Nothing to fear but fear itself

No, this post is not going to be about a fucking evil annoying rat, but rather a relatively new Synchro that has been all over the place as of late: Scrap Dragon.



Having generic materials opens up the option to play it in any deck under the sun, and who wouldn't given its ridiculous size and combo potential? Eliminating a threat is always nice, and most decks will have something they can feed to its effect on a regular basis. Have a spare Fluff Token? Infernity Archfiend? Vayu? Perhaps even a Wulf you got for nothing? The possibilities are endless, and it becomes all the stronger a play when the card being blown to bits wants to be in the graveyard. Scrap Dragon sports a mean 2800 ATK and the ability to attack in the same turn it activated its effect, so it's similar to Dark Armed Dragon on the threat scale. Scrappy simply trades multiple destruction for ease of play.

But within the Scrap deck? Oh dear... this thing is like a train. Once it starts moving, it's not likely to stop. Scrap Dragon is vulnerable to Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, Grand Mole, Brionac, and eventually Trishula, but Bottomless is going to be only one of these that will stop it on the turn it enters play to any reliable degree. Since it doesn't care about its location of destruction, Scrap Dragon scoffs at the likes of Solemn Warning in that it's just going to revive a Golem, which will revive a Goblin, which will simply make another Scrap Dragon. What a waste, eh? Similarly, it can run head-on into Mirror Force and not give two shits.

Beyond that, its minions provide the best fodder imaginable to throw to its destruction effect - Scrap Beast and Scrap Goblin make you go +1 for your efforts in the form of a Chimera that'll make another Scrap Dragon or Scrap Archfiend when you need it. Barring those, you can use Treeborn Frog or Level Eater to get rid of cards entirely free of charge. Even a Scrap Searcher that's kicking around works, though that's more likely to pop out of the grave after having used the Dragon's effect for the sake of having another body to use.

Scrap Dragon is a good card in other decks, but within Scraps it's just obscene. I can definitely see a limit if they ever get out of hand.

What happened to the first rule?

I dunno, but here's the second:

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Hero%27s_Rule_2

"Hero's Rule 2" has seen an uprising in side deck play lately, mostly in Infernities, occasionally in X-Sabers, and why not? It's quite a flexible card in such a grave-centric era.

People previously threw around the idea of using "Imperial Iron Wall" in the Infernity side deck, but it quickly became apparent that it's too passive a card for the strategy since it has to be able to sit on the field and has little disruptive power in its own right. It also disallows you from using your own copies of "Bottomless Trap Hole" and "Infernity Break" while active, and denying your own use of simple but powerful 1 for 1 cards such as these is painful. Sure, you could side them out to accommodate "Imperial Iron Wall," but is that really the best idea in most cases?

This is where "Hero's Rule 2" came into the picture.

On the offensive, you can use it to jam an opponent's "Infernity Mirage," "Infernity Necromancer," "Infernity Launcher," "XX-Saber Faultroll," "XX-Saber Ragigura," and more. On the defensive, you can block the likes of "D.D. Crow" or a "Gottoms' Emergency Call" that's trying to steal your monsters. Even better, it's a counter trap, so "Stardust Dragon" can't do anything in response! To top things off, it has no chance of messing with your own card choices, so it's easy to see why "Hero's Rule 2" has gained popularity and is an overall superior choice compared to "Imperial Iron Wall."

Use it.

Burn Cannot Exist!

A bunch of you probably already know about this card, but not its TCG name, which was recently confirmed to be "Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste," which is surprisingly close to the OCG equivalent.

He's the first in the "Synchro Fusion" family, and honestly, quite mediocre.

1 Dragon-Type Synchro Monster + 1 Warrior-Type Monster.
This card cannot be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck except by Fusion Summon. Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 Dragon-Type Synchro Monster in either player's Graveyard and have this card's name treated as that card's name and gain its effect(s) until the End Phase. Also, if this card is on the field in face-up Attack Position, Effect Damage to your Life Points as a result of an opponent's card effect is inflicted to your opponent instead.

