Morphtronic

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Morphtronic
"Morphtronic Boarden", "Morphtronic Celfon" and "Morphtronic Remoten" in the artwork of "Morphtronics, Scramble!"
Japanese
  • ディフォーマー
  • (base)
  • ディフォーマー (ruby)
  • Difōmā (romanized)
  • Deformer (translated)
French
  • Morphtronique
German
  • Morphtronische
Italian
  • Morfotronico
Korean
  • D디포머
  • D (base)
  • 디포머 (ruby)
  • Dipomeo (romanized)
  • Deformer (translated)
Portuguese
  • Morfotrônico(a)
Spanish
  • Morfotrónico
Sets
TCG
OCG
Anime appearances
Manga appearances
Lists

"Morphtronic", known as "Deformer" (ディフォーマー Difōmā) in the Japanese version, is an archetype of cards used by Leo in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and introduced in Crossroads of Chaos. The archetype includes various Types and Attributes, but most members are EARTH and/or Machine, with several being LIGHT and/or Thunder.

They are depicted in how they "morph" when they change their battle position, which changes their effect(s) and appearance (humanoid in Attack Position; item in Defense Position). They transform into small "electronic" household items, like magnets and mobile phones.

This archetype is related to the "Power Tool" archetype, with some overlapping support arising from their use by the same character in the anime. Some cards in this archetype are designed to facilitate the summon of "Power Tool" monsters and support them once they are on the field.

Members[edit]

Morphtronic Device origin
Boarden Skateboard
Boomboxen Boombox
Cameran Camera
Celfon Cellphone
Clocken Alarm clock
Datatron Lighter (OCG artwork)
USB flash drive (TCG artwork)
Earfon Earphones
Lantron Flashlight
Magnen Magnet
Magnen Bar
Radion Radio
Remoten Remote control
Scannen 3D printer
Scopen Microscope
Slingen Slingshot
Smartfon Smartphone
Staplen Stapler
Telefon Telephone
Vacuumen Vacuum cleaner
Videon Video camera

Related[edit]

The "Gadget" archetype contains a small series of monsters that directly support the "Morphtronic" archetype. Their designs also fit with the transforming theme of the "Morphtronic" archetype.

Gadget Device origin
Arms Water gun
Driver Screwdriver
Gamer Laptop
Hauler Semi-trailer truck

Playing style[edit]

The "Morphtronic" archetype revolves around manipulating its monsters' battle positions. Each "Morphtronic" Main Deck monster has two on-field effects, and each effect corresponds to one battle position (Attack or Defense), and is only usable while the monster is in that battle position. Most "Morphtronic" monsters and support cards have battle-related effects, with the Attack Position effects being more attack oriented and Defense Position effects being more defense oriented; as the game's power level increased, these battle-focused cards have become functionally obsolete.

A small number of "Morphtronic" monsters, instead of having obsolete battle-focused effects, have effects focused on swarming monsters (revolving around rolling a die and excavating cards equal to the result), and these monsters form the core of the current "Morphtronic" playstyle, which revolves around Synchro and Link Spamming. These monsters are "Celfon", "Smartfon", and "Telefon"; "Scopen" and "Remoten" can also facilitate monster swarming, but are generally less used. Telefon in particular is very potent as a three off, as it is always able to summon another copy of itself from the GY as it is a Level 1 monster and thus its level will always be equal to or lower than the die result of its effect.

While in Attack Position:

  • "Celfon" can roll a die and excavate cards equal to the result, and Special Summon 1 excavated Level 4 or lower "Morphtronic" monster.
  • "Smartfon" can roll a die and excavate cards equal to the result, and add 1 excavated "Morphtronic" card to the hand.
  • "Telefon" can roll a die and Special Summon 1 "Morphtronic" monster from the GY whose Level is equal to or lower than the result.

All three effects are soft once per turn, meaning that multiple copies of these monsters can each use their effects individually to repeatedly generate advantage. Most significantly, multiple copies of "Telefon" can set up an infinite loop of Link/Synchro materials by itself, by constantly summoning other copies of "Telefon" from the Graveyard.

In particular, "Telefon" alone brings enough swarming power to establish a field of Co-linked Link Monsters. One example of such a field is "Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess" in the Extra Monster Zone, "Tri-Gate Wizard" beneath "Apollusa", "G Golem Invalid Dolmen" to its left, and any of the "Knightmare" Link Monsters to the right of "Tri-Gate Wizard". "Invalid Dolmen" is especially potent here as it grants excellent protection to its co-link partners, while "G Golem Crystal Heart" and "G Golem Stubborn Menhir" are able to special summon their link material on summon and thus extend combos.

