Spirit monsters return to the hand for lore reasons. They’re unable to exist on the physical plane for too long

To be fair Spirit Monsters do have good effects, it’s just that these are good effects attached to Spirit Monsters.

I LOVED Spirit monsters when they first came out, the gimmick seemed so interesting to me. Imagine my shock when I realized how horrible it was in actual play lol

The spirit pendulums are actually one of the best generic high scales there is, since it has no restrictions and returns to the hand after you pend summon so you can scale another monster. Wish it could pend summon spirits ignoring their summoning condition tho, I would play Aratama if that were the case.

Honorable mention to "The Wicked Worm Beast" for being the 1st spirit monster... in spirit. :)

Spirits deserved so much more. Early on in Yu-gi-oh, I feel like a lot of Spirit monsters had effects worse than cards with no downside.

This is more of a lore-related thing, but a lot of the Spirit and Spirit-support cards are all heavily tied to Japanese and Shinto mythology, which probably explains why Spirits tend to keep getting support. They're easily the most "Japanese" cards in the game, and I feel like they are a fairly fertile inspiration field to draw inspiration from.

Yamata Dragon was also used in some Dragon Ruler decks back in the day, since they didn't really need their normal summon

Otohime deserves a mention, as it did see some competitive play as well around the same time as monsters like Tsukuyomi did, just not nearly as extensively.

I'm sure you mentioned Amano Iwato's unintended interaction with the Duel Links skill "Duel, standby!" in your best spirit monsters video. Specifically the 2nd version: "Each player's starting hand increases by 1 card. You cannot activate Spell/Trap Cards or monster effects on your first turn."

Shoutout to Rite of Aramesir for turning off the effects of normal summoned monsters, meaning that a normal summoned Amono Iwoto stays on the field after your end phase and then gains it’s floodgate effect back during the opponents turn. Kind of a shame that no other spirit monster seems to be able to benefit from Rite of Aramesir’s restriction, but I wonder one day if that interaction will ever become a broken thing.

Many of their effects are good, the mechanic failed because it need very powerful support to play the actual good cards and the support they have isn’t enough

It's so funny Konami thought Spirits would be so important they needed a special tag included in the typing.

At least with spirits are the one experimental sub type other than flips that actually tried to experiment with its cards. Unions either ignore their effects or, with some cases, aren't even that special when some non-union archetypes do the same thing. Gemini spend their entire existence trying to apologize for being geminis. Toons are pretty faithful but are one note. Spirits and flips, although inconsistent with their support, actually try to play with their concepts, and especially rituals at least try to do something new with their gimmick with every new piece of support

Amano Iwato was broken in Duel Links with a skill (maybe a few skills) that had been nerfed to not allow the player to activate effects during their first turn. Summon Imano and he just stayed on the field until your opponent removed him, preventing any monster effect by them until they could out it.

I'll always have a soft spot for Spirit monsters. They were among the first archetypes in the game, being composed of various types and attributes which separated them from type and attribute-related support cards. They all had a visual thematic throughline with the spirit gate... portal... dimensional rift... thingy in the background of their art. And were one of the VERY rare cards to get their own special text designation on the card itself. (With the only others (aside from extra deck monsters) being Flip, Toon, and Gemini). It also didn't hurt that, while the mechanic made them less effective, it was unique nonetheless. At a time in the game when cards that temporarily banished themselves to avoid effects was unheard of, Spirit monsters were the first ways you could keep monsters out of your opponent's reach. They could also be combo'd with Creature Swap, which was also released at the time to take an opponents monster while the Spirit you gave them would just return to your hand, denying them another body on the field or Tribute fodder. Going back to that background art aspect, it's honestly baffling that there's never been a lore card exploring the nature of it; like a field spell card called "Gateway to the Spirit Realm" or something. I'd be interesting if there were field/continuous spells introduced that could remove tribute requirements for lv 5+ Spirit monsters, let you normal summon/set Spirit monsters infinitely at the cost of not being able to special summon for the rest of the turn even if the card leaves the field, have a Ghosttrick-esque effect that makes it so that Spirit monsters can attack directly but your opponent can only attack with one monster/their damage is halved/they can't attack directly, etc.