There aren't many Dragon Synchro Monsters from which Draco-Equiste can borrow effects and use them properly. It only gets half of what makes "Stardust Dragon" and "Black Rose Dragon" really shine. It gets to skip the End Phase drawback of "Red Dragon Archfiend," but the ability to nuke a bunch of defenders at once isn't too special. "Iron Chain Dragon" often does more harm to your position than good.

If I wanted to hate on burn, I'd just summon "Black-Winged Dragon."

So what can this do that something else can't? I guess... remove an opposing Stardust from the Grave? To me, that's not enough to warrant playing Draco-Equiste.

The most redeeming thing about is its ridiculously high stats and the fact it can be dropped for a single card, but overall, the results and setup compared to something like "Elemental Hero Absolute Zero" are a joke.

But hey, no harm in trying it out if you want, since it's going to be a tin promo...

Inappropriate Joke Goes Here

Ehehehe. *cough*

Righto, I'm happy to see a new Morphtronic card, and it just so happens that this is one of the winners of a create-a-card contest that took place in Japan not too long ago (the others being "Splendid Rose," "Chaos King Archfiend," "Drill Synchron," "Drill Warrior," and "Bird of Roses"). It's not a bad design, although I get the feeling the kid had little to nothing to do with the card's stats or effect...

Let's face it; 0/0 stats suck, badly, especially when it has no built-in protection ala "Cyber Valley." The WIND attribute blows, and the fact that it has to be in face-up defense position to do anything hurts as well. It's no wonder I've been stalling when it comes to testing the card in my Morphtronic build. The continued insistence on integrating the theme with Equip Spells pisses me off too.

I guess it's not all bad, though. It's a pretty solid hit off of Celfon, and in tandem with "Machine Duplication" it essentially becomes a non-destructive "Lightning Vortex." Combos well with "Release Restraint Wave," among other things. Vacuumen will definitely have its moments.

I doubt it's a mainstay in the deck, however. "Genex Neutron" has a much better chance of achieving that.

Stick to the Desert

By which I mean my deck!



Most of the time, this card is excruciating to see in the opening hand. Your graveyard isn't set up for it at that time, and probably isn't going to be anytime soon unless you drew the nuts (Double Launcher, Archfiend, Beetle, Barrier) to go with it. Not only that, but it also inhibits your ability to get anything out of your other cards until it is out of your hand. To put it bluntly, Mirage, in testing, has been the source of many instances that had me wanting to pull out my hair.

That being the case, using 1 seems to be ideal at the moment. Sure, you don't get to see it every game that way, and sure, you won't draw it after setting up anywhere near as often, but is that so bad? If a game drags on so long that you're able to summon 2 Mirage without the aid of certain OCG shenanigans (Stygian Street Partrol/Hellway Patrol), you're probably doing it wrong. If you really need it, you can search for a lone copy with "One for One" or Archfiend. The opening hand being playable should be your greatest concern, and Mirage rarely helps in that respect...

"Infernity Mirage" is no doubt a solid card, but I feel that it's grossly overestimated.

I got 4 Solemns, yo.

There's a reason everybody is going crazy over "Infernity Barrier," and if you aren't, you should probably start.

Consider for a moment what the Infernity theme wishes to accomplish: empty its hand in order to overwhelm the opponent with field presence. Should the opponent survive this ordeal, the Infernity player has left themselves (relatively) vulnerable, having placed everything they have on the table, where it can easily be stripped away without the proper protection.

This protection is none other than "Infernity Barrier," a single answer to any threat, free of charge. Sounds good, no? There's no catch, either; its activation requirement only demands that you be following the basics of the theme, anyway (have an empty hand, have field presence). As such, it's no more troublesome to use than any other Infernity card, and you can even use 3 copies to make sure anything and everything you do is safe!

To state the obvious, Barrier is at your beck and call if you so much as draw it or Special Summon "Infernity Archfiend," and that Archfiend will in turn meet the requirements to activate Barrier. This only adds to its ease of use.

But that's not even the optimal situation! Barrier is at its strongest when backing "Infernity Doom Dragon" and whatever other cohorts you can muster - the more, the better. Adding "Stardust Dragon" to the list makes your setup next to impregnable...

If that isn't good, I don't know what is.

