ARTICLE: Nordic Deck Profile
The Nordic gods. When we saw them nearly trounce Team 5Ds, we all waited impatiently for their release and raved about how broken they were. But, like all cards of that caliber, their effects had to be highly toned down my Konami. Once it was revealed that the gods had been nerfed, most people forgot about them. But at the release of STOR, Konami highly promoted the Nordic archtype and the gods, reviving a little interest in them. Then came YCS Carolina. Jeff Jones was tired of the format so he decided to run something "fun". Jeff only had 10 hours to make his version of Nordics, and he was going against the top tier decks of the format, played by top tier duelists. So what happened? He went 8-3 at the YCS, almost making the Top 32, and later he went 7-1 at his locals. He stated the only reason he didn't top was because in his haste, he forgot to add Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter so he didn't have as many outs to Royal Oppression. Clearly the deck has potential, and now people realize something: the gods are STILL broken. They aren't indestructible anymore or an insta-win, but their off-the-charts attack scores and revival effects make them a force to be reckoned with. And despite the fact that they aren't generic, Aesir-based decks can do well for the fact that they actually have some decent support. So let's look at them, shall we?
.::The Cards::.Odin, Father Of The Aesir- Spoiler:
"Once per turn, you can activate this effect to make this card unaffected by the effects of spell/trap cards until the end phase. During the end phase, if this face-up card on the field was destroyed by your opponent's card (either by battle or by card effect) and sent to the graveyard this turn, you can remove 1 Nordic Ascendant tuner from your graveyard to special summon this card from the graveyard. When it is special summoned by this effect, you can draw 1 card."
The boss. He has incredible attack and defense, and his invulnerability effect makes it likely that he will stay around for a while. Note that you cannot use his effect to save him from Torrential or Bottomless. His revival effect is my favorite. If the opponent tries to kill him by using 1 for 1 methods, he comes back anyway and I draw a card, giving me a +2. Often however, you will only be able to revive him once, so keep that in mind. He is a little harder to get out than Thor because the Nordic Beasts are better than the Nordic Ascendants, but easy nontheless.
Run 1-2
Thor, Lord Of The Aesir- Spoiler:
"Once per turn, you can negate the effects of all face-up monsters your opponent controls until the end phase. During the end phase, if this card in the field was destroyed by an opponent's card (either by battle or by card effect) and sent to the graveyard this turn, you can remove 1 Nordic Beast tuner from your graveyard to special summon this card from your graveyard. When it is special summoned by this effect, inflict 800 damage to your opponent."
Wow, what can I say? Thor is simply amazing. His attack is wonderful, putting him above even Shooting Star Dragon. And he can negate Shooting's effect so it can't "run away" from him. He can also negate Red Nova Dragon's effect, putting them on the same level...except Red Nova can't revive himself later and inflict 800 damage. Thor is also the easiest to summon by far, the synergy of White Goat, Black Goat, and Guldfaxe works extremely well. Just like the myth, despite Odin being slightly stronger and better, Thor will see more action and will therefore be loved/hated more. Whether or not Konami did that on purpose, I don't know. Like Odin, running more than 1 isn't a good idea because of space issues, however, since Thor is easiest to summon, it wouldn't hurt at all to have 2 copies. However, it's also usually smarter to summon a level 7 instead of another Thor if you already have 1 Thor. Ancient Sacred Wyvern is an especially good choice since it will often have 5000+ attack after you've thrashed the opponent a bit with Thor.
Run 1-2
Loki, Lord Of The Aesir- Spoiler:
"Once per turn, when your opponent activates a spell/trap card during your battle phase, you can negate it's activation and destroy it. During the end phase, if this card was destroyed by an opponent's card (either by battle or by card effect), you can remove 1 Nordic Alfar tuner from your graveyard to special summon this card from the graveyard. When it is special summon by this effect, you can select 1 trap card from your graveyard and add it to your hand."
The weakest Aesir. His attack, while still good, falls short of the others. Moreover, there's not really that good of a way to summon him. The only Nkrdic Alfar tuner (until recently) has been an extremely crappy level 5 tuner. Because of Vanadis, you can still use Loki in a competitive deck, but why would you ever want to summon Loki instead of Odin? Besides being highly superior, Odin can remove Vanadis to revive himself, and Loki can't. Perhaps with the release of Mara Of The Nordic Alfar this card will see some play: it is a god after all, and retrieving a Solemn Warning is nothing to laugh at. But for now I would advise against using him.
