• Pojo Home Page
  
• Message Board
  
• Contact Staff
  

Carrotizer on YuGiOh
Archfiends
September 1, 2006

            Archfiends always intrigued me with those mandatory costs and incredible powers. I never had enough budget to build one in real life, but one of my friend ran a pretty decent one with his low budget. It was before any Structure Decks came out, so our card pool was severely limited by shininess of the card themselves…

            Fortunately, now I have YVD (thank you whoever invented that) and I have all the cards I can use for free! I love that program. Ugh, anyway, back to Archfiends…another special rulings for archfiends were that ANY card that had archfiend in its name was considered as an Archfiend, but not necessarily Archfiend Monster. This will be a major problem when we are trying to bring out main house monster.

            Also, everyone realized how much potentials Gravekeepers had…mainly advertised by Gravekeeper’s Spy, yet nobody gave full attentions to Archfiends…oh, they do have names of Chess piece…I love Chess too! Well, Gravekeeper’s ability is to swarm the field with powerful 2000 ATKers with special abilities when Necrovalley is out. Most of the time, Necrovalley helped the Gravekeeper user unless opponent was also running Gravekeeper, most likely to be the Spies.

            I believe Archfiends have full potentials to grow up to World Champion deck. Heck, it doesn’t NEED to be CC, does it? We don’t want CC! Not yet anyway…well, because of another Field Spell called Pandemonium, you don’t have to pay Archfiend’s cost. Also, when Archfiend monster(s) is destroyed by card effect and sent to the graveyard, you can select 1 Archfiend monster from your deck of fewer level and add it to your hand.

            I lament how close that the Archfiends could have been better. Because the Field Spell only counts as a lump sum, when Torrential Tribute/Mirror Force/Lightning Vortex blows your army, you only get 1 monster. Also, you can’t grab another Archfiend of same name, because it states fewer level than the destroyed monsters. That means to fully take advantage of the card, we need to have some low level Archfiends in the deck. Another crucial fact is that the negation ability by rolling die cannot be combined with other cards that negate the activation/effect. It’s been a while since I read the ruling section, but please correct me if I’m wrong (can’t use Internet), you have to choose to either use the negation or use it with card effect. You CANNOT use another card to negate if your die roll fails. Well, I suppose die is added bonus.

            From the main structure, because Archfiend do not have any search options except by Pandemonium’s effect, we have to have an Archfiend card on your side to summon Terrorking Archfiend. This is the King of chess; he is most important. Although Queen is better in battle, and she somehow is, we’ll use 3 Terrorking Archfiend because of its Ha Des-like negation. Note that the cost is 800 LP per turn for Terrorking, whereas it’s 500 LP for every other Archfiend except Shadowknight Archfiend. 800 LP per turn is like having to activate Premature Burial every turn except you don’t get any rewards. Consequently, obtaining the supportive Field Spell has to be done fast. There is a Dark Beast with 1800 DEF called Pandemonium Watchbear that forbids the devastation of Pandemonium when the monster is face-up. It isn’t worth running because first, your opponent won’t use the effect, and second, you might not be able to get to the monster in time.

Monsters:

3 Terrorking Archfiend

1 Magician of Faith

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Sangan

1 Jinzo

Spells:

1 Graceful Charity

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Premature Burial

1 Book of Moon

1 Nobleman of Crossout

3 Pandemonium

1 Terraforming

Traps:

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Mirror Force

1 Call of the Haunted

            If need for Pandemonium is dire, we can run 3 of them with Terraforming, but if not, 2 Pandemonium w/ Terraforming might do. I added 3 because you need at least 2 or more Archfiends to dominate the field, and if your opponent uses Dust Tornado on your precious Spell card, you will lose a lot of LP. If you don’t have it turned on again by your next turn, you might have to give up a few Archfiends. Also, they provide replacement for destroyed Archfiends so give or take we have 3 Pandemoniums.

            Terrorking is one of the most useful, and it comes with heavier price than 800 LP. You cannot summon him unless you have another Archfiend monster on your side of the field. Had it said Archfiend, it would have been much easier as we can use others or Axe of Despair. Even Archfiend of Gilfer in Equip Spell form might have done.

