow Hogan and Robert Pearson. As far as looks, the "Blackwing" monsters generally have a very birdlike appearance, but seems to be more humanoid in the Level 4 and above monsters. Also, most of "Blackwing" monsters feature black in their design, usually on their wing feathering. Most are named after types of wind and air currents, except for the manga version, who are named after weapons instead. They are a Deck with swarming and speed capabilities. When Crimson Crisis was released, this archetype was very unsupported - only five "Blackwing" cards 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, along with being known as one of the many Meta Decks. The Deck proceeded to win the 2009 World Championships and remained popular the following year. New "Blackwing" monsters and support were released in The Shining Darkness and Starstrike Blast, giving them alternative strategies. The cards relate to various types of birds and several types of winds.

Nomenclature
In the anime, the Blackwing monsters are named after geographical elements usually related to the sky, mainly winds.

In the manga, the Blackwing monsters are named after weapons of mythological origins and natural sky-related phenomena.

Playing Style
"Blackwing" Decks focus on swarming. Because of that, they have an aggressive playing style. Also, because of their swarming capabilities, they give many opportunities to Synchro Summon (note that their trump cards are Synchro Monsters) and Xyz Summon. Their support cards rely on their swarm abilities such as "Delta Crow - Anti Reverse", and "Black Sonic", which can both be activated from the hand when you control exactly 3 "Blackwing" monsters. Some of them take an advantage from “Blackwings” swarming abilities and support it such as "Black Whirlwind". With the overwhelming amount of near forced synergy and powerful support cards, “Blackwings” are one of the easiest archetypes to play. This along with its overall power and relatively low cost nature makes "Blackwings" one of the most powerful archetypes in the current metagame.

The primary draw power used in “Blackwings” is represented by "Allure of Darkness", "Pot of Duality", and "Cards for Black Feathers".

Also, because most of the "Blackwing" monsters are DARK, Winged Beast monsters, along with "Allure of Darkness" for drawing power, you can use "Icarus Attack" for card destruction. Alongside that, many "Blackwing" Decks also run "Dark Armed Dragon" for its ability to be Special Summoned by having DARK monsters in the Graveyard.

Their toolbox allows them to shift their playstyle from being aggressive to passive. The Deck has numerous mind games forcing players to make less than sub-optimal plays to play against it. By setting a card in the Spell & Trap Card Zone with a "Blackwing" monster, the mind game and the illusion of the "Icarus Attack" being present is given off. Players will have to slow down their playing style, forcing any aggressive Decks to be crippled and unable to commence their plays recklessly.

"Blackwings" were given one of their best search cards, Black Whirlwind back to three copies following the release of the September 2013 Lists.

Decks
Blackwing is a powerful archetype, able to quickly swarm the field, Synchro Summon, and do devastating damage in the first turn alone. Their specialty is their quick Special Summoning, allowing you to Summon multiple monsters in a single turn, then use effects of monsters such as "Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn" or "Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow" to build on one another and quickly wreak massive destruction. Blackwing Duelists also have access to "Rivalry of Warlords" and "Gozen Match".

Vayu Turbo
This Deck is based on getting "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor" into the Graveyard and sending high-Level "Blackwing" monsters into the Graveyard, then Special Summoning ("Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor" only Special Summons "Blackwing" Synchros). Because the effect of "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor" Special Summons Synchro Monsters instead of Synchro Summoning them, the requirements on the cards do not apply, and as per the effect of "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor", their effects are negated. The strategy then devolves into spamming high-ATK Synchro Monsters followed by swarming the field with other "Blackwing" monsters. Recycling 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 and attempt an OTK. Cards that send other cards from your Deck to your Graveyard, such as "Card Trooper" (or, to a lesser extent, "Veil of Darkness"), are suggested. Another possible strategy is to Special Summon "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor" through the effect of "Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame", negating the Synchro Summoning restriction of "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor", and Synchro Summon "Ally of Justice Catastor".

"Crush Card Virus" (in Traditional Format only) might be a viable tool for ditching "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor" to the Graveyard while destroying the opponent's monsters. "Deck Devastation Virus" and/or "Eradicator Epidemic Virus" work for ditching a high-Level "Blackwing" monster to the Graveyard and destroying low-ATK monsters. This strategy works very will with this type of Deck, since you will be able to rapidly swarm the field with high-ATK DARK-Attribute Monsters, since the key cards of this Deck ("Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor", high Level "Blackwings") make perfect targets for the "Crush Card Virus". When they are in the Graveyard, you can Summon even more monsters while leaving your opponent with nothing. Furthermore, you will be looking at your opponent's hand, allowing you to predict their actions. Another way to use "Crush Card Virus" is to Set it and wait until "Crush Card Virus", or the possible target, is targeted by one of your opponent's effects that might affect you negatively and counter it by using the monster as a Tribute to activate the "Crush Card Virus".

Another great card for this Deck is "Skill Drain" which can negate the effect of "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor" while it is on the field (so it can be used as a Synchro Material monster on the field) while still allowing it to Special Summon Synchro Monsters by removing it from the Graveyard ("Skill Drain" does not negate effects in the Graveyard). As an added bonus, the effect-negating drawback on the Synchro Monster will be meaningless, since "Skill Drain" does the same to each other monster.

