Superheavy Samurai

"Superheavy Samurai" ( Chōjūmusha) is an archetype comprised mainly of EARTH Machine-Type monsters used by Gong Strong in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. They are collectively based on Benkei and miscellaneous details of his life.

Etymology
So far, the Japanese names of the "Superheavy Samurai" monsters in the archetype tend to follow a similar pattern of those of the "Karakuri", in that they have a "numbered code" after the main name and then a second name in quotation marks; for example, "Karakuri Muso mdl 818 "Haipa"". These codes are often followed by puns; for example, "Superheavy Samurai Swordsman" (Japanese name Superheavy Samurai Sword-999), with "kyu" being the Japanese word for "nine" (kyukyoku roughly translates to "ultimate") and "Superheavy Samurai Blue Brawler" (Superheavy Samurai Waka-O2), "ni" being Japanese for "two" and thus allowing one to read it as "oni" ("oni" roughly translating to "devil"). This has been removed from the TCG names, as the puns are largely untranslatable.

Playing style
The strategy of this Deck focus on building a strong defensive frontline by keeping "Superheavy Samurai" monsters in Defense Position, but still able to attack, thanks to the effect of "Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei", that also makes their DEF be used to calculate damage instead of their ATK, which makes them immune to cards like "Level Limit - Area B", "Mirror Force", "Number 101: Silent Honor ARK", etc, but that makes them vulnerable to cards like "Dark Mirror Force", "Double Trap Hole", etc.

Regarding their organization within the archetype, there are three basic subsets of monsters:


 * The first one have defensive effects that change their Battle Position upon being Summoned. Examples include "Blue Brawler", "Swordsman" and "Big Benkei";


 * The members of the second one, that can be regarded as the sub-archetype "Superheavy Samurai Soul", act like Equip Spell Cards, giving additional protection to the equipped monster, either by protecting it from being destroyed by battle or by raising its DEF. Some of them also act like hand Traps, by either preventing one of its partners from being destroyed during that turn or by reviving a Defense Position monster immediately after it be destroyed by battle. They can also be used to increase the equipped monster's offensiveness;


 * A third subset has the most distinctive signature effect of the archetype: the requirement of a Graveyard empty of Spell/Trap cards in order to activate their effects or to allow their Summons. For example, as long as its controller Graveyard has no Spell/Trap Cards, "Beast Kyubi" gains a boost on its DEF for each Special Summoned opposing monster; if its owner have a Spell/Trap Card in the Graveyard "Prepped Defense" cannot be Normal/Flip Summoned; once sent to the Graveyard, "Gigagloves" can banish itself and reorder the top 5 cards from its owner's Deck, as long as there are no Spell/Trap cards in the Graveyard; "Ogre Shutendoji" clears the opposing backrow upon its Synchro Summon, provided there are no Spell/Trap Cards in its owner's Graveyard, etc.

This peculiar feature paves the way to an all-Monster Card Deck. Despite this restriction, they have means of protecting themselves against many sorts of adversities: "Soulshield Wall" can send itself to the Graveyard in order to negate an attack directed to the then-equipped monster, but makes its DEF 0; "Soulpiercer" allows the equipped monster to inflict Piercing Battle Damage, and if it end up being sent from the field to the Graveyard, makes up its owner by fetching any "Superheavy Samurai" from the Deck. "Flutist" can banish itself from the Graveyard in order to negate and destroy a card whose effect targeted a "Superheavy Samurai", so with the right setup, it can protect a "Superheavy Samurai" from cards like "Dimensional Prison", "Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer", etc.

There are also two "Superheavy Samurai" Pendulum Monsters, namely "General Jade" and "General Coral". With Pendulum Effects that either manipulate the Level of a "Superheavy Samurai", in order to set up a Synchro/Xyz Summon, or that allows one of them to attack again, after destroying a monster by battle. Their Monster Effects either reaffirm the defensive-offensive tatics of the Archetype or provide access to resources by trading Tributes for draws.

The ace monster of the Archetype is "Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo", with a baffling 3800 DEF, the signature ability of attacking while in Defense Position and moreover being able to snatch any Spell/Trap Card from its opponent's Graveyard, which also mitigates the downside of some cards of the archetype of not allowing Spell/Trap Cards in its owner's Graveyard (this including "Susanowo" itself); this effect is particularly dangerous as it can be used to grab generic, yet powerful, cards, such as "Solemn Warning", "Compulsory Evacuation Device", "Soul Charge", "Raigeki", etc.

Due to the near-lack of Spell/Trap Cards this Deck tends to have, "Denko Sekka" can be very useful, as it may lock its opponent's moves, while doing nothing against the "Superheavy Samurai" Deck itself.

The absence of Spell/Trap Cards also benefits "Marmiting Captain" whose effect is always certain to Special Summon a monster.

"Giant Rat" is a staple, since it can easily Summon "Benkei" or almost any other "Superheavy Samurai" by its effect.

Abusing the fact that this deck only runs monsters, you can easily summon turns 2-3 Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord and Chaos Necromancer for easy beatdowns with very high attack.

Similarly, you can also use 1 copy of Overload Fusion in this deck to summon a very powerful Chimeratech Overdragon for endgame. Keep in mind though that after using it the deck will be crippled because of the no-spell/trap restriction of Superheavy Samurais, so it should only be used as a final method.

Weaknesses

 * Since the archetype focuses on defense, cards like "Dark Mirror Force", "Ehren, Lightsworn Monk", "Red Dragon Archfiend", "Chaos King Archfiend", and "Number 21: Frozen Lady Justice", that have effects to deal with Defense Position monsters work well.


 * "Battle Mania" and "Enemy Controller" can also be effective, as they force the monsters into Attack Position, allowing them to be destroyed more easily.


 * "Blind Spot Strike" or "Micro Ray" is also a very good card in order to overpower the high DEF of all "Superheavy Samurai" monsters.


 * Neo-Spacian Glow Moss can prevent the deck from attacking, as it effect ends the Battle Phase when the opponent draws a Monster with it and the "Superheavy Samurai" deck will often be mostly (or entirely) made of Monster cards.


 * This archetype can have a hard time dealing with "First of the Dragons", since monster effects don't affect it and Effect Monsters cannot destroy it by battle. This monster alone can easily slow down this Deck. However, it can be destroyed by using your opponent's Spell/Trap cards with "Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo", or by using "Breakthrough Skill" to negate its effects.


 * The archetype itself is rather restrictive in terms of adding cards outside it to the Deck. In addition, some of their cards limit the player to only summoning other "Superheavy Samurai" monsters for the rest of the turn, including the primary Tuner "Trumpeter". As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to summon non-"Superheavy Samurai" Extra Deck monsters, and at the moment there are only four Synchro Monsters available for the Archetype.


 * "Debunk" is effective against this Deck, as most of the effects of the "Superheavy Samurai" monsters activate in the hand or Graveyard.