The Bal-Masque

The Bal-Masque (バル・マスケ) is an archetype introduced in BS56. All cards in this archetype are Purple and has the Nightling family. Bal-Masque, or bal masqué, or masquerade ball, is an event where participants attend in costumes wearing masks. Each of the "Bal-Masque"-named Spirits also has one of the following titles: Baron, Viscount, Count, Duke, or Grand Duke, to display their ranks in their own society. In the card lore, these Spirits worship "Death", and claimed to be the rulers of night in the Purple World.
== Play Style ==
Besides the typical depletion and "core amount destruction" effects, the Bal-Masque cards also aim to control the opposing Soul Core, a rare gameplay in the game. Examples including demanding the opposing Soul Core to be in the Reserve or else there will be demerits, limiting the opponent to use Soul Core for paying summon/deploy costs, and actively moving the opposing Soul Core around.
Before BS58, the deck was fairly high cost in terms of cards, so set up could be slow. However, they did have free summon from trash to cover that disadvantage. When done right, the board could gain five bodies in one turn. Though the deck was still lacking a solid finish. The X-Rare of the archetype, The Bal-Masque Duke Bradford, had Mirage Drain to deplete opposing cards and recycle Mirage, as well a second effect to send the opposing Soul Core to the trash for more bodies on the board, but if the opponent saw it coming, they could easily avoid Bradford, such as building up immunity or already putting the Soul Core in trash for other uses.
In BS58, The Bal-Masque Grand Duke Saegebracht was released, giving the deck a whole new boost and a whole new win condition. With Saegebracht being able to send opposing cores to the trash, as well giving one extra symbol to every "Bal-Masque"-named card, the deck aimed to perform a one-turn-kill (OTK) with pure symbol attacks. Often, for a quicker OTK, players also put in Purple Demon-God for a four-symbol attack. The deck also retained its control style from before, aiming to recycle Mirage from the trash, as well as summoning Spirits from the trash to control the opposing board. Preferred Mirage includes Vampire Mirage, Mist Mirage, Gargoyle Bat, Phantom Mirage, and Oracle VIII Over Strength; while preferred Spirits to summon includes The Bal-Masque Margrave SpacePirate Seitz, The Bal-Masque Baron Sauerland, Zu-Gooma-Gu Ultimate Form, and N-Daguva-Zeba (2).
The deck might sometimes also contain The LegendaryTowerDeity Babel-Golem as an alternative win condition, which could be summoned by The Bal-Masque Marquis Baudouin without cost. The deck might also contain Nightling family Ultimates, such as The FlowerMoonEmperor Ultimate-Wisteria and N-Daguva-Zeba to get around immunity.
== Trivia ==
* Each "Bal-Masque"-named Spirit has a German name.
== See Also ==
* List of "Bal-Masque"-named cards
* List of "Bal-Masque" supports
Category:Archetype