Let’s work through building a TCG variant of T.G. from ground zero to let this cool theme shine.

Introduction:

The crux of the new support is the new in-theme Link monster that aims to jumpstart the infamous Synchro Summons that the theme is known for. T.G. Trident Launcher is a Link 3 monster that can Special Summon 3 other T.G. monsters, 1 each from hand, deck and GY, whenever it is Link Summoned. Despite being weak to just about every handtrap under the sun, this one card can truly turboboost your strategy into overdrive if you get the chance to Synchro Summon him without disruption. So as this is the key card, we need to design our deckbuild to facilitate him arriving to the field in all of his glory.

First, let’s discuss the required materials and why this theme might be so tricky to build for the TCG.  Trident can be summoned using any 2+ effect monsters as long as one of your materials is a T.G. Tuner. This is awesome in a ton of ways, but most of all, you are probably aware that this theme was designed with the Synchro Summoning support Link monster in mind, Crystron Glassfiber (YGOrg Translation). Released in Link Vrains Pack 1 to the OCG, TCG players have been waiting for what seems like ages for the card to be imported to the TCG. Since Glass can be Link Summoned using any tuner and then could bring out a T.G. tuner when it is Link Summoned, Trident was a quick jump away to begin the strategy with your Synchro-enabled board. In the TCG, we do not have the luxury of running all of the various engines that can abuse Glassfiber, so this is where the challenge lies for deckbuilders looking to take on T.G.

What are our options for outside help?

When approaching a deckbuilding challenge such as this one, we need to first establish our core cards that will help enable our main plays. In this case, we need to be able to summon Launcher as often as possible. That being said, we do have a couple of neat options to consider, so let’s walk through their advantages.

The last option is focusing around the eternal combo builds – decks that start out with an initial Ib, the World Chalice Justicar before transitioning into a long chain of summons, searching basically any tuner you would want using Omni Dragon Brotaur and Reprodocus. This combo can currently be tooled to an FTK, so if you are switching the build to use T.G.s instead, you are missing out on a valuable opportunity. Thus, this option is also out.

So where does that leave us? Unfortunately we don’t have a solid outside option to turn to without drawbacks so let’s try to stick to a core build. We’ll just build around that as it’s our best option to make this archetype function at top speeds.

Finding a Pure Core:

Blazar Dragon is pretty awesome. It can negate a summon, a card or effect, or an attack once per turn by banishing itself. This is the disruption that T.G. offers, at least off of its initial Trident summon, since it can be Double Accel Synchro Summoned using T.G. Synchro Tuner + Hyper Librarian + Recipro Dragonfly during your opponent’s Main Phase by the effect of either of your T.G. Synchro Tuners. While Cosmic is still able to be tributed away by a Kaiju, there is not much else that can stop him. So with a worthy boss monster, a consistency engine, and a diverse archetype I think we have enough to be able to build a full deck. Let’s checkout the decklist!

Decklist:

Click to view the Interactive Decklist in the Official Card Database.

Monsters: 25
||| T.G. Tank Grub
||| T.G. Screw Serpent
||| T.G. Striker
||| T.G. Gear Zombie
||| T.G. Warwolf
||| T.G. Drill Fish
|| T.G. Booster Raptor
|| Bonze Alone
||| Jester Confit

Spells: 15
||| Where Arf Thou?
||| Fire Formation – Tenki
| Whitefish Salvage
| Reinforcement of the Army
||| Called by the Grave
| Monster Reborn
||| Pot of Desires

Extra Deck:
| Cosmic Blazar Dragon
| T.G. Blade Blaster
|| T.G. Hyper Librarian
|| T.G. Star Guardian
| T.G. Recipro Dragonfly
| T.G. Wonder Magician
| Crystron Quariongandrax
| Borreload Savage Dragon
| Cyberse Quantum Dragon
| Formula Synchron
|| T.G. Trident Launcher
| Linkuriboh

“He seems to be very unreliable, but he might have incredible potential”

Alternative Tech Options:

Upcoming Support:

On the other hand, a new T.G. Synchro monster was recently revealed for an upcoming product. Check out our article on the reveal here. Shooting Star Dragon T.G. – Expansion (YGOrg Translation) gives the theme a new Level 10 Synchro that provides a better alternative for Blade Blaster that offers monster targeting protection and attack negation. It’s another option for the extra deck that doesn’t offer anything too revolutionary, and while we also don’t have an estimated time of release for this card into the TCG, it is nevertheless supercool to see future support for T.G. down the road.

Conclusion:

The T.G. theme may not be at its final form yet, but it definitely can still pack a punch through its unique combination of combo potential, delta accel synchro summoning, and extended plays after the first major combo is completed. This is a stark difference from other Synchro spam decks like Synchron that can only go off once, and doesn’t have much left in the tank if the initial big play is disrupted or shut down. Also, I hope you found it helpful to walk through a sample process for building a deck like this where there isn’t a discovered ‘best build’ yet – feel free to apply a similar methodology to your own deckbuilding and you’ll find that you can build some pretty creative decks!

Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! I really want to see some input from you! If you wish to see a CDS article about the archetype, theme, or strategy you love, feel free to private message me on the YGOrg Discord server, the YGOrganization Forums, or just post a comment in response to this article on our Facebook page with your ideas to keep under consideration! On most YGO-related communities my username is Quincymccoy, so feel free to reach out.