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Endphase on Yu-Gi-Oh!
Fairy Tales 2: Countering the Coming Storm
Sept. 10, 2010

Well, as promised, I’m jumping into part two of the series of articles regarding Fairies, today’s entries are brought to you by the letter ‘C,’ as in the letter that both archetypes begin with. So, without further intro, here are Counter-Fairies and Cloudians.

Counter-Fairies are without a doubt the most famous of all fairy builds. I myself ran a Counter-Fairy deck for years and can attest first hand to how difficult it is both to play and to oppose it. Even if another direct Counter-Fairy support card is never printed, the deck is destined for indirect support EVERY time a new counter trap is printed, something only a few decks can boast. Arguably its greatest strength is that of being able to adapt to play against almost anything, a single mistake can easily cost one the game if not careful.

Counter-Fairies
Released: Enemy of Justice 2006.
Cards Released: Bountiful Artemis, Layard the Liberator, Voltanis the Adjucator
Further Direct Support: Power of the Duelist 2006, Strike of Neos 2006, Crimson Crisis 2009
Cards Released: Synthetic Seraphim, Meltiel, Sage of the Sky, Dark Voltanis

You’ll notice that I only listed a few cards under the support categories. Counter-Fairies are both the most (every counter trap ever) and least supported archetype, so much so that I almost did not even list Counter-Fairies as an archetype by itself. Only four fairy cards total have counter trap based effects and there’s not a single counter trap out now that specifically lists Fairies anywhere on the card itself. If not for the popularity and power of the deck, it would probably best be considered under ‘general Fairy support,’ but when the entire deck is more or less geared towards a single, Fairy-based goal, I could not call the deck general support nor could I call something as popular as this an oddity. When I played Counter-Fairies, I called the deck “The Bountiful Artemis Deck,” which, while unfair, was not entirely untrue.

A gross oversimplification of the deck is as follows: Counter-Fairies ideally start by summoning Bountiful Artemis and setting two to five traps in their back row. Of those set, at least one to three should be counter traps, the others cards to protect Bountiful Artemis, such as Bottomless Trap Hole or Book of Moon. When your opponent does something to trigger the counter trap, you more than likely negate the action/card and then draw a new card for Artemis’ effect. When you start your next turn, set any freshly drawn counter-traps and slowly drain the cards from your opponent’s hand or field while constantly recharging your own hand.

Sound easy? It is when you start with an ideal opening hand. If not, then you have some very tough decisions in front of you. Is sacrificing your Solemn Judgment worth whatever card they just activated, especially if it was your only back row card? What should you keep in your hand to discard for Divine Wrath? What other monsters do you need to run when you don’t open with Bountiful Artemis?

Before I go any more into Bountiful Artemis, I need to take a step back and look at what else, or specifically, who else could be played. Voltanis the Adjucator has been completely replaced by the far superior Van’Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord, while Dark Voltanis, while both a Fairy and references a counter trap, can only be utilized in decks running DARK monsters (and he too is inferior to Vandy). Van’Dalgyon will be discussed later on, the card that I really want to look at is the often maligned and virtually unknown Layard the Liberator.

Layard is close to being good. He may never as good as Bountiful Artemis, but there’s definitely potential for him in his own deck. The removed zone is another area fairies excel in, just look at Dimensional Alchemist for proof of that, and once a second, consistent method of removing Fairies from the grave becomes available, I could see these two long lost twins reunite for a new evolution of the Counter-Fairy deck. Imagine sending two Heralds of Light (either Orange, Purple, or Green) to the graveyard to stop an opponent’s card, removing them from play, and then adding them back to your hand after negating an opponent’s summon with Solemn Warning. I’m aware that Soul of Purity and Light can do that, but I’d rather have a Fairy with a power similar to Bazoo the Soul Eater who remove things as an effect and not a summoning cost.

All that being said, Counter-Fairies can adapt into just about any situation imaginable due to the flexibility and specialization counter traps can provide. Pulling the Rug, Swallow Flip, and Heroes Rule 2 are all excellent side deck choices that, unlike most side decks, only adds to the deck’s objective without losing anything when cards are replaced. The lack of Counter-Fairy specific cards actually works more as a blessing than a curse. Geminis, Flamvells, Assault Modes, Plants, and even Gladiators all have counter traps unique to them that can fuel Artemis’ effect. I don’t think there’s too much more for me to say about the deck as a whole. The Counter-Fairy thread on the Pojo message boards is filled with new and innovative ideas that anyone looking to find a build could use to fit their goals.

Counter-Fairies are one of the most celebrated and widely known Fairy archetypes, despite the entire deck more or less being based off of a single card. On the polar opposite end of the spectrum you have the Cloudians and the Arcana Force archetypes.

I’ll get to Arcana Force monsters next time. I have a few things to say about that deck, and for a select few people who know where I’m going with this, they know some of the things I’m going to say about that deck and my experiences against it (and more specifically Tour of Doom), but I’m getting ahead of myself letting Arcanas steal Cloudians’ thunder.

