Tech Genus Guide

T.G. Mighty Striker

One of the two new T.G. Synchro monsters that facilitates our gameplan, Loading... does an unbelievable amount for the deck. It can search a T.G. Spell/Trap upon Synchro summon (generally either Loading... or Loading... ), sends a T.G. card to the GY when sent there for Loading... or Loading... access, and serves as a Level 2 Synchro to pair with two Level 5 Synchros for Loading... . You generally only need one, but a second can help play through Loading... and some combos make a second for further plays.

T.G. Over Dragonar

Turns out Loading... isn't that broken when you can only summon T.G. monsters with it. Loading... , when Synchro Summoned, summons as many T.G. monsters from your GY as you want in Defense Position. Not only is this monster the key to practically all of our combos, it can even recover other T.G. Synchro monsters, from little ones like Loading... to larger ones like Loading... (though keep in mind that it cannot resummon Loading... ).

As impactful as this card is, it's also our greatest chokepoint. If the opponent has any familiarity with T.G., they'll hold their Loading... for exactly Loading... , knowing that it can shut down our entire turn. Thankfully, we have several means to protect it that will be discussed further into the article. As of the writing of this guide, we do not know the rarity of Loading... , but if it's less than UR I would recommend playing three when possible.

T.G. Hyper Librarian

Its generic materials make it a staple in other Synchro spam decks, but Loading... has great utility at home as well. It lets you draw a card for every Synchro summon you perform and can serve as non-Tuner Synchro material; you can sometimes get upwards of four draws before removing it from the field, building up a hand of extenders, hand traps, and follow-up. If you can somehow keep it on the field while using the effect of Loading... , you even draw off of that, too.

T.G. Star Guardian

This card is very straightforward in its ability to extend combos and recycle resources. Loading... retrieves a T.G. monster from the GY on Special Summon (not just Synchro Summon) and features a built-in ability to Special Summon any monster from your hand, including that newly-added monster. It's also potentially a very valuable piece of your endboard, with the effect shared by all T.G. Tuner Synchros to Synchro Summon on the opponent's turn. You can play two for follow-up and an extra Tuner Synchro, but since it can be triggered by Loading... there isn't too much reason to play more than one.

T.G. Blade Blaster

In less than optimal hands, Loading... will be how you access Loading... on the opponent's turn. It synergizes with Loading... in that whatever is banished by its effect is subsequently summoned to the field, with your primary target being Loading... . It's also just a large guy that can be made under the T.G. summon lock, which can be just what you need to OTK.

There are some reasons you might consider cutting Loading... , the first of which being the constraints of the T.G. Extra Deck. If you play numerous other tech cards, this Plan B can be less than worthwhile to include over other Plan B options, especially in Snake-Eye lists. Secondly, it really only has a superior payoff to a regular Level 10 Synchro if it's used to Calamity lock, so if you don't use that card, you can probably do better than a Loading... with one activation.

T.G. Glaive Blaster

Representing (in my humble opinion) the pinnacle of Yu-Gi-Oh boss monster card design, Loading... is both a powerful obstacle with a unique form of interaction against the opponent and a means of recurring further resources and extending plays. You always want a Loading... on your endboard if you can make it there due to its synergy with Loading... . Some pre-release lists ran two, but you generally value more Extra Deck space over the capacity to summon this a second time (especially since Loading... give you the capacity to put it back into the Extra Deck from the GY).

T.G. Trident Launcher

The only archetypal T.G. Link monster, Loading... is a very interesting card in the context of current play. It was originally designed for Master Rule 4's restriction on where Extra Deck monsters could be played, with three downwards arrows to facilitate three Synchro monsters at once. Before Age of Overlord, T.G. combos needed to resolve Loading... to make any plays, but now that role is largely filled by Loading... .

