Instructions for building and playing Crusadia

By Tyler10nyson Published Mar 19, 2022 Updated May 21, 2022

This article will guide you through all the necessary details to create your own Crusadia deck. Hope you have a good time in the game!

Sections covered in this guide:

9/ General Combo Instructions

10/ Some sample Decklists

11/ Some useful Rulings

12/ Final words

overview

Hello! This is a walkthrough of the Crusadia prototype line. The main purpose of this deck is to go into turn two and defeat your opponent in one turn. There are deck variations that can facilitate going first, but this guide will discuss the basics of the going second (i.e. going later) variation. This deck is especially notable for its extremely low cost - you can build this deck quite effectively with just 4 SR and 1 UR, and you can even build a completely strong deck with little quantity more than 2 SR! That's more than enough to get you to Rank 1, so let's find out how it works.

Core Monster

Crusadia Maximus (3x)

This is the most important monster among the Crusadia monsters in the main deck. It allows you to double the damage your Link monster deals when attacking and makes OTKs much more viable.

Crusadia Draco (3x)

Another very important main deck monster of 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 the combo back to your hand. Since you normally summoned that Crusadia, you will be able to special summon it again to extend your combo.

Crusadia Arboria (3x)

A very valuable source of protection. While in the GY, you can banish Arboria to prevent the destruction of the Crusadia beast. It is also a Tuner that can help in some synchro plays or just go into Crystron Halqifibrax as a combo extension to get to Link.

Crusadia Leonis (2-3x)

Leonis is less useful than other cards. Its effect allows your Link monster to defeat a monster in a defensive position, which is situationally useful. Mostly, though, it doesn't matter much.

Crusadia Reclusia (2x)

Reclusia is another less useful Crusadia. It allows you to sacrifice a Crusadia on the field to turn on a card on your opponent's field. It can be useful in situations, but often the cost of the sacrifice is too harsh.

Parallel eXceed (3x)

This is not Crusadia but I consider it as important as a core in the deck. Parallel eXceed cannot initiate a combo, but when you summon a Link monster, you can summon it from your hand to an area the link monster points to, also halving its ATK and level. It. When you do that, you can also summon another one from the deck to the field with the same ATK and level halved. This is extremely useful for both giving you resources to link and giving you resources to perform XYZ summons since we have some Rank 4 XYZ monsters in the deck.

Kaiju (5-9x)

Playing some Kaiju will help this deck a lot, allowing you to get rid of problem monsters on your opponent's field. It doesn't matter which particular Kaiju, so don't waste your CP on Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju . My recommendation is to use Gadarla, Mystery Dust Kaiju as it is a WIND that can overcome the effects of the Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds. For other Kaiju, I recommend Thunder King, Lightningstrike Kaiju and Jizukiru, Star Destroying Kaiju because they have the highest ATK and have a rarity of R.

Magic

Crusadia Revival (1x)

Despite its name, this card does NOT revive your monsters. Instead, it grants an additional 500 ATK to any Link Crusadia monster. You can also activate its effect and target a Crusadia Link monster you control, allowing that monster to attack all other monsters on the field.

Crusadia Power (1-3X)

This is your best bet in terms of protection. It allows you to target any Crusadia monster, making it unaffected by card effects other than their monsters. Using it on Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax makes you very difficult to take down. You can use up to 3 copies for a higher chance of drawing it in your opening hand to protect your Crusadia when you're comboing, or you can use 1 copy and rely on searching for it with Crusadia Regulex

Crusadia Testament (0-1x)

This card isn't great, but it's a good enough choice. Using it makes your Crusadia monster's effects unable to be reflected. If you use it immediately after destroying your opponent's monster, it allows you to draw a number of cards equal to your monster's Link Rating. Although drawing 3-4 cards is quite good, Crusadia's goal is to end the match in the first turn, so in general it doesn't have much effect. The first effect is good but you have to use it first for it to have any use. It's an option, but I personally wouldn't recommend it.

Select Tech

The cards above should definitely be in your deck. However, they are NOT ENOUGH. Simply because in the current meta, every deck always needs Techs to strengthen the deck, making them stronger, sturdier and stronger when climbing the rank. Below are some Techs suitable for the deck that newbies can refer to.

Handtrap

Any deck needs a handtrap. At least, you can stop a few turns of your opponent's play to think about your next move. Based on the current meta, you should consider and think about the handtraps I mentioned above.

