Introduction

This portion of the guide was made with the help of a number of people. My name is Nozo, and I'm the main writer of this guide. I’m a long time fan of the Yugioh anime but I’m relatively new to the actual game. Despite that, Crusadia is a really newbie friendly deck that I feel like I have a strong understanding of. Massive thanks to Sindie, Unmei, and Shadow from the Master Duel Meta discord. Their assistance with this guide made it much better than it otherwise would have been.

Core Cards

The following cards absolutely should be run in any and all Crusadia decks. They’re your essential pieces. First, let’s start off with…

Main Deck Monsters

Crusadia Maximus

This is the most important of all the Main Deck Crusadia monsters. It allows you to double the damage your Link monster deals with attacks and makes OTKs much more feasible.

Crusadia Draco

Another very important Main Deck Crusadia. Draco allows you to search any Crusadia monster from your GY and add it to your hand. The most common use for this effect is to return the Crusadia you used to start your combo back to your hand. Since you Normal Summoned that Crusadia, you’ll be able to Special Summon it again to extend your combo.

Crusadia Arboria

A valuable source of protection. When in your GY, you can banish Arboria to prevent the destruction of a Crusadia monster. It’s also a Tuner, although this has no use in a going second strategy.

Crusadia Leonis

Leonis is less useful than the others. Its effect allows your Link monster to beat over Defense Position monsters, which is situationally useful. A lot of the time it won’t matter though.

Crusadia Reclusia

Reclusia is another less useful Crusadia. It allows you to tribute one Crusadia monster on the field to destroy a card on the opponent’s field. It can be situationally useful, but more often than not the tribute cost is just too harsh.

Parallel eXceed

This isn’t a Crusadia but I consider it just as important as one. Parallel eXceed can’t start combos, but when you Summon a Link monster you can Summon it from your hand to a zone a Link monster points to, while halving its ATK and Level. When you do that, you can also Summon another one from the Deck to the field with the same halved ATK and Level. This is incredibly useful both for giving you Link materials and giving you materials to go into an Xyz Summon since we do run some rank 4 Xyz monsters in the deck.

Kaiju

Running some Kaiju helps this deck a lot, allowing you to get rid of problematic monsters on your opponent's field. The specific Kaiju doesn’t matter much, so don’t waste your CP on Loading... . Previously I would have suggested specifically running the wind Kaiju, but now that the WIND Barrier Statue has been banned, that no longer matters. Instead, you should run a variety of different Attributes to facilitate Loading... , if you decide to play that.

Extra Deck Monsters

Crusadia Magius

Magius is your primary combo starter. You can go into it with any Crusadia except for itself and it allows you to search any Main Deck Crusadia based on your current needs. Usually if you want a basic combo extension you’ll go for Loading... so you can bring back the monster you used to Summon Magius, but there are definitely situations for every Crusadia. You want to run 2 of these for going into Loading... , although you can run 3 for safety.

Crusadia Regulex

Regulex is your general Link-2 of choice, allowing you to search any Crusadia Spell or Trap card. We’ll discuss the Spells you’ll have access to more below but in a nutshell, Loading... allows you to give one Crusadia monster immunity to card effects for a turn and Loading... bolsters your offensive power (it does not revive your Crusadia monsters despite the name). You can get away with only running one Regulex but two is safer.

Crusadia Spatha

Spatha is a nice alternate option to Loading... . It allows you to move a monster. You can use this to move your own Crusadia out of the Link zone you Summoned it to, allowing you to Summon another Crusadia. Alternatively, you can move your opponent's monster into the zone in front of the Extra Monster Zone.

Crusadia Equimax (2x)

The key card of this deck and the reason OTKs are possible. Equimax might have a low base ATK of 2000 but similarly to the other Crusadia Link monsters, it gains ATK from any monsters it points to. As a Link-3, Equimax has 3 Link arrows - a bottom left arrow, a bottom right arrow, and an up arrow. This allows you to take advantage of your opponent’s monsters ATK as well as boosting it with your own. Equimax also has the effect to tribute one Crusadia monster it points towards, then it can negate the effect of any face up card on the field. This effect is useful, but you probably won’t use it much.

Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax

This is the only UR of the Crusadia archetype and it’s well worth going for. Avramax has an effect that allows it to gain ATK equal to the ATK of the monster it’s battling during damage calculation, and it also can’t be targeted by card effects (although it can be affected by non-targeting effects). When you use Loading... on Avramax, you get a monster that’s exceptionally hard to out. If you’re forced to go first, Avramax is your plan B - many decks simply won’t have a way to deal with it.

Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir

This is a very powerful floodgate that can serve to shut down your opponent hard. Its effects differ based on whether it’s Summoned in attack or Defense Position, but you should pretty much always Summon it in Defense. It forces any monsters your opponent Summons into Defense Position and negates any effects they try to use. It also doesn’t impact Link monsters due to them not being able to enter Defense Position, allowing your main boss monsters to continue their plays.

Number 60: Dugares the Timeless

The second Rank 4 Xyz you should definitely run. This monster has 3 effects, but only one of them really matters. The third effect of this card allows you to detach two Xyz materials to double the ATK of one monster you control, at the cost of losing your Battle Phase on the next turn. That’s a big downside, but it doesn’t matter much if there isn’t a next turn and that’s your goal. Dugares makes getting OTKs much easier, especially when your opponent doesn’t have a monster since Maximus is useless in that scenario.

Spell Cards

Crusadia Revival

Despite the name, this card does not revive your monsters. Instead, it offers a 500 ATK boost to any Crusadia Link monster. You can also activate its effect and target one Crusadia Link monster you control, allowing that monster to attack every other monster on the field.

Crusadia Power

This is your best option in terms of protection. It allows you to target any one Crusadia monster, making it unaffected by card effects except for their own. Using this on Loading... makes it very difficult to out. You can run three for a higher chance of drawing it in your opening hand to protect your Crusadia as you combo or you can run one and rely on searching it with Loading... .

Crusadia Testament

This card isn't amazing but it's a decent enough option. Using it makes your Crusadia monster effects unable to be responded to. If you use it right after destroying an opponent's monster, it allows you to draw cards equal to the Link Rating of your monster. While a draw 3-4 is quite nice, the goal of Crusadia is to end the game on the first turn so it generally doesn't see a lot of use. The first effect is fine but you have to use it preemptively for it to have any use. It's an option, but I wouldn't recommend it personally.

Tech options

The ones listed above are the cards you should definitely run without question, but they won’t fill your deck alone. As such, I’m going to list a few more options. This isn’t comprehensive by any means and if you have suggestions for things I should add, feel free to ping me (@Nozo#3678) on the YuGiOh Master Duel Discord (https://discord.gg/SGaSsBrMc6). These are just a fraction of the options.

Hand Traps

Hand Traps are an integral part of the Yugioh meta. You should definitely consider running standard cards like Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , and many more. They’re very useful, especially since you should be going second with this deck. Drawing a Hand Trap can seriously hinder your opponent and seriously help you. Which ones you include and how many is a matter of preference.

Formud Skipper

Formud Skipper is an excellent option. You can use its effect to choose a card from your Extra Deck, then you can treat that monster's name as Formud’s name for a Link Summon. This allows you another way to go into Magius. In addition, it allows you to search out Parallel eXceed, which as mentioned before is exceptionally useful. However, you should only run this if you’re also running a Link-1 monster you can go into if Formud gets negated. Otherwise, you’re likely to lose matches off of a single negate. The cheapest and easiest option is Loading... . It offers little to no actual utility, but it serves as a Link-1 monster you can make with a negated Formud that has a downward pointing arrow.

Level 1 Extenders

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These are two cards that can extend your combos pretty effectively. Both of them are Level 1 so you can go into Loading... with them if you have that card and both of them can Special Summon themselves.

Small World

The potential uses of Small World really can't be understated, this card is insane. It allows you to reveal a monster in your hand. When you do, you'll be tasked with selecting another monster from your deck that shares exactly one trait with the revealed monster. After that you'll select a third monster that shares exactly one trait with the second monster revealed, and you will add that to your hand while banishing the other two. This card is complicated and difficult to understand, but it allows you to do a lot of cool things. You can change a Kaiju out for a Crusadia, and you can also change a Crusadia out for a Kaiju. Experimentation is the best way to learn this card - just try it out and see what kind of lines you can figure out!

