Introduction to HEROs

Published on July 5th, 2022 by

Updated on July 21st, 2022

Introduction

The HERO deck is a combo-heavy archetype that has great potential as a contender for one of the top rogue decks currently available in Master Duel. In this guide, I will provide an in-depth analysis of the deck, how best to build and pilot it, what tech cards to use, some combos, along with a sample deck list that I have been using since the new DPE engine was released.

Pros: As the only deck that can summon DPE without Anaconda or Fusion Destiny, Heroes can end with some of the strongest boards going first with a combination of strong boss monsters like DPE, Plasma, Dark Law, and Absolute Zero. Likewise, going second, Heroes are very capable of breaking most board with a combination of Super Poly, Trinity, and Honest Neos.

Cons: Since the deck has no innate negates, it really loses hard to board wipes like Nibiru, the Primal Being, Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder, Raigeki/Lightning Storm, and Kaijus.

HERO Core Cards

Main Deck

Elemental HEROs
Vision HEROs
Destiny HEROs
Spells

Elemental HERO Stratos (2-3): Stratos, along with Vyon (who I will mention more in depth in the Vision Hero section) are the two main normal summons in the deck. Stratos has two very powerful effects; first, the ability to destroy a number of spell and/or trap cards on the field, up to the number of hero monsters you control (not including Stratos), and second, searching any hero monster and adding it to your hand. This makes Stratos a great board breaker going second, or a great combo starter going first. Stratos is usually used to search for Faris (if you have another hero to discard), Honest Neos (if you are trying to push for lethal damage), or one of the Destiny Heroes to use in extender / fusion plays. Finally, Stratos' effects are not once per turn, so if you get one out with A Hero Lives (to search), you can normal summon a second one to either search again or pop a card on the field.

Card not found (Elemental HERO Shadow Mist)

Elemental HERO Shadow Mist (2): Shadow Mist is another great card to use as a combo extender (by being sent to the graveyard), or a way to search out Mask Change (if special summoned via Liquid Soldier or A Hero Lives), which is one of the best spell cards in the deck. Typically, you want to use Shadow Mist as discard fodder for your Faris or Liquid Soldier effects, which easily activates its graveyard effect to put another hero in your hand.

Card not found (Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier)

Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier (1): Liquid is a great one-of card for a few reasons. First, he is the main fusion target for a fusion play with polymerization into sunrise because his effect will activate that lets you draw two cards, then discard one, which is a great way to put your destiny heroes, or Shadow Mist into the graveyard. Second, he is used to make two of the more powerful boss monsters of the deck, Absolute Zero and Acid, which when combined results in a full board wipe. Finally, he is used rarely as the 3rd go-to normal summon for the deck, if you already have something like a Shadow Mist, Stratos or Vyon in the graveyard to special summon.

Card not found (Elemental HERO Honest Neos)

Elemental HERO Honest Neos (1): Honest Neos serves three purposes in the deck. First, he is used as a finisher, as when you discard him from your hand, any hero you control gains 2500 attack until the end of the turn. Second, if you choose to run the Super Polymerization package, having Neos in the graveyard is another way to get out The Shining via Miracle Fusion, to push for even more damage. Finally, he is one of the three targets you can send from your hand or deck via Fusion Destiny to make DPE.

Card not found (Elemental HERO Solid Soldier)

Elemental HERO Solid Soldier (0-1): I personally have never used Solid Soldier, as I think he is lackluster compared to the other options we have, but he is still worth a spot to talk about. His effects are very specific in nature, meaning often, he would end up being a brick in hand. When normal summoned you can special summon one level 4 or lower hero from your hand. On the one hand, if you have a Stratos, Vyon, or Shadow Mist this is great, since it allows for an additional search, or to add mask change to hand, then you have two monsters on the field to go into link plays with, but on the other hand, if you don’t have a level 4 or lower in your hand, he is an extremely weak vanilla earth summon, an element we have no fusion monsters for in the extra deck. His second effect is if he is sent from the monster zone to the graveyard by spell effect (namely, Polymerization), you can target any hero in your graveyard, except Solid Soldier, and special summon it in defense position. Like his first effect, this can be used as a combo extender. Bottom line, Solid isn’t a BAD card, per se, but considering he shares UR materials with the other normal summons of the deck, Stratos and Vyon, which are strictly better than Solid, in my opinion skip him and don’t waste your materials.

