[TCG] Kozmo Archetype Introduction

Konami finally wrote an article talking about the "Kozmo" archetype.

Last week you got your first taste of the new Kozmo theme from Clash of Rebellions. I was happy to see that this new World Premiere strategy has received such a warm welcome from Duelists everywhere. Like Burning Abyss, the goal with Kozmo was to have a Deck that’s playable with just the initial batch of cards, but will improve significantly with every major booster release throughout the Dueling season. There are lots of different directions you can take the strategy right out of the gate, so read on for some tips on how to start building your own Kozmo Deck when Clash of Rebellions launches on August 7^th!

The Kozmo monsters are split up into two groups: the Psychic-Type “pilot” monsters and the Machine-Type “spaceship” monsters. Pilots can be banished to Summon any Kozmo monster from your hand with a higher Level than the pilot as a Quick Effect, and spaceships can be banished when they’re destroyed to Summon any Kozmo monster from your Deck with a lower Level. To set the strategy in motion, you need both a pilot and a ship, so in the early going Kozmo Farmgirl is the monster you’re looking for.
She’s not mandatory to start off with, but the Deck works far better when you can get to Kozmo Farmgirl by your first attacking turn. You don’t need her on the very first turn of the Duel because her effect to pay 500 to add any “Kozmo” card to your hand only activates when she inflicts damage. As a Level 3 Psychic monster with 1500 ATK, Kozmo Farmgirl falls right into the range of two classic Psychic-Summoning cards that hail from the bookends of the 5D’s era.

Emergency Teleport is from the very first 5D’s booster, The Duelist Genesis, and is practically synonymous with both “Psychic-Type monsters” and “Synchro Summoning”. It can Summmon Farmgirl directly from your hand or Deck at any time, even during the Battle Phase, so your opponent pretty much always has to play as if you have it. Because the effect to Summon bigger Kozmo monsters is a Quick Effect, you can even live dangerously and run Kuribandit to getEmergency Teleport. As a Quick-Play Spell, you can add Emergency Teleport to your hand off ofKuribandit, then activate it in that same End Phase to Summon Farmgirl, and banish Farmgirl in that same End Phase to Summon a bigger monster from your hand.

Serene Psychic Witch is part of the Quiet Trio from the very last 5D’s booster, Extreme Victory. Whether she’s a good witch or a bad witch, no one knows for sure, but when she’s destroyed and sent to the Graveyard you can banish a 2000 or less ATK Psychic from your Deck and then Summon it during the next Standby Phase. Obviously Farmgirl falls in this range, but she can also grab Kozmo Goodwitch from your Deck. You only need one or the other of the pilots to start Summoning ships, and Goodwitch’s ability to flip a monster down for 500 LP is also super useful. The delayed Summoning from Serene Psychic Witch is often seen as a negative point, but I’ve always been a fan of it because it lets me start my own turn with a monster without giving my opponent the chance to pre-emptively destroy it.
If you missed out on either of those cards when they first came out, or when they reappeared, inLegendary Collection 5D’s and Astral Pack 3 respectively, fear not! You’ll have another shot at bothEmergency Teleport and Serene Psychic Witch when High-Speed Riders launches at the start of October!
You can also get Farmgirl just by running cards that thin out or let you draw cards from your Deck. With all the banishing going on, a combo of Kozmotown and Gold Sarcophagus will let you drop 300 LP to get Farmgirl. Since Kozmotown is such a huge part of keeping your combos going, it’s tempting to play Terraforming as well, and if you’re already playing Terraforming, why not also use a second Field Spell that can help you draw through your Deck? You can pay 1000 LP to draw a card with Chicken Game from Clash of Rebellions, then replace it with Kozmotown to deny your opponent the same benefit. This strategy becomes stronger if you’ve built your Deck to be able to Summon Ancient Fairy Dragon, but more on that tomorrow.
At its core, Kozmo is not a Deck that’s looking to do any extravagant 20 step combos, it’s a Deck that’s trying to deal as much damage as possible as quickly as possible, even if it has to use most or all of its hand to do so. That means you really need your monsters to win all their battles, make a lot of attacks unopposed, or both. It’s especially important for Kozmo Farmgirl, as her effect is the easiest way to gather Kozmo cards to your hand.

All of the current Kozmo cards are LIGHT, so Honest will win you a lot of battles and help you get damage in. Juragedo will help you win battles, keep your LP high, and even add a ton of extra damage to empty fields, all of which are useful to this Deck. Moon Mirror Shield is a theoretically infinite source of battle outcome changing that forces your opponent to play a removal effect to get rid of your monsters. It also gets you past Apoqliphort Towers due to overwriting all other ATK/DEF modifiers.

You can also clear the road by just blasting all of your opponent’s monsters out of existence first. This isn’t a particularly effective approach against Burning Abyss, but it’s an approach that works great against a huge number of popular strategies.
That’s about all you need to know to get started on putting together your own Kozmo Deck. Of course, you’ll need the cards themselves to do so! The Sneak Peeks for Clash of Rebellions are happening on August 1^st and/or 2^nd, and the release itself is on August 7^th. Come back tomorrow for some ideas on how to fill out the rest of your Kozmo Deck, including other themes that mesh well with the strategy, and different ways you can use your Extra Deck!