The Cry of the Brave! A comprehensive Igknight guide! [WIP]

[CLG Klavier]

Disclaimer: I'm not gonna cover literally everything in this guide. I'm including bad cards that are commonly seen for completion's sake, but I won't bring up flat out bad cards no one plays, like Igknight Burst. Keep in mind, and enjoy reading~


The picture is also a link to the guide's theme, so feel free to listen along~

Igknights are an archetype of FIRE Warrior-type Normal Pendulum monsters that debuted in Clash of Rebellions, and got their further support in Dimension of Chaos. Thematically, they're a Power Rangers-like group consisting of various warriors with armors designed akin to specific firearms. In the game, they're essentially multiple copies of the same monster, except with varied levels, which leads to a slightly linear, yet explosive playstyle.

However, the common misconceptions about Igknights simply aren't true. Many people call them a "shitty pseudo-FTK deck that crumbles upon any disruption", which is just a load of baloney. With a properly built deck and proper play, Igknights can be as explosive as they are known to be, without the supposed weaknesses. In reality, they're a fast, hard-hitting deck that's still capable of holding the fort for a few turns and playing in slower bursts, rather than going all-in on turn 1.

Now, without further ado, let's talk cards!

[spoiler=The core of the deck]



Now you see what I meant when I said they're all copies of the same monster?

Look at them, one big happy family. They're so alike! So while we're here, let's explain what is the entire deal with them. So as we see, whenever we have 2 Igknights as our scales, we can destroy them both to search a FIRE Warrior of our choice in our deck or grave and add it to our hand. Sounds bad, I know. You're trading off 2 monsters for 1, so technically you're losing out. But here is where you have to remember they're Pendulums, so they go into your Extra Deck, means you don't really lose them. They're just taking a break.

To put it into practice, let's assume you have 3 random Igknights in your hand. You play 2 of them, pop them to find another copy. Now you have 2 in hand, so you play them as scales and Pendulum Summon out the 1st pair and overlay them for an Xyz. Nifty? Nifty. But then it gets even better with more copies. If you have 4 Igknights, you can put down and pop a pair twice, then play your 2 new scales and have 4 materials for future summons. And don't get me started what happens when you open with even more of them.

That's why consistency and searching is so important in this deck. You want to have as many Igknights as possible in your opening hand to explode as hard as you can. It's not uncommon to end the first turn with 2-3 Xyzs on the board, or even something like a 4- or 5-material Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad (which, by the way, is the opening play you'll aim for most often, but we'll get to that later). Because of this, you want to have as many copies as possible, so you run 3 of every Igknight, except...
 


...yeah, there's always a but. While I'm writing this deck from a TCG standpoint, I can't not bring those 2 up because they heavily improve the deck. Let's get a thing out of the way: Rank 3 Xyzs aren't the most impressive ones, that's why running Igknight Crusader and Igknight Squire is more of a neccesary evil for now. However, Dimension of Chaos brings us those 2, Igknight Derringer and Igknight Uzi for the rescue. Replacing a scale 2 and scale 7 with another set of scale 2 and 7 means the deck still rolls as well as it did, and now, instead of having to go for crappy Rank 3s, you can more consistently go into more powerful Rank 5s and 6s. So if you're playing on DN/YGP and don't feel the need to stick purely to TCG, replace Crusader and Squire with Derringer and Uzi. You won't regret it!
 


Now you see the similiarities to FTK decks? Royal Magical Library is at full swing here for multiple reasons. First is obvious that setting a Pendulum Scale is like activating a spell, so Library gets charged with counters whenever you do. So the earlier example play of opening 4 Igknights gives it a total of 6 counters, so free 2 cards. Value! However, remember that counters on it can't go past 3 at once, so you have to use its effect as soon as they stack up not to lose on potential draws.

