Gishki

Gishki, known as Ritua in Japan, are a series of monsters released in Duel Terminal - Raid of the Inverz!!. Their team symbol is a blue sapphire mirror that all the members wear, usually around their necks or on their staves. The Ritual Monsters (and, starting with "Merrowgeist", Xyz Monsters) of the group all have "Evigishki" at the beginning of their names, with the name of the kind of creature they've become (usually an Ogre) at the end.

Their Japanese name, "Ritua", is a corruption of the English word "Ritual", used in the TCG terms "Ritual Spell Card", "Ritual Summon", and "Ritual Monster". Their English name, "Gishki", is a corruption of the Japanese word "Gishiki", used in the OCG terms "Gishiki Mahou Card", "Gishiki Shoukan", and "Gishiki Monster". This wordplay is notable - "Gishiki Mahou Card" is the OCG term for "Ritual Spell Card", "Gishiki Shoukan" is the OCG term for "Ritual Summon", and "Gishiki Monster" is the OCG term for "Ritual Monster". (The choice for the English name not only translates the play on words perfectly, but also prevents the need for explaining how cards with "Ritual" in their name aren't part of the archetype.)

All known "Gishki" monsters are WATER, and many are Spellcaster, Sea Serpent, or Aqua. Their playstyle is focused on Ritual Summoning and either searching and returning cards to the Deck.

"Gishki" is a unique archetype, since it has not just one or two, but THREE Ritual Spell Cards for a specific archetype. They are "Gishki Aquamirror", "Gishki's Duplicate Soul Mirror", and "Forbidden Arts of the Gishki". "Gishki's Duplicate Soul Mirror" in particular is very unique, as it is the first Ritual Spell card that allows you to use Life-Points instead of Tributes for the Ritual Summon, allowing an easier way to call "Gishki" Ritual monsters.

Duel Terminal Storyline
"Gishki" is an organization that wields the same power as the "Ice Barrier" but uses it for the “Ceremonial Mirror Meditation” to create wicked ancient rituals. In order to gain the bountiful resources of the Mist Valley Marshlands, they invade the "Gusto". However, the "Steelswarm" interrupted their fight and started to take over the surface land. The "Gishki" had no choice but to work with the other clans. With the "Vylon's" temporary union, they obtained new powers to fight back the "Steelswarm". Soon, the union finally defeated the invaders, but conflicts haven't lowered yet; the "Vylon" decided to stop fights between clans by... exterminating them completely. Out of options, the "Gishki" chose to team up with the other clans again in order to cease the actions of the "Vylon".

Playing Style
There seems to be a sort of recycling theme to the archetype; "Gishki Aquamirror" is able to return itself to the Deck and "recycle" a Gishki ritual monster in your Graveyard, "Evigishki Mind Augus" is able to "recycle" any five cards in either player's Graveyard, "Gishki Marker" can "recycle" any Gishki Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell and "Ceremonial Mirror Meditation" can "recycle" any two "Gishki" monsters.

There are also elements of disrupting any strategy your opponent might attempt. 3 of the 4 Ritual Monsters return your opponent's cards to the deck from certain locations, "Evigishki Gustkrake" from the Hand, "Evigishki Mind Augus" from the Graveyard, and "Evigishki Soul Ogre" from the Field. The remaining one, "Evigishki Tetrogre", can actually help your opponent set up their strategy, while also allowing your next Ritual Summon to come faster allowing you to disrupt their setup.

Many of their effects also allow the user to search through their Deck for the cards needed for their Ritual Summons very quickly, with "Gishki Abyss," searching for Gishki monster with 1000 or less DEF when Summoned, "Gishki Erial" with a flip effect to search for any Gishki monster in your Deck, "Gishki Shadow" can be discarded to search for any Gishki Ritual Spell and "Vision Gishki" can be discarded to search for any Gishki Ritual Monster.

With these strategies in mind, a Gishki Deck can be fairly versatile, being able to search through its Deck quickly for the cards required for their Ritual Monsters. It is recommended NOT to use Ritual Monsters outside of the archetype, as they become harder to search, requiring cards such as "Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands", and overall, the Gishki become a hinderance to any Deck not centered around them. Two cards that are vital to a Gishki Deck are "Gishki Shadow" and "Vision Gishki" as they can search the Gishki Ritual Monsters and Ritual Spell Cards of the archetype, and can be offered as the entire Tribute for any Gishki Ritual Monster.

The Djinns of Rituals can be used in a Gishki Deck, although they tend to slow down the flow of Ritual Summons that a devout Gishki Deck is capable of producing. If one does intend to use them, then cards such as "Armageddon Knight" and "Foolish Burial" are recommended in order to get them into the Graveyard quickly. An interesting card in the archetype is "Forbidden Arts of the Gishki" which allows you to Ritual Summon using monsters on both sides of the field - similar to "Super Polymerization" being able to Fusion Summon from both sides of the field - but you must use monsters whose levels total exactly that of the monster you are attempting to Summon. The downside is that the monster's ATK is halved and you cannot conduct your Battle Phase that turn. This is mostly recommended for bringing out "Evigishki Soul Ogre" or "Evigishki Levianima," as they are level 8 and most Decks contain a high number of level 4 monsters. A popular combo in the TCG is to summon Tour Guide From the Underworld and use that effect to Special Summon Djinn Releaser of Rituals, then Ritual Summon any Level 6 Evigishki Ritual Monster. Djinn Releaser of Rituals is searched from your deck, used for a Ritual Summon, and placed in the Graveyard where you need it, with one card; Tour Guide From the Underworld has earned its place in many prototype decks in the TCG.

