Cubic
"Cubic", known in the OCG as "Hokai" (
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Contents
OriginEdit
The Japanese name of the archetype, "Hōkai", is written with the characters 方 ("Direction") and 界 ("World"). This appears to be a reference to the Buddhist term "worlds of the ten directions" (
The kanji 方 can be used to form the word "cube" (
The cube and multiple worlds motif is referenced by the film's title, The Dark Side of Dimensions.
DesignEdit
The Cubic monsters are bizarre creatures with weird body proportions and shapes. The "Cubic Beasts" are slightly recognizable with "Garnex" and "Garoodia" looking like animals and "Gundil" looking like a stone building. The "Cubic Kings" are more abstract with some of their body parts looking extremely long while other parts are overly short. The basis for these monsters, "Vijam" is a teardrop-like creature (or seed if you will) with wings, a head fringe, and a singular emotionless eye. This monster's eye and texture can be seen on various portions of the "Cubic Kings" and "Cubic Beasts", with the amount of portions (mostly) reflecting the number of "Vijams" needed to bring them out. "Crimson Nova" and its upgrade "Crimson Nova Trinity" are more sinister in design, fitting their label of "Dark Cubic Lords", with multiple "Vijam" eyes littered throughout their body as well as arms and tentacles that end with sharp metallic blades. The final monster, "Duza," looks like a lesser form of "Indora Doom Volt" without "Vijam" eyes or texture. A recurring design element on both their media depictions and their Spell/Trap support are orange energy cubes, tying into the Quantum Cube used by Aigami. The "Dark Cubic Lords" feature purple cubes as their spindly lower halves as well as a transparent purple cube in their "mid section".
Playing styleEdit
The archetype is centered around swarming the field with "Vijam the Cubic Seed" and using it as material for stronger monsters.
MonstersEdit
The "Cubic" monsters can be split into several sub-groups. Most are part of either the Beast-type "Cubic Beasts" and the Fairy "Cubic Kings", which share a number of traits with each other. Their Levels range for 2-4, they require sending 1-3 "Cubic" monsters (higher Levels require more), have 0 original ATK/DEF, and can float into copies of "Vijam".
- The "Cubic Beasts" ("Dark Garnex the Cubic Beast", "Blade Garoodia the Cubic Beast", "Buster Gundil the Cubic Behemoth") gain [Materials Required for its Summon] * 1000 ATK on Summon, and can make a number of attacks equal to the materials needed. The Level 2-3 "Beasts" can float into copies of "Vijam" by destroying a monster by battle.
- The "Cubic Kings" ("Geira Guile the Cubic King", "Vulcan Dragni the Cubic King", "Indiora Doom Volt the Cubic Emperor) gain [Materials Required for its Summon] * 800 ATK on Summon, and deal 800 burn damage when Special Summoned from hand. The Level 2-3 "Kings" can float into "Vijam" at the end of the Damage Step, if they battled.
There is also the Fiend "Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord", and its Fusion counterpart, "Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord", which act as the archetype's ultimate bosses, and share the effects of both "Beasts" and "Kings". The Main Deck "Crimson Nova" summons itself (from hand) by revealing 3 "Cubic" monsters with different names, is unaffected by monsters' activated effects if they have <= 3000 ATK, can make another attack when destroying a monster, and deals burn damage. The Fusion "Crimson Nova Trinity" requires 3 "Crimson Nova" to Fusion Summon, cannot be targeted or destroyed and has a similar suite of effects.
Finally, "Duza the Meteor Cubic Vessel" is an important piece of support: it is a Normal Summonable Machine that sends a "Cubic" card to the GY, either sending "Vijam" so the above monsters can summon it, or the "Cubic" Spells/Traps for their GY effect.
Spells / TrapsEdit
Their Spells and Traps often modulate the ATK of monsters or place Cubic Counters on opposing monsters (which negate their effects and prevent attacks).
- "Cubic Wave" doubles the ATK of one of the controller's "Cubic" monsters and halves that of an opponent's monster. It can banish itself and any number of "Cubic" monsters from the GY, placing a number of Cubic Counters on opponent's monsters equal to the number of banished monsters.
- "Cubic Karma" sends copies of "Vijam" from the Deck to the Graveyard, while also giving one of the controller's "Cubic" monsters, except "Vijam", 800 ATK per sent monster. It also halves the opponent's LP by sending itself to the Graveyard when "Vijam" is Special Summoned by a "Cubic" monster's effect during the opponent's turn, and can banish itself form the GY to search a "Cubic" monster.
- "Unification of the Cubic Lords" is a Fusion Trap that enables the summon of "Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord" with materials from hand/field. It can also banish itself from the Graveyard to enable the controller to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Cubic" monster from the hand or Deck, ignoring its summoning conditions and gives protection from destruction that turn.
- "Cubic Mandala" lets the controller target the opponent's destroyed monsters in the Graveyard that were sent there that turn and Special Summon them to the opponent's field, whilst reducing their ATK to 0 and placing a Cubic Counter on each. The card also plays a key role in further locking down the opponent's other monster effects, negating any activated ones while the opponent controls the summoned monsters.
- "Cubic Rebirth" punishes the opponent for declaring direct attacks by Special Summoning their other copies of the attacking monster from their hand, Deck, and Graveyard, then striping those monsters of all their ATK and placing Cubic Counters on them. It then has a GY effect that Special Summons a Level 4 or lower "Cubic" monster from the hand or Deck, ignoring the summoning conditions.
WeaknessesEdit
- The archetype is heavily oriented around battle: their boss monsters exclusively focus on ATK gain, battle, and effect damage. This is generally considered too slow to be competitive, especially since they cannot consistently OTK.
- Because the "Cubic Beasts", "Kings", and "Lords" all require multiple "Cubic" monsters in field/hand, the archetype is prone to bricking or dead hands.
- Since the "Beasts" and "Kings" summon "Vijam" from the GY, anti-GY floodgates like "Dimensional Fissure" and "Macro Cosmos" will largely shut off their archetype.
- Any effects that prevent "Vijam" from being Summoned, such as "Psi-Blocker" and "Prohibition", can severely cripple the archetype. Though, if the "Cubic" player runs "Engraver of the Mark", such a move can backfire greatly.
Recommended cardsEdit
- Blade Garoodia the Cubic Beast
- Buster Gundil the Cubic Behemoth
- Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord
- Dark Garnex the Cubic Beast
- Duza the Meteor Cubic Vessel
- Geira Guile the Cubic King
- Indiora Doom Volt the Cubic Emperor
- Vijam the Cubic Seed
- Vulcan Dragni the Cubic King
- King of the Swamp
- Summoner Monk
- Three-Eyed Ghost
- Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord
- Snake-Eyes Doomed Dragon
- Monsters that can be summoned using "Tao Tao the Chanter"