Deck Profile: Paul McCann’s Machina Gadget Deck
One of the most popular Decks here today is Machina Gadgets, a Deck that’s easy to build thanks to the Machina Mayhem Structure Deck, and even easier to customize and reshape. Machina Gadget Decks focus on the Gadget monsters (Red Gadget, Green Gadget, and Yellow Gadget) and Machina Gearframe, replacing each monster with another from the Deck thanks to their effects. The Deck generates a steady stream of monsters without running out of cards, and its focus rests on using simple monster destruction like Smashing Ground and Dimensional Prison to eliminate bigger threats. This lets the Gadget Duelist make direct attacks and quickly leaves the opponent with no cards left to defend themselves.
While the Gadgets and Machina Gearframe are constants in every Machina Gadget Deck, the rest of the cards in the Deck decide the direction the Deck will take. In the case of Paul McCann, he likes to use Gearframe to search his Deck for Machina Fortress, a popular (and powerful) choice. He also uses Machina Peacekeeper to get more copies of Machina Gearframe from his Deck, plus a lone Machina Force that he can use to Special Summon his Fortress from the Graveyard. Machina Armored Unit ties it all together to make 1 slick, resilient Machina Gadget Deck:
Monsters:
2x Yellow Gadget
2x Red Gadget
2x Green Gadget
2x Machina Peacekeeper
3x Machina Gearframe
3x Machina Fortress
1x Machina Force
2x Scrap Recycler
1x Tragoedia
Spells:
3x Book of Moon
3x Smashing Ground
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Machina Armored Unit
1x Limiter Removal
Traps:
2x Roll Out!
1x Mirror Force
3x Dimensional Prison
1x Torrential Tribute
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Starlight Road
“Who wouldn’t play the Deck that gets to use 3 Stratos?” laughed McCann, comparing Machina Gearframe and its monster-searching effect to that of Elemental Hero Stratos. “Unlike Stratos, Gearframe cannot fetch another copy of himself, but he does have 3 very powerful targets in this build,” commented McCann, running down his Gearframe ranks for us. “Machina Fortress is the Gadget boss monster, allowing Gadget players to get around nearly any opposing creature. Fortress is easily Special Summoned, and can even be reused from the grave! Machina Force cannot be Summoned, but acts as a copy of Monster Reborn for 1 of my 3 Machina Fortresses. Machina Peacekeeper is small in size, but extremely important to this strategy. Some Duelists have eschewed Peacekeeper entirely, but I believe that he is invaluable.”
That’s because Peacekeeper is more than just a self-searching monster: it’s also a Union Monster, protecting another monster from being destroyed when it’s treated as an Equip. “If you attack with Machina Fortress with Peacekeeper equipped, and your opponent activates Mirror Force, your Fortress will be saved – and you get to search for Peacekeeper’s effect.” McCann plays the Trap Card Roll Out! as well. It lets him equip a Union Monster like Peacekeeper from his Graveyard to one of his monsters, and since it works at Spell Speed 2, you can Chain it to the activation of cards like Torrential Tribute to save your monster and search a monster from the Deck. “It’s like My Body As A Shield without a Life Point cost.”
McCann also plays Scrap Recycler and Machina Armored Unit, 2 cards that work together to create a series of combos. When Machina Gearframe is destroyed in battle, Armored Unit lets McCann Special Summon a Gadget from his Deck – and search out another Gadget with the effect of the first. When that Gadget is destroyed in battle he can Summon another, smaller Gadget, or Summon Scrap Recycler. Recycler’s effect can send 2 cards back to McCann’s Deck to let him draw another card, and when Recycler’s defeated McCann can Special Summon Machina Peacekeeper with Armored Unit’s effect. The search power of Peacekeeper then leads to another Gearframe, and the cycle starts all over again. “Recycler acts as the Deck’s Pot of Avarice, and is superior as it is searchable by Armored Unit and is much more playable in the early game,” explained McCann. With all those extra cards being added to his hand, McCann can also take huge advantage of his Tragoedia.
McCann is confident here today, stating that his Deck has tested well against the expected field. “Innovation will take this tournament without a doubt, and this Deck provides that while sticking to a powerful, established strategy. When in doubt, play the Deck with 3 Stratos!” McCann might be on to something, but we won’t know for sure until we see the final results tomorrow.