Overview:
The Steelswarm are actually a sub-archtype of a different, more general Archtype-the Evilswarm! Defining traits of the Evilswarm are having uneven attack and defense stats (For example, 1050 atk/ 2050 def) that utilize 50's in their digits. (Kind of annoying to count in your head, but effective no doubt!) A large sum of their monsters are flip-effect cards, and act as great support for Steelswarms. The reason most people mistake Steelswarm as being a larger Archtype to Evilswarm than the latter is to the former is because Steelswarm is where the Archtypes get all of their 'oomph'. They supply the high-level monsters and most of the non-monster support, although that can be applied to both. However, one will quickly notice that although Steelswarm promotes tribute summoning, Evilswarm is where the actual special summoning-stoppers come into play.
Those of you who have played the 'FrogNarch' deck type, which is a Frog-run Monarch deck, should find this very familiar. The Steelswarm are all FIEND type DARK monsters with ZERO DEFENSE that revolve around effects that activate when TRIBUTE SUMMONED, and utilize many monsters that have TREEBORN-FROG-LIKE EFFECTS. For those of you who may not know what that means, it simply stands for any effect that brings a monster back from the graveyard under certain conditions. (Treeborn Frog's condition is that your spell and trap card zones are clear.) You'll find yourself doing very little special summoning with a Steelswarm deck-besides XYZ monsters and the Treeborn-mimicking monsters-as the entire Archtype revolves around TRIBUTE SUMMONING!
Oh ho ho ho, yes, tribute summoning. Remember that? This cardtype is quite obviously Konami's answer to all of you out there (Shamelessly including myself!) who are tired of annoying decks based around special summoning (Including Quickdraw Decks, Elemental Hero decks, and Six Samurai decks) much like how the Meklord Archtype was built to specifically stop Synchro-based decks and how the Ally of Justice Archtype was designed to stop the Light-Attribute decks from working. And, much like the Meklords, they have an arch rival-Vylons! But we'll get to those another time!
All in all, Steelswarm is a good Archtype for fiend-lovers, Monarch-fans, and people who strongly dislike most common Meta Decks.
Building a STEELSWARM deck (Monsters):
Aside from your basic staple cards, two of the main cards you are going to want in your deck are STEELSWARM SCOUT and STEELSWARM CELL, both depicted above. Basically, these are the main tribute-fodder for the deck. Steelswarm Scout, the first card shown above, is exactly like Treeborn Frog-you can special summon it from your graveyard every main phase 1 as long as you have no spell or trap cards on your field. You can only get one back per turn, and if you do, then you can't special summon-but that doesn't matter because if you were to summon it, your goal would be tributing, not special summoning more. What's more, is that it can only be tributed for a Steelswarm monster, and cannot be used to Synchro summon. So if your opponent planned on taking it from you to use it, then they just hit a brick wall in their plan!
Steelswarm Cell is even more useful, although, even more situational than Scout. You can special summon it from your hand if you don't control any monsters-which is great for getting a good start as well as nabbing a comeback in a tight spot. And like scout, it can only be tributed for a Steelswarm monster and cannot be used to Synchro summon. These two are primarily used to get the ball rolling, one could say-stepping stones to get out your bigger monsters. Although, due to their effects, they can't both be used during the same turn. If you are in a position that you have to choose, though, go with Steelswarm Scout-that way if it is destroyed somehow, you can always get it back next turn, while Steelswarm Cell is a one-time deal! Neither of these are banned or limited, but it's recommended that you only use two of both of them. There's no point in using three if you can only use one per turn, not at the same time in most cases!
So now you've got your basic methods of tributing down-pat, but they aren't the only things that can aid you in your tributing schemes. Some great cards that really help in this Archtype are STEELSWARM CALLER, STEELSWARM GATEKEEPER, and STEELSWARM GENOME.
We're pretty much all set when it comes to basics monster-wise, but what about those big-bad high level monsters you keep talking about, Maximum?! Well, now we finally get to the fun part-the strong Monsters! But the Steelswarm Tribute-Summon Based Monsters are actually split into two groups. Group one is the ONE-TRIBUTE group, that, well, only needs one tribute to summon.
Alright, now we get to this bad boy. I'm grouping him into the one-tribute monster group because, well, he only needs one tribute if you tribute a Steelswarm monster! Which is a great boost, because his attack is fairly-high and his effect is even greater. Haven't you noticed that most Steelswarm tribute effects require a life-point cost? Well here's your basic answer to that-not ONLY does this get rid of a card on your opponent's side of the field, but it also gives YOU 1000 life-points in the process! Neat, huh? But lets move onto the REAL big baddies of this infestation!
STEELSWARM LONGHORN is the first of the two major contenders in this deck, and boy, is it bad! Not only does it serve as a great 3000 atk beatstick but once per turn you get to rid the field of one monster at the expense of 1000 life points. However, this effect only activates if it was tribute summoned via a Steelswarm tribute-but that isn't anything to worry about with, ya know, a Steelswarm deck.
STEELSWARM HERCULES. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha. Doesn't that just make you wanna laugh evilly when you play it? Well, it should! At the expense of half your life points, you can freely wipe the field at your leisure but keep Hercules out on the field untouched. This is a great way to quickly end duels, to get rid of annoying cards, and to just be considered an evil duelist by your peers. Judgement Dragon? Black-Rose Dragon? Ha, Steelswarm Hercules is where it's at! Although it's summoning cost is kind of high, if you use Genome, then you've already covered for a good two-thirds of the summoning cost. Tribute something like, say, Steelswarm Caller? And you have yourself a proper infestation!
Well, that's the bulk of your deck complete already. If you haven't guessed yet, Steelswarm is a very monster-based cardtype, and if building a steelswarm-specific deck, it can get pretty big just on monsters alone. But we aren't done just yet! Even a deck like Steelswarm has it's own Extra Deck, mainly for extra support to get your Hercules and Longhorn out faster.
Steelswarm itself only has one XYZ monster-STEELSWARM ROACH! And although it is an XYZ and not a tribute-summoned monster, it is still very, very useful. By detaching an XYZ material from it, you can negate the special summon of any level 5 or higher monster on the field. That is a great help against much of the common Meta, such as Chaos Dragons, who rely heavily on special summoning. And 1900 atk isn't too bad either, and when it's effect has been used, it can easily dominate much of your opponent's field. And just to make it even more useful, it needs any 2 level 4 monsters. So any deck with 2 level 4 monsters can use it, pretty much.
This has been part one of an anticipated three-part trilogy on the Steelswarm Archtype! Stay tuned, because next time we'll be taking a look at how the Evilswarm Archtype can support it's sister-type, as well as how it's Extra Deck can keep it going even faster!
