My First Archetype - The Ritualists/High Mages: Please Give Me Some Constructive Criticism

[magemeek22]

[b][i]After a great amount of diligent work and consideration, I was finally able to publish my first original Archetype of cards. In hopes of bringing actual Summoning power to Spellcasters and a revival to traditional Ritual-based decks, my cards combine two things that seem to go so well together in order to make Ritual Spellcasters. Divided into three categories, Ritualists, Ritual Tokens, and High Mages, this set of cards transforms the normally slow-paced gameplay of traditional Spellcasters to a new and improved field-swarming lockdown-maintaining type.[/i][/b]
[hr]
[spoiler=' "Ritualist" Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Golden Ritualist of the Heavens"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/6bhpW.jpg[/img]
[i]If you control a face-up "Golden Ritualist of the Heavens" you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During your End Phase, you can tribute this face-up card from your side of the field to Special Summon 2 "Golden Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 1700/DEF 1700). If you choose to activate this effect, your opponent gains 500 Life Points.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Shadow Ritualist of the Abyss"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/rY7WB.jpg[/img]
[i]If you control a face-up "Shadow Ritualist of the Abyss" you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During your End Phase, you can tribute this face-up card from your side of the field to Special Summon 2 "Shadow Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/DARK/Level 2/ATK 2000/DEF 1700). If you choose to activate this effect, your opponent gains 500 Life Points.[/i]

[b]Card 3: "Sapphire Ritualist of the Sea"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/6fcK7.jpg[/img]
[i]If you control a face-up "Sapphire Ritualist of the Sea" you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During your End Phase, you can tribute this face-up card from your side of the field to Special Summon 2 "Sapphire Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/WATER/Level 2/ATK 1500/DEF 2000). If you choose to activate this effect, your opponent gains 500 Life Points.[/i]

[b]Card 4: "Scarlet Ritualist of the Flames"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/j5H9A.jpg[/img]
[i]If you control a face-up "Scarlet Ritualist of the Flames" you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During your End Phase, you can tribute this face-up card from your side of the field to Special Summon 2 "Scarlet Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/FIRE/Level 2/ATK 1900/DEF 1700). "Scarlet Ritual Tokens" cannot declare an ATK. If you choose to activate this effect, your opponent gains 500 Life Points.[/i]

[b]Card 5: "Tempest Ritualist of the Zephyr"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/o7pL4.jpg[/img]
[i]If you control a face-up "Tempest Ritualist of the Tornado" you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During your End Phase, you can tribute this face-up card from your side of the field to Special Summon 2 "Tempest Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/WIND/Level 2/ATK 1700/DEF 1700). If you choose to activate this effect, your opponent gains 500 Life Points.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler=' "Lesser High Mage" Ritual Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Lesser High Mage: Solaria"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/G5tTq.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up card, during either players' turn, when your opponent sets a card, you can discard one card; Reveal the set card. If it is a monster card, keep it flipped face-up (flip effects are not activated at this time). Otherwise, return the card to its normal position.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Lesser High Mage: Abyssum"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/QHUOl.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up monster, during either players' turn, when your opponent activates a Spell or Trap card, you can discard one card; Negate the activation of that Spell or Trap.[/i]

[b]Card 3: "Lesser High Mage: Oceana"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/cIi33.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up monster, during either players' turn, when your opponent activates a Spell card, you can discard one card; Add one Spell card from your Deck to your hand.[/i]

[b]Card 4: "Lesser High Mage: Pyromion"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/wg1Pz.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up monster, during either players' turn, when your opponent Special Summons a monster, you can discard one card; Negate the summon and destroy the monster.[/i]

[b]Card 5: "Lesser High Mage: Zephyra"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/aDm0W.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up monster, during either players' turn, when your opponent declares an attack, you can discard one card; Negate the attack.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler=' "Novice High Mage" Ritual Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Novice High Mage: Solaria"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/7W3Az.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. While you control this face-up monster, your opponent must reveal all cards they set before they are set and cannot activate Flip Effects.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Novice High Mage: Abyssum"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/LMeB9.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up monster , you can tribute one "Ritual Token" you control. If you do, negate the activation of your opponent's Spell and Trap cards until your next End Phase.[/i]

