Making a God-King Bleed

When Konami first advertised Droll & Lock Bird, many players including myself were expecting it to turn out to be a sort of Effect Veiler for searching effects. While the actual effect isn't too far off, there are several reasons it failed to live up to our expectations. As the case with Appropriate, a player needs to wait until the opponent uses an effect that would add a card(s) from the deck to their hand in order to activate it. Also, instead of negating that effect, it prevents future occurrences of searching effects until the End Phase. So unless your facing a Gemini Stun, Hero Beat, or Lightsworn deck the odds of your opponent using multiple search cards in a single turn is quite slim. Most of the time, however, a simple Thunder King Rai-Oh will get the job done. Of course there is one major impact D&L Bird will cause: the death of Exodia decks.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Jeff Jones

Why does it seem like everyone uses this guy as their source when it comes to set spoilers?

Granted if this rumor of a new Rock-type Koa'ki Meiru monster is true I'll be thrilled, but still everyone doesn't need to treat him like some kind of prophet. Sheesh.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Going Oldschool

As many of you may have already realized that the prices of classic Six Samurai support cards has increased exponentially since the announcement of new support for the theme. The first of these was True Six Samurai - Kizan, a card that unlocked so much potential to the Samurai that players began hyping them up as the new X-Sabers. I was skeptical at first but when I learned that the archetype was to receive their own set of Tuners and a new Shien Synchro Monster, it was pretty clear that Six Samurai would join the ranks of the other Tier 1 decks.

Speaking of which, I just love how each of the True Six Samurai has a relation to previous Six Samurai cards:

• True Six Samurai - Kizan is a younger Grandmaster of the Six Samurai.
• True Six Samurai - Shien is Great Shogun Shien before he became a ruler. Also, Tenkabito Shien is Great Shogun Shien without his armor. Tenkabito means "conqueror of the world".
• True Six Samurai - Enishi is Enishi, Shien's Chancellor before he joined Shien's court.
• True Six Samurai - Mizuho is a younger Hand of the Six Samurai.
• True Six Samurai - Kageki is a younger Chamberlain of the Six Samurai, before he lost his arms.
• True Six Samurai - Shinai is Spirit of the Six Samurai before it died. Also, based Shinai and Mizuho's effects and art, it's likely they may have been lovers in the past.
• Shien's Yoriko is a younger Shien's Footsoldier. Yoriko means "approaching child" (scout).
• Kagemusha of the Six Samurai is a younger Kagemusha of the Blue Flame. Kagemusha means "impersonator" (body double), and Shien means "blue flame".

A few hours ago I received word of new Spell and Trap support for the archetype, and believe me Samurai fans, you'll be lovin' some of these:

Shien's Smoke Signal (Normal Spell Card)

Add 1 Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck to your hand.

Residence of the Six (Field Spell Card)
Each time your Normal Summon or Special Summon a "Six Samurai" monster, place 1 Bushido Counter on this card. Face-up monsters your opponent controls lose 100 ATK for each Bushido Counter on this card.

Ascetism of the Six Samurai (Quick-Play Spell Card)
Activate by selecting 1 "Six Samurai" monster you control. Special Summon 1 "Six Samurai" monster with the same ATK as the selected monster but with a different name from your Deck. During the End Phase of this turn, destroyed the selected monster.

Rokusakani no Magatama (Counter Trap Card)
Activate only if you control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster. Negate the activation of an opponent's Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect that destroys a card(s), and destroy it.

Their own Reinforcement of the Army, a new Field Spell that has synergy with Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United, a newer version of Cunning of the Six Samurai, and finally their own Counter Trap...makes me think that Konami should have named this set Storm of the Six Samurai.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Sword of Legend

In the Duel Terminal storyline, there were a group of 9 legendary warriors called the X-Sabers that allied themselves under Commander Gottoms - Swordmaster in the fight against the invading Worms. Unfortunately the heroes were all killed early in the war. Gottoms, however, lived on and after reformatting himself into a Synchro Monster went on to form the new corps, the XX-Sabers which included the reincarnated forms of his formers allies.