Another reason is that the deck doesn't need to Normal Summon at all. Everything operates from the Pendulum Zones, so you don't actually forsake anything by Normal Summoning out a Library. The card draw effect not only gives you more fuel, allowing you to extend your plays even more. It also has a different, more subtle synergy with Igknights overally: because Igknights keep cutting copies of themselves out from the deck, means Library, bit by bit, gains a slightly higher chance of drawing you a non-Igknight card, like a floodgate or other utility card.

All that packed together makes this an undeniable staple of the deck and you shouldn't ever consider running less than 3 copies. Ever. If you ever try, let it be known I have means of finding you and personally persuading you towards the right path of life.
 

Oh hi, tutors! Remember where we all considered Reinforcement of the Army stupid as hell (and still do)? And when release of Qliphorts broke Summoner's Art? This deck runs both! Despite both being amazing, there are still slight differences, mainly in the fact that Reinforcement has a slight edge in the TCG build where it runs 12 targets for itself and only 6 for Summoner's, and Art is better in the DNCG/OCG variant where the ratios are reversed. You still want to thin your deck as hard as possible, so despite that slight inconvenience, you won't want to run less than 3 of them.

However, if you really think about it hard and long enough, you can possibly make a case for cutting a single copy of an "inferior" one in your list if you really need more space for something else. I didn't test with that yet, but if we're looking to perfect out the deck, this might be another avenue that needs to get checked.

 
That would be it for the absolute core cards of the deck. Those cards are unarguably what makes the deck tick as well as it does. Now then, seeing as we still have space to fill, are you looking for...

[spoiler=...more consistency?]

A card that was considered a must-have for a longer period of time, but has been slowly creeping out of the lists, and for a good reason. It's kinda rocket science mathematics, but bear with me:

So let's assume you play out Ignition Phoenix from your hand, then use it to pop an Igknight and grab another copy. Sounds similiar? It's literally the same play as if you were doing the same with just 2 Igknights, except it can be done only once per turn this way. But let's not make this look like a totally useless card. Of course it hangs out on the field so you might possibly get it off another time next turn, and it's a nice way to get more counters on Magical Library going. The ATK/DEF boost is great too, it's a total of 1500 extre damage on the board, making OTKs with just Igknights pretty possible. You can go either all out and run 3, tech 1 copy for Library plays extension, or just forget it completly. 2 copies is an awkward spot when you're neither commiting to it, nor actually just teching it in, so I wouldn't recommend that. But hey, I'm just giving my stance and suggestions here. Experiment yourself!


I know it must be weird to see those things here, but remember how I said people go balls to the walls too much with this deck? If you play around with it for a bit, you realize you don't need THAT much draw power and a lot of it can be cut to improve other edges of the deck. Especially that in this case, both cards slightly conflict with the deck.

Upstart Goblin is the best deck thinner in the game, with its only drawback being 1000 life for your opponent. Not a big deal in most decks, but certainly in this. Even if the deck can play a slightly slower, longer game, the main thing you should aim at is OTKing your opponent as fast as possible, and Upstart makes it harder. One copy is passable, that's just 1000 extra damage to deal, but 2000 and 3000 is getting really problematic.

Meanwhile Chicken Game sounds like it'd be good, because it gets your opponent LOWER on life instead if they choose to use it, great! But it rises another problem. First of all, you're giving your opponent another card during their turn, and that card might just be Mirror Force or Raigeki, or anything to wipe your board or stop your advance during the next turn. Chicken Game itself also flat out prevents your opponent from getting dealt damage, means you will eventually have to pop it yourself, because your opponent won't do it if they see what kind of deck you're playing.

The instinct to run those cards comes from the mentioned bias about Igknights being a seemingly FTK like deck. The logic would check out if they indeed were, but alas, the truth is different. Yet it doesn't mean they're all that bad. The upsides of them will usually be bigger than the downsides, and they make the deck slightly faster, so if you're into that, run them, but not in awkward ratios like 2 Game and 3 Upstart. They're definitely 0-or-3 cards.