Backrow Removal

Generally any cards that remove the opponent’s Spell or Trap cards are useful. Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , ect. All those options work. How much of this you need is really up to you.

Lightning Storm

This is also backrow removal but it deserves special mention for also allowing you to destroy your opponent’s monsters. We do notably need the opponent to have at least one monster for our combo to work, but Lightning Storm is very effective at forcing out negates. Very good card, you should have at least one to run from the special bundles but more is better.

Infinite Impermanence

Loading... also works well for this purpose, if you're attempting to run a more budget friendly build. Being able to negate on your opponent's turn is very helpful and it can also help weaken their board before you start your combo.

Pot of Desires

Drawing two cards is really nice and you can sometimes get away with ripping 10 cards out of your deck. If you do this, you’ll have to be prepared to work without cards like Loading... or Loading... since there’s a solid chance they’ll be banished face down.

Called by the Grave

This card allows you to combat your opponent’s Hand Traps. Loading... , Loading... , all that.

Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher

As scary as it might seem to banish 8 cards off the top of your deck, the utility more than makes up for it. Going second, you can Special Summon this card on your opponent’s end phase. Then, on your turn, you could either use its effect to destroy a monster to force out an interruption. If you don’t need that effect, just use it for your Link plays and Summon it again from your GY with its own effect on your turn. Going first, this card can be a surprise Defense from your hand or GY to halt your opponent’s OTK.

Dinowrestler Pankratops

Another big flexible extender. Special Summon it off your hand then use its effect to force out interruptions or destroy a pesky floodgate (Skill Drain). If you don’t need its effect, it is still a 2600 ATK extender than can help boost your Equimax

Alpha, the Master of Beasts

Similar to Pankratrops, this is yet another big versatile extender. Summon it from your hand, use its effect to bounce a monster off your opponent’s field (non-targetting bounce!). You can then Summon it again. While you can’t use its effect or attack with it again, it can still be a massive 3000 ATK boost to your Equimax.

Gizmek Kaku, the Supreme Shining Sky Stag

While less powerful than the 3 previous techs, Kaku still offers similar value to the deck. Use its effect to absorb threats in the Extra Monster Zone. It stands at a beefy 2750 ATK which you can use to boost your Equimax or, very conveniently, to OTK along Accesscode talker (5300+2750 = 8050!).

Extra Deck Tech Options

I:P Masquerena

I:P Masquerena is a fantastic card. If you utilize it as a material when you create Avramax, you give Avramax protection against destruction effects. This can be very useful as it makes Avramax immune to both targeting effects and destruction effects, making him a rather difficult boss monster to out.

Abyss Dweller

Abyss Dweller is another floodgate that can shut down your opponent. Many meta decks are extremely reliant on GY effects and simply don’t have a way to deal with them being negated. This is especially true for Tearlaments.

Link Spider

Link Spider is here for one reason and one reason only. When you inevitably have Loading... activated on you, you can use the Token to go into Link Spider and maybe make a comeback. Probably not, but it can work.

Accesscode Talker

A generic Link-4-boss monster. If you go into it with Equimax and another monster, you can get it up to a whopping 5300 ATK. Combine that with the ability to banish Link monsters from your GY to destroy cards on the field and Accesscode becomes a pretty good boss monster. Unfortunately, all the Crusadia monsters are of the light Attribute so you'll usually only be able to pop one card (two if you sacrifice Accesscode)

Borrelsword Dragon (1x)

Another self explanatory strong boss monster. Borrelsword allows you to turn a monster on either side of the field into Defense mode to give you two attacks. It can also gain attack points equal to half the attack of a monster it battles. With a whopping 3000 attack points, you can do a lot of damage with this.

Sky Striker Engine

This is an expensive option, but it drastically increases the consistency of the deck. Using it requires a number of cards. First off…

Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones (1x)

This card allows you to Special Summon a Token and is the key to the engine’s success, since that Token can be used to Link into Sky Striker monsters who can then be used to extend your Crusadia plays.

Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!

This card is self explanatory - it allows you to search out Hornet Drones.

Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor

This pretty much just acts as a better Forbidden Chalice much of the time, although it does require you to not have any monsters in your Main Monster Zone.

