The article will be very detailed and long about Unchained.
Unchained Gameplay Guide
Sections covered in this guide:
Lore & Archetype Overview
Unleash your fury, Chaos Unchained!!!
Once upon a time, there was a Sorcerer who lived in a village that was constantly threatened by danger. Although the villagers had access to and use magic, it was not enough to keep their village safe from evil. And so, the Sorcerer decided to go on a journey to increase their abilities and make them strong enough to protect everyone. After their journey ended, they returned to the village as beings who had mastered the Taoist Art. They had achieved immortality and true power. With this power, the Sorcerer used their souls to summon their Shikigami. Together, they destroyed everything that threatened the village. No one could stand against them, and they destroyed everything that dared to harm humans.
When the dust settled, the villagers were overjoyed, but alas, that only lasted for a moment before the villagers were filled with fear and anxiety. Soon, everyone realized that this power could very well be used against them if the Sorcerer wanted to do so. And so, they hatched a plot to eliminate the Sorcerer once and for all. After all, if there was no threat, what reason would there be for them to stay? They led the Sorcerer into a dark abyss, masking their intentions with joy and praise. It was at this moment that he let his guard down that the people sealed him away forever. The villagers hoped that the Sorcerer would be locked in a cage until the end of his days, but as life is not a dream, that of course did not happen.
Countless years passed, and soon the Mage's soul was tainted with evil, as it was fueled by their resentment towards the world and all who lived in it. With nothing but his own mind to keep him company, the Mage had only one thought at the time.
Kill. All. Humans. Without. Sparing. Anyone.
Gradually, power began to leak from their seals, and the masters of magic created two copies of their original form, one embodying Anguish, and one embodying Hatred and Rage, to give the Sorcerer a chance to escape. Despite their efforts to escape, the seals still affected these entities. They were not yet completely free, with their eyes and limbs still bound. Their minds were still childlike, innocent in nature but 100% evil. The two continued and unlocked the various seals that bound the Sorcerer, and with each seal destroyed, their own seal would be destroyed as well.
In need of more power, they attempted to summon the Sorcerer's Shikigami. However, it seemed that the Shikigami had transformed into an evil Beast, reflecting the now twisted soul of its master filled with animalistic thoughts. And so, the Shikigami's form reflected this. The Shikigami also seemed to have been trapped in the seal, as it was also bound after its appearance, leaving the Shikigami's form as nothing more than a void.
To solve the problem, each Twin would merge their forms with the Shikigami to give it physical form. With this power, they could break every seal until only one remained. Unfortunately, the final seal presented a challenge. Together, the Twins would give all their power to the Shikigami, transforming it into a giant monster imbued with the Sorcerer's Soul of Sorrow and Wrath. With every step this... Abomination took , it would turn everything around it into rubble.
And so it began its journey to the final seal. And if this seal were broken, then the world would truly know what...
Destruction.
Unchained is a control deck that revolves around destroying your own cards and using enemy monsters to summon powerful Link cards. However, thanks to the uniqueness of the archetype, it can play a very proactive and aggressive style aimed at OTKing your opponent. And this style is very suitable for Duel Link when the format only has 4000 base points. This deck can also gain a lot of advantages in long and difficult games because it can restore a ton of cards. Destroy "Destroy" is a common form of card removal that almost every deck has, and that makes us feel helpless when facing Unchained because they even WANT TO Destroy. So when facing them, you should choose decks that have the ability to Banish and Return a lot.
Core leaves
Due to the nature of Archetypes, it would make more sense for me to talk about Spells/Traps before talking about Monsters.
First things first: All Unchained Spell/Trap cards have a secondary effect that allows you to Special Summon an Unchained monster from your Deck if they are destroyed WHILE SET . This is a VERY important effect to remember, it's what makes your deck special. Spell/Traps are essentially what makes this Archetype playable. The other primary effects are the best choices for your monster's Destroy abilities. Having at least one of them in the use and recovery cycle is really important.
Remember, it can only be activated if it is face down. That means if you activate a trap card right after eating Mystical Space Typhoon , it will be face up, meaning you will NOT be able to special summon the monster.
