Penguins - Failed Cards, Archetypes, and Sometimes Mechanics in Yu-Gi-Oh

Who doesn’t love seeing penguins? They’re cute and fluffy and have adorable waddles. So, of course, Konami would make penguin cards throughout time in Yugioh and eventually give it its own archetype. They were even kind enough to make them accurate to real-life penguins by making them the bottom of the food chain. Such is life when your predators are killer whales, seals, and Tier 1 decks. Penguins are probably not going anywhere anytime soon, but we can honestly say they have a place in our hearts, and in today’s video on why Penguins flopped in the TCG.
Script by Victor Guildford
Edited by Miwa
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#yugioh #top10 #YGOtop10
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Some of the Video backgrounds in this video were made by "Amitai Angor AA VFX" / dvdangor2011
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[@Mother_Harlot]

Yugioh is the only game where a group of penguin are able to remove God and continue their play as if nothing had happened

[@dandsw9750]

no you don't Lose your Life Points for that

[@dekunny9225]

Penguins can out slifer just by special summoning them in defense position And that's funny as hell

[@illuminatus199]

May I introduce you to Magic: The Gathering, where 15 squirrels can kill an Eldrich Horror from another plane of existence?

[@Mother_Harlot]

@@illuminatus199 Outer Entity Azathot can also be outed by penguin soldier, try again

[@johnlawful2272]

Puny penguin was yelling at obelisk

[@TheBlindWeasel]

WAIT, penguins have FLIPpers, i finally got it!

[@17-MASY]

Wow, you're right!

[@WhoIsSirChasm]

The fact that Penguins are trapped in the Legacy Pack in Master Duel is one of the greatest shames that game has.

[@phoenixvance6642]

I pulled the brave I am not complaining

[@chemicdrop541]

I got 4 of them and 1 of them is even a royal. I'll just wait till Konami remembers that Penguin's exist

[@ianbraun271]

no, the greatest shame that game has is locking the booster packs. The packs should be unlocked so players can access them, or at least stay unlocked after you unlock them the first time.

[@Stadtfeldi]

@@ianbraun271 but bypassing the lock is very easy. Just craft an SR from the pack you want after saving up gems to spend on it, and you won't ever need to deal with it again. It's your own fault if you want to do a couple singles for a bunch of different packs for some reason.

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

Make cards. They're not expensive.

[@chocacao9874]

"What more could a player ask for?" The other flippin rpg penguins i want konami to release all the penguins in brave artwork as individual cards thats what i want my mage penguin and fighter penguin

[@jellojiggler1693]

Why stop there? I want a penguin in an Iron Man suit, a berserker penguin with an axe, a bodybuilding penguin with anatomically incorrect muscles, a mad scientist penguin in a labcoat, etc.

[@masonandrick2544]

I’ve been experimenting with combining Dungeon Dice and Penguins to give a deck a real RPG like feel to it. Penguins acting like players in a D&D campaign needing dice roll cards to plan their plays. I include Orgoth for the idea of the BBEG and other cards like Dice Jar to represent a mimic encounter! Still a work in progress, but so incredibly fun!! Not competitively viable in the least, but it sure feels amazing when those sweet dice rolls pay off 😩

[@UBDOOMBOT]

it needs more then that, it need's good traps and hand traps and maybe 2 links, and Pen Set, XYZ/Fusion that can stun lock ya Oppt hand, and maybe one more spell card that's a Quick play or something.

[@ancient7421]

Funnily enough, Royal Penguins Garden does have a tech option in a rogue strategy. Fluffals will sometimes use the card to search Fluffal Penguin from the deck

[@Ramsey276one]

OH ... Frightfur Penguin WHEN??

