Epic Failure

First off, I would like to apologize for the recent lack of updates. I had exams last week and didn't really have a lot of spare time on my hands. But I digress, let's get on with today's topic. 

As you'll recall, in my previous post I tried to extrapolate the effects of the Polar Star Angel Valkyria and Polar God Sacred Emperor Odin. Apparently their complete effects have been uncovered by the folks at ManjyomeThunder earlier today. I'll repost my versions side-by-side with the actual text for the sake of comparison:

Polar Star Angel Valkyrie (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 400/DEF 800)

TUNER: When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, you can send up to 2 cards from your hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Einherjar Token" (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) for each card you sent to the Graveyard this way.

Polar Star Angel Valkyrie (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 400/DEF 800)

TUNER: When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, if your opponent controls a monster(s), and if you control no monsters other than this card, activate by removing from play 2 "Polar Star" monsters in your hand from play. Special Summon 2 "Einherjar Tokens" (Warrior-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) to your side in Defense Position.

Polar God Sacred Emperor Odin (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 10/ATK 4000/DEF 3500)

1 "Polar Star Angel" Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters 

While this card is face-up on the field, you can negate the effects of Spell & Trap Cards that would affect a "Polar God" monster(s). If this face-up card on the field is destroyed by your opponent and sent to the Graveyard, you can remove from play 1 "Polar Star Angel" Tuner in your Graveyard during that turn's End Phase to Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. When this card is successfully Special Summoned by this effect, you can draw 1 card.

Polar God Sacred Emperor Odin (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 10/ATK 4000/DEF 3500)

1 "Polar Star Angel" Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters 

Once per turn, you can activate this effect during your Main Phase. Until the End Phase, this card is not affected by the effects of Magic or Trap Cards. Also, if this face-up card on the field is destroyed by your opponent and sent to the Graveyard, you can remove from play 1 "Polar Star Angel" Tuner in your Graveyard during that turn's End Phase to Special Summon this card from your graveyard. When this card is Successfully Special Summoned by this effect, you can draw 1 card.

The red text is the actual text, the blue text is my approximation. As you can see the cards were significantly altered from their anime counterparts. The Polar God Cards are now completely unplayable without dedicating a good portion of your deck around summoning them. It's a shame really, because even with the cards were unchanged from the anime it's not like the cards would be completely invulnerable.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

She's So CUTE!

I'm sure by now many of you have realized that the Polar God Cards have been given some major restrictions in their transition from the anime into the actual game. All three of them required specific Tuners in order to be summoned AND to use their revival effects. And to top it off they're not even Divine monsters anymore. From the looks of it the only god worth using will be Odin, and that's only if Konami releases it's Tuner unchanged:

Polar Star Angel Valkyrie (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 400/DEF ???)

TUNER: When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, you can send up to 2 cards from your hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Einherjar Token" (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK ???/DEF 1000) for each card you sent to the Graveyard this way.

Do you see where I'm going with this? It practically screams, "FIRST TURN ODIN!" (Which is exactly what what happened in the 5D's anime.)

Technically speaking, the exact text of Odin hasn't been revealed yet, but by judging how Thor and Loki were changed from the show, it should look something like: 

Polar God Sacred Emperor Odin (Fairy-Type/LIGHT/Level 10/ATK 4000/DEF 3500)

1 "Polar Star Angel" Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters 

While this card is face-up on the field, you can negate the effects of Spell & Trap Cards that would affect a "Polar God" monster(s). If this face-up card on the field is destroyed by your opponent and sent to the Graveyard, you can remove from play 1 "Polar Star Angel" Tuner in your Graveyard during that turn's End Phase to Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. When this card is successfully Special Summoned by this effect, you can draw 1 card.

Ideally, you'd use Polar Star Angel Valkyrie to discard 2 more copies of itself. That would allow you to revive Odin a minimum of 3 times with its own effect, more if you use Light of Redemption and/or Burial to Graveyard to recover the removed from play Tuners.

Hopefully Konami won't mess up the last god, like they with with a certain other.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Kamaitachi

Lauren mentioned on his blog yesterday how usage of Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter would go up in the OCG once Super-Nimble Mega Hamster is released in Extra Pack Volume 3. Indeed, it is certainly an effective engine to incorporate into a variety of builds, Plant variants especially. A typical Hamster Engine would look something along the lines of:
2-3 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
1-2 Super-Nimble Mega Hamster
0-1 Charge of the Light Brigade

But most players tend to stop here, forgetting that there are a vast multitude of other options available for the deck. For one, Hamster can also bring out Snyffus which also makes Naturia Beast an Extra Deck option. Snyffus is also good for clearing up Fluff Tokens that may be clogging your Monster Zones. Key Mouse is another option and can search for additional copies of itself or Ryko. One of the better targets, however, would definitely be Whirlwind Weasel.

I still remember when I first pulled Whirlwind Weasel from a pack of Enemy of Justice. It had a great effect but only if you managed to flip it during your turn. Unfortunately back then there was no surefire method of making sure the Weasel would survive your opponent's turn unless you protected it with something like Threatening Roar.

