You might think an archetype used by the King of Games himself, and even a secondary character in Yugioh’s second series, might deserve a little more respect than it’s gotten. Yes, Magnet Warriors have been the red-headed stepchild of Yugioh since their paired support alongside ABC, where the power disparity between the two was so major as to become a running joke. It’s always been closer than folks give it credit for, that race between the lesser-known archetypes used by notable anime characters, and there’ve been multiple times since the Link Era that Magnet Warriors saw Rogue-level play. Then, in January 2026, they topped an OCG major. Then another. It’s been a quiet contest, with not enough players bringing the deck to actually show the Magnets in the data, but dedicated pilots have shown it has real promise. We might lack Block Dragon, and Barrier Statue of the Drought, but what we do have in the TCG is a signature exclusive that might make up for those forbidden tools. Strap in, because Magnet Warriors are back…again.
If I had to boil how the archetype plays down into a single phrase, it would be ‘Ryzeal meets Infernoid’; there’s a number of cards you want to dump directly to the graveyard as cost, to then flex a Rank 4 toolbox with a fair amount of extension. The card that ties all of it together, though, wasn’t even one we were sure to receive in Burst Protocol: Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus. This was thankfully imported in the set alongside the newest wave, but notably the deck is still missing one crucial card set to debut in Maze of Muertos later this month. Linear Magnum is able to, as cost, dump any two of our Magnets, and that leads to an absolute world of options. The one card you’ll almost always send in the first slew is Conduction Warrior Sigma Plus, who when sent to the GY revives another small Magnet, e.g. the other card you’ve sent. There’s good reasons to send a variety of other options, such as Epsilon the Magnet Warrior if you’ve got 2+ other names in the yard, or Beta the Electromagnet Warrior to kickstart combos, but all you need to know is that Linear Magnum is the main card you’re aiming to open.
Getting access to the big Magnum is shockingly easy though, pun very much intended. Arriving with it is Magnet Bonding, a 3-for-1 Spell that adds one of two options, or performs a Fusion Summon; critically, each mode is the thing locked by its Hard Once-per-Turn, meaning you could open 3 copies and be thrilled. For that reason, we’re on a surprise hit, Duoterion, who conveniently discards itself to add a “Bonding” card. If we really wanted, we could even bump the deck to 50 or 60 cards, and run Fossil Dig, but that’s not been the case in top performing decklists thus far.
Let’s talk about the one card not yet available in paper though, and the last big send you’ll often see with Linear Magnum: Magnet Warrior Omega Plus. Omega Plus is vital for unlocking plays involving Epsilon, as it can destroy a spare Magnet in hand to revive itself, thus putting the 2 names necessary in yard for Epsilon to kick off. In addition, it’s a phenomenal card to Special Summon on the opponent’s turn, as its Quick Effect can stop combo lines before the start.
How does that happen? Well, Beta doesn’t just find a copy of Sigma Minus, it also has the ability to ‘port out’ on the opponent’s turn into a relevant Level 4 Magnet. That’s often Omega Plus, but Epsilon works just as well if you already have it in the GY. Speaking of Beta into Sigma Minus though, it’s time to cover the reason I feel this strategy might have legs in the TCG: Its Fusion Monsters. It’s become a joke that the TCG gives decks pointless Fusions, but Flux Ochsenfeld is a very real card! It allows you to grab any of your already-used Magnets, and then on either turn return it to the hand alongside an opponent’s card. This crucially fills a gap in the strategy when it comes to putting Sigma Minus back in hand for another Fusion play, as it can only use that effect while not on the board. Flux is also an incredible Super Polymerization target as well, given the boss monster of Dracotail is conveniently a Level 5+ EARTH monster!
There’s also Conduction Warrior Plasma Magnum, and yes I know these names kind of blend together. Plasma Magnum essentially turns the deck’s gimmick on, making all Monsters EARTH; this isn’t a massive effect, but can allow your disruptions via any of the Sigmas or Tellusion the Magna Warrior to be just a bit better. What it actually accomplishes is making all Level 5+ monsters EARTH for Super Poly, when accounting for Flux. Additionally, it opens up the potential for a Gozen Match in the Side Deck, which I don’t hate going first!
Beyond that though, Plasma Magnum grabs a “Magnet” Spell (usually Bonding, but sometimes Magnet Induction) and gives you a spare Normal. It does everything, but is absolutely brutalized by targeted negation ala Effect Veiler, so keep that in mind. Luckily, we’re at the lowest playrate for those targeted negation handtraps in recent memory, which means Magnets are better positioned than they’d otherwise be!
Let’s not forget that we’re also playing 3 copies of Adamancipator Researcher, however: She’s not just a free Rock body, but also can find a spare Magnet for further extension. Additionally, she’s able to Tune with Beta to make Naturia Beast, which stops quite a few starters right now. Do note that Beast tends not to be worth making versus other Extra Deck bosses if you know an opponent is on Forbidden Crown or Droplet, though—they can’t be responded to. That fact makes the theoretical Radiant Typhoon matchup far harder, when previously they’d have hated to see Beast on your board. Still, with enough Rocks (and you’ll have plenty) you can instead make Dogurad, the Stonetrooper, which is close enough to a Drident to be worth making. A lot of Magnet’s endboard isn’t powerful negation or infinite interaction, it’s the ability to respond over and over with small, incremental disruptions. Death by a thousand cuts, more or less.
For the Side, you’re looking at playing 1-2 other Super Poly targets, likely Secreterion Dragon for Draco, and one of the Predaplant Fusions for DARK-dense decks. As discussed, Gozen is great when you know you’re going first, and I quite like Crown, both as a way to stop a combo but also to ensure you make it to the next turn. All of your Magnets go plus in some way, so the longer you survive, the better your chances of winning are. With Maliss being killed though, a ton of Side space is opened up, with Lancea and the like now being phased-out. Depending on the strength of bosses in this format, there’s a world where we look at things like Sphere Mode or Kaijus to answer things this deck can’t play through via Super Poly.
I have buried the lede a bit though, because you’ll notice this list has some Fiendsmith tools present! It’s not much, but just enough to turn 2 Level 4s into an Evilswarm Exciton Knight, lining into D/D/D Wave High King Caesar. Caesar is freakishly good going first, and given you just make so many bodies sometimes the right call is quite simply to lock away a few Summons. A Caesar and some way to protect is is your Plan A into Dracotail, and because we’ll be seeing so much of it in the format, it’s good to be very acquainted with that. Cross-Sheep is also exceptional here, as you’ll almost always have a Fusion for its effect, reviving bodies to keep playing. It comes up more than you’d think, so be on the lookout for Summoning back a Ghost Belle with Sheep, then bouncing it with Flux! In a similar vein, if you don’t need that Gallant Granite search for a Magnet, just grab your Nibiru.
The thing is though, this deck could be substantially stronger. Block Dragon is still banned, and would be an incredible piece to extend with in the TCG, and the OCG even has access to a Special lock with its EARTH Barrier Statue. Though we have Flux, is he alone enough to propel Magnets to similar success stateside? I hope so, and in testing, the deck felt quite strong, but it’s hard to say. We’re months out from the next list, and by then we’ll have gotten 2 more sets, so seeing that far into the future is precarious. Fingers crossed, though, because it’s about time this bunch of rocks had its day in the sun.
How do you feel about the brand-new Magnet cards? Do you think Block Dragon could come off of the Forbidden list? What else in Burst Protocol do you want to see me cover? How has the banlist affected your decks? Let me know in the comments below!
