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"Malefic", known as "Sin" (
Design
Appearance
Many "Malefic" monsters have mechanical-looking pieces of their body which are made of a mix of white, grey and black metal, including wings and face-plates (and, in the case of "Malefic Stardust Dragon", knee and torso plates). Their faces have masks similar to that of Paradox, with the right side black, the left side white and line patterns that cover the eyes ("Malefic Cyber End Dragon" also has its far right head black and far left white). "Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and "Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon" are the only "Malefic" monsters whose right eye is not covered by their masks.
However, the two non-Dragon "Malefic" monsters (except "Malefic Cyber End Dragon"), "Malefic Parallel Gear" and "Malefic Paradox Gear", are Machine monsters instead and like their names imply, are simply gear-like in design.
Origin
Most of the monsters in this archetype are corrupted versions of other monsters (most of which are counterparts of well-known dragons. The remaining four monsters look similar, but have no known non-Malefic counterparts.
Etymology
The Japanese name for this archetype, "Sin", is meant as a pun on the words for "truth" ("shin") and "sin" ("tsumi"), alluding to the truth of human nature as seen by Paradox - that humanity's errors have led to the world's destruction.
The English name "Malefic" means "having or asserting a negative influence", referring to how these cards are corrupted versions of existing cards.
Members
Playing style
Overview
The basic, underlying playstyle of a "Malefic" Deck is an Aggro Beatdown Deck that focuses on constant Special Summoning of high Level DARK monster with high ATK. Most "Malefic" monsters are Special Summoned by banishing their original counterpart from the hand, Deck or Extra Deck (varies by monster) while a Field Spell Card is active.
"Malefic World" is the Deck's primary Field Spell Card, acting as a method to search "Malefic" cards at the cost of the Normal draw, allowing the "Malefic" player to avoid dead draws of monsters that need to be banished for the Summoning conditions of their "Malefic" monsters, as well as setting up "Malefic Truth Dragon" to act as a hand trap.
Due to the Deck's reliance on constantly controlling a Field Spell Card, "Terraforming" is essential, and additional Field Spell Cards—such as "The Seal of Orichalcos", "Magical Citadel of Endymion", "Dragon Ravine" and "Geartown"—are recommended. "The Seal of Orichalcos" and "Magical Citadel" both have self-protection, "Dragon Ravine" allows sending "Truth Dragon" to the Graveyard, and "Geartown" allows the player to maintain field presence even if it is destroyed by Summoning "Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon" (which can also be discarded using "Trade-In" to add consistency to the Deck).
"Malefic Stardust Dragon" offers support to the archetype by protecting Field Spells from destruction by card effects as well as being very easy to Summon (as "Stardust Dragon" is banished from the Extra Deck). "Malefic Rainbow Dragon" and "Malefic Cyber End Dragon" act as the Decks main and easiest to Summon beatsticks. "Malefic Parallel Gear" is the archetypal Tuner, which uses a "Malefic" monster from the hand as the non-tuner for the Synchro Summon, allowing "Malefic Paradox Dragon" (or another Level 10 Synchro Monster such as "Dragocytos Corrupted Nethersoul Dragon") to easily be easily Summoned.
"Cyber Dragon" works well to help maintain field should all Field Spell Cards leave the field. If using "Cyber Dragon"; "Instant Fusion", "Panzer Dragon", "Cyber Dragon Nova" and "Infinity" can be used to protect the Field Spell. Should "Nova" be sent to the Graveyard by an opponent's effect, "Nova" can Special Summon a "Cyber End Dragon" from the Extra Deck.
"Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" can be used to revive "Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon", "Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and "Malefic Paradox Dragon". If a Field Spell, except "Malefic World" is on the field "Paradox Dragon" will be destroyed, thus allowing the usage of "Malefic Truth Dragon" repeatedly. Additionally, using cards such that prevent setting cards (such as "Dark Simorgh") or cards that cause piercing (such as "Dragon's Rage") can be used to take full advantage of the high ATK of "Malefic" monsters.
By using a combination of "Ojama Trio"/"Nightmare Archfiends" and "Battle Mania"/"All-Out Attacks" "Malefics" can easilly achieve an OTK.
With the release of newer support for the archetype, controlling multiple "Malefic" monsters is finally a possibility, along with the bonus of alternate searching methods. "Malefic Territory" effectively acts as an archetypal "Terraforming" with the bonus of providing Field Spell protection. Not only that, but while it is on the field, the player can summon multiple powerful "Mafelics" with high ATK values (and in the case of "Malefic Stardust Dragon", additional Field Spell protection). This also allows any and all of your monsters to attack, albeit with their effects negated. "Malefic Selector" is able to search 2 of your monsters at once at the cost of banishing two from the GY, and none of the monsters can share the same name.
If looking for additional summoning, "Paradox Gear" is able to tribute itself while a Field Spell is present to immediately summon "Parallel Gear" for Synchro plays and search another "Malefic" monster (allowing access to a variety of useful Level 10 Synchro Monsters), while also doubling as any necessary monster for the summon of another high-Level "Malefic" monster. This, coupled with "Malefic Divide", provides excellent play extension as "Divide" can revive any of your monsters although said monsters will be banished at the end of the turn.
