The Elemental HEROes were known for one key aspect – Fusion Monsters. Let’s revisit Fusion Summoning with new support options and a new mindset!

Introduction:

HERO VS Destiny HERO?

Strategy:

Sample Hands:

All of the following opening hands were randomly generated in order to explain the play patterns depending on what you started, using the build contained in the Sample Deck Recipe contained later in this article. Note, these hands are expecting you to lose the diceroll and be forced to go second, which is historically and theoretically a harder position to fight back from.

• E-HERO Shadow Mist, E-HERO Honesty Neos, E – Emergency Call, E-HERO Voltic, Miracle Fusion, Foolish Burial

• E-HERO Ocean, E-HERO Ocean, Polymerization, Polymerization, Polymerization, E-HERO Blazeman

• V-HERO Vyon, Legacy of a HERO, E-HERO Blazeman, A HERO Lives, Fusion Recovery, Fusion Recovery

• E-HERO Blazeman, Summoner Monk, E-HERO Shadow Mist, Foolish Burial, E-HERO Honesty Neos, Call of the Haunted

Tech Options:

• Mask Change – This has always been a great card ever since the HERO archetype was revolutionized by the 1-card Fusion Summons brought by Mask Change. Specifically, the Masked HEROes are just another set of omni-HEROes, just with their own Fusion Spell. The only issue I have with this card in a deck centered around the generalist HERO Fusions is that you quickly run out of space in your Extra Deck. Also, you cannot return the Masked HEROes back to the Extra Deck with Legacy of a HERO.
• Form Change – This tech is awesome, letting you change your Fusion Summoned Level 8’s into Masked HEROes. The only downside is that it returns the Fusions back to deck instead of the Graveyard… But we can’t be lucky enough to get everything we need.
• Elemental HERO Bubbleman – If you would like to invest more heavily into the R4NK portion of the Extra deck, Bubbleman will let you rely upon Xyz monsters more reliably. That being said, this sort of build is also less likely to have no other cards in hand, so he is a bit of a double sword. He also serves as another WATER to use as Fusion Material for Absolute Zero, but doesn’t bring too much more to the table outside of that.
• Parallel World Fusion – The other unique Fusion Spell for HEROes – effectively it is a reverse Miracle Fusion. While this seems like it could have potential, I personally have found this to not have any impact on the duel outside of returning a couple of banished HEROes. In my testing, the only time it was useful was to overcome an opponent’s Masked HERO Dark Law after he or she had already destroyed 3 attempts to attack over him.
• Half Shut – This card combines well with both Trinity and Ocean. Trinity for an easy OTK if your opponent ever leaves a monster in face-up ATK position, and Ocean to ensure that it lives through the turn in order to add back a HERO from your graveyard. Not the most elegant card, but it does have its uses.
• The Warrior Returning Alive – This card gives you a way to recycle your HEROes back from the Graveyard, outside of relying just on Fusion Recovery. Generally this is not a powerful option, but it is definitely something to consider.
• Cosmic Cyclone – Personally I find this to be the S/T removal of choice for HEROes. Quite frankly, Twin Twister may be a great card, but Fusion HERO cannot take the two card investment for removal before performing a Fusion Summon. Fusion Recovery and Legacy of a HERO only work once you have performed such a summon.
• Skydive Scorcher – The Signature Attack of Flame Wingman recently hit the OCG, and boy can it be powerful. As long as you have a Fusion monster, you can wipe your opponent’s face-up monsters straight off the field, as long as your Fusion has less ATK than their monsters. It even gives you some burn damage as well. This card can be awesome, even if you aren’t running Skyscraper. Which, to be clear, you shouldn’t be running even as a tech.

While I clearly did not list all of the possible support options, this is definitely a good place to start. You see, despite having an extreme number of options, the HERO deck, to put it plainly, does not have a laundry list of solid options. Heck, there is a reason why Awesome HERO only runs a total of 6-9 HERO monsters… There really isn’t all that many to choose from – UNLESS you are going all-in with Fusion Summoning and OTKs. Thus, I hope you take the chance to try a build like this out – see the potential in the HERO archetype beyond simply trying to prevent your opponent from playing Yu-Gi-Oh. Anyways, you’ll find below my sample decklist, but I encourage you to innovate and try to make a build your own, because that is how you will learn synergy and consistency. Those two concepts are imperative as a starting point for building any competitive deck, so why not start with a creative strategy to learn them? Deckbuilding is an art form, and my sole intent is to inspire others to try something innovative to take the meta, current or future, by a storm. It’s your turn to decide what sort of HERO you can be. Even if it isn’t HERO, try to build a new deck around a win condition, possible to achieve with the help of a consistency engine. That can teach you more about deckbuilding than I could ever present in a single article. So get out there, because as an anime antagonist turned protagonist once said: “If you’re too scared to duel, then you must be too scared to live!”

Sample Decklist:

Main Deck:
||| Elemental HERO Honesty Neos
|| Elemental HERO Ocean
||| Elemental HERO Blazeman
|| Elemental HERO Voltic
||| Elemental HERO Shadow Mist
|| Vision HERO Vyon
|| Summoner Monk
||| E – Emergency Call
||| A Hero Lives
||| Fusion Recovery
||| Legacy of a HERO
| Reinforcement of the Army
||| Polymerization
| Mask Change
| Form Change
| Foolish Burial
||| Miracle Fusion
| Call of the Haunted

Extra Deck:
| Elemental HERO Core
| Vision HERO Adoration
| Masked HERO Anki
| Elemental HERO Nova Master
| Elemental HERO The Shining
| Masked HERO Acid
| Elemental HERO Escuridao
| Elemental HERO Absolute Zero
| Vision HERO Trinity
| Masked HERO Koga
| Masked HERO Dark Law
| Number 38: Hope Harbinger Titanic Galaxy
| Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer
| Diamond Dire Wolf
| Gagaga Cowboy

Personal Note: My dream is to one day be able to run a full HERO Extra Deck. Realistically, we are extremely close – all we need are decent EARTH and WIND HERO Effect monsters, and we can rely upon the Masked HEROes of the other attributes. And before you ask, no, I do not want Stratos back, but rather Main Deck monsters than can aid in breaking established boards. I guess I can only dream on, but for now, I will live with the Plant we recieved in the TCG…

Conclusion:

As always, the list above is just my personal build. Fusion decks can be functional, and that can only get better as time goes on. Especially due to the new support, such as Fusion Recycling Plant that is being released to the TCG soon. See, you can never count out even the most anime-protagonist of decks. Until the next time, 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! I really want to see some input from you! 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 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: my username is Quincymccoy and I promise that I do my best to read all of your suggestions and requests.