Vision HERO Increase (1-2): Ah, Increase. This card always causes debate between hero players. The argument is whether to run one or two. Increase serves one purpose; after you special summon Faris, you place Increase in the back row, then use his effect to sacrifice a hero, special summon himself from the backrow, then special summon Vyon from your deck. He also be placed from the graveyard to the backrow if you take battle or effect damage. Personally, as Increase is one of the few garnets in the deck, I run two, so drawing one isn’t the end of the world, but if you want to fit other tech cards in, while keeping the deck as slim as possible, you can try cutting down to one.

Vision HERO Faris (3): The bread and butter of the vision hero engine. Faris can special summon himself by discarding a hero from your hand (combos very well with malicious, denier and shadow mist), then upon entering the battlefield, allows you to search Increase from your deck to put in the backrow. Furthermore, Faris is great banish target for Vyon. KEEP IN MIND, if you use Faris’s search effect, you are locked out of any potential Anaconda play for the rest of the turn, as it locks you in to only special summoning hero monsters.

Vision HERO Vyon (2): The other go-to normal summon besides Stratos, and your search target with Increase. Vyon is used to send Shadow Mist, or a destiny hero to the graveyard, then allows you to banish one hero from your graveyard to add Polymerization to your hand.

Destiny HERO - Denier (1): Denier was added with DPE in one of the recent updates and has quickly become the new MVP of the deck. Denier’s effect is that he can take one destiny hero card from your deck, graveyard, or banish pile and add it to the top of your deck. This pairs extremely well with Malicious once you banish the first one from the graveyard to summon the second one. Summon Denier, target the banished Malicious, and voila, you have a 2nd activation of Malicious for the turn. The best part is, Denier has the ability to special summon himself from the graveyard if you have another destiny hero monster on the field (DPE/Plasma), or in your graveyard (Malicious). KEEP IN MIND, the ability to special summon himself from the graveyard is a ONCE PER DUEL effect.

Card not found (Destiny HERO - Malicious)

Destiny HERO - Malicious (2): So powerful it had to be limited to two. Malicious is one of the best extenders in the deck, as he combos well with Faris, Cross Crusader, and Liquid Soldier’s discard effect. If you have one in your graveyard, you can banish it to special summon the second one from your deck to your field. Malicious, along with Denier, are your two targets to send to the graveyard with Fusion Destiny.

Destiny HERO - Plasma (0-1): One of the two floodgates in the deck. Plasma can only be summoned one way; by tributing three monsters on your field. But boy is he worth it, because once he hits the field, it’s a one-sided skill drain; all of your opponent’s monsters on the field have their effects negated. He also has the ability to suck up a monster on your opponent’s field, add it to your backrow, and then he gains half of the absorbed monster’s attack points (a great counter to Sky Strikers, for example). If you are struggling for UR points, save Plasma for one of the last crafts you make; he is not essential to the deck, but he is a great addition if you can afford it.

Card not found (Destiny HERO - Drawhand)

Destiny HERO - Drawhand (0-1): Before Denier was introduced, some people were running Drawhand as a cheeky little way to force your opponent to banish cards with Dark Law. If he’s special summoned by the effect of any hero monster, each player draws one card. Then, during the next standby phase after he was sent to the graveyard, he special summons himself from the graveyard, again making each player draw one card. The combo is as follows: 1. Get Drawhand into your graveyard via Faris or Vyon.

Link any two heroes off into Cross Crusader.
Using Cross Crusader, special summon Drawhand from the graveyard.
When Drawhand’s effect activates as Chain Link 1, chain Mask Change to Drawhand as Chain Link 2 (and, if you have a 2nd Mask Change, chain that in Chain Link 3 to Cross Crusader).
You will then have either one or two Dark Law on the field, so when Drawhand’s effect resolves, both players draw 1, then your opponent banishes 1 or 2.
Drawhand resummons himself on the opponent’s standby phase, banishing another 1-2 cards from their hand. Then, if you run Droll & Lock bird, you can activate that after Drawhand’s effect, blocking your opponent from adding any other cards to their hand. It’s a very gimmicky combo, but very fun to pull off. However, as stated above, once Denier was released, the need to run things like Drawhand isn’t there anymore.

