Fairy Tail: how it combos, and how to beat it

How Fairy Tail wins

Fairy Tail plays Level 4 Spellcasters with 1850 ATK. Each starter in the deck is a different way to put two of them on the field, because two make Fairy Tail - Wiccat, a Rank 4 Xyz Monster. Wiccat detaches its materials to send Fairy Tail cards from the Deck to the GY, and those cards find the rest: Fairy Tail - Matchgiru summons itself from the GY and searches, and Tails of the Fairy Tails equips itself to a monster and grants a second Normal Summon.

The turn ends on Teller of Fairy Tails, a Fusion Monster that negates any card or effect. This version adds the Magistus cards, which turn the leftover monsters into Fusion and Link Monsters. The one to know is Zoroa, the Magistus Verethragna: it negates a monster effect and then destroys a card.

Prince of Fairies

Matchgiru (for 500 LP) and Fairy Tail Ball rename one of your Effect Monsters "Prince of Fairies". No card has that name, and that matters twice:

• Fairy Tail - Luna can return one of your monsters to the hand, and you can stop it by sending a card with that monster's name from your Deck or Extra Deck. Nothing is called Prince of Fairies, so against a renamed monster you can't.
• Tails can use a Prince of Fairies you control as Fusion Material. Made a Spellcaster first (Genia of the Ring does it), it becomes material for a Teller that destroys every card you control and deals 500 damage for each. That is how Fairy Tail breaks a board going second.

The core combo: one Luna

From a single Fairy Tail - Luna the deck reaches Teller in eight steps. Every longer combo starts this way, which is why it is worth knowing the order.

1. Normal Summon Fairy Tail - Luna. Luna adds Genia of the Ring.Genia rather than Matchgiru: Genia summons itself next to any face-up monster, so the combo still works if Droll & Lock Bird answers this search.
2. Genia Special Summons itself, targeting Luna.From here the player can only Special Summon Spellcasters from the Extra Deck this turn. Wiccat and Teller are both Spellcasters.
3. Xyz Summon Fairy Tail - Wiccat with Luna and Genia.
4. Wiccat detaches both materials to send Matchgiru and Tails of the Fairy Tails from the Deck to the GY.This is the step hand traps aim for. Sending isn't adding, so Droll & Lock Bird doesn't stop it; Ash Blossom does.
5. Matchgiru Special Summons itself from the GY, since Wiccat is a Spellcaster with 1850 original ATK. Matchgiru adds Fairy Tail Ball.
6. Fairy Tail Ball is activated and adds a second Luna.
7. Tails equips itself to Matchgiru from the GY, then grants a Normal Summon: the second Luna, which adds Fairy Tail - Snow.Tails goes on Matchgiru because, while Wiccat is on the field, the LIGHT Fairy Tail monsters (Luna, Matchgiru and Snow) are unaffected by your activated effects.
8. Tails Fusion Summons Teller of Fairy Tails, using Wiccat and Snow from the hand.

Teller of Fairy TailsFairy Tail - LunaFairy Tail - Matchgiru

Tails of the Fairy TailsFairy Tail Ball

GYFairy Tail - Luna · Genia of the Ring · Fairy Tail - Wiccat · Fairy Tail - Snow

The full board going first

With nothing else in hand, Luna keeps going after Teller. Matchgiru and Luna become the Link Monsters Artemis and Endymion, the Crescent Magistus, which search Spenta and then Crowley. Summon Sorceress places Crowley on your side of the field, Charmer Quartet in Bloom revives Luna and Zoroa, and Luna's bounce sends Crowley back to its owner's hand. Added to the hand that way, Crowley Special Summons itself and Fusion Summons Verethragna.

Teller of Fairy TailsZoroa, the Magistus VerethragnaCharmer Quartet in BloomMagistus Chorozo

Ninaruru, the Magistus Glass Goddess (equipped)Fairy Tail Ball

HandFairy Tail - Luna

That turn leaves about 13 cards in the GY, including Snow and Wiccat. Both matter on your turn.

