Forum:Deck Guide/Qliphort

by Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 15:14, August 16, 2014 (UTC)

Intro
God is dead. Her vicious cycle of destruction and rebirth has been averted due to the combined efforts of Constellar Sombres and Evilswarm Kerykeion. However, the system has taken notice, and has initiated a backup plan. A series of alien machines have entered the fray, proving to be nigh-unstoppable as they shrug off the effects of lesser beings' attempts to stop them. The puppet master glances upon them, and smiles...

Mechanics
The Qliphoth are an archetype of EARTH Machine Pendulum Monsters designed around Pendulum Summons and Normal Summons. A recurring theme among their Effect Pendulums is that while they can be Normal Summoned without Tribute, their Levels are reduced to 4 and they turn into 1800/1000 bodies. The same happens if they're Special Summoned. There's a reason for it - any Normal Summoned Qliphort monster is immune to any monster effect originating a monster whose original Level or Rank is lower than it. This encourages players to Tribute Summon them to make the most of their mightiest monsters.

LV6 Qliphorts are 2400/1000 and have effects that trigger when they are Tributed for any reason, be it Tribute Summon or for a card effect, while the 2-Tribute Qliphorts are 2800/1000 and gain effects if they're Tribute Summoned using Qliphort monsters.

The next thing to note is that while their Pendulum Scales offer an impressive range of 1 to 9, the Qliphort Pendulum effects have an unstoppable restriction that keeps you from Special Summoning non-Qliphort monsters, preventing you from exploiting their wide range and restricting their Tribute fodder to whatever Qliphorts you can Pendulum out. Such is the fate of having reusable Tribute fodder in the form of Pendulum Monsters. All Scale 1 Qliphorts give your monsters a 300 ATK boost, while most Scale 9 Qliphorts, barring Tool, cut your opponent's monsters' ATK by 300.

Naturally, the Deck has various ways to ease the Tribute Summoning of the Qliphorts, either by discounting the Tributes or granting extra Normal Summons, allowing you to work almost completely without the need to Pendulum if you so please.

Strengths

 * Almost Normal Summon exclusive - Lots of lockdown effects prevent Special Summons or kill Special Summoned monsters, due the number of Decks that can Summon a bunch of monsters in one turn. Being centred around Normal Summons means Qliphorts don't see this as a big an issue as others do.
 * No Sell - The meta tends to revolve around monster-based removal. Look no further than Number 101: Silent Honors ARK being used as a difficult-to-prevent monster denial. However, Qliphorts bluntly don't care about these monsters and proceed without flinching as the monster effects bounce off their AT fields.

Weaknesses

 * Combat tricks - These monsters may be able to shrug off an opposing monster's effect, but there's nothing stopping you from overpowering them the old-fashioned way. Bring out a monster with over 3000 ATK and Qliphoths tend to struggle a little bit. Bujins provide a difficult matchup with their pseudo-Honest effects.
 * Persistent S/T removal - While Qliphoths can function with little need for Special Summons, they shine best in using their Pendulum Monsters as recurrent Tribute fodder to bring out their big beaters. Mess up their scales and Qliphoths are slowed down somewhat.
 * Mask of Restrict - High Level monsters and Normal Summons mean Tribute Summons. Mask of Restrict prevents Tributes in all forms, stifling their means of getting their beaters at their strongest and triggering their field control mechanisms.

