It’s finally here! Join me beyond the break as I explore a world of fluff and fright.
Whether you’ve followed the show or read your real-life cards, many a duelist will have heard of these themes. The Fluffals are a theme of stuffed animal Fairy-type monsters. When fused with the Edge Imps however, they become fiendish Frightfurs. It’s a relatively large theme, so I’ll start with breaking down the main deck Fluffals and Edge Imps, then finish off with our Frights.
I’d like to apologize ahead of time for the formatting of various images. Sometimes WordPress agrees with you, sometimes…not so much. Future articles will be cleaner! Also note some cards are still only available in Japan, so TCG names may differ.
Without further ado, here’s our main cast of Fluffals!
Fluffal Dog and Fluffal Owl are great themed searchers, grabbing the cards you need to Fusion Summon. Fluffal Rabbit and Fluffal Cat return the resources you spent on the Fusion Summon. Rabbit is often considered more useful than Cat since the monsters you can grab back are more versatile, but there is merit to Cat too since you’ve only 3 Polymerization in the deck to work with. Feel free to exercise your own discretion on the matter, but I’ll be using 1 of each here. Alternatively I’d use 2 Rabbit. Fluffal Sheep is amazing for letting us re-use a Dog, or Owl, to revive an Edge Imp. 3 copies can lead to clogged hands at times, but 2 is a solid number. Fluffal Bear introduces the next aspect of the deck, which revolves around the gimmick of Toy Vendor.
Toy Vendor lets you summon Dog and Owl in the same turn, speeding up your plays while also searching for more fusiion material whenever and however it goes to the graveyard. Before the wave of support from DOCS, it was better to discard it as a cost for another copy of Toy Vendor, a “discard trap” like Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, or with Summoner Monk and the (now banned) Lavalval Chain. However, thanks to recent support, it’s now much easier to take advantage of.
Fluffal Wings works so many wonders for this deck that I can’t help but call it Wonder Wings. It’s first effect makes up for when Toy Vendor initially discards it, but it’s second effect lets you destroy your own Toy Vendor to draw, triggering the Vendor for a search! Even in the worst case scenario, you net a +1 in card advantage, and in the best case scenario of hitting a Dog or Owl, you net a +3 in advantage. It plays perfectly with Bear as well since Bear fills both requirements for Wings’ effect to work. The combos are really easy to work with, since you only need to see a Dog with either Wings or Bear. Thanks to Wings, Fluffal Bear and Toy Vendor have a new lease on life in this deck, and the deck as a whole is all the better for it.
Since there will be times where Toy Vendor is graved outside of Wings’ effect, it doesn’t make sense to run the full playset of Fluffal Wings, however two seems to be the perfect number.
When Konami initially released the first wave of support for the theme, it seems like they did not expect other Edge Imps to appear in the animated series, but now we have 5. The Edge Imps essentially exist to be fused away with before anything else. Edge Imp Sabres and Edge Imp Chain however are really the only Edge Imps that are consistently worth their places in the deck. Edge Imp Tomahawk is a Normal Summon we’d rather spend on Dog or Owl. Edge Imp Saw has a similar problem, granted it has slightly improved now that the deck has focused even more on Toy Vendor. Edge Imp Frightfuloid is….simply unnecessary.
Edge Imp Sabres is most important for the specific fusions it’s required as material for. It’s the most searchable Imp (at the time of writing, it’s the only Imp you can search for in-theme). It has a nice effect to revive itself while also stacking a Fluffal for Vendor to combo off of. Three can clog, so we’ll focus on two in this build. Edge Imp Chain on the other hand, is well worth a playset. It’s effect to grab another copy of itself is nice for what it is, but when we fuse it away, we get a Frightfur Spell or Trap. Which brings us to our primary methods of fusion summoning.
One of the charms of a Fluffal deck is that they actually use the original fusion spell, Polymerization. Frightfur Factory and Frightfur Fusion are themed fusion methods, but they don’t steal the thunder from the original fusion spell at all. Frightfur Fusion is a strong mid-to-late-game card, but it can only be used once a turn. Even if it could be used more than that, there may be no materials left to banish after the first one. There’s also the issue of it not being live early game, which all adds up to running the risk of clogging with multiple copies in the opening turns. So again, it seems like two is a solid number. Thanks to Frightfur Factory’s effect, it’s possible to use Frightfur Fusion 3 (or more!) times a duel as well. Factory is not as easy to use as Polymerization or Frightfur Fusion, but it’s a Polymerization that can be searched with Edge Imp Chain. Thanks to how it interacts with a certain Frightfur monster, you can get a shot at two Fusion Summons a turn with one Factory.
Before I get into the Extra Deck, there are a few more Main Deck cards to mention. There’s a lot of support for the Fluffal theme, but not all are necessarily worthy of play. Fluffal Mouse however is a very noteworthy card that I decided against using. Mouse has just debuted in the TCG, and lets you get a full 3 Fluffals in play right off the bat. This is important as you’ll soon see, as our Frightfurs get more powerful the more Fluffals you have to fuse with. However I take issue with the prospect of getting your hand clogged by multiple Mice. Sabres can stack a second copy to help you make the most of it, as can Saw, however, Mouse is yet another card that fights for that Normal Summon. I recommend testing Mouse yourself, however I did not find it necessary. Also, Fluffal Leo exists, but I don’t recommend it.
