Blackwings: Not Exactly Dead

Blackwings at their prime was one of the strongest decks in Yugioh history. With massive Synchro potential, tremendous swarming capabilities, and insane advantage on par with Gadgets, they were nigh-unstoppable. Konami recognized this, however, and nerfed.

It started with the the nerf to Gale the Whirlwind. Fair enough. It was justifiable due to Gale's permanant shrink, free special summon, how easily it could be searched out, and status as a tuner. But that didn't slowdown Blackwings, who proceeded to still top SJC after SJC. Konami had to hurt them even more.

And they just kept on doing so. Further nerfs to Icarus Attack, Kalut the Moon Shadow, and Black Whirlwind were had. Blackwings became a shadow of their former selves. They still had arguable swarm, but their card advantage and superiority in battle were shot. Despite all this, they kept going. Even now, into a format with some of the strongest and innovative decks ever seen, Blackwings are still heavy contenders. With Top 32s at various YCSs and even a Top 8, they fought against all odds and managed to go down swinging.

But how did they achieve this? How did they manage to pilot a broken down and all but dead deck from '09 to tops in a modern format?

It's all starts with their monster line-up.

In today's format, nearly every deck has some sort of combo they work off of. Six Samurai work towards Shi-en, Plant Synchro works towards advantage and Synchros with their Plant engine, Formula Monarchs work off Treeborn + Tributes, Hyperion tries to get Hyperion out quickly for destruction, etc. Once you familiarize yourself with these decks, it's easy to understand their capabilities, what to stop, what to look out for, etc. However, such isn't the case with Blackwings.

Unlike other cookie-cutter decks, Blackwings have no set strategy other than kill the opponent. They don't work towards any sort of goal within the deck itself and this is one of it's strongest aspects. You can save Solemn Warning for when Plant Synchros bring out Trishula or when Six Sams bring out Shi-en. You know that's their key card.

But Blackwings have no such thing. There are far too many strategies and tactics utilized within the deck itself for it to fall prey to such things. Will your opponent bring out Blizzard for a quick Synchro? Maybe drop DAD for easy destruction? Even go for a good old poke with Bora + Sirocco? Blackwing players can easily adapt to situations where they would seem like they are at a disadvantage. Sirocco + Blackwing allows him to easily get over just about every Synchro out there, Kalut acts as their deterrent in battle, Gale can half anything and bring it down to a manageable level, Bora goes to town on your Spirit Reaper/Marshmallon/Tokens, etc. All of the Blackwings are useful in their own way typically, they don't have to rely on each other to pull off something good.

But what could be their greatest power are the unique tools they fight with. The most obvious is Black Whirlwind. No other deck in the current meta can match Black Whirlwind's pure searching ability. With the meta today based around gaining card advantage, one can see why Black Whirlwind needed to be at 1. It can turn your Blackwings into Gadgets, but probably even better as it allows you the option to search for whatever Blackwing you need. Second is Icarus Attack. It's one of the best Destruction cards out right now and acts as a pure one for one. Again, there are very few cards that can match Icarus Attack in the destruction field. As a side note, Blackwings is one of the few capable decks in the current meta that can not only run Royal Oppression, but work it effectively alongside Synchros.

Now, let's take a look at their current Match-Ups:

LEGENDARY SIX SAMURAI

An annoying match-up at best for Blackwings. With the LSS's ability to easily outpower and outadvantage the Blackwings, it seems like this is a set match. But the LSS's whole niche is the weak point where Blackwings must strike. Shi-En is a 2500 beater who can negate spell speed 2 or lower S/T cards. This leaves out Icarus Attack. However, they are plenty more options to take him in Blackwings. With Kalut, Sirocco being pumped, Armor Master, or even Gale shrinking him, Blackwings have far too many outs to him to be afraid and that's what wins them this match.

PLANT SYNCHRO

A very difficult match-up due to Plant Synchro's ability to be almost as versatile as Blackwings with their synchro pool. Not to mention their ability to drop one of the most fearsome Synhchros, Trishula, very easily. Again, Blackwings can hit weakspots. Icarus Attack allows you to interrupt and destabilize their usual shenanigans at the cost of your Blackwing. with Plant Synchro's relatively low offensive power outside of Synchros and Caius, as well as having several low-ATK/DEF monsters to rely on such as Glow-Up Bulb, Ryko, etc. where Bora and Armed Wing can really put a dent in their LP.

