Tatling Gurbo

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What is Tatling Gurbo?

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In today’s deck spotlight article, we’ll be taking a brief look at Staff member Randage’s signature deck: Tatling Gurbo. The deck was constructed as a collaboration project with fellow Goat Format member James400. Randage piloted this unique Machine-based strategy in our February 9th 2020 Goat Format Championship #2 to Loser’s Round 4, before unfortunately falling foul of victoryy’s heavily teched Monarch deck.

Here’s the list:

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How does it work?

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Immediately, you might notice that this is a highly unconventional variation on the Reasoning/Gate strategy. It adopts a fairly similar philosophy to the now well-known version labelled “Noelle-Gate” by Noelle Evelyn, insofar as building to go for the jugular and OTK rather than slowly overwhelm with the now outdated variations that rely on choices like Airknight Parshath and Dark Ruler Ha Des.

The means by which Randage reaches the same end as the Noelle-Gate version is rather different though; while Noelle relies on the use on use of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Sorcerer to fuel their centrepiece card Dimension Fusion, Randage focuses on the maxed-out Fusion Gate, backed by two copies of Terraforming to search the deck’s key combo piece. Fusion Gate is most definitely the star of the show in this deck. Fusion Gate facilitates the use of Dimension Fusion in this variation, by allowing Randage to banish his Barrel Dragon and Blowback Dragon to summon Gatling Dragon, before summoning them back via Dimension Fusion for a brutal smack down amounting to some 7500 damage altogether. Naturally these attacks will be direct shots thanks to the field clearing effects of the three mentioned dragons

​Notably, the inclusion of these dragons also helps Randage overcome what is usually a menace to such decks: Scapegoat. The activation of Scapegoat in response to a Giant Trunade or Heavy Storm can often spell disaster for a more cookie-cutter type Reasoning/Gate list. In such a scenario, they may be left relying on milling a Lightning Vortex to add with Dark Magician of Chaos, or relying on a combination of Dimension Fusion, Metamorphosis and Dark Magician of Chaos to field a Gatling Dragon which may need to flip two heads on the coin toss to open up the opponent’s defences enough of finish the job.

Speaking of Scapegoat, the choice to run three copies of his own leaves Randage with a handful of additional tricks up his sleeve. Besides helping him stall and survive against opposition combo decks that seek to OTK, Scapegoat tokens create the ideal conditions for the activation of Monster Gate.

Jinzo and aforementioned Dark Magician of Chaos make predictable appearances, both facilitating OTK’s by sweeping up potential threats in the opponent’s spell/trap card zone, or in the case of Dark Magician of Chaos, adding crucial combo pieces milled off Reasoning and Monster Gate like Dimension Fusion, Monster Gate, Premature Burial and Fusion Gate. As an aside, it should also be noted that Randage’s Fusion Gate also allows him to summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon as a surprise threat.

The omission of the elephant in the room – Limiter Removal – is justified due to its contribution to dead hands, a plague that has long been the downfall of the Reasoning/Gate strategy. Randage focuses on consistency; the suite of Jar of Greed in the side deck (which we will briefly discuss later) is complimented in the main deck by Upstart Goblin and Reckless Greed, whose sole purpose is to dig into the key power cards like Reasoning, Monster Gate and Fusion Gate. Card Destruction also makes an appearance, allowing Randage to throw away useless cards to fix his hand, as well as capitalize on Thunder Dragon to gain advantage.

The Side Deck

The side deck construction appears to have been directly influenced by Noelle; Cyber Jar and Morphing Jar wait in the wings in games two and three after the opponent has sided out their supposedly useless Nobleman of Crossout, allowing Randage to gain an additional five cards when resolved, a massive advantage for a deck running overwhelmingly powerful combo pieces, and backed by a suite of Giant Trunade and Heavy Storm. The opponent may gain additional resources too, but card advantage doesn’t particularly matter when Randage can clear his opponent’s defences with a single spell activation, before summoning a suite of deadly threats to finish off his opponent.

Spell Canceller and Cyber-Stein come in for alt-win decks like Library FTK and Empty Jar, as well as Reasoning Gate mirror matches, with Cyber-Stein able to summon both Dark Balter the Terrible and The Last Warrior from Another Planet to stun the opponent. Protector of the Sanctuary as a level four choice for Reasoning also counters those alt-win matchups and is an unconventional choice. Siding Protector of the Sanctuary over the third Spell Canceller or second Cyber-Stein makes Reasoning more reliable against those decks, especially with its 1900 defence point stat meaning it won’t be attacked over when special summoned in defence mode. Cyber-Stein is particularly tricky because it can be used to summon Ojama King to lock up three of the opponent’s monster zones; if the opponent already has two less useful monsters on the field, Randage can use this to stall for time to assemble his combo pieces.
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Level Limit - Area B and Swords of Revealing Light make appearances as stall choices against Antimeta decks like Tiger Stun or Beastdown, but the addition of Jar of Greed and field wipes like Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute are particularly interesting. After blitzing the unprepared opponent in game one, Randage gives himself the option to slow the game down. Jar of Greed helps him dig through the deck and stabilise without having to fall foul of the opposition Breaker the Magical Warrior due to its spell speed two nature as a trap card. Anybody who has played Goat Format knows to respect the raw power of Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute, but opponents will know they are playing on borrowed time and will take risks to try to end the duel before Randage can assemble an unstoppable combination of cards that can deal 8000 or more damage. The rush to beat Randage quickly allows him to gain even more value out of the two power traps, and prey on the desperation of a panicked opponent throwing their best monsters onto the field as fast as possible.

As part of the side deck strategy, Randage typically sides out all copies of Thunder Dragon, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, one Giant Trunade, one Monster Gate and two Reasonings. He typically brings in all three Jar of Greed’s, Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force, Cyber Jar, Morphing Jar, as well as Swords of Revealing Light. Additional adjustments may be made depending on the opposition deck and player.

Why Tatling Gurbo Could Be Viable

Overall, Randage has developed a unique take on the Reasoning/Gate strategy, one that not only catches the opponent off-guard with an unconventional suite of machine based cards but also can play a war of attrition in the post sided games. His deck consumes Goat Control decks for breakfast due to the lack of tools in a standard Goat Control list, and will usually take the first game against most decks when it doesn’t dead draw.

Please look forward to more Goat Format related content in the near future, and until next time: keep duelling!
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Do you have any questions about Randage's Tatling Gurbo or want to share your own rogue decklists? We’d love to hear from you in the comments. Want expert help to construct your own unconventional deck? Then join our Discord server.

Interested in seeing some of Randage's Yu-Gi-Oh! content? Check out his YouTube channel here.
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NB96

NB96 considers himself a top, top Goat Format player. Rumors of his demise following the expulsion of his most famous and recognizable alter-ego Nasty Beast 69 from other Discord servers was greatly exaggerated. NB96 is a former member of Goat Format Staff.