If you remember awhile ago, I made a pretty in-depth guide to pure Gusto builds. Most notably, we're going to take a second look at Gusto Grif, to understand.

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...this is it. This is it! This is single-handedly the greatest card in the entire deck! Run 3! Do it! DO IT! Run 3... Oh wait... It has to be sent to the graveyard... Yes. The greatest card in the deck can never be effectively used in a pure build. However... This card alone gives a HUGE boost to Dragunity decks. Three notable things worth mentioning. This card tutors the entire deck. This card doesn't have to be discarded. Sent can mean discarded, but discarded can never mean sent. Thirdly, and this is by far the most notable thing with this card... "If" is used. This card NEVER MISSES THE TIMING. Alas, run 0. Run 2 if you're using Dragunity, but run 0. It breaks my heart to say it.

Elemental Dragons seem to be Sophia's answer to young Winda's prayers at the Shrine of Mist Valley. Unfortunately Konami has confirmed that there will probably be a mid-format banlist dedicated to these guys. This is painful, but I can see why. We can only hope that Tempest, Lightning, and Grif stay untouched. Say what you will, this deck is easily the best WIND deck in the game in this moment, and second only to the actual Elemental Dragons in terms of consistency and reliability. This deck is the underrated, somewhat unknown monster that rivals the power of Wind-Ups and Chaos Dragons from a few formats ago. People have discredited Gustos since their initial release. That is why this deck isn't seeing more play There's always weaknesses, but...

Let's examine the good about the deck, first.

These are the strongest plays that have ever been done in a Gusto deck, bar none. These power plays rival and even topple other great decks. The search power, and flexibility are admittedly on par with the Elemental Dragon deck in itself. Every other Gusto deck with no exception of any relevance that had plays even a fraction of the power of this deck all had one thing in common. The same issue that keeps Dark World, Dragunity, and Harpie's from the meta. The reliance of a field spell. This deck has even greater power with much less reliance/an obvious weakness.

Overextending can be a good thing, in this deck. There, I said it, and I know I can't take that back. This deck allows overextending. This is a very complicated issue, so I'll go over this double-edged sword more in-depth with the cons of the deck. I still make mistakes with my play at times, and there is no going back on YGOPro.

This deck is flexible. You can use a lot of XYZ play, or none at all. How do you like to duel? Well, chances are that you'll be able to use this deck with a lot of comfort. Comfort and flexibility in a deck might be a difficult concept for avid Dino-Rabbit net-deckers, but there is no basic skeleton for this deck. Just a few key cards. There's easily 50-60 tech choices I've personally considered adding in. I just can't fit them all in.

The OTK can happen at almost any time. You can search out almost all of your monsters by some means out of your deck. You don't have to always push for game. A skilled player could control the speed of their duel. The best duelists can make their opponent make mistakes that they'll learn to regret. Mind games are always fun. A face-down Egul? Nope, they hit your Shield Wing. Nothing feels worse than misreading your opponent's strategy. Keep that in mind.


Okay, is it broken? Well, yeah. But there's still a lot of issues in the deck...


You can't use direct Gusto support to add Gusto Grif to your hand. However, Gae Dearg exists. This is the holy grail of plussing in the deck. If you have Debris in hand? You can add Grif, discard Grif, summon Caam, and shuffle 2 into the deck to draw another card. Avarice? Yes, yes please. I generally discourage the use of this card, but... This isn't a pure build.

You can get yourself into a bind... Blindly banishing will come back to haunt you. Don't do it. Use your head, think about it, and be weary of the dreaded misclick. This is another reason a lot of people are running the deck wrong. They want to rush and aren't calm and collected. You can very easily be your own worst enemy in this deck, or you can be at a great level that other decks wish they could reach.

I said there wasn't a clear-cut netdecking strategy here. This deck isn't linear. As long as you're running the following cards, feel free to branch out.

The Staples:

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The Staples:

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Gusto Grif
WIND / Winged Beast/ Level 2 / 800 ATK / 300 DEF
If this card is sent from the hand to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 "Gusto" monster from your Deck. The effect of "Gusto Grif" can only be used once per turn.

This card was terrible. I'll admit it. It didn't have any synergy with the deck, and there was no clear-cut way of using it without Dragunity hybrid decks.
This card breaks the game. It has 800 attack because Konami knows Debris Dragon is a thing. Gustos are already an amazing deck as it is, this is just avoiding the horror story of how badly abused these two would be played together. This card is the cherry on top.