Imagine, a special summons or effect proof spirit who prevents your opponent from activating more effects than you did for specific cards types(eg 1 monster 1 spell 5 traps)

Ive seen gimmick decks centered around Amano-Iwato, and that was such a fresh air

I always thought the Ice Barrier spirit monster had the right idea with where to take the bounce effect

YES MY VIDEO IDEA!!!! Honestly I really love the aesthetic and concept behind spirit monsters, it's such a shame that they're not very good in modern yugioh. Really, the easiest way to fix them is to either make support that allows them to be special summoned easier (like the tama cards), or to double down on them being broken (like amano iwato). I also think that maybe the introduction of a proper Spirit monster archetype (not like Shinobirds that only had like 5 cards total) would also help with that and at least bring spirit monsters together more cohesively, similar to how the Prediction Princess archetype works as both its own archetype but also as good flip monster support. Another extra application I want to bring up is the Spirit Pendulum monsters, since they can essentially recycle themselves easier than other spirit monsters who are entirely dependent on their normal summon. One of my favorite spirit monsters is Amaterasu, which you can only normal summon face down and has a 1 draw + full field banish effect and is very fun to surprise opponents with. If there's ever a video on level 9 monsters or spirit monsters I'd love to see it featured even if it never saw competitive play due to being slow. As for another video idea, this one might seem somewhat bold but: the Tribute Summon. Because of how powerful the singular normal summon is as well as the prevalence of special summoning, there aren't many players who actively put in high level monsters in their deck Specifically to tribute summon them and usually these high level monsters are only cheated out via card effects, with the only actual tribute summons still running around are archetypes specifically themed around tribute summoning like Monarchs or True Draco/Masterpeace. Any similar summon effects that exist in modern yugioh are in themselves still just special summons that require tributes to summon and not proper tribute summons. Overall, since the normal summon has been dominated by powerful singular effects to start engines via drawing cards or aiding in more special summons, I think the Tribute Summon specifically would be a neat video idea for this failed mechanics series

God your videos are always so aesthetically pleasing. I love the editing I usually like to listen to the audio of vids in the background, but it's so hard not to get mesmerized by the smooth transitions in your vids

My favorite tech with spirits was Dimensionhole. It keeps the spirit off the field during the turn they’re summoned, then returns (not summons) the monster in your next Standby Phase. And since spirits only triggered their self bounce effects on the turn they’re summoned, they got to stick around.

Yugioh anime filler is probably the major reason people fondly remember spirit cards outside of the actual usage irl Rip Noah Kaiba

All what the spirit archetype needs are spell and effect monster cards, which alter the effects of spirits in the hand, deck and graveyard, by negating their special summon restriction, while also giving them more searchers and more opportunities to special and normal summon.

While true that shinobarons were a going second strategy at launch, I think Transonic Bird helps big time allowing you to summon them on the opponent's turn, which also means you will be able to use the tokens during yours. Also being winged beasts pluses nicely with them

as a die hard fan of the spirit monster concept and lore, i gotta say It is failed but not as failed as gemini, that (without gimmicks) u have to waste 2 normal summons to have access to a subpar effect. Old school Spirit monsters just have to recieve nice support, like a field spell that makes them stay on the field or something that facilitates the summon of big monsters like Yamata, Hino, etc, or the resolution of the battle effects of Yata, Yamata, Tengu, etc. Konami knows how to make good spirit monsters, like Amano-Iwato, Aratama (searcher), Nikitama (extra normal summon)... They just have to gain something that ties all of them together consistently.

