Machina Gadgets are back! After a hiatus from Top 32 action in YCS tournaments, Gadgets broke through into the final rounds of YCS Columbus.  Carl Waite updated the Gadget strategy with Xyz Monsters, and rode them all the way to the playoff rounds.

Gadget Decks control the field with Spell and Trap Cards, eliminating bigger monsters with effects to make direct attacks.  If a Gadget monster is destroyed in battle, who cares?!  Each Gadget gets you another one from your Deck when you Summon it, giving you a nearly-endless stream of monsters.  Combined with Machina Gearframe and the powerful MachinaFortress, this Deck searches monster after monster, making it easy to fearlessly attack.  While Gadget Duelists lost one of their best tricks when Royal Oppression was Forbidden, they gained a powerful new strategy with the introduction of Xyz Monsters.  Since the Gadgets and Gearframe are all Level 4, and they all get you a free card when they hit play, you can stack them together to Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia or Steelswarm Roach, practically for free.  Here’s how Carl Waite played it:

Carl Waite (Top 32 – YCS Columbus) – Machina Gadgets – 41 Cards

Monsters: 17

2 Red Gadget

2 Yellow Gadget

2 Green Gadget

3 Machina Gearframe

3 Machina Fortress

1 Machina Force

2 Effect Veiler

1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Spells: 14

2 Creature Swap

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Dark Hole

1 Monster Reborn

1 Pot of Avarice

3 Pot of Duality

1 Limiter Removal

1 Book of Moon

1 Mind Control

Traps: 10

2 Solemn Warning

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Mirror Force

1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

1 Trap Dustshoot

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Dimensional Prison

Extra Deck: 15

2 Number 39: Utopia

1 Steelswarm Roach

2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

1 Thought Ruler Archfiend

1 Orient Dragon

1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Colossal Fighter

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Scrap Dragon

1 Stardust Dragon

1 Magical Android

1 Black Rose Dragon

Side Deck: 15

2 Dimensional Fissure

2 Thunder King Rai-Oh

2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

1 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Starlight Road

2 Leeching the Light

1 Heavy Storm

2 Cyber Dragon

2 Kinetic Soldier

Waite’s Deck is actually a little light on Trap Cards compared to what we’ve seen from Machina Gadget builds in the past.  But the added defensive power of Utopia and Steelswarm Roachfills that gap, placing powerful attackers on the field that old-school Gadgets never had.  The strategy is more diverse, and less damaged by Spell and Trap removal – a necessary adaptation in the face of Heavy Storm.

Waite’s leveraged some of that unused Trap space into a Spell Card that’s seen play in Gadgets before: Creature Swap.  Swap is gaining popularity this format, also appearing in Kevin Ward’s Top 16 Tech Genus Agent Deck.  Almost every Deck has huge monsters that can win Duels all on their own: everything from Stardust Dragon and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, to Master Hyperion and Archlord Kristya.  Those monsters can be really tough to banish or destroy, but Creature Swap gives you an even better option: just take them!  Since the Gadget monsters all have low ATK, you’ll almost always get the better end of the deal when you trade one for an opposing monster.  And since Gadgets and Gearframes replace themselves with their search effects, you aren’t down a card when you make a Swap play.  Summon a small monster, get another one to replace it, then trade the extra monster for a better one.  Good deal!

One of the coolest things about this Deck is that it succeeds by slowing down the pace of play.  While Synchro Summon, Hyperion, and Karakuri Decks all race to throw down game-winning flurries of Summons, this Deck grinds away, one monster at a time: it wears down the opponent and systematically eliminates their defenses.  There aren’t many strategies that can do that right now – the other big example is Tech Genus.  Once this Deck gets rolling and makes some card-for-card trades to slash the opponent’s chance of a big combo, it’s free to Summon Utopia or Roach and really control the Duel.  That’s where Creature Swap becomes so valuable: when your opponent summons a big monster to force Utopia’s attack negating effect, or sets a monster to try and outplay Roach, you just Summon another Gadget and use Swap to take the opponent’s trump card.  It’s a smart plan that a lot of Duelists  aren’t prepared for.

This Deck is different from the Gadget builds of old.  It’s got a strong mid-game, and can be a big challenge for some of the most popular Decks.  If you’re looking for a competitive strategy that isn’t tough to build, this is a great choice that could bring you success in your tournaments.