Spirit Beast: Fusion Riders (Deck Discussion)

Ladies and Gentlemen!!!

This is Zaio (AKA Naling667) is here to discuss about a new archtype called the Spirit beasts and how to make it run like a real "Fusion Rider".

Now first things first whats a Spirit beast?

Well like i said earlier its an archtype that focuses on using psychic types known as spirit tamers, and a noble spirit beasts to summon out a powerful sacred spirit beast via contact fusion similar to that of the VWXYZs, however these Spirit Beast Fusions all share one Effect and thats the ability to diffuse during either players turn making them somewhat superior to VWXYZs in being variable and unpredictable. Whats interesting about this particular archtype is the fact that its clearly a new version of the Gustos as they are so similar in many ways in attribute, their "Riders" be Psychic types and both their strongest cards involve the Riders riding a Monster Plus shares a few traits that resembles to Gem knights and Naturias. (For Gem Knights it clearly stands for the Noble Spirit Beasts's type and Fusion while Naturia involves in nature and banishing tech which was well known at the time.)

Now that thats done lets move on to the cards that are right now released on DN (Note that this will be updated once a new card gets released on DN).

. Spirit Beast Tamer Lera


Attribute: Wind
Type: Psychic
Level: 1
Attack: 100
Defense: 2000

Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 "Spirit Beast" monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it.. You can only Special Summon "Spirit Beast Tamer Lera" once per turn.

Taking off the list is a pretty basic card with a decent amount of stats, now this is one of my personal favourites as this card allows me to call out any Spirit Beasts in my Graveyard and Special Summon it, Most of the time you would have your noble go out on your first turn have it destroyed then on the next turn use Lera and bring it back for an instant Ride Fusion. So yeah its pretty simple to use.

.Elder of the Spirit Beast Tamers


Attribute: Wind
Type: Psychic
Level: 2
Attack: 200
Defense: 1000

Effect:After you Normal Summon this card, you can Normal Summon 1 "Spirit Beast" monster during your Main Phase this turn, in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) You can only Special Summon "Elder of the Spirit Beast Tamers" once per turn.

Looks like Kamui has returned looking wiser and has learned some new tricks, now in my opinion this is a good card to use if you intend start off a duel offensively normal summon Elder then normal summon another spirit beast and go for a Ride Fusion simple as that or you can set up a defensive technique till all the preparations are made.


. Wen the Spirit Beast Tamer


Attribute: Wind
Type: Psychic
Level: 2
Attack: 1500
Defense: 1000

Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 of your banished "Spirit Beast" monsters; Special Summon that target. You can only Special Summon 1 "Wen the Spirit Beast Tamer" per turn.

Now we got a powerhouse Tamer with a rather interesting effect now with this card when you normal summon her you can call out one of your banished Spirit beasts to the field whether it be a Noble Spirit beast for a Ride Fusion or the Sacred Spirit Beast you can go offensive once you have the right preparations.

Apelion the Noble Spirit Beast


Attribute: Wind
Type: Pyro
Level: 4
Attack: 1800
Defense: 200

Effect: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can banish 1 "Spirit Beast" card from your Graveyard; this turn, all "Spirit Beast" monsters you control gain 500 ATK and DEF. You can only Special Summon 1 "Apelion the Noble Spirit Beast" per turn.

Starting off from the Noble Spirit Beasts is the attacker Apelion, this card is excellent if you need a quick power up or just want to stock up on banished spirit beasts since this can be used during either players turn you can use it for a surprise counter when ever your facing a tough monster. So overall it is one of the best offensive monsters aside from his fusion form in this archtype. Also note that not only monsters can be banished by this effect so anything that has spirit beast in its name can be used making it variable.

. Petolphin the Noble Spirit Beast


Attribute: Wind
Type: Aqua
Level: 4
Attack: 0
Defense: 2000

Effect: Once per turn: You can banish 1 "Spirit Beast" card from your hand, then target 1 card your opponent controls; return it to the hand. You can only Special Summon "Petolphin the Noble Spirit Beast" once per turn.

Now we move on to the Defender. Now what i like about Petolphin is the fact that you can get rid of any annoying cards via returning to the hand by simply banishing a Spirit Beast card, making it great for clearing out the field or once again stock up on banished Spirit Beasts.

. Kannahawk the Noble Spirit Beast


Attribute: Wind
Type: Thunder
Level: 4
Attack: 1400
Defense: 600

Effect: Once per turn: You can banish 1 "Spirit Beast" card from your Deck, and if you do, add that card to your hand during your 2nd Standby Phase after activation. You can only Special Summon "Kannahawk the Noble Spirit Beast" once per turn.

Now we move on to the Tactician here, with Kannahawk it is more like Golden Sarcophagus for the Spirit Beast with this ability this makes Kannahawk a problem for the opponent as it keeps the deck's consistency really high. As it is this is the only card in the archtype that focuses on consistency. So if you intend to use the Tactician in a efficient way you have to think like a tactician and go one step ahead of your opponent's expectations if you can do that then its all float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. For my opinion: a fair card with fair amount of stats and good amount of time since most duels tend to be fast so a easy and effective way to stock up on banished Spirit Beasts.

