Aesir
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 From left to right, "Loki", "Odin" and "Thor" (with Odin holding "Nordic Relic Gungnir" and wearing "Nordic Relic Draupnir") towering over Team Ragnarok. | |||||||||||||
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"Aesir", known as "Polar God" (
In the anime, the "Aesir" monsters are DIVINE Divine-Beast monsters. They are the only Synchro Monsters that are either DIVINE or Divine-Beast in any medium. However, their Attributes and Types were changed in the OCG. "Loki, Lord of the Aesir" is a DARK Spellcaster, "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" is an EARTH Beast-Warrior and "Odin, Father of the Aesir" is a LIGHT Fairy. Each member of Team Ragnarok possesses one of these cards.
Members
| Æsir | Supported archetype | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| Odin, Father of the Aesir | Nordic Ascendant | Halldor |
| Thor, Lord of the Aesir | Nordic Beasts | Dragan |
| Loki, Lord of the Aesir | Nordic Alfar | Broder |
History
The three cards are named after the top three deities in the Norse mythology pantheon. The God King is Odin, The God of Thunder is Thor, and the Giant treated as the God of trickery is Loki. In Norse mythology, these three deities are said to form part of a huge battle known as Ragnarök in which they will die. They can be considered Polar Gods due to the prelude of Ragnarök known as Fimbulvetr, which is a time of three winters with snow coming from all directions without any summers between. During this time, there will be wars, brothers killing brothers and eventually all life on Earth will be destroyed. They can also be considered Polar Gods due to their association with Scandinavia and Nordic Countries (located within Scandinavia) which itself is located north extending to the Arctic Circle.
In the anime, these cards were found in caves with tree roots surrounding their interior by the Duelists they engraved the Rune Eyes upon. The roots in these caves are probably an allusion to the world tree of Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil.
The name "Aesir" is essentially meant to be the term Æsir, the term used to identify an entity from Norse paganism, which includes all three of the Polar Gods' original deities. This is because the grapheme "Æ", a ligature, is formed from "A" and "E" - and in places where the grapheme is either difficult to use or otherwise unsuited, the two-letter set "Ae" is often used as a replacement. (It is notable that this replacement would be improper for languages where "Æ" is a letter; one such language is the language where the term "Æsir" comes from, Danish).
Powers (anime)
The powers of these Gods rival that of the Crimson Dragon. When "Thor" clashed with "Red Dragon Archfiend", both monsters emitted a strange energy pulse, wreaking havoc around the Dueling arena and drastically upsetting the weather outside the stadium.[1] During Team Ragnarok's match against Team 5D's, the attacks of the Aesir dealt real damage to Jack and Crow.
These cards also protected Team Ragnarok and their memories from the Three Pure Nobles' alterations of the timeline.[2]
Playing style
The main goal is to summon "Odin" and "Thor" to lock your opponent from using Spell Card, Trap Card or Effect Monster's effect and have at least 1 beatstick on the field.
"Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant" is used, for versatile Synchro Summoning, deck thinning, and its ability to help summon both "Thor" and "Loki". However, be advised that "Vanadis" can only be tuned with other "Nordic" monsters.
Weaknesses
Since a "Aesir" Deck's de facto stratagem has Synchro Summons as its centrepiece, Anti-Synchro cards such as "Discord", "Synchro Control", and "Maxx "C"" can hurt this Deck's purpose.
"Koa'ki Meiru Drago" can keep "Loki" and "Odin" off of the Field, as "Loki" and "Odin", as well as all of the "Nordic Alfar" and "Nordic Ascendant" monsters, are LIGHT or DARK. Cards like "Archlord Kristya", "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" "Jowgen the Spiritualist" and the "Vanity's" cards can be a more complete solution in crippling "Nordics", though.
Banishing cards such as "Dimensional Fissure", "Macro Cosmos", and "Banisher of the Radiance" can hurt this Deck too, since "Nordic" Tuners won't be in the Graveyard anymore to revive fallen "Aesir"--on that note, these aces-in-the-hole can also be banished, making it almost impossible to bring them back in the Duel. "Orient Dragon", "D.D. Warrior Lady", "D.D. Assailant", "Chaos Sorcerer" and other monsters that banish can also be a huge threat against the "Aesir" due to their lack of protection against monster effects.
Cards that return monsters to the hand or Deck, such as "Penguin Soldier", "Compulsory Evacuation Device" and "Compulsory Escape Device", bypass the ability of "Aesir" monsters to revive themselves from the Graveyard.
One of the worst matchups for "Nordics" is Evilswarm, because they have access to "Evilswarm Ophion", which prevents you from Special Summoning your "Aesir" or Synchro Monsters of level 5 or higher and "Evilswarm Bahamut". Other bad matchups are the following: "Harpies", due to them having access to "Lightning Chidori"; "Constellars", due to having access to "Constellar Pleiades" and "Constellar Ptolemy M7"; "Fire Fists", for having access to "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Bear" and "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Cardinal"; and "Mermails, for having access to the Atlantean cards and "Mermail Abyssgaios". Decks that can run "Number 11: Big Eye", "Number 101: Silent Honor ARK" and/or "Abyss Dweller" have an advantage against "Aesir", since they are vulnerable to effects that take control of them or lock out access to their Graveyard.
Finally, without any of the three "Aesir" on the Field or at the very least, the use of "Nordic Relic Brisingamen" and/or "Nordic Relic Draupnir", "Nordic" Decks lack offensive power (perhaps save "Guldfaxe" to a minor extent).
References
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 118: "A New Rival"
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 117: "The Distorted Past"
