Combined CoTDs 20/8 & 21/8 - The Ultimate Shooting Star! (I)

Sorry for the delay, but since I was too busy preparing my exam yesterday, I didn't have time to do my CoTDs and other stuff =( As a compensation, I decided to do a combined CoTD today, featuring two of the evolutions of the most useful Synchro Monster in the game - Stardust Dragon (Oops, spilt my beans for a topic I'm about to do).

Today we are going to do Majestic Star Dragon and Malefic Stardust Dragon. Here comes my shooting star:

MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON
Lv. 10



Synchro
Lore: "Majestic Dragon" + "Stardust Dragon" + 1 non-Tuner monster
You can Tribute this card to negate the activation of an opponent's Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect and destroy all cards your opponent controls. Once per turn, you can negate the effect(s) of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls until the End Phase. Also, if the negated effect can be activated, you can activate it once as this card's effect. During the End Phase, return this card from the field to the Extra Deck, and Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Graveyard.
ATK 3800/DEF 3000

First of all, a kind warning to those who are intending to buy the Majestic Star Dragon tin - You won't be adding this card into your Extra Deck. Why? Let's look at its most vulnerable weakness - its Summoning conditions as a beginning.

Majestic Dragon would be really hard to get to your hand from the Deck except by three commonly used conditions - 1. Asspull it as shown in the anime; 2. Sangan and 3. One for One. Since I guess you would be using method 3 to get your Level 1 non-Tuner Monster, you would not be getting this card except through methods 1 and 2.

The Level 1 non-Tuner Monster, as stated above, can be searched through One for One, but would you be willing to use so much hand advantage to search for a one-turn surviving Monster when you could just plan on other strategies? Which leads us to its second weakness - its effects.

Okay, Tribute to destroy all cards on the opponent's Field? Having used so many cards to Summon this card, would you have any more Monsters to launch a direct attack as your opponent's Field is empty? Besides that, Starlight Road can negate this effect thoroughly, even little Kuriboh can defend your opponents from your attacks. Ok effect, but not good enough. Checked.

Second, negate an opponent's effect and use it as its own. That's the only and best part of this card - effect copy. This card can potentially copy the effects of useful cards like Red Dragon Archfiend, Black Rose Dragon, DAD and Ancient Fairy Dragon... wait, Ancient Fairy Dragon!? Summoning this card just to Summon another Level 4 or lower Monster from your hand? I would rather use the actual Monster's effect. Nah, this effect is a little situational.

Third, and the most WTF effect that pulls this card to absolute nowhere. It must be returned to the Extra Deck and Stardust Dragon is summoned. What's the point? You have used so many cards to summon this card and in the end, you have to repeat everything all over again!? Which reminds me of the first duel I used this card, where my Stardust Dragon was nuked by a DAD a turn later. Bad job for Konami for creating this card.

All in all, I would really not recommend you to put this card in your Deck except for collecting. Neither is it valuable. Such an awesome card in the anime being undervalued due to its drawbacks is unfair. No wonder Konami created Shooting Star Dragon.

MALEFIC STARDUST DRAGON
Lv. 8

Lore: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned, except by removing from play "Stardust Dragon" from your Extra Deck. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic" monster on the field. Field Spell Cards cannot be destroyed by effects. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card.
ATK 2500/DEF 2000

Alright, simple Summoning conditions (in fact a lot simpler the Majestic Star Dragon), but its drawback is still its effect. FTW. This card, for the information of people who wishes to put this in their Decks, only works as a beatstick, but without a Field Spell Card, you lose this card away. And Stardust Dragon is removed from play. Except that isf you want to play Return from a Different Dimension, you lose two cards. FTW.

On the bright side, this card is an extremely useful addition to the Earthbound Immortal Protector series, besides Earthbound Linewalker. This card protects any Field Spell Card from being destroyed, and yes, any. Which means Earthbound Immortal Chalcu Challhua can stay on the Field as long as this card is not destroyed by battle, while skipping your opponent's Battle Phase and dealing 1200 damage to him/her each turn.

But, this is reality. No one plays Earthbound, and if you play it, you are one of those people who don't love Quick GLADs or Synchrons and go for the vintage Blue-Eyes White Dragon Deck. Except that Blue-Eyes White Dragon can now be easily countered by some beast called Colossal Fighter or Black Rose Dragon (or what some old fan say, BUSTER BLADER!!!). FTW.

