K9 Guide

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Pure K9, Yugioh's best rank 5 engine put in a deck by itself! I'm Bludsworth and I've been playing pure since its release in the TCG format. K9 is a XYZ deck primarily focused on level 5 main deck monsters that overlay for rank 5 XYZ threats, and can later use their in-archetype spells or traps to release powerful boss monsters. While K9 is primarily used as an engine to support other archetypes, the cards are more available in MasterDuel than any other format, and thus form a competent independent strategy!

Deck Strengths/Weaknesses

Playing K9 without any other engines comes with advantages and drawbacks, just like any other deckbuilding choices.

Meet the Cast

All main deck K9 monsters except for Loading... have a clause which allows them to be normal summoned with tributing if your opponent has 2 or more cards in hand, which is always the case when going first and usually applicable going second. This is vital for starting rank 5 plays, which can be gated by the lack of easily accessible normal summons.

K9-04 Noroi

Your ideal normal summon and only monster that's a one card combo, Noroi has the effect that when NORMAL summoned, allows you to summon one other K9 monster from your deck. While that monster is on the field, you can only summon K9 monsters from the Extra Deck. Because of this, if you start your combo with Loading... , it may be beneficial to your endboard to wait until you search and summon Noroi to make Loading... , with the downside of no longer playing around droll.

K9-17 Izuna

Izuna adds a lot of handtrap resilience to your combos into cards like Loading... , while also acting as a turn 0 handtrap, interrupting your opponent even if they go first. This is because she has the effect to special summon herself from your hand as a quick effect if your opponent has activated a monster effect in the hand or graveyard this turn. On summon, she is able to send one K9 card from the deck to the graveyard, which will almost always be Loading... . She is also kept in hand at the end of most combos to add layers to your endboard, as board breakers can't interact with the hand as easily!

K9-66a Jokul

Jokul enables extremely strong 2 card combos by having the effect to reveal itself and another level 5 monster in hand, and special summon BOTH to the field. Because Jokul can also activate her effect on field to search any K9 monster from your deck, this threatens multiple pushes and the ability to XYZ into Loading... for a handtrap negate on its own, while leaving your normal summon free. Importantly, if summoned by her effect, both she and the summoned monster cannot be used for a LIGHT monsters XYZ summon, which cuts off certain extra deck options. Jokul tends to be the ideal target for Loading... if Jokul has not used her ability to search this turn.

K9-66b Lantern

Unlike most decks utilizing the K9 engine, Lantern is played at 3 copies in pure decks, as he acts as a very relevant extender for your combo, with the ability to target any other main deck K9 monster in your graveyard, and summon it as well as himself to the field. Just like Loading... , both he and the monster summoned by his effect cannot be used for a LIGHT monsters XYZ summon. While on the field, he has the very relevant ability to search any K9 spell or trap, allowing for even further extension and board breaking capabilities. Lantern is also one of your best cards to search in later turns for the grind game, as he is one of the few sources of monster recursion from the graveyard the deck has.

K9-ØØ Lupis

The last of the main deck K9 monsters, Lupis acts as the other half of the Izuna turn 0 XYZ play, and a grind game piece for later turns. He has the effect to, if an opponent has activated a monster effect in the hand or graveyard this turn, special summon himself from the hand OR graveyard during the main phase. Then, at ANY POINT during your opponents turn, he can perform an XYZ summon that includes himself as a material. This is relevant, as while he needs to be summoned during the main phase, his effect to XYZ as a quick effect can be done even during the end phase of your opponents turn if toggled ON. He further has the relevant effect that any monster that has Lupis as material cannot be targeted by your opponents card effects, making the monsters much harder to deal with. Important to note, is that even by himself Lupis is capable of summoning a Loading... if the conditions are met. Being an untargetable Ty-phon is surprisingly hard for most decks to out, and is usually worth doing.

K9-17 "Ripper"

Your go-to rank 5 monster, Ripper really does it all. She negates a monster effect activated in the hand or graveyard, searches ANY K9 card, and if your opponent has activated a monster effect in the hand or graveyard, she gets to set a quick-play from your deck OR graveyard. Best of all is that her search and negate are not once-per-chain, so if they try to ash your search, you can negate it. Because they used ash blossom, you then get to set a quick-play spell. Importantly, because that card is set from the deck and is a quick-play, it cannot be activated the turn it is set. Keep this in mind if you're attempting to go for lethal damage using something like Loading... . As previously stated, you almost always want to go for ripper as your first extra deck monster, save for times you're trying to threaten Loading... harder. Because of this, putting 2 Ripper in your deck can be worth it for later turns as you're usually going through the first quite fast.

