[DPR] Twistempo Archetype, trying to not break the skipping Phases mechanic

[Nekomata]

An Archetype of slow EARTH Machine monsters that use the "skip Phases" mechanic. It includes Pendulums and Ritual monsters which use DEF to be Summoned.
[spoiler=More info:]
- It could lockdown entire swarming Archetypes with no S/T removal.
- If you go second, you have a really high chance of losing.
- It's the counterpart of the P-Rewind Archetype, which used ATK for Ritual Summoning.
- The names are just bad puns of Italian words related to time/clocks + an English word related to gadgets/machines.
- Available on Duel Portal!

I might need your opinion. The mechanic is pretty hard to handle, IMO.
 
EDIT:
Completely changed the Pendulum effects in all monsters. After testing, it was just useless and only created Spell Speed issues.
Simplified the effects of the Level 5 monsters.
 
[spoiler=Monsters]
[spoiler=Pendulums]

Twistempo Lanclock
Lv 3/Scale 2/EARTH/Machine/0/1600
Pendulum: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except “Twistempo” monsters.[/size]
Monster: At the start of your Standby Phase, if you control no cards: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If this card is Summoned: You can add 1 “Twistempo” Spell card from your Deck to your hand, and if you added “Twistempo Enchanted Zone”, return this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Twistempo Lanclock” once per turn.
Comment after testing: The first part works as intended. It's practically a free card each turn (if you Pendulum Summon, and that means losing Phases), and considering Flashpacer is a thing, it creates the right amount of advantage.
 

Twistempo Orologear
Lv 3/Scale 6/EARTH/Machine/0/1400
Pendulum: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except “Twistempo” monsters.[/size]
Monster: At the start of your Standby Phase, if you control no cards: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If this card is Summoned: You can add 1 “Twistempo” monster from your Deck to your hand, and if you do, return this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Twistempo Orologear” once per turn.
Comment after testing: Same as Lanclock. It saves from bricky hands while the Field Spell slows the game.
 

Twistempo Ritmachine
Lv 5/Scale 2/EARTH/Machine/0/2100
Pendulum: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except “Twistempo” monsters. While you control another “Twistempo” monster in the other Pendulum Zone, if a Phase(s) is skipped: You can target 1 card on the field; banish it.[/size]
Monster: This card can attack while face-up in Defense Position. If it does, apply its DEF for damage calculation. If this card is Pendulum Summoned: You can discard 1 "Twistempo" card from your hand, draw 1 card. If this card in the Pendulum Zone is Tributed: You can return 1 Level 3 “Twistempo” monster from face-up in your Extra Deck or in your GY to your hand.[/size]
Comment after testing: Never used to attack, honestly, but I'll keep it in case something goes wrong and to have more battling power in late game. And for now it's the only form of removal.
 

Twistempo Pendevice
Lv 5/Scale 6/EARTH/Machine/0/2100
Pendulum: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except “Twistempo” monsters. While you control another “Twistempo” monster in the other Pendulum Zone, if a Phase(s) is skipped: You can target 1 monster on the field; it gains 600 DEF.[/size]
Monster: This card can attack while face-up in Defense Position. If it does, apply its DEF for damage calculation. If this card is Pendulum Summnoned: You can return 1 “Twistempo” Quick-Play Spell or Ritual monster from your GY to your hand. If this card in the Pendulum Zone is Tributed: You can return 1 Level 3 “Twistempo” monster from face-up in your Extra Deck or in your GY to your hand.[/size]
Comment after testing: Pretty much same as Ritmachine.[/size]
Also sorry for the blurry pic. Its effect got updated so right now it's better if you only read the text.[/size]

[spoiler=Rituals]

Twistempo Time Deity
Lv 7/EARTH/Machine/0/3000
This card can attack while face-up in Defense Position. If it does, apply its DEF for damage calculation. While this card is on the field, each time a Phase(s) is skipped or ended by the effect of a card: This card gains 300 DEF for each Phase skipped and/or ended. During the opponent’s turn, if a Phase(s) is skipped or ended: You can target 1 face-up Spell/Trap card on the field; destroy it. If this card would be destroyed by battle or by card effects, you can make it lose exactly 1500 DEF instead.
Comment after testing: Boss monster you usually use, mostly because it can be searcher by Preparation of Rites. It gains lots of DEF, but never lasts more than 2 turns.
 