            Remember Scapegoat trick, where you can still activate Scapegoat if you only set a monster? Set isn’t a summon, so we can still set the king, but with okay-1500 Def, it would be better in ATK position. Ceasefire would do the job. Instead of waiting for weaker monsters to attack Terrorking, we can flip him face-up with our leisure. Opposing Swords of Revealing Light would also do the job for you.

            To keep precious king from getting checkmated, we’ll also include3 Desrook Archfiend. This card’s special ability can be activated from hand. If your king has been destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you can discard Desrook to bring him back. Okay, that would combine well with Pandemonium, as you can replace Desrook with Spell because Desrook is a 3-star Archfiend, assuming Terrorking was destroyed by card effect. It’s strict 1 for 1 trade – it’s the Pandemonium that does the trick.

            Also, to reuse (and ABUSE) Pandemonium’s effect, we want to have more Archfiends to grab when opportunity of fortuitousness comes. Pot of Avarice will do the job. It will bring back Breaker, Magician, and Desrook so that you can abuse him again. King will stay a bit longer on the field after all.

            There are as many support cards for Archfiend monsters as there are for Gravekeeper. Perhaps more. However, some of them have to do with LP payment, whereas some of them directly support them…literally. Checkmate allows your Terrorking Archfiend to attack directly. No you can’t attack with 3 kings because there is always one king for chess..well, 2 if you count your opponent…the spell specifically mentions that only 1 Terrorking can attack directly, and you have to offer 1 Archfiend on your side as Tribute.

            Now obviously this card has been meant to be used with both Terrorking and Infernal Queen Archfiend. Lovely fiendish couple combines their power to destroy opposing forces. Infernal Queen Archfiend boosts 1 Archfiend’s attack by 1000 during each Standby Phases until End Phase. So…we are supposed to have 3 Axe of Despair and 3 Infernal Queen to boost Terrorking to 8000 ATK and use Checkmate! Oh boy, Magic Cylinder…well that’s under great assumption that all cards are deployed. But I think we will run 3 Infernal Queen Archfiend because she can boosts 1 particular Archfiend to run over your opponent’s Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys or Jinzo. Heck, Dark Magician of Chaos doesn’t stand a chance.

            I have a point that I want to make out here. Terrorking Archfiend, Archfiend of Gilfer, and Skull Archfiend of Lightning (obviously REAL Archfiend version of Summoned Skull, although he’s considered Archfiend also) are the only Dark Archfiend monsters. Infernal Queen is Fire, and with only 900 ATK, you can search her out with UFO Turtle. I might have included UFO Turtle because Infernal Queen has the ability to give Axe of Despair to any Archfiend, including herself. However, 3 UFO Turtle might be too many…we shall see. Also, the fact that other Attributes are also included in the Archfiend family is noticeable.

            To provide defense and deckthinning, along with enough LP in case your Pandemonium is destroyed, 3 Nimble Momonga seem broken to me. Combine them with Pot of Avarice, and you earned yourself up to 6000 LP…that should be enough just for Archfiend payment.

            VilePAWN is Earth, whereas ShadowKNIGHT is Wind, followed by Water-type DarkBISHOP. Desrook (LIGHT), Infernal Queen (infernal…suits the name…FIRE), and finally, Terrorking (Dark). So…they are saying that Dark>Fire>Light>Water= or > Wind>Earth?…I don’t think so =/…maybe Dark is well-supported, but…meh.

            Terrorking is excellent in which for the activation of Deck Devastation Virus, his stats meet the requirement right away. Better thing is that he can be face-down – set him and lure out the only Nobleman of Crossout.

            Falling Down is a free Snatch Steal; okay, not so free…First, you have to have a face-up Archfiend on your side. Now good thing is that this card needs Archfiend CARD, such as Archfiend’s Oath, Axe of Despair, and…any Archfiend monsters. However, you cannot negate 800 LP damage, and it is paid during your opponent’s Standby Phase. Des Wombat would negate that, but…meh again.

