Forum:R5h's Gem-Knights

Hello, wiki!

It's been quite a while since I posted a deck here, but I've got something that I've always thought is really neat - Gem-Knights! They started off as a pretty lame archetype of sub-par normal monsters and fusion monsters, but as the DTs kept getting released they kept getting more and more support. DT11 brought us Gem-Knights Citrine and Prism Aura, the first good Gem-Knight fusions. DT12 introduced some Gemini Monsters, including the wonderful Amber: besides that, they got Obsidian! It turns a fusion summon into an instant swarm, and makes Xyzs easy.

With DT13, though, Gem-Knights passed the tipping point. Sanyx and Zirconia have pushed Gem-Knights to the point of competitiveness. So now it's time to celebrate the archetype I've been with since the beginning.

So here's the breakdown. I've got 3 each of Garnet, Sanyx, Amber, Tourmaline, and Obsidian as my Gem-Knights. Garnet has 1900 ATK and is a Pyro, so that's good. The other Pyro, Sanyx, is also a great beater, and its searching effect is phenomenal - it can pull Gem-Knight Fusion from the deck! Amber and Tourmaline basically enable me to summon Prism Aura, though Amber's retrieval effect is often quite useful. Finally, Obsidian is simply phenomenal. If I use it in a fusion summon, I can special summon the other Fusion Material, then banish Obsidian to add Gem-Knight Fusion back to my hand... It's a card-neutral fusion summon!

Gem-Armadillo absolutely deserves to be run at 3, pulling important Gem-Knights from my deck (usually Obsidian). 2 Gem-Turtles are also important, defending against less powerful monsters and pulling Gem-Knight Fusion from my deck in one fell swoop. Afterwards, it's good as Xyz material. Finally, my 2 Card Troopers send Gem-Knight monsters and Gem-Knight Fusion to the graveyard, where I can snatch them up with various card effects.

One of those effects is that of Gem-Knight Fusion. It's a standard fusion card like Polymerization, except for the part where it returns to your hand. That means I can fusion summon multiple times in one turn, or use it as easy discard fodder! Pot of Duality is very useful, and generally increases consistency. Hand Destruction is surprisingly good - I can drop Obsidian and a Gem-Knight to special summon that Gem-Knight, or Fusion and a Gem-Knight, allowing me to get Gem-Knight Fusion back. (Since it sends to the graveyard, rather than discarding, it won't allow Dark World monsters to mess me up.)

Dark Factory of Mass Production retrieves those Gem-Knights that I send to the graveyard, and is very useful when I don't have Obsidian in hand (and even when I do). From there, the only other interesting spell cards are Future Fusion and Supervise. Future Fusion lets me get any two Gem-Knights I need in the graveyard for later retrieval, while simultaneously setting up Gem-Knight Prism Aura for two turns later. As for Supervise, I originally used Gemini Spark in its place, but it didn't really work out. Supervise is working quite well, though! I can equip it to Sanyx and get its effect quite easily, and the revival effect gives me more monsters to work with for Fusion summons. Beyond that, there's two Mystical Space Typhoons, 1 Monster Reborn, 1 Heavy Storm, and 1 Dark Hole. Pretty standard.

The only trap card is Treacherous Trap Hole. Honestly, I didn't have much room for a full suite of traps, so this was definitely the best move.

Now for the extra deck! Gem-Knight Prism Aura is quite good, with the ability to destroy most threats with a discard - a discard that makes good use of Gem-Knight Fusion's self-retrieval. Its summoning requirement of 1 Gem-Knight and 1 Thunder monster is easily fulfilled with 3 each of Tourmaline and Amber. Meanwhile, Gem-Knight Citrine takes care of face-down cards by, essentially, ignoring them. When it attacks, you can't use Mirror Force or Book of Moon - you can't use Battle Fader or Gorz - for that matter, if it destroys something like Sangan in battle, Sangan will not get its effect! Being the fusion of any Gem-Knight and any Pyro makes it easy to summon with 6 Pyros in my deck. I also have one copy of Gem-Knight Ruby, whose piercing effect and ATK-increasing are fairly good.

Before DT13, though, while these two cards are great, there was always something missing... raw ATK strength. One card that would severely trip up the deck was Stardust Dragon, because my prime way of defeating threats - using the effect of Prism Aura - was useless, and at 2500 ATK it was equal to or stronger than all of my fusions. My only recourse was to summon Gem-Knight Pearl - not always easy - or to crash into Stardust with Ruby, destroying both monsters. (Sometimes I was able to boost Ruby's ATK and power over Stardust that way.) Even ignoring Stardust, though, if my opponent had a strong monster like Master Hyperion or Dark Armed Dragon, and I didn't have a way to summon Prism Aura, I was in deep trouble.

That's changed with the new Gem-Knight Zirconia, which is amazing for two reasons. Firstly, its fusion materials are 1 Gem-Knight and 1 Rock, which makes it absurdly easy to summon - I have 8 Rocks in my deck, more than any other type! Secondly, it has a phenomenal 2900 ATK; easily enough to put lots of pressure on my opponent and power over their big monsters. True, it has no effect, but that's honestly unimportant because it is so easy to summon with such high ATK, fixing a problem that Gem-Knights have had since their creation.

The rest of my extra deck consists of Xyzs. 1 Gem-Knight Pearl is a must here, with a good 2600 ATK. Utopia is practically an extra deck staple. Color Ruler, meanwhile, is just about my favorite Xyz. Call trap to attack with impunity despite your opponent's full spell/trap zone. Call monster to keep them from using the effects of the monsters you are about to attack over. Call spell to keep them from making a comeback next turn with power cards like Dark Hole, Rekindling, or Monster Reborn. Truly, it is a wonderful card.

Daigusto Emeral is also very cool - the drawing effect can be used easily by any deck, but Gem-Knights especially can lay claim to its first effect. That can special summon anything from Sanyx to Zirconia! Steelswarm Roach is not always phenomenal, but against synchro decks it's often killer. Lavalval Chain has been useful before - I used its effect to send Gem-Knight Fusion to the graveyard, then retrieved the Fusion with its effect! Finally, Kachi Kochi Dragon seems like a good choice, dealing with some annoying swarms.

So there's my deck - a wonderful mix of normal, Gemini, fusion, and Xyz monsters. It's not your average deck, but it does quite well, easily searching out necessary combo pieces with Armadillo, Sanyx, Duality, Dark Factory, and others. The deck is consistent and quick.

What about you? Tell me what you think of this deck. Runer5h (talk • contribs) 21:57, October 12, 2011 (UTC)Runer5h