Blackwings are one of the fiercest Decks in the history of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, but lately they haven’t spent much time in the limelight.  Crow’s signature monsters used to be the definition of speed, but other Decks have since sped up to match them.  And while Royal Oppression once gave big Blackwing monsters the edge, lots of Duelists are now playing Dust Tornado, and can Chain to destroy Oppression when it’s activated.  That doesn’t mean Blackwing Duelists should give up on their favorite Deck – they just need to explore new options to make it soar like it did before!

There are plenty of monsters you can add to a typical Blackwing Deck to outplay opponents.

Thunder King Rai-Oh stops your opponent from searching his Deck with effects like Infernity Archfiend’s or XX-Saber Darksoul’s.  Thunder King can keep your opponent from making important moves, and its 1900 ATK makes it a strong attacker.  D.D. Crow is another popular card to play in Blackwings: Chain it to the activation of cards like XX-Saber Faultroll or Gottoms’ Emergency Call to steal away those cards’ targets. It’s also a Winged-Beast so you can Tribute it for Icarus Attack if you don’t need its effect!

Card Guard is a surprising pick that few Duelists are running right now.  With 1900 ATK thanks to its effect, you can use it to attack an opposing monster, then put its “Guard Counter” on Royal Oppression to keep it safe from Heavy Storm and Dust Tornado.  The “Guard Counter” can also keep Blackwing Armor Master from being destroyed by effects, while its own ability protects it from battle.

Snowman Eater’s 1900 DEF is enough to survive an attack from XX-Saber Boggart Knight or Gladiator Beast Laquari, and its Flip Effect will destroy whatever attacked it.  Next turn, you can use it as a Synchro Material with Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind or Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr for a Level 6 Synchro Summon.  Better yet, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North is a Level 2 Tuner that can Special Summon another Blackwing from your Graveyard.  Grab a Level 3 like Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow and you can Tune those 2 monsters to Snowman Eater for Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant!  Or bring back a Level 4 with Blizzard to make Mist Wurm.

A couple new and unexpected Trap Cards can make any Blackwing Deck tougher to take down.

Since Blackwing Duelists don’t really need their monster effects to win, they can play Skill Drain to shut down X-Saber, Infernity, and Herald of Perfection Decks.  Most Decks these days need monster effects to win, so Skill Drain gives you a big advantage: we even saw 4-time Champion Fili Luna playing Blackwings with Skill Drain at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship in Edison.

Delta Crow – Anti Reverse lets you destroy Traps like Gottoms’ Emergency Call, Infernity Barrier, and Infernity Inferno before your opponent gets a chance to activate them.  Starlight Road is a cool choice too: lots of Duelists won’t think you have it in your Blackwing Deck, because your own Royal Oppression could negate it.  But if you play your cards carefully you can combine the 2.

If cards like Dust Tornado, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Giant Trunade are really giving your Royal Oppressions trouble, don’t play them!  Taking them out actually opens up a lot of options: no Oppression means more room for big Special Summon monsters.

There's more than 1 way to play a Blackwing Deck. A Blackwing Deck with WIND monsters and Dark Simorgh is a fresh, creative take on a mainstay of Dueling!

Harpie Queen is a 1900 ATK Winged-Beast-type monster, so she fits your aggressive gameplan – and she works with Icarus Attack.  You can discard her to search your Deck for the Field Spell Harpie’s Hunting Ground: it gives all your Winged-Beasts +200 ATK, making your attacks bigger, and letting you search out better monsters from your Deck with Black Whirlwind.  Once you control Hunting Ground, you can Summon extra copies of Harpie Queen with 2100 ATK, and use Hunting Ground’s effect to destroy a Spell or Trap card each time you do.

Harpie Queen is also a WIND monster.  Her effect makes it easy to get her into your Graveyard, and you can remove a Queen and any Blackwing from your Graveyard to Special Summon Dark Simorgh!  Dark Simorgh’s got 2700 ATK and doesn’t use your Normal Summon, so it helps speed up your attacks.  Its effect also stops your opponent from Setting cards, making it really tough to defend against you.

Whether you just want to tweak your current Blackwing Deck or you want to try something new, there are lots of ways to make Blackwings faster, stronger, and even better at taking on Decks like X-Sabers and Infernity.  Explore the possibilities, see which ones work best, and stick with it to claim victory – Crow-style!