Run 0-1
Guldfaxe Of The Nordic Beasts- Spoiler:
"If your opponent controls a face-up synchro monster and you control no monsters, you can special summon this card from your hand"
"The horse". This is going to be your main tuner. The best Nordics are the Nordic Beast sub-archtype, plus it's highly searchable, so this card is needed in multiple copies. Multiple copies also allow you to revive Thor more times. It's attack is decent as well, and with the amazing field presence that Nordics have, even drawing multiple Guldfaxe isn't bad really. I have used his effect a total of 1 time, but it comes in handy sometimes after your opponent Dark Holes you and then synchros, and some extra special summoning for a deck that already has great field presence never hurts.
Run 3
Tanngjostr Of The Nordic Beasts- Spoiler:
"When a monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, when this defense position card on the field is turned to attack position, you can special summon one Nordic Beast monster from your deck in face-up defense position, except Tanngjostr Of The Nordic Beasts."
"The Black Goat". Now this card is what really helps with the swarming. Both of his effects are great. Many of your monsters you want to be attacked, so you get a free special summon out of a monster's death. And don't forget, you can summon him in defense mode, so next turn you can switch him to attack and get a +1. Him + The White Goat make it just too easy to get out Thor. Even if White Goat's tokens die, you can special him too for extra defense and synchro fodder. He's searchable by Super-Nimble Mega Hamster also, which is the best part. The attack into Hamster, you get a +0-+1 (depending on if Hamster dies). Next turn you flip Black Goat and get another +1. Usualy in that situation you would summon Guldfaxe, which means any level 7 (or level 8 I you still have Hamster) synchro is now available
Run 3
Tanngrisnir Of The Nordic Beasts- Spoiler:
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon 2 Nordic Beast Tokens (Beast-type/EARTH/Level 3/ATK 0/ DEF 0).
"The White Goat". I love this card <3. This is one of the reasons that your opponent will never want to attack you. You have this guy, Hamster, Ryko, and Black Goat to worry about if they attack into a set monster...not to mention your traps. He makes summoning a god seem like a walk in the park. He dies, summon 2 tokens, summon Guldfaxe or Vanadis and there ya go. With this guy, a set Hamster can turn into a wall of 4 monsters. Even if him and all of your tokens get destroyed...that means your opponent had at least 3 monsters on the field, and White Goat most likely saved you from losing. Despite all of this, he isn't necessarily needed at 3. He's searchable by Black Goat, Hamster, and Fetters, so at 2 you'll have him when you need him. But some people (like me) like him at 3, and it doesn't hurt at all to have him on hand. Depends what tech you want really.
Run 2-3
Vanadis Of The Nordic Ascendant- Spoiler:
"You can substitute this card for any 1 Nordic tuner for a synchro summon. If this card is used as a synchro material monster, all other synchro material monsters must be Nordic monsters. Once per turn, you can send 1 Nordic monster from your deck to the graveyard to change this card's level to the level of the monster sent to the graveyard, until the end phase."
The substituting effect makes it instantly a staple in any Nordic varient. You can pull out the best god for the situation, which usually is Odin, since he is the strongest, best defended, and can revive himself by removing Vanadis. Many Nordic fans love this card and pack 3 copies of it...but they don't realize one thing: it doesn't do anything. Yeah sure, it can change it's level. Who cares? You want it to be level 4 so you can summon a god. Unlike most Nordic Beasts, it doesn't do anything helpful, and it's attack is somewhat abyssmal. Moreover, unlike Guldfaxe, it cannot tune with non-Nordics. It's not a huge drawback, but it is a drawback. All in all, it's great support, but you don't want it until you're ready to summon a god. And with 3 Fetters to get her whenever you want, it's not a problem to have her at 1. Some people run 2 so they can dump the 2nd Vanadis so Odin can be revived more than once. That's a decent idea but I personally don't like the extra dead draw it gives.
