When I was first learning how to play yugioh about 5 years ago, I though that attack points were all that mattered, and cards like blue eyes white dragon were like the holy Grail. Well, obviously, that's not true, yugioh is a very strategic game, and over the years I've found that the best decks don't just have good CARDS, they have good engines. An engine is basically a combination of cards that really runs your deck. A good deck (generally) should have an engine or 2, and the rest should be staple or optional cards. There are also mini-engines, which are basically a combination of 2 or 3 cards. I will try to periodically do articles on different engines and how they work (if I have time), starting with some synchro engines. First up is my personal favorite.... Rescue cat! First, here are the rulings made on rescue cat: http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Rulings:Rescue_Cat .Now here is the engine itself
Rescue cat engine:
Rescue cat
X-saber airbellum x3
Level 2/3 beast monsters x3
This is one of the most popular synchro engines, because it is one of the best. With 1 normal summon (rescue cat), you can instantly synchro summon a level 6 or level 5 monster. The idea is to use rescue cat's effect to special summon an x-saber airbellum and a level 3 or level 2 beast from your deck, and then instantly synchro summon. The target is usually brionac or goyo, but sometimes going for a level 5 works just as well. Generally, this engine is used in it's own deck, because of the multiple targets needed to make it work. But being the base engine for the deck isn't exactly a weakness, given how good it is. A lot of other synchro engines or mini-engines go along well with it, like flamvells or gravekeepers. Here's an example of what this engine can do: First turn, set gk spy and call of the haunted. Your opponent will usually just set stuff on the first turn, so when it's your turn, flip gk spy, summon another spy, normal summon rescue cat, tribute it for an airbellum and des koala, then synch for brionac. Clear your opponent's field with brionac, THEN, play call of the haunted and bring back rescue cat, tribute him for 2 airbellums, and synch with your spys for 2 level 7s (generally arcanite magician and psychic lifetrancer) and then attack for 7100 (unless your opponent has battle fader or gorz). An alternate way of doing this would be to attack with your spies and airbellums for more damage, and you could synchro them together at main phase 2. In conclusion, the rescue cat engine is great because it's an extremely useful engine, easy to pull off (all you need to do is draw rescue cat or search it out with sangan), easy to learn how to use, and most importantly, it annoys your opponent because you killed him/her with the cutest monster in the game :P. Not only that, but it thuns your deck extremely well, and gets cards in your graveyard, which is especially good for x-saber decks. Also, it requires no spell or traps of it's own, so you have a LOT of free space to put in cards like giant trunade or heavy storm to ensure that you won't get mirror forced. As a personal preference, i max out on the m/t removing cards, except for dust tornado. Even though it has been weakened with the limiting of rescue cat and summoner monk, it's still a force to be reckoned with.
Best cards to use in it:
Des koala (nice eff if you draw it)
Neo-spacian dark panther (copying DAD or JD's eff... Priceless)
Xx-saber darksoul (a synchro plus a free x-saber from your deck)
Crystal beast amythyst cat
Super-nimble mega hamster
Sea koala (great effect, but at times a dead draw)
Ryko, lightsworn hunter
Engines that are often used with it:
Flamvell
Gravekeeper's
Summoner monk (mini)
Cyber dragon (mini)
Other card(s) you should use (NOTE: staples not included here, but use them too):
Sangan
Giant trunade
Cold wave
Well, that's the article! I hope it helped, and if I left something out, let me know. Constructive critisism is also welcome.