At the dawn of OCG 2019.01 saw Salamangreat making a strong impact on the competitive scene.

In our three part Salamangreat Combo series, we will explore the opening combos that make this deck so great.

Volume 1 will be covering the more basic and core combos.

Combo 1: Salamangreat Gazelle

Normal Summon Salamangreat Gazelle. Salamangreat Gazelle ② effect, send Salamangreat Roar from deck to graveyard. Salamangreat Gazelle → Salamangreat Balelynx. Salamangreat Balelynx ① effect, add Salamangreat Sanctuary from deck to hand. Activate Salamangreat Sanctuary. Salamangreat Balelynx → Salamangreat Balelynx (using Salamangreat Sanctuary ① effect). Salamangreat Roar ② effect, set itself from graveyard to Spell/Trap Zone.

This is a rather weak combo that only has a single negation and leaves no follow-up for the next turn.

This combo is generally not used unless you suspect that the opponent will One-Turn-Kill (OTK) you on the next turn and you need to put up a bit of disruption to survive.

Combo 2: Salamangreat Gazelle

Normal Summon Salamangreat Gazelle. Salamangreat Gazelle ② effect, send Salamangreat Spinny from deck to graveyard. Salamangreat Spinny ② effect, Special Summon itself from graveyard. Salamangreat Gazelle + Salamangreat Spinny → Salamangreat Miragestallio. Salamangreat Miragestallio ① effect, detach Salamangreat Gazelle, Special Summon Salamangreat Jack Jaguar from deck. Salamangreat Miragestallio + Salamangreat Jack Jaguar → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf (Left EMZ). Salamangreat Jack Jaguar ② effect, shuffle Salamangreat Miragestallio to deck, Special Summon itself from graveyard (2nd MMZ). Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ① effect, add Salamangreat Gazelle from graveyard to hand. Salamangreat Jack Jaguar → Salamangreat Balelynx. Salamangreat Balelynx ① effect, add Salamangreat Sanctuary from deck to hand. Activate Salamangreat Sanctuary. Salamangreat Balelynx → Salamangreat Balelynx (using Salamangreat Sanctuary ① effect).

This is the preferred opening combo when having only a single Salamangreat Gazelle.

This combo ends with Gazelle in hand, so it cost nothing to bring out Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf, Salamangreat Balelynx and Salamangreat Sanctuary on the field. Having Salamangreat Spinny and Salamangreat Jack Jaguar in the graveyard also setup for swarming on the next turn.

The purpose of Step 12 is to put a Salamangreat Balelynx in the graveyard for its destruction substitution effect to protect your board.

Combo 3: Salamangreat Gazelle + Salamangreat Spinny

Normal Summon Salamangreat Spinny. Salamangreat Spinny → Salamangreat Balelynx (Left EMZ). Chain 2: Salamangreat Gazelle ① effect, Special Summon itself from hand. Chain 1: Salamangreat Balelynx ① effect, add Salamangreat Sanctuary from deck to hand. Salamangreat Gazelle ② effect, send Salamangreat Roar from deck to graveyard. Salamangreat Spinny ② effect, Special Summon itself from graveyard. Salamangreat Gazelle + Salamangreat Spinny → Salamangreat Miragestallio (2nd MMZ). Salamangreat Miragestallio ① effect, detach Salamangreat Gazelle, Special Summon Salamangreat Jack Jaguar from deck. Salamangreat Balelynx + Salamangreat Jack Jaguar → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf. Activate Salamangreat Sanctuary. Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf (Right EMZ) (using Salamangreat Sanctuary ① effect). Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ② effect, add Salamangreat Roar from graveyard to hand. Salamangreat Jack Jaguar ② effect, shuffle Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf to deck, Special Summon itself from graveyard (4th MMZ). Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ① effect, add Salamangreat Gazelle from graveyard to hand.

In Step 5, Salamangreat Rage can be sent to the graveyard instead of Salamangreat Roar. Then on Step 12 you would take back Salamangreat Rage. With a Reincarnation Link Summoned Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf on the field, that would allow Salamangreat Rage to destroy up to 2 cards.

