Sky Striker

Sky Striker
"Sky Striker Ace - Raye" in the artwork of "Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!"
Japanese	閃（せん）刀（とう） 閃刀 (base) せんとう (ruby) Sentō (romanized) Flash Sword (translated)
French	Assaut de l'Air
German	Himmelsjäger
Italian	Assaltatrice del Cielo
Portuguese	Força Celeste Celestial Force (translated)
Spanish	Caza del Cielo
Sets
Deck Build Pack: Dark Savers Cybernetic Horizon Dark Saviors Soul Fusion Sky Striker Ace Duel Set
Members Support

"Sky Striker" (閃（せん）刀（とう） Sentō, literally "Flash Sword") is an archetype of female monsters and Spell Cards that debuted in Deck Build Pack: Dark Savers (in the OCG) and Dark Saviors (in the TCG).

Design

Lore

Sword Maneuvers, sally forth! Eradicate 'em!!

In order to fight against a powerful enemy nation, a new type of weapon was developed using advanced military tech, "Sky Striker Mecha". The girl "Raye", who was entrusted with the sword "Sky Striker" that serves as the ignition device, in order to protect the people of her homeland, flies solo into the heart of the enemy forces!!

"Raye", the girl trained to defeat a powerful nation!!

By opening special gates to activate the power of "Sky Striker", she can sally forth with the "Sky Striker Mecha".

Meet any and all battle conditions! Sky Striker Mode Change!!

"Raye" opens the gates with Sky Striker at maximum output, changing into a decisive battle mode to fit the situation. She mows down her enemies with overwhelming firepower!!

Sword Defense Mode (Sky Striker Ace - Shizuku)

A defense-based mode. It can generate barriers to prevent all attacks.

Flash Eradication Mode (Sky Striker Ace - Kagari)

An enemy force eradication mode. It is said that none who look upon her in this form return alive.

Finishing Sky Striker Maneuver Activate!!

Each of her modes has an ultimate attack, a "Sky Striker Maneuver", unleashed without regard for her own safety.

Design

Each of the "Sky Striker" Spells are armaments that "Sky Striker Ace - Raye" utilizes. The Link Monsters of the archetype are "Raye" wearing elemental powered armor. Each monster and Spell depicting an equipment seems to have a code written somewhere over it.

Card	Code	Description
Raye / Engage	000	Pilot
Shizuku	X-002	Defensive armor
Kagari	X-003	Offensive armor
Hayate	X-004	Tactical armor
Eagle Booster	S-015	Jetpack
Hornet Drones / Token	S-018	Decoy holographic drones
Shark Cannon	S-028	Gun
Widow Anchor	S-061	Grappling hook
Hercules Base	S-130	Armored aircraft
Afterburners	---	Speed boost
Jamming Waves	---	Deflector shield
Vectored Blast	---	Directed-energy cannon
Multirole	---	Deploying portal
Area Zero	---	Attack plan

Etymology

The Japanese name of the archetype is a multiple-layer wordplay. The kanji 「閃（せん）」 (Sen) can mean "flash", but is also the basis of the verb 「閃（ひらめ）かす」 (Hiramekasu), which means "to brandish", tying onto the following kanji "sword". Together, they form a homophone for 「戦（せん）闘（とう）」(Sentō) "battle", referencing the apparent status of "Raye" as an elite soldier.

The sub-archetype "Sky Striker Ace" adds the kanji 「姫（き）」 (Ki) at the end. It usually means "princess", or an otherwise young lady of noble birth. This forms a second homophone itself, this time with 「戦（せん）闘（とう）機（き）」 (Sentōki), meaning "Fighter aircraft". This might be a quip on how a flight-capable powered armor can be considered equivalent to such a plane. The official description of Dark Saviors somewhat acknowledges the pun with the remark "Her high-tech arsenal includes transforming power armor that lets her fly faster than a fighter jet".

Lastly, "Sky Striker Ace" monsters are named after the Japanese name of things that relate to their Attribute: the "Kagari" means "bonfire", "Shizuku" means "droplet", and "Hayate" means "gale". "Raye" is a French-like alteration of "Rei", which means "zero" or "nought", referencing both the DARK Attribute and her being the armor-less basic form.

Playstyle

The Link Monsters "Sky Striker Ace - Kagari" and "Sky Striker Ace - Shizuku" strengthen themselves through the use of having multiple Spell Cards in the GY. "Kagari" gains ATK for every Spell Card in the GY, while "Shizuku" lowers the opposing monsters' ATK for every Spell Card in the GY. "Hayate" does not manipulate ATK; but instead can attack directly. They also all share an effect to manipulate "Sky Striker" Spell Cards; "Kagari" can add one from the GY to the hand when Summoned; "Shizuku" can add one from the Deck to the hand during the End Phase of the turn it was Summoned; and "Hayate" can send one from the Deck to the GY when it inflicts battle damage.

The "Sky Striker" Spell Cards all share the activation requirement that there must be no monsters in the Main Monster Zone to activate, except "Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Multirole" and "Sky Striker Airspace - Area Zero". In addition, each "Sky Striker" Spell Card has an extra effect when there are 3 or more Spell Cards in the GY, varying from additional card destruction ("Sky Striker Maneuver - Afterburners!" and "Sky Striker Maneuver - Jamming Waves!") to hand and/or field advantage ("Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!" and "Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor").

Recommended cards

Recommended cards

Weakness

• "Sky Striker" Decks focus heavily on Spell Cards, allowing cards like "Imperial Order", "Secret Village of the Spellcasters" and "Anti-Spell Fragrance" to slow down the Deck. "Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell" and "Spell Vanishing" can be particularly potent if used against "Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!" or "Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones".
• Due to their fairly low ATK, the individual "Sky Striker Ace" monsters are easily defeated if their Spell support can be countered.
• Anti-searching effects can be potent, though the effects of "Kagiri" and "Hayate" can get around this.