Despite being somewhat outdated, Loading... can still be a powerful card, allowing pilots to pivot to a new line through disruption and unbricking certain hands. That said, many combos don't require it anymore, and if you're itching for space in your Extra Deck and your Main Deck is already quite consistent, you might consider cutting it.

T.G. Wonder Magician

Probably the most played T.G. Synchro monster while Loading... was legal, Loading... is not so important for our current strategy. The mandatory ability to pop a Spell/Trap on Synchro Summon was historically used to trigger Loading... , but the most use we can get out of it (aside from occasionally hitting an opponent's Spell/Trap) is hitting our own Loading... to Calamity lock without Loading... . Still, if you want two Level 5 Tuner Synchros in your Extra Deck, there's some potential benefit in running one Loading... in place of a second Loading... .

T.G. Recipro Dragonfly

If you play Loading... , most of the use you'll get from it is simply as a Level 2 non-Tuner Synchro to use as material, as it's the only one available under the T.G. summon lock. It can sometimes be used to resummon Synchro materials in the GY to recycle their effects, get an extra draw from Loading... , and make Loading... or Loading... with itself as material, but you might also end up finding it wasting space in your Extra Deck, never seeing the light of day. You're welcome to try it (and it's even necessary for some combos), but its place as a T.G. staple has largely faded.

T.G. Power Gladiator

The effect of Loading... is largely meaningless, serving only to occasionally squeeze out an OTK or thwart Loading... . It's true value is being the only non-Tuner Level 5 T.G. Synchro monster aside from Loading... , which you need for most combos. This is essentially a mostly inconsequential budget option for an extra body since, as of the writing of this article, we do not know the rarity of Loading... .

Shooting Star Dragon T.G. EX

Based on the effect alone, Loading... seems like an easy card to dismiss. Negation of monster effects targeting monsters is a mediocre effect, even if it's not a OPT, negating a single attack is terrible, and the GY effect seems like a steep cost for a guy that does so little. Even if you have a line that just ends on a Level 5 Tuner and Level 5 non-Tuner (such as the one-card Loading... combo), rather than make this on your turn, you would rather just wait until the opponent's turn to make Loading... , right?

One benefit Loading... has is the ability to make a large beatstick going second that has some amount of protection. Loading... can also do this, except it negates Spell/Traps that target only itself and requires cards in hand to discard rather than GY resources to banish.

The banish for cost effect of Loading... can also be used to fulfill the role of enabling a Calamity lock play, pairing with Loading... to revive Loading... on your own turn. This means that you can retain Glaive's revive effect on your opponent's turn to steal one of their monsters or get an extra activation off of Loading... . One of the downsides is that, if you needed the revive on your own turn to get to Loading... in the first place, you may be out of a Calamity lock where you otherwise would have had one. Another downside is that the monster effect you typically negate is your own Loading... , which is gone for the rest of the duel after it's banished, limiting your follow-up plays (especially if you only play one Serpent).

T.G. Halberd Cannon

I've included Loading... specifically to dissuade readers from playing this card. I know it's iconic and everything, but the effect is just too mediocre to justify spending any resources making it, especially since you typically would only be able to choose one between this and the insurmountably stronger options Loading... and Loading... .

Negating a Summon sounds incredible until you realize that it only includes inherent summons and cannot negate effects that would summon a monster (like Loading... does), severely limiting your options. The clause that it needs to be face-up to activate and resolve the effect means that your opponent can respond with any form of removal and invalidate your card. And if that weren't enough, the floating effect to summon a T.G. monster from the GY is a when effect, meaning it will almost always miss timing.

I'm sure it would feel fantastic to finally make the card that was so impossible to summon a decade ago, so if you really need to, leave it in Casual queue. You'll feel nothing but pain bringing Loading... to Ranked ladder.

Baronne de Fleur

I mean, it's Loading... . You know what it does.

