I guess you can say they are SalamanGREAT now. Hello Pojo Readers, Crunch$G back here to tell you about everything you need to know about the new Yu-Gi-Oh! Soulburner Structure Deck. Yes, it is more Cyberse monsters, but at least this one is a more coherent archetype instead of cards just working around the type alone. Salamangreat is one of the first decks in a long time to make the FIRE attribute really good, and this deck has some great reprints including one that was very high value before this deck came out and I’m sure you are all looking forward to, so with that introductory stuff out of the way, let’s talk about the Salamangreat cards.
Salamangreatest
Of course the deck is based around all the new Salamangreat cards, which all synergize well with each other in gaining a ton of advantage. I’ll talk about the new cards in this deck as well as the cards reprinted from Soul Fusion here since I didn’t go into much detail in the Soul Fusion article. There are a ton of new Salamangreat cards in this deck.
Salamangreat Raccoon is the first new monster that’s a Level 1 and when a Salamangreat monster you control is targeted for an attack, you can discard this card from your hand to gain life points equal to the ATK of the opponent’s monster attacking and your monster cannot be destroyed in battle this turn, as well as if a Salamangreat monster you control destroys an opponent’s monster in battle you can add Raccoon from your graveyard to your hand. Salamangreat Mole is another Level 1 that can Special Summon itself to a zone a Link Monster points to the turn you performed a Link Summon and if you control no monsters, you can banish Mole from your graveyard to shuffle 5 Salamangreat cards in your graveyard back into the deck to draw 2 cards. Salamangreat Gazelle is the first Level 3 monster that can be Special Summoned from your hand if a Salamangreat monster is sent to your graveyard and when Gazelle is Normal or Special Summoned you can send a Salamangreat card from your deck to the graveyard. Salamangreat Spinny is another Level 3 that you can discard from your hand while you control a Salamangreat monster to boost a monster you control by 500 ATK for the turn and if Spinny is in your graveyard while you control a Salamangreat, you can Special Summon it from the grave but it is banished when it leaves the field. Salamangreat Foul is a Level 4 that can be Special Summoned if a Salamangreat is Normal or Special Summoned and you can send a Salamangreat card from your hand or face-up on the field to the graveyard to target a set Spell/Trap your opponent controls and it cannot be activated for the turn. Salamangreat Beat Bison is the last new Main Deck monster and it’s a Level 8 that can be Special Summoned in Defense Position if you have 3 or more Salamangreat monsters in your graveyard and then you can target FIRE Link Monsters in your graveyard up to the number of face-up cards your opponent controls and return them to the Extra Deck and negate the effects of face-up cards your opponent controls up to the number of monsters returned to your Extra Deck. Salamangreat Miragestallio is a Rank 3 Xyz that only needs 2 Level 3 Monsters and once per turn you can detach a material from it to Special Summon a Salamangreat monster from your deck in Defense Position and you cannot activate monster effects for the rest of the turn except for FIRE monsters, also if Miragestallio is used as Link Material for a Salamangreat you can then target a monster on the field and return it to the hand. Salamangreat Balelynx is a Link-1 that only needs 1 Level 4 or lower Cyberse as material and upon Link Summon your Balelynx will search for Salamangreat Sanctuary from your deck and also if a Salamangreat card(s) you control would be destroyed you can instead banish Balelynx from your graveyard.
Before I get into new Spells and Traps, I’ll do a better job explaining the Soul Fusion Salamangreat cards since they are in this deck, except for the Ritual Monster and Spell. All the Salamangreat Main Deck Monsters from Savage Strike are also in here like Wolvie, Parro, and Foxer. Salamangreat Meer is a Level 2 that can Special Summon itself from the hand if you add it to your hand as well as being able to be Special Summoned from the hand by discarding another Salamangreat card. Salamangreat Foxy is a Level 3 that upon Normal Summon excavates the top 3 cards of your deck and lets you add a revealed Salamangreat card to your hand and the others go back into the deck while it can also be Special Summoned from the graveyard if there is a face-up Spell or Trap on the field by discarding a Salamangreat and upon Special Summon via this effect can destroy a face-up Spell or Trap. Salamangreat Falco is a Level 4 that sets a Salamangreat Spell or Trap to your field if Falco is sent to the graveyard and if Falco is in your graveyard you can target a Salamangreat monster you control and return it to the hand to Special Summon Falco. Salamangreat Jack Jaguar is a Level 4 that does piercing and if you control a Salamangreat Link Monster while Jack Jaguar is in the graveyard, you can shuffle another Salamangreat card from your graveyard into the deck to Special Summon the Jack Jaguar to a zone a Link Monster points to. Salamangreat Heatleo has two copies in this deck to work with another card in here and it requires 2+ FIRE Effect Monsters and if it is Link Summoned you can target a card in your opponent’s Spell and Trap Zone and shuffle it into the deck and also if Salamangreat Heatleo was Link Summoned using another Heatleo you can target a face-up monster on the field and a Salamangreat monster in your graveyard and the ATK of that monster on the field becomes the ATK of the monster in the grave that you targeted and you can use this effect during each of your Main Phases once per turn.
