Counters CAN be good, as long as they don't interact with your opponent's cards/are placed on them or better: need your opponent to have special cards on their board, to place counters and interact with them. Six Samurai e.g. are definitely playable. I play them since 10+yrs. Downside: I need like 15 dices to play them. 😂😂
I cannot deny, Master Duel actually opened my 3rd eye when it came to Reptiles and aliens, I just wish there was one more piece of solid support for Ogdoadics and Reptalinnes for making it more consistent to make sure Cosmic Slicer stayed on the field. One thing I will always praise YGO for is their accidental synergies, a perfect example of this is Reptiles, as well as generic insects, being able to fit 4-5 different archtypes into one consistent deck is why I do love YGO.
Gol'gar was good because you could place the a counters on it rather than your opponent's monsters. So you did not have to worry about them all getting removed prematurely. Combine this with the fact that Code a ancient ruins is a soft one per turn, you could active the effect multiple times. I had several games where I summoned three Gol'gars in a single turn for an OTK. Not saying it was the best, but Gol'gar did give the Aliens a nice boss monster that rounded them out and gave them a fighting chance.
It's amazing to see the paradigm shift in Yugioh with you own eyes just seeing the difference between all the other aliens and then the introduction of Recombination Device. You can really tell the difference in eras between the cards between "Summon and put an A counter on a thing" and "6 lines of text that does like 4 separate things that tries to improve the entire archetype as a whole" lol
I love Aliens, but man they frustrate me. Like they had the right idea with Overlord, using tokens to special summon and applying even more tokens. They had the right idea with Zer’oll, being a big floodgate with decent attack (plus just being in the extra deck is better). They *sort of* had the right idea with Recombination Device, being a Foolish Burial and ROTA that lets you put counters. And being part of the reptile boom would in theory help them out. But alas, ET didn’t find home in my deck box and stays in the binder. Here’s hoping we get more though to tie things together.
Synchro Era were the closest that Aliens were to becoming playable, and in Edison formats I've heard word of people tinkering with the deck (because it feels like everything is playable in Edison to a degree), but support came out too slowly. It got one card in 2016, one in 2020, and 2 in 2021. The game had sped up too much I think the archetype can spread A Counters fairly effectively, and as of Zer'oll, now has a gameplan using those A counters, but again, by the time we got to that gameplan, it was too late to make a large difference
Can confirm. I took an Alien deck to a 30 person Edison tourney and made top 4. But it was definitely carried more by floodgates and less by the Aliens themselves (Gol’Gar is a house though)
If the rept-pile of Ogdo, Alien, and Reptilianne ever gets a fantastic boss monster on the level of Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, it could become a competent rogue strategy
Gol'gar Control was an actual thing back in the day. You could repeatedly bounce stuff like Swords of Revealing Light, Call of the Haunted, and Fiendish Chain and accumulate A-Counters to pop things.
A field spell that gives protection by removing a counters and states that monsters with a counters cannot be tributed or used as material for link, XYZ or synchro summon except for reptile monsters. I kept fusion open as that way it's not a full lock from the extra deck
Most currently unplayable archetypes could be revived if Konami would just regularly release 'Fixer' single cards that give those archetypes all their missing functions in a Endymion style textbox and have zero counterplay while on the field. They could keep releasing updated versions of those cards to milk the fans of those archetypes and the fact that this isn't a strategy shows they can't be loving money as much as people say they do.
I think having fusion open as an option is accidentally brilliant, because then it's like an Ultraman reference or something. The only way to fight them is to fuse with them and use their powers
This brought me back! I think especially back then Konami heavily relied on throughing bad and mid cards at you why you looked for that shiny card in packages and aliens were basically meant to be just that. I remember I was very confused by the A counter mechanics, cause it seemed so random and useless and even though I got a bunch of cards I thought I was missing something major about the archetype. Of course I was too little to investigate properly. But I do miss them, they were the kind of archetype that could still work when the game was slow and a bit more random.
Aliens was and still is my favorite deck I've ever played in Yugioh (even if I don't play anymore) Funny thing people don't really know but came up surprisingly a lot in Duel Links is that when a face down Alien card that had the reminder text to decrease attack was set, if you use cards like recombination device to place A-counters, the attacking monster would lose attack after attacking the face down alien; minor yes, but very funny
That's always been a very confusing part of the game for me: at what point during a battle does a facedown monster actually flip over and apply its effect
Nah, Zer'oll searches Planet Pollutant Virus, which places counters on anything the opponent summons for 3 turns as a lingering effect. Then again, it's hard to make Zer'oll in pure Aliens, and you're more likely to see it as the main piece of an Ogdoadic/Reptilliane end board.
I like using Alien monsters it's a good way to mess up my opponents, and they're great with other reptile based cards like "Viper's Grudge" & "Evil Dragon Ananta" (Also you missed a few Alien Cards "Cell Explosion Virus", "Interplanetary Invader A" & Interdimensional Warp)
I've dabbled with this deck a bit, and what I would love to see is a field spell that would be kinda like Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts in that it creates counters on itself (maybe once per both standby phases and on a trigger like every special summon), make all counters on the field accumulative to all of your opponent's monsters' attack nerf (all A counters on both fields x X00), protection by sacrificing counters like Magical Citadel of Endymion, and maybe have either a tier of effects you can apply dependent on how many counters are on the field or an effect you can activate by spending counters (like a searcher or negate).
As an Alien main, there's no cope lol. They were a bit ahead of their time where support cards weren't archetypes or searchable. Gol'gar was well designed for its time, having a unique S/T recycling. Allowed to bounce floodgates one-sided like Vanity's Emptiness. For a theme that is literally interplanetary, really surprised they never got another more useful Field Spell that allows A-counter to persist on the field from monsters that left the field. In modern card design, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for it to need a searcher with 'mentions "A-counter' effect. Alien Hypno actually has one of the strongest effects for a Gemini as with PPV, can take all monsters with counters. So in a vacuum with no interruptions, it is really strong. The Link 3 gives the second Normal Summon that enables Hypno provided you were able to mill/revive it.
I remember coming up against alien decks so much in duel links, shame the archetype has never been competitive enough in the tcg or master duel. Would love to see an archetype based off of Aliens/Predator though
So while Ogdoadics arent exactly a tier deck, I LOVE using the Cosmic Pincer package in my list. Especially with the new card Ogdoadic Daybreak, its incredibly easy to set up CPZ, tutor out your one-of Alien Kid, and back it up with something like Hope Harbinger Dragon for a spell negation for the mentioned Board-Breakers AND an attack redirect to protect Kid. Is it the best board ever? Nah, but its an incredibly unique one that presents an interesting puzzle to get through.
Alien's gimmick are perfectly fine and cohesive IMO, they put a-counters, and then debuff monster with said a-counters. Just that they suffer for being old AF, all they need is a wave of modern support and they could easily be playable. Give them better alien mars for example.
@@pikapwn345"Every time you special summon a Reptile type monster from your Hand, you can place 1 A-Counter on the field. Every non Reptile monster with A-Counter have their attack set to 0. Once per turn, if a monster with A counter would activate it's effect, you can negate it. Every time a monster with A-Counters would leave the field, you can place it's A-counters on another card" That alone would make the deck a lot more consistent with it's main gameplan
@@pikapwn345they are already doing that though. Their link 3 searches planet polluting virus. Which puts a-counters on all monsters the opponent summons for the next 3 turns. And because it's modern legacy support for an old archetype, the link monster is of course a skill drain for monsters with a-counters
My preferred Alien playstyle focuses on Gol'gar's ability to return cards to the hand and destroy cards every turn. With the help of cards like Big Bang Shot, equipping your opponent with it then returning it to the hand meant banishing their monsters. Using cards like Swords of Revealing/Concealing light to prevent attacks/flip down problem cards so that they be destroyed while face down. I also used Mist Valley Falcon as a way to do these things when Gol'gar wasn't available by bouncing these reusable cards. I haven't played Yugioh in a long time due to just not liking what the game has become, but this and my Remove Brainwashing deck I always come back to for fun. They're too slow, but its fun when they work. I doubt there's any way they survive these days.
