Tearlaments
"Tearlaments" (ティアラメンツ Tiaramentsu) is an archetype of mostly DARK Aqua monsters introduced in Power of the Elements.
Contents
Etymology
"Tearlaments" is a portmanteau of "tear", "tiara", and "lament". The theme of sadness may be a reference to the tragic fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The archetype's name may also be a play on "firmaments", referring to the tiered layers of "Primeval Planet Perlereino". The majority of "Tearlaments" Main Deck monsters are named after types of mermaids and other similar mythological creatures. "Tearlaments Kitkallos" is named after Chaetoceros, a genus of marine planktonic diatoms. This may also be a reference to The Little Mermaid, as marine planktons are one of the main components of sea foam (according to the fairy tale, mermaids turn into sea foam upon death). "Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart" is named after a kaleidoscope, referencing the archetype's stained glass aesthetic.
Design
Members
With the exceptions of "Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart", "Tearlaments Reinoheart", and "Tearlaments Kashtira", the members of the archetype are DARK Aqua monsters.
Main Deck monsters
Tearlaments | Name origin |
---|---|
Havnis | Havfrue |
Merrli | Melusine Merrow |
Reinoheart | Reino |
Scheiren | Siren |
Fusion Monsters
Tearlaments | Name origin |
---|---|
Kaleido-Heart | Kaleidoscope |
Kitkallos | Chaetoceros |
Rulkallos |
Playing style
The "Tearlaments" archetype is centered on milling cards from the player's Deck, in order to perform Fusion Summons with the Trigger Effect activated when a Main Deck "Tearlaments" monster is sent to the GY. The Deck has a notable secondary focus on Fusion Summoning during the opponent's turn to trigger additional beneficial Trigger Effects. As an archetype in the lore of "Visas Starfrost", certain "Tearlaments" cards also interact with "Visas Starfrost". Every Main Deck "Tearlaments" card has a beneficial Trigger Effect triggered when they are sent to the GY by a card effect (such as by being milled). The central effect among them is the Fusion effect of the 3 "Tearlaments" mermaid monsters; by triggering this effect on both player's turns, and using GY materials, the Deck can rapidly create Fusion boards with minimal on-field material costs.
Tearlaments | Type | GY Trigger Effect | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Havnis | Monster | Fusion Summon by placing materials from hand/field/GY on the bottom of the Deck, including this card in GY. | Central playmaking Fusion Summon effect. | |
Merrli | ||||
Scheiren | ||||
Reinoheart | Special Summon this card[a], and send 1 "Tearlaments" card from hand to GY. | Extender and enabler for "Tearlaments" trigger effects. | ||
Metanoise | Trap | Add to hand 1 "Tearlaments" monster from | GY | Monster Card recovery/searching. |
Sulliek | Deck | |||
Cryme | Banished cards | |||
Grief | Spell | Add to hand 1 "Tearlaments" Trap from | Banished cards | Trap Card recovery/searching. |
Heartbeat | GY | |||
Scream | Deck | |||
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"Tearlaments" Main Deck monsters are the Deck's main starters, as each of them provides a milling-related on-field effect. "Havnis" is a hand trap that mills 3, "Merrli" mills 3 on summon, and "Scheiren" is a special summon extender (with an extra discard cost) that also mills 3. Lastly, "Reinoheart" precisely sends 1 "Tearlaments" monster from Deck to GY on summon, making it a 1-card starter. "Tearlaments" Spell/Traps provide searchable interaction and extension. Many of them first provide a beneficial effect, and then forces the player to send a monster from their hand/field/Deck to the GY. By activating them on the opponent's turn, the Deck can trigger its monsters' GY effects, and in turn Fusion Summon, in the opponent's turn.
