#deck archetypes

[queenlua]

hey lua what decks do phoenix aceattorney and miles aceattorney play in magic

PHOENIX WRIGHT

once upon a time, a friend bullied me into going to a Pro Tour Qualifier, which was probably the largest Magic tournament i’d ever been to at that time, right?

i was happy to be bullied, to be clear, but the problem was… i hadn’t played standard-format Magic competitively in about 2-3 years.  so my knowledge of the current metagame, what deck archetypes were popular, and what the current cards even were, was staggeringly limited.

“it will be fine,” said my friend.  “here, take this spare deck i built.  it’s super-straightforward and easy,” he lied.

he said this to me approx. 8 seconds before the first round began, so uhhhhh, i sure was playing a game of magical cards without ever having even looked at the damn deck before!

so, lo, literally in the course of playing the deck, i was learning how this shit was supposed to work.  “oh!” i’d exclaim with delight, halfway through my turn.  “THAT’S how those two cards are supposed to interact.  oh that’s super clever.  what a neat combo.”  and then i’d proceed to shiftily look at my opponent over my cards, riffle those cards a lil bit, and then say “pass” with as much of an enigmatic vibe as i could muster.

meanwhile, my opponent was Actually Prepared, and they were Trying To Win, and they were pissed.  they threatened to call Slow Play on me because i was taking so fucking long reading all the cards.  as in, he literally called a judge over, who stood there watching me the whole time, in order to determine if i was being Criminally Bad At Magic versus just A Regular Amount Of Bad At Magic, and i was sweating bullets the whole time because i didn’t know this deck or their deck or any of those cards and AHHHH why is the judge staring at me!!!

….which only served to make it EXTRA-humiliating for this poor fuck when i proceeded to eviscerate them 2-0.  hahahah get dunked onnnnnnnn nerd!!!

and then i also proceeded to eviscerate my next opponent???

sheer dumb luck.  i cannot overstate how ill-prepared i was for this tournament.  i absolutely did not deserve these wins.

meanwhile the friend who gave me the deck was having a much worse time with their deck, and they were like “what the fuck. you weren’t supposed to win. how are you winning with that shit, my deck’s so much better than yours”

anyway.  i think that’s the kind of scenario Phoenix would get into if he were an MtG player.  dude Gets Himself Into Situations And Then Uses Cleverness + Bullshit + Luck To Get Out Again.

(AA4-era Phoenix seems like he’s doing the same thing… but, in reality, he’s actually been meticulously crafting his deck in secret for the past six months.  he’s not even aiming to win the tournament, he’s just exploiting a known weakness in the opponent-matching system that lets him know with certainty who he’s going to get matched up against (spoiler: first round is Kristoph), and he’s hyper-optimizing his deck to beat Literally Only Those People.  meanwhile, Apollo, who built a tryhard hyper-optimized variant of Red Deck Wins, is lowkey annoyed that Phoenix's seemingly-random pile keeps vaulting him just one table above him in the standings, because Apollo knows his deck is better. he knows it!!!! just let him go 1v1 and prove it aaaaughhhh!!!)

((also, in case you want Actual Concrete Cards And Colors And Stuff: in general i think Phoenix prefers limited play (draft, sealed, "anything where you open booster packs on the spot & throw a deck together") to constructed play, because he doesn't like being tied down to any one game plan. when he does play constructed, i think he's less attached to a specific colors and more attached to specific mechanics. in particular: he's not a combo player exactly, but he likes mechanics that feel like bullshit. dude saw Madness for the first time & his eyes lit up & he was in LOVE, "you mean i'm discarding the card but then i can cast it for free??? hell YES." he absolutely ran a poison counter deck during New Phyrexia. ah fuck i just realized he was probably a huge stan for noted awful expansion Battle for Zendikar, i think i gotta cancel him now, sorry))

