Worm Guide for the Yugiohs

Worms Always Regrow: A Guide to a Competitive Worm Control Deck
A common theme in Yu-Gi-Oh is “Monsters from Space”. If you were to ask someone “What’s your favorite archetype from space?”, they might say Galaxy/Photon with powerful field presence, Constellar with consistent Rank 5, Evilswarm with fast Rank 4, or Aliens with their A-Counter manipulation. Maybe even the Equip-centric Vylon, or hell, Space Mambo turbo rogue extreme. But few would mention Worms.

The Worms that are easily capable of maintaining a huge hand and endlessly defending while sniping off bits of the field piece by piece. The Worms that have little fear of Synchro or XYZ due to more hand bouncing than a Pleiades after a triple espresso. The Worms that boast the LIGHT Reptile typing and have grand amounts of support.

Those Worms.

Worms have an array of Flip effects that they use to control the board, hence the “Worm Control” deck name. We will be going through the key cards in a Worm Control deck, the key strategies to use, and my very own decklist. There’s 26 Worms, one for every letter of the alphabet, but only 8 really matter.


I. The Important Worm Monsters

Important Note: All Worms are LIGHT Reptile type.

Worm Apocalypse
Level 1
300/200
FLIP:  Select and destroy 1 Spell or Trap card.

Some people use Apocalypse for constant Spell and Trap removal. I choose not to. You should be relying on MST and Offering to the Snake Deity for that: Apocalypse takes up your Normal Set, has a vulnerable and weak ATK when flipped to Attack Position, is mandatory, and can’t chain to an activation. Its mediocre stats make it a terrible dead draw. Useless in my opinion.

Run 0-2.


Worm Cartaros
Level 4
1200/500
FLIP: Add 1 Level 4 or lower Reptile-type “Worm” monster from your Deck to your hand.

Cartaros is one of the most fantastic searchers. What do other searchers like Sangan, Charge of the Light Brigade, Reinforcement of the Army, and Chronomaly Crystal Skull have in common? It’s very hard to use their effect more than once. What about others, like Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Rooster? They rely on your opponent’s field, hoping that they can inflict chip battle damage or resist destruction. Not so with Cartaros: Just flip him, or have your opponent attack into him, and you get a search. But it’s best if Cartaros lives: Flip him with W Nebula Meteorite, and you can set him again to get another search. Then flip him up, search again, play one of your searches, and you have instant Rank 4 XYZ. You can also use him to grab another Cartaros to deck thin, or a Linx if you happen to have all your field control set up. I run two to get Xex when I need it, though some run one since he can be cloggy and some run three to allow constant plays.

Run 1-3 depending on preference.


Worm King
Level 8
2700/1100
This card can be Tribute Summoned in face-up Attack Position by Tributing 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster. You can Tribute 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster to select 1 card your opponent controls, and destroy it.

The King is a great way to maintain the field advantage that Worms strive for. His summoning cost is either two Tributes or 1 Worm Tribute, so you can use a spent Cartaros or overused Linx to bring out a 2700 beater. However, summoning King need not require a Tribute at all: W Nebula Meteorite lets you Special Summon a Level 7+ LIGHT Reptile, which includes Worm King. Drawing into this thing is a huge pain since it means you can’t surprise people with a W Nebula Meteorite summon, but it’s not the end of the world, due to his 1-Tribute workaround.

His secondary effect is a mini Offering to the Snake Deity, with two key differences: Tributing is a cost and you lose the Worm regardless of whether the destruction goes through, and you can Tribute a face down Worm. The second part seems insignificant, but it has fantastic synergy with both Worm Yagan and Genex Ally Triforce.

One issue with Worm King is that his DEF is a craptacular 1100. He will be Set very often with Genex Ally Triforce and W Nebula Meteorite, so be careful that he will be able to survive an attack. Ensure that you have the proper defenses laid out before attempting to use anything that Sets Worm King.

Run 1-2.


