Red-Eyes

"Red-Eyes" (レッドアイズ Reddoaizu) is an archetype of Dragon-Type monsters used most notably by Joey Wheeler in Yu-Gi-Oh! and Atticus Rhodes in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

The archetype is based mainly on supporting the original member, "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" (often given as "Red-Eyes Black Dragon"), who, according to the anime, was created to rival the strength of "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". The first Yu-Gi-Oh! movie stated that while "Blue-Eyes" brings power, "Red-Eyes" brings potential.

"Red-Eyes B. Chick" is not a "Red-Eyes" card because it does not have 「レッドアイズ」 in its Japanese name.

Appearances
In the first movie Shougo Aoyama got a "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" card, but was too timid to use it. Yugi Muto uses it against Seto Kaiba for Shougo. He demonstrates how "Red-Eyes" brings potential by fusing it with "Meteor Dragon" to Summon "Meteor Black Dragon".

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" became one of the signature cards of Joey Wheeler after he won it from Rex Raptor in Duelist Kingdom. Joey used it and a few of its support cards throughout the series.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Nightshroud and Atticus Rhodes use a "Red-Eyes Deck", including a number of "Red-Eyes" cards and their support.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time, Paradox used the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" to Summon "Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon".

In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" appeared as a statue as one of the legendary monsters and Roku played a "Statue" version of it in a Statue Duel against Yuma Tsukumo.

Playing style
"Red-Eyes" based Decks typically focus on getting it into one of its many alternate forms, as on its own it is rather weak for a monster of its Level. Compared to its rival, the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", it is very easy to upgrade and several Dragon-based Decks work well with this archetype of cards.

One of the oldest "Red-Eyes"-based Decks developed from the release of the Dragon's Roar Structure Deck is the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon Deck, which focuses on powering up "Darkness Dragon" by sending Dragon-Type monsters to the Graveyard. "Cyberdark" monsters can be combined into this particular type of Deck to create the Cyberdarkness Deck. Another less commonly used Deck is a "Fusion Red-Eyes Deck", focusing on Fusion Summoning "B. Skull Dragon" and "Meteor B. Dragon" as quickly as possible, and possibly Special Summon their Material Monsters back from the Graveyard to swarm the field.

With the release of "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" and "Red-Eyes Wyvern", the "Hopeless Dragon Deck" and its more aggressive "Disaster Dragon" counterpart have become popular, which utilize the effect of "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" and its ability to revive Dragons from the Graveyard. However, the eventual restriction of "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" limited its use.

"Red-Eyes" as an archetype saw little development between 2007 and 2015, until they received all new support in Clash of Rebellions. The new "Red-Eyes" cards represent a return to the original Fusion focus of "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" – with the Archetype-exclusive "Red-Eyes Fusion" and – for the first time since "B. Skull Dragon" – a new Fusion monster in the form of "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon". In addition, building on the Normal Monster focus of the archetype's progenitors, the new assortment of "Red-Eyes" cards add Gemini monsters to the archetype, including upgraded counterparts of "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" and "Summoned Skull" – "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon" and "Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning". Also, it gains more support in the downgraded form of "Red-Eyes B. Chick": "The Black Stone of Legend", thus allowing "Red-Eyes B. Dragon", or any Level 7 or lower "Red-Eyes" monster (except the aforementioned "Red-Eyes B. Chick") to be Special Summoned from the Deck and return to the Deck (along with "The Black Stone of Legend" returning to the hand) from the Graveyard.

This new support is purely offensive in nature, incorporating massive Burn potential. For example: both "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon" and "Black Flare Dragon" if the conditions are met, can easily deal a minimum of 2400 damage after a single attack and without counting any battle damage possibly done. The new Xyz Monster, "Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon", can burn the opponent by 500 points each time they play a card, which can accumulate rapidly for massive damage. Even without much protection to themselves, this adds massive swarm ability to "Red-Eyes" Decks. "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" can Special Summon "Red-Eyes B. Dragon", supporting other cards like "Red-Eyes Spirit" and "Return of Red-Eyes" thus being able to easily overwhelm the opponent through sheer power. Also, the new "Black Metal Dragon" can be equipped to "Red-Eyes" to enable it to rival "Blue-Eyes" in terms of raw ATK power, and (once it is sent from the field to the Graveyard through any means) can add a new "Red-Eyes" card from the Deck to the hand, such as "Red-Eyes Fusion" or "Darkness Metal Dragon".