Ice Barrier

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Ice Barrier
"General Gantala", "General Grunard" and "General Raiho" in the artwork of "Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier".
Japanese
  • ひょうけっかい
  • 氷結界 (base)
  • ひょうけっかい (ruby)
  • Hyōkekkai (romanized)
French
  • Barrière de Glace
German
  • Eisbarriere
Italian
  • Barriera di Ghiaccio
Korean
  • 빙결계
  • 氷結界 (Hanja)
  • Binggyeolgye (romanized)
Portuguese
  • Barreira de Gelo
Spanish
  • Barrera de Hielo
Sets
TCG
OCG
Korean
Anime appearances
Manga appearances
Lists

"Ice Barrier" (ひょうけっかい Hyōkekkai) is an archetype consisting of WATER monsters resembling, for the most part, famous concepts, figures, warriors, and mythological beings of different Asian cultures. Their team symbol resembles a hexagonal snowflake.

Lore[edit]

The "Ice Barrier" Crest

Playing style[edit]

The "Ice Barrier" archetype consists of a large amount of Main Deck Effect Monsters, several Synchro Monsters that act as boss monsters, and some archetypal Spell/Trap support. The archetype's playstyle is focused on Summoning multiple different Main Deck "Ice Barrier" monsters, combining their individual protection effects to handicap the opponent, and Synchro Summon its boss monsters to break the opponent's board and push for game. After multiple waves of support, the latest iteration of the Deck can perform this quite consistently.

"Lancea, Dragonic Ancestor of the Ice Spirit Mountain" is a Level 10 Synchro Monster that can Summon an "Ice Barrier" monster from the hand, Deck, GY or Extra Deck up to twice per turn, when the opponent Special Summons a monster. This card can single-handedly enable the lockdown effects of nearly every "Ice Barrier" monster, and thus Summoning it is the focus of the modern play style of the archetype. It also has a second effect, which Special Summons an "Ice Barrier" monster from the Extra Deck (by treating it as a Synchro Summon) when it leaves the field due to the opponent's card. This can be combined with "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" or "Trishula, Zero Dragon of the Ice Barrier", to banish the opponent's cards. By combining both effects, "Lancea" alone puts a lot of pressure on the opponent, especially when combined with the right "Ice Barrier" monsters. "Lancea" can be Summoned by many methods (as seen below).

Among the monsters that can be Summoned by "Lancea", "General Raiho of the Ice Barrier" is one of the best targets, since it forces the opponent to discard a card in order to resolve their monster effects activated on the field, and it does not require the player to control another "Ice Barrier" monster. "Georgius, Swordsman of the Ice Barrier" is another great target, since it can prevent the opponent from activating monster effects in the GY, and also Summon a second "Ice Barrier" monster from the hand or GY in order to turn on its effect. "Warlock of the Ice Barrier" acts as an "Anti-Spell Fragrance", preventing both players from activating Spell Cards before Setting them, and forcing them to wait a turn before doing so.

In order to do so, the Deck possesses several monsters that bring "Ice Barrier" monsters from the Deck. "Revealer of the Ice Barrier" is the Deck's main starter, being able to discard a card to Summon an "Ice Barrier" Tuner from the Deck. "Hexa Spirit of the Ice Barrier", a Tuner monster, can send any Level 3 or lower "Ice Barrier" monster from the Deck to the GY in order to modulate its Level. "Mirror Magic Master of the Ice Barrier", also a Tuner monster, can search any "Ice Barrier" card when it is sent to the GY. It can also Tribute a monster to Summon up to 3 "Ice Barrier Tokens" and increase its Level. All of the Deck's main plays involve at least one (sometimes all) of these cards.

The Deck also features several extenders, which allow the player to continue their turn even if "Revealer" or "Mirror Magic Master" are negated. "Georgius, Swordsman of the Ice Barrier" can Summon itself from the hand and another Level 5 or lower "Ice Barrier" from the hand or GY, but only if the player controls an "Ice Barrier" monster. "Speaker for the Ice Barriers" can also Summon itself from the hand, and can also banish itself from the GY to Special Summon an "Ice Barrier Token". "Freezing Chains of the Ice Barrier" is a Continuous Spell that can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Ice Barrier" monster from the GY when it is activated, while also protecting "Ice Barrier" monsters from the effects of the opponent's Extra Deck monsters. "General Wayne of the Ice Barrier" can Special Summon itself from the hand by controlling an "Ice Barrier" monster, but also requires the opponent to control a monster. However, it can search any "Ice Barrier" Spell/Trap when Summoned.

"Medallion of the Ice Barrier" is the Deck's main consistency card, searching for any "Ice Barrier" monster. "Winds Over the Ice Barrier" is a more risky option, Tributing any number of "Ice Barrier" monsters to Summon the same number of "Ice Barrier" monsters from the Deck. Given the great cost required to activate it, it is recommended to use it only at the end of the combo, far beyond a point in which the opponent would have used a hand trap (such as "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring"). Outside the archetype's cards, "Small World" is also a great option for the Deck, since the only shared element between all cards is their Attribute (WATER), thus allowing the player to trade any combo piece in their hand (or even hand traps such as "Droll & Lock Bird") for another extender or "Revealer".

