Shadow Summoning! (New Concept)

[xlArisenRoselx]

So, I have always wanted to make my own Summoning Method, and I had many Ideas for one, I just never was sure how to go about tying them together. I am finally ready to gather my ideas into one thread, thus, Shadow Summoning. Here's how it works:

 

Shadow monsters are a form of Main Deck monster. Instead of Levels, they have Stars. They can be Normal or Special Summoned, but if they are, they lose their effects. In this case, you treat their Stars as Levels. You see, a Shadow monster has Shadow effects. It will only gain these effects if it has been Shadow Summoned. Alongside this, when a Shadow monster is destroyed or sent to the Graveyard by any means (including sent by cards like Foolish Burial), it is banished face-up instead of being sent to the Graveyard. This is in an attempt to stop these guys from being overly useful, because they can't ever go in the Graveyard. Also, Shadow monsters cannot be Tuners, and since they have no Level, they can't be used in Xyz, unless the Xyz monster says "X Star Y monsters". A card that would make them a Tuner would still turn them into a Tuner, but it would be useless, considering it doesn't have Levels. Furthermore, Shadow effects cannot be negated by cards that negate monster effects, since they are treated as an entirely different kind of effect. Only cards that specifically say "Shadow effect" can negate them. Finally, Shadow Monsters can be Pendulum monsters, as Stars have nothing to do with Scales. If you were to Pendulum Summon a Pendulum/Shadow monster, you would treat it's Stars as Levels. Also, a Pendulum/Shadow monster would go face-up in the ED instead of being banished, due to it being a Pendulum monster.

 

 

Shadow Summoning Requirements:

 

Now, like I said, a Shadow monster can be Normal or Special Summoned, but it loses it's Shadow effects. But, what if you want those Shadow effects? Well then you must Shadow Summon them. Here's how you do it. In order to Shadow Summon, you must reveal cards in your hand equal to the amount of monsters you would have to tribute if their Stars were Levels +1. Simply put, a Star 4 or lower would make you reveal 1 card, Star 5-6 reveals 2, and Star 7-12 reveals 3. You can only Shadow Summon once per turn, and it doesn't work if you have less cards in your hand than the required amount to Shadow Summon. Also, you can Normal or Special Summon a Shadow monster, then Shadow Summon it while it is face-up on the field, using the card's requirements. Futhermore, Shadow Summoning does not count as Special Summoning, it is more like Normal Summoning, since you can only do it once per turn. In fact, it is actually treated as another form of Normal Summoning.

 

Here's the Layout:

 

The card's border will be a Grey color, sort of like tokens, but a little bit darker. Their Stars will be located in the same place Level/Rank is, but instead of being far left or far right, they are in the middle. The orb of the Stars will be a red color, while the star bit in the orb will be a black color.

 

Examples:

 

Nepthani, Lurker in the Depths

Star 4 - WATER - Fish/Shadow - 1800/1200

1 Spell/Trap card

Once per turn, during either player's turn (Quick Effect): When a player activates a Shadow Effect, you can discard 1 card, and if you do, negate that Shadow effect, and destroy it.

 

Darkness within the Soul

Star 1 - DARK - Fairy/Shadow - 300/1000

1 monster

Once per turn, when a Shadow monster is Shadow Summoned; draw 1 card. This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a Shadow monster.

 

 

 

So there you have it! My first custom Summon Method! I love the way these turned out, and would love for someone to review them. Let me know what you think! Kyumi signing out, Dueces!

[Sleepy]

Revealing a card(s) doesn't seem like much of a cost. Maybe it'd be a little more like one if you "permanently revealed an unrevealed card", so that you cannot keep revealing the same single card over and over and shuffling it back into the rest of the hand. 

 

Doesn't seem to specify Shadow Summon is a kind of Special Summon, and this sort of "unlock" nature to them makes me wonder if you have to Summon them from off the field or if they perhaps work a little like Geminis in how you can have an already Normal Summoned Shadow Monster become a Shadow Summoned monster.

 

The Link Rating is not really needed to be stated. They don't particularly use it, and Links will naturally be able to use them so long as they are monsters, unless they get specific effects capable of countering that, but a "cannot be used for Links" would be arbitrary" (on top of that you don't mind them being used for Links anyways).

 

I also wonder if there might be cards that require specific reveal materials and not just the number of cards to be generically revealed. If so, it'd be helpful to see how that would be written. Then again, the examples don't seem to have any form of material listing to them so maybe it isn't meant to. I'd like to suggest it though, as it'd help give the method more depth and variety. Otherwise you might run out of the main gimmick rather fast. 

