[Discussion] Building an archetype

[BtanH]

So every week, I'm planning to post a post where I'm going to write about something. Today's post is about building an archetype.

        

I ended up in a duel on DP against someone playing Koi (http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/327830-archetype-koi/), and I was reminded strongly of the Dragon Ruler decks in the Dragon Ruler format. I liked how the Koi fish didn't really care about advantage, as they were all free from grave. I decided I'd make an archetype inspired by it, as at present Koi are broken.

 

In order to build the archetype, there were a few things I needed to do. First thing I wanted to do was figure out what the basis was, the goal of the archetype, and really lay out what exactly their gimmick would be (as this is an archetype based on a gimmick, much like voyager, gladiator beast, etc). If an archetype is gimmick based, it's very important for the gimmick not to be fundamentally flawed. It's generally a good idea to make sure your gimmick is adjustable, so you can nerf or buff the gimmick if the deck as a whole is too strong or too weak (as opposed to having individual cards that are too strong). In the case of Voyager, for example, I made it so they couldn't trigger off continuous effects, because cards like Cyber Network and Embryo's Dream were breaking the deck.

 

I decided to base this archetype heavily off Dragon Rulers, but to make them have weak bodies, rather than the impressive bodies of the Dragon Rulers, which is what I feel really pushed Druler over the top. Free access to 2400-2800 beaters is far more problematic than access to monsters with very little attack. I also decided to make them level 3, because higher levels have access to extremely strong XYZ monsters, while lower ones don't have enough XYZ monsters (which are what the deck is largely reliant on as they have weak bodies). I've always loved water support, ever since I first saw Undine, so I decided they'd be water. I opted away from making them Fish/Sea Serpent/Aqua because then they'd have access to Banish Fish cards, like Oh F!sh! and Fish and Kicks, which isn't where I wanted their power budget to lie. I eventually decided on Water Rock, because level 3 rock have access to some really quality XYZ removal that the deck would otherwise lack (gorgonic guardian) and because otherwise Rock have almost no good support that I needed to worry about. I decided to name the archetype Sunken Treasure, as it fits Water Rock well.

           

 

The gimmick I ended up deciding on was as follows

- Hard OPT

- Searches another copy of itself when banished

- Can special summon itself from hand or graveyard by banishing 1 Sunken Treasure (while dragon rulers needed 2 banishes, they were also threats on their own, and could banish non-dragon rulers as fuel)

- Has an effect that goes off on summon (in place of the D-ruler in hand effect)

    - The effects that would go off on summon would probably all be used for setting up, like sending a Sunken Treasure to grave, or returning banished cards to deck/grave.

          

This is a good gimmick, as there are a few inherent limiting factors, as well as ways to nerf or buff the archetype as a whole. If the archetype is too weak, I can reduce the Hard OPT, or I could improve the on summon effect. If the archetype is too strong, I can change the on summon to on Normal or Special summon, or I could make it so that they need to banish 2 copies to be special summoned, rather than just 1.
           

The archetype itself is fleshed out as seen below. I made their on summon effects +0 effects that help to set up the decks plays in the mid/late game, as they already can +1 with ease by special summoning themselves. I didn't name them because name are hard.

 

[spoiler=Archetype]

Sunken Treasure 1

Level 3/WATER/Rock/100/400

When this card is summoned, you can send 1 Sunken Treasure monster from your deck to the graveyard. If this card is in your hand or Graveyard: You can banish a Sunken Treasure monster from your hand and/or Graveyard, except this card; Special Summon this card. If this card is banished: You can add 1 ~ from your Deck to your hand. You can only use 1 ~ effect per turn, and only once that turn.

 

Sunken Treasure 2

Level 3/WATER/Rock/200/300

When this card is summoned, you can return up to 2 of your banished Sunken Treasure monsters to your deck. If this card is in your hand or Graveyard: You can banish a Sunken Treasure monster from your hand and/or Graveyard, except this card; Special Summon this card. If this card is banished: You can add 1 ~ from your Deck to your hand. You can only use 1 ~ effect per turn, and only once that turn.

 

Sunken Treasure 3

Level 3/WATER/Rock/300/200

When this card is summoned, you can return 1 of your banished Sunken Treasure monsters to your graveyard. If this card is in your hand or Graveyard: You can banish a Sunken Treasure monster from your hand and/or Graveyard, except this card; Special Summon this card. If this card is banished: You can add 1 ~ from your Deck to your hand. You can only use 1 ~ effect per turn, and only once that turn.

 

Sunken Treasure 4

Level 3/WATER/Rock/400/100

When this card is summoned, you can discard 1 Sunken Treasure monster to draw a card. If this card is in your hand or Graveyard: You can banish a Sunken Treasure monster from your hand and/or Graveyard, except this card; Special Summon this card. If this card is banished: You can add 1 ~ from your Deck to your hand. You can only use 1 ~ effect per turn, and only once that turn.