Spirits (and Gemini for that) could become an Option for Players, when/if playing Yugioh becomes big for general Entertainment, in other Words, gets the E-Sport treatment. In an Enviorement where you play not only for yourself but also for your Audience, you have the Freedom to build your Deck without constantly thinking about how to get your Win Condition first. Which allows you to play more WITH your Opponent, instead of AGAINST them

I had a discussion about spirits some time ago, and came to the conclusion that the best way to make spirits good is to make the self-bounce a benefit, rather than a liability, even if it means weaker effects. I'd imagine such a spirit monster/archetype would look a lot like the yokai girls (Ash et al): monsters with handtrap/discard effects. You could give them lesser effects on normal summon, likely searches for support or Flunder-like additional normal summons to build a board - and then any that stuck around for the end phase would bounce back to the hand for you to use their handtrap effect on the opponent's turn...with the downside of your opponent now knowing what's waiting for them in addition to the lesser board presence. Alternatively, they have no NS effect, but have a clause to SS themselves from the GY by their own effect if a spirit is on the field. So discard on opponent's turn for handtrap effect, NS on your turn and SS from grave to swing back...which I can see getting out of hand if that self-summon effect isn't HOPT per monster. Anyway, a couple ideas. I love the idea of Spirits, and hate that Konami gave up on them harder than they dropped Gemini.

I think a good start for Spirit Monsters would be a field spell. Make it like Fallen Paradise with ridiculous protection and a +2 if you have a Spirit out. Then, make returning to the hand Optional if u have the field card out. Also, you could make a 2 token creator card with restrictions. Then give it a GY effect to give an Extra Normal Summon but only for Spirits. Thataway, you can get good 2 tribute Spirits like Yamato Dragon and Tsuchi online.

Idea for a normal summon support card (Which would naturally lend itself to Spirts): _Exalted Normality_ Field Spell _Your Monsters require 1 less tribute to tribute summon, and can be normal summoned face-up in defense position. During your main phase, You can tribute 1 Special Summoned monster you control to conduct an additional normal summon/set this turn. You can tribute 1 monster you control to apply 1 of the following effects, depending on its ATK or DEF (Whichever is higher). You can only apply each of the following effects of “Exalted Normality” once per turn:_ 0-1500 ATK or DEF: Add 1 monster to your hand (from your deck or GY) that cannot be special summoned. Until the end phase of next turn, you take no battle damage from battles involving normal summoned monsters you control. 1550-3000 ATK or DEF: Equip 1 Equip Spell (from your hand, deck or GY) to a normal summoned monster you control. Until the end phase of next turn, increase your LP and the ATK/db.yDEF of all monsters you control by equal to any battle or effect damage dealt to your opponent by normal summoned monsters you control. 3050-4500+ ATK or DEF: Place 1or 2 Pendulum Monster(s) (From your hand, deck or field) into your pendulum zones. Until the end phase of your next turn, Normal summoned monsters you control are unaffected by the effects of special summoned monsters.

To be honest, it seems something that can be solved with something like "except if they were summoned by a spirit card effect".

Spirits are one of my favourite decks to play. I'm currently working on building a deck that's good enough to stand on its own with the new Ritual support Trap card coming in DABL.

Thing is, their Effects force them to return to your Hand during the End Phase of the Turn they were Normal or Flipped face-up! As someone once pointed out to me, if you play the Field Spell Future Visions, you summon them, they'll be Banished and then return next turn... and not have to return to the Hand as the turn they were Normal Summoned had technically already passed! Though, I play with the Spring of Rebirth and Spririt's Invitation combo, forcing my opponent to bounce as well! Plus cards returning to their Hand will ALSO grant me a further 500 Life Points as it doesn't specify, it's jus "when a card returns to the owner's Hand"!

A card that combines the effects of Ultimate Offering and Black Whirlwind could improve the mechanic, but only if it's also easy to search out.

