Prologue

Continuing on in our five part series, I will be talking about the Spells and Traps in the Cyber Dragon archetype. Cyber Dragons have an abundance of powerful spells and traps that each contribute to the wide variety of strategies a Cyber Dragon deck can contain. From searching cards to OTKs, Cyber Dragons have some great choices for spells and traps.

Spells & Traps

Cyber Emergency

Cyber Emergency is your generic Cyber Dragon search card. Cyber Emergency allows you to add one Cyber Dragon monster or LIGHT machine monster that cannot be Normal Summoned/Set from your deck to your hand. This allows you to search all your important Cyber Dragon monsters such as Cyber Dragon Core, Herz and Nachster as well as some of the more gimmicky cards in the archetype such as Cyber Eltanin, Cyber Barrier Dragon and Cyber Laser Dragon.

Cyber Emergency also has an effect where if it’s activation is negated, you can discard a card from your hand in order to add it back to your hand. This effect combo’s well with cards such as Cyber Dragon Herz and the Danger!? Monsters as they get their effects upon being either sent to the graveyard or discarded. This effect only being usable when your opponent negates the activation. That means that popular cards like Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring will not trigger this effect. Cyber Emergency is almost always a staple three-of in any Cyber Dragon deck regardless of strategy or play-style.

Cyber Repair Plant

Cyber Repair Plant is another search card with a bonus effect if you have three or more Cyber Dragons in your graveyard as well as a conditional activation requirement. Cyber Repair Plant requires you to have at least one Cyber Dragon in your graveyard in order to be activated. This makes Cyber Repair Plant harder to activate than Cyber Emergency. Cyber Repair Plant also has two effects. The first effect is to add a LIGHT machine monster from your deck to your hand which gives more variety than Cyber Emergency’s effect. Because Cyber Repair Plant doesn’t have as heavy of a searching restriction, it can be used to not only search Cyber Dragon monsters but also search non-archetype support cards such as Galaxy Soldier, Jizukiru, the Star Destroying Kaiju and Inspector Boarder.

Cyber Repair Plant also has a second effect that allows you to target one LIGHT machine monster in your graveyard and shuffle that target into your deck. This effect recycles resources to replenish your deck after using cards you may only play at one or two. An example where this effect becomes useful if you play Instant Fusion but only one target in the form of Panzer Dragon. Cyber Repair Plant can also use both of its effects if you have three or more Cyber Dragons in the graveyard. As most of your monsters count as Cyber Dragon in the graveyard, it isn’t difficult to accumulate three Cyber Dragons in the graveyard. Due to Cyber Repair Plant’s strong utility but often restrictive use, most Cyber Dragon decks opt to play Cyber Repair Plant at one or two. You are able to search it with Cyber Dragon Core when necessary, but also not wanting to brick with it if they open with the card and no way to get a Cyber Dragon in the graveyard.

Cyber Revsystem

Cyber Revsystem is the Monster Reborn of the archetype. It has a standard effect of special summoning one Cyber Dragon from your graveyard or hand and adding an aura-like effect that makes it immune from destruction effects. Because Cyber Revsystem can only summon Cyber Dragons, you can summon any monster considered Cyber Dragon from your graveyard such as Cyber Dragon Herz and Cyber Dragon Sieger. Cyber Revsystem cannot summon Cyber Dragon Core or Cyber Dragon Herz from the hand as they are only considered Cyber Dragon while on your field and graveyard.

Cyber Revsystem is a simple card that is used an extender when doing your Cyber Dragon combo. It can also be used as an out to problematic cards that destroy monsters with card effects such as Topologic Bomber Dragon. It is especially useful when needing extra monsters to go into stronger cards such as Cyber Dragon Nova and Cyber Dragon Sieger. Although it isn’t the most powerful card in the archetype, Cyber Revsystem is often played at one in most decks depending on what play-style your deck envelops.

Cyberload Fusion

Cyberload Fusion is a powerful quick-play spell that allows you to fusion summon using monsters on the field and banished zone as fusion materials. It comes with the restriction of only that monster being able to attack for the rest of the turn. Because Cyberload Fusion is a quick-play spell, it opens up a lot of lines of play for the archetype and can be very powerful when used properly.