Sky Striker Ace - Kagari

This is the main monster you’ll Link into with the Token Hornet Drones gives you. Kagari allows you to recycle a Sky Striker Spell from your GY to your hand, allowing you to get back Hornet Drones.

Sky Striker Ace - Kaina

Unlike Kagari, her effect isn’t important. The only thing that matters is that she’s a monster for you to use to climb who has an activatable effect when Special Summoned.

The largest benefit of the Sky Striker engine is that it allows you to avoid Ash Blossom. We’ll go into this in more depth on the next section, but the general combo you want to use is as follows:

1. (Engage, Search Hornet)
2. Normal Summon any Crusadia
3. Link-1, Magius
4. Activate Hornet
5. Link-1 Kagari
6. Chain Link-1 Magius, Chain Link-2 Kagari!!! This blocks Ash Blossom!!
7. Search Maximus, get back Hornet
8. Link-2 Regulex
9. Activate Hornet
10. Link-1 Kaina
11. Chain Link-1 Regulex, Chain Link-2 Kaina! This blocks Ash Blossom!!
12. Search Revival, Target any unit with Kaina
13. Link-3 Equimax
14. Set Revival face-up, Special Summon Maximus
15. Target Equimax with both Revival and Maximus effects
16. Attack over your opponent’s monster (ideally a Kaiju) for game.

Now, let’s get into why exactly this combo works. The key mechanic in play here is…

Chain Blocking

Worried your opponent might have Loading... for your Loading... /Loading... search? Do you have a Loading... effect you really need to resolve despite your opponent having a negation on board? What if I told you there is a way to make some of your effects safe from most negations? Let me introduce you to Chain Blocking. It is a simple yet effective tactic that prevents your opponent from responding directly to some of your effects. The idea behind it is that you get to choose the order of activation of effects that are triggered at the same time. By choosing your most valuable effect as Chain Link-1, it becomes impossible to negate by most of the common interruption methods. It is best explained through a few examples:

Loading... vs Loading...

You have a Loading... on board. The opponent has an Loading... in hand ready to negate your Magius’ search effect. You Special Summon Loading... from your hand to the zone Magius points to, triggering both Magius’ search effect and Draco’s effect to return a monster from your GY to your hand. As both effects are triggered simultaneously, you get to choose the order of activation of these two effects: choose Magius as Chain Link-1, Draco as Chain Link-2. Your opponent will not be able to use Ash to negate Magius’ effect as the last thing to happen is Draco’s effect!

Loading... vs Loading...

Loading... is a very powerful card that can negate monster effects more than once per turn. However, you can utilize chain blocking to remove her from the board. You have Loading... in the Extra Monster Zone. You Special Summon Loading... from your hand to a zone Magius points to. Magius and Reclusia’s effects are both triggered at the same time. You can therefore choose the order of the chain Links. Choose Reclusia as Chain Link-1 and Magius as Chain Link-2. Apollousa can negate Magius’ effect as it is the last effect to activate. However, she just can’t negate the effect of Reclusia as it is Chain Link-1. Magius’ effect is negated but Apollousa is destroyed by Reclusia’s effect.

Please note that Reclusia’s Special Summon is not an activated effect. Therefore, the Summon can’t be prevented by the likes of Apollousa (same applies to all Crusadia monsters).

Got the idea? The monster effect in Chain Link-1 is very hard for your opponent to stop. Always keep it in mind as an option to help you resolve your most important effects even when your opponent has interruptions on the field. When you have the option to, it is recommended to put Magius as chain Link-1 to prevent it from being negated by Ash Blossom.

Only cards like Loading... or Loading... can actually negate monster effects in a chain Link-1.

The Sky Strikers

One particularly stellar example of chain blocking is the Sky Striker engine as mentioned above. Using it facilitates two easy chain blocks! The way you’d go about it is to first Summon Loading... with any Crusadia, then use Loading... (or use Loading... to search it). Summon the Token to a zone Magius isn’t pointing to, then Link Summon Loading... using it! This allows you to simultaneously activate Magius and Kagari, with Magius being first ensuring your search goes uninterrupted. After that if your opponent doesn’t interrupt your Kagari, you can return Hornet Drones to your hand and repeat the process with Loading... and Loading... to create a fully Ash Blossom immune combo!