Of course, Barrier does have its blind spots. When you draw during your Draw Phase, Barrier goes offline until you can get that card out of your hand, so your opponent can use any disruptive options they want at that time, like "Intercept Wave" or "Compulsory Evacuation Device." Its need to have a face-up attack position Infernity monster is also exploitable. For example, "Book of Moon" and "Book of Eclipse" offer an ultimatum: Barrier them, or be unable to use Barrier against the real threats. Either option is bad news, so exercise discretion.

The deck will inevitably be visited by the Forbidden and Limited list at some point in the future, most likely to dismantle its easy OTK ability. After this happens, Infernity players will have to shift gears to a more control-oriented style, and it's my firm belief that "Infernity Barrier" is the reason the deck will survive and flourish in such an environment.

It looks so awesome, too. DOOM DRAGON SAYS NO!

Pretty Fly for a...

Dragon Deck.

:3

What? I'm talking about "Delta Fly" of course!


This is another one of the finer inclusions in Duelist Revolution. Clocking in as Dragon Tuner with ATK low enough to be searched by "Masked Dragon," "Delta Fly" adds a bunch of utility to dragon-oriented decks that simply wasn't available until now.

To start off, it's one level higher than "Magna Drago," which already opens up a lot more Synchro options. On the other side of the spectrum, it lacks the restrictions that inhibit "Debris Dragon" from being optimal in dragon decks. On top of this, "Delta Fly" has the ability to increase the level of another monster you control once per turn!

"Delta Fly" can be combined with "Totem Dragon" in a pinch to make a level 5 or 6. In tandem with "Masked Dragon," "Delta Fly" makes a level 6 or 7, making for a semi-reliable way to play that "Exploder Dragonwing" that's been begging for action since its release. Alongside "Koaki Meiru Drago" or "Red-Eyes Wyvern," "Delta Fly" provides a level 7 or 8, which is killer; the deck has been aching for a solid way to make level 8 dragon Synchros for a long time. Previously, the only options to do so were the odd "Prime Material Dragon" + "Magna Drago" and "Debris Dragon" + "Totem Dragon" x2 plays which seldom showed themselves. For the laughs, "Delta Fly," much like "Debris Dragon," can team up with "Prime Material Dragon" to make "Trident Dragion."

Utility aside, it's also stronger than either "Magna Drago" or "Debris Dragon," so it's likely to be replacing both in dragon decks in the near future. The only reason to still include Debris would be the prospect of a 1-card 2500 beater.

"Delta Fly" probably won't be showing up in other decks, but it's still top-notch support for its type.

A (Not So) Hidden Gem in DREV

So, product has made it to Singapore, etc. It was quite surprising to see this amongst the overall weak set:

Pot of Greed and Modesty
Normal Spell

Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Choose 1 of them, and add it to your hand. Shuffle the remaining cards back into the deck. Only 1 "Pot of Greed and Modesty" can be activated per turn, and you cannot special summon during the turn this card is activated.

Credit to bahamut84 for uploading the scans.

The kooky fashion in which this card functions reminds me of the Pokémon TCG. Anyway, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this card will instantly shoot into staple status. The question is, how many copies?

There's little to no risk in running one. Just surrender your ability to explode for a turn, and in exchange you'll likely be handed something that's crucial to your long-term game.

Two is also a very reasonable inclusion. Rarely will they be drawn together or lead into each other. The frequency at which at least one is drawn increases, in turn aiding any deck's consistency if it has to fill space.

A play set is best off in those decks that simply don't have any other options to sift through their cards, those low tier decks that have been crying for a way to get to 40 cards and still flow well. You run into the issue of drawing duplicates when using three, but that's not going to hurt as much as not getting any combos together would.

Gadgets, including Machina variants, absolutely adore a card like this because it doesn't really hinder their flow at all, and it allows them to draw their outs to faster decks, or just things to wear other decks down in general.

It might replace "Black Feather Treasure" in Blackwings.

FTK decks, sadly, get a boost from this - as long as they don't special summon. Hello, Exodia?

"Pot of Greed and Modesty" might not be the best of choices in a deck like Quickdraw Plants, though.

The possibilities are endless. @_@

Keyword: Nimble

Definition: Special summon X monster from your deck.

