Release: The Rahi Update

After years of research, months of work, and possibly even some amount of testing, here’s a really big one.

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Sample Decks

Usually, a release covers 6, 7, maybe 8 new cards and a few odd updates. Not so this time. This one is already above average from having 10 wholly new creations, and then completely leaves the realm of sanity by updating no less than 55 previously existing cards – the entire Rahi archetype, with no exceptions.

This is … a lot to get through for design notes, so for this article I’ll only give a brief summary of the underlying strategies and mostly focus on what changed from the old version and why. A more detailed explanation of how the various decks are meant to be played will follow in Theme Guides soon™.

Also, general disclaimer: Since I didn’t actually get more time to work on this behemoth of a release than usual (except the coincidental summer benefit of vacation time), testing was a good bit less rigorous than normal. If you see some issue I missed, do leave a comment so I have a chance to fix it eventually!

Structure

As mostly established in our long-running series of Rahi articles, the key to taming the sheer variety of wildlife that inhabits the Matoran Universe is splitting it up by Type (and sometimes other traits), connected by their shared name and Pendulum/Synchro focus. Doing so resulted in five decks on which my design and testing were focused:

  • Beasts + Winged Beasts
  • Fish + Sea Serpent + Aqua
  • Insects
  • Reptiles
  • Place of Shadow (Rahi Nui)

Another interesting division here is the multiple expansions spanned by the update – Challenge of the Rahi (BCOR), Beware the Swarm (BBTS), and now with the new additions also Protodermic Evolution (BPEV). While this update affects them all at once, their original releases are far apart, creating something much like the staggered support waves of real-life archetypes. I tried to respect this in the update process by making sure each strategy – except the Rahi Nui one that is only enabled by BPEV releases – already had a functioning gameplan with the initial BCOR wave, and anything further just added options or patched weaknesses.

Finally, there are some fresh standalone non-Rahi cards snuck in here, just because I felt they fit best in BCOR and I might as well add them when I’m already doing stuff there. Actually, let’s start with those, as a digestible appetizer before heading into the pile.

Free Agents

Red Star of Prophecies

Spell

Banish 1 Spell/Trap from your hand, Deck, or GY. When a card, or the effect of a card, with the same name as a card in your banishment that was banished by “Red Star of Prophecies” resolves while this card is in your GY, negate that effect, then shuffle this card into the Deck. You can only use this effect of “Red Star of Prophecies” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

The idea is simple: You banish a Spell/Trap, and when either player uses it (as per your prophecy) this card turns into a negate – mandatory even, so no triggering Swordsoul or Kashtira cards with this. Now why would you ever play this when Crossout Designator does it all and more without the foresight required? Good question – maybe it’s helpful in some archetype that can easily recover banished cards, or you just want to have fun with the fact that the second Red Star you get in the GY is still a negate for the thing the first one banished (that’ll catch them off guard).

But perhaps the real use case for this card still lies in the distant future. Consider it a … prophecy.

Shadow Toa

Effect MonsterLevel 6 | DARK Illusion | ATK 0 / DEF 0

(Quick Effect): You can target 1 monster with 2000 or more ATK your opponent controls; Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, it gains ATK/DEF equal to that monster’s ATK/DEF, also its Attribute becomes the same as that monster’s. You can only use this effect of “Shadow Toa” once per turn. If this card battles a monster, neither can be destroyed by that battle. Unaffected by the activated effects of monsters with the same Attribute.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Just so the new Illusion Type doesn’t feel left out of the expansion, here it is applied to a little plot element that I skipped over the first time around. The novel-only shadow versions of the Toa Mata are all represented by this single card that summons itself from the hand by copying a high-ATK monster (e.g. a Toa Mata) and is then very hard to remove for monsters of that particular Attribute.

This reflects the “switch opponents” method by which they were defeated in the original novel, rather than the story bible’s “absorb your darkness” method that was later retconned over it. Mainly because the former goes better with the standard Illusion battle protection effects, and doesn’t require me to condense an entire character arc of self-acceptance into a single card text.

Now on to the meat, or more accurately biomechanical tissue-stuff that makes up the true stars of this update.

General Rahi Spells/Traps

Due to our method of division being monster Types, the Spell/Trap cards that fundamentally do not have those are one of the best vehicles for providing generic support to all the different decks. That purpose is served by a lineup of cards from the first expansion BCOR, ranging from essential to gimmicky and listed here in more or less that order.

3.15.5

Rahi Swarm

Spell

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters: Add 2 “Rahi” monsters with the same Type, but different names, from your Deck to your hand. For the rest of this turn, your opponent takes no damage. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, but it cannot attack, also it is destroyed during the End Phase. You can only use 1 “Rahi Swarm” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Rahi Swarm

Spell

Add up to 2 “Rahi” monsters with the same Type from your Deck to your hand, then, if you added 2 monsters including an Effect Monster, banish 1 card from your hand, face-down. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 face-up Monster Card you control; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster with the same Type and an equal or lower Level from your GY. You can only use 1 “Rahi Swarm” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Your main search card with followup revival in the GY. That was the concept of the old version as well, but the new version frees it from the shackles of its activation condition, allowing it to be applied freely in one of three use cases:

  1. Search any 1 “Rahi” monster, classic ROTA stuff.
  2. Search 2 “Rahi” Normal Monsters with the same Type.
  3. Search any 2 “Rahi” monsters with the same Type, but say goodbye to a card in your hand.

Mostly you’ll be doing 1. and 2., the latter of which is meant specifically for the pairs of high-Level Normal Pendulums that would be uncomfortably bricky if you always had to find them separately. 3. is something you don’t want to use if you can help it, but could be necessary at times.

Later on, or if it was sent to the GY directly without activating it first, the card allows you to literally “swarm” the field with an additional monster from your GY. This, too, was freed from some restrictions and instead put under new ones that fit into the overall Type-matching theme.

3.15.5

The Ussalry Arrives

Quick-Play Spell

During the End Phase of the turn this card was activated, draw 1 card for each “Rahi” card banished to activate its own effect this turn. If you have 2 or less cards in your hand and this card is in your GY: 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 (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

This one changed quite drastically compared to its original incarnation, from a Super Rejuvenation clone to a more literal interpretation of reinforcements from behind the frontlines. It also gained an archetype clause marrying it into both Rahi and Matoran, and indeed the activation condition of matching either Type or Attribute allows it to be used with both. Not sure if you would, but you technically can.

In contrast, the GY effect stayed the same because I already liked the way it worked. Only thing is that it has been freed of its near-empty hand condition; you already need banishment setup to make it work at all, so it’s not exactly at risk of powercreeping Metalfoes Fusion (a card from nearly a decade ago, I might add).

3.15.5

Siege of the Rahi

Continuous Spell

Once per turn, when your opponent Normal or Special Summons a Level 4 or lower monster(s): You can change 1 of those monsters to face-down Defense Position. During your End Phase, if you do not control a Level 5 or higher “Rahi” monster: Destroy this card. If a Level 5 or higher “Rahi” monster you control would be destroyed, you can banish this card from your GY instead.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

In positive news, the weird floodgate of the Rahi archetype has been reconfigured to keep the same theming while supporting a more interactive playstyle. Specifically, it rewards you for summoning Rahi during both your and your opponent’s turn, with the small ones getting you ahead in advantage and the big ones doing the traditonal Siege job of locking down the opponent’s monsters. Do note that both of those bullet point effects can be used in the same turn.

The only change to the GY effect, meanwhile, was to also make it work on the field – having a way to get a continuous card out of the backrow might not be a bad idea in a Pendulum deck, I figured.

3.15.5

Devastation of the Rahi

Spell

Destroy any number of other “Rahi” cards you control, and if you do, destroy the same number of cards your opponent controls. You can banish this card and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, then target 1 card on the field; banish it. You can only use 1 “Devastation of the Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

Getting into the more gimmick territory now, we have an offensive Spell trading your Rahi for the opponent’s cards, based on the battle that once upon a time burned down the Charred Forest. A serious modern approach to this Type of effect would be a Quick-Play like Fire King Sky Burn, but since it didn’t feel right to copy that, I kept it as a Normal Spell and instead ramped up the impact to make it non-targeting, non-destruction removal.

Even with that, I’ve found myself mainly using it for the GY effect – a cheaper, more convenient piece of standard spot removal with a slight upgrade for controlling a Rahi Synchro.

3.15.5

Encounter in the Drifts

Counter Trap

When your opponent Summons a monster(s), except during the Damage Step: Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster whose Level is less than or equal to the highest Level among those monsters from your hand or Deck. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this Summon. You can only activate 1 “Encounter in the Drifts” per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Encounter in the Drifts

Counter Trap

(This card is always treated as a “Rahi” card.)
When a monster your opponent controls activates its effect, except during the Damage Step: Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your hand, Deck, or GY, then destroy that opponent’s monster if your monster’s ATK is higher. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 “Rahi” monster you control; banish it until the End Phase. You can only use each effect of “Encounter in the Drifts” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Our Counter Trap (now properly integrated into the archetype) depicts a Rahi ambush in the snowy wastes , and so it basically lobs wildlife of your choice onto the field when an opponent’s monster dares to move, with lethal consequences provided it’s also sufficiently big. Note the change in condition from the previous on-Summon trigger – turns out that’s not something that usually goes on Counter Traps, those negate Summons instead of responding after they happened. Chaining to an effect activation though? Perfectly legitimate even if we don’t try to negate it!

A cute detail of the theming here was always that this card bypasses the debilitating effects of the Drifts Field Spell linked above. Originally it did so by shutting off all responses to the Summon, but the fact that this also killed your own on-summon effects didn’t sit right with me, so instead I gave it a GY effect to “dodge” whatever misfortune may befall your monster, as if vanishing into the snowstorm. You can imagine this has a lot of neat side utility outside the very unlikely use case it’s secretly made for.

3.15.5

Rahi Hive Showdown

Spell

If your opponent controls 2 or more monsters with 2000 or more ATK and you control no monsters with 2000 or more ATK: Take control of the monster your opponent controls with the highest original ATK (your choice, if tied). During your opponent’s Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 Level 4 or lower monster your opponent controls that was Summoned this turn; take control of it until the End Phase. You can only use this effect of “Rahi Hive Showdown” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

Here we have better Change of Heart … with extra conditions that make its activation effect fairly unusable. I actually dared to get rid of one half of those conditions in the update, so hopefully that didn’t accidentally make it good enough to run generically, seeing how it doesn’t require any Rahi on that end.

Much like Devastation earlier, this one is much easier to use from the GY. While that’s no longer a Quick Effect (because you aren’t supposed to put those on Spell Cards), it now works on anything and can be used during your own turn; just need to control a Synchro to make it work (Spoiler: There’s a real convenient one in the Insects).

3.15.5

Infection of the Rahi

Continuous Trap

Once per turn, before damage calculation, when a “Rahi” monster you control battles an opponent’s monster: You can place 1 Comet Counter on that opponent’s monster, and if you do, it cannot be destroyed by this battle. During the End Phase: Take control of all monsters with Comet Counters your opponent controls. If this face-up card leaves the field: Remove all Comet Counters on the field and inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each, then return control of all face-up monsters on the field to the owner.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

And this last one is and has always been all gimmick and no utility. It just spreads an “infection” in the form of Counters to your opponent’s monsters, which leads to some inconvenient symptoms and allows you to wololo everything affected at some point.

The specifics of this changed pretty fundamentally, as you can see. Instead of having to battle with your Rahi, you just need to have one hanging around somewhere while your opponent activates monster effects, which is arguably more accurate to how the infection in Po-Koro went down (and even sort of aligns with what Ahkmou does!). Instead of having burn as an outbound “fuck you” if it gets removed, that’s now a proper part of the symptoms and happens when the affected monsters leave (e.g. by being used as material). And instead of needing to wait until the End Phase for the infection to fully take hold, it’s now a one-time move you can fire at a convenient timing. Do note that all the drawbacks associated with the Counters are provided by a continuous effect on the Trap itself, so once you banish to steal, you’re free to do whatever you want with the monsters – but so is your opponent once they get them back.

Insect Rahi

Insects crawl all over the place and into every deck – in other words, they’re the monster side of the shared glue that powers different Rahi variations. Coming right off the Spells and Traps, nothing exemplifies this better than one very important Insect Synchro Monster.

3.15.5

Nui-Kopen, Wasp Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Insect | ATK 2100 / DEF 2000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; excavate cards from the top of your Deck until you excavate a “Rahi” monster, then, if that monster’s ATK is higher than the target’s, send all excavated cards to the GY and take control of the target until the End Phase. Otherwise, Special Summon that monster and shuffle the remaining cards into the Deck.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Nui-Kopen, Wasp Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Insect | ATK 2100 / DEF 2000

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)

Where the Nui-Kopen was originally just a funny excavation thing (I recall I was pretty into that mechanic at the time I made it) with chances of stealing and opponent’s monster or getting a free Rahi, it has now obtained a new identity as a universally useful searcher for all the Spells and Traps we just went over. It can even send them straight to the GY, so you get free choice which of the two effects on each you’d like to have available – including the Synchro boosts for Devastation and Showdown, because this is, in fact, a Synchro!

Actually, let’s take a closer look at that Rahi Hive Showdown use case. The thing that guided the original design of the Nui-Kopen was its role in putting Lewa under the control of an infected mask, and through that Spell which depicts the same event, this flavoring remains indirectly intact: Simply send the Showdown and steal a monster of your choice. Here’s where the Nui-Kopen’s second effect becomes relevant, the idea being that you Tribute away the stolen monster so your opponent won’t get it back in the End Phase, and you get a Tuner to the field. Incidentally, it’s also a good way to dodge targeted negation, which is very appreciated on such a load-bearing enabler for the entire Rahi archetype.

The other things Insects help with is making Synchros in the first place, namely by supplying some nice splashable Tuner monsters.

3.15.5

Fikou, Spider Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 1 | EARTH Insect | ATK 600 / DEF 400

You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 Level 3 or higher “Rahi” monster you control; reduce that target’s Level by 1, 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 (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Fikou, Spider Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 1 | EARTH Insect | ATK 600 / DEF 400

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 historic precedent here is the Fikou, which remained unchanged in principle, only receiving some convenience updates. But it is now joined by a few other Level 1 Insect Tuners, adapted from what used to be Level 2 handtraps.

3.15.5

Hoto, Firebug Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | FIRE Insect | ATK 600 / DEF 300

(Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, then target 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls; banish that target. Your opponent cannot activate the targeted card in response to this effect’s activation. You can only use this effect of “Hoto, Firebug Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Hoto, Firebug Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 1 | FIRE Insect | ATK 600 / DEF 300

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.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Let’s look at this via the example of the Hoto. The cost of banishing a spent Rahi remains the same, but extended with the face-up Extra Deck to account for our monsters’ Pendulum nature. The Spell/Trap removal that was previously the main point of the card has been slimmed down and converted into an optional bonus after you Special Summon, meaning it’s now an easily accessible Tuner with upsides going second. A similar conversion has been applied to the Cliff Bug and Electric Bug , making for a quartet of Level 1 Rahi Tuners with different Attributes – very aesthetically pleasing. Though with the Electric Bug (formerly Lightning Bug) in particular, I’m not completely sure of the balancing – a non-targeting negate is a deceptively powerful thing that can even take down boss monsters, rather than just acting as the well-placed disruption it’s meant to be. There’s a chance some future version will amend a restriction to that if I think of one (suggestions welcome!).

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 for a new card that builds on the Fikou’s Level manipulation gimmick while bridging some gaps in the size-based assignments of Levels to our Rahi. The recently unearthed Legend of Mata Nui mini-boss Fikou-Nui arrives as a Link-1 you mainly make on top of your small Tuners, optionally recycling a thing (“then” makes it free for Extra Deck stuff!) and then tagging back into another Rahi while granting a 1-Level margin of error. Mostly you’ll use this to bump up one of the aforementioned Level 1 Tuners, and in the small Fikou’s case it fixes the oddity that bringing it out by draining one of your big Rahi always left you unable to go into the Synchro 1 Level above that would represent the appropriate combination model.

That about covers the Insects that go everywhere, but there are also some more advanced options you can play if you’re willing to accept limitations.

3.15.5

Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | FIRE Insect | ATK 1300 / DEF 1900

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
When a “Rahi” monster is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●When a monster effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that monster if its ATK is lower than the ATK of the monster you shuffled into the Deck.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 6/6 | FIRE Insect | ATK 1200 / DEF 1900

[ 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)

The Kofo-Jaga only resembles its original incarnation in that it adds a monster from your Deck, but the way it does so has been changed into a reference to its heat-loving and light-fleeing nature, and the targets have been changed to other Insects … including, of course, the above handtrap-style Tuners, for which it can be the cost and then immediately return to the field ready to Synchro into a Nui-Kopen. Just need to let yourself be a little Insect-locked.

Also its Pendulum Scale is now 6, mainly to accomodate the following two Level 5s.

3.15.5

Nui-Rama, Fly Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 5 | Scale 3/3 | WIND Insect | ATK 1800 / DEF 1700

Pendulum Scale = 3
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 5 Insect “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, your opponent’s cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the Pendulum Summon of a “Rahi” monster. You can target 1 “Rahi” monster you control; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster with the same Type and a lower or equal Level from your Deck, but it cannot attack this turn. 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.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Nui-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 5 | Scale 8/8 | EARTH Insect | ATK 2300 / DEF 700

Pendulum Scale = 8
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 5 Insect “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, cards in your Pendulum Zones cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects. Once per turn: You can add 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster in your Extra Deck to your hand, then destroy 1 card in your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ 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 (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Nui-Rama, Fly Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 5 | Scale 1/1 | WIND Insect | ATK 1800 / DEF 1700

[ 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.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Nui-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 5 | Scale 8/8 | EARTH Insect | ATK 2300 / DEF 700

[ 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.
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[ 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)

With these two, we get our first look at the category of Normal Pendulums representing the iconic large Rahi from 2001. These have collectively been updated to remove their pair-matching bonuses, as the small text budget for Pendulum Effects does not at all vibe with that. Instead, you’re encouraged to use them together by the potential +1 from Rahi Swarm and simply because of natural synergies between what remains of their effects.

Here, that means the Nui-Rama gets an Insect straight from the Deck – downgrading the scope of it from what used to be all the Rahi, but also letting you activate it by targeting non-Rahi monsters (to go with the Nui-Kopen/Showdown play, but I am just now noticing that might be pointless since you have the Nui-Kopen anyway in that case). The Nui-Jaga then reacts to that Special Summon to either throw its stinger tail (beware it!) towards the opponent’s field or taking out your own monster to call further allies.

Oh, and all the low-scale Normal Pendulum Rahi such as the Nui-Rama now have a scale of 1. I want putting these cards in the Pendulum Zones to be optimal in those Types that have them, so clashing with Level 2s and 3s would be bad.

3.15.5

Kirikori-Nui, Locust Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 3 | WIND Insect | ATK 1400 / DEF 1000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can send 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck to the GY; this card gains 500 ATK. You can banish this card until the End Phase of your next turn; destroy 1 card on the field. You can only use this effect of “Kirikori-Nui, Locust Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Kirikori-Nui, Locust Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 3 | WIND Insect | ATK 1400 / DEF 1000

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)

The final thing, sitting in a bit of a weird standalone position, is the Kirikori-Nui. It used to send a Rahi from Deck as cost and temporarily banish itself to destroy stuff, and that is still what it does. Just the send has been expanded to also work with Spells and Traps, so we can dip into the Nui-Kopen use cases, and the banish now expires at a less inconvenient timing. Also the hard once per turn has been moved to the effect that probably deserves it more.

To be honest, I’m not too happy with this – it’s basically a broken send-as-cost thing ostensibly balanced by the fact that we (currently) can’t go into Level 3 Synchros very easily. But I haven’t figured out what else to do with it yet, and the current design is relevant to some enjoyable combos, so it is what it is for now.

By the way, you can also put these in an Insect pile. I have a demo video even.

Beast and Winged Beast Rahi

Alright, with the shared preliminaries out of the way, here’s the updates to the Rahi that make up the first of the dedicated Type-based strategies. Beasts and Winged Beasts, grouped together for their obvious similarities, are a pretty broad category, so I’ll try to do this via as few examples as I can manage.

In general, the strategy here can be described as a fairly traditional combo deck, aiming to either build a board of disruptive boss monsters going first or to clear the opponent’s field and win with some big beaters going second.

