Now that I have your attention, it’s time to cover yet another way to build Rahi. Today’s Type are the Reptiles, lurking in wait and ambushing unsuspecting travelers. As a concept, this is pretty much entirely based on the very memorable Rahi Beasts quote describing Tarakava – “even if you can’t see them, they’re always there”. So let’s start with those, shall we?
Tarakava, Lizard Rahi
Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 6 | Scale 1/1 | WATER Reptile | ATK 2600 / DEF 1200
[ Pendulum Effect ] When an attack is declared involving an opponent’s monster: You can target 1 Reptile “Rahi” Monster Card in your Spell & Trap Zone; Special Summon it (but it cannot attack directly this turn), and if you do, destroy that opponent’s monster. You can only use this effect of “Tarakava, Lizard Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Flavor Text ] The first thing to remember about Tarakava is that even if you can’t see them, they are always there.
[ Pendulum Effect ] Reptile “Rahi” monsters in your leftmost or rightmost Main Monster Zone gain this effect. ●Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can place this card face-up in your Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell, or if it is a Pendulum Monster, you can place it in your Pendulum Zone instead. —————————————- [ Flavor Text ] Sand Tarakava are slightly smaller than their Tarakava relatives. Their hunting method is to hide under the sand and wait for unsuspecting prey to come near.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
This pair of punchy Pendulums consists of the classic version that appears from beneath the sea, and the less-known recolor that hides under the sands. Which means the former facilitates the “ambush” – where a lurking Reptile jumps forward to eviscerate an opponent’s monster that has carelessly gotten involved in battle – and the latter sets it up by granting your Reptiles the ability to slide into lurking position. In the simplest case, you have these two cards in the Pendulum Zones, battle occurs, the Tarakava jumps out and starts punching, and then it goes back to do the same thing next turn.
As for less simple cases, you may notice these effects also work with non-Pendulums in the regular Spell & Trap Zones. For example, you could put some Synchros there.
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters When your opponent activates a card or effect (Quick Effect): You can target 2 face-up monsters on the field, including this card; place them face-up in their owners’ Spell & Trap Zones as Continuous Spells. You can only use this effect of “Ranama, Lava Lurker Rahi” once per turn. Once per turn, during the Standby Phase, if this card is a Continuous Spell: You can destroy 1 other Monster Card in a Spell & Trap Zone, and if you do, Special Summon this card.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Ranama is built for just that purpose. In fact, it dives down in that direction on its own along with its prey when it senses motion (i.e., an effect activation) and also returns on its own once it has finished digesting. Coupled with a Tarakava ready to pounce on anyone foolish enough to attempt the classic out of “just hit over it”, this is sure to be a thorn in an opponent’s side one way or another.
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters If this card is Special Summoned: You can target up to 2 cards your opponent controls; this card loses exactly 1000 ATK for each targeted card, and if it does, shuffle them into the Deck. You can only use this effect of “Tarakava-Nui, Lizard King Rahi” once per turn. Loses 1000 ATK during your Main Phase only. While this card is a Continuous Spell, “Rahi” cards you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
If you’d like some more impact, how about a Tarakava-Nui? It doesn’t have the built-in mobility in either direction, but with help from its smaller (or rather unmutated) relatives, it can easily be put in the backrow as blanket destruction protection and brought forward whenever you need its service of PUNCH THINGS SO HARD THEY GO BACK TO THE DECK. The way this is paid for with ATK creates a slightly fancy dynamic where you get to punch two things if and only if you bring it out outside your own Main Phase as the Reptiles do – a regular old Synchro Summon any Rahi deck can perform will only get you one.
Okay, but how are we making these Synchros? This is the cue to look at the Reptile Rahi Tuners, and as it turns out, there aren’t any. Shit. Guess we’re playing Insects?
While that works to some extent, having an entire substrategy entirely reliant on that shared toolbox doesn’t feel right either. So, with no Reptile Tuners present or forthcoming, we’ll have to snake our way into tunerless Synchro Summons somehow.
[ Pendulum Effect ] Once per turn: You can destroy up to 2 “Rahi” Monster Cards you control, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Reptile “Rahi” Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose Level is less than or equal to their total Levels (this is treated as a Synchro Summon), then place it face-up in your Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card declares an attack: You can inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each Monster Card in your Spell & Trap Zone. If this card is destroyed: You can place 1 Reptile “Rahi” monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck face-up in your Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. You can only use each effect of “Bog Snake, Venomous Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Bog Snake does just that from the comfort of the Pendulum Zone, acquiring the necessary Levels by destroying your Monster Cards – including those stuck in the backrow such as itself, making this a one-card way to access a Ranama. One card more (with at least Level 3), and you’ll even get a Tarakava-Nui. Of course those monsters themselves then immediately go into hiding (before you get a chance to trigger on-Summon effects, it’s worth noting), but bringing them back out is the whole point of this strategy anyway.
In fact, destroying the Bog Snake with its own effect to make a Ranama will also let you put a Reptile into your backrow – even itself, if necessary. That means your lurking Ranama is already well fed and ready to jump to the Monster Zone in the next Standby Phase … which will trigger the Snake again. See, who needs Tuners anyway?
Also if you get it on the field and attack it burns a little, because venomous.
Since there aren’t a lot of Reptiles just yet, the deck is built as a hybrid with Insects, using the usually less splashable Kofo-Jaga engine to get easy access to the Nui-Kopen and thereby a variety of Spells and Traps. The trick here is that we actually don’t particularly care about getting locked out of the monster effects of our Reptiles, because several of our major plays – like making a Synchro with the Bog Snake or ambushing with the Tarakava – are performed entirely through effects those monsters have while treated as Spells, bypassing the lock entirely. The Insect+Reptile combination also meshes well with the use of Samurai Beetle as an additional extender, capable of natively going into a Ranama together with any of the Level 1 Tuners.
To take advantage of our nearly free searches, this build also includes some of the more situational Rahi Spells/Traps. Siege because it meshes perfectly with our goal to re-summon monsters of both high and low Levels from the Spell & Trap Zone every turn (and there’s literally a Tarakava on it), Devastation because it allows trading Rahi for removal even if they’re lying in wait in the backrow, Ussalry as a way to recycle banished cards, and Encounter in the Drifts for that ambush flavor.
The Extra Deck contains the Rahi needed for both the Reptile and Insect halves of the deck, as well as some standard generic links including Beyond and Exceed the Pendulum. There’s also a Ragnaraika Mantis Monk so we have a way to trigger the Beetle’s revival effect, and a Dawn Dragster since sometimes we do get to make a Level 7 Synchro turn 1, and this one can deal with the significant threat that certain Spells and Traps pose to our entire on-field setup. As for the side deck, it’s yet another approach to ratios for swapping between the handtrap Insect Rahi plus general good stuff.
In the usual fashion, there’s a sample video showing all this working.
Conclusion
Reptiles are a fairly small group of Rahi, but one with a clear focus: Moving between the Monster Zones and the Spell & Trap Zones, leading to a general style of play where you repeatedly stow away and resummon the same monsters while getting in the way of anything the opponent tries to do on the field. Since not having many cards means you can’t really make a pure deck out of them, the best in-archetype approach available right now is probably a hybrid with Insects – which happens to be a Ragnaraika combination, so that’s convenient.
They’ve been crawling all over the decklists of the last few articles, so it might be about time to get out our magnifying glass and take a close look at the Insect-Type segment of the Rahi archetype. Actually, forget the magnifying glass, even on the small side these things look pretty large for bugs. Entomophobes beware.
If this card is in your hand or GY: You can target 1 Level 2 or higher “Rahi” monster you control; reduce that target’s Level by 1, and if you do, banish this card, then Special Summon 1 “Fikou, Spider Rahi” from your hand or Deck. You can only use this effect of “Fikou, Spider Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
And arachnophobes too, because we’re starting with a widely beloved little orange spooder. The Fikou is a prime example of Insects acting as splashable Tuners in other Rahi builds, in this case by costing merely a single Level to bring itself to the field – or rather another copy of itself, if we want to be completely accurate. Needing to run multiples is one deliberate weakness this effect has compared to its much more absurd inspiration Level Eater.
Fikou-Nui, Tarantula Rahi
Link Effect MonsterLink-1 [↗] | EARTH Insect | ATK 1000
1 Level 2 or lower “Rahi” monster If this card is Link Summoned: You can target 1 “Rahi” monster in your GY or banishment; add it to your hand, then place 1 card from your hand on the bottom of the Deck. You can only use this effect of “Fikou-Nui, Tarantula Rahi” once per turn. You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower “Rahi” monster from your hand or GY, and if you do, you can increase or decrease its Level by 1.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Now that cost of 1 Level may sometimes mess with your desired Synchro lines, which is where the Fikou’s larger relative Fikou-Nui comes in to fix things. This somehow-canon miniboss from a cancelled video game isn’t just Level modulation, but also a fairly flexible recycling option on summon, letting you add your spent monsters back to the hand at a cost or back to the Deck for free (returning to the Extra Deck doesn’t cost you a card either thanks to the way it’s worded).
If this card is in your hand (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck; Special Summon this card, and if you do, you can destroy 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls. You can only use this effect of “Hoto, Firebug Rahi” once per turn.
If this card is in your hand (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck; Special Summon this card, and if you do, you can make 1 face-up monster you control be unaffected by Spell/Trap effects until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Cliff Bug, Hopper Rahi” once per turn.
If this card is in your hand (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck; Special Summon this card, and if you do, you can negate the effects of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls, until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Electric Bug, Zapping Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The other Level 1 Insect Rahi Tuners you’ll see in a lot of builds cover three more Attributes, leaving only DARK and WIND open when combined with the Fikou … for now. All of them work the same way: Banish the leftovers of another Rahi, Special Summon, apply a bonus effect – all Quick Effects so you can use these bonuses for disruption when appropriate.
The Hoto burns through the opponent’s backrow, the Cliff Bug from Ga-Wahi protects monsters in a way that’s just Nokama if you squint, and the Electric Bug zaps effect negation on monsters. Being optional bonus effects, none of these target, so they can be quite tricky to deal with.
What do you banish to fuel these effects? Well, any Rahi will do, so that’s good for splashability. But for actually Insect-centric decks, there’s one particular option that offers top efficiency.
[ Pendulum Effect ] If your opponent Special Summons a monster(s) (except during the Damage Step): You can destroy this card, and if you do, that monster(s) loses 1200 ATK/DEF, until the end of this turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If a face-up Spell/Trap is on the field (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; add 1 Insect “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand, except “Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi”. If this card is banished while you control a “Rahi” Tuner: You can Special Summon this card, and if you do, increase its Level by 1, also you cannot activate non-Insect monster effects for the rest of this turn. You can only use each effect of “Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Not only does the heat-loving Kofo-Jaga search you Insect Rahi including all the above Tuners when provided the cozy warmth of a Spell or Trap, it also shies away from the light straight into the face-up Extra Deck, ready to be banished. And once that happens, it’s suddenly right back on the field (and you’re Insect locked). Also it has a stat debuff Pendulum Effect, ya know the drill, beware its stinger tail and all that.
One detail not to be overlooked is the +1 Level gained upon returning, which sets us up for our primary payoff without any cumbersome Fikou-Nui steps in between.
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters If this card is Special Summoned: You can take 1 “Rahi” Spell/Trap from your Deck, and either add it to your hand or send it to the GY. During the Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can Tribute 1 monster; Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower “Rahi” Tuner from your hand or GY, but negate its effects. You can only use each effect of “Nui-Kopen, Wasp Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
That payoff is the Nui-Kopen, an archetypal Spell/Trap search on a Level 6 Synchro, and its targets open up some powerful possibilities. Before looking at the list, let it also be said that its secondary ability to tag out for a Tuner doubles as an Imperm dodge.
Now, Rahi Spells and Traps. These are generally generic support much like the Tuners above, but having an Insect deck whose whole bread and butter is getting them to hand or GY means some options could make the cut that most builds don’t bother using. Here’s a quick rundown.
Rahi Hive Showdown
Rahi Hive Showdown
Spell
If your opponent controls 2 or more monsters with 2000 or more ATK: Take control of the monster your opponent controls with the highest original ATK (your choice, if tied), but it cannot activate its effects while you control it. If you control a “Rahi” Synchro Monster: You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 monster your opponent controls; take control of it until the End Phase, but it cannot declare an attack. You can only use 1 “Rahi Hive Showdown” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Perhaps the most topical of them all is Rahi Hive Showdown, a monster stealing card themed entirely around Lewa’s brief period under the control of an infected mask – an incident that prominently involved a Nui-Kopen. Accordingly, both that monster and this Spell have some deliberate synergies built in beyond the blatantly obvious: The Nui-Kopen can Tribute whatever you steal for its second effect to get some immediate value, and since it is itself a Rahi Synchro, using its effect to dump Showdown will enable the GY effect that tends to be much easier to use than the main one.
Infection of the Rahi
Infection of the Rahi
Continuous Trap
You can only control 1 “Infection of the Rahi”. Each time a monster your opponent controls activates its effect while you control a “Rahi” Monster Card, place 1 Comet Counter on that opponent’s monster (max. 1) after that effect resolves. Monsters with a Comet Counter cannot attack, also each time 1 leaves the field, inflict 400 damage to its owner. During your Battle Phase or your opponent’s Main Phase: You can banish this card from your GY or your face-up Spell & Trap Zone; take control of all monsters your opponent controls with a Comet Counter, until the end of this turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
While also based on an Insect-related event, Infection of the Rahi is probably too much of a gimmick to be worthwhile even when you can easily search it. The ability to snatch away any monsters that used their effects previously can serve as some decent disruption, but between the turn of setup needed and the potential of playing around it, this is definitely one of those “you have to want it” cards.
Devastation of the Rahi
Devastation of the Rahi
Spell
Destroy any number of other “Rahi” cards you control, and if you do, send the same number of cards your opponent controls to the GY. You can banish this card and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, then target 1 card on the field; destroy it, or if you control a “Rahi” Synchro Monster, you can banish it instead. You can only use 1 “Devastation of the Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Based on the battle that once devastated the Charred Forest, Devastation of the Rahi is a removal option that works from both hand and GY, with different dynamics in each case. If activated from the hand, it will clear as many cards as you’re willing to invest while also bypassing targeting and destruction protections, but overall works out to a -1 in card advantage for you. Using it from the GY is much cheaper, but only goes after a single properly designated target, and only offers plain old destruction – unless you have a Synchro out, then it can also banish. Overall, the big consequence of this card’s existence is that it enables the Nui-Kopen to act as removal in a variety of ways, making it more of a threat against established boards.
The Ussalry Arrives
The Ussalry Arrives
Quick-Play Spell
(This card is always treated as a “Rahi” and “Matoran” card.) Target 1 face-up monster you control; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card with the same Type or Attribute from your Pendulum Zone, GY, or face-up Extra Deck, but banish it during the End Phase. During your Main Phase: You can shuffle this card and 1 of your banished “Rahi” cards into the Deck, then draw 1 card. You can only use 1 “The Ussalry Arrives” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
As hybrid Matoran/Rahi support, The Ussalry Arrives acts as a fairly flexible extender with the rather unique trait of even being able to Summon out of the Pendulum Zone. But the interesting synergy with Insects, particularly the Tuners that banish stuff, lies in its alternate effect to recycle itself from the GY and a banished “Rahi” card for a draw. Note that says card, not monster, so putting your other Spells and Traps back into rotation is also a possibility!
Siege of the Rahi
Siege of the Rahi
Continuous Spell
If a “Rahi” monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned to your field, except during the Damage Step: You can activate 1 of these effects, based on the Level of that monster(s) on the field; ●4 or lower: Draw 1 card. ●5 or higher: Change 1 face-up monster on the field to face-down Defense Position. If a Level 5 or higher “Rahi” monster you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish this card from your field or GY instead. You can only use each effect of “Siege of the Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Siege of the Rahi, while depicting the Reptile-Type Tarakava, theoretically has significant applications in Insects as well. Specifically, our key play of Special Summoning a Level 1 Tuner on the opponent’s turn by banishing a Kofo-Jaga that then returns as a Level 5 monster is by itself capable of triggering both of the on-field options, landing you an extra card and your opponent a face-down monster clogging the field. I say “theoretically” because I wasn’t running this in my test Insect deck, but thinking about it in hindsight it would go kinda crazy.