Synchro-based "Morphtronic" builds are able to use cards such as "Cupid Pitch" and "Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon" to perform combos using Telefon for gaining access to high level Synchro monsters, such as "Power Tool Braver Dragon", "Borreload Savage Dragon, or "Baronne de Fleur". As "Morphtronic Earfon" is a Level 4 EARTH non-Tuner monster, it is able to be used as a stepping stone to summon "Naturia Beast". However, such builds will quickly discover that options are limited for in-theme non-Tuners that can contribute to plays. Accordingly, a Synchro-based "Morphtronic" build will often need off-theme cards to facilitate additional non-Tuner summons. One method is by summoning a Spellcaster Link monster, such as "Relinquished Anima", and using it to fulfil the summon condition of Awakening of the Possessed - Nefariouser Archfiend, which can summon "Earfon" or "Gadget Gamer" from the GY as additional non-Tuners to use. Another is by tributing "Telefon" for the summon of "Epigonen, the Impersonation Invader", providing level 1 and level 7 non-Tuners. Many other options also exist.

Regardless of whether "Telefon" was used to facilitate Link or Synchro plays, any remaining "Telefon" can then be used at the conclusion of a combo as material for the Xyz Summon of Rank 1 Monster Cards, giving the deck a way to search a potent Hand trap in "D.D. Crow", with "Lyrilusc - Recital Starling", or alternatively seek further interruptions with "Lyrilusc - Ensemblue Robin".

The starter for this swarming-based "Morphtronic" playstyle is "Gadget Gamer", who can search for a Level 1 Machine (which all the above phone-formed "Morphtronic" monsters are), and then Special Summon it and "Gadget Hauler" from the Deck; this immediately sets up a Level 7 Synchro Summon (tying the deck's playstyle to the "Power Tool" Synchro Monsters).

Further swarming can be achieved through "Machine Duplication", "Junk Box", "Morphtronic Converter", "Dimension Dice", "Morphtronic Repair Unit" and "D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation". "Power Tool Dragon" can be used to search for the latter two.

Recommended cards[edit]

Recommended cards

Weaknesses[edit]

Due to the Deck's reliance on Special Summoning by card effects, floodgate cards like "Lose 1 Turn", "Summon Breaker", "Skill Drain", "Power Filter", "Macro Cosmos", and "Anti-Spell Fragrance" cause issues for the Deck. The archetype also lacks many first-turn plays after their initial Normal Summon, due to various cards, such as as "Remoten" and "Smartfon", only working if there are "Morphtronic" monsters in the Graveyard. The Synchro and Link Spam variants can also quickly run out of cards in their Extra Deck, and thus may not have any moves to use on subsequent turns. These problems can be mitigated with cards such as "Foolish Burial", "Machina Fortress", and "Urgent Schedule" to fill the Graveyard, or "Machina Overdrive" and "Pot of Avarice" for resource recycling.

This Deck as a whole leans heavily on resolving a handful of monster effects repeatedly across a turn by reviving monsters with soft once per turn effects. Accordingly, cards that disrupt the graveyard, such as "D.D. Crow" and "Called by the Grave" threaten to completely end this Deck's turns. With few ways of retrieving banished cards, there may be few ways to recover if only one "Telefon" remains.

As with many Decks, many common hand traps such as "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring", "Nibiru, the Primal Being", and "Maxx "C"" (OCG-only) are always a looming danger. "Maxx "C"", however, can be a double-edged sword, as players using the "Telefon" loop while it is in effect can force the opponent to deplete every card in their Deck, though at the risk of them drawing into another potentially turn-ending counter. "Nibiru" also does not stop the "Telefon" loop if it is used too early, as any method of reviving a "Telefon" will simply cause the loop to begin anew.

"Power Tool Braver Dragon" is an important end board card, but its power can be reduced easily with simple backrow removal cards like "Harpie's Feather Duster", "Galaxy Cyclone", or "Twin Twisters". With most "Morphtronic" monsters being Machine monsters and being reliant on the Graveyard, "System Down" and "Chimeratech Fortress Dragon" can prove devastating to the Deck, without non-Machine cards present.