Elemental HERO

"Elemental HERO" ( Erementaru Hīrō) is a "HERO" sub-archetype of mostly Warrior-Type monsters, used mainly by Jaden Yuki in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime and in its manga adaptation. Aster Phoenix and Koyo Hibiki have also used them in the anime and manga, respectively. They were designed by Kazuki Takahashi, and are themed after comic-book superheroes from the anime and nature based from the manga. "Elemental HERO" Decks focus heavily on Fusion Summoning. Most of the primary "Elemental HERO" monsters can be fused with one another, allowing for an enormous amount of flexibility in a dedicated Deck.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, Jaden Yuki first used the following "Elemental HERO" monsters: "Avian", "Burstinatrix", "Sparkman", "Clayman" and "Bubbleman", relying on their numerous fusions including "Flame Wingman" and "Thunder Giant" to win. Then came "Bladedge", "Wildheart" and "Necroshade" later on, giving way to new Fusion Monsters including "Wildedge", "Necroid Shaman" and "Wild Wingman".

In Episode 62, following his loss to Aster Phoenix, Jaden Yuki acquired "Elemental HERO Neos", Neo-Spacians and their new Contact Fusions.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Manga was based off the anime but is unrelated and completely different from the anime. Jaden Yuki's monsters are more nature based. These monsters have been released later than the Elemental HEROs from the anime including "Stratos", "Ocean", "Woodsman", "The Heat", "Lady Heat" and "Voltic".

The fusions used in the manga are different because instead of specific monsters, each required any one "Elemental HERO" (with the exception of Elemental HERO Absolute Zero which can take any "HERO" Monster Card) and one monster of the required Attribute. These monsters known as the Omni HEROs in the TCG. {Elemental HERO The Shining (LIGHT); Elemental HERO Absolute Zero (WATER); Elemental HERO Great Tornado (WIND); Elemental HERO Nova Master (FIRE); Elemental HERO Gaia (EARTH); Elemental HERO Escuridao (DARK)}. Jaden Yuki also used other Fusion Monsters like Elemental HERO Inferno and Elemental HERO Terra Firma, both of which required specific Elemental HEROs.

Elemental HERO has had the longest run of any archetype from the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, from The Lost Millennium (Release Date: June 1, 2005) to Return of the Duelist (Release Date:  August 18, 2012). If that booster pack features the last release of an Elemental HERO monster, the archetype will have made a total run of 7 years, 2 months, and 17 days.

Playing Style
"Elemental HERO" Decks mainly focusing on using cards like Fusion Gate, Miracle Fusion, Polymerization, and Super Polymerization to Fusion Summon a variety of Fusion Monsters. For "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monsters with specified names, King of the Swamp and Elemental HERO Woodsman can be used to search/recycle your Polymerizations. Although it is common to play Xyz Monster like Number 39: Utopia, Steelswarm Roach, Blade Armor Ninja and Maestroke the Symphony Djinn.

Elemental HERO monsters can be Searched from the deck using Elemental HERO Stratos, E - Emergency Call, Reinforcement of the Army, A Hero Lives, Hero Signal, and Summoner Monk would be a good qualification since "HERO" decks rely one a lot of Spell Cards to add Fusion-Material Monsters to your hand and Fusion Summon.

Recycling Fusion Material Monsters will allow you for future use for fusion material. Elemental HERO Voltic is perfect for recyling Banished Elemental HERO monsters and is perfect for comboing off of Fusion Gate and Miracle Fusion. Elemental HERO Ocean and The Warrior Returning Alive will allow recycling HERO monsters from the Graveyard.

The use of Elemental HERO Neos Alius is not only a LIGHT target for Elemental HERO The Shining, but allows to beat down your opponent with Gemini Spark while gain pluses and the use of Hero Blast to recycle Elemental HERO Neos Alius and destroy one of your opponent's monsters with 1900 Attack or less. This also makes a good set up for Miracle Fusion or light material for Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning.