Anyway, a bad choice for those who wants a "free" Stardust (in fact, this card is not even used by Yusei, so I don't count it as a Stardust). Nothing is free in this world. Go for the two Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode and Shooting Star Dragon, debuting next Episode.

(Ouch,. crappy Network... Pic for Malefic Stardust Dragon coming tomorrow)

CoTD 19/8/10 - Rainbow Powerr!!!

RAINBOW DRAGON
Lv. 10



Lore: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned, except from your hand while you have 7 "Crystal Beast" cards with different names on the field or in your Graveyard. This card cannot activate its effects the turn it is Special Summoned. ● Send all "Crystal Beast" monsters you control to the Graveyard; this card gains 1000 ATK for each card sent. You can activate this effect during either player's turn. ● You can remove from play all "Crystal Beast" Monster Cards in your Graveyard to return all cards on the field to their owners' Decks.
ATK 4000/DEF 0

When Crystal Beasts stormed the tournament some long time ago, this card was feared by many including the Elemental Hero Swarming Decks and some others for its dangerous effects and high stats.

But, since the launch of The Duelist Genesis, this card has become almost useless in the eyes of Synchro players. Why?

First of all, this card cannot activate its effects during the turn it is Special Summoned. With so many Synchro Monsters that would potentially clear the Field in just one turn such as Brionac, this card cannot hold a straw at it. Sure, its Attack is horrible, but when it returns to your hand? Ok, it returns one turn later, but Jutte Fighter combined with Goyo Guardian steals it from you.

What about Bottomless Trap Hole and Torrential Tribute? Mirror Force if it attacks? Its effects disgusts Stardust Dragon, but Karma Cut combined with a card in hand removes it away from the game.

All in all, I can see the fall of Crystal Beasts unless Konami decides to expand it like what Amazoness did in Duelist Revolution.

CoTD 18/8/10 - The Holy Defender!

EFFECT VEILER
Lv. 1



(Tuner Monster)
Lore: During your opponent's Main Phase, you can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to select 1 face-up Effect Monster your opponent controls. Negate the effect(s) of that monster until the End Phase.
ATK 0/DEF 0

Debuted in the OCG in April and the TCG yesterday, this card would see the fall of OTK/FTK Decks along with another holy defender, i. e. Battle Fader. With the effect of able to negate the effect of the opponent's Monsters, it stops Judgment Dragon from clearing the Field, Dark Armed Dragon from destroying your Monsters, and even Stardust Dragon's card-negating effect!

What would this benefit to you? First of all, Frog Burn Decks can't even touch you during the first turn, giving you the chance to Synchro Summon Blackwing Dragon during the next turn and counter-burn. Like mentioned above, this would stop Stardust Dragon from activating its effect, such that you can destroy it with a Quick Trap like Raigeki Attack.

However, the flaw of this card is that it cannot stop effects from activating in the Graveyard, which means that cards like Colossal Fighter, Ronintoadin would have an opportunity to revive and revive again. It also cannot stop cards such as Cyber Dragon from being bounced onto the Field.

That's all for today's CoTD. It's your turn to comment!

CoTD 17/8/10 - Duelist Revolution!

Yeah, I know. The Duelist Revolution for TCG is coming out today, and congrats to all players of the world! Of course, today's CoTD must be very much related to this new pack as a celebration, so I chose this TCG-exclusive:

STYGIAN STREET PATROL
Lv. 4



Lore: When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's Level x 100. You can remove from play this card in your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 Fiend-Type monster with 2000 or less ATK from your hand.
ATK 1600/DEF 1200

In fact, I was rather in a dilemma as to whether or not to do this or do the other TCG-exclusive, A.O.J. CYCLONE CREATOR, since both have great effects and would surely see some daylight in future tournaments. However, as we already have Catastor and Field Marshall as A.O.J.'s signatures, I chose another Archetype that was more ignored for the past few months or so, and that is Ushio's Stygian Monsters.

Ah, another typical 1600-ATK Monster. Just like Lancer Archfiend and Twin-Sword Marauder, this card also packs a burning effect, which I don't think would cause much damage to your opponent unlike the other two cards mentioned above, but what's great about this card is its second effect.

You see, when this card you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can remove it from play anytime during your Main Phase to Special Summon a Fiend-Type Monster with 2000-ATK or less from the hand. Yes, anytime. That means during your Main Phase, you can Special Summon a Legendary Fiend without any Tributes, possibly combo it with a Swords of Revealing Light, and you'll have a beast with 1500 + 2100 = 3600-ATK after the Spell wears off.