It does have some specific synergies with T.G.; since you generally end on a pairing of one Level 5 Tuner and one Level 5 non-Tuner, you can Synchro into the Level 10 Loading... on the opponent's turn very easily. In some cases, you can banish and resummon it on your turn with Loading... to replenish a spent negate for the following turn. If you open Loading... and nothing else, you can end on just this and follow-up in hand, praying for a good top-deck draw. You can even use it with Loading... to make Loading... once the negate is spent. Ultimately, there's no reason not to play Loading... .

Crimson Dragon

As of the writing of this guide, we don't know for certain if Loading... is available in Master Duel, but if it is, it generally represents your win condition, paired with an on-field Loading... . It facilitates the most straight-forward and protected version of the Calamity lock (though it isn't strictly necessary to perform it) and can give you fantastic plays even if Calamity lock is banned, converting into one of several powerful boss monsters listed below.

If Loading... is not yet in Master Duel by the time T.G. releases, the power ceiling of this deck drops pretty hard.

Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity

All references to the "Calamity lock" represent an endboard that summons this monster, Loading... , on the opponent's turn. It prevents your opponent from activating cards or effects, full stop. They can set cards, summon monsters, and even attack, but very few decks can survive without activating cards on their own turn. What's more, your opponent can't even respond to the lock itself (though they can intercept the cards that perform the summon of Calamity).

If you have this plus Loading... on your field, as long as you have any other monster to remove the cards your opponent sets to their field, you have exactly 8000 ATK on the field, enough for an easy OTK. The Calamity lock, though toxic and uninteractive for your opponent, is perhaps the strongest thing T.G. can pull off. The main reason you might entertain not playing it is that some decks, like Labrynth, ignore it completely or can otherwise play around it fine. Given this, if your Extra Deck is slim and you need to choose between this and Loading... , the latter is perhaps more reliable as a whole.

Cosmic Blazar Dragon

You'll most likely want a gameplan other than the Calamity lock off of your Loading... , especially if the Calamity lock is banned as of when you read this guide. In that case, you won't need to look much further than Loading... . It's an omni-negate (including summons!) that banishes itself from the field as cost, dodging interactions from your opponent. Moreover, because it's not a OPT, you can summon it back to your field with Loading... after using the negate, allowing you to negate for a second time.

Though you wouldn't often do so, Loading... is summonable in-engine without Loading... , giving you something to fall back on if Loading... is outed. This card is highly recommended even with Calamity lock available, but becomes practically mandatory when not.

Red Supernova Dragon

Yes, you can make Loading... with Loading... . You can even make it in-engine if you try hard enough. But trust me, its effect is not as good as it looks. If you wanna play it consistently, once the Resonator support from The Crimson King is in Master Duel (if it isn't already by the time you're reading this), you can play it there.

However, depending on the decks that you find most frequently on Ranked ladder, there is an argument that, against certain decks, Loading... is more valuable than Loading... . This is because, similarly to the latter, you can resummon it with Loading... after using its non-OPT effect which banishes itself. The issue is, though you can use the effect a second time on your opponent's turn, if you do, it won't come back until the End Phase of your own turn, meaning you can't mobilize its massive ATK for an OTK or banish your opponent's field on your turn.

Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon

This is less of a serious consideration and more of an honorable mention for its synergy with Loading... (easily makeable with Superheavy Samurai). The destruction protection is actually really nice and comprehensive; rather than blocking the first time any card would be destroyed, Loading... blocks the first time each card would be destroyed. This means, for example, if your opponent uses Loading... to destroy Loading... and Loading... to destroy a set Loading... , both instances would be blocked individually.

The monster negate attached to Loading... is not as comprehensive as Loading... 's omni-negate and can't be looped with Loading... without using up one of its banish activations, but there is occasionally some utility in destroying a card on the field that isn't necessarily the card you're negating. Sticking around after using the negate can also be handy if Loading... is outed, so that you aren't left with a completely open field.