Most tech cards you use in a "HERO" deck like (EX: Miracle Fusion;E - Emergency Call; Destiny Draw) are Normal Spell Cards. You can mill these type of cards using Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude to activate the from the Graveyard on your next turn. Since you are activating them from the Graveyard, you do not have to use the Cost or Condition Effect. These means if you Mill Destiny Draw with Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude, you do not have to Discard a Destiny HERO since that is the Cost of the card and you get to just Draw 2 additional cards from your Deck. Since you are activating the Spell Card from your Graveyard, your opponent cannot Negate it.

Since cards like Solemn Warning, Bottomless Trap Hole, or Mirror Force can cause a down fall of the deck destroying your Fusion Monster(s), a great way to protect is with Safe Zone. Not only does it protect your monsters but allows a number of combos. If your opponent activate a Card effect that would destroy this card, if it is Set, you can Chain it to one of your opponent's monsters and destroy it. You can use Safe Zone to make an almost indestructible Elemental HERO Ocean and keep on return Elemental HERO Stratos to your hand and Summon to search for any "HERO" card or blow up (minimum) of one Spell/Trap Card. You can also equip Safe Zone to one of your opponent's monsters so it can't be destroyed by battle, and keep on attacking the targeted monster with Vision HERO Trinity draining your opponent's life points.

When playing "Elemental HERO" Decks, you find a lot of times with Fusion Gate and Miracle Fusion are Banishing your monsters a lot, Return from the Different Dimension and D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation would add the that advantage. If things aren't going your way or you need a back up plan, this card would be perfect and you can Special Summon as many banished monsters as you want. This would be good if you don't have much more Fusion Material Monsters you need to Fusion Summon, activate the card, get out Fusion Material Monsters and use Fusion Gate to Fusion Summon with those monsters.

When using a variety of "HERO" monsters, Mask Change would help for a quick powerful summon from WATER, EARTH, and FIRE Elemental HERO Monsters to quickly special summon Masked HERO Acid, Masked HERO Vapor, Masked HERO Dian, and Masked HERO Goka.

Monsters

 * Elemental HERO Neos Alius
 * Elemental HERO Voltic
 * Elemental HERO Ocean
 * Elemental HERO Ice Edge
 * Elemental HERO Stratos
 * Elemental HERO Wildheart
 * Thunder King Rai-Oh
 * Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude
 * Summoner Monk

Spell

 * Gemini Spark
 * Re-Fusion
 * Fusion Gate
 * Miracle Fusion
 * Super Polymerization
 * Mask Change
 * E - Emergency Call
 * Reinforcement of the Army
 * The Warrior Returning Alive
 * A Hero Lives

Trap

 * Chain Material
 * Hero Blast
 * Mirror Gate
 * Return from the Different Dimension
 * Safe Zone

Extra Deck

 * Elemental HERO The Shining
 * Elemental HERO Absolute Zero
 * Elemental HERO Great Tornado
 * Elemental HERO Nova Master
 * Elemental HERO Gaia
 * Elemental HERO Escuridao
 * Vision HERO Adoration
 * Vision HERO Trinity
 * Masked HERO Acid
 * Masked HERO Vapor
 * Masked HERO Dian
 * Blade Armor Ninja
 * Heroic Champion - Excalibur

Weaknesses
"Elemental HERO" Decks, while being strong in the long run, lack the beginning strength. The effect of "Kinetic Soldier" increases its ATK by 2000 when it battles with Warrior-Type monsters, and thus is a great choice as a counter to most of these decks. Since most "Elemental HERO" Decks heavily rely on Fusions to remain in the game long enough to bring "Elemental HERO Neos" and his fusions out, a good anti-spell Deck will eliminate the activation and use of "Polymerization" and Fusion Spells. Also a Deck with the ability to destroy Fusions, before and after summoning, will also make it easy to take down an "Elemental HERO" Deck. The trap card "Non-Fusion Area," for example, is nothing short of crippling to most "Elemental HERO Decks". "Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell" is another example because it negates the activation and the effect of a Spell Card (in this case a Fusion Spell Card) and destroys it and stops the player from using the Fusion Spell Card that he/she tried to use again. "De-Fusion" will stop Fusion Monsters because the Fusion Material is in the controller's Graveyard, and the other player is able to return the Fusion Monsters without summoning the Fusion Material Monsters. Since Fusion Summons are Special Summons, cards like "Royal Oppression", which can negate the Special Summon of a monster, can cause the downfall of this Deck.