Duskblade Archetype [ 17 / ?? ]

[NeoTwice]

Decided to begin work on another new archetype. I know I haven't finished one yet, but I think I can really make this one work. If I can stay motivated enough, I'd like to turn this into a deck for an RPG character.

Duskblades will be a set of EARTH attribute, Warrior-type monsters, specializing in Graveyard revival. Each monster will be able to bring itself back out of the Graveyard during the Standby Phase, but only 1 Duskblade can activate an effect from the Graveyard per turn, so you can't just special summon a full field each turn.

Aside from this, the archetype will focus on an aggro style of play, with some field destruction and a little bit of swarming thrown in. A lot of the support cards will be based off tributing Duskblades from the field, so they're never far away as you can just revive them later. I haven't quite decided on the win condition as of yet, but I'm thinking that Xyz or Synchro monsters would probably fit the bill quite nicely.

Anyway, enjoy the cards and all feedback is welcome.
(Also note that I'm posting the topic and then going back to edit it often, so as not to lose my work so far.)

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[spoiler='Drayl of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 4[/color][/b]
[color=#ff8c00][b]Warrior / Effect[/b][/color]
[color=#ff8c00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn.
[b]1900 / 1300[/b][/color]
[spoiler='Notes']Drayl is essentially the beatstick of the archetype. His only effect is to bring himself back from the Graveyard, but his 1900 points allows him to run over most low-level monsters around, so his lack of any further effect isn't too much of an issue.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Nydari of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 4[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Effect[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 level 4 or lower "Duskblade" monster from your Graveyard.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]1400 / 1600[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']Nydari provides the archetype with our first hint of swarming, allowing players to bring back a second Duskblade monster the turn that she's summoned. She along with a Foolish Burial could lead to some first-turn Xyz or Synchro Summons.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Rayis of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 4[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Effect[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. If this card battles with a monster that would destroy it, Special Summon 1 level 4 or lower "Duskblade" monster from your deck.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]1500 / 900[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']Rayis is the searcher of the archetype. I originally wanted him to work just like a Masked Dragon or something similar, but then realised that such an effect would activate out of the Graveyard, and therefore gets in the way of the Standby Phase effects. Please help me with the OCG for this effect, as I'm sure that I've got it wrong.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Seund of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 4[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Tuner[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. If this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, draw 1 card.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]900 / 1200[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']He has miserable stats for a level 4 monster, but Seund will play a big role in the deck. He's a level 4 tuner, so making those big Synchro Summons just became possible, and when he comes back from the Graveyard you get to draw a card too. Probably slightly overpowered, but he'd probably end up limited too, so I don't think I should be too concerned.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Etine of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 3[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Effect[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. This card can attack your opponent directly. Change this card to Defense Position during your End Phase.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]600 / 1800[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']Etine is in the deck instead of a monster with a lockout effect such as Marauding Captain. Her high defense coupled with her effect means that she should be able to wall against most low level monsters, while slowly inflicting damage.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Tiair of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 3[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Tuner[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. Once: You can reduce the level of this card by 1; destroy 1 Spell/Trap on the field.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]1100 / 900[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']This is Breaker the Magical Duskblade, only she's less much beatstick-ish, and much more Synchro/Xyz fodder-ish. I imagine I have the OCG here wrong again, but I can't think of a similar effect regarding the one-time-only level decrease, so I don't know where to look. Please note that this isn't a once-per-duel effect, just a once-while-on-the-field effect.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Keant of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 2[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Effect[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. During your opponent's End Phase, you can Special Summon any number of "Keant of the Duskblades" from your hand or Deck. If you do, you cannot activate the effect of monsters in the Graveyard during your next turn.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]400 / 500[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']Keant is an itty-bitty swarmer for the Duskblade archetype, provided you can keep him on the field long enough, but this can be achieved fairly easily by blocking your opponent's Battle Phase with Ightsild. I borrowed his effect text from Nimble Momonga, but because of the archetype's naming convention, it doesn't really work to just stick an 's' on the end of the card name, so hopefully somebody knows a way around this, otherwise it stays as is.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Astiae of the Duskblade'][b][color=#ff8c00]EARTH / Level 2[/color][/b]
