Nine of the Top 32 Duelists from YCS Atlanta played Wind-Ups, a nasty Deck that can devastate the opponent’s hand and  Xyz Summon repeatedly.  With intricate combos that can branch off in different directions, Wind-Ups can grow just two monsters into a packed field.  Most Wind-Ups don’t have high ATK, but they’re really good at Xyz Summoning.  They’re a serious competitor right now, so let’s review their strengths:

–Wind-Up Hunter lets them attack the opponent’s hand.

-Make many Rank 3, Rank 4, and even Rank 5 Xyz Summons, thanks to Special Summoning effects and level manipulation tricks.

-Use the search power of Wind-Up Factory and Wind-Up Magician to adapt your tactics on the fly, and hit your combos consistently.

Out of all the Wind-Up Decks that made the Top 32 at YCS Atlanta, Matthew Heath’s stood apart.  While a lot of the Top 32 ran Tour Guide from the Underworld, Heath opted to play more Wind-Up monsters and more draw power instead, creating a more combo-heavy version of the strategy.  Here’s what it looked like.

Matthew Heath’s Wind-Ups – YCS Atlanta Top 32

Monsters: 21

1 D.D. Crow

2 Effect Veiler

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

1 Sangan

3 Wind-Up Hunter

3 Wind-Up Magician

3 Wind-Up Rabbit

3 Wind-Up Rat

3 Wind-Up Shark

1 Wind-Up Soldier

Spells: 14

1 Book of Moon

1 Dark Hole

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mind Control

1 Monster Reborn

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Pot of Avarice

2 Upstart Goblin

3 Wind-Up Factory

Traps: 5

1 Solemn Judgment

2 Solemn Warning

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Trap Dustshoot

Side Deck: 15

1 Black Horn of Heaven

2 Compulsory Evacuation Device

2 Cyber Dragon

1 D.D. Crow

1 Mirror Force

2 Mirror of Oaths

1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

1 Phoenix Wing Wind Blast

2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

1 Snowman Eater

1 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Extra Deck: 15

1 Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Black Ray Lancer

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

1 M-X-Saber Invoker

2 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon

1 Number 39: Utopia

1 Orient Dragon

1 Stardust Dragon

1 Steelswarm Roach

3 Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity

With simple combos like Wind-Up Shark plus Wind-Up Magician, a Wind-Up Duelist can make long strings of Special Summon plays that lead to triumph.  But this strategy isn’t just about combos: there’s one Wind-Up that can make a huge impact on its own, and it plays a central role in the strategy.

A Hare Away From Victory

Wind-Up Rabbit is one of the trickiest monsters in Dueling today: once while it’s on the field, it can banish one of your Wind-Ups until your next Standby Phase.  Then, whatever you banished comes back during your next Standby Phase.  You can use that effect in a lot of different ways:

-Banish Wind-Up Rabbit itself to keep it safe from battle, or protect it from Trap Cards like Torrential Tribute or Mirror Force.  Rabbit’s effect resets when it leaves the field, so you can keep banishing it again and again.

-Once you’ve used Wind-Up Magician’s one-time-only Special Summon effect, banish it with Rabbit.  When Magician returns, you’ll be able to activate its ability again.  Or, Special Summon it back immediately with Leviair the Sea Dragon.

–Wind-Up Kitten has a one-time effect that lets you bounce an opposing monster to its controller’s hand.  It’s a great way to eliminate tough Xyz Monsters like Wind-Up Zenmaines or Evolzar Laggia, and by banishing the Kitten with Wind-Up Rabbit, you can use its effect more than once.

Pecking away at your opponent’s Life Points, then dodging out to safety, Wind-Up Rabbit is incredibly useful.  Heath’s Deck was about nailing his combos as often as he could, maxing out on cards most Wind-Up Duelists don’t play three of, like Hunter and Magician.  Since Rabbit makes it so easy to search monsters with Wind-Up Factory, it helped build the consistency Heath was aiming for.

Inventive Innovations

Heath made some other less common decisions, too.  Upstart Goblin is a Spell that lets you draw a card, but gives your opponent another 1000 Life Points.  Heath knew that those extra Life Points wouldn’t come back to bite him if he could unleash a devastating enough combo, and having an effective Deck size of 38 helped to make it happen.

Heath was also the only Duelist in the Top 32 to run Black Ray Lancer.  A Rank 3 Xyz Monster, you can detach an Xyz Material from it once a turn to target a face-up card on the field and negate its effect until the End Phase.  It’s a great way to hammer through monsters with strong defensive effects, like Spirit Reaper, Zenmaines, and Gachi Gachi Gantetsu.  You have to use WATER monsters to Xyz Summon Black Ray, but Heath could do that by using the Level-shifting abilities of two Wind-Up Sharks; just reduce them to Level 3, and then overlay them for the Xyz Summon.  Cool trick!

Looking Forward

The future’s pretty bright for Wind-Up Duelists!  Wind-Ups are doing really well right now, and they have great matchups against some of the best Decks.  To play this Deck in the new Advanced Format you’d have to drop the newly-Forbidden Trap Dustshoot for something else, like another Torrential Tribute, or a third Upstart Goblin.  Matthew Heath’s version of Wind-Ups is easier to build than other versions, so it’s a good jumping-on point for Duelists that are new to the theme and want to see how it works.