Worm Linx
Level 2
300/1000
FLIP: During each End Phase, if this card is face up: Draw 1 card.

OH. MA. GAWD. Worm Linx is a surprisingly overlooked card that produces cray-cray hand advantage once you flip it. It’s easy to win the Yugiohs when you draw three times as many cards as the opponent. It synergizes amazingly well with W Nebula Meteorite, since its effect happens before it is Set by Meteorite, meaning you draw one more card on top of whatever Meteorite gives. One of the primary goals of the deck is protecting a flipped Linx to keep generating card advantage. Unlike most situations in which cards are added strictly to use other ones, the sheer draw power of Worm Linx offsets the bad topdecking ability of its protection cards. Run 2, because 1 doesn’t appear often enough and 3 will make you deck out.

Once Linx has drawn enough cards for you and you're overflowing, use Worm King, W Nebula Meteorite, Offering to the Snake Deity, or some other method to stop him. You don't want to get all this card advantage then burn it off with the hand size limit.

Run 2.


Worm Queen
Level 8
2700/1100
This card can be Tribute Summoned in face-up Attack Position by Tributing 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster. Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster to Special Summon 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster from your Deck with a Level less than or equal to the Tributed monster.

Worm Queen certainly has great potential, but not in Worm Control. It functions as an unnecessary extra step and dead draw here, which focuses on field control rather than swarming. It does have a variety of useful combos for a Solidarity beatdown build, such as Special Summoning a Queen with Viper’s Rebirth and Tributing it for a King/Victory that isn’t destroyed at the End Phase. But Worms don’t function as well in a beatdown deck. Worms are primarily a control deck that doesn’t need that summoning power. I run 0.

Run 0-2.


Worm Tentacles
Level 4
1700/700
Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster in your Graveyard. If you do, this card can attack twice during this turn’s Battle Phase.

Some people swear by Tentacles. They say he’s a great card and is good for dishing out damage. They’re not wrong, but in my opinion, the bad of Tentacles wholly outweighs the good. In Worm Control, you maintain the field with strong presence and your two greatest allies in that task are Genex Ally Triforce and Worm Yagan. What do those two have in common? They summon out of the Graveyard. And while banishing something else like Cartaros seems ok, it still suffers from a lack of ATK, failing to match Bujin Yamato and unable to kill a Tenki-boosted Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear, among others. And the fact that he banishes conflicts with Evil Dragon Ananta, which needs those banishes to remain alive against stronger monsters. On top of all that, he has even less DEF than Worm King, meaning he sucks with W Nebula Meteorite. Tentacles is all short term gain, long term loss.

Run 0-1.


Worm Xex
Level 4
1800/1000
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can send 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster from your Deck to the Graveyard. If you control a face-up “Worm Yagan”, this card cannot be destroyed by battle.

Xex is your go-to Normal Summon. His mill ability is meant to put Yagan into your grave then Special Summon Yagan with its effect, and grab a free +1. It can also be used to dump a worthless Cartaros or Linx or something unnecessary to fuel Evil Dragon Ananta. Xex is Level 4 and synergizes with Yagan, another Level 4, as well as being searchable by Cartaros, also Level 4. This Level 4 synergy allows a decently functioning entirely Worm-based Rank 4 engine, and enables Level 7 Synchro Summons with Genex Ally Birdman, which is critical.

Xex has an oft-overlooked secondary effect: he is not destroyed by battle with a Yagan on the field. This means that you should treat Xex like Mechanicalchaser: He can outmatch any monster with 1800, but loses to those with more. This secondary effect allows Xex to destroy a much greater range of monsters, making him a powerful asset.

Note that just because you have Xex and Kagetokage doesn’t mean you should instantly decide to summon Kagetokage along with Xex. He’s a fantastic beater and is the anchor for Yagan, who is far better suited for XYZing than Xex. Only summon Kagetokage if you have Birdman to bounce, if you have another monster to XYZ with, or if you’re absolutely out of options.

Run 3.


Worm Yagan
Level 4
1000/1800
If the only monster you control is “Worm Xex”, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard in face-down Defense Position. If you do, remove it from play when it is removed from the field. When this card is flipped face-up, select 1 monster your opponent controls, and return it to its owner’s hand.

Oh boy. I have a ton to say about this guy, and why he’s the best thing since sliced Hootcake.

One of the key cards in Worm Control, Yagan provides unrelenting field advantage with its weird fusion of Kagetokage and Hane-Hane. Yagan combos well with cards like W Nebula Meteorite, which turns it into Compulsory Evacuation Device since it can be used to flip Yagan on your opponent’s turn. Unfortunately, Yagan’s bouncing effect is mandatory, so if all your opponent has is something like Madolche Mewfeuille or Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, you’re forced to bounce it and let them summon it again. Be careful of that.

Let’s talk deck theory for a second. Most decks have at least one “boss monster,” like Bujintei Susanowo, that they summon to clear the field or gain card advantage in some way, and they have what I like to call “captains,” like Bujin Yamato, that help them shape the game to bring their boss out. In this deck, the boss monster would be Worm King, and the primary captain would be Yagan. When people I know play against Worm decks, they make the fatal mistake of assuming that Worm Xex, rather than Yagan, is the important target. This is strictly not so: after Xex gets his mill, he’s nothing more than a great beater and fuel for stronger monsters. Yagan, on the other hand, has a nasty habit of popping out of the Graveyard alongside that beater, poking his head out with W Nebula Meteorite, clearing the field, Flip Summon, clear the field, W Nebula Meteorite, and so on. Yagan is what helps you shape the field, keep advantage and defend properly against threats. If you lose your Yagans, you’re at a critical disadvantage.

What I’m trying to say is, just as a Bujin player uses everything he’s got to defend Yamato, use everything you’ve got to keep your Yagans in the game.

Of course, that is not to say you neglect Xex. He serves one more critically important role: he is an anchor for Yagan. Xex is what I like to call a “co-captain,” like Bujingi Crane, a monster that helps you use your captain to set up the field. Xex is important to Yagan’s survival since he keeps them in circulation. However, use Xex’s effect wisely, as banishing Yagan is in the long run costly and hurts your presence. Try to save at least one in grave for Genex Ally Triforce.

Another thing to note about Worm Yagan is that when you Special Summon him by his own effect, he’s banished when he leaves the field, including being bounced, etc. There are two ways to get around this. The first: If you Xyz Summon with Yagan, you can detach him as a material and he will not be banished. For this reason, the Rank 4 engine of Worms is elevated from a nice bonus to an important combo piece to recycle Yagan. The second: If Yagan is Set face down a second time after being Summoned by his effect, he loses the modifier that banishes him and will be sent to the Graveyard. This makes W Nebula Meteorite a powerful tool for keeping Yagan in the game.

One interesting tactic I use is the bluff set. If you have enough advantage, you can Set a Yagan or two, then bounce your opponent’s monsters as they attack it. Once you’ve trained them that Set = bad, you can Set a Cartaros or Linx in relative safety. Yagan’s DEF is also high enough to tank hits from things like an unboosted Bujin Yamato or a Tenki-charged Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear, while Cartaros snaps from nearly anything and Linx can’t take too much more than that. If they refuse to go for your facedowns, you can also try the inverse (setting Yagan and bluffing Cartaros/Linx) to have them attack right into your Yagan. By no means is this a consistent strategy, but it’s fun as hell when it works. Feels good man.

Run 3.


II. Non-Worm Monsters

Gentlemander
LIGHT/Reptile
Level 4
1200/1000
When an opponent’s monster declares an attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. Your opponent cannot attack any monsters except this one.

Gentlemander is a nice surprise for decks who don’t expect it. “Haha, I sniped his backrow and left him with just Worm Linx! Prepare to die—WTF HANDTRAPZZ”. The best use for Gentlemander is to chain it to Scrap-Iron Scarecrow: The possibility of a Replay is eliminated and you get +1 when they least expect it. Gentlemander is Level 4 for Xyz synergy and is a LIGHT Reptile that benefits from W Nebula Meteorite. 2 face-up Gentlemanders means your opponent cannot attack. A fantastic card for this deck.

Run 2. 3 is much too cloggy.


Kagetokage
DARK/Reptile
Level 4
1100/1500
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. When you Normal Summon a Level 4 monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material monster.

I can’t believe in my initial build I overlooked this guy. Thanks to /u/Dante-Raphael for alerting me to the viability of Kagetokage in my deck.

This deck revolves around Level 4 monsters, so Kagetokage is rarely dead. If you’ve got a useless Gentlemander or something, you can bring out a Kagetokage and speed up your deck by rushing King of the Feral Imps in one turn instead of two. If you’re feeling defensive, summon something into Kagetokage and make Maestroke or something. I suppose that Kagetokage’s usefulness is best described by the fact that I keep saying “something”. The sheer versatility of this card vastly improves the deck as a whole. As /u/Dante-Raphael told me:
>“It means you can make King of the Feral Imps in one turn if you have another Level 4 monster, and it makes Yagan more proactive if you don’t feel the need to Set him.
>Search out a Worm Xex, in case King of the Feral Imps is destroyed, and then next turn, if he’s not, search out your second Kagetokage...”
As an added bonus, he’s not only a Reptile for Ananta food and searchable by King of the Feral Imps, he’s also DARK if you’re insane enough to run Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning.

Run 2-3.


Evil Dragon Ananta
DARK/Reptile
Level 8
?/?
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play all Reptile-Type monsters from your side of the field and Graveyard. This card’s ATK and DEF are each equal to the number of Reptile-Type monsters you removed x 600. During each of your End Phases, destroy 1 card on the field.

Ananta is your reserve force. When your backrow is shut down by Naturia Bamboo Shoot, when you’re staring down a Star Eater, when you’re locked out by Dark Simorgh, Summon Ananta and coast on his pop effect. ATK and DEF don’t matter too much, just get your opponent on the defensive by popping his cards constantly. If you have Ananta out and they keep placing 1 monster and passing, and they have no other cards, don’t kill that monster with battle or another effect because Ananta’s destruction is mandatory and you’ll have to kill one of your own cards.

If it’s getting late game and you’ve whittled down their field, bring out a powerful Ananta and go for game. Ananta is level 8, meaning instant Star Eater with your Level 3 Genex tuners if you no longer need it.

Run 0-1.


Honest
LIGHT/Fairy
Level 4
1100/1900
During your Main Phase: You can return this card from the field to the hand. During either player’s Damage Step, when a LIGHT monster you control battles: You can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard; that monster gains ATK equal to the ATK of the opponent’s monster it is battling, until the End Phase.

Combos very well with several cards. A very odd one that most people overlook is Gentlemander: You can Special Summon it in Attack Position when your opponent’s strongest monster attacks, and hit them with an Honest on the replay when they think you’re being a moron by Summoning it in Attack. It is very powerful in that it catches them by surprise, rather than you leaving an unguarded Worm Linx.

Honest is actually recyclable in this deck, albeit slowly. Genex Ally Triforce can Special Summon it face down, and if it lives one turn with its stellar 1900 DEF, you can bounce it to use again with its effect. If you do not have a Yagan in the grave, this is a wise decision.

Limited. Run 1.


Genex Ally Birdman
DARK/Machine/Tuner
Level 3
1400/400
You can return 1 face-up monster you control to the hand to Special Summon this card from your hand, and this card gains 500 ATK if it was a WIND monster you returned. If this card is Special Summoned this way, remove it from play when it is removed from the field.

This card allows you to summon one of the pseudo-boss monsters of Worm Control. Its ability to bounce a card to your hand allows you to do crazy stuff, but the best combo I’ve found is:

-Normal Summon Xex/Yagan

-Special Summon Kagetokage

-Bounce Kagetokage for Birdman

-Sync Birdman and Xex/Yagan for Genex Ally Triforce

-Revive Yagan face-down with Triforce

It creates an enormous amount of pressure on the field with three cards, and if you have a Yagan in grave already, you can use any other Level 4, making this combo very easy to pull off. Being Level 3, Birdman opens up Star Eater with any two Level 4s or any Level 8, allowing you to be more offensive. It’s limited for good reason.

Limited. Run 1.


Genex Ally Remote
DARK/Machine/Tuner
Level 3
500/1800
Once per turn, you can select 1 face-up Tuner monster on the field. The selected monster’s name is treated as “Genex Controller” until the End Phase.

Remote’s effect is useless in this deck. He is simply an absolutely critical substitute for 2 Genex Ally Birdman. He allows you to make a second Genex Ally Triforce, and has 1800 DEF, so he can be Set in relative safety. The instant Birdman ever goes to 2, ditch this guy for another Birdman.

Run 0-1.


III. Extra Deck Monsters

Genex Ally Triforce
DARK/Machine/Synchro
Level 7
2500/2300
1 “Genex” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
This card’s effect depends on the Attribute(s) of its non-Tuner Synchro Material monsters. –EARTH: If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step. –FIRE: If this card destroys a monster by battle, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster. –LIGHT: Once per turn, you can select 1 LIGHT monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position.

The first two effects of Genex Ally Triforce will never ever be used in this Deck, because it contains neither FIRE nor EARTH monsters. The last effect, however, is godly. Once per turn, you can Set any LIGHT monster from the graveyard. This lets you spam Yagans and gain endless searches and draws with Cartaros and Linx, respectively, as well as recycle Honest in the manner listed under its description. Not to mention it’s a 2500 beater. The sole reason you run the two Genex tuners over another Tuner.

Run 2.


Star Eater
LIGHT/Dragon/Synchro
Level 11
3200/2800
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Must be Synchro Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card’s Synchro Summon cannot be negated. When Synchro Summoned, cards and effects cannot be activated. If this card attacks, it is unaffected by other card effects until the end of the Damage Step.

Long a staple Synchro in Dragon decks, Star Eater finds a niche here. Given the abundance of intertwined Level 4 monsters, as well as Level 3 Tuners, It is very easy to summon Star Eater using your Genex Tuner and any two Level 4 Worms. Use the same combo listed under Kagetokage, but have another Level 4 monster on the field, and you can grab a Star Eater. Star Eater is a good holdover card in this deck until you can regain advantage, as your opponent will waste resources getting rid of it. You can also push for game in relative safety.

Run 1.


King of the Feral Imps
DARK/Reptile/Xyz
Rank 4
2300/2000
2 Level 4 monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material to this card; add 1 Reptile-Type monster from your Deck to your hand.

A really good generic, this card is like a Gear Gigant X for this deck. Unlike Gear GIgant X, you don’t get any free Special Summon, but there is no Level restriction on the added monster, meaning you can search any Reptile In the deck. Usually, you’ll want to grab a Xex first if you don’t have one, a Linx if you have lots of backrow, or Evil Dragon Ananta for a push with your first search, then get either Worm Xex if you didn’t or Kagetokage using your second search. A powerful card.

Run 2-3.

Other extra deck monsters to run
-Starliege Paladynamo
-Constellar Omega
-Photon Papilloperative
-Number 50: Blackship of Corn
-Number 101: Silent Honor ARK
-Number 39: Utopia
-Gagaga Cowboy
-Abyss Dweller
-Gen-Knight Pearl


IV. Spell and Trap Cards

Worm Call
Spell/Continuous
Once per turn, if your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon 1 Reptile-Type “Worm” monster from your hand in face-down Defense Position.

I would seriously discourage the use of this card. It’s an awful dead draw, it blocks the Xex/Yagan combo, and you’re rarely going to need to set more than one Worm anyway. Like Queen, this card has great functionality in pure Worms, but does next to nothing in Worm Control. Still, some people run it for setup and bait purposes.

Run 0-2.


W Nebula Meteorite
Trap/Normal
Change all face-down monsters on the field to face-up Defense Position. During the End Phase this turn, change all LIGHT Reptile-Type monsters you control to face-down Defense Position, then draw 1 card for each. After that, you can Special Summon 1 Level 7 or higher LIGHT Reptile-Type monster from your Deck.

This card is absolutely godly. Think about Compulsory Evacuation Device for a minute. It’s limited to one, since bouncing a card for free is a pretty good effect, right? Well, how about this card that not only does this when combined with a Yagan, but also reveals your opponent’s Set monsters, activates your Flip effects at a moment’s notice, resets your Flip effects to use again, lets you draw 1-3 cards, and after all that lets you summon a 2700 beater with a 1-for-1 pop effect? It’s not even semi-limited.

You can do lots of cheaty things with this card. Your opponent summoned a CXyz Super Chimeratech-Eyes B. Dragon Soldier? Pop Meteorite with Yagan, bounce it, field advantage. Your hand is spent, but you have a Gentlemander and a Xex on the field? Set Gentlemander, Meteorite it, then pass your turn to draw 2 cards and get Worm King to defend. If you have a Meteorite waiting, your deck doesn’t need to lag behind and play reactively: you can play proactively, rushing your powerful Flip effects and gaining advantage while stacking resources to continue reactive play in the future.

This card is one of the critical reasons to protect Yagan. Having a Set Yagan on the field is an important goal at almost all times for Worms, because it turns this card from an advantage card into a removal card with huge advantage tacked on. The End Phase effect of Meteorite also Sets Yagan again, removing its modifiers and letting it go to the Graveyard, making this deck an endless circle of Xex-Yagan-Meteorite.

…or not. One of the problems with the deck is that you are limited by the rules of Yugioh, and only get three Meteorites, turning your circle into a sine wave where 0<X<3. Luckily, the slowness of this deck softens the impact this might otherwise have: one Meteorite is often enough to tide you over several turns, and there’s no fast way to grab Traps, so a Meteorite is more a happy thing to stumble upon in a topdeck/Linx draw rush than something you need to devote everything to stall for.

Run 3.

Other Spell/Trap cards to run
-Mystical Space Typhoon/Night Beam
-Offering to the Snake Deity
-Book of Moon
-Scrap-Iron Scarecrow (endless partial stall, great bait to defend Meteorites)
-Whatever staples you want

V. My Decklist

Monsters - 21
2 Worm Cartaros
2 Worm King
2 Worm Linx
3 Worm Xex
3 Worm Yagan
1 Evil Dragon Ananta
1 Genex Ally Birdman
1 Genex Ally Remote
2 Gentlemander
1 Honest
2 Kagetokage
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spells - 8
1 Dark Hole
2 Swords of Revealing Light
2 Pot of Duality
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Book of Moon

Traps – 11
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Mirror Force
3 W Nebula Meteorite
2 Offering to the Snake Deity
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Scrap-Iron Scarecrow
1 Solemn Warning

Total – 40 Cards

Extra Deck – 15
1 Star Eater
2 Genex Ally Triforce
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
1 Number 39: Utopia
2 King of the Feral Imps
1 Photon Papilloperative
1 Number 50: Blackship of Corn
1 Number 101: Silent Honor ARK
2 Starliege Paladynamo
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Constellar Omega
1 Gagaga Cowboy


VI. Conclusion

Worms are a very different style of deck compared to those today. While not carrying the speed and sheer summoning potential of decks like Fire Fist, Mermails, and Chaos Dragons, Worms excel at the grind game and, just like real worms, come out of hiding long enough to feed on their weakened prey, then retreat to an impenetrable lair where no Blackwing can catch them. Though by no means a popular decktype, Worms are incredibly fun, and I hope you'll give them a fair chance. Maybe they'll show you just what they can do.

-Kecleon2