Gaia The Fierce Knight (archetype)

"Gaia The Fierce Knight", known as "Gaia the Dark Knight" (ガイア Ankoku Kishi Gaia) in Japan, is an archetype of Level 7 Warrior-Type monsters that includes "Gaia The Fierce Knight" and monsters based on it. All monsters of this archetype have 2300 ATK and 2100 DEF.

This archetype is related to the "Black Luster Soldier" archetype.

Playing style
Any "Gaia the Fierce Knight" monster can be used with any Dragon-Type monster to Fusion Summon "Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion", which in turn searches for the "Spiral Spear Strike" Spell Card upon being Summoned.

"Gateway to Chaos" can be used to search for a "Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight" to use as a Level 7 Fusion or Xyz Material that can be Normal Summoned from the Hand without Tribute. The second effect of "Gateway to Chaos" can search for any Ritual Spell Card and has the potential to run "Spiral Spear Strike" for sending Dragon-type Monsters to fuel this effect.

"Arisen Gaia" and "Charging Gaia" can become part of a Warrior-Type Chaos engine with "Exchange of Night and Day".

"Gaia Knight" monster cards can be mixed with the "Black Luster Soldier" archetype Monsters for the two "If this card is Tributed" effects of "Arisen Gaia" and "Charging Gaia" can add a "Black Luster Soldier" Monster or Special Summon a "Soldier" from the Hand or Graveyard. With the optional: "Black Luster Soldier - Sacred Soldier" Monster card that can add any Level 7 or lower Warrior-Type to the Hand from the Graveyard, when it Destroys an opposing Monster in Battle.

As with the various Xyz and Fusion Summons, the Gaia Knights can be used as Synchro Material with level 1 Tuners summoned through Mausoleum of White. With cards such as Chain Resonator, Effect Veiler, One for One, Resonator Call, and other Tuners the Gaia Knights can make a near-perfect setup for archetypes like Red Dragon Archfiend (archetype), /Assault Mode, or even a Stardust/Blue-Eyes hybrid.

A common trait among the "Gaia The Fierce Knight" monsters, except for the original "Gaia The Fierce Knight", is that they can be Normal Summoned to the field without needing any Tributes depending on certain conditions, such as having no other cards in the hand or having fewer monsters than the opponent. This allows them to hit the field faster, granting the player powerful monsters quicker, as they'd all normally require two Tributes to be Normal Summoned otherwise. "Lord Gaia" can be Special Summoned if you control no monsters while your opponent does, in vein of "Cyber Dragon" and "Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit".

Trivia

 * While only Normal and Effect Monsters are part of this archetype, there is a different form of "Gaia The Fierce Knight" for every type of Monster Card except for Ritual and Pendulum, although "Black Luster Ritual" originally (in the manga and early video games) required two Tributes to transform "Gaia The Fierce Knight" into "Black Luster Soldier".