            To protect your LP and monsters from charging Cyber Dragons and Zaborgs, we’ll include 1 Sakuretsu Armor/Widespread Ruin. If you are a Chess player, you would know that you don’t want to sacrifice your queen unless it’s for greater advantage. If you boost Terrorking instead of Queen and get Queen killed, not only are you unable to use that 1000 ATK to destroy the opposing monster with Terrorking, your other Archfiends are extremely vulnerable. To protect Breaker/Sacred Phoenix from rampaging the backfield, I think you can use 1 Bottomless, but Sakuretsu/Widespread Ruin will do. It’s a bit hard to get that 1 card when you need, as you know. However, protection for Pandemonium is extremely important because just simple MST topdeck might mean that you have to give up entire stock of monsters from your side just because of that Ring of Desruction you played.

Monsters: 19

3 Terrorking Archfiend

1 Magician of Faith

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Sangan

1 Jinzo

3 Desrook Archfiend

3 Nimble Momonga

3 Infernalqueen Archfiend

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Darkbishop Archfiend

1 Skull Archfiend of Lightning

Spells: 15

1 Graceful Charity

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Premature Burial

1 Book of Moon

1 Nobleman of Crossout

3 Pandemonium

1 Terraforming

1 Pot of Avarice

1 Confiscation

1 Falling Down

1 Smashing Ground

1 Last Will

1 Rush Recklessly

Traps: 8

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Mirror Force

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Ceasefire

1 Deck Devastation Virus

1 Widespread Ruin/Sakuretsu Armor

1 Widespread Ruin/Sakuretsu Armor/ Bottomless Trap Hole

Total: 42

            With 1 Nobleman of Crossout, Magician of Faith flips a lot more easily and it’s restricted because it’s the best “flexibility” option that we have. To add the option of monster removal, Smashing Ground will clear unwanted monsters. Furthermore, having 1 Last Will will work great to bring out Infernalqueen if there is Pandemonium on the field and your Terrorking was destroyed by Sakuretsu Armor, because darn die failed to roll.

            Pandemonium might be your opponent’s priority to destroy, if they can’t get past the Archfiend line. Hopefully you can finish the duel before they draw into all Mobius, Heavy Storm, Breaker, Mystical Typhoon, and others. They will waste at least one on SOMETHING! Well…Sacred Phoenix would be the most trouble thing to you. Cyber Dragon is also not so friendly.

            Battle-Scarred is a card that I would call situational. Basically, this Continuous Trap forces your opponent to pay along with you for 1 chosen Archfiend. 1. You have to have an Archfiend, and having higher cost, such as Shadowknight’s 900, would be better. 2. If either of cards are removed from field, another is destroyed. Not that you would not want to inflict damage or force payment, but you would also not get benefit from Pandemonium. Ouch. Yeah.

            Keep in mind that Archfiend Soldier is also an Archfiend, although 1900 ATK is a bit short of Shadowknight Archfiend. They are arguable, since Battle Damage is halved. I prefer Shadowknight just because he looks cooler. However, having 1/6 chance of negating a targeted effect is pretty cool. Though you won’t pull it so often, Darkbishop will provided 50% chance. That means Sakuretsu Armor and Ring of Destruction (ooh yeah even that fiery ring) has to be gambled. Another problem this brings it when to use that Deck Devastation Virus. If you can afford the die roll even if it fails, you can count on it, but you can take advantage of Deck Devastation Virus, go ahead and Tribute it.

            I included 1 Falling Down, but you can always try 2 copies, or even 3! Just watch out for Heavy Storm, as it can be a LOT for 1 trade. Another combination is that you can use Archfiend of Gilfer with Archfiend’s Roar. When it dies during End Phase, its effect activate and just equip it!  

            With 3 Nimble Momonga, you will have plenty of LP for Confiscation. It’s all about speed really; sometimes, if opponent rushes too fast, you won’t afford 1000 LP for Confi. However if you activate Confi early in the duel, that might just win the duel because you take out crucial card for opponent’s plan such as Creature Swap or Exiled Force.