[@BlackRose-rp7kv]

I wouldn't call it a failed archetype when it only got it's first 5 card support just recently

[@ianslee4765]

Yeah, a few of these(red eyes) clearly just need like two really good cards to synergize their whole deck and maybe an extra deck card to spice it up

[@MarioMastar]

I think the issue is it doesn't really have a "Win condition". Penguins seem to be mostly a reactive archetype that can slow down your opponent, but nothing the cards do will "win you the game". Like so you clear your opponent's board by sending monsters or spells to their hand, maybe even get a banish. Then what? How are you clearing the 8000 lifepoints? You'll need to play penguins with another archetype built for damage and ideally it'd be another water synchro or XYZ so you can do some Umi stuff to maintain tempo, but since Penguins are pretty strictly "in archetype" with themselves, the combos kind of look "either or" and very "All or nothing", e.g you're not splashing a penguin in your Shark Drake deck and getting any more mileage out of it. I think that's the real reason it's "Failed". Not because it's not good, but because it doesn't really have a "Win condition" or synergy to link with other archetypes for useful combos beyond flooding the board with water monsters.

[@jessetucker3997]

I play a lot of Penguins. The archetype is basically an engine for cranking out big water extra deck monsters, while also offering some control and removal on the way. A single Emperor Penguin gives your pick of countless extra deck option that you can choose based on the situation. It's a pretty versatile and fun deck. @@MarioMastar

[@godlynipplehair5277]

Penguins may not be strong, but penguin soldier is unironically super good removal

[@ragnaricstudios5888]

Imagine a boss monster like that today

[@dandsw9750]

your Scare

[@thatman666]

That resembles a Shiny variant of Penguin Knight.

[@dandsw9750]

@@thatman666 yes

[@rithahhear509]

Konami: make the whole new spell monster double their words in card text. Also Konami: refuse to give god cards "unaffected by card effect", which only require a few words.

[@Misclickt]

I used to flip summon Penguin Soldier to bounce back my opponent's strong monsters and Penguin Soldier itself.

[@Trekkie46]

Until Nopenguin banished Penguin Soldier.

[@UBDOOMBOT]

@@Trekkie46 Cry every time Nope Penguin triggers

[@LeanXTriforcer]

Every old school player did that lol

[@mikeclark7026]

The best episode of YGO TAS is the penguin one.

[@fuzzydude64]

I'm pretty fond of throwing Haga from the train

[@Daedrothification]

PENGUINPENGUINPENGUINPENGUIN

[@abdurachmanromzy4778]

what's is YGO TAS? is that some kind of alternative format?

[@khankhomrad8855]

​@@abdurachmanromzy4778 yugioh the abbridged series, a fan made parody of the show here on youtube.

[@cricethegod0745]

​@abdurachmanromzy4778 it's an abridged series of the original series made by Lil Kuriboh.

[@huncho1147]

Penguin Brave is still one of my favorite cards in the game. I occasionally still play penguins combined with tear

[@johnlawful2272]

Has a Redwall feel

[@samuquinhaplay5708]

Honestly, this Archetype and predaplants aren't exactly failed, they just aren't meta cards but penguins and predaplants are still decks that work well. I say this compared to most decks in the failed Archetype series

[@ianslee4765]

And even worse, decks like these and red eyes main issue isn't even themselves anymore- It's hand traps.

[@jacthing1]

​@@ianslee4765they shouldn't have made them

[@irhamitsuka5734]

​​@@jacthing1 "they shouldn't have made them" Well enjoy your opponent play 27 minutes combo deck and make unbreakable board

[@MarioMastar]

Thank goodness for duel Links making most of these archetypes viable. Thanks to being a few years behind the TCG and carefully balanced, a lot of the mechanics that don't work in the TCG can thrive in Duel Links and heck, some cards that are absolute show stoppers in the TCG aren't really that scary in Duel Links (Ancient Fairy dragon is at 3, Link monsters aren't nearly as threatening because most link monsters are either archetype specific or the basic ones that do generic things like raise attack, and the smaller board makes arrows more cumbersome.) Kind of amazing how different the game is with just some particular cards not existing yet and it's ban system is a lot closer to how I feel the TCG should've been done. Limit cards based on a set, rather than just number of that particular card per deck which in the era of searchers hardly feels like a restriction.

[@duelieur9692]

@@irhamitsuka5734 Maxx C was made for this

[@DetroitsReaper]

They should make a field card that let's you flip summon the sane turn you set it. That would really bring back flip monsters

[@aelspecto]

We need that penguin figther and penguin wizard in the synchro artwork...

