Introduction

About the author

Hello, I'm Hultra Spitfire, I've been playing this deck for around 5 years now and regularly making it to the highest rank playing almost only this deck so I'm clearly perfectly qualified to write this guide (sarcasm). This deck was also the one that converted my childhood memories of Yu-Gi-Oh into the deep dive I've taken nowadays. But before we start, I also have to thank the Raidraptor crew (Yukinon, Lolimancer, NateRiver, Kazuryo and many more for their insightful feedback on the guide)! Hope this guide will bring you the same interest I have to the deck, anyway, enjoy!

About this guide

This guide is an in depth dive in the mind of a Master Duel Raidraptor player while building the pure version of the deck. All readers are supposed to already be somewhat familiar with the deck and the basic combo lines. The point of this discussion is not to introduce completely new players to the deck but perfect the deckbuilding skills of anyone crazy enough to soar into this avian world of ours. If you're not familiar with the deck go check out Yami's introduction article and Yukinon’s display combo videos.

Overview

We will first start with all the birds that are a direct inclusion in standard builds we will then follow a logical order of builds and tech cards we might want to run or avoid, each one with what the deck aims to do and how and same thing for each individual card!

  1. Basic core of the deck and tricks with it
  2. handtrap heavy build
  3. Cowrie + Wing build
  4. Revolution Force + Noir build
  5. Raidraptor “a l'italiana”
  6. Experimental Builds
  7. Watch out for these noob traps!
  8. Meta relevant techs
  9. New endboard set up (not referenced in Yami's guide, VERY IMPORTANT)
  10. Gameplay tips 11.Closing thoughts

And with our roadmap prepared, let's go!

Disclaimer and Vocabulary

the math presented in this doc are estimations, it is recommended to do more in depth math but that would take way too much space and time for an increase of precision of a couple %, as you'll see a lot of scenarios are already taken into account and doing more would be counter intuitive to the readability of the document as a whole. If this guide is well received I might do a in depth math video or a part 2 to this guide.

This is also a very western biased way of building the pure deck, going for 40 cards is the norm as we won't play Kali Yuga (pure is pure), as such, optimizing our odds of drawing an anti Maxx “C” tool is almost mandatory. Another reason I chose to centre this guide around pure is that the mixed build should play non Raidraptor engine thus making guides obsolete very quickly. The deck is also, at the time of writing this guide, more successful as pure due to the increased consistency.

Some common abbreviations used in this guide are:


The basic core and tricks with it

  • Deck core
  • Individual cards and interactions
  • Version specific techs

This Decklist contains only the minimal mandatory ratio for all of the cards we will discuss in this section.

The individual tip and tricks of each cards can be found by clicking on "individual cards and interactions".

cp-ur 120 + cp-sr 150
1 UR Craft Required
23 cards
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
Card not found (Raider's Wing)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Noir Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Heel Eagle)
Card not found (Foolish Burial)
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Roost)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)

Important notes:

Monster Cards

Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius

Tribute is the main starter of the deck but not only is it a particularly good Normal Summon and one card combo, it also has some important quality of life features and neat tricks:

  • 1800 ATK, this allows it to clean or at least crash with many monster interaction with low ATK such as Loading..., Loading... or Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo for the most noteworthy examples.
  • Beating over one of the previously mentioned monsters will also unlock Tribute Laniu's second effect. Upon triggering it you'll be able to search a Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic Spell. This can allow to either bait an interaction or search a Rank up magic to dodge targeted effects on your Xyz monsters, more on that in the Revolution Force build section.
  • The Foolish effect can also be used in conjunction with the first point to crash with a monster then use Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture GY effect to set up for an Xyz play.
  • This Foolish effect can also be used to send Mimicry to get any RR card, send Glorious Bright to recover any Raidraptor monster in GY or banishment (very useful in D-Fissure match up) or recover any S/T if Raidraptor - Heel Eagle is already in the GY.

It is the best Normal Summon and only one card full combo, a mandatory 3-of.

Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius

Mimicry is the main GY send of the deck, its effect allows you to banish it to add any card of the Raidraptor archetype. But even with a really simple role Mimicry brings a lot of nuance:

  • The ability to add any Raidraptor card allows mainly to add Raidraptor - Roost but when you suspect your opponent to be on Droll you can also add directly Raidraptor - Glorious Bright or Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force if Raidraptor - Wise Strix got negated. This also allows you to access any Raidraptor Main Deck monsters to extend your plays such as Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius or the previously mentioned Tribute Lanius if you need a starter.
  • The onfield effect of Mimicry, although ridicule at first can also come in handy. For example a hand composed of Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture, Mimicry and 2 other names able to be Special Summon themselves can first use Bloom's effect to Summon 2 and make Raider's Knight, If Knight's effect gets negated you can simply Normal Summon Mimicry and Special Summon the last Raidraptor, use Mimicry's onfield effect to turn both into Level 5 and Xyz Summon Raidraptor - Brave Strix to continue your combo as if uninterrupted, and then also use Mimicry's GY effect when it eventually gets detached.

Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture

Arguably the most important piece of Main Deck legacy support given to the deck, Bloom Vulture is a summary of what the RR community wanted in a Raidraptor Main Deck monster, with some unnecessary restrictions, of course:

  • The main use of Bloom is starting the combo without committing to your Normal Summon making Raidraptors less vulnerable to Normal Summon disruption, furthermore it allows you to get the onfield effect of an additional Normal Summon bird such as Raidraptor - Noir Lanius and Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius. This allows to just restart the combo after getting Nib'd with Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon's protection active if another Normal Summon bird is present in hand. If this section is unclear checking the Nibiru lines in the basic guide is recommended.
  • This in-hand effect can also be used to get crucial one of engine requirement out of the hand such as Raider's Wing or Raidraptor - Noir Lanius depending on the build.
  • This effect also allows Bloom to Summon 2 copies of itself from hand, thus there is no downside to always running 3.
  • The GY effect is also very versatile, going from double free Forbidden Droplet discard that full combo, to follow up after the opponent cleaned the board or Specific situations allowed by discard effect, Foolish Burial set ups or Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius GY manipulation modelling, as stated in its section.

It is the only Special Summon on empty field thus considered a mandatory 3-of in this guide.

Important note: Going first, if Bloom Vulture is in the opening hand it is highly advised to start with it, as a non Winged-Beast stuck on the field will turn off its ability to Special Summon itself and another Raidraptor from hand or its GY effect.

Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius

One of the best extenders of the deck, with or without an Xyz on field. Several things need to be noted:

Its ability to full combo with 2 copies of itself make it a mandatory 3-of in this guide.

Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius

Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)

Fuzzy is the main reason why the pure builds are vastly more reliable than any other versions. It is the most straightforward and flexible extender the Raidraptor deck has access to thanks to its Special Summoning effect and recursion effect:

  • Fuzzy has been used in the past as one of the best chain blockers when the deck was still overeliant on Raidraptor - Wise Strix as it would be used alongside another DARK Winged-Beast to make Wise. The following chain would be ordered as CL1 Wise SS from deck, CL2 Fuzzy add another Fuzzy, making Wise immune to Ash. This use case is Still relevant nowadays while going second and making alternative lines.
  • Nowadays Fuzzy’s ability to recur itself is especially useful as it can both be used as a Normal Summon/Bloom target and still offer a free extender with its Special Summon effect making it at least 2 bodies for 1 card or a discard fodder for cards like Forbidden Droplet and still have access to an extender. This also include making Swallow's Cowrie a card neutral searcher instead of a -1.
  • Note that Fuzzy is no longer considered an auto 3-of in pure builds but a 2-of with option to go to 3. This is due to its Special Summoning condition requiring a Raidraptor onfield with a different name than itself making a hand with only 2 Fuzzy not full combo.

It still remains one of the big edges pure builds have over Kali Yuga and the memy Requiem and FTK. It is thus considered mandatory as a 2-of at least.

Raidraptor - Heel Eagle

With Heel Eagle we enter the easier cards to comprehend. Although both of its effect are still premium its Level makes it a little awkward at times:

  • The S/T recovery is the main reason why Heel is played. It allows the player to recover Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force for turn 3 onward board wipes or Raidraptor - Glorious Bright in some niche cases such as interrupted plays that still got to Bright but not to the Rise Rank Up.
  • The S/T recovery can also be used while breaking board or recovery lines. For example if your Mimicry got banished by a Bystial you can use Tribute's Foolish effect to send Raidraptor - Roost to the GY and recover it with Heel's GY effect.
  • Although Heel is mostly used to link into Wise Strix it has to be noted that thanks to Raidraptor - Noir Lanius's GY effect it can be made Level 4 and thus allow rank 4 plays.

Some going second versions of the pure builds and some bold Kali Yuga players also tried to remove Heel due to its awkward Level with various Levels of success. For this guide Heel at 1 is considered mandatory.

Simorgh, Bird of Perfection

Here comes the first and only non Raidraptor monster in the core of the pure deck. The pure version can run this monster thanks to its Summoning not being a Special Summon but a Normal Summon.

  • Due to its ability to Normal Summon in response to your Summon of a Winged-Beast monster you can easily bait on Summon trigger effects from the opponent such as Escape of the Unchained on a Normal Summon. As Master Duel uses OCG ruling the opponent will not know that you have the possibility to Summon Simorgh from hand, making spot removal very risky for the opponent.
  • It is also a DARK Winged-Beast making it a possible material for both Raidraptor - Wise Strix and Raider's Knight.
  • The fact that Simorgh's effect Normal Summons it allows it to make Xyz like Loading... or Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir in 1 Special Summon under Maxx "C".
  • Still about the Normal Summon it allows you to make an untargetable Raider's Knight by only Normal Summoning Raider's Wing and simorgh. This allows you to play through targeted Special Summon hate such as Loading... or Promethean Princess, Bestower of Flames.
  • While on the anti Special Summon measures, Simorgh's statlines allows it to clean the same kind of targets as Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius, see related tips.
  • The add effect, although not used a lot in this deck, can be used to search useful cards or bait points of interactions. More on the Simorgh S/T in the tech section.
  • Finally Simorgh only needs a Winged-Beast to be Summoned so, if the only monsters in hand are 2 Simorghs, that hand is still full combo as you'll be able to Normal Summon one and activate the second.