((and i think Phoenix also has a touch of Timmy in him! like, i went to a huge state tournament once with a bunch of really skilled players, and there was this one dude in our car who had a really solid deck, clearly adhered to a lot of the trends in the meta at the time... but his win condition was a Shivan Dragon. which wasn't a bad card at the time, it was a reasonable win condition, but it was... slightly suboptimal? not at all the obvious pick? sort of random? and multiple people asked him "why is that your win condition" & he shrugged and said "i like dragons." so the dragon stayed & that dude ended up getting second place in the whole tournament so FUCK optimal play, bring a dragon. i think Phoenix would sneak in a dragon now and again. just 'cause))

MILES EDGEWORTH

this one is trickier!!!

young!Miles is just going to play Whatever The Meta Deems To Be The Best Deck, right. the von Karma perfection thing and all. it's all very boring & micro-optimized to be the Best Deck Of Its Kind & he pours over the results of the big name tournaments week after week & does some math or whatever to hyper-optimize his own build of the Obviously Correct Deck. there is no soul in any of this, purely Executing On A Formula.

...but then he experiences Character Growth & has his big gay crisis & now he has to pick up the game again. he opens the latest tournament results... clicks around some win % stats for various cards in a desultory kinda way, and... his heart's just not in it, right?

enter 2-4 era Miles. 2-4 era Miles is playing some utterly unhinged Five Color Good Stuff thing. there's a lot of Planar Chaos cards in there, because that whole set was about Weird Shit & cards doing Stuff You're Familiar With (But In The Utterly Wrong Color!!!) & all that is resonating with Miles more than he'd care to admit. he cannot possibly talk about his unnecessary feelings but he can make a weird noise rock album about them. and by noise rock album i mean this fucking Magic deck.

and he's playing this deck with a 100% straight face, as though this is the exact same behavior that won him the Junior Super Series five years in a row & not a desperate cry for help from a madman. everyone else is like Miles... are you playing fucking singletons... in a fucking standard deck... you know your deck will be more consistent with four-ofs right... and then he gives a cool fish-eyed stare & taps out to cast some arcane bullshit legendary creature & gives a single rap of his knuckles against the table to indicate that he's passing the turn.

and it works, is the thing! all those years of training to be the Spikiest Spike Ever have paid off; this Five Color Good Stuff thing relies on some pretty clever insights to make the mana base work, and parts of what he's doing eventually get adopted by the larger metagame to become an Actual Serious Deck. but, like. it's still a monstrosity. any skilled players watching are still definitely wondering Are You Okay, Dude.

after 2-4, i think Miles settles back into playing something more normal. he still cares about winning, but he's going to do it with a touch of class. he wants a game that involves dialogue, some actual back-and-forth, because just trying to combo off is lame coward behavior.

aw yeah baby we're talking counterspells!!!

he's a blue player at heart & he's happiest when he's updating the autopsy report shutting down whatever his opponent's plan is. he'll splash other colors as the occasion calls for it, but he'd be happy running mono-blue the rest of his life. like, i ran a pretty fun Legacy deck back in the day which consisted of:

every kind of counterspell i could get my hands on,

propaganda because FUCK creatures,

thieving magpies for the card draw,

and a few silver wyverns to, y'know, actually win the game

...and i think Miles would appreciate that deck. just play counterspells until the opponent runs out of steam & then cruise your way to victory with a couple birds. simple. elegant. classic. doesn't involve any of this modern Planeswalker bullshit (Miles regards most developments that happened to MtG post-Time Spiral block or so as affronts to game design).

(i do think Miles has a secret fondness for sagas as a card type, however. they remind him of all that Character Growth, but in an abstract/subconscious/nonthreatening way. too bad most of them are a bit of poor match for the kinds of decks he likes to play)

FINALLY: i think Miles hates playing Commander with every fiber of his being & Phoenix loves it & this is a pretty serious point of contention in their relationship. poor dudes

[orphetoon]

broke: giving your ocs mbti types, astrological signs, etc

woke: deciding how your ocs would play yugioh

[maynightparade]

Advice for beginners learning tarot:

My mentor taught me to stop reading reversed cards. You need to learn the general energy of the card, there’s no need to learn two sets of meanings. Flip the card upright

Learn the major and minor arcana separate

Read and research about archetypes, not “how to read tarot”

Write down and date all tarot notes. This will cement your personal relationship with the cards.