Formud Skipper (3x)

Formud Skipper is a great choice. You can use its effect to select a card from your extra deck, then you can treat that monster's name as Formud's name to link summon. This allows you another way to enter Magius. Additionally, it allows you to search Parallel eXceed , which as mentioned before is especially useful. However, you should only use it if you are also using a Link-1 monster that you can enter if Formud is negated. Otherwise, you're likely to lose matches because of just one negation. The two main options are Salamangreat Almiraj or Linkuriboh . Either one is fine.

World Legacy - "World Crown" (1-2x)

Is a pretty good extender for the Crusadia line.

Jester Confit and Turbo Booster (1-2x)

These are great level 1 extenders to summon and go to Linkuriboh, not to mention, they also have the ability to summon themselves so you won't get too bricked in the first turns.

Backrow Removal

In general, any card that removes your opponent's magic or trap cards is useful. Harpie's Feather Duster , Mystical Space Typhoon , Twin Twisters , Cosmic Cyclone , etc. All of those options work. However, how much depends on you.

Lightning Storm (1-3x)

This is also a way to remove backrows but it deserves a special introduction as it also allows you to destroy your opponent's monsters. A very good card, you should have at least one to use from special bundles but more is better.

Forbidden Chalice (2-3x)

Infinite Impermanence also works well for this purpose, but in general you should save your craft stones for other URs. Therefore, you may want to consider taking Forbidden Chalice . You can't use it as a handtrap, but you can still use it when it's your turn. Most importantly, it's just Rs - much more affordable.

Pot of Desires (1-2x)

Drawing two cards is really cool and sometimes you can get 10 cards out of your deck. If you do this, you will have to be prepared to play without cards like Crusadia Power or Crusadia Revival as they will most likely be banished.

Called by the Grave (1-2x)

This card allows you to counter your opponent's handtraps. Maxx "C" , Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring , all those cards.

Gizmek Orochi the Serpentron Sky Slasher (1-2x)

This card is quite scary as it can banish 8 cards from the top of your deck, but its benefits go much further than that. If you go later, you can special summon this card during your opponent's End Phase. Then, on your turn, you can use its effect to destroy a monster to lure disruptions. If you don't need that effect, just use it for your link play and re-summon it from your grave with its own effect during your turn. First, this card can be a surprise defense from your hand or grave to prevent your opponent's OTK.

Dinowrestler Pankratops (1x)

Another great flexible extender. Special Summon it from your hand then use its effect to prevent disruption or destroy a nasty floodgate ( Skill Drain ). If you don't need its effects, it's still a 2600 ATK extender that can help increase your Equimax

Alpha the Master of Beasts (1-2x)

Similar to Pankratrops, this is another great multi-purpose extender. Summon it from your hand, use its effect to bounce monsters from your opponent's field (remember, bounce does not target!). You can then summon it again. Although you cannot use its effect or attack with it again, it can still increase your Equimax by 3000 ATK.

Gizmek Kaku the Supreme Shining Sky Stag (1-2x)

Although less powerful than the previous three techs, Kaku still brings similar value to the deck. Use its effect to absorb threats in the extra monster area. It stands at a powerful 2750 ATK which you can use to boost your equimax or, very conveniently, to OTK along with the Accesscode (5300 + 2750 = 8050!).

Tenyi Spirit - Vishuda (2x)

Only consider using this tech if you have Crystron Halqifibrax . Not the easiest tech to use but it can still provide a lot of flexibility. You can special summon this card from your hand at the start of your turn, then summon Link Monk of the Tenyi . Vishuda's effect in the graveyard can then be used to return a card on the field to the hand (Maybe Skill Drain?). Just note that you cannot use Monk of the Tenyi as material for Crusadia Regulex / Crusadia Equimax because they require effect monsters. You will have to enter another Link 2, ideally Crystron Halqifibrax , to unlock your extra monster zone.

Extra Deck

Crusadia Magius (2x)

Magius is your main combo starter. You can go into it with any Crusadia except itself and it allows you to search any Crusadia main deck based on your current needs. Typically, if you want a basic extender combo, you'll use Crusadia Draco to be able to bring back the beast you used to summon Magius, but there are certainly situations that arise for each Crusadia. You want to use 2 of these to get into Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax .

Crusadia Regulex (1-2x)

Regulex is the 2nd general link you choose, allowing you to search for any Crusadia spell or card. Among them, Crusadia Power allows a Crusadia to be immune to card effects for the turn and Crusadia Revival increases your ATK (it does not revive your Crusadia monster despite its name). You may be fine using 1 Regulex but 2 is safer.