Then there’s some other targets with no particular application to Insect Rahi, such as Encounter in the Drifts or Rahi from the Depths, and one I left out because it’s much more broadly generic and also segues well into our next point: Rahi Swarm. The segue being that it depicts certain large Insect Rahi that make up one half of this Type’s Normal Pendulum pair.
[ Pendulum Effect ] You can target 1 face-up monster you control; Special Summon 1 Insect “Rahi” monster with a lower or equal Level from your Deck in Defense Position, also you cannot Special Summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except Insect monsters. You can only use this effect of “Nui-Rama, Fly Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Flavor Text ] A harsh buzz fills the air…a rustle of wings…a dark shape flying out of the sun…the warning signs of a Nui-Rama attack.
[ Pendulum Effect ] If an Insect “Rahi” monster(s) is Special Summoned to your field (except during the Damage Step): You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; destroy it, and if it was an Insect “Rahi” monster, you can add 1 Insect “Rahi” monster with a different name from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Nui-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Flavor Text ] Nui-Jaga commonly hunt in packs, which helps to make up for the fact that they are not very fast. One of the creatures will drive prey forward, usually into a canyon, where others wait to strike. Once the target is surrounded, the Nui-Jaga will call to each other. Their cries have been compared to the sound of glass breaking.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Nui-Rama lives up to its swarming reputation by reinforcing the monsters already on the field with an Insect straight from the Deck, at the cost of an Insect lock. I made the target required for this completely generic “to synergize with the Nui-Kopen/Showdown combo”, but realistically the Nui-Kopen itself is all you need in that case, so this really is just a bit of an oversight. Oopsie.
The Nui-Jaga is also direct support for the Insect-centric line of play featuring its smaller cousin Kofo-Jaga, sensibly enough. While it doesn’t apply any further locks, its intent is basically to trigger when you bring out the small Tuners, getting you either an extra hit of monster removal or an opportunity to trade the bug you just summoned for another one that can then act as disruption later in the turn. And if you ever find yourself in a mirror match, the value just goes straight through the roof.
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters If this card is Synchro Summoned: You can send 1 “Rahi” card from your Deck to the GY; this card gains 500 ATK. You can only use this effect of “Kirikori-Nui, Locust Rahi” once per turn. You can banish this card until the Standby Phase of your next turn; destroy 1 card on the field.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Finally, a bit of an odd one out: A Synchro monster you can barely Summon on account of its low Level. Nibbling off a Level 3 Rahi with a Fikou will get you there, but it’s not really something that comes up. If you were to make the Kirikori-Nui, though, you’d be rewarded with sending a card from Deck to GY as cost, a frankly pretty broken ability that probably only ended up here for lack of better ideas and because it really doesn’t matter when you barely make the thing. The effect with proper lore significance is actually the second one, where this voracious locust ravages the field and vanishes, only to return at some point in the future. That part isn’t once per turn, so you can properly do this with a whole swarm even. Well, a swarm of 3.
By their nature, Insect Rahi cards appear in all kinds of builds focused on different Types, so for their solo showing I decided to cram them into a good ol’ Insect pile. Which isn’t something I have more than passing familiarity with, so if anything looks off here all I can say is, uh, sorry.
What’s pretty much going on here is that the standard Insect cards – Resonance Insect, Gokipole, Beargram, Samurai Beetle – set up a Link climb into something like Invincible Atlas or even just I:P/S:P stuff, with Picofalena for recycling and plusses along the way. Beetroopers add more extenders and the ability to get Fly & Sting for negation, and finally the Rahi cards supplement all of this with a Synchro Engine as well as the Tuners’ handtrap effects.
Generally, you try to make a Nui-Kopen to get your hand on one of the Rahi Spell cards included. Here, that means the standard option of Rahi Swarm as a searcher and the pair of Rahi Hive Showdown and The Ussalry Arrives for situational utility and flavour. Alternatively, if you procure an additionaly body to fill up the Levels, you can also go into Diabolantis as kind of a bridge into the other Insect stuff. A Kirikori-Nui is here in theory, but looking at this Deck I’m strongly doubting it even has the ability to make that card. You’d have to Fikou-Nui for a Level 3 Kofo-Jaga and then Fikou that further down to 2, I guess? Yeah, probably not happening.
As for stuff that does happen, you can see some of that in the sample video below.
Conclusion
Unlike other Types, most Insect Rahi are explicitly built to be included generically in Rahi deck. In the Main Deck, they offer their services as Tuner/handtrap hybrids. In the Extra Deck, the Nui-Kopen specifically is your Synchro bridge to those Rahi Spells and Traps any of the various builds would love to access. Together, these tools give Insects a place in most any Rahi deck.
Beyond that, however, there are also the Insects who facilitate a more Type-specific playstyle by granting you massive amounts of free material at the cost of an Insect lock. Bug-based disruption and searching Spells/Traps are still the main plays with this approach, but additionally you have ways to easily bring out non-Tuners and refuel the Tuners in your hand. With clever sequencing, it is even possible to use these advantages as a more generic engine, but they’re most at home in something like the Insect pile above that doesn’t care about the locks to begin with.
Coming right off the Beasts of the land and sky, we continue with the … stuff that dwells under the sea. Quite a few Fish and Aqua Rahi made their debut from BCOR / BBTS / BPEV, and in contrast to the Beast-Warrior snub, Sea Serpents are technically included in the range of support because they will be joining the archetype at some point in the future. All that planning in advance is paying off!
So what is it that sets this trio of Types apart from previously considered Rahi to justify being treated as their own deck? Probably the biggest point is that they do not really aim to combo into Synchro boss monsters, but rather directly use their small pieces as recurring disruption in more of a low-investment control style of gameplay. Perhaps the best point to start from is therefore the specimen that mainly achieves this function in an offensive capacity: The Ruki.
Ruki, Fish Rahi
Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WATER Fish | ATK 700 / DEF 100
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your hand, then discard 1 card. You can only use this effect of “Ruki, Fish Rahi” once per turn. (Quick Effect): You can banish both this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster in your GY or face-up Extra Deck; destroy 1 monster your opponent controls.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The magic here is in the last line – “destroy 1 monster your opponent controls”, throwing this fish and its chompy biters as a potentially devastating wedge into their plans. Before that, of course, is a cost that loses you not only the Ruki from hand or field but also requires some banishing fodder in GY and Extra Deck … but then before even that, we have a convenient effect that provides just that setup if you manage to Summon first. So ideally you want to put this on the field to take advantage of that ability, but once things are rolling it’s also capable of lurking in your hand as a nasty surprise.
Of course, if nasty surprises from the hand are what you want, you can’t discount the Ruki’s partner in crime for the very early game. Meet the Shore Turtle.
Your opponent cannot target Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua “Rahi” Monster Cards you control with card effects. If your opponent activates a card or effect: You can banish 2 “Rahi” cards from your hand and/or face-up field, including this card; Special Summon 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” Tuner from your Deck. You can only use this effect of “Shore Turtle, Shelled Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
This flying amphibian (who even came up with that?) is the key that unlocks this deck’s potential for playing on turn 0 – the part of the game that’s often most vulnerable to disruption. Being a slow and harmless creature itself, it won’t react with a Quick Effect immediately when your opponent does something … but once it eventually notices, it does trigger on a new chain to bring out something like a Ruki, which will then also trigger on summon, and suddenly those monsters on the opponent’s field meant to go into a setup combo are looking awfully chompable. Alternatively, you could also go into another Shore Turtle for passive targeting protection if you’re already happy with your destructive capabilities. However, all this only works if you have another Rahi card to banish along with the turtle, so you’ll need to draw the right hand and having it stopped will hurt quite a bit.
Lightfish, Luminescent Rahi
Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 1 | WATER Fish | ATK 700 / DEF 100
While face-up on the field, this card becomes LIGHT. (Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your hand or GY, then target 1 monster your opponent controls; apply 1 of these effects. ●Change its battle position. ●Discard 1 card, and if you do, that face-up monster cannot activate its effects this turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Third in the lineup of small Quick Effect stuff is a Level 1 Tuner original to the recent BCOR overhaul, representing the Lightfish that illuminate the huts of Ga-Koro . This one is more focused on the gimmick of also being useful in that village’s strategy as a very easily accessible, low-cost effect you can use to increase chain link numbers on the opponent’s turn, but it also isn’t totally out of place in the Rahi deck. Here, it acts as a very soft disruption, and possibly another way to enable a Ruki in the hand by discarding with the more powerful of its two effects.
So I think the idea is clear at this point – banish a lot of things, fuck with the opponent’s field, and hope they get annoyed and leave before they notice you’re pretty much out of resources. Right? Not quite, we haven’t yet seen the Pendulum Monsters that bring the essential recursive aspect into this whole loop.
[ Pendulum Effect ] During the End Phase: You can target 1 of your banished Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” monsters, except “Makika, Toad Rahi”; add it to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Makika, Toad Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] During the Main Phase, if this card is in your hand (Quick Effect): You can target 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” monster you control; return it to the hand, and if you do, Special Summon this card in Defense Position. If this card is banished: You can add this card to your Extra Deck face-up or place it in your Pendulum Zone, then take 1000 damage. You can only use each effect of “Makika, Toad Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Takea, Shark Rahi
Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Fish | ATK 1800 / DEF 900
[ Pendulum Effect ] If your Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua “Rahi” monster(s) is banished: You can target 1 of those monsters and 1 card your opponent controls; place the first target on the bottom of the Deck, and if you do, destroy the second target. You can only use this effect of “Takea, Shark Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can banish up to 2 “Rahi” Monster Cards from your hand and/or field; add that many Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua “Rahi” monsters with different names from your Deck to your hand, except “Takea, Shark Rahi”. If this card is banished: You can target 1 card you control; destroy that card, also, after that, add this card to your Extra Deck face-up or place it in your Pendulum Zone. You can only use each effect of “Takea, Shark Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Makika and Takea form a pair, with the former having a defensive and the latter an offensive focus. This is most apparent in the Pendulum Zones, where the shark sends the things you keep banishing for cost back into the Deck to cause even more destruction, while the toad hands them back to you in the End Phase to enable plays for the next turn. On the field, the main one to watch out for is the Takea, as it pays its own banishing cost to search out just the tools you need, but the Makika’s Quick Effect to Special Summon itself can also put in some serious work such as letting a Ruki safely dodge a boardwipe.
Finally, both of them share an ability that vastly improves the math on the supposed massive loss of cards incurred by all the banishing: If they themselves are used this way, they will, in exchange for some sort of drawback, swim right back to either the Extra Deck or the Pendulum Zone and continue to act as valuable resources. In the voracious Takea’s case, the drawback is that you must offer it another of your cards as food, while the Makika causes you damage with its poisonous skin.
And that was, as far as the initial BCOR wave is concerned, all the pieces involved in the Fish/Sea Serpent/Aqua strategy! Well, except for one that didn’t really ever come up. You see, since the small monsters are, technically, Tuners, we do have the ability to go into Synchros. And there is one really big one that does align with these Types: The Mana Ko, secret guardian of Makuta’s lair.
1+ “Rahi” Tuners + 1+ non-Tuner “Rahi” monsters Control of this card cannot switch. Other cards you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects. (Quick Effect): You can banish this card; Special Summon any number of Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua “Rahi” monsters from your GY and/or banishment, whose total Levels equal 10 or less, and if you do, banish 1 card on the field. You can only use this effect of “Mana Ko, Guardian Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
This Level 11 bungus can, for example, be made by tuning a Ruki, a Shore Turtle, a Takea, and a Makika (2+2+4+3) … and I think you can see just why it never came up. If you were ever to find yourself in that situation, it could kind of be worth it for the big body, blanket protection, and ability to tag out into almost all of its materials with bonus removal (warning: may hit your own cards). But you probably don’t really need it to win the game at that point.
However, the tag-out concept seemed so good that it ended up inspiring the other, much more reasonably positioned Synchro Monster introduced with the BBTS support.
Waikiru, Walrus Rahi
Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 5 | WATER Aqua | ATK 1800 / DEF 1000
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters If this card is Special Summoned: You can banish 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” monster from your Deck. (Quick Effect): You can banish this card; Special Summon up to 2 Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua “Rahi” monsters from your GY and/or banishment, whose total Levels equal 4 or less. You can only use 1 “Waikiru, Walrus Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
For the much more pragmatic cost of a Ruki/Turtle and a Makika (or a Lightfish and a Takea), you get a topical way to get another monster from your Deck into rotation, and on the next turn you can make a swap into a pair of Tuners, or a single Pendulum, or whatever else you can fit in 4 Levels. Also important to keep in mind that your Pendulum Scales can recycle this after it banishes itself for cost, so you get to do that move repeatedly if everything goes smoothly. And I guess I should note that targeting this with a banished Takea and then chaining it will still let the Takea fully resolve, that’s specifically why that effect is worded the way it is.
Speaking of Pendulum Scales, the second wave also introduced an additional pair of those, though rather than a proper pair like the first two, they act as more disconnected, situational options.
Ghekula, Amphibious Rahi
Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Aqua | ATK 1400 / DEF 1400
[ Pendulum Effect ] If another card(s) on the field would be destroyed by card effect while you control a Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” Monster Card, except “Ghekula, Amphibious Rahi”, you can destroy this card instead. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is destroyed: You can target 1 monster in your opponent’s GY or 1 of your banished Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” monsters; place it on the bottom of the Deck, and if you returned it to your Deck, banish 1 random card from your opponent’s hand. If this card is banished: You can add this card to your Extra Deck face-up or place it in your Pendulum Zone, and if you do, banish 1 card from your GY. You can only use each effect of “Ghekula, Amphibious Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
The more traditional Ghekula is already somewhat weird in that its Pendulum Effect is destruction replacement to supplement the Shore Turtle’s protection, and only the monster effect that is then triggered by that has the usual capability to recycle your own banished monsters. This is based on the Matoran superstition that harming a Ghekula, even by accident, invites misfortune – so if it “accidentally” blows up while they try to destroy something else, it’s going to take something either out of their GY, or straight out of their hand if you have banishment setup. It also does the usual self-recycle if banished itself, this time demanding payment via the GY (the more thematic option would have been discarding from your hand, but it just isn’t worth it).
Keras, Crab Rahi
Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 1/1 | WATER Aqua | ATK 1400 / DEF 500
[ Pendulum Effect ] If a Level 4 or lower WATER monster(s) is banished from your field, GY, and/or face-up Extra Deck, even during the Damage Step: You can target 1 of those monsters; Special Summon it, and if you do, destroy this card. You can only use this effect of “Keras, Crab Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua monster from your GY. You can only Special Summon “Keras, Crab Rahi” once per turn this way. Before damage calculation, if a Level 4 or lower monster you control attacks a Defense Position monster: You can banish 1 “Rahi” monster you control; destroy that Defense Position monster.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
The Keras, on the other hand, entirely abandons the premise of being recurring banish fodder, instead adopting a role of somewhat more generic support that could also go along with Ga-Matoran (who once rode them into battle against the Bohrok). In the Pendulum Zone, it has the most powerful recycling effect out of all of these and Special Summons the banished monster right back to the field, with the two drawbacks that it only works with WATER monsters (so no Shore Turtle or Makika) and destroys itself after doing this once. Being able to Special Summon itself while generating banishment setup (in reference to how they were tamed by feeding them fish) is a good way to get an additional body for a Synchro play, and if you’re up against defensive walls such as Bohrok, this card also acts as a handy way for your low-Level monsters to overcome them. Its regular use in the Rahi deck doesn’t really involve this part all that much, but when it comes up, having a second copy in the Pendulum Zone is funny, as “even during the Damage Step” makes it so your Rahi banished for cost comes right back to get another attack in.
MKT Fish, Biting Rahi
Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 3 | DARK Fish | ATK 900 / DEF 300
If this card you control would be used as Synchro Material, you can treat it as a non-Tuner. During your opponent’s Main Phase, you can (Quick Effect): Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon using Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua monsters you control, including this card. You can only use this effect of “MKT Fish, Biting Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.7.3)
Moving on to the next expansion, BPEV gives us just one new monster with the Makuta Fish (abbreviated to MKT to avoid unwanted archetype associations) – basically the Ruki’s larger cousin that only ever appeared in written form. If that sounds like it wouldn’t bring anything new to the table, you’re mistaken, because this Tuner is Level 3, and sometimes not a Tuner, and its disruption consists of a Quick-Synchro that unlocks a whole bunch of Extra Deck options (as we’ll see in the sample deck). It also happens to be one of the few DARK Rahi, but turns out that doesn’t matter much in this particular strategy. Perhaps one last thing for the list of weird traits would be that it’s a Rahi whose effect makes no reference to the Rahi archetype, so really it’s just here to be searchable by e.g. a Shore Turtle.
