Deck Profile: Chris Oyola’s Flamvell Synchro Deck
Flamvell Decks are gaining a lot of popularity as Duelists are looking for explosive new combos to unleash. Rekindling allows Duelists to swarm the field with Synchro Monsters that will overwhelm an opponent with more monsters than he can handle. Chris Oyola’s Flamvell Synchro Deck is one of many Flamvell variants entered into today’s tournament. Oyola’s Deck contains the perfect mix of defensive and aggressive cards that let him dictate the pace of the Duel and make game-winning plays when he’s ready to end it.
Monsters:
3x Flamvell Firedog
3x Flamvell Magician
3x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3x Gravekeeper’s Spy
1x Gravekeeper’s Descendant
2x Caius the Shadow Monarch
1x Chaos Sorcerer
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1x Cyber Dragon
1x Sangan
1x Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
Spells:
3x Rekindling
3x Book of Moon
1x Brain Control
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mind Control
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Pot of Avarice
Traps:
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Dimensional Prison
1x Mirror Force
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Dust Tornado
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Trap Dustshoot
Flamvell Firedog and Flamvell Magician provide the fuel Oyola needs to get his Deck running. Whenever Flamvell Firedog destroys a monster in battle, Oyola can Special Summon Flamvell Magician, a Level 4 Tuner, from his Deck. Then he can Tune it to his Level 4 Firedog to Synchro Summon whichever Level 8 monster is fit for the situation, including Stardust Dragon.
But Oyola’s Deck doesn’t rely on drawing Flamvell Firedog to get a flurry of Synchro Summons going. Oyola plays 3 copies of Rekindling in his Deck to Special Summon all of his Flamvell monsters from the Graveyard! He can send his Flamvells from his Deck to his Graveyard and then revive them all at once, instead of Normal Summoning them one at a time. The 3 copies of Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter help him to achieve this, setting up a big play with Rekindling. Ryko’s effect sends cards to the Graveyard from the Deck, and with enough Flamvells in the Graveyard, Oyola can activate a single copy of Rekindling to flood the field with the ATK needed to finish off an opponent.
Even though Oyola’s Deck can be explosive late in the Duel, it plays very differently early on. “I like how the Deck sets up with a slow start,” Oyola said. His favorite opening play involves Setting either Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter or Gravekeeper’s Spy to destroy his opponent’s field, or swarm his own at the start of the Duel. He plays 3 of each card to increase his chances of drawing 1 copy in his opening hand. If his Spy is flipped and he Special Summons Gravekeeper’s Descendant from his Deck, he can use the Descendant to Tribute the Spy and destroy an opponent’s card. Oyola’s Deck is all about tearing down his opponent’s options by exploiting the abilities of his own cards. He also uses 2 copies each of Dimensional Prison and Bottomless Trap Hole, as well as 1 copy of Dust Tornado to wear down his opponent.
In addition to all of his other monster destruction and removal, Oyola plays 2 copies of Caius the Shadow Monarch in his Deck to help dismantle his opponent’s field. To Summon it, he can Tribute a monster that already used its effect, like a face-up Gravekeeper’s Spy or a face-up Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter.
If he doesn’t have a Monarch to Tribute for, he can instead Tune his depleted Flip Effect Monsters to his Flamvell Magician or Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, or use Book of Moon to flip his face-up Ryko or Spy face-down and use its effect again. Oyola’s Deck is able to exploit the maximum potential of any card in his hand or on his field, even if it doesn’t appear to be an immediate threat to the opponent.iH
After setting up the Duel with a slow pace, Oyola’s Deck easily shifts gears and he begins exploiting the Graveyard he spent the beginning of the Duel building up. Not only can he activate Pot of Avarice to get ahead when he and his opponent are both low on cards, but he can also activate Rekindling to make the strength of his field leap way above his opponent’s. “When my opponent gets a little lower on cards, that’s when I play Rekindling!”
At that point, even if the attacks of his newly Summoned Flamvell monsters aren’t enough to finish off his opponent, overwhelming Synchro Summons enabled by Rekindling will be too much for his opponent to handle. A single Rekindling makes it easy for Oyola to Synchro Summon 2 Level 8 monsters in a single turn. If it revives 2 copies of Flamvell Magician and 2 copies of Flamvell Firedog, Oyola can Tune each Magician to a Firedog. Since the Flamvell monsters are sent to the Graveyard in the Synchro Summon, they won’t be removed from play during the End Phase by the effect of Rekindling. That means Oyola can activate another copy of Rekindling later in the game to recycle those same Flamvell monsters for Synchro Summons.
Even if Oyola’s Graveyard isn’t loaded with Flamvells, he can still put Rekindling to good use. Bringing back just one Flamvell from his Graveyard gives Oyola a monster to Tribute for Caius or Tune with a monster he can Normal Summon from his hand.
Flamvell Synchro Decks are capable of making a variety of plays. The versatility of each card in the Deck makes them a force to be reckoned with under the new Forbidden & Limited List. Oyola’s Deck is just one of many Decks featuring the Flamvell monsters entered in today’s tournament, so it’s important to understand the Flamvell engine and be prepared to face any of the different Flamvell hybrids you may encounter.