Crusadia Spatha (0-1x)

Spatha is a good alternative to Crusadia Regulex . It allows you to move a beast. You can use this to move your own Crusadia out of the Link zone where you summoned it, allowing you to summon another Crusadia. Additionally, you can move your opponent's monster into the area in front of the Extra Monster area.

Crusadia Equimax (2x)

Important card of this deck and why OTK can be performed. Equimax may have a low base ATK of 2000 but similar to other Crusadia Link monsters, it gains ATK from any monster it points to. As link 3, Equimax has 3 Link arrows - bottom left, bottom right and up. This allows you to take advantage of your opponent's monster's ATK as well as increase your own power. Equimax also has the effect of sacrificing a Crusadia monster it targets, after which it can negate the effects of any face-up card on the field. This effect is very useful, but you probably won't use it much.

Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax (1x)

This is Crusadia's only UR and it is worth summoning. Avramax has an effect that allows it to gain ATK equal to the ATK of the monster it battles during the Damage Calculation step, and it also cannot be targeted by card effects (although it can be affected by non-target effect). When using Crusadia Power on Avramax, you will have a special monster that is difficult to destroy. If you must go first, then Avramax is your plan B - many decks will have no way to deal with it.

Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir (1x)

This is a very powerful floodgate that can be used to take down your opponents in a very tormenting manner. Its effects vary depending on whether it is summoned in attack or defense position, but you should ALWAYS summon it in defense position. It forces any monsters your opponent summons into a defensive position and negates any effects they attempt to use. It also does not affect Link monsters since they cannot enter a defensive position, allowing your main ace monster to continue to be used, however , in another situation, your opponent can do the same So.

Number 60: Dugares the Timeless (1x)

Is the second XYZ Rank 4 that you should definitely use. It has 3 effects, but only one of them is really important. This card's third effect allows you to detach two XYZ materials to double the ATK of a monster you control, at the cost of losing your battle phase the next turn. That's a big drawback, but it doesn't matter much if there's no next turn and that's your goal. Dugares makes OTK much easier, especially when your opponent has no monsters because Maximus is useless in that case.

Extra Deck Tech

Abyss Dweller (1x)

Abyss Dweller is another floodgate that can shut down your opponents :"). Many meta decks rely heavily on grave effects and there is simply no way to deal with them being negated.

Link Spider (1x)

Link Spider is here for one reason and one reason only. Once you are sure to have Nibiru, the Primal Being activated on you, you can use its token to enter Link Spider and make a comeback. Probably not, but it could be quite effective.

Crystron Halqifibrax (1x)

The truth is that Arboria is a Tuner. Using it to enter Halq allows you to summon another Arboria from your deck, allowing you to enter Link 3 while only spending one material. You will probably sacrifice the effects of Regulex and Spatha, but you may not need those cards either.

Accesscode Talker (1x)

A Link 4 boss monster. If you summon it with Equimax and another monster, you can get up to 5300 ATK. Combine that with the ability to banish Link monsters from your grave for a kill cards on the field and Accesscode become a pretty good main monster

Borrelsword Dragon (1x)

A boss monster that speaks for itself. Borrelsword allows you to switch a monster on either side to defense position to give you two attacks. It can also gain ATK equal to half the ATK of the monster it fights. With a whopping 3000 ATK, you can deal a lot of damage with it.

Knightmare Phoenix (1x)

Knightmare Phoenix is an easy 2 link to summon that can pop out part of the backrow. It's quite situational, but it can be useful to get you unstuck.

Enigne

Although Crusadia alone is enough for you to push your deck to quite high Ranks. However, Crusadia's main weakness is still handtraps, meaning your turn will stop immediately if caught by a handtrap. Therefore, using Engine will partly overcome that discomfort.

Sky Striker Engine

This is quite an expensive option, but it greatly increases the consistency of the deck. Using it requires a number of cards (suggested above).

The biggest benefit of the Sky Striker Engine is that it allows you to avoid Ash. We'll go deeper into this in the next section, but the general combo you'll want to use will be as follows:

Using Engage, search Hornet
Normal summon any Crusadia
Link 1, Magius
Activate Hornet
Link 1 Kagari
Chain Link 1 Magius, Chain Link 2 Kagari !!! This blocks Ash!!
Search Maximus, retrieve the Hornet
Link 2 Regulex
Activate Hornet
Link 1 Kaina
Chain Link 1 Regulex, Chain Link 2 Kaina !!! This blocks Ash!!
Search Revival, target any card with Kaina
Link 3 Equimax
Set Revival face up, special summon Maximus
Targets Equimax with both Revival and Maximus' effects
Attack your opponent's monster (ideally a kaiju) to end it

