There have always been FTK decks in Yugioh. Whether you were deep drawing to Exodia, winning worlds with Substitoad (look it up, they actually let that happen), or using some insane TCG-Exclusives, finishing the game on the first turn has been a dreaded mainstay of the game since day 1. Of course, Konami is required to bat away these loathsome strategies if they get too powerful, for fear of boring gameplay, but it seems all too common today for powerful untested cards to be the reason they exist at all. Enter our newest TCG-Exclusive archetype: Angelechy. Based on chess, and doing a fantastic job at capturing that thematic, this Synchro-only lineup is all about wonky interactions with zones, and providing easy access to a wealth of Synchro tools. I’ve made a habit of covering the TCG-Exclusive decks for Flipside, as I think they tend to be the most interesting facet of modern card design, and while I do appreciate what Angelechy is doing…this deck is maybe a bit too good for its own good. Let’s talk about why, and whether you should yearn to see Mind Castlin banned next list, or not.
To actually discuss Angelechy, we need to cover how they operate: Your goal is to land a copy of Witness of the Ancients (a non-archetypal card made exclusively for Angelechy) and/or Angelechy Problem, and set up your backrow with powerful Synchro Monsters that are treated as Continuous Spells. Angelechy Shatranga adds an “Angelechy” Trap and locks the opponent to 5 monster effects per turn, Bastion places Shatranga and protects your Angelechy cards from being destroyed, and Destrier adds an “Angelechy” Spell and burns the opponent for 500LP per card or effect. That last one should set off some alarm bells, if we’re being honest. Yes, in a world where we can set up 2 copies of Destrier, the opponent is functionally locked to 8 cards or effects in a given turn, before immediately dying to burn damage; that alone would be powerful, but it’s also the gate we need to open for us to access the FTK. Before that though, while these cards are the payoffs for Angelechy as a strategy, the actual enablers are a bit more specific, with Problem asking you to grab a Level 2 “Angelechy” Monster from the Extra Deck, what’s that about?
The way we enable Angelechy is via Angelechy Enlisted, the ‘pawn’ of this chess deck, which ‘takes’ an opponent’s monster in an adjacent column, transfers control, and ‘promotes’ to one of your big Angelechy options. The thematic here is absolutely pristine, as you might be able to tell. On that note, Enlisted is enabled as well from as soon as turn 0, by way of Angelechy Opening to E4 (the actual card name) which starts your gameplan early by summoning Enlisted, Destrier, or Bastion, placing Problem, and placing another name in the Spell & Trap Zone. Does this mean, by way of Bastion, you can set up a turn 0 immune-to-destruction lock to 5 monster effects? It does. It really, truly does. That’s not an FTK, but is a profound problem for opponents to deal with from the get-go, and even when this list is playing ‘fairly’, that involves some brutal burn damage or floodgates from the game’s outset. Finally for our Angelechy cards, there’s the 1-of Angelechy Disturbance, which gives your opponent a ‘piece’ to negate all surrounding cards, and more importantly floats into another “Angelechy” Spell/Trap. Adding it to discard to Problem is quite common.
As mentioned, this deck even packs an FTK, accessed most commonly by any engine which can make a Level 8 Synchro. Here, we’re using primarily Fallen of the White Dragon & Ascator, Dawnwalker, with a total of 9 1-card FTKs in the list. This mostly works without it too, however, because that Level 8 we make—Glitch Clutch Nullgainer—is a means to search and turn on Witness of the Ancient. Witness, so long as you have a Synchro in your field/GY, Special Summons itself and places up to three Synchros from your Extra onto the field as Continuous Spells, and then makes a token with a Level equal to the number placed. In an ideal world, we’re placing 3, usually each of our non-Enlisted, declining to use Bastion’s effect if we haven’t already.
Witness & Nullgainer are both Level 8s, and one is a Tuner, so that turns on what else but Phantasmal Lord Ultimitl Bishbaalkin, which in turn Summons 3 tokens to each field. Using the placed Destrier & Shatranga, we get Problem & Disturbance, discarding the latter for Enlisted, and Enlisted plus a token for Martial Metal Marcher. Get back Witness, and then, it’s time for Mind Castlin, by way of Marcher and the original Witness token.