Card not found (Destiny HERO - Dark Angel)

Destiny HERO - Dark Angel (0-1): Like Drawhand, Dark Angel is another fun gimmick heroes can run. His effect is once you have three or more Destiny Heroes in your graveyard, you can discard Dark Angel from your hand, then target any Destiny Hero monster in your graveyard, and special summon it to the opponent’s field in defense position. Why is this good? Well, his secondary effect is when the player controlling him activates a spell card, it’s negated and destroyed, turning Dark Angel into a one-sided Imperial Order, and we all know how powerful and oppressive that card is. The usual way to pull the combo off is to make DPE, sending Malicious and Denier to the graveyard, then, while Dark Angel is in your hand, use DPE to pop itself, which puts three Destiny Heroes in the graveyard, activating Dark Angel. However, there is one main thing stopping myself and a lot of hero players from running Dark Angel in the current meta, and that’s Anaconda. With how easy it is for any deck to get an effect monster out, and almost every single deck is running Anaconda for the DPE package, it’s a big risk giving your opponent a free effect monster, so I would say don’t try Dark Angel until/unless Anaconda is banned.

Polymerization (1): Easily searchable from your deck with Vyon’s effect, heroes is actually one of the few decks who can get away with running the basic polymerization. Mainly used on your first turn to summon Sunrise or DPE, or to summon Trinity on your second turn if you are pushing for lethal.

Card not found (Reinforcement of the Army)

Reinforcement of the Army & Foolish Burial: I’m putting these two cards together because they essentially both serve the same purpose, a combo starter. ROTA is used to put a Stratos or Vyon into your hand (or a Shadow Mist / Liquid if you already have Stratos or Vyon), and FB is used to put Shadow Mist or Malicious into your graveyard (both cards are also great Ash bait). Personally, since I don’t like running more than 40 cards, I cut FB, but if you don’t mind going into the 41-44 card range, feel free to use both.

Miracle Fusion (1): Another fusion card that is easily searchable with the effect of Sunrise. Miracle Fusion’s main purpose is to summon either Absolute Zero or Escuridao using your graveyard monsters as fusion material. If you run the Super Polymerization package, it can also be used to summon Great Tornado or the Shining.

A Hero Lives (3): The second-best spell in the deck. Sure, it may cost half your life points, but that’s a worthwhile price to pay for getting a Stratos (if he’s not in your opening hand) or a Shadow Mist (if Stratos is in your opening hand) without eating up your normal summon. The best part is, it’s not a once per turn effect, so if your opponent uses Ash on the first one, and you have two in hand, you can use the second one immediately after.

Fusion Destiny (2): Let’s get this out of the way now. Heroes are the only deck that you can’t be mad at for summoning DPE, since he is actually a part of the archetype. Your main two sends with the card are Malicious and Denier (for further combo extension), but you can also send a Plasma or Honest Neos if you have to. KEEP IN MIND this locks you into dark heroes for the rest of the turn, so make sure you already have all the non-dark monsters on the field you want first (Wonder Driver, Absolute Zero, Sunrise, etc.).

Super Polymerization (0-2): I’ve reached Plat 1 / Diamond 1 in seasons 2 through 6 of Master Duel. If you asked me a few months ago, I would’ve said Super Poly was too meme-y and not worth running. Now, it’s almost an essential one-of in the deck. Why? Two main reasons; Sword Soul and DPE. Super Poly cannot be negated or responded to in any way, so it is a great way to get rid of a Baronne De Fleur, a DPE, a Chixiao, or even an Eldlich. Opponent makes DPE with anaconda? Anaconda + DPE = Starving Venom Fusion Dragon. Opponent has a Baronne or Chixiao on the field? I refer you to Great Tornado and/or The Shining. Super Poly is one of the best cards in the current meta, and heroes can utilize it to the fullest.

Mask Change (3): Saved the best for last. Mask change is the crème de la crème, the best spell in the entire deck. Searchable with Shadow Mist via A Hero Lives or normal summoning Liquid Soldier, this is how we access the second floodgate in our deck, as well as a complete one-sided field wipe. The Masked Heroes are extremely powerful boss monsters. The best part about this spell is it’s a quick effect, which means you can use it in response to (1) your opponent targeting a Vyon, Stratos, or Faris with imperm, (2) in response to Maxx C, (3) at the end of your opponent’s turn, or (4) during your own battle phase to push for lethal (example being you swing in for 1000 with Shadow Mist, pop mask change, make Dark Law, Shadow mist puts Honest Neos in your hand, swing for another 2400 + 2500). I cannot express enough how much I love this card, and it’s the main reason heroes are as competitive as they are.

