Time to break out the old pose, because it’s time to shout OBLITERATE!!!

Introduction:

Strategy One: Exodia with a Need for Speed?

Now, you are probably wondering what opponent would be oblivious enough to let that sort of thing happen. But the fact is, they have to walk a fine line between over-committing to the field to try and rush you down before Exodia kicks in, and not committing enough resources to stop an explosion of Machines. While the basic Speedroid combo you want to start with involves Speedroid Terrortop + Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice OR Speedroid Taketomborg, the simple start gets a ton more interesting if you also draw into your revival Spells, such as Speed Recovery or Soul Charge. With added longevity from Superheavy Samurai Musashi, you literally can loop Formula Synchron into Musashi pretty much every turn. While just one extra draw doesn’t sound like much, it means the world when you have the disruption to back the play up due to the newest support cards for the Exodia deck! Remember, any Synchro spamming deck loves being able to make T.G. Hyper Librarian first, especially one that wants to draw into its win condition. But the Speedroids are not alone, because you have Exodia support cards to work with now!

Key Cards:

• Speedroid Terrortop
  • This is the Speedroid that really can start things off. It can Special Summon itself, going into Synchros or Xyzs on a dime. Always the thing you wanna recycle with Musashi.
• Speedroid Taketomborg
  • This is the Speedroid that Summons a tuner straight from the deck, allowing for Synchro or Xyz Summons with Terrortop without even using the Normal Summon.
• Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice
  • The best tuner, since it modifies the Level of the non-tuner, allowing you to Synchro Summon any generic Synchro between Level 2 and Level 7.
• 5 Forbidden One Monsters
  • Can’t be an Exodia deck without these key cards!
• The Legendary Exodia Incarnate
  • The boss and monster draw power, wrapped up in a neat package.
• Obliterate!!!
  • Main form of disruption for your deck, also removes the luck of drawing into your pieces. Simply get them to the Graveyard to later recover with Incarnate, Obliterate, or Dark Factory of Mass Production.
• Unexpected Dai
  • Another way to pull pieces right out of the deck. Remember, this is a way to get Incarnate or non-tuner Synchro material straight out of the deck.

Check out the spoiler below which contains a sample decklist.

SpoilerMain Deck:
| Left Leg of the Forbidden One
| Left Arm of the Forbidden One
| Right Leg of the Forbidden One
| Right Arm of the Forbidden One
||| The Legendary Exodia Incarnate
| Speedroid Double Yoyo
|| Legion the Fiend Jester
||| Speedroid Terrortop
| Exodia the Forbidden One
| Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke
|| Speedroid Taketomborg
|| Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice
||| Unexpected Dai
|| Galaxy Cyclone
| Soul Charge
| Upstart Goblin
|| Speed Recovery
|| Dark Factory of Mass Production
||| Wonder Wand
||| Reckless Greed
|| Drowning Mirror Force
|| Obliterate!!!

Extra Deck:
| Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon
| Clear Wing Synchro Dragon
| Hi-Speedroid Kendama
| Stardust Charge Warrior
| T.G. Hyper Librarian
| Hi-Speedroid Chanbara
|| Superheavy Samurai Musashi
| Hi-Speedroid Puzzle
|| Formula Synchron
| The Phantom Knights of Break Sword
| Totem Bird
| Leviair the Sea Dragon
| Sylvan Princessprite

Strategy Two: Crowning Exodia

So the deck thinning is superb, is that the only reason to run a deck like this? Quite frankly, this strategy follows a similar logic to that of the Speedroid variant. You have the Monarchs to apply heavy pressure on the opponent, and then you have Exodia to fall back upon as an alternate win condition. Remember that the Monarchs already have the insane ability to thin out the deck drastically, and that is why this Exodia hybrid works in the first place. As for the Exodia support cards, this is an interesting case where you have a decent argument either way. Either you run Obliterate!!! and The Legendary Exodia Incarnate or you don’t. If you do not, I suggest considering that you use more of an Extra Deck focused build. If you do, remember to tech in a couple of Unexpected Dai for the extra tribute fodder if needed.