Monsters

 * Qliphort Tool - The central piece to the Qliphort strategy, while also providing information in its flavour text that shows how and why the Qliphorts are here in the first place. As a 1000/2800 LV5 Normal Pendulum, Tool has no place on the field as a monster. Instead, its value shines best in the Pendulum Zone. Its Scale 9 easily sets the upper bound that opens up all the Qliphorts to Pendulum Summon, and once per turn, Tool in the Pendulum Zone can help you tutor a Qliphort card, except another Tool, of course, at a cost of 800 LP. Such potent tutoring ability adds a crazy amount of consistency to the Deck, allowing you to fish out the cards you need to further your dominance or turn the board state around. It's also possibly why the formerly glossed-over Summoner's Art suddenly exploded in demand. Max it out.
 * Qliphort Archive - One of the two LV6 Qliphort Effect Pendulums. Weighing in at 2400/1000, Archive has the standard Monarch stats, Scale 1, and the usual Qliphort abilities as described above. When Tributed, Archive lets you bounce target monster on the field. Not as useful as it seems, but it helps you circumvent monsters too big to trump in a straight-up battle or screw over most Extra Deck monsters. Good in numbers of 2-3. Maybe 3 to make Scale 1 more available.
 * Qliphort Genome - One of the two LV6 Qliphort Effect Pendulums. Weighing in at 2400/1000, Genome has the standard Monarch stats, Scale 9, and the usual Qliphort abilities as described above. Genome lets you destroy a S/T when it is Tributed, helping you clear out threatening face-down S/Ts that your other Qliphorts aren't immune to, cripple opposing Pendulums, or even free up a Pendulum Zone if you want to replace it. It's a great asset in helping to counter the Qliphorts' weaknesses. Max it out.
 * Qliphort Disk - Disk has an impressive-looking 2800/1000 body for 2 Tributes, and all the usual things that come with being a Scale 1 Qliphort Pendulum monster. If Tribute Summoned using a Qliphort Monster, Disk lets you pull out 2 more Qliphoth monsters from your Deck, at the cost of them getting destroyed during your End Phase and the fact that they nerf themselves when Special Summoned anyway. Still, it's good for making a massive push, or if you have extra Normal Summons, use those monsters you fetched to Tribute Summon another Qliphort monster. It also puts the monsters in your Extra Deck where they're available to Pendulum in future turns. Run between 2-3, depending on your preference.
 * Qliphort Shell - Shell is the main assault force of the Qliphorts, and usually responsible for any game-ending damage pushes. 2800/1000 is already decent for 2 Tributes, but when Tribute Summoned using a Qliphort Monster, Disk can attack twice per turn and inflicts piercing damage. Recall facing Cyber Twin Dragon? Shell is that on steroids, what with the additional piercing damage and the immunity to about 90% of activated monster effects. Max it out, as its offensive pressure is too good to pass up.
 * Apoqliphort Killer - The boss monster of the Deck, and surprisingly, not a Pendulum Monster. Nope, it's a plain Effect Monster that requires you to Tribute 3 Qliphort monsters to Normal Summon it. For your efforts, you get a hulking 3000/2600 behemoth that is immune to all S/Ts, and effects from LV9 or Rank 9 or lower monsters. The immunity cuts both ways, though, in that you can't buff it either. However, it also has the ability to weaken all Special Summoned monsters' stats by 500 each, letting it, at the very least, tie with Shooting Star Dragon. Once per turn, you can force your opponent to send a monster on their field or hand to the Graveyard - an effect that bypasses indestructibility and targeting immunity and doesn't set off Dark World or Fabled effects - and if they have no monster to give up, you get to see their hand to confirm that too. Careful if you use that effect around Shaddolls, as it plays right into what they want. Run a maximum of 1 due to its tendency to be a dead draw.

