While alot of Duelists are familiar with the new cards in Starstrike Blast that support older Decks like Scraps, Quickdraw, and Gravekeepers, the all-new “Karakuri” monster family remains a mystery to many. With a bunch of great effects, and some sweet Spell Cards at their disposal, Karakuri Decks can be built in several different ways.

Duelist Dylan Buff is running a Karakuri Deck that packs Black Salvo and Cyber Valley, centered on a killer combo that’s only possible in Karakuri strategies, one that can end the Duel in a single turn. By combining strong Karakuri monsters with Salvo standbys like Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, Buff’s strategy could take alot of competitors by surprise here this weekend. This is what his Deck looks like:

Monsters:

1 Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi”

1 Karakuri Bushi mdl 6318 “Muzanichiha”

3 Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu”

1 Karakuri Ninja mdl 339 “Sazank”

3 Cyber Valley

3 Black Salvo

3 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

1 Mystic Tomato

1 Sangan

2 Genex Neutron

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Spells:

1 Gold Sarcophagus

1 Giant Trunade

1 Mind Control

3 Machine Duplication

1 Monster Reborn

1 Cold Wave

3 Book of Moon

1 Dark Hole

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Traps:

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Seven Tools of the Bandit

1 Solemn Judgment

2 Solemn Warning

2 Trap Stun

1 Torrential Tribute

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Extra Deck: 15

3 Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”

1 Ancient Fairy Dragon

2 Black Rose Dragon

1 X-Saber Urbellum

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Goyo Guardian

1 Flamvell Uruquizas

1 Magical Android

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Stardust Dragon

2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

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While Buff has a few tricks up his sleeve, his biggest and most important play is a 2-card combo of Black Salvo and Machine Duplication. Those 2 cards unleash a series of events that can mean game in moments. Here’s how it works:

1. With Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive in the Graveyard, Buff will Normal Summon Black Salvo. He’ll Special Summon the Dekoichi with Salvo’s effect.

2. He’ll then activate Machine Duplication, Special Summoning 2 more copies of Salvo from his Deck.

3.  By Tuning a Salvo and the Dekoichi together, he’ll Synchro Summon Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”

4. Burei’s effect lets Buff Special Summon a “Karakuri” monster from his Deck when Burei’s Synchro Summoned, so he’ll use it to Special Summon any Level 4 Karakuri. Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu” and 1 Karakuri Bushi mdl 6318 “Muzanichiha” both fit the bill.

5. Buff will then Tune his second Salvo to his Level 4 Karakuri to Summon another Burei. That’ll get him another Level 4 “Karakuri” monster, and he’ll Tune that to his last Salvo for third Burei.

The final Burei gets Buff 1 more Karakuri, giving him as much as 9600 ATK spread across his 4 monsters. Each copy of Burei can also change the Battle Position of an opposing monster, hammering damage through Fluff Tokens, Scrap Goblins, and other low-ATK defenders.

It’s a big combo, and Buff runs lots of cards to thin his Deck and search for those all-important Salvos and Dekoichis. Sangan can search either of the monsters the combo requires, and the draw power of Dekoichi and Cyber Valley helps Buff draw into pieces of the combo. He can even defend his Life Points and thin cards from his Deck with the effect of 3 Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu”.

Dylan Buff’s Karakuri Salvo Deck is focused and well-built, aiming solely to pull off 1 big combo. Whether that explosive Burei play is big enough to carry his Deck to a successful finish or not is up in the air, but it sure is impressive! We’ll find out whether or not it’s enough, as we see his performance today.