I think the main problem the mechanic faced was that, while some of the effects were noteworthy, the fact that you couldn't cheat them out in any way doomed them on the long run. If only they made a card that at least gave you an extra normal/set when you normal summon a Spirit, they probably could've been less crippling, and could have potentially seen use in other decks as well. Whatever Konami does, though, I hope they stick with the usual Spirit restrictions. I feel that taking them away will remove their identity, and doing that just so they see play will just ruin them even further.

I think the best way to give them good support would just be a field spell that allows you to, on a hard OPT, normal summon a spirit monster in addition to your regular normal summon

The Failed Cards series is becoming my favourite! Keep up the amazing work!

I used the Inaba White Rabbit for a time. Jumps out, 800 direct damage, returns to the hand before it can be attacked.

Spirit monsters just need the same treatment that tribute summoning got like with a Spirit version of Floowandereeze.

Honestly, just giving them some kind of way to be summoned on your opponents turn would help a lot. Tsukiyomi would be like a book of moon plus a body, DDS would be a board wipe, they could make some that have effect negation. Give them that, some advantage for getting bounced, and a few ways to get extra normals, and they could be a fun rogue deck. If we've gotta ban a boulder to get it, I'm fine saying bye.

You forgot the best Shinobird support: Transonic bird. Getting to have a triple monster bounce as an interrupt is a powerful effect. Of course it still loses to board breakers.

So, I like to create new Yu-Gi-Oh archetypes, and I've recently tried experimenting with Spirits. Some ideas to help usher in good support include: 1: Field Spells for Spirits that can grant them more consistency or versatility (i.e., searches for spirits, double summons for spirits). 2: trigger abilities for when Spiritsare returned to the hand. Things like "When a Spirit monster is returned from the field to the hand, add this card in your GY to your hand" Or "Draw 1 card for each Spirit that returns to your hand". 3: give them hand trap abilities. There's no real restrictions for this, so go ham with it. Another idea I've had is to make spirits be the recurring support cards for a set of boss monsters that summon themselves when spirits return to your hand. The spirits would be searches for the boss monsters, then they would return to your hand to summon the boss monsters, then become either hand traps or discard fodder for the boss monster's effects. I'm even working on a build that allows summons on your opponent's turn, things like quick effect contact fusing, "accel synchro"-ing, etc and being able to use the Spirits in your hand as material for said actions. Trust me. With enough imagination, this sub-type can certainly become a viable option for high level play.

Loved them conceptually and yata-lock was a happy nightmare to play against

I used Yaksha to decent effect in a Yubel deck I ran. It was kinda slow for the time, and way, way, waaaayyyy too slow for anything close to the modern game, but once I got the second Yubel form on the field Yaksha became a perpetual thorn in my opponent's side.

One of the many surprises of Duel Links was Inaba White Rabbit becoming a legitimate contender instead of a veteran of GX's well for rejected cards. 700 ATK direct damage every turn doesn't seem like much, but stall burn decks ensured the game would slow to a crawl so it could keep coming back to poke at the opponent, and there were almost no good ways to get rid of it on the opponent's turn (best removal was Relinquished and the best backrow was Enemy Controller) so it became another example of Spirits' disadvantage becoming an advantage. Hilariously enough, Magic the Gathering's Kamigawa Neon Dynasty set introduced Reinforced Ronin, a similar return-to-hand creature that was primarily used for recurring direct damage.

I really feel bad for the Spirit monsters, cool lore behind them and an interesting idea to their mechanic, though I think 🤔 if like half the spirits, say, the Lv.6 or higher didn't bounce at the end of the turn they could have field presence to shore up def and not blow through their resources so much. As well as have spells & traps that can sp. Summon by bypassing the summoning restrictions. Having a on theme Field spell could do this for them.

One spirit monster I always kind of liked in concept, besides Amano Iwato was Yamata Dragon. And I think that it saw some brief play in Dragon Ruler decks if memory serves me right.