Key Cards:

• Precious Cards from Beyond
  • The combos begin with Squire, and then it just ties into large draws. And when you have a giant array of options with Monarchs, you have tons of plays to get around your opponent’s attempts to circumvent your strategy.
• Pantheism of the Monarchs & Tenacity of the Monarchs
  • And these two are the most powerful Normal Spells for Monarchs. Make sure you keep them in your deck. Not that you’d ever drop them… right?
• Ehther the Heavenly Monarch
  • The key part of the draw loop, letting you draw an insane amount of cards during your opponent’s turn. It also lets you tutor a Kuraz out of your deck for even more extra draws.
• Erebus the Underworld Monarch
  • The key disruption Monarch, also helps you to loop even more Ehther during your opponent’s turn. Also, who doesn’t like forcing your opponent to start with only 5 cards in hand.
• Kuraz the Light Monarch
  • One of the other Monarchs that facilitates drawing, let’s you trade in monsters, spells, or traps for additioanl draws. This even happens if it is Special Summoned by Ehther!
• 5 Forbidden One Monsters
  • It’s not worth it to draw all those cards without our Exodia pieces to win the duel!
• Edea the Heavenly Squire
  • The main tribute material, since it also recycles back your Pantheism to draw even more cards! Also Special Summons a second tribute material when it is summoned.
• Eidos the Underworld Squire
  • The other half of the Squire combo, and it also grants you an additional Tribute Summon during your turn. This lets you do a partial Ehther loop during your turn!
• The Prime Monarch
  • Additional draw card, it also is a great source of tribute fodder.

Check out the spoiler below which contains a sample decklist.

SpoilerMain Deck:
| Left Leg of the Forbidden One
| Left Arm of the Forbidden One
| Right Leg of the Forbidden One
| Right Arm of the Forbidden One
| Exodia the Forbidden One
||| Ehther the Heavenly Monarch
||| Erebus the Underworld Monarch
||| Edea the Heavenly Squire
||| Eidos the Underworld Squire
||| Kuraz, the Light Monarch
||| Pantheism of the Monarchs
| Reinforcement of the Army
||| Tenacity of the Monarchs
| Card Advance
|| Return of the Monarchs
||| Precious Cards from Beyond
||| Domain of the True Monarchs
|| The Prime Monarch
|| Escalation of the Monarchs

Extra Deck: None.

Strategy Three: Tricky Exodia

So enough of bad news, what else does this deck offer? That my friends, is Xyz Summoning potential, specifically for Rank 1 Xyz Monsters. First off, you have Ghostrick Dullahan, a great monster that cuts down your opponent’s ATK points in a pinch. It even adds back a Ghostrick from your Graveyard to stop another attack. Truly, it’s time to Trick or Treat! What else does the deck have up its sleeve? If I’m being honest, not too much. This variant does not mesh well with the new Exodia support cards, so it’s probably in your best interest to avoid trying to fit too much into this variant to attempt to make it function more effectively. But it is a pretty creative build nonetheless, which is why it got its mention here!

Key Cards:

• Ghostrick Parade
  • Deck wins and loses on the back of this card.
• Ghostrick Jackfrost, Lantern, Mary, & Jiangshi
  • All of these form the core of your Ghostrick monster engine. So it really goes without saying that you need to be running them.
• 5 Forbidden One Monsters
  • Can’t be an Exodia deck without these key cards!
• Where Arf Thou?
  • A search card for all of your Level 1 monsters, especially since you are running so many.
• Allure of Darkness
  • A great option to either get to Parade quicker or to get to the pieces remaining in a dwindled deck in the late game.

Check out the spoiler below which contains a sample decklist.

SpoilerMain Deck:
| Left Leg of the Forbidden One
| Left Arm of the Forbidden One
| Right Leg of the Forbidden One
| Right Arm of the Forbidden One
| Exodia the Forbidden One
||| Ghostrick Jiangshi
||| Ghostrick Lantern
||| Ghostrick Jackfrost
||| Ghostrick Mary
||| Dark Eruption
|| Allure of Darkness
| Upstart Goblin
| One Day of Peace
||| Where Arf Thou?
||| Terraforming
||| Pot of Duality
||| Ghostrick Parade
| Ghostrick Mansion
||| Ghostrick-Go-Round