Cloudians
Released: Gladiator’s Assault 2007
 Cards Released: Cloudian-Smoke Ball, Cloudian-Eye of the Typhoon, Cloudian-Ghost Fog, Cloudian-Nimbusman, Cloudian-Sheep Cloud, Cloudian-Poison Cloud, Cloudian-Acid Cloud, Cloudian-Cirrostratus, Cloudian-Altus, Cloudian-Turbulence, Summon Cloud, Lucky Cloud, Fog Control, Cloudian Squall, Updraft, Rainstorm, Natural Disaster, Diamond Dust Cyclone
Further Direct Support: Light of Destruction 2008
Cards Released: Raging Cloudian, Cloudian-Storm Dragon

Alright, no more bad jokes, and no, that is not a pun on Cloudians themselves, because I truly believe that Cloudians are a one or two support cards away from being a very powerful deck (really).

Introduced ironically enough in Gladiator’s Assault, Cloudians are a group of monsters that are predominately Water/Fairy. Most of them gain effects based off of ‘Fog Counters’ which many Cloudians themselves produce whenever summoned. Most of them have abysmal stats and cannot be destroyed by battle. What is ironic about its release is that I don’t think I could create a deck Gladiator Beasts could beat with more ease than Cloudians (summons several small creatures to battle against) and that both Clouds and Glads received considerable support upon release. But where Gladiators not only have gotten considerable direct support and several TCG exclusives since their inception, including Test Tiger and Gladiator Beast Retiari, Cloudians have had no TCG exclusives and only two direct support cards printed since Gladiator’s Assault. As a result, not counting the occasional appearance of Smoke Ball in Herald of Perfection decks, Cloudians remain forgotten.

As mentioned earlier, one way the deck is supposed to win by creating ‘Fog Counters’ to interact with your on field Cloudians. Acid Cloud, Altus, and Cirrostratus can destroy spells/traps, discard cards from your opponent’s hand, and destroy monsters respectively for two to three fog counters apiece. Storm Dragon and Cloudian Squall can constantly create new counters, creating a set up in which nothing your opponent does could keep them safe. Acid and Cirrostratus destroy any monster they play, while Altus takes out anything they want to save in their hand. In fact, you could completely destroy everything your opponent has in a matter of a few turns if you are able to keep the fog counters coming. Fog Control is a great way to bump off an extra Cloudian, as it will provide three more ‘Fog Counters’ and give you something to remove from play to summon Storm Dragon.

In addition to control based strategies, Cloudians have some very high attacking monsters they can play in alternate strategies. Nimbusman can grow to colossal levels in strength, which is especially convenient when you could play Rain Storm to blow away any two of your opponent’s cards at a cost of 2000 attack (or four ‘Fog Counters’ worth of attack points).  Nimbusman works well with Sheep Cloud and Turbulence, both of which can provide him several monsters to tribute with minimal effort, while Summon Cloud can get him back from the grave if the need arises. Raging Cloudian works especially well with Nimbusman. Nimbusman, and almost every other Cloudian for that matter, are all summonable off of Mother Grizzly. Setting a Grizzle and a Nimbusman could mean on your next turn you have a Nimbusman who can’t be shifted to defense mode from an opponent’s card effect and comes with a single ‘Fog Counter.’ If you follow Nimbusman’s summon with a ‘Fog Counter’ producing Cloudian, you’ll bump his attack to 2500 and it only goes up from there.

Unfortunately, Cloudians suffer from several weaknesses. Without something to act as protection, a summoned Cloudian is nothing more than a slightly reduced direct attack on your life points. The Sanctuary in the Sky will protect you from damage, but what do you do when you lose the Sanctuary? Also, if you cannot constantly produce Fog Counters, then you’ll be overwhelmed quickly by your opponent’s strategy. It is an inherently VERY slow deck, and

You may notice that I did not even mention several Cloudians and their support cards. While Poison Cloud is not that bad, it’s not very good either. Most people will know not to attack a set monster with something they want to keep, forcing you to ram it into a bigger monster. Ghost Fog suffers from everything Poison Cloud does AND it does not destroy the monster. Without Sanctuary, that’s not a move you’ll be able to repeat often. Eye of the Typhoon is inferior (in my opinion) to Nimbusman as Nimbusman benefits from both Fairy and WATER support, while Eye of the Typhoon is Aqua/WIND (on a side note, I could see this card played on its own in tribute heavy decks that don’t want to run Light and Darkness Dragon). If Lucky Cloud were a trap or quickplay spell, then it would be great, but since it’s a normal spell, the best bet you have of playing it is ramming a Sheep Cloud into a larger monster and Diamond Dust Cyclone eats up too many Fog Counters, even when they’re on an opponent’s monster. Like I mentioned with Ghost Fog and Poison Cloud, I don’t think that’s a prudent idea. On that note, Updraft and Natural Disaster are burn cards that are not worth the damage they produce. Fog Counters are better spent on removing opponent’s cards as mentioned above.

What Cloudians sorely need is a way to generate ‘Fog Counters’ quickly and easily and/or search for its key cards without giving up consistency. A Cloudian with an Elemental Hero Stratus effect could very well boost the deck to the power that it needs. Summon it on your first turn, get a ‘Fog Counter’ on it, and then on your next summon Acid Cloud, Altus, or Cirrostratus and claim one of your opponent’s cards. If it could indeed search for a ‘Cloud’ card, it would open it up to picking up several of their spell and trap support as well, giving a searchable path to Cloudian Squall or Summon Cloud. Tuners and Syncros are not necessary, as the strength for the deck comes from the volume of Cloudians you put on the field and sending them away for a Stardust Dragon seems counterproductive to that.

Next time, I’ll be looking at Arcana Force and Herald of Perfection. Valhalla Fairies and Vairons will follow that and from there it will be a look at oddities and hybrids.