Chapter 206. Sky Striker System Breakdown! Learn "Sky Striker Sis" in Three Steps!
After thinking it over again and again, Sei Yuki finally decided to search for short videos about Sky Strikers and play them!
First off!
For the veteran Duelists across the various Duel Worlds, the Sky Striker archetype—
is also a very new system!
After all, once you can pilot Sky Striker,
you've basically grasped the concept of resource accumulation in Yu-Gi-Oh!
Sky Strikers run on three steps!
Step One is "find the monsters."
Step Two is "accumulate Spell Cards in the Graveyard."
Step Three is "finish the opponent in one breath!"
You could say that if you understand Sky Strikers, you've basically entered Yu-Gi-Oh. Beginner mode cleared!
"Right! Let's start with Sky Strikers!"
"Talk is cheap—do it!"
Once Sei Yuki made the call, a quick search on the Duel Master app locked onto a target!
At the same time,
the title also flashed across the various Duel Worlds!
"Sky Striker System Breakdown! Three Steps to Get You Started with Sky Strikers!"
The moment they saw the title really was Sky Striker,
the old-guard veterans across the worlds immediately paused the discussion about "Power Burst"
and shifted their eyes to this Sky Striker short video!
Inside the short video, the content creator—a Sky Striker player—quickly began the breakdown!
Sky Striker Player: "Hello! Thanks for clicking in, fellow duelists!"
Sky Striker Player: "Today I'm bringing you a combo tutorial for the Sky Striker deck!"
Sky Striker Player: "Before we begin, I split Sky Strikers into three steps!"
"Want to really understand Sky Strikers? Just get these three steps!"
"Step 1, Sky Striker monsters."
"Step 2, Spells in the Graveyard."
"Step 3, Sky Striker lethal."
"Before the explanation, let's first look at the most core Sky Striker monsters!"
"The first one is Sky Striker Ace – Raye!"
"Remember two points and you're set: (1) Quick Effect—Tribute herself to jump into a Sky Striker Link-1 from the Extra Deck;"
"(2) In the Graveyard, if a face-up Sky Striker Link Monster you control leaves the field by an opponent's effect or is destroyed by battle, Raye revives!"
"This card is the single most central piece of the entire Sky Striker engine!"
"Without this card, the Sky Striker system can't operate!"
"The second is Sky Striker Ace – Roze!"
"When a 'Sky Striker Ace' monster is Normal or Special Summoned, this card can also Special Summon itself!"
"And if a monster in the opponent's Extra Monster Zone is destroyed by battle, or leaves the field by your card effect, while Roze is in the Graveyard—she can Special Summon herself,"
"then you can negate the effect of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls until the end of this turn."
"Compared to Raye, this card isn't quite as critical!"
"Just run one or two!"
"Having seen these, we won't look at the Extra Deck yet!"
"Relying on just these two, try first to notice Sky Striker's strengths."
"That way, my Step One will go more smoothly!"
After hearing the creator's words in the short video,
the veterans from the various worlds quickly took a keen interest in the effect text of these two monsters!
Meanwhile, the chat started buzzing!
Joey Wheeler: "This Raye's got something—she can jump into the Extra with a Quick Effect?"
Jaden Yuki: "Hold up! Quick-Effect jump into the Extra? You mean into an in-archetype Link-1?"
Yusaku Fujiki: "Yes. With a Quick Effect, the duel's branches multiply. I'm getting more interested in this engine."
Theodore Hamilton: "Whoa, for real! And in the Graveyard she's latent resource too! No wonder they call her the core!"
With multiple voices from the VRAINS world chiming in,
Raye's power and value shot straight up in that instant!
Think about it!
Who can say no to Raye, a card that can Quick-Effect hop into a Link-1?
What's more!
In the entire Sky Striker archetype, these are basically the only non-Link monsters!
If this isn't the core, what is?
Sky Striker Player: "Alright, I believe everyone's got the gist of these two."
Sky Striker Player: "Next we begin Step One of Sky Strikers!"
Sky Striker Player: "Sky Striker monsters."
"If your opening hand has any of the Sky Striker monsters above, you're good."
"But what if you don't open Sky Striker Ace – Raye or Sky Striker Ace – Roze?"
"Then our game plan is very clear!"
"We need a way to search one of those two!"
"Priority target is Raye; second is Sky Striker Ace – Roze!"
"So what cards help us search them?"
"Without a doubt, the key Sky Striker Spells!"
"First, Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage!"
"It searches a 'Sky Striker' card; with three or more Spells in the GY, draw one!"
"Use this to fetch Raye, easy!"
