Zoodiac

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Zoodiac
Various "Zoodiac" monsters in RATE Regional season (2017)
Various "Zoodiac" monsters in RATE Regional season (2017)
Japanese
  • じゅうしし
  • 十二獣 (base)
  • じゅうにしし (ruby)
  • Jūnishishi (romanized)
  • Twelve Beasts (translated)
French
  • Zoodiaque
German
  • Zoodiak
Italian
  • Zoodiaco
Korean
  • 십이수
  • 十二獸 (Hanja)
  • Sibisu (romanized)
  • Twelve Beasts (translated)
Portuguese
  • Zoodíaco(a)
Spanish
  • Zoodíaco
Sets
TCG
OCG
Korean
Anime appearances
Lists

"Zoodiac", known as "Twelve Beasts" (じゅうしし Jūnishishi) in the OCG, is an archetype of Level/Rank 4 EARTH Beast-Warrior monsters that debuted in Raging Tempest. "Master Peace, the True Dracoslayer" and "True King Lithosagym, the Disaster" are related to this archetype, as seen in the artworks of "Zodiac Sign" and "Zoodiac Combo", respectively.

Design[edit]

Appearance[edit]

The "Zoodiac" monsters are based on the Twelve Animals of the Chinese Zodiac, with each monster being a slightly anthropomorphized version of their respective animal. Each monster also wears an oversized gauntlet on either their left or right forearm, with which they wield their own respective weapon, and a belt marked with the Earthly Branch corresponding to the zodiac animal.

Etymology[edit]

The Japanese name of this archetype, Jūnishishi (じゅうしし), is a pun on Jūnishi (十二支), which refers to the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac, and Shishi (獣), meaning "beast". Its English name, "Zoodiac", is a portmanteau of the words "zoo" and "zodiac".

Members[edit]

Zoodiac Origin
Zodiac sign Weapon
Ratpier 01 - Rat Rapier
Broadbull 02 - Ox Broadaxe
Tigermortar 03 - Tiger Mortar
Bunnyblast 04 - Rabbit Blunderbuss
Drident 05 - Dragon Trident
Whiptail 06 - Snake Snake whip
Thoroughblade 07 - Horse Sword
Ramram 08 - Goat Battering ram
Hammerkong 09 - Monkey Hammer
Kataroost 10 - Rooster Katar
Chakanine 11 - Dog Chakram
Boarbow 12 - Pig Bow

Playing style[edit]

The "Zoodiac" archetype is focused on performing Xyz Summons with 1 card. All "Zoodiac" Xyz Monsters share the Summoning condition that, once per turn, they can be Xyz Summoned using any "Zoodiac" monster the player controls with a different name. The archetype has six Main Deck monsters and six Xyz Monsters. Each "Zoodiac" Main Deck monster has an individual effect, and grants an additional effect for any Beast-Warrior Xyz Monster they are attached to as material.

Zoodiac Individual effect summary Applied effect summary
Thoroughblade If Summoned: Discard 1 "Zoodiac" card, draw 1 card. Inflicts piercing battle damage.
Whiptail (Quick Effect): Attach this card from hand/field to 1 friendly Beast-Warrior Xyz Monster. If this card battles an opponent's monster, banish that monster after damage calculation.
Kataroost If destroyed: Target 1 different "Zoodiac" card in GY, shuffle it into Deck. Detach 1 material; negate a monster effect that targets this card.
Bunnyblast If destroyed: Target 1 different "Zoodiac" card in GY, add it to hand. Detach 1 material; negate a Spell (or effect) that targets this card.
Ramram If destroyed: Target 1 different "Zoodiac" monster in GY, Special Summon it. Detach 1 material; negate a Trap (or effect) that targets this card.
Ratpier If Normal Summoned: Send 1 "Zoodiac" card from Deck to GY. Once per turn, detach 1 material; Special Summon 1 "Ratpier" from the hand or Deck.

