Performapal

Performapal
Yuya Sakaki with various "Performapal" monsters, "Stargazer Magician", "Timegazer Magician" and three "Hippo Tokens"
Japanese	ＥＭ（エンタメイト） ＥＭ (base) エンタメイト (ruby) Entameito (romanized) Entermate (translated)
English	Entermate (manga)
French	Potartiste Matartist (translated)
German	Künstlerkumpel Artistmate (translated)
Italian	Artistamico Artistfriend (translated)
Korean	E（엔터）M（메이트） EM (base) 엔터메이트 (ruby) Enteomeiteu (romanized) Entermate (translated)
Portuguese	Camarartista Camerartist (translated)
Spanish	Artistamigo Artistfriend (translated)
Sets Duelist Alliance V Jump promotional cards V Jump Edition Pendulum Victory Pack The New Challengers Secrets of Eternity Special Summon Evolution Crossed Souls Structure Deck: Master of Pendulum Dimension of Chaos Breakers of Shadow
Anime appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Manga appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V The Strongest Duelist Yuya!!
Lists	Members Support

"Performapal", known as "Entermate" (ＥＭ（エンタメイト） Entameito) in the OCG and English manga, is an archetype used by Yuya Sakaki in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime and manga.

Design

Appearance

The archetype is primarily designed around circus animals, donning apparel such as top hats and polka dot bow ties. Yuya uses the archetype's diversity in appearance to traverse around the Duel Fields, using "Whip Snake" to scale high buildings and "Skeeter Skimmer" to travel across water. Many of the members of this archetype have a colored star on their bodies.

Etymology

Both the English and Japanese names are simple portmanteaus: "Performapal" is a portmanteau of "performance" and "pal", while "Entermate" is a portmanteau of "entertainment" and "mate".

The "Performapal" archetype members tend to have their names formed of portmanteaus, usually of a description of what purpose they serve or what they are based off of, plus what animal/circus entertainer they are. For example, the Japanese name for "Performapal Hip Hippo" is "Discover Hippo", which reflects how it is Yuya's main mode of transportation during Action Duels to find Action Cards. Another example is "Sword Fish", which is based off a sword-shaped fish.

Performapal	Entermate (Japanese translation)	Portmanteau	Reference
Big Bite Turtle
Bowhopper	Gunhopper	Crossbow + Grasshopper	Crossbow-shaped grasshopper propelling a cricket.
Camelump	Cameldown	Camel + Down	Lowers the opponent monsters' DEF.
Cheermole	Cheermole	Cheerleading + Mole	Dressed as a cheerleader and boosts difference between original and current ATK.
Drumerilla	Drumming Kong	Drum + Gorilla	Drums as pecs.
Elephammer	Hammer Mammo	Elephant/Mammoth + Hammer	Hammer on end of trunk.
Fire Mufferlion	Fire Mufflio	Fire + Muffler + Lion	Muffler made of fire.
Friendonkey	Friendonkey	Friend + Donkey	Ability to Special Summon other "Performapals".
Guiturtle	Guiturtle	Guitar + Turtle	Body is a guitar
Helprincess	Helprincess	Help + Princess
Hip Hippo	Discover Hippo	Hip/Discovery + Hippopotamus	Is hip to the whereabouts of Action Cards/Discovers Action Cards.
Kaleidoscorp	Kaleido Scorpion	Kaleidoscope + Scorpion	Effect is visualized as a light show
La Panda	La Panda	La musical note + Panda	Refers to its musical design.
Lizardraw	Lizardraw	Lizard + Draw	Ability to draw cards.
Mammoth Splash	Mammoth Splash	Mammoth + Splash
Monkeyboard	Monkeyboard	Monkey + Keyboard	Teeth are a keyboard.
Partnaga	Partnaga	Partner + Nāga	Ability to power up/protect other monsters.
Pendulum Sorcerer	Pendulum Sorcerer	Pendulum + Sorcerer
Raingoat	Raingoat	Raincoat + Goat	Ability to reduce Effect damage/protect "Performapal" and "Odd-Eyes" cards. Wearing a raincoat.
Salutiger	Warrior Tiger	Salute/Warrior + Tiger	Saluting humanoid tiger wearing a military-like uniform.
Secondonkey	Secondonkey	Second + Donkey	Second donkey "Performapal"/Ability to be Special Summoned after another "Performapal".
Silver Claw	Silver Claw	Silver Fang + Claw	Huge metallic claws on its front paws.
Skeeter Skimmer	Amenboat	Slang for Mosquito + Skimboarding
Skullcrobat Joker	Skullcrobat Joker	Skull + Acrobat + Jester (synonym of Joker).
Spikeagle	Spike Eagle	Spike + Eagle	Ability to give monsters Piercing Battle Damage.
Springoose	Springoose	Spring + Goose	Lower torso is a spring.
Stamp Turtle	Stamp Turtle	Stamp + Turtle	Holding a stamp in its hand.
Sword Fish	Sword Fish	Sword + Fish	Shaped like a sword.
Thunderhino	Thunderhino	Thunder + Rhinoceros
Trampolynx	Trampolynx	Trampoline + Lynx	Trampoline for a torso. Ability to "bounce" monsters to the hand.
Trump Girl	Trump Girl	Trump + Girl
Trump Witch	Trump Witch	Trump + Witch	Reference to it giving Yuya the ability to Fusion Summon. Trump could also be translated as "tramp", referring to its patched clothing.
Turn Toad	Turn Toad	Turn + Toad	Swaps monsters' ATK and DEF.
Whip Snake	Whip Viper	Whip + Snake/Snake	Hypnotizes monsters with its effect. Can be used as a whip in an Action Duel.

