"Penguin" (Japanese: ペンギン Pengin) is an archetype comprised of WATER monsters used by Crump and Rio Kastle in the anime. With the exception of a few monsters (like "Bolt Penguin" and "Fluffal Penguin"), all members are Aqua type. Most of the "Penguin" monsters have unremarkable ATK and DEF, instead focusing on bouncing effects to disrupt the opponent's field, and Special Summoning "Penguin" monsters from the Main Deck and Graveyard. Some of the Effect Monsters are quite splashable, such as "Penguin Soldier" and "Nightmare Penguin".
Though members have existed since the Magic Ruler/Spell Ruler set, one of the earliest booster packs, they did not receive any actual support until Generation Force.
Main Cards[]
"Penguin Soldier": Can return up to 2 monsters on the field to the hand, including itself if it wasn't destroyed by battle when flipped (such as when Flip Summoning itself). Especially effective against Synchro, Fusion, Xyz and Link Monsters, since they go back to the Extra Deck, which means the opponent loses field advantage without gaining hand advantage. Since the cards are returned to the hand, this is useful to remove monsters when effects make destroying them difficult, such as "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" and "Stardust Dragon".
"Penguin Knight": Being the first Penguin Effect Monster printed, it's effect is far different from the others in the archetype. Being a very situational re-shuffle effect, somewhat similar to that of "Fiber Jar" but that has to be initiated by your opponent, it is really questionable as whether or not to use it in a typical Penguin deck. However, using it in combination with "Nopenguin", if this card's effect is activated while you have a "Nopenguin" in your Graveyard, all the cards in your Graveyard will get back to the Main Deck, but a monster will be Special Summoned in the opponent's turn, giving you a double line defense.
"Nightmare Penguin": Much like "Penguin Soldier", this card can bounce many of your opponent's stronger monsters. This card can only target 1 card, but it has a basic 1800 DEF, and might withstand an attack which "Penguin Soldier" may not. It is also Level 4, which makes it a perfect target for "The Great Emperor Penguin".
"Flying Penguin": A Normal Monster with low ATK and DEF. It can be used with cards like "The Great Emperor Penguin" or "Rescue Rabbit" in order to Xyz Summon Rank 4 Xyz Monsters. "Transmodify" can also tribute this card to summon the former a little easier, and it can be summoned straight from the deck with "Unexpected Dai".
"Bolt Penguin": Much like "Flying Penguin", this card is a Normal Monster with low ATK and DEF, so can be used with "The Great Emperor Penguin" or "Rescue Rabbit" to Xyz Summon Rank 3 Xyz Monsters. Being level 3 means it can also be used as Synchro material for "Penguin Brave".
"The Great Emperor Penguin": Can be Tributed to Special Summon up to 2 other "Penguin" monsters from your Deck. With its effect, many power-plays are enabled, and therefore it is currently considered the "Penguin" Deck's strongest card. Its effect can be combined with "Lemuria, the Forgotten City" to raise the levels of the Summoned monsters to Xyz Summon Xyz Monsters with higher ranks.
"Puny Penguin": "Penguins". It's mainly useful in bringing back the likes of "Penguin Soldier", "Nightmare Penguin", or even the "Great Emperor" himself to reuse their effects.
"Nopenguin": Useful for Rank 3 Xyz Summons, because it Special Summons itself from the Graveyard whenever the effect of a "Penguin" monster is activated, but only once per turn. While it can only be Summoned with its effect once per turn, Special Summoning it each turn is still useful each turn, as long as you have "Penguin" effects to activate. In addition, it banishes monsters that are returned to the hand by "Penguin Soldier" and "Nightmare Penguin".
"Guard Penguin": It can Special Summon itself when you take effect damage, making it useful for Rank 4 Xyz Summons.
"Fluffal Penguin": Has a similar effect to the banned card "Graceful Charity" when used for a fusion summon. The card is not very optimal for a "Penguin" deck due to a lack of synergy. It's mainly meant to support "Fluffal"/"Frightfur" monsters, and being Fairy type makes it less useful for a "Penguin" deck. It can still be special summoned off of "The Great Emperor Penguin" alongside a level 4 "Penguin" for a rank 4 play though.
"Penguin Torpedo": When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can target 1 Level 6 or lower monster your opponent controls; take control of it until the End Phase, but negate its effects, also it cannot declare an attack. This gimmick can be used for Xyz or Link using your opponent's Monsters.
"Glacial Beast Polar Penguin": Is the first tuner monster for the archetype. It's effects are in line with most members of the archetype, bouncing cards back to the hand, and can be special summoned off of "The Great Emperor Penguin" to make summoning the Synchro monster easier.
"Penguin Brave": Is the first member of the archetype to belong in the extra deck, being a Synchro Monster. The effects allow players to swarm the field with more "Penguin" monsters while protecting them from card effects. Its protection effect applies to all of your facedown cards and not just "Penguin" monsters so there is a possibility of running other Flip monsters.
Playing style[]
"Penguins" focus on bouncing cards back to its owner's hand with cards like "Penguin Soldier" and "Nightmare Penguin". Cards like "Neo-Spacian Grand Mole" can be used in this Deck to keep with the bouncing theme. You can also use "Nopenguin" or "Degenerate Circuit" to banish bounced cards instead of returning them to the hand. "Spiritual Water Art - Aoi" can dispose of monsters that you returned to the opponent's hand, so using it after using "Penguin Soldier" or "Nightmare Penguin" is a great combo to get rid of strong monsters. By using "Book of Moon", you can re-use these effects to return cards to the opponent's hand again.
"Monarchs" can be used to fill out the Deck, since you often have an extra "Penguin" available for Tribute Summons.
"Rescue Rabbit" can be included to bring out either "Bolt Penguin" or "Flying Penguin" to Xyz Summon either Rank 3 or 4 Monster, which can also be brought out by "The Great Emperor Penguin".
"Fluffal Penguin", despite also being a member of this archetype, has little synergy with the rest of the members because it's primarily meant to support "Fluffal" cards, that and being a Fairy monster makes it a little awkward to include in a dedicated Penguin deck (though it is still appropriately WATER type).
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