This is just a single disruption in the form of Salamangreat Roar or Salamangreat Rage, but has a very good follow-up with Salamangreat Gazelle in hand, Salamangreat Spinny under Salamangreat Miragestallio, and Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf on the field.

Combo 4: Salamangreat Gazelle + Salamangreat Spinny

Normal Summon Salamangreat Spinny. Salamangreat Spinny → Salamangreat Balelynx. Chain 2: Salamangreat Gazelle ① effect, Special Summon itself from hand. Chain 1: Salamangreat Balelynx ① effect, add Salamangreat Sanctuary from deck to hand. Salamangreat Gazelle ② effect, send Salamangreat Jack Jaguar from deck to graveyard. Salamangreat Spinny ② effect, Special Summon itself from graveyard. Salamangreat Gazelle + Salamangreat Spinny → Salamangreat Miragestallio. Salamangreat Miragestallio ① effect, detach Salamangreat Gazelle, Special Summon Salamangreat Falco from deck. Salamangreat Balelynx + Salamangreat Miragestallio → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf. Activate Salamangreat Sanctuary. Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf (Left EMZ) (using Salamangreat Sanctuary ① effect). Salamangreat Jack Jaguar ② effect, shuffle Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf to deck, Special Summon itself from graveyard (2nd MMZ). Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ① effect, add Salamangreat Gazelle from graveyard to hand. Salamangreat Falco + Salamangreat Jack Jaguar → Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir.

Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf was Reincarnation Link Summoned, but its ② effect was not used, so if you activated Salamangreat Circle to search for either Salamangreat Gazelle or Salamangreat Spinny, then Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ② effect can be activated to take back Salamangreat Circle.

This is an alternative to Combo 3, but instead of having a Salamangreat Trap as the disruption, this uses Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir to lock down monster effects. This is especially powerful in the mirror match since it shuts down Salamangreat Gazelle, Lady Debugger and Speedroid Terrortop, the common opening piece of many Salamangreat combos.

However, Bagooska has little to no effect on Sky Striker, so Combo 3 should be used instead.

Combo 5: Salamangreat Foxy + Salamangreat Spinny

Normal Summon Salamangreat Foxy. Salamangreat Foxy → Salamangreat Balelynx. Salamangreat Balelynx ① effect, add Salamangreat Sanctuary from deck to hand. Activate Salamangreat Sanctuary. Salamangreat Foxy ② effect, discard Salamangreat Spinny, Special Summon itself from graveyard. Salamangreat Spinny ② effect, Special Summon itself from graveyard. Salamangreat Foxy + Salamangreat Spinny → Salamangreat Miragestallio. Salamangreat Miragestallio ① effect, detach Salamangreat Spinny, Special Summon Salamangreat Gazelle from deck. Salamangreat Gazelle ② effect, send Salamangreat Roar from deck to graveyard. Salamangreat Balelynx + Salamangreat Miragestallio → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf. Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf → Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf (Left EMZ) (using Salamangreat Sanctuary ① effect). Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ② effect, add Salamangreat Roar from graveyard to hand. Salamangreat Gazelle → Salamangreat Balelynx (2nd MMZ). Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ① effect, add Salamangreat Gazelle from graveyard to hand.

Similar to Combo 3, you can choose to go for either Salamangreat Trap.

This combo is for when you didn’t open with Salamangreat Gazelle, but by going into Salamangreat Miragestallio, you can still fetch Gazelle and continue with the combo.

Conclusion

These 5 are the fundamental combos for Salamangreat.

As in seen in Combo 2 – 5, these Salamangreat combos cost almost nothing as you will always get back Salamangreat Gazelle. In addition, Salamangreat Spinny,Salamangreat Jack Jaguar and/or Salamangreat Falco are also available in the graveyard, making it very easy for Salamangreat to rebuild the board on the next turn.

Stay tuned for Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the Salamangreat Combo series in the next few days.

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