Introduction to Sharks(Kragen Control)
We taught these fish to Xyz summon!
-Joseph Rothschild
Ahhh.... you ever just go to the beach, and admire the view of the ocean? The serene and peaceful environment that just fills your mind with tranquility. The heat and light of the sun, shining on your face. The sound of the waves as they crash into each other. The ocean, just drawing you in with its mysterious ways... You go into the water, and start to go a little deeper to enjoy the ocean's blessings. Life is good. That was, until, everything starts to go quiet, as fear instills in your core. You look around, the sky has gone dark, the water, silent, as you see some silhouettes come out of the water and falling from the sky. You close your eyes and pray that you'll be fine and that safety will eventually come back to you, but it doesn't, as Loading... and its Loading... s surface the waves and surround you, and Loading... descends from the sky, ready to maul on their next victim.
Sharks, or Kragen Control, found mainly in the Shark's Pride pack, is an archetype that aims to spam the board with various Rank 4 Xyz monsters with the power of their aquatic, fishy, and vicious friends. The power of Loading... along with the help of other sea dwelling monsters will help you in terrorizing your foes by allowing you easy access to the boss monsters such as Loading... , Loading... (from Loading... ), and Loading... . Although the deck's power level has been toned down due to Loading... 's inclusion in the banlist, the deck can still consistently stop your opponent from accessing their plays because of the sheer power that Water Xyz has.
- Core Cards
- Tech Cards
- Combos
Core Cards - Monsters
First, I am going to show the entire centerpiece of Sharks and why it's called Kragen Control by some.
Number 4: Stealth Kragen
The entire centerpiece of the deck. By simply overlaying 2 level 4 WATER Monsters you get access to this amazing boss monster has 3 different effects:
- All face-up monsters on the field become WATER attribute.
Think of this effect as essentially a Loading... or a Loading... , but for WATER archetypes. Turning all monsters on the field into WATER attribute may sound irrelevant, but that's only until you see the implications it has, and until you read Kragen's second effect. It is pretty neat against decks that rely on attributes, such as Phantom Knights or Raidraptors, preventing them from being able to Xyz summon Loading... or Loading... .
- Once per turn, during the Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can destroy 1 WATER monster your opponent controls, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the ATK it had on the field.
Now the first effect becomes relevant. Being able to destroy a monster your opponent controls, WITHOUT TARGETING, is such a good effect to have for an easily accessible boss monster. With this effect we can easily deal with untargetable threaths such as Loading... and Loading... , or other problem monsters such as Loading... on the moment it gets summoned, while also being able to burn our opponent for a lot LP. You don't even have to detach a material to activate this effect, which can actually be pretty awful for us, since we don't dump a monster to grave we wont be able to follow up with Loading... , but it does enable us to use Loading... at least.
- If this Xyz summoned card is destroyed: You can special summon "Kragen Spawn(s)" from your extra deck, up to the number of materials this card had, then you can attach up to 1 WATER monster from your graveyard to each of them as material.
The Loading... s pretty much have the same effect as their superior version. They can both destroy a WATER monster on a quick effect, and they also float back into Loading... from the graveyard upon destruction. Though, they are missing the first effect of changing every monster to WATER.
Loading... will float into the spawns, as long as they are destroyed, no matter who destroyed them. Which means you can use cards such as Loading... to dismantle the opponent's board of monsters, while also floating into 2 monsters, that can float back into Stealh Kragen from the graveyard.
This card is effectively a floodgate, a disruption tool, and a big defensive wall. If your opponent cannot deal with this on their first turn, you pretty much just win the match. If you play Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, this is pretty much, just an Loading... with Loading... , that doesn't negate graveyard effects however.
The Best Normal Summon
Note: It's not obvious but the recommended ratios of the amount of a card you should be running is in the card box itself, see the 3x / 2x logo?
Buzzsaw Shark
The main power engine of the deck. Loading... alone is a one card Xyz combo, as its effect allows you to target a face up WATER monster you control to summon a fish monster with the same level, but with a different name, from your deck. Though, using this effect locks you into Xyz monsters for the rest of the turn. Who doesn't love making a powerful Xyz monster with one card? It also has the niche effect that it can be treated as a level 3 or 5 monster for the summon of an Xyz monster, this effect will rarely be relevant, unless you want to push for damage with Loading... or get another disruption tool with Loading... anyway.
