Gishki

"Gishki", known as "Ritua" (リチュア Richua) in the OCG, is an archetype of monsters released in Duel Terminal - Raid of the Inverz!!. Their team symbol is a blue sapphire mirror that all the members wear, usually around their necks or on their staves. The Ritual Monsters (and, starting with "Merrowgeist", Xyz Monsters) of the group all have "Evigishki" at the beginning of their names, with the name of the kind of creature they've become at the end.

Their Japanese name, "Ritua", is a corruption of the English word "Ritual", used in the TCG terms "Ritual Spell Card", "Ritual Summon", and "Ritual Monster". Their English name, "Gishki", is a corruption of the Japanese word "Gishiki", meaning "Ritual" in the same context as the TCG terms. The choice for the English name not only translates the play on words perfectly, but also prevents the need for explaining how cards with "Ritual" in their name aren't part of the archetype.

All known "Gishki" monsters are WATER, and many are Spellcaster, Sea Serpent, or Aqua. Their playstyle is focused on Ritual Summoning and either searching and returning cards to the Deck.

The "Gishki" archetype has three Ritual Spell Cards; "Gishki Aquamirror", "Gishki's Duplicate Soul Mirror", and "Forbidden Arts of the Gishki". "Gishki's Duplicate Soul Mirror" in particular is very unique, as it is the first Ritual Spell Card that allows you to use Life Points instead of Tributes for the Ritual Summon, allowing an easier way to call "Gishki" Ritual monsters.

Story
"Gishki" is an organization that wields the same power as the "Ice Barrier" but uses it for the “Aquamirror Meditation” in order to summon ancient and wicked monsters. In order to gain the bountiful resources of the Mist Valley marshlands, they begin to invade the "Gusto" territories. However, they are interrupted by the "Steelswarm," who intend to take over the surface land. The "Gishki" have no choice but to work with the other clans. With the "Vylon's" temporary assistance, they obtain new powers with which to resist the "Steelswarm." Although the invaders are defeated, other conflicts arise: the "Vylon" decide to exterminate the clans in order to prevent future wars. Out of options, the "Gishki" choose to team up with the other clans, once again, in order to cease the actions of the "Vylons." After the "Vylons" are beaten back, the unions between clans dissolve, and the "Gishki" turn to the "Lavals" to power their rituals. Since materials continue to run scarce, they resume their original invasion of "Mist Valley," enacting a genocide of the "Gustos." Once again, their conquest of the Valley is interrupted, this time by the "Evilswarm" virus, which spreads rapidly across the Duel Terminal World. Even after resurrecting the three dragons of the "Ice Barrier" in order to combat the corrupted forces of the "Evilswarm," most of the "Gishki" tribe is unable to resist the disease, and are themselves infected and recruited. Up against a proverbial wall, the Gishki, in a moment of desperation, revived the leader of the "Steelswarms" in a last-ditch effort.

Playing Style
"Gishki" Decks focus on Ritual Summoning and then recycling cards to maintain advantage. For example, after using "Gishki Aquamirror" to Ritual Summon a "Gishki" Ritual monster, it can be returned to the Deck in order to add a "Gishki" Ritual Monster from your Graveyard to your hand.

"Gishki" Decks are well-stocked with search effects. "Gishki Shadow" and "Gishki Vision" are vital to the Deck for this reason: by discarding one of them, a "Gishki" Ritual spell or monster can be added from the Deck to the hand. If you Ritual Summon a "Gishki" Ritual monster, each card can act as the full Tribute cost. "Salvage" can be used to return them to the hand, for up to 2 or 3 Ritual Summons in one turn. When Summoned, "Gishki Abyss" can add any "Gishki" monster with 1000 or less DEF to your hand. "Gishki Ariel" can searching the Deck for any "Gishki" monster when flipped.

The most useful Ritual Monsters in the "Gishki" arsenal are "Evigishki Levianima," "Evigishki Zeal Gigas," and "Evigishki Soul Ogre." "Soul Ogre" can provide an out to most locks and "wall" monsters. "Levianima" lets you draw a card upon attack declaration, allowing you to quickly regain the advantage that may have been lost in Ritual Summoning it. "Gishki Zeal Gigas" lends muscle to a "Gishki" player's field with its gigantic 3200 ATK, and its effects are similar to that of "Levianima."