This versatility in use of this extender and the capability to combo with itself makes it a mandatory 3-of in every build.

Raider's Wing & Raidraptor - Noir Lanius

These 2 are the heart of their own versions. Thus discussing them in their respective sections seems more appropriate. The only things important here are:

  • Wing is an extender that can make DARK Xyz it is attached to untargetable.

Both these functions are crucial. At least one of each of them is needed per deck.

Spell Cards

Raidraptor - Roost

This card is the main recycling card and S/T search. It is considered an engine requirement as it is mostly a dead draw but its utility cannot be understated for grind games:

All of this makes Roost a crucial engine requirements.

Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force

This is the more flexible of the 2 rank ups presented here. It allows you to transform any RR Xyz monster into a RR 2 ranks higher using the first as the entire material. The revival effect also comes up often on turn 3, so:

Its effect to Summon Arsenal is the main reason why it is considered mandatory at 1 copy.

Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force

It is the most straightforward card required. It is the one used to Summon Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon and at most to be discarded for the Summon of Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid going second or in alternative combo lines.

Note that it only requires the target onfield to stay onfield and an Xyz monster with the right rank to resolve its effect. As an example if you targeted Force on field, Knight and Brave in grave but Brave gets Called by Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon will still be Summoned instead of Rising Rebellion.

Foolish Burial

Just an outstanding tool all around, both bait, one card almost full combo (missing only Raidraptor - Roost and Raidraptor - Glorious Bright, see basic lines of the introduction guide), or a super versatile extender, this includes:

Overall thanks to its versatility and power it is considered a highly recommended 1 of.

Trap Cards

Raidraptor - Glorious Bright

Not much to say here, just an archetypal targeted omni negate. It also has a pretty useful GY effect to recycle monsters from the GY or banishment:

  • The negate effect can amongst other things negate Evenly Matched and Lightning Storm 2-of the most common anti backrow cards.
  • The Recycle effect can be used under Loading... to get back a monster banished by this effect by sending Bright to the GY via a Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius effect for example.
  • Can also be used on turn 3 to get back into the ED even more Xyz monsters to extend your plays.

Overall a very important card of the pure build.

Extra Deck monsters

Raidraptor - Force Strix

The main Extra deck searcher of the deck, it is important to note is not once per turn allowing a lot of flexibility in sequencing:

  • Generally Force Strix is used as part of the combo to search follow up and be a Rank 4 with a different name than Raider's Knight for the bonus burn effect of Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon.
  • It can also be used for an early search of Raider's Wing if you didn't draw an access to it to protect the following Knight. This line can also bait handtraps from unexperienced players, forcing them to use Infinite Impermanence on Force Strix when they wanted to negate the untargetable Knight or making them use an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring on an expansible part of your lines. Unfortunately this line makes the deck vulnerable to Loading...

Overall a mandatory part of the combo to play at least 2.(See classic combo for reference)

Raider's Knight

The main Rank up tool to access either the combo or board breaker options:
  • If you made Knight with Raidraptor - Noir Lanius and have a way to put 2 more Level 4 RR on the field you can use Knight as a bait for interactions as Noir's GY effect will allow you to hard make Raidraptor - Brave Strix and continue your combos.
  • The 2000 ATK statline also to run over what Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius could only crash with. This is even more interesting when Raider's Wing is attached, as less interactions can stop Knight beating an opponent's monsters by battle.

It is the main combo starter, thus needs to be run at, at least, 1.

Raidraptor - Brave Strix

If this card had to be renamed, its new name would be versatility. Both Rank-Up and RR S/T access, good statline, makes towers super hard to beat by battle:

All of this makes Brave Strix a mandatory 1 of. It is not directly accessible so playing more than 1 is not recommended but its impact cannot be understated.

Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon

Arsenal is both our main way to bring out Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon, a fantastic extender and an OTK enabler thanks to its mUltiple attack ability:

  • The main job of Arsenal within the combo is to bring out Raidraptor - Noir Lanius to search Raidraptor - Heel Eagle and then link Heel and himself for Raidraptor - Wise Strix and then Summon Ulti Falcon thanks to Arsenal floating effect, this being a RR Xyz effect, Wise also immediately triggers. This gives access to recycling to any builds through Heel's effect even if not drawn/searched/send to GY, gives any build Ulti Falcon access and gives any build easy Rank-Up access through Wise.
  • Another Summon target is Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius, thanks to its revival effect it allows any build to keep putting bodies onboard while under the effect of Droll & Lock Bird, but you do loose the ability to recycle your S/T so careful use of Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force is recommended. /!\ The revival effect only works if Arsenal kept a RR Xyz monster as material, beware of that while using its effects, especially if Raider's Wing is attached as by detaching it you'll lose targeting protection.
  • Another target for Arsenal Summon is Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius as it can Foolish any RR in case a previous Noir got Ash’d, a Heel in grave is waiting for a RR S/T to recycle or a crucial RR is stuck in the GY and you would recover it by sending Raidraptor - Glorious Bright.
  • Its mUlti attack capabilities also enables RR players to threaten OTK/boardclearing in a really early phase of the combo, especially if Raidraptor - Brave Strix is attached making Arsenal a 3200 ATK mUlti attacker. Even if it is generally better to do the full combo to benefit from Ulti Falcon's protection, it can be useful in low timer situation to close a game.

All of these factors make Arsenal a mandatory inclusion in any RR decklist

Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon

This card found staple use in RR decks for different reasons from the ones you might assume. The board wipe is NOT the reason we play Arsenal in the first place. It's its ATK reduction effect:

  • As you know Raidraptor - Wise Strix has been a notorious chokepoint for the deck for as long as it has existed. Now If an opponent were to shotgun an Imperm on Wise, Arsenal could float into Satellite allowing you to use its effect during the opp turn and thus triggering Wise's effect once more. Once Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force set Satellite and Brave in GY can be used to make Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon during the opponent's turn.
  • Fun Fact: Satellite is the only RR Quick Effect, every other is either a trigger or ignition effect.
  • The Backrow wipe can be used but requires you to play Unknown Card which can be suboptimal in high Rank-Up count decklists.

This Backup effect makes Satellite's inclusion highly recommended. Or just git goot and make the opponent Imperm something else (it doesn't work if your opponent has a brain)

Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon

A tower. This is a tower. Welcome to RR.

  • So, about this tower, it is generally Summoned through Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon, this method will grant Ulti Falcon 1 material.
  • Ulti Falcon can insulate your plays by not letting the opponent use any cards after its effect resolves. The best moment to activate it is right after the first search of Force Strix in the basic Raider's Knight combo. (See Yami's introduction or yukinon videos if unclear). This is due to Ulti Falcon forcing Nibiru activations. In the previously described situation Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force would have been set by the effect of Raidraptor - Wise Strix so if Nib gets used the RUM can just be chained to the activation of Nibiru only loosing you a spent Wise Strix and allowing you to continue your combo as if nothing happened.
  • The end phase burn effect can also come in clutch against low life opponent or to start chipping at the opponent LP to prepare for a Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon lethal burn.
  • It can also be wise to keep the Arsenal under Ulti Falcon for turn 3 if you have enough extension in hand and a Force Strix in GY for Rising Rebellion to copy. As no endboard pieces are lost in this line while the material under Ulti Falcon gives you a guaranteed OTK if it survives to turn 3.

This insurance policy makes Ulti Falcon a main state one offs in any RR deck.

Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon

The newest addition to the Raidraptor lineup comes packed with utility and things that made RR worth picking up. Chief among them, mass destruction and being unaffected:

  • Against opponents using Yubel (pre fiendsmith) or other archetypes that don't have Spell negates, Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force can be used during the battle phase while chain blocking with Raidraptor - Roost to insure the opponent won't be able to deal lethal damage.
  • Against opponent with Spell negates it is important to determine when the board wipe will be most impactful or up until which point the Rank-Up-Magic can be used. For example if yubel gets 2 Level 6 onfield, it is expected to go for a Loading... to have a negate. Based on the number of cards in the opponent's hand it can be better to use Rise RUM immediately to have Glorious Bright for a possible Called by or wait if the chances of Called by being in the opponent's hand are low enough.
  • The copy effect is very versatile, it is mainly used in the combo to copy Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon and its Special Summon ability but if Rising Rebellion was made with more than 4 material the multi attacking can close out games easily. Note that the floating effect does not work as it only copies while onfield.
  • The copy effect can also be used to copy a Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon to protect your following plays from any disruption your opponent might have set up. It is often used against all kind of decks that can either play during your turn from hand like Fire king or Yubel (battle phase)
  • One last target to copy, and exclusive to the Revolution Force build, is Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon, an additional targeted destruction+burn and the multi attacking on a 4K ATK beatstick tends to close out most games.

Once onfield this monster is really hard to deal with and its effects tends to win games on their own. This and its ability to be part of the standard RR combo makes it a staple 2-of.