Chain Block

Worried your opponent might have Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring for your Crusadia Magius / Crusadia Regulex search? Do you have a Crusadia Reclusia effect that you really need to deal with despite your opponent's denials on the field? What if I told you there was a way to make some of your effects safe from most negations? Let me introduce you to Block Chain. It's a simple but effective tactic to prevent your opponent from reacting directly to some of your effects. The idea behind it is that you can choose the order in which effects are activated at the same time. By choosing your most valuable effect as Chain Link 1, your opponent will be unable to deny it with most common interruption methods. It is best explained through a few examples:

Crusadia Magius and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (Example 1)

You have Crusadia Magius on the field. The opponent has Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring in hand, ready to disable your Magius's search effect. You special summon Crusadia Draco from your hand to the area Magius points to, activating both Magius's search effect and Draco's effect to return a monster from the grave to your hand. Since both effects activate simultaneously, you can choose the activation order 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 attack negates Magius's last effect because what's about to happen is Draco's effect!.

Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess and Crusadia Reclusia (Example 2)

Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess is a very powerful card that can negate monster effects more than once per turn. However, you can use Block Chain to remove her from the field. You have Crusadia Magius in the extra monster zone. You special summon Crusadia Reclusia from your hand to an area Magius points to. Magius and Reclusia's effects both activate at the same time. Therefore, you can choose the order of the chain links. Choose Reclusia as Chain Link 1 and Magius as Chain Link 2. Apollousa can negate Magius's effect because it is the last effect to activate. However, she cannot negate Reclusia's effect because 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 "inherent", in other words, you do not activate any effects to special summon Reclusia. Therefore, the summon cannot be prevented by cards like Apollousa (the same applies to all Crusadia monsters). Get the idea? The monster effects in Chain link 1 are very difficult for your opponents to stop. Always keep it in mind as an option that helps you neutralize your most important effects even when your opponent has disruptions on the field. When you have a choice, you should set Magius as Chain link 1 to prevent it from being negated by Ash Blossom. Only cards like Infinite Impermanence or Effect Veiler can actually negate chain link 1 monster effects.

A particularly excellent example of a Block Chain is the Sky Striker Engine as mentioned above. Using it facilitates two Block Chains easily! The way to do it is to first summon Crusadia Magius with any Crusadia, then use ( Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones ) (or use Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage! to search for it). Summon the token to an area that Magius does not point to, then Link out Sky Striker Ace - Kagari using it! This allows you to activate Magius and Kagari at the same time, with Magius being the first card ensuring your search is not interrupted. Then, if your opponent doesn't break your Kagari, you can return the Hornet Drone to you and repeat the process with Crusadia Regulex and Sky Striker Ace - Kaina to create a completely immune combo with Ash!

General Combo Instructions

There are two main combo routes - one goes straight into Avramax and one goes into Equimax and can go to Avramax the next turn. Both start the same way:

Normal Summon any Crusadia monster (preferably not Draco)
Tribute a normally summoned monster to Link Summon " Crusadia Magius " from the Extra Deck.
Special Summon a second Crusadia monster from your hand to Magius (preferably Draco), activating Magius to search. If you haven't played Draco yet, you need to search for Draco. Otherwise Arboria or Maximus. Maximus if you go 2nd and want to OTK, Arboria if you go first.

Now to summon Avramax in as few summons as possible, do:

4. Sacrifice Magius + Crusadia X monster to Link to Crusadia Spatha , then special summon another Crusadia from hand to Spatha.
5. Move it out from under Spatha with Spatha's ability, then special summon another Crusadia.
6. Link any Link 2 (usually Crusadia Regulex ) to the two Crusadia you special summoned from your hand.
7. Sacrifice both Spatha and other Link 2 to summon Avramax.

For the slower Equimax or avramax, you do:

4. Tribute Magius + Crusadia X to Link Crusadia Regulex , then special summon another Crusadia from hand to Regulex.
5. Regulex activates and you search for any spell/trap you need, usually Crusadia Power or Revival in this situation.
6. Sacrifice Regulex + another monster to Link to Equimax.
7. Summon any monsters you have left below Equimax. Maximus is best, so you can attack for double damage.
8. If you still need to enter Avramax, use one of the remaining Crusadia monsters to summon a second copy of Magius.
9. Sacrifice Equimax + Magius to link to summon Avramax

Some sample Decklists

Sample deck 01

Need 19 UR

Main: 42 Extra: 15

The deck uses the Sky Striker Engine

Sample deck 02

Need 19 UR

Main: 40 Extra: 15

Pure Crusadia deck

Some useful Rulings

The protection of Crusadia Arboria

Her effect to protect monsters will not activate and therefore cannot be negated. However, opponents can still use Called by the grave to prevent you from “using” it, even if you have multiple copies of Arboria in your grave.

Kaiju

Summoning Kaiju monsters is the default. In other words, there's nothing stopping you from sacrificing your opponent's monster and giving him a Kaiju. Therefore, Kaiju is perfect for cards like Herald of Ultimateness , regardless of how many fairies or Herald of the Orange Light they have.

However, Kaiju has a small weakness. Cards that prevent you from summoning monsters still apply to them. Therefore, cards like Fossil Dyna, Barrier statues and Rhongo with 4 or more materials ( Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad ) will be immune to your Kaijus. Note that Wind Barrier Statue is often used by decks like Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade. Therefore, we recommend using Gardarla, the Wind Kaiju, as you can special summon it regardless of your opponent having his Wind Barrier Statue!

Negative effects of Crusadia Equimax

Crusadia Equimax 's effect to negate a card effect works similarly to Effect Veiler . If your opponent summons Rescue Cat , you can use the Equimax effect, sacrificing a monster you control to negate their effect. Even if opp then activates Rescue Cat's effect to sacrifice itself, it will still be disabled! However, if you wait until they activate the effect to try to negate it, you won't be able to because Rescue Cat treats itself as a cost upon activation. The same idea applies to other cards like Linkuriboh or Sky Striker Raye (although Raye can still apply its effect, summoning Sky Striker from the Extra Deck on its own).

Crusadia's default special summon

All Crusadia monsters in the main deck have the same effect that allows them to special summon themselves to an area that the Link monster points to. This special summon is however "default". In other words, you do not activate any effects to special summon a Crusadia monster. This means your opponent cannot prevent you from special summoning a Crusadia monster from your hand. The same idea applies to other common Crusadia techs such as Kaiju, Turbo booster, Jester conflict, World Legacy Crown , Dinowrestler Pankratops . However, cards like Parallel Exceed and Gizmek Orochi activate their effects in hand to special summon themselves and can thus be negated before they reach the field!

Example: Your opponent has Apollousa on the field, you have 4 different Crusadia monsters in your hand. Normal Summon the first Crusadia monster, use it to Link to Magius. You can then special summon another Crusadia monster from your hand (this cannot be prevented by Mechaba as it is an inherent summon). Proceed to special summon your next Crusadia monster and use it to climb Equimax. Special Summon your last Crusadia monster and finally summon Accesscode Talker . Use the Accesscode Talker effect to get a boost to 5300 ATK (your opponent cannot deny Apollousa due to the Accesscode's effect). Use the remaining effect to destroy Apollousa (still unable to respond due to Accesscode's effect). You just summoned a pretty powerful Link 4 boss and destroyed Apollousa without using a single monster effect that Apollousa could negate!

Please note that during this turn, you can still activate monster effects and use block chains with Magius / Regulex / Draco to get at least one of them to occur while climbing Link.

Crusadia Power vs Maximus / Leonis / Revival

Crusadia Power is a card that makes your Crusadia monster immune to effects other than its own for the rest of its turn. It's 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 activate Power on Equimax and then activate the Crusadia Maximus effect on Equimax, Equimax still will not deal double damage when fighting monsters because it is not affected by your Maximus effect when you enable it.

However, if you activate the Maximus effect on Equimax before using Power on it, the effect still applies and you deal double damage. This is called the “lingering effect”. As long as Equimax is not affected at the time you use Maximus' effects, you are guaranteed to receive the benefits. Even if you later use Crusadia Power on Equimax!

The same idea applies to the effects of Crusadia Leonis and Crusadia Revival .

Example: The opponent has Linkuriboh on the field and a 3300 ATK Kaiju on his field. You have an Equimax on your field, facing your opponent's Kaiju, a Draco and a Maximus on your field. You use the Maximus effect on Equimax to deal double damage in combat. You then proceed to attack your opponent's Kaiju with Equimax. The opponent who activates Linkuriboh's effect tries to reduce your Equimax attack to 0, then you chain Crusadia Power from your hand on Equimax. Equimax will then deal 8400 atk damage to the opponent because the Maximus effect still applies!

Final words

And that's the end of the tutorial! If you've read this far, you'll have a pretty solid view of Crusadia. Build your deck, go out to Rank and have a blast with those OTKs!