Bubble Matrix - My very First Custom Card Archetype!

[shineko13]

Hello! This is both my first time designing custom cards and my first time using Dueling Book / this forum. I would definitely appreciate any advice/reviews/etc.

To summarize, Bubble Matrix is an archetype of (primarily) Level 4 Water/Machine effect monsters focused around Face-Down banishing. The goal of the archetype is simple; normal summon/special summon monsters and build up counters on your field spell until you can either bring out a win-con monster or attack for game. The major weakness of this deck is the reliance on Normal and Special summons. The other is the deck's reliance on the field spell. Please let me know what you think!


Here are the Level 4 Monsters:


Bubble Matrix Programmer - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1454685

If this card is Normal Summoned, it gains 1 Bubble Matrix Counter. If this card is Special Summoned, add 2 Bubble Matrix Counters to all face-up Bubble Matrix Cards. Once per turn, if you control "Bubble Matrix" while this card is banished face-down you can (Quick Effect): send this card to your GY. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix Cavalry - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1454698

If a "Bubble Matrix Programmer" you control would be destroyed, you can (Quick Effect): Banish that "Bubble Matrix Programmer" face-down; Special Summon this card from your hand, Deck, or GY. This card's name may be treated as "Bubble Matrix Programmer" while on the field in face-up Attack Position. If this card is Special Summoned, it cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects and cannot be destroyed by battle. If this card is destroyed or banished, banish it face-down instead. If you do not control "Bubble Matrix", you cannot control more than 1 "Bubble Matrix Cavalry" at a time.



Bubble Matrix Encoder - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1454747


This card's name can be treated as "Bubble Matrix Programmer" while it is face-up on the field or in the GY. If this card is Normal Summoned, you can activate one of the following effects:
* Add 1 "Bubble Matrix" card to your hand from from your Deck or GY.
* Banish 1 "Bubble Matrix" face-down from your Deck or GY; add 1 "Bubble Matrix" card that has been banished face-down to your hand.
When this card is banished face-down, draw 1 card.
If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix Reaver - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1457802

This card's name may be treated as "Bubble Matrix Programmer" while on the field in face-up Defense Position. This card can attack while in face-up Defense Position. If it does, apply its DEF for damage calculation. If a "Bubble Matrix" monster you control declares an attack or if an attack is declared against a "Bubble Matrix" monster you control, you can (Quick Effect): equip this card to that monster. When this card is equipped to a monster, that monster gains ATK/DEF equal to this card's DEF. If the monster equipped with this card is destroyed, banish this card, that monster, and the card that destroyed that monster face down. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix Inheritor - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1455291

While face-up on the field, this card's name can be treated as "Bubble Matrix Programmer". When this card is Normal Summoned, you may add 1 "Bubble Matrix", "Bubble Matrix Programmer", "Bubble Matrix Neo Avatar", or "Akasha - Bubble Matrix Heir" from your Deck or GY to your hand. Once per turn, you can (Quick Effect): banish this card face-down from your field or hand; negate the Special Summon of a monster or the activation of a Counter Trap. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix Usurper - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1458103

When this card is Normal Summoned, if you do not have "Bubble Matrix - Override" in your hand, you can (Quick Effect): add it to your hand from your Deck or GY (This effect cannot be negated). If this card is used as a Synchro Material: change its level to any number from 1 to 4, and if you do, banish this card face-down if the Synchro Summon is not negated. When this card is banished face-down, you can (Quick Effect): add 1 "Bubble Matrix" Tuner monster to your hand from your Deck or GY. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.


Here are the Level 6 Monsters:


Akasha - Bubble Matrix Heir - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1455312

If you control "Bubble Matrix", this card can be Tribute Summoned without tributes, and if you do, this card's name can be treated as "Bubble Matrix Programmer" while face-up on the field. This card's Tribute Summon cannot be negated. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead. When this card is banished face-down, you can (Quick Effect): add 1 "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin" from your Deck or GY to your hand. Once per turn, you can (Quick Effect): banish this card face-down from your hand or your field and pay half your LP; flip all face-up cards your opponent controls face-down and then banish all face-down cards on the field face-down.