Raidraptor - Wise Strix

Mister Flying Target himself. Pre support this was THE card to stop if you wanted to stop RR, nowadays it is an important piece of the combo but an Imperm on Wise doesn't Spell the end of the combo like it once did. Weirdly enough there aren't that many tricks with this o-so-crucial part of the combo:

  • The Summon targets are varied, from Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius for the add of any RR cards to Raider's Wing to protect an Xyz or getting an extra body, without forgetting Loading... for free extension or Raidraptor - Noir Lanius for later Level modulation. All depending on what the situation is calling for.
  • Beware to NOT Summon Simorgh, Bird of Perfection as would be the Special Summon of a non RR monster, locking you out of using Loading....
  • Talking about Fuzzy, It is possible to chain block Wise Strix by using either Fuzzy as link material or Raidraptor - Roost's add effect as it also triggers from link Summons of a RR monster.
  • The setting of the RUM can also be triggered during the opponent's turn and used immediately. this can come in handy for turn 3 as you opponent will have to choose between getting rid of Wise or the newly set RUM in addition to the rest of the board, which is a lose-lose situation.

The straightforward yet crucial mission of Wise Strix makes it an auto include in any RR deck. And with Wise concludes our overview and tips on every card of the RR core. If you didn't find the card you were looking for try in the "version specific techs" part of this tab or in the latter part of the guide.

Revolution Force techs

Note: once again, due to Revolution Force being the center focus of the build it will be discussed in the related build section.

Monster cards

Raidraptor - Pain Lanius

We love to hate him, it's Pain Lanius, so you might ask why do RR players hate pain?

  • It locks you into only Summoning Winged-Beast Xyz with it. Our main combo requires you to start with a Warrior Xyz in Raider's Knight making pain really awkward to open.
  • It cannot be used on Raider's Wing as its ATK is 0, therefore pain cannot inflict damage and cannot Special Summon itself, Wing being an auto include at least 1 makes pain surprisingly bricky for an extender.
  • In tcg it also tend to make us lose in time when RR has a lot of small burn effect. In Master Duel it tends to be a dead card on low LP.

Why do we play it then?

  • With Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force in hand, Noir becomes full combo alone if you play pain as it is a free rank 4 and Revolution Force can rank up into Raidraptor - Brave Strix allowing a normal RR combo.
  • It also makes almost guaranteed shifter lines as it represent one more body to, in total keep 2 rank 4 and 1 rank 5 onfield.

Spell Cards

Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force

Card not found (Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force)

This Rank-Up-Magic used to be the only good Quick-Play Rank-up-magic for the pure build pre support. Nowadays it only ranks 3rd behind Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force and Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force as both accomplish more than a rank up at a heavy banish cost. That being said PK RUM, as we tend to call it, has some unique advantages:

Even if the second lair of disruption can seem good it may often not be necessary for how much of a brick this RUM is in addition to the mandatory Revolution Force.

Extra Deck monsters

Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid

In this version of the build Air Raid might just be an auto include. The High RUM density makes its alternative Summoning condition very easy to use and a common dodge target:

  • The first main advantage is its rank, this allows Raidraptor - Brave Strix to dodge targeted negates by using Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force and searching a second Rev Force with Brave to still access Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon.
  • The second main advantage is its alternative Summoning condition, both going first and second. Going First, it allows specific lines if Raider's Knight gets negated and the equivalent of 2 bodies are present in hand, it is possible to extend through Raider's negation. Going second, it can turn a Force Strix and a RUM in hand into a monster destruction and a DARK Xyz Winged-Beast with a DARK Xyz as material (important for Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius' second effect).
  • The third advantage is its cleaning capabilities going second. On Summon it is a destruction of an opponent's monster but can then float into Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon if it is destroyed itself, either by "negate & destroy" type effects or by crashing it into an opponent's ATK position monster. Revolution Falcon Represent an additional monster destruction and a possible cleaning by battle of all of the opponent's Special Summoned monsters.

TLDR Air Raid is a great extension and dodging tool in our Arsenal and it cannot be ignored either as it needs to be handle carefully by the opponent going second. This allows Air Raid to be a staple in Rev Force builds.

Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon

Revolution Falcon is an extension of Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid. It is at the same time very similar and very different:

  • the main selling point of Revolution Falcon is its interaction with Air Raid, once Air Raid gets destroyed it floats into a second destruction and a multi attacker that can reduce any monster's attack to 0. This makes a fantastic board breaking duo alongside Air Raid.
  • It can also be a secondary Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force target if you play Loading... and feel like you'll need the Air Raid destruction effect during the opponent's turn.
  • In simplified gamestates an easy to Summon multi attacker can also just win the game on the spot.
  • Once in the GY it can also be copied by Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon to get a 4K ATK unaffected multi attacker that can also reduce any stat of the opposing monster to 0, which is one of the hardest things to defend against, reflectors like mikankos excluded.
  • It can also be accessed via Revolution Force and by bringing back a Raidraptor - Brave Strix from the GY thanks to the effect of Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force

All of this makes Revolution Falcon a solid inclusion although not a mandatory one.

Raidraptor - Stranger Falcon

A strange inclusion to the extra deck to say the least but not without its upsides:

Overall a solid option, really good on turn 3 and onward to make sure you don't run out of resources and ways to close the game.

Raidraptor - Blaze Falcon

Blazing at the last archetypal option we have Blaze Falcon. It is pretty much entirely outclassed by Raidraptor - Stranger Falcon and Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon but has some niche applications:

  • Most notable is its board wiping effect. It gives an easy way to board wipe while burning the opponent, this is crucially more impactful than the single destruction of Stranger and easier to access than Rising Rebellion on simplified gamestate scenarios.
  • Its direct attack effect can also steal some games but don't count on it too much.

Overall an inferior card than Stranger Falcon in most situations but can still be an option if you're on an SR budget.

The other generic stuff

See the Cowrie column to learn about, Arc Rebellion, S:P and Evilswarm, and the reasons why you could play them. Generally they are less used in Rev Force builds due to the need to maximize the Rev Force targets.

Cowrie Techs

Note: once again, due to Cowrie being the center focus of the build it will be discussed in the related build section.

Monster cards

Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius

Possibly the weirdest extender we have access to, not in effect but in awkward situations it tends to put us in:

Spell Cards

Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force

Card not found (Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force)

This Rank-Up-Magic used to be the only good Quick-Play Rank-up-magic for the pure build pre support. Nowadays it only ranks 3rd behind Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force and Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force as both accomplish more than a rank up at a heavy banish cost. That being said PK RUM, as we tend to call it, has some unique advantages:

Objectively a good addition to the deck. Its main weak point is how much of a brick it is without Air Raid, but even then the negated Xyz monster needs to still be onfield and you need a lot of extension power. But overall increases enough the ceiling to grant a spot in the deck.

Extra Deck monsters

Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid

This card only has 2 use cases in this build.

In this version of the deck Air Raid is not recommended but still can come up so it's not a dead card if you decide to put it in the ED.

Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon

"Dragon big, dragon punch hard" may be the best way to describe Arc Rebellion. It is a game closer through and through, as well as a good tool for going second.

  • The main use of Arc will be to gain ATK equal to the ATK of all monsters on the field and negate the effects of everything. It can have some niche applications that make it better than just punching with an army of big towers such as fighting against indestructible damage reflector, like Timelords to give the most well known example. Past that it is just an alternative game closer to the towers.
  • This is not without drawbacks as it competes with Raidraptor - Brave Strix while going second as a Raider's Knight target. It is also a Dragon, making it unusable under normally beatable floodgates for the deck such as Rivalry of Warlords.

It is a good option all around, I tend to refer to it as a win more card going first and an awkward moment maker while going second but it has reasons to be played, overall better than the previously mentioned Air Raid.

Evilswarm Knightmare

Card not found (Evilswarm Nightmare)

Basically an anti Maxx "C" option, you get Maxx “C”'d you just end on this by giving up to 2 draws(same thought pattern with Fuwalos). It's an OK option but tends to not be enough in the face of a 7 cards hand (containing most of the time an effect negation). Even worse you might even go up against an opponent that doesn't care like a link deck. But it is better than nothing.

Another use case is as part of the endboard if Loading... wasn't used this turn. It is good but makes the endboard weak to Super Polymerization into Garura, Wings of Resonant Life opposed to just ending on double Raidraptor - Force Strix.

Its utility makes it a good card to consider, but not an auto include.

S:P Little Knight

Card not found (S:P Little Knight)
Her main use is to banish herself so the anti Super Poly board is 2 towers and a Raidraptor - Force Strix, impossible to use Super Poly on that.

She can also be used as a endboard piece or a going second tool but she feels underwhelming in every aspect in this deck.

A good way to waste bodies and make you immune to Super Poly, bad otherwise.


The handtrap heavy build.

The principle

Disclaimer: The general opinion on the handtrap version is that is a less consistant in getting the combo off overall. The limited non engine space in the RR core also makes the synergy between mass handtrapping and RR combo akward. The lack of protection and the tendency of RR to brick is also increased here due to the lack of consistency/protection effects.

Nonetheless it is a good template for anyone to try the deck as it reduces the number of convoluted Rev Force line or Cowrie's odds management. It also allows any beginner to get away with some mistakes by just handtrapping the opponent.

The Sample Decklist

40 cards
2 copies
Card not found (Maxx "C")
Card not found (Mulcharmy Fuwalos)
3 copies
Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)
2 copies
Card not found (Called by the Grave)
3 copies
Card not found (Infinite Impermanence)
3 copies
Card not found (Effect Veiler)
Card not found (Crossout Designator)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raider's Wing)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Noir Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Heel Eagle)
Card not found (Foolish Burial)
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Roost)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Force Strix)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Wise Strix)
Card not found (Raider's Knight)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Brave Strix)
Card not found (Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon)
Card not found (Evilswarm Nightmare)
Card not found (S:P Little Knight)

The math

Now time for everyone's favorite part of the decklist, the maths: this deck contains 40 cards, the following math will then apply to this version. Some alternative will be presented but will be highlighted so you can clearly see what's not referring to this exact decklist.

