Nether

Nether (冥府 ; meifu) is an archetype which technically has existed since BS06, but the importance of the name only comes in BS51, thanks to the Grand Field of Grandwalker Dionysus. The majority of Nether Spirits are in the Zombie family. In lore the name simply represents the Spirits from the world which Dionysus governs. This archetype also contains the sub-archetype "Three Nether Giants", which has existed since the Sword Eyes era.
As a very common word, the word "Nether" is often used in the English translations, for other cards that are unrelated to this archetype, so for an accurate list please check "List of 'Nether'-named cards" linked at the bottom of this page.
== Play Style ==
As mentioned previously, due to Dionysus's Grand Field, the deck is strictly limited to the Nether archetype. The win condition is to attack with The NetherDeityKing Cavaliere-Bacchus and activate Nether Unleash, also with the revival version of The NetherThreeGiants Zainde-Milion beside to hinder the opponent from blocking. In addition, there may be The NetherGreatSorcerer Echezeaux to increase the cost of opposing Magic cards. This method can usually end the game in one turn. To build up to the set up, the player usually deploys a lot of Nexuses besides Dionysus in order to build up the symbols for reductions, including The Brigade's Skyscraper, No. 32 Island Root, and Dionysus' Wine Cellar Temple. And when there are enough cores, the player either summons or advents The NetherCorpseGuru Haut-Brion to summon another three bigger Nether Spirits, which in the best case scenario is usually a Cavaliere-Bacchus and two Zainde-Million.
Dionysus's Grand Field allows the Nether Spirits to stay on the field with zero cores on them. This effect also particularly benefits The NetherThreeGiants Queen-Merduk, the only one with Destructive Curse in the deck, as one weakness of Destructive Curse is depletion. This allows Merduk to be a standing wall against decks that focus on destruction. However, it is also due to the Grand Field, most of the useful Nether Spirit cards are also relatively high cost, which still makes it hard to build up the board. Furthermore, except Cavaliere-Bacchus which has immunity, and Merduk with its Destructive Curse, the other Nether Spirits have no protection against effects at all, so the opponent can still easily clear them away. What even worse is that Dionysus was released right before an era where Grandwalker Nexus destruction was promoted. Once Dionysus is removed from the field, all the Spirits with zero cores on them will also be depleted. As such, the deck often leans towards the OTK win condition, by waiting until the chance comes and summoning a lot of Spirits at once, which is explained above.
While the deck is restricted to Nether cards, surprisingly, as a Purple deck it does not stack its trash as much as a regular Purple deck does. However, it can still draw a lot. As such, players often add in useful non-Nether cards without risking them being discarded. After Echezeaux was released, the restriction was loosened up even more, as it can ignore Dionysus's Grand Field to retrieve non-Nether cards from the trash.
Overall, the Nether deck can be described as a glass cannon. In one turn, the field can go from nothing to five double-symbolled Spirits. It can provide a very high burst in one moment, enough to finish the opponent immediately, but the trade-off is its weak defence.
== Trivia ==
* The NetherStoneStatue Bone-Gargoyle references Spirit cards of Cost 7/8/9 in its effect. However, there is still not a Cost 9 Nether Spirit.<Br>
* The reason why this deck is strictly bound to the Nether archetype is most likely because of The OgreDeityQueen Jealousick Doll, which was well-known and infamous for being able to loop trash recycle and core boost as long there were two Purple Grandwalker Nexuses on the field. <Br><Br>
** Furthermore, in the early stage of the TCG, The CorpseGiant Gi-Gasha, which is a Zombie family Spirit, was also once used as part of a loop deck with deck out as the win condition.
== Also See ==
*List of "Nether"-named cards
*List of "Nether"-named supports
*List of "NetherThreeGiants"-named cards
*List of "NetherThreeGiants"-named supports
Category:Archetype