- Introduction
- Core Nordics
- Other Nordics
- Engines
- Other Cards
- Example Decks
- Combos
- Conclusion
Introduction
Welcome to the Nordic guide written by
and proofread by and .Nordic is an archetype that Summons the Aesir Synchros by using the Link 1 monster Loading... . With that, the deck aims to quickly reach its end board of Gullveig pointing to an Aesir and a Set Loading... , while there's an Loading... and a respective Nordic Tuner in GY for recovery. To offset the heavy reliance on Gullveig and it banishing so many cards, the Deck needs cards that protect Gullveig from getting negated such as Loading... , give it free stuff to banish such as Loading... , and engines that do both such as Adventure and Sky Striker.
Pros
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The Deck is extremely consistent. Nordics take pretty much any 1 Nordic on the field to make their full combo.
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The Deck is easy to learn. You will not have to memorize 20 different lines for every different card you open. You can recommend this Deck to beginner/returning players; in fact that's how I learnt the TCG.
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High power and chance for recovery. Aesirs have way too much ATK, and Alviss in GY lets you immediately float into another Aesir if your Aesir is sent to your GY by your opponent just once per Duel, so you can even completely ignore the likes of Loading... , Loading... , or a Kaiju.
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The element of surprise. You will face many opponents who don't know what your cards do and they'll misplay as a result. This is very important in best of 1 formats especially when the slightest error will result in your opponent staring at their completely negated field.
Cons
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The Deck is heavily reliant on Gullveig so getting interrupted by any means ends your turn immediately. Thus, the Deck automatically has a hard time going second and playing through multiple interruptions.
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The Deck has very limited draw power. Odin draws 1 on revive and that's it unless you run third party cards like Loading... .
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The Deck struggles vs cards and archetypes that activate their effects outside of the field because Svalinn can't interact with them.
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The Nordic end board is not enough to contend with the meta. One Gullveig pointing to one Aesir isn't the hardest thing to out, even with the Nordic(s) in your GY (especially since all Nordic Tuners and Alviss get eaten by Bystials), and a lot of Decks can still play after getting hit by Svalinn. You'll need more than Nordics (like handtraps and other engines) to interact with your opponent.
In this guide you will find the recommended Nordic cards, ratios, and combos. These are carefully constructed by the best Nordic players, casual and competitive, to make the most out of this archetype since a lot of the Nordic playmakers are better off staying in the Deck. Remember:
What's a bad hand in Nordics?
Nordics.
Core Nordics
Extra Deck
Guides usually start with the Main Deck first but I don't think I can emphasize enough how crucial Loading... is for Nordics. I'll start with Extra, then move to Main.
Gullveig
A Link 1 that Special Summons up to 3 monsters from the Deck would make any other archetype Tier 0. Nordics become just playable instead. Imagine if it also searched the Field Spell :^)
GULLVEIG DOES NOT BANISH AS COST! You can banish Gullveig itself as one of the cards, which means you can get any Nordic from the Deck whenever you want by simply Summoning 1 Nordic, Linking it into Gullveig and banishing Gullveig.
The Aesir-lock is part of Gullveig's effect. Thus, if it is negated you will still be able to Summon non-Aesirs.
Gullveig is your main, and most of the time, only Nordic playmaker. Nordics on their own can't make much except for Gullveig, so run as many copies as possible. If your Extra Deck space is tight you can run 2 Gullveig; but then Kashtira can banish both copies before you can even do anything.
...and the Aesirs
You end your first turn on one of these guys. They require 1 Tuner from a Nordic branch and 2+ any Non Tuners, and they use those Tuners to revive.
Generally you will end on Loading... , because it has the highest ATK and DEF. It can make itself unaffected by all Spells and Traps on your turn, which is not a Quick Effect, but it does come up vs Trap Decks. If Odin revives with its own effect, you can draw 1 card, which is this archetype's only draw power.
If your hand is good you can end on Loading... instead. It has the second highest ATK but the lowest DEF. Thor is a Loading... on your turn, which is also not a Quick Effect, but combining this effect with Svalinn is very powerful. If Thor revives with its own effect, you can burn your opponent for 800.
Unless you're on a dedicated Loki Control strategy or you're BMing, you won't Summon Loading... that much. Loki has the lowest ATK of the Aesirs and the second highest DEF. The DEF part comes up if your Odin is removed and you suspect an OTK, so you can use Alviss' effect to Summon Loki in DEF instead of Thor in ATK. Loki has a Quick Effect which can negate the activation of your opponent's Spell/Trap... but only during your Battle Phase. This effect is nearly useless, especially since Odin can be unaffected by anything your opponent activates during your Battle Phase anyway, but at least Loki can protect the rest of your board like Thor can, and sometimes your opponent activates Loading... on your turn, so it does come up when you need it the most. A good Nordic deck does not run any Alfar Tuners because they don't work well with Gullveig so Loki's not reviving on its own.
You should always run at least 1 of each Aesir. The rule of thumb is that number of total Aesirs must be number of Gullveigs +1. So if you're running 3 Gullveig, add 1 more Aesir, preferably Odin.
Main Deck
Those 4 were the only Nordic/Aesir Extra Deck monsters. The Main Deck is where the real chaos begins, since there are so many Nordics to choose from. The core is listed below.
Alviss
Between a 1 card "Special Summon any 3 from Deck" and 1 card "Mill any 3 from Deck", this Deck sure skirts around being broken.
