Beginner’s Guide To Nekroz
Nekroz is an archetype that focuses on Ritual Summoning very powerful Ritual Monsters every turn. With a wide variety of effects, these Nekroz Ritual Monsters do everything from ending the Battle Phase and negating the effects of Extra Deck monsters to banishing a card from your opponent's hand, field, and Graveyard.
Nekroz is a relatively complicated deck with a high ceiling, meaning that in a duel between two Nekroz players, the more skilled player will win. The reason why the deck has a high ceiling is due to the countless number of plays the Nekroz pilot has every turn. With cards that literally allow the Nekroz player to search through and add any Nekroz card from their deck to their hand, a skilled Nekroz player must decide which of the many plays is the correct play for each situation.
The following are the main searchers of the deck:
Nekroz of Brionac
Level 6 WATER Warrior
Ritual Monster
ATK: 2300
DEF: 1400
(1) You can discard this card; add 1 "Nekroz" monster from your Deck to your hand, except "Nekroz of Brionac".
(2) You can target up to 2 face-up monsters on the field that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck;
shuffle them into the Deck.
Nekroz of Clausolas
Level 3 WATER Warrior
Ritual Monster
ATK: 1200
DEF: 2300
(1) You can discard this card; add 1 "Nekroz" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand.
(2) During either player's turn: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field that was Special Summoned from
the Extra Deck, until the end of this turn, that target's ATK becomes 0, also that target's effects are negated.
Senju Of The Thousand Hands
Level 4 LIGHT Fairy
Effect Monster
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1000
When this card is Normal Summoned or Flip Summoned, you can add 1 Ritual Monster Card from your
Deck to your hand.
Manju Of The Ten Thousand Hands
Level 4 LIGHT Fairy
Effect Monster
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1000
When this card is Normal Summoned or Flip Summoned, you can add 1 Ritual Monster Card or 1 Ritual Spell
Card from your Deck to your hand.
Essentially having Brionac in your hand equates to having any Nekroz card in your hand, as Brionac can search
for Clausolas. As both Manju and Senju search Brionac, it's very likely that even on your first turn you'll have
access to your entire deck. Brionac and Clausolas both have powerful effects that punish the opponent for
playing cards from the Extra Deck, but let's see what other Nekroz Monsters the deck has access to.
A Swift Scarecrow while in hand that also acts as a draw engine while on the field. The second effect allows you to
ensure that your own field is clear of any monsters, which is actually a good thing because of an effect of the Ritual
Spell Cards (as will be discussed later).
Nekroz of Unicore
Level 4 WATER Spellcaster
Ritual monster
ATK: 2300
DEF: 1000
(1) You can discard this card, then target 1 "Nekroz of Unicore"; add it to you hand. You can only use this effect of
"Nekroz of Unicore once per turn.
(2) Negate the effects of all face-up monsters on the field that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck.
Ritual Monsters:
Nekroz of Valkyrus
Level 8 WATER Spellcaster
Ritual Monster
ATK: 2900
DEF: 1700
(1) When an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can banish 1 "Nekroz" card from your Graveyard, then
discard this card; negate that attack, then end the Battle Phase.
(2) During your Main Phase. You can Tribute up to 2 monsters from your hand and/or your side of the field, and if
you do, draw 1 card for each card tributed.
Unicore can become any Nekroz card in your Graveyard through its effect while also punishing your opponent from
Special Summoning from the Extra Deck. Most importantly, Unicore is almost always summoned through Nekroz
Kaleidoscope (Ritual Spell Card), as discussed later, which allows for the Nekroz player to send Herald Of The Arc
Light from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard and search for any Ritual Spell or Ritual Monster Card.
Nekroz of Trishula
Level 9 WATER Warrior
Ritual Monster
ATK: 2700
DEF: 2000
(1) During either player's turn, when a card or effect is activated that targets a "Nekroz" monster(s) you control: You
can discard this card; negate the activation.
(2) When this card is Ritual Summoned, you can: Banish exactly 3 of your opponent's cards, 1 each from their hand,
field, and Graveyard. The card in the hand is chosen at random).
Decisive Armor allows you to get over Apoqliphort Towers in battle and has seen some play after the most recent ban list.
Nekroz of Catastor
Level 5 WATER Dragon
Ritual Monster
ATK:2200
DEF: 1200
(1) You can discard this card, then target 1 "Nekroz" monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it. You can only use
this effect of "Nekroz of Catastor" once per turn.
(2) At the start of the Damage Step, if a "Nekroz" monster you control battles a face-up monster your opponent controls
that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck; Destroy that monster.
The card that usually puts the nail in the coffin, Trishula is the ender of duels. Even resolving Trishula once can mean
certain death for your opponent.
