Incredibly straightforward and weirdly unpopular, Ancient Gear’s has been able to keep up with newly released decks. By specializing in canceling the effects in the damage step, you will definitely find success in this trap-heavy meta.

First and foremost, credits to /u/the-cschnepf, as he introduced the deck to Reddit and reached King Of Games. In this article, I will be going through the deck by giving an extensive in-depth guide so that you too can smash through anyone you see.

Introduction

To start things off, make sure you have the skill ‘Middle Age Mechs’. This skill can really help you push your advantage turn two since the counters will be built up and ready to go. With these types of decks, the main objective is to overwhelm and beat-down your opponent. By having effects that stop back-row during damage step, it can be quite frustrating for your opponent to deal with. With this article, we’ll be going through our game-plan, win conditions, and why the cards chosen are good.

You might think that simply summoning a huge monster can leave you vulnerable in other areas of a duel, but you’ll soon realize how destructive Ancient Gears can be. For being a deck that is King Of Games material, make sure that you have the necessary cards as well as Dr. Crowler unlocked. Being frugal can be hurtful to achieving King Of Games, so consider finding another deck if you cannot fit this in your budget.

Card Explanations

Monsters

Ancient Gear Golem

The ace card. Running three allows the deck to easily utilize Ancient Gear Castle quickly. It also helps to summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem if your lucky enough to draw it with Polymerization. However, the goal of the deck is not to summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, just Ancient Gear Golem. Having Ancient Gear Golem on the field puts enough pressure which you can use to snowball in your favor. It’s a huge 3000 attack beater that negates back-row during the damage step. Just seeing it on the field will force your opponent to use big resources to get rid of it.

Ancient Gear Knight

A level four Gemini that has 2100 attack with Ancient Gear Castle on the field. Hard to beat over and it will most likely stay on the field as tribute fodder. You can also summon Superalloy Beast Raptinus if your Ancient Gear monsters are clogging the field. Nothing much to say about this card, but it is definitely strong and deserves to be a three-of.

Ancient Gear Soldier

This level four Ancient Gear isn’t that good when compared to our other Ancient Gears but it has its purpose. Adding this card in the deck allows Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem to be summoned and it can be used to negate damage step back-row if needed. Other than that, you’ll most likely use this card as a tribute by protecting it or coupling it with a non-effect Knight.

King Of The Swamp

Deck-thinning is a good method of making your deck more consistent. It’s versatile by having the option to either search ‘Polymerization’ or substitute for Ancient Gear Golem. Hence, King Of The Swamp deserves a spot because it can help lead us into Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem easily. We basically have two cards for Polymerization and if possible a replacement for any monster we are missing. You don’t even need to summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem if you want. Having Panzer Dragon or even a Pair Cycroid become available can be game-changing. All in all, this card is just exceptionally amazing and still used in the TCG today!

Spells

Ancient Gear Castle

Since we’ve started off the Duel using Dr.Crowler, we can expect to see this card on the field already. Because of that, Ancient Gear Castle will be collecting tokens turn one and if you’re going second, that turns into your advantage. Your choices become either tributing Ancient Gear Castle for Ancient Gear Golem or keeping it on the field for that sweet attack boost. This card just works so well for Ancient Gears since it can enable a turn two Ancient Gear Golem. We only run one in this deck simply because once you get Ancient Gear Golem on the field, it has served its purpose. Running one also suggests that we do not brick as often. In /u/the-cschnepf’s explanation, he explains how the card can be clunky as Duel Links only allows for three spell/trap slots. Thus, playing one is a safe bet to have.

Enemy Controller

Enemy Controller is a great card in any Duel Link’s deck. Like King Of The Swamp, Enemy Controller is a card that can adapt to a specific situation. If your opponent’s engine is running off one card alone, taking control of it can make them pass instantly. If you need to protect an Ancient Gear monster, then using Enemy Controller during the Battle Phase can keep it alive. All these situations will definitely arise on your journey to King Of Games so playing three of these will certainly be useful.

