Phoenix Wing: An Often Overlooked Gem

FungusAmungus tackles the Phoenix Wing Wind Blast v. Raigeki Break discussion in his newest article! 

A frequent argument made amongst Chaos Turbo circles in the Goat Format community pits Raigeki Break vs. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast as competing discard traps for the strategy, and this is often framed as if one should take place over another. In my opinion, such a “versus” type of framing is a bit harmful to optimal deck building and can constrain our ability to leave our biases at the door in the sake of both fun and optimization. We should be asking ourselves what answers we have to common meta cards and what roles are to the cards we play fill to justify making it into the 55. I am here to answer those questions and also answer why I think someday playing Phoenix Wing in the main deck of Chaos Turbo will be seen as more standard. We will address several important points here and look at some common examples of where its utility is unmatched. Then we will discuss its known weaknesses and how we can mitigate those weaknesses through sound deck building choices. ​

Strengths

• There is no other card that has field “removal” without stacking the opponent’s graveyard. ​

Okay, we will make an exception for cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, but we often do not consider that because it is not a chainable and also is a bit specific. This point, however, is highly impactful in the mirror match. When you use PWWB on a card like Gravekeeper’s Spy, that Spy will not hit the graveyard. This has the 2-for-1 effect of blocking potential Chaos plays early-to-mid game and also denying discard plays involving Night Assailant, which matters A LOT the more you view replays to see what the opponent could have done otherwise. Yes, this is a bit of a Raigeki Break comparison in the alternative scenario, but our next points will show less of this comparison. PWWB also being completely safe and useful against the early game Sangans or Serpents is probably severely undervalued when brought up in discussion. 

• Keeping knowledge and stalling are both very effective regardless of the matchup. ​

What if you could always ensure that your Trap Dustshoot will resolve with effect? Well, if you are using PWWB on a set or active monster, you will know for sure that if your opponent draws and passes priority that your Trap Dustshoot will resolve and you will have amazing information to follow. Moreover, if you resolve a Trap Dustshoot, following up with PWWB will signify that you have potentially PERFECT information about hand knowledge for two whole turns. In virtually every iteration of Yugioh throughout its entire history, maintaining perfect knowledge as if you are Pegasus himself has always been an extremely broken mechanic. To add to this point, if you have reason to believe that your opponent doesn’t have NOC in hand, of course, PWWB can have the “Time Seal” effect of ensuring that your opponent will not draw those powerful cards on their next turn, which can then lead to much more aggressive turns of your own.​

There are more things that make this card amazing, but most of them have to do with the power of chainable discard traps, and most of these good things are already known to the reader. ​Now we will discuss a real scenario of a Turbo mirror match and why PWWB can have situations in which it is simply irreplaceable.Let’s say the opponent is going first. They draw Dekoichi, Nobleman of Crossout, and four other random cards that we will just disregard for the sake of argument. Our draws will be Dekoichi, PWWB, a viable discard (Thunder Dragon, Serpent, or potentially a Night Assailant depending on the rest of the hand). In this scenario, we can set our Dekoichi and the PWWB and use PWWB on their Dekoichi in the Draw Phase. Now if they use their Nobleman, they have the potential to completely wipe out their entire playset in deck without any Darks hitting the graveyard, a scenario in which can be fairly dire in the mirror match. Should they choose to do so, although we lose knowledge that their next draw is likely a flip monster, we have equalized to the point that their advantage is going to be hard to come by for the remainder of the duel, and this is a scenario in which we didn’t have to worry about the potential of the facedown being a Sangan or Sinister Serpent. If they don’t use Nobleman, then we are free to start building our advantage on the next turn with our flip effect with knowledge that a viable set is likely coming (also another opportunity for one of your next two draws to be your own Nobleman or Trap Dustshoot which can rid you of the mon anyways). As every great Goat player knows, extra draws mean everything. 