Beautunaful Princess
Essentially acts as 3 extra copies of Loading... in the deck, as when Tuna gets normal summoned, she can banish herself to summon a level 4 or lower Fish type monster from our deck, and of course that fish monster we're summoning is going to be our Buzzsaw boy, itself or if you already have a Buzzsaw in hand, Loading... is also a good target to summon. Her level and statline is actually pretty huge for us, since its level 1, we can easily bring her out with Loading... . And since she has 0 ATK, we can also use Loading... to search her out.
The Water Extenders
Silent Angler
A simple level 4 WATER/Fish monster that can special summon itself from the hand when you control a WATER monster. Using its special summon effect, however, will prevent you from special summoning from your hand for the rest of the turn, so be sure to use other extenders first before summoning Loading... .
Silent Sea Nettle
Pretty much has the same effect as Loading... , though, it has the downsides of:
- Being an Aqua monster instead of Fish, which will prevent us from summoning it off Loading...
- Locking you into WATER monsters for the rest of the turn
Loading... does have the graveyard effect of shuffling up to 3 other WATER monsters from your graveyard into the deck by banishing itself, which means it can help you in recycling your important Xyz monsters to use them again for future plays.
Tenyi Spirit - Shthana
A WATER monster that can special summon itself from the hand, only if you control no monsters. But just lock Loading... , its not a fish, which means we can't summon it off Loading... . With Shthana, we can use his effect to try and bait out any form of negation or disruption effect that the opponent may have since the effect is an Ignition Effect. Shthana works best as a starter on your first turn, though, can sometimes be a bad draw on further turns, as chances are, you wont be able to use its effect to special summon itself. Which kind of makes Loading... better, in a sense.
Xyz Remora
Probably the best extender that the deck can has. Loading... can special summon itself from your hand by detaching 2 materials from any Xyz Monsters that you may have on your field(Usually Loading... or Loading... ). When it's summoned this way, you can summon 2 fish type monsters from your grave, but they have their effects negated, can't attack, and must be used for only Water Xyz monsters. This card may enable us to do some combos and it may be the best extender but, surprisingly, its one of the lesser important monsters in the deck. As it's a brick if you dont manage to make a Rank 4 on your first turn, so the other extenders actually give more value for the deck.
Lantern Shark
When its normal or special summoned, you can special summon a level 3, 4, or 5 WATER monster from your hand. You usually summon Loading... with it. So from a perspective standpoint, Loading... is essentially just a Loading... that doesn't lock your hand from special summons. It is however, one of the better targets to summon with Loading... .
Buzzsaw Shark Targets
Right-Hand Shark
This card has 2 very important effects
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When you control no monsters, you can special summon this card from the graveyard, but banish it when it leaves the field. Note that it doesn't banish itself when you detach it as Xyz material, meaning that once this card hits the graveyard, you always have Xyz material available in your grave, allowing you to easily retaliate when your opponent dismantles your board.
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An Xyz monster that was summoned using only WATER monsters and this card cannot be destroyed by battle. This effect is very relevant as it protects your powerful Xyz monsters such as Loading... and Loading... . Making it, so your opponent is forced into using their removal effects on them if they ever want to attack you directly.
Lifeless Leaffish
Its first effect of sending a fish from deck to grave is usually not relevant, as when you summon it, it usually has its effects negated. The use of this card comes from its graveyard effect, allowing you to banish the card to shuffle 3 fish-type monsters from your graveyard into the deck, to draw a card. Useful for getting that card economy.
Note that just because this section is about the cards you summon with Loading... , it doesn't mean these should be the only ones you summon. In some situations, its better to summon Loading... or Loading... if you manage to open with Loading... , and if you're running Rank 3/5 Xyz, sometimes its better to summon Loading... .
