Go ahead, draw your last pathetic card, Normal Summon Aleister Andy!

Once I'm done downloading this 3GB spreadsheet on all the D/D two card, three card, four card, five card and six card combos, I'll draw my opening hand and you'll be finished!

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Besides essays in small text boxes and a manga with an ending that introduced a whole new perspective into the question of who came first (guessing Yuya and neither the chicken nor the egg), one of the best takeways from Arc-V as a series was the interesting archtypes that got introduced with the show, thrusting Yu-Gi-Oh into an era of archetypes that ended eight years later with Brave Artifact Souls Enforcer Dragon giving Yugiboomers a bigger stroke than their post-church sunday grill.

You had things like Speedroids, literal toys used to bust out a negate on legs in the form of Crystal Wing and the reason why modern Vehicroid support has lines like "Non-WIND "roid" monster"; Predaplants, that used counters to convey the idea of being poisoned by plants, which was a completly original idea and not something adapted from GX; and Pendulum Magicians, which worked with Performapals and Odd-Eyes to prove once and for all that mashing three archetypes together will always win you games in the good old Playground Format. Thanks Yugs.

But today I'm not here to ramble about two card combos for any of those, mainly because I still don't get Speedroids after one month of playing them, Predaplants only served as a Branded spewing machine and I wasn't banned for jokingly saying I'd split prize money.

The archetype I'm showing off today is D/D, the one used by the rich rival of the show, who used money to create his own cards, and probably only didn't make a Duel Academy because his dad already made one in another universe.

When you look at D/Ds, you see a mess of ideas in the form of demons from another dimension being based on mythological creatures, historical figures and scientists, aswell as having a weird corporate ladder theming. But frankly, I love it. They look cool, and the fact some of their best cards are in oversized chairs only makes it better.

D/Ds are infamous for having an oversized spreadsheet dedicated to their X card combos, because this was 2016 and a card in an archetype would be bad if it didn't contain the words "special summon".

Unlike War Rocks, this deck does in fact have plays, but since there's too many of them as the spreadsheet will tell you and I'm an average lazy european, I'll do one. Cry about it.

So let's get into the decklist, which is completly original and didn't get top 8 at some remote duel event.

Main Deck:
[D/D Monsters]
Go! - D/D/D Divine Zero King Rage
D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Raganarok 
D/D Savant Thomas
D/D Vice Typhon
D/D Cerberus
D/D Gryphon x3
D/D Orthros
D/D Savant Copernicus x3
D/D Swirl Slime x3
D/D Lamia
D/D Necro Slime
D/D Savant Kepler x3

[No Buttons]
Nibiru, the Primal Being x3
Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring x3
Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit x3
Effect Veiler x3

[D/D Backrow]
Dark Contract with the Gate x3
Dark Contract with the Swamp King
Dark Contract with Patent License
D/D/D Headhunt

[Good Stuff Backrow]
One for One
Piri Rais Map x3

Extra Deck:
[Fusion]
D/D/D Flame High King Genghis
D/D/D Oracle King D'arc
D/D/D Flame King Genghis x2

[Synchro]
Baronne de Fleur
D/D/D Cursed King Seigfried

[Xyz]
D/D/D Diviser King Deus Machinex x2
D/D/D Wave High King Caesar x2
D/D/D Marksman King Tell
D/D/D Wave King Caesar

[Link]
D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh x3

Let's talk cards before getting into the combo, you know the deal.

I'm gonna start with Zero King Rage and Cerberus, since they're the most repleceable cards in the deck. Zero King Rage is just a finisher card you can drop, tribute one to swing directly, deal up to 4k, go to game 2. He also idn't once per turn, so you can deadass tribute 3 for all effects if you want. Being a level 10, the only way you're busting him out is through Swirl's grave effect, since not even the biggest scales in the deck can summon him. His pend effect is just to save your ass from the Contracts, but if you're playing against Trickstars, then lmao fuck 'em. On the other hand, Cerberus has a decent scale, it being 6, and an ok pend effect to boost attack and defense, but his sauce is the Contract retrieve built into his normal effect. But frankly, he isn't needed, so he and Rage can be replaced by things like Called By for the dirty Scythe players and Harpie's Feather Duster for the typical When The Skill is Drained.

Ragnarok is good because of his pend effect and is one of the scales you'll tend to set with Gil, since he's a combo extender. His pend effect is to revive a D/D when you special summon a D/D, and in exchange, you take a stack and battle damage you deal gets halved this turn. This isn't a problem since lol you wanna go first, but if you dont, its fine too. D/Ds have a good grind game. His monster effect is to revive a D/D on summon and tribute a D/D to banish a monster on the other side. It's a fine effect but he's here for the extension his pend effect offers. His scale is also p good, considering your pend summon targets are both level 4s.

Thomas is here because he has a scale of 6 for whenever Nexus draws your Ragnarok, and his pend effect to grab a D/D from the extra deck is neat. Sadly, you can't use it to cycle the Deus Machinex, but minor. He also has a monster effect, but since I never read it, it'll pretend it doesn't exist because I'm lazy.

Vice Typhon has an effect that says ''normal summon'' so we're ignoring it. His job in the deck is to be a second copy of Necro because, guess what, Nexus will draw your one Necro sooner or later. His effect is the same as Necro, meaning he's a fusion spell for D/D/Ds in the grave, but with the added bonus that he's a level 7, meaning he can cover one of the materials for High King Genghis, with the drawback of you needing to use him the turn it got dropped, which is fine since you won't drop Typhon without using it.

Brian Gryphon from the hit show Family Guy is a fantastic card, enough said. I could end it there and you'd agree, but let's delve into his skillset a bit further. He has a pend effect that you will never use because you will never use it as a scale unless you misclick, but if you want me to shine some light on the matter, he can give a Fiend 500 per different Contract on the field and grave. You only run three Contracts, so at most, a 1500 boost. Then, he goes kaboom. He also has a scale of 1, which is a great scale. However, our main scale 1 is a three off in the deck, meaning you won't run out of it since Nexus never opens 3 copies of a card. I know that, I wish I'd open three Vanishing Lanius instead of Spain Lanius and other trash I can't use to combo. I'm not mad about it. Gryphon has three monster effects, all of them being a hard once per turn, but not a stupid one. He can special summon himself from hand in defense if you control a D/D, thus extending your plays; he can cycle a D/D in your hand when pend summon, offering some grave set up and cycling; and when he's summoned from grave, he can grab a D/D from deck, making him a perfect target for Genghis. Overall, Gryphon carries the deck in an ungodly manner, so much so I'd offer a limb to open him.

Orthros is your tuner and the card you wanna grab off Gryphon. His pend effect? You'll never use it. His main effect? That's how you get him on board and make Siegfried. This will make sense in the combo part.

Another three off is Copernicus. Copernicus is great. Good scale, good level, and good effects. He is also your other best scale, alongside Ragnarok. His pend effect is to die to avoid effect damage from spells in exchange of dying, and his summon effect mills a D/D. This effect is a key part of the combo, since milling Necro is part of the wonder combo. Overall, another card I'd exchange a limb to open instead of opening my one offs.

Swirl Slime is a great extender, and since he isn't a pend, I can make this part shorter. Being both a fusion spell and fusion material in hand to make small Genghis is great, and besides letting you keep shit in grave for other combos, he also sets up the grave. In the grave, he has an effect to special summon a D/D from hand by banishing itself, It's not a needed effect, but I'm thankful for it, since it let's you do dumb shit like drop Rage and swing for game.

Necro Slime is Typhon without being a part of High Genghis' costs and a turn limitation.

Lamia, One for One target, tuner, can revive itself, enough said. You may think being a level one tuner is bad but she can make Siegfried using D'arc if you make her, or in weirder cases, with Typhon.

Finally, Kepler is the other three off in the deck. He's a scale ten, but you don't wanna use him as a scale since his pend effect sucks. His glory is in his monster effect, which let's you grab a Contract, typically Gate, from deck. That's great since it helps in cases where you open Kepler and either Gryphon/Copernicus and not the other. He also can bounce a D/D but that never comes up.

Let's talk some hand traps. You're running twelve because that's what the forma calls for, opening two usually makes winning easier. Nib is Nib, Nib blows up boards, use it before the opponent sets a negate; Ash is Ash, say no to the Dragon Ravine search; Effect Veiler makes me want to kill god when used against my Gil; and Ghost Ogre, who actually deserves a bit more talking. She got a revival in the form of Fateful Adventure existing, and honestly, I dig it. I like Ghost Ogre, since she was the first hand trap I used, but that's a story for the Speedroid handbook.

Monsters are done, let's move to spells and traps.

One for One gets Lamia or Kepler and works as an extra way to get to your combo pieces if you suck at opening combos like me. Don't be a Destiny HERO - Denier about it, you know it to be true.

Gate grabs a D/D from deck, I shouldn't tell you why that's good. Also, it's one letter away from Fate. Mhm yes, innacurate portrayal of historic figures. Also you take a stack to the face every standby.

Swamp King is a fusion spell that banishes from grave too. You need it for the combo.

Patent License is a field spell that burns the opponent for a stack when they summon something of the same card type you control and then turns into a floodgate of that type. You usually wanna have Siegfried on board, and since synchros are all the rage thanks to Baronne, I shouldn't tell you why that's good. But to make things better, since Patent is a bullseye target with legs, it has a float effect. Grabbing something for either grave or extra deck helps in the grind game.

Headhunt is a monster steal that let's you use the monster for D/D/D summons. Stealing midway through combos is cool.

And finally, the card I have a bit to talk about, Rice Map. Yes, I'm gonna call it that. Rice Map, while costly, can save your ass by grabbing Copernicus or Kepler. But that isn't why I left it for last. Rice Map let's you do a funny thing. If you ever feel like being a dumb european in the superior timezone, you can use Rice Map to grab a hand trap that you can't use next turn. yes, that happened once, shut up.

Let's talk extra deck, shall we?

High Genghis has the revival effect of the original and a spell/trap negate for free. That's about it.

Small Genghis on the other hand, is cracked. This mf isn't a hard once per turn, so you can and will use the two you run in the same turn to revive shit and then overlay both Genghis into High Caesar. He also has some Contract float effect when destroyed, but that'll probably never be used.

D'arc is just another fusion target that turns effect damage to LP, so take you get a chuckle out of Trickstar players. 

Baronne is Baronne.

Siegfried is also a spell/trap negate for freeeeeee, enough said. Sausy Jack here also has a float effect that gives you life per Contract you control when it dies but like, that's shit, so I'm ignoring it. 

Deus Machinex is the goal. This bloke in his breakfast sausage chair is what you end on. You can shit him out by using any D/D/D, making him stupid easy to shit out. He can also, once per chain, either detach two or pop a Contract to suck a monster. With one Contract out, he becomes two sucks, and with two, he becomes four, and I shouldn't need to tell you why stealing monsters is fun. He also has a somewhat decent pend effect, but I doubt it'll ever get used. But hey, it can bring itself out so fair enough.

High Caesar, easy summon cost, negates something that'd special summon with a detach, that gives an out of nowhere 1800 attack buff to two monsters. Ok. His floating effect, on the other hand, is actually good. It grabs a Contract from deck on float, pog.

Tell is a monster you can make using little Caesar and that helps against big monsters, since your big bosses typically reach 3000. Besides, it's extra damage, like no, I don't want to beat the ghost rares out of my opponent faster. His floating effect mills a D/D or Contract, good enough.

Little Caesar's floating effect grabs a Contract, enough said. That's why he's here. His detach effect? It revives some shit after battle, and he usually isn't around for that.

Finally, EPICman Gil. His job is to fish Effect Veilers and make you cry about it. Jokes aside, he sets scales, making the combos pop off. And for some reason, he can bust out a D/D from grave, OR EXTRA DECK, when destroyed by battle of card effect, if he was link summoned. I don't why he has this but I'll take it, whatever let's be gets negates on the field without doing this for it.

By now you're probably wondering where's the Halq and the Crystal Wing, but since I don't know how to use them in this case, I'm pretending they never existed, so cry about it.

Oh, and Kali Yuga? I don't know what that is, last time I checked, that's a Raidraptor card.

Ok so now that we got through the card explainations, let's get to the combo. Here's a small list of hands that let you pop off.

A) Copernicus + Gryphon
B) Kepler + Gryphon or Copernicus
C) Gate + Gryphon or Copernicus
D) Rice Map + Gryphon
E) Rice Map + Gate

These are just some examples, of course. The deck can still carry itself if you don't open these, but the fact that it has at least five good openers, all including cards you run three off, is a good start. Assuming you don't open complete garbage, of course.

The combo I'll be showing today is the simplest combo in the deck, that being Copernicus + Gryphon. Is it optimal? Well, truth be told, I think opening the B or C hand is more optimal since it leaves two Contracts behind for four sucks with Deus Mechinex, but I'm not here to write down all possible combos. That's The Idiot's Guide's job.

Quick PSA, before writing the combo, Im using Nexus to guide myself to make sure I dont fuck up, basically rerolling bot games until I open Copernicus + Gryphon, and I've opened Rage + Raganarok twice already. That ought to show how good the shuffler is. Perhaps we judged you too harshly, Rem. I also open a full hand trap hand because of course.

Ok it only took me over ten tries and almost five minutes, let's combo.

Step 1: Normal summon Copernicus, mill Necro Slime
Step 2: Special Gryphon from hand, link into Gil
Step 3: Proc Gil, set Copernicus and Ragna as scales from deck
Step 4: Pend summon Copernicus and Gryphon, proc Gryphon if you want
Step 5: Overlay Copernicus and Gryphon into little Caesar
Step 6: Link Caesar and Gil into Gil 2, grab Swamp King off Caesar
Step 7: Activate Swamp King, use it fuse the two Gils into little Genghis
Step 8: Proc Necro Slime, use it to fuse itself and Gil into Genghis 2. Im fusing Gils for the example 
Step 9: Proc Genghis 1, revive Gryphon
Step 10: Proc Ragna chain 1 target Caesar, chain 2 Gryphon add Orthros; revive Caesar and take 1000
Step 11: Special summon Orthros taking taking 1000
Step 12: Overlay the two Genghis into High Caesar
Step 13: Tune Orthros and Gryphon into Siegfried
Step 14: Summon Deus Machinex using the small Caesar

And there you have it, a two card combo that ends on a spell negate, a special summon effect negate, and at least two monster sucks. Since you still have three cards in your hand, you can use those to extend harder if you want.

If this guide convinced you to give D/D a try, then I'm glad, since I quite like these Different Dimension Matt Damons myself, most for the aesthetics. Something about the demonic and regal yet alien style really clicks.

I don't know if the Handbook will come on a weekly basis, but if there's one next week, then it'll be either on Infernities or Speedroids, assuming I don't get distracted by another deck or some keys.

So what should we take from this chapter of the handbook? You don't always need an excel spreadsheet next to you to do your combos. Sometimes, you only need the ability to click buttons and pray for the best.

See you on the next one.

This week's Marin pic is brought to you by the harsh reality that you'll never have a sugar mommy.