Helping out the Nordic Archetype (Written)

[Charlelot]

Hey everyone,

 

Let’s be honest… The Aesir monsters are the worst god-like boss monsters in the game. Not only are they completely dependent on their own archetype, they are barely worth the effort needed to Summon them. That is a true shame. I do believe that Konami really dropped the ball when it comes to the Nordic archetype. Once upon a time, it really seemed like it could have potential. So after a quick internet search, I will attempt to fix the major problems players encounter while playing Nordics while staying true to the original intent: Summoning the impotent gods.

 

As always, let me know what you think.

 

*Latest Update* 01/26/2018

 

[spoiler=Monster Cards:]

Freya of the Nordic Ascendant

Level 4 LIGHT Fairy/Tuner/Effect

ATK 1500 DEF 1500

For a Synchro Summon, you can substitute this card for any 1 ‘’Nordic’’ Tuner monster. During your Main Phase: you can send 1 card from your hand to the GY; Special Summon 1 ‘’Nordic Warrior Token’’ (Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). During either player’s turn, while you have no face-up monsters or control only ‘’Nordic’’ or ‘’Aesir’’ monsters: you can send this card from your hand to the GY; Special Summon 1 non-Tuner ‘’Nordic’’ monster from your Deck. You can only use each effect of ‘’Freya of the Nordic Ascendant’’ once per turn.

 

Sif of the Nordic Champions

Level 4 EARTH Warrior/Tuner/Effect

ATK 1900 DEF 100

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic Beast’’ card. While you have no face-up monsters or if the only monster(s) you control are ‘’Nordic’’ and/or ‘’Aesir’’ monster(s), you can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, you cannot Summon any other monsters this turn except ‘’Nordic and/or ‘’Aesir’’ monsters. If this card destroys a monster by battle: you can Special Summon 1 ‘’Nordic Beast Token’’ (Beast-Type/EARTH/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). (Quick Effect): you can target 1 monster on the field; change its battle position. You can only use each effect of ‘’ Sif of the Nordic Champions’’ once per turn.

 

Sigyn of the Nordic Healers

Level 4 DARK Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect

ATK 300 DEF 2000

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic Alfar’’ card. When a ‘’Nordic’’ or ‘’Aesir’’ monster is sent to the GY: you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During your Main Phase, when you activate a ‘’Nordic’’ Spell/Trap Card effect: you can Special Summon 1 ‘’Nordic Alfar Token’’ (Spellcaster-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). If this card is sent to the GY: you can select 1 ‘’Nordic’’ monster in your GY except ‘’Sigyn of the Nordic Healers’’; add it to your hand. You can only use each effect of ‘’Sigyn of the Nordic Healer’’ once per turn.  

 

[spoiler=Spell Cards:]

Rainbow Bridge Bifrost

Continuous Spell Card

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic’’ card. Once per turn, when you Normal or Special Summon a non-Token ‘’Nordic’’ or ‘’Aesir’’ monster: you can Special Summon 1 ‘’Nordic Warrior Token’’ (Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). During your Main Phase: you can destroy 2 ''Nordic'' Tokens you control; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower ‘’Nordic’’ monster from your hand or GY. You can only use this effect of ‘’Rainbow Bridge Bifrost’’ once per turn. If this card would be destroyed by an opponent’s card or effect, you can destroy 1 ‘’Nordic’’ Token you control instead. 

 

Yggdrasil the Interdimensional Tree

Normal Spell Card

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic’’ card. Send 1 ‘’Nordic’’ monster from your Deck to the GY; add 1 ‘’Nordic’’ card from your Deck to your hand. During your Main Phase, while you have a banished ‘’Nordic’’ or ‘’Aesir’’ monster: you can banish this card from your GY; send all of your banished ‘’Nordic’’ and/or ‘’Aesir’’ monster(s) to your GY, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 ‘’Nordic Traveler Token’’ (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). You can only use each effect of ‘’Yggdrasil the Interdimensional Tree’’ once per turn.

 

Visions of Doom

Quick-Play Spell Card

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic’’ card. If you have no monsters on the field or if the only monster(s) you control are ‘’Nordic’’ and/or ‘’Aesir’’ monster(s): you can Special Summon 1 ‘’Nordic’’ Tuner monster from your Deck or GY, and if you do, you can destroy 1 face-up card on the field. During your Main Phase, except on the turn was sent to the GY: you can pay 500 LP and banish this card from your GY; Special Summon up to 2 ‘’Nordic Warrior Token’’ (Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). If you activate the effect of ‘’Vision of Doom’’, you cannot Special Summon any other monsters except ‘’Nordic’’ and/or ‘’Aesir’’ monsters until the end of the turn. You can only activate each effect of ‘’Vision of Doom’’ once per turn.

