Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Debut: Millennium Virtual World
One aspect that rings true of modern Yugioh is a fascination for the alteration of card types. Whether that’s the newfound focus on Trap Monsters beginning in The Infinite Forbidden, or the top dog of the meta Fiendsmith Snake-Eye combining two separate archetypes which place monsters in the Spell & Trap Card Zone, actual card typing tends to be fast and loose. Normally this is of little consequence, but a few years ago, there was a meta contender of a deck heavily reliant on needing a Spell name face-up, with only one card available to meet that criteria. Virtual World, after being slept on prior to its release, took the meta by storm after coming out in Phantom Rage, before slowly fading out due to simply being bricky. In INFO however, there’s a fanservice-laden archetype that’s already passed under the radar, and following a Swiss top with VW, I want to re-examine that strategy under a new lens. Presenting: Millennium Virtual World.
The first thing we need to cover is the spice at play: Grandpa Muto’s new Millennium cards. Why these, over another archetype with a similar gimmick and proclivity for Extra Deck plays, such as White Forest, Snake-Eye, etc? For starters, it comes down to the sheer accessibility and tight line that this engine provides. No matter whether you open any of your three pieces, being Wedju Temple, Golem that Guards the Millennium Treasures, or Sengenjin Wakes from a Millennium, you have access to the entire line given each piece searches the others, then itself. Golem finds Wedju, which finds Sengenjin, which finds Golem, all while putting out a Level 6 & 8 body, a Field Spell, and placing a monster from your hand face-up as a Continuous Spell. That’s right, Wedju Temple places any monster from your hand into the backrow, meaning you can, for example, place a Virtual World of choice as a Spell, then activate another with the Trap+Monster mode live.
6 is already the most important Level for Virtual World, providing access to Rank 6 and Synchro 9 plays, but what does the deck do with a Level 8? In our case, it allows the deck brand-new access into options not available before, being Psychic End Punisher and Ukiyoe-P.U.N.K. Amazing Dragon. Our main line requires we pay a minimum of 4000 life points, causing PEP to get massive, and Virtual World just so happens to have access to 1-3 different Level 3 Psychic monsters to put in its GY at any given time. Go figure!
The synergies here are profound, and Virtual World has long lacked a consistent means of getting the right “mode” on, for its monsters in hand. Playing too many Virtual World Gate - Qinglong is bricky, but even when you need it, only Virtual World City - Kauwloon and associated searchers can find it for free. Even so, Millennium even provides a free discard to use (as the engine adds a ‘restart’ card after full line) for Qinglong in the GY, so there’s no worries there.
Beyond that, this deck is flexing a few key handtrap choices which can be difference makers in their own right. Effect Veiler is able to be searched off of Rciela, Sinister Soul of the White Forest, a generic Level 6 Synchro Tuner, which likewise has the capacity to send off Virtual Worlds or Gates we’ve placed in the backrow. Meanwhile, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit is another Level 3 Psychic name for Amazing Dragon, on top of being a flex spot for Emergency Teleport. The interaction suite here is tight, given Virtual World desperately needs to max out its good names, and I’m playing what is considered the bare minimum for Millenium, at a 3:3:2 ratio of Wedju, Golem, and Sengenjin. This is a classic rogue strategy that simply lacks the room for handtraps, and therefore suffers going second, in theory. Unlike old-school Virtual World though, Wedju can place another name on the board, stopping what used to be a death knell for the archetype, where you’d Normal Summon a name, have it remove, and be forced to pass. Resilience is newfound, in this engine.
Critically, the side for this deck opens up some fantastic options when the going gets rough. Floodgates like Skill Drain don’t affect Virtual World that much, as their effects largely resolve in the hand, and your Millenium monsters are just plain big, helping to break parity and swing over threats. Dimension Shifter is a card you can play here as well, although you need to be far more cognizant of your VW lines if it’s live, as Jiji, Laolao, and Lili lose their capacity to help the deck grind, even if they still get to play the game. This isn’t as simple a synergy as something like Ritual Beast playing those cards, but it’s still potent.
As for other engines which might belong in this strategy, Nemeses does come to mind, as well as Fiendsmith. Nemeses enjoy the various types present here, with Golem being Rock, Sengenjin being Beast-Warrior, and the Virtual Worlds being Psychics & Wyrms. This also opens up more ways to go into your Level 11 Synchros, with Flag as a Level 2, but unfortunately Nemeses suffers from lacking means to go through Infernal Flame Banshee as an easy search, lacking Level 4s.
You could also splash P.U.N.K., or White Forest, given both have Synchro proclivities, lack Link access, and tend to center around the manipulation of backrow & Level 3/6/9. Fiendsmith is perhaps the biggest stand-out though, as Engraver himself is a 6, meaning Beatrice access via Golem or a Synchro, as well as a much higher floor. The issue which crops up, however, is that everything Fiendsmith does would have to be done prior to VW, as you’re locked from Links for the rest of the turn otherwise.
This is a pretty simple list, all things considered, but that’s the general nature of Virtual World at its core. You’re playing maximum copies of every single PHRA Virtual World that’s worthwhile, meaning 0 copies of Virtual World Oto-Hime - Toutou, and just one of Nyannyan. You’re playing just enough gates to keep them recycled, given we’re not on something like Pot of Desires, which helps us fit in both the Millennium package, at a prior mentioned 3:3:2, and 8 total handtraps, 4 less than is considered presently preferable in the format.
The Extra Deck is where the true difficulty in building this deck lies. You want to be playing a critical mass of Level 6 Synchros and Rank 6s, your two most common summon types, but quite a lot of those only provide direct draw, or direct removal. Two of the new stand-outs include the White Forest monsters, Rciela and Silvera, who do their job wonderfully, even tutoring things like Effect Veiler, or setting down problem boards in preparation for an OTK.
This list doesn’t even use the Millennium Ankh components of the strategy, but that might just be for the best. Ankh is bricky, and requires you to play some awful cards, so foregoing it until we at least get Blue-Eyes of the Heart seems wise.
I hope you enjoyed this look into Virtual World with a new INFO splash! Do you think this could lead to a comeback for Virtual World? What have you been doing with Millennium? This article wasn’t easy to figure out, as the Millennium cards are a bit clunky otherwise! I’d love to hear what you’ve been brewing in the comments below!
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