Ancient Gear

The Ancient Gears, known as Antique Gears in the Japanese version, are a series of Machine-Type monsters that are used by Vellian Crowler in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Rudolph Heitmann in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. They 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 (in the form of the Gadjiltron sub-Archetype), with further support in Light of Destruction and The Duelist Genesis.

Trap Cards and Quick-Play Spell Cards which activate during the Battle and Damage Steps tend to be some of the most common cards used by players, and the Ancient Gear Archetype focuses upon preventing your opponent from using them.

Strategy
Ancient Gears have gained popularity with the release of "Geartown", which simplifies summoning high-level Ancient Gear monsters.

Due to the amount of cards that deal specifically with summoning from the deck such as "Spell Gear" and "Machine Duplication", most Ancient Gear monsters require tributes to summon. "Reload" or "Magical Mallet" might be worthy choices for this deck. "Pot of Avarice" and "Ancient Gear Workshop" are also recommended if you use "Ancient Gear Golem" and "Ancient Gear Beast", as they cannot be Special Summoned.

"Ancient Gear Drill" can be used to search out some quick-play spells like "My Body as a Shield", "Shrink", and "Limiter Removal". These cards work well with "Ancient Gear Drill" as they can be activated outside your own turn.

You can also use "Cost Down", "Star Blast", "Mausoleum of the Emperor" or even their own support cards, like "Ancient Gear Castle" and "Geartown" to make normal summoning the level 5 or higher Ancient Gear monsters easier. Cards such as "Ancient Gear Engineer" have a low ATK for their Level, therefore support cards such as "Gaia Power" are recommended.

Since all of the Ancient Gear monsters are Machine-Type, the Spell Cards "Limiter Removal" and "Solidarity" can be necessary.

One Turn Kill
The Ancient Gears are capable of performing an OTK with their boss monster, Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem. Cards Needed:

Monsters

Ancient Gear Golem Ancient Gear x 2 Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem Cannon Soldier (optional) Ancient Gear Cannon (optional)

Spells

Power Bond Shooting Star Bow - Ceal Ancient Gear Explosive (optional)


 * Activate Power Bond, and fuse Ancient Gear Golem and any two other Ancient Gears.
 * This summons Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem with double ATK points.
 * If your opponent controls a monster with less than 800 ATK or DEF (Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem has piercing), you can attack for game now. If not, equip Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem with Shooting Star Bow - Ceal
 * Attack directly with Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem for 7800 life points.
 * Use Ancient Gear Explosive, Ancient Gear Cannon, Cannon Soldier (as you will not have normal summoned this turn) or any other card that can deal damage to finish off your opponent.

Weaknesses

 * It is important to note that "Ancient Gear" monsters are not immune to Trap Cards (aside from targeting "Ancient Gear Engineer"). If your opponent has a set "Mirror Force", for example, attacking with a non-"Ancient Gear" monster  (or "Ancient Gear Knight" before it was Gemini Summoned) will allow your opponent to destroy all of your Attack Position monsters.


 * Cards like "Acid Rain", "Magnetic Mosquito", and "System Down" have the potential to shut down an Ancient Gear Deck completely. Furthermore, these cards are especially hard to counter. However, "Ancient Gear Beast" can negate Flip Effect Monsters such as "Magnetic Mosquito".

Trivia

 * The four original Ancient Gear Monsters: "Beast", "Engineer", "Golem", and "Soldier" 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.


 * "Ancient Gears" are one of the few significant Archetypes to have had all but one members ("Ancient Gear Statue") released in the actual card game ("Elemental Heroes", for one, have many support cards that exist only in the anime). In addition, nearly all of them are released in the Structure Deck 10: Machine Re-Volt.