The theme has plenty of themed recursion cards like Fluffal Crane, Suture Rebirth, and Designer Frightfur. The issue however is that I’d recommend using more Fluffal Rabbit before any of these. Designer Frightfur has the niche of granting a Fluffal the name of Frightfur (for fusion material reasons of course) but generally if you’re concerned with not having enough monsters, simply run more monsters. The deck has to prioritize Fusion Summons, with as few delays in the process as possible, and these cards do not speed up
Frightfur March is new support from DOCS. The card gets stronger later game, when you can revive a Frightfur with its effect, but regardless of that, it’s searchable targeting protection, that pairs particularly well with the Frightfurs who are resistant to destruction. Merits 1 copy,but I’d recommend looking at quicker forms of backrow removal to make aggressive pushes.
Which finally brings us to our furry frights, the corrupted and mutilated forms Fluffals take when possessed by an Edge Imp.
Frightfur Bear is the first fright we were introduced to. It’s by far the weakest of the Frightfurs, but it allows you to search a Fluffal Bear with Fusion Conscription and the like, which is relevant if you really need that extra Fluffal for material, or just really need access to Toy Vendor. However, the two Frightfurs leading the charge against your opponent will be Frightfur Tiger and Frightfur Wolf. Before DOCS, these were the only frights to take any number of Fluffals as materials to summon them. The more Fluffals they’re fed, the more frightful they become. Frightfur Wolf is clearly designed as an OTK tool. Wolf however wants a clear field to get direct attacks on the opponent’s life, and for that we turn to Frightfur Tiger. Regardless of whether you can bring out Wolf, Tiger is your main Frightfur of choice, as it’s able to destroy multiple threats indiscriminately for each Fluffal you’ve fed it. Another notable trait of Tiger is how it can destroy cards you control as well, such as Factory and Vendor! One of my favorite combos is banishing a Frightfur Fusion with Factory, to summon Tiger. I destroy everything on the field, including Factory, then I use Factory to get back Frightfur Fusion. Frightfur Fusion banishes the Fluffals and Sabres I used to summon Tiger, and multi-attack for game! Tiger is so very crucial that the deck is rather difficult to work without it. It’s finally arrived as a Shonen Jump promo, so now’s the time to join in the fright!
The next two Frightfurs are what you make do with when you can’t make Tiger or go for the win with Wolf. Frightfur Sheep holds the fort very well. Destroying it will cause it to revive with 800 more ATK. Combined with its Armades-like ability, Sheep is a terrifying beater in its own right. Edge Imp Chain can search Frightfur March, so even if the opponent tries to target it for removal, you can protect your Sheep and call out a fallen fright. Frightfur Leo is a themed Volcasaurus, which is always great to have if you can make it, but generally due to the lack of usefulness of its Edge Imp material, you won’t be using it nearly as much as the other three.
Finally its time for our ultimate fusion bosses. Frightfur Chimera is the first boss of the theme. Chimera steals whatever it slays in battle, and there’s no stopping its attacks once they start. Its effects are powerful, but it is quite difficult to summon at the moment. Chimera is the reason we have things like Edge Imp Frightfuloid and Designer Frightfur, so there’s those cards if you really want to put in the effort. However there’s now an easier alternative that’s arrived in DOCS.
Frightfur Sabre Tiger is the theme’s second boss, and is easier to summon than Chimera, since only 1 Frightfur is required to summon it. So long as you have 3 materials invested, the monster is indestructible. It’s also terrifying on the offensive too. Not only does it boost all Frightfurs by 400 ATK, you can revive the original Frightfur Tiger for another boost to your frightfurs, giving them a total of at least 1000 more ATK between these two!. Whether you’re on offense or defense, Sabre Tiger is a terrifying boss.
That finally brings us to the decklist!
21 Monsters
3x Fluffal Dog
2x Fluffal Owl
2x Fluffal Sheep
2x Fluffal Wings
2x Fluffal Bear
1x Fluffal Rabbit
1x Fluffal Cat
3x Edge Imp Chain
2x Edge Imp Sabres
3x King of the Swamp
16 Spells
3x Polymerization
2x Frightfur Fusion
1x Frightfur Factory
3x Toy Vendor
2x Galaxy Cyclone
1x Raigeki
1x Instant Fusion
3x Fusion Conscription
3 Traps
1x Frightfur March
2x Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
Extra Deck (15)
3x Frightfur Tiger
2x Frightfur Wolf
3x Frightfur Sheep
1x Frightfur Leo
1x Frightfur Bear
1x Frightfur Chimera
1x Frightfur Sabre Tiger
1x Elder Entity Norden
1x Castel, the Avian Skyblaster
1x Evilswarm Exciton Knight
Building a Fluffal deck can be tricky because you can’t afford to draw a hand of too many Fluffals and no Edge Imps and vice versa. We’ll have to focus on the best of the best here because every Normal Summon counts. King of the Swamp is an incredibly ideal card for this deck that I find it hard not to run 3 of. Say you have Dog + King. Dog grabs you your Sabres, and King grabs you Polymerization. If you open Owl + King, Owl gets you your Polymerization, and King acts as any Edge Imp for whatever Frightfur is appropriate at the time! King helps you make the most of your normal summons and helps you get to Polymerization. It also works great with Frightfur Fusion, since you can keep Edge Imps in your graveyard to make use of later (with Sheep or another Frightfur Fusion). Dog and Owl often compete for the normal summon, but King of the Swamp can alleviate that quite a bit. He does some of Owl’s job, so Owl is probably best used at 2 copies, but play around with the numbers yourself to find what you think is most comfortable for your build. Lastly, King of the Swamp allows me to not have to run Edge Imp Saw to have access to Frightfur Leo, and I’ll happily take advantage of that. Note however that Frightfur Wolf does not allow you to use fusion material substitutes. However all other Frightfurs lack that restrictive text.