  • 12 handtraps, including Maxx "C" and Mulcharmy Fuwalos, allows the deck to open at least 1 handtrap 85% of the time. If Maxx “C” like cards are excluded from the calculation you still have 75% to have at least 1 handtrap in the opener. For at least 2 handtrap, you have 31% chances(Maxx “C” like cards not counted) and 47% chances (Maxx “C” like cards counted). This is clearly not an optimal ratio as most meta deck don't care about 1 handtrap and 2 handtrap is a fairly random occurrence.
  • 19 Level 4 birds and a Foolish means this deck opens full combo (2 birds) 82% of the time and with Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius being a one card combo that is drawn 33% of the time at least 1 the chances of opening full combo go up to around 87% of the time. These are fairly good odds. note: these calculation do not take into account corner cases like drawing double Loading... (1% chance) or Raider's Wing + Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius/Raidraptor - Noir Lanius and no other birds (1% chances).
  • With Raidraptor - Roost, Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force, Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force, Raidraptor - Glorious Bright and Raidraptor - Heel Eagle being considered as bricks, you have 50% chances to open at least 1 in your opener which is far from optimal but all of them being required as combo pieces or part of the grind game of the deck make it an acceptable risk. Note that a version with 3 Raidraptor - Noir Lanius, 1 Raider's Wing and 1 Raidraptor - Pain Lanius can turn Rise RUM and Roost into full combo if you also open Noir. This comes at the cost of your odds to open Wing, which is premium protection against targeted negates.
  • Note:Noir and Wing are not played together at 3 due to them not being able to Special Summon themselves. This means that having both of them in hand is a dead hand. If Raidraptor - Pain Lanius has been included in the deck it becomes full combo but looses to both nib and a single interaction. Also note that pain does not work with Wing as the latter has 0 ATK, making it impossible for pain to Special Summon itself.
  • With 3 Ash, 2 Called by and 1 crossout you have around 57% chances to draw at least 1 Maxx “C” answer. It's not great but sufficient, it means that, in general, you won't be under a Maxx “C” like card 80% of the time which is a pretty good ratio (this is because we consider that the average deck will run 4 Maxx “C” like cards, other calculations would be redundant and the important port is the 57% to draw an out).
  • With 3 Wings, and 2 Called by and 1 crossout you have 57% chances to draw an anti handtrap card. Note: these anti handtrap measure overlap with the anti Maxx “C” odds, making your odds of surviving both Maxx “C” like cards and a handtrap targeting close to 12%.
  • If you feel like adding cards know that every additional card in the deck that is not an extender reduces your odds of opening full combo by around ~3% . And every Level 4 extender you add will decrease your odds of drawing at least 1 handtrap by ~1% and 2 handtrap by ~2%. The odds of seeing a Maxx “C” answer are also reduced by 1% for each card you add to the deck. These Stats seem wonderful, 85% chances to not be under Maxx “C” like cards 87% chances to open full combo etc... the truth of the matter is, these are individual stats and do not take into account the entire picture. Yes you will have stopped the Maxx “C” like card but will you have full combo? And if you do, can you survive 1 handtrap? Nothing's less certain. For example: You opened Ash, Strangle, Bloom, Simorgh and Imperm, the god hand you might think, so you use Bloom to Summon itself and Strangle, your opponent chains a Maxx “C” like card but you have the Ash, you're fine then you make Knight and an Imperm comes down. yep, you're now stuck with a Warrior on the field you can't do anything with. And going for Force doesn't help either except to play into Nibiru. This seemingly god hand just flopped, too bad.

Remember this: Stats can be easily misleading you need a lot of reflection and knowledge to get to the right conclusion.

Changeable cards

In this version the ratios are relatively unchangeable:

  • The biggest swap is going for 3 Raidraptor - Noir Lanius, 1 Raidraptor - Pain Lanius and 1 Raider's Wing instead of 1 Noir and 3 Wings.
  • Some more engine can be considered like adding a second Noir in case you happen to draw it with tribute it makes the combo more textbooky.
  • The handtraps are, of course, interchangeable depending on the meta as these are just an example more reflective of the number of handtrap rather than their quality.
  • I wouldn't recommend adding more Mimicry as it's one more Normal Summon when there are already 8 in a 40 card deck and only 3 are full combo on their own.
  • Wouldn't recommend playing more Fuzzys either as the handtrap version requires to have the less bricky hands to just work so adding a monster that doesn't work with itself is risky.
  • Loading... can also be added for additional disruption during the opponent's turn, making an Air Raid, a Satellite or a second RRF if you have a lot of resources to spare in the GY. Adding more bricks is highly discouraged for this version.
  • For other adds, see the tech section.

Conclusion

So, this is this deck's Achilles heel: you can't reliably survive 1 well placed handtrap and your own handtrap tend to not be sufficient to stop meta decks, without even talking about going second. This is what the next versions will try to address. We need to survive going first bc our engine is way to weak to go second.


Cowrie + Wing build

The principle

The biggest fear of a RR player is to be stuck with a negated Raider's Knight and no way to get 2 Level 5 Winged-Beast or 3 DARK Winged-Beasts on the field. This build aims to solve that issue by using Raider's Wing's targeting protection to make the Knight immune to targeted negation like Infinite Impermanence and Effect Veiler which tend to be the most devastating handtrap. This also happens to be the best way to play around targeted negation while not playing into Loading... as if Raider's Knight is made first with Wing there is no optimal point for the opponent to Nibiru you.

As Wing is a Normal Summon that does nothing on its own the risk of bricking is non negligeable, as such we tend to add 2 or 3 copies of Swallow's Cowrie to fix hands or search Wing itself. It being a Quick-Play also means you can play around Droll by activating it in the draw phase or as a dodge tool for your Level 4 birds that get targeted by, once again, Imperm or veiler.

The big problems of this version is the restricted protection Wing offers and the minus that comes with Cowrie's effect.

It is still better than the no guaranteed protection of the handtrap build but will struggle against all kinds of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Loading... or Loading....

So to complement the minus that comes with Cowrie we will tend to maximize on GY effect birds such as Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius and Loading....

The Sample Decklist

Notes:

  • The following list also works with 2 or 3 Droplets, 2 or 3 Wings, 2 or 3 Cowrie and 1 or 2 Mimicry. This is just one of the combinations you can go for as I wanted to keep it 40 card but you could also go to 41, 42 or 43. I wouldn't go past 45 tho.
  • The non engine is only there as an example. If the meta favors a backrow deck, cards like evenly, Duster or Simorgh Repulsion might be better, if shifter is popular then Dark Ruler might be better.
    40 cards
    2 copies
    Card not found (Maxx "C")
    Card not found (Mulcharmy Fuwalos)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)
    2 copies
    Card not found (Called by the Grave)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Forbidden Droplet)
    Card not found (Crossout Designator)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Raider's Wing)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Noir Lanius)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
    3 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Heel Eagle)
    Card not found (Foolish Burial)
    Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Roost)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
    Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)
    2 copies
    Card not found (Swallow's Cowrie)
    2 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Force Strix)
    2 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Wise Strix)
    Card not found (Raider's Knight)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Brave Strix)
    Card not found (Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon)
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon)
    2 copies
    Card not found (Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon)
    Card not found (Evilswarm Nightmare)
    Card not found (S:P Little Knight)

The Math

For everyone's favorite part of this version breakdown, the math:

  • Like the previous one opening full combo is very easy around 90% but this does not take into account birds that don't combo together like 2 fuzzy, 2 Wings or Wing+Mimicry, that being said, with Cowrie in the picture it is still very likely to full combo and the math is needlessly complicated for an error of at worse 5%.
  • The odds of opening Wing + full combo or a way to Wing + full combo are also really good: around 45%, this include Wing + a Level 4 that can Summon itself (around 30%), Cowrie + a GY effect bird (around 10%) and Cowrie + 2 birds (5%) which is really good all things considered. To that can also be included the odds of drawing Called By or Crossout and the odds of dodging handtrap are really high.
  • Opening an anti Maxx “C” tool is the same as the last deck so around 57% to open at least 1 anti Maxx “C” and full combo is around 54%. if you then go for Wing + full combo + anti Maxx “C” measure we crumble to a little more than 14%.
  • The rest of the calcs for the bricks and getting combos through Noir are the same as the handtrap version so refer to that.

Changeable cards

This version of the deck is relatively open for interpretation as many ratios work thanks to Cowrie. The more common changes are:

  • 2 Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius for Cowrie fodder while having an additional Mimicry in deck if it got stopped or if you happened to need Mimicry's search for an extender instead of Raidraptor - Roost.
  • 2 Loading... in case you fear bricking on 2-of it, not likely but it can happen. That being said, it is the RR monster with the best effect for Cowrie to tribute as it doesn't mess with the combo like Mimicry would.
  • 2 Raider's Wing as it can be searched with Cowrie and it reduces the odds of drawing double Wing, similar to the previous point with Fuzzy.
  • 1 Raider's Wing, 3 Raidraptor - Noir Lanius and 1 Raidraptor - Pain Lanius. These ratios are mostly there to make it harder to know when and where to interrupt as the average hand gets more searches. That being said it is generally not recommended as Pain in hand has no bridge to tribute with Cowrie and generally makes you more vulnerable to nib when it's one of the major strengths of this version.

Conclusion

Having access to reliable targetting protection while not playing under Nibiru is a premium line to have. The only things that reliably stop this version are Ash, Gamma and Ogre which are either less played or harder to find compared to the effective 6 or more Imperm like effects the average handtrap deck will run.

This wide range of protection and playmaking potential makes this version the second most popular among the pure Raidraptor players at the time of writing this guide. It is clearly a recommended version.


Noir + Revolution Force build

The principle

This version is the best way we found to counter 1 for 1 handtraps. It relies on Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force as a catch all answer and its synergy with Raidraptor - Noir Lanius's ability to be a 1 card rank 4 if Raidraptor - Pain Lanius is also played to reduce the likelihood of bricking.