Nimble Sunfish
WATER/Level 2
Fish/Effect

When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, send 1 Fish-type monster from your Deck to the Graveyard. Then, you can Special Summon 1 "Nimble Sunfish" from your Deck.

ATK 1000/DEF 100

Well, this is a pleasant surprise! It should have been obvious that another fish was going to show up soon; it's a very TCG thing to do, and there hasn't been one for a couple sets.

Where "Metabo - Shark" brought about much fury, "Nimble Sunfish" replaces that with a sunny disposition, both for its amazing art and what it does for the Fish deck.

"Nimble Sunfish" allows near instant reverse toolboxing ability, whether one chooses to use "Pot of Avarice" or a combination of "Salvage" and "Moray of Greed." Among the cards that can be particularly useful in the grave, there's "Fishborg Blaster," which when combined with the "Nimble Sunfish" that is summoned, gives a Fish player the tributes they need for Super Special Awesome King Coelacanth, who in turn drops 2 Synchros on the table. Coelacanth is useful in the graveyard if "Phantom of Chaos" is on hand to copy his effect. Whatever Fish is necessary is easy to access by was of "Nimble Sunfish."

Sunfish also keeps tech choices like "Spiritual Water Art - Aoi" more live and increases Synchro options alongside "Royal Swamp Eel," who before could really only go for levels 7-9 with an odd 5 here and there.

This is one of those decks that seems to be slow-rolling its way onto the competitive scene. It'll definitely surprise people one day.

---

And here Sunfish pops up after I traded off my fish cards. :@

I have nothing to say about Akz.

BELIEVE IN NEXUS

As of episode 104, the 5D's anime now has its 4th opening and ending themes, and frankly, they're amazing. The animation for the new opening and ending is quite amazing too - better than the show itself, in fact. @_@

In other news, "Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak" was just confirmed as an OCG import for the TCG version of The Shining Darkness!

Earth/Level 4
Warrior/Effect
2000 ATK/200 DEF

During each of your End Phases, destroy this card unless you send 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your hand to the Graveyard or reveal 1 Warrior-Type monster from your hand. Once per turn, if this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, it can attack once again in a row.

The article seems to hype the card up more than it should. At the end of the day, this is just an average entry into the card pool. Raw beaters have not been in style for many years and likely never will be again thanks to the ever looming power creep to which this game (like most others) is subjected. After adding the fact that information needs to be given away to maintain it, Bergzak can be more of a burden than one would like at the most inopportune times (even Drago has this problem). It's also falling into "Bottomless Trap Hole" like everything else, and isn't anything special unless it actually can run over monsters. The risk of attacking a Lightsworn or Blackwing only to run into "Honest" or Kalut is ever present. Bergzak can't get over "Gravekeeper's Spy." It only makes even trades against Hamster thanks to Ryko. It does get over Firedog, but the dog doesn't frequently stay on the field for more than a turn anyway. Gadgets and friends simply aren't going to care much if they're run over, although doing so hurts significantly, so it's not a bad move by any means.

Bergzak does have a lot of practical uses, however, so it's probably going to be a mainstay in Koa'ki Meiru out of synergy alone, and even E-Heroes could probably use it as a tech card.

He's going to look nice as a secret, too.

In the Field

Saber Vault
Field Spell

Each face-up "X-Saber" monster on the field gains 100 ATK x its Level, and loses 100 DEF x its Level.

This looks like some kid's failed attempt at a Create-A-Card, but no, it's a TCG debut card in The Shining Darkness.
http://www.konami.com/yugioh/articles/?p=1665

Aren't we long past the age of boring, flat stat buffs? After "Black Garden," "Magical Citadel of Endymion," and "Future Visions," expectations for field spells rose to match their caliber, but Konami doesn't seem to get it after all...

First of all, "Saber Vault" doesn't do anything to significantly help the archetype for which it was designed. Their bosses don't need a boost, and their little guys aren't getting enough out of it to matter. Admittedly, Airbellum gets over Shura and ties with Firedog, but doing the latter is far from optimal, especially since Airbellum wants to be attacking directly, not falling in battle with monsters. Fulhelmknight isn't getting over many of the primary attackers OR defenders of the modern game with only 1600 atk. Emmersblade doesn't get to crash with "Red Gadget" anymore, or anything really, since next to no monsters have 1600 atk.