Abominable Chamber of the Unchained (x2-3)
The cage held the Witch for what seemed like an eternity.
Special Summon an Unchained from the HAND or GRABBED. This does a lot of things. It allows the deck to reuse a lot of resources and also sets up and reuses "Disruptions" to harass the opponent a lot during the turn. It's stronger than any deck in long games, remember, it can summon ANY Unchained monster.
This can be simply understood as "Destroy 1 card", "Use 1 monster your opponent controls as Link Material", or "Summon a playable card from the graveyard" depending on what you summon.
It's best to play this card at max ping x3 because you WANT to see it. But it can also be played at x2 because it's searchable.
Escape of the Unchained (x2-3)
Here the witch's soul was split into two. The embodiment of Sorrow and Hatred as it escaped from the cage.
Destroy an Unchained Monster you control to destroy any other card on the field. This card is very powerful, in theory it gives you -1 card advantage. But the thing is, every Unchained monster has an effect that activates after being destroyed, (except Unchained Abomination ) and that's how we get advantage. Usually this translates into an additional way to destroy a card if you summon Abominable Unchained Soul , or you can also summon any other card for defense, since I think you'll use this on your opponent's turn 90% of the time. What's interesting is that you can also destroy a card you control instead of your opponent's card. This can actually lead to interesting situations, as it can translate into "summon 2 monsters from your deck" if you destroy another Unchained card with it. More notably, it allows a surprising way to OTK your opponent after you clear the field.
This is obviously a powerful card, as it can turn any Unchained Monster into Destruction. It's best played at x3, but playing it at x2 is also reasonable. Especially since it can be searched by the next card on this list.
Abomination's Prison (x3)
Shikigami, is being transformed into a more ferocious beast through Anguish and Rage .
A card that EVERY deck wants. The Spell Search card that literally searches everything in the Archetype. I don't think I need to explain much about this card, right? It's a card that you can use at will, to get whatever you're missing. Need a starter? Take Aruha. Need a Spell/Trap? Take Chamber. All in all, this is a very strong card.
You can only search once per turn, but if you start with these 2 cards in your hand, that's fine! Remember, you can set this card and let it be destroyed to summon an Unchained monster from your deck.
Funny enough, this card doesn't have Unchained in its name. This would be related to the effect of Unchained Twin - Sarama. Pay attention.
Wailing of the Unchained Souls (x0-1)
Wailing of the Unchained Souls
If you Link Summon an "Unchained" Link Monster: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. If this Set card is destroyed by card effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Unchained" monster from your Deck. You can only use each effect of "Wailing of the Unchained Souls" once per turn.
Shikigami, when fused with Anguish and Rage.
A Continuous Spell that destroys a card whenever we Link Summon an Unchained. It adds disruption to the enemy and is another way to destroy with our cards. But this deck already has plenty of self-destruction so the effect of this card is not worth playing in most cases. It can definitely help destroy the enemy's board but it is not a good card to play.
Note that it will not summon an Unchained monster if destroyed while face-up, it must be face-down so that's where it sucks.
Play up to 1. Additional copies are brick only as this is a continuous card.
Unchained Twins - Aruha (x3)
Unchained Twins - Aruha
ATK:
1500
DEF:
1500
You can target 1 card you control; you cannot Special Summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except Fiend monsters, also destroy the targeted card, and if you do, Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card on the field is destroyed by card effect, except "Unchained Twins - Aruha", or by battle: You can Special Summon 1 "Unchained" monster from your hand or Deck, except "Unchained Twins - Aruha". You can only use each effect of "Unchained Twins - Aruha" once per turn.
The Twins
Konami mistranslated and called them Twins in the TCG despite the fact that there are three of them.
Similar to Spell/Traps, Twins both have effects that allow them to special summon an Unchained monster from the HAND or Deck when destroyed. The only difference is that they can be summoned from the hand and do not need to be set to activate these effects. Again, this effect is important because it makes the deck... a fully competitive deck. It allows us to restore all the Unchaineds allowing them to have massive defenses (similar to Spritual Beast Tamer Winda. ), while also giving you access to larger Unchained Souls, which is important to the strategy because they represent a way to summon your Links.