Rev Force, as we call it, plays like a pseudo Crossout Designator without the need of playing any Main Deck targets! The only things it cannot stop are Loading... and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, the former being a non issue if you start the combo with Raider's Knight and the latter can be played around depending on your draws and line used.

That being said, getting hit by an Ash will make you much more vulnerable to every other handtrap as it requires Raidraptor - Wise Strix to resolve otherwise the combo ends on basically nothing.

Noir is maxed here in opposition to the previous versions as Noir alongside Rev Force is a 2 card combo by searching pain and making Raidraptor - Force Strix, you can then search Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius for follow up if Raidraptor - Brave Strix gets negated (or force baits the Ash outright). Then, by using Rev Force you can turn Force into Brave allowing you to full combo.

Rev Force being a Rank-Up-Magic also allows us to access more easily some other slots of our ED, chief among them Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon and Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon during our turn to seal games or stealing a spent Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder or Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis during the opponent's turn to make a Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon to turn the game around.

Sample Decklist

Note: The decklist here has 41 cards because everyone of them is required or adds something to the deck. As such cutting it to 40 feels uncalled for and in some ways a downgrade.

41 cards
2 copies
Card not found (Maxx "C")
Card not found (Mulcharmy Fuwalos)
3 copies
Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)
2 copies
Card not found (Called by the Grave)
3 copies
Card not found (Forbidden Droplet)
Card not found (Crossout Designator)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
Card not found (Raider's Wing)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Noir Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Pain Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Heel Eagle)
Card not found (Foolish Burial)
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Roost)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)
3 copies
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Force Strix)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Wise Strix)
Card not found (Raider's Knight)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Brave Strix)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon)
Card not found (S:P Little Knight)

The Math

So... I'm going to be straight up honest, this part is a nightmare due to the multitude of possible draws and moving part that can lead to combo and to how many interrupts the deck can take. So for the sake of this guide's readability I will take some shortcuts in the resisting handtrap parts, my apologies.

  • First of all, the odds of drawing your one card starter are still the same, so around 33%.
  • Then, the odds of getting full combo if the opponent doesn't have interaction are around the 90% mark this includes: 2 compatible birds (around 82%), Noir + Rev Force or Roost (around 12% of the non 82% so + ~2%)tribute alone (33% of the non 84% which is a little over +5%) so around 90% chances to open full combo if the opponent has no interrupts.
  • And now the odds of resisting a targeted handtrap on an Xyz monster you control are simply the odds of drawing Rev Force with full combo + the odds of drawing more than 3 birds in value(Noir, Tribute, Mimicry or Fuzzy counting as 2 as they search or replace themselves). So around 30% for the Rev Force draw + around 45% of the remainder for the more than 3 in bird value(the math here is REALLY complex due to the variable bird value so it is a rough estimate and each trio of birds should be examined alone to see how many and which interrupt they can take) for a total of around 61% chances to dodge a well placed handtrap.
  • The odds of dodging 2 handtraps are really variable and depends on both your grip and the opponent's decisions. For example Gamma your Knight will stop you completely most of the time but if you draw Rev Force it won't do anything except forcing you to use Rev Force and will turn off Imperm from the opponent. Rather than throwing random numbers at you I prefer to advise everyone to go check out the lines of the first RR guide and Yukinon's combo videos as the previous point already has enough inaccuracies for my likings.
  • the odds of countering Maxx “C” like card are the same as the 2 previous versions so refer to them if needed.
  • the odds of seeing non engine are the same as the Cowrie + Wing version.

Changeable Ratios

The decklist shown here is already pretty optimized. The only commonly changed ratios are:

Notes on the build

This build is highly technical, many a time the Raidraptor mains take specific unorthodox lines due to meta reads and knowing what the hand can dodge if they go for a bait line. A simple example is a hand composed of Simorgh + Bloom + Rev Force might go into Force Strix first instead of Knight as it will bait out Ash and search Strangle, if the opponent doesn't take the bait, ranking up force into Brave with Rev Force will make it so even if your Brave gets stopped (except by Gamma) you'll still be able to access Wise (thanks to Strangle revive effect) and thus allowing you to still put up a respectable board with all the interupts minus the 2 unaffected birds.

It is also possible for the other versions to take those lines but Rev Force particularly encourages them, as such it is highly recommended to review replays and talk with other RR main while practicing this version.

Clearly the highest potential but the hardest to master as well.

Conclusion

This Version is the "de-facto" best one, it allows many flexible lines and encourages quick thinking while in duel. This allows it to dodge handtraps and navigate going second situations much more efficiently than the handtrap and Cowrie version respectively. It also has the lowest chance of bricking among all the versions.

All this makes it the preferred version by the pure RR main, that being at the cost of a steeper learning curve.


Raidraptor a l'Italiana

The principle

This build is a continuation of the previous Rev Force + Noir build but with techs that reduce the overall variance of Master Duel's mini game.

As for the name, it has been theorized and reached M1 piloted by 2 Italians (Aka Yukinon and myself, I'm not italian but my family is, so close enough) and it sounds better than "no Maxx “C” build".

Yes, these are the techs:

The same as the Rev Force build + Droll and - Maxx "C", The point being that Raidraptor can play under Droll and only loses Raidraptor - Roost and sometimes Raidraptor - Glorious Bright if it gets to full combo under Droll. This Makes Droll your 6th, 7th and 8th answers to Maxx “C” like cards while being a good handtrap by itself against cheesy decks and some meta decks.

It can be argued that loosing Maxx “C” like cards is a big downside but in handtrap wars every card matters in RR and drawing a card that won't resolve 57% of the time just feels like a waste. Also, even if you happen to resolve a Maxx “C” like card, it generally won't change much against meta decks due to RR's limited access to space for staples, at best you'd be able to Droplet a full board because one Ash won't do anything against a half decent hand from a meta deck. And, as recent metas showed it, Droplet isn't enough to stop a endboard that has 3 interruptions in the grave and can get more onfield.

Sample build

40 cards
3 copies
Card not found (Droll & Lock Bird)
3 copies
Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)
2 copies
Card not found (Called by the Grave)
3 copies
Card not found (Forbidden Droplet)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
Card not found (Raider's Wing)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Noir Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Pain Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Heel Eagle)
Card not found (Foolish Burial)
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Roost)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)
3 copies
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Force Strix)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Wise Strix)
Card not found (Raider's Knight)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Brave Strix)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon)
Card not found (S:P Little Knight)

The math

Just know that now you have a 70% chance to open an answer to a Maxx “C” like cards in the opening hand so it gives Maxx “C” like cards a 10% chance to resolve if 3 copies are played (33% odds), also note that if they are played at more copies the odds go up 20% (as if you play 9 Maxx “C” like cards you have 66% chances to open at least 1). We’ll say 15% to be generous.

Knowing the previous calculations we know that we have 10% chance to not full combo and 15% chances to be hit by a Maxx “C” like card, in total it makes the odds of full comboing in the face of Maxx “C” like cards around 76% (to be noted that this estimation doesn't take into account hands that can't play under Droll from the get go, typically those that can only start by accessing Raider's Knight, in that case you'll have to give 3 draws to your opponent before being able to Droll).

Other than that it is the same as the Rev Force + Noir build so refer to it for the rest of the calculations.

Changeable Ratios

Droll ratios can be changed if you feel confident with 63% or 57% to open an anti Maxx “C” measure (2 and 1 Droll respectively).

You can also replace Droplet by Maxx “C” like card but Droll clashes with it and you loose the most powerful card of the deck for draw power which is not really worth it in the end.

Other than that, once again it is the same as the Rev Force + Noir build.

Conclusion

This version keeps the upsides of the Rev Force + Noir version while lessening the variance due to Maxx “C” like cards, it has higher lows but lower highs compared to the normal version.

So to keep it simple, if you feel like what's screwing you are Maxx “C” like cards, just play this version as it will reduce variance from Maxx “C” like cards while only marginally reducing your odds of going full combo.


Experimental builds

These builds have not been tested in large sample sizes, they are mostly theoretical things you can do in theory but it is unsure as their actual effectiveness. Nevertheless the principles of these builds can always be useful for the other versions.

Also note that we are not considering 60 cards as we don’t have enough good engine cards in pure making it even more bricky. See mixed OCG builds if you want a 60 card RR deck.

Reduced Brick count build

The principle

Sick of bricking on Raidraptor - Roost, Raidraptor - Heel Eagle or those Stupid RUMs? Here's an experimental build for you.

The main goal of this build is to reduce even further the number of "do nothing" cards like RUMs, oddly Leveled monsters or non essential grind game cards to have a higher percentage of directly useful cards in your opening hands. The key cards of this build are:

Cowrie being the failsafe for consistency and searching Raider's Wing for protection while Necro vulture is a Level 4 RUM recycler for turn 3 and Glorious Bright can recycle a name on a turn it didn't negate. these are way less problematic to draw as Cowrie + a bird is full combo, Necro is a Level 4 so it can be full combo with any other bird that Special Summons itself and Bright is a guaranteed negate if you open it alongside any Raidraptor Name.

This build also allows you to slot in more non engine while not compromising on hand quality at the cost of being harder to pilot as you'll have to plan 2 turn in advance how to spend your Normal Summon and what you will recycle.

Sample Decklist

Note: This is an experimental build that hasn't been tested in details, it is up to everyone to swap around the Ratios.