Elsewhere, "Evigishki Gustkraken" is a decent Summon as it returns one of two cards in your opponent's hand to the Deck, but can't generate continuous advantage. "Evigishki Mind Augus" can function as somewhat of a second "Pot of Avarice," returning 5 cards from either player's Graveyard to the Decks when Ritual Summoned. Although the advantage it produces is not immediate, its recycling effect can be useful in certain cases to reuse Limited cards.

A useful card for the archetype is "Forbidden Arts of the Gishki," which functions like a Ritual-oriented version of the "Elemental HERO", "Super Polymerization": a "Gishki" Ritual Summon can be performed using monsters from both sides of the field; but keep in mind that it cannot send an Xyz Monster. Drawbacks, however, are that the levels of the targeted monsters must total the level of the intended Summon exactly, the Ritual monster's ATK is halved, and you cannot conduct your Battle Phase the turn it is activated. This card is best used to bring the level 8 "Evigishki Soul Ogre" to the table, as most Decks contain a high number of Level 4 monsters, he remains at a decent 1400 ATK afterwards, and his effect remains live.

The "Djinn of Rituals" can be used in a "Gishki" Deck, although these builds tend to have trouble replicating the stream of Ritual Summons that a pure "Gishki" Deck can pump out. If included, room must be made for cards such as "Armageddon Knight" and "Foolish Burial" in order to quickly load them into the Graveyard.

A popular move is to Summon "Tour Guide From the Underworld" and use that effect to Special Summon "Djinn Releaser of Rituals," then Ritual Summon any Level 6 "Evigishki" Ritual Monster. "Djinn Releaser of Rituals" is searched from the Deck, used for a Ritual Summon, and placed in the Graveyard where it is most needed, all with one card.

Monsters

 * Gishki Abyss
 * Gishki Avance
 * Gishki Ariel
 * Gishki Beast
 * Gishki Chain
 * Gishki Diviner
 * Gishki Marker
 * Gishki Natalia
 * Gishki Shadow
 * Gishki Vision
 * Evigishki Levianima
 * Evigishki Mind Augus
 * Evigishki Soul Ogre
 * Evigishki Zealgigas
 * Airorca
 * Deep Sea Diva
 * Djinn Releaser of Rituals
 * Genex Ally Birdman
 * Lost Blue Breaker
 * Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands

Spells

 * Ascending Soul
 * Forbidden Arts of the Gishki
 * Gishki Aquamirror
 * Moray of Greed
 * Preparation of Rites
 * Salvage
 * Trade-In

Traps

 * Aquamirror Meditation
 * Aquamirror Cycle
 * Smashing Horn
 * Trap Stun
 * Call of the Haunted
 * Poseidon Wave

Extra Deck

 * Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
 * Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon
 * Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Daigusto Emeral
 * Evigishki Merrowgeist
 * Lavalval Chain
 * Leviair the Sea Dragon

Xyz Gishki
This deck uses "Gishki Beast" to swarm the Field with Rank 4 Xyz Monsters.

Monsters

 * Deep Sea Diva (can add some Synchro elements, also for Xyz Summoning Rank 2 Xyz Monsters)
 * Evigishki Levianima
 * Evigishki Mind Augus
 * Gishki Abyss
 * Gishki Beast (key card of this deck)
 * Gishki Chain ("Gishki" version of "Pot of Duality")
 * Gishki Ariel (searches "Gishki Beast", also can be Special Summoned via "Gishki Beast's" effect)
 * Gishki Shadow
 * Gishki Vision
 * Lost Blue Breaker (can be paired with Deep Sea Diva for some backrow control)

Spells

 * Gishki Aquamirror
 * Pot of Avarice
 * Salvage
 * My Body as a Shield

Traps

 * Royal Decree
 * Trap Stun

Extra Deck

 * Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Number 39: Utopia
 * Steelswarm Roach
 * Evigishki Merrowgeist
 * Gem-Knight Pearl
 * Gachi Gachi Gantetsu (if using Deep Sea Diva)
 * Number C39: Utopia Ray (if using Number 39: Utopia)

Hand Control Gishki
This deck focuses on using the effect of "Evigishki Gustkraken" to return cards from hand to the deck. By summoning 2-3 of them as early as possible, combined with "Mind Crush", "D.D. Designator", or "Spiritual Water Art - Aoi", this deck can quickly limit your opponent's options.