3.15.5

Muaka, Tiger Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 7 | Scale 8/8 | WATER Beast | ATK 2800 / DEF 1900

Pendulum Scale = 8
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 7 Beast “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, cards in your Pendulum Zones cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects. If a “Rahi” monster you control destroys an opponent’s monster by battle: Gain LP equal to the destroyed monster’s original ATK.
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[ Flavor Text ]
This Rahi relies primarily on its claws when hunting. Sinking them into its prey, it forces the unfortunate victim to the ground and then finishes the job with its teeth. The Muaka will then carry its kill off to a nearby lair.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Kane-Ra, Bull Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 7 | Scale 3/3 | EARTH Beast | ATK 2600 / DEF 2300

Pendulum Scale = 3
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 7 Beast “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, your opponent’s cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the Pendulum Summon of a “Rahi” monster. While you control exactly 1 “Rahi” monster (and no other face-up monsters), that monster gains 1000 ATK and cannot be destroyed by card effects.
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[ Flavor Text ]
Surprisingly, the Kane-Ra Bull is not a herd animal. Unlike some beasts, it does not require others of its kind for protection.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Muaka, Tiger Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 7 | Scale 8/8 | WATER Beast | ATK 2800 / DEF 1900

[ Pendulum Effect ]
During your Main Phase: You can destroy 1 other “Rahi” Monster Card in your hand or face-up field, and if you do, add 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand, except “Muaka, Tiger Rahi”. You can only use this effect of “Muaka, Tiger Rahi” once per turn.
—————————————-
[ Flavor Text ]
This Rahi relies primarily on its claws when hunting. Sinking them into its prey, it forces the unfortunate victim to the ground and then finishes the job with its teeth. The Muaka will then carry its kill off to a nearby lair.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Kane-Ra, Bull Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 7 | Scale 1/1 | EARTH Beast | ATK 2600 / DEF 2300

[ Pendulum Effect ]
Once per turn, if a monster(s) in your possession is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can destroy 1 card in your Pendulum Zone, then Special Summon 1 Beast or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your hand or GY, with a different name from the cards you currently control, and if you do, it gains 1000 ATK until the end of this turn.
—————————————-
[ Flavor Text ]
Surprisingly, the Kane-Ra Bull is not a herd animal. Unlike some beasts, it does not require others of its kind for protection.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

The pair of Normal Pendulums aiding us in this are Muaka and Kane-Ra. The former has changed completely (because what was I to do with battle-focused LP gain?), now providing us with the search power we need to get all our various pieces in play. It’s still roughly themed after “hunting down other Rahi and dragging them off to its lair”, but obviously tilted much more to the utility side. The Kane-Ra, meanwhile, retains some of its identity with that 1000 ATK boost and not allowing duplicate names at least, but now also works in a way that helps you build up your field presence. The obvious synergy of combining them is that the Muaka’s required destruction causes the Kane-Ra to trigger after the search resolved, immediately letting you Special Summon whatever you got – and the fact that this discourages you from having your Muaka destroy your Kane-Ra doubles as a nice representation of the horns that canonically keep the bull safe from the tiger.

On the effect monster side, I actually ended up sticking fairly closely to how Rahi in general used to work previously. In case of the Level 4 Pendulums, that meant an effect to Special Summon itself from the Pendulum Zone and a monster effect that is granted to a Synchro using it as material, and looking at the Fusa, that still is very much the case.

3.15.5

Fusa, Kangaroo Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | EARTH Beast | ATK 1600 / DEF 1300

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If a card in your Pendulum Zone is destroyed: You can place 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck in your Pendulum Zone. You can only use this effect of “Fusa, Kangaroo Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●Your opponent’s cards and effects cannot be activated during the Battle Phase.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Fusa, Kangaroo Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | EARTH Beast | ATK 1600 / DEF 1300

[ 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)

However, it’s also clear that a lot of things changed. Aside from the granted monster effect being swapped out entirely (a double strike fits a Kangaroo more than blocking effects, doesn’t it?), it can now also be passed on through a second Synchro Summon using the monster that gained it as material, provided it’s for a Rahi. This sets the stage for potential Accel Synchro climbs with future support, and already comes up right now with another card that will be mentioned below. The Pendulum Effect has been reduced to only the Special Summon (again, tight text budget), but rather than a generic “no monsters” condition, it now plays into the overall self-destruction thing going on with Muaka and Kane-Ra as well. The specific mechanics of this Special Summon now also differ between Rahi, with the Vako having a more expensive requirement to balance its on-summon effect and the Husi not having one at all, instead electing to spend its Pendulum Effect on other utility.

The Level 3s retain similar miscellaneous Pendulum Effects from before the update, as well as their triggered abilities when either sent to the GY or banished, overall compressing a bunch of different small things you can weave into your lines. Let’s make the Mahi our exhibit of choice.

3.15.5

Mahi, Goat Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Beast | ATK 700 / DEF 1500

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
(Quick Effect): You can send 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to the GY, then destroy this card. You can only use this effect of “Mahi, Goat Rahi” once per turn.
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[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. If this card is banished: You can add 1 of your banished Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monsters that was not banished this turn to your hand. You can only use 1 “Mahi, Goat Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Mahi, Goat Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Beast | ATK 700 / DEF 1500

[ 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)

Here we see that the updates were, at least in some cases, pretty minor. The Pendulum Quick Effect to send from Extra Deck to GY (so as to trigger various Level 3s) was rewritten to account for the fact that Pendulum Quick Effects aren’t a thing, now also providing some Level manipulation to make up for the loss of quickness. The search from GY was shifted from the pool of Level 3 or lower Rahi to Level 4 or lower Beast or Winged Beast Rahi, reinforcing the Type association, and I figured the very slow effect to recycle banished cards might as well cover the entire archetype. Some other monsters that didn’t have as much of a clear identity, for example the Moa got more extensive updates, but for the most part we’re looking at small tweaks.

Before we move on from the Pendulums, I need to address one particular pattern break with the Levels here, owed to the fact that I completely mixed up the sizes of Kewa and Taku back in the day.

3.15.5

Kewa, Vulture Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 400

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If you control no other cards: You can add 1 WIND monster from your Deck to your hand, except “Kewa, Vulture Rahi”, and if you do, destroy this card during the End Phase. You can only use this effect of “Kewa, Vulture Rahi” once per turn.
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[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower WIND monster from your GY, except this card. If this card is banished: You can add 1 “Rahi” card from your GY to your hand. You can only use 1 “Kewa, Vulture Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Taku, Duck Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 1700

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
During your End Phase: You can add 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your Extra Deck face-up. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
● When a Spell Card is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Kewa, Vulture Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 2/2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 400

[ 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)

Taku, Duck Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 5/5 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 1700

[ 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)

A simple Level swap fixed this mishap, but because the Kewa’s association and thus synergy with the WIND deck Le-Koro was lore-relevant, I ended up sticking with the effect designs based on their original (inaccurate) Levels. So the biggest changes here are just that the Kewa’s broken search for all WIND monsters was replaced with something more restrained and that the Taku has fully taken up the mantle of negation granter from what used to be a trio of Rahi (with the old Hikaki and Kofo-Jaga ) doing that for different card types. The effect has been toned down a little by removing destruction, but I still feel like it might be too much for a semi-free bonus and am considering a further restriction to your own turn only. Also, congrats to the Kewa for finally being photographed from the correct side.

Now for the Synchros … I can’t get out of mentioning all of these, can I? Alright, speedrun time.

Dikapi

3.15.5

Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi

Synchro Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1650

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can choose a number from 1 to 4; reduce this card’s Level by that number, then take damage equal to that number x 300. When using this Synchro Summoned card as a Synchro Material, you can use 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster in your Extra Deck (and no other monsters) as the other Synchro Material.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi

Synchro Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1650

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)

Synchro Tuner. Enables both stacking of granted effects and triggering of Pendulum GY effects by using a monster from the Extra Deck as material – now limited to only Beast and Winged Beast materials, and only Rahi Synchros. The Level change has also been rolled into this specific use case, as you have other options to make the stars align if you’re working with the field.

Since it’s also domesticated by Po-Matoran and used as a mount for scouting missions due to its endurance, I’ve added a recursion effect that helps you endure long grind games while being generic enough to also work in a Po-Koro deck.

Gukko-Kahu

3.15.5

Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 2500 / DEF 1000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
If this card is Synchro Summoned: Draw 1 card. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 2500 / DEF 1000

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)

Mid-combo body that does something useful when Summoned and when it leaves again. That hasn’t changed from how it used to be, but the useful things are now more tied to the Beast/Winged Beast typing and general playstyle. Like the Dikapi, it can be made with generic materials not because it’s a Winged Beast, but because it has been domesticated and should thus be an option in a Le-Koro deck.

Mata Nui COw

3.15.5

Mata Nui Cow, Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | EARTH Beast | ATK 1800 / DEF 2400

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can destroy Spell/Trap Cards on the field, up to the number of “Rahi” monsters you control. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 Level 4 or lower “Rahi” monster from your GY to your hand.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Mata Nui Cow, Bovine Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | EARTH Beast | ATK 1800 / DEF 2400

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)

Going-first endboard piece offering reactive spot interaction and followup in case it’s removed. Its original effects were a combination of what Gali and Pohatu (its component models) used to do way, way back, and in the same way its current on-field effect combines the on-summon trigger and destruction aspects of Pohatu with the negation aspect of Gali, while also having a general flair of retaliating with its horns when it feels threatened. But floating is nice to have, so that was carried over as well, albeit shifted to the End Phase since you want to keep this one on the field in the opponent’s turn, unlike a certain bird up there.

Kuma-Nui

3.15.5

Kuma-Nui, Rat Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 8 | EARTH Beast | ATK 3000 / DEF 2500

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
At the start of the Battle Phase: You can destroy all face-up or all face-down Spell/Trap Cards on the field, then this card gains 500 ATK for each of your cards destroyed this way, until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Kuma-Nui, Rat Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Kuma-Nui, Rat Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 8 | EARTH Beast | ATK 3000 / DEF 2500

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)

Big beatstick for going second or generally finishing out games. Where its activated effect previously allowed it to get big and/or clear backrow, it now gets big all on its own (well, with moral support) and instead only activates during the Damage Step, grabbing the foe with its claws and dragging it into a helpless position to ensure big damage is done.

Alright, that’s done. If seeing these Synchros made you wonder “where’s the Tuners”, you’ve hit on one of the interesting realities of the multi-expansion release cycle on which the current Rahi card pool was built. The truth is, Beast or Winged Beast Rahi Tuners did not actually exist in the original BCOR wave, forcing the archetype to instead rely on Insects beyond the scope of its own native search effects! BBTS fixed this with two Winged Beast Tuners – now freshly updated from handtraps to combo extenders – and BPEV, in this very release, adds a Beast Tuner that’s a bit more gimmicky in design.

Pokawi (BBTS)

3.15.5

Pokawi, Flightless Bird Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 300 / DEF 600

(Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY; monsters your opponent controls lose 500 ATK for each of your banished “Rahi” monsters, until the end of this turn.

Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Pokawi, Flightless Bird Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 300 / DEF 600

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)

The Pokawi comes in with the ability to come out of the hand and make a Synchro, which exists mainly because one combo I labbed out got a Taku as precisely the 4th summon, meaning this allows you to get a Synchro with a negate to the field before your opponent has a chance to activate Nibiru. On top of that, it also does its original ATK debuff but now from the GY, which, now that I look at the whole package like this, is kind of an insanely big upgrade and might still get dialed back a bit. I will say it never really felt broken in testing, though.

Mata Nui Fishing Bird (BBTS)

3.15.5

Mata Nui Fishing Bird, Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 500 / DEF 400

(Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, then target 1 card your opponent controls; banish it until the End Phase, and if it was a face-up monster with 2000 or more ATK on the field, banish 1 random card from your opponent’s hand face-down. You can only use this effect of “Mata Nui Fishing Bird, Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Mata Nui Fishing Bird, Swooping Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 500 / DEF 400

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 now quite literally “fishes” monsters out of your GY to enable Synchro plays that way, and keeps its theming of harassing large predators in the form of a bonus banish from GY when appropriate.

Lava Rat (BPEV)

Lava Rat, Blazing Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | FIRE Beast | ATK 400 / DEF 200

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 theming on this one is that it sets itself on fire to ward off enemies, while being immune to the flames itself. That manifests in an on-field effect of turning up the heat to either fix your own Levels or annoy the opponent (though I’m not sure the latter use case is word having it be a Quick Effect rather than an Ignition Effect), and a GY effect to burn an opponent’s monster to the ground if it happens to touch yours.

And with that, we’ve made it through probably the hardest part of the design notes. If you just want a simple look at how this deck actually plays in practice, see the demo video below (though it is from a slightly older version).

Marine Rahi

Another big group that combines three whole Types, though only two of them have actual Rahi at this moment. Sea Serpents sure are elusive.

What we saw so far was a combo deck aiming for big boss monsters using more or less the same design principles as the old Rahi designs did, but things are going to be quite different here. The Rahi of the seas don’t really care about “building boards” or the concept of a “Synchro boss monster” all that much – their idea of gameplay is throwing small fish with sharp teeth at the opponent until only bones are left.

In other words, we’re looking at a grindy control deck that uses its Tuners to disrupt the opponent and its Pendulums to build advantage while that’s happening. Let’s look at how the cards evolve for the new version to make that possible, starting with the prime bity fish itself: The Ruki.

3.15.5

Ruki, Fish Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WATER Fish | ATK 700 / DEF 100

(Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY; destroy 1 monster your opponent controls. You can only use this effect of “Ruki, Fish Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

This, too, was one of those Level 2 Rahi handtrap Tuners, and it has retained both its cost and its way of interacting through non-targeting monster destruction. However, to bring it from just another random Rahi to something that can serve as one centerpiece of a dedicated strategy, it has been upgraded in two ways: One is that there’s no longer a hard once per turn on that destruction effect, so Ruki swarms actually get to be as voracious as they should be. The other is that it also searches the Pendulums of its Type when summoned, with a discard that both keeps it from plussing too much and can set up the Ruki’s own cost in the GY.

The other thing that makes this all work are, of course, the Pendulums. BCOR only has two of them, so we can just take those as our examples.

3.15.5

Takea, Shark Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Fish | ATK 1800 / DEF 900

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
At the start of the Damage Step, if a “Rahi” monster you control battles: You can double any battle damage your opponent takes from that battle. You can only use this effect of “Takea, Shark Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●If this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck with ATK less than or equal to half the damage inflicted, but it cannot attack this turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Makika, Toad Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | EARTH Aqua | ATK 600 / DEF 2100

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If a card in your Pendulum Zone is destroyed: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy that target. You can only use this effect of “Makika, Toad Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●If this card is destroyed by battle: Destroy the monster that destroyed it, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster’s original ATK.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

Makika, Toad Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 1/1 | EARTH Aqua | ATK 600 / DEF 2100

[ 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)

Gone is the old formula of random Pendulum Effect, self-summon from Pendulum Zone, and bonus effect when used as material. Instead, the Pendulum Effects aim to extract further value from the banishing cost tied to your disruption effects, either by further devastating your opponent’s field or by replenishing your own resources. The monster effects are a combination of miscellaneous utility – here, searching and dodging stuff – and a shared effect that brings the monster back to the Extra Deck or Pendulum Zone at some cost when it is banished, thus ensuring we don’t run out of ammo and keep getting those boosts from the backrow. The Makika even changed both its Level and its Pendulum Scale!

I also can’t quite gloss over BCOR’s other Tuner, the Shore Turtle.

3.15.5

Shore Turtle, Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WATER Aqua | ATK 0 / DEF 1200

When a monster declares an attack: You can banish this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY; change the battle positions of all face-up monsters. You can only use this effect of “Shore Turtle, Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Shore Turtle, Shelled Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WIND Aqua | ATK 0 / DEF 1200

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)

While I did enjoy it’s previous position-changing gimmick (originally stolen from Speedroid Menko) and would have liked to keep it, in a post-Link era with a questionably relevant Battle Phase, it just would be totally worthless except for the unlikely case where it totally walls of your opponent, which isn’t very fun and interactive either. So instead, this “slow and harmless” creature has turned into something that slowpoke triggers after your opponent does something (this is not a Quick Effect), bringing you something potentially less harmless to the field, in the best case even a live Ruki on turn 0. Or you can go into another copy of itself and enjoy targeting protection, because this turtle can fly. Also it’s WIND now, because this turtle can fly.

And while I did say this deck doesn’t care about boss monsters, there’s still one for when you’ve managed to spam a whole lot of bodies onto the field.

3.15.5

Mana Ko, Guardian Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 11 | LIGHT Aqua | ATK 3500 / DEF 2800

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner “Rahi” monsters
Control of this card cannot switch. The ATK of all face-up monsters your opponent controls is halved during their Battle Phase only. When this card that was Synchro Summoned using exactly 1 non-Tuner monster as material leaves the field: Special Summon that non-Tuner monster from your GY. This card that was Synchro Summoned using 2 or more non-Tuner monsters as material cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent’s card effects.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Mana Ko, Guardian Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 11 | LIGHT Aqua | ATK 3500 / DEF 2800

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)

The Mana Ko is the biggest thing in our Extra Deck, and is truly exclusive in that all its materials must be Rahi (NEW: multiple Tuners are allowed, works better in Fish/Aqua/Sea Serpents that way). Secretly trained by the Order of Mata Nui, it is immune to mental manipulation … and that’s where the similarities between the versions end. You see, the ATK reduction that follows was meant to represent its disintegration beams (hinting how I’m going to do Guurahk a bit down the line, by the way), but upon rechecking their novel appearance and the guidebooks … it turns out no such thing exists. They just shoot explosive blasts. So back to the drawing board it was, and now it just does something that fits right into the deck’s supposed non-reliance on boss monsters: It fucks right off, bringing back just a smidgen less than the material used on it and making something go kaboom with a banish along the way. While it’s around, though, it does also protect the rest of your field from destruction, because that goes well with both the name “Guardian” and the fact that your opponent can’t steal it.

A total of three more Aqua Pendulums were introduced in BBTS, but curiously, only two of them have remained Pendulums, acting as a secondary pair of scales. Those are the Ghekula and the Keras . No need to say much about their updates, as I really just translated the same ideas they were already based on to the mechanics of the new strategy. The Ghekula causes your opponent bad luck for harming it (even accidentally), and the Keras is generic support for low-Level WATER monsters that hates Defense Position monsters, representing its role as an anti-Bohrok mount for Ga-Matoran. The latter also doesn’t have the effect to recycle itself if banished, instead investing that word count into a way to Special Summon it from hand – having variety doesn’t hurt.

And what of the third new card? Well, the Waikiru became a Synchro.

3.15.5

Waikiru, Walrus Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Aqua | ATK 1800 / DEF 1000

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
When the battle position of a face-up monster(s) you control is changed: You can apply this effect until the end of this turn, depending on that monster’s new battle position.
● Attack Position: It gains ATK equal to its Level/Rank x 200.
● Defense Position: It cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.
You can only use this effect of “Waikiru, Walrus Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can change the battle position of up to 2 face-up monsters on the field that have the same battle position.

Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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)

This is one of the most total redesigns, going from a battle position manipulator to a Gold Sarc on, uh, fins that can alternatively do a miniature version of the Mana Ko’s tagout. However, the lore behind it remains the idea of a creature that is “slow on land and swift in the water” – even though it’s now mostly the latter part with how it can run away from the destruction a banished Takea would attempt. I guess the shared hard once per turn on both effects that I added because it felt broken otherwise could be considered the “slow” portion.

Lastly, three new additions fresh off the virtual printer. One is a stealth-add to BCOR and a Level 1 Tuner: The Lightfish that illuminates the huts of Ga-Koro.

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)

It doesn’t do a whole lot, but it’s an easily accessible self-banishing quick effect, which is neat both for the Ga-Koro deck (to get high chain links) and for this one (to trigger Takea or Keras in the Pendulum Zone). Don’t read anything into the part where it becomes LIGHT on the field, that’s just because they glow “as long as they’re alive”. And so it can be a LIGHT Fish in some way at least.

… I just noticed this has the same stats as the Ruki. That’s a copypaste error, should be more like 100/100 probably. Can’t catch ’em all, just one more thing to fix in a future update!

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)

What’s those random letters? Those are my refusal to write a “not treated as” clause into this text, because the proper name of this creature is “Makuta Fish“. It’s basically a slightly bigger Ruki that appears here and there in the novels and doesn’t do anything special, so for the effect I just went with what I felt would be fun and made it a way to perform all kinds of Quick Synchro plays in addition to your base strategy – that gives us something to do with the Extra Deck space at least.

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)

And the final one is a new Trap card, based on the novel-only scene featuring an early (distant) look at Metru Nui’s Great Temple Squid. The idea is to have tentacles restraining your opponent’s monsters, perhaps even crushing one if it’s weak enough – late in testing, I realized this part should probably be 0 ATK and DEF rather than or, otherwise you can take out big threats laughably easily sometimes if they’re only big one way. While this activation effect works with all Rahi, the goal was balancing it so it’s only really worth the space in decks that can also use the Type-locked revival effect in the GY, which I’m not sure the current design achieves.

Reptile Rahi

Reptiles are, and will for a good while remain, a fairly unrepresented Type among Rahi. They do, however, get a pair of Normal Pendulums as early as BCOR, whose old designs already went well with the planned “scale manipulation” gimmick. So I did my best to put together the baseline of a functioning deck with what’s available at this point.

To elaborate on said gimmick a little, it’s a hit-and-run strategy that moves monsters back and forth between the front and back rows of the field, including the Pendulum Zones. In fact, precisely that is what the two Normals sort of did and now absolutely do.

3.15.5

Tarakava, Lizard Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 6 | Scale 3/3 | WATER Reptile | ATK 2600 / DEF 1200

Pendulum Scale = 3
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 6 Reptile “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, your opponent’s cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the Pendulum Summon of a “Rahi” monster. When an opponent’s monster declares a direct attack: You can destroy this card, and if you do, Special Summon 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck.
—————————————-
[ Flavor Text ]
The first thing to remember about Tarakava is that even if you can’t see them, they are always there.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Sand Tarakava, Lizard Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 6 | Scale 8/8 | EARTH Reptile | ATK 2300 / DEF 1800

Pendulum Scale = 8
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 6 Reptile “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, cards in your Pendulum Zones cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster you control; place that target in your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ 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 (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

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.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Sand Tarakava, Lizard Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 6 | Scale 8/8 | EARTH Reptile | ATK 2300 / DEF 1800

[ 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)

The Tarakava is the forward motion in this equation, and being a battle-centric effect, I saw fit to give this one a major upgrade. Rather than only springing its ambush on a direct attack and doing it indirectly by destroying itself and then summoning from the Extra Deck (not the best idea under new Master Rules), it just throws a Reptile directly from the backrow at any opponent’s monster that finds itself battling, destroying the unfortunate target in the process.