Rahi from the Depths
Trap
Target any number of “Rahi” monsters you control; all monsters your opponent currently controls lose ATK/DEF equal to the total ATK of those monsters you control (until the end of this turn), then you can destroy 1 monster your opponent controls with 0 ATK or DEF. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua “Rahi” monster from your GY or banishment, but its ATK/DEF become 0. You can only use 1 “Rahi from the Depths” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.7.3)
The other piece of BPEV support is the archetype’s first Type-specific Trap Card, though its activation effect actually still works with all Rahi. Based on Gali’s encounter with the Great Temple Squid during the search for the Kanohi Nuva, the conceit of this card is that tentacles spring forth to restrain your opponent’s monsters, perhaps outright crushing weaker ones. That means it’s a non-targeting debuff with maybe destruction if the numbers line up right, which for most Rahi decks isn’t all that appealing in Trap form. But those Rahi that truly do hail from the Depths have the additional benefit of being able to use it for revival while it’s in the GY too, so it’s well worth playing with them at least.
The main focus in-engine are the Ruki as our main frontline disruption, as well as the Shore Turtle and Takea that get us access to it. Makika and Keras get two slots each – while we’re generally okay with searching them, the fact that they can be Special Summoned from the hand makes them potentially useful in the opening hand as well. The Ghekula has no such advantage and is thus at a single copy, which also makes the ratios line up nicely at 4 low-scale and 4 high-scale Pendulum Monsters. We also run only 1 each of Light- and Makuta Fish , relying on Shore Turtle and Takea to get them as needed.
That leaves room in the Main Deck for “fun” cards such as the semi-recent roach reincarnation Mulcharmy Purulia (it’s Aqua!) and everyone’s favourite Dimension Shifter. While it wasn’t really my intent, this ended up being perhaps the world’s first Pendulum deck that thrives under Shifter due to the fact that all the Pendulums put themselves back into rotation even if they get banished. Even funnier: You can also play fairly well under Anti-Spell Fragrance (as I noticed in one game against the stun AI), because the scales don’t care about that restriction when they place themselves via their own effects!
The Terrortop package is in here as well, on the one hand for Hikaki access, and on the other because a hard-drawn Taketomborg can Special Summon itself if you have the WIND Shore Turtle on the field. That’s a Level 2 Rahi Tuner and a Level 3 non-Tuner, which adds up to a Waikiru and therefore a straight line into the rest of your Deck.
Otherwise, the Extra Deck space is mostly spent on Synchros that can be made from our various combinations of Levels 1 through 4. Herald of the Arc Light for convenient negation and banishing, Arionpos to get a scale from certain awkward positions, Black Rose (Moonlight) and Tarakava-Nui for removal and disruption (via Makuta Fish), White Aura Whale and Trishula for the same but with more stars, and our rarely seen big boss Mana Ko . There’s also a Rahi Nui in here (because Makuta Fish is DARK), but it doesn’t serve much of a purpose.
In general, a lot of the Extra Deck options here were just experimental and didn’t end up seeing use, so you could definitely cut some names and double or triple up on others – which is why Pot of Extravagance has a comfortable spot in the side deck. Along with some other generic good cards that may come in handy.
A sample video can be found below; the way it ends may surprise you …
Rahi under the Sea
Conclusion
The three Types Fish, Sea Serpent (eventually), and Aqua together form a Rahi deck that mostly forgoes combos and big boss monsters, instead trying to outgrind the opponent with a banishing resource loop that keeps disrupting them while keeping your own cards in play and moving. The general setup you aim for is to put your disruptive Tuners like Ruki and Makuta Fish on the field while backing them up with a pair of Pendulums that trigger various offensive or defensive bonus effects as you play. And whenever you do find Synchro access, you can use the material provided by something like a Pendulum Summon to go into powerful generic Synchro monsters or our very own Waikiru (for setup) or Mana Ko (for protection and pressure).
Well, let’s kick these off. In the glorious year of 2024, the massively bloated Rahi archetype received some expert surgery to split it into a few different more reasonable sub-strategies depending on the Type of monsters involved, and as a result, all the old Theme Guides on the topic are now obsolete. That means it’s time to write up a replacement, starting with one of the largest among these Type groups: Beasts and Winged Beasts.
Now ideally I’d start with some card that exemplifies the central gimmick, but due to being kind of the default for land and sky Rahi, this combined pair of Types ended up wholly inheriting several of the mechanics that I was trying to throw all over the place with the old designs. So you’ll have to bear with me while I go over them all.
Bear, that’s a Beast-Type.
… but not one that’s getting implemented before Mask of Light, so that’s not where we’re starting. Instead, it’s time for smaller critters with our first gimmick: Level 3 Pendulum Monsters with GY and banishment effects!
[ Pendulum Effect ] Once per turn: You can pay 1000 LP; this turn, if you Pendulum Summon while this card and another “Rahi” monster are in your Pendulum Zones, you can also Pendulum Summon up to 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your GY. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 other Level 4 or lower EARTH monster from your GY, but negate its effects. If this card is banished: You can target 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster in your GY; banish it, and if you do, draw 1 card. You can only use 1 “Ussal, Crab Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Right off the bat, you might be wondering why the hell a crab is in the Beast article. And the answer is that, on every level except physical, the Ussal is just a horse – used extensively especially by Onu-Matoran to transport cargo, as a steed, and in racing. This association with Matoran culture is what motivates its effect when sent to the GY, providing you with a free EARTH body, and the draw when banished also traces back to its digging and tunneling capabilities.
In the Beast Rahi deck itself, either of these effects can be relevant: Either you land on a combo route where both this and another EARTH Rahi hit the GY and you get to do some revival, or you just banish it at some point to get a draw, which is always nice to have (and might get you another banish trigger on the side). The Pendulum Effect is more of a rarely-used gimmick carried over from the old version, but it can serve as one pretty neat way to put a mid-sized Synchro back on the board.
[ Pendulum Effect ] You can target up to 2 “Rahi” monsters you control; destroy 1 Beast or Winged Beast Monster Card in your Pendulum Zone or face-up Extra Deck, and if you do, increase or decrease the targeted monsters’ Levels by 1. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 Level 4 or lower Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand, except “Mahi, Goat Rahi”. If this card is banished: You can target 1 of your banished “Rahi” cards that was not banished this turn; add it to your hand. You can only use 1 “Mahi, Goat Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Another Beast with a big role in Matoran society is the Mahi, often seen traded on Po-Koro markets. However, this one didn’t end up getting any super generic effects, and instead plays a big role in the Rahi archetype itself by searching when it goes to the GY. The banish effect to recycle something from a previous turn and the Pendulum Effect to modulate Levels are more in a “it may come up” position, but it’s worth noting that the latter is actually one way to properly get these Level 3 Pendulums into the GY by destroying them in the Extra Deck. Bit of an odd hoop to jump through, but hey, it’s funny.
[ Pendulum Effect ] You can target 1 face-up Level 4 or lower monster you control; treat it as a Tuner until the end of this turn, also banish this card. You can only use this effect of “Moa, Bird Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your Deck. If this card is banished: You can target 1 of your banished “Rahi” cards, except “Moa, Bird Rahi”; place it on the bottom of your Deck. You can only use 1 “Moa, Bird Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Moa is kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of relevance, having appeared exclusively in Quest for the Toa back in early ’01. But apparently it has a little story bit there where one kept by a Po-Matoran as a pet gets stuck behind some boulders, which is what inspired the Pendulum Effect that makes it disappear while turning any monster (such as Po-Koro ‘s Rock-Type Sculpture Tokens) into a Tuner.
More often, what you’ll be using this for in-archetype are situations where you’re able to send a monster to the GY, but what you actually need is the banish trigger of one of your Rahi – sending the Moa will let you smoothly bridge from one into the other. Putting a banished card back when it itself gets banished may also come up once in a while, but like the Mahi’s similar effect, it’s mostly a grind game bonus.
[ Pendulum Effect ] You can target 1 Spell/Trap on the field; send 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your hand or face-up Extra Deck to the GY, and if you do, destroy that target. You can only use this effect of “Kewa, Vulture Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 other Level 4 or lower WIND monster from your GY, but negate its effects. If this card is banished: You can add 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck to your hand, except “Kewa, Vulture Rahi”. You can only use 1 “Kewa, Vulture Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Wait a second, this one’s Level 4? Indeed it is, due to a historic mixup between the sizes of the Taku (listed below with the Level 4s) and Kewa. Swapping only the Levels to correct that might actually be useful, because it means that the increments in which you get stars on the field are a bit less strictly tied to the categories of effects you’re using in your combo, thus opening up more freedom for Synchro plays. Or something like that.
Anyway, the Kewa is pretty much the aerial variant of the Ussal when it comes to domestication, so it has the same GY effect just swapped to WIND. Its general usage is also similar, either giving you an additional body in a combo that gets WINDs into the GY or filling up your hand in one that doesn’t. The Pendulum Effect is nice anti-floodgate utility that once again provides a way to send Pendulums to the GY, and you can even use it for that purpose alone going first since it is able to pop itself.
[ Pendulum Effect ] If your Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster battles an opponent’s monster, before damage calculation: You can destroy this card, and if you do, make that opponent’s monster’s ATK 0, until the end of this turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is sent to the GY: You can send 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your hand to the GY, and if you do, draw 1 card. If this card is banished: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower “Rahi” monster from your hand. You can only use 1 “Brakas, Monkey Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
As the blurry image suggests, this one’s also from Quest for the Toa, but has a slightly bigger claim to relevance solely on account of the fact that Matau ‘s staff is formally named after the “kau kau” sound they make. And since Matau’s thing is Special Summoning from hand, both the GY and banishment effects on this one interact with the hand – it’s a bit like a hand version of the Ussal, now that I think about it, and used in a similar way in those situations where the stuff you need is stuck up there instead of the GY.
The Pendulum Effect setting a monster’s ATK to 0 is also a Matau reference, and can be handy to OTK once you get your board built up.
[ Pendulum Effect ] Once per turn, at the end of the Damage Step, if your Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster battled: You can inflict 600 damage to your opponent. Each time your opponent activates a card or effect that targets a Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster you control, inflict 200 damage to them immediately after it resolves. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 “Rahi” monster you control and 1 card your opponent controls; destroy them. If this card is banished: You can banish the top card of your Deck; add 1 of your banished Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” Pendulum Monsters to your Extra Deck face-up. You can only use 1 “Infernavika, Lava Bird Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
This one comes from the second support wave in BBTS, and other than expanding the Attribute wheel as a FIRE Winged Beast (at the cost of Kewa/Ussal synergy), it brings to the mix an offensive type of GY effect and a more direct way to recycle banished stuff – with a bit of a gamble included. Its lore of being protected by the unbearable heat of the lava streams among which it lives is entirely represented by the Pendulum Effect, burning the opponent whenever they attempt to touch your (Winged) Beasts.
[ Pendulum Effect ] You can target 1 Level 4 or lower Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster you control; return both it and this card to the hand, then Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower “Rahi” monster from your hand in Defense Position. You can only use this effect of “Hapaka, Shepherd Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If a Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish this card from your hand, Monster Zone, or GY instead. If this card is banished: You can return 1 of your banished “Rahi” monsters to your GY, except “Hapaka, Shepherd Rahi”. You can only use each effect of “Hapaka, Shepherd Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
The second BBTS support card introduces WATER to the lineup of small Beast Rahi, and also works slightly differently in terms of its effects. The “GY effect” is actually a passive destruction replacement (that also works in hand and field), in the sense of guarding its fellow Rahi. And if it’s banished – including by that replacement effect – it offers another form of banishment recycling by returning a banished monster to the GY, in the sense of returning it to the herd.
Its Pendulum Effect is kind of a fancy hybrid between Special Summoning from hand, Special Summoning itself, or re-summoning something you already control because it got negated or whatever. It’s pretty flexible, which is always fun.
In general, these are cards with many different types of generally single-action utility that you can access by finding a way to get them into the GY and/or banished – not all that trivial when they’re Pendulums. One major limiting factor is the shared HOPT that makes it so you can’t just send, then banish and get both effects, so you have to make the decision which mode matters more to your current line of play. You can, however, use the Pendulum Effects and one of the triggers in the same turn, so those are additional pieces of (fairly minor) utility that can come up once in a while.
Now before we proceed to larger Beasts, we take a slight step off-Type to look at the Rank 3 Dragon Rahi that serves as one pretty good means of making these Pendulum Monsters actually hit the grave.
2+ Level 3 monsters If this card is Xyz Summoned: You can detach 1 material from this card; add 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. If a “Rahi” monster(s) is sent to your GY (except during the Damage Step): You can detach 1 material from this card, then target 1 face-up card on the field; destroy it. You can only use each effect of “Hikaki, Dragon Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Hikaki is support for all kinds of Rahi decks and tends to act as an Extra Deck starter accessible via generic R3 engines, but in the Beast strategy that brings plenty of its own Level 3s, it can actually provide additional services. If you overlay 2 of the above small Pendulums into this, not only do you get the search, but detaching for it also triggers their “sent to GY” effects. Simultaneously, since a “Rahi” monster(s) was sent to the GY, the Hikaki’s own second effect will trigger here, letting you detach again to destroy a card – great going second, but even going first you can just have it pop itself since its job is done. So in total, if you go e.g. Mahi + Ussal into Hikaki, you can detach the Mahi and then the Ussal to get an additional search and bring the Mahi back to the field. And there are many more possibilities when using other combinations of materials.
And for our next category, we have the Level 4s, who have two separate gimmicks: If used as Synchro Material, they grant an effect to the monster that used them, and also to any further Rahi Synchro made by using that monster (but this only goes one layer deep). And most of them have a way to Special Summon themselves from the Pendulum Zone to the field, thus making it easier to use them as material in the first place.
[ Pendulum Effect ] During your Main Phase: You can destroy 1 other Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” Monster Card in your hand or face-up field, and if you do, Special Summon this card. You can only use this effect of “Fusa, Kangaroo Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] A Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains these effects. ● Once per turn, at the end of the Damage Step, if this card attacked an opponent’s monster: You can activate this effect; this card can attack again in a row. ● A “Rahi” Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains the above effect.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
This ‘roo among Rahi makes the jump from back to front row by kicking the shit out of another Rahi monster in your hand or field – including the Spell & Trap Zones. But the most interesting is actually the hand option, since that lets you destroy the Level 3 Pendulums in a way that makes them go to the GY, thereby giving you a trigger on top of the Fusa’s own summon.
A Synchro monster that uses it as material inherits its combatative nature, gaining the ability to hit again after it battles a monster (much like a baby Fusa jumping out of its mother’s pouch to join the fight, if we ignore the absence of biological reproduction for a moment). So this is something that helps you clear boards and maybe secure lethal damage on turn 2 and beyond.
[ Pendulum Effect ] If a “Rahi” card is activated in your other Pendulum Zone: You can target 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” Pendulum Monster in your GY or banishment; add this card to your Extra Deck face-up, then place the targeted monster in your Pendulum Zone. You can only use this effect of “Husi, Ostrich Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] A Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains these effects. ● If it is Synchro Summoned: You can place 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck in your Pendulum Zone. ● A “Rahi” Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains the above effect.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
Second tab and we’re already abandoning the premise of self-summoning from the Pendulum Zone. Instead, the Husi swaps itself out for a different scale when another Rahi appears, which is actually based on a tiny lore tidbit about them being placed in Metru Nui’s archives for protection from Muaka. In terms of utility, it’s kinda just a nice-to-have recycling option.
The granted effect is similarly unusual in that it triggers on Summon, and also consist of placing a scale. Since this isn’t once per turn, you can in fact use the two-stage inheritance to set up both of your Pendulum Zones over the course of a Synchro climb!
