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Main [40]
[4]
[10]
[26]
Extra [15]
[2]
[2]
[11]
Side [15]
[4]
[7]
[4]
Link: Ghoti deck 2023
Ghoti deck Overview
This Ghoti deck is a Synchro-based archetype of Fish monsters with a heavy focus on banishing. The archetype’s main goal is to use Quick Effect Synchro Summoning on your opponent’s turn in order to interrupt them with powerful banish/destruction effects. This all culminates in the Summoning of “Ghoti of the Deep Beyond,” which banishes all cards on the field when summoned on your opponent’s turn.
Ghoti strategies have the potential to be very strong once they get going, but they tend to be pretty vulnerable before they start Synchro Summoning. They are also weak to certain handtraps and have a tendency to brick occasionally. Because of these downsides, I’d consider this deck to be low-mid tier Rogue.
First turn setup
Because Ghoti decks strategies do most of their Synchro Summoning on the opponent’s turn, their primary goal during the first turn is to get a Level 4 or 6 Non-Tuner on field and to have “Paces, Light of the Ghoti” and or “Shif, Fairy of the Ghoti” in the Banished Pile. During the opponent’s next turn, Paces and Shif are able to Special Summon themselves to your field in the Standby Phase, allowing you to Synchro Summon Fish Synchro monsters during the Main Phase
This deck in particular has 3 main first-turn end-boards:
1. Level 4 Non-Tuner + 1-2 Banished Tuners
This is the weakest and most basic non-brick end-board of this Deck, requiring only “Lifeless Leaffish” in your hand to set it up: Normal Summon Lifeless Leaffish and use its ability to send “Shif, Light of the Ghoti” to the GY. You can then activate Shif’s ability to banish itself from the GY.
[This end-board sets you up to make at least 1 Synchro Summon on your opponent’s turn]
This can be made stronger if you have both “Paces, Light of the Ghoti” and Lifeless Leaffish in your hand:
Normal Summon Paces, then use its effect to banish itself from the field to Special Summon Lifeless Leaffish from your hand. Use Lifeless Leaffish’s effect to send Shif to the GY, then activate Shif’s effect to banish itself from the GY.
[This end-board sets you up to make at least 2 Synchro Summons on your opponent’s turn]
2. “Arionpos, Serpent of the Ghoti” + 1-2 Banished Tuners
This end-board is a bit more situational, but it has the potential to give you more interruption on your opponent’s turn. One way to set this up requires having “Beautunaful Princess” and “Minairuka” in your hand:
Normal Summon Beautunaful Princess, then activate its effect to Special Summon “Shif, Fairy of the Ghoti” from your Deck. By chaining Minairuka’s in-hand effect to this, you can also Special Summon Minairuka to the field. Then, Synchro Summon “Arionpos, Serpent of the Ghoti” and activate its effect to banish “Paces, Light of the Ghoti” from your Deck. Finally, banish Shif from the GY using its own effect.
[This end-board sets you up for at least 2 Synchro Summons on your opponent’s turn, while already having Arionpos on the field]
3. “Toadally Awesome” + “Marincess Coral Anemone” + Level 4 Non-Tuner + 1-2 Banished Tuners
This is usually the strongest first-turn end-board that this Deck makes. One way to set this up requires “Abyss Shark,” “The Most Distant, Deepest Depths,” and “Paces, Light of the Ghoti” in your hand:
Normal Summon Paces, then activate Abyss Shark’s in-hand effect to Special Summon itself to the field and add “Lifeless Leaffish” to your hand. Activate Paces’ effect to banish itself in order to Special Summon Lifeless Leaffish from your hand, then use Lifeless Leaffish’s on-summon effect to send “Shif, Fairy of the Ghoti” from your Deck to the GY. Activate “The Most Distant, Deepest Depths”, and use its effect to banish Shif from your GY to add “Ixeep, Omen of the Ghoti” from your Deck to your hand. Upon being added to the hand, you can immediately use Ixeep’s effect to Special Summon itself to the field. XYZ Summon “Bahamut Shark” and use its effect to Special Summon “Toadally Awesome.” Finally, Link Summon “Marincess Coral Anemone” using Bahamut Shark and Abyss Shark as Link Material, then use its effect to Special Summon a Level 4 Non-Tuner from your GY to a zone it points to.