Extra Deck

Elemental HERO Sunrise (1): First and foremost, this is the go-to fusion monster to bring out with Polymerization. Upon being summoned, he searches Miracle Fusion from your deck. If you use Liquid Soldier for the fusion, MAKE SURE to have Liquid Soldier be Chain-Link 1, and Sunrise Chain Link-2, so you don’t accidentally draw the Miracle Fusion with Liquid Soldier’s effect first. One thing about Sunrise a lot of opponents forget, ANY attack involving another hero monster besides Sunrise, whether it's you or your opponent attacking, allows you to pop one card on the field (once per turn). This is why you can safely set all your extra deck monsters to defense if you have Sunrise on the field.

Card not found (Predaplant Verte Anaconda)

Card not found (Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer)

Predaplant Verte Anaconda & Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer (1): There’s nothing I can say about Anaconda or DPE that hasn’t already been said. DPE is a crazy good boss monster, bring him out with Polymerization, Anaconda or Fusion Destiny, and his effect to reduce your opponent’s monsters attack by 200 per hero in the graveyard, in a hero deck, usually ends with every monster your opponent controls having barely any attack remaining. Anaconda can be used for Fusion Destiny (if you don’t have DPE) or Super Poly (if you have DPE already, especially after using the first effect to make an opponent’s monster dark). Like I mentioned above, several monsters lock you out of Anaconda plays for the turn (Faris and Cross Crusader), so be careful.

Vision HERO Trinity (1): This is my favorite boss monster to summon. All you need is three hero monsters, and you can bring him out with regular Poly or Super Poly. He comes out with 5000 attack, he can attack three times per turn, but can only attack monsters. Combine this with Honest Neos, and you potentially have up to 22500 damage from one monster. If Saitama is the one-punch man, Trinity is the three-punch man.

The Masked HEROs

Masked HERO Dark Law (2): The second floodgate of the deck, and probably the monster who is single handedly responsible for heroes being competitive in the meta. Remember how I said Plasma was a one-sided skill drain? Well Dark Law is a one-sided Macro Cosmos; any card sent from your opponent’s deck, hand, or field to the graveyard is banished instead. Not only does this turn off things like Droplet and Maxx C, but it also shuts off any deck that involves the graveyard (TriZoo, Eldlich, Sky Strikers, Phantom Knights, Sword Soul etc.). As if that wasn’t good enough, Dark Law’s second effect forces your opponent to randomly banish one card from their hand if they add any card to their hand, outside of the first card drawn during the draw phase. Let’s say you have a Vyon on the field, and your opponent activates Pot of Desires; just chain Mask Change, make Dark Law, and once they draw two, they have to randomly banish a card in their hand. This is also a cheeky little way to punish your opponent for Maxx C’ing you, since making a Dark Law will force them to draw one and discard one. The best part? If you have two Dark Law on the field, both of their discard effects activate.

Masked HERO Blast (1): Definitely the hero you use the least with Mask Change, but we have to include one blast just in case your Stratos gets targeted with something like imperm or effect veiler. Blast can also be used at the end of your opponent’s turn or the beginning of your turn to bounce a spell or trap back to their hand. Don’t forget on summon he also can reduce the attack of one monster your opponent controls by half.

Masked HERO Acid (1): The first part of the one-sided board wipe. Targeting Liquid Soldier or Absolute Zero with Mask Change gets you Acid. His effect is simple and sweet, pop all backrow your opponent has, and lower the attack of all monsters on the opponent’s field by 300 if you do. There is nothing sweeter than seeing Eldlich set 5 and pass, only for you to use two mask changes to make Dark Law and Liquid soldier, popping and banishing their entire backrow.

The Omni HEROs (and one dragon)

Card not found (Elemental HERO Absolute Zero)

Elemental HERO Absolute Zero (1): The second part of the one-sided board wipe. Where Acid pops all backrow upon being summoned, Absolute Zero destroys all monsters if it is sent from the field to the graveyard. The best ways to do this are Mask Change, Forbidden Droplet, or just linking him off into Cross Crusader or Wonder Driver.

