drowsyCoffee Posted October 8, 2021 Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 While i was polishing the last touches with Malice Ascendants, y'know, handtesting the deck a bit, trying to figure a decklist to play it with, all of that, i stated having some ideas for a new archetype to make. Since i think that Malice Ascendants have reached a point were they dont really need anything more to be viable, at least, for the time being, i think its time to get on with this new idea Introducing Imperials The general theme and flavor of Imperials is to have its playstyle centered around the idea town/nation development, with some vague vibes similar to that of a Civ-like game or a Nation Building Isekai. Your general playstyle consists of using different monster cards, your workers, for the creation/management of different pieces of infrastructure, your Continuous Spells, as well as for the improvement of that said infrastructure (Through Development Counters, to represent how advanced the supposed piece of infrastructure is) The way this sort of general feeling is portrayed is through 2 mechanics. First, your workers can be tribute themselves, alongside an already existing continuous spell, to activate one of your continuous spells directly from deck. This could be played as the workers being "expended" on those task, on them no longer being unemployed and thus harder to allocate on a new job, and the tribute continuous spell is used to represent how early, improvised bits of infrastructure are replaced and cannibalized as the town/country develops. Your targets to activate from deck are the second mechanic there, the ones capable of holding Development Counters. All of these cards gain effects based on the number of counters you've managed to give them, and all of your interruptions come from them, making getting them on board and cramming them with counters your main objective. Finally, these cards start out with an extra token if you activate them through the effect of a certain worker, kind of representing proper aptitude for that specific job. As for an example, a Bazar set up by a Merchant Caravan gets an extra token on it The deck is meant to be Combo centric, by using up a lot of fuel to set up a series of these spells and then immediately flopping over as the gas ran out. It is very much my intention, through making the effects expensive and attaching counters, for the deck to be unable to rebuild its board in the case of a total wipe Now, 2 things to have in mind. First one, unlike Ascendants, a lot of the concepts involved in the making of these cards are things I am way less familiar with. I haven’t (On purpose) made that many combo decks, I’m not as familiar with the Warrior staple lists, I haven’t really made any playable counter centric decks nor I’ve play tested any more barebones versions of the archetype to get a feel of their playstyle. Second, unlike Ascendants, I don’t really have in mind being competitive in the current meta game as one of my goals for this deck, with it being more of a casual project, mostly due to my lack of knowledge of the context surrounding an archetype like this getting in the way of any attempts to make it a proper, fitting part of the meta game. So, yeah, the quality might be a bit lower than usual. With that out of the way, i sure hope y'all enjoy reading up this one. It is def one of the more flavorful archetypes I’ve made, and I had a lot of fun with it. Also, if you ever play this, I feel like you should pray that your opponent doesn’t get a Ghost Ogre, I’m certain it would make ya cry Workers: These are your monsters, a series of cards that tribute themselves alongside 1 other spell to get you to the cards that represent the more well developed infrastructure, the pieces of your final board. They also have another effect that helps you combo, like being a stratos or summoning themselves from hand. Each one of your workers has a respective spell card, and if that spell card is activated through them, it gets an extra counter, which is particularly relevant for cards like Bazar that only get to use their effects if they have a counter on them Imperial Workers - Merchant Caravan Effect Monster Earth Warrior LV 1 200/400 If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Infrastructure" card from your Deck to your Hand You can tribute this and 1 "Imperial" Continuous Spell you control, activate one "Imperial" Spell card from your deck You can only use each effect of "Imperial Worker - Merchant Caravan" once per turn First, your most relevant Worker, Caravan. This thing right here is the only thing close to a standardized line this archetype has. In general, due to it being a stratos, you'll want to start you combos with this card, either through a NS, a Wyvern or Dirt Road, and then figure out your line from there based on your hand. A few of the one's i've managed to think of is tributing this for a Bazar, Bazar get Quartermaster, Quartermaster SS itself and add Capital, activate Capital and then go off from there. Which Infraestruture you add depends on how you started you combo, but saying Wyvern is probably a safe bet. You can also get then a Captain from you capital to get you Battery going Also, needless to say, this card getting stopped in any way (Ash, Imperm, Veiler, Gamma, Ghost Ogre to prevent you tributing it, a Droll to prevent the Bazar search, etc.) is miserable, as this deck really, really, bets on the premise of getting to use every single Worker for their end