Spell and Traps
White Mirror
A Loading... for level 4 or lower fish monsters, that will also allow us to also draw a monster with the same name as that revived monster. Excellent for setting up our combos, as we could use it on Loading... or Loading... on our first turn to extend our combos even further. (Assuming Silent Angler hasn't locked you out of hand yet)
Also good for recovery as it can revive Loading... on your next turn to make another one card Xyz combo.
One for One
I do love having about 7 copies of Loading... in my deck, mhm. Loading... can be used to summon out Loading... from your deck, which will allow us to use her effect of summoning another level 4 or lower fish from deck. The discard cost can also be a benefit for us, as we can use Loading... to summon the fish we discarded to then search out a monster of that name.
Instant Fusion
Instant Fusion allows us to summon a Fusion monster from our extra deck that can be used as an extender for our plays. Summoning either a Loading... to set-up for Loading... , or Loading... for temporary targeting protection.
Gozen Match
Just like how Loading... is a core in Loading... decks, Loading... is core in Shark/Kragen decks. If you aren't aware of the interaction, while Loading... is face-up, and Loading... is on the board, your opponent can only have 1 monster on the board, unless they're also playing a WATER attribute deck, such as Mermails or Marincess. Against most decks, we usually just end their turn once they use their one normal summon as long as we have Gozen face-up. Though, the card ends up as a brick when going second if you can't clear the opponent's monsters.
Core Extra Deck monsters
Bahamut Shark
An Xyz monster that we have easy access to make since all our monsters are WATER. Loading... is usually the main combo starter of most of our plays, since its essentially a way to spam the board with Rank 3 or lower Xyz Monsters such as:
Toadally Awesome
Sadly, our Toad is limited in the Master Duel banlist, which means we cant go for the usual 3 toads UFD end board that we usually have in the TCG. Loading... can negate the activation of anything your opponent does, by sending a WATER monster from the hand or field to the grave, and destroy that card! Though, you usually almost always send Toad itself to negate. The neat part is, when you negate an effect that activates on the field, you can set the negated and destroyed card to your side of the field.
Toad being limited may suck, but you can actually use him more than once in game, as when they're sent to the graveyard, you can add a WATER monster from your graveyard to you hand. You either use the effect to add back Loading... , or you use it on Toad to put it back in the extra deck, which will allow us to re-summon it back with Loading... once more.
The Black Ray Lancer Package
Due to Loading... 's limitation on the banlist, we pretty much have to strive with playing these 2 cards that you probably only know from Duel Links. Although not as good as Toad, Loading... can provide us with a little extra protection on the board, and it also has the niche effect of being able to destroy a spell/trap on the field upon destroying a monster by battle. Which can come in clutch in some situations, like destroying a Loading... that's face up currently negating a monster you control perhaps.
Loading... can actually also come in pretty clutch sometimes. Its the monster you summon off of Loading... in order to overlay it into Loading... . But you can actually also overlay Loading... and Loading... to Xyz Summon it the normal way, which then we can use its effect to have one of our WATER monsters attack directly, which can help us close out some games.
Abyss Dweller
A generic level 4 Xyz Monster that can easily stop some decks from playing the game. Many people know of its effect of detaching 1 material to disable all effects that activate in the graveyard for the turn, which can temporarily shut down decks such as Drytrons, Phantom Knights, and Eldlich. While slowing down other decks such as Tri-Brigade and Virtual World. Though, most people aren't aware of its first effect of boosting the ATK of all WATER monsters you control by 500, as long as all materials used were originally WATER, which we can utilize to help us beat over beatsticks and help us push for game.
Drill Driver Vespenato
Enables you to use Loading... more efficiently. Overlaying Loading... into Vespenato after using its effect to summon either Toad or Black Ray will make it have 2 Xyz Materials, which we can then remove to special summon Loading... and special summon 2 other fish monsters from the grave to then go into other XYZ monsters. You also get a 2500 ATK beatstick that can deal piercing damage. Always remember though, you can't use Vespenato as a material for Loading... the turn you overlay it., so, dont go thinking you can attack with Kragen, overlay Vespenato, and make Zeus, that won't work.