The Sand Tarakava (a totally different creature, of course) provides the opposite direction of movement, the changes being that I’ve worked around the taboo on Spells having Quick Effects and that it can also put stuff into regular Spell & Trap Zones so it works with our Synchros. Speaking of which:

3.15.5

Ranama, Magma Toad Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 4 | FIRE Reptile | ATK 2200 / DEF 600

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
You can target 1 card your opponent controls; banish both that target and this card until the End Phase of your next turn. You can only use this effect of “Ranama, Magma Toad Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Tarakava-Nui, Lizard King Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 7 | WATER Reptile | ATK 2900 / DEF 0

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; this card loses 1000 ATK, and if it does, shuffle that target into the Deck. You can only Special Summon “Tarakava-Nui, Lizard King Rahi(s)” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Ranama, Lava Lurker Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 4 | FIRE Reptile | ATK 2200 / DEF 600

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)

Tarakava-Nui, Lizard King Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 7 | WATER Reptile | ATK 2900 / DEF 0

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)

The Ranama, now slightly renamed to mask the fact that this isn’t too much of a reptile (I really need it over here, sorry Aquas), still does its thing of dragging an opponent’s monster under the Lava and then staying there until it’s done eating. But “under the Lava” now means the backrow in accordance with the updated mechanics, and mealtime reliably ends in each Standby Phase, where the Ranama properly digests its prey and returns to feed again. Functionally, this results in something best described as “S:P at home”.

The next tier up is the Tarakava-Nui, themed on the concept of punching things so hard they go back to the Deck. That much is unchanged, but it now does so each time it’s summoned, since we’re trying to do that a whole bunch with the regular Tarakava. As a fancy little debuff, summoning it the normal way during the Main Phase only gets you one target rather than two, because it pays with its ATK and is thus limited by that otherwise useless Main Phase stat reduction. And if you somehow get it in the backrow, which it has no way to do on its own, you can enjoy some blanket protection.

The catch is, this is another of these Types without a Tuner, and since we also don’t have the sheer swarming and searching potential of BCOR Beasts, the one and only Main Deck Effect Reptile is forced to pick up the slack.

3.15.5

Bog Snake, Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Reptile | ATK 1500 / DEF 1500

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If your opponent takes effect damage: Draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of “Bog Snake, Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
● Each time your opponent activates a card or effect, inflict 300 damage to your opponent immediately after it resolves.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Bog Snake, Venomous Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Reptile | ATK 1500 / DEF 1500

[ 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)

What remains from the old focus on effect damage (you know, the venom) is just a bonus burn effect when attacking – be sure to sequence it correctly with the Tarakava for maximum value. The more important job the card adopted due to necessity is the Pendulum Effect, cheating out our Synchros … into the backrow. I’m sure they’ll find a way to come forward. For one thing, destroying the Bog Snake itself Poplars something into the backrow as well, so that right there gives a Ranama its meal for the next Standby Phase.

Overall, I still feel like there are some adjustments left to try here. For example, granting the Ranama the ability to also snatch stuff out of the GY would enhance its use as disruption and give you a way to put your other Synchros back on the field, which could then free up the Bog Snake to fetch only Pendulums from the Extra Deck and properly place them in the scales. Lacking a way to do that without a Sand Tarakava already in place really hurts the deck’s recovery at the moment.

Rahi Nui

And finally, something completely new introduced by this very release. Coming straight from the Tales of the Masks novel, an enemy of Toa from ancient times rises in a Place of Shadow.

Rahi Nui, Vengeful Chimera

Fusion Effect MonsterLevel 11 | DARK Dinosaur | ATK 3800 / DEF 2200

3+ “Rahi” monsters with different names
Must be Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by Tributing the above cards, including a DARK monster. This card’s Type is also treated as the original Types of the materials used for its Summon. If this card is Special Summoned, or your opponent Special Summons a monster(s) from the Extra Deck: You can Special Summon 1 Level 10 or lower “Rahi” monster from your Extra Deck that shares a Type with this card, also this card cannot attack for the rest of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Rahi Nui, Vengeful Chimera” once per turn.

Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.7.3)

For some reason I can’t quite explain myself, the design on this one is themed around the kind of boss fight where the big guy suddenly throws the bosses you fought previously at you – in this case, the Rahi Synchros. Befitting its chimeric nature, the ones it can get are based on the Types it has absorbed from its materials, and vengeful as it is after its previous defeat, triggering this effect keeps it from attacking that turn, almost like it’s stuck in a wall or something.

The native Type of Dinosaur does not have any targets to Summon from the Extra Deck … or didn’t, until now.

Subterranean Worm Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 7 | DARK Dinosaur | ATK 2700 / DEF 1000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
If a “Rahi” monster you control battles, inflict piercing battle damage. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: You can target 1 “Rahi” Tuner in your GY; Special Summon it. You can only use this effect of “Subterranean Worm Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.7.3)

Also featured in Tales of the Masks, this supposedly ancient creature (whatever that means in Bionicle time) is always available to get with the Rahi Nui and give your whole board piercing. But it’s primary use case actually lies before that: As a DARK Rahi that lives in the Extra Deck, it provides a consistent way to access the Rahi Nui via its Contact Fusion clause. And when you do so, the Worm in the GY will trigger to bring back a Tuner, enabling further climbing with your complementary free Synchro.

Place of Shadow

Continuous Spell

(This card is always treated as a “Rahi” and “Makuta” card.)
Once per turn: You can Tribute 1 monster; take 1 “Rahi” Normal Monster from your Deck or GY, and either add it to your hand or Special Summon it. If you Special Summon it, it becomes DARK. If this card is sent to the GY (except during the Damage Step): You can Fusion Summon 1 “Rahi” Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing materials from your field, GY, and/or face-up Extra Deck. You can only use this effect of “Place of Shadow” once per turn.

Bionicle: Protodermic Evolution (v4.7.3)

Another way to get DARK Rahi is this card, which fetches specifically the Rahi Normal Monsters (which are, of course, the Rahi Nui’s canon components) from the Deck. This comes at the cost of a Tribute, because I thought it would be very funny to have synergy between Place of Shadow and Lair of Darkness. It’s basically the same name, after all!

Alternatively, if you send this card straight to the GY, it works as a traditional Fusion Spell that banishes its materials from field, GY, and face-up Extra Deck, leading to a whole bunch of Types on the resulting monster if you have the setup.

The following demo video also does a good job of showing these features.

Makuta

The cards related to the overlord behind all the infected Rahi terrorizing the island also got some tweaks along the way, just to keep them up to date.

3.15.5

Infected Kanohi

Equip Spell

Destroy all other “Kanohi” Equip Spell Cards equipped to the monster equipped with this card. During your opponent’s Standby Phase, if they control the equipped monster: Your opponent can send 1 card from their hand or field to the GY, except the equipped monster; otherwise, take control of the equipped monster. While your opponent controls the equipped monster, it cannot declare an attack unless your opponent sends 1 card from their hand or field to the GY. During your Draw Phase, if your opponent controls a face-up monster and this card is in your GY, instead of conducting your normal draw: You can add this card to your hand.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Infected Kanohi

Equip Spell

Destroy all other cards equipped to the equipped monster. The equipped monster cannot declare an attack or activate its effects unless its controller sends 1 card from their hand or field to the GY. During your opponent’s Standby Phase, if they control the equipped monster: Your opponent can send 1 other card from their hand or field to the GY; otherwise, take control of the equipped monster. During your Draw Phase, if your opponent controls a face-up monster and this card is in your GY, instead of conducting your normal draw: You can add this card to your hand.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

The Infected Kanohi got what could as this point be called a fairly standard modernization update of also restricting effect activations in additon to attacks. And it now does so even after control of that monster changes to you, because if you think about it, the struggle against the infection doesn’t end even after it manages to turn you against your allies.

3.15.5

The Makuta

Ritual Effect MonsterLevel 2 | DARK Fiend | ATK 1500 / DEF 1500

You can Ritual Summon this card with “I am Nothing”. Must be Ritual Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. If this card is Ritual Summoned: Return all Special Summoned Level/Rank 5 or higher monsters on the field to the hand. You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your hand, Deck, or GY whose Level is less than or equal to the number of monsters in your GY. You can only use this effect of “The Makuta” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

The Makuta

Ritual Effect MonsterLevel 2 | DARK Fiend | ATK 1500 / DEF 1500

You can Ritual Summon this card with “I am Nothing”. If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can return all Special Summoned monsters on the field with 2000 or more ATK to the hand. You can Tribute 1 DARK monster; add 1 “Rahi” card from your Deck or GY to your hand, then you can Special Summon 1 monster from your hand whose Level is less than or equal to the number of monsters in your GY. You can only use this effect of “The Makuta” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Makuta himself sticks to the concept of being a small Ritual Monster that mass removes large Special Summoned monsters on Summon and brings out a Rahi. But the definition of “large” has been updated to suit the standard Toa identifier of >=2000 ATK – ideally this would just have been Extra Deck monsters, since it’s based on the Toa Kaita coming undone in Makuta’s presence, but I didn’t want to ruin the Kaiju Makuta synergy. The effect to get a monster has also been upgraded to get any “Rahi” card, and after doing that you get to Summon something from hand based on how stacked your GY is, meaning the old use cases are still intact, among many others. And the change in cost is once again meant for Lair of Darkness synergy.

3.15.5

Mangaia, Lair of Makuta

Field Spell

When this card is activated: You can add 1 “Makuta” Ritual Monster or 1 Ritual Spell Card from your Deck to your hand. Once per turn: You can send up to 4 cards from the top of your Deck to the GY, and if you do, increase the Level/Rank of all Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls by 1 for each, until the end of this turn. You cannot Special Summon monsters the turn you activate this effect, except “Makuta” monsters. Summons of “Makuta” monsters and the activation of their effects cannot be negated. If this card is in your GY: You can destroy 1 Spell/Trap Card you control, and if you do, add this card to your hand, but it cannot be activated for the rest of this turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Mangaia, Lair of Makuta

Field Spell

When this card is activated: You can add 1 “Makuta” Ritual Monster or 1 Ritual Spell from your Deck to your hand. Once per turn: You can send cards from the top of your Deck to the GY, equal to the number of Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls; the ATK of all Special Summoned monsters your opponent currently controls become 2000, until the end of this turn. If this card is in your GY: You can destroy 1 Spell/Trap you control, and if you do, add this card to your hand. You can only activate 1 “Mangaia, Lair of Makuta” per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Speaking of Lairs: The wall of text that was Mangaia got cut down a bit, specifically by removing the clause preventing responses to your Makuta summons and effects – while appropriately villainous, that kind of noninteractive clause is still the thing I’m most ready to cut given the choice. Its generic milling effect has been depowered by tying it to the number of your opponent’s Special Summoned monsters, and adjusted to suit Makuta’s own new text. And rather than not being able to activate it the turn you add it back, you’re just generally limited to activating 1 per turn only.

And I guess this is a fairly reasonable point to bring up one more Rahi that’s technically Aqua, but exists outside that Type’s strategy to instead act as support for all the different Normal Pendulums representing the large sets from 2001. I’m talking about the guardians of Mangaia that did in fact release in that same wave of toys: The Manas.

3.15.5

Manas, Monstrous Crab Rahi

Effect MonsterLevel 10 | DARK Aqua | ATK 3200 / DEF 2600

Cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent’s card effects. Once per turn, if a Spell/Trap Card is activated: This card gains 800 ATK until the end of this turn. During your Standby Phase: Return this Special Summoned card to your hand.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Manas, Monstrous Crab Rahi

Effect MonsterLevel 10 | DARK Aqua | ATK 3200 / DEF 2600

Gains 400 ATK/DEF for each face-up Spell/Trap on the field. You can only use each of the following effects of “Manas, Monstrous Crab Rahi” once per turn. You can discard this card; add 1 “Rahi” Normal Monster from your Deck to your hand. During your opponent’s turn, if you control a “Rahi” Normal Monster Card (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this card from your GY, and if you do, it is unaffected by other monsters’ effects, also return it to the hand during the End Phase.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Initially, this was a big protected beater you were meant to Tribute Summon over whatever you spam with the Pendulum Rahi, to the point where it wouldn’t even stay on the field if Summoned another way. After some thorough reconsidering, its primary function is now discarding it to search a Normal Monster, and on the opponent’s turn it can be Special Summoned as a wall that’s hard to get over (in fact, it’s specifically designed so a Toa Kaita can’t deal with it except by taking out the backrow “heating towers” granting it strength). Doing this still makes it return to your hand, as before, but now that just means you can discard it for another search.

Yes, I am Nothing received no changes. Can’t fix perfection.

The Rest

One Rahi and one ex-Rahi remain, by virtue of not being at home in any of the listed strategies.

The first is a Dragon that can work with them all: the Hikaki.

3.15.5

Hikaki, Dragon Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | FIRE Dragon | ATK 1900 / DEF 700

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
When a “Rahi” monster(s) is Special Summoned: You can add 1 “Rahi” Tuner from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Hikaki, Dragon Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
● When a Trap Card is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Hikaki, Dragon Rahi

Xyz Effect MonsterRank 3 | FIRE Dragon | ATK 1900 / DEF 700

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 initial use case this was meant for was getting from Beast combos into those otherwise unsearchable Insect Tuners, so really not too different from its old Pendulum Effect if you think about it. But it also has applications in other decks with multiple Level 3s, like Marine Rahi, and even in those without since it can be made generically with the Terrortop engine.

The second one has been taken out of the Rahi archetype entirely, since it technically isn’t one. “I can’t be a Rahi?”, said the Daikau. “Then I’ll be a Trap Hole, fuck you.”

3.15.5

Daikau, Floral Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WATER Plant | ATK 1500 / DEF 300

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
You can send 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to the GY; all monsters your opponent currently controls lose ATK equal to that monster’s ATK, until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Daikau, Floral Rahi” once per turn.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower WATER monster from your GY, except this card. If this card is banished: You can discard 1 “Rahi” card, then target 1 monster with 2000 or less ATK on the field; destroy it. You can only use 1 “Daikau, Floral Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
4.7.3

Daikau Trap Hole

Trap

When a monster with less than 2000 ATK activates its effect on the field: You can destroy that monster, and if it was Normal or Special Summoned this turn, you can Special Summon this card as a Normal Monster (Plant/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 0). (This card is NOT treated as a Trap.) If this card is in your GY: You can banish 1 Insect or Plant monster you control; Set this card. You can only use this effect of “Daikau Trap Hole” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

I wonder if anyone would bother playing this in Traptrix.

Closing Thoughts

From the moment I first put out the original versions of these cards in … 2016 I think?, I wasn’t happy with how they turned out. I even said as much in the design notes back then – I didn’t finish, I just decided to be done and move on. So you can imagine I am now very relieved to finally have this done properly. There’s still room for fixes and adjustments, as noted above, but at the very least, the archetype is now in a state where the future support that will surely come has clear design directions to follow.

Aside from that, I have to say this was fun. Way too much work at once, but still fun. I got to nerd out over a spreadsheet, write what is basically a guidebook on Rahi zoology as applied to card games, think up a bunch of cool effects and interactions, and even build some Rahi that only ever appeared in text form – the Lava Rat, Subterranean Worm, Makuta Fish, and Rahi Nui you see here are all original creations. It’s certainly a mix of creative activities I couldn’t be getting any other way.

Now, dear reader, whether you’ve made it this far through all of the above or you just scrolled and skimmed your way down here, I thank you very much for your attention and hope to eventually have it again when the Time comes.

The next update after this will be in a few months.

Designer’s Quip: Rahi for All Shapes and Sizes

With the sonorous rhyme of pottery, we enter the final article of Rahi investigation, just in time to start actually working on the update.

The remaining topic is simply all those archetype support cards that provide basic utility and are meant to be played in different strategies regardless of Type or focus, to avoid reimplementing a certain core lineup of effects over and over again.

See also:

Initial Considerations

Our scholarly journey so far has uncovered that it makes sense to group the multitude of Rahi species into a few major Types focused around distinct playstyles. Beast, Winged Beasts, and Beast-Warriors who climb into massive Synchros and win via beatdown. Aqua, Fish, and Sea Serpents who use removal and disruption effects to control the board without centering on singular boss monsters. Reptiles running a focused strategy of moving monsters, particularly Pendulums, between the front and back rows. And Insects, who provide somewhat splashable swarming of small critters and a toolbox of larger ones. All rounded out by the occasional wildcard that’s a Dragon or something.

Now if we want a reusable “Rahi core”, it’s important for it to be smoothly compatible with all of those major strategies, but at the same time it shouldn’t have too much direct synergy with any one of them, as it would just make them feel suboptimal when used in the rest. Also, anything we can put on the intentionally splashable Insects and the various standalone Dragons should be on a good path towards filling the kind of role we are aiming for here.

Other than that, a very simple and straightforward way for a card to support all available Types without belonging to any of them is for it to not have a Type at all – in other words, Spell and Trap Cards. The Rahi archetype already contains several of them, so making use of those slots effectively could lift a lot of the burden off the monster lineup.

But in any case, what needs to be established first and foremost if we want our generics to handle the universally required groundwork is this: What mechanics are actually common to all Rahi strategies, and what can be done to support those in a simple, easy-to-use manner? Here are some thoughts on that.

  • Synchro Summoning! While I have planned Fusions, Links, Xyz, and even Rituals for certain special cases, the primary representation for combiners and other large Rahi is supposed to be Synchros. Beasts & co go in extra hard on this aspect, but some basic access should be guaranteed and supported for everyone.
  • Pendulums with GY and banishment effects. One of my earliest Rahi observations on this site was about that design making it so they inhabit every niche of the gameboard ecosystem, which really suits their nature as wildlife. So I’d like to preserve that aspect, and since it doesn’t especially connect to any of the proposed playstyles, it’s probably going to end up a shared trait.
  • Support Spells/Traps with an additional effect in the GY. Nowadays, this is pretty common, but back when the first version of BCOR was made, it was meant to be a special trait – not of Rahi, but of Makuta. That’s why cards like Rahi Swarm or Rahi Hive Showdown were deliberately themed after instances of Makuta using the Rahi as a tool to attack the villages of Mata Nui. Be that as it may, the concept is still somewhat appropriate for the Rahi archetype in general, since milling and discarding are going to be major ways to actually get your Pendulums into the GY. So it’s possible additional Rahi backrow in the long term will also function like this, and as mentioned before, non-monster cards are a good vehicle for utility across Types.

Assuming I didn’t forget anything, all mechanics beyond that should be specific to a certain Type or other subgrouping of the large Rahi pool. So that restricts the focus for generic support to a few key areas: stuff like searching, revival, and maybe removal that archetypes generally tend to have, Synchro Summoning, and the specific mechanic of getting Rahi monsters, Spells, and Traps into the GY or banishment. Let’s talk about the options we have for each.

Support Directions

Searching

A very straightforward example I tend to think of when I talk about not wanting to repeat universally applicable effects across multiple subgroups is searching, i.e., adding a specified card from your Deck to your hand. Obviously, having a card that just says Add 1 “Rahi” monster is better than having one that lets you Add 1 Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast “Rahi” monster, plus one that lets you Add 1 Aqua, Fish, or Sea Serpent “Rahi” monster, plus one that lets you Add 1 Reptile “Rahi” monster, and so on. While we do not quite have such a searcher in the style of ROTA, there are a few cards that get reasonably close.

Rahi Swarm

Spell

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters: Add 2 “Rahi” monsters with the same Type, but different names, from your Deck to your hand. For the rest of this turn, your opponent takes no damage. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, but it cannot attack, also it is destroyed during the End Phase. You can only use 1 “Rahi Swarm” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

One is Rahi Swarm, a double searcher in which a very early flash of Type-based strategy planning can be seen. That is, it searches regardless of Type, so long as both of your targets belong the same one. However, it doesn’t quite get all the way to fitting the current iteration of the concept, since it fails to account for the multi-Type groups around Beasts and Fish. What it does still cover are the Normal Pendulum Pairs for which it was originally designed, and so it will probably continue to work that way in the new version, meaning we should keep in mind that monsters you want in your hand together benefit somewhat from having the exact same Type.

Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 2500 / DEF 1000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
If this card is Synchro Summoned: Draw 1 card. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Gukko-Kahu gives us a search of just one, but on an Extra Deck monster … when it’s sent from the field to the GY. That’s a bit nonstandard, but basically the idea is to search extension or followup while you use it as material to climb higher. Not out of tune with how Beast-ish Rahi are supposed to work, but may need some more specific limitations to avoid crossing streams with other Types.

Nui-Rama, Fly Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 5 | Scale 3/3 | WIND Insect | ATK 1800 / DEF 1700

Pendulum Scale = 3
[ Pendulum Effect ]
While you have a Level 5 Insect “Rahi” Pendulum Monster Card in your other Pendulum Zone, your opponent’s cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the Pendulum Summon of a “Rahi” monster. You can target 1 “Rahi” monster you control; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster with the same Type and a lower or equal Level from your Deck, but it cannot attack this turn. 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.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Nui-Rama offers a different kind of search by Special Summoning from the Deck, and like the Rahi Swarm that references it, it does so by matching another monster’s Type. In principle, this being an Insect does qualify it for being used by everyone and everything, but I kind of see the high-Level Normal Pendulums as something meant to specifically go into the native Type strategy, and their Insect member should be no different. Might end up restricting this one a bit more, but as a Level 5 brick with no monster effects it’s probably not worth running outside of Insects anyway. Side note, the Nui-Kopen also gets something from the Deck, but does it in a weird probabilistic way, so can’t really consider that one seriously.