I feel like A Counters _could've_ been good if they also reduced Levels by 1 for each counter, and if the Level/stat reduction were baked into the counters instead of requiring monsters with reminder text on them specifically on the field to do anything. The most funny thing to me is that because of the way Yu-Gi-Oh rules and rulings have decided to handle search effects, Crop Circles can only fail to find and burn you for 2000 _only if_ the last legal target is somehow removed from your deck in a higher chain link above Crop Circles, because you can't legally activate cards like Crop Circles without at least one legal target, even if the targets are in a hidden zone like the deck.
right that's an easy fix. also they could spread counters if destroyed by battle or card effect. alien brain, brainwashing beam, mass hypnosis, the pollution trap and mysterious triangle was ok
I don't think it's a good idea to bake effects directly into counters. That opens up a huge can of rulings worms in future card design with future counters.
I remember my friend playing aliens back in the day but he stopped when the op synchros and xyz cards were banned. all in all it was gol'gar turbo by dumping shocktrooper to the graveyard with either levalval chain or advanced ritual art and going straight into it, having a face up spell/trap giant trunade on legs meant that he could play around with continuous flood gates and just turn them off when he felt like it, but usually only after replacing it with shock master. So yeah, ended up being more of a showing of broken ass extra deck monsters then showing power of the archtype. he very quickly moved over evilswarm when he no longer could lockdown people with that strat and went with ophion turbo instead.
I was kind shocked to see the dark magician archetype on this list(even tho we knew it belonged on it deep down inside).......but the alien archetype??....what took you so long get on that failed list
I used to play this deck personally back in highschool, my friend still resents me to this day for using Imperial custom and mass hypnosis to mind control his big synchros including red nova dragon from his turbo synchro flamvell deck, so regardless of how bad Aliens are or always will be, i always have my core and always think on how to sometimes tinker with it.
Last year in the Monster Type Festival - King of the Island; I had fun with the Reptile deck; I won approximately 6 out of 10 duels thanks to Ananta + Lamia or Zer'oll with Planet Pollutant Virus. It's good to know that good Alien cards have very good synergy with generic support (like King Gremlin, Therion "Empress" Alasia, Reptilianne).
I can think about good support cards for this archtype. Continuos trap card: Put 1 A-counter on every face up monster opponent controls.; While this card face up, it have all continuos effects of your "alien" monsters in exile. You may tribute this card for a tribute summon reptile or machine type monster. Continuos spell card: When this card activated you may banish 1 monster from you hand, and if you do put number of a-counters equal to level of banished monster on this card, then you may put 1 "alien" card from you deck to you hand; When one or more A-counters is put on cards, you gain life 300× number of new counters. Monster card:lv 9 machine 1800atc 2400def effect: this card gains 300atc/def for each A-counter on the field. Once per turn you can remove 4 A-counters from anywhere on field, take control of 1 of oponents spell/trap cards. When this face up card on the field is dectroed, you may special summon "flying saucer muusisi" from hand or graveyard. When you activate "orbital bombardment" you can special summon this card from exile.
The Trap Card "Alien Brain" should have been a quick play spell card. That way, you could just crush your monster into an opponents Monster, trigger your monsters effect (maybe) and than straight up steal your opponents monster
The cards way better in non alien named reptile focused decks where you get a attack boost of it too where woth a a certain card you can use it with a hand trap to force its effect off.
One very crazy fix would be to make all counters unnamed and give them inherent value. Like acting as mana to give off more effects per turn and adding them to the field either restricted or allowed more effects. or counters being able to be locked to zones and not cards. Combining the two could be a way to slow the game down for smaller archetypes while also giving the option to make more plays if you could manipulate the counters well.
I remember reading about Aliens and Gemini monsters in Shonen Jump Magazine back in the day; the magazine would gas up new cards in YuGiOh at the time (since the magazine ran chapters of the YGO manga). I was never great at YGO, but I could just tell that Aliens didn't seem very useful at all by virtue of how slow the A-Counters were; these were before Synchros really caught on, and even then, a really good player could just dance circles around you in the time it took you to set up an Alien field and get any significant number of A Counters active. Same with Gemini; it was obvious off-the-bat that a monster that needed TWO normal summons was never going to work. When people say they wish YuGiOh was "like in the old days" again, I have to wonder if they actually played YGO back then because man, YGO was a bit of a mess before Synchro was introduced.
When I started watching your channel over 10 years ago, I loved your alien synchro deck and made it in real life. I mentioned it in a comment and not too long after, you put out another alien synchro deck 😂. Always wondered if you saw my comment but either way, I was really happy with your work.
Ideas for a few new Alien cards that could help the archetype: _Alien Invasion!_ Quick-play Spell _Target 1 Face-up monster on the field: Place A-Counters on it equal to it’s Level/Rank/Link, and also, while that target with any A-Counters is on the field, the following effects are applied:_ ⚪️You can normal summon/set “Alien” monsters without limit. ⚪️Your ”Alien” Monsters can be normal summoned/set using 1 less tribute. ⚪️If a card with any number of A-Counters Declares an attack or activates an effect: You can special summon 1 “Alien” monster from your hand or deck who’s level is equal to or less than the number of A-counters on it. ⚪️If an “Alien” card you control would be sent to the GY or Banished, you can instead remove all A-Counters from 1 card on the field (Min. 1). _Alien Reviver_ (FIRE) Level 4 Reptile/Tuner/Effect _If there are 4 or more A-counters on the field: You can special summon this card from your hand or GY. While this card is face-up on the field or in the GY, “Alien” monsters you possess (from your hand, field, deck or GY) are also treated as FIRE-attribute, and have their DEF become 200 while in the GY. If an “Alien” monster you control would be banished, you can instead tribute 1 card on the field who’s number of A-counters on it equals or exceeds the Level/Rank/Link of that “Alien” monster, then shuffle it into your deck._ ATK/2000 DEF/200 The first one basically lets you designate a “Target” for a mass “Alien” invasion, loading that target with a potentially crippling number of A-Counters while also making them the opened floodgates for a mass incursion of them. You can even target YOUR OWN monsters with the normally crippling A-counters to have them serve as the invasion’s foothold. The second card is designed to make the universally Reptile-type “Alien” monsters work with both “Snake Rain” and “Rekindling”, and can even save them from “Rekindling”’s banishing effect if there are enough A-counters on the field (potentially taking a chunk of your opponent’s board to). It even can summon itself if you have enough counters on the field!
The quick play spell would immediately get banned because of link or xyz shenanigans. However, just adding "for the rest of the turn, you can only special summon alien monsters" (or however that text would be worded) then i think it would be perfectly fine, especially for aliens. Even then tho, some kind of tribute summon based deck like monarchs would take advantage of it, but even then, it wouldn't really be a problem
Aliens are still my favorite cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! They are the reason Crimson Crisis is still my single favorite pack to come out. I made a Cosmic Fortress deck that was so much fun even if it was not top tier. What was most cool is how there were a few different strategies that could use a-counters.
Cards that could have supported this deck greatly. -Fusion monsters that gain effects if monsters with Alien Counters were on them. -Their own fusion spell that could work just like Super Poly if the opponent’s monsters have Alien Counters on them. -Synchro Monsters that gain effects/triggers an effect if a certain amount of Alien Counters are on them. -more Alien Counter generating spells and traps. Can think of more but I would need to refresh myself on the support they briefly got and come up with other support options that could have been.
@@Circular_Square I'll give a pass on his Grammer, some yugioh cards can be hard to say their actual name or it might be some community inside joke that I'm not aware of. It might also be possible he's using AI speech for the videos again and that could cause it
Seems like the biggest weakness these archtypes have is having double costs. Look at Flying Saucer, for example. It has the cost of needing to be tribute summoned AND the cost of losing your draw phase. If it has just one of those costs, it would be a decent card, but so many of these cards just have too many costs.
How i would errate the Alien/"A" archetype: - Every card is treated as "Alien" or "A" - Searcher: exchange draw phase to draw an archetype card (Hard once x Turn) - Change the most of the monster and the spells/traps in a way they just spam thr counters everywhere
They need a field spell or continuous spell that says something like “if a monster has an A-counter on it, it cannot be used in a special summon” or “cannot be used a synchro or link summon” or “if it was used in a special summon place half of the A-counter on the new summoned monster rounded up”. Something to make people worry about the counters or really try to get rid of them.
