Elemental HERO

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See, I know my two Heroes aren't powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together, it's another story.

— Jaden Yuki on the Fusion potential of "Elemental HERO" monsters.
Elemental HERO
"Bubbleman" (bottom), "Sparkman", "Burstinatrix", and "Avian" (middle, left to right), "Clayman" (top) in the artwork of "Fifth Hope".
"Bubbleman" (bottom), "Sparkman", "Burstinatrix", and "Avian" (middle, left to right), "Clayman" (top) in the artwork of "Fifth Hope".
Japanese
  • E・HEROエレメンタルヒーロー
  • E・HERO (base)
  • エレメンタルヒーロー (ruby)
  • Erementaru Hīrō (romanized)
Traditional Chinese
  • E・HERO
Simplified Chinese
  • 元素-英雄
French
  • HÉROS Élémentaire
German
  • Elementar-HELD
Italian
  • EROE Elementale
Korean
  • 엘리멘틀 히어로
  • Ellimenteul Hieoro (romanized)
Portuguese
  • HERÓI do Elemento
  • HERÓI Elementar (anime)
Spanish
  • HÉROE Elemental
Sets
TCG
OCG
Korean
Anime appearances
Manga appearances
Lists

"Elemental HERO" (E・HEROエレメンタルヒーロー Erementaru Hīrō) is a "HERO" sub-archetype of mostly Warrior monsters used by both Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix (for a period of time until the latter changed to the "Destiny HERO" archetype) in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. The former also used this archetype, along with his mentor Koyo Hibiki, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga. They are used by Fusion Mask in the Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL manga. They were designed by Kazuki Takahashi, and are based on comic-book superheroes in the anime and on natural elements in the manga. "Elemental HERO" Decks focus heavily on Fusion Summoning. Most of these fall into two primary "Elemental HERO" monsters categories that can be fused with one another: Normal Monsters from the anime (monsters that are specifically required as materials for Fusion Summons) and the manga counterparts that also have effects (while the Fusion Monsters require generic Fusion Materials).

Design[edit]

The "Elemental HERO" monsters are based after the western comics' heroes, and as the name implies, they each represent an aspect of nature. This goes beyond only representing classical elements like earth, fire or water; "Elemental HERO Wildheart", for example, represents the wilderness. Their Fusion Monsters typically combine the aspects from their Fusion Materials.

In the OCG, all of the Main Deck monsters introduced in the anime, except "Elemental HERO Neos" and "Prisma", follow the naming scheme "Elemental HERO [Term related to its element] Man" (or "Lady", in the case of "Elemental HERO Burstinatrix" aka "Burst Lady"). In the manga, only "Elemental HERO Woodsman" ("Forestman" in the OCG) and "Stratos" ("Airman" in the OCG) follow the scheme while others like "Ice Edge" or "Heat" do not. "Elemental HERO Captain Gold" is unique to the OCG/TCG and doesn't follow the naming scheme, but later cards like "Blazeman", "Solid Soldier" ("Solidman") and "Liquid Soldier" ("Liquidman") do.

Members[edit]

Attribute EARTH WATER FIRE WIND LIGHT DARK
Main Deck Bladedge
Clayman
Knospe
Poison Rose
Solid Soldier
Wildheart
Woodsman
Bubbleman
Ice Edge
Liquid Soldier
Neo Bubbleman
Ocean
Blazeman
Burstinatrix
Heat
Lady Heat
Avian
Stratos
Captain Gold
Flash
Honest Neos
Neos
Neos Alius
Prisma
Sparkman
Spirit of Neos
Voltic
Winged Kuriboh LV6
Necroshade
Shadow Mist
Extra Deck Clay Guardian
Core
Gaia
Grand Neos
Mudballman
Nebula Neos
Plasma Vice
Rampart Blaster
Terra Firma
Wild Wingman
Wildedge
Absolute Zero
Aqua Neos
Marine Neos
Mariner
Steam Healer
Flare Neos
Inferno
Magma Neos
Nova Master
Phoenix Enforcer
Shining Phoenix Enforcer
Air Neos
Flame Wingman
Flame Wingman - Infernal Rage
Great Tornado
Storm Neos
Tempest
Brave Neos
Cosmo Neos
Divine Neos
Electrum
Glow Neos
Grandmerge
Neos Kluger
Neos Knight
Shining Flare Wingman
Shining Neos Wingman
Sunrise
The Shining
Thunder Giant
Wake Up Your Elemental HERO
Chaos Neos
Dark Neos
Darkbright
Escuridao
Necroid Shaman

Playing style[edit]

The "Elemental HERO" archetype has many Main Deck monsters and Extra Deck Fusion Monsters, each with their own varied effects. Historically, the archetype can be built to focus on their Main Deck monsters or their Fusion Monsters; currently, the Main Deck "Elemental HERO" monsters are too weak in contrast to the general power level of the game, and later "Elemental HERO" support leaned into their Fusion Summoning playstyle more favorably.