Tearlaments | Type | On-field Effect | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Effect | Then Send to GY | |||
Metanoise | Normal Tr. | Flip face-down 1 opposing monster.[a][b] | 1 "Tearlaments" monster from Deck | "Book of Moon" + precise mill from Deck |
Sulliek | Continuous Tr. | Negate the effects of 1 opposing monster.[a][b] | 1 monster from own field | Monster effect negate |
Cryme | Counter Tr. | Negate the activation of a Spell/Trap/monster effect, and return it to Deck.[b] | 1 monster from hand | Omni-negate |
Grief | Normal Sp. | Special Summon 1 "Tearlaments" monster or 1 "Visas Starfrost" from Deck/GY | 1 monster with its Type or Attribute from own field | Summon from Deck searcher |
Heartbeat | Quick-Play Sp. | Shuffle into Deck 1 on-field Spell/Trap, or up to 2 if you control "Visas Starfrost".[a] | 1 card from hand | Backrow removal |
Scream | Continuous Sp. | If a monster is Summoned: mill 3, and all opposing monsters lose 500 ATK this turn.[b] | — | Trigger effect mill extender |
The Deck has an additional non-archetypal Field Spell, "Primeval Planet Perlereino", who lacks a GY effect. It searches a "Tearlaments" monster on activation, providing immediate access to the 1-card starter "Reinoheart". It also targets and destroys 1 card if a "Tearlaments" monster is returned from the field/GY to the Deck/Extra Deck, providing additional advantage from "Tearlaments" Fusion Summons, even in the opponent's turn. It can also be used to destroy friendly cards to trigger their GY effects for more varied combos. "Tearlaments" Fusion Monsters provide the Deck's main field prescence and consistent combo-making tools.
- "Kitkallos" is the Deck's main Extra Deck searcher and combo enabler, with 3 extremely powerful consistency-boosting effects.
- If it is summoned, it can take 1 "Tearlaments" card from the Deck, and add it to hand or send it to the GY, providing access to almost every effect within the archetype.
- Its second effect targets 1 friendly monster, Special Summons 1 "Tearlaments" monster from hand or GY, and sends that friendly monster to the GY; this provides access to the on-summon effects of "Reinoheart" and "Meirrow", and triggers even more "Tearlaments" monsters' GY effects.
- Its third effect is its GY trigger effect triggered if it is sent to the GY by a card effect, which mills 5 cards, providing a significant boost of GY milling resources for more Fusion Summons.
- "Kaleido-Heart" is the Deck's main offensive 3-material boss monster. If it is summoned, or if an Aqua monster is sent to the player's GY by a card effect, it can target and shuffle 1 opposing card into the Deck. This provides immediate on-summon removal (synergizing with Fusion Summons made in the opponent's turn), and also synergizes with milling effects done in the opponent's turn. Its second GY trigger effect has it Special Summon itself and send 1 "Tearlaments" card from Deck to GY, giving it self-recovery and engaging additional "Tearlaments" GY effects.
- "Rulkallos" is the Deck's main defensive 2-material boss monster. It provides battle protection to Aqua monsters and a Special Summon negate, the latter also requiring sending 1 "Tearlaments" card from the player's hand or face-up field to the GY (engaging more "Tearlaments" GY effects). It also has a (functionally one-time-only) GY self-revival effect if it is sent to the GY by a card effect after being Fusion Summoned.
The Deck is incredibly resilient against effect destructions, as destroying any of its cards with effects will trigger their GY Trigger Effects, leading to more Fusion Summons or resource recovery. The Deck even has the potential for turn-0 plays, thanks to the hand-activated effect of "Havnis". Externally, the Deck can synergize with a wide variety of Fusion or milling-based engines and packages.
Following the release of the Exchange of the Spirit (aka "Ishizu fairies" series), this allows "Tearlaments" to explosively set up their GY through milling effect of Ishizu "miller" Fairy monsters while also set up GY interruption/recursion though "shufflers", all with very high synergy and being quite hard to interrupt. This led to the most cards of both series being Limited or Forbidden to curb their power in late 2022/early 2023 in OCG/TCG.
Recommended cards
Recommended cards
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Weaknesses
- Due to their heavily reliance on milling cards to GY, anti-GY floodgate such as "Necrovalley" and "Gravekeeper's Inscription" can slow down the deck. In addition, cards that force banishes cards sent to GY such as "Dimension Shifter" and "Macro Cosmos" can prevent "Tearlaments" player from recurring their resources.