Overview
The "Stromberg"/"Fairy Tale" archetype made its first appearance in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links in the Dimension of Wizards Mini-Box in March 2019, making it one of the longest "Tournament Topping" decks in Duel Links history. The deck focuses on the Field Spell Loading... and has two distinct engines built in it: one focusing on Loading... and its direct attacking effect and another more combo-centric one focused on Loading... and Loading... . Upon release, the Loading... version of the deck was quickly dismissed as gimmicky burn / stall strategy, while the Loading... /Loading... version, although receiving some attention due to its synergy with Loading... , didn't feel powerful enough to be worth playing. Since the discovery of the Loading... and Loading... combination, however, the Loading... version of the deck, which will be the main focus of this guide, has slowly but surely shown itself as competent Anti-Meta strategy. Abusing the capability of the deck to avoid battle and play around the win-conditions of some other decks, while at the same time being able to fit in tech cards for the metagames it finds itself in, Stromberg can be a very scary deck if played and built correctly.
About the Author
Hello, I am OstrichChild. I have been playing Stromberg since May of 2019, 2 months after its initial release. I immediately gravitated toward the deck after seeing Frost play it in a Meta Weekly, and ever since have pretty much exclusively played it in tournaments and KC Cups, in fact I have reached Top 32 in all 6 Meta Weekly events I have played Stromberg in. Other notable performances Top 16 in MW #84, 2nd Place in SGL #9, Top 16 in multiple giveaway tournaments, quite a few tops in Battle Phase events, and many First and Second place finishes in smaller events.
Introduction
The Prinzessin version of the Stromberg deck is an Anti-Meta Control strategy that uses the Special Summoning effect of Loading... to generate card advantage and setup a powerful board that allows you to avoid direct confrontation with your opponent’s big monsters, like Loading... or the entire archetype of Darklord monsters, when they declare an attack. Unfortunately, this one-card setup comes at the cost of giving up your Normal Summon and banishing the top 10 cards of your deck face-down during your Standby Phases. Despite that, there are various ways to mitigate these downsides, such as tech cards, Loading... , and/or playing more than twenty cards.
This guide’s objective will be to present to you what the deck excels at, how it manages to adapt to the current format, and hopefully give you information about the deck
Skills
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Shadow Game :
In the current meta, with Lightsworn engines and Shiranui everywhere, almost every deck has enough cards in their graveyard for Shadow Game to build up and start doing massive amounts of damage. This skill is beneficial for Stromberg players, as we rarely have more than a few cards in the graveyard, and can use Loading... to banish even more. This is probably the best choice at the moment, in both competitive and casual play. -
Loading... : See You Later is probably the most skill-capped skill for the Stromberg deck. It is the only skill to rival the competitive viability of Shadow Game , allowing the user to quickly escape from Loading... or Loading... . Especially good against Dark Magician decks, this skill allows you to summon Loading... to destroy an opponent’s face down, return the Glife to the hand, and then make synchro plays using Loading... . The applications of See You Later are very good, making it another viable competitive option.
- Reversal Of Fate
Loading... can be used in a more casual build, or potentially in the future, if big beatsticks become the meta. The skill ensures that Hangman’s effect is tails. This skill is not recommended in the current meta, but if played correctly, can be a very scary combination with Hangman, especially against Blue-Eyes / HERO.
Core Cards
Golden Castle of Stromberg (3x):
The deck lives for this Field Spell and its two main effects that provide you access to your deck’s main monsters and "battle protection". The first effect lets you, once per turn and at the cost of your ability to Normal Summon for that turn, Special Summon from your deck any monster from your deck that lists Loading... in its card text, which includes the rest of your direct-attacking and protection setup in the forms of Loading... and Loading... and backrow removal in the form of Loading... . Its second effect destroys any opponent’s monster that declares an attack, while also burning them for half of that monster’s ATK on the field. The price to pay for these amazing effects? You must banish the top 10 cards of your deck face-down during each of your Standby Phases, which isn’t optional, or Loading... is destroyed. While this sounds like a very heavy drawback, the deck often only needs to pull off its one-card setup once to achieve its win-condition. On top of that, Loading... benefits from the effect of banishing, gaining 4000 ATK points. If that wasn’t enough, the higher card count of this deck, prevents us from decking out before we reach our win condition.
Glife the Phantom Bird (3x):
After Pumpkin Carriage, this card may be the second most relevant reason as to why the deck has any viability. Acting as the three extra copies of Loading... by having the excellent ability to discard it from your hand and add Loading... , this card helps with the deck’s inherent issue of having to run more than 20 cards to not deck out. If that somehow wasn't enough to make it a definitive 3-of staple card in the deck, Konami was generous enough to give it a simple, but effective, extra effect that allows it to pop one of your opponent’s back row cards if Normal or Special Summoned, which also further adds to Golden Castle of Stromberg’s overall utility (note, however, that the specific wording in Glife’s text means that it cannot destroy Field Spells but only the cards in your opponent’s Spell & Trap Zone). Having 1500 ATK also makes it a decent beater, especially if your opponent’s non-fairy monsters are equipped with Loading... .
