I’ve been a huge fan of Machines ever since Gadgets were released in Structure Deck: Machine Re-Volt over 6 years ago. Machine-type monsters work well together, and can easily assemble the right monsters for any situation. The Karakuris are one of my all-time favorite groups of monsters, since they can combine typical Machine tactics with the explosive power of the Karakuri Synchro Monsters. I can’t wait to start trying out my new Karakuri Deck, and here’s why.

Not your average monsters

The Karakuri monsters are all based on Japanese mechanical puppets, both in art and effect. Karakuri monsters must attack each turn if they’re in Attack Position, and they change their Battle Position when they’re attacked. This can be problematic if you’re not paying close attention, but Karakuri Cash Cache can help to manage your battle risks and fix your hand. Cash Cache lets you change your Karakuri’s Battle Position, and add a Karakuri monster from your Deck to your hand. Karakuris have a range of different effects that can help you out. Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi” and Karakuri Ninja mdl 919 “Kuick” can help you get monsters onto the field for a Synchro Summon. Karakuri Merchant mdl 177 “Inashichi” and Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu” can search your Deck for the right Karakuri monster for the job. Monsters that can cause problems for your opponent include Karakuri Ninja mdl 339 “Sazank”, which can send a face-up monster to the Graveyard when it’s flipped up, and Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan” which can soak up your opponent’s attacks and is a Level 4 Tuner. It’s really easy to get to these cards through Cash Cache and from drawing extra cards with Karakuri Anatomy, so you can be sure that you’ve always got access to helpful cards when you need them.

Go Big

The biggest allure of Karakuri for most Duelists is the ability to crank out massive Synchro Monsters at an incredible rate. For Tuners, you’ll definitely want Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi” for its extra Normal Summon ability. Emergency Teleport can Summon Psychic Commander as a Tuner for a Burei or Bureido since they only need Machine-Type non-Tuners. On the non-Tuner side, you can use Cyber Dragon, Solar Wind Jammer, or even Cyber Saurus (via Instant Fusion) to get your non-Tuner Synchro Materials into play! Your Karakuri Shoguns Summon another Karakuri when they’re Synchro Summoned, so if you can get an extra Summon or two in there via Instant Fusion/Ninishi/Solar Wind Jammer/etc. you can Synchro Summon an outrageous number of monsters all at once. With Torrential Tribute recently Limited, it’s slightly less risky to make this kind of play, although you always have the option of Summoning Stardust Dragon or Naturia Barkion if you’re suspicious that your opponent has a Trap to disrupt you. Of course, you’ll need to be wary of Maxx “C”. That one card can grind your big turn to a halt, so you can’t focus entirely on offense lest you give your opponent the cards they need to blow you out of the water on their turn.

Karakuris are extremely flexible!

Karakuris can easily make tons of Level combinations, so you can Synchro Summon almost anything, not just Shoguns. Star Eater is an easy Summon in a Karakuri Deck, since Summoning Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido” can give you the Level 3 Tuner “Nishipachi” (and a free draw!), which you can combine with Bureido for Star Eater! Karakuris are all EARTH monsters, so you have easy access to Naturia Beast and Naturia Barkion to lock out your opponent’s Spells and Traps. Sometimes it’s better to play slowly with just a Naturia Synchro and a good Trap like Mirror Force or Fiendish Chain as protection. Safe Zone also works really well with this strategy, especially with Naturia Beast. If you Safe Zone your Beast, your opponent can’t use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Zone, since you have Beast to negate it.

The Karakuri strategy is great for Summoning a ton of Synchro Monsters, or sitting back and dominating your opponent with Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” and the Naturia Synchros. You can even combine Karakuris with other Machines, like Gadgets, Geargia, Machina, and Mecha Phantom Beasts. I love having flexible strategies in my Deck without sacrificing any consistency for it, and that’s why I can’t wait to play my Karakuri Deck this format!