A Key Note

Make sure to go into settings and turn "Activation Order Settings" to On, otherwise you won't be able to chain block.

General Combo Guide

There are two main combo routes - one that goes straight into Avramax and one that goes into Equimax and can go into Avramax after the fact. Both of them start the same way:

1. Normal Summon any Crusadia monster (preferably not Draco).
2. Sacrifice the Normal Summoned monster to Link Summon "Crusadia Magius" from the Extra Deck.
3. Special Summon a second Crusadia monster from your hand to Magius (preferably Draco), triggering Magius to search. If you didn't already play Draco, you search for Draco. Otherwise Arboria or Maximus. Maximus if you go second and want to OTK, Arboria if you go first.

Now to Summon Avramax in as few Summons as possible, you do:

4. Sacrifice Magius + Crusadia X monster to Link Summon Crusadia Spatha, then Special Summon another Crusadia from hand to Spatha.
5. Move it away from beneath Spatha with Spatha's ability, then Special Summon another Crusadia.
6. Link Summon any Link-2 (usually Crusadia Regulex) with the two Crusadia's that you Special Summoned from hand.
7. Use both Spatha and the other Link-2 to Summon Avramax.

For Equimax or a slower Avramax, you do:

4. Sacrifice Magius + Crusadia X to Link Summon Crusadia Regulex, then Special Summon another Crusadia from hand to Regulex.
5. Regulex triggers and you search for whatever Spell/Trap you need, usually Crusadia Power or Revival in this situation.
6. Sacrifice Regulex + the other monster to Link Summon Equimax.
7. Summon whatever monsters you have left beneath Equimax. Preferably Maximus, so that you can attack for double damage.
8. If you still need to go into Avramax, use one of the leftover Crusadia monsters to Summon a second copy of Magius.
9. Sacrifice Equimax + Magius to Link Summon Avramax.

Quick Maths

Being able to quickly calculate damage is a pretty valuable skill in Yu-Gi-Oh! and particularly for Crusadia. You need to be able to evaluate if the play you’re making will yield enough damage, from very far off. Having a calculator on hand works, but it’s an inconvenience so here are a few tricks that can help you guess quickly the damage you’ll be doing mentally.

Crusadia Avramax vs a Special Summoned monster

Avramax has the ability to gain ATK equal to the opponent monster’s ATK once per battle. Therefore, he will always deal damage equal to his own ATK when battling any Attack Position Special Summoned monster! No need to get lost in complex calculations to guess the damage. Your opponent has 2 Special Summoned monsters in Attack Position. You see at the start of your turn that you could Summon Avramax and use Revival to allow him to attack both of the opposing monsters. How much damage would you deal? Avramax would be 3500 ATK with Revival and will therefore deal 3500 damage on every attack. Unfortunately, this means you would only deal 7000 damage with that play. Back to the drawing board to find a better play to finish off the game this turn!

Crusadia Equimax vs a monster he’s pointing to

Imagine you Kaiju’d your opponent’s monster and cleverly put the Kaiju in front of the Extra Monster Zone where you would Summon Equimax. How much damage would you deal if you battled that Kaiju with Equimax with nothing else on your board? 2000 damage (aka Equimax’s ATK), no matter which Kaiju (or monster) it is that Equimax is pointing to! Obviously, you would have more things on your board but you can still use this trick to evaluate the damage quickly. Just add up to the base 2000 damage whatever ATK value of the other monsters on your side that Equimax points to. Also, don’t forget the 500 ATK extra he could receive from Crusadia Revival. A very common application is your opponent having only 1 monster in Attack Position that your Equimax points to. You then Special Summon Maximus and apply his effect on Equimax to deal double the damage. How much damage would you deal? 2000+1600 = 3600, doubled by Maximus effect so just 7200! You would therefore need a Crusadia Revival (2000+1600+500=4100 doubed so 8200) or any additional Crusadia monster to reach the necessary damage. Just remember, when attacking a monster you’re pointing to:

· Equimax + Maximus is not enough damage (7200 damage)

· Equimax + Maximus + Revival is barely enough (8200 damage)

· Equimax + Maximus + any other Crusadia (even Reclusia) is enough (8000 damage with Reclusia)

Sample Decklists

Here are three different decklists. First off, this is an example of a pure Crusadia deck.

