Facing the Meta: Shaddoll



If you have been on this forum for a while, you will remember I had a series called ‘Facing the Meta’.





… Damn you Konami, you made it worse! Anyway, this will be a continuation of the series, and to start us off, I will be analyzing Shaddolls.

Playstyle:

The ‘Shaddoll’ cards appear to be dark puppet versions of cards from other archetypes, with its strings linked to El Shaddoll Construct. Even though the main strategy of a Shaddoll deck is to Fusion Summon ‘El Shaddoll’ monsters, the monsters itself are very disruptive. Each of the Shaddoll monsters has two effects: being flipped up and being sent to the Graveyard, however, only one of those effects can be activated per turn. The Main Deck ‘Shaddoll’ cards all have Flip Effects that focus on searching and field advantage, as well as secondary effects that focus on regaining advantage whenever they are sent to the Graveyard by a card effect (this includes being sent to the graveyard as a fusion material). The key Shaddoll monsters used in the Main Deck and its effects are:

Shaddoll Beast:

Quote :

FLIP: You can draw 2 cards, then discard 1 card. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can draw 1 card. You can only use 1 "Shaddoll Beast" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Shaddoll Dragon:

Quote :

FLIP: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; return it to the hand. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can target 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field; destroy it. You can only use 1 "Shaddoll Dragon" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Shaddoll Squamata:

Quote :

FLIP: You can target 1 monster on the field; destroy it. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can send 1 "Shaddoll" card from your Deck to the Graveyard, except "Shaddoll Squamata". You can only use 1 "Shaddoll Squamata" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Shaddoll Hedgehog:

Quote :

FLIP: You can add 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can add 1 "Shaddoll" monster from your Deck to your hand, except "Shaddoll Hedgehog". You can only use 1 "Shaddoll Hedgehog" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Shaddoll Falco:

Quote :

FLIP: You can target 1 "Shaddoll" monster in your Graveyard, except "Shaddoll Falco"; Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position. You can only use 1 "Shaddoll Falco" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

The fusion of Shaddolls is called ‘El Shaddoll’ and their effects restrict or punish special summons. Another effect ‘El Shaddoll’ monsters share is that when they are sent to the graveyard, they can add one Spell/Trap ‘Shaddoll’ card from the graveyard to your hand. I won’t go into too much detail of the ‘Shaddoll’ Spell/Traps but the main ones used are: Shaddoll Fusion (if the opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from the Extra deck, you can use materials in your Main Deck), El Shaddoll Fusion (A quick-play Poly card), Sinister Shadow Games and Shaddoll Core.

Shaddolls can be splashed into many decks and there are a lot of variants such as: Artifact Shaddolls, Chaos Shaddolls, Bujin Shaddolls (yes it actually works quite nicely), and in my opinion the most competitive, Denko Dolls. (No it is not called the Jeff Jones build)
The deck relies on its disruption and the advantages it gains through the use of Fusion Summoning. Each variant has slightly different styles, but the common factor is remarkable consistency and easy access to powerful cards like El Shaddoll Winda.

Siding:

Given how consistent the deck is with its combos, it is not surprising that there are a number of side cards that really hurt the deck.

Quote :

Nobleman of Crossout

Not used that often, but will remove the Shaddoll from play, and any other copies in the Main Deck.

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Shadow Imprisoning Mirror

A very popular side due to its effect vs Shaddolls and Burning Abyss; it will destroy both decks.

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Skill Drain/Soul Drain

The two drain cards, good copies, though Shadow Imprisoning Mirror does this job better.

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Royal Command

Yes, it seems like one of those super situational cards (and it is), but you’ll be surprised by how many people in the OCG scene have this in their side.

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Non-Fusion Area/De-Fusion

Simply stops the Fusion Summons; while De-Fusion is amazing in a Mirror Matchup.

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Macro Cosmos/Dimensional Fissure

They may not stop any flip effects; however it does stop the second effect of Shaddolls. A shame they are both limited in TCG.

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Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Seal

Another card that can hurt the deck, however, it is inconsistent compared to other options.

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Debunk/Effect Veiler/D.D. Crow

Generic side cards: shouldn’t need more explanantion.

Shaddolls shine against decks that rely on its Extra Deck. So decks that do not rely on its Extra Deck are able to hold its own against Shaddolls better (Monarchs, Dark World, Fire King etc).

Now there are a few problems with the deck that may be handy to remember:

* Relies heavily on its ability to Fusion Summon

Yes, I was talking until now how disruptive the cards are. However, should you not have access to Shaddoll Fusion/El Shaddoll Fusion the monsters in the deck can be quite underwhelming and slow.

* Lack of Auto Wins + Unable to accommodate Soul Charge

Soul Charge is an amazing card; however, it is extremely bad in Shaddolls when compared to its capability in other decks such as Satellarknights. Shaddolls don’t have a big win condition as it doesn’t have that many crazy combos that can turn a game. Did I mention Super Poly is now banned?

* Late game is disappointing

Like E-Dragons before, there is a limited amount of plays Shaddolls can make: they will run out of monsters and plays.

Well that is the end of this article hopefully it helped you gain some insight into Shaddolls. Feel free to discuss and post any questions. The next one will probably be on Satellarknights.

Thank you to Dova for fixing the guide up!

-Decato-[/center]

really needed this
thanks

Great read. I too think Denko dolls are the most competitive but i am unsure how it will fair this format with nekroz and all. I mean its best match up is BA. Qliphs can beat them quite easily and the new support for the deck succcccccks. Thankfully we will be getting darklaw so we will see XD. And even though super poly is banned i guess snatch steal replaces its place?

well done

A thing is Shaddolls can win without fusions. Against the meta like BA no you pretty much need to sit on winda and grind out. But against the non meta shaddolls can easily win without going through there fusions #XYZ/Synchro Plays

Also maybe it was just me but before konami went out nukin artifacts that ShaddollFacts were the best build. But now that their limited...sadly. Jeff Jones gonna be roundhouse kickin mofos.

