"Aroma" (アロマ Aroma) is an archetype largely consisting of Plant monsters (with one Rock monster) that were introduced in Clash of Rebellions. The archetype's monsters all derive their names from tools and various species of flowers, all of which are used to produce and utilize medicinal and culinary herbs.
Members
Design
The "Aroma" monsters all get their names from various herbs, flowers and spices that are essential to Aromatherapy. This is where the archetype’s gimmick originates, as the effects that revolve around gaining life points are symbolic of the health benefits of aromatics in medicinal and culinary use, which provide relaxing, invigorating, or delicious scents and flavors and can help reduce stress.
The archetype is female-centric, with only three males in the set (“Aromage Bergamot”, “Aromage Cananga” and “Aromage Laurel”). At this time, “Aromaseraphy Angelica” can only combine with the females of the archetype ("Aromage Jasmine", "Aromage Rosemary", and "Aromage Marjoram"), causing the male presence to languish. The “Aromaseraphy” counterparts are LIGHT attribute compared to their main deck forms, suggesting that they become angels once they combine with “Aromaseraphy Angelica”. “Aroma Jar” is the sole Rock-Type monster in an otherwise Plant-oriented archetype and is the only inanimate object among the rest of the human-like monsters.
All of the main deck “Aromage” monsters are typed with each of the elemental attributes, based on the plant they’re inspired by. Their names and artwork suggest that they are all mages that specialize in magic involving scents derived from plants.
Playing style
All Plant-Type "Aroma" monsters share two common types of effects: a Continuous Effect that applies while their controller has more LP than the opponent, and a Trigger Effect that activates when their controller gains LP. The Continuous Effect supports Plant monsters and encourage the controller to engage in battle by granting them advantages in that area against the opponent, while the Trigger Effects focus upon increasing utility, partly through field disruption.
| Monster | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous | Trigger | |
| Aromage Bergamot | The controller's Plant monsters inflict piercing battle damage. | Gains 1000 ATK and DEF until the end of the opponent's next turn. |
| Aromage Cananga | Reduces the ATK and DEF of the opponent's monsters by 500. | Targets and returns a Spell/Trap Card the opponent controls to the hand. |
| Aromage Jasmine | Allows one additional Normal Summon/Set for a Plant monster. | The controller draws a card. |
| Aromage Laurel | Special Summons itself from your hand. | Targets 1 Plant monster on the field; and treats it as a Tuner this turn. |
| Aromage Marjoram | Take no battle damage from battles involving your Plant monsters. | Targets cards in your opponent’s GY up to the number of "Aroma" monsters you control and banishes them. |
| Aromage Rosemary | The opponent cannot activate monster effects when the controller's Plant monster attacks, until the end of the Damage Step. | Targets and changes a face-up monster's battle position. |
| Aromaseraphy Angelica | Discards itself and targets another "Aroma" monster in the Graveyard to increase LP by the target's ATK. | Can be Special Summoned from the Graveyard if you control another "Aroma" monster, but is banished when it leaves the field. |
| Aromaseraphy Jasmine | This card and Plant monsters this card points to cannot be destroyed by battle. | Add 1 Plant monster from the Deck to the hand. |
| Aromaseraphy Rosemary | All Plant monsters you control gain 500 ATK and DEF. | Target face-up card has its effects negated for the turn. |
| Aromaseraphy Sweet Marjoram | Opponent cannot target Plant monsters you control with card effects. | Target 1 card your opponent controls and destroy it. |
The battling aspect that is encouraged by the archetype is also pronounced by its support cards, "Aroma Jar", "Aroma Garden", and "Aroma Gardening". "Aroma Jar" is a Flip monster whose Flip effect bestows 500 LP upon the controller during either player's End Phase while it remains face-up. Additionally, its other effect has interactivity with its Flip effect, as it also defends itself from destruction by battle if it was flipped face-up. The archetype's Field Spell Card, "Aroma Garden", grants the controller 500 LP during their turn when they control an "Aroma" monster, while additionally bolstering the ATK and DEF of all of their monsters by 500 until the end of the opponent's next turn (the downside of battling is also covered by the card, which increases the controller's LP by 1000 when an "Aroma" monster they control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard). "Aroma Gardening", therefore, provides summoning support by bestowing 1000LP when an "Aroma" monster is summoned (except during the Damage Step), as well as allowing an emergency summon if you've taken damage and your LP has dropped below the opponent's when they attempt to attack.