Card not found (Elemental HERO Great Tornado)

Card not found (Elemental HERO The Shining)

Card not found (Elemental HERO Escuridao)

Card not found (Starving Venom Fusion Dragon)

Elemental HERO Great Tornado (1), Elemental HERO The Shining (1), Elemental HERO Escuridao OR Starving Venom Fusion Dragon (1): These guys are your Super Poly targets, and potentially your Miracle Fusion targets. Everything I said about them can be seen above in the Super Polymerization Section. The reason I have SVFD in this category is because personally, I cut Escuridao for the dragon, since it hits more things with Super Poly. DPE + Anaconda = Escuridao and SVFD, but any two dark monsters make SVFD, making it, in my opinion, more viable in the current meta.

The Xtra HEROs

Card not found (Xtra HERO Wonder Driver)

Xtra HERO Wonder Driver (1): This guy is how you end on the strongest boards possible. If a hero monster is summoned to the zone he points to, you can put a “Polymerization”, “Fusion”, or “Change” quick-play spell from your graveyard into the backrow. The two ways to utilize Wonder Driver are to re-set mask change (after making a dark law), or to re-set polymerization to summon DPE (after using it to summon Sunrise). KEEP IN MIND, as stated above, Fusion Destiny locks you out of this card, so make sure you summon it before you use Fusion Destiny.

Card not found (Xtra HERO Cross Crusader)

Xtra HERO Cross Crusader (2): This card is the best extender we have in the extra deck. Cross Crusader has two effects. First, it lets you special summon a destiny hero from your graveyard (yes, this works on DPE too!). Second, you can tribute one Destiny Hero on your field to add any hero to your hand. This is one of the best ways to search for Plasma, Liquid Soldier, Malicious or Denier (if going first), or Honest Neos (if going second). The reason we run two is because each effect can be activated once per turn, so if the first one gets negated, you can go into a second one.

Card not found (Xtra HERO Dread Decimator)

Xtra HERO Dread Decimator (0-1): I personally cut this card once I added in the Super Poly package, but it’s still worth talking about. This card has two purposes; first, it buffs up to three hero monsters that it points to with 100 attack for every hero monster with a different name in your graveyard. Second, it has piercing damage, so it’s really the deck’s only way to deal with things like Crooked Crook. If you’re struggling with UR mats and can’t craft Super Poly, this is a perfectly fine alternative.

Tech Cards and Staples

Card not found (Evil HERO Malicious Bane)

The Evil HERO Engine: This is a tech engine some players put in to help break boards going second and ends with an indestructible boss monster. The engine consists of Evil HERO Adusted Gold (1), Dark Calling (1), and Evil HERO Malicious Bane (1). The combo is as follows; you discard Adusted Gold to add Dark Calling, then you use Dark Calling to fuse Malicious bane with the Adusted Gold in your graveyard and any level 5 monster from your hand or graveyard. Malicious Bane can’t be destroyed by battle or card effect, and during your main phase he can non-targeting destroy all monsters your opponent controls with attack less than or equal to his current attack, then gains 200 attack for each monster destroyed this way. Personally, I cut this engine once DPE came out, but if you feel like going over 40 cards feel free to give this engine a try.

Card not found (Destiny HERO - Dangerous)

Card not found (Destiny HERO - Dystopia)

The Other Fusion Destiny Targets: These cards were way more popular before DPE came in, but between running the Super Poly package and the DPE package, the extra deck has become more and more tight; however, they are still worth mentioning. In the main deck, you would run Destiny HERO - Dynatag (1), and in the extra deck Destiny HERO - Dangerous (0-1) and/or Destiny HERO - Dystopia (0-1). Dynatag serves three purposes; first, it’s another Destiny Hero monster to use for Fusion Destiny Material. Second, Dynatag has an effect in the graveyard where you can banish him, and he gives one Destiny Hero monster 1000 attack until the end of your opponent’s next turn. Third, if he is in your hand, you can discard him to negate damage from one battle, and each player takes 1000 damage instead. Now, the reason his second effect is so useful is because of Dystopia. Think of Dystopia like DPE lite; he has the effect where, if his attack is different (can be less or more) than his original attack, he can quick effect destroy one card on the field, then his attack is reset to normal. So your play is, once you summon Dystopia, banish Dynatag to make his attack 3800, then he is able to pop one card on the field. Dangerous’ main purpose is to be used as a two-staged anti-brick tool. First, since he requires one dark effect monster, you would send Shadow Mist along with Malicious or Denier to the graveyard with Fusion Destiny, then activate Shadow Mist’s effect in the graveyard to add a Stratos, Vyon, or Faris to the hand. Then, his second effect allows you to discard a card to send a Destiny Hero monster from your hand or deck to the graveyard. This allows you to potentially send a Denier or a Malicious to the graveyard that was stranded in your hand, further extending your combos for that turn. If you’re hurting for materials, or don’t have anaconda or DPE yet, these are solid alternatives.

