Deck Profile: Mezzo

In the build-up for our up-coming set, I've been tinkering with a few old decks and a couple of old faces for a strong Deck that would be able to compete with what will arrive in Deep-Sea Assault. Eventually, I settled on probably the most notorious Deck-Type in this fair CCG - Mezzos. The quintessential Synchro Summon Archetype, once feared for it's alarming consistency and its ability to put a host of powerhouse Synchro Monsters on the field in the blink of an eye. Since the Deck has suffered slightly in being hit by the ban-list, these Fairies fell out of favour, but with a bit of rejuvenation in the Decklist, could compete at the highest level once again.

3|Nasb|Mezzo Rogue

2|Nasb|Mezzo Chiptune

1|Nasb|Mezzo Galen

2|Flfs|Ghost Lanturn

2|Anv1|Goetia Conjuror

1|Rope|Vivian, Angel of the White Passage

2|Enil|Savior Soldier

2|Clpc|Nox Exploiter

1|Dirb|Eccentric Electron

3|Nwor|Swift Storm

3|Ww3|Vowing the Will

2|Dirb|Scrap Destruction

2|Flfs|Refueling

2|Dodm|Lifeforce Shield

2|Acrd|Depraved Extortion

1|Acrd|Quick-Chance

1|Anv1|Mitosis

1|Enil|Enchanting Circle

1|Dodm|Support Recharge

2|Anv1|Hostile Negotiation

2|Acrd|Twister of Rejection

1|Clpc|Gift from Diabolus

1|Enil|Twin Double Crossers

1|Acrd|Summoner Synchron

1|Dirb|Fiend Solider

1|Anv1|Shameful Artist

1|Flfs|Rumbler Tumbler

1|Dirb|Dark Swordlord

2|Nasb|Mezzo Beat

1|Dirb|Starshot Cannon

1|Enil|Fiend Magician

1|Ww3|Interdimensional Vortexlord

1|Res1|Rainbow Tail

1|Ww3|Ghora End Dragon

1|Flfs|Volcana the Dark Flame

1|Nwor|Meteor Force Dragon

1|Anv1|Monster of the Maelstrom

What I imagine is the first thing you'll notice is the small number of Traps run in this Deck, as I'm sure people are used to the line-up reaching double figures, especially in my case. However, space has been made by cutting out the more situational Traps, allowing me more space for tech choices, consistency cards and of course, a few hand Traps. That's not to say however that these Traps are an afterthought, Hostile Negotiation is my S/T negator of choice, Diabolus is a semi-Staple monster remover, Twister is a lovely and chainable Monster bouncer and Xyz/Synchro killer, while Twin Double Crossers is a personal tech I am experimenting with, which I will cover in more detail later.

Now, I suppose I ought to talk about the focus of the Deck. Quite simply, its goal is to summon huge Synchro monsters at breakneck speeds and pound your opponent into submission. With the rise and popularity of Xyz Monsters, this kind of Deck is declining, but you'd be a fool to discount the threat Mezzo Decks possess. Using the simple 6 card Mezzo engine, you have the ability to churn out the likes of Monster of the Maelstrom at no loss of card advantage. Yup. A simple Galen discard for Chiptune, Special Summon your Chiptune, pay 1000 to grab Rogue, Normal Summon Rogue and revive Galen. Level 9 Synchro hits the field and in the grand scheme, it cost you nothing. Failing that, any combination of just 2 Mezzo's can net you a Synchro, and if you can't reach Level 9, you can usually hit 6 and drop Mezzo Beat - the Archetype's boss monster. This Level 6 Generic Synchro monster swings for 2400 and has a plethora of effects that are triggered by banishing a card from your Grave, with perhaps the sweetest being the ability to banish cards from your opponents backrow by removing a Mezzo in your Grave.

Due to the listing of cards in the Mezzo engine, it leaves a lot of room in the monster department, which I have capitalized on by adding the Goetia engine. As covered by Leo before, Goetia Conjuror can Tribute a card, including itself, to Special Summon a Fiend from your Deck (provided it is the same Level as the Tributed Monster). This means Goetia can Tribute itself to Special Summon Ghost Lanturn. Now, Lanturn brings two important things to the table. The first is clear right off the bat, it's a Tuner that can Special Summon itself, which is also nice. However, its main use is its ability to bring Light Monsters, like your Mezzo's back to your hand, ready to refuel your combo's. This is the same reason Vivian is in the Deck, though she does have a very nice Summon block effect that can come in handy.

This is probably the most hand Trap heavy deck I've built in a long time, and this has been forced from necessity - as the TCG has evolved, so have we and we have a similar use and need for hand Traps against problem cards - Savior Soldier serves as an OTK blocker and beater, Electron stops opponents effects from getting out of hand and Nox Exploiter assists greatly in breaking up attacks and combos. As the Deck focuses on assembling combo pieces, it is important that they can be utilized safely, and the speed in which these Traps can protect you are of great significance.

As usual, there are various Staple to Semi-Staple cards which are run due to how effective they are, Scrap Destruction is fast chainable removal, Swift Storm deals with backrow quicker but less permanently to allow pushes to go through, and Extortion assists in taking down pesky self-protecting monsters. But in this Spell line-up are more than a few underused cards. Going down the list, we first have 3 copies of Vowing the Will. This is simple, the Deck lives and dies on how quickly it reaches Galen or Chiptune, and this will ensure that Chiptune reaches your hand (or Rogue, or if you need a hand Trap, Exploiter or Electron). This card aids the consistency that was lost when Galen was Limited, Chiptune was Semi'd and Ampule was banned. Next is Refueling and by association, Support Recharge - how effective is your Galen if its targets are in the Grave? These cards put Synchros and Mezzo's back into your Deck ready for another offensive push. We have Lifeforce Shield, which is a highly effective chainable protection card that replaces itself on use, and ensures that your Synchro's can carry on about their business, or make sure your opponent can't disrupt you midway through a play. Quick-Chance grants immediate access to a Level 1 Monster, which can be Electron or Lanturn for Synchro purposes, or Goetia to go into Lanturn. A useful tech card to have. There's also Mitosis, which bounces a monster to your hand to make Level 1 Tokens - this is simply for diversifying the Synchro monsters you can play but you can also combine this with cards like Twin Double Crossers. Enchanting Circle grants you the ability to take control of an opponents Monster, again this is handy for hitting different kinds of Synchro monsters. My teched Trap of choice, Twin Double Crossers is made live easily as the Deck can leave monsters about very often, which you can trade with your opponent. Even better, you could swap over a Nucleus Token and completely disrupt your opponent as they try to counter-attack.

Finally, the Extra Deck is built for variety. The deck has a lot more options than the basic engine would suggest and can adapt to so much through its Extra Deck options. The only card in multiples is Beat, as getting 2 on the field will wrap up a game for you very quickly due to its wide range of effects, not to mention the ease of which it can be Summoned.

Thanks for reading, and remember that with Mezzo's and Antennae's about, Synchro Decks are as strong as ever and more than ready to beat back any Xyz Monsters in their way.