[/spoiler]

 

Synergy in the archetype is really interesting, because anything with a on field or in hand cost becomes largely cost free, because Sunken Treasure are pretty much free to summon. True card advantage becomes less important than stuff like tempo or resources in grave. This makes cards like Raigeki break, PWWB, and especially Spiritual Water Art - Aoi very useful. Because they're water, Salvage, Undine, Moray, and Fishborg Bluster all become very strong, especially bluster, as it gives access to Gungnir or other level 7 synchros (level 4 and 10 aren't super important). Genex controller gives access to Trith or level 6s.

           

Useful Rank 3s in the deck would include Gorgonic Guardian, Leviar, Leviathan Dragon, Alucard, Angineer, Giga-Brilliant, Terror-byte, Fortune Tune, Aero Shark (pseudo cowboy), Temtempo, Zenmaines. Because it's so easy to summon Sunken Treasure, the deck can also support tribute summons for things like Caius, LADD, or Obelisk quite easily. The deck has access to Brilliant Daedalus (if you run Light monsters) and can make excellent use of Soul Furnace (both cards are in this post - http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/330261-singles-btanhs-generic-cards/)

 

[hr]

 

Alright, so that pretty much covers off the archetype, and some of the obvious synergy you have access to when building a Sunken Treasure deck. So now going to build a sample decklistst. There are a few ways to take the deck, with a focus on Undine and other water support, or maybe making use of the easily summoned tribute fodder. I'm going to go with a Lightsworn route.

 

First we just throw together a skeleton of the deck, with all the super important cards.

 

Monsters (18)

3 ST1

3 ST2

3 ST4

3 ST4

3 Lyla

3 Ryko

               

Spells (5)

2 Charge of the Light Brigade

3 Solar Recharge

 

Traps (3)

3 Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

 

Then just add a few more cards

 

Monsters (4)

2 Fighborg Bluster

2 Brilliant Daedalus

 

Spells (3)

2 Moray of Greed

1 Foolish Burial

 

The above list gives us 7 more slots to add more cards, so I think about all the other cards I want to run.

- Mathematician, Card Trooper, Raigeki Break, PWWB, Dragged to the DD, One for One, BfDD, Soul Furnace, and the staple spells and traps.

 

Lets just throw in some more cards

Monsters (22)

3 ST1

3 ST2

3 ST4

3 ST4

3 Lyla

3 Ryko

2 Fishborg Bluster

2 Brilliant Daedalus

 

Spells (10)

2 Charge of the Light Brigade

3 Solar Recharge

2 Moray of Greed

1 Foolish Burial

1 BfDD

1 Heavy Storm

 

Traps (8)

3 Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

2 PWWB

2 Raigeki Break

1 Breakthrough Skill

 

This takes us to 40 cards, and while it is missing most of the staple spells and traps (I forgot which cards were staples) it is pretty flexible. I'm not super confident in Moray, so I might cut it if it's not helpful. If I end up finding that the Lightsworn Engine is taking up too many cards, I'll cut them and Daedalus for Card Trooper/Mathematician, and then have some space for more s/ts. If I decide I want more access to Bluster, I can add a 3rd copy, or play one for one and maybe another One for one target like glow-up. All that's really left is playtesting the deck and the archetype.

[Maeriberii Haan]

I fixed up the formatting a bit.

 

Good read, I think I'll put up my thoughts on this later more.

[Major's Shadow]

I think you should further clarify the difference between Splashability and Archetype-Specific mindsets, and how that differs based on deck design, and the difficulty of taking each. You should provide examples of this, as well as some of the thought processes behind these two design philosophies. I also feel you should describe examples of incorporating feedback, identifying and solving problems, describing what TCG/Meta the card(s) can be designed for, and in what fashions a deck should and could be further improved (sometimes it's not just about Nerf/Buffs, but also about mechanical prowess). I love the idea of a support thread in developing Archetypes/Singles, but I bet you could also incorporate more into the post to be more comprehensive. Lay it out in a step-by-step process, describe and provide examples via other individual's works, give resources for card rulings/OCG/Konami Staples for other people to work with. I personally would love to see something like this made and stickied, so that players can improve their knowledge of the game, as well as their quality of design. But, for what it's worth, this is a great way to start people off. Thanks for posting this!

[lecc_XD]

well, the deck by itself is pretty spammeable and easy to access, Salvage would do mosnt of the times and the ability of summon by banish is kinda OP, as i said multiple times, i already know that xD

this deck have a lot of potential with an appropiate ED and Support, tho can be kinda broken if you find the way to spamm them even more, but that only would be possible if you add 2 or more members, something i doubt you will~

Zenmaines to Stall and then just aereo shark is just insane xD

[BtanH]

Thanks for the reply Yungster, those are all really good points. I think that those would need to get really in depth, and would probably take a long time, so I think in the long term I might be able to pull something like that together.