If Loading... is sent to the GY and you have Loading... in your GY, you can summon the latter by banishing the former, giving you a 2500 ATK body with which to make a Level 10 Synchro. If Loading... is on the field when you do so, you can resummon the Loading... from your banished cards, replenishing the negate and the destruction protection.

Even though the preceding three paragraphs just made this card sound incredible, we don't always have a line through Loading... and it can be hard to justify such a defensive strategy when we have the capacity to negate every playable card in the opponent's hand or prevent them from activating anything at all with the Calamity lock... but this is something to look out for in the future.

Spright Elf

Because Loading... is banned in both the TCG and OCG formats and has never before existed alongside the Age of Overlord T.G. support, synergy and combos using both at once are very underexplored. However, early testing indicates that the targeting protection of Loading... , along with its ability to reborn Loading... every turn, makes it a highly recommended inclusion. Guarding Loading... from Loading... is immensely valuable and adding two omni-negates to a Loading... into Loading... set-up is way too good to pass up. Disregard it at your own peril.

S:P Little Knight

Though Loading... is an Age of Overlord card just like the newest T.G. monsters, the likelihood that this card is available as of the publishing of this article is very slim. However, if you're reading this guide at some point in the future where this is playable in Master Duel while trying to learn and build T.G., you'll definitely want to consider it.

One of the biggest weaknesses of T.G. is playing under Loading... . We can push through it and Calamity lock if it's available or lock ourselves with our own Loading... depending on our hand, but otherwise we can do little more than pass turn and hope our opponent bricked, since our shortest path to minimal disruption still requires two summons and a fairly specific opening hand. Loading... is not only a potential gameplan through disruption, but also a more consistent two-summon answer to getting hit with Loading... . It can also be used on turn 3 before locking ourselves into T.G. monsters to help dismantle whatever board our opponent made on turn 2, since we'll almost always have a Synchro or Link monster to use as material.

Accesscode Talker

If Loading... survived the opponent's turn and we're running Loading... , Loading... can be a powerful OTK tool. It needs very little explanation, I imagine, as pretty much any deck that runs Link monsters can use them to boost its attack and as banish fodder for unrespondable, non-targeting pops. Despite this, we generally don't use it.

For one, since you're probably not going to play any more than two Links, the payoff for Loading... is fairly small. Not every combo line gets to have Loading... , and if you don't have it, you're spending a lot of on-field resources for a Link-4. You can convert a turn 1 Loading... with just one additional material, but it has the same issue as Elf: it's rarely ever going to survive to turn 3. And if it does survive, say, after a successful Calamity lock, you have two 4000 ATK monsters on your field already; what's an unprotected Loading... going to do?

Mist Bird Clausolas

You get a couple of neat utility uses from Loading... . One of them is as a way to force interaction from your opponent going second without a lot of commitment; if they don't stop it, you can negate an opponent's monster's effects and allow any of your weakling T.G.s to run that monster over by battle.

Loading... can also come in handy in a situation where you have Loading... , Loading... , and any Level 1 non-Tuner on your field when you end your turn, since you can climb into this, then Loading... into Loading... ; or, if you have Loading... , go into any generic Level 8 Synchro (such as Loading... or Loading... , then followed by Loading... .

The second situation is fairly niche and probably not worth sculpting your already tight Extra Deck space around, but Loading... is a fair choice for its dual purposes.

Satellite Warrior

If you value popping cards over an omni-negate from Loading... ... well, Loading... pops a lot of cards. We go through so many Synchro monsters in our combo that this is practically a board wipe, and in some cases can be paired with the Calamity lock to destroy everything your opponent sets before passing their turn. Its ATK doesn't look impressive until it rapidly climbs after destroying cards, easily pairing with any other boss monster for a quick OTK. If you can find the Extra Deck space for it, it's well worth your consideration.