Monsters

 * Gishki Abyss
 * Gishki Beast
 * Gishki Ariel
 * Gishki Shadow
 * Gishki Vision
 * Evigishki Gustkraken
 * Evigishki Mind Augus

Spells

 * Gishki Aquamirror
 * My Body as a Shield
 * Salvage
 * D.D. Designator

Traps

 * Mind Crush
 * Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

Extra Deck

 * Evigishki Merrowgeist
 * Number 39: Utopia
 * Steelswarm Roach
 * Sacred Ptolemys M7

Playing Style
With the release of "Gishki Diviner", a new "Destiny HERO" based Deck has become viable, using the effects of "Gishki Diviner", Archfiend's Oath, and "Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude" with "Convulsion of Nature" to gain free advantage. "Deep Sea Diva" Special Summons "Gishki Diviner" and while "Destiny HERO - Malicious" Special Summons itself from your Graveyard after being discarded by "Destiny Draw", giving you free advantage. When used with "Deep Sea Diva", you can get a "Scrap Dragon", use "Diviner's" effect, and then destroy "Diviner" and a card your opponent controls, or just keep "Diviner" out for later. In addition to that, with "Elemental HERO Stratos" or "Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude" and "Deep Sea Diva", you can Synchro Summon "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" or a Level 6 Synchro Monster such as "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier". With just "Deep Sea Diva", you can Synchro Summon a Level 5 Synchro Monster such as "Ally of Justice Catastor". In addition to that, "Miracle Fusion" allows you to Special Summon "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero" which not only can destroy all of your opponent's monsters but also can reach 3500 ATK easily with this deck. With the use of "Convulsion of Nature", "Mind Crush" and "D.D. Designator" (which happens to be good against Dark World) become more useful.

Due to all these combos, the deck is extremely explosive. The main weakness is, of course, not drawing "Convulsion of Nature" but even then the deck is still quite powerful.

Monsters
Extra Deck:
 * Deep Sea Diva
 * Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude
 * Destiny HERO - Malicious
 * Elemental HERO Stratos
 * Gishki Diviner
 * Lost Blue Breaker
 * Elemental HERO Absolute Zero

Spells

 * Archfiend's Oath
 * Convulsion of Nature
 * Destiny Draw
 * D.D. Designator
 * Miracle Fusion

Traps

 * Mind Crush

Weakness
Despite the enormous potential of their high-speed Ritual Summoning technique, Gishki deck have some weaknesses. The first is common to the metagame as of late: Anti-Special Summon cards. "Archlord Kristya" and "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" can stop the heart of this deck's strategy, due to its reliance on Special Summoning, no matter the build. "Thunder King Rai-Oh" also poses a threat, since it can block the effects of "Gishki Shadow," "Gishki Chain," and "Gishki Vision."

"Dimensional Fissure," "D.D. Crow," and "Macro Cosmos" are also trouble. The Graveyard is a great resource for the "Gishki," given their drop-and-recycle strategy, so being shut off from it can have serious repercussions. Banishment renders almost all the key "Gishki" cards partially, if not completely, useless.

"Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier," "Mist Wurm," "Compulsory Evacuation Device," and other "Bounce" cards can also be annoying, simply because they can render pointless the processes by which a Gishki Ritual Monsters (and also Xyz Monsters) were Summoned. This can be especially frustrating if the Ritual Monster was Summoned via "Gishki's Duplicate Soul Mirror": the "Gishki" is left at a disadvantage in both field presence of Life Points, the severity of it depending on the level of the Ritual Monster. Siding in "Effect Veiler," "Dark Bribe," or "Divine Wrath" can potentially combat those threats. Most "Gishki" decks can also run "Royal Decree" to halt standard threats like "Solemn Warning," "Solemn Judgment," and "Bottomless Trap Hole.

"Gishki" decks have great difficulty keeping hand advantage, and are prone to dead draws, depending on the build. "Evigishki Levianima" and "Moray of Greed" can alleviate this problem by quickly restocking the hand.

Trivia

 * All of the "Gishki" monsters, except "Gishki Diviner", are even Level monsters.
 * Curiously, it seems as though the "Evigishki" monsters are members of the "Gishki" archetype that have been transformed using their rituals into part-beast, and from the artwork of "Aquamirror Illusion", the transformations aren't always voluntary.
 * However, based on "Evigishki Tetrogre" and "Evigishki Psychelone", both of whom involve "Gishki Noellia", it would appear that the transformations are reversible.
 * Furthermore, this archetype, with its transformative and occult elements, seems to borrow ideas from H.P. Lovecraft.