Branded Despia is a brand new deck archetype that has recently joined Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. It’s a Fusion-based archetype that focuses on keeping up the pace while playing. The deck mainly focuses on fusion summoning monsters, which provide further fusion summons to get to the boss monster. Boss monsters in the deck have various effects that give the player a tactical advantage.
Despite the fact that he is new to Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, Branded Despia has taken a firm place in the meta. It is able to compete with other top decks due to the many removal effects that the deck has and the ability of the deck to play with the opponent’s cards. The deck can be easily restored due to the presence of one available combination of cards.
However, despite the many advantages, the deck also has disadvantages. Given that this is a fusion-based deck that requires different materials to create boss monsters, it can be a bit inconsistent. Other semi-limited cards also interfere with the sequence of this deck. Another disadvantage of it is that the deck has a slow recycling process. This means that it is difficult for him to defeat decks that greatly hinder opponents, such as Runic.
Deck Recipe
Main Deck:
2 Despian Tragedy
2 Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit
3 Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
1 Fairy Tail- Snow
2 Edge Imp Chain
2 Fallen of Albaz
2 Aluber the Jester of Despia
2 Springans Kitt
1 Tri-Brigade Mercourier
1 Albion the Shrouded Dragon
1 Ad Libitum of Despia
1 Polymerization
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
1 Frightfur Patchwork
3 Branded Fusion
1 Branded Lost
2 Super Polymerization
2 Cosmic Cyclones
2 Called by the Grave
2 Branded Opening
2 Branded in Red
1 Branded Banishment
3 Infinite Impermanence
Extra Deck:
1 Mudragon of the Swamp
1 Predaplant Dragostapelia
1 Titaniklad of the Ash Dragon
2 Albion the Branded Dragon
3 Masquerade the Blazing Dragon
2 Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon
1 Alba-Lenatus the Abyss Dragon
2 Lubellion the Searing Dragon
2 Guardian Chimera
Deck Breakdown
The branded Despia is essentially a deck focused on the mechanics of summoning fusion and skipping its flaws. The soundboard consists of one main engine, called the Despia branded engine. This is the main engine that makes the deck work and reach the winning state. This main engine mainly consists of Despia and Branded cards, which are used for combos and identifying boss monsters in the deck. These boss monsters are used to disrupt the opponent’s game and give the opportunity to defeat the opponent in one phase of the battle.
Although this deck is called Branded Despia, it also has a small Frightfur engine consisting of Edge Imp Chain and Frightfur Patchwork. This engine is used to make the deck more consistent with its merge call, since there are some parts in the main deck that have been partially restricted.
As for the other cards, these cards are community cards used to further destroy opponents or simply to counter the violations that the opponent throws to the player.
How to play
The branded Despia as a deck is relatively easy to learn, given that it uses one of the oldest mechanics in the game — the summoning of fusion. The main goal of the deck is to bring out the main boss monsters by merging the summoning of “Fallen from Albaz” with different types of monsters. This starts with getting the merge invocation facility. Given that the deck was originally created to support the merge summoning, there are several ways to get started. The most iconic way to start merging with a deck is Branded Fusion. Branded fusion allows the player to summon a monster using cards from the deck using fusion. Generally, a merge call requires that the materials for the merge call come from either the hand or the field. The Branded Fusion effect bypasses the drawbacks of the fusion challenge by allowing the player to use the monsters in the deck as fusion materials. Thanks to this, the deck can bring out its fusion monsters relatively more easily, as well as minimize the disadvantage. Because of how important Branded Fusion is to the deck, there are also several ways to find it in the deck. One such seeker is the Jester Aluber from Despia, who searches for a Signature Spell or Trap Card when it is invoked in normal or special mode. Another possible method of searching in the Branded Fusion deck is through Springans Kitt. Springance Kitt can be called in a special way if there is a fusion monster in the cemetery, in the material of which the Fallen from Albaz is mentioned. In addition, with a regular or special summoning, the player can add a branded spell or trap card from the graveyard, from the deck or from exile. When this is used, the player must put a card from his hand under the bottom of the deck. Essentially, this fixes the player’s hand and gives him the card needed to start the combo. In addition, Branded Opening is a spell card that also searches for Branded Fusion, since it calls Aluber, the Fool of Despia, from the deck on the field. However, this comes at the expense of resetting and is therefore less effective than opening said monsters or the Branded Merge itself. Despite this, it is still very important for the deck, given the number of extensive draws that this card can provide.
After explaining the main flow of the deck, it’s time to move on to how to combo and set up a destructive board with this deck. The main combination of this deck usually starts with monsters that can be searched in the Branded Fusion deck. This means that it is mandatory for the deck to be opened by an Aluber, a Despia Jester, a Springance Kitt, or even a Branded Opening. To begin with, summon the monster to the field with the help of a regular summoning or a special summoning of Aluber, the fool of Despia, with the help of a branded opening. After summoning them, their effect will work to find a Branded Spell or a trap card in the deck. In this case, take a copy of Branded Fusion or, if you already have a copy, get a copy of Branded in Red. Then use Branded Fusion to trigger the fusion of Lubellion the Searing Dragon, using Fallen of Albaz and Despian Tragedy as materials. After successfully summoning the fusion, first activate the Lubellion effect, the Flaming Dragon, and then the Despian Tragedy. It is important that this is properly coupled, as this ensures the protection of your installation. Let Despian Tragedy look for Ad Libitum of Despia, if there is not one in hand yet. In this case, you can find another monster with a brand to either prepare for the next move, or distract yourself once again. After that, the Lubellion effect of the Searing Dragon is used to further summon the merge and summon the boss monster of the deck, Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon. The materials used for this fusion summon should be Lubellion, Flaming Dragon, and Fallen Albaza in the grave. This recycles both cards, as this effect puts them back into the deck. When Mirrorjade is summoned, use its effect to expel the originally summoned monster that was used to search for Branded Fusion. Pay the cost using Albion’s Signature Dragon so that at the end of the phase the player can install a Signature Spell or Trap Card from the deck. After that, the player can move on to the final phase to complete the turn. During the final phase, the effect of Albion, the Branded Dragon, will work, and the player must place the Branded One in red on the field. Once this is done, the player’s turn ends.
During the opponent’s turn, the player has several interrupt options that he can use. The first interruption is a merge call during the opponent’s turn. This can be done by activating the “Brand in Red” spell and returning Despian Tragedy to the hand, and then using it together with Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon and Ad Libitum of Despia to merge the Guardian Chimera summoning. By merging, summoning Guardian Chimera during the opponent’s turn, the player can destroy 1 card on the field and take 2 cards. In addition, Ad Libitum of Despia can remove the effect and return Mirrorjade. When Mirrorjade returns, he can use his effect once again to ensure further destruction of the enemy.
