PALLADIONS, THE HIDDEN POTENTIAL?

by Dimas Adiputra
Last Update: 23 April 2018 18:10:31
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As you all know, the Cybernetic Horizon has been released as the 5^th Main Booster box of the 10^th Season Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Booster Set. There are many arguments whether between those who thinks that this Booster Set is good or bad. The release of Cyber Ritual Monster of “Cyberse Magician” and “Paladin of Storm Dragon” is quite a cons itself because in making of an unbreakable field consists of Link Monster need a lot of monster resource, both in the main deck or extra deck, while in Ritual Summoning monsters it also takes a tiny-but-significant numbers of deck slot for the Ritual Spell itself. But since Cyberse deck itself is quite unpurposedly-enigmatic-deck, so I won’t talk much about it. Let’s talk about this archetype that is the continuation of Star Relic (Known as World Legacy in TCG) story, PALLADIONS.

Palladion Archetype itself, until now, is consists of 5 Effect Main Deck Monsters, 3 Link Monsters, 1 Field Spell Card, 1 Quick-Play Spell Card, and 1 Trap Card. Palladion has a deck type of Beatdowning the opponnent since all of its Link Monster are able to gain ATK equal to the ATK point of monsters it points out and all we have to do is protecting this Link Monster at any costs. The Main Deck monster are all can be Special Summon into the Main Monster Zone which Link Monster(s) points to, and all of the have certain effect on the field.  Let’s see how complete is it to be called a complete Archetype.

MAIN DECK MONSTER

First, “Palladion of the Vast Sky” is the main character of this Archetype. Was once knows as “Auram, the Star Relic Swordman” and “Jack Knight Avram” is A Psychic-type LIGHT monster, Level 4. When he is face-up on the field, he is able to make 1 of our Link Monster to have a DOUBLE BATTLE DAMAGE when battling an opponnent monster. This is the beatdown maker. Check.

Second, “Palladion of the Sacred Tree” which looks like Rydia with Palom and Porom by her side from Final Fantasy IV is a Level 3 Tuner Warrior-type WATER monster. For being a tuner it seems like Konami wants to tell us to also use “Crystron Needlefiber” for this deck, haha well played Konami. Yeah this is the guardian in the shadow for Palladions, when a Palladion monster would be destroyed by ANYTHING (battle or card effect), you can banish this card instead. The good news is, you can also use this effect from the field or graveyard. The bad news is, its effect of INSTEADNESS is only ONCE PER NAME PER TURN. Your opponnent will most likely bait us to use its effect as soon as possible. When it is ‘instead’ then you can use its effect even if your monster is being attacked whilst in face-down defense position, since at the end of damage calculation the monster is already face-up. Well, at least it can protect our Link Monster from being destroyed. This is the buff card. Check.

Third, “Palladion of Fiendish Illusion” which looks like Vivi from also Final Fantasy IV is a Level 3 Spellcaster-type FIRE monster. If you’re desperate enough, just set it. If it’s special summoned to zone that Link Monster points to, you can target 1 Palladion card you control and 1 Monster your opponnent control, destroy them. WHY IT MUST ALSO TARGET MY PALLADION, LORD!!! Okay, back to topic, it is a destroyer. Check.

Fourth, “Palladion of the Celestial Bodies” which was “Imduk the World Chalice Dragon”. A Level 4 Dragon-type WIND monster. Able to recycle Palladion monster from your graveyard into your hand if summoned to a zon which Link Monster points to. A recycler. Check.

Fifth, “Palladion of the Hundred Beasts” is a level 3 Beast-type EARTH monster. Its ATK is the second highest amongst the Main Deck monsters of Palladion in 1200. You can make 1 Palladion Link Monster you control INFLICT A PIERCING DAMAGE when battling a DEF position monster your opponnent control this turn. A beatdown support. Check.

SPELL AND TRAP CARDS

“Reunite Palladion” is a Field Spell Card which gives Palladions 500 Extra ATK. Damn, that is a f*ckin huge number. Once per turn you can target 1 Palladion monster you control, IT CAN ATTACK ALL MONSTER YOUR OPPONNENT CONTROL ONCE EACH. This is great, I mean, I wish Phantasm Spiral archetype has something like this. A beatdown support. Already checked.

“Aubade Palladion” is a friggin Quick-Play Spell Card which makes 1 of our Palladion Monster UNAFFECTED BY OTHER CARD EFFECT EXCEPT ITSELF. What’s good is, it is a Quick-Play. Eventhough it is once per name per turn. But hey, it’s quite good. This card is the immunity card. Check.

“Crusade Palladion” is a Continuous Trap Card. When you activated that card, you can tribute 1 “Palladion” or “Star Relic” monster, then special summon 1 “Palladion” or “World Legacy” monster to ANYWHERE on the field. Heck you can Summon “Star Relic – Star Crown” or “Palladion of Fiendish Illusion” in the case of emergency. When you control Palladion monster, your opponnent MUST ATTACK LINK MONSTER you control. The good part is, this card can’t be destroyed by “Yuki Usagi” (“Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit” in TCG). The bad part is, your tribute effect won’t resolve when it’s leave the field. But again, the first effect is good enough. A Substitutor and a Gravity Maker in one card. Check.