Now that's fancy. While Igknight Champion as a whole is a pretty underwhelming boss for the archetype, he does another job pretty well. He's level 8, means you can possibly run Trade-In for even more drawback-less draw sources. But Klav! Wouldn't that mean I have to run 3 Champions, thus dilluting the deck and making dead draws more possible?

Fear not! Remember that all the Igknights can search out from both deck and graveyard, so you can use them to search out Champion when you draw Trade-In, and later on, re-use the same Champion for extra Trade-Ins. So you're virtually running infinite copies of Champion. I didn't do too much testing with this option yet, and I'm a bit iffy on it because searching for Champion instead of another Pendulum Igknight makes you halt your chain and pray to draw another Igknight out of the Trade-In to keep going, but maybe I'm just scared for nothing. The fact that you can run 3 Trade-Ins with just 1 target that's searchable makes it look appealing nonetheless. BTW, shotout to Zauls for pointing out this interaction a few days ago!


While they're more re-fuel cards rather than actual draw power, I figured they fit here nicely.

Pot of Riches is this era's Pot of Avarice for Pendulums. Letting you shuffle them from both Extra Deck and Graveyard makes it extremely flexible, being able to re-use Igknights detached from Xyzs or ones you popped for searches. The restriction however is kinda steep. It doesn't let you make any more advancements this turn, so you gotta use it either while you have enough high-ATK Igknights in Extra Deck to make do with them, or while you already have a board strong enough that you can safely "skip" a turn.

Dark Factory of Mass Production on the other hand is a bit more immediate and is a great fallback card. After doing a crazy turn and getting your scales popped, you can just play Factory, grab them back and re-summon everything. But it also has other downsides, namely the cards you "draw" from it will always be Igknights and you have no option of using it to possibly draw into answer cards, and it's gonna be dead slightly more often than Pot due to the fact how after turn 1, you might have no Igknights in grave, but will always have them in Extra.

It boils down to whether you favor the slightly slower, or the slightly faster Igknight variant. If you're looking for faster and stronger game, you go with Factory, otherwise, Pot is the way to go. Any number of copies is fine, even if you were to run max copies, it's not really a problem due to how quickly this deck goes through resources.

[spoiler=...more power?]

Each badass warrior team needs their own cute mascot waiting for them in the base! Or an annoying squeaky robot. I'm looking at you, Alpha 5.

Rescue Hamster waited for his time to shine since release, and this deck might be just it. His (her?) Pendulum effect is basically a free Igknight search at a cost of a single card, but being able to do it only once per entire Duel is slightly sad. Monster effect on the other hand, is pretty much the same as Rescue Rabbit, but it's a bit more restricted. I didn't do enough testing with this card in my lifetime yet, but at least on paper, it certainly looks like a strong contender for a spot in the deck.

The Rabbit on the other hand is more straightforward. Its main problem comes from being Limited, means he's sacky as hell. In a TCG list, he's a bit stronger since he has 4 different monsters he can summon, who goes down to 2 in the DNCG/OCG version. Being a 1-for-2 card however is strong enough in accelerating your best opening play, which is a fully stacked Rhongomyniad, that it warrants play. You can play only 1 Bunny sadly, but any number of Hamsters is fine.


Crossover time! Elemental HERO Blazeman is incredibly convenient for this deck, because he's both searchable and recurrable by all the Igknights. You don't even have to worry about having to waste a Normal Summon or him rather than Library, because he also works off getting Pendulum Summoned. He's level 4 for Rhongomyniad too! What's not to love?

Though let's talk about what he actually gives you an access to. Elemental HERO Nova Master is not much, but it's a yet-another-boss and yet-another-draw-engine in the deck. Its ATK is pretty hefty, so it shouldn't have a problem running over things to actually draw the cards. Meanwhile First of the Dragons is a very hard to remove wall, immune to pretty much everything monster-related. Neither of them are really amazing, but being able to pull them off at really any point you'd like to makes them better.