Extra Deck:
||| Ghostrick Spoiled Angel
||| Ghostrick Dullahan
| Number 83: Galaxy Queen
| Number 13: Cain’s Doom
| Number 31: Abel’s Doom
| Number 39: Utopia Roots
| Slacker Magician
| Number 54: Lion Heart
|| Number 63: Shamoji Soldier

Strategy Four: Book of EXyzodia

Since we have the basic parts of the deck all lined up, let’s talk about what makes a Spellbook deck function. Spellbook decks are all about compiling free advantage through Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, The Grand Spellbook Tower, and Justice of Prophecy, using Spellbook of Fate to interrupt and survive any of your opponent’s attempts to wrestle control of the duel, and then normally you lean upon a High Priestess of Prophecy to seal the duel. But in this case, we have better options, because we have the added benefit of getting on the offensive with high powered Numbers. And don’t forget just how big of a punch a fully loaded The Legendary Exodia Incarnate can pack! It can easily reach 4000 ATK points, while still remaining unaffected by card effects. In my mind, the best part of this Spellbook variant is that you also have an additional disruption option, since you bring Obliterate!!! to the table. It is a really cool variant, I hope you take the time to try this one out.

Key Cards:

• 4 Normal Monster ‘Forbidden Ones’
  • We gotta have at least some parts of Exodia if you want to call this an Exodia deck. So take his Arms and Legs.
• Spellbook Magician of Prophecy
  • Step one: Normal Summon. Step two: Search. Step three: Profit. Blue boy truly is your all-powerful monster, despite rocking only 500 ATK points.
• The Legendary Exodia Incarnate
  • Serves as a primary boss monster for the deck, also happens to add a bit more draw power.
• Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord
  • While he was the original embodiment of Exodia, this other Level 10 monster serves as a backup boss monster to the deck. In particular, he recycles your Blue boy, and gets more pieces into your deck to ship with Obliterate! PLUS he is a inherently summoned Spellcaster that benefits from the Spellbook Star Hall’s attack boost.
• Unexpected Dai
  • Integral to both summoning Incarnate without losing your chance to Blue boy, as well as helpful in creating the initial Number Archive Xyz Summon.
• Spellbook of Miracles
  • You wanted to recycle your Number Hunter right? Well go have some fun!
• Spellbook of Secrets, Spellbook of Master, Spellbook of Fate, Spellbook of Eternity
  • The key cards of any Spellbook deck. Obviously other Spellbooks help the strategy, but these are the core ones.
• The Grand Spellbook Tower
  • This is the Field Spell that gives you an extra boost of draw power, since you get to effectively draw 2 cards every single turn. Talk about generating tons of advantage.
• Obliterate!!! 
  • Another form of disruption for your deck to use to its full potential. Remember, it helps you deckthin as well as increase the power of your Exodia boss monsters.

Check out the spoiler below which contains a sample decklist.

SpoilerMain Deck:
| Left Leg of the Forbidden One
| Left Arm of the Forbidden One
| Right Leg of the Forbidden One
| Right Arm of the Forbidden One
|| Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord
||| The Legendary Exodia Incarnate
|| Justice of Prophecy
||| Spellbook Magician of Prophecy
||| Unexpected Dai
|| Galaxy Cyclone
| Spellbook of Power
| Spellbook of Miracles
||| Spellbook of Master
||| Spellbook of Secrets
|| Spellbook of Eternity
| Spellbook of Wisdom
|| Spellbook of Fate
|| The Grand Spellbook Tower
||| Spellbook Star Hall
||| Obliterate!!!

Extra Deck:
||| Number 77: The Seven Sins
| Number 84: Pain Gainer
||| Number 81: Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Superior Dora
||| Number 35: Ravenous Tarantula
||| Number 24: Dragon Nosferatu Draculus
|| Number 78: Number Archive

As always, the above lists are just my personal builds. To some, Exodia may just be that troll deck designed to annoy the opponent, but I strongly believe that you can bring a bit of creativity to the archetype to make it into something worth much more. Until the next time, I hope you keep innovating and building creative decks! Most of all, just enjoy dueling for the fun that it can be!

Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! While I will not run out of cool ideas, I do want to be writing articles about strategies you are interested in. So if you desperately 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 or the YGOrganization Forums with your ideas to keep under consideration: my username is Quincymccoy.