Finally, the Deck can use its several extenders to Summon its Extra Deck monsters. "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" is a classic boss monster that can banish up to 1 card from the opponent's hand, field and GY. "Trishula, Zero Dragon of the Ice Barrier" can banish up to 3 cards the opponent controls, instead. "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" and "Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" are also removal options, that discard cards in order to bounce or destroy the opponent's cards. "Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier" can return cards the player controls to the hand, which works perfectly with "Freezing Chains of the Ice Barrier".

The archetype can also make use of other powerful Extra Deck monster, mainly WATER monsters. "Revealer" and "Speaker" can be used to Xyz Summon "Bahamut Shark", which can Summon "Toadally Awesome", a card able to negate and destroy any activated card. "Mirror Magic Master", combined with its 3 Tokens, plus another Token from "Speaker", can Synchro Summon "Ravenous Crocodragon Archethys", and allow the player to draw 4 cards. Any 2 "Ice Barrier" monsters can Summon "Marincess Coral Anemone", which is used to bring back "Mirror Magic Master" from the GY. By combining "Georgius" with any Level 4 monster, "Icejade Gymir Aegirine" can be Summoned as well, protecting the player's cards from destruction and banishing the opponent's cards. Before locking itself into WATER monsters with the effects of "Revealer" and "Mirror Magic Master", the player can also make use of "Baronne de Fleur", another Level 10 Synchro Monster that can negate the opponent's cards.

Tips[edit]

Sample combos[edit]

Most "Ice Barrier" combos aim to Summon "Lancea, Dragonic Ancestor of the Ice Spirit Mountain" and other powerful WATER monsters. One such method is the following:

Opening: "Revealer of the Ice Barrier" + 1 card
  1. Summon "Revealer of the Ice Barrier"
  2. Activate "Revealer" by discarding a card to Summon "Hexa Spirit of the Ice Barrier"
  3. Activate "Hexa" to send "Mirror Magic Master of the Ice Barrier" from the Deck to the GY
  4. Activate "Mirror Magic Master" to add "Georgius, Swordsman of the Ice Barrier"
  5. Activate "Georgius" to Summon itself from the hand
  6. Activate "Georgius" to Summon "Mirror Magic Master" from the GY
  7. Synchro Summon "Lancea, Dragonic Ancestor of the Ice Spirit Mountain" by using "Georgius" and "Revealer"
  8. Activate "Mirror Magic Master" to Tribute "Hexa Spirit" to Summon 3 "Ice Barrier Tokens" and increase its Level to 5
  9. Synchro Summon "Adamancipator Risen - Dragite" by using "Mirror Magic Master" and the 3 "Ice Barrier Tokens"

Another variant can use one of the archetype's extenders to build a much powerful board, allowing the player to draw 4 cards, and getting a negate on board as its 5th Summon, thus playing around "Nibiru, the Primal Being".

  1. Summon "Revealer of the Ice Barrier"
  2. Activate "Revealer" by discarding a card to Summon "Hexa Spirit of the Ice Barrier"
  3. Activate "Hexa" to send "Mirror Magic Master of the Ice Barrier" from the Deck to the GY
  4. Activate "Mirror Magic Master" to add either "Georgius, Swordsman of the Ice Barrier" or "Speaker for the Ice Barriers" (whichever is not in the hand already)
  5. Activate "Speaker" to Summon itself from the hand
  6. Xyz Summon "Bahamut Shark" by using "Revealer" and "Speaker"
  7. Activate "Bahamut Shark" to Summon "Toadally Awesome" from the Extra Deck
  8. Link Summon "Marincess Coral Anemone" by using "Bahamut Shark" and "Hexa Spirit"
  9. Activate "Coral Anemone" to Summon "Mirror Magic Master" from the GY to the zone it points to
  10. Activate "Mirror Magic Master" to Tribute "Coral Anemone" to Summon 3 "Ice Barrier Tokens" and increase its Level to 5
  11. Synchro Summon "Coral Dragon" to the Extra Monster Zone by using "Mirror Magic Master" and 1 "Ice Barrier Token"
  12. Activate "Georgius" to Summon itself from the hand
  13. Activate "Georgius" to Summon "Revealer" from the GY
  14. Synchro Summon "Lancea, Dragonic Ancestor of the Ice Spirit Mountain" by using "Georgius" and "Revealer"
  15. Activate "Speaker" from the GY to Summon another "Ice Barrier Token"
  16. Synchro Summon "Ravenous Crocodragon Archethys" by using "Coral Dragon" and 3 "Ice Barrier Tokens"
  17. Activate "Archetthys" and "Coral Dragon" to draw a total of 4 cards

Recommended cards[edit]

Recommended cards

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]

Animation[edit]

This theme is among the many featured in the Yu-Gi-Oh! CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES video.

References[edit]