Crystal Beast

"Crystal Beast", originally named and known as "Gem Beast" ( Hōgyokujū) in Japan, is an archetype of Monster Cards that all share the effect of becoming Continuous Spell Cards upon their destruction. Although weak in terms of actual strength, their aforementioned effects allow them to have great staying power. In addition, they are supplemented by many support cards which utilizes them in their Continuous Spell Card form. When all seven Crystals are on the field or in the Graveyard, their boss monster, Rainbow Dragon, can be Summoned. This archetype also contains one of the most powerful OTK setups with "Crystal Abundance", and even sturdy control with the five effects of their field spell.

The "Crystal Beasts" made their first appearance in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, used by Jesse Anderson. In the English dub, each one of the "Crystal Beasts" monsters, except "Ruby Carbuncle", imitates the voice of a real life movie celebrity. Upgraded forms, the "Advanced Crystal Beasts", would later be used although not being released in the TCG or OCG.

In the Secrets of Eternity the archetype received support in the form of Pendulum Monsters.

Design
The "Crystal Beasts", whose original name is "Gem Beasts", as their name says, are all animals which have each a different kind of gem in their bodies. Their different gems' colors form the seven colors of the rainbow, reflecting the name and design of their ace, "Rainbow Dragon". Their nomenclature is "Crystal Beast (gem) (animal)", and their attack names are "(gem) (part of their body/attack)".

In their Advanced form, their attack names keep the same, with the addition of the word "dark" between the gem and the attack/part of their body.

Play style
"Crystal Beast" Decks tend to have a wide variety of searching options for putting "Crystal Beast" cards on the field, either Summoned as monsters or placed in the Spell & Trap Card Zone as an effectless Continuous Spell Card, and they have a couple of extra drawing options to speed up the use of the Deck. Because of these effects working together, "Crystal Beast" users can wind up many cards ahead of their opponent, and the various searching options facilitate the Summoning of "Rainbow Dragon" far quicker than would otherwise be possible. The archetype also supports come-from-behind wins quite easily due to the double whammy of "Crystal Abundance", which wipes out everything on the field and then swarms the field with monsters from the Graveyard, and the Field Spell Card of the set, "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins", gains a new effect for every Continuous Spell Card "Crystal Beasts" you control. The archetype is also somewhat resistant to opponents who use Spell and Trap destruction effects, as a couple of cards can quickly put the "Crystal Beasts" in Spell form back onto the back row from the Graveyard, and the Field Spell Card resists being destroyed itself.

It should be noted that, although "Rainbow Dragon" is the boss monster of this archetype, its inclusion is more likely to be a hindrance, to bring it out quickly, you need a good strategy to get Crystal Beasts out in one turn; or two turns if your hand is not good. Because of this, "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" is often used in its place, but "Malefic Cyber End Dragon" avoids both the lengthy set-up and the hefty costs of the previous bosses, and boasting the same 4000 ATK but it can be removed easily from the field due to the fact that it gets destroyed once your Field Spell card is removed from the field. Malefic Cyber End Dragon requires a Field Spell to be Summoned and is the only monster to attack once it is on the field, so you may not want to put this card in your Deck.

One of the most viable "Crystal Beast" strategies is to create a Lockdown, preventing the opponent from making any moves. "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" can negate the opponent's Spells and Traps, while a simple Xyz Summon can have "Number 16: Shock Master" negate monsters. Alternatively, "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" can stop Special Summons, and "Number 39: Utopia" will prevent attacks.

With the introduction of Xyz Monsters, "Crystal Beasts" have become a more difficult Deck to use. With impressive swarming abilities, a "Crystal Beast" player can easily Xyz Summon two or three times in one turn. However, when these Xyz Monsters are destroyed, all of those "Crystal Beasts" will be trapped in the Graveyard, requiring slow pick-up from "Sapphire" Summons, or risking "Crystal Blessing", which will not always have targets. The key is to Xyz Summon only when absolutely necessary, as excessive overlaying will exhaust the Deck's longevity in no time.