First, the Witch is the embodiment of suffering (Anguish).
Unchained Twins - Aruha is the main starter of the deck. It can Special Summon itself from the hand by destroying a card you control. As long as you have cards to destroy, Aruha gives you easy access to your Unchained Souls for easy Link Summoning. What's more, Aruha allows you to easily spam monsters onto the field when combined with Unchained Spell/Trap. Especially since you can summon the next Starter card on the list with this effect.
Note that using Aruha's effect will lock you from summoning only Fiends for the rest of the turn. Luckily, that doesn't matter much since the list of Fiend monsters in the Extra Deck is quite strong.
Aruha is the best of the Twins, play x3 to increase your chances of winning.
Unchained Twins - Rakea (x2)
Unchained Twins - Rakea
ATK:
1500
DEF:
1500
(Quick Effect): You can target 1 card you control; destroy it, also you cannot Special Summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except Fiend monsters. If this card on the field is destroyed by card effect, except "Unchained Twins - Rakea", or by battle: You can Special Summon 1 "Unchained" monster from your hand or Deck, except "Unchained Twins - Rakea". You can only use each effect of "Unchained Twins - Rakea" once per turn.
The Witch is the embodiment of Hatred and Rage.
Unchained Twins - Rakea is the second starter card of the deck . Her effect is a Quick effect, allowing you to destroy a card on your field. This is obviously a Spell/Trap activation effect, allowing you to summon Unchained Souls. She will often be the first target to summon if you start with Aruha and will be a very useful combo extension tool. There will also be some cases where you want to use this card's effect to avoid disruption for your other cards. An example of this is destroying Unchained Twins - Sarama to avoid the effect of Effect Veiler or Crackdown targeting Sarama.
Note that while you can use this effect itself to self-destruct, that will NOT trigger her summon effect.
Similar to Aruha, using Rakea's effect will also lock you from summoning only Fiends for the rest of that turn. Play x3 since it's a starter, but you can also just drop it to 2 if you want more slots for tech cards.
Unchained Twins - Sarama (x2-3)
Unchained Twins - Sarama
ATK:
1500
DEF:
1500
You can target 1 "Unchained" card in your GY, except "Unchained Twins - Sarama"; Set it to your field, then destroy 1 card you control. If this card on the field is destroyed by card effect, except "Unchained Twins - Sarama", or by battle: You can Special Summon 1 "Unchained" monster from your hand or Deck, except "Unchained Twins - Sarama". You can only use each effect of "Unchained Twins - Sarama" once per turn.
The Shikigami of the Sorcerer.
Unchained Twins - Sarama is your main tool for recovery. This little guy is quite interesting. Sarama alone cannot start any of your normal combos because it depends on whether you have an Unchained card in your GY or not. Sarama sets an Unchained card, be it a Spell/Trap or a Monster, to your field and then allows you to destroy any card you control (which means it will trigger a special summon from your deck). But if you have another card to destroy instead of a Spell/Trap, you can basically just re-use that Spell/Trap from your GY. Sarama is also very closely linked to Unchained Soul of Disaster . Because when Disaster is destroyed, it will summon any 1 Unchained card from the Graveyard.
Similar to Rakea, Sarama can destroy himself with his own effect but it does NOT trigger his GY effect to summon Unchained.
IMPORTANT: Ambomination's Prison is NOT an "Unchained" card by name. So Sarama will NOT be able to Set it with her effect.
Sarama is essentially what allows the deck to survive tough matchups. Playing him x3 is great in better counter matchups. But realistically, since he's not a starter, you can go x2 because you don't want to Normal Summon Sarama instead of Rakea.
Abominable Unchained Soul (x1-2)
Abominable Unchained Soul
ATK:
3000
DEF:
1500
You can only Special Summon "Abominable Unchained Soul(s)" once per turn. If a card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is Special Summoned: You can discard 1 card; destroy 1 card on the field. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because it was destroyed on the field and sent there this turn: You can Special Summon this card, but place it on the bottom of the Deck when it leaves the field.
He is the wizard we are talking about.