I mean tbf, the Peackocs are usually used when you can use them. Also Kinka-Byu was used in Bird Up which was pretty recent

This mechanic really fits well with Rush Duels if they try to incorporate also Geminis but Konami seems don't have that idea....

I think this is a case where there are almost as many solutions as there are spirit cards to fix them. As Amano showed they can get play by straight up being broken, but they can also fix them by giving them a way to consistently special summon or keep them on the field, give them effects that synergize more with existing archetypes or card types, or give them enough support to make them worth using despite all of their restrictions. Don't think any of that'll happen anytime soon though, 'cause Konami's been slow to update old playstyles.

Spirit monsters need more cards to allow you to normal summon extra times and more cards to keep them on the field. The problem with them is it is too difficult to get a bunch of them on the field. If they were more like the Yosenju Kama monsters, that would allow them to see play. Maybe a field spell or continuous spell that allows you to normal summon an addition spirit monster each turn and also prevents them from returning to the hand.

A Pend monster that let's them ignore their Summoning condition, but still sends them back to the hand at the end of the turn would seriously help. Might even let the old Big Boys play. The other would be to just give them more Normal Summons. Yes that makes Imano better but it still bounces so it's a stun effect and that should be fine for Spirits.

Tsukuyomi and Asura are popular played and powerful cards on Goat Format so the mechanic it self isnt bad or "failed" I would just say that was created on early times don't having on mind how the game is nowadays. Btw was not mentioned but they synergies very well with swap control

I don't know why but I would like to see the opposite of Failed Mechanics and see successful mechanics like in the case of Towers Monsters. Or Tier 0 Decks

I wonder if he's ever covered Destiny Heroes. He's made so many videos but I'd like to see a video on the most overlooked Hero sub-archetype 🤔

Ever heard of Yosenju decks? They are a great deck because most of monsters have the effect when they are normal summoned, you get 1 more normal summon. That can result in 4 monsters in 1 turn and without special summons. They also have massive pendulum support that can bring out them even easier. 2nd most useful effect in that decks is that monster return to hands when they are normal summoned, so your opponent will propably end up in clear field

I remember back in school I use to use a deck that was entirely spells and traps to stop attacks and effects, monsters that couldn't be destroyed by battle, and 3 copies of inaba the white rabbit. A little 700 attack spirit that could attack directly then bounce back to the hand where it was safe. The deck wasn't competitive by any means but it was a lot of fun annoying my friends as they tried to out my stall tactics before they got slowly killed by a rabbit XD

Spirit monsters could be monsters with powerful effects on summon that the player can decide to return to the hand at will anytime s/he wants, requiring a normal summon to go back to the field. So much can be done with something like this.

a good idea might be the sanctuary in the sky field spell and how agents almost never wanted to run it

Spirits lack a continuous kind of card that allows for extra normal summons, basically an ultimate offering that only helps spirits.

thanks again for uploading these to YT, Bawk! another year, another bawktober! Can't wait for the oily rags! Thanks for everything! Cheers!

I love spirits. I've been a fan ever since I saw Noah use them. I've been trying to get to Diamond rank with Shinobirds this season on Master Duel, but that has proven to be very very difficult.

Speaking of MtG, it did this mechanic a lot better with Dash, which added versatility to a creature.

If anyone's wondering how bad the first wave of Spirit cards were, there was a Spirit support card called "Spiritual Energy Settle Machine". Its only effect was keeping Spirit Monsters on the field, at the cost of a discard during each of your End Phases and bouncing all Spirit Monsters if it gets removed from the field. This card was the only support they had for a very long time.

"Though to be fair, that's because Sangan and Chaos Emperor Dragon both wound up getting Erratas at some point." That and the fact that the Yata-lock was not contingent on Sangan and Chaos Emperor Dragon. This duo was only the most powerful support for Yatagarasu with the least amount of ways for the opponent to break the lock. There were several other ways to facilitate a Yata-lock; in fact, my primary Deck back then contained a nine-card spiritual successor to the Yata-lock that could have easily been tweaked into a true Yata-lock.