[@charleslucas911]

Icejade Penguins are actually good and I refuse to budge on this It's pretty easy to finish on a field of icejade gymyr aegirine, nopenguin, penguin soldier face down and the level 6 synchro penguin the brave This allows you a field with a banish from aegirine, 2 monster banishes from soldier and nopenguin due to penguin the braves effect to flip soldier up The deck can fit some handtraps/staples in The deck is weak to handtraps still but is definitely able to frustrate many meta decks

[@Ramsey276one]

Making an archetype out of cards never planned to be an archetype... What could go RIGHT?!

[@dantegallardo1974]

Penguin soldier was my ace card

[@Jyxero]

Bouncing itself and other monster, then set it again isn't?

[@dantegallardo1974]

@@Jyxero They never saw it coming

[@MarioMastar]

@@dantegallardo1974Mind gaming in Yugioh IS a legit strategy.

[@joseantoniogomezrodriguez1724]

Not even in duel links, we don't have the synchro nor the new support, also soldier penguin was realised when the game was already too fast for it's effect to matter

[@AllBeganwithBBS]

What the heck man, Penguins are perfectly playable... In fun tournaments where the best deck happens to be wind-ups.

[@Megarover]

Everytime I think of the Penguin cards I get reminded of the starting deck from Tag Force 1.

[@CarbonMalite]

Have you considered the possibility that one time my opponent went full combo only to have their whole board wiped by penguin soldier? [This YT comment was sent via time machine]

[@buchiklop110]

"Duel Links meta plays slow enough for Flip Effects to somewhat succeed." As someone playing a rather meh Insect Deck which uses Mimicking Man-Eater Bug, I can confirm this is extremely true.

[@Akial2935]

A video in this series on Jinzo would be interesting as it's the only (to my knowledge) retrain of an old school monster where all the new support is vastly inferior and at best just turbo out the OG

[@Gebirges]

Hiru made a Failed Cards Video on Penguins! Black Mage Penguin and Fighter Penguin are incoming!

[@VengefulSage]

chat, chat is this real?

[@dandsw9750]

maybe Not Made up Your own Rules

[@MilesLupine]

Legit I made a Penguin deck in Master Duel solely because I pulled a Penguin Brave and decided it was worth the lulz. It honestly is a fun deck to mess as a synchro strategy using some White Aura cards and Trishula in the mix but yeah, it gets dunked on hard if trying to go full out serious.

[@zenone9698]

You should do video on failed cards on Fortune Lady and faries card.

[@iTzJuniorOT]

We still missing at least two more penguins from the penguin brave art. I just hope its around the corner.

[@varkolak7779]

Anyone remember the Penguin duelist from the Virtual World Arc from the anime? 🐧🐧🐧

[@jimmykeochinda1173]

The sad music coming out of nowhere at 0:29 got me man. Man I love penguins

[@MDLGamingX]

Penguins was never a failed deck for me. I like using it against friends and during local tournaments. I lose most of the time but it bring smiles to people's faces.

[@philo2677]

Swords of revealing light does not stop flip effs

[@MrBluecharisma]

Bro,how did i not know that Hirumaredx has another channel? I know nothing of yu gi oh except the original anime but i'll still watch every video on this channel just because i love your voice

[@Otzkar]

i used to play this cool genex undyne combo that would end on halq + penguin brave with the set penguin soldier. the end board was actually kinda strong since halqs secret effect allowed for many fun synchro plays on your opponents turn. top that of with it being a one card combo and you could just play a bunch of non engine and have a seni competent penguin deck..

[@FabioSuave]

i play a penguin deck on master duel. they're cute and it's fun. getting nopenguin on the field early with multiple outlets to SS a penguin soldier on the field actually stops your opponent from laying their foundation.

[@Technizor]

Imagine Flip quick effects.

[@olexoz1505]

YGO in 2050: Deckspell (new type of spell that can be activated directly from the deck) Trap Deck (you now have an extra deck for trap cards, it can only contain 10 traps and they can be activated whenever) + some card gets released that allows you to just flip a coin to instantly win a duel. While deckbuilding and thinking power are a part of yugioh, you also can just straight up win if you draw the right cards first turn/second turn, so that card is just meant to speed things up

[@peng1luver259]

We need the other penguins, Penguin Monk/Fighter (leftmost on Penguin Brave) Penguin Mage/Magicician/Apprentice (rightmost on Penguin Brave), Penguin Princess/Queen (pushed away by Penguin Squire), and Cowering Penguin/The Lesser Emperor Penguin (shown flanking The Great Emperor Penguin)

[@Iblistech2]

This is one of my favorite Archetypes in Yu-Gi-Oh. It needs more love and deserves some major justice.