Cyberload Fusion has synergy with some of the other power cards in the archetype. As Cyberload Fusion can fuse from the banished zone, cards that banish your monsters such as Overload Fusion and Cybernetic Overflow naturally work well with Cyberload Fusion. In order to understand some of the value that Cyberload Fusion brings, we must first explore what fusion monsters there are to summon throughout the Cyber Dragon archetype. That will be covered in Pt.3 of this In-Depth Archetype review series so stay tuned for that! Cyberload Fusion can also be used during the battle phase in order to get an extra pivotal attack which can result in killing the opponent or clearing the opponent’s field.

Cyberload Fusion can also be used on your opponent’s turn in order to summon a defensive card such as Cyber Eternity Dragon or a card that can help clear Spells & Traps such as Chimeratech Rampage Dragon. Due to Cyberload Fusion’s flexibility, it’s often played at one in most Cyber Dragon strategies and can prove invaluable given the proper situation.

Cybernetic Revolution

Cybernetic Overflow is a trap card which offers non-targeting removal by banishing Cyber Dragons from your hand, face-up field or graveyard. Cybernetic Overflow is a flexible card in terms of how it’s used. As a searchable removal trap, Cybernetic Overflow can offer defensive play in order to create a more secure field. Alternatively, it suppliments offensive plays to destroy your opponent’s spells and traps on their turn. Cybernetic Overflow is a hard card to play against as it offers non-targeting removal. Because Cybernetic Overflow can banish from three places, it’s difficult for your opponent to know how many cards you plan on destroying since it doesn’t banish for cost.

Cybernetic Overflow has an added clause of upon being destroyed on the field by a card effect. It allows you to search your deck for one Cyber spell or trap. This means if your opponent plans on shooting out a Twin Twisters or another removal card to destroy Cybernetic Overflow, it will trigger.

Cybernetic Overflow is a great card that appeals to all strategies that the Cyber Dragon archetype envelops with different strategies and play-styles playing different amounts of the card. OTK and Midrange Cyber Dragon would usually play one and no more than two, since their goal is to quickly kill their opponent and often only one Cybernetic Overflow would ever be searched or resolved over the course of their game. Control Cyber Dragon strategies choose to play 2-3 as they also play cards that have synergy with it such as Unending Nightmare which can be used to destroy Cybernetic Overflow to gain it’s second effect upon activation. Trap Trick can fetch Cybernetic Overflow without searching it with Cyber Dragon Core. Control Cyber Dragon has a much longer grind game than the other strategies so traps like Cybernetic Overflow are much better. Regardless, when looking at traps to play in a Cyber Dragon deck, Cybernetic Overflow should be one of your first choices when exploring cards to consider.

BONUS!…Not Really

Cyber Dragon Nachster

In Pt.1 of this series (Main Deck Monsters), I forgot to cover one of the most important cards in the archetype. Cyber Dragon Nachster is a new Cyber Dragon card that came out in DUPO. Nachster has two effects; the first allows it to special summon itself from the hand by discarding another monster card. The second allows it to summon a machine monster with 2100 ATK or DEF from the graveyard.

Nachster is a very interesting card because it has synergy with the it’s own archetype. It is able to get an extra monster on the field and can revive most Cyber Dragon monsters, including powerful ones like Cyber Dragon Nova and Cyber Dragon Infinity. It is able to summon a plethora of other strong machine monsters that have a 2100 stat-line including Invoked Mechaba and Dingirsu, The Orcust of the Evening Star. Nachster is often played at 1-2 depending on the which play-style the deck chooses. OTK and Midrange opt for 1-2 and Control only playing one.

The reason why Nachster is ran at such low number counts is because most players wouldn’t like opening up with multiple copies. Since Nachster is a card that is usually stronger after the first turn it’s summoned, it offers a lot to the mid and late game. Because the first turn in modern day Yu-Gi-Oh is so important, Nachster’s ability to recover and swing board states is often undermined to other cards which help you take back the board first. Nonetheless, Nachster is still a great card.