Both of Alviss' effects let you cheat out ANY Aesir, meaning you cannot revive them at all. The secondary effect is the reason why you should run all 3 Aesirs at all times, and 1 more Aesir than number of Gullveigs.
You use its first effect when you have this card and any other Nordic in hand without any fodder cards like Loading... or Loading... . In doing so, you will play around Loading... by ending your turn on exactly 4 Summons.
You don't have to send exactly 1 Tuner and 2 non Tuners for this effect; just reach Level 10 with any three Nordics that have a Level.
Don't use its 1st effect under the effects of cards like Loading... or Loading... . You'll banish 3 instead and NOT Summon an Aesir.
The second effect is the quickest way to recover in this Deck. Because all it takes is one Aesir in your possession to be sent to the GY by your opponent, you shouldn't fear getting your Aesir's Summon negated, getting Kaiju'd, getting Super Poly'd, or even having your opponent mill an Aesir chilling in your Extra Deck... once per Duel. This effect cannot be used during the Damage Step.
Without any fodder cards, you'll always want to have an Alviss in your hand. Also you're always going to send 1 Alviss to the GY with your first turn play. Finally you'll want to draw into an Alviss in simplified game states, when you only have like 1 other card in hand which is another Nordic. For these reasons you are to run 3 Alviss period. This is non-negotiable.
Ivaldi
Ivaldi can easily Special Summon itself and search a Nordic Relic on Summon. The best Relics you'll want to search are Loading... , Loading... , and Loading... .
Ivaldi's effect means Gullveig can not only get you any Nordic you want from the Deck but also any Relic you want from the Deck!
If you have 2 Ivaldis in hand you can Normal one and then Special the other.
If you banish only Alviss with Gullveig's effect and Special Summon Ivaldi, the banished Alviss and the Ivaldi on the field will chainblock each other. CL1 Ivaldi CL2 Alviss plays around cards like Loading... and Loading... . CL1 Alviss CL2 Ivaldi uses Ivaldi as bait vs cards that can only negate but not destroy like Loading... so you can still make an Aesir at the very least.
For being able to make 1-card Aesirs, being very easy to Summon overall and +1ing in doing so, Ivaldi is a 3-of. You should run that ROTA too. You always want to open Ivaldi and draw into it too. It's even better if you can resolve its effect before Gullveig, thanks to Bursti.
Bursti
Bursti says "yeah Nordics are no longer a bad hand in Nordics". It lets you Synchro Summon ANY Aesir (it only revives Thor though), it "unbricks" your Nordic-riddled hands, and can get another Nordic back from the GY. Since Ivaldi can Special Summon itself, Bursti especially loves getting Ivaldi back from GY and making plays off of a single Normal Summon.
Bursti's effect means Gullveig can not only get you any Nordic and Nordic Relic you want from the Deck but also another Nordic from the GY!
Bursti can Special Summon another Bursti from hand. Bursti cannot get another Bursti from GY.
For being able to make 1-card Aesirs (or Lv7 Synchros etc.), letting you Synchro Summon any Aesir you want unlike Alviss, and recovering your Nordics, Bursti is a 3-of. Opening it may not do anything special unlike Ivaldi, but Bursti is your greatest followup, because it can Summon another Nordic in hand, then get Ivaldi from GY to hand which will Summon itself with its own effect and search a Relic, then you can make an Extra Deck play.
Black Goat
Black Goat is a handtrap that activates when your monster gets destroyed by battle and is sent to your GY (so Tokens don't count). Then if you can keep the Goat on the field until your turn, you can switch it from Defence to Attack position, and Special Summon another Nordic Beast from the Deck. These effects hardly come up, especially the second one, but when they do, it will give you a huge swing in momentum.
This is because resolving Black Goat's second effect gets Bursti from the Deck, which can Special Summon a Nordic in hand and get Ivaldi from the GY, so you'll also Special Summon that, then search a Relic from the Deck, and make something powerful like Loading... (or an Aesir, I guess) without even Normal Summoning!
Bursti is going to need a Level 3 non-Tuner to make an Aesir because it always uses either Alviss or Ivaldi. You generally want to keep a Goat in the Deck for Gullveig and another in the GY/hand for Bursti, so running 2 Goats to not "brick" by opening your only copy is just fine.
Black Goat's effects are NOT hard once per turn. However, when one of your monsters is destroyed by battle and sent to your GY, you can only activate one Black Goat in hand at a time, so you must get more monsters destroyed to activate other Black Goats in hand.
This card's second effect still works if it is Flip Summoned. It will miss timing if its battle position is changed to from Defence to Attack as Chain Link 2 or higher.
Yes, this archetype has multiple Level 3 Beast monsters, one of which is even a Tuner that can be searcehed with Loading... . No, running Loading... is not recommended.
Valk (Don't bother reading its effect)
The only good (very loosely speaking) Level 2 Nordic Tuner, Valkyrie is meant to strictly be used with Gullveig when you couldn't open neither Alviss nor Ivaldi. Valk + Alviss + Ivaldi makes Level 10, makes Odin.
You're never using Valk's effect. But if you do resolve it, you can do some ridiculous shit with Isolde + Spright Elf etc. Its Tokens don't have "Nordic" in the name so you can't make Gullveig with them and Loading... cannot use them for a Synchro.