[@chrismaples9392]

Literally just saw guard penguin get plenty of use during the special event that had everyone playing with starting life points matching the current year. It wasn't as good a counter as Leonidas but it kinda worked like it.

[@NanashiKokoro]

From us at the Penguin archetype Discord server, thanks for the publicity!

[@littlemrdoom5997]

Rata beat you to the punch im afraid

[@soukenmarufwt5224]

Most of these types of videos is just ripping of Rata or Legacy of the Worthless without any charm, and filled with unfunny jokes and sarcasm

[@Joy_ffa1bd]

​@@soukenmarufwt5224hop off my goat

[@jhopkins803]

Funny how I watch an episode of Fueled by Sandwiches, guessing fake card names, and NoPenguin was their favorite design, and now I come across this video. I see you KZbin

[@ASoulphoenix]

I don't care how bad they are, i want to see the wizard/shaman penguin on the right of penguin brave to come to the TCG. And maybe give them a field spell to protect them from handtraps

[@rikoaries]

Guys I'm telling you, Pegunius and Raidraptors will be meta soon. No I'm not taking the copiium as I type this

[@Lorens4444]

4:26 Em... Swords of Revealing Light doesn't stop flip effects. It was a common play back then to activate Swords while you control no monsters to flip the opponent's Man-Eater Bug and force it to destroy itself. XD

[@geistgrace6452]

One day, someone will win a Championship with Penguins. Somehow, someway.

[@jackbizzell7136]

I used to play this card back in school in the very early 2000s and I remember penguin soldier and how awesome it was. God I miss the slower games of back then.

[@davidcantor8349]

I used to put Penguin Soldier during the synchro era as well. Watching my opponent lose his Stardust Dragon was hilarious.

[@peng1luver259]

I play penguins, I cross them with Ninjas and Aquaactresses to get support, as well as Mecha Phantom Beast Aeroguin, Spirtual Beast Rampengu, Floowandereez and Empen, and any other diffinitavely penguin showing cards and can somehow get out Ultimaya Tzolkin with Penguin Squire and The Great Emperor Penguin

[@coinkidink9997]

I still play Penguin Soldier quite often in Duel Links, in fact he's in my current Gunkan deck & he's helped me win a few games here & there.

[@nerdzone]

I almost gathered a Penguin deck before I stopped playing Master Duel previous year. I was really stoked to play it.

[@midnight-fox7456]

I feel like one day, Konami's gonna randomly release a new synchro boss monsters for penguins, The true penguin king, that's gonna be everything the archetype could ever want (more removal, negates etc.) but it will be too clunky or hard to get to and we end up nowhere.

[@wilsonkierankitsune]

I remember how deadly Penguin Soldier was, any summon that needed special summons or tributes was deadly and it could even return itself to trigger again. the fact that it said "up to" meant you could never accidentally screw yourself with it's flip effect. I miss old format yu gi oh

[@aksatanas]

dude, I love your wow, soulsbourne, and yugi content.

[@ivancalvo7153]

The synchro is a great addition, maybe, they need some swiftness in form of magic cards

[@o2Tenka]

I remember winning only ONE game thanks to penguin knight, there is a video somewhere, epic stuff.

[@pigzengamer5663]

I play penguins in Masterduel. It’s hell with no support.

