New Killer Tune Archetype Announced for Phantom Revengers

Konami has finally released information for the last archetype being introduced in the upcoming Phantom Revengers (Phantom Revenge for the Western market) expansion this December.

New Main Deck Monsters

Credit: Konami

^{Shared Card Text:}

^{If this card on the field would be used as Synchro Material, 1 Tuner in your hand can be used as 1 of the other materials. You can only use the 1st and 2nd effect of this card's name each once per turn.}

^{Killer Tune Mix}

^{Warrior/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{(1) If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 “Killer Tune” monster from your Deck or GY to your hand, except a Level 2 monster.}

^{(2) If this card is sent to the GY as Synchro Material: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; destroy it.}

^{Killer Tune Clip}

^{Thunder/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{(1) During your opponent’s Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this card from your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Synchro Summon 1 Tuner.}

^{(2) If this card is sent to the GY as Synchro Material: You can banish 1 random face-down card from your opponent’s Extra Deck.}

^{Killer Tune Reco}

^{Fiend/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{(1) If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 “Killer Tune” monster from your Deck or GY to your hand, except a Level 3 monster.}

^{(2) If this card is sent to the GY as Synchro Material: You can target 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls; destroy it.}

Every new archetype needs some main deck monsters as a foundation, and the Killer Tune archetype is no different, coming with a very small main deck roster of monsters. This is very reminiscent of the Yummy archetype.

The main gimmick of the Killer Tune main deck monsters is that they all have a shared effect of being able to use another Tuner in hand as a synchro material. While not an overtly powerful effect, it does subtly allow the controlling player to skip a step or two when accessing the extra deck, essentially turning all the Killer Tune main deck monsters into mini one-card combo starters.

The second aspect of the Killer Tune main deck roster is their ability to piggyback a second effect while being used for synchro summoning, the extra deck focus of this archetype.

Mix and Reco are the ‘Stratos’ of their team. While having 2 of your 3 main deck roster members as searchers seems good at first glance, it has its reasons. 

Mix can only search out Reco while Reco herself is needed to grab either Mix or Clip. You’d need both search monsters to have access to all the roster members. 

Mix does have the benefit of bypassing usual handtraps by special summoning instead of adding to the hand. Furthermore, both Mix and Reco have good board-breaking effects going second; the former for monsters, the latter for backrow.

Out of the three, Clip is probably the member that will give most players pause. While its Quick Effect can only be used on the opponent’s Main Phase, it can potentially allow for a potential turn-zero play line for players going second

On top of this, Clip could wreak havoc on decks that only play single copies of their extra deck monsters. It’s even worse because Clip banishes the target face down. Rival archetypes like Maliss that use the banishment zone as a resource won’t be able to capitalize on Clip’s ability.

For first impressions, the Killer Tune main deck monsters are phenomenal for players going second. There’s easy access to all monsters via Mix and Reco, and if already in hand, Clip can function as a pseudo hand trap depending on how the match evolves.

The Synchro Monsters

Killer Tune Track Maker

Credit: Konami

^{Machine/Synchro/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{1 “Killer Tune” Tuner + 1+ Tuners}

^{If this card on the field would be used as Synchro Material, 1 Tuner in your hand can be used as 1 of the other materials. You can only use the 1st and 2nd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.}

^{(1) If this card is Special Summonned: You can add 1 “Killer Tune” card from your Deck to your hand.}

^{(2) If this card is sent to the GY as Synchro Material: You can return 1 card your opponent controls to the hand.}

Killer Tune Track Maker feels like it should’ve joined Mix, Clip, and Reco in the main deck. Given that it has one of the best board-breaking effects in Yu-Gi-Oh in the form of non-targeting bounce, however, we can see the reasoning why Track Maker was relegated to the extra deck. It also explains that, despite Killer Tune’s focus on synchro summoning, actually accessing Track Maker is a little more difficult than the other members of the extra deck roster. 

As a level 4 Synchro monster, a player would be forced to use Mix and/or Clip for the summoning. Since Mix can’t search out Clip on her own, a player would have to sequence out access to both or use a non-archetype Level 2 tuner monster as an alternative.

That said, Reco is a Level 3 Tuner, and one of the most prolific handtraps in the game is Effect Veiler, a Level 1 Tuner monster. While it may not be the most ideal play line, it’s still another possibility to consider.  

Track Maker can be seen as a good extension when synchro climbing. Coupled with its bounce, we can see at least one copy being used in a deck list for its potential in forcing the opponent to use a hand trap.