I think Alien’s could work if they could generate A counters easier and had those effects be much stronger. Like, what if the amount of A counters a card has changes how effective the ability is and gives you more options. For example, let’s say you have a card that does the following; During either players turn, once per turn, target one monster with A-Counters and select the following effect depending on how many A Counter’s the card has ; 1 or more: Send that card to the graveyard. 2 or more: Remove that card from play. 3 or more: Shuffle that card back into the deck. 4 or more: take control of that card until the end of your turn. 5 or more: Tribute that card, distribute any of its A-counters to other cards on the field and you may special summon 1 Alien monster from your hand or GY to either side of the field. So basically have Aliens have a large list of various effects that they can use, making them more of a toolbox deck, having them be able to deal with multiple strategies by adapting to various board states. Maybe have a generic effect where, if a monster with A counters is used for any of the advanced summoning (XYZ, Synchro, link, etc) then it’s counters are automatically transferred to the new monster. Meaning that they would be summoned already with a good amount of A counters on them.
I still have the original release of Alien cards in a deck box. This archetype had so much potential it just needed more support cards. Edit: Unfortunately this archetype was released on the tail end of the GX series and when 5Ds came out with the Synchro mechanic, Aliens were forgotten. All they needed was a bit more love with a few Synchro, Tuner and modifying the A-Counter mechanic to be a full blanket debuff. Their field spell definitely needed more love with a mechanic that at least removed the opponent’s ability to just tribute/material summon away the A-Counters.
As someone who trolled around with aliens for years (in friendlies ofc), I can say that you basically need to ignore 2/3rds of their cards. Cosmic Fortress + SoRL/gravity bind was hilarious when you pulled it off.
Even without MST, there was no reason to use Orbital Bombardment. It's a trap, so in an archetype that doesn't benefit from canning its own monsters it's strictly worse than Dust Tornado, an ancient card which was never on the forbidden/limited list!
I used to loop code A with swords with Gol' Gar's effect. Took a while to set up but it was pretty funny watching ppl get confused about it keeping them from attacking. Course there was still the issue of board removals.
You’re spot-on for reasons why the archetype’s design failed. I think it’s also important to mention that the archetypes problems during 5Ds era were worsened by the fact that the metagame included flip/set monsters and gladiator beasts, both of which would prevent the maintenance of “A” counters
He neglected to mention Oshaleon which was great because it could search out your Ammonite. It was not officially part of the archetype, but was an auto include at the time of Crimson Crisis.
I *adored* Aliens on release. Like, you have no clue. I tried to make them work so ungodly hard back then and it just. Never worked. The support wasn't there, and whenever reptile support did trickle in it was always at a point where I had another deck to use or just not enough cash to support going fishing for those cards. Hell, even in Legacy of the Duelist I still can't get as much mileage out of Aliens as I can their cousins the Worms.
I still love Aliens. I get a laugh at people on MD trying to change their monster with A-Counters to attack, only to be switched to defense again. That said, aliens just need a couple support cards that make them more consistent and be able to go first to setup A-Counters and a few Syncho/Link monsters and they're Gucci. Gol'Gar is busted, but being Archetype restricted prevented it from being as abusable as Dewloren was. So that was a blessing in disguise.
Back when cosmic fortress golgar was first printed I played a combo deck that pulled all 3 from extra in one turn, and only ever stored my a-counters on golgar. It was janky, worked 1 in 20 games, but it's still one of my favourite decks.
I remember trying to build a hybrid Alien-Dinosaur deck. It didn't work, but I still have a fondness for the Aliens and really wish they were easier to play.
I feel like archetypes that use counters all need the effect of warning point where the monsters Effect is negated and it can’t be used as material for extra deck monsters in addition whatever the archetype effect is.
you completely left out the Trap Cards Aliens got in Gladiators Assault: Cell Explosion Virus (an in-archetype Mirror Force), Detonator Circle "A" (an in-archetype ring of destruction), and Interdimensional Warp (an in-archetype Creature Swap)
The pieces are there,they just need a couple really good cards to put them together. Like a feild spell which places A counters and passively applies negative effect to mosters with them and also a monster or spell that searches the other cards.
The varied types, designs, and effects really made the arctype feel like it was designed for a character in the anime, but nobody ever used it there as far as I know. In fiction, you could make any one of these effects actually a threat in some way, and the original A-counters' small ATK/DEF loss would be just enough to gain the advantage.
Imagine if alien counters for alien cards gave the secondary effect of "if this card where to be destroyed by battle/card effect you can remove one alien counter from the field instead. Still wouldn't make them good, but at least a playable archetype during certain iterations.
1 name: Endymion. When that archetype came out, it proved that counters are NOT a bad mechanic and can easily have great resource management if konami designs the card good enough. Also Golgar mixed with Deck Lockdown + Swords of Concealing light was major strong back in the day. Every turn you flip facedown all ur opponents monsters amd every turn they get deck lockdowned
Sounds like one of the best support this archetype could get is something that makes it so A-Counters can transfer from material to Special Summoned monster.
Man I loved my Alien deck, it didnt won often but I loved it. I also had a Cloudian, Six Samurai, Koa'ki meiru and Dark World deck that would probably fit in this series XD
So basically it seems Alien was neutered by its release window being alongside old rules that would ultimately be dropped, rendering many of its cards useless. A dated archetype would rapidly result.
Funny enough, I use Aliens with the help of Ogdoadics and Reptilianes. Kinda like a reptile pile. Got a deck in Master Duel with them. Despite Aliens being less flexible for the two, I can really get the ball going at times and end up with a crazy board or ripping one apart. Although, I end up at times where I get unplayable hands more than I want to see. I really wish Aliens were better so I can enjoy them and play more consistently
Sounds like they need an OP field spell. The ever present solution to all mediocre old archetypes. Perhaps one that allows retention of some A counters when a monster is used as material.
I have played aliens since they first came out. Although not an A tier deck, they can be extremely effective. I got 32 at my regional around 2010, and I abused putting big bang shot on my opponents monsters and then bounced it. I also used solidarity so it was a beat down deck that could deal with really stickt monsters, or just use the big bang shot to peirce through defense monsters. Worked extremely well and I was a bad player back then. XD So I think the archtype is a LITTLE underrated by most, but it has problems for sure. (I also got gaslit into a bad ruling, people told me you couldnt summon dog when you used ammonites effect because it creates a missed timing. I know now, it does not create a missed timing, so that would have been easy 8 star synchros at the time)
In addition, I think duel logs is missing something huge for aliens. They are all reptiles, so all the reptile support works for them. I ran Oschaleon to grab ammonite from the deck, and snake whisle was a great way to grab whatever alien I needed. Allowed me to do things like run only one ofs of the unique effect aliens, like hunter and telepath.
I loved playing around with these in Dueling Network but holy hell they were so inconsistent and frustrating at the same time using A-counters to steal monsters and use them for tribute/synchros was fun but the clunky playstyle and especially the lack of consistency because of middling effects just felt like swimming against a current
They need to pull an Archfiend with this deck, and give it an entirely new reboot, because holy crap do I love these cards. The A-Counter mechanic is too slow, so they need to pull a Alien Kid with the whole deck, then make every single one of their cards searchable, and that’s on top of the fact that they need more versatility too. We’ve all learned what happens when you only rely on Archetype-exclusivity to do synchro, xyz, etc. play, especially in modern Yugioh.
I know a card effect that would fix all counter archetypes: Possible name: Accounted Risk Card type: Spell | Quick-play Effect: For the rest of this duel, whenever a card(s) with counters are destroyed, distribute those counters to the remaining face up cards on the field.
You can fix aliens by giving them a reliable negate like an alien that by removing an A-counter from anywhere on the field you can negate an activation and destroy it. They also need a card that can search Alien cards with Alien in its context. This would help bridge the cards together. I would add in a level 8 alien boss monster who's alien drain effect would double the alien's A-counter decrease effect or even increase an alien's attack and defense by three hundred during battle for every A-counter on the opponent's monster.
