Yu-gi-oh! - Breakdown of Crystal Beasts - Part 1

For Crystal Beasts, it's centered around 7 monsters for their archetype alone and 8 cards if you include Rainbow Dragon. Those 8 cards are shown below:

The following cards are as follows:

• Top Left - Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth
• Top Middle - Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat
• Top Right - Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle
• Center Left - Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise
• Center Right - Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle
• Bottom Left - Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus
• Bottom Middle - Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger
• Bottom Right - Rainbow Dragon

For the monster support, these cards would have effects related to Crystal Beasts:

Rainbow Dragon (bottom right) is the main card from the Crystal Beast series that provides it with some power. It's a Level 10 Light Monster with 4000 Attack and 0 Defense; however, the reason why it is not mostly used is because of Rainbow Dragon's effect:

• Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by having 7 "Crystal Beast" cards with different names on your field or in your Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card cannot activate its effects the turn it is Special Summoned.
• During either player's turn: You can send all "Crystal Beast" monsters you control to the Graveyard; this card gains 1000 ATK for each card sent.
• You can banish all "Crystal Beast" monsters in your Graveyard; shuffle all cards on the field into the Decks.

With Rainbow Dragon's first effect, you would have to send all Crystal Beasts you control to the Graveyard to have it gain 1000 ATK only for it to be Magic Cylinder'd or Dimensional Prison'd. For Rainbow Dragon's second effect, it's not worth it because you would have to banish all Crystal Beasts monsters that are in your Graveyard to bounce everything back into the Deck. Good effect, but due to the heavy cost of banishing all Crystal Beast monsters, you wouldn't be able to summon Rainbow Dragon again until you are able to send 7 different Crystal Beast monsters to the Graveyard. The reason why it should be added though is to run over high Attack monsters and have your opponent waste a card or two to get rid of it.

Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (top left) is one of the support cards for Crystal Beasts in the Monster Card Zones. It is a Level 4 Earth Monster with 1700 Attack and 1600 Defesne; however, his effect would be used in rare cases. Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth's effect is as follows:

• When another face-up "Crystal Beast" monster you control is targeted for an attack: You can make this card the attack target instead. If this face-up card is destroyed while it is in a Monster Card Zone, you can place it face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card, instead of sending it to the Graveyard.

Nine times out of ten, your monster will get blown up in some way or another, so his effect wouldn't be used unless your opponent has no choice, but to attack.

Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (top middle) is one of the support cards for Crystal Beasts to return cards from your Field back to the top of your Deck. It is a Level 4 Wind Monster with 1400 Attack and 800 Defense; however, in most cases, the effect wouldn't be used at all. Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle's effect is:

• Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up "Crystal Beast" card you control; return that target to the top of the Deck. If this face-up card is destroyed while it is in a Monster Card Zone, you can place it face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card, instead of sending it to the Graveyard.

In the strategy, you cannot afford to return a card to the Deck. It causes you to lose advantage and speed with nothing to gain for it. Only use this effect in the rarest of occasions.

Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (bottom left) is one of the key cards for Crystal Beasts for it to search out your Deck for Crystal Beasts to place in the Spell and Trap Zone. It is a Level 4 Wind Monster with 1800 Attack and 1200 Defense. Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus's effect is as follows:

• When this card is Summoned: You can place 1 "Crystal Beast" monster from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card. If this face-up card is destroyed while it is in a Monster Card Zone, you can place it face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card, instead of sending it to the Graveyard.

Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle (top right) is one of the key cards for Crystal Beasts for it to Special Summon Crystal Beasts from your Spell and Trap Zone to your Monster Zone. It is a Level 3 Light Monster with 300 Attack and 300 Defense. Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle's effect is as follows:

• When this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon as many "Crystal Beast" cards as possible from your Spell & Trap Card Zone. If this face-up card is destroyed while it is in a Monster Card Zone, you can place it face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card, instead of sending it to the Graveyard.

With this card in combination with Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, you'll have an engine to search out all Crystal Beasts in order to Summon Rainbow Dragon.

