Guardian

Guardian
ガーディアン (Gādian)
"Guardian Grarl", "Backup Gardna", "Guardian Eatos", "Guardian Elma" and "Guardian Kay'est" with Rafael and his family.
Other names
French	Gardien
German	Wächter
Italian	Guardiano
Korean	가디언 Gadieon (romanized)
Portuguese	Guardião
Spanish	Guardián
Other names	; Arabic الوصيّ Croatian Čuvari
Sets
Sets	Tournament Pack: 2nd Season Labyrinth of Nightmare Dark Crisis Invasion of Chaos Pharaonic Guardian Hidden Arsenal 2 Duelist Revolution The Duelist Genesis The Shining Darkness Raging Battle The Lost Millennium Duelist Pack: Yusei 3 Structure Deck - Invincible Fortress Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator promotional cards Master Collection Volume 2 Legacy of the Valiant Extreme Force Dark Neostorm Lightning Overdrive Battle of Chaos Phantom Nightmare The Infinite Forbidden
Sets	Tournament Pack: 2nd Season Labyrinth of Nightmare Dark Crisis Invasion of Chaos Pharaonic Guardian Hidden Arsenal 2 Duelist Revolution The Duelist Genesis The Shining Darkness Raging Battle The Lost Millennium Duelist Pack: Yusei 3 Structure Deck - Invincible Fortress Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator promotional cards Master Collection Volume 2 Legacy of the Valiant Extreme Force Dark Neostorm Lightning Overdrive Battle of Chaos Phantom Nightmare The Infinite Forbidden
TCG Sets	Metal Raiders Spell Ruler Light of Destruction Stardust Overdrive Duel Terminal - Preview Wave 2 Duel Terminal 1 Duel Terminal 2 Duel Terminal 6 Legendary Collection 3: Yugi's World Legendary Collection 3: Yugi's World Mega Pack Battle Pack: Epic Dawn Dark Legends Dark Beginning 2 Dark Revelation Volume 1 Dark Revelation Volume 2 Dark Revelation Volume 3 Gold Series 3 Retro Pack Turbo Pack: Booster Eight Duelist Pack Collection Tin 2009 Sneak Peek Participation Cards McDonald's Promotional Cards 2 Rise of the Dragon Lords Structure Deck Dragons of Legend Duelist Saga Battles of Legend: Hero's Revenge Battles of Legend: Armageddon Speed Duel: Battle City Box Hidden Arsenal: Chapter 1 2022 Tin of the Pharaoh's Gods Speed Duel GX: Midterm Paradox Maze of Memories Metal Raiders (25th Anniversary Edition) Dark Crisis (25th Anniversary Edition) OTS Tournament Pack 23 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection II Quarter Century Bonanza Speed Duel: Battle City Finals
TCG Sets	Metal Raiders Spell Ruler Light of Destruction Stardust Overdrive Duel Terminal - Preview Wave 2 Duel Terminal 1 Duel Terminal 2 Duel Terminal 6 Legendary Collection 3: Yugi's World Legendary Collection 3: Yugi's World Mega Pack Battle Pack: Epic Dawn Dark Legends Dark Beginning 2 Dark Revelation Volume 1 Dark Revelation Volume 2 Dark Revelation Volume 3 Gold Series 3 Retro Pack Turbo Pack: Booster Eight Duelist Pack Collection Tin 2009 Sneak Peek Participation Cards McDonald's Promotional Cards 2 Rise of the Dragon Lords Structure Deck Dragons of Legend Duelist Saga Battles of Legend: Hero's Revenge Battles of Legend: Armageddon Speed Duel: Battle City Box Hidden Arsenal: Chapter 1 2022 Tin of the Pharaoh's Gods Speed Duel GX: Midterm Paradox Maze of Memories Metal Raiders (25th Anniversary Edition) Dark Crisis (25th Anniversary Edition) OTS Tournament Pack 23 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection II Quarter Century Bonanza Speed Duel: Battle City Finals
OCG Sets	Booster 7 Spell of Mask Power of the Guardian Invader of Darkness Limited Edition 15 Duel Terminal - Invasion of Worms!! Duel Terminal - Justice Strikes Back!! Duel Terminal Chronicle 1 - Chapter of Awakening Duel Terminal Acceleration Guide promotional card Structure Deck: Surge of Radiance Structure Deck: Revival of the Great Dragon Expert Edition Volume 3 Tournament Pack 2008 Vol.1 Premium Pack 3 Dark Ceremony Edition Duelist Legacy Volume.1 Extra Pack Volume 2 Duelist Set: Version Lightning Star Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark duel Stories Duelist Legend in Tokyo Dome attendance cards Premium Pack 15 20th Anniversary Pack 2nd Wave Deck Build Pack: Secret Slayers Battle of Chaos +1 Bonus Pack Secret Utility Box World Premiere Pack 2023 Phantom Nightmare +1 Bonus Pack Premium Pack: The Legend of Duelist Quarter Century Edition
OCG Sets	Booster 7 Spell of Mask Power of the Guardian Invader of Darkness Limited Edition 15 Duel Terminal - Invasion of Worms!! Duel Terminal - Justice Strikes Back!! Duel Terminal Chronicle 1 - Chapter of Awakening Duel Terminal Acceleration Guide promotional card Structure Deck: Surge of Radiance Structure Deck: Revival of the Great Dragon Expert Edition Volume 3 Tournament Pack 2008 Vol.1 Premium Pack 3 Dark Ceremony Edition Duelist Legacy Volume.1 Extra Pack Volume 2 Duelist Set: Version Lightning Star Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark duel Stories Duelist Legend in Tokyo Dome attendance cards Premium Pack 15 20th Anniversary Pack 2nd Wave Deck Build Pack: Secret Slayers Battle of Chaos +1 Bonus Pack Secret Utility Box World Premiere Pack 2023 Phantom Nightmare +1 Bonus Pack Premium Pack: The Legend of Duelist Quarter Century Edition
Asian-English-Only Sets	Structure Deck: Illusion of the Dark Magicians Power-Up Pack Creation Pack 02
Asian-English-Only Sets	Structure Deck: Illusion of the Dark Magicians Power-Up Pack Creation Pack 02
Korea-Only Sets	Synergy Pack 01: Synchro Acceleration
Korea-Only Sets	Synergy Pack 01: Synchro Acceleration
Appearances
Anime appearances	Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Anime appearances	Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Manga appearances	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Manga appearances	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Lists
Members Support
Members Support