field. There's a few cute things this card can do, like being available of an Isolde for one or an One for One, but that's about all i can think off. Due to having 3 Wyverns, a Rota, and a One for One, this card probably would feel like an 8 of or something around those lines. For the theming, i find kind of appropiate that the deck's Stratos, which is gonna be either your starter or be played really early in your combo, is the Merchant Caravan. Given that small settlements tend to be founded by those caravans, as stops for them to rest while going through a larger trade route or as places for merchants to acquire a certain resource being exploited locally, it just feels like a nice fit Imperial Workers - Guard's Captain Effect Monster Earth Warrior LV 4 1600/ 500 If you control 1 "Imperial" card: You can Special Summon this card from your hand You can tribute this and 1 "Imperial" Continuous Spell you control, activate one "Imperial" Spell card from your deck You can only use each effect of "Imperial Worker - Guard's Captain" once per turn This is just generally a mediocre ish piece of extension. At least is not specific about the kind of Imperial you got, so you can SS it on a field made out of a Dirt Road to give you an example. If your Caravan gets stopped, then you'll probably be forced to tribute this and an Infraestructure for a Bazar, use the Infraestructure to give a counter to the Bazar, and then go through the Quartermaster line. That's, not ideal. It would lose you one of your Infraestructure counters, the counter Captain gives to a Battery when used to activate it, as well as 2 of your 5 HOPTs to tribute a Worker and a spell to activate for deck. Its still a line, just a weaker one Other than that, since you can search this out of Capital, its a pretty free card. You SS it from hand, tribute for Battery, and get 1 step closer to the 5 counters Capital needs to become a Solemn Strike As for theming, this card SS represents how security forcers tend to become a necesity once a certain place's population gets beyond a certain point, thus, the whole already having something else on field requirement Imperial Workers - Ballistics Specialist Effect Monster Earth Warrior LV 3 1300/ 1100 If you control 1 other "Worker" card: You can send 1 "Worker" card from your deck to your GY You can tribute this and 1 "Imperial" Continuous Spell you control, activate one "Imperial" Spell card from your deck You can only use each effect of "Imperial Worker - Ballistics Specialist" once per turn This card is kinda miserable, not gonna lie. After thinking of a few lines, its hard to figure out a clean way to fit this in. I guess it can set up the GY for a Tent or an Apothecary, being (kind of) 3 extra copies of Caravan. Def will need to playtest this one to figure out if its actually good. Still, since this is associated to Cannons, the decks (Probably) strongest card, it should still be good. The theming its also kinda lacking, the closest i've got to figuring out a way to make it's effect fit the flavour would be the card sent to the GY being a spotter sent ahead or something, all in all somewhat weak Imperial Workers - Local Apothecary Effect Monster Earth Warrior LV 2 300/ 700 While this card is on your side of the field: You can Special Summon 1 "Worker" card in your GY You can tribute this and 1 "Imperial" Continuous Spell you control, activate one "Imperial" Spell card from your deck You can only use each effect of "Imperial Worker - Local Apothecary" once per turn Another not that good card. This card just, kinda needs some annoying set up to work, and the card its associated with aint that good either, outside maybbe scenarios were you got Imperm'd, or were you had to SS monsters in your GY that already used their HOPTs. Maybe it justifies Foolish Burial, alongside Tents? Idk man. The theming on this card is also not that interesting, just "oh, doctor, get things from gy because it heals them, thats it" thing that has been done a thousand times Imperial Workers - Crime Quartermaster Effect Monster Earth Warrior LV 5 2100/ 900 If you control a "Fortification" or "Institution" card: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, then add 1 "Imperial" Spell card from your deck to your hand You can tribute this and 1 "Imperial" Continuous Spell you control, activate one "Imperial" Spell card from your deck You can only use each effect of "Imperial Worker - Crime Quartermaster" once per turn And finally, another powercard, Quartermaster. While this card's level and the condition it has makes so it cant be a starter, it is an excellent way to extend your plays and the main tool you use to access Capital if you didnt draw it or Terraforming'd it. The fact that the card it's associated with, Agency, is actually good makes it even better, and alongside Captain its one of the easier ways you have to give counters to Capital. All in all, very good. The condition for its summoning effect is meant to represent how as a city grows in size criminal activities start to become more and more common. The fact that it gets often played right next to Captain is somewhat hilarious not gonna lie Now, onto your spells Infrastructures: Your Infrastructures are a series of Continuous Spells that have an effect to summon one of your Workers, one for Hand, one for Deck, and one for GY, and also have the effect of placing a counter on a card when tributed forthe activation of one of your bigger cards. Its important to note that the effect when tributed is an optional