Mask



The "Mask" Archetype is a series of DARK Fiend-Type monsters with Spell and Trap Cards that focus on limiting your opponent's monsters & gameplay, and they were used by Lumis and Umbra. At first, they were seen as a set of Spells and Traps with "Mask" in their name. Now, with the release of the cards "Masked Beast Des Gardius" & "The Mask of Remnants", they now have a more powerful strategy to finish your opponents quicker.

Strategy
The main strategy for a Mask Deck is to prevent your opponent's monsters from attacking while damaging their Life Points at the same time. Also, "The Masked Beast", a Ritual Monster boasts a powerful 3200 ATK and "Masked Beast Des Gardius" has 3300 ATK and the ability to take control of an opponent's monster upon destruction.

One good combo is to use "Mask of the Accursed" to stop an opponent's monster and take 500 Life Points from them each turn, and use "Mask of Dispel" to damage them even further and "Mask of Restrict" to stop them from Tributing the monster. Equip Spell Cards are a good choice for this Deck because you can power up your non-Tribute Monsters while "Mask of Restrict" is in play. "Mask of Brutality", however, is often tossed out for other Equip Cards due to its cost, though if you had 2 copies of "Life Absorbing Machine" out on the field, you would gain the life points that you just paid. Ritual Monsters and/or Fusion Monsters are also a good choice for this Deck to take advantage of "Mask of Restrict". "Lava Golem" is a good choice as fits with the Burn theme and can be equipped with "Mask of the Accursed" and kept on the field with "Mask of Restrict".

Another direction is to focus on "Masked Beast Des Gardius", a Level 8 Monster with a powerful ATK and even if your opponent manages to destroy it you can take control of that monster through "The Mask of Remnants". The monster requires you to Tribute 2 monsters, at least one "Grand Tiki Elder" or "Melchid the Four-Face Beast". "Summoner Monk" can be used to quickly Summon Grand Tiki Elder or Melchid for a quick Des Gardius. "Mystic Tomato" is also a good searcher. Consider adding "Dark Necrofear" as it has a similar control effect to Des Gardius, and you can remove the Fiends you Tribute to Summon it.

Also Ritual Raven is a great card to help in the Summoning of The Masked Beast as it can be used in your hand as the only necessary Tribute for the Masked Beast. It also goes well with the Mask theme.

Monsters

 * Grand Tiki Elder
 * Melchid the Four-Face Beast
 * Bowganian
 * Dark Necrofear
 * Giant Germ
 * Lava Golem
 * Masked Beast Des Gardius
 * Mystic Tomato
 * Summoner Monk
 * The Masked Beast

Spells

 * Black Pendant
 * Emergency Provisions
 * Mask of Dispel
 * Mask of the Accursed
 * Scapegoat
 * The Mask of Remnants
 * Curse of the Masked Beast

Traps

 * Judgment of Anubis
 * Mask of Restrict
 * Nightmare Wheel

Synchro Strategy
Since many of the newer Decks are out there it would be wise for a Mask Deck to also use Synchros and Tuners. Since Synchro Summoning isn't Tribute Summoning it goes through Mask of Restrict. Below are the recommended Synchro/Tuner monster cards for such a Deck.

Tuners

 * Junk Synchron
 * Quickdraw Synchron
 * Turbo Rocket

Tuner Support

 * Synchron Explorer
 * Quillbolt Hedgehog
 * Turbo Booster

Synchros

 * Chevalier de Fleur
 * Drill Warrior
 * Junk Archer
 * Junk Destroyer
 * Junk Warrior
 * Nitro Warrior
 * Road Warrior
 * Turbo Warrior

However if you want to be able to Summon all the Synchros above you have to have at least one Quickdraw Synchron in your Deck. This is because he is the only monster that can mimic any Synchron Monster required for a specific Synchro Summon.

One reason Mask of Restrict would be great in this Deck is because of two things that will help out against some of the more recent Deck designs.
 * Mask of Restrict only prevents players from Tributing monsters. However it doesn't prevent you from sending a Monster Card in your hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron.
 * You can still Synchro Summon.
 * It prevents your opponent from using Monster Effects that Tribute monsters. It is especially great against Stardust Dragon as it prevents him from being Tributed to protect cards. As a result until they destroy your Mask of Restrict you can destroy their cards as much as you want.