The pure "Elemental HERO" playstyle aims to Fusion Summon their Extra Deck Fusion boss monsters by searching out their required Fusion Materials and "Polymerization"/"Fusion" Spell Cards as quickly as possible. This can be done through a combination of specific "Elemental HERO" support cards (e.g. "A Hero Lives" and "E - Emergency Call"), generic "HERO" support cards (e.g. "Elemental HERO Stratos", "Elemental HERO Shadow Mist" and "Vision HERO Vyon"), and non-archetypal Warrior or "Fusion"/"Polymerization" support cards (e.g. "Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights").

The "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monsters typically have battle-focused effects with little defensive capabilities. Most "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monsters also require Fusion Materials with specific names, but some of them have more generic materials, thus are much easier to summon. The 6 most notable ones are "Elemental HERO Great Tornado", "Nova Master", "The Shining", "Escuridao", "Absolute Zero", and "Gaia", which require 1 "Elemental HERO" monster and a monster with a specific Attribute as their materials, making them useful choices to summon with "Super Polymerization" by using an opponent's monster as material. Among these 6, "Escuridao" and "Absolute Zero" are the most commonly used, because "Escuridao's" DARK Attribute is ubiquitous when mixed with other "HERO" monsters, and "Absolute Zero" has a very strong effect, and also only requires a "HERO" monster rather than an "Elemental HERO" monster as its material, making it even easier to Summon in a general "HERO" Deck. Following behind are "Elemental HERO Sunrise" and "Elemental HERO Flame Wingman - Infernal Rage" whose materials can make use of the varying Attributes of "Elemental HERO" monsters and they both have effects to search out yet another card that can Summon another "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monster ("Miracle Fusion" and "Favorite Contact"). "Wake Up Your Elemental HERO" is the archetype's powerhouse that requires any number of Warrior monsters and an "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monster, which can easily use close out games with its powerful attacks and can float into any Warrior monster from the Deck upon its destruction.

An "Elemental HERO" Deck can consider running "King of the Swamp" and other Fusion Substitute Monsters for "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monsters with specified materials.


With "Neos" and "Neo-Spacian"[edit]

While "Elemental HERO Neos" is featured as main piece of the "Neo-Spacian" and "Neos" archetypes that usually uses Contact Fusion or other effects to Special Summon the Fusion Monsters that mention "Elemental HERO Neos" as material, this mainly differs from the traditional Fusion Summon playstyle of "Elemental HERO" in general. Over time however, the "Neos"/"Neo-Spacian" theme has been integrated with the traditional "Elemental HERO" Fusion Summon playstyle by the introduction of newer support. These include: the "EN" cards ("EN - Engage Neo Space", "EN Shuffle" and "EN Wave") and new Fusion Monsters that must be Fusion Summoned (such as "Elemental HERO Brave Neos", "Elemental HERO Neos Knight" and "Elemental HERO Shining Neos Wingman"). In particular, "Elemental HERO Flame Wingman - Infernal Rage" facilitates the Summon of "Elemental HERO Shining Neos Wingman" by searching "Favorite Contact" which can Summon "Neos Wingman" during the opponent's turn to disrupt the opponent.

The introduction of "Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos" facilitates easier use of the niche classic "Elemental HERO" support as it can search a Spell/Trap that mentions an "Elemental HERO" monster upon its Special Summon, then it can tag itself out with an "Elemental HERO" Normal Monster from the Deck. These effects in tandem grant easy access to use the "Elemental HERO" Normal Monsters-oriented cards (like the Counter Trap Card "Feather Wind" with "Elemental HERO Avian"), though nowadays it will either be used to search most of the "Elemental HERO Neos"-oriented cards or "Protection of the Elements" (another Counter Trap Card which can negate the opponent's Spells/Traps which can use any "Elemental HERO" monster as opposed to "Feather Wind" requiring "Elemental HERO Avian" specifically).