Encounter in the Drifts

Counter Trap

When your opponent Summons a monster(s), except during the Damage Step: Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster whose Level is less than or equal to the highest Level among those monsters from your hand or Deck. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this Summon. You can only activate 1 “Encounter in the Drifts” per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Trap Encounter in the Drifts serves a similar purpose and also does it in a weird reactive way, but as a non-monster I’m much more inclined to preserve it for universal use. The thing is, this kind of Summoning in response to something usually works best when the monsters you bring out actually do stuff immediately when they hit the field, and how much that applies to Rahi is going to vary by strategy. Not sure yet how and where this card is going to be integrated, and in a redesign of the effect it might also be interesting to link it with The Drifts a bit more.


Next up, a known trio of troublemakers makes not trouble, but its return.

The Dragon

Hikaki, Dragon Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | FIRE Dragon | ATK 1900 / DEF 700

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
When a “Rahi” monster(s) is Special Summoned: You can add 1 “Rahi” Tuner from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Hikaki, Dragon Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
● When a Trap Card is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
The Scorpion

Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | FIRE Insect | ATK 1300 / DEF 1900

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
When a “Rahi” monster is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Kofo-Jaga, Scorpion Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●When a monster effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that monster if its ATK is lower than the ATK of the monster you shuffled into the Deck.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)
The Duck

Taku, Duck Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 1700

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
During your End Phase: You can add 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your Extra Deck face-up. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
● When a Spell Card is activated (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck into the Deck; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Hikaki searches Tuners when you Special Summon, the Kofo-Jaga searches Pendulums when you Normal Summon, and the Taku just puts stuff straight into the face-up Extra Deck. This is all in service of a little mini-engine that stacks bonus negates on a Synchro Monster, but I don’t think I’ll be keeping that around as it lacks any basis in the lore whatsoever.

So, can we at least apply their functionality as searchers generically? The two most relevant ones do happen to be a Dragon and an Insect and are therefore not strictly tied to one strategy, but I think the search utility they offer right now isn’t sufficient to make up for the Type mismatch of including them. They’d need to be cleaned up into something that’s not necessarily stronger, but easier to use and providing a service that’s hard to replace otherwise.

The Taku is out, sorry. Winged Beasts have their own thing going on, and I’m sure it will find an appropriate use over there without needing to fly into other decks.

Mahi, Goat Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Beast | ATK 700 / DEF 1500

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
(Quick Effect): You can send 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to the GY, then destroy this card. You can only use this effect of “Mahi, Goat Rahi” once per turn.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. If this card is banished: You can add 1 of your banished Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monsters that was not banished this turn to your hand. You can only use 1 “Mahi, Goat Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Similarly, the Mahi searching low-Level Rahi (the handtrap Tuners, mainly) doesn’t really make too much sense for a Beast – those barely even have small ones among their ranks, for one thing. So this is another generic search we’ll end up losing in favour of supporting a specific sub-strategy.

Ghekula, Amphibious Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Aqua | ATK 1550 / DEF 1400

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
During your Main Phase: You can add 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck or GY to your hand, except “Ghekula, Amphibious Rahi”, and if you do, take damage equal to its original ATK. You can only use this effect of “Ghekula, Amphibious Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●Once per turn, if you take effect damage: Gain LP equal to the damage you took, and if you do, inflict the same amount of damage to your opponent.

Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v3.15.5)

The Ghekula is a weird one that only searches because I couldn’t think of anything else useful to include in its Pendulum Effect, where the main point is actually dealing damage to yourself. Once again, it’s Aqua, those aren’t supposed to be generic, and thus there is no need to consider it here any further.

Takea, Shark Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Fish | ATK 1800 / DEF 900

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
At the start of the Damage Step, if a “Rahi” monster you control battles: You can double any battle damage your opponent takes from that battle. You can only use this effect of “Takea, Shark Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●If this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck with ATK less than or equal to half the damage inflicted, but it cannot attack this turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Similar things can be said about the Takea, which summons from Deck in the weirdest, most roundabout way possible. Will definitely end up changed into something that meshes with its Fishy friends better.


So, final tally, it looks like we’ll just have three cards – a Spell, a Dragon, and an Insect – that can be used to add search power to any and all Rahi decks. Should be enough since there can always be Type-specific consistency cards to further boost it where needed; we just have to make sure these three slots are used effectively without huge redundancy. For example, if Rahi Swarm takes care of searching monsters, maybe the other two could be variants of Spell/Trap searchers. We don’t have those at all right now, and it kind of makes sense they’d be generic when the backrow is too.

Revival

Oh look, it’s Rahi Swarm again.

Rahi Swarm

Spell

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters: Add 2 “Rahi” monsters with the same Type, but different names, from your Deck to your hand. For the rest of this turn, your opponent takes no damage. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, but it cannot attack, also it is destroyed during the End Phase. You can only use 1 “Rahi Swarm” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The GY effect on this card is indeed a revive, so it fits two of the categories we’re looking for here. That’s perhaps not a bad approach to take generally, since it will help us keep the package of reusable utility small and in turn leave more room for each deck’s own gimmick. One thing I would change about this is making the revival also dependent on matching Types somehow, to keep that theme consistent.

Husi, Ostrich Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1700 / DEF 1100

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If a card in your Pendulum Zone is destroyed: You can Special Summon 1 face-up Level 4 or lower “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck. You can only use this effect of “Husi, Ostrich Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●If this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY: Target 1 “Rahi” monster in your GY with a lower Level than this card; Special Summon it.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Husi has revival locked behind a floating effect granted to a Synchro Monster, so even if it wasn’t mostly disqualified by virtue of its Type, using that probably wouldn’t be realistic.

Ussal, Crab Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1000

[ 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)

The Ussal lets us revive stuff in the fanciest way possible, by rewriting the rules and Pendulum Summoning from the GY. I kind of want to keep that just for the novelty, but it may be refined with a Beast(-ish) lock and more Synchro focus. There’s also a second avenue of revival in the monster effect for EARTH monsters specifically, which kind of bleeds into other Type decks at random points, but this effect, as well as its counterparts for other Attributes, will require careful planning of their interaction with all kinds of decks anyway.

The Makuta

Ritual Effect MonsterLevel 2 | DARK Fiend | ATK 1500 / DEF 1500

You can Ritual Summon this card with “I am Nothing”. If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can return all Special Summoned monsters on the field with 2000 or more ATK to the hand. You can Tribute 1 DARK monster; add 1 “Rahi” card from your Deck or GY to your hand, then you can Special Summon 1 monster from your hand whose Level is less than or equal to the number of monsters in your GY. You can only use this effect of “The Makuta” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

And finally, we should at least mention The Makuta one time. The overlord of the infected Rahi can get any of them to the field from almost anywhere, but I don’t really see that as Rahi support. Instead, you’re meant to use it to easily access Rahi in a deck focused around Makuta, which is something that will have to be worked out in lockstep with the Rahi update as a whole.

Synchro Support

Okay, what does that even mean? There isn’t really a specific phrase I can search to filter the cards that apply, so I guess the play is going through the potential categories of universal support and finding the stuff that interacts with Synchros. For what it’s worth, though, I can already say that none of the currently implemented cards explicitly mention “Rahi” Synchro Monsters.

Siege of the Rahi

Continuous Spell

Once per turn, when your opponent Normal or Special Summons a Level 4 or lower monster(s): You can change 1 of those monsters to face-down Defense Position. During your End Phase, if you do not control a Level 5 or higher “Rahi” monster: Destroy this card. If a Level 5 or higher “Rahi” monster you control would be destroyed, you can banish this card from your GY instead.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Of the Spells/Traps, the one that gets closest is Siege of the Rahi, which acts as disruption if you control a high-Level Rahi, and as protection for that same group. That does include a lot of Synchros, but not all Synchros are high-Level and not all high Levels are Synchros, so it’s only tangentially relevant.

Since Synchro Summoning is a pretty monster-centric process, I’m not sure backrow can meaningfully contribute to that anyway, outside of general stuff that gets you more monsters. An alternative way they could take advantage of Synchros being used by all Types is gaining additional or stronger effects while you control a Synchro Monster. Something like Devastation of the Rahi may get to blow up additional cards in that case, for example.


One thing that more directly helps us with Synchro plays is, of course, Tuners. As those tend to be at low Levels, Insects may be of some assistance.

Fikou, Spider Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 1 | EARTH Insect | ATK 600 / DEF 400

You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 Level 3 or higher “Rahi” monster you control; reduce that target’s Level by 1, 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 (v3.15.5)

If the Normal Pendulums were the first prototype of Type-specific Rahi support, then the Fikou was the original Type-independent support card to go with them. It’s purpose is simply to duplicate itself next to a high-Level Rahi to enable a Synchro play, which is kind of the key thing we’re going to need for all the different Synchro-based strategies: An easily Special Summonable Tuner.

The rest of the little bug dudes – the Hoto , Electric/Lightning Bug , and Cliff Bug -do not currently satisfy this requirement, instead acting as handtraps with no inherent way to get them on the field for Synchro plays. That leaves the Fikou in an unfortunately load-bearing position, and has just now started bothering me aesthetically because all of these monsters even have different Attributes! They’re missing DARK and WIND, but the powers afforded to me by The Spreadsheet let me know those slots can be filled later with something like Niazesk and Protodites, so really these guys are just asking to be grouped together. Will probably redesign them all so they can get themselves on the field for some Tuning, maybe with a small hint of their original disruptive effects, and possibly change them to Level 1 as well.


If you have your Tuners and non-Tuners assembled, you’re ready to perform a Synchro Summon … if the stars align. Swarming the field won’t help you if you can’t get the right sum of Levels, so ways to modulate those also fall under the category of Synchro support. We’ve already seen the Fikou do it as a drawback that could be cleverly worked into a combo, but there is another card that gives you this ability with much more freedom.

Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi

Synchro Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1650

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can choose a number from 1 to 4; reduce this card’s Level by that number, then take damage equal to that number x 300. When using this Synchro Summoned card as a Synchro Material, you can use 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster in your Extra Deck (and no other monsters) as the other Synchro Material.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Dikapi is not only a Synchro Tuner, but can also lower its Level to whatever you need to make the numbers work out. As a Winged Beast, it couldn’t be in a better place to provide that kind of help to its native deck, but meant to be splashable in other Types it is not. As it is right now, I wouldn’t build a Rahi deck without using this, so to keep things orderly it will need some restrictions added.

Where, then, are we to get our Level modulation? Well, for one thing we could simply make sure the Levels on the Synchros and their materials natively line up so that isn’t necessary, just like plenty of archetypes have managed already. But with how much variation there is in Rahi sizes, it might not end up feeling right to strictly tie the best size indicator we have to gameplay maths, so I’d like a plan B just in case. And the most suitable choice for that are probably the Insect Tuners, since you’ll need them for Synchro plays anyway, and the Fikou already changes Levels anyway. My second preference would be the Spells/Traps, where you can cheaply include a bonus Level change as a GY effect or something.

Graveyard/Banishment Support

This last one is actually really important to have freely available with minimal investment, so as to enable smooth operation of the schizoid design choice that is “Pendulum Monsters with GY effects”. In an age where regular monsters can access their postmortem shenanigans simply by becoming Link Material, we can’t afford to jump through any major hoops just to trigger the ones we have on our Pendulums. That means effects, or even better costs, that send from hand/Deck/Extra Deck need to be nearly as accessible as basic game mechanics.

Kirikori-Nui, Locust Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 3 | WIND Insect | ATK 1400 / DEF 1000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can send 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck to the GY; this card gains 500 ATK. You can banish this card until the End Phase of your next turn; destroy 1 card on the field. You can only use this effect of “Kirikori-Nui, Locust Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Kirikori-Nui offers such functionality from the Insect side, sending straight from Deck to GY as cost. You just need to pull of a Level 3 Synchro Summon, which is going to be a bit tricky without the Level modulation covered in the previous section. As of right now, this is meant to be made by using the Fikou on one of the Level 3 Rahi, which are the ones concentrating all the GY/banish effects. Maybe with a softening of those established statlines, a legitimate Level 2 non-Tuner may also pop up somewhere.

Daikau Trap Hole

Trap

When a monster with less than 2000 ATK activates its effect on the field: You can destroy that monster, and if it was Normal or Special Summoned this turn, you can Special Summon this card as a Normal Monster (Plant/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 0). (This card is NOT treated as a Trap.) If this card is in your GY: You can banish 1 Insect or Plant monster you control; Set this card. You can only use this effect of “Daikau Trap Hole” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

The Daikau’s Pendulum Effect is a Main Deck example of milling a Rahi for cost, though with the drawback that the associated effect requires your opponent to have a monster first. Its misfit Type of Plant looks like something we’re looking for at first glance, but keep in mind that this is an actual plant and not technically a Rahi – which makes its future inclusion in the archetype dubious. As of right now, I would not count on having this available in this form after the update.

Moa, Bird Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1300 / DEF 600

[ 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)

And the Moa is the counterpart to those two for banishing, while requiring nothing but itself on the field to be usable. Unfortunately, it’s a Winged Beast, so we don’t actually want it to be overly generic. That said, I believe birds having a bit of a native banishing focus is an idea that has come up before, so this effect might be worth keeping with some anti-splash restriction.

A brief mention goes to various Beasts that help us bin or banish stuff, but in ways that aren’t really good enough to be worth keeping. The Mahi sends from Extra Deck to GY as its entire Pendulum Effect, the Brakas lets you banish for free if you happen to draw a Rahi while it’s scaled, and the Vako gives you a draw you can discard (thus putting it in the GY) for a stat boost.

Hoto, Firebug Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | FIRE Insect | ATK 600 / DEF 300

(Quick Effect): You can banish this card from your hand or field and 1 “Rahi” monster from your GY, then target 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls; banish that target. Your opponent cannot activate the targeted card in response to this effect’s activation. You can only use this effect of “Hoto, Firebug Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

More interesting are the Level 2 handtrap Tuners, many of them Insects. The banishing costs on these were initially meant to be how you get the banish triggers, but that idea was always weak on account of requiring Pendulums in the GY first. I don’t see anything wrong with a simple fix of letting you also banish from the face-up Extra Deck, so that’s likely to happen for their update – maybe combined with a way to more easily get them on field as Tuners.

Finally, a stealthy one.

Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi

Synchro Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1650

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can choose a number from 1 to 4; reduce this card’s Level by that number, then take damage equal to that number x 300. When using this Synchro Summoned card as a Synchro Material, you can use 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster in your Extra Deck (and no other monsters) as the other Synchro Material.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Dikapi’s additional ability to use Pendulums in the Extra Deck as Synchro Material does cause them to go to the GY by game mechanics, making it the closest equivalent we have to “just linking them off”. As noted previously, this is supposed to be a card exclusive to the Beast strategy, which has two key implications for me. One, there will have to be some (Winged) Beast Rahi that do stuff in the GY to take advantage of this, and two, I might need to come up with a generic equivalent if this really does turn out to be the absolute best Extra->GY mechanism.

One plan I can reveal in that direction already is that the Rahi Nui, big multi-Type Contact Fusion monstrosity that it is, will also come with a kind of Fusion Spell, and that one will allow using materials from hand, field, and/or face-up Extra Deck. So at least there’s going to be an option that can theoretically work in any deck, if it’s willing to run Rahi Nui stuff.

Conclusion

In summary, the following areas in need of generic support have the following cards that can potentially fill that role right out of the gate:

  • Searching: The Rahi Swarm Spell, the Dragon-Type Hikaki, and the Insect-Type Kofo-Jaga; matching Types may be relevant for monster searches, and a way to search Spells and Traps would certainly be helpful.
  • Revival: Rahi Swarm again … but nothing else currently, outside the Synchro Spam of the Beast strategy. Maybe we should provide something in the Extra Deck, but whether that’s generic or not and whether that’s part of the initial wave or not is still up in the air. Pendulums do kind of have this built in anyway, but then we send ours to GY and banishment, not to mention the Tuners tend not to be Pendulums at all …
  • Synchro Support: A way to universally ensure access to Synchro Monsters is implementing various small Insect Rahi as Tuners that can Special Summon themselves. A way to take advantage of having those Synchros everywhere is letting generic Spells/Traps access bonus effects in the presence of Synchro Monsters. Level Modulation is something we might need, but do not currently have a solid home for – may be the Insects as well.
  • GY/Banishment Support: Methods exist to get Pendulums where we want them in the form of costs, several on them even on cards that are appropriate to be made generic. However, like with the searchers, a way to do this with Spells and Traps is absent and should be added.

Overall, I think it’s best to limit the use of generic Main Deck monsters to key engine-driving features like searching and tuning, as otherwise it will be hard to justify including them despite mismatched Types. Everything more involved should be either Extra Deck monsters, which are easier to fit (but do need to be designed around when it comes to Type locks and such), and Spells/Traps that can trivially go anywhere. There are a few already existing backrow cards like Infection of the Rahi that have not been mentioned here yet because they do absolutely nothing relevant, so certainly those could be reworked to do stuff we’re missing. Not to mention that new ones can be made at any time if I can just find some Rahi-related object/place/event/concept to base it on. A lot easier than monsters.

More precise design decisions will have to wait until the update is further along, because the really challenging part is going to be simultaneously streamlining these generic cards in each and every one of the different strategies. One can only hope that 10 full articles of yapping about Rahi have sufficiently prepared me for this task.

Designer’s Quip: Matoran’s Best Friend

Oh golly, finally a post that talks about something else than Rahi and …

nah, tricked you, still a Rahi post. But only one more to go after this, so we have in fact reached peak penultimacy. I’m not sure that’s a word, but at the very least it’s a combination of letters that has been typed before.

See also:

Concept

Certain Rahi appear not only in the wild, but also fill significant roles within Matoran society, particularly its more rural incarnation on the island of Mata Nui. Whether they are used as beasts of burden, kept as pets, or handle more specific tasks, that is a relationship that would be nice to reflect in card design.

To some extent, this has already been done from the Matoran side:

Matoran Racer Onepu

Effect MonsterLevel 2 | EARTH Warrior | ATK 700 / DEF 500

When this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 of your banished EARTH monsters; place it on the bottom of the Deck, then you can reveal any number of “Matoran” monsters in your hand, and if you do, gain 500 LP for each. During your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Beast “Rahi” monster from your hand or GY, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of “Matoran Racer Onepu” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.20.4)

Matoran Pilot Kongu

Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WIND Warrior | ATK 800 / DEF 400

If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can send 1 Winged Beast “Rahi” monster from your hand or Deck to the GY, and if you do, this card can attack your opponent directly this turn. You can only use this effect of “Matoran Pilot Kongu” once per turn. When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can banish 1 WIND monster from your GY, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls with DEF less than or equal to that banished monster’s ATK; destroy it.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.20.4)

These two individuals whose occupations both involve riding certain types of Rahi interact with just that in-game Type, providing a point of synergy that justifies mixing a Rahi or two into an appropriate Koro deck. In the other direction, the interaction is a bit less targeted and stems mainly from that small group of Rahi that provide a generic revival effect for their respective Attributes – as we will see in a moment.

To summarize the question at hand: What is the best way to encode these connections between Matoran and Rahi into designs going forward?

Implemented

For four of the six Attributes, we already have one Rahi each that helps out by bringing back other matching monsters from the GY. Most prominent in this group are the EARTH and WIND ones that are already involved in combos with the Matoran shown above.

Ussal, Crab Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1000

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
Once per turn: You can reduce the Pendulum Scale of the card in your other Pendulum Zone by 1 until the End Phase; this turn, while this card is in your Pendulum Zone, you can also Pendulum Summon “Rahi” Pendulum Monsters from your GY, but monsters Summoned this way are destroyed during the End Phase.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower EARTH monster from your GY, except this card. If this card is banished: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monster from your GY. You can only use 1 “Ussal, Crab Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Ussal is a crab that sees widespread use among Matoran for … more or less anything you might use a horse for in our world. Transporting passengers or cargo, riding into battle, racing for sport, and all that stuff. Their chief employers are the Onu-Matoran and, on Metru-Nui, also the Le-Matoran. Between being strictly ground-based creatures and their special skill of helping with tunnel-digging, it’s clear EARTH is the most reasonable Attribute to support.

The other effects are specific to Rahi, so a Matoran deck won’t derive any benefit from them (though they do theoretically work with additional copies of the card). This isn’t necessarily a problem, since the synergy already functions fine when built around the single generic effect, but we will have to reconsider the in-archetype interactions in light of the shift to Type-based substrategies. Perhaps in that process, we could take some care to give the Rahi in this little category abilities that, to some extent, still apply in a non-Rahi deck – like recycling themselves, for example.

Kewa, Vulture Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 400

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If you control no other cards: You can add 1 WIND monster from your Deck to your hand, except “Kewa, Vulture Rahi”, and if you do, destroy this card during the End Phase. 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 Level 4 or lower WIND monster from your GY, except this card. If this card is banished: You can add 1 “Rahi” card from your GY to your hand. You can only use 1 “Kewa, Vulture Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Gukko and its subspecies, including the Kewa, are the aerial steeds used in Le-Koro, and thus a close counterpart to the Ussal. It only makes sense then, to make it the WIND representative of the same category, and indeed much of what we said for the crab also applies to the vulture. The Pendulum Effect on this one is actually extremely useful in generic WIND decks, being able to search basically anything as long as you use it on an empty field, but it also definitely isn’t surviving a redesign, so eh.


Daikau, Floral Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WATER Plant | ATK 1500 / DEF 300

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
You can send 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to the GY; all monsters your opponent currently controls lose ATK equal to that monster’s ATK, until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Daikau, Floral Rahi” once per turn.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower WATER monster from your GY, except this card. If this card is banished: You can discard 1 “Rahi” card, then target 1 monster with 2000 or less ATK on the field; destroy it. You can only use 1 “Daikau, Floral Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Infernavika, Lava Bird Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | FIRE Winged Beast | ATK 1100 / DEF 800

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
Once per turn, at the start of the Battle Phase: You can target 1 face-up monster you control; this turn, when that target battles an opponent’s monster, destroy both monsters at the start of the Damage Step, except FIRE monsters.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower FIRE monster from your GY, except this card. If this card is banished: You can banish the top card of your Deck; add this card 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 (v3.15.5)

Now the WATER and FIRE members don’t get more than a footnote in this article, because neither the Daikau nor the Infernavika are in any way utilized by Matoran (and the former technically isn’t even a Rahi). I just gave them these effects to round out the quartet as an afterthought, and they’re probably not keeping them.

