Ice Barrier " Ice Barrier " ( " Hyōkekkai " ) is an archetype consisting of WATER monsters resembling , for the most part , famous concepts , figures , warriors , and mythological beings of different Asian cultures . Their team symbol resembles a hexagonal snowflake . They focus on stymieing the opponent ' s attackers with their defensive monsters and plenty of Spell / Trap Cards to compensate for their inability to maintain hand advantage . The ace monsters of this archetype are the three Dragons and the three Generals of the Ice Barrier . Playing style . Most " Ice Barrier " monsters require another of their kind - usually , but not always , on the field - in order to activate their effects , which are oriented towards field advantage . For example , many " Ice Barrier " monsters have effects to protect other " Ice Barrier " monsters , be it from attacks ( " Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier " forbids all monsters of Level 4 or higher from attacking while its owner control another " Ice Barrier " ) or card effects ( " Dai - sojo of the Ice Barrier " protects all of your " Ice Barriers " from being destroyed by Spell / Trap Cards ) . These effects can overlap , making " Ice Barriers " capable of creating resilient fields if several of their monsters are out . One of the three Generals of the Ice Barrier , " Raiho " , does not need other " Ice Barrier " monsters for its effect to work , but it can stand on its own as well as complement their lockdowns by taking a toll on the opponent ' s hand if they rely on monster effects . Many of the " Ice Barrier " monsters are not very useful if alone , making this archetype have issues if not able to establish field presence . While not plentiful , Ice Barriers do have effects of their own to facilitate having several monsters out , such as " Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier " , and this is also assisted by the effects of their remaining two Generals , " Grunard " and " Gantala " . The aforementional " General Gantala of the Ice Barrier " is one of the archetype ' s trump cards , being a 2700 ATK monster that can Special Summon an " Ice Barrier " monster from its controller ' s Graveyard during each of their turns ' End Phase . It can revive any " Ice Barrier " besides other copies of itself , be it monsters such as " Defender of the Ice Barrier " to create or rebuild a defensive field , " General Raiho of the Ice Barrier " to apply more pressure , or even their Synchro Monsters , making it powerful and versatile . " Strategist of the Ice Barrier " can discard " Ice Barriers " from the hand to speed up the Deck . Specific monsters can be discarded by using " Strategist " in conjuction with " Medallion of the Ice Barrier " , making revival effects such as " Call of the Haunted " and " Back to the Front " viable options to build fields . " Medallion " can also be used to gather enough different names for the activation of " Magic Triangle " . " Prior of the Ice Barrier " is a multi - purpose card - it can be used for its easy Special Summon , quickly enabling another " Ice Barrier " monster ' s effect , or be used for its effect to Special Summon any other " Ice Barrier " monster from the Graveyard - the usual target being " Gantala " , as it can in turn revive more " Ice Barriers " turn after turn , but it can revive other monsters for Synchro and Xyz Summons as well . " Prior " himself can be easily retrieved by " Salvage " and " Surface " , making it possible to use a single copy of " Prior " several times . For the most part , " Ice Barriers " want to establish a solid field and , if possible , keep it . While they are definitely capable of Synchro Summoning with their own Tuner monsters , and all of their Synchro Monsters are very good , caution must be exercised - their Tuners themselves have defensive effects you must give up on in order to Synchro Summon , and " Ice Barriers " as a whole are not very good at gaining and keeping card advantage . Due to the archetype ' s lack of draw power , you can use cards like " Shard of Greed " and " Maxx " C " " . " Dewloren , Tiger King of the Ice Barrier " and its ability to return face - up cards to the hand make it possible for players to dedicate a build to it and use a variety of Spell / Trap Cards that remain on the field such as " Swords of Revealing Light " to pressure the opponent while you can replay them constantly as long as " Dewloren " is around . The many means of revival the " Ice Barrier " archetype has makes it difficult to break through " Dewloren " combos permanently without banishing it or returning it to the Extra Deck . Recommended Cards . Using a small monster lineup , keep it consistent and simple , relying on Spell / Trap Cards to keep you in the game long enough to capitalize off of the effects of " Gantala " and " Gungnir " . Since the entire archetype is made up of WATER monsters , it can benefit from using monsters such as " Barrier Statue of the Torrent " and " Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord " , the latter of which shrinks your opponent ' s hand size , making the effect of " General Raiho " even more potent . " Ties of the Brethren " can be used to create locks and combos with " Cryomancer " + " Dewdark " + " Secret Guards " , or with " Dance Princess " + " Spellbreaker " + " Strategist " . " Moon Mirror Shield " is a good way to protect the lower - ATK " Ice Barriers " from destruction in battle by always letting the equipped monster be 100 ATK stronger than the opposing monster . Official Konami Decklists . The following Decklists may or may not contain copies of cards that exceed the maximum amount allowed by the current Forbidden & Limited List . These should not be changed , as these Decklists are copied verbatim at the time they were published . Weaknesses . As " Ice Barriers " thrive on having several monsters on the field , an easy way of dealing with them is to not let them do so . Also , their lockdowns are never absolute and they rely on several monsters being on the field at the same time , so disposing of one or two of those will tip the field on your favor . You can also negate their effects , which makes them virtually useless , so cards like " Skill Drain " and " Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Tiger King " can work well . You can also prevent " Gantala " from swarming the field by using Special Summon - blocking cards , such as " Vanity ' s Emptiness " , " Archlord Kristya " , " Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo " , etc .