Shadow Flower
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Shadow Flower, known as Shadow Flower Fang (
Etymology
The series' Japanese name reads as "kage", (「影」, "shadow"); however, rather than the standard kanji, "kage" is instead written using the kanji for "flower"(「花」) and "fang" (「牙」).
Members
Members of the theme generally references traditional Japanese culture and plants (primarily flowers). Most of the Level 7 or higher members (with the sole exception of "Clematis the Shadow Flower Armor") have the syllable "Ran" (for "Ranze") or "Rin" (for "Rinnosuke") in their Japanese name, depending on which one of the twins used them in the anime.
| Shadow Flower | Origin |
|---|---|
| Acacia | Bhikkuni + Acacia |
| Begonia | Begonia + Oshibana |
| Blanc de Blanc | White garden rose + Snowflake |
| Clematis | Japanese armor + Clematis |
| Dahlia | Dahlia |
| Doushin Kaika | Dōshin + Kaika + Queen of the night + Bellflower |
| Durga | Incense + Durga + Submarine + Agarwood |
| Etraynze | Kunoichi + Orchid |
| Gajumaru | Lion dog + Orchid |
| Garland | Kunoichi + Flower garland |
| Gatling | Shinobi + Gatling gun + Bellflower |
| Gekka | Beauty + Queen of the night |
| Iris | Iris |
| Jasmine | Hanamatsuri + Jasmine |
| Javelin Dux | Javelin + Dux + Bellflower |
| Kudzu | Kudzu |
| Kurobana | Heat haze + Purple marshlock |
| Lindo | Kagemusha + Bellflower |
| Meika Etraynze | Meika + Geisha + Orchid |
| Stella | Coat of arms + Daylily |
| Yuri | Kagefumi + oni + Lily |
"Meika Etraynzeyes the Shadow Flower Lunatic" is an exception, instead being based on Rayne's "Rayne-o-Vision" character tic and "Meika Etraynze the Shadow Flower Venus".
Playing style
The theme uses Plant monsters (especially Normal ones) in the owner's Graveyard as a resource to quickly Special Summon many high-Level Plant monsters at a time; however, the Summoned monsters are often placed on the bottom of the Deck during the End Phase, making cards that shuffle the Deck important to be able to draw them again. Both "Gekka the Shadow Flower Beauty" and "Shadow Flower Spore" give recursion options to the Deck, with the former recovering to the hand and the latter Special Summoning from the GY. Since the player's Monster Zones might periodically become empty or scarce of monsters due to self-returning effects, the theme has two different Traps that facilitate defense against the opponent's assault during the next turn. "Shadow Flower Stance" can be used when a monster is targeted for an attack, and lets the player change the opponent's monster to Defense Position; and since there's no Main Phase 2 in Rush Duel, offensive monsters with low DEF become sitting ducks if they're forced into their weaker position during the Battle Phase. "Shadow Flower Return" can be used in a pinch, destroying a directly-attacking monster and reviving a strong "Shadow Flower" monster that fell earlier, assisting the player in forming a counterattack on the next turn. Later waves of support gave the theme more ways to keep hand and field advantage stable to counterbalance the deck's self-returning effects, with "Shadow Flower Wish" exchanging 2 weaker monsters on the owner's field with a strong one from their Graveyard, and "Shadow Flower Purple Smoke Spray" exchanging a Plant on the field for a draw, assuming there's a Defense Position monster on either side of the field.
The Shadow Flower theme has three different ways of playing in the anime. In Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS, it is used by the twins Rayne and Rino Nanahoshi, who have very similar decks. However, Rayne's Deck plays a swarm style, with her boss monsters and Spells/Traps Special Summoning a lot of strong monsters, then returning them to the bottom of her Deck during the End Phase. Rino on the other hand plays a more destructive style, with his boss and Spells/Traps destroying cards on the field and inflicting burn damage. Later in the anime, each of the twins' decks gain a second playstyle, focusing on cards that specifically counter EARTH Attribute Monsters, with Rayne's having offensive effects that disrupt the opponent's EARTH monsters and Rino's having supportive effects that apply if the opponent has EARTH monsters on their field. In Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!!, the series is used by Ranran Nanahoshi, who ran a number of new cards. This introduced a third play style of the Deck, which focuses on utilizing Level 5 Plant Type Normal Monsters, in particular "Blanc de Blanc the Snow Shadow Flower", to gain various benefits, with bonus boons when playing against Decks that use Level 7 or higher Normal Monsters. In the real game, since the styles don't conflict with each other, the player can freely mix-and-match between the twins' and Ranran's cards and simply lean on the aspect they want to shine better in their deck.
With the arrival of Fusion Summon, the theme gains a plethora of new boss monsters, each representing a different playstyle of the twins, but with more explosive effects and less restrictions, in exchange of mostly requiring the line's subsequent boss monster to Summon. "Durga the Shadow Flower Stealth Submarine" and "Javelin Dux the Shadow Flower Piercer" require "Gatling the Shadow Flower Shinobi" as a material, but have strong destruction effects, the former can potentially lead to a board wipe while the latter give proper field control even against Maximum Monsters while also Setting a defensive measure from the Graveyard. "Meika Etraynze the Shadow Flower Venus" requires "Etraynze the Shadow Flower Ninja" as both materials, but can Special Summon any Level 8 or lower Plants from the hand or Graveyard for no cost and no End Phase bouncing. "Meika Etraynzeyes the Shadow Flower Lunatic" shares the exact same materials as "Meika Etraynze", and can reduce the ATK/DEF of up to 2 monsters on the opponent's field by 730,000 until the end of the turn, making even a "Lindo" or "Kurobana" lethal against the opponent's monsters. Additionally, "Meika Etraynzeyes" is a Level 8 monster, which means it can be Special Summoned from the Graveyard by "Meika Etraynze" for free each turn. "Doushin Kaika the Shadow Flower Full Moon" is the easiest Fusion Monster to Summon in the theme, simply requiring 2 low-Level monsters as the materials, one of which can setup the material requirements on its own; it also has a decent utility effect that can recycle one of the theme's powerful Traps and has a direct attack-granting effect that may close games if used at the proper timing. In exchange, "Doushin Kaika" has weaker stats than the other Fusion Monsters of the theme barring "Etraynzeyes", and is Level 8, which means it lacks the design-granted protection of Level 9 or higher monsters.