Nekroz of Decisive Armor
Level 10 WATER Dragon
Ritual Monster
ATK: 3300
DEF: 2300
(1) During either player's turn: You can discard this card, then target 1 "Nekroz" monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK
and DEF until the end of this turn.
(2) You can target 1 Set card your opponent controls; destroy it, and if you do, banish it.
Shurit, Strategist Of The Nekroz
Level 3 WATER Warrior
Effect Monster
ATK: 300
DEF: 1800
If you Ritual Summon exactly 1 "Nekroz" Ritual Monster with a card effect that requires use of monsters, this card can be
ussed as the entire requirement. If this card is Tributed by a card effect: You can add 1 Warrior-Type "Nekroz" Ritual
Monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Shurit, Strategist Of The Nekroz" once per turn.
Dance Princess Of The Nekroz
Level 4 WATER Spellcaster
Effect Monster
ATK: 1600
DEF: 800
Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the activation of a "Nekroz" Ritual Spell Card. "Nekroz"
Ritual Monsters you control cannot be targeted by an opponent's card effects. If this card is Tributed by a card effect:
You can target 1 of your banished "Nekroz" monsters, except "Dance Princess of the Nekroz"; add it to your hand. You
can only use this effect of "Dance Princess of the Nekroz" once per turn.
Great Sorcerer Of The Nekroz
Level 4 WATER Spellcaster
Effect Monster
ATK: 1500
DEF: 800
If this card is Tributed by a card effect: You can add 1 Spellcaster-Type "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from your Deck to your
hand. If this card is banished: You can send 1 "Nekroz" monster from your Deck to the Graveyard, except "Great Sorcerer
Of The Nekroz". You can only use 1 "Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz" effect per turn, and only once that turn.
Catastor has seen some play after the ban list as it is searchable by Exa, Enforcer Of The Nekroz.
Nekroz Effect Monsters
Exa, Enforcer Of The Nekroz
Level 5 WATER Dragon
Effect Monster
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1000
If this card is Tributed by a card effect: You can add 1 Dragon-Type "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from your Deck to your hand.
If this card is banished: You can target 1 of your banished "Nekroz" monsters, except this card; Special Summon that
monster. You can only use 1 "Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz" effect per turn, and only once that turn.
While all three of these cards have similar effects that search for Nekroz Ritual Monsters, Shurit is clearly the best. Note
that his effect to search works whenever Tributed, meaning that he can get his effect off when Tributed by Valkyrus.
Ritual Spells:
All Nekroz Ritual Spell Cards have a second effect of allowing you to banish both the Ritual Spell Card and 1 Nekroz
monster from the Graveyard in order to add 1 Nekroz Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.
Nekroz Mirror
By Tributing monsters from your hand or field, and/ or banishing "Nekroz" monsters from your Graveyard, you can
Ritual Summon 1 "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from your hand.
A common play is banishing Shurit from the grave to Ritual Summon any Ritual Monster from your hand.
Nekroz Kaleidoscope
By either Tributing 1 monster from your hand or field, or sending 1 monster from your Extra Deck to the Graveyard,
you can Ritual Summon any number of "Nekroz" monsters whose total levels exactly equal the Level of that monster.
Use Kaleidoscope to Ritual Summon Unicore by sending Herald Of The Arc Light from the Extra Deck to
the Graveyard, adding any Ritual Card from your Deck to your hand. You also have the option of sending Shooting
Quasar Dragon from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard to summon Valkyrus and Unicore from the hand (or instead
summon 3 Unicore from the hand).
Nekroz Cycle
By Tributing monsters from your hand or field, you can Ritual Summon 1 "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from your hand or
Graveyard.
A common play is tributing a Shurit from hand to Ritual Summon any Nekroz card from your Graveyard. Most players wil
use Valkyrus's effect to tribute their Trishula in order to Special Summon him again the following turn with Cycle.
Other Spells:
Reinforcement Of The Army, Preparation Of Rites, and Upstart Goblin are all recommended Spell Cards.
Extra Deck:
Besides Shooting Quasar Dragon, Herald Of The Arc Light, and Trishula, Nekroz utilize a standard Rank 4 Extra Deck
Tips and Plays
It is generally recommended to end your turn with a searched Valkyrus in hand.
Ending your turn without any monsters on your side of the field (usually with the assistance of Valkyrus's Tribute Effect) is generally recommended as it not only allows you to add more Ritual Spells to your hand (through any Ritual Spell's Effect in the Graveyard), but also protects you from an opponent's Nekroz Of Trishula (assuming you don't have any Spell or Traps on the field).
Dance Princess of the Nekroz should be used most often to bring back a banished Shurit to the hand now that players are limited to one copy of Shurit.