Abominable Unchained Soul , also known as AUS, is a pretty crazy card . As an initiator, it can act as a generic handtrap that can be used to get even with your opponent. It has the ability to special summon itself from your HAND if a card you control is destroyed in any way. And when you summon it, you can discard 1 card from your hand (sent to the graveyard) to destroy a card on the field without TARGETTING the target. The discard can be a bit costly, but it can also be beneficial to the deck ( well, so that it benefits when you discard a certain brick). These two effects combined can also help you easily trigger OTK combos for your deck. You can clear the enemy field, then attack with a 3000 ATK monster? Awesome.
Additionally, AUS can also special summon itself from the GY during the End Phase if it is destroyed during that turn. However, this will not actually happen very often. You can only Special Summon AUS once per turn. If you use its hand effect, or if you summon it from the deck, this final effect of AUS will not activate.
Play at least x1, at most x2, but never x3. 2 is usually the best bet, drawing him isn't bad but usually only draw a really good starter. Playing x3 can just ruin your hand.
Unchained Soul of Disaster (x0-1)
Unchained Soul of Disaster
ATK:
0
DEF:
3000
Gains 300 ATK for each "Unchained" card in your GY. You can only use each of the following effects of "Unchained Soul of Disaster" once per turn. ● You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; immediately after this effect resolves, Link Summon 1 DARK Link Monster using only this card you control and that opponent's monster as material. ● If this card on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can target 1 "Unchained" monster in your GY, except "Unchained Soul of Disaster"; Special Summon it.
And here is Shikigami, after thousands of years of imprisonment, transformed into a beast that reflects the soul of the Sorcerer at that time.
Unchained Soul of Disaster is here to say hi to you in your starter hand =)))! Disaster is the worst Unchained card to draw and is usually a pain in the ass to deal with in your hand. However, its effect makes it quite difficult to throw out of Decklists. It has 0 ATK, but gains 300 for each Unchained card in the graveyard. This won't be relevant since you'll almost always be using its second effect.
Disaster can target and use your opponent's monster to Link Summon a DARK Link Monster. This is a powerful form of removal that also gives you a huge advantage. For most decks, you'll most likely just use this to summon Unchained Soul of Rage (or another Dark Link-2 like Underclock Taker ), but for other Link Decks, you can even use this to go all the way up to Link 3 or 4 if you target your opponent's Link 2-3 monster! This makes Disaster a powerful tool when going later, but it's still usually worse than AUS because it's pretty easy to counter. Just use Book of Moo. or Evacuation right after this effect is used.
The strongest part of Disaster is arguably its Graveyard effect. If it is destroyed, it can summon ANY Unchained from the GY. As I mentioned with Sarama, this allows the deck to have strong recovery potential and makes it quite important to keep running smoothly in most cases.
Max play is x1. It sucks to draw this card and it's completely useless. There's also a version where this card doesn't get played at all, and it seems like in the Duel Links format, games will be a bit faster for this deck thanks to the 4k LP.
Unchained Soul of Rage (x1-3)
Unchained Soul of Rage
ATK:
1800
LINK-2
Link Arrow:
Top
Bottom
2 monsters including an "Unchained Soul" monster During your opponent's Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; immediately after this effect resolves, Link Summon 1 DARK Link Monster, except "Unchained Soul of Rage", by using only that opponent's monster and this card you control as material. If this card on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can target 1 Fiend monster in your GY, except "Unchained Soul of Rage"; add it to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Unchained Soul of Rage" once per turn.
Shikigami has the power of Rakea.
REQUIRES an "Unchained Soul" as a material. Meaning you must summon one of the Level 8s on turn 1 to do this.
Unchained Soul of Rage is the deck's main form of disruption. An extremely powerful disruption. With a quick effect, only during your opponent's Main Phase , you can target and use a special summon as Link Material to create a Dark Link Monster, similar to Unchained Soul of Disaster . Everything I said about Disaster's effect applies to this one as well. You'll mainly use this effect to summon Link-3 Archetypes, but it will occasionally be used to summon Knightmare Unicorn instead acts as an additional interrupt tool.