GRAVEKEEPERS

This is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, match-up for Blackwings, simply because they can almost do everything Blackwings can, but better. Necrovalley alone can shut down Vayu, Blizzard, and DAD. It's also worse that we have nothing in our arsenal that can outpower GKs backed by Necrovalley aside from Sirocco pumps or Kalut drops. And with a monster like GK Recruiter on their side, they're sure to outadvantage Blackwings. Again, relying on tools the enemy doesn't have access to is the key, namely Icarus Attack. Activating an Icarus Attack can easily leads to disruption between a multitude of cards like Spies, Necrovalley, and Descendant. Also, Blackwings carry the advantage of having access to Synchros, unlike GKs.

HYPERION

This can be a relatively easy match-up. Despite Hyperion having the equivalent of 3 Dark Armed Dragons, they have to rely on the disrupting the opponent to have any sort of advantage and can't reliably gain advantage by themselves unlike Plant Synchro or Six Samurai. Our monster line-up's offensive power is more or less even with them, their spells aside from draw power aren't anything too special, and traps aren't great. With the way Blackwings can easily bounce back from mass destruction, this should be a relatively easy time.

As you can see, despite Blackwings being hated by Konami and nerfed countless times, they still fight back hard with all of these Top 32s proving it. Many people see them as a slow, inconsistent, and outdated deck when that isn't the case at all. With all of their unique abilities, Blackwings were able to and still are able to contend with the best of them. They will eventually be put down for good, but they're not going down without a fight.

I agree with you...Blackwings are in my top 3 of annoying decks to beat (along with Sams and Machinas).
And the card I hate the most is Icarius Attack. You can put a use to a card that were to be destroyed, it kills your most powerful monsters, spells or traps, etc. That card is EVIL!
Gale is powerful, but it doesn't deserve to be limited. Black Whirlwind is a searcher, like many other seachers. Also powerful. Kalut is like Honest, but to an archetype. If Honest is Limited, so should it.
But I really don't play with them so all I know is what I saw from duels.
Maybe they were so nerfed by Konami because they were dark monsters? That alone opens many possibilities.
Anyway, good reading. And GK can use synchros, with your friend Gale in most cases.

I played about 3 of them yesterday, and I've played with Blackwings before. They totally kicked @$$. Definitely remember using Vayu + Sirrocco or another huge Blackwing Monster to get out Dark Strike Fighter. Hell could get out about 2 of them and OTK.

Imho, I'd rather play Blackwings than Six Samurais any day. I never had a problem with Six Samurais until the new cards and new format came out. Shi-En is broken and he's too easy to get out. All on top of that, there's no cost. Reminds me of small LaDD, but brought out much faster. I didn't know what people were talking about when they said Six Sams make huge plays on first turns until I played them. After I played them, they were already annoying.

Anyways, I think I'll make me some Blackwing Decks. Nice article.

Vayu + Blackwing=Dark Strike Fighter? Explain plox?

BEST...POST...EVER

hell no they're not dead. not very popular, but dead? no.

Android Force wrote:hell no they're not dead. not very popular, but dead? no.

I agree with this, they are not dead at all. I still see them a lot, and people still seem to love Blackwings. DP Crow really helped to bring BWs to new players.

They've been weakened but they are far from dead!
Same goes for Infernity tbh.
Great article bro, keep it up .

i agree blackwings are still the birds of prey , even being assaulted by konami they still have poweer even more with cards like zeprhos the elite and kochi the daybreak, i;m running a blackiwing and it is beast. this deck will reach a new level of power with xyz coming soon.

Blackwings are one of those things that I think konami just dosnt know what the F@#k there doin with. They hit it with the banlist 2 but then give them new support?? the new support isnt that great but really?? And coming from someone who woldnt touch blackwings with a 10 foot pole, i really wish they were dead. Live one my Winged freinds...LIVE ON!!.........for now.......