This is where the Hamster Engine comes in. Since Super-Nimble Mega Hamster carries enough bulk to repel attacks from your average beaters, and since your opponent will likely be cautious when they realize your running Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, you can easily set a Whirlwind Weasel and have to remain there until your turn, where you can then proceed to make plays without fear for the rest of the turn. You can even play mind games like activating Charge of the Light Brigade when you already have a Weasel in hand and then proceed to set it instead of Ryko. If you run a least 2 Hamsters, a lone copy of Weasel can prove to be a valuable asset to the engine.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Kamen Rider Double

Are monsters with high attack like Goyo Guardian a problem for you?

Do you run (or are you willing to run) at least 3 Plant-type monsters and a copy of Foolish Burial in your deck?

Do you not want to risk your Brionac getting Bottomless Trap Holed?

I have the solution.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

P.S: Does the color scheme of this card remind anyone else of Kamen Rider Double?

Double or Nothing

With Heavy Storm now banned, I've been seeing a LOT of Mystical Space Typhoon spamming now that the latter's been semi-limited. The solution? Chain Whirlwind.

I'll admit, I was surprised when most players overlooked this common card in Duelist Revolution, but it's quickly proved to be quite potent. In an age where player set without fear, turning your opponent's 1-for-1 removal into a 2-for-3 can be quite devastating, if not unexpected.

It certainly makes up for the lack of mass S/T removal, though there are other options. The newly unlimited Black Rose Dragon also comes to mind, though you'll need to watch out for Starlight Road.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

UPDATE: Apparently teching a copy of Chain Whirlwind in your Six Samurai deck isn't a half bad idea, especially when Hand, Yaichi, Kamon, and Irou can easily fulfill the activation requirements.

God Says No

Solemn Warning...the all-purpose summon negater. Is there anything it can't negate? Not much really, aside from the Egyptian God Cards and Super Polymerization.

It's not often that we get new Trap Card staples, but this one sure fits the bill. I'm seeing it being used in a variety of decks by everyone who can get their hands on a copy. Now Bottomless Trap Hole isn't the only card I need to fear when I summon. -_-

Depending on how much it sees play, it may become the next banlist candidate, along with Pot of Duality. Not saying I think it will be banned, of course, but rather limited or semi'ed...eventually anyway.

I need to work on getting a few copies for myself, while I still can.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

P.S: Looks like Chaos Trap Hole just became officially obsolete.

A Matter of Interpretation

In an earlier post, I mentioned how Effect Monsters had their effects classified into five main categories (Continuous, Ignition, Trigger, Flip, and Quick). While differentiating between the various effects can be tricky for the less experienced player, it becomes increasingly complex when we run into monsters with multiple effects, some of which are not "true effects", but rather summoning conditions.

Let's look at an example where identifying a monster's effect can help direct what a player will and will not be able to do in a game:

Grave of the Super Ancient Organism (Continuous Trap Card)

All face-up Level 6 or higher Special Summoned monsters on the field cannot declare an attack or activate their effects.

Blackwing Armor Master (Winged Beast-Type/DARK/Level 7/ATK 2500/DEF 1500)

1 "Blackwing" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

This card cannot be destroyed by battle, and you take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. If this card attacks a monster, you can place 1 Wedge Counter on that monster at the end of the Damage Step (max. 1). You can remove all Wedge Counters from your opponent's monsters to reduce the ATK and DEF of each monster that had a Wedge Counter to 0, until the End Phase.

Grave of the Super Ancient Organism prevents Special Summoned Effect Monsters from using their effects. But Blackwing Armor Master has 3 different effects. Let's break them down:

This card cannot be destroyed by battle, and you take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. (Continuous Effect)

If this card attacks a monster, you can place 1 Wedge Counter on that monster at the end of the Damage Step (max. 1). (Trigger Effect)

You can remove all Wedge Counters from your opponent's monsters to reduce the ATK and DEF of each monster that had a Wedge Counter to 0, until the End Phase. (Ignition Effect)

While's it is true that Grave is will be able to suppress Armor Master's Trigger and Ignition effects, Continuous effects are never considered to be "activated" and thus Armor Master would retain its battle immunity.

Taking the time to fully understand the effects of the cards you use can be of great significance when you run into unexpected situations. For instance, knowing that Blackwing Armor Master can still act a defensive wall when Grave of the Super Ancient Organism is active allows you to stall for time until you can draw into a removal card to eliminate the pesky trap.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Most People Don't Know This...

...but Counter Trap Cards generally do not target. Currently the only ones that do are Negate Attack, Intercept, and Gemini Counter.

Why is this? I want to say it's because of the nature of the effects, but deep down we both know it's because Konami says so. 

Scrap-Iron Scarecrow (which negates a single attack) is supposed to target, but Dark Bribe (which negates a single Spell/Trap) does not? I cannot begin to fathom the logic here.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Ladies First

When this game began, the number of effect monsters available were far and few. Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the first pack released in the TCG, only had 5 Effect Monsters total out of 126 card set. As the game evolved over the years this number skyrocketed. Yet the negation of monster effects is a something that most decks tend to overlook. Currently the only card capable of negating the vast majority of monster effects is Divine Wrath, and the occasional Light and Darkness Dragon.

