Time Thief

Time Thief
"Winder", "Redoer", "Perpetua" and "Bezel Ship" in the artwork of "Time Thief Retrograde"
Japanese	クロノダイバー Kuronodaibā (romanized) Chronodiver (translated)
Simplified Chinese	时潜怪盗
French	Voleurs de Temps
German	Zeitdieb
Italian	Ladro del Tempo
Korean	크로노다이버 Keuronodaibeo (romanized)
Portuguese	Ladrão do Tempo
Spanish	Ladrón del Tiempo
Sets Ignition Assault TCG Savage Strike OTS Tournament Pack 12 2020 Tin of Lost Memories Ghosts From the Past 25th Anniversary Tin: Dueling Heroes Mega Pack 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection OCG Extra Pack 2019 Selection 10 Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Structures Volume 3 promotional card Rarity Collection Quarter Century Edition World Premiere Pack 2023
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"Time Thief", known in the OCG as "Chronodiver" (クロノダイバー Kuronodaibā), is an archetype of Level/Rank 4 DARK Psychic/Machine monsters introduced in Savage Strike as a TCG Exclusive. They also have connections to the "S-Force" archetype, as seen in "S-Force Showdown".

Design

The Psychic members are scientists with clothing to match, wearing uniforms and glasses befitting of their time travel theme. The Machine members primarily take on the appearance of robotic animals doubling as time travel gadgets, bar "Time Thief Bezel Ship" which as one can surmise is a ship.

They appear to take inspiration from Doctor Who and "The Gideon Trilogy" book series.The Gideon Trilogy

Playing Style

Their main strategy is to swarm the board with Level 4 monsters and attach different card types, including the opponent's cards, to their ace monster, the Rank 4 Xyz Monster "Time Thief Redoer". The Machine members tend to Tribute themselves to aid with this. To accomplish this, "Time Thief Winder" is able to add "Time Thief" cards from the Deck to your hand, making it a valuable asset. This can be done by Normal Summoning it, or by Special Summoning it via detaching material from an Xyz Monster you control. Alternatively, you could use the effect of "Time Thief Regulator" to Tribute itself (while controlling no other monsters) to immediately Special Summon "Winder" and another "Time Thief" from the Deck. "Regulator" can also revive itself from the GY if an Xyz Monster you control is destroyed by battle, though be careful as it will banish itself when it leaves the field after doing so. "Time Thief Chronocorder" will do the same though it can Tribute itself during your opponent's Battle Phase to make them take battle damage that turn if they continue to attack. "Time Thief Bezel Ship" Tributes itself to attach cards from the opponent's GY to your "Time Thief" Xyz Monsters (effectively acting as a tribal "D.D. Crow"), but can also detach those materials to bring itself back to the field. Said Xyz Monsters are "Time Thief Perpetua" and "Redoer"; "Perpetua" can Special Summon "Time Thief" Monsters from your GY during your Standby Phases, as well as target another Xyz Monster of yours and attach 1 "Time Thief" card from your Deck to it. This makes her perfectly capable of supplying "Redoer" with the needed materials for his own effects (and other powerful Xyz Monsters, for that matter), as he is able to detach up to 3 different kinds of materials from himself to activate the corresponding effects: detaching a monster banishes "Redoer" until the End Phase, a Spell will let you draw 1 card, and a Trap will place a face-up Card the opponent controls on the top of their Deck. Given this is a Quick Effect, this allows "Redoer" to become tricky to deal with on top of him being able to snatch cards from the top of your opponent's Deck each Standby Phase.

"Time Thief Startup" is a Quick-Play Spell that lets you immediately Summon a "Time Thief" monster from your hand, instantly triggering the effect of "Winder" or setting up "Regulator"; it is also able to banish itself from the GY to supply your "Time Thief" Xyz Monsters with all 3 materials needed for their effects, making it highly valuable. "Time Thief Hack" is a Continuous Spell that protects your Xyz Monsters from being destroyed or targeted by opposing effects the turn they are Summoned, on top of letting you boost your monster's ATK by 300 for each material it has, but also lets them attack directly if at least 1 of their materials belongs to the opponent. "Time Thief Flyback" is a Normal Trap that can be used to supply your "Time Thief" Xyz Monsters with material from the hand or Deck, and can banish itself after this to attach any card in your opponent's GY to your monsters as material (similar to the aforementioned "Bezel Ship"). "Time Thief Retrograde" is a Counter Trap that can negate the activation of opposing Spells/Traps and, instead of destroying them, turns them into material for monsters, thus making it a powerful option against cards that would benefit from being in the GY.