Besides that, you could use it to Special Summon another copy of this card from your hand, or a Level 4 Fiend-Type Tuner Monster and Normal Summon a Quillbolt Hedgehog for Goyo Guardian; even a Max Warrior for Stardust Dragon!

So, which Archetype would benefit the most from this card? You know it, and you're right. Dark World. Dark World. The famous Fiend-Types of the Yu-Gi-Oh universe.

All in all, this card would be a great addition to your Deck provided you have an ample supply of Fiend-Types in it, giving you an opportunity to counter-attack or protect your Life Points from your opponent's brutal strategies.

CoTD 16/8/10 - Battle Fader Ver. 2

SWIFT-ATTACKING SCARECROW (Lv. 1)



Lore: When your opponent declares a direct attack, you can discard this card to end the Battle Phase.
ATK 0/DEF 0

The 30/7/10 CoTD I created on Janime Community Forum. Since I received so many replies, I decided to show it off on this blog.

My comments

Ah... Finally one of my most favourite cards in the whole Starstrike Blast set...

For those who can't afford Battle Fader like me may consider this card. It's a common, meaning that it won't be so hard to get one in about 5 packs or so (that's the rate I managed to achieve)

With so many people siding Vanity Ruler or cards that prevent Special Summoning, this card is great for bypassing that limitation. Opponent direct attacks, discard, end. It's just that simple.

Anyway, a good card for Yusei and hopes he get to use it again in the anime...

Wilren's reply

Yusei sure seems to enjoy using scarecrows to fend off attacks...first Scrap-Iron, now this?

In any case, you pretty well covered it: This is to Battle Fader what Darksea Rescue was to Tuningware - the poor man's option. In exchange for not doing quite as much (in this case, not giving you a monster on the field), you get a much better price on it.

All in all, a good back-up plan for those of us on a tight budget.

Looking's reply

I think this is on par with Battle Fader. We may lose the special summon and Allure of Darkness fun, but gain Pot of Avarice and Junk Synchron shenanigans.

Besides, "cheaper alternative" may be a moot point; KDE could easily bump this card up to Ultra when it hits the TCG.

Edit: I misread the effect, so it only cover direct attacks. That kills my anti-Gladiator Beast plans.

A return to my comments
No, Looking, no. Battle Fader also only covers direct attacks. The only difference is that it needs to go to the Graveyard. Besides that, you won't be removing this card from play, unlike Battle Fader, which disallows you to recycle it through Pot of Avarice or Monster Reincarnation.

Anyway, this "poor man's choice" would be a great substitute to the "rich man's choice" - Battle Fader, and I hope it gets to debut sometime in the tournaments =).

CoTD 15/8/10 - Synchro Seal!

MACHINE EMPEROR GRANNEL INFINITY
Lv. 1



Lore: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except from your hand if a face-up monster you control is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard. This card gains ATK and DEF equal to half your Life Points. Once per turn, you can equip 1 Synchro Monster your opponent controls to this card. This card gains ATK equal to the combined ATK of the equipped Synchro Monster(s). Once per turn during your Main Phase, you can Special Summon 1 card equipped to this card by its effect to your side of the field in face-up defense position.
ATK 0/DEF 0

NO...!!! Don't hurt my Synchros!!!

Yep, I see a future for this card. The first ever Level 1 Monster that could have an attack of more than 4000, and besides that, it has a relatively easy-to-achieve summoning condition.

No matter how good this card is, it still fails to protect itself from cards like Divine Wrath, Turbo Warrior and of course, Mirror Force. You will need something more to do that, and it can be easily resolved with its effect. Get a Stardust Dragon, and this card is indestructible, provided that you have a full pool of Life Points. Hell, this Monster is a beast.

All in all, a good card and a bad end to all the Synchros...

CoTD 14/8/10 - Mass Driver

Yeah, I know. The banlist is coming out next week and this card is a hot favorite to be either banned/limited, all because of the OTKs (and also FTKs) it has resulted in.

This card is awesome. Tribute one monster and inflict 400 damage to the opponent. Seem not so much burn damage? However, it can be used more than once per turn! Meaning that, you can use the Quillbolt Loop to create an OTK quickly. What's more, it's a Spell Card, meaning it goes around Cannon Soldier's summoning restrain, your opponent cannot Effect Veiler it, no cards can stop it on your first turn and can directly cause a FTK. Broken?

My opinion is that Konami should really ban this card in the next list and maybe limit Dark Strike Fighter to 1 as it would be harder to get out on the first turn. That's my view on it. Now it's your turn!