Killer Tune Remix & Killer Tune Red Seal

Credit: Konami

^{Killer Tune Remix}

^{Warrior/Synchro/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{“Killer Tune Mix” + 1+ Tuners}

^{You can only use the 2nd effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) Gains 1500 ATK while your opponent has a Tuner on their field or in their GY.}

^{(2) During your opponent’s turn (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; take 2 non-Synchro Tuners from your GY, add 1 of them to your hand, and if you do, Special Summon the other, then, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Synchro Summon 1 Tuner.}

^{Killer Tune Red Seal}

^{Fiend/Synchro/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{“Killer Tune Reco” + 1+ Tuners}

^{You can only use the 3rd effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) Gains 300 ATK for each Tuner in the GYs.}

^{(2) The Levels of monsters your opponent controls with 1700 or less original ATK are increased by 1.}

^{(3) During the Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 Tuner from your GY, then target 1 face-up card your opponent controls; negate its effects until the end of this turn.}

We’re pairing up Killer Tune Remix and Killer Tune Red Seal together due to their shared nature that’s centered around both Killer Tune Mix and Killer Tune Reco.

As part of the Killer Tune package, Remix and Red Seal are easily accessible the moment Mix and Reco are available to the player, which can easily be done due to the pair’s (Mix and Reco’s) ability to search out the other quite easily.

What’s interesting is how Konami had designed Remix and Red Seal. Where Mix and Reco are fairly strong board breakers going second, their synchro counterparts are very good when going first for setting up an interactive board.

Remix can easily be used to recycle any of the main deck Killer Tune monsters for whatever effect is necessary, essentially tagging out to another Synchro monster at the end of its second effect. That said, the tribute Remix’s first effect is written as a cost, which makes Remix particularly vulnerable to handtraps like one of the Dominus traps or Infinite Impermanence.

Red Seal is a little more standard, but having a targeting omni-negate is still a boon. As for its cost, the easiest resource to use would be any of the Killer Tune monsters, as they are all tuners, but a player could extend the advantage offered by the Ghost Sister handtraps (like Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring), once they’re in the graveyard.

Killer Tune Loudness War

Credit: Konami

^{Machine/Synchro/Tuner/Effect Monster}

^{“Killer Tune Mix” + 1+ Tuners}

^{You can only use the 2nd effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) Other Tuners you control cannot be destroyed by card effects, also your opponent cannot target them with card effects.}

^{(2) When your opponent activates a card or effect (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 “Killer Tune” monster from your GY; apply its effect that activates if sent to the GY as Synchro Material.}

For what may be the archetype’s boss monster, Loudness War lacks the other overall staying power associated with it.

Loudness War’s presence does give some blanket protection for the other members of the archetype, but it does not enjoy these same benefits.

As for its Quick Effect, Loudness War does offer some versatility by just how well-rounded and powerful all synchro material effects Mix, Clip, Reco, and Track Maker offer. Without any protection, however, Loudness War suffers from the same drawback that Remix has to deal with; the cost will act as a magnet for any negation handtraps.

Back Row Support

Credit: Konami

^{Killer Tune Synchro}

^{Quick-Play Spell Card}

^{You can only activate 2 cards with this card’s name per turn.}

^{(1) You cannot Special Summon for the rest of this turn after this card resolves, except Tuners, also add 1 “Killer Tune” card from your Deck to your hand, except “Killer Tune Synchro”, then, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Synchro Summon 1 Tuner.}

^{Juke Joint “Killer Tune”}

^{Field Spell}

^{You can only use the 3rd effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) During your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 Tuner in addition to your Normal Summon/Set (you can only gain this effect once per turn).}

^{(2) “Killer Tune Loudness War” you control gains 3300 ATK while your opponent has a Tuner on their field or in their GY.}

^{(3) You can Tribute 1 Tuner; add to your hand, or Special Summon, 1 “Killer Tune” monster from your Deck, also you cannot Special Summon for the rest of this turn, except Tuners.}

^{Killer Tune Playlist}

^{Normal Trap}

^{You can only activate 2 cards with this card’s name per turn.}

^{(1) Target 1 “Killer Tune” monster you control or in your GY; apply these effects, in sequence, also you cannot Special Summon for the rest of this turn after this card resolves, except Tuners.}

^{● Apply its effect that activates if sent to the GY as Synchro Material.}

^{● Return it to the hand.}

Seeing the backrow cards for Killer Tune, we get a sense that Konami may have frontloaded all the best effects on the monsters. That said, even though these cards aren’t necessarily outlandish in their capabilities, they still offer stable consistency.

Killer Tune Synchro is a RotA-esque (Reinforcement of the Army) spell for any of the Killer Tune cards, not necessarily just the monster cards, that immediately shifts into a synchro summon. 

Juke Joint “Killer Tune” is another consistency tool that may be the most mundane of the bunch. All of its effects don’t necessarily push a win condition outside of turning Loudness War into a 3,300 attack power beatstick. 

That said, having another search tool as well as a method of potentially unbricking your initial hand isn’t bad. You can essentially exchange any of your tuner monster handtraps for one of the Killer Tune main deck roster members if the effect isn’t negated.

Killer Tune Playlist has some surprising strength behind it, even though its effectiveness is dictated by what’s already on the field or in the graveyard.

Playlist can be highly versatile for the archetype despite these limitations, and we can see this trap card played at a single copy just to round out any end boards that need a highly reactive piece of tech for their interactions.