Runick
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Challenge the mysteries of the world with "Runick"!
— The archetype's tagline in promotional material
"Runick", known as "Rune" (
Etymology
The Japanese name of the archetype uses the kanji characters 「神碑」 (Shinpi), literally meaning "Divine Runestone", which likely refers to "Runick Fountain"; however, it has the forced reading of 「ルーン」 (Rūn). 「神碑」 is also homophonous with the word 「神秘」 (Shinpi, "Mystery"). The English name of the archetype is likely a portmanteau of the words "rune" and "magick", the latter being an archaic spelling for the word "magic".
Playing style
"Runick" is an archetype almost entirely made up of Spell Cards (especially Quick-Play Spells), with an exclusive focus on a Deck out victory condition. The archetype has no Main Deck monsters, only one monster with non-zero ATK (who cannot deal battle damage), and the effects of all its Quick-Play Spells cause the player to skip their next Battle Phase, forcing the archetype to entirely forgo combat to focus on Deck out. All "Runick" Quick-Play Spells can be activated only once per turn, and each allows choosing between one of two effects: a unique effect that provides consistency/disruption/Deck milling and then banishes a varied number of cards from the top of the opponent's Deck, or a shared effect to Special Summon 1 "Runick" monster from the Extra Deck to the Extra Monster Zone. Activating either effect of a "Runick" Quick-Play Spell requires the player to skip their next Battle Phase. The "Runick" Extra Deck monsters serve as the archetype's defensive strategy, providing additional resource searching or cycling, and some protection against battle or effects. The key card to the archetype's resource loop is their Field Spell "Runick Fountain", which lets the player activate "Runick" Quick-Play Spells from the hand during the opponent's turn, and once per turn (during either player's turn) it can place up to 3 "Runick" Quick-Play Spells from the Graveyard to the bottom of the Deck and have the player draw that many cards. Though "Runick Fountain" functions best when the archetype is played pure, the archetype's ability to easily Special Summon low-level Fusion Monsters also enables the Summoning of Synchro, Xyz, or Link Monsters requiring low-Level extenders if the archetype is hybridized with other engines.
Recommended cards
Weaknesses
- Since this archetype focuses mostly on Quick-Play Spell Cards, cards that counter them (or counter Spell Cards in general) can be extremely dangerous, such as "Anti-Spell Fragrance", "Eradicator Epidemic Virus", "Secret Village of the Spellcasters", and "Spell Canceller".
- The archetype critically depends on its Field Spell "Runick Fountain" to maintain its card advantage, making it a prime target for the opponent's removal effects.
- The archetype has almost no Monster Zone presence, and is almost entirely dependent on randomly-drawn "Runick" Quick-Play Spells to provide disruption and protection, making it quite fragile.
- Utilizing external engines, or even external cards in general, reduces the chances of the player drawing into additional "Runick" cards off of "Runick Fountain", slowing down the Deck's tempo significantly.
- The Deck's playstyle is countered by anti-Graveyard floodgates like "Macro Cosmos", which can prevent "Runick Fountain" from returning cards to draw cards. Or anti-Banishing effects, such as that of "Chaos Hunter".
- Decks with cards that activate their effects when banished, like the "Shiranui" monsters, could use this archetype's strategy of banishing the opponent's cards to their own advantage.