Hamon Beatdown
One of the most aggressive "Crystal Beast" Decks. Generally this Deck does not contain a "Rainbow Dragon" simply due to the fact that the games do not tend to last long enough for him to hit the field. This Deck uses "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus", and "Crystal Tree" to fill the back row with Crystal Beasts, then Tributing them for "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder". Once you figure out the way you wish to build this Deck, you can OTK regularly. With the release of Absolute Powerforce, you can use "Dragon Queen of Tragic Endings" to add more swarm capabilities to the Deck along with "Hand Destruction" if you cannot pull off the Abundance OTK. In addition to "Crystal Blessing", another good recommendation is "Crystal Counter" for those situations when you draw too many "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" while not having enough Crystal Beasts in your back row to Summon them. Also, you can add "Emergency Provisions" to tribute extra Crystal Beasts for life points. If you don't have Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder or Gold Sarcophagus in your hand to search for him, you can use the effect of "Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter" to destroy a troublesome card and thin the Deck. "Crystal Blessing" can recover any Crystal Beasts lost by this method and improve card presence. Also use "Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle" effect to recycle "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus" back to the top of the Deck to easily Summon "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder".

Crystal Abundance OTK
The OTK is more competitive friendly. It utilizes the effect of "Crystal Abundance" to work, so a few copies of the card is essential to have in the Deck, as well as a way to search it out ("Different Dimension Capsule" or "Gold Sarcophagus" work nicely). There must be four Crystal Beasts in the Spell & Trap Zone, plus an open slot to activate "Crystal Abundance". Wait until you have five Crystal Beasts on the field or in your Graveyard with ATK of 1600 or more to activate the card. Upon activating "Crystal Abundance", if your opponent had at least five cards on his/her field, all five of your monsters can be Special Summoned. "Crystal Abundance" leaves your opponent open to a direct attack. Another way to achieve this outcome is by the use of the Destiny Heroes. With the combination of the various normal spells and "Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude", it can make a speedy Deck. A great way to speed up the process for "Crystal Abundance" is to play "Crystal Tree" because you just need to play it and ensure that two "Crystal Beast" are destroyed and become "Crystals" and then use "Crystal Tree" to finish the other required half for "Crystal Abundance. Just be careful with Tree as it has an annoying side effect: if it has more counters than you have spaces, you can't send it to the graveyard.  As soon as it gets to 5 counters, you can't get rid of it. Keep "Mystical Space Typhoon" handy just in case.

The three Crystal Beasts you will most likely use in this build would be "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus", "Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth", and "Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger" since they are the strongest and will make for an easy win. Another way to make the effect of "Crystal Abundance" work quickly is with "Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle" and "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus" together. It's possible to combine this with Synchros for example a "Stardust Dragon", to eliminate threats to activating "Crystal Abundance". However, there is no concern when "Stardust Dragon" is used against you because "Crystal Abundance" 'sends' cards to the Graveyard where the effect of "Stardust Dragon" stops cards that 'destroy'.

Synchro-Crystal Beasts
Basically, there are 3 types of "Crystal Beast" Synchro. The first is the one that uses Psychic Tuners like "Krebons" and "Psychic Commander", and "Emergency Teleport" to speed it up (the 'universal engine'). Then with the release of "X-Saber Airbellum" in the Starter Deck 2009, you can add a mini Synchro Cat engine to it, by adding "Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat". Another option is "Jutte Fighter" or "Torapart" with "Reinforce Truth" which can help you to get out Synchro monsters faster.

You can also use "Flamvell Firedog" to easily search for "Flamvell Magician". You can also use "Dragon Queen of Tragic Endings" with "Krebons" to Synchro for a Level 8 Synchro Monster, and if you have any Crystal Beast in your Spell & Trap Card Zone, you can bring back "Dragon Queen of Tragic Endings" on the next turn. You can mainly abuse the powers of rescue cat in Synchro Summoning for this Deck. Mainly use Level 2 and 3 Tuner monsters and Level 5-7 Synchro monsters.

The introduction of "Key Mouse" in "The Shining Darkness" expansion adds another Beast-Type Tuner monster along side "X-Saber Airbellum" and can allow for the Synchro Summon of lower Level Synchro monsters such as "Armory Arm" and "Ally of Justice Catastor". Searching for "Key Mouse" with "Rescue Cat" also makes it easier to find, and the effect Key Mouse can find either "X-Saber Airbellum" or "Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat". The Duelist Revolution pack introduces "Lock Cat", allowing for easy Summoning of Level 4 Synchro Monsters in conjunction with "Key Mouse".