Sometimes knowledge can have downsides, of course. Some will say that is “bad” to know that a Snatch Steal you placed back is coming or something like Breaker the Magical Warrior. In my opinion, Snatch is the worse of the two scenarios, but manageable, while Breaker isn’t actually bad at all. ​​

With Snatch Steal, every deck must have answers to the card. You must constantly play as if Snatch Steal can be a threat, and if you cannot manage that threat, you must know what risk you are taking. Delaying Snatch on a BLS is a GOOD thing, just one that’s often seen as worse than having an MST or Raigeki Break for it. Often you may be in a winning position just by delaying one turn. And if you cannot prevent it, of course, you can do things like tribute set Thunder Dragon to protect your position if need be. Suboptimal, yes, but the downsides and upsides both need consideration when making any tech choice. As with other scenarios, you must ask “How many answers to Snatch do I have?” Chances are that four of them is sufficient. That’s where only running Breaker, MST, and Heavy can leave a little to be desired. But Book of Moon would count as the fourth. ​​

Any deck using  two Normal Summons on Breaker and not getting an exchange out of it has wasted its time. If you must send back Breaker and now you have an empty backrow that makes them vulnerable to Snatch Steal, you are in a good position most of the time, and now you also likely have knowledge that they either have Breaker for a game push or will summon it because they are short on monsters, in which case keeping that Dark monster out of the grave is still a very good thing in most scenarios. 

Sometimes FLOODGATES, yes, the ever-beloved floodgates pose an issue for decks that don’t have enough removal. Again, PWWB can have great utility in removing them enough to get an OTK play, but these are hard to come by against typical Burn strategies. Again, the question becomes “How much removal do I have?” I also think that having 4 trades in MST, Heavy, Breaker, and something like Raigeki Break or Dust Tornado are good options to have in the main deck to cover that, and Magician of Faith helps, too. If these things are covered and Jar of Greed is already ran at 2, PWWB has strong arguments for a slot. You just may get some weird looks if you decide to add the Dust Tornado for matchup purposes. However, it is way better than sitting under Gravity Bind for 10 turns and plenty of lists have made Top Cuts by running Dust Tornado. ​

And against Chaos monsters? Well, sometimes we want extra things, but our own Chaos monsters, Tribe, and Ring of Destruction are often enough to get the job done efficiently. If committing fully to PWWB, you will find more scenarios which are graveyard locked to prevent a resummon anyways. Against Control decks? Well, control has a rough win rate against Turbo anyways, but PWWB against Thousand Eyes is objectively better, and sending back some of their few monsters while you wait for Tribe or some game push is particularly devasting. We have a natural advantage of running so many monsters, and Control is going to particularly struggle against having their normal summons and draws blocked. ​

Against Warriors? The worst-case scenarios are sending back Sasuke when trying to protect Spy’s or sending a still-viable Black Luster Soldier. But we have seen from Ghostrider’s recent list in FLC 38 that stalling draws against Warrior strategies can be highly effective, and often all that is needed to gain a g1 advantage is to PWWB a Blade Knight to protect a Dekoichi flip. Normally, that advantage state spells game over assuming competent play afterwards

Conclusion

So what is the ultimate conclusion of hundreds of games of testing and scenario walkthroughs about the potential of PWWB, some of that of which is currently being tapped by several players this season? One conclusion is that there is simply NO other card in the game that does what Phoenix Wing can do, and we have some incredible scenarios in which if used effectively, it can produce an extreme advantage in the Turbo mirror match and control strategies. Against other strategies, so long as adequate coverage is maintained for key cards, stall removal will also be a viable option as we cycle through our deck.​Still have any doubts? Try one copy. A couple of lists, including Ivan Rossito’s FLC 38 list ran 3 discard traps, which makes it seem like 3, even with Card Destruction, are a viable option in the right hands. So everyone can try its testing without giving up their coverage for key cards if they wish.​Thank you all, and stay clear of the Shadow Realm!