Mechanic Uploaded! TERMINAL!

[R.Surraco]

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:

 

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:

 
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:

 

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".

[spoiler=Sample Cards]

 

 

 

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.

[Horu]

I wanna see more terminal monsters. The template looks pretty cool and the monsters are pretty cool. I like how they're like normal deck link monsters. Really makes them worth the effort.

[R.Surraco]

Thanks.

 

The template is here.

[Naidraug]

Really cool mechanic, with a beautiful template. A little complex, but that's Yugioh in a nutshell.

 

Fun fact, I also had a dream some years ago in which a weird looking card was used. I drew a sketch of the template that I saw, but have never done anything with it.

 

EDIT: How would the down pointing arrows work on these? Considering it doesn't appear to be able to go in the Extra Monster Zone?

[R.Surraco]

EDIT: How would the down pointing arrows work on these? Considering it doesn't appear to be able to go in the Extra Monster Zone?

 

....

 

....

 

Welp, gotta rewrite that part, then.

[Horu]

The down arrow could actually open a door for terminal spells/traps perhaps?

[R.Surraco]

The down arrow could actually open a door for terminal spells/traps perhaps?

Even I think that would be a lot.