 

[spoiler=Trap Cards:]

Final Punishment

Continuous Trap Card

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic’’ card. Once per turn, if your opponent controls more cards than you do: banish 1 ‘’Nordic’’ Tuner monster and 2 non-Tuner ‘’Nordic’’ monsters from your GY, whose combined Level equals 10; Special Summon 1 ‘’Aesir’’ monster from your Extra Deck or GY that has the same Attribute than the banished Tuner and equip this card onto it (this Special Summon is treated as a Synchro Summon). The equipped monster cannot attack directly and its effects are negated. When the equipped monster is destroyed by battle or card effects: return it to your Extra Deck. If this card is destroyed and sent to the GY: return the equipped monster to your Extra Deck. When the equipped monster leaves the field: destroy this card.  

 

Curse of the Rhine Gold

Normal Trap Card

This card is always treated as a ‘’Nordic’’ card. Activate by targeting 1 non-Token ‘’Nordic’’ or ‘’Aesir’’ monster you control; equip this card into it. If this card is destroyed by an opponent’s card or effect while equipped to a monster: destroy the monster that was equipped with this card. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK and DEF. Also, it gains the following effect:

• Once per turn (Quick Effect): you can Special Summon 1 ‘’Greedy Nordic Token’’ (Fiend-Type/Earth/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). If you control a ‘’Nordic’’ Token, this card cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent’s cards and effects.

 

[spoiler=Extra Deck:'']

Heimdallr of the Nordic Guardians
LINK – 3 LIGHT Warrior/Link/Effect
Bottom-Left, Left, Bottom-Right
ATK 2200 DEF 2200
1+ ‘’Nordic’’ effect monster
You can only control 1 ‘’Heimdallr of the Nordic Guardians‘’. This card gains 200 ATK and DEF for every Token on the field. Once per turn: you can send 1 ‘’Nordic’’ card from your hand or Deck to the GY; Special Summon up to 2 ‘’Nordic Watcher Token’’ (Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0). When your opponent activates a card or effect that would target a face-up non-Token ‘’Nordic’’ and/or ‘’Aesir’’ card you control: you can destroy 1 ‘’Nordic’’ Token you control; negate that activation and destroy it. You can only use this effect of ‘’Heimdallr of the Nordic Guardians’’ once per turn.

 

[Dova]

Nordics. Never played them, because not even I knew how to make them decent. Let's hope these do the trick.

 

Frey provides the much needed speed to the 5Ds era archetype, allowing for a quick an easy Summon of targets such as Dverg or...that's really the best target. Shame. Also grants a token along with GY stocking up. I would say Sif is more meh, but that quick-play battle position changing is much more powerful than one might expect. Also Level 3 token. Yay. Sigyn is also okay, but unfortunately while this and Sif are rather decent cards, they aren't going to be doing anything game-changing in regards to Nordics. Said archetype deals a lot with battle destruction; why not make a monster to trigger that to enable some of the already made monsters in the archetype? Without supremely broken cards, which would overshadow the rest of the archetype, there's not much to be done with Nordics. Just work on speed and searching, but even then...it's a tough call, but I think you can meet the challenge. Perhaps try and buffing the effects or removing one or two cases of HOPT. Appreciate the references that I can see to the other cards though.

 

Bifrost brings the tokens up to a new level, but I think you could get away with removing the HOPT on both of its effects without getting too much in the danger zone. Doing so would make it a must-have, but even now it's by no means a bad card. Swarming with tokens and from the hand/GY? Great stuff. Yggdrasill grants some searching, but could you please explain the reasoning behind the secondary effect? Banishing is a somewhat common means of removal, yes, but why shuffle back the bosses when I could just Summon another one? Why not Summon it back, and even then, that's a niche use. Why not expand it a little? Final Punishment banishes Level 3s for some reason. Why? Pretty sure there are only two, the battle centric Nordic Beasts, and you haven't made any. Not really much reason to run the two said meh cards. If it had more freedom, it would be quite fine on its own, easily getting out your bosses late game, and either way, could do with a secondary GY effect. Don't make it too strong though.

 

Same problem I mentioned earlier with Bonding; while this does definitely help the initial purpose of making the archetypes smoother and more functional...as a whole, they're still not decent, and will still heavily rely on these cards to get them out properly; which don't reallllllly take advantage of the archetype's already present mechanics, unlike said Bonding support of yours. Definitely much room for expansion of this, and improvements. Good job so far, though!

 

Really like the dedication to the lore, particularly with the S/T.