[ Pendulum Effect ] If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card, and if you do, add 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your Extra Deck face-up, except “Taku, Duck Rahi”. You can only use this effect of “Taku, Duck Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] A Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains these effects. ● Once per turn, when a card or effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation. ● A “Rahi” Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains the above effect.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Taku is the Kewa’s partner in Level mixup, delivering you the Level 4 effect lineup on a Level 3 body, and its particular take on these effects makes it one of the more essential combo pieces in the deck. The Summon has a somewhat limiting requirement of needing to control no monsters, so you’ll only be using that part if you actually get to it early, but if that does happen, it even gives you some Extra Deck setup for your trouble.
However, you generally should be trying to get this card on the field at some point of the combo even if you don’t manage to start with it, because the effect it grants to Synchros is just a negate. A non-destroying one with an archetypal cost attached, but still a negate. Like all these bonus effects, you can also stack it to get multiple activations, so I really might have gone a bit to far with this one – could see it getting something like a limitation to your own turn in a future update.
[ Pendulum Effect ] During your Main Phase: You can destroy 1 “Rahi” monster you control, and if you do, Special Summon this card. You can only use this effect of “Vako, Rhino Rahi” once per turn. —————————————- [ Monster Effect ] If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can send 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your Deck or face-up Extra Deck to the GY. You can only use this effect of “Vako, Rhino Rahi” once per turn. A Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains these effects. ● If it battles, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. ● A “Rahi” Synchro Monster Summoned using this card as material gains the above effect.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Vako is comparatively expensive to Special Summon since it needs to destroy a monster already on the field (it violently charges forward from the backrow since it’s a rhino, that’s the joke here). To compensate for that, it actually does something when Summoned by dumping a Rahi in your GY, giving you yet another way to access those elusive Pendulum GY effects. And since this also triggers on Normal Summon, it doubles as a regular old starter that gets things rolling without prior setup.
As a material, its bonus is a fairly simple lock on the opponent’s effects during the Damage Step, to avoid any nasty surprises when going for game. It’s not much, but given the presence of an on-Summon effect, it also doesn’t really need to be much, right?
The second bullet point on all of these monsters implies the existence of “Rahi” Synchro Monsters, and indeed quite a few of them belong to the Beast and Winged Beast Types. Those, along with more generic options, are the main things our combo lines go through and into.
1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters If this Synchro Summoned card would be used as Synchro Material for a “Rahi” monster, 1 face-up Beast or Winged Beast Pendulum Monster in your Extra Deck (and no other monsters) can be used as the other material. If you do this, you can treat this card as any Level from 1 to 5 for that Synchro Summon. If you control no monsters and this card is in your GY: You can target 1 of your banished monsters; shuffle it into the Deck, and if you do, Special Summon this card. You can only Special Summon “Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi(s)” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Dikapi is firmly in the “through” camp in that regard. Running through the desert with incredible endurance, this speedy birb is also used as a mount by the scouts of Po-Koro’s guard unit, which means it’s another example of a domesticated Rahi. On Synchro Monsters, that translates to a simple special trait: Generic materials, allowing it to also be used in a regular old Po-Koro deck!
But how is it used in its own native strategy? Well, you make it usually as your first Synchro Summon to serve one or more of a few different purposes. One is that it lets you efficiently climb to higher-Level Synchros by reusing the Pendulum Monster that went to the Extra Deck as material. Another that it smoothens out mismatched Levels by letting you ignore any number of its stars when using it that way. Yet another is “passively” sending a Pendulum Monster from the Extra Deck to the GY by using it as material, letting you trigger a GY effect. And finally, it secures you some followup for later, since it can leverage its great endurance to return to the field as long as you have some banished monsters.
1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters If this card is Special Summoned: You can send 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your Deck to the GY. If this Synchro Summoned card is sent from the field to the GY: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower “Rahi” monster in your GY; Special Summon it. You can only use each effect of “Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The Gukko-Kahu is the largest of the birds used by Le-Koro’s aerial forces, hence its generic materials. It functions as a combo extender based in the Extra Deck by milling a Beast or Winged Beast Rahi of your choice and then reviving it – or more generally low-Level Rahi of any Type – when you further use it as material. This one is actually kind of legitimately worth using in Le-Koro since it can both send and revive the Kewa , which in turn will also bring back something like a Le-Matoran.
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters Once per turn, if a monster(s) is Special Summoned to your opponent’s field (except during the Damage Step): You can target 1 of those monsters; either destroy it or negate its effects. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because this Synchro Summoned card was sent there from the field this turn: You can add 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your GY or face-up Extra Deck to your hand.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The artist formerly known as Mukau (I will never forgive Greg Bob) functions as a mid-Level defensive boss monster for our strategy, providing a reactive negation or destruction option for the endboard. Generally the main in-archetype thing you try to make going first is this with a Taku Inside™, ideally even in multiples since everything involved is soft once per turn. A herd of cows, how quaint!
1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters Gains 300 ATK for each other “Rahi” card you control. If this card battles an opponent’s monster, at the start of the Damage Step: You can activate this effect; change that opponent’s monster to Attack Position, also negate its effects until the end of this turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
For now the biggest thing in our arsenal, the Kuma-Nui acts as a board breaker and OTK enabler, with a fairly simple effect focused on disabling all defenses to deal solid damage – you can pretty much imagine it as the big rat thing grabbing the opponent’s monsters with its claws and forcing it to Attack Position before biting its head off.
It’s also meant to specifically synergize with the two battle-focused effects that are granted by the Level 4s: Make this with both Fusa and Vako , and you get a 3k+ beater with multiple attacks guaranteed to hit into Attack Position monsters, while your opponent can’t even attempt to activate anything during the Damage Step. It’s not exactly mahjong, but when it works it works.
Those of you who are One With The Speed and well-versed in the arts of Synchro Summoning may already have noticed there’s something crucial missing from this whole equation: Where the hell are the Tuners? Specifically, the “Rahi” Tuners that some of these monsters require? Well, as far as the initial BCOR wave is concerned they’re … not in the Beast or Winged Beast Types, and instead you’d be forced to substitute them with generic Insect Rahi, such as the Fikou.
If this card is in your hand or GY: You can target 1 Level 2 or higher “Rahi” monster you control; reduce that target’s Level by 1, and if you do, banish this card, then Special Summon 1 “Fikou, Spider Rahi” from your hand or Deck. You can only use this effect of “Fikou, Spider Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)
The major downside here is obviously that this means the Tuners you need to obtain any Synchro access can’t be found by most of your searchers, and you need to rely on more limited options like the Hikaki to get that whole part of the Deck going. Conveniently, both BBTS and BPEV resolve this issue by suppyling proper Beast and Winged Beast Tuners as legacy support.
If a Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned to your field (except during the Damage Step): You can Special Summon this card from your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 “Rahi” Synchro Monster using monsters you control. You can only use this effect of “Pokawi, Flightless Bird Rahi” once per turn. During the Battle Phase (Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your GY; all monsters your opponent currently controls lose 500 ATK for each of your banished “Rahi” monsters, until the end of this turn.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
This cute little thing was actually created for the nefarious purpose of playing under Nibiru, as Special Summoning it and then immediately going into a Synchro on the same chain link gets you a Taku negate precisely at 5 summons in some of the lines I wrote out in planning. Apart from that, it’s a Tuner you can easily search and bring out, with some bonus battle utility based on the small birds’ strategy of scattering to confuse the enemy – a lot of potential in this small package.
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster in your GY; Special Summon it, but negate its effects, also if your opponent controls a monster with 2000 or more ATK, you can banish 1 card from either GY. You can only use this effect of “Mata Nui Fishing Bird, Swooping Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v4.7.3)
The Mata Nui Fishing Bird goes a different route from Tuners like the Insects that Special Summon themselves, instead demanding that you find a way to Summon it* and then bringing back another monster to provide material. As it’s known to harass large predators with its swooping strikes, this also comes with bonus GY banish if your opponent has something big on the field.
* For example, it’s a pretty good thing to search with Muaka and then Special Summon with Kane-Ra .
Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can reduce the Levels of all other monsters currently on the field by 1, also they lose 500 ATK. At the start of the Damage Step, if your “Rahi” monster battles an opponent’s monster: You can banish this card from the GY; destroy that opponent’s monster. You can only use this effect of “Lava Rat, Blazing Rahi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.7.3)
The latest addition to the Tuner lineup is the first ever Beast to be included. The Lava Rat’s lore relevance is limited to appearances in the realm of metaphor, and similarly you might not necessarily put it in the Deck because it crucially lacks a way to Special Summon itself or something else. What it does do is turn up the heat on the field so all the Levels and stats go down, which can be used either to modulate for your Synchro Summons or to get in your opponent’s way, since it’s a Quick Effect. Or in the GY, it can grant another monster its defensive ability of self-immolation, destroying whatever tries to battle it. And it is technically a Rekindling target. So you know, some of that might be useful.
Effects aside, I’d also like to say something about the art: It depicts the tale of the Takea and the Lava Rat, where one of these little critters rides a shark across a river and everyone has a bad time. No Lava Rat set or combiner was ever released, so the build you see here is an original by yours truly. I enjoy how it looks a bit like a nerd.
And that concludes our bestiary. For further strategic considerations, let’s look at a …
The simple philosophy behind this one is “we’re testing the Rahi Beasts, so better throw all of them in”. With the exception of the trifecta of fetching stuff from the Deck in various ways – the Muaka , the Vako , and the Taku – everything is represented by only a single copy, to be accessed as required through our searchers. The Terrortop engine enables the Hikaki line for another search opportunity, and since the Speedroids are WIND, they can also be convenient targets for the Kewa revive. For Tuners, the three native ones are actually among the one-copy squad due to their searchability, while a trio of Fikou hopes to let us randomly draw into that extra bit of extension and Level modulation.
Aside from the Synchros covered above, the Extra Deck also contains I:P/S:P and Beyond/Exceed lines on the Link side, as well as a Naturia Beast that can be made by tuning any of our numerous EARTH Rahi with Fikou or Pokawi as appropriate (careful: the latter only makes Rahi when you use its effect to Synchro!). Another interesting inclusion is the small package of Subterranean Worm and Rahi Nui , which is a way to cheat out any of the boss monsters in case we’re sitting on a bunch of material but the Levels won’t line up.
Finally, for this build’s side deck I tried playing all the different Level 1 Insect Tuners (that also act as handtraps), to swap in for e.g. the Fikou depending on the matchup. I’m sure there’s better things you could do, though.
A sample video from one of the earliest test sessions (and thus an older version) may help illustrate the playstyle.
Conclusion
The Rahi variant consisting of Beasts and Winged Beasts is one of the largest and most combo-oriented, aiming to make a board of disruptions and beaters while cycling through a variety of utility effects they can access thanks to numerous searchers. They lean very heavily into the Rahi gimmick of moving cards around all locations from back row to front row to Extra Deck to GY to banishment, and also have a bit of a build-your-own boss thing going with their Level 4 Pendulums that grant Synchros additional effects. A lot happening in here, but that’s to be expected when there are so many monsters.
I guess I should get around to this one before it slips my mind again, huh.
Welcome to the very first Theme Guide featuring BPEV cards, specifically the mystery substance that is secretly the root cause of just about the whole Bionicle lore: Energized Protodermis.
This shiny silver liquid had its first appearance at the end of 2002 and immediately exhibited its strange properties by transforming the Toa Mata into the Toa Nuva when they came in contact with it. As the story went on, we also learnt that it will destroy anything that does not have a destiny to transform, that the substance is in fact sapient, and finally that its discovery on the ancient planet Spherus Magna was what ultimately led to the Core War, The Shattering, and the creation of the Matoran Universe as a whole. So yeah, it’s kinda important.
But as we still remain on the island of Mata Nui, what matters for now is its basic ability to transform those who are destined and destroy all others. Hence its current implementation as a small, simple archetype revolving around two key phrases – “Fusion Summon” and “send it to the GY”.
If only your opponent controls a monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If this card is Normal or Special Summoned (except during the Damage Step): You can Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck using this card and 1 monster in your hand as material. If this card is used as material for a Fusion Summon, except by its own effect: Target 1 Special Summoned monster on the field; send it to the GY. You can only use this effect of “Energized Protodermis Chamber” once per turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.1.3)
Both of them can immediately be seen in our sole Main Deck monster, Energized Protodermis Chamber. When Normal or Special Summoned (the latter of which it inherently allows you to do against established boards), it fuses with exactly 1 monster in your hand, and when fused by any effect except that one, it has a mandatory Trigger Effect to send a Special Summoned monster from the field to the GY.
Let’s unpack that bit by bit. The main effect is obviously the one that performs a Fusion Summon, and the idea is to “induce transformations” by Energized Protodermis to turn the monster in your hand into its upgraded form from the Extra Deck. This paradigm is currently implemented on the Toa Nuva, represented below by their glorious leader.
“Toa Mata Tahu” + 1 “Energized Protodermis” monster If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can add 1 “Nuva” Spell/Trap from your Deck or GY to your hand, then discard 1 card. If your opponent controls a monster (Quick Effect): You can target 1 other face-up Attack Position monster on the field; its ATK becomes 0, and if it does, this card gains ATK equal to that monster’s original ATK, until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Toa Nuva Tahu” once per turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.4.4)
That, of course, is an entirely separate archetype that just incorporates Energized Protodermis by design, but what’s relevant for this guide is just the first line with the Fusion Materials: A specifically named Toa Mata, plus any “Energized Protodermis” monster. This is how we represent the destined transformations – if exactly the correct individual comes into contact with Energized Protodermis, a new being will be born. Also keep in mind that Toa Mata are Level 6 monsters, so Chamber taking the other material from the hand specifically saves you a Tribute Summon.
The other half of Energized Protodermis is that it will destroy those not destined to transform by it, and this is represented in a slightly roundabout way by the mandatory effect sending a monster to the GY. The idea is that “forcibly” using it as Fusion Material is a violation of destiny, and so the destruction kicks in, eliminating a Special Summoned monster such as the one you just Fusion Summoned. Or, and this is pure bullshit for gameplay convenience, you can also hit any other Special Summoned monster including your opponent’s, so this drawback can be twisted into a major advantage if you play your cards right. It will just sometimes give you trouble when going first. And even though I say “destruction”, it’s implemented as non-destruction removal because of how almost nothing can resist it in-universe.
Funnily enough, as long as you use Chamber’s own effect to fuse, it has no problem whatsoever with making things that aren’t lore-accurate, destiny-conforming transformations. In fact, any Fusion is fair game as long as this particular Level 2 LIGHT Aqua monster is valid material for it, including quite a few pretty significant boss monsters from existing archetypes. That freedom is the main thing allowing us to mix Energized Protodermis with a lot of things other than just the Toa Mata/Nuva.
An additional option you have, at least under somewhat specific conditions, is the archetype’s own Fusion Monster: Energized Protodermis Flow.
2 “Energized Protodermis” monsters If this Fusion Summoned card is sent to the GY: Look at your opponent’s Extra Deck and send 1 monster from it to the GY. During your Main Phase: You can Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing 2 Fusion Materials mentioned on it from your GY, including this card. You can only use each effect of “Energized Protodermis Flow” once per turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.2.5)
While 2 monsters from the archetype is normally a really easy and generic material requirement, that’s not so true when the archetype currently only has a single Main Deck monster. Basically, Chamber + Chamber is your only means to bring this out, which won’t come up outside of very specific situations.
If it does, though, one of the Chambers would be fused away by an external effect, hence triggering its mandatory effect to send a monster on the field to the GY. Ideally this is aimed at your opponent’s side as removal, but Flow is also built to take a little advantage of the cases where no targets other than itself are available, since it will then proceed to relay the archetypal “send to GY” to the opponent’s Extra Deck. Also, it can be used to Fusion Summon from the GY, which technically works even if it wasn’t on the field before (but it’s kind of hard to usefully mill a 0 ATK monster from the Extra Deck).
To walk back that earlier statement a little, there are a few other ways to make this monster. It’s Level 4, so Instant Fusion works, and the effect to send from the opponent’s Extra Deck will then trigger in the End Phase even if you don’t have a way to e.g. Link it off more quickly. Or you could use the final card currently included in the archetype.
Energized Protodermis Destiny
Quick-Play Spell
Target 1 face-up monster you control; Special Summon 1 “Energized Protodermis Token” (Aqua/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 0), then apply 1 of these effects. ●Send the targeted monster to the GY, and if you do, you can destroy that Token and Special Summon 1 “Energized Protodermis” monster from your Deck. ●Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster that mentions an “Energized Protodermis” monster as material from your Extra Deck in Defense Position, using only that Token and the targeted monster as Fusion Material. You can only activate 1 “Energized Protodermis Destiny” per turn.
Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.1.3)
Energized Protodermis Destiny is the entire transformation/destruction dynamic on which all the effects are based, encapsulated into one neat little Quick-Play Spell.
When you activate this card, you take the role of a Great Being shortly before everything went to shit and conduct an experiment with a little sample of Energized Protodermis in the form of a Token. If the unwitting guinea pig you targeted at activation has a destiny to transform, you can carry out that transformation with a Fusion Summon, limited to Defense Position because this works in the Battle Phase. Otherwise, your only option is to send the target to the GY, but in order to study the strange substance more closely (and still benefit in some way), you can then trade your Token for an actual Energized Protodermis monster in your Deck. Which, notably, will trigger Chamber, so under the right circumstances both options secretly say “Fusion Summon”.
Sample Decks
Aside from the straightforward Toa Nuva deck that will be covered in its own guide eventually, you have a couple interesting build options that take advantage of Energized Protodermis and its particular characteristics.
One example I’ve worked out in detail and tested is Pure Energized Protodermis Shaddoll Invoked (P.E.P.S.I).
https://www.duelingbook.com/deck?id=12382564
The key synergy lies in El Shaddoll Construct and Invoked Mechaba having a generic LIGHT material that can be covered by an Energized Protodermis monster, so Chamber + a Shaddoll or Aleister is a hand that makes the respective boss monster in basically a single move. This is especially valuable with the Shaddolls, since it gives you an additional way to send them to the GY and trigger their effects, but on the Invoked side too, having an alternative to the classic combo helps you bait out and play through more things. That’s especially true going second, where you’ll usually be able to Special Summon Chamber and then, should it get negated, just follow up with an unhindered Normal Summon of Aleister to make Mechaba anyway.
Another way the archetypes line up is in the Fusion Spells: Shaddoll Fusion can use materials from the Deck under certain conditions, and Invocation from the GY. That gives you two extremely efficient ways of triggering the mandatory effect on Energized Protodermis Chamber in order to poke a hole in a board of Special Summoned monsters. And since the timing at which it triggers is sharead with the Fusion Summon itself, having Magical Meltdown active will render your opponent unable to respond to this threat.
Finally, we also have Energized Protodermis Flow summonable by Chamber + Chamber, Destiny targeting Chamber, or plain old Instant Fusion. You can get this into the GY at your leisure using Gravity Controller, where it can then create the aforementioned Fusions practically ex nihilo … and also Invoked Augoeides, because as it turns out a Fusion in the GY is still a Fusion.
To take proper advantage of both Shaddoll Fusion and Chamber’s S E N D, this deck tries to go second, which also enables the use of powerful board breakers including Forbidden Droplet and Super Polymerization.
If you lean just a little further into the Bionicle aspect and also add just a smidgen of Toa Nuva to this formula, you obtain another similar recipe that is no longer Pure, but rather Protodermically Energized Nuva Invoked Shaddoll. You’re not getting an acronym for this one.
https://www.duelingbook.com/deck?id=12383388
Of course, Tahu and Onua here could be any other pair of Toa, or even just one to leave a little more space. Either way, there really isn’t much difference to the PEPSI deck – in fact a lot of the time you’re just doing Invoked/Shaddoll stuff and that’s enough to last you a whole game. But the occasional chance you get to bring out a Toa Nuva does feel nice, as does sometimes being able to search your Energized Protodermis cards via Nuva Symbols. While it’s nowhere near as good as a proper Nuva deck and fitting in all the necessary cards is a real struggle, it’s another option to play around with for some fun.
I previously compiled some footage of these two builds into the Best of Test: Energized Protodermis video, as seen below.
Best of Test: Energized Protodermis
Beyond that, there’s some more ideas that could be worth exploring in the future. In a similar vein to Shaddoll, Albion is a Fusion with a generic LIGHT material and Branded Fusion a compatible Fusion Spell using materials from the Deck, so some kind of Branded pile going second could make real good use of Chamber.
Or, to go even more modern, you could follow the Type instead of the Attribute and put Chamber to work as the Aqua material of Tearlaments Kitkallos. Probably not particularly optimal in that Deck since it’s a) useless when milled and b) won’t trigger its removal effect if shuffled back into the Deck as material, but perhaps it could to some degree serve as additional copies of Instant Fusion. Maybe even a replacement in a hypothetical future where that card is banned. Sure, it takes another Tearlaments monster to work, but that monster’s effect would then also trigger to Fusion Summon at least Rulkallos, in the process triggering Kitkallos to mill 5,I may have managed to forget how Tear fusion effects work in the span of 2 sentences here and holy hell it’s already sounding insane. Might have to try this after all.
Conclusion
Energized Protodermis a substance whose central property is that, upon contact, it transforms those who are destined and destroys those who are not. Translated to cards, this becomes a small Fusion engine whose main monster is a combination of Fusion Spell and material, meant to be merged with certain specific monsters in order to fulfill their destiny of evolution. Meanwhile, fusing it by external means will cause a violent destructive reaction that sends a Special Summoned monster from the field to the GY – potentially an opponent’s monster, so what is a liability going first can be utilized as a weapon going second.
In addition to the currently intended use case with the Toa Nuva, Energized Protodermis can be splashed into a variety of Fusion decks, the one condition being that some purple card in the Extra Deck can use exactly Energized Protodermis Chamber as material. In such a hybrid, the base strategy is enhanced with not only an additional way to Fusion Summon, but also with the potential of targeting non-destruction removal tied to its own Fusion Spells.
When the Great Spirit was cast into a deep slumber, the Toa Mata were the six heroes sent out to rectify the situation. However, some faulty equipment caused them to miss their intended landing point and float in the ocean for a thousand years before they could actually begin their mission, turning them into the colorful sentai team of amnesiac skeletons we know and love today. Now, it is time to dive into the cards representing these central figures of Bionicle lore and their tale.
To Tribute Summon this card face-up, you can Tribute a FIRE or “Toa Mata” monster in your hand, except “Toa Mata Tahu”, instead of a monster you control. Once per turn, if a monster battles, after damage calculation: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; its ATK becomes 0, also if it is destroyed by battle this turn, your opponent takes damage equal to its original ATK.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Tahu triggers after a battle has occured to target another opponent’s monster and “set it on fire”. This lowers its ATK 0 permanently and makes it so that being destroyed by battle during the same turn will result in an explosion that directly damages your opponent.
To Tribute Summon this card face-up, you can Tribute a WATER or “Toa Mata” monster in your hand, except “Toa Mata Gali”, instead of a monster you control. Once per turn, when the turn player’s opponent activates a monster effect, except “Toa Mata Gali” (Quick Effect): You can target 1 other face-up monster on the field; negate its effects, and if you do, this card gains 400 ATK.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Gali‘s effect can be chained to any monster effect activated by the player whose turn it currently is not. She allows you to target a monster and negate its effects, and this also makes herself gain 700 ATK permanently, building towards a truly torrential force with enough patience.
To Tribute Summon this card face-up, you can Tribute an EARTH or “Toa Mata” monster in your hand, except “Toa Mata Onua”, instead of a monster you control. Once per turn, if a monster(s) is sent from the hand or Deck to the GY: You can target 1 card in either GY; place it on the top or bottom of the Deck, and if it was a monster whose original ATK in the GY was lower than this card’s current ATK, gain LP equal to the difference.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Onua triggers when a monster is sent from the hand or Deck to the GY. He lets you target a card in either GY, place it on the top or bottom of the Deck, and gain LP if it was a monster with sufficiently low ATK. This Earthshattering Event has extremely varied applications, ranging from recycling your own cards to disrupting your opponent’s combos to setting up a dead draw for the next turn.
To Tribute Summon this card face-up, you can Tribute an EARTH or “Toa Mata” monster in your hand, except “Toa Mata Pohatu”, instead of a monster you control. Once per turn, if a monster(s) is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, or a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck activates its effect: You can target 1 Spell/Trap on the field; destroy it, also, if you control a Rock monster, you can destroy 1 additional Spell/Trap on the field.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Pohatu destroys a Spell/Trap when a monster is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, or when such a monster activates its effect (on a new chain after resolution, because it is still a Trigger Effect). And if you are roleplaying the “kicking rocks” theme of this effect so well that there actually is a Rock monster on your field, you get a second pop, too.
To Tribute Summon this card face-up, you can Tribute a WATER or “Toa Mata” monster in your hand, except “Toa Mata Kopaka”, instead of a monster you control. If this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. While this card is in face-up Defense Position, your opponent’s monsters cannot target monsters for attacks, except “Toa Mata Kopaka”. Once per turn, if another card(s) you control leaves the field by an opponent’s card effect: You can banish 1 card your opponent controls.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Kopaka triggers when your opponent causes another of your cards to leave the field, and will non-targetingly banish one of their cards in a freezing retaliatory strike.
Much like he is the one Toa Mata to hold two different pieces of equipment in his hands, a sword and a shield, he is also the only one to have another effect on the field. After battle, he will automatically change to Defense Position to become a respectable 2.5k wall, and this wall is further strengthened by the fact that your opponent cannot attack your other monsters while he is in that state.
To Tribute Summon this card face-up, you can Tribute a WIND or “Toa Mata” monster in your hand, except “Toa Mata Lewa”, instead of a monster you control. Once per turn, if a monster(s) is Special Summoned from the hand, Main Deck, and/or GY while you control this card: You can target 1 monster on the field; return it to the hand, then, if it was a monster you controlled, you can return 1 additional monster on the field to the hand.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Lewa triggers off any Special Summon from the hand, Main Deck, or GY that happens while he is already on the field (so no, his own Summon doesn’t count). His effect lets you target a monster on the field and bounce it back to the hand, as is common in the WIND Attribute, and if that monster was previously on your field, you also get to bounce a second monster chosen at resolution. This basically allows you to bypass targeting protection at the cost of having to remove some of your field as well.
Aside from the individual traits outlined in the tabs above, there are some noteworthy shared aspects to discuss. The Toa Mata are all Warriors of varying Attributes, and they are Level 6 because that’s kind of an iconic number and also feels like about the right placement for Toa in general – they’re too special to be among the low-level “fodder”, but also not that individually powerful compared to some of the other crazy beings that can be found in the Matoran Universe.
This choice of Level means they require a Tribute to Normal Summon and are therefore horrendous unplayable bricks by default. The normal (and most effective) way to work around this would be adding some handy built-in Special Summoning conditions, but to properly match the delayed arrival of this Toa team, I went with something slower instead and made a “simplified” Tribute Summon the standard method of bringing them out. What that means is that they all share an effect that allows their Tribute to come from the hand instead of the field, provided it is either another Toa Mata or a different monster of their same Attribute. This way, they are actually pretty easy (though still somewhat expensive) to Summon provided you are playing them in either a dedicated Toa Mata deck or an Attribute-based strategy (likely their village‘s), which is exactly how they’re meant to be used.
Once you get the monsters on your field, they each provide different effects meant to represent their elemental powers. These effects are relatively strong, but bogged down by another intentional inconvenience included in the design: As the Toa Mata are fundamentally a reactive force created to respond when the universe is in danger, their effects too will only activate in response to certain events. The trigger conditions are mostly generic enough that you can reasonably set them off yourself and not wait for your opponent to play into them, but that still means a Toa Mata alone is often no more than a beatstick. Refer to the individual descriptions for more detail on these effects and how to trigger them.
What we have so far is just a lineup of mighty heroes with some pretty inconvenient downsides, so it’s going to take a bit of external help to work around those downsides and build a deck that feels good to play. Luckily the Toa Mata had some ridiculously good support infrastructure despite being stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, so the lore gives us plenty of setup here.
First and foremost, there’s the 12 Kanohi each of them had access to, but those are covered in detail in a different guide, so let’s just quickly note that they are Equip Spells that grant different effects to Toa and each of the 6 Great ones has a GY effect which banishes a monster from the GY to search the Toa Mata who mainly wears that mask.
To manage the many Kanohi and ensure you have the correct power when you need it, a Suva is absolutely essential, but in a proper Toa Mata strategy, these shrines can do even more than that.
While in your hand, and while face-up on the field if you control a “-Koro” Field Spell, this card is also EARTH, WATER, FIRE, and WIND-Attribute. Once per Chain (Quick Effect): You can pay 600 LP, then target 1 “Toa” monster you control; equip 1 “Kanohi” Equip Spell from your hand or GY to that target, except a card that is in the GY because it was destroyed while face-up on the field and sent there this turn. If you control a “Toa” monster: You can Special Summon this card from your GY. You can only use this effect of “Suva” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The mask-swapping effect is in fact sandwiched between two other abilities that help the Mata. Since the Suva counts as all Attributes except DARK in the hand, you can always Tribute it for any Toa without even Summoning it first, granting a big consistency boost. And the fact that it comes back from the GY once per turn if you control a Toa immediately offsets the Tribute cost, while ensuring fairly reliable access to any Kanohi you have in the hand or GY.
If Suva is so good, why isn’t there a Suva 2? Well, there is.
While in your hand or GY, this card is also EARTH, WATER, FIRE, and WIND-Attribute. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card, then target 1 Level 6 “Toa” monster in your GY; Special Summon that target. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 of your banished “Toa” monsters; Special Summon it in Defense Position, also you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except “Toa” monsters. You can only use each effect of “Suva Kaita” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Situated at Kini-Nui, the Suva Kaita is a central shrine built not to store Kanohi, but as a gathering point and entrance into what lies beneath the island. It’s mostly symbolic really, but that doesn’t stop me from giving it effects to aid the Toa Mata in working together. Like the regular Suva, it counts as all the Attributes you need while in the hand (and also in the GY – more on that below), and comes with two effects for Special Summoning Toa. The one on the field is a Quick Effect and gets exactly a Level 6 from the GY, but requires the Suva Kaita to Tribute itself. The one in the GY gets back any banished Toa and costs you nothing except banishing the already spent Suva Kaita, but it’s instead restricted by only summoning in Defense Position and comes with an archetypal Extra Deck lock for the rest of the turn. Both of these can be used in the same turn, so with sufficient setup a single Suva Kaita can already get you a Rank 6.
The Great Temple, Kini-Nui
Field Spell
During your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) If a “Toa” monster(s) is Tributed for the Tribute Summon of a “Toa Mata” monster and sent to your GY: You can target 1 of those monsters; Special Summon it in Defense Position, but banish it when it leaves the field. During the End Phase: You can destroy this card, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Level 1 Rock monster with 0 ATK/DEF from your Deck. You can only use each effect of “The Great Temple, Kini-Nui” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Zooming out a bit, Kini-Nui is also an important piece of Toa Mata support. As the very location in which the full team finally came together after separate adventures in their respective regions, this is pretty much the Field Spell that does everything the Toa Mata monsters themselves don’t do to directly support each other as a functioning archetype. It grants an additional Normal Summon to make up for the lack of built-in Special Summons (though this part is more relevant to hybrid strategies that also want to play a non-Toa Normal Summon), turns Toa used as Tributes for Toa Mata (often from the hand!) into additional monsters on the field to again enable Rank 6 plays, and fetches either Suva or Suva Kaita from the Deck in the End Phase at the cost of itself.
Since I keep mentioning Rank 6 Xyzs every time an opportunity to put multiple Toa Mata on the field together comes up, I should probably start introducing the Extra Deck monsters that go with the archetype. First off, three mid-bosses representing the teamwork of pairs of Toa Mata.
2 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters You can detach 2 materials from this card; send 1 Level 1 Rock monster with 0 ATK/DEF from your Deck to the GY, and if you do, you can halve the ATK/DEF of 1 monster your opponent controls. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card with no material, then target 2 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters (1 EARTH monster and 1 FIRE monster) in your GY; Special Summon them, but they cannot attack this turn. You can only use 1 “Toa Mata Combination – Magma” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
2 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters During the Main or Battle Phase (Quick Effect): You can detach 1 material from this card; Special Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster from your Deck, but change its ATK to 0, it cannot be used as material for a Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon, also banish it during the End Phase of the next turn. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card with no material, then target 2 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters (1 WATER monster and 1 WIND monster) in your GY; Special Summon them, but they cannot attack this turn. You can only use 1 “Toa Mata Combination – Storm” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
2 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters When a Spell/Trap Card or effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can detach 2 materials from this card; negate that effect, and if you do, banish that card. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card with no material, then target 2 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters (1 EARTH monster and 1 WATER monster) in your GY; Special Summon them, but they cannot attack this turn. You can only use 1 “Toa Mata Combination – Crystal” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Magma combines the powers of Tahu and Onua to call forth something like a volcanic eruption, detaching all materials in one huge burst to both launch a Rock (Hint: The Rock is one of the Suvas) into the GY and make an opponent’s monster’s stats shrink to half under the heat.
