Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Debut: Primite Umi
There were originally three main pillars of decks from which Yugioh derived its playstyle, being combo, control, and stun (as well as the midpoint of this triangle, so-called “midrange”). In recent years, there has been a unilateral decision made by Konami that stun cards, generically, have to be brought in onto the banlist, and moreover, only sub-par strategies would get access to them in-archetype, leaving instead a gap filled by aggro/OTK, currently Tenpai. Yet, in the quiet back of the packs, stun still lives on, waiting for a critical mass of enablers to return to dominance in a field expecting only combo or control, headed, I believe, by the new Primite cards.
Primite itself does not possess stun elements in any of its core playable cards, but it provides a structure and synergy package for those that do, outside of the deck; following the release of Primite Another Beryl in Supreme Darkness, around January of next year, I believe some manner of stun deck will emerge from the rubble, and once again bring back that three-way split Yugioh had for many years. As a thought piece, presenting Primite Umi.
Card names are not final
Primite is difficult to separate from the Morganite series of cards, so I’ll talk about both as background. This is a set of cards relying on the ability to summon forth a swath of named Normal Monsters, then using their types & attributes to interact with your opponent. This is accomplished through their two main starters, Primite Lordly Lode, out already, and Primite Another Beryl, out in SUDA. Lode is a standard Tenki-style card, searching on activation, but also providing a meager ATK boost, and the ability to Summon a Normal Monster from Deck, at the cost of locking yourself from monster effects that turn (a steep price). Meanwhile, Beryl Sets a Primite Spell/Trap on Normal Summon, then being able to send a Normal Monster from Deck to GY, and recur itself in your Standby, all fairly standard. Each of these two tools finds the other, which then allow you to pivot into other Primite cards, one being a negate and banish, in Primite Drillbeam, and another being a Summon & steal, being Primite Howl. One key factor was missing from this explanation though — Beryl’s Normal Summon effect isn’t Hard Once Per Turn.
Also as necessary context comes Time-Tearing Morganite, which, in return for no monster effects in hand for the rest of the Duel, doubles your draws during Draw Phase, and allows an additional Normal Summon. Oftentimes, you can chain Beryls together to resolve multiple of their on-Summon effects in a single turn, overwhelming your opponent with advantage, but luckily having an extra Normal is good for plenty else. With the printing of the Dominus cards, we can also finally afford to run a suite of literal hand Traps, and be okay locking ourselves from options like Ash.
The stun element here comes from a strategy that also relies on Normal Monsters, and Normal Summons — Umi control. Specifically, Ocean Dragon Lord - Kairyu-Shin, whose continuous effect mimics There Can Be Only One, a limited floodgate and potent stun tool. Given we only care about the effect which doesn’t activate, once we’ve established our board, the locks surrounding this strategy don’t hamper the sea serpent’s ability to quash opposing openers.
In a similar vein to Vintage in Magic: The Gathering, we are forced to play each of the potent floodgate Continuous Traps at 1 apiece, but collectively they represent a shocking density of game-ending effects if resolved. You can think of these cards as both sweepers and control tools, able to either flush boards out, if established, and reactive pieces, stopping combos midway through by preventing Summons which would go against the stated effects.
The fact we need to play all four means the deck has to operate around all four, and fathoming a strategy where both There Can Be Only One and Rivalry of Warlords are both solid inclusions is an odd deck indeed. To that end, we play triplicate copies of the critical Normal Summons, Beryl & Kairyu, and single Normal Monsters matching their Type & Attribute, adorably being the classic Kairyu-Shin and Crawling Dragon, being a WATER Sea Serpent & EARTH Dragon, respectively.
Normally, in order to enable Kairyu, you need A Legendary Ocean onboard to Normal Summon it, although Primite helps us circumvent this. Using any of our Primite starters, such as Lordly Lode or Primite Roar, we can Special Summon the necessary Tribute fodder for Kairyu, which then you can Normal Summon without the Level reduction, using its effect to search for either A Legendary Ocean itself, or Sea Stealth II. You can even do this through the effect of Lordly Lode, as the Kairyu will be Tribute Summoned, so really it just makes the entire process much easier.
Fish Sonar is along the same lines, helping be both a searcher and starter alongside Umi, assisting in the density this deck requires. Given the fact that you’re largely looking for continuous effects, or ones whose best effect isn’t HOPT, you can actually get away with grabbing duplicates more than nearly any other deck, meaning it’s safe to play a shocking amount of redundant copies.
In the Sidedeck, I would focus on playing cards which help you go second, or equalize. Evenly Matched jumps out to me as a fantastic option, but Triple Tactics Thrust can find cards like Fish Sonar or the Morganites, meaning there’s probably two cards worth immediately playing. Dimensional Barrier is one of the better ways to stall out Tenpai, and given what the deck is already doing, Anti-Spell Fragrance, or even Deck Lockdown, could be options. Really, what needs to be done is to have a gameplan against decks running full suites of Spell/Trap removal, as stun notably folds to cards like Lightning Storm without recourse, given your core engine only provides means to interact with Monsters. In addition, if you know you’re going second, Fuwalos is a worthy consideration, as you’ll accrue advantage from it before you eventually lock yourself from using it.
This list aims to capitalize on exactly one pivot, beginning with the Primite cards (including Crawling Dragon), before pivoting into your Umi package using the resources generated. This means, on your opponent’s turn, you will assuredly have no Primite pieces left on your field if a floodgate resolves, locking you into WATER components, before on your turn pivoting back into 1-2 copies of Another Beryl in order to find your last two pieces of non-Lode Primite cards. This list could certainly play additional copies of Howl, or the other new Primite card, Primite Resounding Reaction, although that card has been foregone because we have enough ways to deal with Monster lineups at present.
Fenrir is included as an EARTH monster, a free Special Summon, removal, etc, although there is anti-synergy with exactly Primite Roar, which has its key mode turned off if you control a monster, meaning you cannot go through your entire Primite+Fish Sonar line if you have Fenrir in hand. This is important to note, but generally doesn’t come up. Finally, while the Extra Deck is fundamentally the “usual suspects”, Magikey Spirit - Vepartu is actually fantastic here, as a means to cycle through your Normal Monsters and get around big singular threats the deck might otherwise struggle with. Ultimately it is a personal choice as to whether you choose to flex into Vepartu or Sea Stealth Attack, the latter being a card I wish I could find space for.
The self-referentiality and redundancy held within Another Beryl & Lordly Lode is truly something to behold, and it greatly reminds me of something like the Invoked engine of ages past, although the difference here is that instead of being a low-ceiling failsafe for combo decks without need of their Normal Summon, instead here it allows you to raise your ceiling, on top of at-worst ending on something like 2 bodies and a Spell Speed 2 steal.
What other decks do you think could benefit from Primite? I know I’m covering this strategy a bit early, but it’s the singularly most interesting thing I’ve seen from the next Core Set. What should I cover now in the meantime, until the next major release? I’d love to hear what you’ve been thinking in the comments below!
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