Formud Skipper is the last new monster in this deck, though not part of the Salamangreat archetype. During your Main Phase, you can reveal a Link Monster in your Extra Deck and if you would use Skipper for a Link Summon that turn, you can treat this monster as having the same name, Type, and Attribute as the revealed monster and also if you use Formud Skipper as Link Material, you can add 1 Level 5 or higher Cyberse monster from your deck to your hand. There is at least some synergy here with the Salamangreat Link Monsters, so I get why it is in this deck and it finally brings it over to the TCG for us.
Salamangreat Circle is the first new Spell in the deck and it’s a Quick-Play Spell that can either let you add a Salamangreat monster from your deck to your hand or target a Salamangreat Link Monster you control that was Link Summoned using a monster with the same name and have it be unaffected by other monster effects that aren’t its own. Salamangreat Claw is an Equip Spell that can only be equipped to a Salamangreat and that monster cannot be destroyed in battle or by card effects and it does piercing and if the equipped monster is a Salamangreat Link Monster that was Link Summoned using a monster with the same name then it can make attacks on monsters during each Battle Phase up to its Link Rating. Salamangreat Rage is a Normal Trap that can either let you send a Salamangreat monster from your hand or face-up on the field to the graveyard to target a card on the field and destroy it or target a Salamangreat Link Monster you control that was Link Summoned using a monster with the same name and destroy cards your opponent controls up to that monster’s Link Rating. Salamangreat Roar is a Counter Trap that when a Spell/Trap card or monster effect is activated while you control a Salamangreat Link Monster, you can negate the activation and destroy that card, and if you Link Summon a Salamangreat using a monster with the same name you can set Roar from your graveyard but it will be banished when it leaves the field.
I will also introduce you to the old Salamangreat Spells and Traps from Soul Fusion that are in here before we get into reprints. Salamangreat Sanctuary is a Field Spell that once per turn lets you Link Summon a Salamangreat Monster using a Salamangreat Monster you control with the same name as the entire material and also during damage calculation if your monster battles, you can pay 1000 life points and target a Link Monster you control and make its ATK 0 and gain life points equal to the original ATK of the Link Monster. Will of the Salmangreat is a Continuous Spell that once per turn could either let you Special Summon a Salamangreat monster from your hand or graveyard or instead send this face-up card to the graveyard and target a Salamangreat Link Monster that was Link Summoned using a monster with the same name and Special Summon Salamangreat monsters from your hand or graveyard in Defense Position up to that monster’s Link Rating. Salamangreat Gift is a Continuous Trap that can let you discard a Salamangreat monster once per turn to send a Salamangreat monster from your deck to the graveyard and let you draw 1 card or if you control a Salamangreat Link Monster that was Link Summoned using a monster with the same name you can discard a Salamangreat monster to draw 2 cards.
Noteworthy Reprints
First off, the most important reprint in this deck is Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, which was previously only a high value foil before now coming guaranteed in a Structure Deck and it’s the best hand trap in the game as well as being a FIRE monster to synergize with Salamangreat. There are some other good reprints though beyond that great Ash Blossom reprint. True King Agnimazud, the Vanisher is a great reprint to have, as well as Dogoran, the Mad Flame Kaiju. Transmodify is a great Spell Card for several decks, so its another good reprint. Magic Planter is also a good reprint in this deck. The Gozen Match reprint is also nice. Also having this deck come with most of the previous Salamangreat cards along with Flame Administrator and Duelittle Chimera makes for some good stuff to have out of the box. Still, the best reprint in here is Ash Blossom.
In Conclusion
This deck is looking to be the next meta deck in the TCG if the OCG already tells us anything. It has the consistency and set up for some good disruption. Gazelle, Balelynx, and Miragestallio are the best additions to the deck along with other cards like Spinny and Fowl. The searching is there with Circle, the revival with Will, the ability to Link Summon Salamangreats using the same Salamangreat is there with Sanctuary as it should, and some strong disruption with Rage and Roar. This with the basis the deck already has with cards like Foxy, Falco, Jack Jaguar, and being able to use Lady Debug and having a good recovery card in Sunlight Wolf from Savage Strike makes this deck have the consistency and the disruption to be meta, also being able to recycle Ash Blossom with Sunlight Wolf over and over again is nothing to sneeze at. This is a great Structure Deck to have if you want a majority of the cards needed to make a competitive deck out of the box, or at least to have those nice reprints.