Utopic Draco Future and His Son
The deck likes to swarm the board with Rank 4 Xyz Monsters, so we easily have access to UFD. Loading... has the effect of being indestructible in battle or with card effects, and has the effect of detaching a material to negate any monster effect that the opponent activates, and if the negated monster was on the field, you get to take control of it! Loading... has the effect to take control of an opponent's monster that it battles with, until the end of the battle phase, which could come in clutch in some situations. The main way you summon these 2 is quite usually by using 2 Loading... s that have already activated their effects on the field, turning those 2 useless bodies into a monster negate/mind control effect. Note that you cannot summon F0 with Number monsters such as Loading... or Loading...
Zeusdiacs
Who's your favorite 3rd Zeus Material? The Zoodiac Xyz monsters, being Loading... and Loading... are the main gateways for us to go into Loading... . If you dont know, the Zoodiac Xyz are actually generic, with 2 level 4 monsters we can make Loading... which we will then use to go into Loading... . With Boarbow we can attack directly for a whopping 0 damage, but during Main Phase 2, we can then make a Zeus with 4 Materials! Of course we dont necessarily need to use the Zoodiac Xyz to make Zeus, we can also simply just attack with any of our Xyz Monsters to make it. But with the Zoodiac Engine we can ensure ourselves that we will have more than 1 Zeus activation for the game.
Instant Fusion Targets
Rare Fish
A vanilla level 4 Fish Fusion monster. Unironically the best Instant Fusion Target for the deck, as it being Fish Type allows us to re-use it for either Loading... , or Loading... 's effect. You can also recycle it with cards like Loading... or Loading... , though, that wont be relevant since Ready Fusion isn't currently in the Master Duel card pool.
Mudragon of the Swamp
A level 4 WATER - Wyrm type monster. Summoning this card going when going second can provide us protection from targeting effects that the opponent may have, such as Loading... , Loading... , or Loading... . It can also be a good target for Loading... , as Stealth Kragen changes the opponent's monster attributes, meaning we can easily use Super Poly to make Mudragon as we make its fusion requirements easier to achieve. Oh, and its also level 4, which means we can use it as overlay material for our Xyz Monsters.
Millennium-Eyes Restrict
Although not really recommended, you can put in Loading... in the extra deck if you want a way to punish your opponent for when they activate a monster effect, whether in be handtrap or on field, while you're doing your plays. The extra deck space is limited enough however, so play at your own risk.
Tech Monsters
Astral Kuriboh
Can be used as an additional extender. Though when you use it, you are limited to only being able to Xyz summon "Number" Xyz monsters as long as its on the field. Most notable Number Xyz monsters being Loading... , Loading... , and Loading... . Also technically Loading... , though Loading... is fiend so you wont be able to Xyz with it anyway.
Tin Goldfish
Another extender that the deck can utilize. It essentially acts as extra copies of Loading... , however, it's not a fish so you aren't able to summon it from Loading... or Loading... . The best combo with this card would probably be to normal summon it to special summon Loading... from hand to then special summon Loading... , which will then get you 2 Rank 4 Xyz monsters.
Double Fin Shark
A decent recovery tool. When normal summoned, you can revive a level 4 or lower fish monster from the grave, but it has its effects negated. The downside of this card comes from the fact that you are locked into WATER monsters for the rest of the turn.
Barrier Statue of the Torrent
Think of it as Loading... that has Kragen's first effect. Normal summoning Barrier Statue is a viable way of preventing your opponent from making plays on their first main phas as ,chances are, they will have to use their battlephase just to get rid of the statue. As it's a level 4 monster, it could also be used to overlay into our Xyz monsters.
Rank-Up- Magic - The 7th One
A big gamble card that can summon powerful "Number C" monsters. I personally have never played the card, as its a dead card going first and you're better off drawing any other card going second. But some people have seen success with the card, summoning monsters like Loading... to get a free monster with a negate effect on the board.
Salamangreat Almiraj
A niche card that can be used to enable a combo. If we open with Loading... and Loading... , we can normal summon the Angler, link it off for Almiraj, then use White Mirror to revive the Angler and then add another Angler, special summon that Angler, to then overlay into Loading... . And with Loading... , you can make it indestructible for a turn. Won't come up often, but still a neat tech choice.
Rank 3/5 Xyz Monsters
You can Xyz summon both of these by using a Loading... and a Loading... on the field.