Unlike Black Goat, you really want to keep all copies of your Valk in the Deck for Gullveig and GY for Odin. If you're on 2 copies it is fine to have exactly one copy in hand to Link it off and you can revive Odin one more time.. That's why I recommend running 2 copies of Valk. If you do this, you should run 2 Odin because that's the only Aesir it can summon. And because of that you should run 3 Gullveig too because you'll be running 4 Aesirs.
If you can't afford the Extra Deck space you can run 1 Valk. It'll ruin your entire Duel if you open/draw into it without a way to have it and another Nordic(s) on the field, however.
Dverg
The first card in the game that, after being Normal Summoned, lets the player gain an extra Normal Summon for an archetype that turn, Dverg is completely unusable after Gullveig due to its low Level. However it also "unbricks" your hands, and gets a Nordic Relic from the GY if it is sent from the field to GY. And what better way to send Dverg from field to GY than Linking into Gullveig (this chainblocks Dverg)?
This extra Normal Summon effect cannot be negated with Loading... , Loading... , etc. The only way to negate it is to negate Dverg's Normal Summon in the first place, with something like Loading... . Most people don't know this so they will end up wasting their precious cards they should have used on Gullveig.
Speaking of extra Normal Summons, Dverg with Loading... makes Loading... into Loading... into 4-mat Loading... when going second. You'll then be able to do whatever you want in MP2, such as activating Rite of Aramesir and Normal Summoning another Nordic into your full combo. Just keep in mind that detaching Dverg does not get you a Relic from GY.
Additionally Dverg/Souls with Bursti makes Loading... , a Level 4 floodgate omni-negate that searches Loading... after being sent to the GY to get you Souls.
Linking Dverg off for Gullveig, then Summoning Ivaldi with Gullveig's effect will get you 2 Relics; one from your GY, and one from the Deck.
In some games your Relics will never be threatened, and in others they'll be threatened every turn. Thus how many copies of Dverg you should run is entirely up to you.
Nordic Relics
Ivaldi singlehandedly reminded people that this branch exists.
Svalinn
Yeah Nordics have a searchable mass negate you can use every turn. It has a second effect there somewhere, you won't be activating it much, if at all, because you can only choose one effect per turn.
The best field Nordics can put on their own is Gullveig pointing to an Aesir, and this Set. It just takes a single Summon, so it's pretty decent.
You can easily get it from the Deck with Ivaldi, and you can easily get it back from the GY with Dverg (or Loki but, yknow). It is preferred to run 2 so you won't be screwed by your opponent milling it, and if you open it or already have it on the field you can safely banish it then get the other from the Deck without having to banish a better card for Gullveig.
Hlid
A card nobody asked for, and everybody wishes was a Quick-Play, Hlidsfgsdfgsdlh enables one card Aesirs without using Gullveig. For your second turn play, you can Special Ivaldi, search Hlid, Special Bursti from Deck, get Black Goat from GY and Normal it. Or, you can Normal Bursti, get Ivaldi from GY, Special with its own effect and search Hlid, then Special Black Goat from Deck.
Its secondary effect is the only way you can "instantly" search a Nordic because this Deck's searcher is a Normal Trap. Shuffling a card back is not even bad, that too "unbricks" your hand as you can put a garnet back in the Deck.
Gullveig prevents you from using Hlid for the rest of the turn. Hlid prevents you from summoning Gullveig while the monster you summoned is face-up on the field.
There are various ways you can remove the restriction of Hlid:
- Tribute the monster with Svalinn's second effect.
- Summon Ivaldi, search Gungnir, and banish Ivaldi with it. Even when it returns to the field, the restriction will not.
- Summon a Spellcaster or EARTH Nordic, and use that to Special Loading... from the hand/Deck. Nefa can then Summon a Nordic back from the GY, so you'll lose out on nothing.
- Summon Loading... , crash it, get 2 Nordic Beast Tokens in return.
Run 1 Hlid if you're not on Nefa, 3 if you are.
Gungnir
It... pops a card in the worst possible way. Gungnir makes any Nordic or Aesir a dollar-store Loading... and lets Nordics Loading... lock.
Gungnir makes any Nordic turn into spot removal because you can Summon 1 Nordic, make Gullveig, banish only Gullveig, Summon Ivaldi, and search Gungnir.
If you only have Hlid you can Special Ivaldi and search Gungnir, then on your next turn you can banish Hlid to search Dverg, make Gullveig with it, CL1 Dverg gets Gungnir back from GY, CL2 Gullveig banishes itself to get Bursti from Deck, then Bursti gets Dverg back from GY. You can repeat this a few times so it's a cool thing.
If Gungnir's activation or effect is negated, the monster you banished will not return. If Gungnir resolves but the target is not destroyed, your banished monster will return.
Always run 1 because it's the best way Nordics remove cards outside of battle and aside from Svalinn it's the only good card Nordics can use to directly interact with the opponent's cards on their turn. You won't need more than 1 copy because of the mini loop written above. The Relics' dip in quality is real, because this is the third best Relic.
With all that said, I recommend these ratios for a cookie-cutter core:
Other Nordics
"I have a plan" Monsters
You're not meant to run any copies of these cards in an optimized, modern Nordic deck. Unless you have a specific plan in mind. In that case, godspeed.
Loading... is the best "bad Nordic" because Bursti just overshadowed it, and the Nordics you do want to mill, generally end up being Summoned by Gullveig to then be sent to the GY anyway. So, to not bloat the Deck further, modern Nordic Decks simply don't run Vanadis or any of its "situationally good mills" and run Valk instead despite its bad effect.