Playing style

"Performapal" monsters possess varied effects giving the archetype a lot of versatility. Many of the weaker monsters possess strong effects that work well when used together. Monsters like "Cheermole" and "Sword Fish" can manipulate ATK and DEF permanently in large increments and continue to do so if they can remain on the field while others like "Fire Mufflerlion" and "Spikeagle" grant bonuses for attacking by providing a 2nd attack for one of your monsters and Piercing Damage respectively.

As the first Pendulum Monster archetype, "Performapal" features a large number of Pendulum Monsters designed to make the most out of the Pendulum Zones. "Performapal Silver Claw" is a powerful beater in the Monster Card Zone that boosts all "Performapal" monsters' ATK when in the Pendulum Zone. "Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer" boosts all "Performapal" monster's ATK by 1000 during a turn when the player Pendulum Summons. "Performapal Skullcrobat Joker" offers the highest Pendulum Scale of the archetype (8), and can add 1 "Performapal" monster, 1 "Magician" Pendulum Monster, or 1 "Odd-Eyes" monster from the Deck to the hand with its effect.

The archetype is also highly capable at searching and drawing its members out of the deck through multiple cards. Of these, "Pendulum Sorcerer" is the most potent as it can search for 2 "Performapal" monsters every turn, and due to its ability to target itself with its destruction effect, can send itself to the Extra Deck to be Pendulum Summoned later. Combining it with effects like "Supply Squad" and "Lizardraw" allow you to gain card advantage quickly, and using "Friendonkey" is an easy way to initially Special Summon it from the hand. "Secondonkey" provides the archetype with another avenue to search out its cards, sending a "Performapal" monster from your Deck to your Graveyard for later revival via "Friendonkey", or if both your Pendulum Zones are occupied, letting you add the searched "Performapal" monster to your hand instead.

On its own, the archetype is capable of quickly swarming the field and gain large attack boosts through their pendulum monsters' effects. "Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer" and "Partnaga" can greatly boost the attack of one or all of your monsters until the end of the turn. As such, it's relatively easy to always come into the battle phase with at least 1 monster with over 2500 ATK.

The strongest monster in the "Performapal" archetype is "Performapal Elephammer" at 2600 original ATK, which can be normal summoned without tribute if the player controls 2 or more other "Performapals", and Bounces all of the opponent's Spell and Trap Cards when it attacks. Together with the Swarm capabilities afforded by Pendulum Summons, "Elephammer" can make a good finisher for the archetype.