. Combination with the Spirit Beast


Type: Normal Trap
Effect: If you control a "Spirit Beast" monster: Destroy any number of monsters on the field, up to the number of "Spirit Beast" monsters you control

This is the only trap card that went along with the archtype but a really good one though, basically means that for every spirit beast monsters you control you can destroy any number of monsters including your own ones. What i like about this is that its pretty efficient when used with a card that can fuse and diffuse at any moment so heres an example if you have A Sacred Spirit Beast Fusion facing two monsters with higher power, you can simply diffuse and activate this trap eliminating two monsters just like that.

. Bond with the Spirit Beast


Type : Quick-play Spell
Effect: Banish 2 face-up "Spirit Beast" monsters you control; Special Summon 1 "Spirit Beast" monster from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions.

Like Combination the only spell card that is for this archtype. Now this card is excellent because it can be used for a Quick Ride Fusion mostly used in battle phase or during your opponent's turn.4

. Apelion the Tamed Sacred Spirit Beast


Attribute: Wind
Type: Fusion/Pyro
Level: 6
Attack: 2600
Defence: 400

Effect: 1 "Spirit Beast Tamer" monster + 1 "Noble Spirit Beast" monster
Must be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by banishing the above cards you control, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways (You do not use "Polymerization"). If this card attacks, it is unaffected by other card effects until the end of the Damage Step. During either player's turn: You can return this card to the Extra Deck, then target 1 of your banished "Spirit Beast Tamer" monsters and 1 of your banished "Noble Spirit Beast" monsters; Special Summon them in Defense Position.

Kicking it off the Fusion list is the Main Attacker Apelion in its Fusion state, its attack is rather fair and solid but really weak in defence like every attackers but that makes up for its first effect which makes him impervious to card effects so yeah mirror force has got nothing on him.

. Petolphin the Tamed Sacred Spirit Beast


Attribute: Wind
Type: Fusion/Aqua
Level: 6
Attack: 2800
Defence: 200

Effect: 1 "Spirit Beast Tamer" monster + 1 "Noble Spirit Beast" monster
Must be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by banishing the above cards you control, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways (You do not use "Polymerization"). Cannot be destroyed by card effects. During either player's turn: You can return this card to the Extra Deck, then target 1 of your banished "Spirit Beast Tamer" monsters and 1 of your banished "Noble Spirit Beast" monsters; Special Summon them in Defense Position.

You guessed it its the defender, there is not much to say for this card except that it cannot be destroyed by card effect making it a good defender whenever you intend to stall for more tactical advantage.

. Kannahawk the Tamed Sacred Spirit Beast


Attribute: Wind
Type: Fusion/Thunder
Level: 6
Attack: 1400
Defence: 1600

Effect: 1 "Spirit Beast Tamer" monster + 1 "Noble Spirit Beast" monster
Must be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by banishing the above cards you control, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways (You do not use "Polymerization"). Once per turn: You can target 2 of your banished "Spirit Beast" cards; return them to the Graveyard, and if you do, add 1 "Spirit Beast" card from your Deck to your hand. During either player's turn: You can return this card to the Extra Deck, then target 1 of your banished "Spirit Beast Tamer" monsters and 1 of your banished "Noble Spirit Beast" monsters; Special Summon them in Defense Position.

Finally we have the Tactician, with the same attack power as his non fusion version and a higher defence power also with a added effect that can add consistency to your deck giving you the ability to not stock your spirit beasts cards to the banished zone but into your graveyard and add a spirit beast card from your deck to the hand this gives rise to more potential use in taking advantage of the banished zone and use the graveyard now for cards like lera, other support cards etc.

Strengths- Its basically a variable deck that can change its pace at a given time so you can go for three stages Attack, Defence and Tactics. Also it can freely manipulate both the graveyard and its banished zone making it hard for your opponent to manipulate your field.

Weaknesses- Hate to admit it but this deck has a major flaw that can easily break it. Since it relies too much on stocking up the banished zone, cards that blocks access to the banished zone or even manipulate it is a threat. Example- Imperial Iron Wall, Burial from the Different Dimension even Necrovalley can harm it to a certain extent but not as much as Imperial Iron Wall as that can completely shutdown this deck's gameplay.

Ok we've so far covered the archtype and how it can be used now we move on to cards that can support this kind of deck.

Supports and Recommended cards:

Monsters:

Spells:

Traps:

Extra deck:

Now my part is done if there is any suggestions or any thing that can help this archtype please leave a comment below, as always stay fresh and be creative.

TRIVIA: Did you know that not only the Sacred Spirit Beasts share one common effect but also shares the total sum of attack and defense?

Updated 15/10/14