If you want to send Spells to GY you should play Loading... and not Loading... .
Loading... 's unnegatable effect sucks so much and it directly has anti-synergy with Gullveig. At least, it is the only good Alfar Tuner and Loki gaming actually runs Vanadis to mill Mara, instead of only running Valk. The real power of Mara comes from the fact that Ivaldi is a 1 card Loading... (and was a 1 card Loading... ) because it can search Hlid, then Hlid can Special Mara from the Deck, and Loading... (Nefa for short) can Special itself by using those two, then bring Mara from GY.
You can Tribute Summon Loading... by using Gullveig, put it back to the Extra Deck and Link into it right after. Aside from that Vanadis can mill it to make Loading... with Nefa, among other things. This is because Tzolkin is not Synchro Summoned (just like Loading... and all the Ursarctic Synchros), so Vanadis' restriction does not apply.
Loading... has Youtube FTKs and Vanadis can mill it to be Level 8 for various Extra Deck plays.
Vanadis can mill Loading... to make a Rank 10 with your Aesir I guess.
Loading... has a cool effect but it's harder to work with than either one of Black Goat's effects. Plus, the Deck doesn't really need that many Level 3 non-Tuner Nordics. For these reasons it's taken out. White Goat's Nordic Beast Tokens can be used to Link Summon Gullveig.
Loading... can Special Summon itself going second sometimes and that's about it.
Bursti killed Loading... .
Loading... may be useful in Tri-Brigade Nordics. You can use just 3 Beasts to make your Aesirs: Bursti, Black/White Goat, and Garmr. This gives you 3 monsters for your Loading... , and your 4th for Loading... is probably something that Gullveig banished. Thor also happens to be a Beast-Warrior so that too can be used after it is removed from the field. Just make sure you have a zone to Link Summon with your Revolt.
To not let Loading... indulge in its self-destructive behaviour you may be inclined to play a Warrior Nordic Deck, since Dverg and Ivaldi are pretty cool. After all, Loading... is one hell of a card and Loading... is awaiting to reach broken status in this Deck.
Other Nordic Relics
Really bad cards except for Loading... in Warrior Nordics. Draupnir and Dverg together are so close to being broken. Isolde can easily summon Dverg by milling Draupnir, and Dverg can always get that Draupnir back. Yeah Draupnir's effect and Dverg's second effect are NOT once per turn!
Other Nordic Backrow
Bruh.
Loading... used to be a 3-of staple for obvious reasons but now we can make our full combo with literally any Nordic while also being able to put literally any Nordic we want on the field and/or GY so it's slow and useless.
Loading... would probably be run at 1 if it was a NORDIC Relic like in the anime. It doesn't even do 1000 burn for each monster it destroys by battle smh
Loading... is very cool but it brings zero card advantage.
Loading... is decent protection but it's unsearchable, only for Aesirs, and you can protect anyone from anything you want by negating with Svalinn.
Loading... artwork means Nordics are canonically against Darklords, and all Solemn Counter Traps are part of the Nordic archetype for featuring this guy :^) Gullveig exists so this card sucks.
Activate Loading... . Give Odin to your opponent. Your opponent activates Odin's effect. Odin is now unaffected by Loading... . Odin will not be destroyed, you won't banish your opponent's field, and your opponent keeps Odin. Sick.
Thanks for making my unattackable Gullveig indestructible by battle. Loading... is truly the worst Field Spell in Yugioh. It makes White Goat not work, Black Goat only work after a non-Nordic is destroyed by battle, and makes all Nordics die to backrow removal too as if they weren't vulnerable enough.
Engines and Packages
Those were all the Nordic cards. Now we move onto engines that go well with Nordics.
Adventure
Adventure is the single best thing to pair Nordics with. Every single card here does something for Nordics. It's not just "lmao omninegate".
Loading... can send Loading... to GY. Enchantress can banish itself from hand or from GY to get Loading... from Deck or GY. Rite puts a Token and Loading... on the field. Then you Normal Summon a Nordic, and search (NOT equip) Loading... . After that you will use Fateful to search Loading... (or Loading... if you already have that) and send Dracoback to the GY. Dracoback from GY will equip itself to Adventure Token (assuming the opponent did not activate Loading... from hand), and on the same Chain Link you can Special Summon Gryphon/Illegal from hand (or you can wait until opponent's Main Phase if you're under Maxx C, among other reasons). Here you can bounce a card your opponent controls with Dracoback. Finally you Link Summon Gullveig, banish Fateful, Dracoback and one other card (this can be Gullveig). You'll end on two omninegates with other cards in hand!
Loading... loves sending Fateful and Dracoback to draw 2 before you summon Gullveig. Then you can decide better on which cards to banish for Gullveig (Hint: One of them is Souls on the field. The second can be Gullveig itself. The final card can be Dracoback if you did not have to get it back from the GY before.).
The "restriction" of Rite hardly matters because Dverg's effect cannot be negated, Nordics don't really do anything on Normal Summon and you can just Special Summon the Nordics that do from the Deck anyway.
Loading... lets any Nordic and any generic handtrap search whatever you want for the occasion, especially Enchantress! It's a -1 but it makes you access Enchantress so it's worth it. You can cut this card once the engine starters become unlimited.
