The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG) is no stranger to exclusive archetypes. The upcoming expansion, Duelist Advance, seeks to increase that roster by introducing the all-new R.B. (Rebel Bot) archetype.
The Main Deck Monsters
The archetype is off to a pretty good start all things considered. Driller, Cutter, and Rocket all have the capability of summoning themselves with easy to meet restrictions. This allows the cards to extend into Extra deck plays easily.
Driller can force an interaction from the opponent with its targeted destruction. This effect relies on Driller being linked to another R.B. Link monster, though. It also comes at the cost of 500 life points and Driller destroying itself.
The life point cost is negligible when it comes to modern Yu-Gi-Oh! It’s actually the loss of Driller itself that makes it become questionable.
With how the game is played presently, the loss of a body, even a single one, at the worst possible time could swing the match’s tempo severely.
Cutter and Rocket follow almost the same principles as Driller. The former can counter any back row support, while Rocket can hit more cards on the field for the same cost in card advantage.
There are a few interesting things to take note of between the three.
First, Driller and Cutter’s effects can be used at Quick Effect speed, making them pieces of interaction if left on the field the opponent has to go through.
Second, Cutter’s effect doesn’t need to target a card. This can potentially allow Cutter to counter any Trap card that can activate from the hand, like one of the Dominus cards (Impulse or Purge).
Third, Rocket can do burn damage which, while not that interesting, does become a little bit more interesting factoring in its ability to take out two of your opponent's cards. This, attached to an easy-to-summon monster, makes Rocket a lot more interesting.
As far as the main deck monsters go, they suit better for a player going second than first because of the R.B. monster's proclivity for board interaction - so far, at least. The Link monsters spoiled so far for the R.B. archetype do look like great enablers for building a strong board.
Extra Deck Monsters
The trend of easy summoning conditions continues into this archetype’s extra deck monsters. R.B. VALCan Booster and R.B. The Brute Blues can easily be brought out onto the field by using any generic machine-type monster.
While Brute Blues is easily splashable with other machine-focused decks, VALCan Booster’s extra deck summoning lock could prove to be unwieldy with a lot of common extra deck plays (e.g. S:P Little Knight).
That said, VALCan's abilities are too powerful for it to be a generic, splashable Link monster. The card provides a ton of card advantage, immediately searching for an in-archetype card and offering a R.B Special Summon from the grave. Even on a Link-3 or higher monster, VALCan would be playable, but at Link-2 this firmly puts this link monster as a very strong extender for the archetype.
Brute Blues, on the other hand, is more of a ‘towers’ type monster given the ability package it possesses. It can essentially function as a combo extender with its search function, but its value lies firmly in its potential to become a pretty hefty beat stick.
So far, both extra deck monsters are a good start for the archetype. They don’t scream ‘premiere end board pieces’ but they do serve as fantastic engines to get to a strong endboard. What that board ends up being, however is the question that has to be answered.
Back Row Support
The in-house back-row support that R.B. has can be pretty ludicrous. Funk Dock is your stereotypical search. It can target any R.B. card, so any new R.B. named cards from here on out are game.
Funk Dock also recoups the lifepoint costs imposed by the main deck monsters. This is admittedly its weakest ability, but any additional versatility is welcome. More interstingly, this Field Spell can replace a fallen R.B. monster with another from your deck - provided it gets destroyed by a card effect. Considering that R.B monsters are interested in destroying themselves, this can do work on both player's turns.
Funk Dock basically covers the biggest issue that each of the main deck monsters have at least once; the loss of a body for their interaction. This can open up more interactive plays or decent board-breaking strings.
R.B. Stage Landing, on the other hand, is an absolutely incredible spell. The card is already incredibly solid by just summoning R.B. monsters directly from your deck, but being able to do the same things with your extra deck means that this has the makings of pushing the archetype to competitive status.
Depending on what else Konami reveals for this archetype, R.B. Stage Landing, and the rest of the R.B. base definitely suggests this is an archetype to get excited for. That said, mainly thanks to the 'same name' restriction on R.B. Stage Landing, these Machines need a little more ammunition before we can know whether or not they're worth following.
The Mitsurugi archetype, another TCG exclusive that currently has a massive metagame share, followed the same steps R.B. seems to be treading. Assuming Konami releases a second wave of support for the R.B. archetype, there is the potential for having a pretty consistent rogue deck.