For the Normal Spell Card support, there's a few cards that you can activate on your turn and utilize some Crystal Beasts from these cards. These cards are:

Rare Value (bottom right) is a draw card for Crystal Beasts. Rare Value's effect is as follows:

• If there are 2 or more face-up "Crystal Beast" cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone: Your opponent chooses 1 "Crystal Beast" card in your Spell & Trap Card Zone and sends it to the Graveyard, then you draw 2 cards.

Letting your opponent choose what Crystal Beast gets sent to the Graveyard is bad, because with the current strategy that Crystal Beasts have, your opponent will take away more of your speed by sending 1 card from your Field to the Graveyard rather than drawing 2 cards.

Crystal Promise (bottom left) is one way to Special Summon. Crystal Promise's effect is as follows:

• Target 1 "Crystal Beast" card in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; Special Summon that target.

If Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle or Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus is in your Spell and Trap Zone, you can use Crystal Promise to Special Summon them from the Spell and Trap Zone to the Monster Zone.

Crystal Beacon (top middle) is another way to Special Summon. Crystal Beacon's effect is as follows:

• Special Summon 1 "Crystal Beast" monster from your Deck. You must have 2 or more "Crystal Beast" cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone to activate and to resolve this effect.

Nine times out of ten, you would Special Summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle and bring out your Crystal Beasts monsters from the Spell and Trap Zones.

Crystal Blessing (top right) returns Crystal Beasts from your Graveyard to the Spell and Trap Zone. Crystal Blessing's effect is as follows:

• Target up to 2 "Crystal Beast" monsters in your Graveyard; place those targets face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as Continuous Spell Cards.

With this effect, you would try to set up easier Exceed Summoning tactics when you are able to Special Summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle. Also, Crystal Blessing is used to put Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in the Spell and Trap Zone, and once you Special Summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle, you can Special Summon the Crystal Beasts that you placed from this effect to the Monster Zones.

Crystal Abundance (top left) is a win condition for Crystal Beasts, because once you are able to use Crystal Abundance's effect throughly, you can kill the opponent by any means necessary. Crystal Abundance's effect is as follows:

• Send 4 "Crystal Beast" cards from your Spell & Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard; send all cards on the field to the Graveyard, then Special Summon as many "Crystal Beast" monsters as possible from your Graveyard, up to the number of cards your opponent controlled that were sent to the Graveyard by this card's effect.

Pretty much, this can change the game permanently in your favor, once you have 4 Crystal Beast cards in your Spell and Trap Zones. As soon as the damage is done from this card, the only way your opponent can bounce back is if they have a hand trap containing either Battle Fader, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, or Tragoedia (if their hand gives Tragoedia enough Attack or Defense); however through Exceed Summoning, it's not likely that they'll bounce back.

For the Equip Spell Card support, there's one card from that category shown below:

Crystal Release is an Equip Spell which gives Crystal Beasts a nice power boost. Crystal Release's effect is as follows:

• Equip only to a "Crystal Beast" monster. It gains 800 ATK. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can place 1 "Crystal Beast" monster from your Deck face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card.

With how today's strategies revolve around getting big monsters out, you can use this card in combination with a Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth, Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, or Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger, and you can run over some of your opponent's monsters, and once the Crystal Beast along with Crystal Release is destroyed, you can place 1 Crystal Beast from your Deck to your Spell and Trap Zone along with the Crystal Beast that was destroyed by your opponent.

For the Continuous Spell Card support, there's one card from that category shown below:

Crystal Tree is a Continuous Spell Card that provides Crystal Beasts with more speed if need be; however, in today's cases, it's rarely going to be used except for a deterrent to Mystical Space Typhoon. Crystal Tree's effect is as follows:

• Each time a "Crystal Beast" monster(s) is placed in either player's Spell & Trap Card Zone: Place 1 Crystal Counter on this card. You can send this card to the Graveyard; take a number of "Crystal Beast" monsters from your Deck equal to the number of Crystal Counters that were on this card, then place those monsters face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as Continuous Spell Cards.

If any Crystal Beast gets placed in the Spell and Trap Zone, you can place 1 Crystal Counter onto this card, which you can send the card to search out Crystal Beasts from your Deck and place them in your Spell and Trap Card Zone as Continuous Spell Cards. In most cases, this card will not be used because the engine Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle can provide.

