Phantom Revengers Reveals New Illusion Archetype: Hecatoncheire

We’re eating well this week as Konami has released information on a new Illusion archetype coming in Doom of Dimensions.

Backrow Support

Normally, we’d be starting new archetype reveals with the main deck roster of monster cards. Given what we’ve seen so far, however, we’ll be taking an exception for this instance.

The context the backrow support builds can help give a better idea of what this archetype aims to do and how it can achieve it.

Hecatoncheire Tartarus

Credit: Konami

^{Quick-Play Spell Card}

^{(1) Activate 1 of these effects (but you can only choose each effect of this card’s name once per turn);}

^{● If you control a “Hecatoncheire” monster: Target 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls; return it to the hand.}

^{● Fusion Summon 1 “Hecatoncheire” Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing its material from your field and/or GY. If you use face-up monsters you control owned by your opponent, you can treat them as “Hecatoncheire” monsters.}

While the first effect of Hecatoncheire Tartarus isn’t the most eyebrow-raising, it’s still a form of generic disruption that’s only limited by a soft once per turn clause.

The second effect, though, is the real ‘meat and potatoes’ of this archetype. The Quick-Play speed and capability of using materials from the graveyard elevate this card to a form of board interaction that the opponent has to be wary of.

Tartarus’ last line is telling of what’s to come. This particular archetype has a penchant for taking control of your opponent’s cards to treat them as resources for your plays.

Counter Trap Cards:

Ibt al Hecatoncheire & Yad al Hecatoncheire

Credit: Konami

^{Shared Clause:}

^{You can only activate 1 card with this card’s name per turn.}

^{Ibt al Hecatoncheire}

^{When your opponent activates a monster effect and you control a “Hecatoncheire” monster: Negate the activation, and if you do destroy that monster, then you can Special Summon it to your field.}

^{Yad al Hecatoncheire}

^{When your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card and you control a “Hecatoncheire” monster: Negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card, then you can Set it to your field.}

Both these Counter Trap cards are two sides of the same coin. They both share the same capability of negating an effect and then subsequently stealing their target from the opponent.

The only real downsides to these cards are their hard once-per-turn clause and needing a “Hecatoncheire” body already on the field.

We’re a little surprised that more restrictions weren’t imposed, but that might just be Konami recognizing that Trap cards already have a lot working against them in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!

Fusion Extra Deck Monsters

Shared Second Effect:

(2) If this card battles a monster, neither can be destroyed by that battle.

Hecatoncheire Jawza

Credit: Konami

^{1 “Hecatoncheire” monster + 1 Illusion monster}

^{Must first be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by Tributing 1 Illusion monster and 1 face-up monster you control owned by your opponent. You can only use the (1)st effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) During your Main Phase: You can add 1 “Hecatoncheire” card from your Deck or GY to your hand.}

The Snatch Steal-like effect is on full display with these Fusion summons. Despite Jawza’s lack of interruption or board interaction, it does one thing that can’t be ignored. It’s a walking in-archetype search.

If left alone, Hecatoncheire Jawza will just keep generating card advantage over and over again. Due to this, the opponent will have to find an effect to get rid of Jawza because of its innate resilience to battle destruction.

The best part about this Fusion monster is that it doesn’t necessarily need a “Hecatoncheire” body nor an actual fusion spell. It can be cheated out quite easily as long as you already have any Illusion-type monster on the board alongside a monster card owned by your opponent.

In this archetype, both of these requirements are fairly easy to get to.

Hecatoncheire Xeno

Credit: Konami

^{3 “Hecatoncheire” monsters}

^{You can only use the (1)st and (3)rd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.}

^{(1) During the Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can look at 2 random face-down cards in your opponent’s Extra Deck, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 of them to your field.}

^{(3) If this Fusion Summoned card in its owner’s control is destroyed by an opponent’s card effect: You can take control of any number of monsters they control.}

Hecatoncheire Xeno is the boss monster that a player will be using Hecatoncheire Tartarus for the most. For what it’s worth, though, Xeno offers a very unique form of board interaction.

The Extra Deck is one of the most sacred places in Yu-Gi-Oh! A lot of powerful and regularly used staples sleep there, and this card can just bring them out to use as your own without needing to worry about summoning conditions.

The quick effect speed Xeno has on its third ability adds to its potential when going first.

Once the opponent starts their turn, you can wait for them to summon one of their extra deck monsters to raise your chances of hitting a more important extra deck piece.

You could easily imagine an opponent’s goosebumps rising when they realize they need to bypass their own S:P Little Knight that you happened to have taken.

Of course, Hecatoncheire Xeno is not without its flaws. It lacks any form of effect protection, so it can be removed easily outside of battle. The issue for the opponent is that they don’t want to use a destruction effect.

