Archetype Analysis: Jurrac

Last updated: 13.02.2026 (WIP)

Jurrac Giganoto“, or: Burning dinosaur brings underwhelming results.

There was a time before useful generic Dinosaur support, when Dinosaurs belonged to the ranks of under-supported types like Pyro and Reptile. Back then, “Jurassic World” was a Field Spell you kind of had to use if you wanted one, “Dino Rabbit” existed but was forced to use cards like “Kabazauls” due to lack of other useful Normal Monsters if you wanted something to accompany “Sabersaurus” in your deck, and “Evolution Pills” were a nigh unplayable gimmick sacrificing Reptiles to gain access to what your deck was already supposed to run normally. During those times spawned a Dinosaur-focused archetype named “Jurrac”, the Duel Terminal/Hidden Arsenal archetype that lore-wise whooped the arse of the “Fabled” monsters. Needless to say that “Jurrac” did not leave a huge impact in the Dinosaur-Type, or else people would know about the giant potential of cards like “Jurrac Giganoto“. Eventually, they got new support; which basically made most of the old cards redundant. Nonetheless, this article is meant to give the full picture of the “Jurrac” archetype, so let’s still take a look at what some spicy dinos can do.

Continue reading

Archetype Analysis: Evol-

Last updated: 07.02.2026 (WIP)

Evolzar Laggia“: The end of evolution in “Evol-“, but also the monster you want to see the most.

Even with a fairly solid idea of what most archetypes in Yugioh do (or only even knowing that they exist), there is always and will probably always be stuff that is completely new to me. Prior to writing this article, I had no idea of what to make of the “Evol-” archetype that I am obviously going to write about in the few paragraphs to come. But, well, since I wanted to know what exactly the deal with “Evol-” is, I took some time to research the subject and broadened my horizons for an averagely powerful but well-designed archetype.

Continue reading

Archetype Analysis: B.E.S.

Last updated: 21.01.2026 (WIP)

B.E.S. Big Core“, “B.E.S. Tetran“, and “B.E.S. Crystal Core” in the artwork of “Boss Rush“.

Back in the day, when Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum and Link Summoning were yet unknown concepts and big monsters still entered the field from the hand via Tribute Summon, there was an edition called Rise of Destiny. The main cards you wanted to draw from it was “Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch“, one of the earliest spawns of the “Monarch” series, and “The Creator“, which was the monster printed on the front of the booster pack and is mostly forgotten by now. Talking about forgotten cards, in the midst of this medley cardboard from the mid-2000s, there was a card called “Big Core“, a seemingly weak Tribute Monster with a battle protection effect based on generic counters placed on the card. Back then no one could have known that this one monster would spawn an entire archetype we now know as “B.E.S.”, short for “Bacterian Empire Ship”1; and which is, unsurprisingly, the theme of this very article.

Continue reading

Archetype Analysis: Celtic Guard

Last updated: 26.03.2021 (WIP)

I would never have imagined that some random vanilla monster from Yugi’s deck would become an archetype, but they probably had to do something aside from “Dark Magician“.

In Yugioh, archetypes are sometimes confusing. On one hand, there are groups like the “Numbers” archetype that is incredibly big but clearly not meant to work as one unified archetype and then there are groups like “Monarchs”, who are as far as I know technically not even an archetype because no support card specifically asks for a “Monarch” card. Because that is how a series becomes an archetype: Specifying the “archetype” in the card text. Which brings me to the subject of this article: “Celtic Guard”.

Continue reading

Archetype Analysis: Worm

Last updated: 03.05.2026

If an alien invasion sends a Death Star/Breeding Tank-hybrid, you might be in serious trouble.

I have to admit that I am fascinated by bad archetypes in Yugioh. Konami proved more than once that they are are to make pretty much anything playable (“B.E.S.” for example), which makes the existence of certain sets of cards that cannot perform on any level rather puzzling. Nevertheless, there are a few archetypes that rightfully obtained the title of “bad archetype”, many of them coming from the Duel Terminal/Hidden Arsenal line of editions. One of the worst archetypes stemming from this time was already mentioned on the blog in form of “Ally of Justice“, but lore-wise they were formed to fight an archetype that is pretty much equally as bad in the card game: “Worm”.

Continue reading