Bubble Matrix Neo Avatar - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1455235

If you control "Bubble Matrix", this card can be Tribute Summoned without tributes, and if you do, this card's name can be treated as "Bubble Matrix Programmer" while face-up on the field. Once per turn during your Draw Phase, if you draw a "Bubble Matrix" card you must (Quick Effect):
* If you draw a Monster Card, your opponent cannot Special Summon monsters from their Extra Deck while you control this card. (This effect cannot be negated.)
* If you draw a Spell/Trap Card, your opponent cannot add cards from their GY to their hand while you control this card. (This effect cannot be negated.)
This card's Tribute Summon cannot be negated. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.


Here are the Fusion/Ritual Monsters:


Bubble Matrix Moderator - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1454516

2 "Bubble Matrix Programmer"
Must first be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by Tributing the above cards you control. (You do not use "Polymerization".)
If this card is Special Summoned it gains 10 Bubble Matrix Counters. Once per turn, during your Standby Phase you can (Quick Effect): Remove 5 Bubble Matrix Counters from this card; add 2 Level 4 "Bubble Matrix" monsters to your hand from your Deck, and if you do, you can Normal Summon 1 Level 4 monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set during this turn. During your End Phase you can (Quick Effect): Banish this card face-down; Place 6 Bubble Matrix Counters on all face up "Bubble Matrix" cards. You may only activate 1 effect of this card each turn.



Bubble Matrix Administrator - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1452376

1 "Bubble Matrix Moderator" + 1 Level 4 "Bubble Matrix" monster
Must first be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by Tributing the above cards you control. (You do not use "Polymerization".) This card cannot be Special Summoned if you do not control "Bubble Matrix" with at least 20 Bubble Matrix Counters on it.
Once per turn at the start of Main Phase 1 you can (Quick Effect): pay LP equal to this card's ATK and then reduce this card's ATK to 0; add 1 "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin" to your hand from your Deck or GY. While you control this card face-up on your field, your opponent must pay any LP costs listed by your card effects (this effect cannot be negated). This card cannot be destroyed or Tributed by the opponent's card effects. This card's Special Summon cannot be negated.



Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1452418


You can Ritual Summon this card with "Bubble Matrix". Must be Ritual Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When "Bubble Matrix" is equipped to this card, this card gains all the effects of "Bubble Matrix", all Bubble Matrix Counters on "Bubble Matrix" are placed on this card, and its name becomes "Bubble Matrix". While you control this face-up card, you cannot lose the duel if your LP become 0. This card's ATK and DEF is equal to 200 x the amount of Bubble Matrix Counters it has. If this card has at least 30 Bubble Matrix Counters, you win the Duel. This card's Ritual Summon cannot be negated, it cannot be destroyed by battle, and it cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. You may only control 1 "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin" at a time.


Here are the Synchro Monsters:


Neo Akasha - Bubble Matrix Avatar - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1458059

1 Tuner monster + 1 or more "Bubble Matrix" monsters
If you control "Bubble Matrix" when this card Special Summoned, this card gains 10 Bubble Matrix Counters. Once per turn you can (Quick Effect): remove up to 7 Bubble Matrix Counters from this card; reduce this card's level by 1 for each Bubble Matrix Counter you removed. If this card is used as Synchro Material, banish it face-down. When this card is banished face-down, you can (Quick Effect): add 1 card that has been banished face-down to your hand or add 1 "Bubble Matrix Inheritor", "Akasha - Bubble Matrix Heir", or "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin" to your hand. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Invidia - Bubble Matrix Overclocker - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1458105

"Bubble Matrix Usurper" + 1 or more Machine Type monsters
This card's ATK/DEF is equal to half the combined ATK and DEF of the Synchro Materials used to Special Summon this card. When this card is Special Summoned, if you do not have "Bubble Matrix - Override" in your hand, you can (Quick Effect): add it to your hand from your Deck or GY (This effect cannot be negated). If this card is used as a Synchro Material: change its level to any number from 1 to 10, and if you do, banish this card face-down if the Synchro Summon is not negated. When this card is banished face-down, you gain LP equal to this card's combined ATK/DEF. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.


