This year’s first wave of Collectible Tins has been released, and one of the promos this time around is the Level 7 Machine-Type Synchro Monster that can change monster’s battle positions on the fly. Originally from Starstrike Blast, this monster has made regular appearances in huge tournaments over the last few years, most recently last weekend at YCS Toronto, and it’s one of my personal favourite monsters too. It’s Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”!

Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” is a Level 7 Synchro Monster made from any Tuner plus non-Tuner Machine-type monsters. When it’s Synchro Summoned, you get to Special Summon another Karakuri monster from your Deck, which means that you basically turn your weaker monster into a Synchro Monster for free! With a respectable 2600 ATK and the ability to change any monster’s Battle Position once per turn, it’s great at taking care of any monster large or small. You can turn high ATK monsters to Defense Position, then run them over while they’re vulnerable. You can even use this ability on your opponent’s Sheep Tokens or Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens to pummel your opponent with some easy direct damage!

Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” fits into almost any Deck that can get non-Tuner Machine-type monsters into play quickly. It fits in perfectly with all Karakuri cards in general, since you get to grab any monster from your Deck when you play it. In addition, Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi” can easily assemble the monsters you need to Summon it right away. However, you can use Burei in other Machine Decks, too! Geargias are a notable example of this, using Geargiarmor to hoard Geargiaccelerators, then Summon them all to perform a flurry of Synchro or Xyz Summons. Combined with Karakuri Tuners like Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi” and Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi”, or even Psychic Commander and Emergency Teleport, you can easily Summon 2 or 3 Bureis using nothing but cards you got for free! This strategy can work well with Mecha Phantom Beasts as well. You can’t use your Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens for Xyz Summons, but you can use them for Synchro Summons, and Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” will be one of your go-to Synchros to handle any pesky monsters the opponent might play. To Summon Burei in this strategy you can use the following combinations:

• Mecha Phantom Beast Blue Impala plus a Level 4 Mecha Phantom Beast in your hand, like Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor
• Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan” plus a Mecha Phantom Beast Token
• Mecha Phantom Beast Warbluran plus 2 Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens

Warbluran gives you a Mecha Phantom Beast Token after you use it in a Synchro Summon, but you’re not allowed to Special Summon non-WIND monsters for the rest of the turn if you do. There’s actually a great combo you can use, using Warbluran and Burei that can exploit this drawback. If you use Warbluran to Synchro Summon Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”, Warbluran’s effect to Summon a Mecha Phantom Beast Token will activate on Chain Link 1. Then, Burei’s effect will let you Summon a Karakuri monster from your Deck as Chain Link 2. You’ll get a Karakuri monster first, so go ahead and choose Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan”. Then, Warbluran will Summon your Token and prevent you from Summoning non-WIND monsters. You can then combine your Token with Saizan to Summon Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda, since it’s a WIND monster! From there, you can attack for a lot of damage and then Xyz Summon Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack and continue your Token shenanigans.

Speaking of Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack, you can actually Synchro Summon Burei extremely easily with it. In any strategy that can easily assemble 2 Level 7 Monsters, like Mermails or Dragon Rulers, Dracossack rules as one of the best Rank 7 choices around. But instead of using the Tokens it creates to destroy stuff, you can instead tune them with Effect Veiler to Synchro Summon Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”! Even with no monsters to Summon, Burei is still a fantastic monster to help deal with your opponent’s monsters with no trouble at all.

Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” may seem like a card with only a few uses, but hidden beneath its devotion to Karakuris is a monster of limitless versatility and power. If you’re interested in bolstering your Extra Deck with some mechanical manpower, then grab a Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos Collectible Tin to snag a Burei today!