[Charlelot]

Nordics. Never played them, because not even I knew how to make them decent. Let's hope these do the trick.

 

Frey provides the much needed speed to the 5Ds era archetype, allowing for a quick an easy Summon of targets such as Dverg or...that's really the best target. Shame. Also grants a token along with GY stocking up. I would say Sif is more meh, but that quick-play battle position changing is much more powerful than one might expect. Also Level 3 token. Yay. Sigyn is also okay, but unfortunately while this and Sif are rather decent cards, they aren't going to be doing anything game-changing in regards to Nordics. Said archetype deals a lot with battle destruction; why not make a monster to trigger that to enable some of the already made monsters in the archetype? Without supremely broken cards, which would overshadow the rest of the archetype, there's not much to be done with Nordics. Just work on speed and searching, but even then...it's a tough call, but I think you can meet the challenge. Perhaps try and buffing the effects or removing one or two cases of HOPT. Appreciate the references that I can see to the other cards though.

 

Bifrost brings the tokens up to a new level, but I think you could get away with removing the HOPT on both of its effects without getting too much in the danger zone. Doing so would make it a must-have, but even now it's by no means a bad card. Swarming with tokens and from the hand/GY? Great stuff. Yggdrasill grants some searching, but could you please explain the reasoning behind the secondary effect? Banishing is a somewhat common means of removal, yes, but why shuffle back the bosses when I could just Summon another one? Why not Summon it back, and even then, that's a niche use. Why not expand it a little? Final Punishment banishes Level 3s for some reason. Why? Pretty sure there are only two, the battle centric Nordic Beasts, and you haven't made any. Not really much reason to run the two said meh cards. If it had more freedom, it would be quite fine on its own, easily getting out your bosses late game, and either way, could do with a secondary GY effect. Don't make it too strong though.

 

Same problem I mentioned earlier with Bonding; while this does definitely help the initial purpose of making the archetypes smoother and more functional...as a whole, they're still not decent, and will still heavily rely on these cards to get them out properly; which don't reallllllly take advantage of the archetype's already present mechanics, unlike said Bonding support of yours. Definitely much room for expansion of this, and improvements. Good job so far, though!

 

Really like the dedication to the lore, particularly with the S/T.

 

Hey there,

 

Once again, thanks a lot for your in-depth comments. I’ve always loved ancient myths and legends. That is why I am always ecstatic when Konami released an archetype based on some mythological beings. Each time I create or rejuvenate an archetype, I try my best to respect the lore and history behind it. Now, enough about me, allow me to talk about my previous design choices.

 

[spoiler=Note]

Just to give a little context, in Nordic myths, Freya, Sif and Sigyn are the wives of Odin, Thor and Loki, respectively.

 

 

 

Freya: The actual purpose of this card was to give the player easy acess to Tanngnjostr (the black goat). When he is switched to attack position, the player can Special Summon 1 Nordic Beast from the deck (either Sif or Tanngrisnir, the white goat). Combined with some of the other cards I created, most players would be able to summon an Aesir monster on the first or second turn. If not, combined with my creations, Nordic decks would have pretty good Link potential.

 

Sif: This card exists to act as what Guldfaxe (the horse) should have been all along: an easy Tuner Special Summon. The Third effect was put into place to have easier acess to Tanngnjostr’s (the black goat) effect to Special Summon multiple Nordics from the deck and provide a little defense in case things go south.

 

Bifrost: While I was establishing the parameters for my archetype (producing Tokens to Synchro Summon the gods), I was made aware that similar effects could be abused to Summon large amount of Link monsters. That is why I put into place a HOPT rule to Bifrost. At the same time, I didn’t want to hinder the creativity of the player too much during the deck building process. So, I made a compromise, but I’ll think about revisiting this card.

 

Yggdrasil: The second effect of this card was put into place to combat the effect of Ghost Reaper & Cherrie Blossom but now that you point its randomness to me, I have to admit that I’ll have to revisit this card soon.

 

Final Punishment: I always intended this card to be used in tandem with the Nordic Goats (who are both level 3) witch are, in my opinion, the best Nordic cards, but I’ll try making it less bothersome.

[Charlelot]

Hey everyone,

 

So, I decided to revisit this archetype for a little bit. So’ I’ve added a few cards that would hopefully help this deck make the transition to the LINK Era a little smoother. So for those who, like me, were always disappointed that the Nordics never quite got their chance to shine, this is for you.

 

As always, tell me what you think. Suggestions and constructive criticisms are always appreciated.

 

New cards are Vision of Doom (Spell), Curse of the Rhine Gold (Trap) and Heimdallr (Extra Deck).