Spells & Traps

 * Qliphortress - A Field Spell for Qliphorts that grants you an extra Normal Summon for a Qliphort monster per turn, allowing you to easily pull out the LV6 ones without needing extra assistance or Special Summons. As icing on the cake, the Summons of your Qliphort monsters cannot be negated, letting you operate without worry of Black Horn, Solemn Warning, or the likes. Run 1-2 since Tool can fish it out with relative ease.
 * Qliphort Sacrifice - An equip for Qliphorts that grants it 300 ATK, immunity to destruction by battle, and the ability to double-Tribute for a Qliphort monster. But wait, there's more! If it's sent from the field to the Graveyard for any reason - including the equipped monster being Tributed for a Tribute Summon, you get to tutor a Qliphort monster. It's essentially Tool's other half. Max it out, everyone loves search effects.
 * Apoqliphort - The thing that checks Pendulum Monsters is the relative difficulty in retrieving them from the Extra Deck. Sometimes you just want a certain Pendulum in that Pendulum Zone. Worry no more - Apoqliphort lets you pick up to 3 Apoqliphort Pendulum Monsters in your Extra Deck and put them in your hand, granting you the option of Normal Summoning them again, or reusing them in your Pendulum Zones. Run 1-2 as it is best mid-late game.
 * Qliphort Fortran - All Normal Summoned Qliphort monsters, for the turn, gain 300 ATK, immunity to other Spell/Trap Cards, but have their effects negated as well. What this means is that if you Normal Summoned a Qliphort monster without Tribute then follow up with Fortran, you push it back to its base stats with a 300 ATK boost on top, along with the immunity granted from Forbidden Lance. Yes, it does mean your opponent will then kill that monster with a monster effect if they see it coming. It's more of a card to use for offensive pushes through Mirror Force and the like. Run up to 2 as you're unlikely to keep a No-Trib Normal Summoned Qliphort on the field for long.

Tag Duel Options
Be mindful of what format of Tag Duel you're using. Because the Pendulum effects of Qliphorts outright restrict Special Summoning of other monsters, it's very difficult to partner up with another player if both partners share the same field. In these cases, work with players who don't Special Summon a lot.

Other Tips
While Qliphorts tend to embody "I work alone" in not allowing any other monsters to be Special Summoned, there are still several other cards outside the archetype that have a place in the Deck.
 * Performapal Trampolynx - Scale 4 may seem restrictive, but as all Qliphorts so far that can be Pendulum'd are Levels 5-8, it's no big deal. It has insane synergy with Tool. After you Pendulum Summon, you bounce Tool, reactivate it in the Pendulum Zone, and get yet another search off it. That aside, Trampolynx as a Pendulum Card can also bounce itself to free up a Pendulum slot.
 * Performapal Tiptoad - Trouble comes knocking when Qliphorts encounter a monster with 3200 or more ATK. Usually said monsters also have a slightly smaller DEF, well within the strongest Qliphort's killing range. That's where Tiptoad's stat-swapping Pendulum ability comes in handy.
 * Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon - It has an ability, as a Pendulum Card, that keeps you from taking battle damage involving any Pendulum Monster. Well it just so happens that majority of the Qliphort monsters are Pendulums and are immediately compatible with that. But what's more important is the second Pendulum effect - destroying itself as a pseudo-Sangan for Pendulum Monsters. Yes, it can search Tool and Trampolynx.
 * Beast King Barbaros - Opponent's field too dense for a mix of Archive and Genome to safely clear? Pendulum out 3 monsters and let the King show you how it's done by blowing up everything your opponent holds dear. Barbaros can be a direct alternative to Apoqliphort Killer due to being a boardwipe on a body.
 * Summoner's Art - Who knew that such an overlooked card in the past would become so valued? Summoner's Art immediately pulls Tool from your Deck, allowing you to set scales with it and begin tutoring to victory.
 * The Monarchs Storm Forth - Every now and then, you'll come across a monster too big to punch in the face, yet also is protected from both targeting and destruction. No problem - just use it in a Tribute Summon. Unlike Soul Exchange, Storm Forth neither targets nor denies you a Battle Phase. You do lose access to your Extra Deck for the turn, but you can still Pendulum cards out of your hand.
 * Skill Drain - Akin to how Fusilier Dragon, the Dual Mode Beast becomes a no-Tribute 2800/2000 beater with this on the field, your Qliphorts can also become 2400/1000 or 2800/1000 beaters without needing any Tributes. They do, however, lose their immunity to monster effects, but then again a majority of monsters no longer do anything once Skill Drain is active. Should Killer appear while Skill Drain is active, it too loses its uber protection - unless it was already there when Skill Drain was activated. Run at your own risk.