Learn about the switching of the cards 8 and 11. Learn why they were switched.

Research numerology, synchronicity, the shadow.

Love May xo 🔮🌸🩷🩵

[theannoyedskittle]

"May your heart be weighed favorably by Osiris' scales."

This Barbie is gonna Drain Your F-ing Life Points

[kingofanemptyworld]

thinking about the YGO au again and while I’m partial to the OG series because of the whole “possessed by ancient spirit” aspect of Yugi’s character I am delighted by the idea of Ichigo and Grimmjow facing off on duel runners. Underground racing, too, no fancy tracks for them to zip around, auto pilot disabled for maximum danger levels.

Some version of the shadow realm still exists though because I need Shiro to just start chucking people in there when they threaten his King.

Ichigo has some sort of artifact he inherited from his mother that contains Shiro and Ossan’s spirits and they take turns swapping out with Ichigo when things get a little too dire for their liking.

Aizen’s the Big Bad, of course, and recruits Grimmjow (along with the other Espada) with the promise of making him the most powerful duelist in the world (some unethical experiments to make him closer to the spirit realm later and he’s fucked up in the head a little but good to go)

But! Grimmjow loses to Ichigo in the quarter finals of the New Karakura tournament and subsequently gets stripped of his title as one of Aizen’s favored duelists. So he sets out to beat the shit out of Ichigo in the underground racing league the dumbass never learned to stay away from.

And they save the world together eventually 🧡🩵

[thesilverlock]

Rough sketchin’ my boy! In his full attire, for once.

[hermitsmirror]

💎💎💎 Pick a card 💎💎💎 

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and imagine light entering up from the ground and running up through your body. With each breath let it flow more fully up and in you. Breathe out all the gunk that it finds that you don’t want with you.

As you continue this breath work, let the light you breathe in illuminate and electrify you within before it leaves through the tips of your fingers and the top of your head, connecting you to the archetypal world. And as you feel yourself clearly connected, open your eyes. Now pick a card from The Wild Unknown Archetypes deck.

Will you pick top left, right, or bottom left?

If you need more time to find your center and point of connection with the beyond, take that time. Continue breathing in and out, clearing what needs clearing, and making space for new possibilities.

How does that feel? I hope it was peaceful and restorative.

Now pick a card (if you want) and read its message in the reveal.

Let me know how it resonates, and please share the post with those who might benefit from some guidance.

And if you’re curious to learn more about intuitively reading the visuals of a card (not just the guidebook), check out the upcoming workshop I’m hosting next weekend.

[purinsesukinny]

AH AH IVE LITERALLY BEEN 21 FOR OVER TWO MONTHS NOW BUT @naitosutan COMMISSIONED @furunui01 FOR ME AND I’M SO IN LOVE like i love the mccormick siblings with all my heart and *blubbering noises* joey and serenity..... *holds gently* having kenny and kevin dress up as joey and karen in her little serenity cosplay 🥺🥺😭😭💞💞 THEY ARE SO CUTE furunui executed this concept so well!!!!!!!!!

if you have the chance, pls commission the artist!!!!!!!

[helgahaze]

Planetary Guide for Tarot Decks

Each tarot deck blends traditions, themes, colors, has its unique illustration style. This combination creates a distinct deck vibe that can be described through planetary symbolism.

Sun

“Childish” bright pictures. Simple metaphors. Oracles with a unique interpretation system. Focused on positive meanings.

Moon

Cozy, calm or, conversely, ambiguous, vague images and metaphors. Feminine archetypes, Mother Earth, decks with cats. Oracles without a system. Supposed for intuitive reading.

Mercury

Modern, bright, colourful decks. Quick and easy to understand. Simple forms, universal metaphors. Oracles with words and phrases.

Venus

Harmonious illustrations. Delicate graphics. Decks based on art. Feminine themes. Oracles of graceful moths and dried flowers.

Mars

Aggressive colours and messaging. Simple graphics. Masculine archetypes. Brings forward themes of brutality, expansion, struggle. Straight-forward metaphors and images.

Jupiter

Ethnic decks. Other cultures, religious topics. Bright, colourful, memorable illustrations.

Saturn

Decks with a clear system and structure. Dark aesthetic, linework. Monochrome. Illustrations associated with darkness, death, control, severity.

Uranus

Acid colours, lots of graphics and symbols. Eclectic, rhythmic, repeating elements, surreal. Progressive decks. Reassessing current topics through tarot.

Neptune

Abstract, fairytale, magical illustrations. Decks with animals and nature, plants, spirits, mythological motifs. Deep, intricate symbolism and metaphors.

Pluto

Vampire decks. Dragons, dark aesthetics, gothic, demons. Decks filled with magical symbolism. Focused on unknown depths, fears, repressed aspects, shadow.

Nothing exists in a pure, sterile form isolated from its context. Below, you can see how these astrological correspondences apply to real tarot decks.

Of course, this correlations is subjective. These are my personal interpretations, and yours may differ. There is absolutely no gatekeeping here.

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[red-dragon-archfiend]

My Yugioh anime hot take of the night is Alexis Rhodes might've been the main character if Jaden wasn't set in stone as the protagonist

[fyeahygocardart]

Spice the Elite Noodle Ninja

[genderfuckpirate]

Not to be extremely niche on main but there are a bunch of similarities between Hawkeye from M*A*S*H and Mariner from Star Trek: Lower Decks and I can't stop thinking about it. Both are anti-authority and openly critical of the organisation they belong to BUT ALSO are well respected and experienced in their specific area, with authority frequently (if begrudgingly) deferring to them for help. They both have this sort of sarcastic, nonchalant facade but in reality they care deeply about their friends and helping other people (they even both have an epsiode that's dedicated to them pulling off an elaborate scheme in order to break the rules and help people in need). Oh and they are both horny bi disasters.

[sojourner-between-worlds]

*ahem* No one asked but I'm going to talk about my favorite archetype to play anyway:

Aromas!

Its not competitive in any way, really, (too reliant on continuous spells/traps for the current meta) but it sure is fun (and that's all I care about, haha), and for a 5D's-era archetype, it's actually really pretty decent. When you see that the highest rarity is only 6*, you might be tempted to think otherwise, but with the phenomenal monster effects, they had to be nerfed somehow.

The basic premise: Gaining Life Points utterly destroys your opponent's field, hand, and graveyard.

Extra Deck:

Aromaseraphy Sweet Marjoram - 6* Synchro - 2200 ATK, 2000 DEF - When summoned, you can add one of three archetype continuous traps to your hand. Once per turn when you gain LP, you can destroy a card on your opponent's field. Any card you want. (Idk if this effect stacks as I only have one copy in Master Duel because she's UR. I really should craft another one if for no other reason than to find out, but I have not yet.)

Aromaseraphy Rosemary - 5* Synchro - 2000 ATK, 900 DEF - When you gain LP, you get to nullify the effect of one card on your opponent's field, monster or spell or trap, they are all up for grabs. When your LPs are higher than your opponent's, all Plant-type monsters on your field gain 500 ATK and DEF. And both of these effects stack. Which means you can potentially nullify the effects of three cards and grant all of your monsters 1500 ATK. Which is sick, by the way. I have done this.

Aromaseraphy Jasmine - Rank 2 Link - 1800 ATK - Can you say "card advantage"? When you gain LP, you can add one Plant-type monster from your deck to your hand. Also, when your LP are higher than your opponent's, this monster and any it points to cannot be destroyed by battle. You can also tribute one monster she points to to special summon a monster from your deck in DEF mode. (This is a great defense strat if you choose to run Chirubime but more on that later.) (Obviously if you're writing a 5Ds-era duel then you can't run her, but she is quite nice.)

