Labrynth
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 "Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle", "Arias the Labrynth Butler", and an unnamed "Labrynth" monster challenge the recurring female knight in the artwork of "Big Welcome Labrynth". | |||||||||||||
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Is this beautiful castle riddled with traps? The princess' tricks are always perfect!
— The archetype's tagline in promotional material
"Labrynth" (ラビュリンス Rabyurinsu) is an archetype of DARK Fiend monsters introduced in Deck Build Pack: Tactical Masters/Tactical Masters. It also has a sub-archetype of Normal Trap Cards: "Welcome Labrynth".
Lore
Etymology
The archetype's name is an alteration of "labyrinth" whose Japanese pronunciation sounds similar to "love (you)". Additionally, it may be a portmanteau with labrys, a term for double-bladed axes (such as the one wielded by "Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle"), which are an important religious symbol of the ancient Cretan religion usually associated with goddesses, with Crete being the purpoted location of the Minoan Labyrinth. The labrys is also sometimes used as a symbol of the lesbian community, which may hint at the princess holding feelings for the unnamed feminine knight depicted in the Trap Cards' artworks (supported by the artwork of "Big Welcome Labrynth", where a flurry of cherry blossoms in the background forms a heart).
The retainers ("Arianna", "Ariane", and "Arias") derive their names from Ariadna, the girl who helped Theseus escape the Minoan Labirynth.
Design
The "Labrynth" cards are themed after trap-filled mansions often seen in "trap 'em up" video games such as the Deception series and its spinoff Trapt, as well as the Dungeon Maker series; in these games, the player sets up traps to eliminate and/or capture invading enemies. As mentioned above, the theme is also based on the ancient Greek myth of the Minoan Labyrinth and the Minotaur.
The theme's monsters are based on denizens of a certain Trap-filled castle ("Labrynth Labyrinth"), as well as the animated inanimate objects stationed within that may spring to life and attack the invaders.
| Level | Labrynth | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle | Labrys Labyrinth |
| Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle | ||
| 7 | Archfiend | Armor statue |
| 6 | Arias the Butler | Butler Ariasu |
| 4 | Arianna the Servant | Maidservant Ariadne |
| Ariane the Servant | ||
| 3 | Chandraglier | Chandelier |
| 2 | Stovie Torbie | Stove |
| 1 | Cooclock | Cuckoo clock |
Playing style
"Labrynth" is a Trap-focused archetype focusing on using Normal Trap Cards to remove monsters from the field, in order to activate Trigger Effects from archetypal cards.
| Labrynth | Card type | Trigger Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle | Effect Monster | Destroy 1 card the opponent controls or 1 random card in their hand. |
| Servant Arianna | Draw 1 card, then Special Summon 1 Fiend monster, or Set 1 Spell/Trap, from the hand. | |
| Servant Ariane | ||
| Chandraglier | Add this card from the GY to the hand. | |
| Stovie Torbie | Special Summon this card from the GY. | |
| Welcome | Normal Trap | Set this card from your GY. |
If the player's field and GY is set up with these "Labrynth" cards, removing a single monster with a Normal Trap can trigger all of these Trigger Effects at once, generating a massive amount of advantage.
The key starter and engine card for the archetype is the archetypal Normal Trap "Welcome Labrynth", which Special Summons a "Labrynth" monster from the player's Deck, and can recover itself with its trigger effect for more Summons. Aside from generic searchers, it is also searchable in-archetype by "Labrynth Chandraglier", "Labrynth Stovie Torbie", and "Arianna the Labrynth Servant".
Aside from their Trigger Effects, "Labrynth" cards also feature effects that support non-"Labrynth" Normal Traps. This, combined with the fact that the archetype's own Normal Traps, "Farewelcome Labrynth", "Labrynth Barrage", and "Welcome Labrynth", are ineffective at removing monsters due to their restrictive conditions and effects (in the case of "Welcome Labrynth", it requires the archetype's Field Spell, "Labrynth Labyrinth", to be able to remove monsters), strongly encourages the player to use non-archetypal traps.
Recommended cards
Weaknesses
- Because of their heavy reliance on Trap Cards, cards that counter them or prevent them from activating or playing such as "Jinzo", "Royal Decree" and "Eradicator Epidemic Virus" will immediately cripple or shut down the deck.
- As "Labrynth" monsters are all DARK, "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror" is also very effective against Labrynth monsters and can counter them from searching Trap Cards.
- As "Labrynth" cards often have discard costs, the deck generally has to rely on repeatedly looping "Welcome Labrynth" and/or "Big Welcome Labrynth" to maintain card advantage. Should the opponent managed to stop the loop, the deck would ended up struggling to recover their disadvantagous position had they were not able to search and activate a copy of either "Welcome" or "Big Welcome".
- "Consecrated Light" prevents DARK monsters from attacking or being Summoned.