X-Saber..."X" refers to the Roman Numeral "ten", "Saber" to the word "sword". Thus they are 10 swordsmen. However, there were only 9 X-Saber monsters. If you included Gottoms that would be 10, but taking into consideration that it is the same Gottoms in the XX-Sabers, which total 10 monsters in their rank, this does not make any sense. What does Konami do to fix this oversight? They make a new X-Saber: X-Saber Souza.

X-Saber Souza (Warrior-Type/EARTH/Level 7/ATK 2500/DEF 1600)
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "X-Saber" monsters

During your Main Phase, you can Tribute 1 "X-Saber" monster to have this card gain 1 of the following effects until the End Phase: ● If this card battles a monster, destroy that monster immediately with this card's effect without applying damage calculation. ● This card cannot be destroyed by the effects of Trap Cards.

Souza is the strongest of the original X-Sabers. However, it was his late arrival was the sole reason for his comrades' early demise. Blaming himself, he devotes his life to avenging their deaths and allies himself with the XX-Sabers. He still wears his battered armor as a mark of his lost pride.

Who knew Yu-Gi-Oh! could have such complex card storylines, XD.

But I digress. The real question we should be asking ourselves is that will Souza really contribute anything to X-Sabers, especially when they've already lost steam with the recent banning of Rescue Cat?

I wouldn't really expect much from it, as it's effects basically give you the option of making it into an inferior Ally of Justice Catastor or Elemental Hero Wildheart. Granted, it's not a terrible card at all, but it just feels lackluster compared to the ridiculous support they already have.

Darksoul = Sangan + Witch of the Black Forest
Faultroll = Guardian of Order + Monster Reborn
Emmersblade = Giant Rat
Pashuul = Marshmallon
Fullhelmknight = Blackwing - Shura The Blue Flame + Negate Attack.
Boggart Knight = Marauding Captain
Ragigura = The Warrior Return Alive
Airbellum = Don Zaloog

Souza will be used of course. But seeing as he is Level 7 and has Black Rose Dragon and X-Saber Urbellum to compete with, you be likely to see him being played at 1, if at all.

Sorry Souza, looks like you stepped into the picture far too late to make a difference. *X-Saber Souza makes a sad face*

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Brain Explodes 2

About a week ago I wrote how Necrovalley has been a pain in the neck to explain to people with the number of times the text has been revised. Fortunately (for me), the new Structure Deck happened to come with a guide to using the card:

1) No effect can take a card in the Graveyard and remove it from play. No exceptions!
2) If a card in the Graveyard can add itself back to the hand or Deck. It DOES work.
3) If a card's effect tries to take another card in the Graveyard and put it back in the hand or Deck, it won't work.
4) If a monster in the Graveyard can Summon itself back to the field, it DOES work.
5) If a card's effect tries to Summon a different monster from the Graveyard, it won't work.
6) If a card targets something in the Graveyard, or looks at cards in the Graveyard, but doesn't disturb their rest, it DOES work. (For example, a card that counts the number of monsters in the Graveyard.)

Short, sweet, and straight to the point. What's not to love?

Once again I apologize for the lack of updates. Expect to see a new article up by tomorrow.

Remember players, the game ends with you. 

NOTE: I've been hearing a rumor that Colossal Fighter will not be able to revive himself while Necrovalley is in effect the OCG. However, the source for this statement seems to originate from the Tips Section of the Japanese Wikia. Due to the dubious nature of the source material I do NOT recommend that this should be accepted as truth. I've received no statement from TCG judges that confirms this alleged ruling and as such, doubt its validity.

Brain Explodes

My head hurts right now. On one hand, it's because I have a final exam in three days. On the other hand, it's due to the number of times Necrovalley has been errata'd. The funny thing is that it's only in its fifth errata that the text matches what the OCG rulings for the card imply.

Original Lore: PGD-084: As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all effects of Magic, Trap, and/or Effect Monster Cards that involve Graveyards are negated and neither player can remove cards in the Graveyards from play. In addition, increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters that includes "Gravekeeper's" in their card name by 500 points. 

1st Errata Lore: DL3-001: As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all effects of Spell, Trap, and/or Effect Monster Cards that involve Graveyards are negated and neither player can remove cards in the Graveyards from play. In addition, increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters that includes "Gravekeeper's" in their card name by 500 points. 

