Shark (archetype)

"Shark" (シャーク Shāku) is an archetype of cards used by Reginald Kastle in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL anime and manga. Most of them are WATER-Attribute and/or Fish-Type. They are supported by the anime effect of "Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss". Most of the monsters are Level 3 or 4 with swarm ability, so Reginald can quickly Summon his Rank 3 monsters or "Number 32: Shark Drake".

A couple of these monsters, notably "Metabo-Shark" and "Scrap Shark" sport decent to high ATK at low Levels, allowing them to start out as beaters when Summoned. This lets them battle outside the Extra Deck. Their effects, as mentioned, allow them to manipulate their Levels between 3 and 5, allowing them to Summon Rank 3 to 5 Xyz Monsters quite easily.

One in-Deck "boss monster", introduced in Cosmo Blazer, is "Ancient Shark Hyper Megalodon" who sports the highest original ATK in the entire archetype (2900). Its effect destroys a card when it inflicts Battle Damage, further pushing the aggressiveness of the archetype. The true boss monster is seen to be "Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss" whose effect drops an monster's ATK and DEF to 0, while "Number 32: Shark Drake" brings a monster back that it destroyed by battle and lowers its ATK by 1000, while also allowing it to attack again. As such, this archetype can be used very aggressively to beat the opponent down.

Strategy
Seeing as this archetype is built for aggression and swarming, a fast-paced Deck can be built using "Shark Stickers", "Shark Cruiser" (although this card takes a bit more prediction and a lot more luck), and most notably "Hammer Shark" to swarm the field. It is actually quite easy to pull combos with this Deck. The most basic one is to Normal Summon "Hammer Shark", using its effect to Special Summon any WATER monster of Level 3 or lower, then Special Summoning "Shark Stickers".

Most "Shark" monsters' effects activate only when they are Normal Summoned, so to fully utilize them, you can tech in "Double Summon" or "Ultimate Offering" to trigger these effects. By doing this, you can Tribute Summon "Ancient Shark Hyper Megalodon" easier. Since these monsters are all Fish-Type, one fantastic card to add to this Deck is "Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth", as it allows you to Special Summon up to 4 Level 4 or lower "Shark" monsters from your Deck at the cost of just one card. This makes Xyz Summoning "Shark Drake" or "Veiss" all the easier.

"Shark" monsters (except for "Scrap Shark") are all WATER, thus they receive all welcome support from a few "Mermail" cards such as "Mermail Abyssturge" and "Mermail Abysspike" to add cards like "Shark Stickers" to your hand. All other cards that support Fish-Type monsters are welcome in this Deck as well, such as theGeneration Fish. Finally, "Xyz Remora" can almost instantaneously summons "Number 32: Shark Drake".

All in all, "Shark" is a powerful archetype that can swarm the field and beat the opponent into submission.