Synchro Summoning
Several of the "Blackwings", as well as their support cards, make Synchro Summoning fairly easy.
 * "Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame": This monster can Special Summon from your Deck a "Blackwing" monster with 1500 or less ATK after it has destroyed an opponent's monster during the Damage Step. Because the searched monster's effect is negated, Vayu will be able to Synchro Summon while on the field if Summoned in this way (which is normally unable to).
 * "Blackwing - Bora the Spear": Can be Special Summoned from your hand if you control another "Blackwing" monster besides another "Blackwing - Bora the Spear".
 * "Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North": Upon being Normal Summoned, can Special Summon from your Graveyard a Level 4 or lower "Blackwing" monster.
 * "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor": Can Special Summon "Blackwing" Synchro Monsters by utilizing "Blackwing" monster as materials from the Graveyard instead of the field. Keep in mind that the effects of these Synchro Monsters will be negated as long as they are face-up on the field ("Book of Moon" is one of the cards that can remedy this problem) and this form of Summoning disallows them from being Special Summoned from the Graveyard or banished.
 * "Black Whirlwind": The key card of any "Blackwing" Deck. When a "Blackwing" monster is Normal Summoned, you can add a "Blackwing" monster from your Deck to your hand if its ATK is weaker than the Summoned monster.

Because of their potential to create Level 6 Synchro Monsters with such ease, "Blackwing Armed Wing", "Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth" and "Orient Dragon" are among the top choices for Level 6. They can also create Level 5 Synchro Monsters very easily now, with "Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow" now unlimited. Top choices for Level 5 Synchro Monsters include "Armades, Keeper of Boundaries", "T.G. Hyper Librarian", and "Ally of Justice Catastor".

Level 7 Synchro Monsters were somewhat harder to Synchro Summon for a while because their star Level 3 Tuner, "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind" is limited. While you could play "Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr", it cannot be Special Summoned as easily as Gale, making it less appealing. "Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame" can pull out Gale or Breeze if needed though, which made the process for Level 7 a bit easier.

With "Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow" now unlimited, it is much easier to get Shura's effect off, therefore making Level 7 Synchro Summoning more consistent. Also, with the new unlimiting of "Black Whirlwind", "Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr" is easier to Special Summon and use for Level 7 Synchro Monsters, although it can only be used for "Blackwing Armor Master".

A way to make Level 8 Synchro Summoning easier is to play "Blackwing - Kochi the Daybreak". While it cannot perform a Synchro Summon if Special Summoned by the effect of "Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame" (or any effect really), you can Normal Summon it and Special Summon "Blackwing - Bora the Spear". You can also Normal Summon it with a "Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite" in your Graveyard, and Special Summon Zephyros by returning a "Black Whirlwind" to your hand. If you already have another Level 4 Blackwing monster out, you can Normal Summon it any time for a Level 8 Synchro.

Another way is by Normal Summoning "Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn" then Special Summoning "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind". However, this is often difficult because "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind" is limited.

"Blackwing Armor Master" and "Black Rose Dragon" are among the top choices for Level 7. "Black Rose Dragon" is a good choice to clear the field, if the field becomes crowded, to evade a Trap Card(s) that could ruin your strategy, or create card advantage. Armor Master is a good all-around pick, as it can protect your life points, cannot be destroyed by battle and is never afraid of attacking into cards that modify its ATK, making it a very reliable monster. If it can survive long enough to apply its counter-generating effect once or twice, you can also weaken your opponent's monsters for a comeback assault.

The top choices for a Level 8 Synchro Summon are "Stardust Dragon", as it can offer protection from effects that destroy cards and "Scrap Dragon" with its ability to clear the field. Other popular picks are "Dark End Dragon", "Thought Ruler Archfiend", "Void Ogre Dragon", and "Colossal Fighter".

Weaknesses
"Blackwings" have some problems maintaining 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 "Dark Hole"); however, with "Black Whirlwind" now unlimited again to ensure the player can always keep monsters in their hand, this situation will happen much less.

"Blackwings" are good in that they are not very weak to any common side deck cards. Because they are all DARK and all Winged-Beast, cards such as "Rivalry of Warlords" and "Gozen Match" do not hurt them.

Cards such as "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror" may hurt the player a little as you will not be able to use your effects, and "Dimensional Fissure" will render "Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame", "Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow", "Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North" and "Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite"'s effects useless. However, all of these threats are easily solved with "Icarus Attack" or "Diamond Dire Wolf", as all of the monsters are Winged-Beasts. "Royal Decree" may pose a problem as it will render "Icarus Attack" useless, but it's also easily dealt with using "Diamond Dire Wolf".

"Thunder King Rai-Oh" will stop Black Whirlwind searching, and can negate a Synchro Summon.

“Blackwings” require the initial Normal Summon to the field to start field presence. Negating that Summon or immediately destroying that monster with a "Trap Hole" or similar card will prevent swarming for that turn.

Siding in "Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn" is also surprisingly effective against "Blackwings", since "Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn" can use the opponent's "Blackwings" for his effect.