Mario Matheu piloted his Machina Salvo Deck to a 9-1 record by the end of the Swiss rounds in the tournament, then a victory in the Top 32 to get him to the Top 16. His Deck is full of explosive plays that can end a Duel or let him catch up from behind. He can swarm the field with huge monsters, clear the field with Black Rose Dragon, or make simple card trades that push him ahead of his opponent.

Mario Matheu’s Salvo Machina Deck

Monsters:

3 Deckoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

3 Black Salvo

3 Cyber Dragon

3 Machina Gearframe

3 Machina Fortress

2 Machina Force

1 Effect Veiler

2 Chaos Sorcerer

1 Morphing Jar

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Spells:

2 Pot of Duality

3 Book of Moon

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Future Fusion

1 Overload Fusion

1 Giant Trunade

1 Monster Reborn

1 Dark Hole

1 Gold Sarcophagus

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Traps:

3 Reckless Greed

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Trap Stun

1 Solemn Warning

Although Matheu uses the core Machina engine, his Deck doesn’t have to rely on it to win, since he has so many other options.

Matheu says that his favorite card in the Deck is Future Fusion, which lets him dump all of the Machine-Type monsters from his Deck into his Graveyard. Even though Future Fusion can Set up a game-winning activation of Overload Fusion by Summoning a Chimeratech Overdragon with an extraordinary amount of ATK, that isn’t Future Fusion’s primary purpose. Once Matheu uses Future Fusion to send all of his Machines to the Graveyard, he’s left with nothing in his Deck but his most powerful cards, like Chaos Sorcerer and Monster Reborn. Since Future Fusion can send DARK and LIGHT Machine-Type monsters like Black Salvo, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Cyber Dragon to the Graveyard, Chaos Sorcerer immediately becomes a Summonable card after the activation of Future Fusion. Matheu uses Gold Sarcophagus to search his Deck for Future Fusion and speed into this position. He also uses Deckoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Reckless Greed, and Pot of Duality to quickly draw into his best cards.

But even without Future Fusion, Matheu’s Deck can play a strong game. The Machinas let him Summon big monsters to the field. He’s even using 2 copies of Machina Force, so he can Summon the 2500 ATK Machina Fortress by discarding a single monster. When Matheu’s opponents simplify the field with cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, it eventually lets him Summon a big monster that his opponent won’t be able to take down. Matheu can Summon Machina Fortress more times than most opponents can destroy it.

Matheu’s Deck uses of 3 copies of Reckless Greed. It helps him to lull his opponents into a false sense of security. While he has several cards in his back row, Matheu’s opponents will feel safe committing more cards to the field, thinking that Matheu would need to destroy several of his own cards if he wants to use the effect of Black Rose Dragon. Instead, Matheu can activate his Set copies of Reckless Greed to draw more cards and make a more effective play with Black Rose Dragon, destroying all of his opponent’s card.

Matheu can Summon Black Rose Dragon easily. Since Black Salvo is a Level 3 Tuner that lets Matheu Summon Deckoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, a Level 4 non-Tuner, from his Graveyard, Matheu can quickly Synchro Summon the Level 7 Black Rose Dragon immediately after after Normal Summoning Black Salvo. This play is strongest when Matheu’s opponent has more cards on the field than he does, but he can rely on it at any time he needs to wipe the board and regain control of the Duel.

Matheu’s Machina Salvo Deck is fast and consistent. Thanks to Matheu’s success here today, we may see Black Salvo gain popularity in the near future.