Wai-wai-wait... The Shaddoll monsters that restrict or punish special summons are monsters whose only mean of summon is the special summon (fusion summon is a kind of special summon). So, the fusion monsters are restricting/punishing their own type of summon?

What will be next? A monster that will be :"This card cannot be normal summoned or set. Neither player can special summon monster"?

Think of Shaddolls as an fast-paced anti-meta deck. Not as hard as the Nekroz lock but it has strong soft-lock capabilities. Yes so once you have Shaddoll Winda for example, each player can only special summon 1 monster each turn.

But, that is what I don't understand, they punish/restrict special summon while these monsters (winda, construct, etc.) are only summoned by special summons

Well I was away from YGO for a bit due to exams and such, seems like it's been going down the drain even more. Didn't think it was possible lol

Decato wrote:

Well I was away from YGO for a bit due to exams and such, seems like it's been going down the drain even more. Didn't think it was possible lol

I check this forum from time to time and I don't know why , but it kinda makes me sad seing it dead , but still living .
Lemme offer a very simple solution that might or might not fix the issue , but either way , there's nothing to loose :

I remmember a few months back , you posted something about how many people would be willing to participate on a tourney , but in my opinion you made a mistake with the end result - you gave up Deca

Now this might sound kinda absurd , but I think if you make up your mind and bring back the weekly bash  or make different themed events on a weekly basis and just roll with it ,no matter how few people  gather , it'll still be something . People to me it seems are just comming and going , in the current state that the forum is in and just sitting there and observing isn't going to change it .

Hey Cecko,

You do bring up a good point, and I guess it is fair to say that in the end I gave up. Only issue was at the time when we were talking about events it was literally 1-2 people (excluding staff) who could actually make it to the events (which were in different times and all).

I'm still open to this forum and the fact remains the YGO was, and continues to be a fun hobby of mine. Start with you coming back? XD

tbh the game itself died off for most of us.....
if u want this academy backk to its ole self ur gonna have to start anew with new members and all.... the way i see it is do what cecko was saying and also find new guys for the academy...... also have a "Grand reopening" and maybe an afiliate.... but then again that is a lot of work considering how little the chances are of the academy coming back......

jus a question.... are there any current active, competitive forums still alive that we could learn from?

Chaos Creator wrote:

tbh the game itself died off for most of us.....

This

Chaos Creator wrote:

find new guys for the academy...... also have a "Grand reopening" and maybe an afiliate

and this.

It is unlikely to happen seeing how the majority of people here lost interest in the game (myself included). Though, I don't mind helping if it is needed.

hmm the comments above are true but the ygopro forums have never tried to change they always keep with the same things they knew one example is using only 1 platform & not embracing the others one platform which they know about & completely over looked is Salvation which wants to include the community ygopro forums ignored this while the DN forums using ygopro didn't duel academy which knows people who work on it like Irate now use & link to Salvation gaining members from it then there is another Crimsom Wind Academy which also gained members from this Salvation also has alot of Yugitubers if any ygopro academy comes back i suggest talking to salvation CEA got a lot of members from it's affilate with Tdoane remember. Though i think making CEA into a forum that talks about everything movies,anime,games etc & do events every so often. Hearthstone is a popular game as well & Vanguard will have a automated online game in a month or so.
http://cardfight-online.com/

Decato wrote:

Start with you coming back? XD

Well , I haven't really played much since I quit a year or two ago , so I might not be that much of a competition  ,given that I'm too lazy and unwilling to adapt to the new format xD .  I can stick arround for a while though , untill we make some progress . Would most-likely participate and be able to make it to events , if such appear soon .
But enough about me .

Decato wrote:

Only issue was at the time when we were talking about events it was literally 1-2 people (excluding staff) who could actually make it to the events (which were in different times and all).XD

If we get atleast 4 people I suggest we  make it in a format where every duelist duels against the other 3 , seperatly, for points ( I think Swiss it was called ) . That way it still consumes as much time as  a regular tournament with 8 people , more duels are played  and participants that would normally get disqualified , get a second chance .

Chaos Creator wrote:

also have a "Grand reopening"

Might wannna ask some of those "yugitubers" to shout-out that "Grand reopening" , if that happens . I remmember when NickV did it , it got a few people here .

If we do re-open the direction to go is definitely to add in other games/options to talk about. Those yugitubers will be a great way to get new members indeed.

I might discuss the possibility with others so keep an eye out.

I am getting back to yugioh again (just learning the new decks now), got free time for a while too so I will be able to help with whatever... from events to wars if we get enough members. And I can try to contact the old members and see if they would want to come back.

So reopening would be really nice.

P.S - Funny how a facing the meta thread is a gateway to open the forum xD.

I just realized that if we do re-open... Facing the Meta will be so hard to write when performapals are all out in the tcg :O

We should start planning on re-opening then? I don't know how you or anyone will contact a yugituber but that would be really cool. (No idea what that performapals deck is but teachers will have to deal with it )

Re-Open it and get some crazy stuff together. Planning won't cut it out tbh just go crazy and go with the flow and it will probably work out somehow. I personally don't know the meta right now but I'd be willing to help outweigh but it's gonna take more than just staff members coming back sow I suppose we need someway to bring it back together to begin with.

18 posts this month and 0 from chaos godess thats gotta count for something...... REREOPEN i wanna get back into the game