Chaos Angel

The Light attribute of Loading... and Dark attribute of Loading... make Loading... a perfect match for this deck. Both protection effects are live when we make this monster at the end of a standard combo, guarding our Loading... from the opponent's monster effects while also protecting our tiny Loading... from getting run over by battle. Its effects are so potentially strong that it can be worth running this over Loading... , opting against a fragile Calamity lock entirely over a well-defended midrangey board in situations where you don't have access to Loading... or Loading... .

If you only have the 1-card Loading... combo available, Loading... can be a stronger payoff than Loading... , allowing for your Synchro monsters to be protected from disruption on the crackback while offering a banish which can, at times, be just as effective as a negate. Additionally, when paired with Loading... , you can trigger the banish effect multiple times (as it occurs on Special Summon and not a OPT), though be warned that doing so removes its protection effect.

Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying

For tricky opponents with monsters that can't be targeted or run over by battle, your solution may just be Loading... . It's probably the most situational of the Level 10 Synchros, but it's the best access the deck has to non-targeting removal, and a banish that also affects the GY at that. You can trigger the effect yourself using Loading... or on your own turn using Loading... or Loading... . It can also just be a tough card for your opponent to out in a similar vein to Loading... , which is unaffected by more monster effects but vulnerable to Spells/Traps.

Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon

Though Loading... would probably spend most of its time in your Extra Deck collecting dust, there are situations where you'll find yourself wishing that you had it, such as through Loading... and Loading... . Most of the time you'll spend making this card is as a part of the Superheavy Samurai engine, in which it has a bunch of use. You could also use Loading... alongside Loading... to punish an Loading... or Loading... in some instances. In general, I wouldn't recommend investing the Extra Deck space unless you're committed to the Superheavy Samurai engine, especially since the PSY-Frames can be used to make Loading... instead, but, well, the option is there.

Garden Rose Maiden

Seeing more success in variants playing the extended Snake-Eye engine, Loading... can provide a higher ceiling for your combo line. Level 5 non-Tuner Synchros with beneficial effects are few and far between for this strategy, so lines that can make this will be glad for its additional effect. You rarely add Loading... , so where it shines is its GY effect to revive a Dragon Synchro monster in your GY, which will generally be either Loading... or Loading... . The primary drawbacks of Loading... are that she cannot be made under the T.G. lock and is a card more suited to high-roll plays, which will not always be accessible.

Zeus Package

This deck is filled to the brim with Level 1 monsters and has difficulty going second, a combination that encourages Loading... . Moreover, with Loading... , you can go into Zeus without activating a single monster effect, potentially limiting the effectiveness of the opponent's interactions.

That said, it's a significant Extra Deck investment of two monsters (three if you include Loading... ) in a deck with already limited Extra Deck space. T.G. also struggles to combo after making Zeus, meaning in many cases you'll have to pass turn and hope the opponent can't recover. While it can pay off handsomely at times, it's not always a particularly great investment and its viability can be meta-dependent.

One for One

A very simple card, Loading... has a lot to offer for T.G., summoning either Loading... , Loading... , Loading... , or Loading... from the Deck. You can use this to start your plays or extend through negation with ease.

Bonfire

Did you know that Loading... is a Pyro monster? If you want to see Salamander in your hand without relying on hard-drawing it or using Loading... , feel free to search it with Loading... . That said, as of the writing of this guide it is not available in Master Duel, with no indication of when it might be released.

Fossil Dig

If your favorite extender is Loading... , you can play Loading... to search it even without Loading... . Granted, the main benefit of this card is to be able to search either one that you're missing, so it's not highly recommended, but worthy of some consideration nonetheless.

Piri Reis Map

If you rely on Loading... or Loading... to begin your combo, you might want to consider Loading... . At the beginning of your Main Phase, at the cost of half your LP, this card can search out either of those cards, giving you an extra consistency boost. Keep in mind that although you can also fetch Loading... with this card, you cannot activate its effect to summon a T.G. Token unless you Normal Summon it, which you won't always find the opportunity to do.