Blackwing " Blackwing " , known as " Black Feather " ( " Burakku Fezā " ) in the Japanese version , is an archetype of monsters , debuting in " Crimson Crisis " , used by both Crow Hogan and Robert Pearson , with the former inheriting the Deck from the latter , in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " anime . They were also used in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V " anime by Crow ' s alternate universe counterpart . All members of this archetype are DARK Winged Beast monsters , except for the following : They are a Deck with both swarm ing and speed capabilities . When " Crimson Crisis " was released , this archetype was very unsupported , with only five " Blackwing " cards being released : " Gale the Whirlwind " , " Sirocco the Dawn " , " Bora the Spear " , " Armor Master " and " Raptor Wing Strike " . Later on , with the release of " Raging Battle " and " Ancient Prophecy " , Blackwings grew into a high swarming and powerful Deck . The speed it gives with its swarming , along with its additional Synchro Summon ing capabilities , landed this Deck a place on the Shonen Jump Circuit , along with being known as one of the many Meta Decks . The Deck proceeded to win the 2009 World Championships and remained popular the following year . New " Blackwing " monsters and support were released in " The Shining Darkness " and " Starstrike Blast " , giving them alternative strategies . As of " " , the deck ' s swarming capabilities and consistency have been greatly improved . With the release of " Dimension of Chaos " and " The Dark Illusion " , new " Blackwing " monsters , called " Assault Blackwings " , have been introduced that gain the ability to be Tuner monsters allowing for more access to Synchro Summoning thanks to " Assault Blackwing - Onimaru the Divine Thunder " having level manipulation once Summoned . The deck functions with high amounts of speed , searching , and good hand trap situations as leaving a " Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow " in hand can be used both offensively and defensively . Design . Most " Blackwing " monsters generally have a very bird - like appearance , with most Level 3 and lower monsters appearing as small birds while the Level 4 and higher monsters appearing to be either humanoids in bird - like outfits or humanoid birds . Most of the " Blackwing " monsters feature black in their design , usually on their wing feathering . Members . Anime . In the anime , the " Blackwing " monsters are named after geographical elements usually related to the natural phenomena , winds and birds . Manga . In the manga , the Blackwing monsters are named after weapons of mythological origins and natural sky - related phenomena . Playing style . " Blackwings " have a strong emphasis on swarm ing and utilizing hand traps . Most have the ability to Special Summon themselves from the hand ; others carry special effects that utilize the Graveyard and Hand to advance the gamestate . Because of these swarming capabilities , they give many opportunities to Synchro Summon and Xyz Summon . Their overall gameplan allows for quick OTKs all the while setting up multiple layers of contingency plans and proofing for additional OTKs in future turns . Since all of the " Blackwings " rely on the hand to swarm , " Black Whirlwind " allows them to replenish their resources while giving them the ability to toolbox into certain combo pieces . And when enough Blackwings have swarmed the field , support cards like " Delta Crow - Anti Reverse " and " Black Sonic " are granted additional effects that allow them to be activated from the hand . Because the majority of the " Blackwing " monsters are DARK and Winged Beast s , they can utilize " Icarus Attack " , " Dark Armed Dragon " , " Dark Illusion " , " Cattle Call " , " Crush Card Virus " , " Deck Devastation Virus " , and " Eradicator Epidemic Virus " for card destruction . They even have access to draw power such as " Allure of Darkness " , " Pot of Duality " , " Cards for Black Feathers " , " Pot of Desires " ( albeit risky ) and searching power such " Raidraptor - Force Strix " , " Creeping Darkness " , " Swallow ' s Nest " , " Transmodify " , and " Downbeat " . The Deck has numerous mind games , forcing opponents to make less than sub - optimal plays to play around certain cards like " Icarus Attack " , " Black Sonic " , " Delta Crow " and " Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow " . The player can create an illusion by simply setting a card in the Spell & Trap Card Zone or keeping a few cards in hand with a " Blackwing " monster on the field . Aggressive Decks are forced to slow down to stay out of range of these options that can cripple them or possibly cost