Prinzessin (1-2x):
This is the deck main beatstick and an example of how appearances can be deceiving. This small 300 ATK monster boosts itself to 1300 when, through its own effect, it equips itself with Loading... after bringing out a direct-attack enabling Loading... . Add Loading... ’s protection to the equation and you’ve got yourself a surprisingly stubborn monster to deal with. A successful direct attack from this pretty princess can transfer Loading... to other monsters on the field, either putting a handicap on them (non-fairies) or buffing them (fairies). With all of this combined, Prinzessin is not a fun card to play against.
Glass Slippers (1x):
This Equip Spell is the final piece of your one-card setup, and also your only major garnet. After using Loading... ’s effect to bring out a Pumpkin Carriage, you can also equip Loading... to the Prinzessin as long as Loading... is also face-up on the field to give it an extra 1000 ATK, since it is a Fairy. But its extra effects also add to deck’s power as an Anti-Meta strategy: firstly, when equipped to a non-Fairy monster it reduces that monster’s ATK by 1000 while also stopping it from declaring attacks altogether (great for equipping onto a Loading... )- add Loading... ’s ability to swap Glass Slippers around the field after a direct attack and you get a pretty annoying set of effects to deal with, as it can either cripple your opponent’s monsters or further boost any other Prinzessin you may have on your field. Secondly, it can re-equip itself to a Prinzessin if the monster it was previously equipped to is destroyed by any means, which further improves the deck’s resilience. With this effect, you can equip Loading... to an opponent’s monster, destroy it in battle with another monster like Glife and get back the Glass Slippers on your Prinzessin for a 1300 ATK direct attack.
Pumpkin Carriage (1x):
Normally, carriages are the ones being carried around by some animal, but, in this case, Pumpkin Carriage is the one carrything the entire deck on it’s back. Stromberg decks would likely have zero viability if it weren’t for the myriad of things this card does for the deck. It protects Stromberg from destruction and targeting effects, it gives Prinzessin the ability to attack directly and access to Slippers, it is the main enabler of Synchro plays in the deck - as it is Level 3 and fulfils the special summoning requirement of Loading... . It even makes Loading... a viable tech choice in the deck. It isn’t a Garnet, as Loading... can also bring it out from the hand, which justifies playing just the 1 copy. Pumpkin Carriage does so much for the deck, and this deck would be nowhere near how good it is without it.
Other Major Cards
Lava Golem (1-2x):
A staple in most Anti-Meta strategies and decks that don’t need the Normal Summon to execute their gameplan, Loading... is your main way to dispose of monsters that refuse to stay quiet when faced with Golden Castle of Stromberg and its one-card setup, like Loading... , Loading... or any monster that can’t be destroyed by card effects, while also aiding your chip damage strategy with its 1000 burn damage. Most recently, it’s utility was improved with the addition of Crystrons to the meta, a deck that aims to consistently put multiple monsters on the field to overwhelm the opponent with the repeated usage of their synchro monsters. You can also equip it with Loading... to stop it from attacking altogether or to reduce its ATK enough to be destroyed by Loading... in a follow-up Synchro play, not only clearing the field but also giving you the chance to re-equip Glass Slippers back onto a Prinzessin, enabling an otk. Always be sure to check if you can kill your opponent by summoning the Lava Golem in Attack position for a Econ-take play. Remember to make sure your opponent doesn’t have Loading... or Loading... before doing this.
Gren Maju Da Eiza (3x):
Being a free card that you can get from Pick a Gift Campaigns, or even just KC Cup SR Tickets, Loading... . After paying the maintenance cost for Stromberg once, this monster becomes a Normal Summon with 4000 ATK and DEF that can be even stronger if you were hit by cards like Loading... , Loading... , or even your own Loading... . It’s also a Level 3 monster which can enable some Synchro plays with Psychic Wheeleder, such as going into Loading... .
Psychic Wheeleder (3x)
While the one-card setup can potentially when you games, it’s always good to have a secondary, or even tertiary win condition. Psychic Wheeleder acts like the ambassador between Stromberg’s main deck and extra deck. Being able to special summon it, almost for free, makes Wheeleder a great enabler for Loading... board wipes, or crazy otks. This card adds an insane amount of consistency to the deck, and the fact that is in the same mini box as the rest of the Stromberg cards, makes it very easily obtainable.