Ancient Gear

The Ancient Gears, known as Antique Gears (アンティーク・ギア) in Japan, are a series of Machine-Type monsters that overwhelm the opponent while preventing them from activating Spell or Trap Cards when they attack. They were released in The Lost Millennium, Shadow of Infinity, and Structure Deck 10: Machine Re-Volt, with further support in Light of Destruction and The Duelist Genesis.

Play Style
"No Surprises" is the basic philosophy of Ancient Gears. Trap Cards and Quick-Play Spell Cards that activate during the Battle and Damage Steps tend to be the most common and most troublesome cards used by players, and this Archetype is all about preventing your opponent from using them, making them potent even against some of the more flexible Decks. Some of the Ancient Gears (notably Soldier and Engineer) have a low ATK for their Level, so the basic strategy is to use the many support cards available (and possibly Gaia Power, since "Ancient Gears" are EARTH based) to boost their ATK. The player would either then try to generate enough Tribute Fodder or enough counters for Ancient Gear Castle to summon the trump card of the set, "Ancient Gear Golem", or gather enough material monsters to Fusion Summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, the strongest Ancient Gear Monster. Most of the basic strategies are of a beatdown nature, but it can vary.

It is important to note that Ancient Gears are not immune to Trap Cards (aside from Engineer, who can't be targeted by traps). If your opponent has a "Mirror Force" ready, for example, attacking with a non-Ancient Gear (or an Ancient Gear monster that does not have the standard effect) will allow your opponent to wipe out all your monsters in Attack Position, including the Ancient Gears. Using support cards to protect your Ancient Gears, such as "Heavy Mech Support Platform", is highly recommended.

Due to the amount of cards that deal specifically with summoning from the deck (Spell Gear and Machine Duplication), also the fact that most Ancient Gear monsters require tributes to summon, Reload and Magical Mallet might be worthy choices for this deck. Terraforming will also come in handy to retrieve Geartown early on. Pot of Avarice and Ancient Gear Workshop will also help out as most of the more powerful Ancient Gears cannot be special summoned from the graveyard.

Trivia

 * In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the Ancient Gear set is used exclusively by Dr. Vellian Crowler, with the exception of Dimitri, who only copied Dr. Crowler's strategy against Syrus.


 * The original four "Ancient Gears": Soldier, Engineer, Beast and Golem, all have ATK equal to their DEF.


 * The Ancient Gears' concept of having limited Spell and Trap immunity is similar to the Duelist Kingdom Arc of the second season anime, where Machine-Type monsters were immune to magical attacks.