A Brief Guide and History 01

[Khina Bree]

A Brief Guide and History:
Harpie Lady
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Harpies were first seen used by Mai Valentine in the original YuGiOh anime and in YuGiOh Duel Monsters managa during the Duelist Kingdom arc. An archetype of WIND monsters of Winged Beast- and Dragon-type.

The History

At first, there was only "Harpie Lady," "Harpie Lady Sisters," and "Harpie's Pet Dragon" as far as the monsters go, but in  Structure Deck 8: Lord of the Storm, we were treated to "Harpie Lady 1," "Harpie Lady 2," "Harpie Lady 3," "Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon," "Harpie's Hunting Ground," and of course "Hysteric Party." These new additions paved the way for the Harpie Ladies to become a force to be reckoned with. "Harpie Queen" joined the deck with the release of Force of the Breaker but we wouldn't see any new development for the deck until Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy, in which we were given "Harpie Channeler," "Harpie Dancer," "Hysteric Sign," and of course their new Xyz monster, "Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon."

The Rule of Three

As any duelist knows, a deck may only contain a maximum of three copies of a card (unless it is Forbidden, Limited or Semi-Limited). Well, due to the card text for "Harpie Lady 1," "Harpie Lady 2," "Harpie Lady 3," and "Cyber Harpy Lady," they all count as "Harpie Lady" at all times. This can be a bit of a nuisance for players but also means that duelists who wish to play the deck must choose which "Harpie Lady" to run carefully.

The Cards

Harpie Lady
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The original Harpie and signature monster of Mai Valentine. Not usually run anymore though it CAN be run with "Rescue Rabbit" if desired.

Harpie Lady Sisters
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When "Elegant Egotist" was used on "Harpie Lady," it multiplied her into 3 monsters known as the "Harpie Lady Sisters." Sadly this card has lost a great deal of playibility in the game today and is almost never seen in modern Harpie decks.

Harpie's Pet Dragon
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One of the strongest monsters in the Harpie arsenal, "Harpie's Pet Dragon" wasn't often seen in play due to it being lackluster but with Zexal's introduction of Xyz monsters and the versatility of "Harpie Channeler," this brute has come back into the limelight with a vengeance.

Harpie Lady 1
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The retrained version of the original "Harpie Lady." This beauty has the exact same base stats and level but now has the added effect of buffing all WIND monsters by 300 ATK.

Harpie Lady 2
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The second "retrained" Harpie. This one seeing even less play however.

Harpie Lady 3
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The final retrained edition of Harpie Lady. She however is in the same boat as "Harpie Lady 2" and never sees the light of day in the meta game.

Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon
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Dawww, a chibi Pet Dragon! *Ahem* Anyway. Baby here first showed up in the Structure deck and has effects based on the number of face-up "Harpie Lady" monsters you have out. Noting overly fantastic, but can be handy when used right. I'd never use more than 1 copy.

Cyber Harpie Lady
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As far as I can remember, Cyber here was originally used by Joey in the Virtual World arc of season 3 and then later by Mai in the Doma arc of season 4. Debuting in the card game as a promo card, "Cyber Harpie Lady" filled the niche of a beater for Harpies.

Harpie Queen
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The queen of all Harpie Lady! Not only is she the strongest ATK of all base level "Harpie" monsters but she can search out their Field Spell AND her name becomes "Harpie Lady" ONLY on the field and/or in the Graveyard. Take that rule of three!

Harpie Channeler
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The newest key monster for the deck and for amazing reasons! Merely discard a "Harpie" card to Special Summon a "Harpie" monster from the deck. Plus if you have a Dragon-type monster on the field, she becomes a Level 7. Combine both of these effects and "Harpie's Pet Dragon," and you have some awesome Rank 7 plays. Like the Queen, Channeler's name gets treated as "Harpie Lady" while on the field or in Grave.

Harpie Dancer
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An exotic dancer who brought the Harpie calvary. THis beauty lets you bounce WIND monsters and gain another Normal Summon of a WIND monster. When used right, she can lead to amazing OTKs. Did I mention she too counts as "Harpie Lady" on the field or Graveyard?

Harpie Girl
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Another vanilla Harpie but one with even less use than the original. Still can be used with "Rescue Rabbit" for some Rank 2 plays, if you really want to. Otherwise, she's just adorable~

Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon
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The Xyz of the archetype and not a half bad one at that. It shields all your other Harpie monsters from effects and attacks and can attack directly so long as it has its Xyz materials, though it has to detach 1 each End Phase.

Elegant Egotist
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The signature spell of "Harpie Lady." It lets you summon another Harpie Lady or the Sisters if you control a "Harpie Lady." No reason to not run at least 1-2.

Hysteric Sign
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This spell has several uses. Its primary effect is to fetch "Elegant Egotist" but if its sent to the Graveyard, you can fetch 3 different "Harpie" monsters in the End Phase. Perfect if combined with "Hysteric Party," "Summoner Monk," or even "Magical Hats."

Cyber Shield
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The Equip Spell that gives a "Harpie Lady" an extra 500 ATK boost. But not at all worth running.

Harpie's Hunting Ground
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The Field Spell. Each time a "Harpie Lady" or "Harpie Lady Sister" gets summoned, this baby pops a Spell/Trap on the field.

Triangle Ecstasy Spark
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Signature Spell of the "Harpie Lady Sisters" so you'll probably never actually use it. Makes the Sisters have 2700 ATk and gives them a Jinzo effect for the turn, basically.

Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation
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Awesome card that came out in the Joey's World set. Doesn't really see much play though. It allows you to pop your opponent's monsters up to the number of "Harpie Lady" and "Harpie Lady Sisters" you control, burn them for the highest destroyed ATK and prevents you from Special Summoning and attacking that turn, but you have to have at least 3 out to play it.

Hysteric Party
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Sure "Soul Charge" does almost the same thing, but this won't stop you from attacking in the same turn. Plus, you can use this for discarding that "Hysteric Sign" in your hand to get even more pluses.

Playstyle

Harpies tend to be speedy back-row control with Rank 4 and 7 plays. "Harpie Channeler" is their most viable card now a days, though certain builds can OTK with "Harpie Dancer." Generally they are not afraid of cards such as "Mirror Force" or "Dimensional Prison" but are still quite vulnerable to "Bottomless Trap Hole," "Torrential Tribute," and "Raigeki." Making use of ways to toss "Hysteric Sign" into the Graveyard is a common play. Recommended methods include "Summoner Monk" which will also grant you another level 4 on the field, and "Magical Hats." You read that right. "Hats" will protect you monster for a turn and let you use 2 "Signs" for the Spell/Trap targets as "Hats." Plus for days.