Use a website etc that shows you how you can use Small World with the monsters in your Deck, so you never get confused. You'll memorize some of the easier lines along the way; such as Ash/Veiler -> Veiler/Ash -> Enchantress.
You can run more than 1 Loading... . It's decent for the grind game if you're on both Gryphon and Illegal. If you open this card without a way to actually put Adv Token + Gryphon/Illegal on the field, it will still give you 3 cards for Gullveig to banish. All you have to do is search and discard Water Enchantress, and search Rite with it. Here you can activate Rite and directly equip Dracoback to bounce your opponent's card, but you shouldn't do that unless you have to, otherwise you lose your normal summon effects and risk giving your opponent a free draw with Maxx C. If you did not have to search Dracoback before, you'll be able to chainblock Gullveig. CL1 Gullveig CL2 Fateful. Fateful search Dracoback, Gullveig banish Dracoback, Fateful and Rite (or the Token if you had to use it).
You can discard Hlid with Fateful to get any Nordic you want immediately. If you also opened Dracoback you can shuffle that too and equip it from the Deck after.
Rite of AramAesir is the way.
Sky Strikers
Chain Loading... to Gullveig, protect it from everything while you banish the Spell. Chain Loading... to Gullveig and get two cards to banish. Loading... searches those cards. It's that simple. Yeah you can play more cards if you're into Sky Strikers.
If you're going to use this engine don't forget that you're supposed to control nothing in your Main Monster Zone.
Psychics
You can chain Loading... to Gullveig's effect, Special Summon Loading... , then banish E-tele and Telepon. Telepon will banish Loading... from the Deck, Special Summon it on your next turn and let you negate any one card in the game that turn. Psi-Blocker prevents activating the declared card, also negates ALL the effects of that card that turn (ie you can declare Loading... to make it targetable, and prevent it from shuffling). Cool. For subsequent E-Teles you can use the handtrap Loading... .
E-Tele does so much more with Assault Mode, P.U.N.K., and Libromancers. You can try them too.
loki gaming
All of these cards work with Loading... .
Loading... can mill Loading... to get you Loading... or Loading... . Restage on the field can revive Loading... , Loading... , or Loading... . Souls can use Restage to draw a card and get you a Hand too. Loading... stops your opponent from activating Spell Cards, which autowins some matchups like Sky Strikers and Runick. Loading... and Loading... are some of the cards of all time. The Virus Traps are cool blowout cards better than Loading... because they hurt the opponent for 3 turns, not just 1.
Dinomorphia
This engine does not have synergy with Nordics in any way, but if you open Loading... alongside your Nordic + Adventure combo, you are very likely to replicate the power level of pre-Halq-ban Nordic board. Just make sure that your opponent does not find a way to attack Gullveig, because you'll be at 1000 LP after using Frenzy, Loading... , and Loading... .
Loading... can search Frenzy, just make sure you activate Svalinn (you won't have to use an effect, just flip it face-up) before Trap Trick resolves. This engine is mighty expensive so I don't recommend going after it. Only consider this engine in Nordics, if you already have the cards.
Rank 3 gaming
Overlay Loading... for Loading... . Add Loading... from the Deck by detaching Alucard (you need Shot in your Deck). Shot revives Alucard from GY. Overlay that Alucard for the second Angel. Overlay the both Angels for Loading... and make Loading... : an indestructible monster negate that also steals the monsters it negates.
If you can afford the Extra Deck space (and the Main, what's one more garnet for Nordics right?) you can consider this.
Or you can use Loading... to Summon Ivaldi.
Honourable Mentions
Runick
Hey guys, Runicknamed here telling you that it just gets Norse from this point.
You can chain your Runick Quick-Plays to Gullveig and banish them right after.
Best case scenario you chain Loading... to Gullveig, add something and banish the top card of your opponent's Deck, then banish Tip, the card you searched, and probably Gullveig. Gullveig is because Runicks must summon their monsters to the Extra Monster Zone.
Yeah you'll lose out on Gullveig's target protection and probably never get to attack with your big ass Aesir, but now your mill deck is backed up by Svalinn. Brilliant!
You can also use Loading... with Ivaldi/Alviss for Loading... , and Loading... with Valkyrie for Loading... .
Sweden's Ministry of Tourism offers an all-costs-paid one week trip to Malmö for anybody who reaches Diamond 1 in Master Duel with a 60 card Deck that runs the Nordic, Runick and Generaider cores all at once. Source
Libromancers
This engine does not need a Normal Summon, gives a lot of free stuff for Gullveig, can make Loading... and uses Loading... so it's a recipe for success. Oh yeah, it's also ridiculously expensive so good luck building it.
Warriors
Isolde can do everything. Dverg, Ivaldi, Draupnir and Dracoback makes this one so interesting. Getting Isolde negated has the same impact as getting Gullveig negated, however.
Tri-Brigades
Nordics sure have a lot of Beasts, and they can use 3 of them to make Thor who's a Beast-Warrior. Gullveig clogs your Link Zones so that sucks, not to mention the best Nordics are a Fairy, a Warrior and a Spellcaster. At least you'll be able to return your banished Nordic Beasts etc to GY with Loading... .
Spright
Ivaldi is a 1 card Loading... . Summon Ivaldi, search Hlid, Special Mara with it, Special Nefa by using Ivaldi and Mara, Nefa revive Mara, make Elf, Elf revive Mara if you have nothing else in your hand, then make Loading... and keep going. Gullveig and Gigantic lock each other so you're just playing Spright here.
