Machina Fortress – Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

King of
Lullaby

Hello Pojo Fans,

Machina Fortress is our Throwback Thursday choice and wreaked havoc early on when the only cards worth playing from Machina were Fortress, Gearframe and one Force for discard.

Searchable with Gearframe and now several other cards, easy to Special Summon needing something one level higher than itself (thank goodness), which shouldn’t be too hard in its own archetype or something Machine-based like Trains. The Special Summon isn’t restricted and can also occur while in the grave, something you don’t usually see, even back then that was a problem. Now with Link Summoning and more options to discard within its own archetype, you could summon the same Gearframe several times in a turn. Destroying a card of your opponents upon battle destruction evens out the playing field, had it been destruction by effect it would be more powerful. The discard ability upon targeting is where that comes into play. Destroying a card on the field is one thing, but to take away an opponents card for them even targeting this card with a monster effect proved even worse in the smaller card pool back in the day. Fortress ensures if you target it with a monster either by battle or effect that you are losing a card. If you try to play conservative, you’d better be able to run it over in battle without targeting it with a monster effect. If you target it, you have to set stuff beforehand, but then if you can’t get rid of it with that effect you have to battle and end up losing a card potentially. That ability to slow your opponents turn, even for that Main Phase, can mean big things for you next turn in the era of big boards.

This was a must in any Machine deck when it came out and it remains that way. Easy to summon, gets card(s) out of your opponents hand, and can be Special Summoned by its own effect multiple times per turn, multiple copies per turn as long as you can meet the requirements, even while it’s in the grave.

Advanced-4.5/5

Art-4/5

Until Next Time

KingofLullaby

Crunch$G

Throwback Thursday was kind of obvious considering it’s a key part of the archetype, and the boss of the original Structure Deck: Machina Fortress.

Fortress is a Level 7 EARTH Machine with 2500 ATK and 1600 DEF. Pretty good stats on Level 7, plus that nice EARTH Machine combination. The first effect lets you discard Machine monster(s) whose total Levels equal 8 or more to Special Summon this card from hand or grave. It’s insane here considering Fortress can pitch itself off its own effect to then revive itself from grave, which is probably why they didn’t make it Level 8. This way you still got to discard another card instead of just getting a free Fortress on field. It’s still a strong effect and puts Machines you want in grave. I can imagine this as a good option in Orcust, as I have seen Machina Orcust variants. The second effect is based off battle destruction and going to the grave to let you target and destroy an opponent’s card. Pretty good destruction to make up for this dying in battle, which isn’t easy to get over a 2500 body that much, and it does make the opponent not want to destroy it. If they opt for a card effect that targets this card to remove it, then it has a third effect when the opponent targets this card with a monster effect to then let you look at the opponent’s hand and discard a card of your choice from it. Makes it more tricky to get rid of, even if it’s still weak to Spells and Traps that target this. It still gives you hand information and removes an important resource from them. Monsters are most common nowadays anyways, so I don’t expect as many Spells and Traps targeting this, and the ones that do probably won’t matter on this like Infinite Imperemance. Fortress is a boss that was great on release and has stood the test of time outstandingly well, even if it isn’t as staple for all Machine Decks as it once was. In the right home, it’s still a great card worth using. It can be very powerful.

Advanced Rating: 4.25/5

Art: 4.5/5 Now that looks like a machine of pure destruction.

Solember
YouTube

This has been my favorite Machine monster for about a decade. It is interesting that it was released in a Structure Deck in 2010 and received a major archetype upgrade ten years later. This card and Machina Gearframe were the only noteworthy cards in the archetype from Machina Mayhem, but that hasn’t stopped them from seeing scattered play in many Machine decks since.

I would argue that Machina Fortress is still the best Monster in the archetype due to its versatility, ease of use and strong field presence. It can Special Summon itself by discarding itself and any other Machine monster. That essentially equates to an easy 2500 ATK monster with irritating effects when faced with destruction. With the new support, it can come back from the GY with incredible ease.

The destruction effect is nice if you have something you need to get through in a pinch, and the hand control effect can cause your opponent to stretch their resources out a bit to avoid losing something they need.

With Limiter Removal, all you need for an OTK is a 1500 ATK Monster to Normal Summon next to this guy. It isn’t the most graceful win, but I have ended duels on turn 2 that way before. I also like opening with 2 Limiter Removals for the same reason. Going through an opponent’s monster for 10k+ damage is satisfying.

Regarding balance, this card has none. At its release, it caused trouble in the local scene, though it would also occasionally make it to the top 16 at major events over the years. Cyber Dragon, Gadgets and Synchron decks would make easy use of it, and it would make some rogue decks viable as well (looking at my own Cannon Soldier clean up deck, I have to say I am ashamed of myself for the things I have done with Level Eater over the years at locals).

I had hoped this card would be getting some amazing redesign when I first heard about the Structure Deck this year, but I was disappointed. Compared to the other cards in this archetype, this one is bland and unimpressive. I have never been a fan of floating monsters on a generic background with a glow. The subject design is great, but the card design is not doing it any justice.

Versatility – 5
Rogue Plays – 5
Art -3
Balance – 1
Uniqueness – 5

Another 5/5 for this guy. He does a lot in a lot of places. It is a great card for teaching new players about activation locations, and it is a giant robot, too, so it has secondary appeal to beginners. It has no reason to be left out of its own deck, and it has dozens of others it can casually fit into.