Hieratic Archetype

"Hieratic", known as "Hieroglyphic" (聖(せい)刻(こく) Seikoku) in the OCG, is an archetype consisting of LIGHT Dragon-Type monsters. One of the few sets of cards based on Egyptian motifs, they are based on Egyptian hieroglyphs and Ennead, a group of Egyptian gods in mythology.

The cards of this archetype relies on Special Summoning and destroying cards mainly by Tributing other "Hieratic" monsters. What makes this archetype powerful and interesting is that many of its monsters allow you to Tribute from your hand, in a manner similiar to Ritual Summoning.

There is another effect which all mid-Level monsters, such as Level 4, 5 and 6, have in common is that when they are Tributed, they are able to Special Summon a Dragon-Type Normal Monster either from the hand, Deck, or Graveyard. It is also mandatory to Special Summon, which means that even though you Tribute them for cost, this effect may still go through. So, despite the idea that you're getting rid of your own monster, you won't lose that much field advantage. Almost all "Hieratic" monsters have relatively simple Summoning conditions.

Playing Style

The greatest strength of this archetype lies in an ability that almost all its members possess: upon being Tributed, be it by cost or effect, you are able to Summon any Dragon-Type Normal Monster from your hand, Deck or Graveyard, at the cost of its ATK and DEF becoming 0. This gives the "Hieratic" archetype the ability to swarm the field and bring out powerful Xyz Monsters in a manner similar to "Wind-Up" and "Inzektor".

Another interesting thing to note is the ease of Summoning the archetype's regular members, and the ease of which you may activate their effects. For instance, both "Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet" and "Hieratic Dragon of Su" are capable of getting rid of problematic monsters or Spells/Traps simply by Tributing a "Hieratic" monster from your field OR hand. Not only that, but by Tributing a "Hieratic" monster, you activate its effect to Special Summon a Dragon-Type Normal Monster from your hand, Deck or Graveyard, which means you literally get to destroy your opponent's cards and get a free monster for your troubles.

Taking all these points into consideration, one should now be able to see the true worth of having a Level 8 Normal Monster with 0 ATK and DEF as the mascot. Not only can it be used for the effects of the other "Hieratic", but it can be Special Summoned by nearly any of the other "Hieratics", can be used with "Trade-In" or "Advance Draw", and being an easily Summonable Level 8 Normal Monster grants players access to the powerful "Thunder End Dragon", as well as the strongest card of the archetype, "Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis". Should one be fortunate enough to have three of them on the field, or two of them and one "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon", it would then be possible to Summon the strongest Xyz Monster - "Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon".

Since "Hieratics" can search any Dragon-Type Normal Monster at the cost of rendering them powerless, they can be used to support fusion monsters that use normal dragons as materials such as "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", "Meteor B. Dragon", and to a lesser extent "King Dragun".

you forgot their greatest diadvantege to ._. they go through hand to fast so you have to play them consivatroyl cause if you play big to fast and you opponet gets pass it well your going to be pertty much screwed unless you get a godly top deck XD

but other then that they are a awsome archetype ^^

mimgrim wrote:

you forgot their greatest diadvantege to ._. they go through hand to fast so you have to play them consivatroyl cause if you play big to fast and you opponet gets pass it well your going to be pertty much screwed unless you get a godly top deck XD

but other then that they are a awsome archetype ^^

I've got to agree with mimgrim. I tried to get people in the quiz to write an article, but nobody mentioned the bad parts. If you mention the bad part's, your writing skills and card knowledge become more extensive.

Overrated and over-hyped archetype which will be tier 2 at best in TCG.

eh im thinking they wil be tier 1.5 actaully cauase they are better then tier 2 but they aren't quite tier 1

They're sided against easier than Dark World, and that's saying something.
Maxx "C" (even though that's a main deck card), Ally of Justice Quarantine, Koa'ki Meiru Drago and Doom, Leeching the Light, Light-Imprisoning Mirror, Electric Virus (situational)...it's just so easy to side against.

I would say Tier 1.5 is pushing the limits of the deck. I find the disadvantages go hand in hand with the advantages in this deck. With a swath of weaknesses, I'd put it at a Tier 2 in general.

That being said, I'm still a fan of the archetype but I just do not find it as constistant as other archetypes out there.

So are Inzektor, Wind-Up and Rabbit. Just because they can be sided against easily doesn't make them any less broken

But it makes them easier to take care of, does it not?

Mask of Restrict kills the unprepared Hieratic player. I've done it before. xD

Interesting type. Since they're LIGHT, they're also Honest-able. But since Dragons already get ridiculous support, I usually avoid them ._.

@ don - all meta decks right now are easy to side against so that really doesent matter

@ zane - hieratics mainly have 1 disadvantage and that is hand control BUT if played right (aka if played consivorrally) for the first couple of turns (liek making sure to get rid of your opponets solemns and dark hole ect......) then yes they are tier 1.5. i really dont see how tier 1.5 is pushign it ._. the reason thye are better then tier 2 is because they can really beat tier 2 decks easy buuut they can't beat tier 1 decks to often :/ which puts them in tier 1.5

Here are some Weaknesses about this archetype :

Cards like "Mask of Restrict", "Fog King", etc. that prevents Tributes would lockdown this archetype's main goal of Tributing monsters. Also, "Light-Imprisoning Mirror" can also shutdown their effects in the Graveyard as their effects activate when Tributed (they go to the Graveyard this way), since all of them are LIGHT Attribute. Ally of Justice monsters, "Koa'ki Meiru Drago" and "Penumbral Soldier Lady" can pull their plug on the field also. Because most "Inzektor" cards like Inzektor Hornet don't care about being in the Graveyard, they can pose a decent threat against you. Since most of Hieratic cards are Level 5 or higher, "Verz Ophion" can put this Deck into almost perfect deadlock situation.
Finally, a huge problem with the Deck is that it is common to Dead Draw, which puts you in deep trouble, meaning once you lose all momentum to something like "Dark Hole", you might find yourself stuck until you find a card that can save you. This can be remidied somewhat with cards like "Trade-In" that lets you use your cards to draw more cards.