Storm is a collaboration of Gali and Lewa, as seen in canon, calling forth a fierce thunderstorm in which the bolts of lightning are replaced by Toa Mata coming out from the Deck during either player’s turn. As such brief flashes, they are robbed of their ATK, can mostly not be used as material for anything, and disappear at the end of the next turn, but their effects remain usable, so this is a great way to throw in a little surprise when your opponent is just about to do something that happens to meet a trigger condition.
Crystal features the iconic tag team of Pohatu and Kopaka, mixing the former’s Spell/Trap hate with the latter’s banishing into a banishing Spell/Trap negate. This is a type of effect missing from both the regular Toa Mata and the generic Rank 6 pool, so it seemed like a useful addition.
To properly link these combinations to their intended materials, they share a second effect where they can, once used up completely (but not on the same turn they used their other effect), tag out for a pair of Toa Mata with exactly the correct Attributes. Due to overlapping Attributes, you can slightly cheat by e.g. turning a Crystal into Gali and Onua, but close enough. In terms of gameplay, this is another way to get the right trigger effects to your field at convenient times and provides a clear long-term resource advantage to using the archetypal Xyz over generic stuff.
A cut above that are the big bosses, the canonical combination models: The Toa Kaita, who come with their own Kanohi as well.
3 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects during the Battle Phase. If this card battles an opponent’s monster, that monster has its effects negated until the end of the Damage Step. Once per turn, when this card destroys an opponent’s monster by battle: You can detach 1 material from this card; inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster’s original ATK.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Great Kanohi Aki
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa Kaita” monster, it cannot be destroyed by battle, gains 1000 ATK, and can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each, also if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage. Once per turn, while this card is equipped to a “Toa Mata” monster you control: You can Special Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster with the same Level from your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, Xyz Summon 1 “Toa” Xyz Monster using monsters you control, including that Special Summoned monster.
3 Level 6 “Toa Mata” monsters Once per turn, when a card or effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can detach 1 material from this card; negate the activation. If a material(s) is detached from this card (except during the Damage Step): You can declare 1 card type (Monster, Spell, or Trap); your opponent reveals 1 random card in their hand and the top card of their Deck. Then, apply the following effect(s) in sequence, based on the number of cards of the declared type revealed. You can only use this effect of “Wairuha, Toa Kaita of Wisdom” once per turn. ●1+: Draw 1 card. ●2: Banish 1 card your opponent controls or in their GY.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Great Kanohi Rua
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa Kaita” monster, it is unaffected by your opponent’s card effects, also your opponent must keep their hand revealed. Once per turn, while this card is equipped to a “Toa Mata” monster you control: You can Special Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster with the same Level from your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, Xyz Summon 1 “Toa” Xyz Monster using monsters you control, including that Special Summoned monster.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
While Summoning 2 Toa Mata at a time is relatively easy, getting the third one usually requires either multiple turns or a really good hand plus setup, so these are intended as legitimate win conditions for the deck.
Akamai is a certified unga bunga way to end a game. With 3000 ATK, locking your opponents effects in the Battle Phase, negating effects such as battle protection of whatever he is fighting, and burning after winning a battle, the Toa Kaita of Valor pretty much guarantees you at least 3000 damage all by himself. The Kanohi Aki further elevates this to solo OTK potential with 1000 more ATK, piercing damage, and being able to attack all the monsters.
Wairuha on the other hand is the more defensive option you go into if you expect the game to continue. I don’t think it needs to be said that an omninegate, even a non-destroying one, is a pretty strong effect, but in the hands of a wise player, the Toa Kaita of Wisdom grants even more power than that. As a second effect that triggers when a material is detached (and therefore immediately after using the negate), you get to play a little guessing game regarding your opponent’s hand and top of the Deck, and depending on how correct you are, win some crazy plusses. The Kanohi Rua enhances this package with effect immunity so you don’t have to waste the negate on protecting Wairuha, as well as revealing your opponent’s hand to give you an edge when guessing.
Since the two Kanohi that only work on Toa Kaita would be extremely dead draws most of the time, they have a secondary effect when equipped to a regular Toa to let you Xyz Summon with an additional material from your hand. This gives you another way to hit the necessary 3 with reasonable effort.
After introducing the characters, the stage, and the props with which they interact, all that’s missing from this grand show is the story itself. That part is told through a series of three Spells and Traps supporting the Toa Mata archetype.
Call of the Toa Stones
Spell
Discard 1 card; roll a six-sided die and excavate cards from the top of your Deck equal to the result, and if you do, you can add up to 2 excavated “Toa Mata” monsters with different names to your hand, also shuffle the rest into your Deck. Then, apply the following effect, based on the number of cards added to your hand this way. You can only activate 1 “Call of the Toa Stones” per turn. ●0: Set 1 “Coming of the Toa” directly from your Deck. It can be activated this turn. ●1: Add 1 Level 1 Rock monster with 0 ATK/DEF from your Deck to your hand. ●2: Gain 1800 LP.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
It all begins with the Call of the Toa Stones, a failsafe activated by the adventurer Takua to call the Toa lost at sea towards the island where they were meant to be. This is essentially the Toa Mata archetype’s standard issue search Spell, but I got carried away and made it way more complicated. Instead of simply adding a monster to the hand, you excavate equal to a die roll (resemblance to the “excavate 6” in Takua’s own effect very intentional), add 0-2 Toa Mata you find to your hand, shuffle the rest back, and then proceed in different ways depending on how many you actually added. This means the randomness just changes your plays and mostly can’t ruin them, and since you get to pick how many you add, higher rolls and more hits can only expand your options.
If you found 2 Toa Mata, your Call has succeeded, the Toa have arrived, you broke even on card advantage, and to celebrate all that you gain a bunch of LP. If you only found 1, you’re able to also grab a Suva or Suva Kaita to support that single Toa, offsetting the initial discard cost in a different way. And if you did not add any cards, you’ll have to live with the minus, but in exchange you can immediately continue the story in the proper way with the Coming of the Toa.
Coming of the Toa
Trap
Target up to 3 monsters with different names in your GY; Special Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster from your Deck with the same Attribute as each target, but they cannot attack, also return them to the hand during the End Phase. Then, if all targets are in the GY because they were sent there this turn, you can place 1 “Quest for the Masks” from your Deck face-up in your Spell & Trap Zone. You cannot Special Summon monsters with 2000 or more ATK, except “Toa” monsters, the turn you activate this card. You can only activate 1 “Coming of the Toa” per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
This one, as random Trap Cards in archetypes usually need to be, is kind of crazy. Best case scenario, it gives you three Toa Mata and a Continuous Spell on the field. Potentially during the first turn if you get it with Call and are also able to execute a combo that puts the necessary Attributes in the GY. Even with less perfect setup, you’ll still be able to Summon at least one monster from your Deck, and that tends to be pretty good.
There of course need to be downsides to balance this out, which are as follows:
No attacking with the Summoned monsters.
Everything goes back to the hand at the end of the turn.
The Toa Mata need to be in your Deck.
The only monsters with 2000 or more ATK you can Special Summon during the whole turn you activate this are Toa.
It’s the last two points especially that disqualify this card from being splashable to a degenerate level, since Toa Mata by themselves can be huge bricks in a deck that doesn’t also play their support and making a Wairuha turn 1 is a lot less good when it locks you out of pretty much all other boss monsters. Meanwhile, a dedicated Toa Mata strategy doesn’t have such an easy time setting up the GY for big Coming plays early in the game (hence the Suva Kaita’s ability to substitute for any Attribute), so this mostly acts as another way of throwing whichever Toa Mata your opponent is about to trigger onto the field.
And finally, what the Toa embark on after their Call and Coming is a Quest for the Masks.
Quest for the Masks
Continuous Spell
When a “Toa” monster is Normal Summoned: You can equip 1 “Noble Kanohi” or “Great Kanohi” Equip Spell from your Deck to it. You can send any number of “Kanohi” Equip Spells from your hand to the GY; draw that many cards. You can only use this effect of “Quest for the Masks” once per turn. Once per turn, during the End Phase: You can target 1 of your banished monsters whose Level is less than or equal to the number of “Kanohi” Equip Spells with different names in your GY; Special Summon it, then destroy this card.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
This is slightly more generic support for Toa and Kanohi in general, and particularly good in Toa Mata since it’s searchable. It equips Kanohi from the Deck on Normal Summon and trades Kanohi you bricked on for draws, but especially notable for the purpose of this guide is the End Phase effect to trade itself for a banished monster. This is meant to synergize with the Great Kanohi’s cost of banishing a monster to search their respective Toa Mata, but also has other uses like bringing back a Suva Kaita (only needs one Kanohi!) that used both its effects already.
A relatively pure way to play Toa Mata is by mixing them with Kanohi, in particular the “Great” subset of them. The basic win condition of this deck is establishing one or more Toa on the field together with a Suva, and filling the GY with as many Kanohi as possible. This gives you a boss monster that can be endowed with any necessary protection or offensive boost at will, while possibly also disrupting the opponent with its own effect depending on which Toa you picked.
One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is obviously Isolde, who turns any two Toa on the field into a full Kanohi setup plus a fresh Toa on the field. But you also have more thematic ways of gathering Kanohi via Quest for the Masks, Gift of the Shrine, and the Golden Kanohi, and by using those you keep your Toa on the field free to overlay into the archetypal Xyz Monsters, which are also capable of using Kanohi powers. The major weakness of this deck is the sheer amount of Kanohi it plays, making it very easy to find multiple in your opening hand instead of directly playable cards. When that happens, you better hope Quest for the Masks is also there to unbrick you.
Shout out to Skill Drain for being the only non-custom card in the Main Deck, it just makes too much sense when the strategy is beatsticks who gain their powers from Equip Spells.
If you want to be a bit more experimental, but still remain lore-friendly, you can consider an alliance of the Toa Mata with the Chronicler’s Company, AKA C.C. Matoran. Instead of stuffing the deck with all the Kanohi it can take, we just play a few particularly useful ones to enable Isolde combos, which the C.C. Matoran can execute easily while climbing into Link-4 boss monsters. Doing so will automatically give you access to some Toa by searching them with Kanohi or setting up Attributes for Coming of the Toa in the GY, and those can either become additional threats right away (if you have a spare Normal Summon via Kini-Nui or got Coming from Call) or serve as powerful followup on subsequent turns.
Due to these basically guaranteed searches, the deck plays only one of each Toa Mata, so Call of the Toa Stones will most frequently be used to Set a Coming of the Toa that can be activated during the same turn. For these situations, I:P Masquerena is especially handy because ending on her and Isolde means you don’t Special Summon any non-Toa monsters with 2000 or more ATK, can use Coming to ideally get a Toa Kaita on turn 1, and then link into an indestructible Avramax during your opponent’s turn.
And if you really want to make sure you don’t brick on any Kanohi, here’s a somewhat less immersive deck that gets away with playing zero of them. Instead, we use Prank-Kids as our main combo to make the usual Battle Butler and then use the plethora of Attributes in the GY for a big Summon with Coming of the Toa on the next turn. This is strictly a multi-turn setup even if you get the quick activation for Coming with Call of the Toa Stones, since Prank-Kids Dodo-Doodle-Doo (why are their names like this?) will usually be needed to complete the main combo and has just enough to ATK to clash with the restriction on Coming of the Toa.
The uneven ratios of Toa here, with 2 Tahu, 2 Lewa, and 1 of everyone else, are just to reduce the chances of not having an Attribute left in the Deck. This way, opening Tahu or Lewa still leaves you with a FIRE/WIND target for Coming of the Toa.
Demo Video
Best of Test: Toa Mata
The tests shown here span multiple versions, so you can even see a few different iterations of the decks I came up with. The Toa Mata generally performed really well in tests against the AI, with some obvious bricking issues in the more Kanohi-heavy builds, and a hilariously large part of that seems to be how often they just happen to have the largest ATK stat on the field.
My feeling is that the high winrate is more due to the bots having trouble with stuff like that than the archetype being (too) strong, but there were a few interactions that occasionally felt just a little broken. It wasn’t enough to convince me I need to change something, but if you also happen to notice something like that, I’d be very grateful for a comment so I have more data to work with here. On that note, all other feedback is of course also very welcome.
Conclusion
The Toa Mata are an archetype centered around six strong, but somewhat unwieldy high-level Warrior monsters with varied effects that allow you to respond to different in-game events. Their individual flaws are compensated by their interactions with a wide range of external support, including masks, shrines, a temple, and a story told through Spells and Traps making it easy to get the team to your hand and field. Further power can be unlocked by using the Xyz bosses that represent them working together, finally culminating in their actual physical combined forms, the Toa Kaita.
The masks of power known as Kanohi play a central role in the story of Bionicle from start to finish, so obviously they also get a fair amount of representation in this humble card game adaptation. With Equip Spells, Yugioh provides a pretty obvious niche for placing inanimate objects that grant their wearer additional powers, but making Equip Spells remotely worth playing in this day and age always takes a bit of creativity. Let’s take a look at what I came up with for the Kanohi featured in BCOT.
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa” or “Makuta” monster, it cannot be destroyed by battle, also you take no battle damage from battles involving it. If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 monster from your GY; add 1 “Toa Mata Tahu” from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Great Kanohi Hau” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Kaukau (Water Breathing)
Great Kanohi Kaukau
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa” or “Makuta” monster, it is unaffected by your opponent’s card effects, unless they target it. If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 monster from your GY; add 1 “Toa Mata Gali” from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Great Kanohi Kaukau” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Pakari (Strength)
Great Kanohi Pakari
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa” or “Makuta” monster, it gains 1000 ATK, also if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage. If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 monster from your GY; add 1 “Toa Mata Onua” from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Great Kanohi Pakari” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Kakama (Speed)
Great Kanohi Kakama
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa” or “Makuta” monster, it can attack all monsters your opponent controls, once each. If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 monster from your GY; add 1 “Toa Mata Pohatu” from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Great Kanohi Kakama” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Akaku (X-Ray Vision)
Great Kanohi Akaku
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 monster from your GY; add 1 “Toa Mata Kopaka” from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Great Kanohi Akaku” once per turn. While equipped to a “Toa” or “Makuta” monster you control, this card gains these effects. ●Your opponent must keep their hand revealed. ●Once per turn, if your opponent adds a Spell/Trap(s) to their hand (except during the Damage Step): You can banish that Spell/Trap(s) until the End Phase.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Miru (Levitation)
Great Kanohi Miru
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa” or “Makuta” monster, negate any effect activated by your opponent that targeted it. If this card is sent to the GY: You can banish 1 monster from your GY; add 1 “Toa Mata Lewa” from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Great Kanohi Miru” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The first thing to notice here are some common elements to all these effects. They begin with a continuous effect ensuring one can only wear a single Kanohi at a time, by simply blowing up the moment a second one becomes equipped – this allows for the important mask-swapping mechanic, unlike a simple restriction preventing the equipping of additional Kanohi.
Then there are one or more effects that are only active when equipped to monsters from certain archetypes, in the case of Great Kanohi usually Toa or Makuta. These correspond to the actual abilities granted by the mask, and having them limited this way both simplifies design by not having to worry about random synergies and matches the lore, where Kanohi were indeed only usable by certain races with sufficient willpower.
Finally, they have an effect that triggers when sent to the GY. Unlike the previous two components which are meant to be universal to all Kanohi, this one is unique to the six Great Kanohi worn by the Toa Mata, though it does represent a more general design philosophy that Kanohi cards should do something beyond granting power when equipped. GY effects are particularly nice for this role due to Isolde exactly making it piss easy to mill Equip Spells while doing a combo, and even without that particular broken card, gathering a stockpile of Kanohi in the GY was already an intentional part of their strategy when I came up with the original version in ancient times before Link Monsters. Anyway, for these six Great Kanohi in particular, their secondary effect is simply that they can search the matching Toa by banishing a monster from the GY when they are sent there, which helps maintain hand advantage and incentivizes running the correct pairs.
