Ritual Beast

"Ritual Beast", known as "Spirit Beast" ( Reijū) in the OCG and "Spiritual Beast" in other TCG languages, is an archetype of WIND monsters (with the exception of "Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio" which is a LIGHT monster) that debuted in Booster SP: Tribe Force. The emphasis of their strategy is Contact Fusion, by banishing the materials you control. This archetype includes the sub-archetypes "Ritual Beast Tamer", comprised by humanoid Psychic-Type monsters, "Spiritual Beast", whose members are Beast, Pyro, Aqua and Thunder-Type beast-like creatures, and "Ritual Beast Ulti-", which are the Fusion Monsters of the archetype as a whole.

This archetype seems to be what remains of the "Gusto" archetype in the Duel Terminal Storyline, as "Ritual Beast Tamer Elder" is a grown-up "Kamui, Hope of Gusto". Their team symbol is a sphere encircled by four-pointed star, which shaped similarly as the crest of the "Gusto", further reinforcing the connection between them. In addition, the artwork of the cards features the coiled foliage seen in many "Naturia" cards, implying that these monsters may inhabit the "Naturia Forest". This connection is cemented by the art of "Ulti-Gaiapelio", which depicts "Naturia Gaiastralio" as part of a "Ritual Beast" pair. The Fusion monsters of the archetype also serve as a throwback to the original "Gem-Knight" Fusion Monsters, forming the same Pyro - Aqua - Thunder trinity (albeit in WIND as opposed to EARTH and with the exception of "Ulti-Gaiapelio", which is LIGHT/Psychic).

Below is the list of the original members of the archetype and how they are related with each other.

Names in the TCG
In French, Italian and Portuguese, the archetype is called "Spiritual Beast", since the implied pun "Ritual/Spiritual" wouldn't work in those languages due to the backward word orders. For example, in French, if "Ritual Beast" were to translate to "Bête Rituelle" and "Spiritual Beast" to "Bête Spirituelle" instead, the "Spiritual Beast" archetype would then be split from "Ritual Beast", or the whole card text wording would be unnecessarily complicated. As for German, the word "Geist" ("ghost; spirit") appears to be the most common but it seems too short and not to be able to bear such a pun.

Lore
''The Spiritual Beast have dwelt on this world since time immemorial and possess mystical powers. They live together with the Ritual Beast Tamers, and together both man and beast combine their powers together to try and prevent any disaster that comes their way''.

Playing Style
Each of the "Ritual Beast Tamer" monsters tend to swarm the Field, in order to ease their Contact Fusion, either by Special Summoning one of the banished or deceased "Ritual Beast" monsters or by giving to the player an extra Normal Summon.

On the other hand, the "Spiritual Beast" monsters banish 1 "Ritual Beast" card from the Hand, Deck or Graveyard in order to get rid of problematic opposing cards, search for a card on the long run or give an ATK boost, respectively.

Each of the Main Deck monsters also shares a restriction that only allows them to be Special Summoned once per turn.

The "Ritual Beast Ulti-" Fusion Monsters, with the exception of "Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio", are all Level 6 and their ATK and DEF have a sum of 3000. They have effects that are somehow related to their ATK and DEF stats:


 * "Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio" has a high ATK and offensive effect that renders it immune to any effect while it is attacking;


 * "Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk" has medium ATK and DEF, but features a supportive effect that gives its owner card advantage by returning banished "Ritual Beast" cards to the Graveyard and then searching one of those cards from the Deck;


 * "Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin" bears a solid DEF and a passive effect that gives it immunity against destruction effects.

In addition, with the exception of "Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio", all of them share the following effect:

"During either player's turn: You can return this card you control to the Extra Deck, then target 2 of your banished monsters (1 "Ritual Beast Tamer" monster and 1 "Spiritual Beast" monster); Special Summon them in Defense Position."

This ace effect is one of their biggest strength; by utilizing it, they can dodge most dangerous cards, such as "Bottomless Trap Hole", "Number 101: Silent Honor ARK", "Dimensional Prison", etc. This ability also allows the player to utilize certain "Once per turn" effect multiple times per turn (mostly "Spiritual Beast" monsters and "Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk"), effectively accumulating massive resources, enabling many combos, and often, leads into OTK in just a few turns.

Weaknesses

 * "Imperial Iron Wall" and "Artifact Lancea" prevents cards from being banished, preventing their Contact Fusion and most of their effects.
 * As all of their effects function on the field, "Skill Drain" can be a nuisance for this deck. It won't stop them from conducting Contact Fusion or de-fusing, but does shut down the search effect of "Ulti-Cannahawk", removal of "Pettlefin", etc.
 * Aside from "Spiritual Beast Apelio" and "Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio", most of the Ritual Beast monsters have low ATK, making them somewhat unsuitable for direct combat. In particular, they usually have trouble against monsters with 2700 ATK or more (in this instance, "Ulti-Apelio" in particular suffers, as its monster effect makes it shed any ATK boosts it might gain from your other cards, leaving you with only its base ATK). Due to this, having non-combat removal methods such as "Ritual Beast Steeds" or "Spiritual Beast Pettlephin" online is essential for "Ritual Beast" cards to stand a fighting chance against many decks. Even then, monsters like "Apoqliphort Towers" or "Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing" (especially when powered-up by "Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing") remain difficult monsters to overcome for this deck.
 * Due to their "de-fusing" capability, most targeting effects are particularly ineffective against them. But it still won't save them from cards like "Artifact Moralltach", "Madolche Queen Tiaramisu", or even the opposing "Ritual Beast Steeds". Effect negation or destruction negation effect are particularly important against those threats.

Trivia

 * This archetype's Contact Fusion style is similar to that of VWXYZ monsters, albeit with the ability to freely reverse the fusions.
 * All monsters in this archetype have their formal names derived (in whole or in part) from Ainu, the only remaining (though nearly extinct itself) language of the ethnic group of the same name. This language was also featured on members of the "Gusto" archetype– most notably "Kamui, Hope of Gusto", whose name comes from the Ainu word for "deity".