Twistempo Time Prince
Lv 9/EARTH/Machine/0/3500
This card can attack while face-up in Defense Position. If it does, apply its DEF for damage calculation. While this card is on the field, Field Spells cannot be targeted by your opponent’s card effects. If this card is the only monster you control, this card can attack twice during each Battle Phase, and if it attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step. While this card is on the field, each time a Phase(s) is skipped or ended by the effect of a card: This card gains 300 DEF for each Phase skipped and/or ended. If this card would be destroyed by battle or by card effects, you can make it lose exactly 1500 DEF instead.
Comment after testing: The protection is kinda useless, because if the opponent had the chance to MST Zone, they would've done it before you Summon this. Anyway, that's just literally the beatdown version of Deity.

[spoiler=Spells]
[spoiler=The Field Spell]

Twistempo Enchanted Zone
FIELD SPELL
This card can only be activated at the start your Main Phase 1, if you control no other cards. While this card is on the field, if the turn player Summons a monster(s): End the current Phase and skip Phases equal to the number of monsters Summoned -1. Once per turn, during the Draw Phase or during the Standby Phase: The turn player can activate this effect; Special Summon up to 2 Level 4 or lower monsters with different names from their hand. During the opponent’s turn, destroy this card if you control cards that are not “Twistempo” cards.
Literally the card that makes the Deck work. Since the concept itself is quite difficult to handle, there's the Archetype restriction, it's MSTable, it requires being activated at a specific time before you can make any play, it affects both players, it has an effect to help the opponent as well.
Comment after testing: It's less annoying than I though, so far. Decks can work using the SS effect, which benefit the opponent a lot since they're the one using it first. Also if they MST when you enstablished some field presence, it's gone, and you have to wait until the opponent clears your board before activating another one.

[spoiler=Quick-Play Spells]

Twistempo Déjà Vision
QUICK-PLAY SPELL
You can only activate this card during your turn if a Phase(s) have been skipped by the effect of a “Twistempo” card. Enter one of the skipped Phases.
Comment after testing: Super situational. You only use it if you Pendulum Summon a lot of stuff during the MP1 to enter the BP, but I need to test it more before saying anything.
 

Twistempo Prolenses
QUICK-PLAY SPELL
You can only activate this card if a Phase(s) have been skipped by the effect of a “Twistempo” card. End the current Phase.
Comment after testing: Ok, this one is worth to be played. It occasionally skips the opponent MP1 if you're able to Pendulum Summon 4 monsters at once. Still, they get their BP and MP2, so it's good only for late game.
 

Twistempo Distortion of Twisted Time
RITUAL SPELL
This card can be used to Ritual Summon any "Twistempo" Ritual Monster. Tribute monsters from your hand or field (including Pendulum Zones) whose total DEF is equal to or more than the DEF of the Ritual Monster you Ritual Summon. If this card is in your GY, if a Phase(s) is skipped: You can shuffle this card into your Deck; draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Twistempo Distortion of Twisted Time" once per turn.
Comment after testing: Works perfectly. Skipping a Phase isn't the same thing as Ending one, so the GY effect isn't as easy to trigger as I thought.
 

Twistempo Flashpacer
QUICK-PLAY SPELL
Add 1 “Twistempo” Spell from your Deck to your hand, except “Twistempo Flashpacer”. If this card is in your GY, if a Phase(s) is skipped: You can shuffle this card into your Deck; discard 1 card, and if you do, add 1 “Twistempo” monster from your Deck to your hand.
Too easy? You can't use Terraforming to search Enchanted Zone because then you wouldn't be able to play it. Remember you're counting on open first turn with Zone/this/Lanclock, otherwise you've basically already lost.
Comment after testing: Needed for consistency, I'd say. As for the GY effect, same as Zone's one.

[spoiler=New Cards]

Twistempo Time Jumpot

You can only activate this card during your Draw Phase by revealing 2 "Twistempo" Quick-Play Spells with different names in your hand. Roll a six-sided die; end the current Phase, then skip a number of Phases equal to the result of the die roll.

Here's the other way of skipping Phases without using the Field Spell. Btw, now Déjàvision becomes an essential card if you want to use this, because if you get 2 or higher you skip the MP1, and getting 4 or higher means MP2 gets skipped as well. Getting a 6 skips the opponent's Draw Phase, but at the cost of sacrificing your whole turn.

