[Written] Dreary-Aura Archetype, Gemini's Comeback

[Fukato]

The Dreary-Aura Archetype contains FIRE Gemini monsters as their Main Deck, while their Extra Deck boosts the capabilities they can get when Gemini Summoned (or Normal Summoned once again). Their main strategy is to thwart the opponent's plays by banishing cards from the Deck face-down, then gaining ATK and sometimes gaining the abilities to direct attack. They get swarming capabilities from their Spell/Traps and are able to avoid destruction (not become immune though) by leaving the field to bring out a different monster or by leaving the field until a different phase.

 

[spoiler=Monsters]

 

Dreary-Aura Firaya

FIRE Warrior Level 4 Gemini

1600/200

Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field and in the GY. While this card is a Normal Monster, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

·Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Gemini Monster from your hand, except "Dreary-Aura Firaya".

 

Dreary-Aura Sparkra

FIRE Thunder Level 4 Gemini

1600/200

Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field and in the GY. While this card is a Normal Monster, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

·Once per turn: You can send 1 Gemini Monster from your Deck to the GY, then target 1 other Gemini Monster in your GY; add it to your hand.

 

Dreary-Aura Honookuya

FIRE Pyro Level 6 Gemini

2400/200

Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field and in the GY. While this card is a Normal Monster, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

·Once per turn, if your opponent adds a card from their Deck to their hand (Quick Effect): You can send 1 Gemini Monster from your Deck to the GY; banish the top 4 cards of their Deck face-down.

 

Dreary-Aura Blazeriya

FIRE Spellcaster Level 6 Gemini

2400/200

Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field and in the GY. While this card is a Normal Monster, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

·Once per turn, if you banish a card from either player's Deck: You can add 1 Gemini Monster from your Deck to your hand.

 

Dreary-Aura Omninferno

FIRE Psychic Level 8 Gemini

3000/200

Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field and in the GY. While this card is a Normal Monster, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

·Once per turn: You can excavate the top 3 cards of your Deck; add 1 excavated Spell/Trap Card that lists Gemini Monster in its text to your hand (if any), also send the rest to the GY. Each time a card is banished, this card gains 100 ATK for each card banished.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Spells/Traps]

 

Geminincarnation

Normal Spell Card

Effect: If you control no monsters: Pay half your LP; Special Summon as many Gemini Monsters from your GY. During your Main Phase, if this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish it; all current Gemini Monsters you control become Effect Monsters and gain their effects. You can only use this effect of "Geminincarnation" once per turn.

 

Gemini Paradise

Continuous Spell Card

Effect: During either player's Main Phase or Battle Phase: You can Normal Summon/Set 1 Gemini Monster from your hand or on the field in addition to your Normal Summom/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) If this card is destroyed by a card effect: You can banish it; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Gemini Monster from your Deck.

 

Rune of the Geminis

Quick-Play Spell Card

Effect: Summon 1 monster from your Extra Deck that lists Gemini Monster in its card text by shuffling its materials from your hand, field, and/or GY into your Deck. You cannot activate monster effects the turn you activate this card, except Gemini Monster effects. You can only use 1 "Rune of the Geminis" once per turn.

 

Gemini Flash

Normal Trap Card

Effect: Target 1 Gemini monster you control; banish it until the start of the next Battle Phase, also, when it returns to the field by this effect, it becomes an Effect Monster and gains its effects.

 

Gemini Reversal

Normal Trap Card

Effect: Target 1 Gemini Monster you control; banish it, then Special Summon 1 Gemini Monster from your Deck with a Level lower than or equal to that banish monster's Level with a different name, and if you do, it becomes an Effect Monster and it gains its effects. You can only use 1 "Gemini Reversal" per turn.

 

Normal Reduction

Continuous Trap Card

Effect: If you control a face-up Gemini Monster: Negate the effects of all face-up monsters on the field, except Gemini Monsters and monsters that used Gemini Monsters to Summon them. If a Gemini Monster you control would be destroyed by battle, you can banish the top 2 cards of your Deck instead.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Extra Deck]

 

Dreary-Aura Heaterabyte

FIRE Cyberse Link 2

1600

Link Markers: DL, DR

Effect: 2 Gemini Monsters

When this card is Link Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 6 or lower Gemini Monster from your hand to a zone this card points to. Gemini Monsters this card points to become Effect Monsters and gain their effects.

 

Dreary-Aura Firabyte

FIRE Cyberse Link 3

2400

Link Markers: L, D, R

Effect: 2+ Gemini Monsters or "Dreary-Aura" Link Monsters

(Quick Effect): You can send the top 5 cards of your Deck to the GY; banish cards from the top of your opponent's Deck for each Gemini Monster sent to the GY this way. You can only use this effect of "Dreary-Aura Firagabyte" once per turn. Gemini Monsters this card points to become Effect Monsters and gain their effects.

 

Dreary-Aura Firagabyte

FIRE Cyberse Link 4

3000

Link Markers: L, D, U, R

Effect: 2+ Gemini Monsters or "Dreary-Aura" Link Monsters

(Quick Effect): You can shuffle up to 3 Gemini Monsters in your GY into your Deck; banish cards from the top of your opponent's Deck equal to the amount of Gemini Monsters shuffled into your Deck by this effect. If you banish your opponent's monsters from the Deck: You can target Gemini Monsters you control up to the number of monsters you banished; they can attack directly this turn, also they gain 100 ATK for each of the monsters banished. You can only use each effect of "Dreary-Aura Firagabyte" once per turn.