[b]Card 3: "Novice High Mage: Oceana"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/nXV4e.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Fusion Summon. Once per turn, while you control this face-up monster, during either players' turn, when your opponent Special Summons a monster, you can Special Summon a "Sapphire Ritual Token" (Spellcaster-type/WATER/Level 2/ATK 1500/DEF 2000). You can tribute one "Sapphire Ritual Token" to add one "High Mage" or "Ritualist" card from your Deck to your Hand.[/i]

[b]Card 4: "Novice High Mage: Pyromion"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/7udAD.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. While you control this face-up monster, you can pay 1000 Life Points during your opponent's Standby Phase. Until their End Phase, they cannot Special Summon Level 4 or lower monsters.[/i]

[b]Card 5: "Novice High Mage: Zephyra"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/kBmf9.jpg[/img]
[i]This monster can only be summoned by Ritual Summon. While you control this face-up monster, you can pay 1000 Life Points at the start of your opponent's Battle Phase; They cannot declare an attack this turn.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler=' "Supreme High Mage" Fusion Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Supreme High Mage: Solaria"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/tnF67.jpg[/img]

[i]4 LIGHT "Ritual Tokens"[/i]
[i]You can only Special Summon this card by banishing the above cards from your side of the field (You do not need "Polymerization"). While you control this face-up monster, your opponent must reveal all cards they Set, and cannot activate Flip Effects. Once per turn, declare a card name; If your opponent controls a face-down card with that name, they lose 800 Life Points.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Supreme High Mage: Abyssum"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/JY5hq.jpg[/img]

[i]4 DARK "Ritual Tokens"[/i]
[i]You can only Special Summon this card by banishing the above cards from your side of the field (You do not need "Polymerization"). While you control this face-up monster, you can negate the activation of your opponent's Spell and Trap cards. Once per turn, banish one monster card from your Graveyard unless you control a face-up "Temple of the High Mages." If you cannot, destroy this card.[/i]


[b]Card 3: "Supreme High Mage: Oceana"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/QU94a.jpg[/img]

[i]4 WATER "Ritual Tokens"[/i]
[i]You can only Special Summon this card by banishing the above cards from your side of the field (You do not need "Polymerization"). While you control this face-up monster, you can add one "High Mage" or "Ritualist" card from your Deck to your hand instead of conducting your normal Draw Phase. When your opponent Special Summons a monster, you can Special Summon one "Sapphire Ritual Token" (Spellcaster-type/WATER/Level 2/ATK 1500/DEF 2000). You can tribute 1 "Sapphire Ritual Token" you control to gain 500 Life Points.[/i]

[b]Card 4: "Supreme High Mage: Pyromion"[/b]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/fPYnc.jpg[/img]

[i]4 FIRE "Ritual Tokens"[/i]
[i]You can only Special Summon this card by banishing the above cards from your side of the field (You do not need "Polymerization"). While you control this face-up monster, your opponent cannot Special Summon unless they pay 800 Life Points for each monster that they Special Summon. [/i]

[b]Card 5: "Supreme High Mage: Zephyra"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/3PZcO.jpg[/img]

4 WIND "Ritual Tokens"
You can only Special Summon this card by banishing the above cards from your side of the field (You do not need "Polymerization"). While you control this face-up monster, your opponent cannot declare an attack. Once per turn, banish one monster from your Graveyard unless you control a face-up "Temple of the High Mages." If you cannot, destroy this card.