 

Twistempo Time Strapp QUICK-PLAY SPELL

This card can only be activated during your turn, if you control a "Twistempo" monster. Skip the opponent's next Standby Phase.

The Archetype really needed an easy way to skip a Phase.

 

Twistempo Romportal

Lv 3/Scale 2/EARTH/Machine/0/0

At the start of your Standby Phase, if you control no cards: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). If this card is Summoned, if you don't have cards in your Pendulum Zones: You can place 2 "Twistempo" Pendulum monsters with different Levels from your Deck in your Pendulum Zones. You can only use each effect of “Twistempo Romportal” once per turn.

Since you either draw Orologear or you can't use the Pendulum side of the Archetype, here's a semi-searcher.

 

 

[Nekomata]

Bump

[Nekomata]

Bump! Completely changed some effects after playtesting the Archetype. Some pics added too

Could somebody please take a look at these cards?

[Dova]

Confirming I will look at this, but it's late and I barely managed to finish Draconus' set. Been meaning to get to it for a while, sorry :(

 

Will either update this with the review, or, if you post after this, I'll make a new post so it's easier to see when I've done it. (no double posting >.>)

[Dova]

Making a second post so that you can see that I have actually done the review. If mods no like, they can just merge it.

 

Question time first:

 

When does Orologear return to the hand? "and if you" doesn't really say when; can't be the Field Spell, as it only adds monsters. Maybe it means Lanclock? Your Pendulum effects also don't match up with what's written on the image of the card; which one do I go with? Also, does the effect written on the images mean I get to Pendulum Summon three times during each turn? Once for the Standby Phase, once for the Battle Phase, and once for the actual Main Phase one? Why does Time Deity only destroy face-up Spell/Trap Cards? You don't have any other means of destroying Set cards. And, lastly, how exactly does Dejavision work? If I skip my Standby Phase, Main Phase 1, Battle Phase, Main Phase 2, then activate this card to enter to the Standby Phase, what happens when the Standby Phase ends? Do I enter the Main Phase 1 or End Phase?

 

Fun fact, your Field Spell destroys itself if you control any face-down cards, as they are technically not part of the archetype. Perhaps changing it to face-up cards could work? One could argue that controlling Set cards is not so important in a Quick-Play only archetype, but you need those cards in order to actually do things during your opponent's turn. Anyway, good way of making the Field Spell essentially extend to 9 cards, so that the archetype is less likely to brick, and I like how its searchers are all designed in order to make it activatable...but that doesn't change the fact that the archetype can do basically nothing if it doesn't open the Field Spell or one of its searchers. Plugging the math in, you have a 25.8% chance of opening none of the required cards if you go first, and a 19.2% chance of your hand plus the card you draw (either on your next turn or if you're going second) also being empty. That's about a 1 in 4 chance of having an open board every game. Why don't you set a card to remedy this situation? If your opponent does nothing about it (for example, this is the second game in a match), you will be unable to do anything about the problem you have with a field spell. Your only beaters are resource intensive, and unlike the SHS clause, you are required to Pendulum Summon the MD monsters before you can use their attacking effect.  Not to mention you're only getting back resources half the time with your Ritual monsters; monsters which I might add are nothing more than beaters without the Field Spell.

 

The only other card in the entire archetype that skips/ends phases is Prolenses, and that also relies on your Field Spell. 90% of the rest of the archetype does rely on the phase skipping granted by the field spell, not simply making the archetype ineffectual without the Field Spell, but completely dead. Also, as you mentioned, going second does make you dead. That's two big flaws in the archetype that aren't hard at all to exploit. All your opponent has to do is Summon Akashic Magician on their turn, give you a monster...and you're dead.

 

I've spoken about potential hands and the like, but you've playtested this, so you would know more about how they actually played than I do. My major suggestion though is to make a phase skipper that really archetypal, but otherwise not that restricted. Just a Normal or Quick-Play Spell or something; something else to potentially open without dying. Or you could give them more effects that didn't rely on the Field Spell to actually do anything. OR, even better, do both :P

 

Sorry if I sounded harsh; I'm not a huge fan of this mechanic, as it considering the massive skips granted by the field and other cards, preventing your opponent from doing anything during their Main Phase at all unless they have MST or Comic Cyclone, it seems to be a "You win immediately or lose immediate" archetype. But, let me ask; how much back and forth actually is there when you play this? Have you ever seen your opponent regain the upper hand temporarily for you to hit them back? Or does either one or the other happen?