D - Force: Not something I personally have much experience with as I’ve never run it, but I have seen it talked about as a one-of tech card. It’s a way to bring Plasma from the deck to the hand, or bring him back from the GY to the hand if you used him as fusion destiny discard fodder. It essentially sets Plasma up to be a one-man army, non-targetable, indestructible by card effect, two attacks per battle, but you sacrifice the ability to draw during the main phase. Try it out if you want, but in the grand scheme of things I wouldn’t use the super CM to make it if you are hurting for materials.

Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)

Card not found (Nibiru, the Primal Being)

Other Staples: The rest of the deck consists of the usual suspects; three Maxx C, three Ash Blossom, two Called by the Grave, two-three Forbidden Droplet, one or two Infinite Impermanence, one or two Crossout Designator, and a Nibiru. Again, depending on what you face you can mix and match these cards, and if you don’t mind going over 40 feel free to add them all.

Matchups against the top tier decks

Sword Soul: Going first, you want to try your hardest to end on a board with some combination of Dark Law and DPE. Dark Law prevents them from putting Vishuda (or any Tenyi) into the graveyard to potentially bounce one of your cards back after linking off into Monk of Tenyi. He also potentially banishes one of their key cards if they try to search with Emergence or Grand Master, or draw with Mo Ye, and turns off the effect of Taiya to banish from the graveyard to make a token or send Mo Ye to the graveyard after making Baxia. DPE’s main job is to pop a Sword Soul token after they make one with Mo Ye, or if you have a way to negate Grand Master, wait until they special Summon Longyuan so they can’t make Baronne or Chengying. Going second, you will most likely be dealing with Baronne, Grand Master, and a set Blackout. Your best bet is to pray you have your Super Poly in the opening hand, then normal summon any hero and immediately chain Super Poly to make Great Tornado using their Baronne. If you don’t have Super Poly, you need to try and bait out Baronne’s negate with a spell (droplet, imperm, or a hero lives), so you can safely summon a monster without it getting destroyed. Assuming Baronne negates A Hero Lives, and Chixiao negates Stratos or Vyon, hopefully you have Faris, Fusion Destiny, or Polymeirzation in hand to go into a DPE play, or make Trinity to swing over both of them for potential lethal.
Zoodiac Tri-Brigade: Going first, try your absolute hardest to get Dark Law out. Not having access to their graveyard destroys any strategy Tri-Zoo tries to implement. If you have a Called by the Grave, save it for their Nerval, so they can’t add Fraktall or Kerass to their hand. If you have imperm, wait until their monster activates its effect banishing from the graveyard before you negate. If you make DPE, make sure to pop their monster after the summon before it can activate its effect to banish from the graveyard. If they normal summon any Zoodiac monster, you need to immediately pop it with DPE to prevent them from going into a Drident/Zeus play. Going second, the board you’ll most likely have to fight through is a three material Apollousa and a set Revolt. Assuming you don’t have a droplet, Super Poly, or Imperm, your best bet is to get Apollousa to negate your normal summon, reducing her attack to 1600, making it easy for you to swing over it with your normal summon. Once you attempt to enter the battle phase, they will most likely Revolt in response to make Shuraig and banish your normal summon. You’re then safe to continue your Main Phase 1, using a combination of any Destiny Hero in your graveyard, Faris, or a fusion play to bait out the last negates from Apollousa.
Eldlich: Going first, try your best to end on a board with a set Mask Change, and Dark Law + Absolute Zero on your field. Once they set their cards and attempt to end their turn, Mask Change Absolute Zero into Acid, wiping their entire back row and banishing it if you have Dark Law on the field. It’s almost impossible for them to recover at that point. NOTE, having Dark Law on the field also stops any potential Eldlich plays on their turn, since it requires being sent to the graveyard to send something on the field to the GY. Going second, if you don’t run feather duster, it’s a very difficult match for heroes. A potential combo you can do to out a Skill Drain is if they already have Eldlich on the field, special summon Faris to get a hero on the field, then normal summon Stratos, activate his effect to pop a back row, then in response to that, sacrifice him with Droplet so that his backrow destruction effect goes off in the graveyard, getting rid of Skill Drain. However, sometimes Eldlich just draws the best hand in the game, activated Skill Drain and Imperial Order, and there’s nothing that can be done. Going 2nd against Eldlich is probably the hardest matchup heroes has.

