Creative Deck Strategy: Tachyon Dragon Toolbox

Introduction:

One of the least-supported characters of the ZEXAL era, Mizar rivaled Kite's role of the Galaxy-Eyes master as a superb duelist near the end of the Don Thousand arc. His theme didn't include too many monsters, but it was especially good at getting dragons onto the field that were Level 8 to then Xyz Summon his boss monster, Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. However, with the release of the upcoming set of Chaos Impact next month, his theme (and the Chaos Dragon strategy as a whole) is about to get a major boost of legacy support.

Similar to Mizar's tactics in the anime, the goal of this article and the Tachyon Dragon theme is to showcase the power of the Dragon-type as providing so many tools to play through disruption. But before we get too far into the deck, let me introduce the featured Tachyon support cards in case you weren't aware of their impending arrival to the TCG. Nebula, the Star Cloud Dragon (YGOrg Translation) is our initial playstarter - it can summon itself and another Level 8 Dragon monster from your hand, then it restricts you to only LIGHT or DARK dragons for the rest of your turn. It also gives you the ability to banish itself from the GY to get back a Level 4 LIGHT or DARK Dragon, adding some longevity. So Nebula's dual role really gets to shine here.

Next up for the new support is Bulge, the Spiral Dragon (YGOrg Translation), the extender for the theme. By controlling 2 LIGHT and/or DARK dragons, it can be summoned from your hand or GY, then once it is on the field, you can make all monsters you control Level 8 for the rest of the turn. This lets you both setup for Rank 8 Xyz Summons, simply extend for more Links, or serve as excellent discard fodder for Dragon Ravine. Following Bulge is our tiny dragon, Seyfert, the Starliege Dragon (YGOrg Translation). First, Seyfert can do some math to trade any Dragons from your hand or field and add a new Dragon with a Level equal to the sum of those sent. Then it also has an eff similar to Nebula to banish itself from the GY to get back a Level 8 LIGHT or DARK Dragon. Seyfert serves as a setup option due to its first effect, but the biggest impact it has on your duel is its ability to get the Dragons you dont want in your hand out of it and the Dragons you want in your hand in it.

The last key cards that tie this theme together have already been sprung upon the TCG. First is our main disruption card and one of the best reasons to play this deck, Tachyon Transmigration. First it is a counter trap that can be used from the hand, but the bigger benefit is that it negates all of the prior effects on a chain. Many decks like to chainblock important effects (Marincess, Salamangreat), but a Transmigration out of nowhere can put an end to that, especially for an unsuspecting opponent. The last centerpiece of the strategy is a soulcrushing Rank 8 Xyz monster - Number 97: Draglubion. Use his effect to end your combo chains, resulting in a second Dragon Xyz from your Extra Deck, then if he survives the turn, you can even do it again! Draglub lets you go directly into your Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, a key card that is effectively a Dark Ruler No More on legs without the damage restriction. Also, it provides the conditions needed for a Transmigration!

Decklist: Monsters: 31
|| Nebula, the Star Cloud Dragon (YGOrg Translation)
||| Bulge, the Spiral Dragon (YGOrg Translation)
||| Seyfert, the Starleige Dragon (YGOrg Translation)
| Absorouter Dragon
| Rokket Recharger
| Rokket Synchron
| Blue-Eyes White Dragon
| Alternative Blue-Eyes White Dragon
| The White Stone of Legend
| Supreme King Dragon Darkwurm
| Supreme King Gate Infinity
|| Chaos Emperor, the Dragon of Armageddon
| Chaos Dragon Levianeer
| Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms
| White Dragon Wyverburstar
| Black Dragon Collapserpant
| Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson
| Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
| Omni Dragon Brotaur
||| Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay
||| Iron Dragon Tiamaton

Spells: 7
| Dragon Ravine
| Dragon Shrine
| Foolish Burial
| Return of the Dragon Lords
||| The Melody of Awakening Dragon

Traps: 3
||| Tachyon Transmigration

Extra: 15
| Borreload Savage Dragon
| Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon
| Number c107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon
| Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy
| Number 97: Draglubion
| Borreload Dragon
| Triple Burst Dragon
| Quadborrel Dragon
| Dragunity Knight - Romulus
| Galaxy Satellite Dragon (YGOrg Translation)
| Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres
| Twin Triangle Dragon
| Guardragon Elpy
| Guardragon Pisty
| Saryuja Skull Dread

Strategy:

I think you all would be able to agree that the subtitle for this article could just be 'Goodstuff Dragons', and while it may seem all over the place to start, you'll start to recognize the combos that are open to this deck. An easy comparison to make is between this strategy and the more well-known Rokket strategy that just hit the TCG. While you can retrofit a bigger Rokket engine into this to make the best of both worlds, you will be sacrificing the biggest benefit this build would bring to the table - more stable openings. To be frank, both strategies do a lot well. Would you rather focus on using Agairpain to bring out your main disruption, or would you rather rely upon the suprising nature of a Transmigration? Do you want access to Hope Harbinger, or do you want access to Borreload Furious? These are the trade-offs to consider.

The other thing you'll notice about the deck is that the hand traps you run can also be all Dragons. On top of the disruption from Hope Harbinger and Transmigration, you can easily run Phantazmay to disrupt targeting and Tiamaton for on the spot destruction. If you haven't noticed, there are so many different DARK Dragon 'handtraps' available for use, and they all have a very easy combo to become active. When Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres is tributed, you can summon Omni Dragon Brotaur which then can search any of these Dragon handtraps. Also, both of these monsters are fairly recyclable in here, whether it is Nebula returning your Tiamaton for an encore performance or simply Chaos Emperor recycling banished dragons after being banished for your plethora of Chaos summons. At the end of the day, you have an insanely flexible strategy that can pivot from disrupting the opponent to playing through disruption on a dime. This is why I have loved playing around with this strategy - you have combo potential without sacrificing the ability to disrupt.

