Vaylantz
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Combatants who face the formations in battle! Advance through the battlefield with your courages! -Vaylantz-
— The archetype's tagline in promotional material
"Vaylantz", known as "Valiants" (ヴァリアンツ Variantsu) in the OCG, is an archetype of mostly WATER Spellcaster and FIRE Machine (with one EARTH Fairy) Pendulum Monsters introduced in Deck Build Pack: Tactical Masters/Tactical Masters.
Contents
Lore[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The Japanese name for the "Vaylantz" archetype may come from "valiant," which means to show courage or determination. This is reflected in the archetype's tagline in promotional material. Its Japanese name may also be written as "variants", from the alternative way of playing games—especially board games—that differs from the standard, normal rules. This is reflected in how the playstyle of the archetype simulates the mechanics of a typical board game.
The Japanese names of the members seem to have been derived from common family names. The most obvious cases are "Shinonome" and "Hojo," both of which are plain family names, while "Saion" (西園) is from "Saionji" (西園寺) and "Nazuki" (南月) from "Natsuki" (夏木). However, "Mamonaka" is rather uncommon.
Design[edit]
The "Vaylantz" monsters are divided into two opposite groups:
- The WATER Spellcaster monsters are based on human warriors from feudal Japan. Their kanji names contain characters corresponding to a cardinal direction. They are associated with the Field Spell Card "Vaylantz World - Shinra Bansho".
- The FIRE Machine monsters, in contrast, are based on robots. Their names are based on aristocratic titles, such as "duke" and "baron", with an alliterative word as their title. They are associated with the Field Spell "Vaylantz World - Konig Wissen".
The "Vaylantz" Spells and Traps revealed that the "Vaylantz" monsters are actually characters from a certain board game, complete with the depiction of the board and the chibi minifigures of the game itself.
Members[edit]
Main Deck monsters[edit]
| Level | Scale | WATER Spellcaster | FIRE Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  1
|
Shinonome the Priestess | Buster Baron |
| 4 | Saion the Archer | Voltage Viscount | |
| 6 | Nazuki the Ninja | Mad Marquess | |
| 8 | Hojo the Warrior | Dominator Duke |
Fusion Monsters[edit]
| Level | Scale | Fusion Monster | Type | Attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10
|
Mamonaka the Vaylantz United | Spellcaster |  WATER
|
| Vaylantz Genesis Grand Duke | Machine |  FIRE
| ||
| 12 | 12
|
Arktos XII - Chronochasm Vaylantz | Fairy |  EARTH
|
Playing style[edit]
"Vaylantz" is a Pendulum-based Deck with a central focus on moving cards to their adjacent zones, including in the vertical direction. This central gameplay mechanic is likely intended to simulate the mechanics of a board game taking place in a two dimensional space. The archetype's unique "vertical movement" effects involves moving cards from the Spell & Trap Zone to the Main Monster Zone and vice versa. These two movements are mechanically represented as follows:
- "Forwards" (STZ → MMZ): Special Summon 1 Monster Card in a player's Spell & Trap Zone to their Main Monster Zone in its column.
- "Backwards" (MMZ → STZ): Place a player's monster face-up in their Spell & Trap Zone in that monster's column as a Continuous Spell (if a card is already in that zone, it destroys it).
The archetype has two central Field Spells: "Vaylantz World - Shinra Bansho" and "Vaylantz World - Konig Wissen". When one is activated, the Field Spell mandatorily places the other face-up on the opponent's Field Spell Zone. Both of their effects can be used by the turn player: "Shinra Bansho" moves a Monster Card "forwards", while "Konig Wissen" moves an opponent's Monster Card "backwards". The archetype consists of two collective sets of monsters: the WATER Spellcaster ones and the FIRE Machine ones. All Main Deck "Vaylantz" monsters have a Pendulum Effect that lets them Special Summon themselves from the Pendulum Zone to the Main Monster Zone in that card's column (move "forwards"). However, each of these Pendulum Effects has conditions or restrictions, differing based on the Level of the monster:
- Level 2 and 4: The player cannot Special Summon for the rest of the turn, except "Vaylantz" monsters and monsters from the Extra Deck.
- Level 6 and 8: The player must control a "Vaylantz" monster of their respective Attribute or have their corresponding Field Spell in a Field Zone, to activate the Pendulum Effect.
Each "Vaylantz" monster has two monster effects: a standard ignition effect that sometimes requires the card to be Special Summoned to be activated, and a trigger effect in response to the card being moved from a Monster Zone to another. The latter condition can be facilitated by some in-archetype cards and various external cards, such as "Senet Switch" and "Column Switch" (the former of which can be searched by "Vaylantz Wars - The Place of Beginning"). The archetype's ability to easily swarm Pendulum Monsters means that it can be played as a combo Deck, focusing on Summoning Synchro and Link boss monsters. Alternatively, it can use "Arktos XII - Chronochasm Vaylantz" to disrupt the opponent's plays by activating the Main Deck monsters' move effects during their turn. Because all of the archetype's Main Deck monsters have the same Pendulum Scale of 1, its high-Scale Fusion Monsters or non-archetypal Pendulum Monsters are needed to complete the scales to perform Pendulum Summons. Its lack of a need for Normal Summons also means that it can be hybridized with the "Invoked" archetype.