Sample decklists

Super Poly List

930 +

480

10 UR Craft Required 1 UR SD/Bundle/PVE

41 cards

Download

Evil HERO List

960 +

540

11 UR Craft Required 1 UR SD/Bundle/PVE

44 cards

Download

Combos

The part about playing heroes that, to me, is the most fun is the versatile combo routes you can take. Each duel is different, based on the cards in your hand. I’ll go over the four “main” combo routes to give you an idea how to best pilot the deck with an ideal hand.

The Stratos Line (Stratos + another hero in hand)

Normal summon Stratos, adding Faris to your hand (if not already there), or Shadow Mist (if Faris is in your hand).
Discarding Shadow Mist, special summon Faris, adding Increase to your backrow, and searching for Liquid Soldier with Shadow Mist’s effect, or if Liquid Soldier is in your hand, search for Denier. If Denier and Liquid are both in your hand, search for Plasma.
Tribute Faris to special summon Increase, then Vyon from your deck, putting Malicious in the graveyard. Banish Faris to Vyon to add Polymerization to your hand.
Link off Stratos and Increase to make Cross Crusader, special summoning Malicious from the graveyard.
Tribute Malicious to search for Denier (or Plasma if it is already in your hand).
Using Malicious’ effect, banish it from your graveyard to special summon the second one from your deck.
Using Polymerization on Liquid Soldier and Denier in your hand, summon Sunrise. Making Liquid Soldier CL1 and Sunrise CL2, add Miracle Fusion to the hand, draw 2 and discard 1 (for the sake of the combo, I am going to assume you drew into Plasma).
Link off Cross Crusader and Vyon to make Wonder Driver.
Activate Denier from the graveyard to special summon itself to the zone Wonder Driver points to, adding the banished Malicious back to your deck, and re-setting Polymerization.
Use Polymerization to fuse Malicious and Denier to make DPE.
Activate Malicious again to re-summon it to the field.
Use Miracle Fusion to make Absolute Zero with cards in your graveyard.
Tribute Sunrise, Malicious, and Wonder Driver to summon Plasma.
End Board: Absolute Zero with DPE to pop it for a potential monster board wipe, and Plasma to act as a one-sided Skill Drain. NOTE: if you drew Fusion Destiny, you are able to keep Sunrise on the field, adding an additional layer of protection to your other heroes.

The Vyon Line (Vyon in hand)

Normal summon Vyon, putting Shadow Mist in the graveyard, adding Liquid Soldier to your hand with Shadow Mist.
Banish Shadow Mist with Vyon to add Polymerization to hand.
Using Liquid Soldier and another hero in hand (or the Vyon on field if you have no other heroes), make Sunrise. Using Liquid Soldier as CL1, and Sunrise as CL2, add Miracle Fusion to hand, draw 2 and discard 1.
Miracle Fusion materials from your graveyard to make Absolute Zero
Link off Vyon and Sunrise into Anaconda, using Fusion Destiny to summon DPE.
End Board: Absolute Zero with DPE to pop it and potentially wipe the opponent’s field of monsters.

The Mask Change Line (Mask Change with Stratos in hand)

Normal Summon Stratos to search for Faris (if you have another hero in hand), or Shadow Mist (if you have Faris in hand). Note: If your opponent tries to imperm or veiler your stratos, you can respond with Mask Change to make Blast.
Discard Shadow Mist with Faris, special summoning itself to the field, and adding Liquid Soldier to the hand with Shadow Mist and placing Increase into the backrow.
Tribute Faris to special summon Increase, special summoning Vyon from the deck, and putting Malicious into the graveyard. Banishing Faris with Vyon, add Polymerization to your hand.
Link off Stratos and Increase to make Cross Crusader, special summoning Malicious to the field. Activate Cross Crusader to tribute Malicious and add Liquid Soldier to hand.
Link off Cross Crusader and Vyon to special summon Wonder Driver. Activate Malicious’ effect to banish itself and special summon the 2nd Malicious from your deck, in any zone other than the one Wonder Driver points to.
Mask Change on Malicious to make Dark Law, summoning Dark Law to the zone Wonder Driver points to, resetting Mask Change for your opponent’s turn.