Run 1-2
Valkyrie Of The Nordic Ascendant- Spoiler:
"When this card is normal summoned, if your opponent controls a monster and you control no cards, you can remove from play 2 Nordic monsters from your hand to special summon 2 Einherjar Tokens (Warrior-type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) in defense position."
When I first saw Odin being summon by this card, I thought "if this card comes out for real, the gods will just be way too easy to summon". Well it does give an easy way to summon Odin, I'll give it that. But everything else about it I don't like. First, your field has to be completely empty and your opponent has to have a monster. That isn't impossible but it doesn't happen all that much with all the field presence this deck has. Second, it removes them from play. Nordic decks use Pot Of Avarice so it's disappointing that they are removed instead of discarded with no way to come back. Third, her attack and defense are terrible. Fourth, Effect Veiler. If your opponent uses it, you get a -1 and you're left with an extremely wimpy monster when your opponent has a monster to attack it with. To me, it's not worth the times when it is dead (which is a lot). However, an Odin out if nowhere is nothing to sneeze at, so that's why I included it in the Nordics that don't suck.
Run 0-1
Mara Of The Nordic Alfar- Spoiler:
"If this card is used for a synchro summon, the other synchro material monsters are 2 Nordic monsters in your hand"
Now this guy is interesting. I can't attest to his usefulness since th last time I used Nordics, he hadn't come out yet. But interestingly enough, he is Valkyrie without the drawbacks of Valkyrie. The materials go to the grave to fuel Avarice. It can't be Effect Veiler'd. You can control cards and your opponent doesn't have to control a monster. And as a side note, it's a Nordic Alfar that doesn't suck: meaning that Loki may finally see some play. But let's look at him again. He's only level 2. Getting Loki out with only a level 2 monster is kinda difficult. If we included level 4 non-tuner Nordics, that would be a different story, but the Nordics that fit the bill don't do much by themselves. Do we really want to add them just so we can bust out Loki, even though they don't really do anything? So is Mara a viable tech? I don't really know yet, I haven't thought about it enough and of course haven't tested it yet either. But I would say if you ran it to only run 1 unless you change the basic build a lot. Also note that he's an effective way to get out other synchros besides the gods as his effect isn't limited to summoning the Aesir like, say, T.G. Cyber Magician.
Run 0-1
Gleipnir, The Fetters Of Fenrir- Spoiler:
"Add 1 Nordic monster from your deck to your hand."
Not much to say here. A Reinforcement Of The Army for Nordics that you can have 3 of.
Run 3
.::The Deck::.Nordics (40)
Monsters: (19)
3x Guldfaxe Of The Nordic Beasts
3x Tanngjostr Of The Nordic Beasts
3x Tanngrisnir Of The Nordic Beasts
1x Vanadis Of The Nordic Ascendant
3x Super-Nimble Mega Hamster
2x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
2x Effect Veiler
2x Thunder King Rai-Oh
Spells: (9)
1x Monster Reborn
1x Dark Hole
1x Giant Trunade
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Pot Of Duality
2x Pot Of Avarice
Traps: (12)
1x Mirror Force
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Solemn Judgement
2x Solemn Warning
2x Dimensional Prison
3x Gleipnir, The Fetters Of Fenrir
1x Trap Stun
1x Seven Tools Of The Bandit
Extra: (15)
1x Odin, Father Of The Aesir
1x Thor, Lord Of The Aesir
1x Trishula, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier
1x Stardust Dragon
1x Scrap Dragon
1x Colossal Fighter
1x Red Dragon Archfiend
2x Black Rose Dragon
1x Ancient Sacred Wyvern
1x Scrap Archfiend
1x Ancient Fairy Dragon
1x Brionac, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier
1x Orient Dragon
1x Ally Of Justice Catastor
Before I close, I want to point out something: just because you have the opportunity to summon an Aesir doesn't mean you should. If the opponent has 4 set cards, don't summon an Aesir! That's dumb! Summon BRD instead! If he has Warning (which he probably does), you lose one less monster than you would have summoning a god. If he doesn't, you just blew up his backfield and got some good advantage. Just remember, hav fun swarming, but play smart with your gods. Know when and when not to use them
. Peace out
~Harper7000