As an added minus, "Saber Vault" does not offer a way to deal with the pressing issue of drawing multiples of itself. Extra "Future Visions" can turn into a 1 for 1 by way of trapping enemy monsters in the removed from play zone. "Black Garden" can blow itself up and revive something, paving the way for the next copy. It can't protect itself like "Magical Citadel of Endymion" can.

Also, as far as we know, there isn't a monster searcher for this card. "Terraforming" simply doesn't cut it since it takes up precious deck space while adding startling consistency to the ever dreaded dead draws.

"Gaia Power" is actually more useful than this. It gives a bigger boost to the guys that really need it. Airbellum gets over Firedogs and Sirocco. Fulhelmknight gets over Hamsters (huzzah for defense reduction!) and gets to activate its effect to boot. Emmersblade gets to tie with Shura, leading into an Airbellum that strips the opponent of a card and a quarter of their life, a downright deadly move.

"Saber Vault" won't conceivably touch the top tables, ever. If it did, it'd be a disgusting accomplishment.

Kingu Wa Kingu Da

Oh how the mighty have fallen, off the competitive scene.

It's no surprise, really. "Red Dragon Archfiend" is the ace-in-the-hole against defense position monsters that replace themselves when destroyed in battle, but the effective methods to summon a level 8 Synchro in Main Phase 1 have been reduced on account of the Destiny Hero engine being rendered more or less unplayable by the ban list. RDA doesn't do anything during your opponent's turn, so summoning it in Main Phase 2 with "Flamvell Firedog" and "Flamvell Magician" isn't worth doing. On top of this, most defense position monsters that are running around are either granted their effects by flip, or by destruction in general, so RDA can't play around them like it can "Mystic Tomato" and friends. RDA's drawback during the End Phase is ever present and prevents a lot of optimal plays from being made as well.

It is, of course, still a very large beater - the largest that "Debris Dragon" can access, so RDA will still find a home at 1 in the decks that utilize Debris, and perhaps other obscure decks that frequently Synchro Summon level 8 monsters and not many others. Being DARK, it offers tricks with "Deck Devastation Virus" and even "Eradicator Epidemic Virus" if one can be so inclined to use such a thing. RDA can be revived with "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" all the same as its brethren, and it's definitely worth playing on rare occasions in those dragon-based decks out of synergy alone.

Let's hope it gets an evolution that's worth using. Being inferior to Stardust on all fronts for the rest of its life would be terrible.

XX-Saber Boggart Knight

The sneak preview participation card for The Shining Darkness has been announced, and I have to say that I'm impressed.

XX-Saber Boggart Knight
Level 4/EARTH
Beast-Warrior/Effect
1900 ATK/1000 DEF

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 "X-Saber" monster from your hand. This card cannot be used as Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "X-Saber" monster.

"Marauding Captain" might not be anything special anymore, but Boggart Knight takes that concept and turns it up a notch for the X-Saber deck.

I'm not going to waste my time repeating what has already been said here:
http://www.konami.com/yugioh/articles/?p=1647

Just bear in mind that losing a card to Synchro Summon is not the best of moves; it's usually better to just flop down Boggart and Airbellum to reap the sheer advantage the play causes.

Boggart Knight will play a pivotal role in X-Saber decks as a solid beater, easy Faultroll setup, and general speed demon. He's a great card to fall back on should Cat ever bite the bullet.

Future Fusion

The card is rigged as hell, seriously. "Foolish Burial" has proven to be troublesome enough as the graveyard has become more and more lively, but at its worst, "Future Fusion" acts as two of them. At its best, it's akin to "Painful Choice" in both acceleration and toolbox ability.

One could say it's the fault of the fusions for turning it into such a monstrosity. That's not untrue, per say, but when going down the list of fusions it becomes apparent that there are far too many of them that would need to take bans in order to allow "Future Fusion" to run around in multiples, and it just isn't worth it, especially if increasing diversity is a goal held high.

That said, "Future Fusion" is probably going to be sticking around for a long time to come since it hasn't done much harm to the meta at one.