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Loading... is quite usually just another target for Loading... to then overlay into Loading... . Though its effect can come in somewhat relevant in recycling Loading... and other Number Xyz monsters.
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Loading... has a pretty neat effect of being able to Quick Effect destroy a monster your opponent controls, as long as you have another WATER XYZ monster on the field. If you dont have a WATER xyz monster, it isnt a quick effect however. Its a good Xyz monster to summon if you have Stealth Kragen on board already. It's second effect of placing ANY spell from your deck to the top of the deck it pretty good too, as you can basically "Destiny Draw" the perfect spell card for the next turn.
Number 59: Crooked Cook
Crooked Cook has the effect of being immune to everything as long as you control no other cards. Though, it can still be tributed for a Kaiju, and can still be destroyed by battle, and also it can still be linked off using Loading... . But, we can fix Crooked Cook's problem of being destroyed by battle if we use Loading... or Loading... as material, as they both have the effect of making the Xyz monster that was summoned using either of them as material be indestructible by battle. So as long as the opponent doesn't have a Kaiju, Underworld Goddess, or Piercing Damage, then you should be able to stall about 60+ turns with this monster alone. If you're feeling brave you can also put in the 5 exodia pieces in your deck as an alternate win condition because Crooked Cook will just stall you out forever.
Budget-ish Xyz
The deck can get pretty expensive, so here are some of the other viable cheap Xyz monsters you can play to fill the Extra Deck.
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Loading... , another card that you may only know from Duel Links. Number 37 has the effect of reducing the ATK of all monsters your opponent controls by 1000 when any of your monsters declare an attack. It also has the destruction effect of summoning any other monster from your graveyard.
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Loading... can banish up to 2 cards in the opponent's graveyard. Can also attach itself to any of your Xyz monsters to boost their ATK of 1200.
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Loading... . BACK TO DUEL LINKS! Malevolent Sin can be used as a finisher, being able to target and banish a monster your opponent controls until the next standby phase. A budget version of Loading... basically.
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Loading... can be used as an alternative to the Zoodiac Engine if you want to save space to more efficiently make Loading... .
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Loading... , its hard to find a situation in where this card's effect can come in relevant. But when it does, it works well, as sending a monster to the GY without triggering their destruction effects is pretty decent. The 1000 burn damage might also help too.
Literally any other generic Rank 4 Xyz Monsters
As the archetype doesn't lock you into WATER(unless you used Loading... ), you are free to run any generic Rank 4 Xyz monsters that you may have access to, whether it be something like Loading... , or Loading... . Notable Mentions to:
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Loading... . During each standby phase, it can steal the top card of your opponent's deck and attach it to itself as material. It has the quick effect of removing up to 3 materials and activate an effect based on what it removes, it shuffles a face up card on field for trap, draws a card for spell, and banishes itself until end phase for monsters.
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Loading... . Think of it as a better Loading... . You can detach 2 materials to then equip an attack position special summoned monster your opponent controls as overlay material, which can help us push for lethal against cards like Loading... .
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Loading... is a Loading... on legs. Relevant against Loading...
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The Utopia Engines. Loading... can provide us another win condition if the opponent leaves a monster with 2000 or less ATK in attack position, and Loading... can provide us a way to beat over other problematic monsters, such as Loading... .
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Loading... . Think of it as a Mini Loading... . The only downside this card has is its effect of making your opponent unable to take damage for the rest of the turn if its effect is used.
Staples
Who would have guessed, Handtraps.
Pretty sure that at this point, everyone knows what each popular handtrap does, so to make this part unique, I'm just gonna make a Top 5 Handtrap Ranking. Recommended ratios not included as the amount of handtraps you want to play is based on you.
Top 1: Ash Blossom
People are going to argue that Loading... is better. But due to the current meta that we have ,cough Eldlich, I'd say that Ash Blossom is better as it can actually do something against the Eldlich cards such as Loading... . Using Ash at the proper moment, hitting a crucial card against most decks, can make the difference on deciding the victor of the match.
