Labrynth
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Is this beautiful castle riddled with traps? The princess' tricks are always perfect!
— The archetype's tagline in promotional material
"Labrynth" (ラビュリンス Rabyurinsu) is an archetype of DARK Fiend monsters introduced in Deck Build Pack: Tactical Masters/Tactical Masters. It also has a sub-archetype of Normal Trap Cards: "Welcome Labrynth".
Lore[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The archetype's name is an alteration of "labyrinth" whose Japanese pronunciation sounds similar to "love (you)". Additionally, it may be a portmanteau with labrys, a term for double-bladed axes (such as the one wielded by "Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle"), which are an important religious symbol of the ancient Cretan religion usually associated with goddesses, with Crete being the purported location of the Minoan Labyrinth. The labrys is also sometimes used as a symbol of the lesbian community, which may hint at the princess holding feelings for the unnamed feminine knight depicted in the Trap Cards' artworks (supported by the artwork of "Big Welcome Labrynth", where a flurry of cherry blossoms in the background forms a heart).
The retainers ("Arianna", "Ariane", and "Arias") derive their names from Ariadne, the girl who helped Theseus escape the Minoan Labirynth.
Design[edit]
The "Labrynth" cards are themed after trap-filled mansions often seen in "trap 'em up" video games such as the Deception series and its spinoff Trapt, as well as the Dungeon Maker series; in these games, the player sets up traps to eliminate and/or capture invading enemies. As mentioned above, the theme is also based on the ancient Greek myth of the Minoan Labyrinth and the Minotaur.
The theme's monsters are based on denizens of a certain Trap-filled castle ("Labrynth Labyrinth"), as well as the animated inanimate objects stationed within that may spring to life and attack the invaders.
| Level | Labrynth | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle | Labrys Labyrinth |
| Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle | ||
| 7 | Archfiend | Armor statue |
| 6 | Arias the Butler | Butler Ariasu |
| 4 | Arianna the Servant | Maidservant Ariadne |
| Ariane the Servant | ||
| 3 | Chandraglier | Chandelier |
| 2 | Stovie Torbie | Stove |
| 1 | Cooclock | Cuckoo clock |
Playing style[edit]
"Labrynth" is a Trap-based archetype focusing on using Normal Trap Cards; many of its cards have effects that support searching out, recovering, or speeding up Normal Traps, and/or can activate advantageous Trigger Effects if a Normal Trap removes monster(s) from the field.
| Labrynth | Card type | Trigger Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle | Effect Monster | Destroy 1 card the opponent controls or 1 random card in their hand. |
| Servant Arianna | Draw 1 card, then Special Summon 1 Fiend monster, or Set 1 Spell/Trap, from the hand. | |
| Servant Ariane | ||
| Chandraglier | Add this card from the GY to the hand. | |
| Stovie Torbie | Special Summon this card from the GY. | |
| Welcome | Normal Trap | Set this card from your GY. |
If the player's field and GY is set up with these "Labrynth" cards, removing a single monster with a Normal Trap can trigger all of these Trigger Effects at once, generating a massive amount of advantage.
The two key "engine" cards that enables the deck's resource generation and cycling are the Normal Traps "Welcome Labrynth" and "Big Welcome Labrynth". Both can summon "Labrynth" monsters from the player's Deck, and "Big Welcome" can also bounce the player's own monsters, triggering "Labrynth" monster effects. In-archetype, they are searchable by "Labrynth Chandraglier", "Labrynth Stovie Torbie", and "Arianna the Labrynth Servant"; the former two can do so as a Quick Effect, while the latter is a generic searcher for the entire archetype. Situationally, "Ariane the Labrynth Servant" can act as an additional second-level searcher for the former three.
In its support to generic Normal Traps, "Labrynth" features multiple searchers for Normal Traps. The primary one is "Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle", who can search out any Normal Trap when a Normal Trap is activated. More situationally, "Farewelcome Labrynth", "Labrynth Archfiend" and "Labrynth Set-Up" can also search Normal Traps, but either come with restrictive conditions, restrictive search targets, or setup requirements.
"Labrynth" also features "speed up" effects for Normal Traps (allowing them to be activated in the same turn they are set) and Normal Trap recovery; the former is provided by "Labrynth Cooclock" and "Arias the Labrynth Butler", while the latter is provided by "Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle".
The deck generally plays as a control deck, aiming to maintain a resource loop and field advantage through the archetype searchers and archetypal Trigger Effects, before finishing off the opponent by tutoring out high-power Normal Traps with "Lady Labrynth".
Recommended cards[edit]
Weaknesses[edit]
- Because of their heavy reliance on Trap Cards, cards that counter them or prevent them from activating or playing such as "Jinzo", "Royal Decree" and "Eradicator Epidemic Virus" will immediately cripple or shut down the deck.
- As "Labrynth" monsters are all DARK, "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror" is also very effective against Labrynth monsters and can counter them from searching Trap Cards.
- As "Labrynth" cards often have discard costs, the deck generally has to rely on repeatedly looping "Welcome Labrynth" and/or "Big Welcome Labrynth" to maintain card advantage. Should the opponent managed to stop the loop, the deck would ended up struggling to recover their disadvantagous position had they were not able to search and activate a copy of either "Welcome" or "Big Welcome".
- "Consecrated Light" prevents DARK monsters from attacking or being Summoned.