If destroyed, Rage will give you the ability to add a Fiend monster in your GY back to your hand. This can add back any Fiend, so you could add back something like Skull Meister if you wanted, but this effect will usually be used to recast... whatever name fits this. AUS if your opponent destroys rage at the start of their turn with something like Dark Hole . , Aruha or Rakea for the next turn, or more valuable Sarama to secure your next turn.
Play 2-3. It's best to play x3, however you may want to have extra space in your deck for other cards.
Unchained Soul of Anguish (x1-3)
Unchained Soul of Anguish
ATK:
2400
LINK-3
Link Arrow:
Top
Bottom-Left
Bottom-Right
2+ monsters including an "Unchained Soul" monster You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; immediately after this effect resolves, Link Summon 1 DARK Link Monster, except "Unchained Soul of Anguish", by using only that opponent's monster and this card you control as material. If this card on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can target 1 Fiend monster in your GY, except "Unchained Soul of Anguish"; add it to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Unchained Soul of Anguish" once per turn.
Shikigami with Aruha's power.
REQUIRES an "Unchained Soul" as a material. Can be one of the level 8 Souls or the Unchained Soul of Rage .
Unchained Soul of Anguish is a Link-3 Archetype that has the same effect as Disaster. You lose the effect quickly without Unchained Soul of Rage does, but this time you can freely use this effect on your turn to Link your opponent's monster. Everything I said about Unchained Soul of Disaster applies here too. The Link-4 we summon from this effect will always be Unchained Abomination . to remove more and play safer on your opponent's turn if you can't OTK, or Topologic Bomber Dragon for another way to force critical hits or as another board clear.
Anguish will share Rage's GY effects when destroyed.
Play x1 or x2. Recommend x2.
Unchained Abomination (x1-2)
Unchained Abomination
ATK:
3000
LINK-4
Link Arrow:
Top
Bottom-Left
Bottom
Bottom-Right
2+ monsters including a Link Monster If a card(s) on the field is destroyed by card effect, except by "Unchained Abomination" (except during the Damage Step): You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. When another monster is destroyed by battle: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. During the End Phase: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. You can only use each effect of "Unchained Abomination" once per turn.
It is a Shikigami that possesses the power of both Twins. It will be the monster that leads to the destruction of humanity.
Unchained Abomination is a boss monster. Although it has no effect when destroyed, it has 3 different effects to destroy a card on the field.
- If a card is destroyed on the field, except by Abomination's own effect, you can target and destroy a card on the field.
- When a monster is destroyed by battle, you can target and destroy one card on the field.
- During either player's End Phase, you may target and destroy a card on the field.
As long as Abomination is alive on the field, it will spell disaster for your opponent. It basically powers up all your Unchained cards and will easily clear your opponent's board. And thanks to its ultimate effect, it will also completely nullify any other Spell/Traps based control strategies as all their backrow cards will be destroyed before they have a chance to activate them. As soon as you summon Abomination, you're basically in a very ez game where you win the match.
Play x1, you won't need more than x1 of this card
Tech Cards
Knightmare Cerberus, Knightmare Phoenix and Knightmare Unicorn (Knightmare)
Knightmare Cerberus
ATK:
1600
LINK-2
Link Arrow:
Top
Left
2 monsters with different names If this card is Link Summoned: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 Special Summoned monster in your opponent's Main Monster Zone; destroy it, then, if this card was co-linked when this effect was activated, you can draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Knightmare Cerberus" once per turn. Co-linked monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects.
Knightmare Phoenix
ATK:
1900
LINK-2
Link Arrow:
Top
Right
2 monsters with different names If this card is Link Summoned: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls; destroy it, then, if this card was co-linked when this effect was activated, you can draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Knightmare Phoenix" once per turn. Co-linked monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle.
Knightmare Unicorn
ATK:
2200
LINK-3
Link Arrow:
Left
Right
Bottom
2+ monsters with different names If this card is Link Summoned: You can discard 1 card, then target 1 card on the field; shuffle it into the Deck, then, if this card was co-linked when this effect was activated, you can draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Knightmare Unicorn" once per turn. While any co-linked "Knightmare" monsters are on the field, for your normal draw in your Draw Phase, draw 1 card for each different card name among those co-linked "Knightmare" monsters, instead of drawing just 1 card.
