Creative Deck Strategy: Fossil Nemeses’ Code

Flex the Time Stream to your advantage by unearthing the Fossils, banishing your Nemeses, and coding some Cyberse!

Starting with Fossils:

The Fossil archetype will soon be the newest Rock-type theme to hit the TCG with its release in Battles of Legend: Armageddon next week, and this time, the Rocks are breaking out Fusion monsters! While some of you may still be annoyed with Rocks following the quick rise of Adamancipator, this theme is much different including only one Main Deck support monster and a couple of supporting Spells, thus making the Fossil archetype very reliant on other cards. Let’s whip out our best Indiana Jones hat and begin researching this unique theme.

The best way to start with any Fusion theme is the Fusion method, so that’s where we will start – Fossil Fusion. This Normal Spell is quite simple, Fusion Summon a Fossil monster from your Extra deck by banishing Fusion Materials from either GY. Also, if you banish from both GYs when summoning, your monster cannot be targeted by monster effects. Since the only specific requirement for any of the Fossil Fusions is a Rock-type monster, we have plenty of room for any other engine we wish to run. As a final effect, Fossil Fusion also adds itself back to hand whenever a Fossil monster is destroyed, which may be rare in today’s game, but still a potential upside even if your opponent manages to out any of your Fusions without targeting! So we covered this power option, but what about the consistency in getting this Fusion off properly?

Well that’s simple because consistency is the best part of the Fossil theme! Weathering Soldier is the theme’s Main Deck support monster, tutoring Fossil Fusion or any card that lists Fossil Fusion from your Deck to the hand whenever it is sent to the GY by a card effect or destroyed in battle. While this may seem slow at first glance, note that there is a supplementary support card as well – Miracle Rupture. Rupture just sends a Level 4 or lower Rock monster from the deck to the GY, then if you have a Fossil Fusion in the GY, you can draw a card. This gives the Fossil theme 3 more copies of Foolish Burial, giving you that many more ways to get to your essential Fossil Fusion to unearth the Fusion monsters! Also, note that Rupture can be used to send Weathering just to add another copy of Rupture if you already have a Fossil Fusion in hand, serving as a stand-in Upstart Goblin as well!

The last piece of the Fossil puzzle is the Fusion monsters themselves. As for the materials, each Fusion is composed of a Rock-type monster and another monster of a specific level. There are two Fusions for 4 or lower, two Fusions for 5 or 6, and two Fusions for 7 or higher. One Fusion from each set has no further restrictions, and the other requires that you use a monster from your opponent’s GY in its Fusion Summon. Each of these Fusions carry an effect related to battle – Fossil Warrior Skull King can attack twice and inflicts piercing, Fossil Warrior Skull Knight has piercing and can attack again when it destroys a monster by battle, Fossil Warrior Skull Bone can attack twice, and Fossil Dragon Skullgios can switch the ATK/DEF of the monster it battles, has piercing, and doubles all battle damage inflicted. While these monsters all have additional effects, they are used as the ‘closers’ for today’s strategy, so we’ll leave it at that for now to transition to our second archetype of the strategy: the Nemeses!

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – the Theme:

The Nemeses theme debuting in Eternity Code is based off of the theories of conversation biology, thus making perfect sense why it is built to recycle your resources so well! Each Nemeses monster has a unique type and attribute, giving the theme plenty of fodder for summoning either of its dual boss monsters, Archnemeses Protos or Archnemeses Eschatos. Protos rules over Attributes, able to be summoned from the hand by banishing 3 monsters with different attributes from your field or GY. Additionally, when it is on the field, you can activate its ignition effect by declaring an attribute on the field. During its resolution, all monsters of that Attribute are destroyed, plus neither player can summon monsters of that attribute until the end of the next turn. On the other hand, Eschatos rules over Types, offering the same summoning conditions and ignition effect, just you need and declare different monster Types. Plus, both of these boss monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects, including their own!

As a result, each of these boss monsters gives your strategy lingering control over the duel in a similar fashion to True King of All Calamities, the feared Rank 9 Xyz monster. This can disrupt many decks that revolve around one attribute or type, or just any deck that relies on Special Summoning DARK or Dragon monsters as part of its combos. But it isn’t just their effects that make the Nemeses archetype powerful – it is also their innate accessibility due to the rest of the Nemesis theme. The rest of the Nemeses monsters center around the recycle theme of conservation biology, each able to be Special Summoned from the hand by returning one of your banished monsters to the Deck. This recycles core engine requirements (also colloquially known as Garnets) back into your deck for future reuse, while also giving you plenty of fodder. Also, each offers a way to get a Nemeses to hand in one way or another.