40 cards
2 copies
Card not found (Maxx "C")
Card not found (Mulcharmy Fuwalos)
3 copies
Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)
2 copies
Card not found (Called by the Grave)
3 copies
Card not found (Infinite Impermanence)
2 copies
Card not found (Effect Veiler)
Card not found (Crossout Designator)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raider's Wing)
3 copies
Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Necro Vulture)
Card not found (Foolish Burial)
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)
2 copies
Card not found (Swallow's Cowrie)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Force Strix)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Wise Strix)
Card not found (Raider's Knight)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Brave Strix)
Card not found (Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon)
Card not found (S:P Little Knight)

The Math

This version is a mix between the Cowrie + Wing and handtrap build, but with a clearly different structure. As such new calculations are required:

  • With 20 birds, 1 Foolish Burial and 2 Cowries the odds of openning full combo are of (2 birds or Foolish + a bird = 85%, at least Tribute= 33% so +5% and a bird + Cowrie = 22% so + 2%) 92%, note that of those initial 85% the odds of opening double Wing, Wing + Mimicry, Wing + Necro or Necro + Mimicry with no other birds or ways to unbrick are of around 2% so clearly negligeable.
  • With 8 live Handtraps the odds of opening at least one is of 70%, at least 2 is 25% and at least 3 is 4%. If we factor in Maxx “C” like cards the handtrap count goes to 11 which means 81% chances to open at least one, 42% to open at least 2 and 11% to open at least 3. These odds are ok, even if not really impressive. As stated before with that low of a non engine count board breakers would be more effective but clashes with the anti Maxx “C” measures as Ash would be a mediocre stand alone handtrap and you'd just hand loop yourself for 1 most of the time.
  • your odds of opening an anti Maxx “C” card are still of 57%.
  • your ability to play through handtrap is really hard to quantify as the easy answer would be 33% (odds of opening Called by and/or crossout) but the truth is that depending on you hand this deck can play through a lot and more often than the other handtrap and Cowrie + Wing version due to its low brick count (no Heel, no Roost and no RUMs besides the strict minimum) but the gains are really hard to map out as it depends which bird you open and which handtrap your opponent opens.

Changeable Ratios

There are 2 axis you can go for in this deck when it comes to changeable ratios, the engine or the non engine:

  • For the engine you can easily swap 2 copies of Raider's Wing for 3 copies of Raidraptor - Noir Lanius and 1 of Raidraptor - Pain Lanius. This is not a bad choice but remember that if you open both Noir and pain you won't be able to search with Noir as pain is your only non Level 4 monster and it becomes 4 on field. Also Noir alone isn't full combo, it only is if you open a RUM or a second bird.
  • continuing on with the engine you can always swap around the Cowrie, Wing, Mimicry and fuzzy ratios but remember that keeping at least 20 birds is recommended as if you drop lower you'll tend to brick or fold to a single handtrap more often.
  • On the non engine side you can always swap the handtraps around or even go on a "a l'italiana"-like non engine selection by cutting Maxx “C” like cards and adding Droll for that sweet 85% chances to ignore Maxx “C” like cards entirely. or do a mix of both, it is up to the metagame.

Conclusion

This is a promising yet really hard to use build as you get rid of your main recovery tools, mainly Raidraptor - Roost, this makes grind game a real gamble and requires the player to clearly understand their win conditions and plan ahead accordingly. The big upside being a drastically reduced brick count and an average higher quality of the cards in hand.

Overall this build isn't recommended if you just finished understanding the basic builds as it requires in depth knowledge of both your deck and what the opponent's deck can do.

50 card handtrap + Cowrie

The Principle

So you want the higher agency in bird quality of the Cowrie version but don't want to give up the back up of the handtrap version? Welcome to the 50 card slop.

The main idea of this build is using Fuwalos going second as a watered down Maxx "C" that can win you games on its own but is useful part of the engine, not only as a Winged-Beast that synergizes with simorgh but also a Tribute fodder for Cowrie to search another Level 4 Winged-Beast, such as every Raidraptor besides Heel.

Some of the main ideas of this build are turning Fuwalos into Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius,our one true 1 card combo, through Cowrie or using Fuwalos + Simorgh, Bird of Perfection to make Raidraptor - Force Strix and search other parts of the combo, this latter line can come in clutch in hands containing a Rank-Up-Magic and Simorgh as the Force Strix line allows you to search Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius, Summon Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid by discarding your RUM and going for close to full combo from there were as another non engine piece would have made that hand unplayable.

The Number of cards also reduces your odds to draw dead cards like the Rank ups, Roost or Bright while maintaining a high engine count and good odds to draw non engine.

All this makes a really consistent build that has access to back up plans through handtraps.

The sample decklist

Note: This is an experimental build that hasn't been tested in details, it is up to everyone to swap around the Ratios.

50 cards
2 copies
Card not found (Maxx "C")
3 copies
Card not found (Mulcharmy Fuwalos)
3 copies
Card not found (Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring)
2 copies
Card not found (Called by the Grave)
3 copies
Card not found (Infinite Impermanence)
3 copies
Card not found (Droll & Lock Bird)
3 copies
Card not found (Effect Veiler)
Card not found (Crossout Designator)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius)
Card not found (Raider's Wing)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Noir Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Simorgh, Bird of Perfection)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
3 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Bloom Vulture)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Mimicry Lanius)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Heel Eagle)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Pain Lanius)
Card not found (Foolish Burial)
Card not found (Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Roost)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Glorious Bright)
Card not found (Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force)
3 copies
Card not found (Swallow's Cowrie)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Force Strix)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Wise Strix)
Card not found (Raider's Knight)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Brave Strix)
Card not found (Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon)
Card not found (Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon)
2 copies
Card not found (Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon)
Card not found (Evilswarm Nightmare)
Card not found (S:P Little Knight)

The Math

Due to the Main Deck card count being upped to 50 many stats have to be calculated again. But, due to this being an experimental build, we'll only focus on the main combo odds and handtrap likelihood:

  • The odds of seeing full combo are composed of the odds of seeing 2 birds (21 birds that represent full combo if drawn in pairs -> 70%) + the odds of seeing Tribute Lanius (at least 1 Tribute Lanius -> 27% of 30% -> around 8%, in total 78%) + the odds of seeing a bird + Cowrie (18% of 22%-> 4% in total 82%) so in total 82% chances to draw full combo.
  • The odds of seeing anti Maxx “C” like cards also goes down to 64% (9 cards here) which is a notable downgrade compared to the "a l'italiana" version but still acceptable and fairly close to the other versions.
  • In exchange for these lower chances to full combo and find an answer to Maxx “C” like cards you gain a lower odds to see your bricks (here Raidraptor - Roost, Raidraptor - Glorious Bright, Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force and Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force) 35% to draw at least 1 of them to be precise.
  • The higher card count also means more space for non engine. If we include Fuwalos, the handtrap count goes to 17 (Mulcharmy Fuwalos, Maxx "C", Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Infinite Impermanence, Droll & Lock Bird and Effect Veiler) which gives you 88% chances to see at least 1, 55% chances to see at least 2 and 20% chances to see at least 3.
  • The odds of dodging handtraps are to complex to analyze in such a quick review of the build due to it being less specialized than the other 2 and the combination of birds and which handtraps have been opened by the opponent.
  • The odds of seeing duplicates also goes down from 3 to 2% which is never a bad thing.

Changeable Ratios

Once again, the Engine and non engine choices can be tweaked around:

Conclusion

This is a very interesting and highly adaptable build thanks to the inclusion of Mulcharmy Fuwalos. It gives less options to dodge handtraps but has high consistency both in engine and non engine while notably reducing your odds of drawing bricks! This gives it good meta resilience while Fuwalos is useful. Its big downside is its reliance on Fuwalos being useful against the meta.

Overall a really good build that feels more gambly than what it should due to its reliance on Fuwalos being useful.


Watch out for these noob Traps!

This section will be a collection of cards that can seem excellent but end up being more of a brick, a overall worse version of an existing card or a card that doesn't fit in the pure build and would rather go in a Kali Yuga build for example. We'll still go through reasons to play the cards and reasons not to, as saying "it's bad" is just counterproductive to the overall knowledge of the playerbase.

Wing Requital

The poster child for these kind of noob Traps is, of course Wing Requital, here's why:

The upsides:

  • You can sometimes draw 2 interesting cards like a Droll to stop a resolved Maxx “C” like card, a one of RUM to continue your combo if your Brave got Ash’d, more birds if you get interrupted while the opponent doesn't know how to interrupt RR or more staples after you already combo'd. Basically all the reasons why triple tactic talents draw 2 is good.

The downsides:

  • A total brick if you don't have 2 birds that can be Summoned, which is full combo already.
  • Makes you play into Droll with a boardstate that might not allow you to access Droll lines with no guaranteed to draw into something that will help you.
  • It is a hard once per turn so multiple copies are dead in hand.
  • Can draw into your one ofs making your combo lines awkward. for example drawing a Noir target makes the Arsenal Summon either Tribute or Strangle which can mess with latter parts of the combo if you had a low bird count in hand to begin with.
  • Doesn't further your win condition as the only thing you want to hard draw are handtraps, Droplets or a one of RUM which don't have that big of an impact if your engine is stopped or are hard to find(if you got interrupted on the choke points). This is due to RR's tendency to have a hard time comboing on low resources/simplified gamestates or if they exactly stop Brave and Wise.
  • A point of lesser importance but relevant nonetheless: it makes you pay 800 and I can't count how many times I won games on less than 500 lp, so it matters.

Conclusion: To quote myself "Basically all the reasons why triple tactic talents draw 2 is good.", unfortunately this card is more restrictive and overall does the same as triple tactic talents but without the other 2 effects and without the going second upsides. Its only benefit compared to triple tactics is the fact that if the opponent didn't interrupt you can still draw, but let's be honest, you should be winning if you go full combo with RR.

Cattle Call

Another classic Trap when it comes to effects good on paper:

Upsides:

  • Can help to dodge targeted handtraps, especially on the Main Deck monsters or the link, and turns it into an Xyz. This is a premium effect and can save many games as Raidraptor - Wise Strix is the second most impactful choke point of the deck.
  • Can turn a single bird and Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force or Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force into combo and full disruption (at the cost of Ultimate Falcon's protection).

