Dinomorphia
| Dinomorphia | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||
| Japanese |
| ||||||||||||
| French |
| ||||||||||||
| German |
| ||||||||||||
| Italian |
| ||||||||||||
| Korean |
| ||||||||||||
| Portuguese |
| ||||||||||||
| Spanish |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Lists | |||||||||||||
"Dinomorphia", known as "Dinorphia" (ダイノルフィア Dainorufia) in the OCG, is an archetype of DARK Dinosaur monsters introduced in Battle of Chaos.
Lore[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The archetype's OCG name, "Dinorphia", is a portmanteau of "dinosaur" and "dynorphin", a type of peptide produced in the body that has analgesic properties; this likely refers to the "Dinorphia" monsters' damage-suppressing and low-LP effects. The names of the "Dinorphia" monsters are based on the names of various dinosaur species. Alternatively, the Japanese archtype's name can also read as "Dinoruffian", a portmanteau of "dinosaur" and "ruffian", which refers to the depiction of monster of the archetype as outlaw criminals.
The archetype's TCG name, "Dinomorphia", includes "morph-" into the OCG name's pre-existing portmanteau. "Morph-" likely refers to either "morphology", the form and structure of animals; "metamorphosis", a form of transformation or mutation which is emphasized by the hybridization of humanoids and dinosaurs in the archetype; or "morphine", an addictive opiate with similar analgesic properties as dynorphins.
Design[edit]
The "Dinomorphia" monsters are divided between two distinct design styles: one style that consists of human agents, and another style that consists of giant robotic creatures.
The members that are human agents are equipped with mechanical augmentations based on the adaptive traits of their respective dinosaurs, while the robotic members are large robots that resemble prehistoric species of dinosaurs or non-dinosaur reptiles.
All "Dinomorphia" monsters have 0 ATK or DEF.
| Form | Member | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Diplos | Diplodocus |
| Kentregina | Kentrosaurus | |
| Therizia | Therizinosaurus | |
| Robot | Rexterm | Tyrannosaurus Rex |
| Stealthbergia | Geosternbergia Stealth aircraft | |
| Shell/Token | Archelon |
Playing style[edit]
"Dinomorphia" is a Trap Card and Fusion Monster-based Dinosaur Deck focused on putting the player in a low-LP, near-death game state. The archetype is primarily composed of Trap Cards that all require the player paying half of their LP to activate, with effects ranging from board building, disruption, to recovery. Meanwhile, all "Dinomorphia" monsters have effects that make the monsters stronger the lower the player's LP is, encouraging the player to reduce their LP as much as possible without dying.
The Deck has 8 Traps: 4 Normal Traps and 4 Counter Traps.
| Type | Dinomorphia | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Domain | Fusion Summon 1 "Dinomorphia" Fusion Monster, using monsters from hand, Deck, or field as materials | Play enabler |
| Frenzy | Fusion Summon 1 "Dinomorphia" Fusion Monster, using 1 monster from the Deck and 1 monster from the Extra Deck as materials | Play enabler | |
| Alert | Special Summon up to 2 "Dinomorphia" monsters from the GY, whose total Levels ≤8 | Recovery | |
| Brute | Destroy 1 "Dinomorphia" monster and 1 opponent's card. | Removal | |
| Counter | Shell | Special Summon 1 "Dinomorphia Token" with 3000 DEF, and the opponent can only attack it | Battle protection |
| Intact | Negate the activation of a monster's effect and destroy it. For the rest of the turn, any battle damage the player receives becomes half the player's LP at the moment of the attack | Monster negate + battle protection | |
| Reversion | Copy the effects of 1 Counter Trap in the GY | Situational variable effects | |
| Sonic | Negate the activation of a Spell/Trap Card, then destroy 1 "Dinomorphia" monster | S/T negate |
The Deck has 2 Main Deck monsters: "Dinomorphia Therizia" and "Dinomorphia Diplos". If Summoned, "Therizia" sets a Trap from the Deck to the field, while "Diplos" sends a "Dinomorphia" card from Deck to the GY; "Therizia" is the Deck's core starter, able to set the Fusion Traps "Domain" or "Frenzy".
The "Dinomorphia" Fusion boss monsters each reward the player for having as little LP as possible:
- "Dinomorphia Kentregina" is the Deck's multi-role boss monster. Starting at 0 ATK, it gains ATK (up to 4000) the lower the player's LP is. Its activated Quick Effect, costing half LP, copies the effect of a "Dinomorphia" Normal Trap from the Graveyard, letting the player to expand their board by copying "Domain" or "Frenzy", remove opposing cards by copying "Brute", or recover monsters by copying "Alert".