Brilliant Fusion
Loading... mills Loading... and any Light monster to summon Loading... , which gives you an additional Normal Summon (this does NOT stack with Dverg etc.). Then you combo off with various stuff, and end on Gullveig who banishes Brilliant Fusion and some other cards because you can.
Other Cards
Handtraps
Yeah.
Blowout Cards
Handtraps are generally better in best-of-one matches like Ranked because they are live both going first and second. These are still great cards obviously.
Other Main Deck Monsters
Loading... can Special itself from the Deck. How cool is that? It lifts Hlid's restriction, revives a monster (almost always a Nordic), and probably gets banished by Gullveig.
The Spellcaster used for it is generally Alviss, Enchantress, or Souls, and the EARTH is Dverg, Ivaldi, or Goat, in order of preference. Using Alviss as the Spellcaster lets you put Alviss in GY, Summon Bursti + Goat + Ivaldi with Gullveig, add the non-Alviss Nordic from GY to hand with Bursti, and make Thor. If using Hlid to Summon Dverg for Nefa, Dverg will get the Hlid back from GY for your next turn too.
You'll have to run 3 Hlid to make the most out of Nefa, and you may find it useless to add a 2 card combo that doesn't do much in a 1 card combo Deck, so you may choose to not bother.
Loading... in hand can shuffle itself to search Souls, and then be milled to Special Summon Souls in hand. Loading... is a free Level 1 on the board.
There it can make Loading... into Loading... into a 4-mat Loading... with another Level 1, preferably Loading... so you can still Normal Summon a Nordic on your MP2.
Souls can also be used as draw power thanks to Adventure Engine, or you can send a Nordic Relic to GY and let Dverg get it back immediately by Linking it (this will chainblock Dverg).
Finally you can use Souls with Bursti (or Ash etc. I guess) to make Loading... , a floodgate omninegate that searches IOC if sent to the GY.
Speaking of free Level 1 bodies on board, have an EARTH Tuner. Loading... too lets you make the Rank 1 play going second, but it additionally can give you Loading... by using Adv Token, Ivaldi, or Dverg + Black Goat, or Loading... by using Black Goat.
Herald of the Arc Light can search Loading... . It's a defensive handtrap for your monsters.
You can mill Loading... with Loading... , and then make Loading... with SRD + Gryphon. Starting from the next turn you can use Snow's effect too. This play used to come up on your opponent's turn, if you got interrupted by Loading... while doing Adventure Loading... Nordic combo. You can still do this on your turn, with your Adventure stuff intact and any Level 3 Tuner, by using Adv Token as the non-Tuner.
Loading... is the one non-Nordic you can use to Link Summon Gullveig, and then chainblock Gullveig to search a Cyberse monster.
You know what else you can use to Link Summon Gullveig? A Nordic. You know what else you can use to protect Gullveig? Fateful Adventure and Gryphon.
Other Spells
With these cards you'll essentially cover one of the three cards Gullveig has to banish, while protecting it from getting negated. Gullveig must resolve no matter what.
Loading... is the only Pot card you can run in this Deck. Anti-synergetic with Souls. You're not realistically OTKing your opponents so it's fine. It'll help you dig into a card you really need.
Loading... is a decent floodgate since you won't be having a lot of monsters on the field unless you're running Adv Engine.
Draw 1 with Loading... . Banish Chicken Game (and maybe the card you drew) with Gullveig. Genius!
Other Traps
Loading... is what Gotterdammerung should have been. Assuming your Aesir(s) is the highest Level monster on the field, this card will protect Aesir(s) (and other Level 10s on the field) from everything and banish every other monster! Kind of sucks if you have other important monsters on the field. You may want to play a DARK Dragon Synchro to get this card back from the GY. Or use Loki's effect. Or not.
Loading... basically wins you the game if you resolve it. You can revive your Aesir with Svalinn (provided you Synchro Summoned it) on the same turn you used this card, or you can use its negate that turn, then revive on your turn. This card is unplayable if you go second.
Other Extra Deck Monsters
Fusion Monsters
Give Cyber Dragon players the middle finger. Loading... can wipe their entire frontline.
Loading... targets, and cards that make your opponent regret milling your Extra Deck.
Synchro Monsters
Nordics have always been decent at summoning Level 7 Synchros. Black Goat 2nd effect into Guldfaxe passed the torch to Bursti getting Ivaldi in GY and Ivaldi SSing itself, if Bursti cannot already SS a Level 4 non Tuner Nordic in hand.
Loading... can negate any Spell/Trap and does piercing damage. Loading... negates certain monster effects and can get huge in doing so.
Loading... makes all of your other monsters untargettable and unattackable so long as you control a Link Monster. Additionally it can return an opponent's monster to hand and attack again. It is in the same secret pack as Loading... so that's neat.
Loading... can dump Loading... so you can use it starting from next turn. You can then use SRD for other Synchro plays, notably Loading... . This used to be so much better before Halq was banned.
Loading... is a f2p option that removes an opponent's Attack Position monster. Can help push for lethal in some cases.
Loading... pops 1 of your opponent's backrow without targeting. It's also yet another Loading... target.
You can run any Level 7 Synchro; these are the popular ones. I'm using Loading... myself because I have aa royal finish one.
Loading... can be made with Dverg/Souls + Bursti among other ways. It is a floodgate that shuts down some handtraps and more such as your own Alviss, plus it is an omninegate. It's also Level 4 so you can even use it for a Rank 4. Finally, if it is sent to the GY you can search Illusion of Chaos.