Downsides:

  • Is an absolute brick if you don't draw a bird
  • doesn't dodge Ash on Raidraptor - Brave Strix or Imperm on Raider's Knight which are arguably the biggest chokepoints of the deck.
  • overall outclassed by Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force when it comes to protecting an Xyz.
  • The Xyz Summoned monster by this effect is has no material so it's only a RUM target or link material, which means that if you don't have other birds in hand or a RUM in hand it is a completely dead monster on the field.
  • This Summon can mess up your extra deck plays. For example, Summoning Brave via cattle call and ranking it up into Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon via a RUM in hand you lose access to the Ultimate Falcon or other high rank techs as you won't have enough materials for its floating effect.
  • to get the most out of the card it is recommended to play it alongside a high RUM density which increases the odds of bricking even further.

Conclusion: Overall it is not a bad card per se but most of its utility is locked behind 2 or 3 card combos which is far from optimal, without birds in hand it is just a brick and it is overall outclassed by Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force that is more versatile overall.

Note: this card is actually not bad in Kali Yuga builds as it can allow you to get to Kali Yuga in way less steps and can play around Maxx “C” like cards! But this is a pure guide so we won't go too much over it.

Swallow's Nest

This card is a pretty special one as it is the "prototype" of Swallow's Cowrie. This is why it is a "noob trap", it is not bad but furthers your Nibiru Summon counter, requires a body onfield rather than in hand and is not very useful against good players as its most common use is to dodge targeted effects on Main Deck monsters, and a good player would never target those with their interactions. Nevertheless let's still do the pros and cons:

Upsides:

  • Gets you your Raidraptor - Tribute Lanius of any Normal Summoned Level 4 birds, which is full combo.
  • Can turn a random Level 4 bird on the field into Raider's Wing which is protection for your Xyz, if you already have a second bird onfield.
  • Can dodge targeted effect like Effect Veiler on your Main Deck birds while replacing it with another Level 4 bird.

Downsides:

  • Hard plays into Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring as you have to commit your Normal Summon and tribute it before having a chance to get another bird (Bloom shenanigans not counted).
  • Summons an additional monster which can randomly make you loose to Loading... on the standard combo that doesn't normally looses to it.
  • is a complete brick if you draw no Level 4 Winged-Beast to go with it.
  • is technically a -1 as you have to use this card and 1 monster onfield to get only 1 bird on the field.

Overall the least deserving of the "noob trap" appellation, in general it is just outclassed by Cowrie most of the time. And is only better than Cowrie against objectively ignorant players.

Rank-Up-Magics in general and their searchers.

This is a small sample of all the Rank ups that exist and are just worse versions of other rank ups. And of course they are absolute bricks if you don't get to an Xyz that is not just sent to the GY by the opponent.

On the Same page the searcher (that are also often -1 in the process) for said RUMs would just be better used to search Raidraptors to start or furthers your plays instead of searching bricks.

See the meta relevant techs to see which RUMs are actually playable beside the standard.

The Useless RR cards

Similar to the previous point this is a small sample of all the bad RR cards, so, why are they bad? Well, would you like to Summon 2 RR from hand when an opponent's attacking? Or maybe change the battle position of a monster? Or maybe get back to the hand a monster destroyed by battle right after it got destroyed? Or maybe have a mystic tomato in archetype? Or what about a 1000 ATK boost and a mediocre battle related effect? Yes these are all RR cards that just don't do enough to justify a slot in the deck.

Generally if a card hasn't been reviewed in the meta relevant techs or in the main builds, you can safely assume it is bad or outclassed by another card. Sadly this is the fate of an anime deck that is almost a decade old at this point: we have a lot of garbage cards that you would never play outside of an anime cosplaying deck.

Generic Level 4 extenders

In 2 sentences: They freak out Fuzzy. Fuzzy is the reason to play pure.

Card not found (Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius)
By playing these cards you're actively cutting yourself of your best monster and reason to play pure over Kali Yuga as its recursion and Special Summon ability gives the deck more resilience than mixed builds.

A notable exception to this explanation are the spirits Aratama and Loading... but one is light (so it cannot be used for Raider's Knight) and neither are Winged-Beasts which makes them awkward a lot of the time. They are the least worse of the generic extenders.


Meta Relevant Techs

This is not a guide about what to put in for the non engine. It is a general direction you can tech your deck in engine to adapt to the tendency of the meta. Non engine varies depending on the time frame and new releases, the engine will most likely stay the same for some time to come.

High GY hate meta

Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force is a bad card. Yes, you heard it here first (or maybe not). It is a brick, it resolves without effect if any Rank 4 target is removed in the chain you activate it. It is a nightmare, and in metas that favor cards like the Bystials (Bystial Magnamhut), it is exceedingly hard to resolve that card leaving you without your main interaction and with one less tower.

This is why the RR team has developed a new endboard to play around these pests called GY interactions these are the 2 key pieces:

A rank 12 monster that can be ranked up at minimal cost with PK RUM into Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon without fear of a target in the GY being removed midchain guaranteeing you a board wipe during the opponent's turn.
Card not found (Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force)
The Rank up used to play around GY removal as only its cost interact with the GY, which is way harder to interact with than Rise RUM. It is also more flexible as, if Final fortress is removed from the field you can always turn a Force Strix into Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon, Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid or Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon and then set Rise RUM thx to Raidraptor - Wise Strix triggering on any of the previous Xyz monsters activating to still get a double interaction.

This set up will be viewed in details in the "new endboard set up" section. It has a higher ceiling than the standard set up but has less of a guaranteed set up as you lose your 2 turn 1 unaffected monsters. But gain a more guaranteed interaction. It is highly recommended to read the mentioned section!

Also Rising Rebellion falcon board wipe isn't a once per turn and Wise Strix can set a second RUM during the opp turn, so yes you can board wipe twice during the opponent's turn, see you in that section!

Replacement effects meta

Replacement effects are a bane for RR as the deck relies on one big board wipe to win the game or weakening the opponent enough for them to be unable to beat over the unaffected monsters. The problem being that replacement effect like Loading... can bypass the unaffected status and still replace the effect of unaffected monsters.

But these effects have a weakness: chainblocking. Thus to beat these effects a simple solution is to add another RR Spell/Trap to the deck so when Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon is Summoned it is possible to use its effect on chain link 1 and then use Raidraptor - Roost as chain link 2 to search a RR Spell or Trap. As both are triggers effects the opponent will only be able to respond to Root's effect guaranteeing you the board wipe.

As such it would be recommended to play a new target for Roost as every target would otherwise already have been searched, an option is of course to play one more copy of the already played Raidraptor - Glorious Bright or Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force but these are bricks so we can optimize further by playing a different target:

The overall favorite target, it's the least bricky RR Spell and can get you to full combo from any Normal Summoned RR you play at least 2-ofs. It doesn't offer recovery but Roost and Bright GY effect are already there for that. The main downside is its lack of synergy with Simorgh and the fact that it doesn't do anything if you didn't draw a RR alongside it.
A correct option, less popular than call but good nevertheless, it offers recovery making it an incredible card for grind game alongside Roost and Bright GY effect. Its main downside is that it's an absolute brick if you don't already have combo which means more bricks in our brickfest. Not the standard but a valid option.

Next Section will also offer you a third target but it is only used in very niche metas so choosing a target for Roost must be done with the utmost care to not brick even more.

Going second OTK meta

In a going second OTK meta it means the meta deck is particularly ignorant of interactions and abuses removal effects to OTK. To play around that our main and easiest option is:

Yes a good old battle Trap, but a searchable one, so it is easy for us to access it and survive OTKs, this makes it a good Main Deck one of in this kind of scenarios.

You can access it in 3 ways:


New endboard set up

With the Rise of GY hate RR players have been forced to adapt as Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force is really vulnerable to GY disruptions. This line also gives a more flexible and impactful endboard when it comes to the ordering of rank ups and disruptions you use. As such, it has becomed the preferred endboard of most pure RR players. So adding PK RUM and Final Fortress is always a solid decision in any build.

Here's the new combo line:

Gameplay tips

As Said in the intro, this guide’s role isn’t to teach you how to combo, but for completion sake I added this section. It is composed of 4 reliable sources of good Raidraptor gameplay including my own playlist (check the others first ; -) )

Closing thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this guide and you found new interest in Raidraptoring with us. As you have surely seen the pure version of the deck is already very complex, especially when it comes to the ratios of specific cards and why or why not play them.

If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments, I’ll be checking them regularly, and if you started playing Raidraptor I would really like to know what version you run and to which level of success!

If I see the demand I might do some other stuff, either as MDM articles or as youtube videos to either detail more some builds, do combo guides or talk about some excentric mixed Raidraptor builds. (if that happens you’ll find it in the comments.)


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14 days ago

Love when people put in the extra effort to put in the MATH. I see math i like 👍.

Great well executed guide!

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14 days ago

they must be a fan lmaoo

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14 days ago

thank you, it took a great deal of work to judge how much I needed to detail the calcs so I'm happy you like it ^^

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13 days ago

Can you make a YouTube review of this guide's math and why you liked it?

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14 days ago

Thanks for the indepth guide, very insightful

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14 days ago

<3

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14 days ago

Thanks for the guide!

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14 days ago

Very good.

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14 days ago

Thank you for this very insightful guide. A slight mistake that i myself learnt the hard way, in the 50 card handtrap + Cowrie section, simorgh + fuwaloss + Rum isn't combo cuz strangle lanius wouldn't have a name in the gy.