Here are the Link Monsters:


Pristinus - Bubble Matrix Primogenitor - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1457986

2 "Bubble Matrix" monsters
Once per turn, you can (Quick Effect): banish up to 2 monsters this card points to face-down or discard 1 card from your hand; add 1 Level 4 "Bubble Matrix" monster to your hand from your Deck or GY, and if you do, you must Special Summon it. Banish that monster face-down at the end of your turn. If this card is used as Link Material, you must send it to the Extra Deck instead of the GY. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Neo Pristinus - Bubble Matrix Alternative - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1458019

2 "Bubble Matrix" monsters
Once per turn, you can (Quick Effect): banish up to 3 monsters this card points to face-down; add 1 card that has been banished face-down to your hand. If that card is a "Bubble Matrix" monster, you must Special Summon it, and if you do, banish that monster face-down at the end of your turn if it is still on your field. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Neo Alaya - Bubble Matrix Incarnation - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1458117

3 or more "Bubble Matrix" Link monsters
When this card is Special Summoned (Quick Effect): banish all cards on the field and all cards in your hand and your opponent's hand face-down. During your End Phase, if this card is the only card on the field, you win the duel. This card cannot be targeted, destroyed, banished, removed from your field, or have its name, Type, Attribute, or ATK changed by card effects and cannot be destroyed battle. While you control this card, you cannot Special Summon any monsters. This card's effects cannot be negated. You cannot control more than 1 "Neo Alaya - Bubble Matrix Incarnation" at a time. You may only Special Summon 1 "Neo Alaya - Bubble Matrix Incarnation" per turn.


Here are the Traps:


Bubble Matrix - Override - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1458099

If this card is added to your hand by any means other than the effect of "Bubble Matrix - Override", "Bubble Matrix Usurper", or "Invidia - Bubble Matrix Overclocker", destroy it. If this card is added to your hand by the effect of "Bubble Matrix Usurper" or "Invidia - Bubble Matrix Overclocker", you must add this card to your opponent's hand. When this card is added to your hand by your opponent: banish all the cards in your hand and on your field face-down. During your End Phase or your opponent's End Phase, if this card is banished face-down, send it to the GY. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead. You cannot activate more than 1 "Bubble Matrix - Override" per turn.


Bubble Matrix - Instant Rescue - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1455365


If a "Bubble Matrix" card you control would be destroyed or have its effects or activation negated by a card effect, you can: banish this card face-down; negate all the effects of that card. If that card's effects are not negated, negate it's activation instead. If that card's activation is not negated, banish it face-down instead. If that card is not banished face-down, banish the "Bubble Matrix" card face-down and draw 2 cards instead. Once per turn at the start of your Draw Phase, if this card is banished face-down you can shuffle it into your deck. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix - Recycle Lost Data - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1454844

This card may be activated from the hand by paying half your LP. If a "Bubble Matrix" card is banished face-down, you can: discard up to 4 cards from your hand and then banish up to 3 cards in your GY face-down; shuffle all your cards that have been banished face-down into your Deck. If this effect is negated: banish all the cards in your opponent's hand face-down and then banish this card face-down; add 1 "Bubble Matrix" card to your hand from your Deck or GY. If you control "Bubble Matrix", card effects cannot negate this card's activation. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead. You may only activate 1 "Bubble Matrix - Recycle Lost Data" from your hand each turn.


Here are the Spells:


Bubble Matrix - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1452220

At the start of your Standby Phase and at the start of your End Phase, place 1 Bubble Matrix Counter on all "Bubble Matrix" cards you control. If a "Bubble Matrix" card you control would be destroyed, banished, or otherwise removed from your Field, you must place all of its Bubble Matrix Counters on this card. If you control "Bubble Matrix Administrator" you can (Quick Effect): remove 20 Bubble Matrix Counters from this card; Ritual Summon "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin", and if you do, equip this card to "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin". You cannot control "Bubble Matrix" in the Field Zone while this card is equipped to "Alaya - Bubble Matrix Origin". The activation of this card cannot be negated by card effects. The effects of this card cannot be negated by card effects. This card cannot be destroyed, banished, or otherwise removed from your Field by card effects.



Bubble Matrix - Awakening - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1457851

If you control "Bubble Matrix", draw 2 cards. If you do not control "Bubble Matrix": draw 3 cards and then discard 1; your opponent draws 1 card. If this card is banished face-down, add 10 Bubble Matrix Counters to a "Bubble Matrix" card you control. If the activation or effects of this card would be negated, banish it face-down. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix - Burst - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1452283

At the end of your Draw Phase, if you do not control "Bubble Matrix" or have "Bubble Matrix" in your hand: Pay 2000 LP; add 1 "Bubble Matrix" to your hand. If you do control "Bubble Matrix" or have "Bubble Matrix" in your hand: Banish this card face-down; add 1 Level 4 "Bubble Matrix" monster to your hand from your Deck or GY. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix - Firewall Breach - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1457616

Banish all the cards in your GY face-down; shuffle all your cards that have been banished face-down into your deck. For every "Bubble Matrix" card that you shuffle into your Deck, add 1 Bubble Matrix Counter to a "Bubble Matrix" card you control. If this card is banished face-down, you must: send all cards that have been banished that were not banished face-down to the GY; draw 1 card. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.