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Tempest, Elemental Dragon of Cyclones
WIND / Dragon / Level 7 / 2400 ATK / 2200 DEF
You can banish 2 Dragon-Type and/or WIND monsters from your hand or Graveyard, except this card; Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. During your opponent's End Phase, if this card was Special Summoned: Return it to the hand. You can discard this card and 1 other WIND monster to the Graveyard; add 1 Dragon-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. If this card is banished: You can add 1 WIND Dragon-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use 1 "Tempest, Elemental Dragon of Cyclones" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

The most broken card in the Elemental Dragon deck. Funny enough, only Gustos can use this card to the fullest effect. This is why Gustos are the greatest WIND deck in the game. At least, they are for now. This card is the cake.

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Lightning, Elemental Dragon of Wind
WIND / Dragon / Level 3 / 500 ATK / 1800 DEF
You can discard this card and 1 other Dragon-Type or WIND monster; Special Summon 1 "Tempest, Elemental Dragon of Cyclones" from your Deck. It cannot attack this turn. You can only use the effect of "Lightning, Elemental Dragon of Wind" once per turn.

...I have no words for this card. Tempest alone is a powerful discard outlet or Grif. If you're using a deck with Leviair, this could be something that doubles over to assist you. This card can fill in the cracks for powerful Synchro plays, too. 1800 DEF isn't something to laugh at either, considering most Gustos don't even break 1000. This is the icing on the cake. This card is almost never a dead draw.

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Debris Dragon
WIND / Dragon / Level 4 / 1000 ATK / 2000 DEF
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 monster with 500 or less ATK in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in face-up Attack Position. Its effects are negated. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster. The other Synchro Material Monster(s) cannot be Level 4.

This card is the Swiss-Army Knife. This deck utilizes this card far better than even Plants did when they peaked. A bold claim, but swapping your Egul for game can easily back it up. Card goes into Chidori, and can synchro much of the deck. If this card ever left the banlist, this deck would breach tier 0, but that's a different ball game.

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Shield Wing
WIND / Winged-Beast / Level 2 / 0 ATK / 900 DEF
Up to twice per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed.

Discard this with Tempest, search out Debris Dragon, and it's pretty much game from there. Swarming decks seem like they're a dying breed, so the defensive purposes of this card can be amazing, too. A staple simply because of Gae Dearg. Gustos don't outright need any extra defensive cards like this, but it can save you.

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Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg
WIND / Dragon / Synchro / Level 6 / 2400 ATK / 800 DEF
1 Dragon-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Winged Beast-Type monsters
Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can add 1 Level 4 or lower Dragon-Type or Winged Beast-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. Then discard 1 Dragon-Type or Winged Beast-Type monster.

This is the chocolate flavouring of the metaphoric Tempest cake. Grif for kicks, a free plus. If Grif is already in your hand, score a nice Lightning or Debris Dragon. If you have Caam on the field, you're always at least two up on your opponent. The 2400 ATK isn't much to brag about, but it can topple over Shock Master. This is the card they'll target. Plan accordingly.

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Starform Dragon
LIGHT / Dragon / Synchro / Level 11 / 3200 ATK / 2800 DEF
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 Special Summoned, card effects cannot be activated. If this card attacks, it is unaffected by other card effects until the end of the Damage Step.

When this card is summoned, the game is over. This card doesn't only crush your opponent's monsters, but also their spirit. Ending a game with this card can let you feel the nostalgia of watching the dynamic ending of every duel in the anime adaptations.

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Well, those are the most essential cards. Other good cards, but not cards that you NEED to run include Creature Swap, Pot of Avarice, Return from the Different Dimension, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, Gold Sarcophagus, Crimson Blader, Diamond Dire Wolf, Mind Crush, Daigusto Sphreez, Mecha Phantom Beast Drago-Sack, Number 11: Big Eye, Gusto Skwirl, Windaar, Sage of Gusto, Lightning Chidori, and Kamui, Hope of Gusto. You can literally run much of anything you want, though. It's almost scary that I could run 60 cards in this deck and still keep semi-consistency. But just because you can win with 60 cards, that doesn't mean you should. Seriously, that's not a good idea.

Why do I adore this deck? It's noob-proof. People won't just be able to copy your deck and "Do what they see". This deck takes a lot of thinking and skill. There is no auto-pilot with this deck since it effectively runs 2 completely different engines with a perfect harmony. Since every situation is different, a lot of people are mentally incapable of using this deck. You have choices, and if you know what you're doing, you can make any duel one to remember. The worst match-up for Tempest Gusto are Evilswarm and pure Elemental Dragons, but only because Big Eye and Ophion shouldn't be at 3. It has some short comings, but when this deck takes off, it's pretty difficult to stop. Your opponent can only Veiler you 3 times, after all. You know the cards that they'll use their key cards on. Once you plan accordingly, they're playing right into your hands.