Introduction to Thunder Dragons
Introduction
Thunder Dragon is a Fusion and combo oriented deck that mainly focuses on summon it's Fusion monsters while often uses other engines to strengthen its turn 1 boards or to give more options to play into disruptions. The deck's strength is in the disruptions it can make going first, while also having a nice grind game due to the follow-ups your initial plays provide. Its biggest weakness is bricking after being disrupted by 1 hand trap at a certain point or just not being able to make a decent board after that to establish a follow-up. If you come from Duel Links you will find this deck not that difficult as this is actually a more simple version, as you will usually go for the same lines of play against pretty much every deck.
- Core Cards
- Techs
- Engines
- Budget Options
The heart of the deck, it enables various plays while also being fuel so you can Fusion every single turn. It's also a really nice +1 for effects that need discards.
The following 4 monsters have 2 effects:
- That you can activate from hand.
- If they are banished or if sent from the field to GY. You can only use one of these effects per turn.
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The hand effect is mostly used during your opponent's turn, which lets you chain Loading... to destroy a card on the field.
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The banish effect its the one you should always try to trigger, as it can add any "Thunder Dragon" card from your deck to your hand.
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Getting it to your field and used as Link material is also very easy with the help of Loading... .
- Similar to Thunder Dragondark, has the Quick Effect to use in conjunction with Titan, with the difference that you can use it during Damage Step which lets you avoid some disruption that can't be activated at that timing. The attack boost is permanent which is very nice.
- You can trigger the banish effect next turn, to replenish itself, that way you will be able to use it during their turn if needed.
- Being a level 1 means you can simply set it, and if a Thunder effect was activated in the hand this turn, you can tribute it to summon Loading... .
- The hand effect can be used to recycle any "Thunder Dragon" card (even to add the Fusions back to your Extra Deck).
- The effect when banished or sent from field to GY, gives you access to all your Thunder Dragons effects when sent from field to GY and help you fill the board with more monsters.
- The monster summoned goes to your hand in the end phase if it stays on the field, so you can also use this to have a Loading... in your hand during their turn.
- This is a great extender if you need an extra body on board.
- The effect when banished or sent from field to gy, is nice to maybe get a tech to help in certain situations.
- Adding cards from deck to hand is a very common mechanic of the game that most decks use and some really need it to be able to do anything, so you can imagine that shutting that off is very impactful and can be enough to let you win during your next turn. It's also not that easy to deal with thanks to its built-in protection.
- It's very also easy to summon, with either Loading... or by its alternative summoning condition, that also triggers your Thunder Dragon effects. It should always be your blind turn 1 goal (if you don't know what you are playing against.
Very Strong boss monster that has high stats and also being very easy to summon. Every time you or your opponent activates a Thunder effect in hand you can chain to that effect (if you have the priority, or if your opponent doesn't have anything to chain to it) you get to destroy a card on the field without targeting.
- It's a good turn 1 option if you have a Thunder Dragon Quick-Effect to use during their turn.
One of the best cards of the deck. It allows you to recycle Thunder Dragons while summoning your boss monsters, and on top of that during your next turn you can search for any Thunder monster that can help you deal with different situations or an engine piece to rebuild your board or to finish them off. It can be recycled with Thunder Dragonroar effect. So the 2nd copy is more towards having different ways to get to it and a better chance to open it. But it’s also nice to have the 2nd in the deck if you need roar’s effect to get another monster on the field or to recycle the fusion monsters.
Usually good options as extenders for follow-ups but sometimes are incorporated to turn 1 combos in combo heavier lists.
- Creator is a good follow-up to recycle 2 monsters and to special summon another body (if you leave a Thunder Dragondark or Dragonroar banished, you will have access to their effects for follow-up with Creator.
- Duo is an extender that you can summon turn 1 if you need another body to end on Colossus and Titan, but he is also a nice option to search a Thunder monster when it destroys a monster by battle. In some grind games you are able to establish more threats on board that they may not be able to clear duo, so in their End Phase you can place one of your banished cards on top of bottom of your deck (you can also do this with face-down cards, which is common if you play a Pot card).
They give you access to Thunder Dragon effects from your deck when they are banished. Loading... banishes as a cost which lets you trigger effects even if they negate the effect. (Keep in mind that you can banish any Thunder-Type monster from hand. Aloof is dark so it also helps with the next card.
Draw power that triggers your best Thunder Dragon effects. Activating it while you have no Dark monsters in hand should be your last resort. Playing 3 can be bricky depending on your list. (Also this card has been Limited to 2 for a while in the OCG format).
Extra Deck toolbox
- Verte Anaconda is a great way to get to your Fusion bosses with any 2 monsters.
- Unicorn is a great removal tool and also nice to Link climb into Accesscode.
- Accesscode Talker is really good to end games by having a huge attack and to destroy cards without your opponent being able to respond to it.
Cards that will depend on your build
- Loading... is a great card to make stronger boards while being more dependent on other cards but also more acceptable to disruptions. It goes well with more Combo focused builds with less techs. But you will often see lists with 1 or 2 to add a little more consistency..
- Loading... and Loading... so you have another 2 card combo to summon Loading... through his alternative summoning condition.
- Loading... can be nice to link the solar token while also being able to summon Thunder monsters during their turn (like Loading... ).
- Loading... helps with link climb.
- Loading... can be used to link summoning during their turn cards like Loading... or Loading... . It also gives protection to the monster summoned using it as material.
- Loading... a very common disruption for combo decks and can also be summoned using Masquerena.
Techs
Tech usually depends on the meta, but you don't have much room for them, so you will usually see the most generic techs (Hand Traps like Maxx “C”, Ash Blossom and maybe Gamma, blow-outs like Feather Duster, or some floodgates like Imperial Order, Macro Cosmos or Vanity’s Emptiness).
These 2 are very versatile while also letting you get Thunder Dragons in the GY so you can combo with other cards, both are also really good in a BO1 format as they work going 1st and 2nd. Thunder Dragon can make up for the discard to make this effectively free.
Droplet is so good and has so many applications that it could have a whole guide on it. To make it short, it doesn’t target, it can be used in the damage step (preventing opponents from battling so they can’t summon Zeus) you can make it so they can’t respond with the type of card you send to activate, and you can also negate multiple monsters.
Sample Combos
Sample Lists
Chaos
Chaos Engine is a core engine that gives the deck more consistency and more plays.
Chaos Space is a really good card that combine with either Thunder Dragonroar or Thunder Dragondark can make boards on their own. You can play either both Dragons or Loading... , or if it's a combo heavy deck you can play both. Striker Dragon lets you link the Dragons away in case you weren't able to summon a 2nd monster. Or if you are playing Loading... .
Extended Chaos/Dragon Package Options
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Heavenly Spheres is a great disruption that can be easily summoned of 1 Chaos Space + discard. It also floats into a Dragon from your deck, it will activate even if you don’t have any Dragon that you can summon, so your opponent won’t know and they might even use a card to stop it.
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Brotour is a nice option to summon from Spheres. As it can target itself to search Levianeer for your next turn.
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Levianeer can also just be searched with Chaos Space. It’s an amazing tool to break boards.
Sample Combo
Sample List
Invoked Engine
The Invoked engine provides more ways to trigger Thunder Dragons while also giving you another recursive engine for grind games. Its downside is not helping you get to your Thunder Dragon part of the deck. Loading... is a great turn 1 disruption to protect Loading... while also being able to protect Loading... going 2nd. Thunder Dragons provide different types of discards for mechaba. Loading... is great when paired with Mechaba to lock down your opponent from activating monster effects. Loading... protects your Loading... activation and prevents your opponent from using effects on the summon of your Fusions. Loading... can help you get to either engines (Thunder Dragons and Invoker) if you have your main combos from either part of the deck.
Notes
Loading... will lock your from monster effects for the rest of the turn while is face-up, after you activated a monster effect which you can easily forget if you banish a Loading... or Loading... to summon it as they will trigger in the next chain. With Caliga on board you also can't use Titan's effect as you need 2 monster activations. The best way to remove the caliga from the field is by link summoning. Other cards you can add to the extra:
- 2nd Loading... or Loading... .
- Mechaba gives another follow-up for grind game.
- Caliga gives you an extender to trigger Thunder Dragon effects. A link 1 helps you summon Loading... while giving other benefits.
- Loading... gives access to Loading... while also having a nice effect in some match-ups.
- Loading... is good to have access to Light Attribute when you don't have access to your Thunder Engine.
Sample combo:
Sample Decklist
Budget Options
Some option while you work on the rest of the deck: Cheap cards you can craft:
Cards you can get through missions or starter decks: