The Legendary City Atlantis - A Legendary Ocean

Uhm...yea. I've decided to make this a mini article because ALO Decks can be run a few different ways. Gravity Bind is probably the most popular, but IMO I prefer basic, flat out beatdown. Another choice is Orca Decks, which are IMO slow because getting out the monsters to launch is tough.

I'll go over each of these decks separately, beginning with Orca. Mega Orca Fortress Whale(or whatever it's called) just isn't worth it. It ranks up there with Legendary Fisherman and Deepsea Warrior. The deck focuses on getting out ALO and Orca, and then using Orca's effect to launch it's monsters and keep the field clear. If you could discard them from the hand, it wouldn't be a problem. But you have to sacrifice them from the field. The one summon per turn limit is still in effect, making this a very hard deck to use the way it's meant to be used. Eventually, these decks turn into one of the other two, simply because it's such a slow combo to use. The good points? Orca doesn't take a sacrifice with ALO out, and none of the monsters are restricted. Salvage works wonders. But again, just stick with a normal beatdown or Gravity Bind.

Gravity Bind ALO Decks are powerful, especially with the release of Level Limit - Area B. Summoning Gagagigo and Granadora in ALO decks is already very strong - the two monsters have 2050 and 2100 attack respectively with ALO on the field. But now they can slip under Gravity Bind. Add into the mix Amphibious Bugroth MK-3(1700 direct attacker with ALO out), Mermaid Knight(1700 attacks twice with ALO out) and Tribe Infecting Virus(drool.) and you have a very powerful force that slips under Gravity Bind. Salvage can also be used in this deck; Bugroth and Mermaid are both 1500 monsters normally, so you can get them back if they get destroyed. I've often found myself at a disadvantage though; you want to use Bugroth's effect because 1700 direct attack is nice. But then you have to waste another attack to destroy an opponent's monster. Bugroth isn't used as monster removal, and if you attack with Gagagigo first, chances are the field will be clear anyway. The one downside to LLAB is that Daedalus can't use it's "Finish Off Opponent" move the turn it's summoned; it switches to defense before LLAB is destroyed. I do like this deck, but as you will see in a moment, I just don't see the point of using it when you can use super-powered beatdown.

Water Beatdown has evolved with ALO. In IOC, Giga Gagagigo(5*, 2450 monster) and Terrorking Salmon(5*, 2400 monster) were released. With ALO, their level is reduced to 4*. You can easily summon a 2650 and 2600 monster without any sacrifices. Sure, you lose the whole strategic route with little protection for Bugroth and Mermaid, but instead you get these uberly powerful monsters without a sacrifice. Let me repeat that you can summon a 2600 and a 2650 monster without sacrificing. That's dangerous. If they have Jinzo out, it KILLS Jinzo. Gagagigo and Granadora still get powered up; even though Granadora isn't really needed. The power that you can have with this deck is simply amazing though. I know I haven't made much of a case for Beatdown, but G-Bind just requires too many cards for most of the good monsters to work(ALO, G-Bind, Bugroth for 1700 direct atatck compared to ALO and Salmon for a 2600 beatstick). Jinzo can also go in this deck, whereas in the Gravity Bind Deck it doesn't work.