Building Decks without a Tour Guide

A few weeks ago I discussed several decks that can successfully play at a high level without a Tour Guide, and the pros and cons of running those decks. Sometimes, however, this is not an option. For example, a synchro-centric deck does not flow particularly well without Tour Guide; Chaos (as made popular by the recent success by Courtney Waller at YCS Kansas) makes great plays using Tour Guide into Leviair. While this is hard to duplicate, it is not completely impossible. There are a handful of cards that can hold a spot in the deck until she’s reprinted or restricted.
In no particular order, here are my top four cards and combos to help to replace Tour Guide in your deck.

Deep Sea Diva
While this card lacks a little bit of splashability, it does have a fair amount of flexibility. Like Tour Guide from the Underworld, Deep Sea Diva comes into play and immediately summons a level three or lower monster directly from your deck, however, unlike Tour Guide, it cannot special summon a monster from hand, and the monster it summon are not very common in every deck. She does, however, have a very significant advantage.
She’s a tuner.
Tour Guide of the Underworld’s special summon loses its effect and additionally it cannot be used to synchro summon. Deep Sea Diva has no such downside, dropping her into play can mean an easy Ally of Justice Catastor or T.G. Hyper Librarian, and although rank 2 XYZs are not very plentiful yet, she can also quickly place a Gachi Gachi Gantetsu into play, a move generally reserved for Agents. Deep Sea Diva acts as an easy +1 and depending on your deck, a fine replacement for Tour Guide.

Mystic Tomato
There are two really great things that Tour Guide from the Underworld has to offer- she’s dark attribute and she can pull Sangan. Mystic Tomato has both of those things going for him. Furthermore, he works as a fairly decent defensive wall before finally pulling up a Sangan. If Sangan isn’t quite what you need, Tomato will also give you the ability to search into himself and get you a Number 39: Utopia with your summon from next turn.
The obvious downside is that Tomato will not give you a quick +1 the way Tour Guide or Diva will, but he can make good plays for decks who are able to run Creature Swap and unlike Diva, Mystic tomato is splashable in nearly any deck you would also be running a Tour Guide in.

Gravekeeper’s Spy/Gravekeeper’s Guard
A long time ago, before I had quit, I created a “Pot of Avarice” deck. This was shortly after it was released, and still three per deck. I ran copies of cards that searched the deck, like Hydrogeddon, Mystic Tomato, and of course, Gravekeeper’s Spy. The really great thing about Gravekeeper’s Spy is that she nearly always gives you field advantage. Of course, she is a flip effect, which does slow her play significantly, but unlike Mystic Tomato, if you manage to flip her up you will easily plus one yourself. Even if your opponent does charge into her while she’s face down, they will likely be surprised at the fact that they hit a 2000 defense monster. Very few easily summoned monsters will be able to take it out, and it’s unlikely your opponent will try to summon something bigger considering that most defense position monsters are much weaker.
Spy will provide an good defense, a quick tribute, an easy Trishula play with an Effect Veiler, and an overlay into Number 39: Utopia or Steelswarm Roach. If you’re feeling particularly clever, you can also combo Spy with a Book of Moon, to reuse her effect, or flip down a Gravekeeper’s Guard you pulled out with her effect. Shuffle them back into the deck with a Pot of Avarice and you’re sure to annoy your opponent every time you set a monster face down.

T.G. Striker/T.G. Warwolf
Where the previous cards were more focused on Tour Guide’s ability to draw cards out of the deck, T.G. Striker and T.G. Warwolf instead allow you the flexibility of special summoning from your hand. While this is somewhat inferior because of how easily you can over extend and lose advantage by doing this, it’s hard to argue with results. There have been tons of T.G. Variants popping up all over the place, from the pure, trap heavy, Tech Genus deck, to the immensely popular T.G. Agent build, to a rising star in T.G. Gadgets, and the lesser known but surprisingly effecting T.G. Zombies. The great thing that these cards share with Tour Guide is the ability to get multiple cards into play in one turn.
An empty field and a solid hand can lead to a quick summon of T.G. Striker, a level two tuner, with your normal summon still free to drop a level four monster to synchro into a level six like Naturia Barkion or Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. With the amount of special summoning decks in this meta do, T.G. Warwolf can special summon himself into play pretty consistently, as long as a level four or lower monster was summoned before him—and even if he’s dropped as a throw away gambit, he will allow you to search your deck for another T.G. monster, essentially replacing himself to prepare for your next play. Did I forget to mention that T.G. Warwolf is a dark? This combination of cards allows you the flexibility to supplement anything from Chaos deck variants to allowing you to make Naturia Beast or Naturia Barkion live in your extra deck.


Of course, it’s difficult to replace a card as popular and widely used as Tour Guide from the Underworld, but when you sit down and think about how she is used and how she benefits you, a little bit of clever card play can turn your common cards into gold. The cards above are a good start for nearly any deck, but there are a few cards that simply did not quite make the list due to the lack of flexibility that the above present, but I feel at least deserve an honorable mention.

Marauding Captain/Goblindbergh
Like the T.G.s, these cards can drain your hand significantly, but unlike the T.G.s, he does not reward that investment. Sure, dropping Captain or Goblindbergh can quickly summon two monsters into play, helping to create a power play or move into a quick summon of your favorite XYZ, but they just don’t have the versatility needed to make it in most decks, and if you don’t have a second level three or four monster in your hand, they’re essentially a dead draw.

Twin-Headed Behemoth
This card is actually pretty cool, I remember back to a time when he was actually restricted one per deck. The fact that this guy can come back during the end phase means on your next turn you can re-use him for a synchro summon or an rank three XYZ, and it essentially cost you nothing. Unfortunately his effect is limited to once per duel, essentially lowering its playability, and completely not worth running past one in any deck. If he were a light or a dark monster, I’d have to imagine he’d see a little more play, but unfortunately that’s not the case.

Spirit Reaper
Unlike Marauding Captain, Goblindbergh, and Twin-Headed Behemoth, Spirit Reaper has absolutely no special summoning feature whatsoever. The only real reason worth mentioning him is that he is a dark attribute level three monster. He does, however, also have the nice little side effect of not being able to be destroyed by battle. With that benefit, this resilient card earns a slot on this list simply by giving you all the time in the world to draw a second level three monster so you can overlay into your Leviair, or gives you a bump on your next synchro play.