Mind Castlin, originally released in the 25th Anniversary Tins: Dueling Mirrors, was written off immediately upon its reveal. Unfortunately, its time is now. See, with Castlin alongside two remaining Bishbaalkin tokens, we can Summon a classic Synchro from the 5Ds era: Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons. Castlin’s GY effect then activates, and we can donate it to our opponent, in exchange for one of their Bishbaalkin tokens, how nice. Using their stolen token and the Witness we resummoned with Marcher, we can make Vermillion Dragon Mech, and attempt to pop one of our Angelechy Synchros in the backrow—this triggers Problem, and causes us to be able to return an Enlisted we placed when Summoning the original one with Problem’s ignition effect, and pass it to our opponent. It promotes, which triggers a Destrier activation for 500 damage…and Beelze gains 500 ATK. 500 more damage, 500 more ATK, until the very Beelze we pawned off (pun intended) kills our opponent. This is functionally all accessible in-archetype if you count Witness, and the deck is strong even if it doesn’t win turn 1.
So how should we feel about this? It’s an interesting conundrum, because on the one hand, Angelechy already looks sweet as an engine for TCG decks, much like Mitsurugi wave 1 with the YCS-winning Mitsurugi Ryzeal. On the other…well, when Mitsurugi started strong, and got a second wave, it not only led to more FTKs, but the top deck in the meta being one that’d never touched Japanese soil. Angelechy is frankly an amazing deck from a thematic angle, with you actually ‘promoting’ pawns and the like, but you’d have to ban Beelze, Mind Castlin, and/or Bishbaalkin to rid the strategy of its strongest opening play.
I love when TCG-Exclusives release strong, full disclosure; they’re the best designs in the modern game by a mile, and even when they’re misses in terms of power, the mechanics employed are a treat to see as someone who grew up making his very own custom cards of a similar sort. I think that, as soon as the FTK is excised from Angelechy and it gets to play a less full Extra, we’ll be seeing cards like The Fallen & The Virtuous take center stage, as means of cycling Albaz and Incredible Ecclesia.
In terms of non-engine, the two big callouts here are Bystial Magnamhut & Fydraulis Harmonia. The former gets the latter, yes, and can banish any of our Angelechys, but it can also grab a copy of Fallen of the White Dragon to access our main line. Fydraulis meanwhile is a clear pick in a deck where our Extra is 15 Synchros, and no other types; it’s one of the strongest pieces of non-engine in the game right now, so long as you have the necessary material to show for its maximum effect.
Beyond that, given our core package is so slim, we’re on a whopping 19 non-engine, and if we stretch that to include Opening to E4, more than half our deck is helping to fight through opposing plays first and foremost. Angelechy all being in the Extra means there’s tons of room for disruption in the Main Deck, shifting the opportunity cost to the 15 total cards we can play in the Extra, all but 1 of which are necessary for the FTK in some capacity.
While unofficial, the Chinese Yugioh community keeps a running circuit of no-banlist tournaments, using cards from all regions. The deck that won the most recent one, following the release of Chaos Origins in the TCG, was Toon Angelechy. In a format where things like full power Tearalament and SPYRAL are legal, the new chess deck is already making a splash—that alone should speak loudly for its potential in Advanced as a format. Funny enough though, because Opening to E4 calls out the Extra Monster Zone specifically, this deck is utterly watered-down in Genesys, which I think is an extremely clever consideration to avoid it impacting that format in the same way. Smart move on the part of the TCG’s designers, and their custodial duty to Yugioh’s second most popular format. The above decklist is slim, trim, and mean, and you’ll be seeing cards from it at the next YCS, guaranteed.
If you missed out on buying your copies of the Mitsurugi cards before their second wave, don’t make the same mistake with Angelechy, please. For as worried as I am, I’m likewise excited, and can’t wait to see what other chess mechanics get brought into Yugioh. I’d bet money we’ll see some way to En Passant, knowing the comedic stylings of our TCG design team.
How do you feel about Angelechy? Is having a viable FTK deck in the format a good thing? What sort of chess jokes do you foresee them doing for its next wave? What else from Chaos Origin should I cover? Let me know in the comments below!
