Shark (archetype)
"Shark" (シャーク Shāku) is an archetype primarily consisting of WATER and/or Fish monsters. They were used by Reginald Kastle/Nash in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL anime and manga. There is a sub-archetype; "Shark Drake".
While having support in its original appearance in the anime, this theme only received its first support in the OCG/TCG several years later in Rage of the Abyss.
Contents
Members
True membership in the "Shark" archetype is primarily indicated by their relations to their user in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Reginald Kastle/Nash. Monsters such as "Scrap Shark" receive support from this archetype's cards, but are thematically disjointed, because they are unrelated to the character. Two old Extra Deck monsters, "Deepsea Shark" and "Man-eating Black Shark", are not valid targets for "Shark" support, as their Japanese names do not contain 「シャーク」, but support for the archetype currently only applies to Main Deck monsters in any case. Said support is applied only to Fish "Shark" monsters, which encapsulates every Main Deck monster with "Shark" in its English and Japanese name, with the exception of "Corroding Shark".
Main Deck
| Level | Shark | Counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| 3/4 | Left-Hand Shark | Right-Hand Shark |
| 4 | Double Shark | Spear Shark[N 1] |
| Buzzsaw Shark | Lantern Shark | |
| Drake Shark | Surfacing Big Jaws[N 2] | |
| 5 | Eagle Shark | Panther Shark |
| Abyss Shark | Crystal Shark |
| Level | Shark |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mermaid Shark |
| 3 | Big Jaws[N 3] |
| Shark Stickers | |
| Armored Shark | |
| 4 | Hammer Shark |
| Double Fin Shark | |
| Saber Shark[N 1] | |
| 5 | Depth Shark |
| Gazer Shark | |
| Dream Shark | |
| Cutter Shark | |
| 6 | Sharkraken |
| 8 | Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon |
Extra Deck
| Rank | Shark |
|---|---|
| 3 | Number 47: Nightmare Shark |
| Number 71: Rebarian Shark | |
| 4 | Number 32: Shark Drake |
| Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss | |
| Number 37: Hope Woven Dragon Spider Shark | |
| 5 | Number C32: Shark Drake Leviathan |
| Rank | Shark |
|---|---|
| 2 | Cat Shark |
| 3 | Shark Caesar |
| Submersible Carrier Aero Shark | |
| 4 | Bahamut Shark |
| 5 | Shark Fortress |
| Valiant Shark Lancer |
Related monster series
In the anime, one of Reginald's signature cards was the Rank 3 Xyz Monster "Black Ray Lancer". In the card game, the card received a card game original retrained variant, known as "Valiant Shark Lancer".
| Series | Members |
|---|---|
| Black Ray Lancer | Black Ray Lancer Valiant Shark Lancer |
Nash's Number 10X ace monster was "Number 101: Silent Honor ARK", which had a Number C10X form, "Number C101: Silent Honor DARK". They took the forms of a large spacecraft and an armored, lance-wielding pilot.
In Duelist Pack: Duelists of the Abyss, the two monsters were given retrained card game-original variant forms, under the names "N.As.H. Knight" and "CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight".
| Series | Chariot | Knight |
|---|---|---|
| S.H.ARK Knight | Number 101: Silent Honor ARK | Number C101: Silent Honor DARK |
| N.As.H. Knight | N.As.H. Knight | CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight |
The two Mythyrian Numbers monsters associated with Nash and Marin were "Number 73: Abyss Splash" and "Number 94: Crystalzero", and both were primarily used by Nash in the anime.
| Series | Members |
|---|---|
| Abyss Splash | Number 73: Abyss Splash Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash |
| Crystalzero | Number 94: Crystalzero |
All "Xyz Armor" monsters and "Full Armored" monsters are related to Nash's anime monsters; they are all related to each other through the "Armored Xyz" Spell and Trap cards, which equip Xyz Monsters onto other Xyz Monsters.
