Crystal Beast

The Crystal Beasts, known in Japan as the Gem/Jewel Beasts are a series of Monster Cards that become Continuous Spell Cards after they are destroyed while monsters. 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. This archetype also contains the card "Rainbow Dragon", the ace card of the Crystal Beasts. It can be summoned quite easily as it can be only be played when there are the seven different Crystal Beasts on the field or in the graveyard. The card can also be summoned with the effect of Rainbow Gravity. This archetype also contains one of the most powerful OTK setups with Crystal Abundance, making them robust even against overpowering opponents.

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 Beast monsters, save "Ruby Carbuncle", imitates the voice of a real life movie celebrity.


 * See also Advanced Crystal Beasts.

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, 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 Beast 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.

Weaknesses
The back row of a Crystal Beast user can get clogged easily and generally must be left open for Crystal Beast Spell Card-form cards, so an effective deck can't use any Continuous Spells or Continuous Traps. The archetype also relies upon the opponent destroying the Crystal Beasts in order to most quickly get them into the back row, so a clever opponent might simply summon a strong monster and avoid attacking the Crystal Beasts, instead using direct-attack or Burn-Damage tactics. Crystal Abundance, the trump card of the set, can also be easily stopped with a well-timed Counter Trap. Also, with the sole exception of Rainbow Dragon, most crystal beasts have subpar ATK when compared to tributers, fusions and synchro summons, making it quite painful until Rainbow Dragon can be summoned. Plus, unless it contains three copies of practically each Crystal Beast, a deck must contain several other monsters, because otherwise you have eight monsters and at least 32 Spell and Trap Cards, resulting in an uneven balance.

Optional Support

 * Torrential Tribute - If anyone summons then you can play this card and send all your crystal beast to the spell and trap card zone.
 * Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest - Since four out of seven Crystal Beasts are beasts, you can use his effect when they are destroyed by paying 1000 Life Points
 * Manticore of Darkness - Since you you can only put five crystal beast monsters in the spell and trap zones you can send some of the crystal beast from your hand to the graveyard to keep him out. with an ATK of 2300 he can give you a little edge
 * Rescue Cat - Can summon 2 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cats, which then destroy themselves to go into Spell form.
 * Beast Soul Swap - You can use this to perform a "double attack" with a Crystal Beast, and if you use it on Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, you can put 1 more Crystal Beast onto the field in Spell Form.
 * Anteatereatingant - The cost for this card is easily met by using a couple of Spell-form Crystal Beasts, and it functions both as a beatstick and as a way to destroy an opponent's Spell or Trap cards, two things that Crystal Beasts are lacking in.
 * Gem Flash Energy - Does burn damage to the opponent for every Continuous Spell Card on the field. A good source of consistent damage but very dangerous to use since it prevents you from using the all-important Crystal Abundance.
 * Wild Nature's Release - This can vastly increase the ATK of a Beast-type monster, and at the end of the turn it is destroyed. This is good for both emergency power and to speed up the process of getting Crystal Beasts into Continuous Spell form.
 * Dweller in the Depths - An easily-summoned dragon that will power up for every Continuous Spell Card you control--easily becomes a great source of cheap power in a Crystal Beast deck.
 * Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder - A good replacment for Rainbow Dragon and/or a nice card to add. It's Special Summoning ability goes hand and hand with the Crystal Beast abilities to be Continuous Spell Cards. Both being a beatstick and a protector (defense position ability), it can aid the ever weak Crystal Beasts. It can also be complemented with Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise, which allows it to attack during a turn, then be switched to defense position, thereby activating its effect.
 * Magna-Slash Dragon/Gravi-Crush Dragon - A great card for Crystal Beasts decks since it can destroy up to one Monster (Gravi-Crush Dragon) or a Spell/Trap (Magna-Slash Dragon), at the cost of a Continuous Spell Card.
 * Red Dragon Archfiend - Because this card can destroy all of your other monsters, it essentially allows you to control which Crystal Beasts get destroyed and reduces reliance on your opponent to destroy your Crystal Beasts. Simply determine which ones you want to be destroyed by having them not attack.
 * Generation Shift - Because this card destroys one of your monsters, you can put another Crystal Beast into your Spell and Trap Card zone and thin your deck by searching for another Crystal Beast.
 * Imperial Iron Wall - This card could help prevent your Crystal Beasts from being removed from play.
 * Kuraz the Light Monarch - This card can let you tribute 2 Crystal Beasts to the Spell and Trap Card zone and then draw 2 Cards!