Krawler Tindangle

So, just to start things off; this is part of a series I'm creating to explore as many Krawler builds as I can where I try to find unique synergies, new takes on existing lists, or tech choices that help the archetype out. This list is inspired by a few users on the Krawler Discord as well as Yuuka!'s list. Hopefully you enjoy this list and find the description helpful! If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and if you like the list, please check out my other decks in this series.

In each of this series deck-description, I like to examine what Krawler does well, what it lacks, and what the other archetype(s) bring to the table. Krawlers have a difficult time searching their power cards. Sure, you can use Receptor, but that either takes too long or is a two-for-one trade. They lack protection and negation, apart from Deus X-Krawler, and rely on another card, like World Legacy Pawns, to flip them face-up. Krawlers are a great tool-box archetype. They have in-archetype Spell/Trap and monster removal, have floating effects for when their cards leave the field, and have a card that can send any monster from deck to GY (Dendrite). Krawlers need their partner archetype(s) to shore-up their weaknesses and synergize with their strengths. What do Tindangles do? Tindangles have a lot of flip support. Jhrelth can add from deck or send from deck to GY a Flip mon, Angel can summon a Flip mon from hand or GY, and Hound can flip a card face-down. Tindangles are also all Dark mons, meaning we can play cards like Allure of Darkness or the Shaddoll extra-deck engine. Tindangle on their own lack early access to the extra deck, needing to set up for a turn before flipping their monsters up for link summoning. They also lack serious interraction on the opponent's turn, mostly relying on cards like Nagel's Protection to let them live long enough to amass the resources they need. So, given these two archetypes' strengths and weaknesses, do they syngergize well?

Normally I'd only write one paragraph for this introductory section, but because this list is taking me so long to figure out, I thought it deserved more of an explaination. I believe, and this is just my opinion, that Krawlers and Tindangles do not mix. I know, I know; two of the modern flip archetypes, one (Tindangle) known to be a flip-deck extender, don't mix well? Here's my reasoning: Tindangles have terrible normal summons. Before the addition of Krawler Soma, Krawlers had fairly weak summons/sets, but now that Soma is out, most Krawler plays begin by normal summoning a monster (not setting), and using Soma's effect to set that monster and summon itself. Because of this, Krawlers really want to play with monsters that have really good effects on their normal summon, like Girsu, or flip monsters that have exceptional flip-effects, like Guard Dog. What Tindangle summon helps out the Krawler game plan? Jhrelth special summons itself in face-down defense position, and normal summoning it means giving up the ability to bin a Tindangle from deck, which is a really powerful effect. Angel summons a monster, but Krawlers already have Glial, which does the same thing. Tindangles benefit from the strengths of Krawlers, but I don't think that Krawlers get much out of this partnership. With Soma's ability to board flood and Deus X-Krawlers Skill Drain effect, this deck has more of a board presence to survive the opponent's turn as well as make extra deck plays. Even so, I believe Tindangles are better served by partnering up with Shaddoll or the new Dark World cards. Because of these reasons, I've decided to build this deck not as a blend between Krawler and Tindangle, but a Tindangle list with Krawler support. Okay, enough rambling; thank you for humoring me. Let me know if you have a different opinion; I really want to believe that these archetypes blend well together, I just can't find the reasons why.