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14 days ago

Yes, you are totally right! I got confused due to a game I had while writing that part of the script, in that game I started with bloom+Fuzzy and went for the force strix to search wing, they nibed me on the 5th summon but then I went for the line I described. Thx a lot for the correction! (makes me laugh that nobody in the RR crew got that massive oversight)

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14 days ago

Happy to help a fellow raidraptor bro 🫡

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14 days ago

Lmao we all treating the simorgh as an honorary Raidraptor so we forget it's not

[deleted comment]
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14 days ago
[deleted comment]

Thank you, I do admit I have seen countless decklists with less than optimal choices but that's why I made the guide ^^

As for your opinion on Fuzzy, I do understand your point but this is a pure guide, so no side engines, I chose to go for a pure guide for a simple reason: if you build a non locked version of the deck, the deck itself will change with the new releases, I don't want my guide to be obsolete in 6 month due to a new archetype that perfectly synergises with RR. By going for a pure version of the deck people will be able to see the mechanisms that make RR good in the first place and thus splash it more effectively in different decks.

Another thing is that I do believe in the fact that at the moment pure is better than mixed variants, this is due to the need to play very specific non engine cards that you need to draw going second or you auto loose (so the need to play as close to 40 as possible) while not sacrifycing too much the going first capabilities of the deck(as you said, speedrunning having bricked hands). With this need of playing as close to 40 as possible comes the problem of side engine's bricks (I don't want to draw a benkai or a boot sector launch for example). Finally, pure's higher non engine count allows it to more easily adapt to meta shifts and a less tight extra deck allows you to have more solutions to specific gamestates.

Although if you're a strong believer in the mixed variants I can see your point, I have experimented with 60 cards versions that used pretty much every engine imaginable from rokkets, to vaalmonicas and even tachyons or springans, I just never found them as strong as pure, but that's my very biased opinion.

And finally, thank you for taking the time to write that critique, I'm sure other people will have the same question so it's nice I have the oportunity to clarify it

Btw Vanishing has been mentionned, in the version specific techs, it is the first card for the cowrie version ;)

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14 days ago
[deleted comment]

I think I should have named differently that section. As it's meant to be a collection of highly recommended cards to complete the core with depending on the version, to be fair I have started using vanishing again and it has given good results, I still believe it's a little bit under the others in terms of utility/versatility but not by much. (for example Air Raid is an auto include for me but I put put it in tech)

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12 days ago

If I add Final Fortress and PK RUM to Rev Force in Raidraptor a l'Italiana, what cards would I remove from the deck instead?

Thanks for the very good article! I love Raidraptor so I really enjoyed reading this article!

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12 days ago

To add Final Fortress you can either remove a force strix or remove the s:p. I prefer removing S:P as I never felt like I missed it at any point during these 6 past months but the third force strix did come up a lot.

As for the main deck you can either go for 41 cards, remove foolish, a rev force or a droplet for it, I'd prefer 41 or foolish personnally but the others are valid too.

And I'm happy to ear that you liked the article <3

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11 days ago

Raidraptors is fun and this atleast from my skimming is an amazing guide

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8 days ago

Since Raid Raptor is only available in the dark, there is room for “Dominus Impulse”. How would you rate this card? Also, if I were to adopt it, would “Forbidden Droplet” be the one to remove from the deck instead?

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7 days ago

So... Dominus Impulse is a weird card. At the moment we're theorizing it's a incredibly strong card in hand trap versions. Its effect is especially powerfull once coupled with other hand traps and even more so with imperm. Its main downside is in grind games, its lack of effect to furthers your combo coupled with its "weak" stand alone effect in the current meta and finally its tendency to clash with maxx C and droll. That being said it still is a staple in the hand trap build and probably the card that justifies playing that version over others.

Unfortunately, in rev force it's really hard to find a place for it and justify it over higher impact one cards like dark ruler no more or droplet as you have a lower non engine count. At the moment it is not recommended for that build except if the meta favors it a lot. Still in testings tho, with tweaked ratios it might become worth it.

As for the wing + cowrie version we didn't investigate enough to come to conclusions. At the moment it feels like if we go with 2 wings 2 cowrie it might be consistent enough and free up enough space to make it worth it. To be investigated either ways.

If I have to give a conclusion it would be: extremely strong card but hard to fit in most builds due to the limited non-engine space we have. If you feel like playing it, it is a strong argument in the hand trap build, not as much in the others. Its main weakness is that is 1 for 1 interaction so, except if it's a silver bullet it's generally not worth playing in cowrie and rev force builds.

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7 days ago

Thank you for your response! I too think that a single handtrap has little chance to be effective, so I was wondering if it is too subtle except for handtrap builds that can be stacked. I'm glad to hear the same thoughts. I had also forgotten that “Forbidden Droplet” is a card that can be resisted while discarding engines. Thanks for reminding me. Hopefully one day Raid Raptor will have a starter that can be a reason to choose a handtrap build.

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7 days ago

Your welcome ^^

I don't think we'll ever be able to weaponise hand traps as well as other decks. Most decks only need to search monsters and sometimes a S/T as interuption. We need to search both monsters and spells as combo pieces (loosing either can reduce drastically our ceiling) and our endboard is reliant on both monsters, spells and traps so I don't ever see us being good users of hand traps or at least not better than many other decks

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14 days ago

Hey, right on time! I was about to play this deck. Thank you for the great work

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14 days ago

your welcome, hope to see you soon in the MDM RR channel :)

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14 days ago

Hi, another raidraptor user since 2 years ago. My builds tend to go more to the pure side, tho. A few observations I might add

  1. I don't consider raptor's ultimate mace a dead card at all, it's not the greatest, yet it never fails to save you when it comes up.
  2. Up until the previous anime festival from last month, I couldn't understand how ending on a single final fortress falcon (to play around a lava golem, possible kaijus and etc) can be a better play, instead of investing a lot of resources for RRF nuke.
  3. I made my build around trying to always have resources at hand or gy for follow up. Roost and nest are crucial in my build.
  4. Don't like summoning force strix turn 1, since it leaves you open to potential lethal play,I prefer the force strix loop.
  5. I tend to keep a copy of rise/blaze/revolution/satelite cannon falcon in case I get stuck with opponents playing defensive.
  6. I tend to reach plat rank as main season goal, so all my previous experience aren't from the point of view of someone who's familiar with diamond/master rank

Have a good day, guys.

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14 days ago

Hi, first of all I wish you the best of luck in your grind, hope to see you in masters soon! Then I'll address your points from my point of view:

  1. Ultimate mace, as cute as it could seem on paper, just doesn't cut it in higher ranks because it is unsearchable (not being named raidraptor), doesn't affect our unnaffected monsters, the ones you would like to give the ATK boost to, and, as it is an equip spell, it is both vulnerable to backrow removal, monster removal and negates.

  2. Our most common use of FFF is actually to guarantee a double nuke (or a single nuke in the face of a bystial) as, when it has no materials, you can use PK RUM to turn it into RRF, RRF will trigger once thus triggering wise strix to set Rise RUM, you can then use a force strix to summon a second RRF and nuke the board a second time.

  3. That is a correct way to build the deck if you don't sacrifice interaction for it. My big problem with nest is that it's as bricky as roost and doesn't give enough advantage to justify it over call which is way less bricky allowing you to turn any RR you play more than 1 of into full combo, opposed to nest that requires 2 names, but, if you have 2 names, you already have combo.

  4. I do believe you're refering to wise strix and I do understand that issue but really few decks can OTK with 1 attack through 1 or 2 nukes and a targeted negate.

  5. I like keeping revolution and satelite too as they offer a great deal of utility. And I can get behind blaze even tho I prefer stranger, the later is better to force out negates as it floats and can be used as a turn 3 play to revive arsenal and float back into another tower. As for Rise... a 3 material xyz, with no protection, outclassed by another more accessible monster of the same archetype in a deck that already has ED space problems, I'm sorry, I can't justify it.

Have a nice day too ^^

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13 days ago

Wow this is so good. As a 'mid-tier' RR enthusiast, I've been trying to level up my deck building and play style so this was super helpful. I wanted to ask about the new endboard for GY meta. What are some good cards to remove for Final Fortress and the PK RUM? I prefer the Noir + Revo variant of the deck, so based on the suggested decklist I'm not sure what to remove. Particularly ED. Would I remove the level 10 XYZ, now that I want Arsenal into FFF?

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13 days ago

thanks! Glad it was helpful to you!

The overall consensus on that is to cut the rank 5 (not named brave strix) or the non raidraptor card you play. In the rev force list it would be cutting S:P for FFF. We like to keep Ulti falcon as, going second, it is very important to close out games against stuff like yubel, making them unable to float before nuking the board and locking them out of a spirit of yubel when you try to swing for game is more important than you'd think. In the main deck you can just add PK RUM, adding 1 card won't change the math much so it's fine

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13 days ago

SO VERY BASED

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13 days ago

Nice, but how does Final Fortress play around typical gy hate like bystials and crow on your opponent's turn?

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13 days ago

It is a Rank 12 that can be affected by Rank Ups. As such you end on it + PK RUM so you can use them to summon a rising rebellion without needing a card to be moved from the GY for effect (only for cost so bystials and crow are useless)

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7 days ago

No mention of Soul Shave, it is that bad?

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7 days ago

Ah yes, soul shave... it's a card I didn't want to include cause no matter what I'd say people wouldn't agree.

In theory, it's an extremely good card that allows you to extend or break boards more effectively + it could very easily convert into busted boss monsters.

In practice it's not that simple. It is a RUM so if you don't draw playable it won't help you, if the opponent has any kind of GY disruption it's dead, RUMs tend to hit diminishing returns after 3, especially if they're not quick plays, could be good alongside triple tactic thrust but in a negate infested metagame good luck resolving thrust going second if you don't play 8 other board breakers.

Also for this guide in particular we're playing a pure version of the deck so the biggest strength of soul shave is kinda irrelevent (cheating out non RR busted xyz) so it really didn't feel good to include. Maybe in a more ED removal centric meta (it's very specific)