Deck Spotlight: Updating HERO with Maze of Memories

I need a HERO!

Maze of Memories came out and brought with it a new fusion monster to help the strategies keep up with the power creep in the game. Regardless of what the card does, its art alone is gorgeous as it contains many of the Elemental HERO monsters from the GX era. For some reason, the artwork also includes , which is not a part of the HERO archetype, but was still used by the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX protagonist, Jaden Yuki.

is a level ten fusion monster with 2,500 attack and 2,100 defense. Its summoning requirements consist of any Elemental HERO fusion monster in addition to one or more warrior monsters. Luckily, the entire archetype—if we can call HERO an archetype since it is really a collection of many different archetypes that have HERO in their card name—is made up of warrior monsters, except for Evil HERO monsters, of course.

First of all, you will have to fusion summon properly; there is no way to cheat your HERO monster out from the extra deck. It gains 300 attack for every monster used as material to fusion summon, giving it a boosted attack of at least 3,100 by default, which is big enough to punch over almost everything in today's meta. Its second effect allows it to attack a number of monsters equal to the number of fusion monsters used as materials. This effect probably won't be put to use that often, if at all really. Still, it is good to keep in mind when you are in a situation where an extra attack is crucial. But honestly, if I was in a spot where I needed a multi-attacker only, I would prefer to summon instead.

Luckily, Wake Up Your Elemental HERO can do more than just potentially punch over a few monsters. Whenever it battles a monster, even if it is not destroyed by battle, you can still get rid of that monster after damage calculation before inflicting damage to your opponent equal to its original attack.

There is still one last effect in there, and it is the main reason why you would play this card in the first place. If this fusion summoned card is destroyed, you get to special summon one warrior monster from either your hand or deck. I just want to note that you can special summon any generic warrior monster or a monster that is archetype-specific, but not necessarily a HERO card. In this case, we really want the special summoned monster to be a HERO monster.

Ideally, you would want to destroy it yourself using the effect of to summon the monster you want when you really want it. Specifically, you want to summon to search out your . Previously, you had to summon Shadow Mist via , which was usually limiting its usefulness due to its search effect.

With the introduction of and , you now have more ways to get to your . On the other hand, you can choose to special summon or any other monster you might need, depending on the situation you are in. However, Shadow Mist will most likely be your primary target if you do not have Masked Change in your hand.

Drawing Up a Decklist

Sadly, this is not exactly the best time to play the HERO deck. With Kashtira and Runick running around unchecked, it might be very difficult to use it efficiently this format. Of course, if you tech your main deck with counters to the top strategies, you might be able to do something. However, you would also be risking the consistency of your deck if you add too many just to make sure you get to see them as often as possible.

The combo lines need to be practiced a lot since any small misstep will result in a totally different end board that will probably be underwhelming compared to the potential you had. The deck is very good at picking apart big boards, given the right hand, and possibly the right matchup this format, honestly.

If you have any suggestions on how to improve the deck and make it work better, please share your thoughts with everyone in the comment section below!

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