Knightmares need no introduction. We all know what they do.
Knightmare Unicorn is the most important card and is often considered the core card of the deck. It is a DARK Link-3 card with a powerful effect, giving Unchained Soul of Rage another perk to summon.
Other Knightmares are not Dark-type, meaning they cannot be summoned with the Unchained Soul of Disaster or Rage effects, but they can still appear.
Topologic Bomber Dragon (x0-1)
Topologic Bomber Dragon
ATK:
3000
LINK-4
Link Arrow:
Top
Bottom-Left
Bottom
Bottom-Right
2+ Effect Monsters If another monster is Special Summoned to a zone a Link Monster points to, while this monster is on the field: Destroy all monsters in the Main Monster Zones, also your other monsters cannot attack for the rest of this turn. After damage calculation, if this card attacked an opponent's monster: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's original ATK.
Topologic Bomber Dragon is a card that most people probably forgot about even in Duel Links because it's a Limited-1 card that conflicts with every other good Limited-1 card. It's a strong replacement for Unchained Abomination or Borrelsword Dragon , just provided a powerful field-clearing move that we can take advantage of with Abominable Chamber of the Unchained and another way to take down opponents with Bomber Dragon's second effect.
Dingirsu the Orcust of the Evening Star (x1)
Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star
ATK:
2600
DEF:
2100
2 Level 8 monsters You can only Special Summon "Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star(s)" once per turn. You can also Xyz Summon this card by using an "Orcust" Link Monster you control as material. If a card(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can detach 1 material from this card instead. If this card is Special Summoned: You can activate 1 of these effects; ● Send 1 card your opponent controls to the GY. ● Attach 1 of your banished Machine monsters to this card as material.
Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star is a Rank 8 card that can be created with 2 Unchained Souls in the main deck. This is a very situational card, as the deck already has a lot of different ways to break the enemy's defense. However, Dingirsu can be useful if the opponent summons something untargetable, as that is a big problem for Unchained decks. It's hard to create, but that's what the deck has to go through just to take down a Kozmo or a Saber Dancer.
D/D/D Stone King Darius (x0-1)
D/D/D Stone King Darius
ATK:
1900
DEF:
1000
2 Level 3 Fiend-Type monsters Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 "Dark Contract" card you control; destroy it, and if you do, draw 1 card. If this card battles an opponent's monster, during damage calculation: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; make this card unable to be destroyed by that battle, destroy the opponent's monster that battled it after damage calculation, and if you do, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.
D/D/D Stone King Darius is a Rank 3 Fiend that can be created with 2 Unchained Twins. Similar to Dingirsu, this is just another way for the deck to interact with untargetable monsters, as you can attack that monster and destroy it with Darius's effect.
Sauge de Fleur (x0-1)
Sauge de Fleur
ATK:
2900
DEF:
0
You can target 1 monster you control and 1 card on the field; Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, destroy them. If this card is sent from the field to your GY: You can target 1 other monster in your GY; shuffle it into the Deck, then add 1 Level 1 Plant monster from your Deck or GY to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Sauge de Fleur" once per turn.
Sauge de Fleur is a powerful field destruction monster that the deck can easily take advantage of. You can destroy any monster you control to destroy a card your opponent controls. And as I've mentioned many times, our monster WANTS to be destroyed, so this card just becomes a free removal card and is just another big piece of meat on the field.
However, keep in mind that you can only use Sauge's effect BEFORE using Aruha or Rakea's effect. This is a Spellcaster, so you will be locked out of Sauge due to Rakea and Aruha's Fiend Locks.
Skull Meister (x0-2)
Skull Meister is definitely worth mentioning on this list. Being a Fiend-Type, this means it can be re-added by your Link Monsters if they are destroyed.
In the current meta, Meister isn't even that bad! There are a lot of GY-based decks in the format (e.g. Shaddolls and Zombies), so being able to slow them all down with Meister is pretty good.
Needle Ceiling (Options)
Needle Ceiling is a mass destruction trap card that we can take advantage of. The deck has easily covered the entire field with monsters, so it is not too difficult to activate the 4 monster requirement for Needle Ceiling.