"Second, the Field Spell Sky Striker Airspace – Area Zero!"
"Target another card you control, excavate the top three cards of your Deck;"
"you can add one excavated 'Sky Striker' card to your hand and shuffle the rest back."
"If a 'Sky Striker' card was excavated, send the targeted card to the Graveyard."
"If this Field Spell is sent to the GY by a card effect: you can Special Summon one 'Sky Striker Ace' monster from your Deck."
"Third, Sky Striker Mobilize – Linkage!"
"If your Main Monster Zones are empty, send one other card you control to the GY to Special Summon a 'Sky Striker Ace' to the Extra Monster Zone as a Link-1!"
"Combine those two!"
"That's Linkage sending Area Zero; pull Raye and a Sky Striker Link-1!"
"All of these help us fetch Raye!"
"Or you can pair the Continuous Spell Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole!"
"Proactively send the Field Spell to the GY to line up Raye's Special Summon!"
"Or if your hand has Reinforcement of the Army, just search Raye!"
"Having covered Raye, here's another way to fetch the other gal!"
"Sky Striker Ace – Roze herself synergizes with your summons and Extra Monster Zone interactions, so sequence accordingly!"
"All of these make it easy to ensure you have a Sky Striker monster!"
"As long as we have a Sky Striker monster in hand, Step One is done!"
Step One, just like that?
After hearing the creator's explanation for Step One,
all the veteran Duelists blinked in confusion!
Huh?
That's it?
Step One is just that?
So we just make sure we have a Sky Striker monster in hand?
If that's the case,
it seems simple! Not hard at all!
A few simple combos!
Or rather, the in-archetype searches plus some non-archetype search—child's play!
At this moment,
in the DM world—
"Ha ha ha! So that's it!"
"To play Sky Strikers, Step One is to find a way to get a Sky Striker monster into your hand, huh?"
"Easy! Piece of cake!"
Hearing Step One, Joey Wheeler and the others were already grinning.
But they didn't realize—
this was only the very beginning of Sky Strikers!
The real shock comes from Step Two and Step Three!
Sky Striker Player: "If you still can't search them!"
Sky Striker Player: "Then the focus is on this Spell!"
Sky Striker Player: "Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones!"
"Sadly it's Limited now!"
"Otherwise you'd run three Hornet Drones!"
"Combined with the previous tools, your odds of starting your play would be sky-high!"
"If your hand is truly bricked to the max!"
"For example, if your hand is only Pot of Desires, Maxx 'C', Upstart Goblin, and other such cards!"
"Don't hesitate—use them!"
"Even if you go down resources!"
"As long as you get started,"
"once Sky Strikers start rolling, everything becomes negotiable!"
"After all, the in-archetype Sky Striker Spells and Traps—"
"you've got plenty of interaction and disruption!"
"For example, Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners!: with no monsters in your Main Monster Zones you can destroy a face-up monster; with three Spells in the GY, also destroy a Spell/Trap!"
"Sky Striker Mecha – Shark Cannon: with no monsters in your Main Monster Zones, banish a monster from the opponent's Graveyard; with three Spells, Special Summon it to your field instead!"
"If you have at least one LIGHT and one DARK 'Sky Striker Ace' on your field and/or in your GY,"
"monsters Summoned by Linkage! gain 1000 ATK."
"Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor: with no monsters in your Main Monster Zones, it's an effect negate; with three Spells, you can also take control!"
"And there's Sky Striker Maneuver – Jamming Waves!, Sky Striker Maneuver – Vector Blast, and so on!"
"Their effects…"
"And that wraps Step One!"
After that quick tour of the Spells,
the veterans couldn't help but marvel!
They knew Sky Strikers had plenty of Spells—
but when the creator actually started going through them,
it still felt unbelievable!
DM world.
Joey and the others, who had thought it sounded simple at first, had those thoughts blown away once the Spells were explained!
Sky Strikers!
The monster side is very simple!
But the Spell side—
that's what scrambles your brain and leaves you puzzled!
"So that's how it is—you have to use the Sky Striker Spells rationally,"
"and string together plays the opponent won't expect?"
"And those Spells—"
"many of them are disruptive!"
"Viewed that way, it's kind of similar to my Dark Magician."
Beside him, Yugi Muto mused under his breath,
seeing the combos born from the interplay between Sky Striker Spells and monsters.
That's right.
They're combos—timed Spell activations that knit together into plays!
Spells—perhaps they're more than half the strength of Sky Strikers!
GX world.
The Duel Academy students were already scratching their heads.
The more they listened to the Sky Striker Spells, the more absurd—and shocking—it felt!