[@PaperMario931]

I've also seen some players use the penguin continuous spell to search for fluffal penguin

[@mannypardo5358]

penguin knight brings back nightmares, due to a certain combo in joey the passion with gravity bind

[@NKBlazer]

I want to see Konami show love to the penguin archetype. Just imagine someone winning with it and saying “That’s a Peng-WIN.” 🐧

[@kingkongsta4051]

I have a royal penguin brave and tried the penguin deck out, I lost almost every match. But the handful I won flipping penguin soldier to make them rage quit put a big ol smile on my face😂

[@NickolusParker]

i always loved the penguins im just waiting for the penguin fighter monk as a beatstick, and the puny mage to be a spell searcher for the archetype

[@ButFirstHeLitItOnFire]

Penguin Knight gives me an idea for a retrain of it: _Gallant Penguin Knight_ (WATER) Level 3 Aqua/Effect _If a card is sent from your deck to your GY by an opponent’s card or effect; You can special summon this card (from your hand or deck). While this card is face-up on the field, “Penguin” monsters you control gain additional attacks per battle phase for each face-up “Penguin” card you control, and also, if a Face-up “Penguin” card you control attacks a defense position monster: Inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. It a card is sent from your deck to your GY, or sent into your deck from your GY, by an opponent’s card or effect: You can unite your GY and Deck, shuffle them and form a new deck._ ATK/900 DEF/800

[@linksora7120]

“Nopenguin synergised well with nightmare penguin and penguin soldier” aw well that’s a shame I really like penguin monsters 🙄 …wait a second 😂 Also I think we need penguin warrior and penguin magician added next since they’re the last 2 on squire’s artwork we didn’t get. Maybe warrior could be a solid direct attacker who could help penguins stand out by having about 1900 attack and being able to attack directly. If it attacks directly you can special summon one penguin monster from your hand or deck in face up attack or face down defence position. And mage could be a protection monster with about 1600 attack and 2000 defence with the ability: all penguin monsters on your side of the field are unaffected by spell trap or monster effects while this card is on the field. Once per turn you can flip one penguin monster from face down defence to face up attack position. Once per turn you can flip one penguin monster from face up attack to face down defence position. This would make mage able to provide valuable protection the moment it hits the field including to itself and warrior would give a powerful direct attacker to penguins who could also then special summon for free if you got his direct attack off. Combined together they could really boost penguins up and make mage an ideal starting card for penguins alongside the originals. I have a penguin deck in real life and while it’s not the most consistent it’s so much fun I don’t mind.

[@FredrIQ]

The wording on that first card made it sound like it would unite your and your opponent's graveyard into one large pile for a new deck somehow.

[@JulioBarrigaH]

Llevo ya como 3 podcasts escuchados y me gusta mucho como fluyen las conversaciones. Llegarán lejos...

[@MarcuwuMaiaa]

i just finished a duel using my Penguin deck and openned youtube to this ;-; they deserve more support honestly

[@JonkoSplonko]

Is this Rata slander

[@pi_xi]

With Set Rotation you can bring out A Legendary Ocean and Wetlands, which makes Penguins pretty strong.

[@pi_xi]

Note that you can Normal Summon The Great Emperor Penguin without a Tribute, when A Legendary Ocean is on the field. This allows you to summon strong mosters like Penguin Torpedo and Glacial Beast Polar Penguin from the deck.

[@arrownoir]

They’re biding their time until that Legacy pack event in Masterduel.

[@imjustice5953]

Penguins really should have a lvl 6 Synchro that can search and or Special Summon Penguin Cards from the Deck. Emperor Penguin is so weirdly gated behind Royal Penguins Garden, despite it not being a good deck in the first place.

[@lightdragoon88]

First the space bears now penguins? What animal next? Gladiators Beast?

[@thatman666]

They had meta history thanks to Gyrarus so that would be a disservice.

[@IngeniatorC]

Who ever edited this video did a great job!

[@YungMeech313]

Ironic I'm seeing this I remember just a few months ago beating someone in ranked pvp on duel links with nothing but regular Penguin effect monsters and normal Penguins using Mako Tsunami.

[@ButFirstHeLitItOnFire]

What we need is a Pendulum/Tuner “Penguins of Madagascar” suite of “Penguin” monsters, that reflect on the Penguins roles in the movies and shows: Skipper: The leader and best fighter. Would have effects that protect your penguin cards, enhance their fighting capabilities, and rally them after any successes or setbacks. Kowalski: The book smarts of the operation. Would help prep your spells/traps, pendulum scales and flip monsters in time for yours or opponent’s own tactics. Rico: The muscle and living inventory of the bunch. Hits the hardest and tanks the most out of the individual group, while also “storing” your decks equip spells and union monsters within himself. Private: The new meat. Happy to be included, helps out however he can. The utility of the group, and can help set up your extra deck plays. Manfredi & Johnson (from the cartoon): Doomed to (barely not) die. Cannon/tribute/material fodder. Will take hits or be summon/effect fuel for you, then be back in time for your to do it all over again to them.