Polymerization

An iconic card in Yu-Gi-Oh. It can save a bricked hand by summoning Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem and keep the pressure towards your opponent. It synergizes well with King Of The Swamp and can adapt to whatever monster you can summon at the time. If your opponent has nearly no life points, you can summon Pair Cycroid to finish him/her off. If you need to destroy a card on the field, you can work towards a Panzer Dragon to accomplish the task. It even protects against certain stall cards like Floodgate Trap Hole or Massivemorphed monsters. The card is great to have and by running one along with a search, it’ll allow for your deck to be more consistent.

Traps

Wall Of Disruption

The best back-row card in Duel Links? Debatable, but definitely up there in terms of raw power. The fact that this card can just completely shutdown a first-turn board and allow potential for a comeback goes to show how crucial this card can be in a King Of Games deck. For me, I made sure to spend lots of Gems to obtain a play-set of this card. Having this in any deck can prove to be devastating and can help protect your Ancient Gears for a potential tribute. This makes it even harder for your opponent to run over your 2100 attack knights and they can’t even respond with their own back row because of his effect! For these reasons, try running at least two.

Floodgate Trap Hole

Trap Holes have always proven to be a nuisance in Yu-Gi-Oh! Once your opponent exhausts all his resources to summon a boss monster, a simple trap can just make it useless. You can run three of these if you want, but it depends on what your inventory looks like. For example, /u/the-cschnepf says that if you want to replace Curse of Anubis or Windstorm Of Etaqua, you can add two Floodgates as a replacement. Floodgate Trap Hole especially synergizes with the piercing effect of Ancient Gear Golem. Careful play with Floodgate Trap Hole is a must. You wouldn’t want to blow it on a monster that does nothing. Make sure you play this card at the right time. Other than that, there really isn’t anything bad about this card.

Windstorm Of Etaqua

Windstorm Of Etaqua is a very powerful trap. It is easily obtainable in Duel Links and can be used anytime during the turn. This card alone can stop an entire battle phase from happening so having this card in the deck can make an Ancient Gear Golem more plausible. If you end up being caught up in a player’s Wall Of Disruption and you’d like to keep your monsters alive, a Windstorm Of Etaqua will save your board. Thus, a Windstorm Of Etaqua is just too good to not have.

Curse Of Anubis

Like Windstorm Of Etaqua, this card not only changes the battle positions of all effect monsters but it stops them from changing it back. The explanation here is similar to Windstorm Of Etaqua because it’s just too good of a card to not have.

Main Objective

The Main Objective of this deck is to reduce your opponents life points to zero. For real though, just summoning Ancient Gear Golem might be enough to do that. Spicy tech options include Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem and Superalloy Beast Raptinus. The Middle-Aged Mechs skill coupled with this deck also makes it incredibly hard to stop. Your opponent will be forced to either use spell/trap removal on it or let it live.

That being said, the Ancient Gear Castle can help set up your turn two Ancient Gear Golem where you can start smacking your opponent down. Protecting your Ancient Gears from unexpected dangers will rely on what back-row you choose and opt for. You don’t have to worry about your opponents back-row either because of Ancient Gear Golem’s effect. Just be careful to not overextend and make sure that you have a back-up plan when things go south.

If you end up with a bricked hand, but you have King Of The Swamp or Polymerization, you have the possibility of saving it. Summoning Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem will force your opponent to do whatever it takes to bring that down. When your opponent succeeds, simply summon back an Ancient Gear Golem and continue destroying them.

Final Thoughts

The deck is simple which is a pro and a con in and of itself. Focusing your resources on summoning the Ancient Gear Golems is enough for most opponents to keel over. Since some of the interactions of the deck can be bland, players might get bored of the deck easily. However, for the sole purpose of getting KOG, this is a deck that I would definitely trust. Strong back-row to protect my unstoppable monsters with PIERCING. All in all, please give this deck a try. Just watching your opponents panic in the face of a 3000 attack monster is a benefit in itself. Thanks for reading!