Yay, someone's getting creative and making an archetype! One problem I see, besides some phrasing issues, is that only one monster can attack at a time using standard game mechanics and therefor none of the monsters' effect would ever activate. Depending on your intention, you would either have to include a way to alter the game mechanics to allow multiple monsters to attack at once, either as a field effect or some kind of continuous spell or trap, or you would have to rephrase their effects to mean when multiple monsters attack in the same battle phase.
I'll be editing this post with the archetype I'm currently working on in a few minutes.
Okay, here is my currently-WIP archetype: the Colors. They are kind of supposed to be a play on the idea of color gangs and just plain paint colors. They focus on rapid-fire summoning tot he point where you have more monsters on the field than room to summon them. I have absolutely no clue how to word some of the effects I wanted for this archetype to work, so any tips or suggestions are more than welcome. And please tell me if anything seems too weak, too OP, or just overbalanced, I'm not very good at seeing problems in my own cards all the times.
Violence of the Colors - Red
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 1800 | DEF 600
When this card is summoned, place one Red Color Counter on it. When your opponent activates a trap card, you can remove one Red Color Counter from this card to excavate the top card of your deck. If the excavated card is a “Colors” card, add it to your hand, otherwise place the excavated card on either the top or the bottom of the deck. Place one Red Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(The first of this decks three main draw engines, Red is an almost guaranteed +1 as long as the deck is filled with Colors. Fun fact: Each of the level 3 Colors' atk and def add together to 2400.)
Confidence of the Colors - Orange
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 1400 | DEF 1000
When this card is summoned, place one Orange Color Counter on it. When your opponent activates a monster card effect, you can remove one Orange Color Counter from this card to excavate the top card of your deck. If the excavated card is a “Colors” card, add it to your hand, otherwise place the excavated card on either the top or the bottom of the deck. Place one Orange Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(The second of the draw engines, Orange is the exact same as Red except instead needing a trap to go off he needs a monster effect.)
Brilliance of the Colors - Yellow
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 1200 | DEF 1200
When this card is summoned, place one Yellow Color Counter on it. During your main phase, you can remove one Yellow Color Counter from this card to excavate the top card of your deck. If the excavated card is a “Colors” monster card, special summon it, otherwise place the excavated card on either the top or the bottom of the deck. Place one Yellow Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(I bet you thought this was going to be yet another draw engine, didn't you? Nope, Yellow is the deck's Summoner. The downside of the free summon is that even with a deck of nothing but colors, if the excavated card is a spell or trap you just wasted Yellow's effect.)
Vigilance of the Colors - Green
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 600 | DEF 1800
When this card is summoned or flipped face-up, place one Green Color Counter on it. When your opponent activates a spell card, you can remove one Green Color Counter from this card to excavate the top card of your deck. If the excavated card is a “Colors” card, add it to your hand, otherwise place the excavated card on either the top or the bottom of the deck. Place one Green Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(Here's that third draw engine I promised you. Nothing new here, Green is the same as Red and Orange but for spells.)
Defense of the Colors - Blue
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 400 | DEF 2000
When this card is summoned or flipped face-up, place one Blue Color Counter on it. When a face-up “Colors” card you control would be destroyed, you can remove one Blue Color Counter from this card instead. Place one Blue Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(The shield for the Colors, Blue simple prevents one Color card from being destroyed. Do notice that is says Color card and not monster though, meaning Blue can choose to save any card it wants.)
Silence of the Colors - Indigo
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 800 | DEF 1600
When this card is summoned, place one Indigo Color Counter on it. When a “Colors” monster is destroyed, you can remove one Indigo Color Counter from this card to select two “Colors” cards in your graveyard. Place one of the selected cards on the top of the deck, and place the other on the bottom of the deck. Place one Indigo Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(Indigo's effect replenishes the deck for those longer duels, but because it allows you to choose the card that is on top of your deck, it also takes the chance out of what card you will reveal next time a Colors effect goes off.)
Elegance of the Colors - Violet
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 1600 | DEF 800
When this card is summoned, place one Violet Color Counter on it. During your main phase, you can remove one Violet Color Counter from this card to Normal Summon a “Colors” monster from your hand in addition to your Normal Summon. Place one Violet Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(Three monsters that let you add a Color to your hand would be pretty pointless if you couldn't get those monsters summoned quickly. Violet gives you another summon for just that reason.)
Romance of the Colors - Pink
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Effect)
ATK 1000 | DEF 1400
When this card is summoned, place one Pink Color Counter on it. When you would take damage from a battle involving an opponent’s attacking monster and a face-up “Colors” monster you control, you can remove one Pink Color Counter from this card to reduce the damage you take to 300. Place one Pink Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(When you read through some of the Spells for the Colors you'll understand why you would want to take some damage but not a lot. It can also simply reduce a powerful attack to something less damaging as well.)