[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler='Support/Tuner Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Sacrificial Gatekeeper of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/xqmH1.jpg[/img]
[i]While you control this face-up monster, once per turn, you can discard one Level 4 "Ritualist" monster from your hand to give this card a permanent 300 ATK increase. Treat the discarded monster as if it were tributed from your side of the field during your End Phase. When this card is destroyed, add 1 Level 4 "Ritualist" monster from your Deck to your hand.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Summoning Gatekeeper of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dhcA4.jpg[/img]
[i]While you control this face-up monster, you can tribute any number of "Ritual Tokens" of a single Attribute from your side of the field to Special Summon one "High Mage" Ritual Monster from your hand with the same Attribute and Level up to the combined Levels of the tributes. This is treated as Ritual Summon. When this card is destroyed, add 1 "High Mage" Ritual Monster from your Deck to your Hand.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler='Synchro Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Great Summoner of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/z1dQN.jpg[/img]
[i]1 Tuner Monster + 1 or more Non-Tuner Spellcaster-type Monsters[/i]
[i]While you control this face-up monster, you can tribute any number of "Ritual Tokens" of a single Attribute to Special Summon a "High Mage" Ritual Monster from your hand with the same Attribute and a Level up to the combined Levels of the tributes (This is considered Ritual Summon). Once per turn, you can discard 1 monster card from your hand and treat it as if it was tributed from your side of the field during your End Phase.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Time Master of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Hymgo.jpg[/img]
[i]1 Tuner Monster + 1 or more Non-Tuner Spellcaster-type Monsters[/i]
[i]When this card is Synchro Summoned, the Synchro Material Monsters are monsters from your hand. Once per turn, you can target one monster on your side of the field or Graveyard; Treat it as if it was just tributed during your End Phase.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler='XYZ Spellcaster-type Monsters']
[b]Card 1: "Spirit Guardian of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/99dgh.jpg[/img]
[i]2 Level 2 "Ritual Tokens"
Once per turn, you can attach one "Ritual Token" you control to this card as XYZ Material or detach one "Ritual Token" from this card to Special Summon it. This card gains 500 ATK for each "Ritual Token" attached. This card cannot be removed from the field by card effects.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Duplicating Gateway of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/lCZCB.jpg[/img]
[i]3 Level 2 "Ritual Tokens"
Once per turn, you can pay 1000 Life Points and detach one XYZ Material from this card to target one monster card on your side of the field or in your hand; Tribute or discard it, and then Special Summon 2 "Duplicated Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/DARK/Level X/ATK X/DEF X) with Level, ATK, and DEF equal to that of the targeted monster. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler='Support Spell Cards']
[b]Card 1: "Elemental Mastery"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/ASHht.jpg[/img]
[i]Once per turn, for each face-up "Elemental Mastery" you control, you can reveal one "High Mage" or "Ritualist" card in your hand; Shuffle the card into your Deck and add one "High Mage" or "Ritualist" card with the same Level as the one you revealed. (If a "High Mage" card was revealed, only a "High Mage" card can be added to your hand; If a "Ritualist" card was revealed, only a "Ritualist" card can be added to your hand).[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Incomplete Incantation"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/jwgWX.jpg[/img]

[i]While this card is active, place 1 Spell Counter on this card each time a "Ritualist" monster is sent to the Graveyard. You can remove Spell Counters from this card to activate an effect:[/i]
[i]-1 Counter: Target one monster that has been removed from play; Return it to the Graveyard.[/i]
[i]-2 Counters: Draw 2 cards.[/i]
[i]-3 Counters: You can Normal Summon twice this turn.[/i]
[i]-4 Counters: Banish one card your opponent controls.[/i]
[i]-5 Counters: Add one "Ritualist" and one "High Mage" card from your Deck to your hand.[/i]

[b]Card 3: "Inner Enlightenment"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/UvUqq.jpg[/img]
[i]Equip to only a Level 4 "Ritualist" monster you control. Increase that monster's Level by 4 and Special Summon 2 additional tokens when that monster is tributed during the End Phase. When that monster is sent to the Graveyard or removed from play, destroy this card; You can add one "High Mage" card from your Deck to your hand.[/i]

[b]Card 4: "Offering to the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/M1GbA.jpg[/img]
[i]This card is used to Ritual Summon any "High Mage" Ritual Monster. You must also offer "Ritual Token" tributes of the same Attribute as the Ritual Monster whose total Levels equal the Level of the Ritual Monster or more. If this card is in the Graveyard, you can add it to your hand instead of conducting your normal Draw Phase.[/i]

[b]Card 5: "Ritual Gone Wrong"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/56bWS.jpg[/img]
[i]Activate during your opponent's turn when you control a face-up "Ritualist" monster. Target one "Ritualist" monster you control; Your opponent can Special Summon any monster from their hand (The monster's effects are negated). Your opponent cannot summon any other monsters this turn. When the targeted "Ritualist" monster is sent to the Graveyard, destroy the monster summoned by this card's effect.[/i]

[b]Card 6: "Soul Cage of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/zQ5zC.jpg[/img]
[i]When a "Ritual Token" is destroyed by battle or card effect, add 1 Spell Counter to this card for each "Ritual Token" destroyed. During your Main Phase, you can remove any number of counters from this card to Special Summon the same number of "Caged Ritual Tokens" (Spellcaster-type/FIRE/Level 2/ATK 1000/DEF 1000). Once per turn, you can declare an Attribute; All "Caged Ritual Tokens" are now that Attribute.[/i]

[b]Card 7: "Temple of the High Mages"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/oa8hT.jpg[/img]
[i]While this card is active, during your End Phase, you can tribute any number of "Ritual Tokens" of the same Attribute to Special Summon one "High Mage" Ritual Monster from your hand with Level up to the combined Level of the tributes and the same Attribute as the "Ritual Tokens" tributed. This is considered Ritual Summon. While this card is active, both players can Fusion Summon during their End Phase.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[spoiler='Support Trap Cards']
[b]Card 1: "Hidden Powers of the Ritualists"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/XYJq8.jpg[/img]
[i]Until the End Phase of this turn, all "Ritualist" monsters that are destroyed are treated as if they were tributed during your End Phase.[/i]

[b]Card 2: "Lifebinding Blessing"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/FjYgd.jpg[/img]
[i]When either player loses Life Points to activate a card effect, their opponent can choose to pay the same amount or not pay any Life Points; If the opponent chooses to not pay Life Points, the player gains Life Points equal to the cost they paid.[/i]

[b]Card 3: "Lifebinding Gift"[/b]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/IoRc8.jpg[/img]
[i]While this card is active, any time a player would gain Life Points, their opponent gains the same amount.[/i]
[/spoiler]
[hr]
[b][i]So, in essence, the main purpose of these cards is to get "Ritualists" to swarm up "Ritual Tokens," which can then be used to Ritual Summon strong, high-caliber monsters. Cards like Elemental Mastery can help get the correct cards into your hand, and the Ritual Spell, Field Spell, and "Summoning Gatekeeper" are all essential to actually getting the monsters out there on to the field. There is a difficulty in getting the stronger monsters to the field, but the benefits are very rewarding.[/i][/b]

[b][i]I hope you guys can comment on this! Tell me what to fix, what's good and what's bad, and overall what you think![/i][/b]

[magemeek22]

BUMP. Please comment guys

[magemeek22]

BUMP... PLEASE :/

[Zacktheflash96]

People only seem to comment on the horrific cards on this site apparently xD or if they are a bit of a dick and like to just slate peoples cards ive only got a few replies too mine which fails....
Annyyyway back to yours theres is a LOT there so ill check it out gradually and give you feedback

[Love of Ghibli]

Okay I'll play along and say something

Ritualist: They're a set of pretty redundant spellcasters with the only useful one being the 2000 dark beater. They all do the same thing which is generate multi-cloned tokens which I guess is nice. Funny though the fact that all of them can be SSed if another one is on the field leads to some good xyzing especially with the weaker ones because they're searchable.

Lesser Mages: Well these are nice effects a pity that are hindered by the fact that they are rituals which means they are horribly slow. Oceana is a little overpowered though you can't just go into the deck and grab monster reborn or something. Then again I could be wrong. Also Ritual monsters have to say what ritual can be used to get them out in the text.