You can have Herald while also ending on your Nordic Adventure board, the only difference is that you have to Summon Gryphon (and Illegal too) on your opponent's Main Phase instead, because otherwise you will only have 2 empty Main Monster Zones for Gullveig and banishing only Alviss isn't an option as mentioned before.
Loading... can be made with Adhara and Adv Token, Ivaldi, or Dverg + Black Goat. It negates all Spells your opponent activates. lol. lmao.
Sometimes you can make a Level 10 Synchro without locking yourself into Aesirs. Loading... is a great choice, and Loading... has amazing synergy with Nordics, thanks to their cards that banish and the sheer number of cards they send to the GY.
Even when your opponent controls only untargettable monsters and nothing else, you can target your own Chengying with Gungnir, then protect Chengying with its own effect, then use its effect to banish cards from your opponent's field and GY without targetting.
If you can make a Level 7 Synchro, and happen to have Adventure Token on the field doing nothing, you can use those cards for Loading... . You can also use an Aesir and something like Effect Veiler to make it.
Xyz Monsters
Since it is very possible to have 2 Aesirs on the field, you can totally overlay them for some trains. Attacking with 2 Aesirs and then using Gustav for game comes up sometimes. Liebe not so much, though it may help having a 6000 ATK monster that can attack monsters twice or thrice. Liebe permanently gains the ATK/DEF boost.
This small engine somewhat helps going second. The ideal way of making Loading... is with Loading... and Dverg, so you can still Normal Summon a Nordic and make plays on MP2. I know, using Zeus in a Nordic Deck is very ironic.
While there is no consistent way for Nordics to make a Rank 4, these two are always useful. Shutting your opponent's field with Svalinn and their GY with Loading... is very powerful.
Ultimate Slayer target. You get the idea. There is no good Pendulum target for Ultimate Slayer, so why not run your favourite Xyz Pendulum monster or something for that?
Link Monsters
Both of these cards remove Gullveig and themselves from the Extra Monster Zone, so you can Summon another Gullveig there right after and probably make a second Aesir while protecting your first one. Loading... is easier to Summon but can only pop your opponent's monster and it's not on Summon, Loading... is harder to Summon and likely won't be sent to the GY for not having enough Spells in GY but it can pop any card on the field on Summon... including itself.
Link monsters that remove stuff by discarding 1. Can be Summoned on your opponent's Main Phase with IP.
In some games you'll get your Gullveig negated but still have a whole bunch of monsters. For such cases you can try to end on an Loading... protected Loading... . Untargetable, indestructible, runs over almost anything in battle and if still dealt with, shuffles a card on the field into the Deck.
You can summon Avramax on your opponent's Main Phase this way too.
Link away your opponent's problem monster with Loading... . You'll occasionally have those games. It has extremely good effects and decent protection, basically says no to both effects of Loading... . It also happens to be a goddess in a different mythology, so the more gods the merrier. Can be Summoned on your opponent's Main Phase with IP.
Despite IP's text, you can totally use your opponent's monster as Link Material on their Main Phase.
Gullveig is Light and it'll be clogging your Link Arrows all the time. Loading... helps with that by using Gullveig and any other monster, and can be extended into Selene for being a Spellcaster itself while potentially using a LIGHT monster in your opponent's GY.
Loading... can revive any Spellcaster in your GY in Defence position (Alviss, Loading... , Loki, etc.) if there are at least 3 Spells on the field and/or in the GYs.
After that you can end on a 5300 ATK Loading... and pop 1 card your opponent controls (assuming you don't have more than just LIGHT Link Monsters in your GY, which is the case here and the majority of the time) without targetting. You can banish Accesscode itself to pop another card.
Acesscode's effects cannot be chained to by your opponent. They can activate cards to negate Accesscode's Summon, or right after it gains ATK on summon, and only in those windows.
Linkuriboh can additionally be used to get rid of a Loading... on your field.
You can use either one of these cards to get rid of Loading... on your field.
Example Decks
Below is a cookie-cutter 40 card Deck.
Don't hesitate to go over 40 cards. It is totally fine to do so. As you can see this Deck cut Loading... and some handtraps to be at 40 cards, which is kind of important. The average Nordic Deck can run around 45 cards while still increasing its consistency.
Below is an example of a 45 card Nordic Deck.
Because the meta changes regularly, you should always adjust your Deck.
You can always reach out to me or the Nordic channel on the Master Duel Meta Discord for the most updated Nordic lists.
Combos
Combo 1: Basic stuff
It requires any 1 Nordic in hand and nothing else.
If you have Ivaldi in hand go to Combo 2. If you have a Nordic and Alviss in hand go to Combo 3.
Step 1: Summon the Nordic. Link Summon Gullveig.
Step 2: Banish enough cards to have Valk, Alviss and Ivaldi on the field.
Step 3: Activate Ivaldi effect to search Svalinn. Search another Relic if you already have it in your hand.
Step 4: Synchro Summon Odin.
With this you'll have an untargettable Aesir and an unattackable Gullveig. You'll be able to revive Odin with Valk in the GY. You can float into another Aesir with Alviss in the GY. Finally you have Svalinn as a negate.
If you opened Alviss and no other Nordics, you can instead put Bursti, Ivaldi and a Goat, then make Thor.