K9-X "Werewolf"

An extremely powerful boss monster going first and second, Werewolf is always summoned by using a K9 spell or trap, and comes with a couple of effects. First, he can attack a number of times up to how many materials he has. For example if he has 3 materials, he can attack 3 times that battle phase. Then, if your opponent activates a card or effect, he can detach a material to do one of two powerful effects. On your opponents turn, he looks through their hand and gets to banish it until endphase, allowing you to take the starter or extender they need, and force them to play into awkward lines or end their turn entirely. On your turn, he gets to NON-TARGET banish a card from their field and graveyard, similar to a Loading... . Werewolf is the standard summon off of your set quickplay spell as unlike other K9 monsters he cannot be summoned directly without using one. Because of his strengths and flexibility you *can* play him at 2 copies, but this usually isn't necessary.

K9-66X "Jacks"

Jacks is your main K9 secondary target for both standard rank 5 plays and your K9 spells or traps. On summon, or on activation of a monster effect in the hand or graveyard (during the next chain), Jacks can target one monster on the field and destroy it. Very Simple. He has the secondary effect that if he is XYZ material and the opponent has activated a monster effect in hand or graveyard, any battle damage dealt to your opponent by the monster he's attached to is DOUBLED. This can be easily achieved by using a K9 spell/trap on Jacks to rank him up into a monster like Loading... . Combining that with the attack boost from Loading... , and Werewolf can deal 8400 damage in one swing -- keeping in mind he can attack multiple times. Jacks is also relevant as spells like Loading... need to target a K9 XYZ monster. This means you're not necessarily forced to use the spell immediately if your Ripper is going to be destroyed, and instead it can be saved and used on a Jacks you make later with Izuna + Lupis.

K9-ØØ "Hound"

The least important of your K9 extra deck monsters, Hound usually serves a minute purpose in your games, and that is to make a Loading... . Because the turn he is summoned, he is unable to be destroyed by battle or card effects, and with Loading... as material he is untargetable, if you're able to make Hound on your turn going second, it's usually a guaranteed Zeus play. Unfortunately this is much less relevant right now as Branded is in the meta, and can use either Loading... or Loading... to stop this line. Furthermore, he is a LIGHT attribute, meaning any monsters summoned with Loading... or Loading... will not be able to XYZ summon Hound. Another niche use is when you have a Loading... in hand going second, and you're well aware that any rank 5 will not stop their combo and have minimal effect on their endboard. In these situations, it may be better to make Hound and sit on him until your Standby phase, where he can detach a material to target a card on the field and banish it, although this will also most likely have minimal effect. All in all, while he does have niche uses, he's far from a must include in your K9 deck.

"A Case for K9"

Your spell card search piece, Case has the ability to search any K9 monster when it is activated. Because it is a continuous spell, this search is vulnerable to destruction effects such as Loading... and Loading... , which will stop the search from occurring. When it is destroyed however, it does have the secondary effect to set a Quick-play spell from your deck. Because of this it can be beneficial to pop your own Case after it's searched to create additional interactions on your endboard. Case also has the effect to give all your K9 monsters 900 attack if your opponent has activated a monster effect in the hand or graveyard this turn, leading to even easier OTKs and the ability to battle over hard to out towers such as Loading... .

K9-X Forced Release

Your go-to backrow interaction, Forced Release has the ability to, during the main phase, target a K9 XYZ Monster you control, and overlay or "rank-up" into a different K9 XYZ monster, transferring the materials to the new monster. After doing this, it also has the ability to NON-TARGET destroy ANY card on the field. Because of it representing multiple powerful interactions, you should always try and end with Forced Release set in your backrow if possible. It has the secondary effect to set itself from the graveyard at the end of the battle phase, if one of your K9 monsters battled this turn, adding in some much needed recursion to your deck. Because it overlays the original monster, it can be used to dodge certain negating effects, such as an Loading... or even a Loading... , keeping in mind that for the latter they will have to not send a Spell for cost and the monster summoned by Forced Release can be negated.

K9-LC Release Restraint

In a pure build of K9, I recommend having two pieces of K9 backrow interaction, Loading... and either Release Restraint or Loading... . Usually, I find Release Restraint is the better option. It shares many characteristics with Forced Release, being able to turn one of your XYZ monsters into a K9 XYZ through "rank-up" effect, with a few key differences. Firstly, it's missing the ability to non-target destroy a card on use making it a weaker piece of interaction. In exchange, it gains the ability to be used at any time, allowing for sneaky OTK lines or the chance to wait until the End Phase, and also can rank up non-K9 rank 5 monsters into K9 monsters. This means that you can turn rank 5 monsters on your field that have already used their effects into additional plays, and also allow them to dodge negates the same way Forced Release does on K9 monsters. It also shares the effect to reset itself at the end of the battle phase if one of your K9 monsters battled. Because it is a weaker piece of interaction overall, it should be lower on your priority list to get than Forced Release.

K9-EW Special Release Experiment

Non-K9 Engine Cards

Synergistic Non-Engine Cards

Additional Packages