This list is really large, and I will absolutely be paring it down, but for now I'll walk through the reasoning on these cards. Nibiru and Lord of the Heavenly Prison are at 2, so that we don't draw multiples. We are playing 7 Tindangle names, which is a lot. I'm trying to highlight Tindangles here, so the goal is to make Acute Cerberus and to flood the field with flip monsters, and we want at least 3 unique names in GY to activate Delaunay. We're on 3 Girsu, as Girsu alone makes Lib the World Key Blademaster with a set Deus X and Pawns, and Girsu with Soma in hand makes the same with El Shaddoll Winda. Amano-Iwato is a great card to flip-up on the opponent's turn, and it is one of our main bridges in the deck, for Small World. Guard Dog is the other main bridge, and an equally powerful card to flip-up on the opponent's turn. Terrifying Toddler of Torment is a fantastic card to dump off of Jhrelth, and its summon from GY can trigger Intruder's ability to summon itself. Toddler can also send Tindangles to GY, which helps us get closer to activating Delaunay. We're on a lot of draw power, because this list really needs it. Allure of Darkness is great, because all Tindangles are Dark, but playing this also means playing multiples of some Tindangles that could probably be at one; I'm not completely sold on this. Pot of Desires is a great budget draw card, but it runs the risk of hitting vital cards in the deck, and should be used as late as possible to avoid doing so. World Legacy Survivors is at 2, as it is a once-per-turn, but it is still one of the best ways to find Soma. The other best way to find them is with Small World, whose bridges I will list at the end of this deck description. The Extra deck is not final, but the main players are fairly fixed. We need Lib and Subterror Behemoth Fiendess. The Shaddoll package is here to stay, as is Acute Cerberus. I'll edit this later with a more finite list.

I won't spend too much time on the combos, as other Krawler deck profiles have done the Girsu-Soma line far more competently than I could, but I will provide an idea of what cards we want to open and how to order our plays. As with most modern Krawler lists, we really want to draw/find Soma. If we do, we can usually make Winda, have a set Deus X, or make I:P Masquerena who can link with mons you flip up on the opponent's turn. Most of the Tindangle lines in this deck don't need their normal summon. Jhrelth can special itself, as can Intruder, and Dholes can special another Tindangle. The Tindangles we do normal summon have fairly slow effects, only really benefitting us if we survive the opponent's turn, so using our normal summon on one of these monsters is fine (we can make Winda if we have Soma in hand), but not as optimal as normal summoning Girsu (who can make Winda and Deus X). We want to find Soma and another starter (a normal-summonable monster) as soon as possible on our turn, so Small World is key. To bait out an Ash Blossom we can start with an Allure or a World Legacy Survivor, as these plays don't often lock us out of using Small World. Pot of Desires can sometimes lock us out of Small World (if we banish our bridges), so try to use your other resources before fishing with Desires. What do we send off of Jhrelth? If we are planning to flood the board with face-downs, we want Intruder in the GY. Delaunay in the GY is great for turn two, but it doesn't help us survive our opponent's next turn. Dholes is a really good send off of Jhrelth so long as we have another Tindangle in the GY, usually from Survivor. We can use this same line of thought when sending a card off of Dendrite.

I'll try to come back and add more thoughts on combo lines and board setup once this list is more finalized.For now, here are the bridges:

Small World Bridges:

Starter  ->  Bridge  ->  Goal

Nibiru / Lord of the Heavenly Prison ->  Amano-Iwato  ->  Nibiru / Lord of the Heavenly Prison

Girsu / Any Krawler / Guard Dog  ->  Amano-Iwato  ->  Girsu / Any Krawler / Guard Dog 

Any Krawler / Jhrelth / Toddler  ->  Guard Dog  ->  Any Krawler / Jhrelth / Toddler

Level 4 Tindangle  ->  Amano-Iwato  -> Nibiru / LotHP / Girsu / Any Krawler / Guard Dog

Any non-level 4 Tindangle  ->  Girsu  ->  LotHP

Nibiru  ->  Dendrite  ->  Amano-Iwato / Guard Dog

Dendrite  ->  Nibiru  ->  Amano-Iwato / LotHP

I hope you enjoyed this list! If you found it interesting, or you have some suggestions, please leave a comment and let me know what you think! I believe that taking a less-than-meta deck and trying to optimize it is a great exercize in creative thinking and deckbuilding, and I would highly suggest it to anyone who is interested! The Side Deck is mostly a collection of unfinished ideas and tech-pieces that I couldn't find a home for in this list, but maybe you can? Thank you for reading and have a good day!