Jointech

Jointech (ジョインテック Jointekku) is a series of DARK and EARTH Attribute Machine Type monsters used by Yuhi Ohdo (and his manga counterpart) and the Earthdama in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!! anime and manga, and Wataru Himukai in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel LP manga.

Design[edit]

The Jointech monsters resemble highly colorful joint-action toys depicting animals that would generally be considered "cool" to young boys, such as dinosaurs and lions, as well as insects (the activity of catching which is a popular activity for pre-teen boys in Japan). The only exceptions to this rule are "Jointech Ace", "Jointech Fighter", and "Jointech Hero", which are instead robots (the toys of which are stereotypically considered to be "boyish" in nature).

Playing style[edit]

Jointech is defined by their reliance on Level 7 Machine Type monsters to make full use of a variety of effects, and their ability to use both Maximum Monster and Fusion Monster playstyles to get out strong boss monsters. Their lower Level monsters typically set up the Graveyard or allow you to retrieve your needed Level 7 pieces. The Level 7 monsters have a variety of effects to blow up opposing cards (e.g. "Jointech Rex" and "Jointech Spike Centipede"), weaken opposing monsters with debuffs (e.g. "Jointech Tinosaurus"), or retrieve Fusion Material (e.g. "Jointech Arcscorpio", "Jointech Nesstrydar Tank", and "Darkness Jointech Tyrant").

Their Maximum Monster "Mega Jointech Fortrex", is hard to gather all the pieces for, due to the lack of direct support, but can be very powerful when fully assembled, with multiple attacks (either 2 piercing attacks or three non piercing attacks, based on a coin toss), effect destruction immunity, and Graveyard shuffling (with ATK gain). Its "[L]" and "[R]" pieces can use their abilities without being in Maximum Mode, so they can still be useful in a pinch.

Otherwise, they have access to a few different Fusion Monsters: "Jointech Killer Stinger" debuffs monsters and gives you an LP heal; "Jointech Fighter" can retrieve an EARTH Attribute Machine Type for recursion; "Jointech Burst Dragon" can blow up 2500 ATK or lower monsters, buff its ATK and blow up a Spell/Trap Card for good measure; and "Jointech Tridynabase" can multi-attack (but works better in a DARK Attribute Deck with "Voidvelg Requiem" and "Abysslayer Leviaknight"). The related monster, "Bluetech Burst Rex", can blow up face-down cards, buff its ATK, and debuffs any remaining opposing monsters, which is especially punishing on opponents who dare to guard themselves with face-down monsters.

"Jointech Great Wall" and “Jointech Ignition” are Trap Cards that can protect EARTH Attribute Machine Type monsters from being destroyed by battle. "Jointech Digup" can add anything from among the top three cards of your Deck to your hand. "Jointech Joint" enables Fusion Summoning and forces a position change on an opposing monster, leaving a vulnerability on their field. "Jointech Rush Horn" is initially an underwhelming 300 ATK gain and piercing, but when paired with multi-attackers or already high ATK monsters, it can ensure your opponent receives as much damage as possible, even with a defensive field.

While on their own, Jointech lacks good swarming and field building, especially with cloggy Level 7s, they can work in tandem with other Decks to boost their abilities, especially with Ancient Gears, Gadget, High Tech Dragon, and Tamabot.