 

I mean, the hypothetical top is revealing 3 cards of any kind in hand for any 7+ star monster. It isn't super hard to do. So long as your hand is X sized or more you can do it, and modern Yugioh will always give you enough pluses to achieve this.

[xlArisenRoselx]

Revealing a card(s) doesn't seem like much of a cost. Maybe it'd be a little more like one if you "permanently revealed an unrevealed card", so that you cannot keep revealing the same single card over and over and shuffling it back into the rest of the hand. 

 

Doesn't seem to specify Shadow Summon is a kind of Special Summon, and this sort of "unlock" nature to them makes me wonder if you have to Summon them from off the field or if they perhaps work a little like Geminis in how you can have an already Normal Summoned Shadow Monster become a Shadow Summoned monster.

 

The Link Rating is not really needed to be stated. They don't particularly use it, and Links will naturally be able to use them so long as they are monsters, unless they get specific effects capable of countering that, but a "cannot be used for Links" would be arbitrary" (on top of that you don't mind them being used for Links anyways).

 

I also wonder if there might be cards that require specific reveal materials and not just the number of cards to be generically revealed. If so, it'd be helpful to see how that would be written. Then again, the examples don't seem to have any form of material listing to them so maybe it isn't meant to. I'd like to suggest it though, as it'd help give the method more depth and variety. Otherwise you might run out of the main gimmick rather fast. 

 

I mean, the hypothetical top is revealing 3 cards of any kind in hand for any 7+ star monster. It isn't super hard to do. So long as your hand is X sized or more you can do it, and modern Yugioh will always give you enough pluses to achieve this.

Updated them to deal with the problems and suggestions stated. You were right about them not being treated as a Special Summon, I just forgot to write that bit. As for the Permanently revealed bit, I don't like that, but I decided to give them a requirement like most Extra Deck monsters have so that way it should be a little harder to use. Thank you for the feedback. Anyone else who would like to review with the new changes is welcome to.

[xlArisenRoselx]

Bump

[Dova]

Shadow monsters are a form of Main Deck monster. Instead of Levels, they have Shadow Stars, which will be more commonly known as Stars. They can be Normal Summoned, but if they are, they lose their effects. You see, a Shadow monster has Shadow effects. It will only gain these effects if it has been Shadow Summoned. Alongside this, when a Shadow monster is destroyed or sent to the Graveyard by any means, it is banished face-up instead of being sent to the Graveyard. This is in an attempt to stop these guys from being overly useful, because they can't ever go in the Graveyard. Also, Shadow monsters cannot be Tuners, and since they have no Level, they can't be used in Xyz. Furthermore, Shadow effects cannot be negated by cards that negate monster effects, since they are treated as an entirely different kind of effect. Only cards that specifically say "Shadow effect" can negate them.

Stars or Shadow Stars? I think it would be confusing referring to both concepts, and it would be best to stick with one.

 

These cards can never end up in the GY, that's easy enough to understand, but can you attempt to send them to the GY? As in, can I activate Foolish Burial to send one of these to the GY only to have it banished instead, or would I be unable to "target" it with said Spell?

 

For the Tuner aspect of it, does that also mean that you are unable to apply an effect that would make them into a Tuner? That might be unnecessary, as not having a Level automatically makes them useless in the current Synchro Summoning department, and limits you, as the creator, for expanding on them in the future.

 

In regards to the Shadow Effect, are you just talking about activating effects? That makes sense, I guess, but then how does it interact with a card like Skill Drain? Shadow Monsters are presumably still monsters, so the text on their card could be considered to be an inherent effect that allows them to activate another effect, so...kind of confusing, I guess. It seems almost like hand-waving away their monster status just to set them a bar above the current meta-game.

 

Now, like I said, a Shadow monster can be Normal Summoned, but it loses it's Shadow effects. But, what if you want those Shadow effects?Well then you must Shadow Summon them. Here's how you do it. In order to Shadow Summon, you must reveal cards in your hand equal to the amount of monsters you would have to tribute if their Stars were Levels +1. Simply put, a Star 4 or lower would make you reveal 1 card, Star 5-6 reveals 2, and Star 7-12 reveals 3. You can only Shadow Summon up to twice per turn, and it doesn't work if you have less cards in your hand than the required amount to Shadow Summon. Also, you can Normal Summon a Shadow monster, then Shadow Summon it while it is face-up on the field, using the cards requirements. Futhermore, Shadow Summoning does not count as Special Summoning, it is more like Normal Summoning, since you have a certain amount of times you can do it per turn.