Nemeses Flag, the FIRE/Pyro representative, carries the ability to search a different Nemeses from the deck whenever it is on the field. Nemeses Umbrella, the WATER/Aqua representative, carries an effect to return a Nemeses from your GY to the hand whenever it is on the field. Next, Nemeses Corridor, the WIND/Thunder representative, allows you to return a banished Nemeses monster back to your hand. The final Nemesis monster and EARTH/Rock representative is Nemeses Keystone (YGOrg Translation), which can return itself to the hand during the End Phase of a turn it was banished. While these are definitely intended to fuel the summoning requirements of the two boss monsters, they also serve as an effective Link Summoning engine, spamming fodder to the field while generating free advantage with all of the recovery options! This leads in perfectly to the final component of today’s strategy rounding everything out – a Cyberse engine!

 

Now Encoding the Future:

As the Type to debut alongside Link Summons, no other type can string together Link Summons as efficiently and effectively as the Cyberse type. With a vast array of attributes, tech options, and powerful tools at their disposal, this gives the duelist a swiss army knife of possibilities to cut through the opponent’s board as needed. For this strategy, the pool of Cyberse support cards is limited to a select few options that can turn the duel alone, all beginning with the powerful Formud Skipper. While this Level 1 has increased in popularity in other Cyberse strategies such as Salamangreat for its effect to copy the name, attribute, and type of a monster in the Extra Deck, it is more useful here for the versatility of its other effect. Whenever Skipper is sent to the GY for a Link Summon, you get to tutor 1 Level 5 or higher Cyberse monster from your deck. So let’s meet our potential bachelors…

Option number 1: Parallel eXceed. There should be no surprise here, this Level 8 WIND monster can be Special Summoned from the hand to a zone a Link monster points to whenever you Link Summon, then it summons another copy of Parallel from the deck when Special Summoned. This immediately gives you 2 monsters as Link fodder, or 2 Level 4 monsters to go into a R4NK like Gallant Granite. The 2nd option is Scrypton, a TCG premiere card that debuted in Eternity Code. This Level 5 WATER monster can be Special Summoned from the hand by banishing any Cyberse monster from your GY, then whenever it is sent to the GY for a Link Summon, you can shuffle 1 banished monster into the deck. Think of this as a bootleg Nemeses that also sets up for your other Nemeses summons. Lastly, Option 3 is Code Exporter (YGOrg Translation), a Level 5 WIND monster that can be used as Link Material for a Code Talker monster while it is in your hand!

Each of these Formud options gives you vastly different results, but as I keep repeating, the name of the game for this strategy is versatility. Meet the needs of your situation with a well-timed tech option, that you just happen to search out of the deck! But Formud isn’t the only Cyberse engine at play, because we also are running Micro Coder as a backup engine in addition to boosting the deck’s ability to go first. Similar to Exporter, Micro can be used from the hand as Link Material for a Code Talker summon, but it also carries the more powerful effect to tutor a Cynet card when used as Link Material. Cynet Mining is a great tutoring option for any Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster, such as Formud Skipper if you didn’t happen to have it already, but you also can tutor Cynet Conflict, a counter trap that can negate any activation and banish that card while you control a Code Talker monster!

Closing the loop on these Cyberse options, we arrive at the third batch of boss monster’s for today’s strategy: the Cyberse bosses. Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax has a home here in particular due to the I:P Masquerena combo that creates a near-indestructible boss threat for your opponent to overcome. Or you can simply use it as an offensive tool to run over an opponent’s boss monster. Accesscode Talker benefits from the sheer variety of attributes among the Link monsters you will be using as fodder, serving as a Link 4 that can just destroy away all of your opponents cards without giving them a chance to respond. Plus it can gain a large amount of ATK depending on what you use as material for its summon. Lastly, Decode Talker Heatsoul (YGOrg Translation) finishes off the Cyberse options by giving you more speed and draw power to enable the other engines at play in your deck.

 

Synergy on Synergy on Synergy:

The themes of this convulsed strategy may lore-wise range across the entire Time Stream from the Jurassic to digital cyberspace, but there are so many underpinned synergies to highlight. Each theme connects to the other, and unlike many hybrid builds that rely on 2 themes covering each other’s weaknesses, this strategy actually uses the strength of each synergy to cover the weakness of the third theme.

Fossil X Nemeses:

As you probably guessed, the primary synergy here is the banishing, as the Fossil Fusion engine continuously provides a stream of fodder from the GY for the Nemeses monsters to return to summon themselves from the hand. But did you notice that Nemeses Keystone is also a Rock-type monster that meets the criteria for all of the Fossil Fusion monsters? Even if you don’t have a Weathering Soldier at your disposal, Keystone is a searchable option to serve as a stand-in… That also happens to recycle itself back to the hand. If you happened to summon Fossil Warrior Skull King, Keystone even provides the discard fodder to steal a monster from the opponent’s GY during their turn! Lastly, the Nemeses monsters may not range too far in Levels, but they do provide access as non-Rock Fusion material for Skull Bone and Skull King.