The archetype has great synergy with the "Heraldic" archetype, which supports both Psychic and Machine Decks. As all members are of the DARK Attribute, they also benefit from generic DARK support as well as some Machine support like "Gear Gigant X". "Raidraptor" and "Phantom Knights" can also prove a boon for the deck, by searching/tutoring other Level 4 DARK monsters to extend Special Summons and/or setting up cards in the GY and backrow to do the same. "Raidraptor - Force Strix" in particular can search extender monsters like "Singing Lanius", "Strangle Lanius", and "Raider's Wing" to allow for additional Level 4 monsters with which to Xyz Summon with, while "Rusty Bardiche" can send monsters like "Raider's Wing" to the GY in order to set "Shade Brigandine" for the same purpose.

Generic Xyz Monster support can also work amazingly well with the Deck, such as "Overlay Regen" and "Xyz Reborn". This extends to other generic Rank 4 monsters in general, including "Abyss Dweller" and "Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir" to limit the opponent's actions, "Tornado Dragon" for backrow removal, and "Number 60: Dugares the Timeless" to extend the user's plays.

Recommended cards

Main Deck Monster Cards Effect Monsters Time Thief Winder Time Thief Adjuster Time Thief Regulator Time Thief Bezel Ship Time Thief Chronocorder Time Thief Temporwhal Armageddon Knight Dark Grepher Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair Raidraptor - Singing Lanius Raidraptor - Strangle Lanius Raider's Wing Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite (if using "Wise Strix") Astraltopia Tuner monsters Black Salvo Spell Cards Normal Spells Allure of Darkness Creeping Darkness Foolish Burial Generation Force Reinforcement of the Army Continuous Spells Time Thief Hack Overlay Network Springans Booty Quick-Play Spells Time Thief Startup Xyz Import Trap Cards Normal Traps Time Thief Flyback The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine Phoenix Wing Wind Blast Trap Trick Xyz Reborn Storm Dragon's Return Counter Traps Time Thief Retrograde Xyz Block Continuous Traps Time Thief Power Reserve Resurgam Xyz Extra Deck Synchro Monsters F.A. Dawn Dragster Samurai Destroyer Xyz Monsters Time Thief Redoer Time Thief Perpetua Time Thief Double Barrel Abyss Dweller Tornado Dragon Evilswarm Nightmare Gagagaga Magician Raidraptor - Force Strix Gear Gigant X Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir Number 60: Dugares the Timeless Number F0: Utopic Future Number F0: Utopic Draco Future Link Monsters PSY-Framelord Lambda Bujinki Ahashima Armillyre, the Starleader Dragon Infinitrack Fortress Megaclops Wee Witch's Apprentice Dharc the Dark Charmer, Gloomy Raidraptor - Wise Strix The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche

Weaknesses

As effective as the "Time Thief" monsters can be in providing out-of-the-box interactions with the opponent, they suffer a great weakness to cards such as the "Ghost Girls" (namely "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" and "Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit"). A well-timed activation of such cards on the opponent's end can easily stop the effects of "Regulator" and "Redoer" in particular dead in their tracks, and the Deck's setup/strategy by proxy. The card "Dimensional Barrier" can also prove a major problem for them by preventing them from Xyz Summoning outright, therefore locking them out of both their ace and toolbox monsters.

Furthermore, the Deck often requires use of supplementary archetypes and/or "free agent" cards to get the ball rolling when it comes to providing necessary monsters for setup. Hence why more often than not, "Time Thief" is found in joint builds alongside archetypes such as "Heraldic Beast", "Phantom Knights", "Onomat", and "Gunkan".