The looming threat of losing your entire field once Xeno is destroyed will need a player to re-evaluate their turn sequencing when interacting with this particular piece of the archetype.

Some Quick Thoughts

Before we move on, we’d like to point out that despite everything Hecatoncheire Jawza and Hecatoncheire Xeno can do, they lack any form of special summoning lock.

This lack of restriction makes the Hecatoncheire extra deck monsters very generic friendly.

With how Yu-Gi-Oh! lets players use all but a select number of cards in the pool; this archetype can lead to some very creative deck-building space. What that will look like in the future will be anyone’s guess, though.

The Main Deck Roster:

The Level 6s:

Credit: Konami

^{Shared Once-Per-Turn Clause:}

^{You can only use the (1)st and (3)rd effect of this card's name each once per turn.}

^{Shared Second Effect:}

^{(2) If this card battles a monster, neither can be destroyed by that battle.}

^{Hecatoncheire Ibel}

^{(1) You can reveal this card in your hand; shuffle it into the Deck, then Special Summon 1 “Hecatoncheire” monster from your Deck in Defense Position, except “Hecatoncheire Ibel”.}

^{(3) If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 “Hecatoncheire” monster in your GY, except “Hecatoncheire Ibel”; Special Summon it.}

^{Hecatoncheire Yadel}

^{(1) You can reveal this card in your hand; shuffle it into the Deck, then add 1 “Hecatoncheire” Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand.}

^{(3) If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 “Hecatoncheire” Spell/Trap in your GY; Set it.}

Mirroring the previously listed Counter Traps, Hecatoncheire Ibel and Hecatoncheire Yadel are the main deck tools for accessing any other parts of the Hecatoncheire archetype.

They do it with almost no risk to themselves as their ability cost to get started is just revealing themselves.

Ibel is especially praiseworthy because it just special summons the other main deck roster members straight from the deck. This will not only preserve your normal summon for the turn but also bypass the usual forms of interruptions like Droll & Lock Bird.

Yadel will probably be the bigger hand trap magnet, but it’s a small price to pay for faster access to any of the backrow support. If you manage to get either card sent to the graveyard, then that’s just added card advantage through their recursion.

^{The Level 7s:}

Credit: Konami

^{Shared Effect:}

^{If this card battles a monster, neither can be destroyed by that battle.}

^{Hecatoncheire Ghoddos}

^{You can only use the (1)st and (3)rd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.}

^{(1) If a card(s) is added to your opponent’s hand, except during the Draw Phase: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.}

^{(3) During your opponent’s Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can target 1 monster in your opponent’s GY; Special Summon it to your field, but banish it when it leaves the field.}

^{Hecatoncheire Gyges}

^{You can only use the (1)st and (2)nd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.}

^{(1) If a card(s) is added to your opponent’s hand, except during the Draw Phase: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.}

^{(2) During your Main Phase: You can excavate the top 3 cards of your opponent’s Deck, you can Special Summon 1 excavated monster, also shuffle the rest back into the Deck.}

^{Hecatoncheire Breus}

^{You can only use the 1st and 2nd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.}

^{(1) If a card(s) is added to your opponent’s hand outside of the Draw Phase: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.}

^{(2) During your Main Phase: You can look at 1 random card in your opponent’s hand, and if it is a monster, you can Special Summon it to your field.}

These three are the targets that Hecatoncheire Ibel will be getting into rotation. Outside of their battle destruction resilience, they also share other similarities.

For one, Ghoddos, Gyges, and Breus, all trigger off of Yu-Gi-Oh’s most common tactic, getting a card from the main deck outside of the Draw Phase. Since the Mulcharmy monsters are the most commonly abused staples, these three are more than likely to come out.

Neither of these three cards interferes with each other’s special summon. In theory, you can get all three Level 7s out from the hand in a single turn.

Where the differences lie is in their method of emulating Snatch Steal.

Ghoddos can be a form of graveyard interruption if the opponent allows it to exist during their play sequence.

Gyges can grab some very important main deck monster pieces if the controlling player is lucky enough. It’s not at Quick Effect speed, but it gives Hecatoncheire some flexibility when going first.

The same can be said for Breus, but it comes with an added compensation for hand knowledge should the attempt to “Snatch Steal” fail.

Closing Thoughts

As far as main deck components go, this archetype is very good at what it does: stealing your opponent’s resources.

It does feel like the Hecatoncheire cards are lacking in end board pieces, though. A lot of the Hecatoncheire cards lean more into being reactionary, relying on what the opponent does and what they have for their win condition.

If Konami can provide this archetype with a couple of easily accessible omni-negates, that will really push the Hecatoncheire cards into the spotlight.

That said, with how friendly this archetype is for deck building, a skilled enough builder could easily splash two to three other engines to work alongside these new cards.

Doom of Dimensions: New Doom-Z Archetype Revealed