Shaddoll

Shaddoll
Japanese	シャドール Shadōru (romanized)
French	Marionnette de l'Ombre
German	Schattenpuppe
Italian	Bambolaombra
Korean	섀도르 Syaedoreu (romanized)
Portuguese	Sombraneco
Spanish	Sombrañeca
Sets Duelist Alliance The New Challengers Secrets of Eternity Crossed Souls Raging Tempest Rise of the Duelist TCG Duelist Alliance: Deluxe Edition Astral Pack Six The New Challengers: Super Edition Secrets of Eternity: Super Edition 2015 Mega-Tin Mega Pack 2017 Mega-Tin Mega Pack Flames of Destruction Shadows in Valhalla Battles of Legend: Hero's Revenge Structure Deck: Shaddoll Showdown OTS Tournament Pack 15 Ghosts From the Past 2021 Tin of Ancient Battles 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection OCG LINK VRAINS Pack 20th Anniversary Pack 2nd Wave Special Pack 20th Anniversary Edition Vol.2 Structure Deck: Rebirth of Shaddoll Structure Deck: Rebirth of Shaddoll Deck Enhancement Pack Selection 10 Rarity Collection Quarter Century Edition Korean Advanced Event Pack 2014 Vol.4 Advanced Event Pack 2015 Vol.1 Advanced Event Pack 2015 Vol.2
Lists	Members Support

"Shaddoll" (シャドール Shadōru) is an archetype comprised primarily of DARK monsters that debuted in Duelist Alliance. The archetype is primarily focused on Fusion Summoning, with powerful "El Shaddoll" boss monsters that punish Special Summoning, versatile Spells and Traps for Fusion Summoning, and Main Deck monsters that can provide advantage when sent to the GY as Fusion Materials.

Lore

Main article: Master Guide 5 card storylines § Awakening of the Shaddolls

In the abyss of this world, there is a certain something called the "Shaddoll Core" (The Primordial "Core" of Shadow-Possession) which gives birth to shadows that absorb light, the "Shaddoll". "El Shaddoll Construct" uses these shadow strings to control the manifested shadows, and with this to extend its influence and power...

Design

Appearance

The "Shaddoll" cards appear to be darker puppet versions of cards from other archetypes in the Duel Terminal world, with their threads coming from the back of "El Shaddoll Construct".

Etymology

"Shaddoll" is a portmanteau of the words "shadow" and "doll". "El Shaddoll" is a play on "El Shaddai", one of the Judaic names of God. Some cards' Japanese names associate the "Shaddoll" reading with the kanji 「影依」, which can be loosely translated as "Shadow Possessed".

Members

DARK Main Deck Monsters

With the exception of "Shaddoll Zefracore" (who is a Rock monster), all DARK "Shaddoll" monsters are Spellcaster monsters.

Shaddoll	Original form
Beast	Naturia Beast
Core	Cairngorgon, Antiluminescent Knight
Dragon	Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing
Falco	Gusto Falco
Hedgehog	Neo Flamvell Hedgehog
Hound	Satellarknight Sirius
Squamata	Satellarknight Unukalhai
Zefracore	Gem-Knight Master Diamond (post-resurrection)
Zefranaga	Qadshaddoll Keios

Non-DARK Main Deck Monsters

Prefix	Shaddoll	Type	Attribute	Original form
Hel-	Hollow	Fiend	FIRE	El Shaddoll Grysta
Nael-	Ariel	Psychic	WATER	Gishki Ariel
Neh-	Genius	Machine	EARTH	Shaddoll Squamata + Qliphort Genius
Qad-	Keios	Spellcaster	LIGHT	Evilswarm Kerykeion
Ree-	Wendi	Psychic	WIND	Ritual Beast Tamer Zefrawendi

Fusion Monsters

El Shaddoll	Type	Attribute	Original form
Anoyatyllis	Fiend	WATER	El Shaddoll Shekhinaga + Infernoid Devyaty
Apkallone	Spellcaster	DARK	Evigishki Mind Augus
Winda			Winda, Priestess of Gusto + Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing
Construct	Fairy	LIGHT	Gem-Knight Lapis
Grysta	Rock	FIRE	Shaddoll Core + 9 'Pyroxenes'
Shekhinaga	Machine	EARTH	El Shaddoll Construct + Apoqliphort Towers
Wendigo	Psychic	WIND	Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin (Ritual Beast Tamer Wen + Spiritual Beast Pettlephin)

Link Monsters

Shaddoll	Attribute	Original form
Construct	LIGHT	Gem-Knight Lapis

Playing style

The "Shaddoll" archetype is a Fusion-focused archetype, with a secondary focus on Flip Effects. The archetype focuses on gaining advantage by using Main Deck "Shaddoll" monsters as Fusion Materials, and Summoning the powerful "El Shaddoll" Fusion Monsters to suppress the opponent. The Main Deck "Shaddoll" monsters all have two effects (with an only 1 effect once per turn condition) that generate card or field advantage: a Flip Effect, and a second effect triggered when they are sent to the Graveyard by a card effect.