Playing style
Shark as a strategy is focused on swarming the field to perform Xyz Summons of Rank 3-5 WATER Xyz Monsters. "Shark" monsters primarily support WATER and/or Fish monsters to advance their game plan, and benefit from non-series WATER/Fish support.
The key Shark monsters that enable the swarming of the Shark strategy are the Shark pairs "Left-Hand Shark" and "Right-Hand Shark", "Buzzsaw Shark" and "Lantern Shark", and "Abyss Shark" and "Crystal Shark".
- "Left-Hand" and "Right-Hand" can Special Summon themselves from the hand or GY, the latter can search the former when Normal Summoned, and both provide protection to an Xyz Monster summoned using them as material.
- "Buzzsaw" and "Lantern" can Special Summon Fish or WATER monsters from the Deck or hand, and can also be used as Level 3 or 5 monsters to summon WATER Xyz monsters. However, they lock the player into only summoning Xyz Monsters from the Extra Deck for the turn.
- "Abyss" and "Crystal" can Special Summon themselves from the hand or GY, the former can search the latter if Special Summoned, and both can be used as Level 3 or 4 monsters for "Number" Xyz Monsters. However, they lock the player into only summoning WATER Xyz Monsters from the Extra Deck for the turn.
Utilizing these monsters, and some additional external extenders like "Xyz Remora", "Xyz Slidolphin", "Tenyi Spirit - Shthana", "Silent Angler", "Silent Sea Nettle", or "Ready Fusion", the player can rapidly swarm their board with Level 4/5 WATER and/or Fish monsters, and make strong WATER Xyz Monsters that require such monsters as materials.
Because of the restrictions that Shark monster effects apply to Extra Deck summoning, Shark Decks can typically only make WATER Xyz monsters on their setup turns. However, there are many high-quality WATER Xyz Monsters that the Deck can make. These include:
- "Bahamut Shark", who can Special Summon a Rank 3 or lower WATER monster from the Extra Deck; typically, the target will be "Toadally Awesome", who provides an omni-negate and recovery.
- "Xyz Armor Fortress" can Summon itself on top of a Rank 3 or 4 monster, usually "Bahamut Shark", to search out both "Armored Xyz" and "Full-Armored Xyz", enabling the player the ability to go into "Full Armored Crystalzero Lancer" and "Full Armored Dark Knight Lancer", with the latter being able to add back "Xyz Remora" from GY to extend combos or easily end the game with "Armored Xyz" and attach an opponent's monster to it as material.
- "Number 4: Stealth Kragen", who has a Quick Effect monster destruction, an Attribute change effect that becomes a floodgate if used with "Gozen Match", and the ability to float into "Stealth Kragen Spawn", who can also destroy monsters as a Quick Effect, and can float back into "Stealth Kragen".
- "Abyss Dweller", a blanket floodgate against GY effects.
- "Valiant Shark Lancer" and "Full Armored Crystalzero Lancer", who provide more monster destructions and Spell Speed 1 negates.
- "N.As.H. Knight" and "CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight", who provides Quick Effect non-targeting non-destruction removal and access to "Number 10X" monsters.
The deck benefits from a wide variety of WATER and Fish support. These include "Beautunaful Princess", who can Special Summon "Buzzsaw Shark" or "Lantern Shark" directly from the Deck, "White Mirror", a GY revival Spell that also searches, and "White Howling", a Trap that negates all of the opponent's Spells for a turn.
Recommended cards
Recommended cards
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Notes
- ↑ a b In the anime, "Spear Shark" and "Saber Shark" have identical effects, and share both ATK and a theme of weapon-based heads.
- ↑ Despite not having "Shark" in its name, it is based on "Big Jaws", a Fish monster played by Reginald Kastle/Nash and inspired by a real shark. Also, it mentions "Shark" in its effect and is meant to synergy with the "Shark" monster released in its same set like the other members.
- ↑ Despite not having "Shark" in its name, it is a Fish monster played by Reginald Kastle/Nash and inspired by a real shark. Also, in both the ZEXAL anime and manga, it is often used in conjunction with "Shark" monsters and/or as material to summon "Shark" Xyz Monsters.