Combo 2: Ivaldi sets a follow-up play
If you opened Ivaldi and can activate its effect, do this.
Step 1: Summon Ivaldi. Search Svalinn, or another Relic if you already have it in hand. Link Summon Gullveig by using Ivaldi.
Step 2: Banish enough cards to have Bursti, Alviss and a Goat on the field. Activate Bursti's second effect to get Ivaldi back from the GY.
Step 3: Synchro Summon an Aesir depending on whose Tuner(s) are in the GY.
On your next turn...
Step 4: (Assuming you're controlling a Nordic/Aesir) Special Summon Ivaldi, search Hlid. Activate Hlid, Special Summon Bursti. Bursti adds a Goat from GY. Normal Summon Goat. Synchro Summon an Aesir depending on whose Tuner(s) are in the GY.
You can then make anything you want with the two Aesirs on the field.
With this you'll have an untargettable Aesir and an unattackable Gullveig. You'll be able to revive Thor with Bursti in the GY. You can float into another Aesir with Alviss in the GY. You have Svalinn as a negate. You can make a 1-card Aesir next turn.
Combo 3: Alviss' 1st effect
You can do this if you opened two Nordics, one of which is Alviss. Don't do this play if you're under an "any monster/card sent to the GY is banished instead" card!
Step 1: Link Summon Gullveig. Banish only Alviss. Special Summon Ivaldi.
Step 2: The banished Alviss and Ivaldi will be SEGOC. Since both effects can be Ashed anyway (so can Gullveig tbf), put Alviss in CL1 and Ivaldi in CL2 so you have a higher chance to put an Aesir on the field.
Step 3: CL2 Ivaldi searches Svalinn, or you get the idea at this point.
Step 4: CL1 Alviss sends Ivaldi from field and Alviss + Valk from Deck to GY.
You should mill yourself, NOW!
-Gullveig, to Alviss
Step 5: Cheat out any Aesir you want.
With this you have successfully played around Loading... by Summoning exactly 4 monsters! You have an untargettable Aesir and an unattackable Gullveig. You will not be able to revive your Aesir by any means. You can float into another Aesir with Alviss in the GY. You have Svalinn as a negate.
Yeah for this scenario it's better to mill Mimir instead of Valk.
If you opened Ivaldi and Alviss, and you want to banish only Alviss/play around Nibiru, simply activate Ivaldi before you make Gullveig. You still have to send 1 Alviss to the GY so just reach Level 6 by any means. If you want to banish 3 just Normal Alviss, Special Ivaldi, then follow Combo 2.
If you opened 2 Alvisses, instead of sending Alviss and Valk to the GY in Step 4, just reach Level 6 by any means.
Combo 4: Adventure time
All it takes is any 1 Nordic and Loading... .
Step 1: Activate Loading... . Put Loading... on the board.
Step 2: Summon a Special Summonable monster/Nordic.
Step 3: Fateful activates its effect, and searches, NOT EQUIPS, Loading... .
Step 4: Fateful activates its effect, and searches Loading... while sending Dracoback to the GY. If you're running Loading... , you can search that instead, if you already have Gryphon in hand.
Step 5: Dracoback equips itself to Adv Token from the GY. Gryphon Special Summons itself from the hand. You can use Dracoback to bounce your opponent's cards here.
If you have Loading... you can use its effect here to draw 2 cards by sending Fateful and Dracoback.
In some extremely niche cases, such as when you open Adventure, Hlid, but no Nordics, you may have to use Fateful to search Gryphon first and send a card in hand to the GY (Hlid in this scenario, then you banish it to search a Nordic and shuffle another card in hand to the Deck, then chainblock Gullveig on Summon by search/equipping Dracoback. This costs you an additional card in hand, but it further protects Gullveig.)
Step 6: Follow Combo 1 or 2 depending on which Nordic(s) you opened. You can't use Normal Summoned monsters' effects the turn you activate Rite so keep that in mind too. After you Link Summon Gullveig, you can banish Souls/Fateful and Dracoback because they have served their purpose.
On your opponent's Main Phase, you can Special Summon Illegal Knight if you're running it. The reason Illegal is thrown to the wayside is because Gullveig's gonna need 3 empty Main Monster Zones, and Adventure Token and Gryphon will be taking the remaining 2. After you make your Synchro you'll still be locked into Aesirs for the turn, so you're gonna have to wait for your opponent's Main Phase for Illegal. Plus it's not really a good card, compared to Gryphon, since your opponent can do all sorts of plays with it on their field. Illegal is best on your turn, since you can bounce 2 cards, then bounce Illegal back with Dracoback, so you can bounce 2 more on your opponent's turn.
With this you'll have an untargettable Aesir and an unattackable Gullveig. You'll be able to revive your Aesir in the GY. You can float into another Aesir with Alviss in the GY. You have Svalinn as a negate. Depending on what you opened you can make a 1-card Aesir next turn. Finally you have Gryphon and Adv Token on the field as an omninegate (+ maybe Illegal too as a 2-card bounce). That makes 2 negates off of 2 cards, and you will have 2 cards remaining in hand going first (3 cards, if you banished Gullveig with its own effect).
Conclusion
Thanks for reading the guide! I hope you enjoy playing Nordics. Shoutouts to all the Nordic regulars out there. If you have any questions about the archetype you can reach out to the Nordic channel on the Master Duel Meta Discord (check the pins); I'll be there.
#nordicsweep