16:15 “From Reptilians [sic] to later-introduced and hard-to-pronounce Ogdoadics” - ironically mispronounces “ReptiliANNES” as just “reptilians” while pronouncing “Ogdoadics” correctly, lol. I know DuelLogs’ mispronunciations are meme-tier at this point; I just found it funny that he got the one he claimed was hard to pronounce right in the same sentence as mispronouncing a different archetype. 😅
Hmmm... lets see what i can come up with, completely ignoring balance to try to make the a-counter system work. Alien Brainworm: lvl1, 100 atk/def. You can tribute this card to add any "alien" card from your deck to your hand. If this card is tributed, you can distribute A-counters equal to the level/rank of all monsters on the field +1 to your opponent's side of the field. While this card is face up on the field, non "alien" monsters on the field with A-counters lose levels/ranks equal to the number of A-counters on the card, and if the monster's level/rank drops to 1 or less by this effect, destroy them. Alien in Disguise: lvl 3, 1400 atk, 1000 def. When this card is summoned, you can summon infiltrator tokens (lvl 4, 0 atk/def) to your opponent's side of the field equal to the number of alien monsters on your side of the field when this effect resolves and place 4 A-counters on each token. Even if this card leaves the field, any time an A-token(s) would be removed from the field this turn, you can instead relocate the token to any other monster your opponent controls. While this card is face up on the field, non "alien" monsters with A-tokens your opponent controls cannot stop direct attacks. Universe Conquerors: Quick Play Spell. (this card is always treated as an "alien" card) You take no battle damage from battles involving an "Alien" monster or a monster with an A-token on it. After this card resolves, if 100 alien counters ever exist on the field at the same time you win the duel (lingering effect). You may resolve these effects in sequence, depending on the number of A-counters on the field at activation: 0) place 1 A-counter on any monster on the field. 1+) Non "alien" monsters lose atk/def equal to the number of A-counters on the cardx100. 10+) Until the end of this turn, you may take control of any monster(s) your opponent controls by removing tokens from them equal to their lvl/rank/link rating as long as at least one A-token remains on the monster. 30+) Alien Monsters and monsters with A-tokens cannot be destroyed or banished by your opponent's card effects, nor destroyed by battle this turn, and can attack opponent's monsters equal to the number of A-tokens on the monster +1. Alien Homeworld: Field Spell. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects while there are 1 or more A-counters on the field. If an alien monster or monster with an A-counter you control inflicts battle damage to your opponent, you can place A-counters on this card for every 100 damage dealt. "Alien" cards with A-counters on them cannot be targeted by the opponent's card effects and are immune to the effects of other "alien" cards you control that interact with A-counters. You can remove A-counters from anywhere on the field to activate each of the following effects once per turn. Remove 5 A-counters to special summon any "alien" monster from your deck, but it cannot be used as material for any extra deck monster this turn unless it has an A-counter on it. Remove 10 A-counters to take control of an opponent's monster as long as at least 1 A-counter remains on it. Remove 15 A-counters to place 1 A-counter on all "Alien" monsters you currently control. Alien Infection: Trap card. Place 1 A-counter on all cards on the field (including spells, traps, and face down cards). Non "alien" cards with A-counters on them cannot change battle positions, attack, or activate effects for the rest of this turn. (face down "alien" cards can still be used by revealing 1 "alien" card in your hand upon activation.) Alien Invasion Force: lvl 10, 4000 atk, 1000 def. This card can be special summoned by tributing 2 "alien" monsters or by removing 30 A-tokens from anywhere on the field. Any non "alien" monster with an A-token MUST attack this card if able. This card gains 1000 atk for every odd number and 500 def for every even number of A-tokens on it. Cards with A-tokens on them cannot target this card. If your opponent controls a monster without an A-token on it, this card is changed to defense position (even during your opponent's turn). If this card is sent to the graveyard, remove all but 1 A-counter from every card on the field. This card can remove 5 A-counters from anywhere on the field to prevent itself from being destroyed or banished (individually, not for the entire turn). This card cannot attack directly, and must have an A-counter on itself to declare an attack. (for reference on stat modulation: 4000,1000 for 0 tokens, 5000/1000 for 1 token, 5000/1500 for 2 tokens, 6000/1500 for 3 tokens, etc.)
This was the first Archetype I put together when they released, they are to this day still my favorite deck even play them on master duel (yes I know my chances of victory are basically 0) but as for the video and someone wanting to see that one guy get I can tell you I completely agrees with it they definitely need more TLC but hey they were nice for their time
In all honesty; if Konami gave them a brand new field spell that searched and alien card, gave every monster your opponent summons 2 counters and if the opponent had a monster with a counter, then aliens and the other things that go with them couldn't be targeted or destroyed by card effects. That would literally solve 2/3 of the decks issues. The other thing is they need more ways to summon aliens from hand, deck and or GY
I.A.S. is an Alien card due to its name containing "Alien/Erian" in its name. It just doesn't mesh with the deck well because it was designed as Tear/Kash hate due to that storyline's use of field spells to represent planets.
I hated going up against the archetype in Duel Links back in the day. The fact it was a cheap deck to build too at the time. Overlord & the quickplay spell were brutal!
an archetype that came out a couple of years too early, should have been psychic type with better support instead of being tied to one of the worst typings in the game
There are some cool things you can do with the reptile typing though. I think they should have built more for that type or just gotten rid of it entirely.
Years ago, I remember having so much fun with these guys in Duel Links. Such a shame Counters isn't a good mechanic in modern yugioh.
It's never been a good mechanic in Standard Yu-Gi-Oh period XD
Counters CAN be good, as long as they don't interact with your opponent's cards/are placed on them or better: need your opponent to have special cards on their board, to place counters and interact with them. Six Samurai e.g. are definitely playable. I play them since 10+yrs.
Downside: I need like 15 dices to play them. 😂😂
@@robertoschirmer5530endymion player here, can confirm
Edymion work perfectly fine with the Counter System.
@@Petsinwinter2 you know that Six Sam and Endymion were both meta, right?
This deck had a fun playstyle. To bad it tripped and broke both it legs at the starting line.
Yeah, they'd have to rebuild the archtype from the ground up. I'd love to see it though the aliens have some of my favorite card arts in the game.
I was an early adopter and although I was having fun with my little bag of counters, all my friends were beating me every time lol
It definitly did not.
It was murdered as time went on.
I cannot deny, Master Duel actually opened my 3rd eye when it came to Reptiles and aliens, I just wish there was one more piece of solid support for Ogdoadics and Reptalinnes for making it more consistent to make sure Cosmic Slicer stayed on the field. One thing I will always praise YGO for is their accidental synergies, a perfect example of this is Reptiles, as well as generic insects, being able to fit 4-5 different archtypes into one consistent deck is why I do love YGO.
Ogdoadic has 2 new cards coming in with AGOV. so thats 2-3 months for master duel. something to look forward to
@@nonamedpleb Oh hell yes. that's really exciting.
The new Raika archetype looks like it'll make Reptile piles more consistent. Or at the very least give them additional engines to work with.
The somewhat new DARK Reptiles from the manga are also good generic reptile support.
Earth Machine is also like that across several of its archetypes, which is what makes me like them, so I get what ya mean.
They're still real to me, darn it!
Love the reference!
Gol'gar was good because you could place the a counters on it rather than your opponent's monsters. So you did not have to worry about them all getting removed prematurely. Combine this with the fact that Code a ancient ruins is a soft one per turn, you could active the effect multiple times. I had several games where I summoned three Gol'gars in a single turn for an OTK. Not saying it was the best, but Gol'gar did give the Aliens a nice boss monster that rounded them out and gave them a fighting chance.
One of the first archetypes I tried to use, hopefully they do a retrain on it
for the entire archetype...
It's amazing to see the paradigm shift in Yugioh with you own eyes just seeing the difference between all the other aliens and then the introduction of Recombination Device. You can really tell the difference in eras between the cards between "Summon and put an A counter on a thing" and "6 lines of text that does like 4 separate things that tries to improve the entire archetype as a whole" lol
I love Aliens, but man they frustrate me. Like they had the right idea with Overlord, using tokens to special summon and applying even more tokens. They had the right idea with Zer’oll, being a big floodgate with decent attack (plus just being in the extra deck is better). They *sort of* had the right idea with Recombination Device, being a Foolish Burial and ROTA that lets you put counters. And being part of the reptile boom would in theory help them out. But alas, ET didn’t find home in my deck box and stays in the binder. Here’s hoping we get more though to tie things together.