41 cards

Build in Deck Builder

Download

Prerequisites

• A registered Konami ID linked to your master duel game
• Must login to Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards DB using the same Konami ID
• If the Yu-Gi-Oh! DB website asks to login with Game Card ID just click "I don't have a game card ID" and fill some basic information to proceed

Export Guide

- Via the MDM extension (Recommended): Download on Firefox, or Chromium Browsers
For Chromium browsers (Chrome/Edge/Opera/Brave...etc) just click "Add to chrome" on the store page and it'll work on most if not all chromium browsers.
After using the extension, go to the Master Duel game => Main menu => Deck option => The Card database option at the top right corner => locate the deck you exported and copy it

Unable to detect extension

Don't show this again

- Manually

1. Click here to copy the export code
2. Go to Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards DB and click My Deck => Add a Deck
3. Once the deck page loads click Edit then do one of the following based on the platform your device is running:
• (PC Only): Press F12 to open the browser console => Paste the export code there => Hit Enter
• OR (Other platforms/PC): In the address bar of the current tab remove the URL and type "javascript:" without the quotations then paste the export code and hit Enter
4. Save the deck
5. Go to the Master Duel game => Main menu => Deck option => The Card database option at the top right corner => locate the deck you exported and copy it

Click here for a more detailed guide

Here is a decklist for Crusadia utilizing the Sky Striker engine.

42 cards

Build in Deck Builder

Download

Prerequisites

• A registered Konami ID linked to your master duel game
• Must login to Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards DB using the same Konami ID
• If the Yu-Gi-Oh! DB website asks to login with Game Card ID just click "I don't have a game card ID" and fill some basic information to proceed

Export Guide

- Via the MDM extension (Recommended): Download on Firefox, or Chromium Browsers
For Chromium browsers (Chrome/Edge/Opera/Brave...etc) just click "Add to chrome" on the store page and it'll work on most if not all chromium browsers.
After using the extension, go to the Master Duel game => Main menu => Deck option => The Card database option at the top right corner => locate the deck you exported and copy it

Unable to detect extension

Don't show this again

- Manually

1. Click here to copy the export code
2. Go to Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards DB and click My Deck => Add a Deck
3. Once the deck page loads click Edit then do one of the following based on the platform your device is running:
• (PC Only): Press F12 to open the browser console => Paste the export code there => Hit Enter
• OR (Other platforms/PC): In the address bar of the current tab remove the URL and type "javascript:" without the quotations then paste the export code and hit Enter
4. Save the deck
5. Go to the Master Duel game => Main menu => Deck option => The Card database option at the top right corner => locate the deck you exported and copy it

Click here for a more detailed guide

And here is a decklist containing only the required cards with lots of space left open for techs.

26 cards

Build in Deck Builder

Download

Prerequisites

• A registered Konami ID linked to your master duel game
• Must login to Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards DB using the same Konami ID
• If the Yu-Gi-Oh! DB website asks to login with Game Card ID just click "I don't have a game card ID" and fill some basic information to proceed

Export Guide

- Via the MDM extension (Recommended): Download on Firefox, or Chromium Browsers
For Chromium browsers (Chrome/Edge/Opera/Brave...etc) just click "Add to chrome" on the store page and it'll work on most if not all chromium browsers.
After using the extension, go to the Master Duel game => Main menu => Deck option => The Card database option at the top right corner => locate the deck you exported and copy it

Unable to detect extension

Don't show this again

- Manually

1. Click here to copy the export code
2. Go to Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards DB and click My Deck => Add a Deck
3. Once the deck page loads click Edit then do one of the following based on the platform your device is running:
• (PC Only): Press F12 to open the browser console => Paste the export code there => Hit Enter
• OR (Other platforms/PC): In the address bar of the current tab remove the URL and type "javascript:" without the quotations then paste the export code and hit Enter
4. Save the deck
5. Go to the Master Duel game => Main menu => Deck option => The Card database option at the top right corner => locate the deck you exported and copy it

Click here for a more detailed guide

Some Helpful Rulings

Crusadia Arboria Protection

Her effect to protect a monster doesn’t activate and therefore can’t be negated. This can be useful at times.