effect, and as such, it might be better sometimes to not trigger it since its a HOPT if you dont have on field one of the main cards thirsting for counters (Battery, Artillery, Capital) Imperial Infrastructure – Dirt Roads Continuous Spell When this card is activated: Special Summon 1 “Imperial” Monster card from your Hand to your side of the field If this card is tributed for the effect of an “Imperial” card: you can place 1 Development Counter on 1 “Imperial” card you control If an “Imperial” spell card is activated while this card is on your GY: Activate this card, but its banished when it leaves the field You can only activate each effect of “Imperial Infrastructure – Dirt Roads” once per turn This card as the one that summons from hand (The only -1 of the group) is probably the weaker of the Infrastructure gang. To compensate, it can activate itself from GY, which can be a nice way to use it for fodder (Or hell, maybe even a weird Foolish Goods set up) for your Workers, as well as being a good way to access the Development counter it gives you if you had to tribute it before getting a good card to place counters on. Probably the main way that you start plays, given your number of Normal Summons. The self activating eff could be themed as roads being built naturally whenever there is a new activity going on, just by virtue of the flow of people in the area Imperial Infrastructure – Medical Tents Continuous Spell When this card is activated: Special Summon 1 “Imperial” Monster card from your GY to your side of the field If this card is tributed for the effect of an “Imperial” card: you can place 1 Development Counter on 1 “Imperial” card you control You can only activate each effect of “Imperial Infrastructure – Medical Tents” once per turn Hurr durr, boring medic themed SS from GY, lets move on Imperial Infrastructure – Wyvern Airport Continuous Spell When this card is activated: Special Summon 1 “Imperial” Monster card from your deck to your side of the field If this card is tributed for the effect of an “Imperial” card: you can place 1 Development Counter on 1 “Imperial” card you control You can only activate each effect of “Imperial Infrastructure – Wyvern Airport” once per turn Finally, Wyvern Airport, the SS from deck one. This is just, one of the best ways this deck has to both start and extend plays. Probably permanently your Caravan target if you hadnt accessed it yet, and in a similar way to Caravan, it getting Ashed must feel pretty horrible. It summoning from deck while Road summons from hand is kind of a slight flavor on how transportation from air tends to outdo land transportation in terms of reach and speed Institutions/Fortifications These are your end board (And maybe extenders) used to set up your big interactions you'll throw at your opponent. Each gets a counter if they get activated by their proper worker, and all but 2 get benefits from their number of counters, one by spending them to protect cards, one by having the times per turn in their effect based on how many counters they have, and the last one by improving its eff based on your number of counters Imperial Institution – Bazar Continuous Spell If this card is activated by the effect of “Imperial Workers - Merchant Caravan”, add 1 Development Counter on it You can remove 1 Development Counter on this card; Add 1 "Worker" card from your deck to your hand You can only activate each effect of "Imperial Institution - Bazar" once per turn Main extender from the deck, the fact that it can add Quartermaster makes it necessary for your main line. You can improvise using this card without going through Merchant for it by using a Infrastructure's eff when tributed to give it a counter, but doing so feels pretty miserable Imperial Institution – Research Facilities Continuous Spell If this card is activated by the effect of “Imperial Workers - Local Apothecary”, add 1 Development Counter on it If this card has a Development Counter on it: you can tribute 1 "Worker" card in your field; add 1 Development Counter to 1 "Imperial" card in your field During your combos, due to both Tent and Apothecary, it isnt that rare to end with monsters on field that already spent their HOPTs. Research Facilities can be used tribute them on a non-opt to turn them into counters, being kind of a play on how economic surplus can be used to fund research, and that way access some extra counters on lines that missed some of the ones you get from Infrastructures and using the proper worker for each Institution/Fortification. Also a good way to make use and recover from monsters getting Imperm'd and the like Imperial Fortifications – Artillery Array Continuous Spell If this card is activated by the effect of “Imperial Workers - Ballistics Specialist”, add 1 Development Counter on it This card cannot have more than 3 Development Counters Target 1 card on the field (Quick effect): Destroy it. You can activate this effect of “Imperial Fortifications – Artillery Array” a number of times equal to the number of Development Counters on this card per turn. Now, onto the big guns (quite literally). Artillery is arguably the single best interaction the deck has, being an easy way to stack multiple interruptions and prevent your opponent from building a board. Getting Artillery to three counters is pretty much the main goal of the archetype, and all others, like Batteries counters, come after it. Given that you only have 3 Counters provided by your Infrastructures per turn, this card will be hogging a lot