Synchro Era were the closest that Aliens were to becoming playable, and in Edison formats I've heard word of people tinkering with the deck (because it feels like everything is playable in Edison to a degree), but support came out too slowly. It got one card in 2016, one in 2020, and 2 in 2021. The game had sped up too much
I think the archetype can spread A Counters fairly effectively, and as of Zer'oll, now has a gameplan using those A counters, but again, by the time we got to that gameplan, it was too late to make a large difference
Can confirm. I took an Alien deck to a 30 person Edison tourney and made top 4. But it was definitely carried more by floodgates and less by the Aliens themselves (Gol’Gar is a house though)
@@MrTAG-re5ymyou have a list brother?
The became third place in japans championship in 2009 too
Cosmic Fortress constantly bouncing Swords of Revealing Light was a fun moment in my life.
If the rept-pile of Ogdo, Alien, and Reptilianne ever gets a fantastic boss monster on the level of Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, it could become a competent rogue strategy
Gol'gar Control was an actual thing back in the day. You could repeatedly bounce stuff like Swords of Revealing Light, Call of the Haunted, and Fiendish Chain and accumulate A-Counters to pop things.
Alien is my first ever deck in duel links, and i had lots of fun with it
A field spell that gives protection by removing a counters and states that monsters with a counters cannot be tributed or used as material for link, XYZ or synchro summon except for reptile monsters.
I kept fusion open as that way it's not a full lock from the extra deck
Most currently unplayable archetypes could be revived if Konami would just regularly release 'Fixer' single cards that give those archetypes all their missing functions in a Endymion style textbox and have zero counterplay while on the field. They could keep releasing updated versions of those cards to milk the fans of those archetypes and the fact that this isn't a strategy shows they can't be loving money as much as people say they do.
I think having fusion open as an option is accidentally brilliant, because then it's like an Ultraman reference or something. The only way to fight them is to fuse with them and use their powers
This brought me back! I think especially back then Konami heavily relied on throughing bad and mid cards at you why you looked for that shiny card in packages and aliens were basically meant to be just that. I remember I was very confused by the A counter mechanics, cause it seemed so random and useless and even though I got a bunch of cards I thought I was missing something major about the archetype. Of course I was too little to investigate properly. But I do miss them, they were the kind of archetype that could still work when the game was slow and a bit more random.
Aliens was and still is my favorite deck I've ever played in Yugioh (even if I don't play anymore) Funny thing people don't really know but came up surprisingly a lot in Duel Links is that when a face down Alien card that had the reminder text to decrease attack was set, if you use cards like recombination device to place A-counters, the attacking monster would lose attack after attacking the face down alien; minor yes, but very funny
That's always been a very confusing part of the game for me: at what point during a battle does a facedown monster actually flip over and apply its effect
My favorite deck in highschool ❤. I remember getting destroyed by heroes, DAD, and six samurai 😭
Six Samurai was at its peak the one time Aliens were decent. I do not think I ever beat a proper Six Sam deck when I was playing Aliens.
Let me guess Alien decks are useless going first since you can't place A-counters since there are no monsters on the enemy side.
Nah, Zer'oll searches Planet Pollutant Virus, which places counters on anything the opponent summons for 3 turns as a lingering effect.
Then again, it's hard to make Zer'oll in pure Aliens, and you're more likely to see it as the main piece of an Ogdoadic/Reptilliane end board.
I like using Alien monsters it's a good way to mess up my opponents, and they're great with other reptile based cards like "Viper's Grudge" & "Evil Dragon Ananta"
(Also you missed a few Alien Cards "Cell Explosion Virus", "Interplanetary Invader A" & Interdimensional Warp)
I've dabbled with this deck a bit, and what I would love to see is a field spell that would be kinda like Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts in that it creates counters on itself (maybe once per both standby phases and on a trigger like every special summon), make all counters on the field accumulative to all of your opponent's monsters' attack nerf (all A counters on both fields x X00), protection by sacrificing counters like Magical Citadel of Endymion, and maybe have either a tier of effects you can apply dependent on how many counters are on the field or an effect you can activate by spending counters (like a searcher or negate).
I want to see a new field spell with the "lose 300 for each a-counter if battles alien" text on it.
They may be bad but the Alien Kid/Planet Pollutant virus with Zer'oll is really funny
Can't wait to see that one guy that's gonna mald at Duel Logs for calling their favorite archetype a failure. 😅
As an Alien main, there's no cope lol. They were a bit ahead of their time where support cards weren't archetypes or searchable. Gol'gar was well designed for its time, having a unique S/T recycling. Allowed to bounce floodgates one-sided like Vanity's Emptiness.
For a theme that is literally interplanetary, really surprised they never got another more useful Field Spell that allows A-counter to persist on the field from monsters that left the field. In modern card design, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for it to need a searcher with 'mentions "A-counter' effect.
Alien Hypno actually has one of the strongest effects for a Gemini as with PPV, can take all monsters with counters. So in a vacuum with no interruptions, it is really strong. The Link 3 gives the second Normal Summon that enables Hypno provided you were able to mill/revive it.
@KevinTangYT Same lol this video won't stop me from running an Alien Deck
Bro nobody plays aliens. I have been playing duel links since 2017 and haven't seen an alien monster in *YEARS*
@@barbaryn7899Have you considered looking at the mirror? *BADUMTSSS*
I'll see myself out.
lets duel type ass
I remember coming up against alien decks so much in duel links, shame the archetype has never been competitive enough in the tcg or master duel. Would love to see an archetype based off of Aliens/Predator though
So sad to see my beloved Aliens are in this format... bit you're right.
I hope they get anytime better support :(
So while Ogdoadics arent exactly a tier deck, I LOVE using the Cosmic Pincer package in my list. Especially with the new card Ogdoadic Daybreak, its incredibly easy to set up CPZ, tutor out your one-of Alien Kid, and back it up with something like Hope Harbinger Dragon for a spell negation for the mentioned Board-Breakers AND an attack redirect to protect Kid. Is it the best board ever? Nah, but its an incredibly unique one that presents an interesting puzzle to get through.
Alien's gimmick are perfectly fine and cohesive IMO, they put a-counters, and then debuff monster with said a-counters.
Just that they suffer for being old AF, all they need is a wave of modern support and they could easily be playable. Give them better alien mars for example.
Field Spell that automatically puts counters on summoned monsters so you can’t just bypass the counters.
@@pikapwn345"Every time you special summon a Reptile type monster from your Hand, you can place 1 A-Counter on the field. Every non Reptile monster with A-Counter have their attack set to 0. Once per turn, if a monster with A counter would activate it's effect, you can negate it. Every time a monster with A-Counters would leave the field, you can place it's A-counters on another card"
That alone would make the deck a lot more consistent with it's main gameplan
@@pikapwn345they are already doing that though. Their link 3 searches planet polluting virus. Which puts a-counters on all monsters the opponent summons for the next 3 turns. And because it's modern legacy support for an old archetype, the link monster is of course a skill drain for monsters with a-counters
this is true for a lot of decks. you can make anything viable with the right support.
Insane levels of cope
My preferred Alien playstyle focuses on Gol'gar's ability to return cards to the hand and destroy cards every turn. With the help of cards like Big Bang Shot, equipping your opponent with it then returning it to the hand meant banishing their monsters. Using cards like Swords of Revealing/Concealing light to prevent attacks/flip down problem cards so that they be destroyed while face down. I also used Mist Valley Falcon as a way to do these things when Gol'gar wasn't available by bouncing these reusable cards.
I haven't played Yugioh in a long time due to just not liking what the game has become, but this and my Remove Brainwashing deck I always come back to for fun. They're too slow, but its fun when they work. I doubt there's any way they survive these days.
God aliens were so bad, but when you had Gol'gar down with infinite Swords of Revealing Light, and your opponent didn't have an answer it felt great
I feel like A Counters _could've_ been good if they also reduced Levels by 1 for each counter, and if the Level/stat reduction were baked into the counters instead of requiring monsters with reminder text on them specifically on the field to do anything.