Main Deck "Shaddoll" Effects

Shaddoll	Attribute	Flip Effect	GY Effect
Beast	DARK	Draw 2 cards, then discard 1 card.	Draw 1 card.
Dragon		Return 1 card to the hand.	Destroy 1 Spell/Trap.
Falco		Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from GY (face-down).	Summon itself (face-down).
Hedgehog		Search 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap.	Search 1 "Shaddoll" monster.
Hound		Add 1 "Shaddoll" card from GY to hand.	Change the position of 1 monster.
Squamata		Destroy 1 monster.	Send 1 "Shaddoll" card from Deck to GY.
Hollow	FIRE	Target 1 face-up opposing monster; send 1 "Shaddoll" monster with its Attribute from Extra Deck to GY, and banish it.	Send cards from the top of Deck to GY, equal to the number of Attributes on-field.
Ariel	WATER	Summon 1 banished "Shaddoll" monster (face-up/down).	Banish up to 3 cards from the GYs.
Genius	EARTH	Target 1 friendly "Shaddoll" monster; it is unaffected by monster effects this turn.	Target 1 Effect Monster; it can't activate its on-field effects this turn.
Keios	LIGHT	Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from hand (face-up/down).	Send 1 "Shaddoll" monster from hand to GY, and all friendly monsters gain ATK/DEF equal to its Level x 100 this turn.
Wendi	WIND	Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from Deck (face-up/down).	Summon 1 "Shaddoll" monster from Deck (face-down).

The GY effects of the Main Deck "Shaddoll" monsters are relatively speaking the more important effects; their on-field Flip effects, though more powerful, are much harder to trigger on the player's setup and are thus less reliable. For Fusion Summoning, they can compensate for the heavy costs required for Fusion Summoning from the hand/field, as these effects can be triggered when "Shaddoll" monsters are sent to the GY as Fusion Materials when resolving a Fusion Summoning effect. They can additionally compensate for discards in card effects who require a discard at resolution, such as "Paleozoic Dinomischus", "Shaddoll Beast", or "El Shaddoll Grysta" and "El Shaddoll Shekhinaga".

Their true importance comes in the fact that they are also triggered if they're sent from the Deck to the GY, such as with the effect of the archetype's core Fusion Summon Spell, "Shaddoll Fusion", which can use monsters in the Deck as Fusion Materials: sending "Shaddoll" monsters directly from the Deck to the GY provides consistent card searches, and sending multiple "Shaddoll" monsters with single cards outright generates advantage instead of merely offsetting costs.

Milling "Shaddoll" monsters can be performed with a variety of in-archetype and external cards: the major in-theme cards that do so are the aformentioned "Shaddoll Fusion", "El Shaddoll Construct", and "Sinister Shadow Games". Externally, cards such as "Mathematician" or "That Grass Looks Greener" (in the OCG) can also perform this task efficiently. The best targets to send generally are "Wendi", "Beast", "Falco", "Squamata", and "Hedgehog", who have advantage-generating GY effects. "Helshaddoll Hollow" can mill even more cards from the Deck when sent to the GY to potentially proc more "Shaddoll" effects. "Ariel", who has a GY disruption effect in the GY, can also be a situationally beneficial milling target.

The archetype contains 7 "El Shaddoll" Fusion Monsters. The 6 original "El Shaddoll" monsters each have a different Attribute (and also a different Level), and each require 1 "Shaddoll" monster + 1 monster of their Attribute as Fusion Materials. The last "El Shaddoll" monster, "El Shaddoll Apkallone", requires 2 "Shaddoll" monsters with different Attributes as materials. Their on-field effects generally focus on punishing the opponent's Special Summons, and each of them also have a floating effect.

Fusion "El Shaddoll" Effects

El Shaddoll	Attribute	On-Field Effect	Floating Effect
Winda	DARK	Can't be destroyed by card effects. Players can only Special Summon once per turn.	Recover 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap from GY.
Wendigo	WIND	Gives 1 friendly monster battle protection against Special Summoned monsters.
Grysta	FIRE	Negates a monster's Special Summon and destroys it, then sends 1 "Shaddoll" card from hand to GY.
Construct	LIGHT	If Special Summoned, sends 1 "Shaddoll" card from Deck to GY. Destroys Special Summoned monsters it battles at the start of the Damage Step.
Anoyatyllis	WATER	Players can't Special Summon monsters from the hand/GY with Spell/Trap effects.
Shekhinaga	EARTH	Negates a Special Summoned monster's effect and destroys it, then sends 1 "Shaddoll" card from hand to GY.
Apkallone	DARK	Can't be destroyed by battle. If Special Summoned, target 1 face-up card and negate its effects.	Add 1 "Shaddoll" card from Deck/GY to hand, then discard 1 card.

The two most commonly used "El Shaddoll" boss monsters are "El Shaddoll Winda", who is easy to Summon (since most "Shaddoll" Main Deck monsters are DARK) and has a powerful floodgate effect, and "El Shaddoll Construct", whose non-once per turn on-Summon effect generates massive amounts of advantage. Because of the importance of "Construct", "Shaddoll" Decks were historically ran with LIGHT monster engines, such as "Performage Trick Clown".