Of course, this does raise the question of who should instead fill the niche for these Attributes – would be unfair for only half the villages to have Rahi support, after all. Ta-Koro is a bit out of luck here, since it seems like the only real candidates are an elemental recolor of Po-Koro’s Mahi and an unnamed six-legged fox … not exactly the most worthwhile things to turn into cards.

We do, however, have one more legitimate option for Ga-Koro.

Keras, Crab Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WATER Aqua | ATK 1400 / DEF 500

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
At the start of the Damage Step, if a monster you control with 1000 or less ATK battles an opponent’s monster: You can destroy this card, and if you do, that monster you control gains 1400 ATK until the end of this turn. You can only use this effect of “Keras, Crab Rahi” once per turn.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower monster on the field; that target is unaffected by Spell/Trap effects until the end of this turn. If this card is banished: You can target 1 Set card on the field; destroy it. You can only use 1 “Keras, Crab Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v3.15.5)

The Keras are a more aquatic kind of crab that served as special steeds to the Ga-Matoran when they were fighting off the Bohrok swarms. This is reflected by their effects that actually all work generically to either support those with low ATK and/or Levels (Hint: that includes Matoran), or fight against face-down cards (Hint: Bohrok are Flip Monsters). That’s kind of a step up in terms of splashable design compared to what we saw so far, but given the clear parallels to Ussal and Kewa, replacing some part of these abilities with the WATER revive currently held by the Daikau is under serious consideration.


Now, moving on to Rahi that have been implemented, but failed to receive any mechanics reflecting their canon domestication. There’s a surprising amount of these.

Mahi, Goat Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Beast | ATK 700 / DEF 1500

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
(Quick Effect): You can send 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to the GY, then destroy this card. You can only use this effect of “Mahi, Goat Rahi” once per turn.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. If this card is banished: You can add 1 of your banished Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monsters that was not banished this turn to your hand. You can only use 1 “Mahi, Goat Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

Mahi are iconic for the herds of them that can be seen (and heard) in MNOG’s Po-Koro, but their usefulness as livestock has only been adapted here in the sense that they provide a lot of helpful utility effects to the Rahi archetype. One idea I have for an overhaul is to have an effect that not only provides a bit of generic utility, but also resembles some part of what Po-Koro does – the destruction replacement effect, for example, was specifically based off the Mahi trading happening in the village!

Husi, Ostrich Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1700 / DEF 1100

Pendulum Scale = 5
[ Pendulum Effect ]
If a card in your Pendulum Zone is destroyed: You can Special Summon 1 face-up Level 4 or lower “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck. You can only use this effect of “Husi, Ostrich Rahi” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
A Synchro Monster that was Summoned using this card as Synchro Material gains this effect.
●If this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY: Target 1 “Rahi” monster in your GY with a lower Level than this card; Special Summon it.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

The Husi plays a similar role as livestock slash trade item, and in this case the effect it gives to a Synchro Monster is based on the idea of “trading”. But again, nothing here in any way works outside the Rahi archetype, so adjustments will have to be made if we want Matoran synergy.

Hapaka, Shepherd Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WATER Beast | ATK 1200 / DEF 1400

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
“Rahi” monsters you control gain 700 DEF. If a “Rahi” monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can destroy this card instead.
—————————————-
[ Monster Effect ]
If you do not control “Hapaka, Shepherd Rahi”, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand or GY) by changing 1 Level 4 or lower “Rahi” monster you control to Defense Position. If Summoned this way, banish this card when it leaves the field. 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 this effect of “Hapaka, Shepherd Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Beware the Swarm (v3.15.5)

For the protection of their Mahi herds and Husi flocks, the Po-Matoran employed Hapaka. Accordingly, the effects on this one are themed around protecting other Rahi (or in case of the banish one, “returning them to the herd”), but again locked into the archetype specifically. Adjusting it for use with Matoran is going to be a bit awkward because the color scheme and their habitat in the mountains suggest to me that it’s an Ice Rahi, thus WATER … but it’s mainly used in Po-Koro, which wants EARTH. A though nut.

Since these three are so explicitly connected and all belong to the Beast/Beast-Warrior/Winged Beast typings, I could actually see them primarily acting as a small synergistic group within that strategy. Then maybe helping out Matoran could be kept to a largely symbolic level, with effects that can technically work in a Po-Koro deck, but don’t necessarily have to be so good you actually would use them.

Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi

Synchro Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1650

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can choose a number from 1 to 4; reduce this card’s Level by that number, then take damage equal to that number x 300. When using this Synchro Summoned card as a Synchro Material, you can use 1 face-up “Rahi” Pendulum Monster in your Extra Deck (and no other monsters) as the other Synchro Material.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

On a less prominent note (in fact I wasn’t aware of this previously), the Dikapi apparently were also tamed by Po-Matoran, but as mounts for scouts and messengers rather than for trading. As the resident Synchro Tuner, this is a key piece in the Beast & co Synchro climb strategy, so I’m having a hard time imagining it redesigned in a way that also works with decks using Matoran. But maybe there is a chance if the materials are adjusted to make it feasible? Po-Koro does also want to spam stuff from the Extra Deck, after all. Side note, since the Dikapi’s big selling point is endurancem, and strong grind game is all the hotness in Yugioh these days, it would be nice if it did something related to that.

Moa, Bird Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1300 / DEF 600

Pendulum Scale = 2
[ Pendulum Effect ]
You can banish 1 “Rahi” Pendulum Monster from your Deck; this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes the same as that monster’s, and if it does, destroy this card during the End Phase. 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 shuffle 1 of your banished “Rahi” cards into the deck. If this card is banished: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower “Rahi” monster from your hand. You can only use 1 “Moa, Bird Rahi” effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

To continue and complete the theme that Po-Matoran will tame anything, the Moa also appeared domesticated in the one game that included it. But that was only one individual Rahi, so honestly it’s probably better to just ignore that unless we happen to figure out a really subtle way to include it.


Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 2500 / DEF 1000

1 “Rahi” Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
If this card is Synchro Summoned: Draw 1 card. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 “Rahi” monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v3.15.5)

What we can’t ignore is the Gukko-Kahu, the larger of the birds ridden by Le-Koro’s aerial cavalry. This is another case where the domestication was translated into effects with broad utility, but in this case one of them is a simple draw, so that’s even generic. Once again, an adjustment of materials might be all it takes to make this justifiable in a Le-Koro deck. Those aren’t explicitly about Synchro Summoning, but with Makani in there, they certainly can.

Potential Members

Now on to those candidates that have not yet received cards. This could be because we haven’t reached their part of the story yet, or because they were just deemed too irrelevant.

By that latter category, I really just mean the Lightfish, the shiny little things you see floating in Ga-Koro’s lamps in MNOG backgrounds. If implemented, they would go into the Fish/Aqua/Sea Serpent strategy that centers on effect-based removal and disruption, while also helping the Ga-Matoran playstyle that wants as many quick effects as possible. That does sound like a winning combination at first, but then things stop aligning when you consider the Attribute – wouldn’t this one have to be LIGHT going by the name? When Ga-Koro has one of the most xenophobic Attribute limitations of all the villages? I guess you could work around it a bit if it was able to banish itself from the GY as cost for a quick effect, but still, doesn’t sound too optimal. And just making it WATER feels so boring.

Anyway, I think that does it for the Rahi species that were domesticated on the island of Mata Nui. It’s worth mentioning that the Mask of Light movie prominently figures a specific Ussal and Gukko that are both going to get their own cards in the next expansion, but I already have a fairly solid plan in place to make those work primarily in the Mask of Light deck while having some secondary utility for Rahi decks.


The years of 2004 and beyond, of course, introduced some more Rahi kept by Matoran. With the wolf-like Kavinika, taming them and using them as guard dogs ended in failure, so maybe giving them outside synergy isn’t even the right move. But I think it would be funny if I manage to figure out a technically generic effect that looks enticing to include in Ga-Metru decks, but ends up not working in practice due to debilitating drawbacks that bite you in the ass. Not exactly an easy balancing task, though.

Razor Whales, gentle giants of the sea, can also be tamed and ridden by Matoran once their tail spines fall off in old age. This gives us the interesting case of a Rahi that joins the domesticated group with a delay, which is mechanically problematic in a speed freak game like this one. Perhaps it could work in a way where it has one effect representing its young self, and using that one immediately enables a second one that has it acting as a mount. And like many large Rahi, there’s a good chance this would be a Synchro, so this is another case where we might want it to be generic for use with Matoran.

The Kikanalo is a bit of a questionable inclusion, since they aren’t exactly kept by Matoran. Rather, they’re accidentally beneficial due to the Protodermis they dig up – which is also appreciated by other Rahi like Catapult Scorpions. It stands to reason that this trait may translate into some (semi-)generic way to generate (excavate?) resources, but I don’t think it needs to be tuned to the point where you’d actually use it in a Po-Metru deck or anything like that. There’s also the matter of Toa Lhikan riding a Kikanalo in his set representation, but that never comes up in the lore and is also sufficiently explained by Lhikan being just that badass, so I don’t think it needs to be addressed from the Rahi side.


Moving on to Voya Nui, there isn’t really much worth mentioning – even the native Rock Ussal were never seen domesticated, probably because they’re a more aggressive breed.

But even in this kind of hostile ecosystem, the Le-Matoran Piruk specifically still managed to have a pet, namely a tame Burnak. Since this is such a minor one-time thing in side media, much like Lhikan’s Kikanalo, it should be sufficient to maybe include some unassuming piece of synergy with whatever Piruk ends up doing.


And as the last hurrah of Rahi getting along with Matoran, we dive into the waters of Mahri Nui and find Hydruka at work in the air fields. In a first since Mata Nui, we’re looking at a Rahi that appeared primarily in a domesticated state, so that definitely should be a significant part of the effect design. They harvest the air bubbles that are essential to the survival of the underwater Matoran, which makes me think their role should be to provide whatever in-game resource will end up representing that. Of course, this being 2007 story material that won’t be implemented for ages, the details are still fuzzy at best.

Finally, we do also have two more cases of specific individuals being tamed, rather than a species as a whole.

One is the Energy Hound Spinax, guard dog of The Pit. While their looks and abilities indicate they might very well be serving similar roles in a lot of other places, we only ever see one of them. Since their skill at tracking was always going to be the primary guide for their design anyway, domestication status probably doesn’t even make a difference here. Throwing in a pit (this was a typo but I’m leaving it) of synergy with all the other stuff surrounding The Pit only makes sense, of course.

The other, as I am just realizing, may actually be a throwback to the Ussal and to Pewku in particular, since we’re talking about a Hahnah crab kept by Jaller.

While it didn’t do much other than act as a Cordak mount, I could see it belonging less with other Rahi and more with the Toa Mahri archetype as a “team pet” of sorts. The affinity for heat also suggests FIRE synergy, so you really don’t have to look hard to find generic usage for this one.

Conclusion

Rahi domestication was primarily a focus during the Mata Nui years, so a large part of the cards to consider here have already been implemented. However, since only a select few of them actually incorporate synergy with Matoran, this is going to be a major point to consider in upcoming redesigns. So far, the main direction has been support based on the Attribute, which I intend to keep at least for the Ussal and Kewa, since those already work pretty well with their Matoran handlers. The Keras may also join this group, but at the same time its present incarnation shows a different approach of having the card generically help with the task for which it was tamed.

When it comes to the remaining Rahi, it would of course be nice to have a proper FIRE member so every village gets a helping Rahi, but it’s a bit unfortunate that the first real opportunity for that is the Hahnah all the way in 2007. Others can be categorized either as being domesticated at large scale for a given purpose, or as wild creatures that beneficially interact with the Matoran population in some spots, or as pets that belonged to certain individuals. I believe the Keras model of just doing something generically helpful and thematically appropriate should work fine for the first two types, while the final one is easily handled by synergizing specifically with the pet’s owner.

An interesting thought that cropped up along the way is that large Rahi like the Kahu or the Razor Whale, which are generally expected to be Synchro Monsters, could be made accessible to Matoran and others by simply making their materials fully generic. This potentially simplifies effect design compared to main deck cards, since you can then incorporate them in a combo without needing to justify running a non-archetypal brick.

Finally, I want to make sure that these Rahi, while capable of helping Koro and other non-Rahi decks, do also still have a spot in their native Rahi strategies. After all, a big reason to split those up by Type was always that it simplifies design of anything added to the archetype later, and that’s especially useful when you have the extra challenge of also making it work outside the archetype.

It also helps, as I’m just noticing, that all the Rahi covered here come from only two Type groups: Beast/Beast-Warrior/Winged Beast and Fish/Aqua/Sea Serpent. No Reptiles or Insects to be found, and nothing exotic either if we (rightfully) ignore the Daikau. In other words: We now know everything except those two groups is free to throw around archetype locks and such without having to worry about ruining some lore-friendly hybrid in the distant future!

Designer’s Quip: Surprise Rahi

Boo! Bet you didn’t expect another one of these! What, you obviously did because there are several unaddressed items left in the overview? Shut up and pretend otherwise for the sake of my joke, because this is the Ambush Predator article.

Much like an ambush, this should be relatively quick since it’s such a small group, but let’s see what there is to cover.

See also:

Concept

The reason I’m specifically highlighting this one as a “behavioral grouping” in addition to those that go by card properties is that it appears prominently in the traits of a few different Rahi, and translates fairly nicely to card game mechanics. So naturally, it would be nice to have a somewhat consistent way of representing ambush predation, though we may need to differentiate based on the broader deck types each Rahi is meant to play a role in. Today’s goal is getting a handle on exactly that.

The Rahi Who Predate Ambushingly

An early and already implemented example of an Ambush Predator is the Tarakava, as evidenced by its flavor text.

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.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

What’s relevant here is the Pendulum Effect that Special Summons in response to an attack, “ambushing” the opponent with a monster they couldn’t see – but it was always there. Never mind that they could technically see it in the Pendulum Zone, we can’t exactly give a Normal Monster a hand effect.

This effect implements the idea of a sudden Tarakava attack, but also somewhat ties into the broader planned Reptile Rahi playstyle that’s supposed to be all about moving monsters back and forth between Monster and Pendulum Zones (and a future overhaul would probably align with that even more closely). A Beast-Type employing the same hunting tactic, by comparison, may have received a version of the effect that doesn’t mess around with Pendulum Zones in the same way.

We should probably consider a quick statistical rundown of the remaining Ambush Predators, which I have marked as candidates for the “Flip” subtype in the spreadsheet. These make up a modest total of 5 Rahi, consisting of 2 Insects, 1 Reptile, 1 Beast and 1 Winged Beast.


On the Insect side, the general plan calls for making them weird and toolboxy, with the option of integrating them with other Rahi Types or the established Insect pile. The latter has its own prominent ambush predator in Infinite Antlion, popping out of the hand and then popping the opponent’s cards during battle. We could use this as reference, however we must keep in mind there’s a significant difference between this Level 3 and the substantially larger 5- and 6-star Rahi noted down as ambushing Insects.

One is the Chute Lurker, a Visorak combiner that could also be Aqua because it’s amphibious and could also get away with being a Level 4, but my instinct from just looking at it leans more towards a high-level Insect. Its ambushes take the form of grabbing prey that comes flying around curves in the Le-Metru Chute System, so the exact implementation of its effects will hinge on how we end up representing that stuff. In any case, the Flip idea where it would be triggered by the opponent attacking it sounds much too slow for such a speedy context, so more likely it’d be something from the hand again. Maybe related to some measure of speed like when your opponent is drawing/summoning/activating too much stuff in a short period of time.

By comparison, the Tunnel Stalker’s wait-and-lurk approach to hunting would actually go well with it sitting face-down, “under the sand”, and assaulting whatever dares walk over it. The tricky part is also providing enough general utility to be worth playing when your chances to get off the battle effect as planned aren’t exactly going to be high, but I imagine we could just have it offer a weaker version of its gimmick from hand and/or GY as a less high-roll alternative.

There’s actually a third maybe-Insect, which also happens to be our first probably-Beast. You see, typing tends to be a bit uncertain on shapeshifters like the Archives Beast, so my two main options are to go with what’s mentioned in the name or the kind of animal most known for mimicry. Either way, the unique method of ambush by shapeshifting means we’re probably combining the element of surprise with one of copying properties of other cards – maybe more than just monsters, given that its part in the story had it posing as a room. As an Insect, this would probably be implemented in a fairly simple and straightforward manner to work as a standalone tool, while as a Beast, I could see it being more of a inherited effect in the same vein as the current Level 4 Pendulums, aiding that Type’s goal of climbing into big Synchro bosses. And if it’s instead a Reptile – could be – then it might do something like destroying a Spell/Trap to take its zone and then assault monsters from there.

As a sister Type to Beasts, the Winged Beast representative Vahki Hunter would likely be worked into the same Synchro climb strategy, but might up being itself one of the mid-tier bosses since it’s pretty damn big. As previously noted, its diet of mostly machinery should manifest in some kind of bonus against Machines, but the broader effect representation of its ambushing tactics should be generically usable to have any relevance. It attacks the tail end of passing Vahki squads, so maybe something “at the end of the Battle Phase”, to somewhat keep with the beatdown theme?

And finally, the Swamp Stalker is a Reptile that hunts much like a crocodile … which is just the Tarakava all over again. Except this one doesn’t punch and is smaller, even more so when it’s not a mutant specimen. I struggle to think of anything super original it could do while aligning with the scale manipulation gimmick, so maybe the Reptiles just need to cook a bit more before we settle on something here. It’s from Karda Nui, so there’s ample time.

Conclusion

I definitely don’t get the impression that my very first idea of making the Ambush Predators a cohesive Flip-based strategy has any chance of panning out at all. The different types they span simply have too widely varying needs and gimmicks, and mechanics based on ambushing aren’t a strong enough focus to easily work as a completely standalone thing with so few members.

Instead, what’s probably going to happen is that they all end up as unrelated pieces of their own native strategies, offering different takes on ambush-based effects depending on what most helps the decks they’re supposed to go in.

But maybe, just as a little gag, we could set things up so eventually a support card can be made that works for specifically those scattered Rahi? Like by making them all Flip monsters after all (that don’t necessarily rely on flipping), or using a common statline, or have an effect pattern that could be referenced by a “that has an effect that …” clause. We’ll see, not like it matters too much.

Custom Board Game: Rahi Overlord

If looking at all the card game stuff usually posted here makes you think “man I wish this had more than just cards”, then boy have you come to the right article. In this one we’re covering a full board game that, yes, involves cards, but also a physical board, colorful little marbles, movable game pieces, and a headache-inducing amount of math.

Rahi Overlord is an idea that was sparked during the in-depth Rahi study I’ve been doing for the past year or so. In this game, players take the role of two or more Makuta engaging in what one might call a “Rahi-off”: A showdown where they aim to have Rahi of their creation become dominant in the ecosystem of a certain area.

Now I will say in advance there’s not all that much depth to this yet – I’m obviously less immersed in the board game space than in the card game one, and also ran out of time before I could really start doing the research I’d need to do this properly. But I believe there are still some interesting things to show off, and maybe I’ll come back to build on them one day.

Game Elements

The Board

The field on which the game is played represents the setting of the Makuta’s showdown, perhaps some part of the Southern Continent or a remote island. In any case, it is divided up into multiple individual Zones, each of which has the following properties.

  • Biome: Dictates which Rahi will thrive in this Zone, as well as what resources players can obtain from it. A wide variety of Biomes is possible, but they all belong to one of the three categories Land, Sea, or Mixed.
  • Capacity: A fixed number of slots that can be filled with different Rahi species. Different population levels within each slot are represented by printed markers that also provide information on population growth.
  • Point of Interest (PoI): Randomly distributed across the Zones at the start of the game. Different PoIs (Makuta Lab, Protodermis Pool, Matoran Village, …) have different effects that may positively or negatively affect Rahi and players.

A player is said to control a Zone if the total population of their Rahi within that Zone is strictly greater than every other player’s. In all other cases, the Zone is considered unassigned.

The Points of Interest, represented by something like small tokens at the center of the respective Zone, start the game face-down (with the exception of the Makuta Labs, of which there is one per player) and are flipped face-up once a player takes control of the Zone. It remains that way even if control of the Zone changes or it becomes unassigned later.

Resources

In a game of Rahi-making, the relevant resources are obviously going to be the ones used to make Rahi: Viruses and Liquid Protodermis. I imagine the latter would generally be a static reserve that is not meaningfully depleted with use, so it is only subtly represented as a limit on how many Rahi you can create in a round – a limit that may increase while holding Protodermis Pool PoIs.

That leaves Viruses as the main resource you gather and spend over the course of the game. Physically, they’d be represented by little orbs or cubes or whatever-hedrons in different colors. Mechanically, their main purpose is being mixed and matched into different recipes of Rahi creation, so a color is really the only property they need. Each Rahi lists a combination of Virus colors required to create it, and players periodically gain Viruses whose colors are determined by factors like their controlled Biomes, their Rahi, and a bit of randomness to keep things fresh.

Rahi

Now here lies the main focus and complexity of the game. A Rahi, or rather a Rahi species, is represented by a card that lists several pieces of information.