EXTRA DECK CARDS

“Magias Palladion” is a Link-1 Spellcaster-type LIGHT Monster that has 100 ATK. Just need a Palladion monster to summon it. If an EFFECT monster is special summoned to the zone it points to, you can add 1 Palladion monster from your deck. This is the monster adder, unfortunately it is not an instant adder. But well, it is still a monster adder. Check.

“Regulex Palladion” is a Link-2 Beast-type LIGHT Monster that has 1000 ATK. It points up and down. You need 2 monster with at least 1 Palladion monster included to summon it. If an effect monster is special summoned to the zone it points to, you can ADD 1 Palladion SPELL or TRAP CARD from your deck. God, this is what Palladion need. A SPELL/TRAP adder. Well I can’t complain it for being a monster effect, but add Spell/Trap is hella good. But unfortunately it is once per name per turn, if it’s not, who knows will it became like Double Iris Magician or not. A Spell/Trap adder. Check.

Last but not least. “Ark-Lord Palladion”, well I refused to call it Arch-Lord because Number 101 has a katakana of ?????with them and still be called Ark, is a semi-generic Link-3 Cyberse-type LIGHT Monster with 2000 ATK. You need at least 2 effect monster with at least 1 Link Monster included to summon it. Now this is what this archetype really need. This card is a Quick Negator that negates a face-up card your opponnent control until the end of this turn by tributing 1 Palladion or Star Relic monster that this card points to. Unfortunately it is a once per turn effect, but yeah it is better than once per name per turn. With its ATK being 2000 and able to gain ATK equal to the ATK of the monster it points to, it also stand as the finisher. A negator and a finisher in 1 card. Check.

Let’s summarize what this archetype has here:

1. -          A Finishera
2. -          A Beatdown Makera
3. -          2 Beatdown Supporta
4. -          2 Searchera
5. -          A Destroyera
6. -          A Buffera
7. -          A Finishera
8. -          A Negatora
9. -          An Immunitya
10. -          A Substitutora
11. -          A Gravity Makera
12. -          A Recyclera

And all of these are Palladion power. It is quite impressive for an Archetype to have these much of a structural purpose from a single release. We can assume that this Archetype is ‘pretty’ complete. ‘Pretty’ I said because this Archetype still lacks of Dumper, Resurrector, and to make it truly perfect, a Floater.

PLAYSTYLE

Like I said before, this deck playstyle is to beatdowning your opponnent. Beatdown is a playstyle of beat the hell out of your opponnent by battling using high ATK monster. It is better if you can Takedown your opponnent monster in a single battle phase. There are people who said that this is the next that this is the next Zoodiac. I think they’re half right. Why is it half right, because from a minimal resource you can make it into a maximize field. You can make a 2 card start and make it into the Link-3 “Ark-Lord Palladion” while it is pointed to 2 Monsters, have at a least Spell/Trap setted, and 1 Buffer inside your graveyard. Just like what Konami demonstrating, it is enough to escape 3 “Mirror Force”s. It is also half right, because their effect mostly once per name per turn. For me it’s too half-assed of an effect to make it into the Meta level. If at least the searcher isn’t once per name per turn, it could turns out to be the meta.

But as a duelist, it is not stopped just by playing it in Beatdown style. There are a lot of variations such as OTK, or even Combo FTK. But I won’t explain it here because I’m not really into a FTK strategy, you can search in youtube by keyword ??????????.

As a player I really like fun deck, this deck is fun enough for me just like when I play using “Phantasm Spiral Dragon” deck. It’s really hillarious. And from me there are these option to play with, check it out.

I. Darkest Diabolos

Since its “Ark-Lord Palladion” and “Crusade Palladion” is using TRIBUTE, you can bring “Lair of Darkness” and “Darkest Diabolos” to be summoned out and place it to the Link Point of Ark-Lord’s so it has an even more ATK to beat the heck out of your opponent. Just imagine your Ark-Lord has 5000+ ATK. But you must toss aside the “Reunite Palladion” here. Just bring 3 “Ahrima”, 3 “Darkest Diabolos”, and 3 “Lair of Darkness” here. But it probably lacks of consistency. Released in SR06.

II. Star Relic Inheritor

Bring it playset won’t make you brick, unless you’re really bad luck that you’d get the 3 out of them in your hand at the same time. While it is being a Spell Card and can be searched by most of Star Relic Monsters then it won’t make it losts its consistency to put them 3 inside your deck. Released in FLOD.

1.      3. Rescue Cat

In case of serious event when you were aware of wasting your resources to start the combo, you can put “Rescue Cat” into the deck and summon it to summon “Palladion of the Hundred Beasts” to open the combo from Link-1. Latest reprint on 20AP Wave-1.