- "Dinomorphia Stealthbergia" is the deck's defensive boss monster. It has a high 2500 DEF, and lets the player activate Trap Cards or "Dinomorphia" monster effects without having to pay LP when the player has ≤2000 LP. It can also conditionally burn the opponent.
- "Dinomorphia Rexterm" is the deck's main board control boss monster, providing both effect and combat lockdowns. It prevents the opponent from activating monster effects if their ATK is equal to or higher than the "Dinomorphia" player's LP. Its activated Quick Effect, costing half LP, equalizes all opposing monsters' ATKs with the player's LP.
All "Dinomorphia" monsters float into a different "Dinomorphia" monster from the GY if they're destroyed: "Rexsturm" floats into any Level 6 or lower "Dinomorphia" (i.e. all other "Dinomorphia" monsters), while all others float into a Level 4 or lower "Dinomorphia" (i.e. the Main Deck "Dinomorphia" monsters).
Because of the high LP costs to activate the effects of "Dinomorphia" Trap Cards/Fusion Monsters, a "Dinomorphia" player will quickly reduce themselves to a very low LP, and become vulnerable to a quick defeat from burn or battle damage. However, all Traps have a Graveyard effect that protects the player from a damage source when the player has ≤2000 LP: the Normal Traps can prevent effect damage for one turn, while the Counter Traps can prevent battle damage from one battle.
Externally, the Deck benefits from other cards with half LP costs, such as "Soul of the Supreme King", "Solemn Judgment", "Soul Strike", and "Red Reboot", as they can further push down the player's LP, and can be used regardless of how low the player's LP is. The Deck's playstyle also benefits from cards that can take advantage of the player's low LP, such as "Ferret Flames", "Hope for Escape", and "End of the Line". Finally, being a Dinosaur theme, generic support cards like "Miscellaneousaurus", "Souleating Oviraptor", "Ultimate Conductor Tyranno", and "Fossil Dig" can increase the Deck's overall consistency.
Recommended cards[edit]
Weaknesses[edit]
- Since the archetype mostly relies on paying a huge amount of LP for activating effects, Decks such as "Trickstar", which focus on burn damage from any actions of the opponent, could be very dangerous. In this case, this Deck's strategy could even backfire for the player, if their LP will be low enough to allow the opponent to chain effect damages to finish the player.
- Cards that force the opponent to pay LP to activate cards or effects, such as "Masquerade the Blazing Dragon", can bypass the archetype's effect damage protection and lock the player out of effect activations when their LP reaches below the pay requirement.
- The Deck has difficulty combating monsters that can attack directly via a continuous effect; "Rexterm" cannot negate continuous effects, and "Shell" cannot redirect direct attacks.
- Since the archetype mostly relies on Trap Cards, cards such as "Royal Decree" could effectively slow down the Deck's strategy, or even shut down them.
- "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" can negate both Trap Cards that Fusion Summon, neutralizing the strategy of the Deck. A counterstrategy is Setting "Called by the Grave" or "Solemn Strike" along those Traps to negate "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring".
- "Cosmic Cyclone", "Twin Twisters", and any Spell or Trap removal card that can be activated before the Main Phase can destroy the Fusion Summoning Traps before they can be activated, because they can only be activated during the Main Phase.
- "Red Reboot" can blank all Trap Cards for a turn, leaving the "Dinomorphia" player wide open for an OTK.
- Although the Fusion Summoning Traps can be chained to cards such as "Harpie's Feather Duster", "Lightning Storm", and "Evenly Matched", those cards can wipe out the other backrows.
- "Super Polymerization" is a threat to this Deck since all monsters are DARK.
- "Topologic Trisbaena" disrupts any Deck that Sets a lot of backrow, and this Deck is no exception.
- "Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon" is a threat to this Deck, especially when using "Dinomorphia Kentregina", as the player will likely have half their LP to Fusion Summon "Kentregina", and "Dragoon" can destroy "Kentregina" with its effect, dealing 4000 burn damage to the player and potentially defeating them.
- While "Dinomorphia" Normal Traps can banish themselves to prevent burn damage for the entire turn, they can only do so in response to opponent's activated effect (except in Damage Step) and have <=2000 LP left. Such restrictions make "Lava Golem" and "Mahaama the Fairy Dragon" finishing moves against the player if their LP is low enough.