Aberrance of the Colors - Gray
Level 3
(Water)
(Aqua / Pendulum / Effect)
ATK 2000 | DEF 400
Scale 2<>4
Pendulum Effect: You cannot summon any monsters except for “Colors” monsters. Once per turn, you can place either one White Color Counter or one Black Color Counter on one face-up monster. A White Color Counter can be used as if it was any other Color Counter. A Monster with a Black Color Counter on it loses 300 ATK for each Color Counter on it when battling a “Colors” monster. During your end phase; you can destroy this card to add one “Colors” card from your deck to your hand.
Monster Effect: You can tribute this card to add one “Colors” card from your deck to your hand.
(You know how I said Violet was meant for summoning all those Colors you add to your hand? Well... Pendulums are a thing now, so might as well take advantage of that fact. The only Colors monster to not have its own type of Color Counter, Gray instead uses both Black and White. He is powerful whether you use him as a beatstick, a pendulum, or a searcher, but he is even more useful when you can pendulum summon him to use each turn.)
Absence of the Colors - White
Level 6
(Water)
(Aqua / Pendulum / Effect)
Scale: 1<>1
ATK 0 | DEF 0
Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, during your standby phase, place one White Color Counter one a face-up “Colors” card. Once per turn, you can remove one Colors Counter from anywhere on the field to look at the top three cards of your deck and place those cards one at a time in any order on the top or bottom of the deck. Unless you have a “Colors” card in your other Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4.
Monster Effect: This card can only be summoned from the hand or extra deck into a Monster Card Zone already occupied by two “Colors” monsters. When this card is summoned, place one White Color Counter on this card. During each of your standby phases, place one White Color Counter on this card. White Color Counters can be counted as any other Color Counter. This card gains ATK and DEF equal to the combined ATK and combined DEF of the monsters it was summoned onto, and it gains those monsters’ effects. Place one White Color Counter on the monster that destroys this monster by battle.
(White's pendulum effect both enables you to use the other Colors' effect more, but it also lets you set up the top of your deck so that you excavate the cards you want when a Colors' effect does go off. White is just as useful if not moreso as a monster, gaining the power and effects of two other Colors but being able to use those effects repeatedly by using its own White Color Counters. Don't worry, the summoning conditions will make a little more sense when you've read the Spells & Traps.)
Inexistence of the Colors - Black
Level 6
(Water)
(Aqua /Pendulum / Effect)
ATK 2800 | DEF 2000
Scale: 8<>8
Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, you can place one Black Color Counter on one face-up monster. A Monster with a Black Color Counter on it loses 300 ATK for each Color Counter on it when battling a “Colors” monster. When a face-up "Colors" monster is removed from the field, except if destroyed by battle, place one Black Color Counter on one face-up card. Unless you have a “Colors” card in your other Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4.
Monster Effect: This card can only be summoned from the hand or extra deck into a Monster Card Zone already occupied by two “Colors” monsters. When this card is summoned, place one Black Color Counter on one face-up card. A Monster with a Black Color Counter on it loses 300 ATK for each Color Counter on it when battling a “Colors” monster. During each standby phase, place one Black Color Counter on one face-up card. If this card would be destroyed, you can destroy one of the "Colors" monsters it was summoned onto instead. When this card leaves the field, place one Black Color Counter on one face-up card.
(The second boss of the Colors, Black weakens enemy monsters enough for even the weakest of Colors to take down. The longer he sticks around, the weaker the enemy becomes, but unfortunately for your opponent, you have to hit him a few times before he falls. Don't worry, the summoning conditions will make a little more sense when you've read the Spells & Traps.)
City of Running Colors
(Field Spell)
During each of your standby phases, place Color Counters on every face-up “Colors” monster. The type of Color Counter placed becomes the type of counter that monster would place on itself when summoned. If it would place more than one type of Color counter on it when summoned, place one of each of those types of Color Counter on that monster. Players with a “Colors” monster on their field take half the battle damage from any battle involving a monster with a Color Counter on it.
(I honestly have no idea how I should word this card so that it does what I want it to. The idea is that it puts a Red Color Counter on Red, an Orange Color Counter on Orange, a Yellow Color Counter on... Yeah, it makes sense when explained like that, not so much in yugioh card speak. The idea here is to replenish all of the Colors' counters so that they can use their effects again. It effectively turns every Color from a one-of effect to a once-per-turn effect. It also reduces the damage you receive so long as the attacking monster has already destroyed a Color.)
Colors Bleed
(Continuous Trap)
When you take damage from a battle involving an opponent’s monster that has one or more Color Counters on it; you can remove every Color Counter from that monster and Special Summon from your grave monsters that place the same type of Color Counters on it when summoned that were removed from the opponent’s monster, up to one per type of Color Counter removed.