Last but not least, to quickly summarize the on-field effects and what Kanohi powers they represent:
Great Kanohi Hau, Mask of Shielding – Lets the wearer generate a protective force field, in this case guarding only against battle destruction and damage (because the shield probably won’t be up outside battle, I guess).
Great Kanohi Kaukau, Mask of Water Breathing – Lets the wearer breathe water. To get a useful effect, I generalized this to protection from adverse environmental conditions, meaning immunity to all non-targeting effects.
Great Kanohi Pakari, Mask of Strength – Increases the wearer’s physical strength. This is simply and straightforwardly implemented as an ATK increase, plus the ability to inflict piercing damage because they become strong enough to punch straight through walls.
Great Kanohi Kakama, Mask of Speed – Lets the wearer move at great speed. Great enough to attack all of the opponent’s monsters in a single Battle Phase, in fact.
Great Kanohi Akaku, Mask of X-Ray Vision – Allows the wearer to see through solid objects. Here, it sees through the opponent’s hand, and to provide a more active component, can snipe a freshly added Spell/Trap out of it for a turn.
Great Kanohi Miru, Mask of Levitation – Allows the wearer to float in the air, outside the range of targeting effects from which it grants protection. The specific method of negating the effect entirely is for compatibility with Kanohi-swapping Quick Effects (see Support section below).
When the Toa Mata combine into Toa Kaita, so do their masks, forming two even more powerful Great Kanohi.
Great Kanohi Aki
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa Kaita” monster, it cannot be destroyed by battle, gains 1000 ATK, and can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each, also if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage. Once per turn, while this card is equipped to a “Toa Mata” monster you control: You can Special Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster with the same Level from your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, Xyz Summon 1 “Toa” Xyz Monster using monsters you control, including that Special Summoned monster.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Great Kanohi Rua
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Toa Kaita” monster, it is unaffected by your opponent’s card effects, also your opponent must keep their hand revealed. Once per turn, while this card is equipped to a “Toa Mata” monster you control: You can Special Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster with the same Level from your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, Xyz Summon 1 “Toa” Xyz Monster using monsters you control, including that Special Summoned monster.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The Aki combines the powers of Hau, Pakari, and Kakama, while the Rua does the same for Kaukau, Akaku, and Miru – in both cases with some omissions, because there’s no way the full effects would ever have fit on the cards. However, these insanely powerful abilities are only available to the Toa Kaita, and a sole Toa Mata equipped with one of these cards will instead merely receive some assistance in forming such a combination. Still pretty useful.
And finally, the ultimate “boss” of the Great Kanohi is that which lies beyond the Quest for the Masks, accessible only to a Toa who has gathered all of the six individual masks: The Golden Kanohi.
Great Golden Kanohi
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. While this card is equipped to a “Toa” monster: You can banish 6 “Great Kanohi” Equip Spells with different names from your GY, and if you do, replace this effect with those cards’ original effects. If this card is sent to the GY: You can send 1 “Kanohi” Equip Spell from your Deck to the GY; add this card to your hand, then place 1 card from your hand on the bottom of the Deck. You can only use this effect of “Great Golden Kanohi” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
By banishing exactly 6 Great Kanohi gathered in your GY, it gains their powers as long as it remains on the field. A rather reckless all-in move since it permanently removes the masks you copy and loses to Spell/Trap removal, but certainly satisfying when it works out. The first hurdle is obviously setting up the GY, which the Golden Kanohi itself helps with: Send it to the GY and it will mill you another Kanohi and return to your hand or Deck, continuing to wait for its time to be activated.
This one is technically not a Great Kanohi by name just so nobody can be funny and copy a Golden Kanohi with a second Golden Kanohi.
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Turaga”, “Toa”, or “Makuta” monster, your opponent’s monsters cannot target it for attacks while you control another monster. If this card is in your GY: You can Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 “Turaga Vakama” in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. You can only use this effect of “Noble Kanohi Huna” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Rau (Translation)
Noble Kanohi Rau
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. Once per turn, if the equipped monster is a “Turaga”, “Toa”, or “Makuta” monster, the first activated effect that targets it becomes “You can move 1 monster in the Main Monster Zone to another Main Monster Zone on its controller’s field, then your opponent can move 1 monster in the Main Monster Zone to another Main Monster Zone on its controller’s field”. If this card is in your GY: You can Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 “Turaga Nokama” in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. You can only use this effect of “Noble Kanohi Rau” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Ruru (Night Vision)
Noble Kanohi Ruru
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. You can only use each of the following effects of “Noble Kanohi Ruru” once per turn. ●While this card is equipped to a “Turaga”, “Toa”, or “Makuta” monster: You can target 1 Set card your opponent controls; reveal it. If it is a Spell/Trap, inflict 500 damage to your opponent. If it is a monster with less ATK than the equipped monster, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the difference. ●If this card is in your GY: You can Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 “Turaga Whenua” in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Komau (Mind Control)
Noble Kanohi Komau
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. If the equipped monster is a “Turaga”, “Toa”, or “Makuta” monster and your opponent controls 2 or more monsters, the monster(s) your opponent controls with the lowest ATK cannot activate its effects. If this card is in your GY: You can Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 “Turaga Onewa” in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. You can only use this effect of “Noble Kanohi Komau” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)🎉
Matatu (Telekinesis)
Noble Kanohi Matatu
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. Once per turn, while this card is equipped to a “Turaga”, “Toa”, or “Makuta” monster: You can change the battle position of 1 monster on the field. The equipped monster cannot attack the turn you activate this effect. If this card is in your GY: You can Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 “Turaga Nuju” in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. You can only use this effect of “Noble Kanohi Matatu” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Mahiki (Illusions)
Noble Kanohi Mahiki
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. Once per turn, while this card is equipped to a “Turaga”, “Toa”, or “Makuta” monster and you control no other monsters: You can Special Summon 1 “Illusion Token” (Spellcaster/WIND/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0), but destroy it when this card leaves the field. If this card is in your GY: You can Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 “Turaga Matau” in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. You can only use this effect of “Noble Kanohi Mahiki” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The Noble Kanohi worn by Turaga follow the same general structure, but predictably also grant their special powers to said Turaga. In exchange, the abilities themselves have lower impact and/or stricter conditions and drawbacks. As their secondary effect, these Kanohi do not search their matching Turaga, but instead act as a revival Spell from the GY by tributing a monster you control, which is useful for rebuilding a broken board or just Link climbing. They also conveniently equip themselves when reviving a Turaga this way.
The powers of the Noble Kanohi included in this expansion are:
Noble Kanohi Huna, Mask of Concealment – Hides the wearer from the opponent’s attacks, but only while there are other monsters to hide amongst.
Noble Kanohi Rau, Mask of Translation – “Translates” the text of an effect targeting the wearer into a different effect that geometrically “translates” monsters along the Main Monster Zones. It’s basically a convoluted negate based on a stupid pun.
Noble Kanohi Ruru, Mask of Night Vision – Illuminates a face-down card and inflicts damage if it’s a Spell/Trap or a monster smaller than the equipped one.
Noble Kanohi Komau, Mask of Mind Control – Mentally influences your opponent’s weakest monster(s) into being unable to activate its effects, but only if your opponent actually controls multiple monsters. As indicated by “monster(s)”, this can theoretically affect all opponent’s monsters at once if they have the same ATK.
Noble Kanohi Matatu, Mask of Telekinesis – Telekinetically (and non-targetingly) changes the battle position of a monster, but the focus required means the wearer does’t get to attack that turn.
Noble Kanohi Mahiki, Mask of Illusions – Generates an illusory Token that stays as long as the mask is active, but doing so requires the wearer to be alone on your field.
Support
That’s it for the masks of power themselves, but there are some other cards that interact with them as well.
While in your hand, and while face-up on the field if you control a “-Koro” Field Spell, this card is also EARTH, WATER, FIRE, and WIND-Attribute. Once per Chain (Quick Effect): You can pay 600 LP, then target 1 “Toa” monster you control; equip 1 “Kanohi” Equip Spell from your hand or GY to that target, except a card that is in the GY because it was destroyed while face-up on the field and sent there this turn. If you control a “Toa” monster: You can Special Summon this card from your GY. You can only use this effect of “Suva” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The Suva is the Kanohi-storing shrine that supports the Toa Mata by allowing them to switch between the masks they have collected at will, and in relation to Kanohi that is indeed exactly what this card does as well. With the additional limitations of a small LP cost and not being able to re-equip a Kanohi destroyed the same turn, you can equip any Kanohi in your hand or GY to any Toa you control (not just Mata!), which will conveniently cause any already equipped Kanohi to self-destruct, effectively accomplishing the swap.
Gift of the Shrine
Quick-Play Spell
Target 1 face-up monster you control, then activate 1 of these effects; ●Equip 1 “Kanohi” Equip Spell from your hand or GY to that target. ●Banish 1 Level 1 Rock monster you control or in your GY with 0 ATK/DEF, and if you do, equip 1 “Noble Kanohi” or “Great Kanohi” Equip Spell from your Deck to that target.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Gift of the Shrine is just that effect on a Quick-Play Spell, giving you another option in case the Suva itself becomes unavailable. By banishing a Suva (or a monster with an identical statline – as of this writing, the real game has none), you can also use an alternate effect that equips a Kanohi directly from the Deck instead. This part is explicitly limited to Noble and Great Kanohi, just to make sure it’s not quite so easy to acquire the yet-to-be-implemented Legendary Kanohi. Another difference from the Suva’s effect is that the target of this Spell doesn’t need to be a Toa, so you can use it with Turaga or even just equip a Kanohi from your Deck to a monster that can’t use it only to get it into circulation.
Quest for the Masks
Continuous Spell
When a “Toa” monster is Normal Summoned: You can equip 1 “Noble Kanohi” or “Great Kanohi” Equip Spell from your Deck to it. You can send any number of “Kanohi” Equip Spells from your hand to the GY; draw that many cards. You can only use this effect of “Quest for the Masks” once per turn. Once per turn, during the End Phase: You can target 1 of your banished monsters whose Level is less than or equal to the number of “Kanohi” Equip Spells with different names in your GY; Special Summon it, then destroy this card.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Quest for the Masks simulates the Toa Mata’s search for their respective set of Great and Noble Kanohi after arriving on Mata Nui. The first stage of this is that any Normal Summoned Toa (not just Toa Mata – I figure this card might be useful for future teams and their Kanohi as well) immediately gets to equip a Great/Noble Kanohi of your choice from the Deck, finding that mask and permanently adding it to your Suva-accessible collection. Second, if you happen to find any Kanohi by drawing them, you can throw them into the GY to further progress the quest and draw the same number of fresh cards that are probably more useful in your hand. And finally, once you have gathered a sufficient amount of Kanohi, you can declare the Quest for the Masks completed at the end of the turn, recover a banished monster as a reward, and destroy the Continuous Spell. You specifically get to bring back monsters with a Level up to the number of different Kanohi you have, which fits nicely because a complete set of 6 will exactly get you a Toa and if you somehow gather both Greats and Nobles for a total of 12, your options include literally any leveled monster in the game.
Copper Kanohi of Victory
Equip Spell
If another “Kanohi” card becomes equipped to the equipped monster, destroy this card. At the start of the Damage Step, if a “Matoran”, “Turaga”, or “Toa” monster equipped with this card battles an opponent’s monster: You can destroy both this card and that opponent’s monster. When a monster declares an attack, while this card is in your GY: You can equip this card to 1 monster you control with the highest ATK (your choice, if tied), but banish this card when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of “Copper Kanohi of Victory” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The Copper Kanohi of Victory is not so much a support card as it is a honorary member of the archetype, being a mask that neither contains special powers nor is actually meant to be worn like one. Given that second point, it might be unfitting for it to even have the usual self-destruct when another Kanohi shows up, but if it didn’t it would still cause the previous Kanohi to blow up, and I figured having different mechanics depending on the order in which masks are equipped would just be weird.
Anyway, what this trophy mask actually does is simply granting “victory” in battle to the entire Matoran evolution line, by destroying itself along with the opponent’s monster. Like the actual Kanohi, it also offers a secondary effect in the GY, and this one acts as a kind of battle trap, equipping to the current “champion” among your monsters on attack declaration.
The Chronicler’s Company was a group of Matoran from all of Mata Nui’s villages gathered by Takua to assist the Toa Mata in their quest. In BYE, they form a sub-archetype of Matoran with the unique property of directly supporting each other across the Attribute boundaries between villages.
Their founder, leader, and curiously not member of the archetype by name is the Chronicler himself, Takua.
If this card is Normal Summoned: You can take 1 of your “C.C. Matoran” monsters from your Deck, GY, or that is banished and place it on top of your Deck, and if you do, this card’s Attribute becomes the same as that monster’s original Attribute. During your Main Phase: You can excavate the top 6 cards of your Deck, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 excavated “C.C. Matoran” monster or add 1 excavated “The Chronicler’s Company” to your hand, also shuffle the rest into your Deck. You can only use this effect of “Matoran Chronicler Takua” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
As in the story, his role is to travel across the six villages, in the process meeting his allies that would later become part of the Company. This is reflected in an excavation effect that digs exactly six cards deep to find and Special Summon a C.C. Matoran, potentially also picking up the card that represents the Chronicler’s Company as a whole while he’s at it. To make sure you don’t discard and excavate only to find nothing, he can set up a C.C. Matoran to find when he’s Summoned, while at the same time changing his own Attribute as a color-changing Av-Matoran. This means using him in a Koro deck to quickly access the sole resident C.C. Matoran, and from there the Turaga, is also a legitimate option.
Now, to understand what the archetype is actually meant to do, let’s look at the aforementioned card that shows them collectively.
The Chronicler’s Company
Continuous Trap
You can only control 1 “The Chronicler’s Company”. This card gains these effects based on the number of “C.C. Matoran” monsters you control. ●1+: Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 “C.C. Matoran” monster from your hand or GY with a different name than the cards you control. ●3+: Once per turn: You can target 2 “C.C. Matoran” monsters you control and 1 card your opponent controls; return them to the hand. ●6: You can send this face-up card to the GY; shuffle all cards on the field into the Deck, except “C.C. Matoran” cards. Neither player can activate cards or effects in response to this effect’s activation.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Clearly a significant element is swarming the field with C.C. Matoran monsters, since this Trap Card gains better and better effects as you assemble more of them. If you have at least one, you get to bring out a fresh name from your hand or GY, getting you closer to the next tier, setting up combos, and interacting with the overall gimmick in a neat way that will soon become clear. At least three, and you get to bounce 2 members of the Company and any (targetable) card your opponent controls – anything written on a Trap Card is a Quick Effect by default, so this is disruption, hence the uneven trade (also, these Matoran are small, one of them alone won’t get anything off the field). And if you’re enough of a madman to fill every single Monster Zone, Main or Extra, with C.C. Matoran, you can just unrespondably wipe the field of everything else. The insane strength of this last effect reflects how little I expect it to happen.
So if we want to fill everything including the Extra Monster Zone, that means there must be some archetypal Extra Deck Monsters, right? Not quite, the trick instead lies in the next key card to consider.
If this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 2 Warrior monster from your hand or GY, but negate its effects, also banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of “C.C. Matoran Hafu” once per turn. A monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck using this card as material gains this effect. ●This card’s name is also treated as “C.C. Matoran Hafu”.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
In addition to getting another Level 2 Warrior (so any C.C. Matoran, but also Tuners like Junk Anchor for Synchro plays) when Special Summoned, making him usually the best thing to get with Takua, any Extra Deck monster that used Hafu as material will become a “Hafu Original” that bears his very name, C.C. Matoran archetype and all. This is how you make them count for The Chronicler’s Company, and it also renders your boss monsters receptive to our actual gimmick: The fact that most of the same monsters you use to combo also significantly power up other members of the archetype on the field.
If a “C.C. Matoran” monster you control attacks, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. At the start of your Battle Phase: You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 face-up monster you control that was not Summoned this turn; it can make up to 2 attacks on monsters during this Battle Phase. You can only use this effect of “C.C. Matoran Kapura” once per turn.
