Tearlaments
| Tearlaments | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Top to bottom, left to right: "Visas Starfrost", "Tearlaments Scheiren", "Tearlaments Havnis", "Tearlaments Merrli", "Tearlaments Kitkallos", and "Tearlaments Reinoheart" in the artwork of "Tearlaments Sulliek" | |||||||||||||||||
| Japanese |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese |
| ||||||||||||||||
| French |
| ||||||||||||||||
| German |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Italian |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Korean |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Portuguese |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Spanish |
| ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Lists | |||||||||||||||||
"Tearlaments" (ティアラメンツ Tiaramentsu) is an archetype of mostly DARK Aqua monsters introduced in Power of the Elements.
Lore[edit]
Etymology[edit]
"Tearlaments" is a portmanteau of "tear", "tiara", and "lament". The theme of sadness may be a reference to the tragic fairy tale The Little Mermaid.
The archetype's name may also be a play on "firmaments", referring to the tiered layers of "Primeval Planet Perlereino". The majority of "Tearlaments" Main Deck monsters are named after types of mermaids and other similar mythological creatures. "Tearlaments Kitkallos" is named after Chaetoceros, a genus of marine planktonic diatoms. This may also be a reference to The Little Mermaid, as marine planktons are one of the main components of sea foam (according to the fairy tale, mermaids turn into sea foam upon death). "Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart" is named after a kaleidoscope, referencing the archetype's stained glass aesthetic.
Design[edit]
With the exceptions of "Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart", "Tearlaments Rulkallos, "Tearlaments Reinoheart", and "Tearlaments Kashtira", the members of the archetype are DARK Aqua monsters.
The "mermaid girls" "Tearlament" monsters features overall similar asthetics; a silver-haired sirens wearing a tiara and a lockpad somewhere on their clothing, the latter symbolize their forced servitude towards "Tearlaments Reinoheart", the tyrannical ruler of "Primeval Planet Perlereino". "Tearlaments Rulkallos" is a notable exception of these theme, as she is "Tearlaments Kitkallos" that were freed from the brainwashing effect of "Reinoheart" and thus lacking the padlocks that the other "mermaid girls" have.
To reflect their theme of sadness, the mermaid girls "Tearlaments" were depicted as in distress or crying for various reasons, such as being abused by "Reinoheart" as seen in "Tearlaments Sulliek".
| Tearlaments | Name origin |
|---|---|
| Havnis | Havfrue |
| Merrli | Melusine Merrow |
| Reinoheart | Reino |
| Scheiren | Siren |
| Kaleido-Heart | Kaleidoscope |
| Kitkallos | Chaetoceros |
| Rulkallos | Rusalka |
Playing style[edit]
The "Tearlaments" archetype is centered on milling cards from the player's Deck, in order to perform Fusion Summons with the Trigger Effect activated when a Main Deck "Tearlaments" monster is sent to the GY. The Deck has a notable secondary focus on Fusion Summoning during the opponent's turn to trigger additional beneficial Trigger Effects. As an archetype in the lore of "Visas Starfrost", certain "Tearlaments" cards also interact with "Visas Starfrost".
Every Main Deck "Tearlaments" card has a beneficial Trigger Effect triggered when they are sent to the GY by a card effect (such as by being milled). The central effect among them is the Fusion effect of the 3 "Tearlaments" mermaid monsters; by triggering this effect on both player's turns, and using GY materials, the Deck can rapidly create Fusion boards with minimal on-field material costs.
| Tearlaments | Type | GY Trigger Effect | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Havnis | Monster | Fusion Summon by placing materials from hand/field/GY on the bottom of the Deck, including this card in GY. | Central playmaking Fusion Summon effect. | |
| Merrli | ||||
| Scheiren | ||||
| Reinoheart | Special Summon this card[a], and send 1 "Tearlaments" card from hand to GY. | Extender and enabler for "Tearlaments" trigger effects. | ||
| Metanoise | Trap | Add to hand 1 "Tearlaments" monster from | GY | Monster Card recovery/searching. |
| Sulliek | Deck | |||
| Cryme | Banished cards | |||
| Grief | Spell | Add to hand 1 "Tearlaments" Trap from | Banished cards | Trap Card recovery/searching. |
| Heartbeat | GY | |||
| Scream | Deck | |||
| ||||
"Tearlaments" Main Deck monsters are the Deck's main starters, as each of them provides a milling-related on-field effect. "Havnis" is a hand trap that mills 3, "Merrli" mills 3 on summon, and "Scheiren" is a special summon extender (with an extra discard cost) that also mills 3. Lastly, "Reinoheart" precisely sends 1 "Tearlaments" monster from Deck to GY on summon, making it a 1-card starter.
