Yang Zing

"Yang Zing", known as "Dracomet" ( Ryūsei) in the OCG, is an archetype of monsters that debuted in Duelist Alliance. They resemble Dragon-like creatures, but with a slight appearance of Beasts, either by having a mane and/or tiger stripes, as well as Beast-like paws and claws; also, they have a bead inside a triangle on their chest and 3 others on their horns. All of them are Wyrm-Type, which is a new Monster Type that also debuted in Duelist Alliance; the variety of Attributes is also emphasized. The deck is the first solely Synchro-based archetype to be released since the debut of Xyz Monsters, with no Xyz support whatsoever.

Story
A group of Wyrms who dwell inside the "Stars" of the Heavens and Earth. They are incarnations of elements found on the planet and the power of the bright stars in the sky brought forth by "Constellar Sombre", who has the same amount of power as a god. It's said that when the "Yang Zing" come together, a shining radiance will consume everything (Most likely referencing to the deck's primary Synchro monster, "Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing", and its ability to clear away almost an entire field when summoned).

Playing style
Almost all of the Main Deck monsters focus on maintaining field presence by Special Summoning one another when they are destroyed. In addition, almost all of the non-Tuners is capable of Synchro Summoning during your opponent's Main Phase or Battle Phase, like "Urgent Tuning" or "T.G. Wonder Magician", and give extra abilities to the Synchro Monster that they were used to Summon, as follows:

The Tuner monsters of the archetype, "Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing" and "Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing" have effects that tend to speed-up Synchro Summons even more: the first one follows the trend of many Tuner monsters, such as "Plaguespreader Zombie", "Scrap Mind Reader" and "Re-Cover", by Special Summoning itself from the Graveyard in order to assist a Synchro Summon but being banished when it leaves the Field, if Special Summoned by its own effect; this effect can be triggered when a "Yang Zing" monster you control is destroyed. The second one can Special Summon 2 "Yang Zings" from your Deck by the cost of 2 "Yang Zing" cards in your hand, provided you control no other monsters; you can use its effect to have quick access to the "Yang Zing" Synchro Monsters.

The aforementioned Monsters are the ace cards of the Archetype:


 * "Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing": cannot be targeted by your opponent's effects and can act like a "Yang Zing" version of "Scrap Dragon", destroying 1 of those monsters you control and 1 of your opponent's cards; in addition, it can Special Summon any Wyrm-Type monster from your Deck when it is destroyed.


 * "Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing": when Synchro Summoned, it can shuffle cards from the field into the Deck, up to the number of different original Attributes of Wyrm-Type monsters used for its Synchro Summon; it can also destroy 1 card you control in order to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from your Graveyard. This can be used to set up more Synchro Summons, not only by bringing back a "Yang Zing" monster, but also by destroying a "Yang Zing" and triggering its effect.


 * "Chaofeng, Legend of the Yang Zing": this one has a more intricate set of effects. First off, it locks your opponent's monsters from activating their effects, provided they share Attibutes with this monster's "Yang Zing" Synchro Materials; its second effect lets you search for any Tuner monster when it is destroyed by battle; finally, its last effect Special Summons any Wyrm-Type monster from your deck when an opponent's monster(s) is destroyed, but that Wyrm must have the same Attribute than the destroyed monster.

Despite being a Synchro-reliant Deck, the Archetype also has 2 Pendulum Monsters:


 * "Zefra-Fuxi, Treasure of the Yang Zing" and "Zefra-Qiuniu, Secret of the Yang Zing": with Pendulum Scales of 1 and 7, it is possible to use them to Summon many "Yang Zings" at once, accelerating even more the Synchro Summons. Also, under the right condition, the former's Monster Effect can make a non-Tuner "Yang Zing" be treated as a Tuner, giving you even more flexible options to perform a Synchro Summon, while the latter's searches a "Yang Zing" Spell/Trap Card.

You can use the Quick Effect of the non-Tuner "Yang Zing" monsters to perform Synchro Summons during your opponent's turn, choosing to Summon the monster that is more appropriate depending on your opponent's move. This is made even easier by the fact that every monster can Special Summon any other monster of the archetype when destroyed, giving the player the ability to summon practically any Synchro Monster at any time (whichever one is most appropriate based on what the opponent has), regardless of which monsters you draw (as you can always suicide your monsters into your opponent's if need be).

Among general cards that can help the Deck, "Imperial Iron Wall" and "Supply Squad" can be useful. The former prevents "Chiwen" from being banished every time it is Special Summoned by its own effect and also protects "Yang Zings" from cards that would prevent their searcher effect from being triggered, such as "Bottomless Trap Hole", "Dimensional Prison" and "Masked HERO Dark Law"; the latter makes you draw a card every time a "Yang Zing" monster is destroyed, giving you even more card advantage. You can also use "Masked Chameleon" in order to perform more Synchro Summons. Considering that "Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing" gives immunity against Trap Cards, "Skill Drain" may also be useful, since the Synchro monster Summoned by using "Bixi" will be immune to it, while your opponent's monsters will not. Due to the emphasis given to the variery of Attributes, "Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan" can be used as well.