Speaking of substitutes, Fusion Substitute is an interesting card, since it allows you to conserve extra deck space. There’s no need to worry about “running out” of a Frightfur, and Fluffal Sheep makes it easier to use. However, not being able to use the hand is quite relevant. Use it if you like but I wouldn’t recommend more than one.
A tech i actually do use is Fusion Conscription. I chose it over Fusion Reserve because it is faster. It can search any Edge Imp, and use it as fusion material right there to go for an aggressive push. It can even grab from the graveyard for late-game fusion plays too. However if you aren’t Fusion Summoning on that turn, Fusion Reserve would be the better choice, since you’re also getting a graved Polymerization back too. It’s worthy of note however that Fusion Conscription is a “Fusion” Spell that you can banish for Frightfur Factory’s effect, while Fusion Reserve is not. Feel free to exercise your own discretion on which card suits your playstyle, and which playstyle suits whatever the meta is at a given time and place.
Another Fusion spell I use is Instant Fusion. Instant Fusion gives access to Elder Entity Norden (for Rank 4 plays) but also helps make Frightfur Sabre Tiger easier to summon. Simply bring out Frightfur Sheep, use Polymerization, summon Sabre Tiger, and revive the Sheep! Sheep is now free of Instant Fusion’s restrictions, gains 400 more attack, both monsters are resistant to destruction, and then you still have any benefits your fused Edge Imps and Fluffals might give you once you fuse them away.
Another tech option you can use is Dark Fusion. While the card lacks synergy in that it cannot be searched or recurred in this build, you can make a Frightfur who cannot be targeted by card effects for the turn. You may still fall into a Bottomleess Trap Hole, or a Mirror Force, but you’re safe from Breakthrough Skill, Effect Veiler, Fiendish Chain, and the like. Basically it’s ideal for Frightfur Tiger plays. I suppose in theory there’s a build out there where you can use Dark Fusion instead of Polymerization. Cutting out the Polymerization support can free up space for Fluffal Mouse too. I haven’t explored that possibility too deeply because a fusion deck that actually uses Polymerization is a huge appeal for this deck, but Dark Fusion is certainly a card to keep in mind.
Galaxy Cyclone and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast are among some ideal ways to control the opponent’s plays while also having synergy with Toy Vendor, and also Edge Imp Chain. I dedicate a lot of space to backrows itself.
In regards to the Extra Deck, you will want to focus on Tiger, Wolf, and Sheep, just be on the lookout for those instances where your other Frightfurs may be useful. Xyz Summoning is usually going to happen with Fluffal Sheep + Fluffal Owl, but you may have the rare opportunity to access Rank 3 or 4, or even 5 and 6 between 2 Frightfurs. Use your own discretion in this area, though if you want to use Norden, you’re space is pretty much filled. I like making my articles focus more on the pure, themed aspect of a deck. If I’m too purist for you, feel free to drop Frightfur Bear / Chimera in favor of more Extra Deck space. Since I believe it is likely that either Norden or Instant Fusion will be restricted in the TCG, I’m using only one of each here. Because Instant Fusion eats into the number of Sheep you can Fusion Summon, I use 3 Frightfur Sheep. Otherwise, you can make room for more Xyz, like Sky Cavalry Centaurea or other Rank 4s. Granted you may have a harder time making them.
I hope you all enjoyed the article! As always, please share your thoughts on the theme in the comments. Any combos I missed? Favorite tricks I did or didn’t cover? Super Sekrit Tech you’d like to share? Did you enjoy the article? All (constructive) comments are welcome!
Things are getting a bit busy on my end. I’ll be studying abroad in Japan for a few months, so I’m afraid I can’t quite guarantee my next article will be anytime soon. However, assuming the adjustment to my new locale won’t take too long, I’m currently deciding between a revisit to the D/D, or looking at Performage variants. I’ve been feeling the need for Speedroids, and there’s also the Odd-Eyes deck too. However, with all the hype for anniversary products later this year and next, perhaps its time for a Dark Magician article? Feel free to share your input on the theme I should visit next.