"Guardian" (ガーディアン Gādian) is an archetype of monsters with various Attributes (primarily DARK and WIND) and Types (primarily Fairy and Fiend) used by Rafael in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, as well as Apollo and Diana in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. The original "Guardian" monsters each have a corresponding Equip Spell Card.

"Celtic Guardian", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2", "Guardian of the Labyrinth" and "The Reliable Guardian" are not "Guardian" cards as they do not include 「ガーディアン」 in their Japanese names. As such, the only "Guardian" support card in the TCG/OCG, "Arsenal Summoner", has specifically excluded them. In other TCG languages, "Arsenal Summoner" has also excluded the following cards:

• French: "Il Blud", "Mid Shield Gardna", "Mysterious Guard" and "Phalanx Pike"
• German: "Gravekeeper's" cards, "Guard Penalty", "Kid Guard", "Lava Battleguard", "Swamp Battleguard", "Obnoxious Celtic Guard" (now renamed) and "Fusion Guard"
• Italian: "Golem Sentry", "Lava Battleguard", "Swamp Battleguard", "Mid Shield Gardna", "Obnoxious Celtic Guard" (now renamed) and "Hedge Guard" (which doesn't have "Guardiano" in its name)

The core "Guardian" monsters were initially monsters of each Attribute released in Dark Crisis (Power of the Guardian in the OCG) and re-released in Dark Revelation Volume 1. They can only be Summoned if the player already controls their corresponding Equip Spell Card. However, they can still be Set without controlling their respective Equip Spell Card. The Equip Spell does not have to be equipped to their corresponding monster, and due to their Summoning conditions, usually cannot be. With the appearance of Rafael, "Guardian Eatos" and "Guardian Dreadscythe" were added to the core "Guardian" monsters, but spiritually replaced "Guardian Tryce" and "Guardian Baou", respectively. "Eatos" is the only one of the "Guardians" with an associated Equip Spell Card who can be Summoned without restrictions. The "Power of the Guardians" is a general associated archetype Equip Spell Card released later. Another associated card is "Guarded Treasure".