If this card is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up: You can add 1 Level 2 Warrior monster from your Deck or GY to your hand, except “C.C. Matoran Kopeke”, then, if you added a non-WATER monster by this effect, place 1 card from your hand on top of the Deck. You can only use this effect of “C.C. Matoran Kopeke” once per turn. If another “C.C. Matoran” monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can change this card to face-down Defense Position instead.
If you control a Warrior monster with 1000 or less ATK: You can discard 1 card; Special Summon this card from your hand or GY, but place it on the bottom of the Deck when it leaves the field. During your Main Phase: You can activate this effect; your “C.C. Matoran” monsters can attack directly this turn, also return this card to the hand. You can only use each effect of “C.C. Matoran Tamaru” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The clearest examples of this are Kapura, Kopeke, and Tamaru, who respectively provide unstoppable attacks, destruction protection, and the ability to attack directly. Not exactly impressive when they only affect these absolutely tiny shrimps, but things suddenly look very different when you, for example, make a generic 3000 ATK boss monster with Hafu, bring back Kapura with the Continuous Trap, get Tamaru to the field with his own effect, and throw those 3000 into a direct attack with no responses allowed during the Damage Step.
Slightly different are the boosts provided by Maku and Taipu:
When your opponent activates a card or effect on the field (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this card from your hand or GY to your zone in that card’s column, and if you do, change 1 face-up monster on the field to Defense Position. (Quick Effect): You can target 1 other face-up card you control; for the rest of this Chain, or until the end of this turn if it is a “Matoran” monster, it is unaffected by card effects, except its own. You can only use each effect of “C.C. Matoran Maku” once per turn.
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand), but you cannot declare an attack for the rest of this turn, except with “C.C. Matoran” monsters. You can only Special Summon “C.C. Matoran Taipu” once per turn this way. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: You can target 1 monster you control with less than 2000 ATK; it gains 1000 ATK/DEF until the end of the next turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The former can give protection to any face-up card, but it will only last for a single Chain (so basically the one effect you’re responding to) unless that card is a Matoran – not specifically a C.C. Matoran, gotta have that Huki synergy. In Taipu’s case, he doesn’t directly provide a benefit, but instead allows C.C. Matoran to ignore the attack restriction that forms the drawback of his free Special Summon from hand.
Sample Deck
https://www.duelingbook.com/deck?id=9804806
The core of the deck is formed, obviously, by the C.C. Matoran and Takua, with the number of each reflecting how much having them in hand helps getting combo fodder – if we just manage that, everything else can be searched one way or another. The basic line of play first makes Isolde and uses her to get either Takua or Hafu, whose effects in turn provide you with the multiple monsters you need to keep going. Neo Space Connector and Aqua Dolphin are just another way to accomplish that.
In most cases, the payoff from Isolde will be no less than three Level 2 Warriors, which opens up different options depending on what they are. If all of them are Matoran, you can go for the Diminished Matoran Kaita, which can variably be a beater, a wall, and/or an extender. If you have a Tuner in there – such as Junk Anchor or T.G. Striker – you can instead go through a combo that moves through Stupid BitchCupid Pitch and ends on a Level 8 Synchro like Borreload Savage Dragon or PSY-Framelord Omega (Road Warrior is also funny for basically Summoning anything from the archetype for free) while searching a Hop Ear Squadron that can be used on your opponent’s turn to upgrade to Satellite Warrior and destroy a bunch of cards. Whichever boss you end on, Hafu will probably be involved, thus letting you utilize The Chronicler’s Company to get some monsters back, maybe have some extra disruption, and maybe maybe finish things with a legendary blowout.
And it’s also nice that all this still leaves a bit of room for handtraps and generic staples in the Main Deck – certainly not something that can be said for every archetype I’ve come up with here.
Best of Test
Best of Test: The Chronicler’s Company
Conclusion
The Chronicler’s Company are an archetype with the dual focus of comboing into generic boss monsters and powering up those same monsters by treating them as part of the archetype so they benefit from the support effects the monsters provide. The ability to search out and Special Summon monsters in various ways usually makes getting the necessary pieces to accomplish all this to the field a fairly simple task, and the Continuous Trap acts as a kind of archetypal boss that can help with setup, disruption, and straight up winning the game depending on how well you are doing.
The six Turaga of Mata Nui function as the leaders of the island’s villages, and much like the villages themselves, the Link-2 monsters representing those wise elders are best talked about within the context of the respective Koro strategy, so check out the Theme Guides linked in each tab for that.
Link Effect MonsterLink-2 [◀ ▼] | FIRE Spellcaster | ATK 1400
2 monsters, including a FIRE Warrior monster During your Main Phase: You can activate this effect; each player reveals the top card of their Deck, and if a player revealed a FIRE Warrior monster, they Special Summon that monster. Otherwise, they Special Summon 1 “Vision Token” (Warrior/FIRE/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 0) in Attack Position, but it cannot be Tributed or used as material for a Synchro or Link Summon. If a monster is destroyed by battle: Draw 1 card. You can only use each effect of “Turaga Vakama” once per turn.
Link Effect MonsterLink-2 [▲ ↙] | WATER Spellcaster | ATK 1200
2 monsters, including a WATER Warrior monster Cannot be destroyed by battle while it points to a monster. (Quick Effect): You can banish 1 card from your GY, then discard 1 card; until the end of this turn, this card and monsters it points to are unaffected by the effects of cards with a different card type (Monster, Spell, and/or Trap) than the card banished to activate this effect, except this card’s. During your opponent’s End Phase, if this card points to a monster (Quick Effect): You can target 1 of your WATER monsters that is banished or in your GY; add it to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Turaga Nokama” once per turn.
2 monsters, including an EARTH Warrior monster Each time an EARTH monster(s) is sent from your hand or field to the GY, gain 400 LP for each. If this card is Link Summoned: You can pay 1000 LP; add 1 Level 4 or lower EARTH Warrior monster from your Deck to your hand, with a different name from the cards in your GY. You can only use this effect of “Turaga Whenua” once per turn.
2 monsters, including an EARTH Warrior monster You can target 1 Level 4 or lower EARTH monster in your GY; the player with the fewest total cards in their hand and field draws 1 card, also add that target to your hand, and if you do, banish 1 card from your hand. If an EARTH monster(s) is Special Summoned to a zone(s) this card points to: You can target 1 of your banished EARTH Warrior monsters; Special Summon it in Defense Position. You can only use each effect of “Turaga Onewa” once per turn.
Link Effect MonsterLink-2 [◀ ▶] | WATER Spellcaster | ATK 1100
2 monsters, including a WATER Warrior monster If this card is Special Summoned: You can target 1 face-up Spell/Trap you control; until the end of the next turn, while you control a WATER monster, that target cannot be destroyed by card effects (even if this card leaves the field). Once per turn: You can target any number of cards your opponent controls; change face-up monsters you control to face-down Defense Position, equal to the number of targeted cards, and if you do, return those targeted cards to the hand.
2 monsters, including a WIND Warrior monster During your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower WIND monster from your hand in Attack Position, but its ATK becomes 0. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: You can activate this effect; during the Standby Phase of your next turn, add 1 WIND monster from your GY to your hand, then, if your opponent controls more monsters than you do, you can make all monsters they currently control lose 700 ATK/DEF until the end of that turn. You can only use each effect of “Turaga Matau” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Aside from helping out their village’s gameplan in some specific way, we can make a few general statements about the Turaga’s design: They are Link-2 monsters that require a Warrior with their same Attribute as material, simultaneously referencing their past lives as Toa and making them easy to access via the Matoran in the main deck. They each have a matching Noble Kanohi Equip Spell that provides some relevant effect on the field (again, refer to Koro Theme guides) and can be used from the GY to revive exactly one specific Turaga by Tributing a monster – useful for Link climbing since it can easily gain you Link Rating. And their ATK stats are on the low end below 1500, because I once designed them as Level 3 Tuners that dodge Bottomless Trap Hole they are relatively frail non-combatants.
What they also share is the ability to be material for Amaja-Nui, a Link-3 monster representing a gathering of Turaga at the titular Circle of Legends.
2+ monsters, including a “Turaga” monster This card’s Attribute is also treated as the original Attributes of each “Turaga” Link Monster you control and in your GY. You can only use each of the following effects of “Circle of Legends, Amaja-Nui” once per turn. If this card is Link Summoned: You can send 1 “Turaga” monster from your Deck or Extra Deck to the GY. You can target 1 of your Warrior monsters that is banished or in your GY; Special Summon 1 “Legend Stone Token” (Warrior/ATK 0/DEF 0) with the same Attribute and Level to your zone this card points to, then place that target on the top or bottom of the Deck.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
By taking on the Attribute of every Turaga in attendance and recovering spent Matoran of any matching Attribute, this card can be useful in any of the Koro decks and provides a convenient way to build on top of your Turaga once you no longer need it on the field. When Link Summoned, it can also send a Turaga from the Deck or Extra Deck straight to the GY, potentially giving itself an additional Attribute and setting up …
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned by its own effect. You can send this card from your hand and 1 “Noble Kanohi” Equip Spell from your Deck to the GY; reveal 1 “Turaga” Link monster in your Extra Deck, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior monster with the same Attribute from your hand. When your opponent activates a card or effect, while you have 6 or more “Turaga” Link Monsters with different names in your GY (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this card from your GY, and if you do, negate the effects of all face-up cards your opponent currently controls. You can only use each effect of “Turaga Nui” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
… the Turaga Nui, a being of ultimate wisdom (allegedly) formed from the combination of six Turaga. Rather than a serious option for Koro decks, this is a silly gimmick that has an entirely separate turbo deck built around it – you put it and all six Turaga into the GY and then wait for the right time to negate your opponent’s whole life. If you happen to draw it, it generously puts itself into the GY along with a Noble Kanohi (so you don’t have to entirely rely on Isolde for that) to Special Summon the Warrior material for a specific Turaga from your hand, which is arguably helpful even if you’re a well-adjusted member of society only using one Turaga, but probably not enough reason to play the card.
The -Koro strategies are a series of six themes centered around the Field Spells belonging to the archetype of the same name. Each of them combines an Attribute with a specific playstyle and encourages the use of the matching Turaga, as well as Matoran and other Warriors of the correct Attribute. To learn more about the individual strategies, refer to the dedicated Theme Guides linked below.
While all face-up monsters you control are FIRE (min. 2), face-up monsters you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects. If your FIRE monster battles an opponent’s monster with higher original ATK, before damage calculation: You can discard 1 card; your monster gains ATK equal to the highest original ATK on the field, until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Ta-Koro, Village of Fire” once per turn.
During your opponent’s turn, if all monsters in your GY are WATER (min. 1), your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the activation of your WATER monster effects as Chain Link 2 or higher. You can banish 1 monster from your GY; Special Summon 1 WATER monster from your hand in Defense Position, but its effects are negated and it becomes the same Type as the banished monster’s, also you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except WATER monsters. You can only use this effect of “Ga-Koro, Village of Water” once per turn.
You can target up to 5 EARTH monsters in your GY; shuffle them into the Deck, then gain 600 LP for each card shuffled into the Main Deck this way. If your LP are higher than your opponent’s: You can send 1 EARTH monster from your hand or field to the GY, then pay LP in multiples of 1000 (max. 3000); draw 1 card for every 1000 LP paid, then, if your LP are lower than your opponent’s, send that many cards from your hand to the GY. You cannot Normal or Special Summon monsters the turn you activate this effect, except EARTH monsters. You can only use each effect of “Onu-Koro, Village of Earth” once per turn.
If a monster(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish 1 Rock monster you control instead of destroying 1 of those monsters. If you Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon using an EARTH monster as material: You can banish 1 EARTH Warrior monster from your GY; you cannot conduct the same type of Summon for the rest of this turn, also Special Summon “Sculpture Tokens” (Rock/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) equal to the number of EARTH monsters used as material. You can only use this effect of “Po-Koro, Village of Stone” once per turn.
While all face-up monsters you control are WATER (min. 1), apply these effects. ●If you did not declare an attack during your last turn, monsters your opponent controls cannot attack the turn they are Summoned. ●If none of your opponent’s cards were destroyed or banished by your card effects since your last Standby Phase, monsters you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects, also your opponent cannot target them with card effects. ●If you did not activate any monster effects this turn, negate the effects of face-up Special Summoned monsters while your opponent controls them.
Your opponent’s monsters cannot target WIND monsters you control for attacks, except the WIND monster you control with the highest ATK (either, if tied). When you Normal or Special Summon a monster(s) that has a Level: You can target 1 of those monsters; negate its effects (if any) and make its ATK 0, and if you do, add 1 WIND Warrior monster with a different name and an equal or lower Level from your Deck to your hand, also you cannot Special Summon for the rest of this turn, except WIND monsters. You can only use this effect of “Le-Koro, Village of Air” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Meanwhile, this page right here will go over some cards contained in the expansion that can be inserted into any of these six strategies to supplement its respective Turaga, assortment of Matoran, and possibly even Toa.
First of all, we have the one of the few support cards that qualify the -Koro Field Spells for the rank of an archetype rather than a simple series or theme.
The Island of Mata Nui
Field Spell
All Normal Summoned “Toa Mata” monsters gain 600 ATK/DEF. During your Main Phase: You can reveal 1 monster in your hand and add 1 “-Koro” Field Spell that mentions that monster’s Attribute from your Deck to your hand. If you revealed a “Toa Mata” monster, you can add 1 “The Great Temple, Kini-Nui” instead. If a card in your Field Zone, except “The Island of Mata Nui”, is destroyed while this card is in your GY: You can activate this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of “The Island of Mata Nui” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
The Island of Mata Nui acts as an additional searcher for your Field Spell(s) and returns from the GY to the field should one get destroyed, allowing you to simply add another copy. The condition is having a monster of the matching Attribute in your hand to act as a “guide” to the village, but that should usually be the case in a properly built -Koro deck. The effects that support the Toa Mata with a stat boost and a search for a different card are actually relevant in these strategies too, as we will see with the following cards.
The Great Temple, Kini-Nui
Field Spell
During your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 “Toa Mata” monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) If a “Toa” monster(s) is Tributed for the Tribute Summon of a “Toa Mata” monster and sent to your GY: You can target 1 of those monsters; Special Summon it in Defense Position, but banish it when it leaves the field. During the End Phase: You can destroy this card, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Level 1 Rock monster with 0 ATK/DEF from your Deck. You can only use each effect of “The Great Temple, Kini-Nui” once per turn.
While in your hand, and while face-up on the field if you control a “-Koro” Field Spell, this card is also EARTH, WATER, FIRE, and WIND-Attribute. Once per Chain (Quick Effect): You can pay 600 LP, then target 1 “Toa” monster you control; equip 1 “Kanohi” Equip Spell from your hand or GY to that target, except a card that is in the GY because it was destroyed while face-up on the field and sent there this turn. If you control a “Toa” monster: You can Special Summon this card from your GY. You can only use this effect of “Suva” once per turn.
Bionicle: Coming of the Toa (v3.21.6)
Kini-Nui and Suva, together with the Toa Mata of the respective Attribute and their matching Kanohi, form a little package that can be inserted into any -Koro deck to get an additional main deck boss with relatively low investment. The extra Normal Summon from Kini-Nui means a Toa in your hand can be brought out without hindering your regular plays, while the Suva’s effects to count as almost all Attributes in the hand and revive itself as long as you control a Toa Mata makes it free Tribute fodder. Kini-Nui can also blow itself up in the End Phase to get a Suva from the Deck to the field, which will conveniently trigger Mata Nui in the GY and provide you with a 600 ATK/DEF boost to your Toa. And of course, the Suva gives you access to any Kanohi in the GY while it is on the field, equipping the Toa of your choice with additional useful abilities.
So there is some clear payoff to running these, but you should also keep in mind that these cards do essentially nothing if they happen to be in your hand without a Toa in sight. The Suva gains its multi-attribute effect on the field as well if you control a Koro, which makes it potentially usable as a combo piece, but that’s about it. It may be a good idea to base the degree to which you commit to this Toa Mata package on the ease with which your Deck can make Isolde, as that is the easiest way to ensure you have the Toa in hand and thus everything else live.
Showcase
A Yu-Gi-Oh Trip Across Mata Nui
Also check the individual theme guides linked above for more in-depth testing videos.