The most funny thing to me is that because of the way Yu-Gi-Oh rules and rulings have decided to handle search effects, Crop Circles can only fail to find and burn you for 2000 _only if_ the last legal target is somehow removed from your deck in a higher chain link above Crop Circles, because you can't legally activate cards like Crop Circles without at least one legal target, even if the targets are in a hidden zone like the deck.
right that's an easy fix. also they could spread counters if destroyed by battle or card effect. alien brain, brainwashing beam, mass hypnosis, the pollution trap and mysterious triangle was ok
I don't think it's a good idea to bake effects directly into counters. That opens up a huge can of rulings worms in future card design with future counters.
@@CherryPinkMega the stat decrease part should be universal for A counters
@@DJninjablade22Would making the alien monsters add A counter equal to half (rounded up) of their star when summoned improve the archtype?
@@dcd3lt4 yes actually. That plus the 100 decrease in att/ def for each A counter universal
I remember my friend playing aliens back in the day but he stopped when the op synchros and xyz cards were banned. all in all it was gol'gar turbo by dumping shocktrooper to the graveyard with either levalval chain or advanced ritual art and going straight into it, having a face up spell/trap giant trunade on legs meant that he could play around with continuous flood gates and just turn them off when he felt like it, but usually only after replacing it with shock master.
So yeah, ended up being more of a showing of broken ass extra deck monsters then showing power of the archtype. he very quickly moved over evilswarm when he no longer could lockdown people with that strat and went with ophion turbo instead.
I still believe in I.A.S to be a very underrated splash in very specific decks
I had so much fun with this back in highschool when we‘d all just run random flavor piles with just as many monsters of a given archetype as possible.
I was kind shocked to see the dark magician archetype on this list(even tho we knew it belonged on it deep down inside).......but the alien archetype??....what took you so long get on that failed list
There’s a lot of decks
I used to play this deck personally back in highschool, my friend still resents me to this day for using Imperial custom and mass hypnosis to mind control his big synchros including red nova dragon from his turbo synchro flamvell deck, so regardless of how bad Aliens are or always will be, i always have my core and always think on how to sometimes tinker with it.
So, this is my edison deck. It fails hard to even some mid decks but I have fun with my little alien buddies
Last year in the Monster Type Festival - King of the Island; I had fun with the Reptile deck; I won approximately 6 out of 10 duels thanks to Ananta + Lamia or Zer'oll with Planet Pollutant Virus.
It's good to know that good Alien cards have very good synergy with generic support (like King Gremlin, Therion "Empress" Alasia, Reptilianne).
I can think about good support cards for this archtype.
Continuos trap card: Put 1 A-counter on every face up monster opponent controls.; While this card face up, it have all continuos effects of your "alien" monsters in exile. You may tribute this card for a tribute summon reptile or machine type monster.
Continuos spell card: When this card activated you may banish 1 monster from you hand, and if you do put number of a-counters equal to level of banished monster on this card, then you may put 1 "alien" card from you deck to you hand; When one or more A-counters is put on cards, you gain life 300× number of new counters.
Monster card:lv 9 machine 1800atc 2400def effect: this card gains 300atc/def for each A-counter on the field. Once per turn you can remove 4 A-counters from anywhere on field, take control of 1 of oponents spell/trap cards. When this face up card on the field is dectroed, you may special summon "flying saucer muusisi" from hand or graveyard. When you activate "orbital bombardment" you can special summon this card from exile.
The Trap Card "Alien Brain" should have been a quick play spell card. That way, you could just crush your monster into an opponents Monster, trigger your monsters effect (maybe) and than straight up steal your opponents monster
The cards way better in non alien named reptile focused decks where you get a attack boost of it too where woth a a certain card you can use it with a hand trap to force its effect off.
Aliens and Nordic was some of my favorite archetypes, aside from the most powerful archetype in yugioh history: Skull servant
A fellow skull servant enjoyer. I love those spooky scary skeletons.
Portrait checks out.
You forgot snake rain can foolish burial FOUR reptiles from your deck! Surely they could take advantage of it...
One very crazy fix would be to make all counters unnamed and give them inherent value. Like acting as mana to give off more effects per turn and adding them to the field either restricted or allowed more effects. or counters being able to be locked to zones and not cards. Combining the two could be a way to slow the game down for smaller archetypes while also giving the option to make more plays if you could manipulate the counters well.
I remember reading about Aliens and Gemini monsters in Shonen Jump Magazine back in the day; the magazine would gas up new cards in YuGiOh at the time (since the magazine ran chapters of the YGO manga). I was never great at YGO, but I could just tell that Aliens didn't seem very useful at all by virtue of how slow the A-Counters were; these were before Synchros really caught on, and even then, a really good player could just dance circles around you in the time it took you to set up an Alien field and get any significant number of A Counters active.
Same with Gemini; it was obvious off-the-bat that a monster that needed TWO normal summons was never going to work.
When people say they wish YuGiOh was "like in the old days" again, I have to wonder if they actually played YGO back then because man, YGO was a bit of a mess before Synchro was introduced.
This arquetipe is so weird. It is like it was made by ALIENS or something
When I started watching your channel over 10 years ago, I loved your alien synchro deck and made it in real life. I mentioned it in a comment and not too long after, you put out another alien synchro deck 😂. Always wondered if you saw my comment but either way, I was really happy with your work.
Ideas for a few new Alien cards that could help the archetype:
_Alien Invasion!_
Quick-play Spell
_Target 1 Face-up monster on the field: Place A-Counters on it equal to it’s Level/Rank/Link, and also, while that target with any A-Counters is on the field, the following effects are applied:_
⚪️You can normal summon/set “Alien” monsters without limit.
⚪️Your ”Alien” Monsters can be normal summoned/set using 1 less tribute.
⚪️If a card with any number of A-Counters Declares an attack or activates an effect: You can special summon 1 “Alien” monster from your hand or deck who’s level is equal to or less than the number of A-counters on it.
⚪️If an “Alien” card you control would be sent to the GY or Banished, you can instead remove all A-Counters from 1 card on the field (Min. 1).
_Alien Reviver_ (FIRE)
Level 4
Reptile/Tuner/Effect
_If there are 4 or more A-counters on the field: You can special summon this card from your hand or GY. While this card is face-up on the field or in the GY, “Alien” monsters you possess (from your hand, field, deck or GY) are also treated as FIRE-attribute, and have their DEF become 200 while in the GY. If an “Alien” monster you control would be banished, you can instead tribute 1 card on the field who’s number of A-counters on it equals or exceeds the Level/Rank/Link of that “Alien” monster, then shuffle it into your deck._
ATK/2000 DEF/200
The first one basically lets you designate a “Target” for a mass “Alien” invasion, loading that target with a potentially crippling number of A-Counters while also making them the opened floodgates for a mass incursion of them. You can even target YOUR OWN monsters with the normally crippling A-counters to have them serve as the invasion’s foothold.
The second card is designed to make the universally Reptile-type “Alien” monsters work with both “Snake Rain” and “Rekindling”, and can even save them from “Rekindling”’s banishing effect if there are enough A-counters on the field (potentially taking a chunk of your opponent’s board to). It even can summon itself if you have enough counters on the field!
This sounds fun
very inventive
@ekimyukselbaba8847 didn't know inventive was word
The Quick-Play Spell is hilarously busted but is actually fine because it's aliens.
The quick play spell would immediately get banned because of link or xyz shenanigans. However, just adding "for the rest of the turn, you can only special summon alien monsters" (or however that text would be worded) then i think it would be perfectly fine, especially for aliens. Even then tho, some kind of tribute summon based deck like monarchs would take advantage of it, but even then, it wouldn't really be a problem
Aliens are still my favorite cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! They are the reason Crimson Crisis is still my single favorite pack to come out. I made a Cosmic Fortress deck that was so much fun even if it was not top tier. What was most cool is how there were a few different strategies that could use a-counters.
Cards that could have supported this deck greatly.
-Fusion monsters that gain effects if monsters with Alien Counters were on them.
-Their own fusion spell that could work just like Super Poly if the opponent’s monsters have Alien Counters on them.
