With strong showings at YCS Seattle and YCS Barcelona, the new Mermail strategy was quickly recognized as one of the deadliest Decks in Dueling today.  Cards like Mermail Abyssmegalo and Atlantean Marksman combine to create unpredictable combos, demolishing your opponent’s field with destruction effects and putting big monsters on the warpath.  In order to play them properly, or battle back against them, you need to know what the strategy can do.  While we’ve talked about some of the simple combos before, recent YCS action showed off a handful of powerful moves that are a little more complicated.  Here are some powerful plays that Mermail Decks can unleash out of nowhere!

Say you’ve got Mermail Abyssmegalo, any 2 WATER monsters, and Deep Sea Diva, with a clear path to your opponent’s Life Points.

-Discard 2 WATER monsters to activate Mermail Abyssmegalo’s effect, Special Summoning it.

-If there’s anything in your way, you can discard Atlantean Marksman or Atlantean Heavy Infantry to destroy it.

-Next, Normal Summon Deep Sea Diva to Special Summon Atlantean Marksman from your Deck.

-Tribute the Diva to Mermail Abyssmegalo so that it can attack twice. Now you can win the Duel.

Attack with Atlantean Marksman for 1400 Battle Damage.  That triggers its effect, so you can Special Summon Atlantean Dragoons from your Deck.  Make one attack with Dragoons for 1800 Battle Damage, then two attacks with Mermail Abyssmegalo: 1400 + 1800 + 2400 + 2400 = 8000 damage exactly.

This combo’s important, because if you don’t know it exists you might not see victory when you have the game won.  For everyone playing against Mermails, it’s important to understand that this is what you’re up against.  Also remember that if you do survive, your opponent will also have an “Abyss-“ card at the ready due to Abyssmegalo’s effect, so be aware of that as well.

This is one of the coolest tricks in the Mermail arsenal!  With nothing but Deep Sea Diva, you can unleash the classic Synchro Monster Mist Wurm.

-Normal Summon Deep Sea Diva.

-Use the Diva’s effect to Special Summon Atlantean Marksman.

-Attack with Marksman and Special Summon Atlantean Dragoons.

-Go ahead and attack with Diva and the Dragoons, too.

This combo deals 3400 Battle Damage, and in Main Phase 2 you can Tune everything together to Synchro Summon Mist Wurm.  If your opponent Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness or Tragoedia, you can bounce it back to their hand with Mist Wurm’s ability.  Just make sure you attack with Marksman first – if you lead with Diva instead, your opponent could Special Summon Gorz or Tragoedia before you use Marksman’s effect.  On the flip side, if you’re playing against Mermails and you see your opponent Summon Diva and get Marksman, be sure to punish them if they attack with Diva first.

This move is courtesy of Cosmo Blazer’s Mermail Abysstrite, a Rank 3 with a powerful ability that can redirect your opponent’s attacks and effects by detaching Xyz Materials.  But even if it doesn’t have any Xyz Materials, Abysstrite has a second ability: when it’s destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can target another “Mermail” monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it.

That’s cool, because if you overlay two Level 4 WATER monsters like Atlantean Dragoons and Mermail Abysspike, you can Xyz Summon Bahamut Shark from Abyss Rising. Its effect lets you detach 1 Xyz Material to Special Summon a Rank 3 or lower WATER Xyz Monster. Obviously, Abysstrite fits the bill.

Abysstrite’s got a solid 1600 ATK and an extremely impressive 2800 DEF and if it’s destroyed you’ll Special Summon back any “Mermail” monster – even one as big as Mermail Abyssmegalo!  You can activate Bahamut Shark’s effect once a turn, too, so you’ll be able to unleash two Abysstrites over two turns.

To maximize your success with Mermails you need to know all or your options.  Understanding combos like these is key to your success, so study up and see what kind of moves you can make!