The individual effects of the "Zoodiac" Main Deck monsters enable indirect monster searching, hand fixing, and GY recovery (for "Kataroost", "Bunnyblast", and "Ramram") if they are combined with card-destroying effects (which the archetype has through "Zoodiac Barrage" and "Zoodiac Drident"). Their applied effects grant effect protection, combat support, and monster swarming (for "Ratpier"). "Zoodiac" Xyz Monsters all possess variable (?) ATK/DEF, and gain ATK/DEF equal to the ATK/DEF of the "Zoodiac" monsters attached to them as Xyz Materials.

Zoodiac Effect summary Notes
Tigermortar Once per turn, detach 1 material; attach 1 "Zoodiac" monster in the GY to 1 Xyz Monster the player controls as material. Situational material attacher; useful in some combos.
Hammerkong
  • While this card has material, the opponent cannot target face-up "Zoodiac" monsters with effects, except this card.
  • Detach 1 material during the End Phase (mandatory).
Situational targeting protection.
Chakanine Once per turn, detach 1 material; Special Summon 1 "Zoodiac" monster from the GY (this turn, its effects are negated, and it cannot be used for an Xyz Summon). Monster reviver with restrictive conditions; useful for board-building.
Drident Once per turn (Quick Effect): detach 1 material; target and destroy 1 face-up card. Destruction disruption.
Boarbow
  • Can attack directly.
  • When this card inflicts battle damage to the opponent, while it has 12+ materials, send all cards from the opponent's hand and field to the GY.
Enabler for "Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder"; its second effect is generally unused.
Broadbull Once per turn, detach 1 material; add 1 Beast-Warrior monster that can be Normal Summoned/Set from the Deck to the hand. Searcher for almost the entire Beast-Warrior Type.

The archetype's strength lies in its ability to perform consistent and powerful 1-card Extra Deck plays off of any single Main Deck "Zoodiac" monster. Any Main Deck "Zoodiac" monster or "Zoodiac" searcher (e.g. "Zoodiac Barrage", "Fire Formation - Tenki", "Speedroid Terrortop" 1-card "M-X-Saber Invoker" engine) provided immediate access to monster searching via "Broadbull", disruption via "Drident", and conditional monster revival via "Chakanine". Simply going through the effects of "Broadbull", "Drident", and "Chakanine" with any 1 Main Deck "Zoodiac" monster provided a +3 in card advantage. When "Ratpier" was Unlimited, getting access to it also provided monster swarming as its applied effect could be used on two different "Zoodiac" Xyz Monsters to Summon 2 more copies of "Ratpier" from the Deck. Going through 3 copies of "Ratpier" and the aformentioned "Zoodiac" Extra Deck monsters provided a +5 in card advantage in one turn, off of a single copy of "Ratpier". The archetype lends itself to a control-based playstyle. Typically, "Zoodiac" Decks take advantage of the archetype's ability to perform consistent 1-card plays and dedicate most of their space to staple cards like hand traps instead. Due to the power offered by its 1-card plays, the consistency provided by "Zoodiac" searchers, and its compact Main Deck requirements, "Zoodiac" at its peak power formed a powerful 1-card engine that can be splashed into many other Decks to provide card advantage, swarming, and disruptions (via "Drident"). The archetype's Xyz Monsters have generic material requirements. As such, "Zoodiac Chakanine", who requires the least number of generic Level 4 monsters as materials (2+), can be used in other Decks to Summon other "Zoodiac" Xyz monsters.

Recommended cards[edit]

Weaknesses[edit]

  • "Dimensional Barrier" can shut down this archetype's ability to perform its 1-card plays.
  • "Nibiru, the Primal Being" is one of the greatest threat of the "Zoodiac" deck, as it can shut down any Xyz stacking play by itself. As the "Zoodiac" Xyz monsters has ? ATK/DEF, a "Primal Being Token" generated by "Nibiru" will have 0 ATK/DEF provided if there are no other monster(s) on the field, rendering the player vulnerable to opponent's counterattack if they cannot find a way to get rid of the Token soon enough.