Bubble Matrix - Insight - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1457654

Add 1 "Bubble Matrix" Spell or Trap to your hand. If the activation or effect of this card is negated you can (Quick Effect): banish this card face-down; add 1 "Bubble Matrix - Insight" to your hand. If this card is banished face-down, your opponent must banish the top card of their Deck face-down. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead. You may only activate 1 "Bubble Matrix - Insight" per turn.



Bubble Matrix - Install Overdrive - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1455147

If you control "Bubble Matrix" you can equip this card to a "Bubble Matrix Programmer" you control. While equipped with this card, that card cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's card effects, it cannot be destroyed by battle, and it inflicts piercing battle damage. If "Bubble Matrix Programmer" inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent while equipped with this card, you can (Quick Effect): banish this card face-down; Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher "Bubble Matrix" monster that has been banished face-down. When this card is banished face-down, add 4 Bubble Matrix Counters to all "Bubble Matrix" monsters you control. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead.

Bubble Matrix - Invocation - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1457972

If you do not have a Tuner monster in your hand: banish this card face-down; add a Tuner monster to your hand from your Deck or GY. If that Tuner monster is a "Bubble Matrix" monster, you can Special Summon it. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead. You may only activate 1 "Bubble Matrix - Invocation" per turn.



Bubble Matrix - Reinforcements - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1455377

During your Standby Phase, if you control "Bubble Matrix" you can Special Summon Level 4 "Bubble Matrix" monsters until your field is full. Until the end of your turn, "Bubble Matrix" monsters cannot inflict more than 200 Battle Damage to your opponent and you can add a number of Bubble Matrix Counters to "Bubble Matrix" equal to the monster's level whenever the Special Summon of a monster is negated. Banish all "Bubble Matrix" monsters you control face-down at the end of your next Standby Phase. If this card would be banished, it must be banished face-down instead. You may only activate 1 "Bubble Matrix - Reinforcements" per turn.



Bubble Matrix - Seize Source Code - https://www.duelingbook.com/card?id=1454904

When your opponent adds a card to their hand, you can (Quick Effect): shuffle your hand into your Deck; force your opponent to reveal the cards in their hand and banish all but 1 of those cards face-down. If this effect is negated you can: banish this card face-down; your opponent must discard any cards added to their hand until the end of their next turn (this effect cannot be negated by card effects). If this card is banished face-down you can (Quick Effect): Place 1 "Bubble Matrix - Seize Source Code" or 1 "Bubble Matrix" from your Deck or GY at the top of your Deck. You may only activate each effect of this card once per turn.

[Play2X]

First things first... Are you actually allowed to bring banished face-down cards back in some way? Since I've only just returned to Yugioh a few weeks back I'm not really sure about that.

But aside from that, lets see... (these are just impressions, and testing it against those who actually care for custom cards is highly advised)
First, it feels like this deck is super consistent with Encoder, Cavalry and Inheritor in particular.
Second, a question on Reaver: Does the monster Reaver gets equipped to +2500 to both, or just the relevant stat? Not like it matters though, 2500 is damn high, and probably needs to be toned down to a 3 digit number I suppose. 1000 at best, I guess.
Again on Inheritor, a handtrap, that targets the most common 2 situations in Yugioh AND searches? This one might be too strong as well.
The Level 6ers in general seem really obnoxious and unfun to play against.

(Damn, have to go, I'll just leave this here for now, and look over the rest later.)

[shineko13]

First things first... Are you actually allowed to bring banished face-down cards back in some way? Since I've only just returned to Yugioh a few weeks back I'm not really sure about that.