Top 2: Maxx "C"
Who doesn't like drawing their entire deck? Who doesn't like ending the opponent's turn with one card? Loading... lets you draw a card every time your opponent special summons a monster, which against most decks in the format, results in you getting somewhere around +8 in card advantage unless your opponent decides to just stop comboing.
Top 3: Imperm
A flexible card that can negate a monster your opponent controls. Going secong it can be used as an Loading... , being able to use it during your opponent's turn from your hand as long as you dont control any cards. Going first, you can use it as a backrow card that can force your opponent to use their resources to get rid of it. It can also be used as a pseudo Loading... going second at the start of your turn.
It also has the niche effect of negating any spell/traps that activates in the same collumn as it, as long as it was set in that collumn before activation, which most people actually dont even remember.
Top 4: Effect Veiler
During your opponent's Main phase, you can send this card from your hand to the graveyard, to target and negate the effects of a monster that your opponent controls. The OG Loading... , although Imperm has powercrept this card, it still sees play as being able to just discard it to negate a monster is still a valuable effect. What makes Loading... different from Imperm, is how you can use her effect even if you have other cards on the field. The fact that its a discard cost, however, is a pretty bad downside as Loading... can counter it. Do keep in mind that she's also a level one tuner spellcaster monster. Her being spellcaster can help you counter Loading... , discard her for Loading... , and can force the opponent to use a monster effect negation, like Loading... .
Top 5: D.D. Crow
Being able to banish a card in your opponent's graveyard is pretty relevant for the current metagame. Banishing a deck's core cards, such as Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , and etc., is a pretty game winning effect on its own.
Other Core cards to banish with Crow against some other meta relevant decks:
- Loading...
- Loading...
- Loading...
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Loading... , Any of the Prank Kids Kids that the opponent needs to add to their hand
Honorable Mention
A handtrap that can help us ensure that Loading... and Loading... will be able to resolve their effects. Could also be used during your opponent's turn to shut down their plays. Though, I personally dont recommend as Loading... 's inclusion in the semi-limited banlist will cause some consistency problems, especially since it wont work if you control a monster on the board.
Ghost Belle is honestly a pretty underrated handtrap. Being able to stop most effects that touches the graveyards. Though, you can argue that Ghost Belle is just a bad version of Loading... and Loading... , you gotta admit, stopping your opponent from using Loading... , Loading... , or Loading... is pretty neat. The main advantage Ghost Belle has however, is that she can stop our opponent from using cards like Loading... or Loading... to protect our graveyard and ensuring our own handtraps can go through.
Super Poly
Can be used to fusion summon Loading... . Because of Loading... 's effect, you can efficiently use this card as Mudragon of the swamp requires 2 monsters of the same attribute, but different type. And since Stealth Kragen switches every monsters attribute to WATER, Mudragon is significantly easier to summon with Super Poly using your opponent's monsters.
Can also be used to fusion summon Loading... against dark attribute decks, though, its not recommended to waste an extra deck slot for it.
Called by the Grave
As the deck's power relies on Loading... and Loading... , Loading... will help us ensure that they will be able to go through with their effects. Being able to protect the both of them from Loading... and Loading... . Could also be used as a pseudo Loading... , being able to banish core monsters such as Loading... and others.
Pots of Desires and Avarice
The preferred "draw 2" pot of choice. As we play our core cards as 3-ofs in the deck, we can safely use Loading... ' effect without having to worry about banishing our core pieces. Loading... is also a valid option, though, this is one of the decks that need to have a lot of extra deck resources, so Prosperity is a bit of a risk.
As we use out a lot of resources, Loading... can also be a good option for the deck, enabling us to recycle Xyz monsters and let us draw 2 cards.
Kairyu-shin's Power
If you want a bit more disruption, we can safely play Loading... as Loading... can float into 2 other monsters, that can float back into it again. Loading... is also a viable card to play, being able to search Loading... , while also having the graveyard effect of protecting our WATER monsters from destruction effects.
If you are to set Loading... , be sure that the only monster you'll have is Loading... as you wont lose pressure against the opponent if it gets destroyed by TT, unless you have Loading... in the graveyard, in that case ignore what I said.