With the release of Structure Deck: Master of Pendulum, the "Performapal" archetype has become more intimately entwined with the "Odd-Eyes" and "Magician" archetypes through cards like "Performapal Skullcrobat Joker" and "Sky Iris", which affords the deck more efficient use of outside cards that were previously just splashable– especially "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon".

Weaknesses

"Performapal" decks suffer from two big weaknesses that tend to undermine their core strategies: First, the monsters feature inconsistent Pendulum Scales (fully ranging from 1-8) together with a variety of monster Levels– ironically making it difficult for this Pendulum Summon-centered archetype to Pendulum Summon. Also, though many of the Level 2 and 3 "Performapals" possess strong effects, the only "Performapal" monster with a Scale of 1 is "Performapal Monkeyboard", making it difficult to retrieve those Level 2 Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck without relying on Pendulum Monsters from outside the archetype.

Second, while "Performapals" are outstanding in manipulating ATK and granting special combat tricks to Pendulum Monsters during the battle phase, they suffer a debilitating lack of power under most circumstances. Outside of your own battle phase, "Performapals" lose most of the ATK bonuses they gain and are left stranded with their very low original ATK (with the exemption of "Performapal Elephammer's" outstanding 2600 ATK, most barely scrape over 1800 for ATK or DEF). Combined with the issue of getting support monsters out consistently, dedicated "Performapal" decks will often be left with a field with a few low ATK monsters if you don't have protection such as "Last Minute Cancel" on hand. On top of all of this, "Performapal" cards in general (Monster, Spell, and Trap) have a near-random assortment of effects which make building a deck around them convoluted or predictable.

Also, as "Performapal" decks greatly rely on their capacity to Pendulum Summon and their Spell and Trap Cards to maintain advantage, "Anti-Spell Fragrance" is especially deliberating to the deck, preventing any Pendulum Scales from being placed and forcing at least one turn of waiting before any Spell Cards can be activated.

Recommended cards

Recommended cards

Main Deck Monster Cards Effect Monsters Performapal Bowhopper Performapal Elephammer Performapal Friendonkey Performapal Helprincess Performapal Salutiger Performapal Secondonkey Performapal Sword Fish Performapal Thunderhino Performapal Whip Snake Performapal Raingoat Dragon Dowser Frontline Observer Odd-Eyes Dragon Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon Tuner monsters Tuning Magician Pendulum Monsters Performapal Big Bite Turtle Performapal Camelump Performapal Drummerilla Performapal Fire Mufflerlion Performapal La Panda Performapal Lizardraw Performapal Mammoth Splash Performapal Monkeyboard Performapal Partnaga Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer Performapal Silver Claw Performapal Skullcrobat Joker Performapal Trump Witch Performapal Trump Girl Archfiend Eccentrick Dragonpit Magician Dragonpulse Magician Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer Nobledragon Magician Oafdragon Magician Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon Oversight Magician Vector Pendulum, the Dracoruler Wisdom-Eye Magician Xiangke Magician Xiangsheng Magician Ritual Monsters Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon Spell Cards Barrier Bubble Illusion Balloons Performapal Recasting Performance Band Hurricane Sky Iris Clash of the Dracorivals Draw Muscle Fire Formation - Tenki (Searcher for "Salutiger") Fusion Conscription Fusion Substitute Odd-Eyes Advent Odd-Eyes Fusion Pendulum Call Pendulum Shift Pendulum Impenetrable Pendulum Storm Pot of Riches Supply Squad Trap Cards Command Performance Last Minute Cancel Performapal Call Performapal Pinch Helper Performapal Revival Defense Draw Fusion Reserve Echo Oscillation Horn of the Phantom Beast Wall of Disruption Pendulum Back Pendulum Reborn Extra Deck Fusion Monsters Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon Dinoster Powerful, the Strong Dracoslayer Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon Synchro Monsters Clear Wing Synchro Dragon Enlightenment Paladin Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon Xyz Monsters Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon Majester Paladin, the Soaring Dracoslayer Number 103: Ragnazero Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon Performage Trapeze Magician

Official Decks

The following Decklists may or may not contain copies of cards that exceed the maximum amount allowed by the current Forbidden & Limited List. These should not be changed, as these Decklists are copied verbatim at the time they were published.