[b][color=#ff8c00]Warrior / Effect[/color][/b]
[color=#FF8C00]If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control a face-up "Duskblade" monster, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. If this card is used as a Xyz/Syncrho Material monster, search your deck for 1 "Duskblade" monster and add it to your hand.[/color]
[b][color=#ff8c00]600 / 200[/color][/b]
[spoiler='Notes']Astiae adds a little more searchability to the deck, but I made her a level 2 so that she isn't too heavily abused. I doubt that I'll have any level 2 Xyz monsters, but I put that there just in case.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Ightsild of the Duskblade'][color=#000080][b]EARTH / Rank 3[/b]
[b]Warrior / Xyz[/b][/color]
[color=#000080]2 level 3 "Duskblade" monsters
If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control at least 3 face-up "Duskblade" monsters, you can Special Summon it and attach 2 level 3 "Duskblade" monsters in your Graveyard to it as Xyz Materials. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. During your End Phase: You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card; your opponent cannot conduct their Battle Phase next turn.
[b]900 / 2300[/b][/color][spoiler='Notes']Ightsild is essentially an evolution of Etine with the effect to completely stop your opponents next Battle Phase. I realised that there was a potential for this card to create a nasty loop, so hopefully the requirement to have 3 Duskblades in order to revive it it enough of a drawback.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Gharon of the Duskblade'][color=#a9a9a9][b]EARTH / Level 10[/b]
[b]Warrior / Synchro[/b]
1 "Duskblade" Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters
If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control at least 3 face-up "Duskblade" monsters with different names, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. If this card is Special Summoned from the graveyard by its own effect, you can Special Summon 1 level 4 or lower "Duskblade" monster from the Graveyard.
[b]2800 / 2100[/b][/color][spoiler='Notes']Being the first of the Duskblade Synchros, Gharon is really just a beatstick, but if he's destroyed, he comes back and brings a friend. I made it harder to bring him back from the grave by making it so you need 3 uniquely named Duskblades on the field. Hopefully this counteracts how easy he is to summon in the first place. I think I'll stick with this revival method for all the synchros.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Untroth of the Duskblade'][color=#a9a9a9][b]EARTH / Level 8[/b]
[b]Warrior / Synchro[/b]
1 "Duskblade" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control at least 3 face-up "Duskblade" monsters with different names, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can destroy 1 monster on the field and inflict damge to your opponents life points equal to half the ATK of the destroyed mosnter.
[b]2500 / 2000[/b][/color][spoiler='Notes']Thought that a little bit of destructive power wouldn't go astray in this deck.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Zhiend of the Duskblade'][color=#a9a9a9][b]EARTH / Level 7[/b]
[b]Warrior / Synchro[/b]
1 "Duskblade" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control at least 3 face-up "Duskblade" monsters with different names, you can Special Summon it. You can only activate the effect of a "Duskblade" monster in the Graveyard once per turn. When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can send 2 "Duskblade" monsters from your Deck to your Graveyard.
[b]2200 / 1400[/b][/color][spoiler='Notes']A level 7 Synchro that lets you dump a couple of Duskblades from your deck. Plain and simple.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Desert's Harsh Sun'][color=#ee82ee][b]Trap[/b]
Tribute all face-up "Duskblade" monsters you control: Destroy up to the same number of monsters on your opponents side of the field. You cannot Special Summon until the end of your next turn.[/color]
[spoiler='Notes']In case of emergency, lets all retreat to the Graveyard and clear the field. Hopefully the restriction of Special Summons keeps the balance in check.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Desert's Harsh Wind'][color=#ee82ee][b]Trap[/b]
Tribute all face-up "Duskblade" monsters you control: Destroy up to the same number of Spell/Trap cards on your opponents side of the field. You cannot Special Summon until the end of your next turn.[/color]
[spoiler='Notes']The same as Harsh Sun, except clears the back row.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Desert War-Cry'][color=#008000][b]Spell[/b][/color]
[color=#008000]Pay 2000 Life Points; During your next Standby-Phase you can activate the effect of "Duskblade" monsters in the Graveyard up to 3 times.[/color]
[spoiler='Notes']Just a little cookie card I came up with. It allows you to bypass the 'once per turn' clause and Summon 3 Duskblades instead of 1 during your next Standby Phase. Is this overpowered? It feels a bit like it is.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Subterranean Tunnel Network'][color=#008000][b]Spell [/b][/color][color=#008000][b]/ Continuous[/b][/color]
[color=#008000]Once per turn: You can pay 800 Life Points; return 1 "Duskblade" monster from your Graveyard to your Deck. Then you can send 1 "Duskblade" monster from your Deck to your Graveyard.[/color]
[spoiler='Notes']BAM! Duskblades just became a toolbox. This card allows you to swap monsters in your graveyard with monsters in your deck at the cost of a few points. Furthermore, if you find your self running out of cards in the deck for whatever reason, you can use this to ensure that you don't draw out by putting monsters back in the deck, then opting out of the second effect.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler='Ancient Desert Ruins'][color=#008000][b]Spell [/b][/color][color=#008000][b]/ Field[/b][/color]
[color=#008000]During your Draw Phase: When you draw a "Duskblade" monster, you can send it to the Graveyard. If you do, increase your Life Points by 500.[/color]
[spoiler='Notes']I just thought that a field spell that allowed you to drop the monster you draw into the Grave would be nice. Opens up some extra swarming, especially early in the game when you wouldn't have much in the Graveyard anyway.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Drayl seems fairly balanced, the effect can only be activated during the standby phase which I think is a good idea, it stops you from summoning another duskblade and immediately special summoning it.

