Template:Infobox archetype
"Meklord", known as "Machine Imperial" (
Appearance
The "Meklord Emperors" and "Meklord Astros" have their colors representing material. "Wisel" is silver, "Skiel" is sapphire and "Granel" is gold, "Mekanikle" is platinum, and "Asterisk" is an amalgam of the three previous "Meklord Emperors".
The first three "Meklord Emperors" have been released as stand-alone cards, albeit with their whole form in a single card instead of 5. They retain their Synchro stealing effect, and "Wisel" and "Skiel" are the only monsters that can attack whilst on the field. "Granel", though, still allows other monsters to attack. However, instead of having to destroy a Core monster, they are Summoned when any monster is destroyed by a card effect, making them highly splashable. Additionally, "Wisel" has the ability to negate Spell Cards, "Granel" can Special Summon the Synchro Monsters equipped by its effect and "Skiel" is able to attack directly by sending an equipped monster to the Graveyard. "Meklord Astro Mekanikle", "Meklord Emperor Wisel" and "Meklord Emperor Granel" are V Jump Promotional Card. The "Meklord Army", weaker incarnations of the "Meklord Emperors" used by Aporia, as well as "Meklord Astro Dragon Asterisk", and other support cards for this archetype were released in Extreme Victory, alongisde "Meklord Emperor Skiel" in the set's TCG release.
Play style
This archetype focuses on taking advantage of the opponent's Synchro Monsters and destroying other monsters you control in order to Special Summon the "Meklord Emperors". These monsters are compatible with virtually any Deck and can stand alone despite the lack of Synchro Monsters on the field. The low Levels of "Meklord Emperors" allow them to work around Level restricting Spell and Trap Cards. Since the release of Extreme Victory there are a number of support cards that will help you bring out your "Meklord Emperors", such as "Mektimed Blast". You should keep many "Meklord Army" cards in your deck. Use cards such as "Gold Sarcophagus" to add "Meklord Emperors" to your hand.
While the Meklord engine focuses mostly on self-destruction by card effects in order to Special Summon the Meklord Emperors, this approach is rather unpractical in the current day, as with the development of the Xyz, Fusion and Pendulum Summon mechanics, the effectiveness of the Meklord Emperors is significantly reduced. While Meklord Emperor Granel can reach high ATK values, its best use comes in the early game, which is often difficult to accomplish. Meklord Emperor Skiel has low ATK values and a situational effect. Meklord Emperor Wisel is the most useful with its ability to negate Spell Cards and with decent ATK and DEF values, but not sufficiently powerful.
Instead the Meklord Army offer more stable and faster plays, many of them related to battle. Meklord Army of Granel can halve the ATK of an opponent's monster upon being Normal Summoned. Meklord Army of Wisel can enable piercing damage, while Meklord Army of Skiel is capable of floating. While themselves they may not be as impressive, their stats and type can enable some outsourcing. For example one can employ Machina Gearframe and Machina Fortress as is common in many Machine Decks. Both "Gearframe" and "Army of Wisel" possess 0 DEF, which makes them an excellent niche for Masked Chameleon enabling both Rank 4 plays and ironically, Synchro plays as well. Through "Army of Skiel" one can maintain field presence and on the next turn Xyz Summon cards such as Gear Gigant X to search for more monsters, or just any Rank 4 that can be needed.
In order to fuel this strategy, some cards like Chaos Infinity are recommended and easily used. Chaos Infinity can combo well with the Karakuri monsters and their Battle Position effects. The Field Spell Fortissimo the Mobile Fortress is another good asset to perform swarming. A good idea is to Normal Summon "Army of Granel" and then use the effect of "Fortissimo" ensuring the weakening of the opponent's monster and fueling one's offensive even further.
Other options that can combo well with some of the cards mentioned are Speedroid Menkoto, Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd, Red Resonator, and the more situational Black Salvo. "Menkoto" and "Assault Halberd" can work very well with "Chaos Infinity". The former can set the condition needed for "Chaos Infinity", while the latter can simply Special Summon it by its own effect, then one simply needs to set a monster. Finally activate "Chaos Infinity" and it will yield the grand total of 3 monsters at once (4 if one can use "Fortissimo") enabling a powerful offensive. Several Karakuri monsters can also work well with these monsters and the aforementioned cards. Iron Call is also an excellent choice.
Another less orthodox idea is to use Jumbo Drill. By using its effect (provided another Level 4 Machine is on the field) it can increase the Level of all Machine monsters by 1, enabling Rank 5 plays including Cyber Dragon Nova and subsequently the powerful Cyber Dragon Infinity. This can be easily achieved through "Fortissimo" and to an extent "Chaos Infinity" and also "Army of Skiel". If only one cares about the boss monsters, The Resolute Meklord Army is another option to maintain field, and fuel the "Jumbo Drill" strategy.
Overall a Meklord Deck can work much more efficiently and faster by focusing on the "Meklord Army" monsters and combo straightforward swarm maneuvers, utilizing external support and the Deck's own abilities.
Deck types
Mainstream Meklord
This deck focuses on the usual Meklord tactic of destroying one's monsters by card effects in order to Special Summon the Meklord Emperors.
Scrap Meklord
This deck makes use of the "Scrap" monster's self-destructing effects to Special Summon your "Meklord Emperors" and steal Synchro Monsters or tribute them for "Scrap Dragon".
Mekuri Army
This deck uses the effect of many Karakuri and Meklord army monsters to create an OTK.
Weaknesses
- A "Meklord" Deck is suited to combat Synchro Monsters and thus does not work well against players who do not depend on Synchro Monsters.
- A Meklord Emperor Deck can have extreme problems when against decks that favor Bouncing as a form of removal, such as the "Timelord" duo or "Scrap" decks featuring "Scrap Twin Dragon," because of their effects. Bouncing enough of the "Emperors" can result in a hand full of un-usable Nomis without expendable monsters to self-destruct for their summon (though Meklord Astro Mekanikle helps mitigate this scenario).
- Any of the myriad of anti-Machine-Type mass-removal cards such as "System Down", "Magnetic Mosquito" and "Acid Rain" can be utilized against these monsters.
- Since all Meklord monster are Machine-Type, they can be used as Fusion Material Monsters along with "Cyber Dragon" to Summon "Chimeratech Fortress Dragon" by Contact Fusion.
- This archetype has trouble building a strong offensive line, since controlling more than one "Meklord Emperor Skiel" or "Meklord Emperor Wisel"– the two strongest Level 1 Monster Cards and the archetype's best fighters– prevents monsters their owner controls from attacking.