So Blazeman has 2 options of cards to search out surprisingly enough. The standard Polymerization is nothing to write walls of text about, the simplest Fusion spell out there. Fusion Substitute however, is more interesting. While it looks like it's just a strict upgrade to Poly in this deck, because a monster in hand might as well be on the field soon enough, and it also lets you draw more cards and re-use the same copy of a Fusion, saving you extra deck space. The issue of needing monsters from the field though comes up at times, because it forces you to remove one of potential Xyz Materials from the field. Whichever you plan to run is up to preference.

It's also interesting how efficent this engine is. You need to run only a single Blazeman because he's recurrable, and then you can run even 3 copies of Poly or Substitute. Similiar case as with Champion and Trade-In earlier on. Running Substitute also saves up on extra deck space, requiring you to run only 1 copy of each Fusion while still ensuring the next copies of the Fusion Spell won't be dead.


Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer. Possibly the most broken Pendulum out there, but sadly not in this deck. The scale is incredibly unefficent for Igknights, limiting you either to the lower end of them or just the level 6 ones, so its Pendulum effect won't come into effect too often, especially as you have no way to remove it yourself and you need both scales to be open most of the time for you to do your thing. Its usefulness comes from other things.

Mainly it's a level 4 Tuner with direct synergy with probably the most broken Synchro in the game, Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer. Pulls out free things from the deck? Check. Spins cards without targetting them? Check. Kills your opponent's Pendulums/Scales? funking check. It's incredibly powerful and running max copies of Luster just to be able to pull them out and constantly spin things is worth it. It gets even better if you chose to run Pot of Riches, since you can just shuffle the Lusters back. However any number of Luster is fine, because we also have another Tuner we can use to summon Ignister, which we'll see in a bit, and if you don't want to dillute the maindeck too much just to have Ignister ammo, then it's fine.


Remember how Igknights can search any FIRE Warrior, so how about some non-archetypical ones?

Knight of the Red Lotus seems underwhelming when you think this is a Pendulum deck, but then you need to remember how many Xyzs you will be summoning and how detached materials go to grave one way or the other, so this is up to consideration. He's a level 6, so he goes along nicely with the higher leveled Knights for summons, and lets you re-use some fuel. He's not top tier, but certainly a nice option.

And here we have the other mentioned level 4 tuner. Rose, Warrior of Revenge is a card you'll run for no reason other than being a searchable/reusable level 4 Tuner for Ignister. Sounds underwhelming, but then you realize how stupid Ignister is, so it might just be a card to run.

Ultimate Baseball Kid looks like comedic relief, but in a deck that can easily fill up the other board slots, it essentially becomes an at-will 4500 beater. That's a lot, it can go over pretty much any boss monster in the game. It can even kill Apoqliphort Towers in direct combat. The Super Saiyan of Baseball, ladies and gentleman. Sadly, since Pendulums can't land in grave, you can't send them to pay the cost for his burn effect.

They're not exactly amazing cards, but seeing as you can essentially have them whenever you want, makes them possible tech choices. I wouldn't run more than 1 of any of them due to the reusability.

[spoiler=...more defense?]

Wow he looks like a pretty edgy ruler. Wouldn't want to live in his kingdom.

The Tyrant cards are ordered in playability level. Tyrant's Throes is quite possibly a staple in this deck and I heavily encourage everyone to run it, but I realize some people prefer the FTK-y playstyle more. The cost to activate is nonexistant due to how easily this deck refills the board, and being an essentially one-sided Vanity is just insane. After this, you can just ride on your Igknights to finish the deal. Playing Throes should make you a little more inclined to run Ignition Phoenix, since you will rely on actual Igknights rather than ED bosses more in this case. If you do run it (and once again, I heavily encourage it), do it in no less than 3.

We had a one-sided Vanity's, so how about a one-sided Skill Drain? Tyrant's Tirade. Not only a Skill Drain, but also a Mind Drain! Preventing all the Nekroz and Burning Abyss, and other less common stuff like Honest from being activated at all is really good, especially since unlike Mistake which would often be the same deal against Nekroz, it doesn't stop your Igknights from activating in the scales. Quite possibly a 3-of as well, if you're willing to spec more into the defensive side of the deck.