  • Recipe: The combination of Virus colors needed to create this Rahi.
  • Habitat: The Biome in which the Rahi lives. The mechanics of this follow four simple rules:
    • Rahi whose Habitat is a Land Biome cannot be played into a Sea Biome.
    • Rahi whose Habitat is a Sea Biome cannot be played into a Land Biome.
    • Rahi whose Habitat is a Mixed Biome can only be played into Mixed Biomes – they need both Land and Water to survive, basically.
    • Being in a Biome that exactly matches the Habitat, not just its category, grants some additional bonus.
  • Diet: Provides the baseline of how the Rahi’s population in a Zone develops over the rounds. Herbivores experience a fixed amount of growth depending only on their location and population level, Carnivores grow by “stealing” population from other Rahi in their Zone, and Omnivores can mix these two sources, but gain less from each alone than the pure Diet types.
  • Size: A number that mainly plays into carnivorous population growth – wouldn’t make sense to have giant beasts be the prey of tiny critters, after all.
  • Traits: An assortment of standard keywords that describe in more detail how a Rahi lives, feeds, and grows. Stuff like Flying, Poison, Ambush Predator, and so on would go here. I’d like to keep this to a level of complexity where you just need a reference page in the rulebook to figure it all out.

The Rahi card can basically be considered the blueprint of the species and always remains with the player. The actual physical Rahi populations only come into being once the blueprint is realized by investing Viruses according to its Recipe, and are separately represented by a little plastic stand (colored depending on the player) in which you place a token identifying the Rahi species.

Such an assembled playing piece is then placed into a free slot on the chosen zone, in the lowest so-called population level. Round by round, the combination of Biome matchups, feeding, and traits is used to calculate a population change in each species, and the piece moves up and down the levels on the board accordingly. If a population hits zero, it’s considered extinct and removed from the Zone entirely.

Now the details of all this involve, ugh, numbers, and so haven’t been worked out at all. I do get the impression it may just end up ludicrously complicated no matter how we slice it, but hey, nothing wrong with a game that appeals only to Ecologists and Mathematicians.

Sample Rahi cards:

Makuta

Finally, each player takes the role of a different Makuta, also represented in the form of a card. In this case, though, there are only two key properties to consider.

  • Affinities: Some combination of Biomes, Diets, Size ranges, and/or trait keywords. When creating a Rahi featuring any of those listed, the Makuta is allowed to substitute one Virus listed on the Recipe with one of any other color.
  • Ability: A unique effect that the Makuta can apply when certain conditions are fulfilled. Unlike the fixed ability keywords of Rahi, this can be just about anything and is described as text on the card.

Each Makuta also comes with a unique Makuta Lab PoI, which is placed face-up in a Zone by that Makuta’s player at the start of the game and gives only that player a certain bonus to any population calculations happening in that Zone.

Sample Makuta cards:

How to Play

Or, well, as much of an outline of it as I’ve figured out at this point. It’s not exactly an instruction manual.

Setup

Each player selects a Makuta and takes the respective card, as well as the PoI token for that Makuta’s Lab. Place the board on the table, and have each player (in turn order) pick a Zone where they put their Lab, along with a plastic stand in their chosen color (so you can easily tell who has which). It might even make sense to have the Zones be individual board segments that you connect together, so the greater number of Labs with more players can be accounted for using a greater number of Zones.

In any case, once the Labs are placed, add random face-down PoI tokens to the remaining Zones. Shuffle the Rahi cards and form a deck that is also placed on the table. Admittedly, with almost 200 Rahi species, this could end up physically difficult if you’re playing with the full set, but maybe it makes sense to have multiple decks anyway – to ensure more demanding Recipes only appear late in the game, for example.

Finally, each player gets a starting stock of Viruses – something like one of each color, I guess.

Research Phase

This is where blueprints are acquired from the shared deck, one way or another. A lot of fun options like drafting and trading come to mind here, but for this loose description let’s just keep it simple and do the following: Players take turns picking up 3 cards from the top of the deck. They choose one to take, one to place back on the top, and one to place on the bottom. Once every player has done so and thus taken a card, the research phase is complete.

Creation Phase

Players again take turns to create Rahi from a blueprint they have, using Viruses as per the Recipe. They select one of the Zones where they have either their Lab or a population of Rahi, and place a piece (plastic stand + cardboard token) representing the new population into the lowest population level of an empty slot in that Zone. A player may also pass, either voluntarily or for lack of Viruses matching their blueprints.

The creation phase ends once all players have exhausted their maximum creation count – one by default – or passed.

Calculation Phase

This is where you all put your heads together, grab pen and paper, and figure out the population change for every Rahi in every Zone. Most likely some kind of helper sheet should be provided for this purpose.

After all calculations are done and the positions of the Rahi pieces have been updated to reflect the new populations, the calculation phase ends.

Migration Phase

Optionally, players now have the opportunity to split off part of the population of any Rahi species past a certain threshold into an adjacent Zone, putting together and placing a new Rahi piece in the process. This is crucial because it’s how you spread your reach and ultimately approach victory, but since it requires a fair amount of population gain first, activity in the migration phase only really starts a couple of rounds into the game.

Additionally, it could be useful to also have the option to entirely migrate a species, taking its whole population (no matter its size) and shifting it over to an adjacent Zone. This could be used to escape predators, for example. However, we don’t want Rahi zipping all over the map in an endless migration phase, so if we have this mechanic, it should only be once per player and round.

It’s worth nothing that, as it currently stands, this is the only part of the game where a player can actually gain control of an unassigned Zone. Do remember to flip up the appropriate PoI when that happens – its effects will begin applying immediately!

Once no further movements are possible or all players have passed, the migration phase ends.

Extraction Phase

Players obtain fresh Viruses, their colors distributed as per the latest board state. The details are left as an exercise to the reader, but I imagine you could assign colors to Biomes and then distribute Viruses based on the players’ controlled zones, or something with Rahi properties, or have them blindly pick out of a mixed bag. Maybe some combination of those.

Once everyone is stocked up and ready, return to the Research Phase for the next round.


Now you might say it doesn’t look like I have any idea when this game would end, and you would be totally correct. Let’s just say that at some point, perhaps simply after X rounds, the terrible cycle above will have to be broken, and the player who controls the most Zones at that point is crowned the victor of the Rahi-off – the Rahi Overlord, if you will.

The 2024 Roadmap

Now also available in fancy video form, with visual previews and editing and stuff!

Quick textual summary: The 4 month intervals worked out even with a lot of other stuff going on, so we’re sticking with that. That means the following schedule:

  • April 2024: “Unity Evolved” (Nuva/Kal Kaita)
  • August? 2024: “The Rahi Update” – may be multiple releases in the second half of the year, we’ll see how long it takes
  • After that (maybe still 2024?): “Time of Trouble” (final BPEV lore batch)

As tantalizing as it is to maybe have the BPEV expansion done with the next year, I really can’t allow myself to put the Rahi stuff off any longer. So if that isn’t done within one gigantic release (which I wouldn’t expect unless things go really, really well), that sweet taste of completion will have to wait for a bit.

Also, if you watched the video, you may have seen some “optional side quests” at the end. Those are things that might be happening in the background along the way to improve my and/or the users’ experience. To repeat them here and elaborate a bit:

  • EDOPro repositiories – Apparently those can be used to have custom expansions that automatically update after installing them once, so that would tremendously simplify the releases for everyone.
  • YGO Omega – There’s another popular client flying around, maybe I can get my scripts set up so they work in both (without having to maintain them separately).
  • mse2cdb Windows build – I’m currently running my beautiful tool in the Linux subsystem because I haven’t been able to make a Windows executable for years now. Should probably fix that, but all attempts so far have been foiled by CMake being CMake.
  • Master Duel modding – The holy grail of custom card creation at this time. I’ve seen exactly one video claiming to have pulled this off in any capacity and it was never followed up on, so if it’s possible at all, it might only be in a very limited fashion. But no way to know until I’ve at least given it a try myself.

No guarantee any of these will actually happen, it’s just a general outline of what might come up. And outside of that, there’s also the usual stuff like deck ideas and April Fools’.

Happy new year!

Designer’s Quip: Rahi with a side of …

A little addendum to the Rahi Type groupings that were recently completed, because for some reason I neglected to go over generic support cards that already exist for each Type – even though those should play a major role in any design decision, whether you want to ensure synergy or deliberately conflict for balancing reasons.

We’ll go over this for each of the major Types that contain a lot of Rahi, which means this article can also double as a collected recap of the results previously reached for each of them. The minor Types that only contain a few Rahi can be disregarded since they either don’t cover enough cards to matter much, or they have a very specific playstyle that will have to be engineered from scratch once we get there anyway.

Beast

Main Article

Playstyle: Beatdown with big Synchro bosses

One option that immediately comes to mind is Tri-Brigade, a Link-spamming engine of the three Types Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast. Now this is already kind of at odds with the concept of the Beast Rahi as an aggressive Synchro spam that should eventually end on the massive Tahtorak, but perhaps a free Link monster somewhere could be a useful bonus. The Tri-Brigades do not technically lock us out of any Synchro plays, for what it’s worth.

In fact, their proper Beast member Kerass does something that lines up pretty well with how Rahi currently function: It discards a monster from hand to Special Summon itself, which is one of the ways to trigger the GY effects on our Pendulum Rahi. And the effect to cheat out a Link that all Tri-Brigades share has a cost to banish, so that’s the trigger for the other standard Rahi effect right there.

Another classic support card is Obedience Schooled, a mass Special Summon of Level 2 or lower Beasts from the Deck. The low Level cutoff, effect negation, and strict Beast lock prevent the card from working too well in most recent Decks that use Beasts, and similar issues apply to Rahi – for one thing, the Beast Rahi start at Level 3 currently, and by current design patterns, all Level 2s would be Tuners anyway. Though if that last point were to change, this card would be easy Synchro access up to Level 6 …

Still not as easy as Cattle Call, however, because that just trades any Beast for a Beast Synchro of any Level, or another Extra Deck monster of the same Type. It’s not allowed to do anything, of course, but being easy fodder for an Accel Synchro might already be enough value by itself if you’re trying to do a Tahtorak combo. That said, there’s one thing to be careful about: This card sends from field to GY as cost, which means it straight up doesn’t work with Pendulums. That might be an issue.

What doesn’t fall into this trap is Tributing, which brings us to Cocatorium. Of course, the real point of this one would be the effect that banishes from your Deck as cost, providing pretty much the best way to trigger those on-banish effects. Sure, it’s technically a Winged Beast, but not after it resolves the effect. And we might join those Types together a bit anyway, considering the whole Tri-Brigade shtick.

Other options like Melffys and the Mystical Beasts suffer from the same Level 2 or lower issue we saw on Obedience Schooled, so they probably won’t be usable.

Aqua/Fish/Sea Serpent

Main Article

Playstyle: Board control via removal effects

Looking at the Types mixed together here and the strategy they’re supposed to be following, the first and foremost thing to come to mind is the non-archetypal series of cards colloquially known as “Generation Fish“. After all, it consists of small Level 3 Aqua, Fish, and Sea Serpent monsters that use their effects to remove stuff from the field and gradually inflict damage, with the added element of banishing themselves … a thing that Rahi very much also do.

Numerous support cards such as the beautifully named Counter Trap Oh F!sh! or Fish and Kicks further reinforce the idea that getting banished is what you’re supposed to do under the seas, so going into that direction almost seems to be the only reasonable choice. Of course, most of these cards are pretty old, so they might not be useful directly, but the general design pattern continues to be used to this day – just look at Minairuka, a card from <the current year> of 2023.

Also recent and related, though only to the Fish third, is the whole Ghoti archetype. In their case, banishing facilitates Synchro plays, making the connection to another of the general properties Rahi have – in contrast to the Generation Fish, which were more made for Xyz. Now the unfortunate part about these is that they only work with Fish, so mixing them into the deck might run into some conflicts. Maybe the Extra Deck ones would work fine though, that could be interesting to try.

A similar one-Type support card is the iconic Deep Sea Diva, though she should be comparatively easy to integrate since you don’t need a critical mass of Sea Serpents or anything – just one good low-level Sea Serpent Rahi somewhere in the Deck would be enough to get value. Which, looking at the analysis again, is actually not certain to ever exist. But if it does after all, this would be a good way to get to it.

And while we’re on the topic of classic moist monsters already, can’t forget the whole Mermail and Atlantean archetypes, with their members spread across just these three Types. Rather than banishing, these cards like to have WATER monsters sent to the GY, especially from the hand. That, once again, is something Rahi in their current state also enjoy being involved in, so it’s looking more and more like the Aqua/Fish/Sea Serpent segment especially should stick with the focus on those particular mechanics.

Of course, we shouldn’t forget that the Mermail and Atlantean gimmick is based on the WATER Attribute rather than any Types, so the synergy might be limited to only a (fairly large) part of the Rahi under consideration here – maybe there will be multiple ways to build decks depending on what support you want to align with.

Insect

Main Article

Playstyle: Broad toolbox that can be mixed with other deck types

Insects are kind of known for having a long history of support that somehow all works together in a big pile (kind of like Dinosaurs), so let’s see if we can make it through all that.

Starting with the gross ones, the “C”s have special synergy with Insect decks, specifically those that fit Contact‘s requirement of EARTH and <1500 ATK. Among the Rahi, our beloved Fikou already falls in that range, and the spreadsheet lists a lot of other tiny EARTH critters that eventually could. But in an environment where the Maxx one is banned, the roaches probably aren’t the most relevant support cards.

Sticking with the Contact-searchable EARTH Insects, there’s also Resonance Insect, a monster with one effect when sent to the GY and another when banished … wait a minute that’s just a Rahi. Maybe the real mid-Level Insect Rahi were the generic support cards Konami made along the way. Gokipole fits too, to some extent, despite our lack of Level 4s in the Rahi archetype proper. Level 5 and up for Resonance has some options though, and the part where it mills an Insect is always going to have its uses.

Another card that can do that, and is often used with the ones mentioned before, is Giant Ballpark. It can send any Level 4 or lower Insect, which covers most of the Rahi that might be relevant, and gets a bonus for Normal Monsters, which unfortunately doesn’t work because our only Normals are Nui-Jaga and Nui-Rama , merely one Level too high. I don’t think it’s worth wasting a slot on a low-Level Normal Insect Rahi just to enable that litte bit of extra swarming.

We’ve already seen that the generic support covers the GY/banish aspect of mid-Level Rahi monsters, but what about the Synchro stuff? Well, there are some good Insect Tuners available as well, such as Dragonbite or Fairyant – once again, a Level 3 and a Level 4, just the area where Insect Rahi are scarce. Given that the generic Tuners are here as well, it might make sense to have some non-Tuners among the various small Insect-Type Rahi monsters.

Speaking of Fairyant, that card is shared support for Insects and Plants, which is actually a pretty common combination. Hell, it even has its own Dragon Ruler in Beargram, who would be pretty fun to use for a Rahi build as well. Plant Rahi were already discussed in the article about the weirdly Typed ones, with the conclusion that there’s at most one of them, so there won’t be a lot happening on that front. Luckily Beargram works even with just Insects.

That more or less covers the generic pile stuff, but we’re far from done yet. Because now, there are still various Insect archetypes, most of which interact and mix with the pile in some way. The shit you have to put up with just to properly design some bugs.

Battlewasps are the main representative of Insect Synchro in the actual game, though I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen anyone in the wild playing them as an archetype. For the most part, their relevance is anchored entirely by the fact that Pin the Bullseye is a free Special Summon that aligns conveniently with time rules at tournaments, so we might be fine ignoring them. Maybe not entirely, since the fact that Rahi also make Synchros (if Insects end up following that) might make these cards fit in better than they usually do.

With some more relevance in the current decade, we have Beetroopers, a well-disciplined army of insects that literally does not even know what a Synchro is. Instead they spam Links and sometimes Fusions, which is of some interest for Rahi purposes since we already said Insects might not actually be a Synchro-based strategy and instead branch out in the Extra Deck a bit. Even without that, there’s interesting things in the Beetrooper Main Deck, be it free summons or the searchable Counter Trap.

And since we’re going through the Extra Deck Types already, Xyz have Digital Bugs. I guess. They’re a Rank 3-7 LIGHT Insect strategy with a gimmick of changing battle positions (also built on by other Insects like Cicada King). Given the general lack of Insect Rahi in those middle Levels, I feel like we wouldn’t be able to make these work even if we did go in an Xyz direction. Plus they specifically need LIGHT Insects, of which we don’t have many in the spreadsheet either.

Finally, a special mention goes to Inzektors for being a DARK Insect archetype, which is a typing we have already strongly considered for Visorak in particular. However, they themselves don’t really interact with the DARK Attribute in any special way, so their gimmick of equipping monsters to each other might be of interest for other Insect builds as well. For example, Picofalena is often used to set up Resonance Insect’s effect, so maybe similar Rahi effects could also benefit – except you can’t get Pendulums to the GY that way …

Overall, I don’t get the feeling there’s going to be much success integrating the existing generic support into such a thing as an Insect Rahi deck. Those engines and combos are already so complete that going out of our way to align with them would more likely just make our Rahi work in service of the standard Insect pile. Now I do want to do something with banishing since that has historically been a Rahi thing and Beargram is too juicy to pass up, but beyond that I’ll probably not go out of my way to connect to anything here.

But also, given the idea of Insect Rahi as a portable toolbox, it’s possible they’ll be given the role of generic shared Rahi support rather than being their own strategy. And in that case, having a second life as part of an unrelated big bug spam deck may prove entertaining.

Reptile

Main Article

Playstyle: Midrange deck with backrow/Pendulum Scale manipulation gimmick

Alright, here’s Snake Rain. The fact that triggering 4 GY effects at once is always just one unsearchable Spell and a discard away is pretty much a key design guideline for all Reptile archetypes. Basically, you want to get some use out of this card without breaking it, so while Reptiles do frequently have GY effects, they’re either not too impactful or apply relatively heavy restrictions to make up for the ease of access. I guess we’ll be sticking to that too, and make sure to make at least 4 names we want in the GY.

Another nice things Reptiles have is an Extra Deck searcher in King of the Feral Imps, and it comes with the added “benefit” of being an Xyz, thus detaching even Pendulums to the GY. Looking through the spreadsheet, the medium Reptiles tend to be Level 4 more than Level 3, so in light of Snake Rain as well, we might break with tradition and make the 4s the ones that want to be dumped in this case. Also, if you add a card to hand you generally want to use it, so there should be Reptile Rahi that do something in hand even after investing in a whole Xyz.

The most recent Reptile archetype I can think of is Ogdoadic, very clearly built with Snake Rain in mind and thus designed around the principles described before. If we also want to follow those principles, it might make sense to mix and match with whatever these guys are supposed to be, but there’s just a teensy little problem: Ogdoadic supports LIGHT and DARK Reptiles. Barely any Reptile Rahi are LIGHT or DARK. Not zero though, so maybe a crossover point can be found.

Reptilianne are a purely DARK Reptile archetype that likes monsters with 0 ATK on both sides of the field, which I suppose could be arranged with all the frogs and slugs and maybe worms on our schedule. The main issue is again the DARK Attribute, but we do actually have some critters that could slide in there, like the Spine Slug or the Night Creeper. Also, Reptiliannes are a Synchro archetype, so maybe their actually quite good modern tuners like Lamia can be put to work.

And for the pure LIGHT Reptile archetype, there’s Worms, with the main point of interest probably being the generic support card W Nebula Meteorite. It flips monsters, draws cards, and then summons a big LIGHT Reptile from Deck. Great.

In fact, the only LIGHT Reptile Rahi we have – Red Serpent and Crystal Serpent – are pretty large, so this could be a good enabler for them if we can just find fodder to flip. Those two are actually key to the whole “scale manipulation” gimmick, so more ways to get to them are certainly nice.

From these archetypes, it has become apparent that having mostly EARTH/WATER/FIRE/WIND Reptiles among the Rahi actually limits our options quite a bit, which is in some way a good thing because it gives us more freedom to make good cards without worrying what they could be combined with. Perhaps a clause like “non-DARK/non-LIGHT Reptile” could even make an appearance somehwere.

One last side note before moving on:

Specifically the Rahi known as Red Serpent spawned the idea of a gimmick where monsters are shoved into backrow and/or Pendulum Zones, and looking back that sure is reminiscient of the Snake-Eyes, an archetype of serpentine FIRE monsters that shove monsters into the backrow. I would just like to document here that a) they’re not actual Reptiles, so not relevant to the topic and b) the original Reptile article was in March and these came out in July in Japan, so Konami actually owes ME royalties.

DO NOT check the release date on Sinful Spoils of Subversion. That is all.

Winged Beast

Main Article

Playstyle: Combination of multiple small, efficient combo lines

The Tri- in Tri-Brigade stands for the three Types it consists of and supports. Given that we’ve already talked about having the few Beast-Warrior Rahi mixed into the Beasts, I’m strongly considering going all the way by including Winged Beast Rahi in that group as well. In that case, Tri-Brigades and other Tri-Typed support would work perfectly. Might really be a good idea to provide a Link of our own in that case too … (there may or may not be something planned for MoL already).

As for dedicated Winged Beast support, we have a very strange one in Floowandereeze. These migrating birbs embrace the spirit of old-school Yu-Gi-Oh by not Special Summoning at all … and then throw it out by Normal Summoning a million times instead. The strict restriction on every effect makes it hard to combine with an archetype that doesn’t follow the same alternative lifestyle, but historically, unrelated high-Level Main Deck Winged Beasts have made good bosses here, so maybe that’s worth keeping in mind?

The Simorgh archetype is also interested in Normal Summoning, but not quite so obsessive about it – they still do a bit of Special Summoning on the side. There are also some weird gimmicks of mixing DARK and WIND and wanting your opponent’s Spell/Trap Zones to be empty, but the main draw is probably that Bird of Perfection is Mathmech Circular if you squint really hard, and it works with all Winged Beasts.