1.      4. Crystron Needlefiber, Glow-Up Bulb, and HSR Chambara

This sometimes make your way faster to beating down your opponent. With the deck mostly of Level 4, you can make it into “Needlefiber” and make “Hi-Speed Roid Chanbara”. Needlefiber from LVP1, Glow-Up Bulb Latest reprint on SD32, HSR Chanbara from SPHR.

1.      5. Star Relic – Star Crown

This has been designed to help out Palladion. By the effect of “Crusade Palladion” you can substitute one of your monster into “Star Relic – Star Crown” as it has 2000 ATK and DEF. It also can negate the effect of 1 monster your opponnent monster that has been summoned from the Extra Deck by tributing itself. It is good though. Well the best part from this card is, this has DARK attribute. IYKWIM. Released in CYHO.

1.      6. Star Relic – Star Lance

You don’t want to wasted your hand trap just to having them negated by “Designator from the Grave”? Well this is probably the hand trap that you need. Because it works quickly during damage calculation. Discard it, and it decrease any monster attacking your Link Monster by 3000 ATK. Say goodbye to “Elemental Hero Honest Neos” treatment. Well somehow it is better if there are any card that can add this card to the hand, but unfortunately there are only 3 cards that is able to add “Star Relic” monster into the hand. They are: “Star Relic – Star Grail”, “Star Relic – Star Armor”, and “Jack Knight of the Morning Star”. Released in FLOD.

7. Star Relic – Star Armor

I don’t know why when I think about Palladions what I really think about is how to maximizing the use of Star Relics. And yeah, “Star Relic – Star Armor” can bounce back 1 of your opponnent Extra Deck Monster into Extra Deck. More importantly is that it is a Quick Effect. And the most interesting is, when it is Normal or Special Summon you can add 1 “Star Relic” CARD from the deck into your hand. Released in CIBR.

1.      8. Instant Fusion and 1 Fusion Monster that can be summoned by it

The trend is, the player of Palladions bring them. And make use of “Millenium Eyes Restrict” or “Thousand Eyes Restrict” to get rid of 1 of your opponnent monster, and jump it into the 1 Link Higher while cleaning your opponnent field. 

1.      9. Kaijus

Can also clean your opponent’s field. And of course it can be revived from the grave. Huge ATKs. Simple. From EP16.

2.     10. ETC

Metalfoe+Zefra, Jack Knights, Entermage, and so on

Even if there are so many things that we can do with this Archetype, actually there are so many flaws in this archetype. If you’re using this deck, I doubt you will actually bring “Reinforcement of the Army” since the only monster that is Warrior-type is “Palladion of the Sacred Tree”. If only “Palladion of the Vast Sky” is a level 3 Psychic-type monster, I would probably bring “Emergency Teleportation”. Since Normal Summon of a monster is playing the major part of this Archetype, it is possible to cut their monsters once they had Normal Summon a monster. Once when I testing a deck with it, I once had a Mirror Match and Torrential Tribute save my life. And here it is the way that may confront this Archetype:

1.      1. Torrential Tribute

Once they have their normal summon, cut them before they have “Sacred Tree” in their Grave. But it is a different matter if they have “Aubade Palladion” in their hand. But it totally nailed it to bring them to Side Deck at least. Often reprint on SD or ST.

2.      2. Masked Hero Dark Law, Macro Cosmos, Dimensional Fissure

They would probably think twice to resuming the combo since the Material would be gone nowhere. Don’t try to summon “Masked Hero Dark Law” if your opponent already had the complete field.

3.      3. Effect Veiler

But it won’t stop them completely as long as the monster is face-up on the field.

4.      4. PSY-Framegear Gamma

Negate the monster effect, also destroy it. So they had no Link Point to summon to. Make sure your opponent already use their Normal Summon. And just pray your opponent forgot to close their Chain Links with the Link Monster’s effect as the highest Chain Link.

5.      5. Skill Drain

No effect, no gain ATK, no play. It completely stops them.

6.      6. Get rid of them until they had no more resources to play

Barbaric and default way. This require patience.

So that’s it from my point of view about this Archetype. When you tried this, you will really think that this Archetype has so many flaws. But even so, it doesn’t prevent me to think that actually this deck has so many potentials and is a good deck. If you want to play it fun and casually, go play it. But if you want to reach the top of the meta board with this one, you can make this Archetype as an Engine with another Meta deck, or maybe you can wait for another Main Booster and hoping that there are new supports *remembering that Krawler and Jack Knight still be given a new support although it is already 2+ booster away from CYHO*.

I hope you enjoyed this and I hope I give you a slightest idea about how this Archetype works. And before responding, please consider that this is based on writer’s opinion. In case you know more, please don’t hesitate to contact us through the Facebook Fanpage here : YIC-today

And to get more information about our community, you can join us at Facebook Group of Indonesia Duelist OCG Jabodetabek for the nearest event in your regions.

That’s it from me, and see you on the next article.

Written by: Ryuuji Gakudo, member of Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Yogyakarta.

*All of the images are obtained from yugioh.wikia.com

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