Tyrant's Temper finally is more of a tech card. It does make your board immune to things like Fiendish Chain or Mirror Force that would prevent your kills, which is great, but it also goes along really nicely with Tirade, as it lets you ignore it and still develop a board full of Xyzs and use their effects! That goes into the "cute" territory though, since it basically makes you skip an entire turn due to needing to tribute 3 monsters total, but it's certainly a thing that might pop up. Wouldn't run more than 1, maybe 2 copies at best.

And well, Skill Drain is Skill Drain. You run a deck full of Normal Monsters, so it's just a natural fit. You can probably side it, but siding 1-ofs is a pretty awkward thing to do, so I'd find a slot in the maindeck to jam it in.


The newest hottest tech for decks in the entire world. Archfiend Eccentrick, a flexible fusion of Mystical Space Typhoon and Exiled Force. It can take out floodgates, annoying things like Qliphort Scout, or boss monsters blocking your way. In Pendulum decks it's even more powerful since you'll be able to re-summon it after using it up once, and kill a monster for free once per turn. Convenient with how the lower scale of Igknights is 2.

Its own scale is great too, since it's the same as the upper one of Igknights, so even if for some reason you have to leave it in the scales, you're not hurt by it since you can still summon everything you could before. However, despite all of that, I wouldn't completly rely on it being your only backrow removal in the deck since Mystical Space Typhoon is actually quick-play while this is not, so it can snipe out floodgates, Call of the Haunted and whatnot in response to their activation.

Eccentrick is nonetheless a great card which is fine to run at any number of copies. It's especially great because it's fetchable with Wavering Eyes, which we'll delve into later on in the sideboard section.


Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. Wow that's a mouthful. I'll just refer to her as Yuki. Cuter.

So Yuki's a very good card especially in the current metagame. Aside from being able to kill activated Scale effects like Qliphort Scout, she can also destroy Lose 1 Turn and very efficently get rid of non-floating monsters with devastating effects. In this deck however, she has 2 more good uses as a Tuner. Being a level 3, she pairs nicely with a level 5 Igknight to summon Ignister, giving you yet another angle you can summon it from. Play as many as you want, but more than 2 feels overkill.

The other reason is Metaphys Horus. If you summon it with an Igknight + Yuki, you get to steal your opponent's monster, and Horus himself is completly immune on this turn. Sure, your opponent gets to choose the monster, but that doesn't really matter if they have only 1 or they have JUST good monsters on the field. Horus is the only reason I'm considering to run at least a single copy of a Level 3 Igknight even in a DNCG/OCG list, just to be able to summon him with Yuki. He's just that great.

[spoiler=...generic goodstuff?]



If you run out of fancy ideas on what to run, you can simply fill out your deck with the usual staples. There's a reason why most of them are on the Limited list, they're some of the most powerful cards in the game and if you want to run a straightforward list or you're going into an unknown field so you don't want to run techs that could possibly fail, those are your best friends.
 
 

Utterly confused by all of that, or you're too lazy to actually READ the guide and just looking for a cheat sheet? Look no further! For conveniency's sake, here's a short, easy to digest list of how's the deck shaping up.

[spoiler=Cheatsheet]
Note: 0-X means you should run from 0 to 3 copies of the card, meanwhile 0-X/Y and similiar means you should run from 0 to X, OR Y copies of the card. (For example, 0-1/3 means you run 0, 1 or 3 copies.)