Speaking of empty Spell/Trap Zones, Harpies are pretty good at accomplishing that. They’re not exactly an archetype that can be mixed into stuff easily since they tend to need a lot of each other, but Cyber Slash Harpie Lady is generic for Synchro decks and has a decent bounce effect that can even trigger by activating Pendulum Scales. And she enables Feather Storm from hand, which is funny. Theoretically the synergy could be taken further by having Rahi Spells/Traps/Pendulums that like to be destroyed, but I’m not sure it would pay off.

Continuing the theme of birds with faces, Lyrilusc are a Rank 1 Xyz archetype of Winged Beasts. That means their poopy little Levels don’t exactly lend themselves to Synchro or Pendulum Summoning, but they already swarm like crazy by themselves and their bosses can do some neat stuff like attacking directly 5 times and then making a big Zeus, so this is another thing that could work as an independent engine. However, the lack of Level 1s in the spreadsheet probably means the synergy is very limited.

And then there’s them, of course. The DARK Winged Beasts. Blackwings and Raidraptors. Two unrelated archetypes that both happen to revolve around the same Attribute/Type combination, but one of them is Synchro and the other Xyz, meaning they aren’t generally played together anyway. The question is, can we do anything with Rahi to benefit from the existence of these cards?

Blackwings of course have their fair share of Tuners to contribute if we’re hurting for those, but since Rahi also have a Pendulum side to them, I think good old Zephyros may actually be the most relevant thing. Bouncing scales can be useful for resetting something, and we could be cute and provide effects that trigger off the self-damage, particularly on our DARK Winged Beast Rahi. Currently that’s on an Aqua , funnily enough.

As for Raidraptors, while Xyz Summoning and the whole Rank-Up searching that particular archetype does isn’t really part of the Rahi gameplan, these birds also offer shockingly strong support to the general category of exactly Level 4 DARK Winged Beasts. Which means if we make sure to hit just that Level/Attribute/Type alignment, we can use Force Strix and Wise Strix to get them straight from the Deck – and neither of those locks us out of Synchros!

Overall, I’m not convinced the Winged Beast archetypes are really worth designing around much, with the exception of simply making the DARK ones Level 4 to unlock all that Raidraptor support. The spreadsheet currently has some for Level 3 and Level 5, so we’d only need to take a bit of creative liberty to allow that. And of course, linking (haha) up with the Beast Type for that Tri-Brigade engine is probably a good idea.

Conclusion

I know I JUST repeated this, but my biggest takeaway from this probably is that Beast/Beast-Warrior/Winged Beast should be joined together for the Rahi as well. Other than that, it’s nice to see that there are several specific points of synergy for the GY and banish gimmicks I currently have on Rahi – that’s a good sign for maybe being able to keep that focus intact on at least some Types. And identifying certain statlines that align with existing support, such as low-Level Beasts, high-Level Insects, or Level 4 DARK Winged Beasts, is exactly what I was hoping to get out of a list like this.

Finally, seeing all these cards that have huge potential if played in a Deck that sticks to their respective Type(s) has once again made me feel confirmed in my decision to separate the Rahi out this way. Can’t wait to figure out all the possible builds that might be able to use this stuff. On the other hand, that design goal will be difficult to balance with the wish for a generic support lineup that avoids the pitfall of needing to clone the same Utility effects for each Type, so that should be the next thing we look at in this series.

Designer’s Quip: And Then There’s These Rahi

Having pondered in some detail the various monster Types that are found commonly among Rahi, what now remains must be, by process of elimination, only those that are uncommon. Here go the leftovers.

See also:

General Stats

The major Types we have covered so far include 152 of the Rahi in the spreadsheet, or 91.56%. The remainder we are about to deal with makes up a mere 28 entries, or 16.87%. Huh? That clearly adds up to more than 100%? Because in many cases, more than one Type is under consideration, and if one of those is common and the other not, the Rahi in question counts for both.

Interestingly, only 2 of those 28 have been implemented so far, so segmenting by “current” and “potential” members probably makes no sense here. Instead, we’ll go Type-by-Type.

Beast-Warriors

In general, most of the rare humanoid Rahi could go in here, however the argument for it is not all that strong when cards like Danger! Bigfoot already show Beasts can perfectly well be humanoid as well.

Speaking of which, the Bigfoot of Bionicle is Keetongu, so that’s a prime example right there. Back in the Beast article, it was noted that his healing abilities suggest a defensive focus that is otherwise not how Beast Rahi operate, so if that difference is at odds with the playstyle more than it supplements it, a class change to Beast-Warrior would be an easy way to circumvent the issue entirely. Having a rare Type would also serve to highlight Keetongu as special, similar to how the story doesn’t really treat him like a Rahi at all. It’s just the idea of having the two Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) in different Types that makes me a bit uneasy about this …

On the other hand, minotaurs and centaurs are pretty consistently Beast-Warrior, and since the Artakha Bull is somehow both, it seems like a perfect fit. They’re even legendary beings much like Keetongu, making it thematic by our own logic as well. There were some ideas of possible Beast synergy back in the other article, but also there’s no rule saying you can’t play a Beast-Warrior in a Beast Rahi deck – maybe that’s not a bad route to go.

The last strong candidate, who may not even get implemented for lack of relevance, is Mutran’s hybrid of Rahi and shadow Matoran – practically a Beast-Warrior by definition. With Keetongu (and maybe the Bull) being LIGHT and this one obviously DARK, that even gives us an opportunity for chaos stuff, but “Chaos Beast-Warriors” isn’t exactly a term that rings a lot of bells.

A less relevant LIGHT-DARK pair consists of the Visorak’s Colony Drones (vaguely humanoid creatures enslaved as cattle against their will; probably just going to be Beast on account of how ordinary the are), and the Dark Hunter Minion (humanoid result of a Rahi experiment; dubious if he’s even to be made part of the archetype, and I’m leaning towards no). Both fairly unlikely to actually end up as Beast-Warrior Rahi.

Conclusion: We are going to have between 0 and 3 monsters in this Type when all is said and done, with the only “relation” being that two of them are kind of mythical and considered highly intelligent. As a result, I could see them serving as a special class of boss monsters in a Beast deck, but in that case I might decide to just make them Beasts after all. Depends on what works in practice.

Dinosaur

We never made it to the actual Dinosaurs of Bota Magna in the Bionicle story, but that means the Type is perfectly free to be used for particulary ancient and/or dino-like Rahi. In fact, a similar design approach was already used for the technically-not-Rahi Gahdok and Cahdok a while ago.

When it comes to true Rahi that are also Dinosaurs, though, none have been implemented as of yet. So what are the candidates? Well, the first pair actually hails from the BPEV expansion that is currently under development.

(Fanart by Vrahno)

The Rahi Nui – never officially depicted beyond its Nui-Jaga tail – is a DARK amalgamation of the five main Rahi of 2001 (i.e., the Normal Pendulums), which already provides two good reasons to make it a Dinosaur. One, being a hypothethical mega-combiner of multiple large sets certainly gives it the size one associates with those creatures, and two, it needs a Type distinct from its Insect/Beast/Reptile components to make clear it’s a mashup, not an upgrade of just one of them. The latter point is also important gameplay-wise, since currently it’s planned as a Fusion that inherits the Types of its materials on top of its native Type – obviously using the canon materials should provide maximum effect rather than having one of them be redundant.

In relation to that, the Subterranean Worm is another Dinosaur candidate, for reasons of gameplay more than lore. There is that one bit where Turaga Whenua tells Onua that “This creature has existed on Mata Nui longer than either of us”, but that doesn’t have to mean much with Bionicle’s general weird timeline. No, I mainly want to make this one a Dinosaur because the Rahi Nui should also be getting a contact fusion procedure that requires DARKs, the Subterranean Worm would be a DARK Rahi Synchro (thus always accessible), and so having it be a Dinosaur provides a natural drawback to that convenient method of access since it basically gives you -1 Type on the big guy. I’ll have to test if this pans out, but the idea sounds nice to me.

The other area of high Dinosaur probability are the First Rahi, those primordial sea creatures created directly by the Great Beings in the time before time. I already went over them in the Sea Serpent article and sketched out the idea that they (and their Matoran buddy Mavrah) could be a little self-contained mini-archetype using some kind of “ancient” mechanic design like Ritual Summoning. So aside from the way the Dinosaur Type obviously lines up with their age, it would also serve to make them more isolated from the more modern Rahi species since they wouldn’t share Types with most of them. Even the Rahi Nui overlap would probably be irrelevant if they’re not DARK. However, if Sea Serpent synergy actually ends up fitting them really well, that other option absolutely is still on the table.

And with much lower probability, there’s the Rock Raptor and the Troller mentioned in the spreadsheet – the former because of its name, and the latter because it’s supposedly really big. Neither is a very compelling reason, and with everything else so far clearly painting Dinosaurs as a very rare and unique class of Rahi, we probably shouldn’t pollute the pool. Consider those two rejected.

Conclusion: The BPEV DARK Dinosaur Rahi, Rahi Nui and Subterranean Worm, are pretty much already confirmed since the weird uncommon Type has actual gameplay significance for them. I mean, I could also make them Wyrms or something, but that’s even more random thematically. The non-DARK Dinosaurs that might join them in Metru Nui have yet another totally different playstyle planned for them, so I guess you could say Dinosaur is just what we use for big dudes that are intentionally meant to sit apart from all the broader Rahi Type groupings.

As a side note, being built to work in specific and unusual ways by themselves will also make these monsters harder to incorporate into the general Dino pile of Yugioh, which in turn makes things easier in the design phase because we don’t have to consider all those interactions too much.

Dragon (and Wyrm)

Speaking of piles, D R A G O N S are up next. Here we actually find one of the two currently implemented examples, the Hikaki.

Hikaki, Dragon Rahi

Xyz Effect MonsterRank 3 | FIRE Dragon | ATK 1900 / DEF 700

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)

This is explicitly and evidently (look at its cute little wings) some kind of miniature dragon, and also one of the most generically useful Rahi monsters in the current arsenal. The Pendulum Effect searches you a Tuner to go with that Rahi you just Special Summoned, and a Synchro Monster made with this card gets a bonus Trap negation effect. This, of course, is part of the package it forms with the Insect Kofo-Jaga and the Winged Beast Taku – a group that was assembled based on no particular reasoning I can recall. Arguably, the Hikaki is the most interesting out of them all because not being tied to any of the major Types makes it very suitable to be reimagined as a general-purpose shared utility for any kind of Rahi deck, something that will probably be needed to avoid making the same basic effects over and over again. But more about that another time.

Another small dragonic Rahi is the Phase Dragon, a fire-breathing speed freak that avoids crashing into things by becoming intangible. For the latter ability, I also have it under consideration for a Wyrm-Type – because what could be more “Phantom Dragon” than a dragon phasing out of reality? But since that’s the only time Wyrm appears in the spreadsheet, it should probably be a Dragon just so there’s a few other companions in the archetype, unless there’s some unique benefit to be gained out of having exactly 1 Wyrm. In any case, the lore on this one is well positioned to be another generic utility thing, such as a searcher temporarily banishing itself for cost.

The Cable Crawler that was already considered for Beast and Reptile could also be a mid-sized Dragon, because I have no idea what it’s supposed to be and there’s fire coming out of its butt. Probably not though, just the presence of a Rhotuka effect already runs counter to the idea of widely usable Rahi support I’ve been building up in this section so far.

And with that, we’ve reached the actual big legend-class Dragons, such as Kardas. This final boss of 2006 was previously seen in the DARK Rahi article, following the logic that it should match the Attribute of the Fenrakk it mutated from, and as noted there, making it a Synchro would tie in well with all the DARK Dragon support from the approximate direction of Red Dragon Archfiend.

On the other hand, being a mutation rather than a natural Rahi also raises the possibility of a non-Synchro Extra Deck type, and if it was FIRE we could maybe have all the Dragon Rahi with the same Attribute ….

Because this last one sure is FIRE as hell.

The Kanohi Dragon is THE giant dragon of Bionicle lore, once requiring an entire extra-large Toa team including four Toa of Ice to defeat. It also happens to be part of the “Kanohi” archetype, but I’m not sure there’s a way or even a reason to make that relevant, considering in-universe it’s only called that because its scales kind of look like masks.

Both of these could just serve as generic top-end bosses for all kinds of Rahi, slightly less useful than the Type-specific options but still powerful. That way, the dragonic spirit of sharing remains intact even at the largest scale.

Conclusion: Much like that era of Yugioh where every deck had to have a Dragon somewhere, Dragon Rahi are well positioned to provide splashable support to all Rahi regardless of Type, be it through Main Deck utility cards or large Extra Deck boss monsters. My only worry is how they need to be simultaneously strong enough to be worth using everywhere and weak enough to not overshadow the actual stars of each deck, but surely a sweet spot for that can be figured out in testing.

Machine

Yep, there’s a Machine Rahi. Maybe.

The Toa Terrain Crawler is more like a Sea Serpent in its naturally occuring state, but the specific one that appears in the story is so heavily mechanized it probably qualifies for a Type change. And there’s even more weird things going on with it, from being part of a “vehicle Rahi” subtheme already covered in the Sea Serpent article to technically belonging to the “Toa” archetype (well, I guess we can put on the Exo-Toa clause).

Conclusion: It’s just one thing and already belongs to a weird subtheme that doesn’t really need to interact with other Rahi at all, I don’t think it even matters if it’s Machine or not.

Plant

Yep, there’s a Plant Rahi. But not really.

Daikau Trap Hole

Trap

When a monster with less than 2000 ATK activates its effect on the field: You can destroy that monster, and if it was Normal or Special Summoned this turn, you can Special Summon this card as a Normal Monster (Plant/WATER/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 0). (This card is NOT treated as a Trap.) If this card is in your GY: You can banish 1 Insect or Plant monster you control; Set this card. You can only use this effect of “Daikau Trap Hole” once per turn.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

The Daikau has already been implemented as part of the Rahi archetype along with most of its fellow Quest for the Toa enemies, but technically speaking that is not accurate. This isn’t a Makuta-made Rahi, but rather some weird semi-sentient plant thing with no clear lore explanation, born from the Energized Protodermis based disguise function that created the whole island of Mata Nui.

Should it therefore not be archetypal? There’s precedent for that with the Vatuka , a similarly non-Rahi enemy mob from the same game, but instead it belongs to a subtheme of Trap Monsters I have previously called “Elementals“. The Daikau doesn’t go in there either, so it’s in a strange position of its own.

Thematically, I could see this being some form of Trap Monster anyway, what with the whole carnivorous plant chomping whatever walks into it, and perhaps one that works well with Rahi without being part of the archetype. But such a change would need to be coordinated with everything else, since the current effects are clearly built around stuff Rahi currently do, and in particular the GY one is the WATER side of the recurring revival series.

Conclusion: It’s certainly a plant, but its fate is uncertain to the point where we can’t even say yet whether or not it will remain in the Rahi archetype. Either way, it’s once again just one single card and thus won’t have much of an impact.

Psychic

Yep, there’s a Psychic Rahi. Maybe two.

Krahka, antagonist of a cool little novel-only Metru Nui sidequest, would be pretty hard to pin down to a Type on account of being a shapeshifter. But that’s some kind of special power, and on top of that in this case it even includes partially copying the mind when impersonating a sentient being, so Psychic seems about right … or maybe Illusion is the best fit now that it exists?

In any case, given the story role, this would most likely be a standalone boss monster, and the original Type shouldn’t matter too much since changing shape ought to overwrite it with the target’s. Mechanically, I’m pretty settled on this being an Extra Deck monster (because it’s even a combiner) with a standard stat and effect copying ability, so how it interacts with the archetype doesn’t seem all too relevant – you just make it to do all kinds of fancy stuff.

The other candidate is the Kratana, a vision-granting creature that looks like a cross betweene Kraata and Krana – so it could be a Psychic, a Fiend, or a Zombie. I’m most inclined to go with the first option because it actually describes its nature rather than just its looks, but what are the implications of that? It’s certainly not a boss monster like Krahka, so presumably it would have to find its way into a Main Deck as some kind of little guy, and thus it would be off-Type in just about any kind of Rahi deck. Might be fine depending on how much I plan to integrate general-purpose Rahi that can be shared between Types, but otherwise, there’s also the option of having it be something like a low-Level Synchro or a Link-1. Hell, since it just appears one time as a plot device, it might as well be a Spell Card that just does some vision-y thing.

Conclusion: There are possibly multiple monsters here, but still below the critical mass that would allow them to have a dedicated playstyle, and with not enough connection to any other Type to ride along there. These would have to be fairly splashable general-purpose cards, or alternatively niche options that you build a deck around with no regards for Type synergy.

Pyro

The lone Pyro Rahi is really more a representative of the aforementioned Elementals, but since it has been decreed a Rahi by the mighty power of SSGS (i.e., Some Shit Greg Said), we might as well include it. The Fire Entity, I mean.

Being an Elemental in all but technical classification, this will probably go somewhere near the Trap Monster lineup, maybe simply a member of it with a Rahi name so you get a direct link into the archetype. Or a regular Rahi monster that acts as support for the other Elementals.

Conclusion: Yet another standalone that has its synergies cut out for it by lore, and thus doesn’t require much hard thought in advance.

Rock

There are actually quite many, and by that I mean 5, entries in the spreadsheet for the Rock Type. But before you get your hopes up, all but one have it as a secondary option with exactly Beast as the primary. Let’s start with the definite Rock, I guess.

On the island of Xia stands what is simply known as The Mountain, a gigantic Rahi acting as a man-eating landmark of cultural significance. It’s a bit arguable if this is really a Rahi and not some other kind of lifeform that just happens to come from a Makuta lab, but assuming it is, it would be the largest Rahi by a significant margin. So large, in fact, that including it in the usual Level hierarchy for denoting size seems incorrect. Maybe a Link or Xyz would be the way to go.

The other option we should consider for a moment is making it a Field Spell, since it is basically part of the island. That would, however, mean it has neither Type nor Attribute, so Rock Rahi might not exist at all. On the other hand, it gives us an excellent excuse to provide a Rahi Field Spell, though with the varying needs of many Rahi subthemes and how late in the game it would show up, it’s hard to imagine that being very practical. As it stands right now, I much prefer the idea of having it be an Extra Deck monster without a Level. Maybe including different stages of its growth could even result in a whole Link climb strategy in the same vein as Sunavalon?

The question for the shakier candidates then becomes whether or not they could nicely support something like that. Starting from the smallest, we have a Rock Ussal, which should probably be some kind of offensive tool since that’s the main thing contrasting it from the regular variant. Which, by the way, is firmly in the Beast Type, so I don’t feel too good about diverging for this one. Moving on, the Rex Rock Raptor is already somewhat larger and also feels more at home in Beasts since most of its ecosystem interactions are with other Beasts. The potential sole exception would be the even bigger Spiny Stone Ape, but well, if that one’s a Beast as well it still works out. Finally, the Rock Lion, as cool as FIRE Rock sounds, is also too large and boss-like to really go with a Link climb or anything like that just trying to ladder into a big Mountain.

Conclusion: Despite many candidates, I really feel like it would be best to keep this exclusive to The Mountain and put everything else in Beasts. However, the idea of including multiple developmental stages of The Mountain does still open up a way to get a little subtheme out of this Type.

Thunder

Once more an Elemental sneaks into the Rahi archetype, this time with the Avohkah, living bolts of lightning that the Toa Mata exterminated from Karda Nui in the time before time. Not exactly the biggest claim to relevancy, but I always thought these sounded super cool and would very much like to include them. However, with the second Elemental now having revealed itself to be a Rahi, I also find myself seriously questioning if we shouldn’t just include all of them just for consistency’s sake. The Vatuka is the main exception and also the only currently implemented one, and it actually has a confirmed non-Rahi origin related to Energized Protodermis, so things are weird on multiple Levels here. Difficult.

Conclusion: Whether we formally recognize this as a Rahi or not, it’s going to be first and foremost a part of the Elementals and thus a Trap Monster, meaning the Type matters very little, as with previous similar cases.

Zombie

There are exactly three candidates for this Type. One is the Kratana, as previously explained because it’s similar to a Krana; and as previously explained, I’d rather make it Psychic to reflect its actual nature. The other two are the lich-like Cliff Screecher and the questionably canon “Worm“, but since the alternatives of Winged Beast and Insect respectively are such large groupings, they’re probably much better off staying in there and benefiting from the free support. Maybe the Cliff Screecher could turn itself into a Zombie via effect, that seems neat.

Conclusion: Among all the candidates, there is not one for which I actually prefer the Zombie Type over the other options, so I expect it won’t end up being used for any Rahi after all.

?

One Rahi for which I couldn’t find a Type at all, and which actually isn’t even counted in the statistics I wrote at the start, is the Sand Screamer. Look, what am I supposed to do with a creature whose entire gimmick is that nobody knows remotely what it looks like or what it does other than scream in the desert? I guess the combination of being predators and their place of residence makes me think of some kind of desert antlion thing, so Insect may be on the table. Or the move might just be to represent them with a Spell/Trap and dodging the issue of Monster Card properties entirely. If I even consider implementing them, that is – not like they’re relevant to the main plot in any way.

Conclusion: Well we can’t not give it a Type if we make it a monster, so either it gets whatever I feel like or it won’t be a monster. Simple as that.

Overall Conclusion

Well, well, well, looks like some of these actually have a good reason to exist. Here are once again the verdicts in summary:

  • Beast-Warrior: Likely yes – for some special cases related to the Beast strategy.
  • Dinosaur: Yes – DARK Dinosaur very soon, a few more probably later.
  • Dragon: Yes – splashable utility and/or boss monsters.
  • Machine: Maybe – only example is too much of a special case to matter.
  • Plant: Maybe – it already exists, but might not actually be a Rahi.
  • Psychic: Likely yes – Rahi with mental powers, meaining unique effects.
  • Pyro: Likely yes – related to Elementals, exact synergy to be determined.
  • Rock: Yes – only The Mountain, possibly different stages of its growth.
  • Thunder: Likely yes – see Pyro.
  • Zombie: No – all possible members are better placed elsewhere.

In general, we can say that these Types are going to be either splashable support for all Rahi decks, slightly weird add-ons to previously defined groups, or standalone strategies of a few monsters united by more than just their Type.

And now that we’ve figured that out, all that’s left to cover are some more ways to group the Rahi we’ve already seen, but this time without taking into account their typing – stay tuned for that. The Rahi Update draws ever closer!

Designer’s Quip: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Rahi!

A Winged Beast Rahi, to be specific. Been a while since the last one, but this is the final big Type grouping, so let’s fly right into it.

See also:

Current Members

The expansions thus far have populated the sky with a familiar number of 9 Rahi with the Winged Beast Type, their Attributes split between EARTH and WIND with a touch of FIRE and their Levels mostly ranging from 2 to 4 with outliers at 5 and 6.

Level 2

As usual, these are Tuners with handtrap effects, with both of the Winged Beast pair hailing from BBTS.

Pokawi, Flightless Bird Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 300 / DEF 600

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)

The Pokawi is a representative of the EARTH Winged Beasts, or the flightless birds as its name states. The ATK reduction effect represents a deterrence tactic employed by Pokawi swarms, in which they abruptly scatter to disorient predators and flee in the confusion.

Mata Nui Fishing Bird, Swooping Rahi

Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 500 / DEF 400

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 is the aerial WIND representative in this smallest size range, with an effect based on how it habitually annoys much larger creatures.

What both of these effects have in common at a glance is banishing – the Pokawi’s ATK reduction scales with the number of your banished monsters and the Fishing Bird is a banisher in and of itself.

This is not so much an early attempt at a Winged Beast gimmick as just something that came about because the Rahi handtraps are generally heavy on banishing, but maybe it can be transitioned into the former as well. After all, banishing is a mechanic with a lot of meanings in the design language, from different dimensions to freezing, so why shouldn’t “abducted by a bird” be a valid reading? Though in that case I guess it best fits the WIND ones …

Level 3 and 4

Following the standard pattern, these are the non-Tuner Pendulums with GY/banish triggers at Level 3 and granting effects to Synchros at Level 4.

Kewa, Vulture Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 2/2 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 400

[ 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)

The Kewa belongs to the former category, and is also part of a series we’ve previously seen with the Ussal . Just like that one floated into other EARTH monsters, this one floats into other WIND monsters, and it’s for more or less the same lore reason: Matoran used Kewa as airborne steeds, so in a Le-Koro deck this can combo with an accomplished pilot such as Kongu . The Pendulum Effect to search any WIND if you control no other cards is similarly splashable support (and possibly a bit too generic), while the recycling of Rahi cards on banish is mostly useful in its native archetype.

Infernavika, Lava Bird Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | FIRE Winged Beast | ATK 1100 / DEF 800

[ 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)

The Infernavika, introduced one expansion later, is the FIRE member of that same series, but lacks the usual justification because nobody rides these. They’re more known for living around stuff so hot nobody dares approach them, which is a trait nicely implemented by the Pendulum Effect. The banish trigger, meanwhile, is a rare example of a Level 3 Rahi that does further banishing in hopes to trigger another, so that’s one more point in favour of banishing being a Winged Beast thing (though again not on a WIND one).

Moa, Bird Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 2/2 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1300 / DEF 600

[ 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)

For an actual WIND example of that concept, we have the Moa‘s Pendulum Effect, which banishes straight from the Deck as cost, providing a way to trigger any other Level 3 Rahi. The monster effects are just sort of arbitrary utility things, so not much to be said about those. Actually it’s kind of weird this is even WIND when it’s a probably flightless Po-Wahi creature …

Speaking of which, Husi time.

Husi, Ostrich Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1700 / DEF 1100

[ 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)

All the abilities here are pretty much based on the Husi trading going on at Po-Koro’s markets: The Pendulum Effect “trades” itself destroyed in the scale for a Rahi in the face-up Extra Deck, and a Synchro that used it as material gains a similar effect for the GY. I think there’s probably more interesting things that could be done from that foundation, especially if we put aside the standard Level 4 effect pattern and that weird destruction-based Rahi subtheme that never really worked. But what exactly that is will probably depend on the result of this current Winged Beast analysis.

Taku, Duck Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 3 | Scale 5/5 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 1400 / DEF 1700

[ 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 represents yet another subtheme, namely the negate-granting we previously saw with the Kofo-Jaga . This little ducky takes care of the Spells, and its Pendulum Effect is meant to help provide the fodder you need to pay the negate cost.

Synchros

We’ve had Tuners and we’ve had non-Tuners, so how about we put them together? Conveniently, the existing Winged Beasts also provide Synchros for that purpose.

Dikapi, Ostrich Rahi

Synchro Tuner Effect MonsterLevel 5 | EARTH Winged Beast | ATK 1000 / DEF 1650

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 even a Synchro Tuner, and a pretty flexible one since it comes with built-in Level modulation and the ability to reuse Pendulums as Synchro material. Works in just about every kind of Rahi deck.

Gukko-Kahu, Hawk Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 6 | WIND Winged Beast | ATK 2500 / DEF 1000

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)

And one Level higher, the Gukko-Kahu provides the double utility of drawing and searching as the greatest example of a domesticated Rahi. Also very generically useful, and unfortunately that makes it hard to glean any ideas for unique Winged Beast mechanics from it.

What we see here is an actually already pretty complete package of Tuners, non-Tuners, and Synchros, but without much unifying them beyond matching Levels. There’s the banishing concept, but even that feels pretty questionable at this point …

Hopefully the unimplemented Rahi of this Type can provide some enlightenment.

Potential Members

With 11 more unimplemented, there’s about as much here as what we’ve already covered. The dominant Attribute is unsurprisingly WIND, with individual specks of WATER, FIRE, EARTH, and LIGHT, as well as a few DARKs (already covered in the other article). So pretty much everything, but EARTH in particular actually only appears one additional time despite previously looking like a major group of “flightless birds”.

Level 2 and 3

Being covered togethere here because frankly, with birds it’s always hard to tell whether they’re really smol or just kinda smol. So anything I’ve noted down for one of these Levels could very well fit the other.

Ko-Metru’s Ice Bats probably go on the smaller end since they’re generally talked about in terms of large swarms, and being a Level 2 Tuner with a handtrap effect (as is the current concept, which may or may not survive) would well fit their nature as pests causing constant property damage. We’ve previously heard of these critters over at the Beasts as the Crystal Climbers’ favorite food, so it’d probably pay off to have something mechanically a little unique so the Climbers can interact with the Bats specifically.

The sole LIGHT Winged Beasts are the Klakk, releveant in the 2008 storyline because their screams conveniently happen to be the cure for all kinds of inner light drain. This suggests an effect that brings back stolen monsters, cures debuffs, or stuff like that – perhaps even a “banish a monster and return it to the field under its owner’s control” that would do all of that. Which, by the way, is another mark on the banishing tally.

Then there’s the Smoke Hawk, a Xian bird you’ve probably never heard of because it only showed up once and got no description whatsoever. The only reason to adapt this one is if we want to do something specific with the FIRE Attribute, since just by the name it could go in there.

And finally, the already discussed DARKs are Cliff Screecher and Necrofinch, which we may as well cover together because for some reason they’re both WAY up there on the edge scale. Cliff Screechers are bats said to be immortal because they keep their soul outside their bodies, and even outside of mythology they hunt by killing their prey through the shock of repeated near-death experiences. Put together, this sounds like a monster that just keeps coming back, and has an effect to (temporarily) sacrifice itself in order to wear down the opponent’s resources. The Necrofinch, meanwhile, can “remaing singing after it is deceased”, which just makes me think of a Tuner that Synchro Summons from the GY.

Level 4

The Lohrak makes its third appearance here after being considered as a Sea Serpent and as a Reptile, and with the benefit of hindsight I think it’s safe to say it fits either of those better than the Winged Beasts. Pretty much everything in here is a proper bird with a beak and all that, so a ravenous poisonous snake would be an odd inclusion, wings or not.

Back to said proper birds, we have the Lava Hawk, which for all intents and purposes is just the Infernavika’s big brother. They hunt literally inside of lava streams and are completely immune to heat, so something like the Archnemeses where a normally self-destructive effect is combined with destruction immunity seems worth considering. Well, that particular example is obviously way too high-powered for a low-Level monster. Also, thinking back to the Smoke Hawk, the one reason I can think of to implement that one is to round the FIRE Winged Beast Rahi out to a trio of Level 2-4. Maybe.

And another repeat performance from the Manutri, previously covered under the Aqua type due to card design precedent for Penguins. All I have on record for them is a vague idea of doing something with equips, which is so far out there we probably don’t need to bother breaking tradition to put them into Winged Beasts. Plus, it would mess with the whole EARTH flightless bird idea to suddenly have one of them as WATER.

Level 5-8

On to the big birds, of which there are surpisingly few.

Nivawk is a named representative of a species of large flying scavenger Rahi, though this particular individual also engaged in nest robbery to feed. It might be DARK in order to synergize with Makuta Teridax, its master, but the broader species without those evil inclinations and connections would probably just be plain old WIND. Starting to sound a bit like Simorgh here, maybe we could see some Tribute Summoning happen?

The Gukko is not to be confused with the already implemented Gukko-Kahu subspecies, but really quite similar in its role as a flying Rahi domesticated by Le-Matoran. That means the two will probably overlap mechanically, providing some manner of utility effects, but since they are in fact distinct creatures and the Gukko plays a fairly significant role in Mask of Light, there does kind of need to be a separate card for this. Maybe we can come up with some cute interaction between the two kinds of Gukko. Could also involve the Taku as another Gukko relative and the Kewa as another flying steed.

And the largest thing the spreadsheet has to offer the Winged Beasts is … not really a bird, despite my earlier claims.

The Vahki Hunter just fell into this Type by virtue of a) having wings, b) not looking like anything else whatsoever, and c) that little joke in Rahi Beasts where they ask Kualus to comment as the resident expert for flying Rahi, because this one has wings too. In any case, it does fill the very empty niche of an actually large boss for Winged Beast Rahi, given the fact that they literally eat Vahki for breakfast. That diet immediately suggest some sort of anti-Machine effect, but to avoid being cripplingly specific, maybe it should be something generic with a lore-friendly bonus when used against Machines? The fact that this thing is also an ambush predator is a topic in its own right …

Conclusion

I can’t exactly say the design direction for Winged Beast Rahi became clear and obvious at any point here, but having reviewed the data we can at least assert some key facts:

  • The currently implemented Winged Beasts already contain a solid balance of Tuners, non-Tuners, and mid-Level Synchros.
  • The most common Attribute is WIND followed by EARTH, with some interesting smaller groups at FIRE and DARK.
  • The Levels cap out at approximately 8, with no actual gigantic final boss in sight.
  • A few of their effects involve banishing in some capacity, but not quite enough to consider it an ongoing theme.

I feel like that last point might be worth building on, especially for the WIND Winged Beasts. That Attribute, after all, has a recurring theme of returning to the hand that presumably represents flight, so combining that with (temporarily) banishing opponent’s cards as design language for “snatched by a bird” makes a really straightforward and fitting set of effects. The EARTH Winged Beasts, being mostly covered by the early Rahi in the current expansions already, could then act as the more down-to-earth (haha) combo enablers that don’t bother with the gimmick and instead just provide an efficient route towards making your Synchros. The two or three FIRE monsters could form a nice little engine centered around the idea of being too hot to touch, while the DARKs with their shared undead theming could provide plays in the GY.

That’s a fair variety of playstyles already, and that kind of versatility is probably good to have when there isn’t really the one big payoff we want to go into. Instead, Winged Beast Rahi combos would aim to get easy and repeatable access to their mid-sized Synchros, which then help them win the game without any single one being a full win condition by itself.

Designer’s Quip: The Rahi who Secretly Rule Society

There aren’t that many of them, but the Reptilians have surely invaded every single influential position in the Matoran Universe. What scaly visage is hiding beneath YOUR Turaga’s mask?

So yeah, welcome to the Reptile Rahi article.

See also:

Current Members

A nice set of 5 Reptile Rahi is currently in the expansion, though with not much diversity on other card properties – all of them are Level 4 or higher, and the only Attributes present are FIRE, WATER, and EARTH.

Normal Pendulums

AKA the Tarakava family.

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.
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[ Flavor Text ]
The first thing to remember about Tarakava is that even if you can’t see them, they are always there.

Bionicle: Challenge of the Rahi (v4.7.3)

Sand Tarakava, Lizard Rahi

Normal Pendulum MonsterLevel 6 | Scale 8/8 | EARTH Reptile | ATK 2300 / DEF 1800

[ 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.
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[ 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)

Tarakava-Nui, Lizard King Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 7 | WATER Reptile | ATK 2900 / DEF 0

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)

These Lizards with a Determination to Fist are mostly characterized by their high ATK stats, though the Sand variant is a lot more balanced in that regard. For Pendulum Effects, other than the standard Type-based protection clauses, the regular Tarakava summons itself into battle in a way matching its signature surprise attacks, while the Sand Tarakava kind of performs the inverse operation by putting a Rahi into your Pendulum Zone at will. And the big Tarakava-Nui can just punch things straight back into the Deck at the cost of its own big ATK.

I feel like all of these effects could use some improvement, considering the Sand Tarakava one is even a Quick Effect on a Spell and thus massively against design principles, but let’s consider them as they are for now. An interesting theme I’m seeing here is a mix between beatsticks and effect-based removal on the same cards, almost like a middle ground between the proposed Beast and Aqua/Fish/Sea Serpent Rahi playstyles. A “missing link”, if you will. Fitting, isn’t it?

Others

Now let’s see if that idea holds up through the remaining two examples.

Bog Snake, Venomous Rahi

Pendulum Effect MonsterLevel 4 | Scale 5/5 | WATER Reptile | ATK 1500 / DEF 1500

[ 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.
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[ 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)

And immediately the Bog Snake makes things screwy by going into a completely different direction, namely effect damage. Because venom. This is more significant for its interaction with the Ghekula, its natural enemy, than with any other Reptiles, so maybe we shouldn’t think too much about this one.

Ranama, Lava Lurker Rahi

Synchro Effect MonsterLevel 4 | FIRE Reptile | ATK 2200 / DEF 600

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 our one and only Level 4 Synchro, and it does bring the desired combination of reasonably high stats and effect-based removal. That said, I feel like it tilts a bit more towards the latter, and, come to think of it, a toad should probably rather be placed in the Aqua Type for consistency’s sake. Hmmm.

Not much clarity on what exactly could set the Reptiles apart yet, but moving on.

Potential Members

The unimplemented part of the spreadsheet promises up to a quintupling of the Reptile Rahi pool, with 20 more entries waiting in the wings. Granted, some of those are the Rahi Nui and various worms that are unlikely to really get this Type in the final product, but that still leaves a fair number.

Level 4 and below

The selection of small (potential) Reptile Rahi starts at the Level 1 Spine Slug (already aptly covered in the DARK article), continues with the Level 2 Sand Frog (mentioned once in a serial), right into the Level 3 Fire Serpent (mentioned once in an online character bio with no direct archive available).

And after that three-card straight flush of things we don’t need to bother with, Level 4 finally brings some more noteworthy examples. Well, once we skip over the Air Serpents allegedly from Karda Nui, at least. Okay, the Stone Snake Krahka transformed into one single time probably also doesn’t count.

Which leaves us with two we’ve actually looked at before. The Crystal Climber could be a Beast or could be a Reptile, and is probably going to end up wherever its little mini-synergy with the Ice Bat can be implemented more smoothly (probably Beast though, to keep the Tri-Types together).

The Lohrak has a pretty good chance of becoming a Reptile since it is primarily a snake, and the same thing applies here as when we went over it for the Sea Serpents: Surprise attacks and poisonous flesh, kind of a decent fit mechanically.

Level 5

A surprising number of Reptiles are seemingly sized just between Matoran and Toa, which is a range of exactly this one Level.

A familiar one is the Cable Crawler, a bird-eating Rahi that kind of seems like a climbing lizard. Or a Beast, the lines tend to blur. What speaks for the Reptile typing is their vertigo-inducing Rhotuka power, which they use both to hunt their prey and stun larger creatures – a fine match with the kind of modular strategy considered so far. Assuming you can make the Rhotuka effects work, which might be a bit though in a Deck not focused on them. The tangentially mentioned Mud Crawler suffers from the same Beast-Reptile ambiguity, but if we even bother implementing it, it probably falls here as well due to the acid breath.

The Longfang is explicitly a Reptile, but also a bit disappointing in terms of abilities, since it’s just big and hunts with it jaws, which sounds more like a beatdown-focused Beast Rahi. Throws a little wedge into our plans.

The situation with the Swamp Stalker is similar, though it at least has the decency to be an ambush predator. Estimating the Level for this one is a little tricky because while we know the one that existed as a combiner model was mutated and enlarged, it’s not exactly clear what size the regular ones would be. Of course, that only matters if that version gets a card to begin with.

Finally, the Tunnelers make up for the above examples’ lack of abilities in spades, with their special power to absorb and reproduce anything used against them. This notably can and has been exploited as a weakness, so what it likely translates to is a mandatory trigger effect that copies the opponent’s effects somehow. There’s also the strange “madness” that causes them to change physically and go on a rampage, which could supply the beatdown component to round out this tricky effect in a hybrid Reptile strategy.

Level 6 and 7

Tahu reached the top of the barrier and looked at Lewa as if his brother Toa had turned into a giant swamp lizard.

BIONICLE Chronicles #4: Tales of the Masks

And that’s all it took to put the “Giant Swamp Lizard” into the BS01 Rahi list and therefore into my spreadsheet. No way we’re implementing this one, but presumably it would be Giant (Level 6-ish) Swamp (WATER/WIND) Lizard (Reptile). Shocking.

Speaking of which, the Red Serpent is a Maze of Shadows Rahi with electric powers, which in their one canon use had the remarkable effect of temporarily fusing Matau into a wall. And this right here is where I get a brilliant idea for a gimmick that could set Reptiles apart from all other Types of Rahi. It’s based on a pun, so get ready for this. Are you ready for this?

Scale Manipulation.

As in, Pendulum Scales. Because Reptiles have scales, the two main deck Tarakava already sort of do something like this, and the Red Serpent’s ability could also be very nicely represented by having it shove a monster into the backrow Vaylantz-style. The beatdown/removal hybrid could then be a secondary thing to ensure you have all the tools you need to win while playing around with such a weird gimmick.

The DARK Subterannean Worm is the kind of Worm that I’d rather have as a Reptile than as an Insect, but really both of those options kind of overlap the Normal Pendulums it’s supposed to be grouped with for the whole Rahi Nui package. Still unsure about this one, but its Attribute means it’s not too relevant for the broader Type anyway.

Night Creepers belong to the category of briefly described creatures, with six legs and seven feet (of length), overall sounding kind of like a lizard to me. Nothing of major interest here either.

Furnace Salamanders are said to be the size of a Toa when upright, but upon further consideration, that’s probably a poor reason to put them at the same Level – their swarming behaviour definitely suggests a smaller, less powerful creature at Level 4 or something. Size aside, they’re notable for their agile movements and painful bite, so it sounds like we have another candidate for mixing tricky effects and decent beatdown ability here.

Level 11 (Crystal Serpents)

The most magnificient (likely) Reptile Rahi are those created not by a Makuta, but by the master smith Artakha: The four Crystal Serpents. They spend most of their time dormant in the four corners of their maker’s island, but when active, amplifying light through their bodies lets them generate heat rays powerful enough to destroy a whole wave of Visorak at once. So between that impressive feat and their general legendary status and origins, they obviously have to get a pretty high Level. However, given how odd they are in the context of Rahi overall, I went with 11 rather than the 12 usually used for ginormic boss monster Rahi, just to make it a little weirder.

And while it’s subtle, the above description does contain a nice connection to the Pendulum Scale gimmick considered before: The serpents live in the four corners of the island, and where are the Pendulum Zones located? That’s right, the four corners of the field.

So what I’m thinking here is this: Each of the four serpents actually gets a distinct card to make a little Level 11 mini-archetype, and their effects allow them to be placed into both your and your opponent’s Pendulum Zones. Then, on some trigger, they wake up, Special Summon to your field, and just blow shit up immediately. It’s even more fitting because Crystal Beasts, while not Pendulums, are the OG “monsters in S/T Zone” gimmick deck, and what is a Crystal Serpent if not an off-Type Crystal Beast?

Conclusion

The Reptile Rahi are a mix of snakes, lizards, and generic predators that could just as well be argued to be Beasts. Unlike that Type, however, their hunting methods tend to involve “trickery” such as toxins or special abilities, suggesting something other than the most straightforward beatdown strategy. At the same time, they are also physically more formidable than the smaller end of the aquatic Types of Rahi, which kind of puts them at a balanced middle ground between being beefy beaters and control tools with disruption or removal effects.

That alone may not be enough to guarantee a solid identity, but several of them also have powers or traits suggesting a gimmick of backrow and Pendulum Scale manipulation (which coincidentally also fits with the already implemented Tarakava). So by focusing on that, we can establish a unique playstyle and win condition for Reptile Rahi decks, which the individual monsters’ jack-of-all-trades nature should help carry out in a variety of situations.