Nemeses X Cyberse:

While the last synergies were based around providing material for each other, this synergy is all about augmenting the other’s strength for its own advantage. The Nemeses monsters serve as a solid stream of Link fodder to power your high-material Link plays, but it also continuously recycles your most valuable tools. By recycling banished copies of Parallel eXceed, you can work to trigger its effect multiple times over a duel unlike many decks that can only hope to use it once. Additionally, all of the attributes of the Link monsters you create over the course of a combo provide more than enough to satisfy Protos’ summoning requirement. Lastly, since you are running a Cyberse monster of every attribute in one way or other, you can also sacrifice a Cyberse monster for destruction if you need to lock out an attribute other than DARK for the rest of the turn!

Cyberse X Fossil:

This synergy is a bit more difficult to spot at first glance, but there is definitely some overlap here in terms of making the most of your cards. First, you are using Cyberse monsters of very diverse levels, letting you Fusion Summon for any of your Fossil monsters using a Rock-type and a Cyberse-type monster. Even just a simple Formud into Parallel eXceed unlocks both Skull King and Skull Bone, while making Gallant Granite along the way to search out a Rock for free along the way! Also, since the Fossil archetype is so reliant on the Battle Phase, the blanket negation and alternative options provided by the Link bosses and Cynet Conflict can be integral to letting the Fossils shine in the right situations! But enough on the theory of the evolution links between these themes – check them out in all their timeline-spanning action and be sure to take a peek at the decklist!

 

Replays:

If the embedded video does not function properly, check out this video on YouTube.

 

Sample Decklist:

Open the spoiler below for the full decklist!

 

Alternative Tech Options:

• Beneficial with the Nemeses:
  • Chaos Valkyria – Special Summoned by banishing any of your many LIGHT or DARK options, plus it can also mill Malicious to the GY when it is banished itself! This also provides fodder for a Nemeses summon while summoning itself!
  • Cross Debug – Cyberse option that can Special Summon itself, can banish itself from the GY, and functions well with all of your Link options.
  • Armageddon Knight – Can be used to prime the GY with Malicious!

• Rock-Solid Considerations:
  • Revival Golem – Rock monster that summons itself when sent from the Deck to the GY. Offers Fusion and Link fodder in one!
  • Crystal Rose – Rock monster you can send with Rupture that then can summon itself back from the GY while also providing fodder for a Nemeses summon!
  • Nibiru, the Primal Being – Rock monster, dual-use, is LIGHT… This can provide many options for the deck, especially if you want to tune the build for going 2nd!
  • Adamancipator Tuners – While you aren’t running many rocks, you can use a couple of the Adamancipator monsters as extenders for more Link fodder and Fusion fodder.

• Cyberse Tools:
  • Balancer Lord – Works with your Cyberse suite as well as providing something beneficial to banish for the summon of an Archnemeses!
  • Cyberse Gadget – Works with all your low leveled monsters, plus it can make a Link 2 (through Disciple and its generated token), beginning to setup for a Protos Summon.
  • Clock Wyvern – Similar to Gadget, can provide all 3 attributes for a Protos Summon by itself.
  • Sea Archiver – More extenders, more plays, more fun!
  • Prohibit Snake – Banishing from the GY? Giving your boss monsters more protection? More recovery options? All of the yes.
  • Earth Golem @Ignister – This can give Proxy F Magician a better reason for existing beyond being a FIRE Link 2. But it is also a pretty powerful boss monster on its own!

 

Outro:

Thanks for spanning the decades of life with this strategy built on the principles of conservation biology. It’s all about recycling your resources with this deck to reuse them time and time again as you combo through Fusion and Link monsters, ending on a solid board of boss monsters that meet the need of any given situation. I hope you enjoyed this mix, even though individual elements may still be a ways off for the TCG. But goodbye for now, and catch you next time when we explore a different strategy!

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Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! I really want to see some input from you! If you wish to see a CDS article about the archetype, theme, or strategy you love, feel free to private message me on the YGOrg Discord server, the comments section of any of my YouTube videos, or just post a comment in response to this article on our Facebook page with your ideas to keep under consideration! On most YGO-related communities my username is Quincymccoy, so feel free to reach out

As of now, I have a couple of outstanding requests that I am looking into: Cardian, Digital Bug, Witchcrafter, Superheavy Samurai, & Simorgh.