[Nekomata]

Answer time first, then.

 

As written on the "edit" part, I changed the Pendulum effects, so clearly the images show the outdated version, since that effect was just impractical to use and not worth it. The text shows the current version of the cards.

Orologear returns to the hand no matter which monster you pick. Forgot the "do" after the "and if you", it was just a typo.

Deity only destroys face-up S/T because it's easy Summonable and if you have the Field Spell on, the condition for that effect is literally "each time a monster(s) is Summoned", so I thought it would've been op.

Déjàvision "nullifies" the effect of the Field Spell, but only if you Summon more monsters at once. If I Pendulum Summon 2 monsters during MP1, MP1 ends, BP gets skipped, (now effects that say "if a Phase is skipped" trigger); then I can use that card to enter the BP and the turn proceeds regularly. In your example, you get MP1, and since there's nothing that say the following Phases have to get skipped, the turn continues normally with the BP.

Might change the Field's autodestruction to "face-up". Thought a face-down card doesn't have a name, as it's not considered a "Twistempo" card, but it's not a "card" either. Those two words may help clarifying.

 

As for the playstyle and bricking attitudine of the Archetype, yes, that was the huge nerf needed to balance that mechanic. Skipping Phases automatically creates an anti-meta slowing Deck, so those restrictions are needed. Not that the Archetype can't do anything without it. It can still use its Pendulum monsters to generate advantage, and the Rituals do last a while).

 

As you noticed, I don't have other cards that skip Phases. Prolenses is literally "one more" after using the Field Spell (also really punishing if your opponent decides to get 2 monsters at once, for example using Zone's effect during the DP to SS 2 monsters). But that's because a card that skips Phases really need a lot of restrictions. So I'd say the fact that there are multiple ways to make this Archetype dead before even it starts its plays kinda balances the fact that once it gets working, the opponent has no escape.

 

After playtesting, there has been one time that I wasn't able to grab the Field Spell first turn, so what? I played it as a regular Pendulum Archetype, blocking the opponent's monsters, until I got the Field, Summoned a Ritual, and then just went with it. Changing effects? Sure, I'm making the Lv5s not relying on skipping a Phase to trigger their recovery effect.

 

And yeah, the SS effect on Zone completely balances everything, since the opponent can not only use it first, but basically gets 2 free Summons. Further testing might reveal other problems and/or solutions. Thanks for the review!

[Dova]

Missed the edit part lol; my mistake. Makes sense.

 

Two more comments: Firstly, the face-down card being considered a card is something you see in Burning Abyss, as their effects send themselves to the GY if you control a monster that is not a BA monster, and controlling a Set monster, which is not a BA monster, sends them to the GY anyway.

 

As for the phase-skipping, this phrase of yours:

 

So I'd say the fact that there are multiple ways to make this Archetype dead before even it starts its plays kinda balances the fact that once it gets working, the opponent has no escape.

 

I think the main point I was trying to get at was that I disagree with this from a design standpoint, but fun is subjective, and I guess subjugating your opponent is fun for you. I just hate bricking more :P

 

But yeah, again, subjective. I gave my review and you responded well. Glad some people do understand that you're able to listen to what we say while disagreeing with it :3 Happy to give my thoughts!

[Nekomata]

Thanks again!

I edited the pics of the monsters so they now show the updated effect (except Pendevice, I gotta find a better not blurry photo).

[Dova]

Set Rotation would be a cute tech in this Deck. Being a Quick-Play, it could be another way to get out your Field Spell. Shame it's Limited, but if your opponent activates theirs...you're skipping Double Phases :P

 

Have you tried the mirror match?

[Nekomata]

Set Rotations require you to run 2 different types of Field Spells, and obv the opponent wouldn't activate it if you give Zone to them.

 

Mirror matches would be crazy. Literally it'd double the effect of Zone. Now I want to try having one :P

 

There's so much to discover about this mechanic

 

EDIT: Added 2 cards to solve the Pendulum and the "if you destroy the Field you have no way of skipping Phases" issues.