Two starters give more. With Fairy Tail - Matchgiru in hand as well, Wiccat sends Once Upon a Fairy Tail instead of Matchgiru, and Once Upon Sets itself. Spenta, Regulus, Spell Power Mastery, Empire of Endymion, Fairy Tail Ball and Instant Fusion are other ways to the same two Level 4s. The cards the AI's scripted opening lines end on most often are these:

• Teller of Fairy Tails
• Fairy Tail Ball
• Zoroa, the Magistus Verethragna
• Once Upon a Fairy Tail
• Crowley, the Gifted Magistus
• Fairy Tail - Luna

What its board does on your turn

• Teller of Fairy Tails. When you activate a card or effect, it banishes a Fairy Tail card from its controller's hand or GY to negate the activation and destroy that card. Once per turn. While Teller is on the field, Fairy Tail monsters can't be destroyed by battle.
• Zoroa, the Magistus Verethragna. When a monster effect is activated, it sends a face-up Magistus Monster Card its controller controls to the GY to negate that effect, then can destroy one of your cards. Once per turn. An equipped Ninaruru or a spent Chorozo pays the cost.
• Fairy Tail Ball. Once per turn, when you Special Summon, it negates one of your Effect Monsters and renames it Prince of Fairies.
• Fairy Tail - Luna. Once per turn, a Quick Effect that returns one of your face-up monsters to the hand, with Luna. Send a card with that monster's name from your Deck or Extra Deck to stop it, unless it has been renamed.
• Fairy Tail - Snow, in the GY. It banishes 7 other cards from its controller's hand, field or GY to Special Summon itself, then turns one of your monsters face-down. Snow has no once-per-turn limit, and Wiccat in the GY can send Snow back there to do it again.
• Endymion, the Crescent Magistus. A board that keeps Crowley equipped to it can return Crowley during your Main Phase. Crowley summons itself and Fusion Summons again, usually Aiwass, the Magistus Spell Spirit, which equips itself to one of your monsters and takes control of it.

Fairy Tail players are taught an order: Ball on the first Special Summon worth negating, Verethragna on monster effects, and Teller kept for a Spell or Trap. Expect it.

Where to stop it

The Fairy Tail Guide teaches the deck's player how to get through each hand trap. Read from your side of the table, it shows where yours do the most.

Three things follow from it.

1. Hit Wiccat's send, or hit earlier. One negation on Wiccat's effect stops both Matchgiru and Tails, which is why experienced players save Ash, Veiler or Ghost Ogre for it. Once Wiccat has resolved, the LIGHT Fairy Tail monsters are out of reach of your activated effects for as long as it stays on the field.
2. A second starter is how they play through. Lacrima, Spenta, Regulus or another starter gets a Fairy Tail hand past one hand trap. Against a hand like that, a second interruption on the Magistus half (Summon Sorceress or Crowley's Fusion) is what keeps Verethragna off the board.
3. Ghost Ogre on Luna is the cleanest stop. A hand whose only starter is Luna has no way to summon Genia once Luna is gone.

Going second into Fairy Tail

A full board answers you with Ball, Verethragna and Teller, each once per turn, then Luna's bounce and Snow's flip. Some facts to plan around:

• Ball triggers on your Special Summon and negates one Effect Monster. Teller negates any card or effect, Verethragna only monster effects. The order players are taught means the first Effect Monster you Special Summon is the likeliest to meet Ball, and a Spell or Trap is the likeliest to meet Teller.
• Teller's cost is a Fairy Tail card banished from its controller's hand or GY.
• Snow needs 7 other cards to banish from its controller's hand, field and GY. The going-first combos leave 9 to 15 cards in the GY.
• Fairy Tail monsters can't be destroyed by battle while Teller is on the field.

Practice against Fairy Tail

The YGO Lab Rival plays this list. Going first, it opens with the deck's scripted lines, the same ones as above, and when you interrupt one it switches to a follow-up line instead of stopping. On your turn it decides when to use its hand traps: 3 Ash Blossom, 3 Mulcharmy Fuwalos, 3 Ghost Ogre, 3 Effect Veiler, 2 Droll & Lock Bird and 2 Nibiru.

• Going second is practice at breaking a Teller and Verethragna board.
• Going first is practice at playing your combo through 16 hand traps.
• To drill one interruption, record your turn in Combos, interrupt it with the card you expect, and practice that branch until you play through it.

Decklist

The list the AI plays, from the Fairy Tail Guide: 24 engine cards and 16 hand traps.

Learn to play it

YGO Lab guideThe Fairy Tail Guide10 lessons and 17 combos, played on the real rules engine. Free with an account.

Questions