What separated the Synchro mechanic from its Fusion forefather was the fact it cared about two newly-important facets: Levels, and Tuners. Kewl Tune, debuting in Phantom Revenge, sweeps the latter under the rug in that it cares about using solely Tuners for its Synchros, something we’ve only really seen previously with Mannadium. Kewl Tune is also the only archetype from the new Deck Build Pack to have substantial hype behind it as more than just an engine, with the list we’re focusing upon today coming first place in an OCG Regional. There’s only one tiny problem, however—this list features the brand-new Elvennotes, from Burst Protocol, which has a couple months before it arrives to the TCG. Call this list speculative, call it foregone: You will need to know how it functions come 2026. For that reason, let’s get ready to read with Elvennote Kewl Tune.
Card names are not final
Kewl Tune takes some cues, pun intended, from the Code Talker monsters, with all of its Main Deck members able to use at least 1 Material’s worth of Tuner in hand as part of a Synchro Summon. This is great, given it reduces the need to overcommit to the board, and even makes otherwise-dead handtraps far more useful in establishing a board. The downside to this is that for their Synchros they need to use solely Tuners, meaning this effect basically doesn’t apply when splashed alongside most other engines. Synchro decks using a secondary package of free large bodies as Synchro material is nothing new, however, and for anyone familiar with how Speedroid Kashtira worked, many of the same lessons here are also present. You use as many in-Tuner tools to make Kewl Tune plays, then fallback to your other package to either make bigger Synchros with spare materials, or in the case you’re interrupted. Let’s talk about that paired package.
Elvennote are an odd sort, being very reminiscent of Kashtira, but are instead Level 6 and care about the center Main Monster Zone (CMMZ, for short) rather than face-down banishment. If your CMMZ is empty, you can Special Summon either Lucina, Dyina, or Fortona to it, with each adding an archetypal Monster, Spell, or Trap respectively. As you can surmise, not unlike how Runick strategies empty their Extra Monster Zone to Summon more Fusions, Elvennote absolutely loves decks that can use their bodies for Synchro plays beyond the CMMZ, making space easily. That’s not all, however, because by way of either Lucina or Dyina (via her placing Elvennotes ‘Homecoming Parallelism’) we can add an Elvennotes Power Patron to our hand, which is conveniently a Tuner that enjoys being sent to the GY as material. This, plus any of our Level 3 Kewl Tunes, leads to Kewl Tune Track Maker, which in turn opens up the rest of the Elvennote line plus the entire Kewl Tune line.
Our core lines involve opening either Dyina or Lucina, with no preference, and/or a Level 3 Kewl Tune, preferably Kewl Tune Cue. Bear in mind that Reco can be reached by our single copy of Earthbound Prisoner Stone Sweeper, which is played in lieu of a third Reco for its ability to be an extender if we have JJ “Kewl Tune” in the Field Spell Zone. Either of those lines starts us in its entirety for their respective engines, but opening them together can give us everything from handrips by way of Omega + Bystial Dis Pater, a layered negation board by lining through Visas Amritara for Mannadium Breakheart, or 3+ random Extra Deck rips by abusing Kewl Tune Clip’s GY effect and repeats. While we’re most often just shrugging and using the Elvennotes as ideal bodies for our Synchro plays, ending on two of them, one in the CMMZ, gives us a shockingly reasonable bit of interaction. Their last effects, which require you pirouette and swap the positions of relevant Monsters with the one in the CMMZ, give us either a bounce or temporary handrip, both excellent to pair with cards like Omega.
What this deck does best, however, is absolutely dunk on opposing Synchro/Xyz strategies. When I say dunk, I mean Michael Jordan dunkage, I’m talking about a degree to which the matchup requires ~2+ non-engine pieces to even be allowed to play. The reason? Kewl Tune RS + Elvennotes Seraphim Stlitzia. Each of these monsters in some way alters the Levels of opposing monsters in deeply annoying way, either proactively or reactively, respectively. Suddenly, Rank 4 decks realize they can’t even enter the Extra, and in response to a push you can jam Stlitzia and end their turn. This reminds me quite a bit of how it can feel to play against something like an El Shaddoll Winda, but we’ve never really had a meta deck with this floodgate as part of its core gameplan. While it is cool, and certainly new ground, the fact both engines can present it not only means the mirror match will be diabolical, but that decks which lose to it may be pushed out of the meta. It’s that latter consideration which has me worried, given diversity is key to a good metagame.
One of the biggest flexes available to this strategy is the fact that it gets to run effectively 6 copies of Emergency Teleport, by way of Kewl Tune Synchro & Synchro Overtake. We could run even more, if we wanted to add 1-2 copies of Duelist’s Genesis, which has seen some experimentation. The reason these are so good, beyond the obvious, is the fact that Kewl Tune Synchro isn’t hard-once-per-turn, but can be used twice, meaning a density of the card is well-appreciated. It can be used to flex between our various Synchros, looping through relevant Kewl Tunes, and making sure Kewl Tune Loudness War is positively stacked with potential interruptions. This is strategy where your opponent always needs to keep in mind whether you can extend or not, because even if they kill your Normal Summon, another Kewl Tune can come out from the Deck, and use spares in your hand for a Synchro. Ultimately, it’s the ability to grab material from nearabouts anywhere, at any time, that pushes Kewl Tune into relevance.
The side that was played in this tournament contained about what one might expect: Lanceas for bad banish matchups, some 1-ofs like Anti-Spell Fragrance because they’re for some reason still legal, etc. The notably standout was the discussion about additional copies of Power Patron, which makes your Turn 1 plays that much more explosive. If you open Patron and a Level 3 Kewl Tune, that gets you well into both lines, and it’s impossible to disrupt on the play outside of exactly Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. To that end, we could see the inclusion of a Crossout Designator and 1 Ghost Ogre, or even just more Thrusts to punish opponents for being greedy. I think Kaijus could also see a place here, given we have bounces by way of our Elvennotes, but that remains to be seen given they begin on the opponent’s turn.
On the whole, this deck is explosive, has some autowin matchups, and critically is extremely fun. There’s just so much going on, from managing Tuner locks to what’s in or out of your CMMZ, and you can often wriggle your way out of any situation with the right play. The only major concern I have is that the Extra Deck lacks Tuner Synchros in the way we’d want. There’s no good Level 10 Tuner Synchro, for example, which would be an ideal body for a Level 6 Elvennote + Kewl Tune Track Maker. These gaps are noteworthy, and do mean that if you lock yourself too early you’ll need to rely on a Kewl Tune Clip in hand to Synchro-fix on your opponent’s turn. This list also lacks Baronne de Fleur, one of the cards lost in translation from the OCG to TCG, and I don’t see that card coming off the banlist anytime soon.
That’s ⅔ of the new decks in Phantom Revenge covered, and while it’s not as exciting as the previous Deck Build Pack, the flavor is on-point! These are immensely fun decks to play, and while they might be stuck in Tier 2 until the release of Elvennote, I have faith they’ll eventually get their due when the Core Set support card drops. These definitely need it more than decks like K9 or Yummy, but as we saw in the form of Noroi and more, Konami isn’t afraid of breaking these strategies wide open a few months into their lifespan. To all Kewl Tune pilots, your day will no doubt come.
Do you think Kewl Tune will be pointed in Genesys? We haven’t touched on these archetypes’ potential in the alternative format, but the legal ones seem strong on release! How are you approaching Kewl Tune before the release of the Elvennotes in Burst Protocol? Are you excited for Phantom Revenge? Let me know in the comments below!