(Another card that makes more sense when just explained simply. Monster X has destroyed Red and Blue in battle already and therefor has a Red Color Counter and a Blue Color Counter on it. It attacks and destroys Yellow and inflicts damage. Those Red and Blue counters turn into Red and Blue back on your side of the field. Notice that it removes every counter from the attacking monster though, which includes Black and White counters. Black and White can't be summoned from the grave, so this will just be wasting their counters. Now for the really fun one...)
Expanded Pallet for the Colors
(Continuous Spell)
As long as this card remains face up, if there is a monster in each of your monster card zones, you may summon a second monster onto any monster card zone already occupied by a level 3 "Colors" monster as if that zone was empty. A “Colors” monster that is summoned into a zone that already contains another “Colors” monster gains the effect of the other monster and half of its ATK and DEF. Only the topmost monster can attack or be attacked. If the topmost monster is destroyed, the monster it was summoned onto is also destroyed. If this card is sent to the graveyard while two monsters share the same monster card zone(s), return "Colors” monsters on your side of the field to your deck so that there is only one monster in a monster card zone. If this card would be destroyed while you control a face-up “Colors” monster, you can remove two Color Counters from anywhere on the field instead.
(I heard you liked Colors, so I put Colors on your Colors and added Colors on top of those Colors. Once the field is full of Colors, you use this to start summoning the second tier of Colors, now with increases stats and two abilities. Not only that, but this card is the only way to summon the third tier of Colors, Black and White.)
Blank Canvas for the Colors
(Continuous Spell)
When a “Colors” monster is removed from the field, except if destroyed by battle, move any Color Counters that were on that monster to this card. “Colors” monsters gain 100 attack for each Color Counter on this card. “Colors” monsters can use Color Counters that are on this card as if they were on the monster. If this card is destroyed while it was Color Counters on it, move the Color Counters from this card onto face-up monsters of your choosing.
(Blank Canvas? More like blank check. With this card on the field, Color Counters will never go to waste. Bank a boatload of White Color Counters on this card and go to town with the Colors' effects like a kid in a candy store with their parent's credit card. These three continuous spells and traps are arguably more dangerous than the Colors themselves, so I wouldn't want them sticking around too long if I were up against this color gang.)
Raise the Colors
(Spell)
Discard one card; Excavate the top three cards of your deck and add any “Colors” excavated to your hand. Place any other excavated cards on the bottom of your deck.
(Draw power, so long as you've stacked your deck with Colors. In the worst case scenario this could be a -2, but in a full Color deck it's going to be more often than not a +1.)
Deepening Colors
(Quick Spell)
Select one level 3 “Colors” monster you control; special summon a monster with the same name from your hand or deck. If the summoned monster is summoned into a monster zone that contains another “Colors” monster with the same name; place a Color Counter on that monster that match the type of Color Counter that it places on itself when summoned and double the ATK and DEF of the “Colors” monster it was summoned onto.
(This card is good on its own, letting you summon a monster from your deck, but if Expanded Pallet for more Colors is in play this card lets you summon a Color with twice its normal attack and and extra Color Counter to make up for not gaining a second effect.)
The Colors Are Burning
(Trap)
Discard one “Colors” card from your hand; your opponent takes damage equal to half the attack of each monster they control that has a Color Counter on it.
(A plain -2, but the damage potential more than makes up for that. If the opponent has been hammering away at your Colors with a field full of monsters, this is going to hurt like hell. Even one powerful monster will mean a lot of damage from this card. Who knew paint was so flammable?)
Show Your Colors
(Trap)
During the beginning of your opponent's battle phase; discard one “Colors” monster and place one Colors Counter on every face-up monster your opponent controls, the name of the placed Color Counters being the name of the counter that the discarded monster would place on itself when summoned.
(The picture would be a can of spray paint. You can the Color monster you're discarding and cover the enemy monster's with it. If Colors Bleed is in play, your opponent might not be so eager to attack if it'll summon back whatever Color you just coated their monster in. It also further weakens any monster that has been bit with the dreaded Black Color Counter.)
Colors That Don’t Fade
(Spell)
Select two “Colors” cards in your graveyard; add them one at a time to either the top or bottom of your deck. OR Select one of your banished “Colors” monsters; special summon it to your side of the field.
(A plain old recycling card to put Colors back into the deck, but it can also stock the top of the deck with cards you want.)
Abstraction of the Colors
(Trap)
Activate only during the End Phase: Pay 1000 lifepoints to Special summon from your graveyard level 3 “Colors” monsters up to the number of “Colors” monsters that were removed from the field this turn. Until the end of your next turn, any decrease in lifepoints to your opponent they gain instead.
(The definitive "Not dead yet" card. If your opponent has started pulling out the big guns and has nuked away all of your colors, so long as you still have 1001 lifepoints during that end phase you can get back all of those lost Colors. Just don't expect to go for an OTK next turn... since you'd just end up doubling your opponent's lifepoints instead.)