The Sonic Bird Ritual Support (Transonic Bird+Sonic Tracker) also helps Shinobirds. Also, Amaterasu is a pretty interesting Spirit Monster. I wish it had a bit more support because it's effect can cripple many strategies and is probably the most potent flip effect out there. I wanted to use this in something like Impcantations, but it isn't exactly consistent. The idea of your opponent attacking set monsters and not knowing what they are is a fun mechanic that has been missing from Yugioh since the caveman era.

idea for how to improve spirits. a new regular effect monster that can equip a spirit from your hand, borrow the stats and effect of that spirit for the turn. then during the end phase, the equip spirit goes back to the hand. and make this a quick effect so it can be done during the opponent's turn. (if the spirit effect activates at normal summon, it is instead activated upon being equipped). also, maybe a field spell that summons tokens for tribute/protection if you reveal x number of spirits in hand. and an archetypal "draw2" card.

Maybe extra deck monsters that revolve around spirits? Like they could use spirits as materials, or use their self bounce as a special summon condition?

Shout out to the one Spirit Monster deck used by the CPUs in Duel Links which can attack you directly over your Monsters, thus preventing you from using said CPU to grind for a Mission that required specific actions in one Duel.

The next Failed Cards and Mechanics will be Normal Summon. Makes sense considering the current state of the game.

I think that the spirit monsters need to have effects when they return to the hand like shinobaron. That way you get extra advantage like special summon another spirit monster from your hand or deck ,destroy one monster on the field etc.

Back in the day when I was running a zombie deck, I used Dark Dust Spirit as a back-up just in case I needed to clear the field. It did saved my skin a few times since zombies were pretty easy to special summon from the graveyard since it was a non-targeting effect. If you do try to use it for a spirit only deck, I just can't see you ever using it and it is just going to be a dead card. Now a days I have completely new cards with new support and Dark Dust Spirit is just too slow and prevents being special summoned which the zombie arch is all about.

Best fix I can think of is the alteration to spirits that they can be normal summoned even if you've already normal summoned a non spirit monster that turn, and that they can only be used for tribute for spirit monsters.

I honestly think a decent Field Spell that interacts with Spirits in the right way could make them viable, though not competitive. Geminis are where the real issue lies. Geminis would have been great if they were considered a Normal Monster everywhere except on the field after their second summon, as then Normal Monster support would interact with them.

Dark Dust Spirit would wreak havoc in the duels I had with my brother. The ultimate way to wipe your opponent's 2000 DEFS walls and advance the game. We had very little monster removal in our decks.

I hated getting Yata-Locked. That bird was a nightmare to see.

Neat analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

I built a shinobaron nekroz unicore deck with amano iwato. Using 3 of ntis and arclight for advantage with dogmatika and nekroz and then spinning and summoning amano. It’s pretty good

Most of spirit monsters have their effects on normal summon, so that's why izanagi or card that makes them permanent on the field is not effective. Only Amano Iwato. Instead, they need card that can give them additional normal summon + normal summon during opponent's turn. Take a look at dark dust spirit (destroy all other face-up monster), fenghuang (destroy set backrows), rasetsu (bounce monster), yaksha (bounce spell/trap). Like floowandereeze gimmick.

Sounds like they'd have to ban or errata Amano if we ever wanted spirits to recieve full-scale support.

We need a field spells that allows them to normal 4 times per turn

A kind of field spell that allows too special summon as many times as you want but not special summons would be really neet for spirits

Quagmire (Field Spell) All spirit monsters you control gain 500 att/def. If you control a spirit monster faced up, you gain an additional normal summon or set this turn for a spirit monster only If a spirit monster were to return to the hand at the end phase, you can pay 500 LP, it stays on the field until the end phase of your opponent’s next turn and is immune to destruction by battle.

