Aesir

"Aesir", known as "Polar God" (極（きょく）神（しん） Kyokushin) is an archetype of three mysterious deity-like Synchro Monsters used by Team Ragnarok in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. They are named "Three Polar Gods of the Star World" (星（せい）界（かい）の三（さん）極（きょく）神（しん） Seikai no San Kyokushin) in the Japanese anime, and "Nordic God" and "Polar Star God" in the dubbed version. 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.

Aesir
From left to right, "Loki", "Odin" and "Thor" towering over Team Ragnarok.
Japanese	極（きょく）神（しん） 極神 (base) きょくしん (ruby) Kyokushin (romanized) Polar God (translated)
English	Nordic God (anime)
French	Ases
German	Der Asen
Italian	Aesir
Korean	극신 極神 (Hanja) Geuksin (romanized) Polar God (translated)
Portuguese	Aesir
Spanish	Aesir
Sets Storm of Ragnarok Battle of Chaos TCG Star Pack 2014 Legendary Hero Decks Soul Fusion OTS Tournament Pack 18 OCG Extra Pack Volume 4 LINK VRAINS Pack 2
Anime appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Lists	Members Support

Contents

AppearancesEdit

AnimeEdit

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'sEdit

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime, the 3 "Aesir" cards were found by the three Duelists who possessed the Rune Eyes. Each card was found within a cave dominated by a shrine made of tree roots, ostensibly in reference to the "World Tree" Yggdrasil, which connects the Nine Realms of Norse mythology. Among the Nine Realms are Asgard, land of the Æsir, and Midgard, home of humans and another name for Earth, thus these shrines may symbolize a connection to Asgard itself, hence the power of the "Aesir" cards. In the 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. 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.

DesignEdit

The three "Aesir" monsters are named for the most prominent among the Æsir of Norse mythology: Odin, the so-called Allfather and king of the Æsir; Thor, known as the god of thunder and strongest among the gods; and Loki, a notorious trickster and Jötunn who was usually associated with the Aesir until orchestrating the death of Baldr, for which he was tied to a stone as punishment until Ragnarök, the end of the world. The term “Polar God” could refer to the Scandinavian origins of Norse myths, as the region stretches up to the Arctic Circle and therefore towards the North Pole. Notably, while the term “Æsir” is usually spelled with the letter ash (Æ/æ), the TCG spells it “Aesir,” likely for familiarity with an audience that largely doesn’t use said character, being most common in Scandinavian languages like Danish and Norwegian.

MembersEdit

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

The "Aesir" monsters are supported by the "Nordic" archetype.

SupportEdit

The following cards are "Aesir"-specific support cards that are not members of the "Nordic" archetype.

Card	Origin
Gotterdammerung	Götterdämmerung (German translation of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök)
March Towards Ragnarok	—
Divine Relic Mjollnir	Mjölnir
Solemn Authority	—
Odin's Eye	One of Odin's eyes, which he gave up in order to drink from the well of Mímir.

RelatedEdit

The card "The Golden Apples" is thematically related to the archetype, and was used by Broder in the anime.

Card	Origin
The Golden Apples	The golden apples of Iðunn
Malus Token	—

Playing styleEdit

The "Aesir" Deck is focused on Synchro Summoning "Odin", "Loki" and/or "Thor" using the "Nordic" monsters, and use "Nordic Relic" support cards to control the field. Each of the three "Aesir" monster is Level 10, and requires 1 Tuner from their associated "Nordic" sub-archetype and two non-Tuner monsters to be Synchro Summoned. While historical "Aesir" decks relied on using individual Tuners from each of the "Nordic" sub-archetypes or "Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant", the current main "Nordic" Tuner is "Nordic Beast Gullinbursti", who can be used to Synchro Summon any of the "Aesir" monsters, and can provide easily accessible advantage on the field. The "Aesir" monsters on-field effects that either negate cards or in Odin's case make itself unaffected by Spells or Traps, as well as a self-revival effect that activates in the End Phase. All 3 have over 3000 ATK and are required to get the most out of the Deck's Traps. "Mjollnir" and "Megingjord" effectively double the power output of the "Aesirs" while "Svalinn" allows the player to negate cards off-turn and without "Thor" or revive an Aesir from the Graveyard. "March Towards Ragnarok" is an "Aesir" support Quick-Play Spell Card that makes the targeted "Aesir" unaffected by Spells and Traps but negates their Effects. In order to quickly access the "Nordic" Tuners and non-Tuner monsters for Synchro Summoning, the Deck heavily relies on the effect of its Link 1 monster, "Gullveig of the Nordic Ascendant". "Gullveig", once Link summoned, can banish up to 3 cards from the player's hand or field to Special Summon that many "Nordic" monsters from the Deck, but locks the player into only summoning "Aesir" monsters for the rest of the turn. "Gullveig" can easily set up the summon of an "Aesir" by itself; its heavy banish requirement is typically circumvented with cards like "Hippo Carnival", since it banishes only at resolution. Other card advantage-generating engines are also useful for mitigating the costs of "Gullveig". "Gullveig" also provides protection to "Aesir" monsters it points to, making them harder to remove. Aside from their Tuner monsters, other notable "Nordic" monsters include:

• "Nordic Smith Ivaldi", who is a free extender from hand, and can search "Nordic Relic" cards.
• "Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts", who summons two Level 3 Tokens if destroyed by battle.
• "Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Beasts", who can conditionally Special Summon itself from the hand, and can summon another "Nordic Beast" monster from the Deck if it changes from Defense to Attack position.
• "Dverg of the Nordic Alfar", who can recover "Nordic Relic" cards from the Graveyard.
• "Alviss of the Nordic Alfar", who, if it is the only card banished by a "Nordic" Link Monster (i.e. "Gullveig"), it can perform a pseudo "1-card-Synchro" of any "Aesir" using 1 "Nordic" monster on the field and "Nordic" monsters from the Deck; it provides a less costly alternative to banishing 3 cards with "Gullveig" while still setting up the summon of an "Aesir". It also has a once per Duel GY effect to Special Summon a new "Aesir" from the Extra Deck when one is destroyed.

Other notable "Nordic Relic" cards searchable by "Nordic Smith Ivaldi" include "Gungnir", a card-destroying Trap, and "Hlidskjalf", a restrictive summon-from-Deck searcher that locks the player into "Aesir" monsters while the summoned monster is on the field, preventing the player from easily accessing "Gullveig".

Recommended cards

Main Deck Monster Cards Effect Monsters Alviss of the Nordic Alfar Dverg of the Nordic Alfar Fenrir the Nordic Wolf Nordic Smith Ivaldi Jormungardr the Nordic Serpent Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Beasts Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts Archnemeses Eschatos Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning Chaos Valkyria Rescue Cat The Chaos Creator Tuner monsters Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts Nordic Beast Gullinbursti Mara of the Nordic Alfar Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant Spell Cards Normal Spells Nordic Relic Hlidskjalf Chaos Space Foolish Burial Reinforcement of the Army Equip Spells Nordic Relic Draupnir "Infernoble Arms - Hauteclere" Living Fossil Moon Mirror Shield Field Spells Mound of the Bound Creator Trap Cards Normal Traps Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir Nordic Relic Brisingamen Nordic Relic Gungnir Nordic Relic Megingjord Armory Call Mannadium Breakheart Trap Trick Counter Traps Mannadium Reframing Continuous Traps Nordic Relic Svalinn There Can Be Only One Extra Deck Synchro Monsters Loki, Lord of the Aesir Odin, Father of the Aesir Thor, Lord of the Aesir Baronne de Fleur Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons Beelzeus of the Diabolic Dragons Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon Coral Dragon Ruddy Rose Dragon PSY-Framelord Omega Link Monsters Gullveig of the Nordic Ascendant Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Chaos Crystron Halqifibrax Lyna the Light Charmer, Lustrous Salamangreat Almiraj

WeaknessesEdit

• "Gullveig" is the Deck's main playmaker, and is thus also its main chokepoint. Without "Gullveig", the Deck becomes much less consistent in performing its combos.
• The deck can only consistently make "Nordic Relic Svalinn" as a disruption, making its end boards extremely predictable and relatively easy to play through.
• The Deck's playstyle is directly countered by:
  • Anti-Synchro floodgates (e.g. "Dimensional Barrier")
  • Anti-Summoning floodgates (e.g. "Summon Limit", "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo")
• "Gullveig" is directly countered by:
  • Anti-banishing floodgates (e.g. "Artifact Lancea", "Imperial Iron Wall")
• Anti-GY floodgate (e.g. "Macro Cosmos") can prevent the Deck from using its recovery options.