Synchro-Crystal Beasts featuring Equip Spells
A well-timed "Power Tool Dragon" can be a crucial Synchro target for "Crystal Beast" Decks utilizing "Mage Power" and possibly "United We Stand". With most Crystal Beast Decks already utilizing "Crystal Release" it is very hard not to have 3 Equip Spells to use with "Power Tool Dragon". A full Spell/Trap card zone and "Power Tool Dragon" with just one "Mage Power" will equal a whopping 5300 ATK. However, for this style of Deck, "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" is not a good card because its Special Summon cost will be very counter-productive towards using "Mage Power" effectively. "Flamvell Uruquizas" can also be very effective with multiple "Mage Powers" and "United We Stands" for a quick victory.

Synchro-Crystal Beasts featuring Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
If you have an active "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" with 4 or more Crystal Beast Spells you can draw 1 card per turn, however, that 'once per turn' will no longer apply if "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" is removed from the field. Discard 1 card to activate the effect of "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" then activate "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" and activate its fourth ability to draw another card. Repeat this as many times as you like. This loop is useful with "Exodia the Forbidden One" (See Exodia OTK for more details. For maximum results just send all powerful monsters to the Graveyard, save a "Crystal Abundance" (assuming you have four Crystal Beasts as Continuous Spells). Also until you have a "Mage Power". Use "Crystal Abundance" then Special Summon your Beasts (works well if opponent has a minimum of 4 cards), mainly "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus" for an automatic three Crystal Beast Spells and a 2000 ATK boost to a monster. Attack and enjoy your victory.

CrystalSworn
This Deck is based upon getting "Rainbow Dragon" with ease with the help of Lightsworn monsters, "Charge of the Light Brigade" and "Solar Recharge"s. The milling helps to accumulate the seven Crystal Beasts in the Graveyard, making for the easy Summoning of "Rainbow Dragon". It will require 3 "Rainbow Gravity"s and 3 "Monster Reincarnation"s. The choice of your Lightsworn monsters are completely up to you. Adding the stronger Lightsworns like 'Jain, Lightsworn Paladin' to give this Deck more 'fire-power' also helps as you are able to keep attacking your opponent whilst being able to mill those 7 crucial Crystal Beasts in order to Summon Rainbow Dragon.

As of April 2015, "Charge of the Light Brigade" is now limited to 2.

Xyz Crystals
This Deck utilizes Rank 3 and 4 Xyz Monsters to support the "Crystal Beasts". It especially focuses on "Number 39: Utopia" and "Number C39: Utopia Ray". You can also overlay "Ruby Carbuncle" and "Amethyst Cat" to Xyz Summon "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon".

This Deck may be ineffective as when the "Crystal Beasts" are detached, they are sent to the Graveyard instead of going to the Spell & Trap Card Zone, as their effects don't activate while overlaid. Adding "Crystal Blessing" may help resolve this problem.

Hanzo Transform Crystal Beasts
This is a variant of Xyz Crystals with Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo - Ninjitsu Art of Transformation - Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus combo for a quick deck thinning and backrow filling.

Considering that Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo is a DARK monster and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle is a LIGHT monster, you can also add some touch of Chaos in the deck.

Weaknesses
The management of maintaining vacant Zones in the Spell/Trap Card Zones can be irksome sometimes for these kind of Decks due to the balance between "Crystal Beast"s in said Zone for certain support cards as well as regular Spell/Traps to help this Deck further, a possible annoyance that can be hustled via cards like "Xing Zhen Hu", "Xing Zhen Hu Replica" and "Seismic Shockwave".

Cards like "Banisher of the Light", "Dimensional Fissure", "Masked HERO Dark Law" and "Macro Cosmos can cripple this Deck since you can't Summon "Rainbow Dragon" on banished Crystal Beasts, albeit they're easily counterable with "Imperial Iron Wall" and "Chaos Hunter". However, if "Rainbow Dragon" or "Hamon" were Summoned, they can easily be iced with "Torrential Tribute", the "Solemn" Counter Traps and "Bottomless Trap Hole".  Further,  "Fortune Lady Fire", "Nitro Unit" and "Mini-Guts" can also threaten "Rainbow Dragon" and "Hamon" because of the massive Burn damage that's the result of these effects.  "Shield & Sword" and "Inverse Universe" can also force "Rainbow Dragon" off the Field through battle and regardless if its abilities are activated before then, that's still a foremost horsepower monster off the Field.

"Banisher of the Light", "Masked Hero Dark Law" and "Macro Cosmos" will also stop your opponent from activating "Crystal Abundance."

Beatsticks and Beatdown Decks if used early on and powered up a bit, can possibly deter "Crystal Beast"s as a majority of them have inadequate ATK and DEF.