Steelswarm

"Steelswarm", known as "Inverz" (インヴェルズ Inveruzu) in the OCG, is an archetype of DARK Fiend monsters with 0 DEF (excluding "Steelswarm Gatekeeper"), first released in Duel Terminal - Raid of the Inverz!!. "Steelswarm" is a sub-archetype of "lswarm". At least one member of the Knights of Hanoi uses a "Steelswarm" Deck in the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime.

Lore[edit]

"Steelswarm" are demons that were sealed in the deepest abyss during the ancient times, after losing their battle for control of the world against the "Vylon". After being awaken from the chaos coming from the war between the "Gusto" and "Gishki" tribes on the land, they began to invade the surface in order to regain their lost power. The "Vylon", who were trying to stop another war that was between the "Gem-Knight" and "Laval" tribes. As their leader "Steelswarm Hercules" released his destructive shock-wave on the surface world, the light emitting from "Vylon Omega" prevented the attack of "Steelswarm Hercules", turning any "Steelswarm" it reached into smithereens and scattering them across the battle field.

According to promotional material for Duel Terminal - Judgment of Omega!!, they are enemies of all the other teams in the set.

Their team symbol is a black demon mask that also resembles a claw or beetle (being appropriate since all "Steelswarm" are insectoid in form) which is tattooed on to the bodies of all its members.

Members[edit]

Main Deck High-Level (5+)[edit]

"Steelswarm" high-level monsters are named after various insects; in the Japanese OCG, their names are written in katakana, indicating that they are given names and not an assigned title. These reflect their status as upper-level "Steelswarm" who are strong enough to have individual names, and have power over other lower-level "Steelswarm".

Main Deck Low-Level (1-4)[edit]

"Steelswarm" low-level monsters have various titles as their names; in the Japanese OCG, these titles are written with kanji and hiragana. Each low-Level "Steelswarm" has a visual design apparently inspired a stage in the juvenile development of an insect.

Extra Deck[edit]

"Steelswarm" Extra Deck monsters are primarily support for the Evilswarm playstyle, rather than "Steelswarm".

Playing style[edit]

"Steelswarm" is an archetype focused around Tribute Summoning, similar to "Monarchs". The low level monsters help facilitate Tribute Summoning. Meanwhile, the high Level monsters all require "Steelswarm" Tributes, either to be summoned or to activate their effects, and usually have an LP cost.

• "Steelswarm Scout", "Steelswarm Cell", and "Steelswarm Gatekeeper" help Summon out monsters to use as material, while "Steelswarm Genome" can be treated as 2 Tributes for a "Steelswarm" monster. "Scout" is an in-archetype "Treeborn Frog", but does not allow any other Special Summons.
• "Steelswarm Mantis" is a 1 Tribute Monster which can revive a Steelswarm from GY.
• The main boss monsters of the Deck are:
  • "Steelswarm Longhorn", an effectively 1 Tribute Monster that can send 1 card to the GY.
  • "Steelswarm Caucastag", a 2 Tribute Monster that can destroy all other monsters or all Spells/Traps.
  • "Steelswarm Hercules", a 3 Tribute Monster that can destroy all other cards as an Ignition Effect.
• "Infestation Terminus" can banish 1 "lswarm" monster to bounce 2 cards your opponent controls to the hand.

"Steelswarm Origin", released much later than any other member of the archetype, is a Link monster that restricts Extra Deck summoning, and floats into any amount of "lswarm" monsters

Recommended cards[edit]

Official Konami Decklists[edit]

The following Decklists may or may not contain copies of cards that exceed the maximum amount allowed by the current Forbidden & Limited List. These should not be changed, as these Decklists are copied verbatim at the time they were published.

Weaknesses[edit]

• As an archetype meant for the Duel Terminal machines (which had a much lower power level than the OCG/TCG, even for the time), it struggles with some core issues relating to Deck strength. It has also received no support since "Steelswarm Origin" in 2018.
  • The Deck is inconsistent. There are almost no ways to search archetypal cards (the only searcher being a Trap, "Infestation Infection"). Also, as a Tribute Summon archetype, the high Level monsters are all liable to being bricks.
  • It is difficult to get "Steelswarm" Tribute material on field, as there are few in-archetype ways to get extra Summons.
  • The payoffs for Tribute Summoning are not worth the reward. "Longhorn" and "Mantis" only require 1 Tribute, but the former is outclassed by "Caius the Shadow Monarch", and the latter is stuck to an otherwise weak archetype. The 2-3 Tribute monsters have good effects, but the "Steelswarm" support means it is difficult to get a monster on field.
• Most "Steelswarm" monsters have 0 DEF, so putting them into Defense Position with cards such as "Level Limit - Area B", "Book of Moon", "Earthquake" and "No Entry!!" leaves them vulnerable to battle.
• Negating the board-breaking effects of their Tributed Summoned monsters with cards like "Skill Drain" or "Effect Veiler" can go a long way.
• "Mask of Restrict"/"Fog King" prevent Tributes entirely, while "Zombie World" stops the Tribute of any non-Zombie.

Trivia[edit]

• In the OCG, the name of "Steelswarm" monsters that are Level 5 or 6 starts with "M" (probably for Mega), while those who are Level 7 or 8 starts with "G" (probably for Giga).
• All "Steelswarm" Tribute Summoned monsters have original ATK equal to 1200 plus their Level × 200.
• The Level 5 and higher "Steelswarm" monster have distinct colorings unique to each of them, as opposed to the all-black colors of the Level 4 and lower "Steelswarm" monsters.

References[edit]