There is also another play style that doesn't focus on the ritual monsters. the Gishki monsters are all water attribute, which allows them to be used as synchro material with Fishborg Blaster. You use Swap Frog to send Treeborn Frog to the graveyard, ideally discarding Fishborg in the process. From there you can use Formula Synchron to move through your deck faster. The ritual monsters and spells can be used as discard fodder. You can return the ritual spell to the deck to discard the ritual again for an easy +1. finally you use Gishki Beast to provide the synchro material for Fishborg Blaster to do his stuff. Normal summon Gishki Beast and special summon a level 4 Gishki monster while you have Treeborn on the field and Fishborg in the grave and you can synchro summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier or even Shooting Quasar Dragon.

Monsters

 * Deep Sea Diva
 * Djinn Releaser of Rituals
 * Gishki Abyss
 * Gishki Avance
 * Gishki Chain
 * Gishki Emilia
 * Gishki Erial
 * Gishki Marker
 * Gishki Shadow
 * Vision Gishki
 * Evigishki Gustkrake
 * Evigishki Mind Augus
 * Evigishki Soul Ogre
 * Evigishki Tetrogre
 * Evigishki Levianima
 * Tour Guide From the Underworld

Spells

 * Ascending Soul (Usefull so that you can bring back your "Vision Giski" or your "Gishki Shadow" used in the Ritual Summon)
 * Creature Swap (Perfect for "Forbidden Arts of the Gishki" as you can take one Monster your opponent controls and tribute you one you just switched (Preferably "Vision Gishki" o "Gishki Shadow"))
 * Forbidden Arts of the Gishki
 * Gishki Aquamirror
 * Gishki's Duplicate Soul Mirror
 * Moray of Greed
 * Preparation of Rites
 * Salvage
 * Samsara

Traps

 * Ceremonial Mirror Meditation
 * Ceremonial Mirror of Illusion
 * Ritual Buster
 * Trap Stun
 * Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

Extra Deck

 * Daigusto Emeral
 * Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
 * Evigishki Merrowgeist
 * Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Lavalval Chain
 * Leviair the Sea Dragon

Xyz Focusing
This deck mainly use Gishki Beast to swarm the Field with Rank 4 Xyz monsters.

Monsters

 * Gishki Beast (key card of this deck)
 * Vision Gishki
 * Gishki Shadow
 * Gishki Chain (Gishki version of Pot of Duality)
 * Skreech (dumps targets for Salvage or Gishki Beast)
 * Gishki Erial (searches Gishki Beast, also can be Special Summoned via Gishki Beast's effect))
 * Gishki Noelia
 * Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
 * Tragoedia
 * Evigishki Mind Augus (recycle Gishki Beast for future use, also adding some Graveyard disruption)
 * Deep Sea Diva (can add some Synchro elements, also for Xyz Summoning Rank 2 monster)

Spells

 * Gishki Aquamirror
 * Pot of Avarice
 * My Body as a Shield - This deck practically plays without backrows so this card can provide decent monster protection and can be activated from the hand to counter Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, etc.
 * Salvage
 * Moray of Greed (in case of Ritual-Xyz hybrid decks)

Traps

 * Royal Decree
 * Aquamirror Meditation

Extra Deck

 * Number 39: Utopia
 * Steelswarm Roach
 * Evigishki Merrowgeist
 * Gem-Knight Pearl

Hand Destruction
This deck focuses on using the effect of "Evigishki Gustkrake" to return cards from hand to the deck. By summoning 2-3 of them as early as possible, combined with "Mind Crush" and "Spiritual Water Art - Aoi", this deck can quickly limit your opponent's options.

Monsters

 * Gishki Abyss
 * Gishki Beast
 * Gishki Erial
 * Gishki Shadow
 * Vision Gishki
 * Evigishki Merrowgeist
 * Evigishki Gustkrake
 * Genex Ally Birdman (To recycle Gustkrake, and monsters summoned by Beast)
 * Gorz the Emissary of Darkness - Not much of a backrow

Spells

 * Gishki Aquamirror
 * My Body as a Shield - This deck practically plays without a backrow so this card provide the much needed monster protection and can be activated from the hand to counter Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, etc.
 * Salvage

Traps

 * Mind Crush
 * Spiritual Water Art - Aoi
 * Trap Dustshoot

Extra Deck

 * Arcanite Magician
 * Black Rose Dragon
 * Shooting Star Dragon
 * Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Scrap Dragon
 * T.G. Hyper Librarian
 * Ally of Justice Catastor
 * Number 39: Utopia
 * Steelswarm Roach

Trivia

 * Most of the "Gishki" monsters, except "Gishki Diviner", are even Level monsters.
 * Curiously, it seems as though the "Evigishki" monsters are members of the "Gishki" archetype that have been transformed using their rituals into part-beast, and from the artwork of "Ceremonial Mirror of Illusion", the transformations aren't always voluntary.
 * Furthermore, this archetype, with its transformative and occult elements, seems to borrow ideas from H.P. Lovecraft.