Sacred Beast
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 From left to right: "Uria", "Raviel" and "Hamon", with "Armityle" in the back, in the artwork of "Dimension Fusion Destruction" | |
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The Sacred Beasts, known as the Three Phantasms (
Each monster resembles one of the Egyptian Gods and are seen as dark counterparts to them, in a similar vein to the Wicked Gods (though unlike the Wicked Gods, they are never stated in-series to have any relation to the Egyptian Gods). Gameplay-wise, each Sacred Beast features a Summoning condition that requires it to send to the Graveyard or Tribute 3 cards of a certain card type.
Contents
Design
The designs of the Sacred Beasts, "Uria", "Hamon" and "Raviel" were overseen by Kenichi Hara. Each member resembles one of the three Egyptian Gods; "Uria" is a counterpart in "Slifer the Sky Dragon", "Hamon" is a counterpart to "The Winged Dragon of Ra", and "Raviel" is a counterpart to "Obelisk the Tormentor". Also, like the Egyptian God Cards, all three Sacred Beast Cards have the same background; however, unlike the God Cards, they possess certain visual features that make them distinct from their predecessors, including translucent wings and more pronounced claws and skeletal features.
The three Sacred Beasts makes reference to characters in Judeo-Christain religion or texts.
- "Uria" is named after Uriah the Hittite, a man mentioned in the Books of Samuel who was murdered by King David because the former had an affair with the latter's wife. "Uria" may also be a reference to the archangel Uriel, the angel of repentance who guards the gate to the Garden of Eden and wields a sword of fire.
- "Hamon" is named after Haman, a villain in Book of Esther who tried to depose the King of Persia and kill all the Jews in Persia. "Hamon" may also be a reference to the alternative name of the archangel Gabriel used in the Book of Enoch. Lastly, hamon is a swordsmithing term, originating from the Japanese word meaning "blade pattern", referring to the wave like patterns on the cutting edge.
- "Raviel" is named after Raziel, an angel who is depicted as the author of the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh which he gives to Adam and Eve shortly after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden so they would find their way back and better understand their God.
- "Armityle" is named after Amatiel, one of the angels of the spring in Pietro d'Abano's grimoire Heptameron.
Appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, the Sacred Beasts are legendary monsters whose cards were sealed by Kagemaru underneath Duel Academy behind the Spirit Gates, which requires seven Spirit Keys to open, as he could not unlock their power at the time. Should they ever be set free from their stronghold, chaos and darkness will envelop the world, destroying everything.
The Shadow Riders, led by Kagemaru, sought to acquire the Spirit Keys and revive the Sacred Beasts. In order to open the gate, a strong Dueling presence is required; if the keys are stolen and placed in the gate (as attempted by Don Zaloog), nothing will occur. To meet the challenge of the Shadow Riders, seven of Duel Academy's finest Duelists were selected: Jaden Yuki, Zane Truesdale, Chazz Princeton, Alexis Rhodes, Bastion Misawa, Vellian Crowler, and Lyman Banner (whose hidden identity, at the time, was the Shadow Rider, Amnael). Although the Shadow Riders were defeated, the gate was inadvertently opened by Chazz, and Kagemaru managed to acquire the awakened Sacred Beasts because of the Dueling energy released from the Duels. In exchange for freeing them from imprisonment, the Sacred Beasts slowly returned Kagemaru to a youthful state, empowering him with the energy sapped from Duel Monster spirits, but Jaden's interference resulted in the man's downfall. They were thus locked away once more.
After Duel Academy is transported to an alternate dimension in the third season, Marcel Bonaparte, possessed by Yubel, retrieves the Sacred Beasts and builds a Deck around them, which boosts the Summoning speed of the Sacred Beasts and also supports the Summoning of their combined form, "Chaos Phantasm Armityle". When Jesse Anderson reappears after he was possessed by Yubel, he uses them in a Deck based around quickly Summoning the Sacred Beasts and "Armityle" for his Duel against Adrian Gecko. Although Yubel didn't use them in her final Duel with Jaden, "Raviel" was shown to be in her Deck. After Yubel merged with Jaden, they are safely returned to their resting place.
Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V (manga)
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V manga, Eve uses "Phantasm Emperor Trilojig", a Fusion Monster that is a reference to the Sacred Beasts. It can be Summoned by "Dimension Fusion Destruction" in the OCG/TCG.
Playing style
The three Sacred Beasts historically lacked support cards that worked to effectively support all three monsters, and so were typically played separately as individual decks focused on bringing out one of the three Sacred Beasts, using their own summoning conditions. Later on, as the three Sacred Beasts received consistency support and series-wide support, Sacred Beast Decks gradually homogenized around the new series-wide support.
Before receiving their shared consistency support, historical Sacred Beast decks focused on individual Sacred Beasts differed signicantly between them in order to fulfill the monsters' summoning conditions:
- Historical "Hamon"-focused Decks are focused on using Continuous Spell Cards to enable the summon of "Hamon". The Deck synergized with "Crystal Beasts", as they become Continuous Spell Cards after being destroyed.
- Historical "Uria"-focused Decks are focused on using Continuous Trap Cards to enable the summon of "Uria", and boost its ATK to very high levels for an OTK. They would typically employ floodgates like "Imperial Custom" or "Curse of Darkness", as well as Trap Monsters to control the field. To power up "Uria", cards like "Reasoning", "Monster Gate" and "Magic Planter" can send Continuous Traps from the Deck or field to the Graveyard in large numbers.
- Historical "Raviel"-focused Decks are focused on swarming Fiend monsters to enable the summon of "Raviel". Common Fiend monsters used include "Dark World" monsters, as well as Fiend Tokens like the ones summoned by "Phantom Skyblaster" or "Fires of Doomsday".
- Some other historical Decks focused on turboing out "Armityle" would typically employ monsters like "Phantom of Chaos" or "Elemental HERO Prisma" to copy the names of Sacred Beast monsters, making "Armityle" less costly to summon.
After receiving their shared support, Sacred Beast monsters became far easier to summon thanks to the effects of "Chaos Summoning Beast" and "Dark Summoning Beast", and became far easier to access thanks to the searchers "Dark Beckoning Beast" and "Opening of the Spirit Gates".
Modern Sacred Beast Decks can be built to focus on summoning one of the three Sacred Beasts and use its dedicated Signature move support (e.g. "Cerulean Skyfire") to maximize consistency, or playing multiple different Sacred Beast monsters to enable stronger support cards that require multiple different Sacred Beasts (e.g. "Awakening of the Sacred Beasts"), inluding summoning "Armityle" with the effect of "Dimension Fusion Destruction".
Recommended cards
Recommended cards
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