"Malefic Tune" can provide easy draw power to the deck despite being naturally slower than most draw cards due to being a Trap, on top of even more searching. All in all, with new support "Malefics" can easily build a board full of menacing beatsticks for a potential OTK.
Other strategies
Anti-meta
In the OCG, "Malefics" can potentially function well as an Anti-Meta Deck, revolving primarily around the cards "Necrovalley" and "Skill Drain".
- Monsters such as "Beast King Barbaros" and "Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast" can be Summoned under "Skill Drain" with their full attack. "Beast King Barbaros" is Level 8, and therefore compatible with "Trade-In", while "Fusilier" is DARK, and therefore compatible with "Allure of Darkness", "Deck Devastation Virus" and "Eradicator Epidemic Virus".
- "Necrovalley", aside being a Field Spell, is a potent Floodgate that will prevent your opponent from summoning or banishing monsters from their Graveyard.
As the Deck does makes little use of the Graveyard, cards such as "Macro Cosmos" are excellent side-Deck choices.
Stalling and alternative win conditions
An alternative strategy for "Malefics" is to use their high ATK for stalling instead of attacking, and using "Final Countdown" or "Wave Motion Cannon" and cards that can prevent your cards from being destroyed (like "Magic Reflector", "Imperial Custom" and "Safe Zone", etc.) to stall until your win condition is met.
- "Cost Down" can reduce "Malefic Stardust Dragon"'s level in your hand, which can let you use "Malefic Parallel Gear" to Synchro Summon "Stardust Dragon".
Weaknesses
Special Summon reliance
- Anti-Special Summon cards such as "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" and "Thunder King Rai-Oh" are very dangerous to a "Malefic" Deck, since almost none of the "Malefic" monsters can be Normal Summoned. Other options include "Koa'ki Meiru Drago", "Consecrated Light" and the "Barrier Statue" monsters. "Thunder King Rai-Oh" is especially dangerous as it negates the effect of "Malefic World" and "Terraforming".
- "Skill Drain" is a good counter these monster effects, as well as having a lot of synergy with the "Malefic" Deck.
- "Grave of the Super Ancient Organism" is a useful Floodgate against "Malefic" Decks.
- "Imperial Iron Wall" prevents both player's from banishing cards, making almost all "Malefic" monsters impossible to Summon.
- Can be countered with common Spell/Trap removal cards such as "Mystical Space Typhoon".
- Since several "Malefic" monsters need their original forms to be in the Deck or Extra Deck, Deck Destruction cards (such as "Needle Worm", "Gravekeeper's Servant", and "Doom Dozer") as well as cards that remove cards from your opponent's Extra Deck (such as "Dragunity Knight - Trident" or "Extra Gate") can potentially be useful.
Field Spell reliance
- Since most "Malefic" monsters are destroyed if there is no Field Spell on the field, having good access to Spell/Trap removal severely limits the "Malefic" player's ability to maintain field presence.
- Synchro Decks can use "Ancient Fairy Dragon" to destroy the "Malefic" player's Field Spell, thus destroying any "Malefic" monsters, while also gaining 1000 LP.
- A face-up "Field Barrier", while there are no Field Spells on the field, will lock-out all Field Spells from being activated, thus prevent Summoning of most "Malefic" monsters and also increase the likelihood of dead draws.
Other weaknesses
- "Malefic" monsters (with the exception of "Paradox Dragon", "Parallel Gear" and "Paradox Gear") have a restriction to there only being one "Malefic" monster on the field, thus making Mirror Matchs risky, though the risk can be countered with "Malefic Territory". Also, cards that change control of monsters, such as "Creature Swap", are dangerous too.
Deck building
Recommended cards
Official Deck
Anime
Paradox, the antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time, plays a "Malefic" Deck. He claims that they are the most powerful cards in history, due to the fact that they aren't bound to Normal Summoning rules.
In the movie, "Malefic" monsters were much more flexible than their OCG/TCG cards; multiple "Malefic" monsters could exist on the field at once, they did not impose attack restrictions on their controller and the original monsters were sent to the Graveyard (instead of being banished), thus allowing Paradox to easily and constantly swarm the field with his powerful monsters.
Trivia
- In the trailers shown before every episode[citation needed] are nine face-down cards. The first 5 are the "Malefic" monsters that were corrupted versions of original Dragons. The sixth is "Elemental HERO Neos Knight", the seventh is "Junk Gardna", the eighth is "Malefic Parallel Gear", and the ninth is "Malefic Paradox Dragon".
- All seven "Malefic" Spell/Trap Cards in Japanese have their names printed in English.
- "Malefic" monsters share some traits with two other 5Ds Era archetypes used by antagonists; "Earthbound Immortals" and "Meklord Emperors".
- "Earthbound Immortal": Both archetypes consist of DARK monsters, they are (for "Malefic" most are) Field-Unique and destroy themselves if a Field Spell Card is not present.
- "Meklord Emperor": They share an effect which prevents other monsters you control from attacking.
References
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