Piri Reis Map
A card that can search Loading... from the deck, but can only be used at the start of Main Phase 1 by paying half your lifepoints. A bit unnecessary in the Pure Sharks/Kragen version of the deck, but it does come in handy every now and again. Mainly used in the Crooked Cook Exodia decks.
Foolish Burial
Can act as another starter by sending Loading... to the graveyard. Being able to use its graveyard effects of summoning itself to easily make a Rank 4. If you have Loading... in hand, you can send any fish that you like to summon it with White Mirror, while also getting another monster with that name from the deck.
Monster Negations
Useful for their simple effects of just negating a monster. Loading... is prefered as it halves ATK, can be spell speed 4, and can negate multiple monsters at once. The discard cost be, again, useful for when you open with Loading... too.
Loading... is a neat budget option for when you can't craft other staples. On a quick play spell, you can negate the effects of ANY monster on the field, while boosting their ATK by 400. The 400 ATK boost can also come in clutch for pusing lethal or beating over huge threats.
When the Order is
Though it shuts down our Loading... and other spell cards, being able to stop our opponent from using THEIR spells is just way too good to pass up. The downsides of Loading... doesn't matter to us that much, as protecting our Loading... and shutting down decks like Sky Strikers and Pendulums is a worthy trade-off.
Other Generic Disruption Tools
Solemn Cards
The 50% life-point cost doesn't matter, as negating any card with Loading... is a pretty big deal, especially since it can save our backrow from Loading... or Loading... . Same goes for Loading... , being able to negate any special summon or monster effect for only 1500 LP.
Ice Dragon's Prison
Non-targeting double banish. Exceptional against decks like Eldlich where you can banish 2 Golden Lords at once. Just generally great removal tool as well. Can also act as a pseudo-Loading... on your opponent's graveyard, though having their effects negated.
Compulsory Evacuation Device
Another fantastic budget option for if you dont have the CP for other staples. Having the option to bounce an opponent's monster is a strong effect against some monsters, such as Loading... and Loading... , being able to get rid of them without destruction.
Going Second Staples
Evenly Matched
Going second and when your opponent has a big board, Loading... can help you in dismantling it. As in about 90% of the time you would be banishing at least 4 cards with Loading... , whether it be set backrow, or their monsters.
Dinowrestler Pankratops
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Can act as a big 2600 beatstick that you can special summon for free
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A flexible removal tool that can easily remove problematic cards such as Loading... , Loading... , and Loading... .
Backrow Hate
The deck can easily fold against most traps, such as Loading... being able to stop our plays after using our extenders. So backrow hate cards are definitely needed, especially with the amount of backrow the current meta has, with Eldlich running rampant in ladder and Phantom Knights having a searchable Loading... .
Of course these aren't just going second cards, as some of these can be useful in disrupting the opponent if they're playing a deck that uses field spells and continuous spell/traps. Such as chaining Loading... to a Loading... .
Deck Combos
The Simple Buzzsaw Shark combo
Open Buzzsaw
End Board
- Normal Summon Loading...
- Activate Loading... 's effect, targeting itself to summon a Loading... from your deck.
- Xyz summon any Rank 4 Xyz Monster
lol, this one should be pretty obvious, just showcasing it in case you're unaware of what Loading... can do.
Standard Combo with Xyz Remora
Open Buzzsaw + Remora
End Board
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Get Loading... on the field, whether it be by normal summoning it, or by using Loading... . (If afraid of getting Ash'd, Normal Summon the Buzzsaw).
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Activate Loading... 's effect, summoning Loading... .
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Overlay into Loading... .
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Loading... 's effect, special summon Loading... from the extra deck.
As it's your 4th summon, Loading... will now protect you from Loading... .
- Overlay Loading... on top of Loading... , placing it in the Extra Monster Zone
- Activate Loading... 's effect, removing 2 overlay material from Loading... .
- Special Summon Loading... , with its effect special summon the Loading... and the Loading... from the graveyard.
- Overlay any of the 2 level 4 fishes on the field to make another Loading... .
- Loading... effect, special summon Loading... /Loading... from the extra deck, to then overlay it into Loading... .
- Overlay Loading... and Loading... into Loading... , which you will then overlay into Loading... .