Use Denier’s effect to special summon itself, returning the banished Malicious to your deck.
Activate Malicious’ effect once again to special summon itself to the field.
Use Polymerization to make DPE.
End Board: DPE for a pop, Dark Law for Floodgate, 2nd Mask Change to use with your Shadow Mist to make 2nd Dark Law and search for either Honest Neos or another Stratos/Vyon for your following turn.

Using Liquid Soldier plus any other hero in hand (or the Wonder Driver on the field) to make Sunrise. Using Liquid as CL1 and Sunrise as CL2, add Miracle Fusion to hand, then draw 2 and discard 1.
Using Miracle Fusion, make Absolute Zero with materials from the graveyard.
End Board: Dark Law Floodgate, Sunrise to protect your other heroes, and a set Mask Change that can be used either on Shadow Mist to make 2nd Dark Law, or on Absolute Zero to make Acid, activating both of their effects to destroy all opponent’s monsters and all of their backrow.

The A Hero Lives Line (A Hero Lives + Stratos or Vyon in hand)

Play A Hero Lives, special summon Shadow Mist, adding Mask Change to hand.
Normal summon Stratos, add Faris to hand (if not already in hand), otherwise add Malicious.
Discarding Malicious, special summon Faris, placing Increase in the back row. Activate Increase to special summon itself to the field and Vyon from the deck, putting Denier in the graveyard. Activate Vyon to banish Faris and add Polymerization to hand.
Link off Stratos and Increase to make Cross Crusader, special summoning Malicious to the field. Activate Cross Crusader to tribute Malicious and ass Liquid Soldier to hand.
Link off Cross Crusader and Vyon to special summon Wonder Driver. Activate Malicious’ effect to banish itself and special summon the 2nd Malicious from your deck, in any zone other than the one Wonder Driver points to.
Mask Change on Malicious to make Dark Law, summoning Dark Law to the zone Wonder Driver points to, resetting Mask Change for your opponent’s turn. a. Use Denier’s effect to special summon itself, returning the banished Malicious to your deck. b. Activate Malicious’ effect once again to special summon itself to the field. c. Use Polymerization to make DPE. d. End Board: DPE for a pop, Dark Law for Floodgate, 2nd Mask Change to use with your Shadow Mist to make 2nd Dark Law and search for either Honest Neos or another Stratos/Vyon for your following turn.
Using Liquid Soldier plus any other hero in hand (or the Wonder Driver on the field) to make Sunrise. Using Liquid as CL1 and Sunrise as CL2, add Miracle Fusion to hand, then draw 2 and discard 1.
Using Miracle Fusion, make Absolute Zero with materials from the graveyard.
End Board: Dark Law Floodgate, Sunrise to protect your other heroes, and a set Mask Change that can be used either on Shadow Mist to make 2nd Dark Law, or on Absolute Zero to make Acid, activating both of their effects to destroy all opponent’s monsters and all of their backrow.

Conclusion

Although a bit expensive to make, the power of heroes in the current meta is undeniable. Whether you’re ending on a board with a combination of Plasma, Dark Law and DPE, or you’re OTK’ing on the swing back with an honest neo boosted Trinity, heroes doesn’t disappoint in variety, strength, and viability. Remember to not accidentally lock yourself out of a wonder driver / absolute zero play by using fusion destiny too early and remember you can activate mask change to dodge things like veiler and imperm, and I promise you heroes is a good contender to climb with!

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Jem767

3 years ago

Amazzzing

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Mr. Smith

finally a guide for heroes player

7 ↑

Tachyon

A HERO LIVES

4 ↑

frank900000000

Good guide

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reizu

Think there's a typo in the "The Stratos Line" combo. You wrote linking off Stratos twice: first for Cross Crusader, then for Wonder Driver. I think one of those is supposed to be Vyon instead of Stratos.

Great tutorial!

Yes! Thanks for catching that.