Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Debut: Ham Shaddoll Dogmatika
In Yugioh, there are archetypes whose gimmicks can sometimes get lost in the crossfire of more recent support, exchanging their unique playstyles for a more linear gameplan. More curiously however, there are also archetypes for whom the gimmick never really mattered in the first place: Case in point, Shaddoll. One of the first words on every Maindeck Shaddoll is, of course, FLIP, although it’s been many years since this aspect of their gameplay has been front-and-center. Early on in their lifespan, the game was just slow enough to the point where setting a doll and some backrow would be enough against an opponent aiming to play a long game, but such an opening play is laughable now. Fortunately, in Phantom Nightmare, a new Fusion Monster and its avian ally have brought FLIPs back into the limelight, and there’s some considerations worth making for Shaddoll’s new best Normal Summon…Presenting: Ham Shaddoll Dogmatika.
The card in question is a hilarious piece of generic support named Master of Ham, a clear callback to the vanilla Master of Oz. Ham is a Level 5 Fusion Monster, making it an Instant Fusion target, that Special Summons 1 FLIP monster from Deck face-down on Fusion Summon. Take that in for a second — if you can access this monster, you can get any Shaddoll from Deck, and turn on your Dogmatika cards with a Fusion Monster onboard. The second effect is supplementary, but does still come up, allowing Ham to revive itself face-down; this is a reasonable body for Super Polymerization, and sometimes an extra body just does enough.
The second piece of FLIP support in PHNI is Conbirdable — it allows you to send any face-down monster to the GY for its Summon during the BP, and Specials a Level 5 or higher FLIP from Deck on flip. To my annoyance, this is a Level 8 monster, which is 1 shy of it being a genuinely fantastic piece of support for Prediction Princess, but alas. This allows us to port into two options in Shaddoll itself, being Beast and Hollow, but moreover can trigger the effect of our Shaddolls when sent to GY by a card effect, making slow turns a lot faster.
While Ham is certainly a powerful card, accessing it in Shaddoll seems difficult; it requires two Beasts, and not a single doll fits that description. That’s where the next part of the strategy emerges, courtesy of Brothers of Legend. We’re playing a 5 card engine that makes Ham on Normal Summon, consisting of 3 Horse of the Floral Knights, and 2 Noble Knight’s Shield-Bearer, the latter of which you might recognize from my Time Thief list. Horse searches Shield-Bearer on Normal, then Shield-Bearer banishes itself for another Horse, which then Fuses with the other copy. Of course, you could expand or vary the engine, but this is the best way I’ve found to access Master of Ham off of a 1-card combo. This replaces what was traditionally Aleister the Invoker, a card which serves a similar purpose of allowing low-ceiling Normal Summon hands to end on something, at least.
Next up is the Dogmatika package, which is a regular sight in Shaddoll decks, given the synergy. Notably, any Extra Deck send turns into a live Shaddoll Trap, usually Shaddoll Schism — sending El Shaddoll Apkallone gives you a search and send, potentially triggering doll effects, or (more nefariously) putting Resh Shaddoll Incarnation in the GY alongside a name. Ham doesn’t just have to Summon a Shaddoll, and Incarnation doesn’t just have to flip a Shaddoll face-up: In an ideal hand, part of your endboard is Summoning Guard Dog face-down, and then banishing Incarnation & Apkallone to flip it up on the opponent’s turn. This results in a lingering Special Summon lock, which while not immediately gamewinning, does put you extremely far ahead. This can also be used less drastically to flip up something like Reeshaddoll Wendi to continue your plays, or Hedgehog for El Shaddoll Fusion, making Shekhinaga or Dragostapelia via Ham on the opponent’s turn for another search. While Ham is less immediately powerful than Invoked Mechaba, it makes up for that fact with a ton of flexibility.
Beyond that, we’re on what I would consider an incredibly standard Shaddoll lineup, with the exception of Helshaddoll Hallow, which serves two purposes in this list. First, it’s another Level 5 or higher FLIP for Conbirdable, and second, it’s an in-deck FIRE for beating Snake-Eye via Super Poly, or El Shaddoll Grysta. The extra copy of Wendi could potentially be shaved, but it’s better safe than sorry, looking at my testing; oftentimes a second Wendi trigger meant you didn’t run out of steam. Droll & Triple Tactics are our non-engine of choice, as well as Super Polymerization, but thankfully key archetypal cards like Nadir Servant and Shaddoll Fusion behave like non-engine at times, sending cards like Elder Entity N’Tss or Naelshaddoll Ariel as part of their resolution. Much of this deck is flexible, and while the only true 1-card combo is Horse, it still needs to be supplemented with other tools.
The Extra Deck is perhaps the tightest part of this list, and I’ve struggled to fit everything I want. Of course, an additional Master of Ham makes sense, but what’s there to remove? In a similar vein, adding in El Shaddoll Wendigo gives Horse a viable Shaddoll Fusion Monster to port into with its second effect, but Wendigo is extremely bad. If you’re looking for reasons to cut S:P Little Knight, an understandable cost concern, there are a bucketload of excellent and worthwhile secondary options. More targets for Super Poly, the above listed Fusions, or even Gravity Controller are considerations. Another choice I’ve abstained from is Whirlwind Weasel, the opposite of Guard Dog, turning off Spell/Traps on flip; the benefit here is that it’s another Beast, and a WIND one at that, meaning Shield-Bearer could potentially fetch it. If you find yourself wanting more ways to deny Spell/Trap heavy decks, I highly recommend its inclusion somewhere between the Side & Main Decks.
This is a peculiar list, although it should be similar to Shaddoll if you’re familiar; a lot of the nonlinear tools that have always been present exist in their finest state, with the excellent addition of Horse of the Floral Knights as a way to tie together more of your engines, rather than simply as a low-ceiling Fusion piece like Aliester. A lot of what made that deck fall off was the simple fact that Mechaba was not a satisfactory endboard, and little helped that fact. While the floor for Ham’s plays is obviously lower, the ceiling is a literal Vanity lock, so be aware of its power. In order to make Shaddoll playable in 2024, we’re just praying for a higher ceiling.
In some sense, Conbirdable is a very good card in Shaddoll, and some Dogmatika list that uses Master of Ham to port into a Special Summon or Spell/Trap lock could work, but this list is more to prove all three can function as one. There’s a world where the best way to play an individual part of these decks without the others, so take this as a nifty proof of concept, and an exploration of some design space people forgot was even attached to Shaddoll.
That’s it for Shaddoll and company this week! I know it’s a fan-favorite deck, so I hope this spin on it gets some gears turning. What other ways could you try and make this type of strategy work? Could there be a deck that actually abuses Master of Ham to a reasonable degree? Let me know in the comments below!
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