I'm really liking Nydari, not too bulky with a very usefull ability, swarming is always good.

At first I thought the traps were too good, until I realized it destroyed equal to the number of Duskblades. Seems useful but I can see the no special summoning drawback being a pain, since it seems like this archtypes main strength.

So far seems good, not OP but not useless. I'll need to see more before being able to fully judge however.

[NeoTwice]

Well the no special summon was necessary, otherwise you would just activate the Deserts during your opponents End Phase and re-summon the monster you ditched in your Standby Phase. Just realized they should say "up to the same number" though, so they're not too situational.

[NeoTwice]

I've added a couple more cards in now: Rayis of the Duskblade and Desert War-Cry. I'm sure that I've got the OCG for Rayis wrong, and I think War-Cry may be overpowered, so I need you guys to help me out please.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

I can't really help with the OCG, since I don't know it well. The card itself seems perfectly fine though. As for the Desert War-Cry, yeah it's probably OP, the discard cost is nothing, since It could actually help (if you discard a Duskblade you can special summon it next turn along with two others) So you probably want to give it a bigger cost.
This deserves to have more replies than one lowly noob.

[NeoTwice]

I've added a new monster to the lineup; Seund of the Duskblade. I'm still unsure what I should do with the cost for Desert War-Cry, so if anybody has any ideas for that please let me know.

[NeoTwice]

Etine of the Duskblade and Ightsild of the Duskblade have now been added to the ranks. Ightsild gives us a Xyz monster, which I've never really played around with before, so I'm looking for plenty of input for this one. Also threw another support spell at them to allow them to toolbox out of the graveyard a bit... a big bit.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

OK, Seund yes a bit OP, since you can possible synchro summon every turn (or possible every other turn at least). But it's weak enough so I suppose it's alright as is.
Etine is great IMO, a bit of damage, a bit of defense and great support for the other Duskblades.
Ightsild, well I'm not so great with Xys but it's very powerful, the requirement may not be enough, just because of War-Cry. Although, so far I only see 1 level 3 Duskblade, so that in itself is a drawback. I must say it's a crazy name. I wouldn't even begin to know how to pronounce it.
STN.... 600 may be too small, especially if you plan on making higher level Duskblades.

I can't say enough that you should be getting more replies, I hope mine have helped, even a little. I don't have a lot of experience but I can do what I can to at least make this more noticeable.

[NeoTwice]

Well, like I said right, Seund would probably be limited (especially when I turn all this into the RPG deck that I'm planning on, it will be easy to ensure the card is limited then), but I wanted to give the archetype something of a draw engine, so that's where Seund comes in. With regards to a synchro summon every turn, that was pretty much the problem with any Duskblades, because of their effect to revive. With that in mind, I might make the Synchros require a minimum of 3 monsters.... which means I need to get to work on some level 1 and 2 monsters.

Etine, I thought, was easy to get right. It's not a super powerful effect, so it wasn't hard to balance, but it's enough to make an impact on the set.

Ightsild is pronounced IGHT-sild ("ight" as in "light" or "sight"). I wanted to give it a slightly more regal sounding name. All my names are coming from a random generator, and that one I though fit the bill nicely. I found her effect very hard to get right... I did even consider having to banish the Xyz materials to activate her effect, which would probably make her harder to abuse. I might go back and change that. What do you think?

As for Tunnel Network, I don't really plan on having many higher level Duskblades. Maybe a couple of mids, but very few, if any, highs, and even if I do, they will require 3 or 4 Duskblades already on the field to revive, much like Ightsild. 600 may be a bit low though, but I don't want to go as high as 1000. Maybe 800?

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Well, I don't know all the rulings for Xyz but, banishing does seem an acceptable cost.
STN, as long as you don't make high level Duskblades I think 800 would be reasonable

[NeoTwice]

If I made it so you had to banish for Ightsild, I think I would reduce the re-summon cost to 2 Duskblades, since you would be chewing through your level 3s pretty quick if you kept using its effect. But, would doing so kill the balance again? I really need opinions on this, so I hope to get some input from some more people.

