-Banner to come, thank you Liyana- I am back with a new guide for the new meta. With T.G. Striker coming back to 2, there is no doubt that we will see T.G. decks such as T.G. Stun or T.G. Agents make a comeback to the meta scene.
Tech Genius, or T.G. for short were introduced by the character Bruno in Yugioh 5D and made their debut in Extreme Victory.
T.G. monsters have 2 main characteristics: search power and special summons. Both are crucial to the 2 main routes T.G. duelists can go to.
The main T.G. monsters (or those that are commonly splashed into other decks) all have the ability to add a T.G. monster to your hand at the end of the turn the monster is destroyed. It cannot be the same monster as the one destroyed but this is what allows T.G. to be a consistent Stun deck.
The other is the ability of T.G. Warwolf and Striker which allows itself to be special summoned. I will discuss them in detail later but these 2 are the most splashed T.G. cards in a variety of decks that focus on Synchro-summons such as Agents, Psychics, Plants and Synchrocentric.
Like I mentioned before, there are 2 main routes T.G. duelists can go. One is the Synchro route while the other is the Stun route. While the Stun route has seen more success in tournaments, I find the Synchro builds much more interesting: in the builds I mentioned, T.G. are more of a tech to add consistency or speed to the deck. However, there is room to be creative by adding the Flamvell or Scrap engine to a pure T.G. deck.
However, if you are looking for a competitive deck, T.G. Stun is the route to go. T.G. Stun plays defensively by controlling and disrupting the opponent. The deck runs a large amount of Traps, aimed for one-for-one exchanges to simplify the game. While doing this, the T.G. duelist gains resources and plusses through the searching effects of T.G. monsters and in combination with Horn of the Phantom Beast, it leads to a huge advantage. This play style follows the Gadget Theory.
Now let's take a look at the main cards.
Main CardsT.G. Rush Rhino (Lvl 4, Earth, Beast)If this card attacks, it gains 400 ATK during the Damage Step only. During the End Phase of the turn this card was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "T.G." monster from your Deck to your hand, except "T.G. Rush Rhino".This is our beat stick: it will run over most level 4 monsters with it's 2000 attack points. It is currently the only target for T.G. Cyber Magician's effect. Run 2-3
T.G. Striker (Lvl 2, Earth, Warrior/Tuner)If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During the End Phase of the turn this card was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "T.G." monster from your Deck to your hand, except "T.G. Striker".Our favorite Tuner, it is a mini-Cyber Dragon and can be used together with Warwolf for Synchro summons of most levels. It is also searchable via Reinforcement of the Army and Reinforce Truth. Run 2
T.G. Warwolf (Lvl 3, Dark, Beast-Warrior)When a Level 4 or lower monster is Special Summoned, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During the End Phase of the turn this card on the field was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "T.G." monster from your Deck to your hand, except "T.G. Warwolf".One of the most versatile monster cards I've seen. Combos perfectly with Striker and pretty much any other cards you special summon (Spore, Venus, Emergency Teleport, Junk Synchron etc). It can also be used on your opponent's turn to prevent any OTK's. Run 3
T.G. Cyber Magician (Lvl 1, Light, Spellcaster/Tuner)If this card is used as a Synchro Material Monster for the Synchro Summon of a "T.G." Synchro Monster, you can use "T.G." monsters in your hand for the other non-Tuner Synchro Material Monster(s). During the End Phase of the turn this card was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "T.G." monster from your Deck to your hand, except "T.G. Cyber Magician".This card combos well with Rush Rhino to create a Lv 5 T.G. Synchro: Hyper Librarian, Power Gladiator or Wonder Magician. Searchable via One for One, but I won't recommend it in anything other than a pure build. Run 2-3 in pure builds.
TG1-EM1 (Trap, Normal)Select 1 monster your opponent controls and 1 face-up "T.G." monster you control. Switch control of the selected monstersThis is up to personal preference, while it isn't used generally in Synchro builds, it is quite useful in Stun builds. Run 1-2 in Stun builds depending on preference.
Other CardsThere are many cards that I didn't mention, mainly because they aren't part of the T.G. archetype. I will just list the main cards of each deck variant.
Junk Synchron
Doppel Warrior
Reinforce Truth
Lonefire Blossom
Dandylion
Spore
One for One
Reinforcement of the Army
King Tiger Wanghu
Flamvell Firedog
Flamvell Magician
Horn of the Phantom Beast
Skill Drain
Beast King Barbaros
Photon Sabre Tiger/Hazy Flame Cerbereus
Fire Formation - Tenken
Reborn Tengu
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Chaos Sorceror
Call of the Haunted
Deck SkeletonMonsters2 x T.G. Striker
3 x T.G. Warwolf
3 x T.G. Rush Rhino
3 x Beast King Barbaros
3 x Hazy Flame Cerbereus
Spells3 x Pot of Duality
Traps3 x Skill Drain
2-3 x Horn of the Phantom Beast
2 x Call Of The Haunted
1-2 x TG1-EM1
I only posted the Stun build because I feel the other builds are quite self-explanatory. For successive builds I recommend Collin Reily's T.G. Synchro, Hansel Aguero's T.G. Stun and Galo Orbea's T.G. Agents (though I don't really like his build it's a nice skeleton).
WeaknessThe search effect of T.G. monsters activates in the graveyard: therefore, Remove-from-play cards like Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure would've proved effective against them: however, both are limited to 1 this format. You can also stop their searching via cards like Thunder King Raioh, Soul Drain or Mistake.
The second weakness (for Synchro builds) is the obvious reliance on special summons (yes... I know... genius). Cards such as Maxx C, Flying C, Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, Vanity's Emptiness and Gozen Match are useful side cards.
Stun builds have an high reliance on Trap Cards: so MST and Decrees are nice sides.
Side cardsDecree
Mystical Space Typhoon
Gozen Match
Rivalry of Warlords
Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
Maxx C
Vanity's Emptiness
Soul Drain