[This end-board gets you an omni-negate and sets you up for at least 2 Synchro Summons on your opponent’s turn]
[NOTE: 6 Summons are required to Summon Toadally Awesome, meaning that this set-up is vulnerable to Nibiru]
Extra Power
All of these first-turn end-boards can be made stronger or more resilient by having “Snopios, Shade of the Ghoti,” “Zep Shade of the Ghoti,” or “Icejade Ran Aegirine” in your opening hand.
Snopios and Zep: By using Snopios’ in-hand effect, you can banish 2 Fish monsters from your hand or GY in order to Special Summon itself to the field. A good way to use this effect is by activating it on your opponent’s turn to banish Zep and 1 other Fish monster from your hand or GY. Upon being banished, Zep’s effect triggers, allowing you to Special Summon itself to your field and immediately Synchro Summon a Fish Synchro monster. Banishing Zep in this way or by the effect of “Arionpos, Serpent of the Ghoti” is a good way to get an extra Synchro Summon on your opponent’s turn.
Ran Aegirine: By using Ran Aegirine’s in-hand effect, you can discard another one of your Water monsters in order to Special Summon Ran Aegirine and a Level 3 Token to your field. These can be immediately used to Synchro Summon “Icejade Gymir Aegirine,” which is a Level 10 Synchro with the ability to protect your face-up monsters from being destroyed or banished by your opponent’s card effects. Gymir Aegirine can also be used as a way to banish your opponent’s spells, traps, and monsters when they activate their effects on the field. Alternatively, you can Synchro Summon “Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign – Chengying,” which has a useful non-targeting banish effect.
“Crossout Designator”
This deck is unfortunately very weak to a few common cards like “Nibiru, the Primal Being,” “Dark Ruler No More,” and “Artifact Lancea.” This is why Ichoose to run 3 Crossout Designators, 1 Nibiru, and 1 Dark Ruler No More in the Main Deck, and 1 Artifact Lancea in the Side Deck. Because the Ghoti Tuners want to be banished, running 3 Crossout Designators allows you to play around common Ghoti counter cards, while also acting as a searcher that lets you banish a Ghoti Tuner from your Deck.
Playing On Your Opponent’s Turn
Once set up, this deck acts like a versatile toolbox for you to use during your opponent’s turn. The main fun and strategy of this deck comes from deciding when and how to respond to your opponent’s actions. Here are the main tools you’ll be using against the opponent during their turn.
“Arionpos, Serpent of the Ghoti” (6*) banishes a Fish from your Deck (usually Zep or Snopios) on summon. When it gets used as material for a Synchro Summon, it can also add a fish from your Deck to your hand (usually Zep, Snopios, or Abyss Shark)
“White Aura Monoceros” (7*) Special Summons a Fish from your GY, but it can miss timing (usually only used on your opponent’s turn to get a Level 4 or 6 Non-Tuner on field). It can also Special Summon itself back after being destroyed by banishing a Fish in your GY (not once per turn), which means it can help you survive a Battle Phase.
“Askaan, the Bicorned Ghoti” (8*) target-banishes any of your opponent’s on-field cards and can banish a Fish in your GY to Special Summon itself after it gets banished
“White Aura Whale” (8*) destroys all your opponent’s attack position monsters, but it can miss timing. It can also Special Summon itself back after being destroyed by banishing a Fish in your GY (not once per turn), which means it can help you survive a Battle Phase.
“Ghoti of the Deep Beyond” (10*) banishes all cards on the field when you Synchro Summon it on your opponent’s turn, and it acts as a (potentially) massive beatstick on the next turn