2nd Errata Lore: DR1-EN032: As long as this card remains on the field, negate the effects of Spell, Trap, and Monster Cards that affect a card(s) in the Graveyard, and neither player can remove cards in the Graveyards from play. Also, as long as this card remains on the field, increase the ATK and DEF of all monsters that include "Gravekeeper's" in their card name by 500 points. 

3rd Errata Lore: CP03-EN020: Negate the effects of Spell, Trap, and Monster Cards that affect a card(s) in the Graveyard. Neither player can remove from play cards in the Graveyard. All "Gravekeeper's" monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF. 

4th Errata Lore: TU02-EN014: Negate the effects of Spells, Traps, and Effect Monsters that target a card(s) in either player's Graveyard. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be removed from play. All "Gravekeeper's" monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF. 

5th Errata Lore: SDMA-EN025: All "Gravekeeper's" monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be removed from play. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be affected by card effects, except for their own effects. 

Why should this particular revision be of any concern you ask? Well, from the way it's phrased you'd no longer be able to revive monsters destroyed by battle with Goyo Guardian. The new text also implies that Colossal Fighter would now be able to use it's revival effect while Necrovalley is in play, provided it targets itself.

I'm still analyzing the judges' responses on this particular errata so should any updates occur I'll be sure to post them here once I get some "concrete" rulings.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Pause, Rewind, Replay

I love digital cable! Ever since my siblings enlightened me to the Free On-Demand Channel I can watch my favorite shows whenever I want. With the power to pause, rewind, and fast-forward, I can always cut right to the good stuff. Truly digital cable is among the marvels of the modern world. But enough of about that, let's go get on with today's topic.

The official rulebook states:

    "After you’ve announced your attacking monster and the attack target monster during a Battle Step, the attack target might be removed from the field, or a new monster may be placed on the opponent’s side of the field before the Damage Step, due to a card’s effect. This causes a "Replay". When this occurs, you can choose to attack with the same monster again, or choose to attack with a different monster, or choose not to attack at all. Note that if you attack with a different monster, the first monster is still considered to have declared an attack, and it cannot attack again this turn."

In a hypothetical example:

My opponent has 3 monsters out: Red Gadget, Green Gadget, and Yellow Gadget.

I declare an attack on Red Gadget with my Gravekeeper's Commandant.

My opponent responds by using Ring of Destruction on his Green Gadget.

After Ring of Destruction resolves, does a replay occur?

Technically speaking the original attack target was not removed nor were any new targets put into play, so any rationale for a replay based on the definition provided in the rulebook would dubious.

However, after conferring with other sources, I've confirmed that a replay would occur and here's why.

In the past I've told players that a replay occurs when the number of attack targets on the defending player's side of the field increases or decreases, even temporarily. However, as Curtis Chang pointed out:

    The official rulebook implies regarding Replay rules that if the number of monsters change on the defending player's field, then a replay would occur. While the explanation doesn't explicitly say so, the diagram in the rulebook implies that a replay would still occur (page 32, if you're looking).

For those of you interested, this is the page Curtis was referring to:

There are also instances in which the number of monsters on the field does not change and yet a replay still occurs.

    You have 4 Sheep Tokens on your side of the field. I attempt to attack directly with Jinzo - Returner. You respond by activating Skill Drain. Since Jinzo - Returner can no longer attack directly, a replay occurs.

    If I have 2 Magician's Valkyrias and a Junk Synchron on my field. You declare an attack on Junk Synchron with Black Tyranno and activate DNA Surgery, declaring "Dinosaur". Since the Valkyrias would now become legal targets, a replay would occur.

    If you declare an attack against Marauding Captain while I control another Warrior-type monster, and I use Book of Moon or Ready for Intercepting on my Marauding Captain, the number of monsters in my control won't change. However, a replay will be generated because that other monster will now become a legal attack target.

    Lets say you control a Shadowslayer, declare a direct attack, and then I activate Final Attack Orders while controlling at least one face-up defense position monster. After my trap card resolves, the number of monster's won't change, but a replay will be generated because the player will no longer be a legal attack target. Likewise, if you attack my only monster and Book of Moon is activated to flip it face-down, a replay will occur because the player has just become a legal attack target.

After all that it should be clear the only criteria for a replay to occur is when the potential attack target(s), whether it be a monster or a player directly, changes or becomes (il)legal.

Remember players, the game ends with you.