3 Igknight Crusader/Igknight Uzi
3 Igknight Paladin
3 Igknight Gallant
3 Igknight Templar
3 Igknight Squire/Igknight Derringer
3 Igknight Margrave
3 Royal Magical Library

3 Reinforcement of the Army
3 Summoner's Art

0-1/3 Igknight Phoenix

0/3 Chicken Game
0/3 Upstart Goblin
0-3 Pot of Riches/Dark Factory of Mass Production

0/1 Igknight Champion
0/3 Trade-In

0-3 Rescue Hamster
0-1 Rescue Rabbit

0-1 Elemental HERO Blazeman
0-3 Polymerization/Fusion Substitute

0-3 Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer

0-1 Knight of the Red Lotus
0-1 Rose, Warrior of Revenge
0-1 Ultimate Baseball Kid

0-3 Tyrant's Throes
0-2 Tyrant's Tirade
0-2 Tyrant's Temper
0-1 Skill Drain

0-2 Archfiend Eccentrick

0-2 Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit

0-1 Raigeki
0-1 Book of Moon
0-3 Mystical Space Typhoon
0-1 Bottomless Trap Hole
0-1 Vanity's Emptiness
0-1 Solemn Warning

For time being that's all, because all of my juices are seriously used up. However, very early tomorrow, I will fill up with extra deck and side deck cards, then we'll delve into (hopefully) matchups, and (most certainly) example opening hands and what can we do with them, to see the deck in practice and learn some common things. After all, the 1st turn is the most crucial one in this deck. Meanwhile, feel free to ask any questions that aren't yet answered, and I'll gladly respond~

[goodfusion]

A nice guide, but by the way, you said Tyrant's Tirade was similar to Soul Drain, don't you mean Mind Drain?

 

Also, how good is Lose 1 Turn in this deck?

[CLG Klavier]

A nice guide, but by the way, you said Tyrant's Tirade was similar to Soul Drain, don't you mean Mind Drain?

 

Also, how good is Lose 1 Turn in this deck?

Oh, whoops, got them mixed up.

 

I didn't give it much thought yet, but it feels like it could be a nice sideboard thing. The main problem is that it conflicts with your entire "explode turn 1" deal, because if you want to flip it, it means you can't summon any boss on turn 1. 

[goodfusion]

But doesn't Tyrant's Throes also conflict with that as well?

[CLG Klavier]

But doesn't Tyrant's Throes also conflict with that as well?

Difference is you can't flip Lose 1 Turn when you have an Xyz on the field, while you can flip Throes so long you have fodder.

[Spinny]

Will knight of the red lotus be more playable when ptolemaios comes out?

Detach 3 materials for w/e you want, pop 2 scales to search lotus and summon it?

[CLG Klavier]

Will knight of the red lotus be more playable when ptolemaios comes out?

Detach 3 materials for w/e you want, pop 2 scales to search lotus and summon it?

Yeah that's one option. Actually one of thew few which immediately sets up Knight so there's that.

[goodfusion]

Difference is you can't flip Lose 1 Turn when you have an Xyz on the field, while you can flip Throes so long you have fodder.

 

Ok, thanks.

 

Also, if the ONLY point in running Igknight Champion is Trade-In fodder, surely Phoenix Gearfried is a better choice as being a Gemini, you can add it back to you hand with Dark Factory?

[CLG Klavier]

Ok, thanks.

 

Also, if the ONLY point in running Igknight Champion is Trade-In fodder, surely Phoenix Gearfried is a better choice as being a Gemini, you can add it back to you hand with Dark Factory?

Well, for Gearfried to be better, you'd have to both run Dark Factory AND not run Phoenix (Champion is still searchable by it).

 

Yet I still feel Champion is better because worst case scenario, you can actually summon him as a shitty boss, Gearfried meanwhile will always be nothing BUT fodder.

[goodfusion]

Well, it's probably not a 'worst case scenario' if you have 3 Igknight cards on the field. Also, I see your point about Phoenix, but I think extra reusability probably makes up for worse searchability.

[CLG Klavier]

It's a worst case scenario because it means you either have 3 Igknights with varied levels, which shouldn't happen, or you ran out of things to summon, means you're in uber-late game by now.

 

As I said: if you're running Dark Factory (while I honestly feel Pot is better, but it's because I favor the controll-y playstyle), then go ahead and try Gearfried. It kinda goes along.