Dark Hole (Options )
Dark Hole is another board-clearing card to go second… that we can take advantage of! Do I need to elaborate on this point? You can summon an Unchained Twin then use Dark Hole to clear the board and then just combo the whole thing from there.
Storm (x0-1)
Storm is what I consider the Dark Hole of the Spell/Traps side for Duel Links. It's still Limited-1 meaning it will conflict with Bomber Dragon, but that's not a big deal. Going second, you just set up your Spell/Traps and destroy them to get Storm's effect, which gets you out of your opponent's staples while still being able to summon your Unchained Monsters in peace. You can even play a Skill that places a spell on the field to have an extra card to destroy for Storm if you want.
Options
You already know.
Unchained is fundamentally a Control Deck, so just having a good backrow staple will be a huge boost to the deck.
Engines
Live/Evil Twin Unchained
Evil★Twin Ki-sikil
ATK:
1100
LINK-2
Link Arrow:
Right
Bottom
2 monsters, including a "Ki-sikil" monster If this card is Special Summoned and you control a "Lil-la" monster: You can draw 1 card. During the Main Phase, if you do not control a "Lil-la" monster (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon 1 "Lil-la" monster from your GY, also you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except Fiend monsters. You can only use each effect of "Evil★Twin Ki-sikil" once per turn.
Evil★Twin Lil-la
ATK:
1100
LINK-2
Link Arrow:
Left
Bottom
2 monsters, including a "Lil-la" monster If this card is Special Summoned and you control a "Ki-sikil" monster: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. During the Main Phase, if you do not control a "Ki-sikil" monster (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon 1 "Ki-sikil" monster from your GY, also you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except Fiend monsters. You can only use each effect of "Evil★Twin Lil-la" once per turn.
Live☆Twin Ki-sikil
ATK:
500
DEF:
0
Each time an opponent's monster declares an attack, you gain 500 LP. If this card is Normal or Special Summoned and you control no other monsters: You can Special Summon 1 "Lil-la" monster from your hand or Deck. You can only use this effect of "Live☆Twin Ki-sikil" once per turn.
Live☆Twin Lil-la
ATK:
500
DEF:
0
Your opponent must pay 500 LP to declare an attack. If this card is Normal or Special Summoned and you control no other monsters: You can Special Summon 1 "Ki-sikil" monster from your hand or Deck. You can only use this effect of "Live☆Twin Lil-la" once per turn.
Live/Evil Twin Unchained used to be a popular deck combination in TCG/OCG formats before Unchained got some great Suppoer cards. The Vtuber Twins have given the deck a new Normal Summon card in addition to Rakea, leading to another way to destroy one of the Unchained Spell/Traps. In exchange for Ki-sikil's draw and essentially all of the deck's Tech slots, you get more starters and a stronger Field!
Evil Eye of Selene, Serziel and Watcher of the Evil Eye (Evil Eyes)
Evil Eye of Selene
Equip only to an "Evil Eye" monster. It cannot be destroyed by battle or your opponent's card effects, also your opponent cannot target it with card effects. Each time you activate the equipped monster's effect, or you activate another "Evil Eye" Spell/Trap Card: The equipped monster gains 500 ATK, and if it does, you lose 500 LP. (This ATK gain remains even if this card leaves the field.) If this card is in your GY: You can pay 1000 LP, then banish 1 "Evil Eye" Spell/Trap from your GY, except "Evil Eye of Selene"; Set this card. You can only use this effect of "Evil Eye of Selene" once per turn.
Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye
ATK:
1600
DEF:
1400
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Evil Eye" card from your Deck to your hand, except "Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye". If this card is equipped with "Evil Eye of Selene" (Quick Effect): You can target 1 Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; destroy it. You can only use this effect of "Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye" once per turn. Once per turn, during the next Standby Phase after this effect was activated: Destroy 1 card you control.
Like Live/Evil Twins Unchained, Evil Eye Unchained is also a viable combo deck. But unlike Live/Evil Twins, the combo deck gets much better with the new support of Unchained. This combo is still viable without Sharvara and Yama, but it is a much slower engine than Live/Evil Twins. The only real synergy between the two decks right now is the upkeep cost of Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye . which requires destroying a card you control. However, Serziel and Selene together are still a pretty strong Normal Summon to consider.