 

Firstly, love the concept of more Monster Types in your MD, however I think this paragraph combined with the one above reveals an issue I do have with this said new Type: too much hidden complexity. Let's take a Synchro monster, for example. Summoning conditions are easy to read, and you simply have to add Levels to get to the Level of the Synchro monster. There's the hidden semi-Nomi clause, but that's about it. What about Xyz monsters? Same semi-Nomi clause, so that's not exactly hidden; it's a consistent theme that's been there since Fusion Monsters. Technically. Then there's the whole deal with Xyz Materials being placed underneath them; its implied, true, but easy enough to explain to someone.

 

However, then we get to Shadow monsters: filled with lore and potential flavour, and yet...you can only Summon twice per turn for some reason. This is immediately restricting as to their potential plays in the future, and seems arbitrary. We have the Star->revealing mechanic, but that ties into the basic MD monster Summoning clauses, and so is understandable. Then there's the Summon it first and potentially reveal it later, which again, is a cool mechanic (Wait, can you actually Shadow Summon it after it was Special Summoned? I would assume so, just checking.), but then we have the fact that...it's not any type of Summoning before. This immediately changes erratas on cards like Torrential Tribute to have to be reverted to something like "When a monster(s) is Summoned, except by Shadow Summon: ..." and then we have the whole banishing instead of going to the GY along with the potential Tuner disabling. Also, Shadow effects not being monster effects ever. It just seems a bit much of a far cry from the original game to suddenly transition into, and judging from the twice per turn Summon limit, it might not impact the gamestate that much.

 

But what about Pendulum Monsters? a strawman might ask. Well, firstly, they've all been tied into actual monster Types that have appeared before; the basic MD kind, and all of the ED ones as well, so all the mechanical changes already have a base to work on. Even then, we don't have it on Toon monsters, Union monsters, Gemini monsters or even Ritual monsters, meaning they're keeping complexity to a minimum-ish. What about Pendulum Summoning once per turn? We already had Normal Summoning, so again, something we can relate to. Also, its considered Special Summoning, so no new changes there, and their Pendulum Effects are only considered as Spell effects while they are spells, so again, it still ties into what we know. Unlike Pendulum Monsters, Shadow Monsters seem to be built from the ground up as something new. And, while the idea is unique and cool at times...I don't think it fits in YGO.

 

Again, in regards to Shadow Summoning not being any previously seen type of Summoning and Shadow Effects similarly jumping over most specific types of negation, it just seems unnecessarily complicated. Gemini Summoning is Normal Summoning, after all; just a specific kind of it. Saying you're banishing them to make them less accessible just means all of their support cards wouldn't have to touch the GY ever. You might as well not call them monsters and be done with it.

Wow, re-reading this was harsh, and I know I can't just apologize now for my tone, as I don't know how to rephrase it without saying how I feel about it. But I am sorry that I was unable to say anything nicer on it. Again, I do like the call-back to Gemini Summoning, and the revealing doesn't get enough love in YGO, but there are quite a few flaws in this idea. But hey, that's what comments are for right? Ironing out the holes.

 

Also, if you do disagree with my logic, that's fine. I can understand how far I might be straying from your original vision when you created these cards, and my suggestions would be contrary to that vision. But again, just my thoughts. Hopefully I wasn't too rude, and more helpful than I can see.

[xlArisenRoselx]

Stars or Shadow Stars? I think it would be confusing referring to both concepts, and it would be best to stick with one.

These cards can never end up in the GY, that's easy enough to understand, but can you attempt to send them to the GY? As in, can I activate Foolish Burial to send one of these to the GY only to have it banished instead, or would I be unable to "target" it with said Spell?

 

For the Tuner aspect of it, does that also mean that you are unable to apply an effect that would make them into a Tuner? That might be unnecessary, as not having a Level automatically makes them useless in the current Synchro Summoning department, and limits you, as the creator, for expanding on them in the future.

 

In regards to the Shadow Effect, are you just talking about activating effects? That makes sense, I guess, but then how does it interact with a card like Skill Drain? Shadow Monsters are presumably still monsters, so the text on their card could be considered to be an inherent effect that allows them to activate another effect, so...kind of confusing, I guess. It seems almost like hand-waving away their monster status just to set them a bar above the current meta-game.

 

 

Firstly, love the concept of more Monster Types in your MD, however I think this paragraph combined with the one above reveals an issue I do have with this said new Type: too much hidden complexity. Let's take a Synchro monster, for example. Summoning conditions are easy to read, and you simply have to add Levels to get to the Level of the Synchro monster. There's the hidden semi-Nomi clause, but that's about it. What about Xyz monsters? Same semi-Nomi clause, so that's not exactly hidden; it's a consistent theme that's been there since Fusion Monsters. Technically. Then there's the whole deal with Xyz Materials being placed underneath them; its implied, true, but easy enough to explain to someone.

