Introduction

The Ancient Warriors archetype is a telling of the most classic novel in Chinese literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Written in the 14th century, Three Kingdoms is a dramatization of the decline of the Han dynasty in 184 AD and the subsequent alliances and conflicts of those attempting to consolidate territory, military power, and political clout in its wake.

The archetype's monsters are characters from the novel, with their given names and courtesy names merged to create their card names. For example, Liu Bei's name is combined with his courtesy name — Xuande — to produce "Loading... ". The Spells and Traps illustrate pivotal events from the novel, such as Loading... depicting Liu Bei's 3 visits to Zhuge Liang (Loading... ) to recruit him as his military strategist.

General Approach

While an Ancient Warriors deck can go first, the archetype's monsters are board breakers designed to go second and dismantle your opponent's established field. More specifically:

• The WIND monsters (of the Shu Han state) activate their effects while your opponent controls more monsters.
• The WATER monsters (of the Eastern Wu state) remove or negate cards your opponent controls.
• The FIRE monsters (of the Cao Wei state) trigger their effects when your opponent's cards are destroyed.

The archetype has numerous searching and 'fixing' effects that trade any card from your hand or field for any "Ancient Warriors" card you may want from your deck. Most notable are Loading... and Loading... , which retrieve additional monsters that can Special Summon themselves to the field.

The general plan is do the following:

1. Weaken your opponent's field with board breakers like Loading... and "Kaiju" monsters.
2. Establish your initial field presence with the Level 4 Ancient Warriors, Loading... , and Loading... .
3. Expand your board with more Ancient Warriors, while using their effects to clear out your opponent's cards.
4. Attack for 8000 damage! (Or otherwise set up a few interruptions to prevent your opponent from rebuilding.)

Deck Contents

Like many archetypes, the Ancient Warriors have a robust roster of monsters, Spells, and Traps, however only the best monsters and Spells typically see play. For the purposes of this guide, we will focus on the "Ancient Warriors" cards that are routinely used.

Starter Monsters