Lastly, I want to highlight the cards that tie this all together - Ravine and Melody. Ravine, easily searchable via Romulus - lets you keep getting the Dragons that love your GY back where they belong. With more GY presence comes more Chaos dragon summons, whether it is Emperor or Levianeer. On the other hand, Melody searches your heavy hitters on a dime. This deck features a ton of options on this front. Grab Emperor for some recovery, Levianeer for an extender, the Blue-Eyes monsters for an extra Level 8 body... each are good options in their own right, but they also serve in different roles at different points of the duel!

Alternate Techs:

This deck has so many subengines that are completely interchangeable - that means you have a ton of additional options to tap into to support your core Tachyon dragons. Here's just a couple to consider.
Alternate Melody Targets:

Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon - For an Odd-Eyes card, this is surprisingly splashable. Since you are going to be summoning so many high level dragons easily, his monarch-esque effect offers some quick destruction potential, plus his extra Special Summon can be icing on the cake. Lastly, he's also a Level 8 Dragon that can be summoned from the hand with Nebula!

Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End - Yes, the original CED can also be used here! It can be included as the more traditional option of a chaos summon. Worst case scenario you can bomb the field with his effect, but I would not recommend it.

All-Eyes Phantom Dragon - Since there are a number of pendulums you might be running, you can transition part of the strategy to be more Pendulum-based as well. This is technically an option currently for Dragon decks, as you can drop the Tachyon aspect and instead run Rokket/Odd-Eyes, but then we wouldn't be sticking close to the theme of this article.

Alternate 'Hand Trap' Dragons:

Van'Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord - DARK Dragons? Counter Traps? Level 8? ALL OF THE YES. This big boy can be such a massive pain to your opponent, as you can get an additional monster to the field in a pinch. Plus, if you negate multiple types of cards with your Tachyon, you can get multiple effects!

Mana Dragon Zirnatron - Zirnatron is great against decks that try to use spot removal as their primary source of disruption. If they try to destroy your Ravine, just use that moment to get something else right back with Zira! For example, you can totally just use that Ravine as bait to get back Melody for a second activation in the event of a Twin Twisters!

Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair - This DARK boss monster covers a number of categories on our alt tech lists, as it is searchable by Melody, yet it still can be prized for this strategy as a Level 8 monster that goes to the field if your opponent tributes something, aka Nibiru. If your opponent drops that, just take your extra summon in stride and keep going!

Deep-Eyes White Dragon - Since you are running one Blue-Eyes card, you can technically run this. And with your wide range of Dragon-type monsters that you can run, this card can hit for an absurd amount of effect damage out of nowhere. Basically I've always wanted to fit this into a Dragon strategy, so shoehorned it into the tech section!

Extender Dragon Options:

World Chalice Guardragon - As you are running a Blue-Eyes, you can tech in this little dragon to get a bit more extended plays going. Then this also unlocks you to consider running Ib the World Chalice Justicar, since you can Synchro Summon her using White Stone... can you tell there are a ton of extra options to choose from yet?

Lightning, Dragon Ruler of Drafts - Tempest was released from the F/L list, so you can use the baby to bring him out! Benefits here is that you get your Dragons who want to be in the GY into the GY, but you also get more monsters to keep comboing.

World Legacy Guardragon - Beautiful extender to pair with the Guardragon Link monsters, it is also searchable by Ib if you go that route.

Background Dragon - Out of options? Let background get the duel going again, as it gets you two monsters on the field if your opponent ever ends up nuking everything. While there definitely are stronger individual options, the combo potential to combo out of the GY entirely cannot be overstated here. Nebula to bring back Seyfert, then this guy bring out both Seyfert and itself unlock a brand new combo chain - keep that in mind.

Dark Armed Dragon - Oh how the powerful have fallen. Due to the great GY control this deck offers, you should always think back to our DADdy. I classify it as an extender as it is just that - another Dragon to get on the board easily. It just also happens to bring destruction along.

Grind Game 'Dragons':

Arkbrave Dragon - You might not be bringing his pal Felgrand along, but Arkbrave serves as a delayed revival option to keep future plays alive.

Divine Dragon Apocralyph - Get GY-loving Dragons where they wish to be, and get your hand trap dragons back where they belong. It's great for a grind game.

Storm Dragon's Return - So many banished Dragons to pick from, then you also get to re-use it from the hand in future turns. Yes please.

Control/Disruption support:

Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords - Locking down monster effects can be excellent, but just be careful since it also can affect yourself!

Dragon's Bind - Similar to the above, just you're locking down Special Summons instead. Remember, both of these control cards are satisfied by a Phantazmay, so even if your opponent nukes your field before trying to go off, you can always get him out to throw a dent in their plans.

Guardragon Cataclysm - Yes, Icarus Attack-esque cards have fallen out of favor. But since you are already leaning into Dragons as your main disruption options, additional disruption options can't hurt in the long run. Also triggers Diabolos if you choose that route.

Conclusion:

Tachyon Dragons combine with one of the best-supported types in the game to unleash quite the monster. Blast away at your opponent with combos of the fearsome engine of destruction, raining down bullets upon your opponent's attempted field presence. If you like to rely upon powerful Xyz monsters - this deck really is one of your best bets to shine. But I hope you're ready to take a more gimmicky take on the game once the next article is strung up.

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 YGOrganization Forums, 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.

Creative Deck Strategy: Tachyon Dragon Toolbox

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