Skills
Link Darkraze (Skill Card) (19%)
Link Darkraze (Skill Card)
ATK:
0
DEF:
0
You can use this Skill if your Extra Deck contains a DARK Link Monster. 1: At the beginning of the Duel, gain 1500 Life Points. 2: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can choose 1 face-up on your field, and it gains 300 ATK until the end of this turn. It gains an additional 500 ATK until the end of the turn if there is a DARK Link Monster OR a DARK monster and a Link Monster, on your field and/or in your Graveyard.
The Skill requirement will always work since all our Links are DARK. A free 1500 LP Boost with an extra ATK boost is... kinda OP if you think about it. We've really come a long way since just having Skill LP Boost Alpha and The Ties That Binds.
Fiend's Exchange (Skill Card) (71%)
Fiend's Exchange is a brand new ability added to the game and is a great one for the deck. At the start of the main phase, we can essentially mulligan a Level 5+ Fiend in our hand to exchange for another card in the deck. This removes the most annoying experience of the deck, which is opening Unchained Soul of Disaster , so it will never just be in our hand again.
Combo
Welp =))) Our website has a new feature which is combo simulation, now instead of writing combo lines with dozens of steps, you can now see. You guys can refer to these 2 combos of Unchained.
Pure Unchained Basic Combo:
https://ygovietnam.com/combo/6
LiveTwin Unchained Combo:
https://ygovietnam.com/combo/7
Summary
As a control deck, the main way to play this deck optimally is to know your opponent. Similar to Sky Striker, you MUST know your opponent's "choke points" and when is the best time to take them out. You also have to figure out everything they can do to know whether you should be on the defensive or need to go for the kill with Abominable Unchained Soul 's effect . But once you get past this hurdle, Unchained is actually a really fun deck to play. It feels like the perfect blend of defense and offense, similar to Ritual Beasts 3 years ago. This is a deck that I personally expect to do quite well in a Duel Links environment. With that said, let's take a look at the pros and cons.
Advantage:
- The deck has great starts on both turns. While it's not a Borrel tier turn 1 setup, it still has great disruption while still having strong defense. Going second isn't too difficult either, as being a destruction-based deck means your opponent's disruption will most likely turn into an extension of yours.
- Resistance to common handtraps. While getting hit by Effect Veiler on Unchained Twins - Sarama can prevent you from being able to generate Rage for the turn, it's not too strong against other decks due to the floating nature of Unchained Monsters. DD Crow isn't bad either, especially considering that Abominable Chamber of the Unchained doesn't actually target what it summons if it's used as a GY. And Artifact Lancea does practically nothing for the deck.
- As I've mentioned many times, this deck has extremely strong farming potential but also has the risk of easily OTKing due to its swarming ability.
- Even though the deck currently doesn't have any 1-card combos, it's still very stable. Even if you don't draw a Spell/Trap, your monsters can even combo themselves. And even if you manage to brick and draw 1 monster and all the staples, it's not the end of the world because the deck is just floating.
Disadvantages:
- The core of the deck functionally takes up all the space in the deck. On average you will play about 19 Unchained cards in the Main Deck, leaving only 1 slot for a main card if you want to keep 20 cards. You will have to play past 20 cards if you want to add a main card.
- While it can counter common handtraps, it will be weak against the uncommon handtrap Skull Meister . Meister will prevent your special summoning from the deck and can be quite disadvantageous if you don't draw an extender to play through a Meister. Same goes for Cosmic Cyclone against your Spell/Trap.
- The deck will fall apart completely against non-destruction based removal cards. Cards like Skeletal Dragon Felgrand , Successor Soul , or Benghalancer the Resurgent will cause trouble for this deck.
- The deck's main playstyle is usually just 1 or 2 breaks. Most meta decks are fairly easy to play due to their innate skills and strengths.
- You WILL draw Unchained Soul of Disaster . Fear it. Run from it. Disaster still comes.
That's it for this post. Hope you enjoyed both this post and this deck!