"Tearlaments" Spell/Traps provide searchable interaction and extension. Many of them first provide a beneficial effect, and then forces the player to send a monster from their hand/field/Deck to the GY. By activating them on the opponent's turn, the Deck can trigger its monsters' GY effects, and in turn Fusion Summon, in the opponent's turn.
| Tearlaments | Type | On-field Effect | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effect | Then Send to GY | |||
| Metanoise | Normal Tr. | Flip face-down 1 opposing monster.[a][b] | 1 "Tearlaments" monster from Deck | "Book of Moon" + precise mill from Deck |
| Sulliek | Continuous Tr. | Negate the effects of 1 opposing monster.[a][b] | 1 monster from own field | Monster effect negate |
| Cryme | Counter Tr. | Negate the activation of a Spell/Trap/monster effect, and return it to Deck.[b] | 1 monster from hand | Omni-negate |
| Grief | Normal Sp. | Special Summon 1 "Tearlaments" monster or 1 "Visas Starfrost" from Deck/GY | 1 monster with its Type or Attribute from own field | Summon from Deck searcher |
| Heartbeat | Quick-Play Sp. | Shuffle into Deck 1 on-field Spell/Trap, or up to 2 if you control "Visas Starfrost".[a] | 1 card from hand | Backrow removal |
| Scream | Continuous Sp. | If a monster is Summoned: mill 3, and all opposing monsters lose 500 ATK this turn.[b] | — | Trigger effect mill extender |
The Deck has an additional non-archetypal Field Spell, "Primeval Planet Perlereino", who lacks a GY effect. It searches a "Tearlaments" monster on activation, providing immediate access to the 1-card starter "Reinoheart". It also targets and destroys 1 card if a "Tearlaments" monster is returned from the field/GY to the Deck/Extra Deck, providing additional advantage from "Tearlaments" Fusion Summons, even in the opponent's turn. It can also be used to destroy friendly cards to trigger their GY effects for more varied combos.
"Tearlaments" Fusion Monsters provide the Deck's main field prescence and consistent combo-making tools; they each also have effects that send friendly cards to the GY, which can be used to trigger GY trigger effects.
- "Kitkallos" can add/send specific "Tearlaments" cards to the hand/GY, and summon "Tearlaments" monsters from hand/GY while sending another monster from field to GY by effect. Its GY trigger effect mills 5.
- "Kaleido-Heart" can shuffle 1 opposing card into the Deck when summoned, or when another Aqua monster is sent to GY by effect. Its GY trigger effect has it revive itself and send 1 "Tearlaments" card from Deck to GY.
- "Rulkallos" provides battle protection to Aqua monsters, and has a Special Summon-effect negate that also sends a "Tearlaments" card from hand/field to GY by effect. Its GY trigger effect has it revive itself if it was Fusion Summoned.
The Deck is incredibly resilient against effect destructions, as destroying any of its cards with effects will trigger their GY Trigger Effects, leading to more Fusion Summons or resource recovery. The Deck is also easily capable of playing on the opponent's turn (with "Havnis", even on Turn 0), as many of its effects send its monsters to the GY at Spell Speed 2.
Externally, the Deck can synergize with a wide variety of Fusion or milling-based engines and packages. In particular, the Exchange of the Spirit series (a.k.a. "Ishizu fairies" series) lets "Tearlaments" explosively set up their GY through the milling effect of Ishizu "miller" Fairy monsters ("Agido the Ancient Sentinel" and "Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard"), providing huge amounts of GY resources. Besides "Tearlament" cards to procc, this also sets up "GY traps" in the form of Ishizu's "shufflers" ("Keldo the Sacred Protector" and "Mudora the Sword Oracle"), which have fast effects to control against the opponent's GY tactics, and high resilience against interruptions. This led to most cards of both themes being Limited or Forbidden to curb their power in late 2022/early 2023 in OCG/TCG.
Recommended cards[edit]
Recommended cards
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Weaknesses[edit]
- Due to their heavily reliance on milling cards to GY and activate their effects from there, anti-GY cards such as "Abyss Dweller", "Bystial" monsters, "Necrovalley" and "Gravekeeper's Inscription" can slow down the deck. In addition, cards that force banishes cards sent to GY such as "Dimension Shifter" and "Macro Cosmos" can prevent the "Tearlaments" player from recurring their resources.
