Guardian

"Guardian" (ガーディアン Gādian) is an archetype of monsters used by Rafael, Apollo and Diana in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. The core "Guardian" monsters each have a corresponding "Legendary Artifact"^[1] Equip Spell Card.

"Celtic Guardian", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2", "Guardian of the Labyrinth" and "The Reliable Guardian" are not "Guardian" cards as they do not include 「ガーディアン」 in their Japanese names. As such, the only generic "Guardian" support card in the TCG/OCG, "Arsenal Summoner", specifically excludes them.

Many cards are part of this archetype, despite not being thematically related to the Equip Spell-based "Guardian" monsters, and can be added to the hand with the effect of "Arsenal Summoner". Notably, this includes the "Gate Guardian" sub-archetype, which is themed around "Gate Guardian" and other cards used by the Paradox Brothers, and the "Skull Guardian" sub-archetype, which used LIGHT Ritual Monsters. "Principug" nominally supports this archetype, but it only has synergy with monsters that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set, excluding every Equip Spell-based "Guardian" monster except "Guardian Dreadscythe".

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, the Paradox Brothers have the Skill "Guardian Call", which adds a random "Guardian" card from their Deck to their hand.

Members[edit]

First Set[edit]

Second Set[edit]

Playing style[edit]

Most of the core "Guardian" monsters have a Summoning condition that prevents them from being Summoned unless their corresponding Equip Spell is already face-up on the field (although they can be Normal Set regardless). "Guardian Eatos" and "Guardian Dreadscythe" do not require their corresponding Equip Spells to be on the field in order to be Summoned, although "Dreadscythe" is a Special Summon Monster. Due to "Butterfly Dagger - Elma" being Forbidden, "Guardian Elma" can only be Set in the OCG and TCG Advanced Format.

The Deck primarily relies on a beatdown strategy. "Guardian Grarl", "Eatos" and "Dreadscythe" can Special Summon themselves from the hand making them useful as beatsticks. "Guardian Ceal" can be used to destroy cards on the field. The Equip Spells "Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce" and "Shooting Star Bow - Ceal" allow the equipped monster to attack twice or directly, respectively, at the cost of ATK, so they work best on monsters with high original ATK and/or in conjunction with other Equip Spells. "Wicked-Breaking Flamberge - Baou" is also useful for preventing the opponent from using their destroyed monster effects. "Celestial Sword - Eatos" and "Reaper Scythe - Dreadscythe" can both offer large ATK increases, when sent from the field to the GY and while equipped respectively. Unfortunately, "Celestial Sword" misses the timing when sent to the GY to use the effect of cards such as "Eatos" and "Ceal" as they both send the Equip Card as a cost, necessitating another card like "Release Restraint Wave" to activate its effect. "Arsenal Summoner" can search the Deck's monsters.

Because a "Guardian" Deck typically uses a large number of Equip Spells, it can benefit from outside Equip Spell support such as "Hidden Armory", "Armory Call", or "Fairy Tail - Rella". The "Gearfried" monsters, especially "Immortal Phoenix Gearfried", make for good additional boss monsters with negation effects and the inclusion of these Warrior monsters also enables "Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights" to send Equip Spells to the GY for use with "Arms Regeneration".

In most cases, there is no benefit for pairing the "Guardian" monster with associated Equip Spell, but using cards such as "Collected Power" or "Tailor of the Fickle" can be used to facilitate this, or save the Equip Spells from destruction when their equipped monster is about to leave the field by battle or by being targeted by an effect, by changing who they are equipped to at Spell Speed 2.

Recommended cards[edit]

Weaknesses[edit]

• The worst weakness of the deck is probably the interaction with its own archetype. Without massive amounts of generic or outside support, all "Guardian" monsters and Spells constantly end up missing either the right monster or the right Equip Spell, which can lead to unbearable bricks.
• The archetype, just like most other archetypes, does not like any form of Summon Negation; therefore, cards like "Vanity's Fiend", "Vanity's Emptiness", "Archlord Kristya" or "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" can stop the deck completely.
• Since the archetype is almost completely relying on the combination of Equip Spells and Monster Cards, any form of effect that will either prohibit players from using Spell Cards or delay them will hurt this deck immensely. Examples are "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8", "Imperial Order" or "Anti-Spell Fragrance".
  • The same reliance on Equip Spells makes them weak against backrow removal, such as "Twin Twisters", "Heavy Storm Duster" or "Tornado Dragon".

References[edit]