[NeoTwice]

Two new monsters: Tiair of the Duskblade and Keant of the Duskblade.
I've also increased the cost of Subterranean Tunnel Network to 800 points, though I've decided to leave Ightsild as she is for now.

Still looking for more comments, so please don't hesitate to say something. I don't care what you say, just say something.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Tiair: very versatile, as it can change it's level. That's always a plus with tuners. I actually think that part is more useful than the "Breaker" ability. I don't think I've seen a once while on the field card either if I figure out a better way to word it I'll inform you.
Keant: Probably needs a cost. It's not too difficult to keep a monster alive for a turn and if you do that's a whole lot of monsters swarming the field. Maybe not allowing any other special summoning during the turn, or specifically not allowing the effect of another Duskblade during the turn.


It bothers me that you have 140 views, yet I'm the only one posting it's not that difficult to leave a comment.

[NeoTwice]

Made a little change to Keant, preventing your monsters from activating their effects from the Graveyard the turn after he swarms. This allows you to still Synchro Summon (The primary reason he exists), but prevents you from reviving Duskblades by their Graveyard effect.

[Mr. guy]

I can see these cards being borderline OP in synchro decks. They come back every turn for no cost, allowing you to easily synchro every turn. In and of they aren't very bad, but you have to consider how they will be used with other archetypes.
Give each of them specific conditions/costs for them to come back, or add some synchro/xyz restriction.
Desert war cry should cost 2000 life points.

Other than that I like the idea, I just don't think all the meta players would use them that way.

[NeoTwice]

Thanks for the input, I'm glad to see that somebody else has finally taken an interest.
You're probably right with them being a little overpowered Synchro-wise, so what if I added "This card cannot be used as a Xyz/Synchro Material Monster during the turn it is Summoned." This should slow down Synchros considerably.

I think you're right on Desert War-Cry too. I haven't been happy with it's cost since the day I posted it, so I'm grateful for your input.

I'm glad you like the cards. I'm not too worried abuot how meta players see/use them, as they're not really my target audience, but that being said I would like to make them as balanced and realistic as possible.

[NeoTwice]

Couple more cards have been added: Astiae of the Duskblade and Ancient Desert Ruins.
Also changed War-Cry's cost, but I've decided to leave the rest of the monsters as they are at this stage. I need to playtest the cards before I decide whether they're too fast.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Astiae: Useful effect, well balanced and not too abuseable, I can find no major fault in it. Only problem is that there are many times it would be useless. Then again, because of the graveyard effect, you can bring it out only when you can use it.

Ancient Desert Ruins: Well, the 300 life gain doesn't add much to the card, I know the main point is to fill the grave, but maybe a better secondary effect would be nice, perhaps more life, or strengthen the Duskblades, since their ATK power is very weak

[NeoTwice]

I don't think it really needs a better second effect at this stage. Putting extra Duskblades in the grave is about all the support we really need at this stage, and the 300 points helps to offset the effects of War-Cry and Tunnel Network a little bit. Also, when you throw 3 War-Cries in your deck you can very quickly summon a whole lot of monsters. War-Cry is a big cost though, so I might bump the points up to 500.

[NeoTwice]

The Synchros are finally here. Check out Gharon of the Duskblade, Untroth of the Duskblade and Zhiend of the Duskblade.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Gharon: From what I can see, it's average. Reasons is the ability is difficult to activate, and while on the field it's just a 2800 beat stick at level 10. Maybe lower the level.

Untroth: Again, the special summon effect is hard to activate, but this one is much better, since the rest of the card is more useful, and doesn't rely on the special summon.

Zhiend: Probably the most useful of the three, as it sets up for the other Duskblades.

Explain the reasoning for the 3 Duskblades needed, since only 1 has an ability tied to it and it seems a bit too much. I could of course be wrong, not sure how hard it would be to get 3 on the field

[NeoTwice]

Gharon's a level 10 because any level 7 or 8 Synchro can be summoned so easily. He's easy enough to summon aswell with just Keant and Seund, there's an instant 10 levels, and as I've said, keeping Keant on the feild until the end phase is only a matter of activating Threatening Roar.

I know the revival is hard to achieve, but I don't really want Synchro's coming back so readily as the other Duskblades. Besides, it shouldn't really be too hard to pull 3 onto the field, especially with War-Cry.

I really need second opinions on these cards though. Don't get me wrong, It's great having constant attention from even one member, but more input is needed.

[NeoTwice]

Well, I just spent nearly 3 hours playtesting these, and they don't work. They're not nearly as fast as I'd hoped, and they're all very little monsters. I need more beef and more speed here, so a total overhaul is in order. Starting tomorrow I will be rebuilding the entire set, so comments up to this point may become irrelevant.

That is all.