 

However, then we get to Shadow monsters: filled with lore and potential flavour, and yet...you can only Summon twice per turn for some reason. This is immediately restricting as to their potential plays in the future, and seems arbitrary. We have the Star->revealing mechanic, but that ties into the basic MD monster Summoning clauses, and so is understandable. Then there's the Summon it first and potentially reveal it later, which again, is a cool mechanic (Wait, can you actually Shadow Summon it after it was Special Summoned? I would assume so, just checking.), but then we have the fact that...it's not any type of Summoning before. This immediately changes erratas on cards like Torrential Tribute to have to be reverted to something like "When a monster(s) is Summoned, except by Shadow Summon: ..." and then we have the whole banishing instead of going to the GY along with the potential Tuner disabling. Also, Shadow effects not being monster effects ever. It just seems a bit much of a far cry from the original game to suddenly transition into, and judging from the twice per turn Summon limit, it might not impact the gamestate that much.

 

But what about Pendulum Monsters? a strawman might ask. Well, firstly, they've all been tied into actual monster Types that have appeared before; the basic MD kind, and all of the ED ones as well, so all the mechanical changes already have a base to work on. Even then, we don't have it on Toon monsters, Union monsters, Gemini monsters or even Ritual monsters, meaning they're keeping complexity to a minimum-ish. What about Pendulum Summoning once per turn? We already had Normal Summoning, so again, something we can relate to. Also, its considered Special Summoning, so no new changes there, and their Pendulum Effects are only considered as Spell effects while they are spells, so again, it still ties into what we know. Unlike Pendulum Monsters, Shadow Monsters seem to be built from the ground up as something new. And, while the idea is unique and cool at times...I don't think it fits in YGO.

 

Again, in regards to Shadow Summoning not being any previously seen type of Summoning and Shadow Effects similarly jumping over most specific types of negation, it just seems unnecessarily complicated. Gemini Summoning is Normal Summoning, after all; just a specific kind of it. Saying you're banishing them to make them less accessible just means all of their support cards wouldn't have to touch the GY ever. You might as well not call them monsters and be done with it.

 

Wow, re-reading this was harsh, and I know I can't just apologize now for my tone, as I don't know how to rephrase it without saying how I feel about it. But I am sorry that I was unable to say anything nicer on it. Again, I do like the call-back to Gemini Summoning, and the revealing doesn't get enough love in YGO, but there are quite a few flaws in this idea. But hey, that's what comments are for right? Ironing out the holes.

 

Also, if you do disagree with my logic, that's fine. I can understand how far I might be straying from your original vision when you created these cards, and my suggestions would be contrary to that vision. But again, just my thoughts. Hopefully I wasn't too rude, and more helpful than I can see.

I appreciate the feedback. You're right. This is what comments are for. Anyway, I'm glad you did point out the things you did. They made me think about them and tbh, I had never thought of those ideas before. I fixed the Original Post to address each of the specified areas of concern, and actually chamged it to be more like Normal Summoning by making it to only once per turn. And it even is treated as Normal Summoning, but you can still conduct your Normal Summon on the same turn. Thx for the input, and if anyone else would like to review them, plz do.

[Dova]

Can you Pendulum a Shadow Monster if its stars are between your Pendulum Scales? And if so you do so from face-up in the Extra Deck (assuming said monster is a Pendulum Monster as well), does it gain its effects, or do you have to Shadow Summon it again.

 

Also, being treated as another form of Normal Summoning...wow. I do like that that's where you decided to take it, as it gets around Solemn Strike and similar cards.

[xlArisenRoselx]

Can you Pendulum a Shadow Monster if its stars are between your Pendulum Scales? And if so you do so from face-up in the Extra Deck (assuming said monster is a Pendulum Monster as well), does it gain its effects, or do you have to Shadow Summon it again.

 

Also, being treated as another form of Normal Summoning...wow. I do like that that's where you decided to take it, as it gets around Solemn Strike and similar cards.

Erm, yes. U have the Pendulum bit's down exactly, I just forgot to write them (clumsy me). Yes, you would have to Shadow Summon them again, but it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. And, a Pendulum/Shadow monster would be interesting, considering they would go to the ED instead of being banished.... Anywho, updated.

 

Also side note, I just realized that without even trying, I just made these cards unable to access my favorite ED monsters lol.

[Dova]

Decide to make one to see how it looked. It's a rather half-assed job, true, but if you squint with an eye closed it looks almost decent.

 

 

Don't like the red color of the stars circles; feel it clashes with the grey of the actual template and the black of the stars.

[xlArisenRoselx]

Hmmmm.... You're right. Maybe make them a blue-ish color? Idk, that might work better. If not, try the same color orange that regular monsters use.

[xlArisenRoselx]

Bump