Other "HERO" support[edit]

Within the entire "HERO" meta-archetype, the "Elemental HERO" archetypal playstyle is strongly supported by the "Vision HERO" combo ("Faris" → "Increase" → "Vyon") since "Vyon" can search out "Polymerization" and can send "Elemental HERO Shadow Mist" to the GY to search out more needed "Elemental HERO" monsters. The "Vision HERO" Fusion Monsters, "Adoration" and "Trinity", are also good options for an "Elemental HERO" Deck to run due to their generic Fusion Materials of just any "HERO" monsters.

The "Xtra HERO" Link Monsters provide many helpful benefits to the "Elemental HERO" playstyle. "Infernal Devicer" can directly search out up to 2 listed Fusion Materials on a "HERO" Fusion Monster, making it most strongly support the "Elemental HERO" and "Evil HERO" playstyle of Fusion Summoning monsters with specific materials. "Wonder Driver" can recover "Polymerization" and "Fusion" Spell Cards, making it useful for longer combos or grind games.

How "Elemental HERO" supports other "HERO" sub-archetypes[edit]

On the other side, the "Elemental HERO" archetype (specifically, a few individual members) are vital combo pieces to the overall "HERO" meta-archetype playstyle. The most important "Elemental HERO" monster with regards to the entire "HERO" archetype is "Elemental HERO Stratos", a non-once-per-turn searcher for all "HERO" monsters and the ideal choice for "A Hero Lives". "Elemental HERO Shadow Mist" is a once-per-turn searcher for all "HERO" monsters when sent to the GY (usually by "Vision HERO Vyon"), but it is also a searcher for "Change" Spell Cards, which enables the Special Summon of the powerful "Masked HERO" monsters (most notably "Dark Law" and "Acid", usually Summoned by using "Absolute Zero" to perform a board wipe); the variety of Attributes the "Elemental HERO" monsters have makes them ideal for summoning "Masked HERO" monsters with "Mask Change" or "Mask Change II" (while the Levels of "Masked HERO" Fusion Monsters align with those of "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monsters for "Form Change"), making "Masked HERO" monsters good options even in a pure "Elemental HERO" build. In return, "Masked HERO" monsters themselves can be fused together for "Contrast HERO Chaos" for its useful Quick Effect to negate a card's effects on the field.

"Elemental HERO Solid Soldier" and "Liquid Soldier" are good monsters to Normal Summon, as they can Special Summon needed "HERO" monsters (usually "Shadow Mist" to search for "Mask Change") and/or provide useful advantage after being used for a Fusion Summon (reviving a "HERO" monster from the GY via "Solid Soldier" or allows drawing of 2 cards + a discard with "Liquid Soldier"). Lastly, "Honest Neos" is an ATK-booster for all "HERO" monsters, and "Sunrise" is a Fusion Monster with generic "HERO" Fusion Materials that can search out "Miracle Fusion", a powerful Fusion Spell Card that can use monsters in the GY as Fusion Materials, allowing a Fusion Summon with zero card loss to the field advantage. "Wake Up Your Elemental HERO" requires an "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monster and any number of Warrior monsters (ie. the vast majority of the "HERO" archetype) which can be used to close out games with its high ATK and its attacking-oriented effects, or be destroyed to Special Summon another "HERO" monster from the Deck.

Most "Evil HERO" Fusion Monsters also require specific "Elemental HERO" monsters as their Fusion Materials, which can be aided with the aforementioned "Xtra HERO Infernal Devicer".

Recommended cards[edit]

Classic[edit]

This Deck list focuses on the playstyle of "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monsters that require specific Fusion Materials featured prominently in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. While it is outclassed by the current power level of the game, this playstyle still received various modern pieces of support, namely "Xtra HERO Infernal Devicer" and greatly benefits from the "Vision HERO" engine involving "Vision HERO Faris", "Vision HERO Increase" and "Vision HERO Vyon". After searching "Polymerization" with "Vyon", both itself and "Increase" can be used to Link Summon "Xtra HERO Infernal Devicer" which help easily search the pair of Fusion Materials needed. Alternatively, one could use the searched "Polymerization" instead to Fusion Summon more generic choices, more notably "Elemental HERO Sunrise" or "Elemental HERO Flame Wingman - Infernal Rage" which can search cards to Summon yet another "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck.

Recommended cards

Modern[edit]

Weaknesses[edit]