            If you draw Desrook too early, discard those for Graceful Charity if Terrorking is not acquired even by then. 1800 DEF isn’t so bad, but 2100 ATK from Light Machine is a bit higher. Use that Pot of Avarice wisely, as sometimes you might want to have some monsters in your graveyard.

            I don’t think 2^nd copy of Deck Devastation Virus is appropriate in the main deck because first, you cannot activate Pandemonium’s effect if you Tribute him, and second, we are supposed to beat down opponent with King and Queen. Sidedeck would be an ideal choice, since when activated at right time, Monarch players can have a hand full of Zaborg and Mobius and not have Frog on the field because you used DDV. Besides, Royal Decree will never negate the cost…

Because Archfiends have all the Attributes, I think they should make a card like Super-Electro Voltech Dragon thingy for batteries…like this.

Metamorphic Archfiend

10 Star; Light; Fiend; 2700 ATK; 0 DEF

This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card cannot be Tribute Summoned except by Tributing all the monsters on your side of the field, and at least 3 monsters have to be Archfiends. This card gains following accumulative effects for each Attribute of Archfiend Monsters that are Tributed for the Tribute Summon. The controller of this card pays 1500 during his/her Standby Phases (this is not mandatory). If there are any non-Archfiend cards on your side of the field, this card is destroyed. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can select 1 active effect and switch it to another effect of your choice. If you activate this effect, send all cards on your side of the field to the graveyard except this card.

- Water: Negate all the effects of monsters that Archfiends on the field destroy (just to have that small drawback…I intend to embellish this card with utmost powers)

- Fire: This card increases ATK by 1000 and when attacks DEF position with higher attack, inflict difference as Battle Damage. (woot woot)

- Earth: This card can attack once again in a row if it destroyed a monster in battle.

- Wind: This card cannot be destroyed by effects that do not specifically target.

- Dark: Control of this card cannot switch

- Light: When this card is specifically designated for effect of Monster, Spell, or Trap, roll a six-sided die. If the result is 1, 3, or 5, negate the effect and destroy the card. If the result is 6, re-roll the die.

            Wow…I guess I got carried away…I guess it’s like Mazera DeVille for Archlord Zerato, except that this is counterpart (kinda…) for Voltanis the Adjudicator XD except…they can’t fit this text in the card T_T It’s even worse than Thousand-Eyes Restrict!

Battleboard Archfiend (for Chess board ^_^)

1 Star, Earth, Fiend; 0 ATK; 2300 DEF

Controller of this card pays 600 LP during his/her Standby Phases. If “Pandemonium” is on your side of the field while this card is in face-up ATK position, for resolving Archfiend’s effect, you may negate the die roll and roll the die once again. Any Battle Damage that a player takes from battle involving this card is doubled.

            Obviously to be used with Vilepawn, which doesn’t see any play due to its weak stats… also, I didn’t say “opponent takes from battle” to make a little drawback. 50% chance x 2 means 75% complete targeted negation.

Promotional Evolution (you know…I think I really like this Chess theme now)

Quickplay Spell

Tribute 1 Vilepawn Archfiend on your side that successfully attacked opponent directly. Select 1 any Archfiend effect (to exclude Normal ones) monsters, except “Battleboard Archfiend” and “Vilepawn Archfiend,” of LV4 or lower from your hand, deck or graveyard. That Special Summoned Archfiend may attack opponent directly during this turn.

Unbreakable Chain (pawn chain!)

Continuous Trap

You can only activate this card when there are 3 Vilepawn Archfiend on your side of the field. If both Battleboard Archfiend and Pandemonium are face-up on your side, and as long as they are, Vilepawn Archfiend cannot be destroyed as a result of battle, and they may attack opponent directly. During the End Phase of a turn in which Promotional Evolution has been activated successfully and this card is face-up, by sending all cards on your side of the field to the graveyard, send all cards on your opponents side of the field and in his/her hand to the graveyard.

Silent Warning (check!)

Normal Spell

You can only activate this card if you have an Archfiend card on your side of the field. Special Summon as many Vilepawn Archfiend as possible from your graveyard, hand, or deck. You cannot activate any Trap cards during this turn.

By Paul Yeem – Carrotizer @ paulyeem@hotmail.com