But aside from that, lets see... (these are just impressions, and testing it against those who actually care for custom cards is highly advised)
First, it feels like this deck is super consistent with Encoder, Cavalry and Inheritor in particular.
Second, a question on Reaver: Does the monster Reaver gets equipped to +2500 to both, or just the relevant stat? Not like it matters though, 2500 is damn high, and probably needs to be toned down to a 3 digit number I suppose. 1000 at best, I guess.
Again on Inheritor, a handtrap, that targets the most common 2 situations in Yugioh AND searches? This one might be too strong as well.
The Level 6ers in general seem really obnoxious and unfun to play against.

(Damn, have to go, I'll just leave this here for now, and look over the rest later.)

Thank you for the feedback!

A note on Heir; it blows up your back row too. It face-down banishes all face-down cards on the field after flipping your opponent's cards down, which includes your back row. Sure, it'll proc the effects of other BM cards, but you lose the cards themselves, and you may not be able to activate all the effects in a favorable way.

As for Inheritor, its balanced around also being a tuner. If you use it as a hand trap, it becomes harder to summon your synchros.

Encoder, your other tuner, is balanced around needing to be normal summoned and having spell speed 1 effects. The main purpose of Encoder other than being a back up tuner is that since it is easy to negate/blow up, it can easily proc your traps.

Reaver is mostly a stall card. It can help you attack for game. It does boost both attack and defense, so you can stack Reavers and stick your equip spell on it, or stack Reavers on a Cavalry or some such and attack for game. I will consider lowering it to 1500. The reason its 2500 is to help it stall while it's the only monster on the field, and because it has no protection and blows up your monster too if it gets destroyed.

By the same token, a lot of the better support in this archetype is either unusable if you don't have the field spell or substantially worse. They are designed to combo into each other and deal with the inherent problems of all your cards face-down banishing themselves.

For example, Cavalry: you could just normal summon it, but if you do, it's just a worse alexandrite dragon. It is intended to force a replay by removing the target of battle from the field. If you don't have the field spell, it can't flood in response to a board wipe.

The better cards are harder to bring out out or are harder to use, etc.

[Play2X]

I found at least some time to talk with a few freinds about it, they also said that, so far, they haven't heard of any cards that would allow the return of face-dwon banished cards. They are better versed in yugioh than me, but their word is of course no gospel. I think it would be best if you find a nice judge, who has the time (and interest in custom) and ask them on the matter. For now at least, I think that returning face down banished cards is not possible or intended (it would also make some of the Pod cards insanely powerful. From the number of cards you made I don't think that you WANT to use them, but you could). For the other cards, I still haven't been able to watch over them, university started a few weeks ago, and even though I don't have to commute anymore thanks to that certain virus, teachers are worse than ever with homework and stuff. They must've figured that, if we're home the whole time, we can just do more stuff...

[shineko13]

I found at least some time to talk with a few friends about it, they also said that, so far, they haven't heard of any cards that would allow the return of face-down banished cards. They are better versed in yugioh than me, but their word is of course no gospel. I think it would be best if you find a nice judge, who has the time (and interest in custom) and ask them on the matter. For now at least, I think that returning face down banished cards is not possible or intended (it would also make some of the Pod cards insanely powerful. From the number of cards you made I don't think that you WANT to use them, but you could). For the other cards, I still haven't been able to watch over them, university started a few weeks ago, and even though I don't have to commute anymore thanks to that certain virus, teachers are worse than ever with homework and stuff. They must've figured that, if we're home the whole time, we can just do more stuff...

It is possible. Cards like Necroface can do it. Cards that specify things like banished monsters or spell/traps don't work because FD banished cards are just cards while in that state. They also do not count as having archetypes/attributes/etc., if I understand the ruling correctly. I may have to adjust the wording on some of the card effects. I tried to keep this ruling in mind when writing the effects, but I may have ended up incorrectly wording some of them due to space issues.

[Play2X]

I took a look at Necroface. The reason Necroface can return face-down banished cards is because it just takes ALL banished cards, regardless of state. I also don't know if face-dwon banished cards can activate their effects. Probably they can, but there are no similar cards yet... so it is really hard to tell.

[shineko13]

I took a look at Necroface. The reason Necroface can return face-down banished cards is because it just takes ALL banished cards, regardless of state. I also don't know if face-dwon banished cards can activate their effects. Probably they can, but there are no similar cards yet... so it is really hard to tell.

Thank you for the continued feedback! I discussed this with my friend and we couldn't come to a consensus. He directed me towards the YGO subreddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/yugioh/comment ... ?context=1

The consensus there was that such an effect would probably work as intended. Again, thanks so much!