-Synchro Monsters that gain effects/triggers an effect if a certain amount of Alien Counters are on them.
-more Alien Counter generating spells and traps.
Can think of more but I would need to refresh myself on the support they briefly got and come up with other support options that could have been.
4:12 FIRE
5:29 STRIKE OF NEOS
Also misleveled the 3rd monster mentioned
2:02 Gangi'el is a level 7, not a 5
Kept saying Alien Omanite instead of Alien Ammonite.
@@Circular_Square I'll give a pass on his Grammer, some yugioh cards can be hard to say their actual name or it might be some community inside joke that I'm not aware of. It might also be possible he's using AI speech for the videos again and that could cause it
Seems like the biggest weakness these archtypes have is having double costs. Look at Flying Saucer, for example. It has the cost of needing to be tribute summoned AND the cost of losing your draw phase. If it has just one of those costs, it would be a decent card, but so many of these cards just have too many costs.
From us at the Alien archetype Discord server, thanks for the publicity!
How i would errate the Alien/"A" archetype:
- Every card is treated as "Alien" or "A"
- Searcher: exchange draw phase to draw an archetype card (Hard once x Turn)
- Change the most of the monster and the spells/traps in a way they just spam thr counters everywhere
The Synchro monster isn't much of a help either💀
I didn’t even realize that skier shock trooper was an alien.
Zeta Reticulant too. It's a fairy type Alien.
They need a field spell or continuous spell that says something like “if a monster has an A-counter on it, it cannot be used in a special summon” or “cannot be used a synchro or link summon” or “if it was used in a special summon place half of the A-counter on the new summoned monster rounded up”. Something to make people worry about the counters or really try to get rid of them.
I think Alien’s could work if they could generate A counters easier and had those effects be much stronger. Like, what if the amount of A counters a card has changes how effective the ability is and gives you more options. For example, let’s say you have a card that does the following; During either players turn, once per turn, target one monster with A-Counters and select the following effect depending on how many A Counter’s the card has ;
1 or more: Send that card to the graveyard.
2 or more: Remove that card from play.
3 or more: Shuffle that card back into the deck.
4 or more: take control of that card until the end of your turn.
5 or more: Tribute that card, distribute any of its A-counters to other cards on the field and you may special summon 1 Alien monster from your hand or GY to either side of the field.
So basically have Aliens have a large list of various effects that they can use, making them more of a toolbox deck, having them be able to deal with multiple strategies by adapting to various board states. Maybe have a generic effect where, if a monster with A counters is used for any of the advanced summoning (XYZ, Synchro, link, etc) then it’s counters are automatically transferred to the new monster. Meaning that they would be summoned already with a good amount of A counters on them.
I still have the original release of Alien cards in a deck box. This archetype had so much potential it just needed more support cards.
Edit: Unfortunately this archetype was released on the tail end of the GX series and when 5Ds came out with the Synchro mechanic, Aliens were forgotten. All they needed was a bit more love with a few Synchro, Tuner and modifying the A-Counter mechanic to be a full blanket debuff. Their field spell definitely needed more love with a mechanic that at least removed the opponent’s ability to just tribute/material summon away the A-Counters.
As someone who trolled around with aliens for years (in friendlies ofc), I can say that you basically need to ignore 2/3rds of their cards. Cosmic Fortress + SoRL/gravity bind was hilarious when you pulled it off.
Even without MST, there was no reason to use Orbital Bombardment. It's a trap, so in an archetype that doesn't benefit from canning its own monsters it's strictly worse than Dust Tornado, an ancient card which was never on the forbidden/limited list!
I used to loop code A with swords with Gol' Gar's effect. Took a while to set up but it was pretty funny watching ppl get confused about it keeping them from attacking. Course there was still the issue of board removals.
You’re spot-on for reasons why the archetype’s design failed. I think it’s also important to mention that the archetypes problems during 5Ds era were worsened by the fact that the metagame included flip/set monsters and gladiator beasts, both of which would prevent the maintenance of “A” counters
Aliens needs cards that can search and better limiting effects, just like what ice barriers got.
He neglected to mention Oshaleon which was great because it could search out your Ammonite. It was not officially part of the archetype, but was an auto include at the time of Crimson Crisis.
I *adored* Aliens on release. Like, you have no clue. I tried to make them work so ungodly hard back then and it just. Never worked. The support wasn't there, and whenever reptile support did trickle in it was always at a point where I had another deck to use or just not enough cash to support going fishing for those cards. Hell, even in Legacy of the Duelist I still can't get as much mileage out of Aliens as I can their cousins the Worms.
I remember when they came to duel links years ago, they were an actual FTP KOG deck and then soon got immediately power crept.
I still love Aliens. I get a laugh at people on MD trying to change their monster with A-Counters to attack, only to be switched to defense again.
That said, aliens just need a couple support cards that make them more consistent and be able to go first to setup A-Counters and a few Syncho/Link monsters and they're Gucci.
Gol'Gar is busted, but being Archetype restricted prevented it from being as abusable as Dewloren was. So that was a blessing in disguise.
Back when cosmic fortress golgar was first printed I played a combo deck that pulled all 3 from extra in one turn, and only ever stored my a-counters on golgar. It was janky, worked 1 in 20 games, but it's still one of my favourite decks.
you probably hear this all the time.......but I was looking at a decklist for this archetype earlier today, to build one. I like these coincidences.
I remember trying to build a hybrid Alien-Dinosaur deck. It didn't work, but I still have a fondness for the Aliens and really wish they were easier to play.
Here’s an idea arch types that are bad nowadays that would be good in older formats that sound like a good video
I feel like archetypes that use counters all need the effect of warning point where the monsters Effect is negated and it can’t be used as material for extra deck monsters in addition whatever the archetype effect is.
you completely left out the Trap Cards Aliens got in Gladiators Assault: Cell Explosion Virus (an in-archetype Mirror Force), Detonator Circle "A" (an in-archetype ring of destruction), and Interdimensional Warp (an in-archetype Creature Swap)
The pieces are there,they just need a couple really good cards to put them together. Like a feild spell which places A counters and passively applies negative effect to mosters with them and also a monster or spell that searches the other cards.
Aliens didn't expect that they'd run into the monsters from the shadow realm
The varied types, designs, and effects really made the arctype feel like it was designed for a character in the anime, but nobody ever used it there as far as I know. In fiction, you could make any one of these effects actually a threat in some way, and the original A-counters' small ATK/DEF loss would be just enough to gain the advantage.
Back in the day I ran Vanity's emptiness with Gol gar to lock the opponent. This was before it got hit
Imagine if alien counters for alien cards gave the secondary effect of "if this card where to be destroyed by battle/card effect you can remove one alien counter from the field instead. Still wouldn't make them good, but at least a playable archetype during certain iterations.
1 name: Endymion. When that archetype came out, it proved that counters are NOT a bad mechanic and can easily have great resource management if konami designs the card good enough. Also Golgar mixed with Deck Lockdown + Swords of Concealing light was major strong back in the day. Every turn you flip facedown all ur opponents monsters amd every turn they get deck lockdowned
Sounds like one of the best support this archetype could get is something that makes it so A-Counters can transfer from material to Special Summoned monster.
Im starting to think the spider considers every old archtype/mechanic a failure.
Alien Shocktrooper looks super cool too. Its like a counterpart of Mystic Horseman and Rabid Horseman.
Man I loved my Alien deck, it didnt won often but I loved it.
I also had a Cloudian, Six Samurai, Koa'ki meiru and Dark World deck that would probably fit in this series XD
So basically it seems Alien was neutered by its release window being alongside old rules that would ultimately be dropped, rendering many of its cards useless. A dated archetype would rapidly result.
I can’t believe even an archetype like this got a Link monster, yet my Gravekeepers still have no Link/XYZ/Pendulum/Synchro or another fusion 🤬
I didn't even know aliens had a field spell. And now I see why.
Funny enough, I use Aliens with the help of Ogdoadics and Reptilianes. Kinda like a reptile pile. Got a deck in Master Duel with them. Despite Aliens being less flexible for the two, I can really get the ball going at times and end up with a crazy board or ripping one apart. Although, I end up at times where I get unplayable hands more than I want to see. I really wish Aliens were better so I can enjoy them and play more consistently
I diddnt even know Aliens got support after their synchro monster and Overlord I thought it just ended there. Huh interesting.