>normal summon Imano Iwato >move to end phase >chain Chalice to the bounce effect Floodgate time

Most mechanics I feel can be fixed with future support, but this and gemini are the only ones I feel are inherently archaic.

Between the shinobirds, amano, the lv3 one and the 2 lv4 that were used for xyz plays, there is something there it just need something like a field spell and a few spell/traps designed to be good enough for the deck to be playable

Spirits still have potential. You can make decks focusing on the high level ones, using cards like soul exchange and storm forth to tribute your opponent's monsters or stuff like fiend's sanctuary to create tokens for tribute. All you have to do is use threatening or swift scarecrow to protect yourself on your opponent's turn and they can't do anything to you. Spirits can be good if they give them more ways to tribute the opponents monsters and give more support to shinobirds. They missed out on a good opportunity by not letting the pendulum spirits pendulum summon spirits. There was a card played in the anime called New World that would let you normal summon spirits without tribute, they could release that card with the effect updated, that would go a long way.

A few ways this mechanic could be fixed. 1. Add a continuous trap card that is searchable and allows the player to have infinite normal summons during either player's turn, but only lets you summon spirit monsters. 2. Give up on making spirit monsters their own thing and print them as powerful normal summon support for other archetypes. 3. Add spirit monsters that act as excellent combo starters to special summon many non-spirit monsters.

Dark dust spirit was my favorite back in macro monarch days. Fenghuang nice too

This is a prime example of how the coolest in both looks and concept are the ones who fail

Spirits need a Field spell that gives a benefit for the cards returning to the hand. Like drawing, or special summoning…..or act like Neo Space and make the return an option, rather than mandatory

It's also worth noting that Zombies, which have a TON of ways to special summon zombies, Darkness Spirit could get out really really easily

shoutout to hino kago tsuchi (discard your opponents whole hand) and yamata dragon (draw 5) for having crazy effects tied to 2-tribute spirits monsters

MBT referenced it, but Amano Iwato+ Rite of aremesir is a very funny lock down, even if outed with something like drnm, you can drop griffon rider for a negate

Perhaps they could create a wave of Spirit monsters that double as hand-traps. Where if you control no monsters, you can discard them for various forms of interaction. That would give you a reason to have them return, similar to Yosenjus. Perhaps as well they could have spell/trap support that gives you advantage when they return to the hand.

This was such a fun archetype. I really wish they gave them the support needed to make a really badass deck. I love the artwork, some of the effects, and the names because they’re a reference to Shinto. It was also cool that the names of some are also used in Naruto as some of the most op abilities. Anyone who’s watched the show who hears izanagi, Amaterasu, izanami, and tsukuyomi probably smirks

Have you considered Co-linking and Extra Linking as failed mechanics? I feel like they got a lot of hype in the early days of Master Rule 4, but never really amounted to much. Especially after Firewall got banned and then errata'd.

If a spirit monster just hand the normal summon effect of drawing two cards and changed its name to "Pot of Greed" while in the hand and field, it still probably wouldnt see play.

Asura Priest+final attack order+ojama trio. This combo would allow Asura priest to attack 3 monsters with zero ATK. The spirit zombie Dark Dust Spirit was my personal favorite. When yugioh came out with tons of zombie stables, Dark Dust spirit was easily summoned thanks to Call of the mummy (while u hav no monsters on field, u can special summon any zombie from hand). Special summon a zombie, sacrifice it, summon Dark Dust spirit, use book of life to special summon a zombie back from graveyard to field (also removes 1 monster from opponent's GY) Direct attack with both monsters. Use this combo with Vampire Lord and robben goblin active.

They need more reliable support more specifically spells and traps! Konami may be infamous dor a lot of things but printing out terrible support is the worst thing about them. Like for example have a spell card that allows you to special summon a spirit ignoring their summoning costs from the deck or hand, and a trap card that allows spirits to be unaffected by card effects.