The deck also contains 3 Continuous Trap Cards which further assist the controller by turning the LP they gained into a utilizable asset. "Dried Winds" serves as a means to put pressure on the opponent by having the controller target and destroy a monster the opponent controls, each time they gain LP. The card further takes advantage of its controller's tendency to amass large amounts of LP by allowing them to pay LP equal to the difference between their LP and their opponent's, to destroy monsters with equal or less ATK than the amount of LP paid, provided the controller has at least 3000 more LP than the opponent. "Humid Winds" provides the Deck with much needed speed, allowing the controller to search out "Aroma" monsters from their Deck at the cost of 1000 LP, a small sum to pay for the controller. If the controller should find themselves disadvantaged in LP count compared to their opponent, the card further helps them make up the deficit, providing a steady stream of 500 LP per turn until the deficit is bridged. "Blessed Winds" provides Graveyard support by not only allowing them to manipulate what goes into and comes out of the GY (with a 500 LP boost to boot), but also providing revival of "Aroma" monsters back to the field at the paltry price of 1000 LP. All of these Trap Cards are best protected by "Imperial Custom".
The archetype's efficacy can be enhanced with the use of cards that increase the LP of the controller. Such cards should preferably do so either by a significant margin or with control over when they activate by the player, such as with "Poison of the Old Man" and "Aegis of Gaia", to keep the Continuous Effects of the "Aroma" monsters active. As several of the "Aroma" monsters, except "Aromage Bergamot", have low ATK and DEF and still emphasize battling, cards such as "Juragedo" and "Nutrient Z" keep your LP safe while fulfilling the archetype's mandate of increasing your LP and maintaining a high LP count. Alternatively, you can use "Waboku" to protect your LP and your monsters.
The "Aroma" archetype also performs well with disabling and preventative cards, such as "Anti-Spell Fragrance" to compliment the Spell/Trap bouncing effect of "Aromage Cananga", "Lose 1 Turn" and "Cactus Bouncer" to compliment the extra Normal Summon effect of "Aromage Jasmine", and "Magic Planter" and "Booby Trap E" to make use of the many Continuous Trap Cards that the deck utilizes, such as "Humid Winds", "Dried Winds", and the aforementioned Lose 1 Turn and Anti-Spell Fragrance.
Weaknesses
Given that the archetype focuses on gaining LP, it is extremely vulnerable to cards such as “Earthbound Greater Linewalker”, "Bad Reaction to Simochi" and "Darklord Nurse Reficule", which subvert LP gaining effects and instead damages you for the same amount. "Asleep at the Switch" presents the archetype with another weakness, as it can be used to destroy "Aroma" monsters when their controller gains LP, an incredibly common occurrence for the Deck.
If one does not directly consider the LP aspect of these monsters as a consideration, this archetype can be subdued through many other means. More generally, effect negaters like "Skill Drain," "Angel 07", "Infinite Impermanence" and "Majesty's Fiend" can shut down "Aromage" effects. The Summoning emphasis of some of the "Aroma" cards can also be put in check via "Narrow Pass" "Summon Limit, and "Summon Breaker". The potpourri of Attributes make them vulnerable to "Gozen Match" and "Battle of the Elements". "Aroma" monsters can also be easily Tributed (via "Kaiju"s, "Lava Golem", etc) unless you control “Cactus Bouncer”, and easily removed from the field via general field control due to a lack of card effect immunity, backrow removal and total uselessness off the field. Finally, the known "Aromage" monsters thus far are not of hefty ATK/DEF (save for the secondary effect of "Bergamot",) thence unless the effect of "Rosemary" is serving as a temporary bridal against monsters in a pinch, they can easily yield to more aggressive or faster Deck builds.
The backrow support is highly vulnerable to general Spell/Trap removal and furthermore, none of these cards have effects when they're destroyed or are in the GY, nor effects that banish themselves from the GY for other effects. The first effect of "Humid Winds" can also be stopped by "Thunder King Rai-Oh", "Droll & Lock Bird" and "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring"; the latter two which can effectively causing a waste of 1/8th of one's total LPs.
Recommended cards
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