Kaiju

Kaiju monsters do not activate when being Summoned via their own effect. In other words, nothing can stop you from tributing your opponent’s monster and offering them a Kaiju. Kaijus are therefore the perfect counter to cards such as Herald of Ultimateness, no matter how many Fairies or Herald of the Orange Light they have.

They do have a small weakness though. Cards that prevent you from Summoning monsters still apply to them. Cards like Fossil Dyna, Barrier Statues and Loading... with 4+ materials are therefore immune to your Kaijus.

Crusadia Equimax Negation Effect

Crusadia Equimax’s effect to negate a card effect works similarly to Effect Veiler. If your opponent Summons Rescue Cat, you can use Equimax effect, tributing a monster you control to negate his effect. Even if he later activates Rescue Cat’s effect tributing itself, it would still be negated! However, if you wait until they activate the effect to attempt to negate it, you wouldn’t be able to as Rescue Cat tributes itself as a cost on activation. The same idea also applies to other cards such as Linkuriboh or Sky Striker Raye (though Raye could still chain her effect, tributing herself to Summon a Sky Striker from the Extra Deck).

Crusadia’s Special Summon

All Main Deck Crusadia monsters share an effect that allows them to Special Summon themselves to a zone a Link monster points to. In other words, you don't activate any effects to Special Summon the Crusadia monster. This means that your opponent cannot stop you from Special Summoning the Crusadia monsters from your hand. The same idea applies to other common Crusadia techs such as Kaijus, Turbo Booster, Jester conflict, World Legacy Crown, Dinowrestler Pankratops. However, cards like Parallel eXceed and Gizmek Orochi activate their effect in hand to Special Summon themselves and can therefore be negated before they even hit the board!

Example of an application: Opponent has Apollousa on the board, you have 4 different Crusadia monsters in hand. Normal Summon the first Crusadia monster, use it to Link Summon Magius. You can then Special Summon another Crusadia monster from your hand. Proceed to then Special Summon your next Crusadia monster and use it to climb into Equimax. Special Summon your last Crusadia monster and finally Summon Accesscode Talker. Use Accesscode Talker effect to get boosted to 5300 ATK (which your opponent cannot negate with Apollousa due to Accesscode’s effect). Use the other effect to destroy Apollousa (still cannot respond due to Accesscode’s effect). You’ve just Summoned a powerful Link-4 monster and destroyed Apollousa without using a single monster effect that Apollousa can negate!

Please note that in this play you could still activate your monsters’ effects and utilize chain blocking with Magius/Regulex/Draco to get at least one of them to resolve while climbing. There is a dedicated section on this guide for this purpose.

Crusadia Power vs Maximus/Leonis/Revival

Crusadia Power is a card that makes your Crusadia Monster unaffected by other effects except its own for the rest of the turn. It is a powerful effect that protects you from your opponent’s effects but it can also prevent you from benefiting from your own card effects. Indeed, if you activated Power on Equimax and then activated Crusadia Maximus effect on Equimax, Equimax still won’t inflict double the battle damage when battling monsters as it was unaffected by your Maximus effect when you activated it.

However, if you activate Maximus effect on Equimax before using Power on him, the effect still applies and you deal double the damage. This is colloquially named a “lingering effect”. As long as Equimax was not unaffected at the moment you used Maximus' effect, you are guaranteed to get the benefits. Even if you later use Crusadia Power on Equimax!

The same idea also applies to Crusadia Leonis and Crusadia Revival’s effects.

Example of an application: Opponent has Linkuriboh on the field and a 3300 ATK Kaiju on his field. You have on your board Equimax, pointing towards your opponent’s Kaiju, a Draco and a Maximus on your board. You use Maximus effect on Equimax to deal double the damage in battle. You then proceed to attack the opponent’s Kaiju with Equimax. Opponent activates Linkuriboh’s effect attempting to reduce your Equimax attack to 0, you then chain Crusadia Power from your hand on Equimax. Equimax will then deal 8400 damage to the opponent as Maximus effect still applies!

And that's the guide! If you've read this far, you should have a pretty solid grasp on Crusadia. Build the deck, go out into ranked, and have a blast landing those OTKs!