Members

Attribute	Level	Guardian	Effect center	Corresponding weapon	Shared weapon(s)
Dark	4	Baou	Battle and ATK	Wicked-Breaking Flamberge	Power of the Guardians
Fire	4	Ceal	Equip Spell Card and Destroy	Shooting Star Bow
Wind	3	Elma	Equip Spell Card re-equip	Butterfly Dagger
Earth	5	Grarl	Special Summons from your hand	Gravity Axe
Water	4	Kay'est	Unaffected by Spell effects and cannot be targeted for attacks	Rod of Silence
Light	5	Tryce	Special Summons from your Graveyard monster used in this Tribute Summon	Twin Swords of Flashing Light
Light	8	Eatos	Target, Banishes from your opponent's Graveyard and ATK	Celestial Sword
Dark	8	Dreadscythe	Cannot Normal or Special Summon monsters. Special Summons itself from GY	Reaper Scythe

Playing style

The Guardian monsters are all centered on supporting their corresponding Equip spells and most of them cannot be summoned unless they’re face-up on the field already. As a result, search cards like "Hidden Armory" and "Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu" can be included to add consistency and make their summon much easier.

"Armory Call" can also be used to search your equip spells. Despite being trap card in comparison to its counterpart, it doesn’t eat the normal summon and it can equip the card straight from the deck, which can come in handy during the battle phase.

"Arsenal Summoner" is the deck’s main searcher so it’s highly recommended that you run as many copies as possible. One monster that can make the summon of each Guardian so much easier is "Fairy Tail - Rella", as it can equip any equip card to itself straight from the deck, easing the summoning requirement for any Guardian monster.

The deck doesn’t rely too much on face down cards, since it’s centered around equip spells, so some Anti-Meta cards can be included like "Denko Sekka". The archetype’s monsters are also of different types and attributes so "There Can Be Only One" is an interesting option. The higher level Guardian monsters can be more easily summoned if you include cards like "The Monarchs Stormforth", and because the deck doesn’t special summon too often, cards like "Jowgen the Spiritualist", "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo", and "Vanity's" cards would be a possible inclusion.

"Guardian Ceal" is an Equip Spell Card clearing card to lessen the field occupation of the owner's Spell & Trap Zone.

"Guardian Elma" is a re-equip card, enabling the movement of Equip Spell Cards on the field.

"Guardian Kay'est" is a battle protection card, and combined with cards like "Spirit Barrier", the opponent will be locked out of attacking any monsters or being able to inflict any battle damage either.

Recommended cards

Recommended Cards

Monsters

Effect Monsters

• Arsenal Summoner
• Guardian Baou
• Guardian Ceal
• Guardian Dreadscythe
• Guardian Eatos
• Guardian Elma
• Guardian Grarl
• Guardian Kay'est
• Guardian Tryce
• Chaos Hunter
• Denko Sekka
• Fairy Tail - Rella
• Immortal Phoenix Gearfried
• Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu
• Knight Day Grepher
• Magician of Faith
• Phoenix Gearfried
• Summoner Monk

Tuner monsters

• Plaguespreader Zombie

Extra Deck

Fusion Monsters

• Sea Monster of Theseus

Synchro Monsters

• Power Tool Braver Dragon
• Power Tool Dragon
• Power Tool Mecha Dragon

Spells & Traps

Spells

• Wicked-Breaking Flamberge - Baou
• Shooting Star Bow - Ceal
• Reaper Scythe - Dreadscythe
• Celestial Sword - Eatos
• Gravity Axe - Grarl
• Rod of Silence - Kay'est
• Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce
• Arms Regeneration
• Book of Taiyou
• Guarded Treasure
• Hidden Armory
• Magical Stone Excavation
• Moon Mirror Shield
• Pot of Dichotomy
• Pot of Extravagance
• Ready Fusion
• Release Restraint Wave
• Swords at Dawn
• The Monarchs Stormforth

Traps

• Armory Call
• Collected Power
• Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan
• Imperial Iron Wall
• Jar of Avarice
• Royal Decree
• Spirit Barrier
• There Can Be Only One

Weaknesses

While the deck can incorporate Anti-meta strategies to compete with other decks, several other cards can be fatal to the deck such as "Anti-Spell Fragrance" or "Imperial Order", postponing the activation of your equip spells. Cards like "Gozen Match" and "Rivalry of Warlords" can also be devastating since all of the Guardians are of different types and attributes. Cards that banish can also be a problem for the deck, locking you out of using your graveyard for resources (a good counter to this can be "Imperial Iron Wall" or "Chaos Hunter").

The Guardian monsters are all Effect Monsters, therefore, negated effects are a major weakness.