[@brunosanto3488]

While we are at it, we need the Effects and Role that the cards of "The Red Squirrel", "Dr. Octavio Salitre", "Hans the Puffin" and "Dr. Blowhole" would play.

[@ButFirstHeLitItOnFire]

@@brunosanto3488 How about a “Penguin-emy” archetype (being a play on the words “Penguin” and “enemy”)? Like “Penguin-emy #1 - Professor Bottlenose” or “Penguin-emy - The Dread Squirrel” or even “Penguin-emy - Leopard S.E.A.L”?

[@derpychu3085]

I didn't even know this was an archetype until Rank10ygo's video on it.

[@TheGachaGourmand]

Using this archetype alongside Mimicking Man Eater Bug in Duel Links with Blue Angel. =w=

[@chaosryans]

Legacy of the duelist before the link version i managed to pull off some wins with a penguin banish deck pimguin. It did very bad if the opponent could banish nopenguin, but otherwise the monsters had a pretty good recurrence chance.

[@arturresende3023]

Don't call them a failure. They're trying their best

[@eduardoandresmoralespena4347]

Wrong, In duel link now you have to navegate against decks with 1 or 2 interruption boosted by consistency "skills". Right now Tachyon skill adds you an Tachyon transmigration from the deck to your hand basically for free. So i really doubt those penguins have a chance here...

[@poro9084]

i remember crafting nopenguin for event and pulling royal

[@7Kingsmen]

I was running penguins with Icejade last year. I should do just a pure version.

[@rl2388]

In duel links I usually use penguin soldier, gravekeepers guard, flip flop frog, evilswarm hraesvelg, necrovalley, floodgate, and light imprisoning mirror all in one deck. Lost quite a lot, but also managed to make people angry and frustrated.

[@drachenschnitzel3297]

i builded a deck with this theme. but its not uploaded to YT. maybe i will show it later. but synchro combos are possible with this.

[@themightyai-5302]

I play penguins :D I play them with Graydles to deter my opponent from destroying things without thought. I have also thrown in a few Ice Jade cards and Waking the dragon to fill up space

[@seanmurray6792]

this will always be my favorite archetype

[@TheFrlncr]

At this point, Konami NEEDS to make a Penguin Starter Deck.

[@brianpotter237]

Penguin Icejade Icebarrier is actually pretty fun/good.

[@DanielGutierrez-rf8zt]

I send my condolences for your missing Flying Penguin when you were 7

[@Punmaster9001]

I had to question my sanity for a second when you said Spell Ruler. I realized they might have changed it for the re-releases, but I knew it as Magic Ruler. I also had to walk 15 miles to the nearest game store..... 👴 Penguin Soldier, I remember that young wipersnapper, ruined many a battles he did. That was before he had kids you see....

[@malavadofilms]

Nightmare penguin flips when he wants.

[@mh-rl4sz]

Penguin soldier was also great because he can by himself protect your life points from 3 attacking opponent monsters, first monster that attack waste attack to destroy penguin and after flip effect other two attacking opponent monster you decide to return to opponent hand. So no one of 3 monster attack you.

[@Ramsey276one]

7:27 Chain Impunity! XD

[@latindragon1988]

I love the penguin deck is one of my favorite deck to play even though it's not good the whole No penguin with penguin soldier

[@dandsw9750]

That Yugi Deck

[@dracone4370]

But the party is technically incomplete; there are still 2 or 3 from Penguin Brave's art that have yet to get their own printing as an individual monster.

[@bighamgrizles]

penguins are strong af but it requires ancient knowledge forgotten to the sands of time.

[@ultrachrisgeometrydash]

Fun fact: Old Fiber Jar also "unite" cards.

[@aaronluisdelacruz4212]

And we still didn't have the last two penguins in Penguin Brave.

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

I feel like you've never played against a well-made penguin deck.

[@eugeniomoto]

Now I kinda want a video about cards with unique wording 😮

[@jamesglamstar6946]

Oh the irony of SPEEED duels being the slower format