 

Dreary-Aura Ignira

FIRE Beast-Warrior Level 11 Fusion

3800/200

Effect: 3 Gemini Monsters

Must first be Fusion Summoned. When this card is Fusion Summoned: You can make it gain 100 ATK for each banished monster. Once per turn, when your opponent activates a card effect while you control a Gemini Monster (Quick Effect): You can banish 2 Gemini Monsters from your GY; negate the activation, and if you do, banish it, and if you do that, banish cards from the top of your opponent's Deck equal to the highest Level of the Gemini Monster you banished with this effect.

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I feel like I overpowered this like I always do. It must be that fixation that everything is all fine and dandy while you are looking at it. I need some CnC to help balance or else I will only see it after a few days.

[Dova]

The first thing that strikes me about this "archetype" is the fact that outside of the Link monster requirements, their name is never mentioned, i.e. almost not an archetype. All I see is Gemini monster this and Gemini monster that. While Geminis are weak, unfortunately, thanks to this archetype, they are going to be rather limited, as an other Gemini archetype is going to be completely compatible with every card in this archetype (save the Links again), highly increasing the risk of dangerous combos. Not inherently overpowered, but I think it's bad design. Because we already have Chemicritters to do most of the generic stuff in Geminis (well done for bad design Konami), it probably would've been best to make the archetype stand on its own merits. But whatever; a review awaits!

 

Firaya is a weaker Chemicritter Oxy Ox, with slightly better stats. There's not really anything to change, save remaking the card.

 

Sparkra is Carbo Crab without HOPT. Again, not really much to say here. I am against purely better/worse version of cards, so...reworking the idea, perhaps? An alternate take?

 

Honookuya has a generic anti-draw effect. Might be a cute tech in only Gemini decks, except it only works once per turn, and as such doesn't really slow down your opponent when they are adding cards from their Deck to their hand, or stop them in any way. It might have some late-game impacts if you're lucky, but not a great card.

 

Blazeriya only works if you have one of the bosses out, perhaps even Honookuya. And while the bosses aren't terrible, Honookuya certainly is, and if you've gotten out the Link monsters, chances are you're haven't left Blazeriya out. Perhaps a deck that purely focuses on that mechanic could make a use of Blazeriya, but since it's one of the two MD cards that actually relate to it and it's just OPT, so not getting anywhere with this card.

 

Omninferno sort of gains from banishing, but it's barely worth using it outside of Pot of Duality, and besides since the deck has no recovery option...you're going to want to minimize your own banishing, and banishing your opponent's deck's cards outside of these cards are going to be tricky. At least the search is semi-decent.

 

Geminincarnation is...actually a useful card. Well done. You've got your speedy recovery in case your opponent kills your field mid/late-game, and you can give your Geminis their effects easily. Probably no need for HOPT on the last effect, as you don't have recovery, and you're probably going to blanket enable them anyway.

 

Shame Paradise doesn't stack with Spark Field, but what can you do? As it stands, it's a worse version of said Field Spell, even if this card actually gives you a reason to not pop it and...swarming during your opponent's turn, even though this archetype can't do much then. While this just grants the extra Normal Summon, Spark Field gives you a free Tributeless Summon and allows you to pop your opponent's cards. This card might be run in addition to it, but not instead of it.

 

Rune lets you Summon that one Fusion, that other Synchro (which is semi-useless in this deck because no Tuners), and this archetype's Links. Interesting way of bringing them out, and the restriction compensates for the freedom of using Materials. Good card.
 

Flash is too slow to be good. Make it a quick-play spell, that way it provides an alternative to Spark Field, especially with tagging in and out.

 

Reversal provides some more speed upon it being spammy, and goes about an interesting way of doing it...which sort of fits with the archetype's theme, I guess? Prevents GY shenanigans, so that's something I suppose.

 

Normal Reduction...also actually uses the archetype's theme, and in an interesting way too, along with The Monarchs Erupt for Geminis. Actually, with all this support, these S/T are starting to look scary for any Gemini Deck. Who needs Dreary-Auras? As a side, these S/T are much better in general than the MD monsters in terms of design. Let's hope the ED is similarly better than these.

 

And the Links and Fusion monster are all really decent, and live up to those expectations. They actually hint at the theme of banishing cards from the Deck, which was absent from most of the rest of the archetype, and provide sufficient generic support for Geminis. Nothing here really to say, other than the fact that I don't like "monster A or monster B" for Fusion requirements. I know a few sparse cards have them, but I would suggest you try and focus on one, considering how generic the rest of the archetype is already (or just change it to Dreary-Aura monsters in general). Perhaps the Fusion is a bit too easy to get out, but hey, you basically need the corresponding Gemini spell to actually get it out with those conditions.

 

Aside from the ED monsters, the theme is rather lacking, and not even seeing why any of them tie into their name or type. A few are overpowered, a few more are underpowered, but...I really hope that you get this working. I really like these underused game mechanics, and I am still trying to build Gemini Decks. Reading this through really sparked my interest again, I wish you the best of luck in making these more interesting and playable!