It was their first time seeing an archetype that, with no monsters in your Main Monster Zones, still asks you to use that many Spells to make plays!
And you can't skip them!
Because if a Sky Striker deck doesn't use its Spells to full effect,
then it isn't Sky Striker!
"Tch, guess my HERO deck is still more fun!"
"I'm just not interested in this Sky Striker thing!"
"And to understand that many Spells—"
"kinda brain-melting!"
Jaden Yuki scratched the back of his head.
After that Spell segment,
he suddenly had an epiphany!
If it's all Spells anyway,
why not play the invincible Elemental HEROes?
Mask Change, Super Polymerization—aren't those great?
Sky Striker Player: "Having finished Step One, we move to Step Two; before that!"
Sky Striker Player: "Let's first get to know the Sky Striker Link-1s in the Extra Deck."
Sky Striker Player: "Once you understand the Link-1 lineup,"
"you'll also roughly understand how to accumulate resources"
"and how to kill from full!"
"First, the Sky Striker Link-1 monsters all have different Attributes!"
"Second, each Sky Striker Link-1 can only be Special Summoned once per turn!"
"In other words, you cannot Special Summon the same Sky Striker Link-1 twice in a single turn!"
"This is important—some beginners try to do it twice. That's fatal!"
"Lastly, understand the effects!"
"Card #1: Sky Striker Ace – Kagari!"
"Material: 1 non-FIRE 'Sky Striker Ace'—nicknamed 'Fire Striker'!"
"On Special Summon, add a 'Sky Striker' Spell from your GY to your hand; and she gains ATK equal to 100 times the number of Spells in your GY."
"Card #2: Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku!"
"Material: 1 non-WATER 'Sky Striker Ace'—nicknamed 'Water Striker'!"
"Opponent's monsters lose ATK/DEF equal to 100 times the number of Spells in your GY!"
"During the End Phase of the turn she was Special Summoned, you can search one 'Sky Striker' Spell with a name not already in your GY."
"Card #3: Sky Striker Ace – Hayate!"
"Material: 1 non-WIND 'Sky Striker Ace'—nicknamed 'Wind Striker'!"
"She can attack directly; after damage calculation, you can send one 'Sky Striker' card from your Deck to the GY."
"Card #4: Sky Striker Ace – Kaina!"
"Material: 1 non-EARTH 'Sky Striker Ace'—nicknamed 'Earth Striker'!"
"On Special Summon, target an opponent's face-up monster; it can't attack until the end of your opponent's turn."
"While on the field, each time you activate a 'Sky Striker' Spell or its effect, you recover 100 LP."
"The above are the in-archetype Sky Striker Link-1 monsters!"
"Remember this: end on Shizuku to get a card in the End Phase!"
"The combo then becomes very clear!"
"Normal Summon Raye, go to Battle Phase, swing once, then Quick-Effect tribute to make Hayate!"
"Hayate swings directly; after damage, send Engage! or another piece to the GY!"
"Main Phase 2, link Hayate into Kagari to add back a Sky Striker Spell!"
"Finally end on Shizuku; in the End Phase, search!"
"A simple resource loop—completed!"
"How is it? Not too hard, right!" 0.5 ...
After hearing the basic effect blurbs for the four Attribute Sky Striker Link-1s,
and one combo sequence,
the Duelists across the worlds—who'd been smiling before—immediately sat up straight!
Something's off!
This deck is a little off!
It's not as simple as they imagined at all!
One combo already asks you to use four Link-1 Sky Strikers!
But that isn't the key!
The key is resource sequencing and search timing!
Yes!
After hearing this little combo,
the veteran Duelists realized for the first time how crucial the order of going into your Extra Deck monsters is for this engine!
At the same time, the recovery and allocation of resources—
made them look at this archetype with new respect!
VRAINS world!
As denizens of the Link era,
by this point Yusaku Fujiki, Theodore Hamilton, the Left Leader, and others were already wearing contemplative looks!
"Feels hard to OTK—the engine runs fine, but the damage ceiling…"
"Yeah, tons of in-archetype Spells; it's dazzling—if I'm not familiar I don't think I can pilot Sky Strikers well!"
"So the Step Three lethal lines—can they really OTK in one breath?"
"Maybe there's still a Link-1 we're not accounting for?"
"..."
The Link Duelists immediately broke into a lively discussion.
What they saw in this Link deck—
was perhaps more about the rational use of Spells!
Because these in-archetype Link-1 monsters—
don't have high ATK!
In a 4000-LP environment,
maybe OTK is easy.
But at 8000 LP!
Can this Sky Striker monster lineup
really deliver an effortless OTK?
They couldn't help but put a question mark on that…
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