Main Deck Monsters:

Aromage Bergamot - 6* Effect - 2400 ATK, 1800 DEF - This bad boy is 100% worth the single tribute. Once per turn when you gain LP, he gains 1000 ATK and DEF. If just being a beat-stick isn't good enough, ALL Plant-type monsters deal piercing damage when your LPs are higher than your opponent's. Goodbye, defense.

Aromage Marjoram - 5* Effect - 2000 ATK, 1600 DEF - You can special summon her from your hand if a Plant-type monster on your field is destroyed. If you do this, you can gain 500LP, and whenever you gain LP, you get to banish cards from your opponent's GY, one for every Aroma monster face up on your field. Goodbye, graveyard.

Aromage Rosemary - 4* Effect - 1800 ATK, 700 DEF - Admittedly I do use her for synchro fodder more than anything simply because in the easy duels I'm usually in with this deck, her first effect tends to hurt more than help which is that when you gain LP you have to switch the position of one monster on the field. Key words being have to. You don't get a choice so if you're not careful you end up having to switch your own. Her other effect, however, of your opponent not being allowed to use monster effects during battle, is slightly cooler and more helpful (especially depending on what type of deck you're battling against; once again, I'm usually in easy solo mode duels).

Aromage Cananga - 3* Effect - 1400 ATK, 1000 DEF - When your LP are higher than your opponent's, all of your opponent's monsters lose 500 ATK and DEF. You also get to bounce a spell/trap back to their hand when your gain LP. And, yes, these effects DO stack. So if you've got three on your field, all of your opponent's monsters lose 1500 ATK and DEF. (I've never had more than two on the field once, but still. The possibility is there, lol.) Goodbye, ATK points.

Aromage Jasmine - 2* Effect - 100 ATK, 1900 DEF - Can you say "card advantage" again? Once per turn when you gain LP you get to draw a card. If that wasn't enough, you can also summon an additional plant monster during your turn (when your LPs are higher than your opponent's). When combined with some other card effects, she makes it very easy to synchro summon 5*s very quickly. (I looped out all three 5* synchros in one turn once with her. That was sick.)

Aroma Jar - 1* Effect - 500 ATK, 400 DEF - This little guy is a great defender because when flip summoned he can't be destroyed by battle. (Doesn't....doesn't work in anime duels unfortunately then but hey.) During the End Phase of each turn, you gain 500 LPs. So he becomes a very handy way to quickly gain the LP advantage as well as proc'ing other effects during your opponent's End Phase.

Aromage Laurel - 1* Effect - 800 ATK, 0 DEF - Oh, this handy lil dude. When your LPs are higher than your opponent's, you can special summon him from your hand. If you gain LP, you can select another Plant-type monster on your field (including him) to treat as a Tuner until the End Phase. When he leaves the field for any reason, you can gain 500 LP. Tiny but mighty.

Aromaseraphy Angelica - 1* Tuner - 0 ATK, 0 DEF - Aside from being the only archetype tuner, she's got some neat effects. You can send her to the GY, select another Aroma monster already there, and gain LP equal to the selected monster's ATK points. While in the GY, if your LPs are higher than your opponent's and you have another Aroma monster on your field, you can special summon her (though you have to banish her when she leaves the field; had to nerf her somehow, haha).

Spells and Traps:

Aroma Garden - Field Spell - As long as you have at least one Aroma monster face up on your field, you can gain 500 LPs and ALL monsters on your field gain 500 ATK and DEF. If an Aroma monster is destroyed by battle, you gain 1000 LP.

Aroma Gardening - Continuous Spell - Once per turn when you summon an Aroma monster, you can gain 1000 LP. Also, if your LPs are lower than your opponent's and they declare battle, you can special summon an Aroma monster from your deck (and then gain that 1000 LP for summoning it). Summon Bergamot and that about stops any attack, lol.

