This thread is a showcase for my Custom Card archtype "Xeno / Facehugger". (AKA Alien) My cards are balanced mostly for use with themselves, but have restrictive but fair PSCT to generally stop them from being abused with other cards. (Both in the game itself, and with your own "balanced" custom cards) I focus on creating cards that are unique and fun to play, so they often have powerful effects and distinct weaknesses. This makes balancing them tricky, so if you can point out an unseen broken aspect to a card I will errata it. Please give me feedback, but be constructive.
Key Cards:
Absolute Isolation - Field Spell Card
"Neither player can Special Summon monsters. Effects of monsters in the hand and graveyard cannot be activated. Negate any card effect that would move a card(s) in the Deck to a different place. A player who controls this card cannot Normal Summon or set monsters. This card cannot be removed from the field except by a card effect that specifically targets a Field Spell(s)."
This card forms the backbone of this decks playstyle. Themed around the original "Alien" movie and the "Alien Isolation" deck, it is designed to leave the opponent feeling powerless, alone, and frightened. This forces the opponent to adapt to this deck on the fly. it also strongly restricts this deck to using only cards specifically designed to be used with it, as it's effect is very restrictive to the user as well.
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Facehugger - Quickplay Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
Target one opponent's Monster: Equip this card to that monster. It cannot attack, and its effect(s) are negated. During your Main Phase, except during the turn this card was activated: Tribute the equipped monster; Activate one "Xenomorph" card from your hand or graveyard, ignoring its activation conditions.
This card is the key piece in the engine of the deck. You'll notice the effects already starting to get a little weird, with things like not being treated as a Spell Card, a quickplay turning into an equip card, and activating cards directly from the graveyard. It'll all make sense after the next entry.
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Xenomorph Drone - Normal Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
Pay 800 LP: Place this card in your monster zone (This is not a summon, this is not a monster). While in a monster zone: This card conducts all aspects of battle as if it is an Attack Position monster with 2000 ATK. If this card destroys a monster in battle: You can pay 500 LP; Draw 1 card (Ignoring the effect of "Absolute Isolation").
With this entry the strangeness of this deck can start to sink in. On first glance this might seem confusing, but it's actually pretty simple. They act closer to tokens than trap monsters, with the distinct effect of not being a spell, or a monster. This means to destroy them you need cards that destroy generic "cards", not monsters or spells. Like Link monsters they have no DEF and cannot be in defense mode. All Xenomorph monsters fit this same theme, but as this one lets you draw, it is a key piece of the engine of the deck.
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Xeno Evolution - Acid Blood - Continuous Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
You can only control one "Xeno Evolution - Acid Blood". If your opponent activates a card effect or declares an attack that causes a "Xenomorph" or "Facehugger" card to leave the field: Inflict 1000 damage to your opponent for each of those cards. (This card does not need to be face-up on the field for this effect to resolve.)
This card acts as one of the main forms of defense for this deck, as the deck swarms the field with medium sized monsters that aren't incredibly hard to destroy. Nuking the field can result in an instant duel loss for the opponent while this card is face-up, though it's often such a deterrent the opponent will play around it more often then they will be hit by it. The deck doesn't need it to function, however.
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Xeno Hive - Swarm Brood - Normal Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
Add one "Xeno" card from your deck or graveyard to your hand (Ignoring the effect of "Absolute Isolation"). You can only activate one "Xeno Hive" card per turn, and only once that turn.
One of two "searcher" cards in this deck. The other is exactly the same, just replace "Xeno" with "Facehugger", as the archtype is broken into pieces to balanced the facehugger cards from being abused. These cards are not only a hard once per turn, they stop the other from being activated as well. The offer a free, powerful search through the field spell, so this restriction makes them fair.
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Xenomorph Chestburster - Normal Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
Can only be activated by the effect of "Facehugger". Target the opponent's monster that left the field as the result of that "Facehugger"'s activation: Pay 1000 LP; Place this card in your monster zone (This is not a summon, this is not a monster). While in a monster zone: This card conducts all aspects of battle as if it is an Attack Position monster with the target monsters ATK, and it's effect becomes that targeted monster's effect.
This is probably the nastiest card in the deck. If any of them are broken, it's this one as "steal an effect" can be very unpredictable. It's a sort of tricky situational card, but if it goes off it can really serve to scare the opponent, as it combines their best card with the inherit immunity of Xeno archtype.
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Facehugger Egg - Continuous Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
During either player's turn, if your opponent controls a monster: You can send this card you control to the graveyard; Attach one "Facehugger" from your hand, graveyard, or face-down on your side of the field to one of those monsters. You can only activate this effect of "Facehugger Egg" once per turn.
One of only two "Facehugger" cards, this card serves a very key part of keeping your field presence up and your engine going. It can be defensive or aggressive, and serves as yet another means of trying to unnerve the opponent with cards that can seem more threatening than they actually are. (Not that it's not threatening, it's just not as broken as it can seem at first glance)
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Xenomorph Queen - Normal Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
Tribute one card in your monster zone; Place this card in that monster zone (This is not a summon, this is not a monster). While in a monster zone: This card conducts all aspects of battle as if it is an Attack Position monster with 2500 ATK. Once per turn you can pay 500 LP; Target 1 "Facehugger" card in your Graveyard, add it to your hand.
One of two bosses of this deck. A bit underwhelming in terms of ATK for a boss, but it's effect makes it a great way of upping your field presence as your momentum increases. Keep in mind, these monsters don't "Normal Summon" so you can pay LP to summon/activate one Xeno and then tribute right away for this one. If you pay her LP cost you can go +1 balancing out that -1 so it's a -0.
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Xeno-Titan Swarm King - Normal Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
If you control two or more face-up "Xenomorph" cards: Place this card in your monster zone (This is not a summon, this is not a monster). While in a monster zone: This card conducts all aspects of battle as if it is an Attack Position monster with 100 more ATK than the opponent's monster it is currently conducting battle with.
The second boss of this deck, and it's only real out to high ATK monsters it can't deal with otherwise. It's effect is weird, and situational, but it's an important card in the arsenal and serves as a shining example of "the best defense is a good offense" as it's main purpose is to scare opponents off of attacking the 2k~average ATK monsters you have out.
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Xeno Evolution - Adaptive Form - Quickplay Spell Card
(This card is not treated as a Spell Card at any time.)
If an opponent's card effect causes a "Xeno" or "Facehugger" card face-up on your side of the field to leave the field: "Xeno" and "Facehugger" cards you control are immune to the effects of all cards with that same name for the rest of the duel. You can only activate "Xeno Evolution - Adaptive Form" once per turn.
This is possibly the most over powered card in the deck, as it's hard for me to judge if it's concept is balanced. If it's not, I don't know if the card can be fixed, as I've already laid some hefty restrictions on it. I don't think I need to point out why this card is good, it's designed as the "back up button" on this deck, when it encounters a deck that seems to have an edge on it to keep it from being a blow out. However, it seems it can be a bit overwhelming to a deck already at a disadvantage. Of these cards, I feel it's the least balanced.
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(Please note, there are 5 more cards in this Archtype! They are all in the example deck bellow!)
Xenomorph - Example Deck Link
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