of your counter generation, and depending on how you access it, you might chose to tribute cards through Facilities rather than through this card's effect just to stack up the pops. And naturally, if a 3 counter Artillery is ever destroyed by your opponent, you'll probably cry Imperial Fortifications – AA Barrier Batteries Continuous Spell If this card is activated by the effect of “Imperial Workers - Guard's Captain”, add 1 Development Counter on it When an "Imperial" card(s) would leave the field by the effect of an opponent's card: you can remove 1 Development Counter on this card instead Batteries is the way the deck deals with the prior scenario. Given that normally Capital will get stucked at 4 counters as Bazar will almost certainly be played before it, and that Artillery will absolutely hog 2 out of your 3 Infrastructure counters, it will be somewhat rare for Battery to ever manage to get more that 1 counter. Even then, it can protect you from a singular Lightning Storm or Feather Duster at that point, so you'll probably wont even be mad about it. Hands that get to stack this card after setting up this card are kinda disgusting all in all Imperial Institution – Intelligence Agency Continuous Spell If this card is activated by the effect of “Imperial Workers - Crime Quartermaster”, add 1 Development Counter on it Target 1 card in your opponents GY (Quick Effect): Do the following based on the number of Development Counters on this card +1: Banish that card(s) +2: Target a second card, banish it +3: The targeted cards are added to your hand instead You can only use each effect of “Imperial Institution – Intelligence Agency” once per turn 2 Huaqs on a trench coat (?. That's it, that's my comment Imperial Capital – The Ironclad City Field Spell When an “Institution” or “Fortification” card is activated: Add 1 Development Counter on this Card This card gains the following effects based on the number of Development Counters on it +1: You can add 1 “Imperial” from your deck to your hand +3: You can Special Summon “Imperial” Monster card from your deck or hand to your field +5: When a monster(s) would be summoned, or a monster effect would be activated(Quick Effect): negate the summon or activation and destroy that card(s) You can only use each effect of “Imperial Capital – The Ironclad City” once per turn Finally, Capital. You have 5 "Institutions"/"Fortifications", and Capital often gets added by Quartermaster past the Bazar being activated, so a lot of what this deck wants to do is find available counters to cap off this card at 5 while going through all of the specific spells they have. If the deck ever fails to activate one of their spells, getting a 5 counter Capital and a 3 counter Artillery will be pretty hard. The 1 and 3 counter effs help you extend through your plays, to ensure that you get to use all your HOPTs and gain as many counters as the deck feasibly can generate. The whole counter on activation of your more developed infraestructures is there to represent how the city itself grows as all of these small sectors develop And, that's about it for the deck. The main goal is to manage all your HOPTs through somewhat variable lines to generate as many counters as you can for your Artillery and Capital, to set up pretty mean multi interaction boards. After that, you hope that Artillery bombarding each turn is enough to close out the game. And if its not, and Batteries wasnt enough to protect your high counter Artillery, you kinda just have to cry, as the deck will probably struggle to rebuild due to the cards being kinda costly to play. Plus, a lot of these cards feel kind of like one ofs, specially since this deck craves for the space for a Designator package to protect their Merchant Caravan, thus making even harder for you to rebuild past the initial injection of fuel that such style of deck buildng provides Hope y'all find this archetype interesting, i'll probably get some handtesting done at some point, as well as some playtesting for it Also, i dare you find a way to exploi Imperial Order with this deck, i've made all the good cards in this deck Spells SPECIFICALLY to screw people wanting to do that. Also, i've never read a True Draco card in my life, ya think they can use this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loleo Posted October 8, 2021 Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 I wanted to make a "corporate" archetype and this just turned out soooo much better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drowsyCoffee Posted October 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 Glad ya like it! Honestly, i feel like a Corporation could be a pretty interesting idea, ya could interpret chains of command either as a chain of different cards to summon or as different pieces you get together to form a cohesive board, the whole "each card has an AoE prot that when all stacked together makes the archetype a pile of Towers" vibe, or take it from a brand standpoint. Like, each monster is a different product and their field/boss gets effs based on variety (Maybe each product is a different Element and thats how you determine it? Like, a boss monsters with effs depending on which elements were used as materials/on number of different elements used or something). Hope any of the design ideas here are a good source of inspiration for ya, would love to see a different take on the theme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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