Dried Winds - Continuous Trap - Once per turn when you gain LP you can destroy one face-up monster on your opponent's field. (This is really the only effect I use, but there is a second one that allows you to pay LP to destroy your opponent's monsters. You can only use this when you have 3000+ more LP than they do, and you have to pay whatever the difference is. So if you have 5000 more then you pay 5000 to destroy up to a certain number of monsters but no matter how many you choose to destroy, the cost is the same.)

Humid Winds - Continuous Trap - Effect one: you can pay 1000 LP to add on Aroma monster from your deck to your hand. Effect two: if your LPs are lower than your opponent's, you can gain 500 LP. You can use both in the same turn. This combo has occasionally been a life-saver, haha.

Blessed Winds - Continuous Trap - Three effects on this one, but you can only use one effect once per turn. One: you can send one Plant-type monster from your hand or field to the graveyard to gain 500 LP. Two: you can shuffle one Plant-type monster from your GY back into your deck to gain 500 LP. Three: you can pay 1000 LP to special summon an Aroma monster from your GY. The third one gives you an infinite synchro-summoning loop. Or an infinite healing loop, depending on your immediate needs. (Both made possible when used with one non-archetype card listed below).

[Insert other spells/traps here] What else you run is entirely up to you. I typically run Monster Reborn, Raigeki, and Skill Successor, but I have run other things like Call of the Haunted and Trap Hole with Spikes. (And I'm honestly wondering if I really even need Raigeki but then I have to find something else to add because it's only a 40-card deck as is, lol.)

Non-Archetype Winners:

Rose Girl - 3* Tuner - 800 ATK, 600 DEF - I would not dream of running this deck without her. When she's in your GY and you have a Plant-type monster on your field, you can add her back to your hand. Not to mention having a tuner that's not a 1* makes synchro summoning much easier. Her effect combined with Blessed Winds creates "endless" loops for either gaining LPs or synchro summoning. Additionally, if a Plant-type monster leaves your field, you can special summon her. She's a must for this deck. (Even if she is nerfed with a hard once per turn.)

Queen of Thorns - 6* Synchro - 2200 ATK, 1800 DEF - This lovely girl makes it almost impossible for your opponent to normal or special summon monsters. Both players have to pay 1000 LP to summon monsters unless they are Plant-type. Which, ya know, isn't a problem for this deck since the only monster in it that isn't Plant-type is Aroma Jar (lil dude is a Rock-type).

Chirubime, Princess of Autumn Leaves - 8* Effect - 1800 ATK, 2800 DEF - While I'm not currently running her, she is a good defensive tactic with L2 Aromaseraphy Jasmine due to her high DEF and her effect which makes her the only Plant-type monster your opponent can target for attacks. Additionally if she is sent to the GY by your opponent (by battle or card effect), you can special summon another Plant-type monster from your deck.

Botanical Lion, Botanical Girl, and Violet Witch - I'm lumping these together because I don't currently run them either but they do work well within the deck. BL gains 300 ATK for every Plant-type monster on your field which comes in handy sometimes, and the other two allow you to search out cards when they are destroyed. They are also useful as syrchro material, obviously.

If you actually read all of that, I am both impressed and kissing you gently on the forehead in appreciation, lol.

But yeah, I love this deck. You get a few key cards in your opening hand, and it's over before it even really starts.

[kirbyddd]

they've kinda always been my muses tbh

[kingofanemptyworld]

me, playing master duel and idly thinking about the YGO anime: haha wouldn’t it be funny if there was a grimmichi yugioh au? they’d be so competitive, like yugi vs. kaiba levels of homoerotic rivalry

me, two minutes later in the middle of a duel: Ichigo’s even got the whole “possessed by a spirit” thing going for him and I could totally see Shiro/Ossan as an ancient king taking over every once in a while to deal with particularly challenging duels. Shiro has a terrible habit of sending people to the Shadow Realm and Ichigo’s wracked with guilt over it

me, right now, realizing this is something I now desperately want: oh no

[waffliesinyoface]

one of the downsides of yugioh having a bunch of different archetypes is that most of those archetypes have cards which only really affect that archetype. so it can be really annoying to add new cards to a deck.