Mechanic Uploaded! TERMINAL

[ZetaRESP 5]

Okay, after I warmed up to the idea of Link (I still think it's a crazy idea, but now I know it was made because of the anime and that all mechanics actually come from the anime) and thanks to both a crazy dream doing homage in a way to the first episode ever of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters as well as some other of my favorites from that era, I designed a brand new mechanic. It's a crazy mechanic, but I got it from translating a dream to real life (so, if it works, hold on your horses, Konami). Anyway, let's get upgraded, people. A Link Monster counterpart from the main deck is on the way.
 

TERMINAL MONSTERS

 

INCEPTION:

Spoiler

As I said, it came from a dream. I was dreaming an episode with a lot of drama. In one moment, the main character, a jumper wearing small fry named Yuu Kaido (who, unlike 15-yo Yugi, is actually a small kid), who was facing a Kaiba knock off called Frederic Star, draws a card he never had in his deck and had never seen before, at the same time a wind blows his hair forward giving him a more YGO Main Character cut (funny scene related to it), and he decided to play it with inspiration from the whole scene. As everybody else called shenanigans and cheating, an AI that was the acting judge shone some light on it, allowing it to be played and thus his victory came. And with that, I woke up. I got that dream, stronger and stronger, the entire week. Now, with the thanks to Discord User 345boneshoss#8427, I got to make the template of these cards in the proper way (as well as a kind of rough draft of the actual card that was used .

DESCRIPTION:

Spoiler

 

A Terminal Monster is a type of Monster card originated from the main deck. It can either be a Normal or an Effect Monster and it has the same background color as those, but its frame has an overlay of black and white circuitry lines. The art had been extended and the text boxes have a layout similar to the Pendulum Monster boxes, with the set number located in the ATK/DEF line as well, but with a different form to showcase both the Terminal Effect and the Download Effect. Like with Link Monsters, these cards have arrows called "Gate Arrows" that are cyan colored rather than red coming from the now extended art box, no stars to indicate their level/rank, which they lack of, and the ATK/DEF line has no DEF in it, instead having a "GATE" label with the card's Gate Rating.

 

MECHANICS:

 

Spoiler

 

Terminal Monsters are Special Summon monsters, as they can't be Normal Summoned or Set. Their way to be summoned is the "Terminal Summon". This summon is strange in the way it works:

• First than all, it doesn't require a sacrifice, but rather an equilibrium: Any player can do a "Terminal Summon" at any time during their Main Phase as long as the total Gate Rating in the field remains equal or lower to the total Link Rating in the field at all moments. This is known as the "Link/Gate Balance"
  • Example: If the opponent has Decode Talker and Firewall Dragon and you have Link Spider, then the total Gate Rating is 8 and there could be summoned, for example, two Gate-4 Terminal Monsters.
• In case the total Link Rating is lowered by monster removal or other effect, the Terminal Monsters will be sent to graveyard at the end of that phase starting with the player with the highest Gate Rating total in his side of the field starting first. This is a condition of the summon and cannot be avoided.
  • Example: There's a total Link Rating of 9 in the field and a Gate Rating of 7 split in one Gate-4 Terminal monster in one side and a Gate-2 and a Gate-1 Terminal monster. If one of the Link Monsters were to leave the field and lower the total Link Rating to 6, then the Gate-4 Terminal monster would leave, as it's the only Terminal Monster of the player with the highest total Cate Rating on play.
• Terminal Monsters have three types of effects on them instead of two:
  • Monster effects, which are the regular effects they have if they are Effect Terminal Monsters;
  • Terminal effects, which are effects that are active if they are in a zone a Link Monster points to;
  • and Download Effects, that are effects the Terminal Monster grants to any Link Monster it's pointing to and that remain on said monster while it's on the field (hence the name Download Effect).
• Normal Terminal Monsters, just as Normal Pendulum Monsters, are considered Normal Monsters in regards to effects from other cards. Effect Terminal Monsters are also considered Effect Monsters in the same regards.
  • However, it should be noted that effects that special summon Normal Monsters would deal with the limitation of Link/Gate Balance at the end of that phase.
• Terminal Monsters have a "Gate Rating", which is like a counter-Link Rating and, just like its counterpart's, it's equal to the amount of Gate Arrows it has. These arrows are basically to work around the Download Effect. As mentioned before, this is what bases the Terminal Summon, as the total Gate Rating on the entire field must be equal or lower as the total Link Rating in the field.
• Terminology Extra (the lore includes them; it's all part of the same inception):
  • If a Terminal Monster is summoned to a zone a Link Monster points to and it also points to that Link Monster, both monsters become "Connected".
  • The network of linked zones formed by the Link Monsters and the Linked Monster is called a "Link Chain".

 

 

Sample Cards

Spoiler

I would like to hear your critiques and any advice you have to perfect them (it's an archetype featured in a dream, any help is welcomed).

EDIT: Given the fact there are Terminal Arrows aiming down, I'll add a corollary: Terminal Monsters can be summoned in the ED Zones. However, that's a risk in itself, because it would leave the player without the ability to summon from the Extra Deck.

[o_smily from YCM 11]

I can see that you really put a lot of time into these cards, so let's go on ahead and critique:

• The cards themselves appear to potentially be blocky. Relying completely on having Link monsters on the field, Terminal monsters, means that if you cannot get a Link monster out onto the field, then you would have to completely rely on your opponent providing you the necessary requirements to Summon 1 of these monsters.
• Having 3 different effect texts on a single card is quite bothersome to read, especially if you are just using these cards for the first time. Quite honestly, I don't really see a reason to separate the top two effect boxes on top; I would simply still have it all in one box, or two at the very least.
• I'm not too big of a fan of having no DEF value: this means no Defense Position with these monsters. That is not necessarily a bad thing, and it's only being authentic to the Link monster's mechanic. However, Link monsters themselves have the risk of being unable to mitigate any damage, especially the lower-Rating monsters. Considering how these monsters are generally supposed to common and less powerful, the same risk can be found with these monsters.

Finally, for best results, let's compare Terminal monsters to the only other special type of Monster Card that it can be comparable to: Pendulum monsters. Now, Pendulum monsters are very versatile and effective, but are also simple to use and have enough uniqueness to them that they can be their own Monster Card type. For example, Pendulum monsters can be either Summoned as a monster or activated as a Spell, and that is it. The two text boxes for the Pendulum monsters each have a purpose: as a Spell, Pendulum monsters use only use the top box, and the bottom is not recognized at all, and as a Monster, vice versa. The most unique and game changing mechanics about the type is that 1) They go from the field to the Extra Deck instead of the GY, and that 2) They can Pendulum Summon monsters, and honestly it is a good mechanic. Pendulum Summoning is not only a fair (if a bit underwhelming with the Master Rule 4) and unique concept, but it's also simple enough to where it doesn't require extensive knowledge to properly use.

Now, once again I do say that I appreciate the amount of time you have spent making these cards. However, I find the idea sketchy, and with the potential to backfire. Your cards have the effort, but you must also apply versatility and overall simplicity. I do believe that studying the way Pendulum monsters were made and designed will help you in tweaking these cards for more efficiency.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to reply with your thoughts.

[ZetaRESP 5]

@o_smily from YCM I understand your points, of course. Let me remind you, though, of some things:

• This mechanic came from a dream I began to have while I was in from study anxiety. The whole mechanic's conception was hidden from a dream I had in the form of an episode of the series (UPDATE: The character, in my mind, ended up being pretty androgynous for a child, so if I ever make a story updating this, I will change him into a she, because it makes more sense for me).
• Each box has an application. The reason there are three is due to the "Download" mechanic, which alters a card that links to it, mainly link cards.
• I'm not fan of those either, but the reason for that is obvious: Arrows and DEF are incompatible. Cards must stay fixed for arrows and they can't go to DEF mode because they can't be tapped, ergo, DEF is a useless stat in them. I know the risk, everybody knows them, but the risk is irrelevant to the mechanic. Also: wrong again. Terminal Monsters are not meant to be LESS rare than Links, but rather MORE rare. MR4 kind of forces you to play Links, but you are not in the need of play Terminals. At least not until the Mainframe comes in the way, of course.
• Yeah, no, this mechanic can't be compared to Pendulums in the same way Links can't be compared to Pendulums. This mechanic is here only as a Link response and counterpart. It's partly a Synchro/Tuner relationship, in that one needs the other to exist (Synchro needs Tuners, Terminals need Links), with the difference that in one case, one of them has a meaning outside of making the other exist (Links have the whole Linked Zone thing going on, Tuners are only there for Synchros to be summoned). Pendulums not only do something different (swarming EVERYTHING THEY CAN), but also they have a lot more of uses. You can compare Links to Pendulums, but you can't compare Terminals to Pendulums because of those two concepts are too different.

I studied the way Pendulum were made and I understand how they work. But this is Yu-Gi-OH! method, where the mechanics are made out by the anime makers and then Konami just steps in and sees what it can do with it. THAT is how this game works. Are Terminals a lousy concept? Yes. The origin is sketchy and strange? Yes. Does that make them less valid mechanics for a game that's literally made up by anime writers? Uh... I'll go with no.