Sylvan " Sylvan " ( Japanese : " Shinra " ) is an archetype of Plant monsters that debuted in " Legacy of the Valiant " . In the " TCG " , " Sylvan " cards pioneered a new game term , " excavate " . Design . Appearance . Each " Sylvan " monster is based on various plants and take on a variety of occupations . Etymology . The Japanese word " shinra " is shortened from " shinrabanshō " ( 森羅万象 ) meaning " all things in nature " , hence the plant - life motif . The word " " refers to an association with the woodland , specifically that which inhabits the wood , is made of tree materials , or comprises the forest itself . Playing style . Almost all " Sylvan " monsters have the common effect of excavating a number of cards from the top of the Deck , and sending any excavated Plant monsters to the Graveyard . In turn , the other effects of the Main Deck " Sylvan " monsters activate when they are excavated from the Deck and sent to the Graveyard . Their basic playing style involves excavating other " Sylvan " monsters from the Deck and sending them to the Graveyard , in order to activate their effects , ranging from card destruction to monster revival . Their effects also let the player , if no Plant monsters were excavated , send potentially dead draws to the bottom of the Deck , thus allowing good draw advantage . However , this mechanic can also place handy cards on the bottom of the Deck , so before blindly excavating the cards , it is recomended to use effects that reorder the cards on the top of the Deck , in order to make the most of the strategy . Cards like " Sylvan Charity " and " Mount Sylvania " are indispensable for the Deck for this very reason . When playing " Sylvans " , there is a tendency not to rely on Normal Summons , facilitating the use of " Miracle Fertilizer " without heavy repression . Such plays could include discarding " Sylvan Hermitree " with " Mount Sylvania " and then having the advantage placing the card desired by its owner . Then " Miracle Fertilizer " can be used to revive " Hermitree " to excavated the stacked " Sylvan " and draw a card . One of the advantages of " Sylvan " is the lack of adding cards from the Deck to the hand , placing them on the top of the Deck , instead . While this may seem disadvantageous , by using cards such as " Shared Ride " or " Mistake " one can punish the opponent for adding cards or stopping them altogether , thus keeping with the pace of the Duel or slowing the opponent down without affecting the playing style of " Sylvan " player . This advantage becomes apparent against Decks that rely on adding cards to the hand , such as " Raidraptor " , " Monarch " , " Tellarknight " , etc . , or lockdowns involving " Thunder King Rai - Oh " . The boss monsters of the archetype are " Orea , the Sylvan High Arbiter " and " Alsei , the Sylvan High Protector " . The latter ' s effect excavates the top of the Deck and then bounces cards on the field without targeting them , up to the number of Plant monsters excavated and sent to the Graveyard . This effect can be used to recycle cards like " Miracle Fertilizer " and / or take target - immune opposing monsters off the field , like " Borreload Dragon " , " Blue - Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon " , " Supreme King Z - ARC " , etc . It can also reorder the cards from the top of the Deck , setting up the excavation effect the " Sylvan " monsters , including itself . The former ' s effect adds a card from the top of the Deck to its controller ' s hand , provided they correctly guessed the excavated card ' s name ; if the guess was wrong , " Alsei " spin s an opponent ' s card , which can give the " Sylvan " player a control over the opponent ' s future draws , while getting rid of a troublesome card in the process . With the advent of Link Monster s , " Aromaseraphy Jasmine " became an essential card for the Deck , with two search effects for Plant monsters and a blanket protection against battle destruction to the Plant monsters it points to . It can be easily Summoned by sending " Dandylion " to the Graveyard with the effect of " Mathematician " , which in turn can be Tributed as cost for its effect . Another reliable Link Monster is " Skulldeat , the Chained Dracoserpent " , that can be with " Blackwing - Gofu the Vague Shadow " and one of the solid Normal Summons of the Deck , such as " Sylvan Marshalleaf " . Its last effect compensates the lack of draw power of the Deck , while enabling the Special Summon of a high - Level " Sylvan " from the hand and giving its owner 3 slots for Xyz / Synchro Summons . Weaknesses . As with any Graveyard - reliant Deck , " Sylvan " is vulnerable against cards like " The End of Anubis " , " Soul Drain " , " Dimensional Fissure " and " Macro Cosmos " . Also , " Sylvan " monsters have very assorted Attribute s , making it a cinch to cripple their field presence via " Gozen Match " and " Battle of the Elements " .