For the Field Spell Card support, there are two cards from that category shown below:

Advanced Dark (left) is a support card that can be used in conjunction with Rainbow Dark Dragon. Advanced Dark's effect is as follows:

• All "Crystal Beast" monsters on the field or in a Graveyard are DARK-Attribute. The effects of monsters targeted for an attack from "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" are negated during the Battle Phase only. During damage calculation, if a "Crystal Beast" monster you control is battling: You can send 1 "Crystal Beast" monster from your Deck to the Graveyard; You take no battle damage from that battle. 

With Advanced Dark's effect, you can have Crystal Beasts be milled from your Deck to your Graveyard, and have other cards be used to bring them out from the Graveyard to the Spell and Trap Zone. Treating all Crystal Beasts as Dark-Attributed can bring some cards to be used within a Crystal Beast deck which require a certain amount of Dark monsters to be within your Graveyard.

Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins (right) is a support card that can be used in conjunction with how many Crystal Beasts are in your Spell and Trap Zones. Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins's effect is as follows:

• You must have this many "Crystal Beast" cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone to activate and resolve these effects:
• 1+: This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.
• 2+: Once per turn, you can halve the Battle Damage you take.
• 3+: When a Spell/Trap Card is activated: You can send 1 "Crystal Beast" monster you control to the Graveyard; negate the activation and destroy it.
• 4+: Once per turn, during your Main Phase: You can draw 1 card.
• 5+: Once per turn, during your Main Phase: You can target 1 "Crystal Beast" card in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; Special Summon that target.

With how fast Crystal Beasts play with Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle, some players can use Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins with no problems. It's a good card, so if you have room for it, put it in.

For the Trap Card support, there's five cards in this category shown below:

Crystal Counter (top left) can be used to pull out your Crystal Beasts from your Graveyard to your Spell and Trap Zone for a one turn rush. Crystal Counter's effect is as follows:

• Send all cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard. Place as many "Crystal Beast" monsters as possible from your Graveyard in your Spell & Trap Card Zone, face-up, as Continuous Spell Cards. During the End Phase, destroy all face-up "Crystal Beast" cards you control.

In order to use this effect, you would have to not set anything else during that turn, which can lead to your opponent getting some free shots in, or if you decide on using some chainable traps (or use hand traps), then the worry goes away and you still have your protection during that turn.

Crystal Pair (top middle) can be used as protection from your opponent's attacks during that turn only. Crystal Pair's effect is as follows:

• When a "Crystal Beast" monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Place 1 "Crystal Beast" monster from your Deck face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card, then you take no Battle Damage for the rest of this turn.

It's basically a searcher plus battle damage negator; however, the downside is you have to let a Crystal Beast go to the Graveyard, and you have to take battle damage for that battle. Not a very useful card.

Crystal Raigeki (top right) can be used as a chain to such cards as Mystical Space Typhoon or Heavy Storm. Crystal Raigeki's effect is as follows:

• Send 1 "Crystal Beast" card from your Spell & Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard to target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy that target.

The downside is that some cards benefit from the destruction of other cards and some cards can negate the destruction of a card (Stardust Dragon, for example), so there's not much use for this card, other than you can make sure your opponent wastes a card or two.

Rainbow Gravity (bottom left) is strictly Rainbow Dragon or Rainbow Dark Dragon support for Crystal Beasts. Rainbow Gravity's effect is as follows:

• If you have 7 "Crystal Beast" cards with different names on the field or in your Graveyard: Special Summon 1 "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" from your Deck or Graveyard, ignoring the Summoning conditions.

Pretty much, you can use this card to Special Summon Rainbow Dragon or Rainbow Dark Dragon from your Deck or your Graveyard if you have 7 different Crystal Beasts within your Graveyard.; however, there's not much room for strictly Rainbow Dragon support in a casual build or a competitive build, so it's not used.

Rainbow Path (bottom right) is a searcher for Rainbow Dragon or Rainbow Dark Dragon. Rainbow Path's effect is as follows:

• When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Send 1 "Crystal Beast" card from your Spell & Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard to target the attacking monster; negate the attack, then you can add 1 "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" from your Deck to your hand.

Again, another Rainbow Dragon or Rainbow Dark Dragon support card for Crystal Beasts only, so it's not going to be used in a casual build or a competitive build.