In a "Yang Zing" Deck, generic Synchro Monsters are even more powerful than normally, as they will gain additional bonuses when Summoned by using the "Yang Zing" monsters as Synchro Materials; the Tuner monster in these scenarios is always "Chiwen", except for "Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons", that would require "Jiaotu":


 * "Star Eater": If Summoned by using "Pulao", "Bixi", "Suanni" and "Bi'an", its immunity against Spell and Trap Cards will be extended beyond the Battle Phase, as well as rendering it unable to be destroyed by battle and give it a 3700 ATK total.


 * "Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree": With "Suanni", "Bi'an" and "Pulao", it will have 3600 ATK and immunity against battle destruction and Spell Cards that would destroy it, such as "Dark Hole".


 * "Ascension Sky Dragon": Due to the above-average Draw power of this Deck, because of "Supply Squad" and "Yang Zing Path", this monster can have a huge ATK boost when Summoned; in addition, if somehow it be destroyed by your opponent, you will also recover all "Yang Zing" used for its Synchro Summon. The fact that their effects will be negated will not be a drawback, unless you are intending to use their Quick Effect, during your opponent's turn.


 * "Giganticastle": If Summoned by using, for example, 2 "Suannis", it will have a smashing 4300 ATK and 4200 DEF.
 * If you substitute one of the "Suannis" by 2 "Pulao" and 1 "Bixi", it will have 4200 ATK, 4100 DEF and immunity against Spell and Trap Cards.


 * "Red Dragon Archfiend": When Summoned by using "Pulao", "Bixi", and "Suanni", gains immunity against Spell and Trap cards and increases its ATK to 3500. You can also use its effect to destroy your "Yang Zing" monsters during your End Phase so that you can trigger their effects; this can give you greater control over your Synchro Summons during your opponents turn. You can also Summon "Red Nova Dragon" using two "Jiaotu" as the required Tuners.


 * "Moonlight Rose Dragon": If unexpectedly Summoned during your opponent's turn, it can act like a "Compulsory Evacuation Device", surprising your opponent by returning a strong monster they control to the hand.


 * "Goyo Guardian": You can Synchro Summon it with "Bi'an" and "Bixi", giving it immunity against monsters with higher ATK and against Trap Cards like "Mirror Force" and "Dimensional Prison", that would prevent this monster from resolving its effect.


 * "Underworld Fighter Balmung": Summon it with "Bi'an" so that the only way your opponent will have to destroy it is by a card effect, which will trigger its effect.


 * "Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons": Synchro Summon it with ("Bi'an",) "Bixi" and "Pulao", giving it immunity against Spell and Trap Cards that would negate its powerful effect, such as "Breakthrough Skill" or "Forbidden Chalice", or against cards that would not destroy it, such as "Dimensional Prison".
 * You can also Summon it with ("Pulao" and) "Taotie", giving it protection against "Number 101: Silent Honor ARK".

Weaknesses

 * Since their effects rely on swarming the field, mainly when combined with "Yang Zing Creation", cards like "El Shaddoll Winda", "El Shaddoll Grysta" and "Summon Breaker" can slow down the Deck.
 * Cards that purely prevent Special Summons, such as "Vanity's Emptiness" and "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" are also good counters against them; one can also use "Macro Cosmos" or "Dimensional Fissure" to banish them when they are destroyed. "Soul Drain" and "Deck Lockdown" can prevent them from Special Summoning one another from the Deck when destroyed and, once they main focus is on Synchro Summoning, "Grisaille Prison" and "Discord" can also be used.
 * The variety of Attributes also makes them vulnerable to "Gozen Match" and "Battle of the Elements". The dependability on Synchros, makes the Deck vulnerable to "Evilswarm Ophion".
 * A monster that can attack all monster your opponent controls such as "Bujintei Susanowo" or "Number 39: Utopia" equipped with "ZW - Asura Strike" can be surprisingly effective against this Deck, since it will keep on attacking every "Yang Zing" monster Summoned by the one previously destroyed. "Evigishki Merrowgeist" can be a peculiar and efficient solution against the "Yang Zing" as well, shuffling them into the Deck instead of sending them to the Graveyard, and, consequently, prevent them from Special Summoning one another.
 * Monsters like "Armades, Keeper of Boundaries", "Gem-Knight Citrine" and "U.A. Mighty Slugger" prevent their effects from being activated when they are destroyed by battle.

Trivia

 * The "Yang Zing" are based on the Nine Offspring of the Dragon, characters of Chinese mythology. "Yang Zing" was likely altered from "Yang Xing" to avoid pronounciation difficulties. In Chinese, "Yang Xing" may be interpreted as either 陽星 yáng xīng, literally meaning "sun star", or 陽性 yáng xìng, meaning "positive" or "masculine".


 * The Japanese name 竜星 ryūsei literally translates to "dragon star". It may also be based on 流星 ryūsei, "meteor", and 竜生九子 Ryūsei Kyūshi, "Nine Offspring of the Dragon".


 * This archetype has many similarities with the "Gusto" archetype; both of them are Synchro Summon-oriented archetypes, they also have their own set of "recruiter loops" which also works similarly.
 * Both of these archetypes also have exactly 2 of their monsters corrupted and become "Shaddoll" monsters, while also one of each is combined in form of "El Shaddoll Winda" ("Winda, Priestess of Gusto" + "Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing").


 * According to Sheng'an waiji by Yang Shen, the "9 sons of the dragon" are listed as the following order: