Ghostrider15's Chaos Turbo Analysis

Chaos Turbo is a deck that goes all the way back to 2005. It was created by a duelist named Jae Kim, who was very well known at the time. Back then, Jae Kim wasn't running many cards that we would consider to be standard, not even the now very common chaos sorcerer seen in just about every Chaos Turbo list. Despite this, he was still ahead of his time, incorporating cards such as Thunder Dragon and Night Assailant. Let's take a look at his 2005 list.

​At first glance, you wouldn’t be able to tell it’s a Chaos Turbo deck because of how different it is compared to conventional lists. Chaos Turbo has evolved much throughout the years. Here we can see that Jae Kim is using cards like Slate Warrior, Monster Reincarnation, and Swords of Revealing Light, which are never seen today. Additionally, we see Metamorphosis and Scapegoat because back then it was believed that those cards were almost absolutely necessary to compete in the format.

Fast forward more than a decade later, and user "IWASBANNED0NDN" was one of the pioneers of the deck’s revival during the modern era. He made many changes to Jae Kim’s 2005 list by adding cards like Chaos Sorcerer, Dekoichi, and Tsukuyomi. In 2018 he won FLC 5 and the DuelistGroundz Seasonal Playoffs with his list. Despite making all these changes, even his version isn’t exactly what we consider standard Chaos Turbo in the current era of Goat Format. More changes were to come.

Other pioneers of the modern era include Carl Waite and Ptranxp. Both have taken the deck to the top of the podium with 1st place finishes at a major event. The latest version of Chaos Turbo has been developed by players such as The Nano and myself (Ghostrider15). This build uses solemn judgment to prevent the opponent from gaining advantage while you use cards such as Upstart Goblin and Jar of Greed to find your power cards. Overall, the core strategy of the deck has not changed, though. It still plays its key cards, such as Thunder Dragon, Night Assailant, Card Destruction, Chaos Sorcerer, and the very powerful Black Luster Soldier. 

Strategy

Chaos Turbo is a midrange deck. It isn't very aggressive (although it can be), but at the same time the deck isn't heavy control either. It's a perfect balance of the two. The deck thrives on gaining easy “plus ones” through flip effect monsters, Chaos Sorcerer/BLS and Thunder Dragon. Every single monster you have has potential for an easy plus one. The trinity makes this even easier. In fact, Turbo is one of the best decks that can abuse the trinity thanks to its focus on card advantage.

In aggro matchups, Gravekeeper's Spy is your best friend. Spy can help you stall out the game until you can draw an out to very pesky monsters such as Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer or Blade Knight. Solemn Judgement is strong against combo decks if used and timed correctly. When it comes to the burn matchup, cards like Raigeki Break and Wing blast can be your savior. Normally these cards aren’t the greatest as they’re a “minus one”, but Turbo has many good discards.
Turbo has the greatest resources management in the format and card economy is usually in your favor. It can force the opposing player to waste crucial resources while you lose very few. After many cards have been exhausted from the opposing player, Chaos Sorcerer and Black Luster Soldier are dropped onto the field and finish the damage that your small flip effect monsters have done.
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Core Interactions

Cards like Phoenix Wind Wing Blast go well with Chaos Turbo. You can set your opponent back a turn, and if you have something like Tsukuyomi and a flip effect monster it can be devastating for the opponent. Cards such as Upstart Goblin and Jar of Greed are very strong in Chaos Turbo because thinning out your deck increases your chances of seeing trinity cards. As I mentioned earlier, Turbo is the best deck at abusing Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity and Delinquent Duo.

The powerful Tribe Infecting Virus has the best usage in Chaos Turbo because there’s many cards that you can discard to gain advantage from it.

​Book of Moon is also a very strong card in this deck. Chaos Turbo has one the highest monster counts that includes flip effect monsters. This lets your Dekoichis and Gravekeeper’s Spy dodge things like Ring of Destruction, Snatch Steal and Sakuretsu Armor. To make things worse for the opponent, you get to reuse your monster's flip effect again. Chaos Sorcerer and BLS can also make powerful use of Book of Moon. Chaos Sorcerer and BLS are once per turn to banish something and they may no longer attack. However, this restriction can be bypassed by flipping them face down and flipping them back up.
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Deck Skeleton

Example Deck Lists

• Ghostrider15's GFC 15 top 4 list
• Carl Waite’s GFC 9 1st place list
• Riclar91’s Worlds 2020 1st place list
• The Nano's Clash of Champions 2nd place list​

Strengths and Weaknesses

The deck's biggest strength is how consistent it is. It rarely ever has a useless hand because flip effect monsters are always going to serve a purpose early in the game. Another major strength it has is having a high ceiling without reducing consistency. Decks like Reasoning Gate Turbo or Bazoo Return have high ceilings as well, but are much more prone to drawing brick hands. Chaos Turbo doesn't suffer from this issue. Not only is Turbo one of the strongest decks to use trinity, it is also one of the most resilient to it. Delinquent Duo doesn't hit as hard due to cards such as Night Assailant, Sinister Serpent and Thunder Dragon. Sometimes, even pitching a Light and/or Dark can help you to easily summon Chaos Sorcerer or BLS. Pot of Greed and Graceful are tough cards to deal with, but Turbo has so much draw power of its own that it has a decent chance of being able to make an epic comeback.

Another major strength of the deck is that flip monsters don't rely on anything but themselves to net you their plus one. Other monsters such as Shining Angel or Spirit Reaper have a harder time gaining advantage as their requirement to net a plus requires more. All flip effect monsters have to do is flip themselves face up and the requirement is satisfied.
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Chaos Turbo’s biggest weakness are cards that can disrupt your potential plus ones. This includes Blade Knight, Mystic Swordsman lv 2, and Mind Control, and more. Not having any Light or Darks is also a problem for the deck. This usually happens through something like Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer. The card itself is a floodgate on legs against Turbo. Trap Dustshoot is also very good against Chaos Turbo because the deck very often has four or more cards in hand.

Common Misconceptions

Chaos Turbo has been called a "Trinity Deck" by many, and while it is true that the deck is very strong with those cards, it is possible to pilot the deck to a victory without them. The top level Chaos Turbo players are able to navigate their way to a win without relying on the trinity, which is why they consistently win. 

Another common misconception is that Chaos Turbo can't win often against Warrior. Many lower-level Turbo players are discouraged by this and switch decks. It's true that the matchup is in Warrior’s favor, but the top-level Turbo players have shown that it's not unwinnable by any means. It’s important to note that while it is a bad matchup for Turbo, just about every other matchup is favorable.
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Conclusion

Chaos Turbo started off in 2005 as a neat creation by Jae Kim intended to be a fun rogue deck in a meta filled with goat control. Fast forward over a decade later, and Turbo is arguably the best deck in the entire format. Meanwhile, Goat Control has almost completely phased out. It's more modern rival (Chaos Warrior) is fighting with Turbo along with a few others for the spot as the BDOTF (Best deck of the format). If you want to learn more about Turbo’s biggest nemesis, here's an analysis you can check out.

​Do you have any questions about Chaos Turbo or want to share your list? We'd be more than happy to see them in the comments. Are you looking for help on how to construct your own Chaos Turbo deck from some of the best? Then join our Discord server and become a part of this amazing Goat Format community!