To perform Fusion Summons of "El Shaddoll" monsters, the main Fusion Spell/Traps are:

• "Shaddoll Fusion", which can use materials from the Deck to generate advantage.
• "El Shaddoll Fusion", a Quick-Play Spell Card which can Fusion Summon at Spell Speed 2.
• "Nephe Shaddoll Fusion, an Equip Spell Card which can change the Attribute of the equipped "Shaddoll" monster, then Fusion Summon using the equipped monster.
• "Shaddoll Schism", a powerful Continuous Trap that can Fusion Summon every turn using "Shaddoll" monsters in the GY, continuously making "El Shaddoll" monsters and further extending the Deck's grind game. After the "El Shaddoll" monster is Fusion Summoned, it can also send an opposing monster of the same Attribute as the Summoned monster, doubling as an effective removal tool.

Since the GY effects of the "El Shaddoll" Fusion Monsters and "Shaddoll Core" can recycle "Shaddoll" Spells or Traps, this ensures that the player can recover their tools needed to Fusion Summon again should their board gets wiped.

The "Shaddoll" Link Monster, "Shaddoll Construct", is primarily intended to be Summoned to the Main Monster Zone via its revival effect. Its first effect can free up the Extra Monster Zone via using itself as Fusion Material, while its revival effect can trigger the effects of other "Shaddoll" monsters (though its Link Summon will not), and frees up to three zones for Extra Deck Summons.

Recommended cards

Recommended cards

Main Deck Monster Cards Effect Monsters Aleister the Invoker Armageddon Knight Dark Grepher Denko Sekka Inari Fire Jigabyte Mathematician Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness Performage Damage Juggler Performage Trick Clown Ranryu Flip monsters Helshaddoll Hollow Naelshaddoll Ariel Nehshaddoll Genius Qadshaddoll Keios Reeshaddoll Wendi Shaddoll Beast Shaddoll Dragon Shaddoll Hedgehog Shaddoll Hound Shaddoll Squamata Tuner monsters Effect Veiler Shaddoll Falco Pendulum Monsters Shaddoll Zefracore Shaddoll Zefranaga Spell Cards Normal Spells Shaddoll Fusion Allure of Darkness Foolish Burial Fusion Deployment Fusion Substitute Invocation Polymerization Reinforcement of the Army Instant Fusion Equip Spells Nephe Shaddoll Fusion Field Spells Curse of the Shadow Prison Magical Meltdown Continuous Spells Terrors in the Hidden City Quick-Play Spells El Shaddoll Fusion Super Polymerization Trap Cards Normal Traps Purushaddoll Aeon Resh Shaddoll Incarnation Sinister Shadow Games Paleozoic Dinomischus Trap Trick Continuous Traps Shaddoll Core Shaddoll Schism Extra Deck Fusion Monsters El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis El Shaddoll Apkallone El Shaddoll Construct El Shaddoll Grysta El Shaddoll Shekhinaga El Shaddoll Wendigo El Shaddoll Winda A★Speculation Invoked Caliga Invoked Elysium Invoked Mechaba Invoked Purgatrio Masked HERO Dark Law (with "Mask Change II") Starving Venom Fusion Dragon Master of Ham (with "Instant Fusion") Link Monsters Shaddoll Construct Salamangreat Almiraj Cross-Sheep Predaplant Verte Anaconda Subterror Behemoth Fiendess Wee Witch's Apprentice Gravity Controller

Weaknesses

• Since the Deck basically relies on sending the "Shaddoll" monsters to the Graveyard in order to trigger their effects, or flipping them face-up, cards like "Soul Drain", "Royal Command", "Abyss Dweller", "Armades, Keeper of Boundaries", "Majesty's Fiend", "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon", and "Gem-Knight Citrine" can be simple and effective. As the archetype is primarily comprised of DARK-Attribute monsters, "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror" and "Stellarknight Constellar Diamond" can stop them from activating their Flip and Graveyard effects. Redirecting cards sent to the GY to be banished instead (e.g. "Dimensional Fissure, "Dimension Shifter", "Macro Cosmos" and "Masked HERO Dark Law") can also ensure that their GY effects never proc.

• Additionally, one can also use cards that banish or return the Fusion Monsters to the Extra Deck to avoid the retriever effect. Due to cards like "El Shaddoll Winda", cards that can do this without the need to Special Summon, such as "Compulsory Evacuation Device", "Phoenix Wing Wind Blast," and "Karma Cut," are recommended.

• The variety of Types and Attributes also makes the Fusion Monsters vulnerable to floodgate cards like "Rivalry of Warlords" and "Gozen Match".

• "Skill Drain" is also a viable solution as it counters the anti-Special Summoning effects of the "Shaddoll" Fusion Monsters. This makes certain Decks that can use "Skill Drain" able to effectively bypass the "Shaddoll" Deck's threats. Examples of such Decks include "Qli", "Malefic", "Dark World", "Scrap", "Archfiend", "Yang Zing" and "Zombie".