the game . With great self sustaining synergy , powerful support cards , toolbox capabilities and the ability to shift between aggressive to passive playstyles ; “ Blackwings ” are one of the easiest archetypes to play and an overall solid archetype . " Synchro Summoning " . Several of the " Blackwings " , as well as their support cards , make Synchro Summon ing fairly easy . Level 5 Synchro plays : " Blizzard " can revive " Kalut " or " Gladius " to instantly access a Level 5 . Any level 4 Blackwing with " Oroshi the Squall " and " Shura " searching for " Vayu " . Level 6 Synchro plays : " Blizzard " can revive a Level 4 , and " Harmattan " can also be used . A Level 3 Tuner like " Pinaki " , " Oroshi " , or " Breeze " can combo with a Special Summon from " Gladius " or the revival of a Level 3 with " Blizzard " . " Oroshi " and a Level 5 like " Sirrocco " or a Synchro can also work . Level 7 Synchro plays : A Level 3 Tuner can combo with a Level 4 Blackwing that can Special Summon itself from the hand , such as " Bora " or " Kris " , and vice versa with " Gale " , " Breeze " , " Pinaki " and any Level 4 . They can also just be Special Summoned directly from the deck via the effect of " Shura " and tune with it . Additionally , " Oroshi " can combo with a Level 6 , like " Elphin " or " Nothung " Level 8 Synchro plays : " Blackwing - Kochi the Daybreak " with any Special Summoning Blackwing . You can also use " Nothung " to grant the summon of " Blizzard " and Synchro this way . " Hawk Joe " can provide the high Level monsters like " Gram " , " Nothung " , or " Armor Master " to be the non - Tuner . You can use " Oroshi " to be the Tuner for any Level 7 . Also , you can combo any Level 3 Tuner with " Harmattan " . Level 9 Synchro plays : " Blizzard " reviving a " Kalut " or " Gladius " with another 4 star on the field ( or one that can Special Summon from hand ) . Level 10 Synchro plays : " Blizzard " and 2 Level 4 monsters . Or " Gale " / " Pinaki " , " Gladius " , and " Bora " / " Kris " . Level 11 Synchro Monsters plays : Synchro Summoned Raikiri with any Level 4 , or " Gale " and two Level 4 monsters . . Level 12 Synchro Monsters plays : " Sohaya " and Tuner Synchro like " Formula Synchron " and " Accel Synchron " . " Xyz Summoning " . Because of a lot of their monsters Special Summon themselves , it is very easy for them to access Rank 4 plays and somewhat Rank 3 plays . Decks . Blackwings are a powerful archetype , able to quickly swarm the field , Synchro Summon , and potentially OTK every turn . Their specialty is their quick Special Summoning , allowing you to Summon multiple monsters in a single turn , then use effects of monsters such as " Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn " or " Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow " to build on one another and quickly wreak massive destruction . " Vayu Turbo " . This Deck is based on getting " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " and high - Level " Blackwing " monsters into the Graveyard . Vayu ' s effect allows the Special Summon of " Blackwing " Synchro s from the Extra deck by using " Blackwing " monsters in the graveyard to fulfill the level requirements ; the effects of these monsters are negated . Because this is not a traditional Synchro Summon , the Synchro monsters are not revivable if they are to hit the graveyard . The strategy then devolves into spamming high - ATK Synchro Monsters followed by swarming the field with other " Blackwing " monsters . Recycling with " Burial from a Different Dimension " to perform another Special Summon is a recommended tactic . This also allows you to return " Necro Gardna " and anything else you might remove with " Dark Armed Dragon " or " Allure of Darkness " to your Graveyard . To go along with " Burial from a Different Dimension " , you can add " Return from the Different Dimension " to Summon the same cards to your side of the field and attempt an OTK . Cards that send other cards from your Deck to your Graveyard , such as " Card Trooper " ( or , to a lesser extent , " Veil of Darkness " ) , are suggested . Another possible strategy is to Special Summon " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " through the effect of " Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame " , negating the Synchro Summoning restriction of " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " , and Synchro Summon " Ally of Justice Catastor " . " Crush Card Virus " is a viable tool for ditching " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " to the Graveyard while destroying the opponent ' s monsters . " Deck Devastation Virus " and / or " Eradicator Epidemic Virus " work for ditching a high - Level " Blackwing " monster to the Graveyard and destroying low - ATK monsters . This strategy works very will with this type of Deck , since you will be able to rapidly swarm the field with high - ATK DARK - Attribute Monsters , since the key cards of this Deck ( " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " , high Level " Blackwings " ) make perfect targets for the " Crush Card Virus " . When they are in the Graveyard , you can Summon even more monsters while leaving your opponent with nothing . Furthermore , you will be looking at your opponent ' s hand , allowing you to predict their actions . Another great card for this Deck is " Skill Drain " which can negate the effect of " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " while it is on the field ( so it can be used as a Synchro Material monster on the field ) while still allowing it to Special Summon Synchro Monsters by removing it from the Graveyard ( " Skill Drain " does not negate effects in the Graveyard ) . As an added bonus , the effect - negating drawback on the Synchro Monster will be meaningless , since " Skill Drain " does the same to each other monster . Vayusworn . Vayusworn is a Deck type centered on using " Lightsworn " monsters with " Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor " and " Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn " or " Blackwing - Elphin the Raven " . Players often choose " Sirocco the Dawn " over " Elphin the Raven " for one of two reasons ; " Sirocco the Dawn " is capable of being Summoned to the field like " Cyber Dragon " . It can also be used against the common " Blackwing " deck , by stealing other " Blackwing " monsters ATK from the opponent and attacking their " Blackwing " monsters for 2000 or more damage depending on the amount of ATK the " Blackwing " monsters on the field that " Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn " absorbs . " Lightsworn " Decks got hurt by the March 2010 Lists . However , the September 2011 Lists increased this deck ' s power , with Necro Gardna going back to 2 and Judgment Dragon going back to 3 . In addition the deck got even more power due to the " March 2012 Lists " , with " Lumina , Lightsworn Summoner " being put back to 2 . Weaknesses . Unfortunately , the majority of the archetype lacks raw power and relies on having both the strong and weak monsters to combo properly . Their dependency on Black Whirlwind to maintain resources can be easily worked around with attack debuffs such as " Burden of the Mighty " or " Solidarity " . Blackwing ' s ultimate strength is their swarming capacity , but the swarm require at least 1 " Blackwing " to present first . Immediately Negate that summon or Destroy it after the summon will potentially shutdown the deck for 1 turn . They also have some problems maintaining hand and field advantage due to the overwhelming speed with which “ Blackwings ” are Summoned , a player can ( and often will ) find his / her hand depleting quickly , thus lacking resources in case his / her plans goes wrong , ( such as in the case the opponent counters a massive Swarming with a destruction card like " Torrential Tribute " , " Dark Hole " , " Raigeki " , " Bottomless Trap Hole " or " Solemn Warning " ) . Balance of Judgment can help to draw more cards just in case this happens , giving you more chances to plan a new attack " Blackwings " are good in that they are not very weak to any common Side Deck cards . Because they are all DARK ( save the rarely used " Aurora " ) and all Winged - Beast ( save for " Obsidian Hawk Joe " ) , cards such as " Rivalry of Warlords " and " Gozen Match " do not hurt them . Cards such as " Shadow - Imprisoning Mirror " may hurt the player as you will not be able to use your effects , and " Dimensional Fissure " will render " Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame " , " Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow " , " Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North " and " Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite " ' s effects useless . However , all of these threats are easily solved with " Icarus Attack " or " Diamond Dire Wolf " , as all of the monsters are Winged - Beasts . " Royal Decree " may pose a problem as it will render " Icarus Attack " useless , but it ' s also easily dealt with using " Diamond Dire Wolf " or the common " Mystical Space Typhoon " . " Thunder King Rai - Oh " will stop Black Whirlwind searching , and can negate a Synchro Summon . Siding in " Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn " is also surprisingly effective against " Blackwings " , since " Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn " can use the opponent ' s " Blackwings " for his effect . Although unlikely .