Novice Mages: Oh...I see its progression well then copy and paste what I said above to here, interesting how the whole statement still applies though this time I know Oceana has issues because she has no limit on how many times she can search. Also should probably re-read her a ritual monster that can only be summoned by fusion summon is an odd creature.

Supreme Mages: Lets tackle them one at a time

Solaria: I let it go the first two times but seriously her effect basically says your opponent has to play with their hand revealed which sounds a lot more simple to me. The lifepoint burn is frivolous in this format where lifepoints don't matter.

Abyssum: Too easy to get out and he grants you blanket negation of your opponents spell and traps. His maintenance cost is cheap (and apparently there is some option to where I don't have to pay it) and his stats are to high to get over. Yep far beyond broken.

Oceana: She's better as a novice

Pyro: Drop his attack to 2900 maybe and I think he would be pretty nice.

Zeph: she's 3150 why does she need to stall? but that is the general progression of the set I understand. I personally rather they bounce things like wind tends to do but that is just my personal opinion.

Tuners: Well they're worded weird that is for sure I don't know if the first one is broken or not if he gets the tokens at the end phase when he does the discard thing then he is balanced but if he discards and get the attribute token clones then yeah he's overpowered. The second..meh she's gimmicky and promotes the use of the rituals which is sad seeing that the only one you truly want to use broken Novice Oceana.

Synchro: The first one does nothing different than the gatekeeper..so why not just use the gatekeeper its faster. The second one is just worded wrong. The tuning material from the hand would be an effect reserved for the tuner not the synchro monster. As for the other part I assume you are just going for token spammage which you should probably just say summon two tokens....w/e that effect is. Mainly because you can't treat a monster as if it was tributed if you never tributed to begin with.

XYZ: First tokens cannot be used as xyz material for they are not tangible cards that can be stacked under another card, therefore neither of these cards exist (also go to yugico.com if you want an xyz template). As for the effects the first one is pretty broken seeing as tokens are spammable so she can easily become a walking 2800 beastick that can't be removed from the field other than battle. The second just does more token spamming...why is this immune too?

Spells: I'll talk about the noteworthy ones

Incomplete incantation: You would NOTHING OTHER THAN the 2 counter one. Draw 2 especially with the litany of way these things can hit the graveyard! Remember I don't have to use their effects to send them to grave I can play hand destruction and get two counters. This clearly needs a once per turn clause and I personally think that second one should be changed. Though to be honest this promotes such a slow play style it could be okay at just a once per turn clause.

Offerings: Wait...Wait...I "have" to offer tokens for these high mages? I can't use another copy of one in my hand if I had the option? That sucks! That sucks hard..now they are worse than regular rituals. How else am I going to to maximize my broken Oceana Novice if I can't play preparation of rites and get another one just to sac it off and proceed to deck thin till my hearts content. Yeah abolish that token clause.

Ritual gone Wrong: Should re-read this. It basically says your opponent can't summon. Which is pretty broken for a quickplay but still. At no point did this card special summon anything to destroy.

Traps: Once again only talk about the noteworthy ones....Okay so there weren't any that's good it saves me time.

The set as a whole is flawed....and its flawed in the basic sense that if I have the option of going for the supreme mages why would I go for ANYTHING else (except Oceana because she is better as a novice)? Literally the lesser mages are out classed by novice and novice are outclassed by supreme and since you don't need one to get to the other you can just save yourself the trouble and deck space and just focus on the supremes. Thus making all novices and lessers pointless. Second you clearly can't make a 40 card deck with these things because you wouldn't have any room for decent/good cards, meaning you have to pick one or two attributes and just go with them. I personally would go with a Dark Water approach since Dark is a 2k beater that can generate 2k beater tokens and those tokens become the most broken game winning fusion ever. And while I sit back and watch my opponent struggle to not rage quit against supreme dark I allocate the appropriate resources to make novice oceana and just insanely boost hand advantage.

I hope this helped the set is oddly unusable and broken at the same time...though it can be fixed just would take a lot of reworking.