Rather than lose card advantage, however, most players prefer alternative means of dealing with monsters. Responding to summons seems to be the preferred method with many players using decking cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, Royal Oppression, and Solemn Judgment. Some even side in Light/Dark-Imprisoning Mirror or Skill Drain to take care of opponent's monster effects. But this meant that monster effects that activated off the filed would remain largely unchecked.

Flash forward to Duelist Revolution, where we're introduced to Chivalry a new card that's essentially the lovechild of Trap Jammer and Divine Wrath.

Sure it may not protect you outside the Battle Phase, but any source of costless negation is worth a look at. Gorz, Honest, Kalut, Shura, Firedog, Fullhelmknight, Necro Gardna, Morphing Jar, Goyo Guardian, Collosal Fighter, Battle Fader...this card stops them all. You can even negate Stardust Dragon's effect provided it gets activated in the Battle Phase, such as in response to a Mirror Force.

Running 3 may be pushing it, but Chivalry is a card I'd definitely run 1, maybe 2, of. And doesn't Freed look plain awesome in that pose? Truly epic!

Between Divine Wrath and Chivalry it really boils down to versatility vs cost. Your decision to run one over the other doesn't need to be clear cut. For example, Blackwing decks pull off a ton of Battle Phase shenanigans so Chivalry would be the ideal card to side-in against them. Likewise, there are decks that can capitalize off the discard from Divine Wrath effects such as Quickdraw varients.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

On another note, Mother Grizzly was the first "female" monster which an effect that activates in the Battle Phase I could think of, lol.

Duelist Pride

There are many types of people out there that play Yu-Gi-Oh!, so naturally there are various attitudes these players have towards the game. Some of my friends take a more casual approach, while others take an aggressive stance. 

I have two friends in particular, let's call them Raz and Chazz. Raz is a competitive player that goes to tournaments, while Chazz is a casual player that prefers slightly larger decks. 

Chazz plays for fun; Raz plays to win.

If Chazz wins a match, he is happy. The same applies to Raz.

If Chazz loses a match, while he may not be ecstatic about it, as long as the game was entertaining he is content. If Raz loses a match, he'll either get mad or re-challenge the opponent later while analyzing the deck for weaknesses.

Obviously these are just examples, and there are more types of players out there. There are folks that interested in the game solely to collect cards and not play, there are players solely focused on obtaining cards only to re-sell them for profit, there are players that don't mind ripping themselves off in order to help other players in need.

Why do I mention all this? 

Like my friends and the other players, there are certain principles I try to adhere to in this game:

1. Take good care of your cards. There have been many times when I've ran into people that were impressive with how mint my collection was even the cards I stored in tins. If you keep your cards in good condition, their value can be of great use in the future.
2. Don't toss away cards based solely on the banlist or public opinion. Before X-Saber Airbellum was introduced there were a limited number of decks that could abuse Rescue Cat. Once the former came into the picture, players began to complain about how "broken" Cat was. Konami can work in mysterious ways, and a card's place on the list can fluctuate. 
3. Don't act too confident when you win a game as it doesn't always make you a better player than your opponent. Even the most experienced players can be beat by a sacky play. Luck is a huge factor in this game, and anything is possible. And winning because your opponent misplays won't help you improve yourself. Everyone mistakes mistakes.
4. Don't be too greedy when it comes to trading. If you trade for things based solely on your own need, you'll eventually run short on trade-bait. Try to collect a few cards that you think others might need and it will definitely help you in the long run.
5. Don't trade away cards from your deck. While there are exceptions to this rule, it's general a bad idea to trade cards your currently using. Be very careful.
6. Don't waste money recklessly. The second market in this game is at the mercy of Konami. A reprint can drastically affect the value of a card. Don't be surprised when the Battle Fader you paid $30 is worthy only half as much when the card was reprinted nearly half a year later.
7. Don't waste effort unnecessarily. There are some decks that are doomed from the begin. Don't bring a Mokey Mokey deck to a tournament and expect to top. If you want to be creative, there are better ways of doing it.
8. Try not to netdeck. Applying concepts other decks use to your own is one thing, but using another player's build as passing it off as your own is just wrong. Of course, it's possible for two player's to independently come up with the same idea, but that's another story.
9. Respect your opponent. Just because your opponent is a jerk, doesn't mean you need to be one. Remember you can be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
10. Learn the rules. If your opponent doesn't know the rules for a card, don't take advantage of them. A win has more meaning when you go by the book.
11. NEVER, EVER steal cards. I don't care how much the store is insured or how much a punk another player is. Grand Theft Yu-Gi-Oh! is a crime and that doesn't apply to just cards either.
12. Have fun. Whether that means winning or simply giving it your all, remember a game isn't worthy playing if you don't enjoy yourself.

Of course, these conditions are only those I apply to myself. Not everyone else will. 

Remember players, the game ends with you.