Shark (archetype)

Shark
"Hammer Shark", "Spear Shark" and "Double Shark". "Hammer Shark", "Spear Shark" and "Double Shark".
Japanese	シャーク Shāku (romanized)
Italian	Squalo
Sets Tactical Evolution The Duelist Genesis Ancient Prophecy Storm of Ragnarok Generation Force Photon Shockwave Galactic Overlord Abyss Rising Cosmo Blazer Turbo Pack: Booster Five Battle Pack: Epic Dawn Booster.2 Booster Chronicle Booster R1 Extra Pack Extra Pack Volume 2 Extra Pack Volume 3 V-Jump Magazine Promotional Cards Duel Terminal - Ouroboros, Wicked Dragon of Destruction!! Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy Judgment of the Light
Anime appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
Manga appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL
Lists	Members Support

"Shark" (シャーク Shāku) is an archetype of cards used by Reginald Kastle in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL anime and manga. Most of them are WATER-Attribute and/or Fish-Type. They are supported by the anime-only cards "Sharkize" and "Shark Revenge Splash". Most of the monsters are Level 3 or 4 with swarm ability, so Reginald can quickly Summon his Rank 3 monsters or "Number 32: Shark Drake".

A couple of these monsters, notably "Metabo-Shark" and "Scrap Shark" sport decent to high ATK at low Levels, allowing them to start out as beaters when Summoned. This lets them battle outside the Extra Deck. Their effects, as mentioned, allow them to manipulate their Levels between 3 and 5, allowing them to Summon Rank 3 to 5 Xyz Monsters quite easily.

One in-Deck "boss monster", introduced in Cosmo Blazer, is "Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon" who sports the highest original ATK in the entire archetype (2900). Its effect destroys a monster when it inflicts Battle Damage, further pushing the aggressiveness of the archetype. The true boss monster is seen to be "Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss" whose effect drops an monster's ATK and DEF to 0, while "Number 32: Shark Drake" brings a monster back that it destroyed by battle and lowers its ATK by 1000, while also allowing it to attack again. Number 47: Nightmare Shark is also useful due to its effect that allows a WATER monster to attack directly, allowing both a large amount of damage, and the triggering of "Megalodon's" effect. As such, this archetype can be used very aggressively to beat the opponent down.

Strategy

Seeing as this archetype is built for aggression and swarming, a fast-paced Deck can be built using "Shark Stickers", "Shark Cruiser" (although this card takes a bit more prediction and a lot more luck), and most notably "Hammer Shark" to swarm the field. It is actually quite easy to pull combos with this Deck. The most basic one is to Normal Summon "Hammer Shark", using its effect to Special Summon any Level 3 or lower WATER monster, then Special Summoning "Shark Stickers". Another rather potent combo is to use the effect of Bahamut Shark to Special Summon Number 47: Nightmare Shark which can attach another Shark monster like Shark Stickers to itself despite being Summoned with no Xyz Materials and gains its rather useful effect too.

Most "Shark" monsters' effects activate only when they are Normal Summoned, so to fully utilize them, you can tech in "Double Summon" or "Ultimate Offering" to trigger these effects. By doing this, you can Tribute Summon "Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon" easier.

"Shark" monsters (except for "Scrap Shark", "Shark Fortress" and "Corroding Shark") are all WATER. "Xyz Remora" can almost instantaneously summon "Number 32: Shark Drake".

"Water Hazard" can be excellent, as the deck can already swarm quite quickly, and can essentially cut down on a turn for Xyz Summoning, as well as expand your options if you don't have either "Hammer Shark" or "Shark Stickers" in your hand.

Metabo-Shark is good due to its effect of bringing back two fish monsters from the graveyard and adding them to your deck.