Sounds like they need an OP field spell. The ever present solution to all mediocre old archetypes. Perhaps one that allows retention of some A counters when a monster is used as material.
It would help. They only have one of the worst archetype field spells ever devised.
I have played aliens since they first came out. Although not an A tier deck, they can be extremely effective. I got 32 at my regional around 2010, and I abused putting big bang shot on my opponents monsters and then bounced it.
I also used solidarity so it was a beat down deck that could deal with really stickt monsters, or just use the big bang shot to peirce through defense monsters. Worked extremely well and I was a bad player back then. XD So I think the archtype is a LITTLE underrated by most, but it has problems for sure.
(I also got gaslit into a bad ruling, people told me you couldnt summon dog when you used ammonites effect because it creates a missed timing. I know now, it does not create a missed timing, so that would have been easy 8 star synchros at the time)
In addition, I think duel logs is missing something huge for aliens. They are all reptiles, so all the reptile support works for them. I ran Oschaleon to grab ammonite from the deck, and snake whisle was a great way to grab whatever alien I needed. Allowed me to do things like run only one ofs of the unique effect aliens, like hunter and telepath.
I loved playing around with these in Dueling Network but holy hell they were so inconsistent and frustrating at the same time
using A-counters to steal monsters and use them for tribute/synchros was fun but the clunky playstyle and especially the lack of consistency because of middling effects just felt like swimming against a current
They need to pull an Archfiend with this deck, and give it an entirely new reboot, because holy crap do I love these cards. The A-Counter mechanic is too slow, so they need to pull a Alien Kid with the whole deck, then make every single one of their cards searchable, and that’s on top of the fact that they need more versatility too. We’ve all learned what happens when you only rely on Archetype-exclusivity to do synchro, xyz, etc. play, especially in modern Yugioh.
Aliens were actually a threat in some of the video games, where getting counters off the field fast enough was a bit of a struggle.
I know a card effect that would fix all counter archetypes:
Possible name: Accounted Risk
Card type: Spell | Quick-play
Effect: For the rest of this duel, whenever a card(s) with counters are destroyed, distribute those counters to the remaining face up cards on the field.
You can fix aliens by giving them a reliable negate like an alien that by removing an A-counter from anywhere on the field you can negate an activation and destroy it. They also need a card that can search Alien cards with Alien in its context. This would help bridge the cards together. I would add in a level 8 alien boss monster who's alien drain effect would double the alien's A-counter decrease effect or even increase an alien's attack and defense by three hundred during battle for every A-counter on the opponent's monster.
16:15 “From Reptilians [sic] to later-introduced and hard-to-pronounce Ogdoadics” - ironically mispronounces “ReptiliANNES” as just “reptilians” while pronouncing “Ogdoadics” correctly, lol.
I know DuelLogs’ mispronunciations are meme-tier at this point; I just found it funny that he got the one he claimed was hard to pronounce right in the same sentence as mispronouncing a different archetype. 😅
Hmmm... lets see what i can come up with, completely ignoring balance to try to make the a-counter system work.
Alien Brainworm: lvl1, 100 atk/def. You can tribute this card to add any "alien" card from your deck to your hand. If this card is tributed, you can distribute A-counters equal to the level/rank of all monsters on the field +1 to your opponent's side of the field. While this card is face up on the field, non "alien" monsters on the field with A-counters lose levels/ranks equal to the number of A-counters on the card, and if the monster's level/rank drops to 1 or less by this effect, destroy them.
Alien in Disguise: lvl 3, 1400 atk, 1000 def. When this card is summoned, you can summon infiltrator tokens (lvl 4, 0 atk/def) to your opponent's side of the field equal to the number of alien monsters on your side of the field when this effect resolves and place 4 A-counters on each token. Even if this card leaves the field, any time an A-token(s) would be removed from the field this turn, you can instead relocate the token to any other monster your opponent controls. While this card is face up on the field, non "alien" monsters with A-tokens your opponent controls cannot stop direct attacks.
Universe Conquerors: Quick Play Spell. (this card is always treated as an "alien" card) You take no battle damage from battles involving an "Alien" monster or a monster with an A-token on it. After this card resolves, if 100 alien counters ever exist on the field at the same time you win the duel (lingering effect). You may resolve these effects in sequence, depending on the number of A-counters on the field at activation: 0) place 1 A-counter on any monster on the field. 1+) Non "alien" monsters lose atk/def equal to the number of A-counters on the cardx100. 10+) Until the end of this turn, you may take control of any monster(s) your opponent controls by removing tokens from them equal to their lvl/rank/link rating as long as at least one A-token remains on the monster. 30+) Alien Monsters and monsters with A-tokens cannot be destroyed or banished by your opponent's card effects, nor destroyed by battle this turn, and can attack opponent's monsters equal to the number of A-tokens on the monster +1.
Alien Homeworld: Field Spell. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects while there are 1 or more A-counters on the field. If an alien monster or monster with an A-counter you control inflicts battle damage to your opponent, you can place A-counters on this card for every 100 damage dealt. "Alien" cards with A-counters on them cannot be targeted by the opponent's card effects and are immune to the effects of other "alien" cards you control that interact with A-counters. You can remove A-counters from anywhere on the field to activate each of the following effects once per turn. Remove 5 A-counters to special summon any "alien" monster from your deck, but it cannot be used as material for any extra deck monster this turn unless it has an A-counter on it. Remove 10 A-counters to take control of an opponent's monster as long as at least 1 A-counter remains on it. Remove 15 A-counters to place 1 A-counter on all "Alien" monsters you currently control.
Alien Infection: Trap card. Place 1 A-counter on all cards on the field (including spells, traps, and face down cards). Non "alien" cards with A-counters on them cannot change battle positions, attack, or activate effects for the rest of this turn. (face down "alien" cards can still be used by revealing 1 "alien" card in your hand upon activation.)
Alien Invasion Force: lvl 10, 4000 atk, 1000 def. This card can be special summoned by tributing 2 "alien" monsters or by removing 30 A-tokens from anywhere on the field. Any non "alien" monster with an A-token MUST attack this card if able. This card gains 1000 atk for every odd number and 500 def for every even number of A-tokens on it. Cards with A-tokens on them cannot target this card. If your opponent controls a monster without an A-token on it, this card is changed to defense position (even during your opponent's turn). If this card is sent to the graveyard, remove all but 1 A-counter from every card on the field. This card can remove 5 A-counters from anywhere on the field to prevent itself from being destroyed or banished (individually, not for the entire turn). This card cannot attack directly, and must have an A-counter on itself to declare an attack. (for reference on stat modulation: 4000,1000 for 0 tokens, 5000/1000 for 1 token, 5000/1500 for 2 tokens, 6000/1500 for 3 tokens, etc.)
This was the first Archetype I put together when they released, they are to this day still my favorite deck even play them on master duel (yes I know my chances of victory are basically 0) but as for the video and someone wanting to see that one guy get I can tell you I completely agrees with it they definitely need more TLC but hey they were nice for their time
In all honesty; if Konami gave them a brand new field spell that searched and alien card, gave every monster your opponent summons 2 counters and if the opponent had a monster with a counter, then aliens and the other things that go with them couldn't be targeted or destroyed by card effects. That would literally solve 2/3 of the decks issues. The other thing is they need more ways to summon aliens from hand, deck and or GY
I.A.S. is an Alien card due to its name containing "Alien/Erian" in its name. It just doesn't mesh with the deck well because it was designed as Tear/Kash hate due to that storyline's use of field spells to represent planets.
We love failed cards videos keep making more of them
I hated going up against the archetype in Duel Links back in the day. The fact it was a cheap deck to build too at the time. Overlord & the quickplay spell were brutal!
an archetype that came out a couple of years too early, should have been psychic type with better support instead of being tied to one of the worst typings in the game
There are some cool things you can do with the reptile typing though. I think they should have built more for that type or just gotten rid of it entirely.
This and venomous snakes sounded super cool in concept but shat the bed in practice