In the mean time, abuse it in Dragons to see how truly bogus it can be. Other good places for "Future Fusion" include Machines, Worms (OCG), Elemental Heroes, Geminis, and... that's about all that comes to mind.

Okay, They Grew on Me

It's official: I like X-Sabers now. That's quite the change of opinion since my video about Ragigura, I know, but after seeing them top a Shonen Jump Championship, I couldn't turn a blind eye to them anymore.

So, I went with the good ol' "copypasta into YVD" routine to start learning the ropes. Took me a few duels to get the hang of how they play and another few to stop misplaying obvious moves, but...

I can safely say that Roy St. Clair's deck is amazing (remember that it also has "Brain Control" in it! Typos for the loss!).

Of course, decks over 40 cards really bug me, so I cut "Dimensional Prison" and one "Lightning Vortex" after awhile. I'll probably be trying out options like Gardestrike, Garsem, and so forth in the coming days. The side deck also needs retooling for the new format. "Nobleman of Crossout" is a fantastic choice, among others.

"Saber Hole" is pretty impressive, but a good opponent will eventually learn how to play around it, if their deck has the capacity to do so, anyway. It's just as well; the absence of "Solemn Judgment" was really getting to me. -1 Hole, +1 Solemn looks solid.

"XX-Saber Emmersblade" really did revolutionize the deck. Not only is it a recruiter, but it keeps the deck's themed options online while making it easier to Synchro Summon level 6 monsters (Anyone for "Underground Arachnid" tech?!).

Then we come to "Saber Slash." This spell is a valuable asset to the deck without question. Blowing away a bunch of cards at the small price of field commitment is great, since that's something the deck excels at doing in the first place. What's more, since it doesn't target and is able to hit any face-up card (including the Sabers themselves), it can never trigger "Starlight Road." It should go without saying that this is a match-up dependent card. Sometimes it'll be necessary to side in the third copy, while other match-ups demand siding out one or both of the copies in the main deck.

I don't think I need to explain the horrors that "XX-Saber Faultroll" and "Gottoms' Emergency Call" are capable of unleashing upon the masses.

The Synchros are top-notch cards as well.

And who can forget the Cat -> double Airbellum plays that have been around since the dawn of Synchros in general? The move is absolutely crippling when it succeeds.

Thankfully that full set of "My Body as a Shield" is there to let those power plays go off full swing!

The deck as a whole is fun, has its own unique flavor, and looks bad ass. Things are only looking up for X-Sabers in this new format where anything goes, and they're only going to be getting better. I believe Kevin Tewart mentioned there were going to be more X-Sabers in the TCG release of The Shining Darkness, too, so look forward to new possibilities!

Something Positive

Note to self: stop sleeping so much. You know you hate it, anyway.

My posts thus far strike me as rather negative for some reason. That wasn't the goal I had in mind, so let's see if I can come up with something a bit more cheerful.


Oh hey, "Spore," what's up? I think I should leave talking about you for later...



Gah! I can't say no to that face! Alright, so for those who can't read it (don't worry, I can't make much of it either):

You can remove 1 other Plant-Type monster in your Graveyard from play to Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. Increase this card's Level by that of the removed monster. You can only use this effect once per Duel.

Free tuner once per duel (only once! It's the "Twin-Headed Behemoth" clause!) that requires a little deck dedication? Yes, please! Adorable and deadly. I don't think we've seen such a combination since "Rescue Cat!" Not that I'm comparing "Spore" to "Rescue Cat," mind you; "Spore" is actually more comparable to "Plaguespreader Zombie" in that it's fantastic within its own deck, but not so much in others.

Perhaps that isn't the best way to put it, either, though... I can already see Plants, Lightsworn, Monarchs, some Junk & Debris variants, and even Dark Synchro getting a kick out of this due to "Dandylion" and "Mystic Tomato" fitting in rather seamlessly.

I can't be sure if "Spore" will ever see a limit, but it's definitely up there with "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind" as one of the best general-use tuners in the game. Don't be surprised if "Spore" becomes a Super Rare or Ultra/Ultimate Rare for the TCG. It truly deserves the upgrade.

:3