This combo should end on you having about, 2 negates, with Loading... and Loading... on the board. And you should have 2 extra bodies left on board with Loading... and another Level 4 Fish monster.
Do know that most of the combos of the deck will actually just be this one combo, but you'll get way more value if you have extenders in the hand. Such as opening Loading... will let you use the additionally level 4 fish on the board to overlay into Loading... or Loading... .
DO REMEMBER TO SUMMON DRILL DRIVER VESPENATO IN THE EXTRA MONSTER ZONE AS YOU'LL NEED THE SPACE TO SUMMON WITH REMORA
Standard Combo with White Mirror
Open Buzzsaw/Tuna + White Mirror
End Board
- Normal Summon Loading...
- Activate its effect, special summoning Loading... from deck.
- Overlay into Loading...
- Activate Bahamut, DETACHING SILENT ANGLER, special summoning Loading... from the extra deck.
- Activate Loading... , special summoning the Loading... from the grave, while adding another one from the deck.
- Special Summon the other Loading... from hand
- Overlay into any Rank 4 Xyz, whether it be Loading... , or another Loading... .
If you decided to overlay into Loading... :
- Activate Bahamut's effect, special summoning Loading... from the extra deck, which we will then overlay into Loading... .
- With the 2 Loading... s on board, Overlay Loading... , which we will then overlay into Loading... .
The Full Combo
Open Lantern, Buzzsaw, White Mirror, Remora
End Board
Opening Loading... /Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , and Loading... is going to be your best hand. as with this hand you can:
- Normal Summon Loading... / Loading... Special Summoning the Loading... .
- With Loading... 's effect, special summon Loading... from hand
- Loading... 's effect activates, special summoning a Loading... from the deck .
- Overlay Loading... and Loading... into Loading...
- Loading... 's effect activates, detaching the Silent Angler, special summoning Loading... from the extra deck.
Unless you normal summoned Loading... , Loading... should be your 5th summon, giving you protection from Loading... once more.
- Activate Loading... , special summoning Loading... from the grave, and adding another one from deck to hand.
- Overlay Loading... and Loading... , making another Loading... .
- Loading... once more, special summoning Loading... /Loading... which we will then overlay into Loading... .
- Using the 2 Loading... s on board, overlay into Loading... going into Loading... , placing it in the Extra monster zone
- Loading... effect, detaching 2 materials from Loading... .
- Special Summon Loading... , reviving 2 other fishes from the grave.
- Using 2 of the fishes, Overlay into Loading...
- You should have a Loading... in hand, special summon it.
- Using the newly summoned Loading... , overlay Loading... .
With this 4 card combo, you should have a Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , and an Loading... on board. Which should translate into 2 negates, a quick effect monster destruction, and a graveyard disabler.
Sample Decklists
The Core of Kragen Control
Loading... and Loading... are 2 ofs, you decide which one you want to put in. You can put in both if you want.
Jamer J - January Platinum 1 Decklist
FreakyFishSkipper - January Platinum 1 Decklist
Nick Dale - February Platinum 1 Decklist
Dkayed: DO NOT PLAY THIS DECK! IT WILL RUIN MASTER DUEL! - Crooked Cook Exodia
Loading... is definitely optional and a meme outside of this deck, she's in here in order to deal with Extra Deck monsters that have piercing battle damage and the ones that can attack directly. Ghost Reaper unironically good in this deck to deal with problematic cards lol.
Final Thoughts
Sharks, Kragen Control, Fish, Water Xyz, whatever you may call it, is a consistent deck that can easily gain control of the board with its simple Xyz combos. As of right now, I'd say its power level is somewhere in the Rogue catergory. Being able to power through some decks with Stealth Kragen alone sure is a worthy feat, though the core problem the deck is currently facing is its vulnerability to negation and destruction effects, as one single Forbidden Chalice can lose you the game on the spot. Which, I guess could be said to a lot of other decks. The power of the deck definitely increases the more extenders we open, but if every game we just normal summon Buzzsaw Shark and nothing else, the deck power just kind of falls off hard.
Special Thanks to
- Darew
- Every other person in the discord channel
yall are the real ones 🙌