Analyzing the Fire Archetypes #2

Happy new year, best of wishes, happy dueling, etc.

Now that this is out of the way, let's return to business. I still have to post the second part of my FIRE archetype analysis up, so here it (finally) is.

This month, we’ll be struck with several new FIRE archetypes in Cosmo Blazer, so it’s time to wonder: what can you do with them? Can you mix them all together, like you could mix the Mermails with the Atlanteans?

The answer to that question is: No, not really. There are a few cards in each archetype that can be splashed in other decks (see previous analysis post), but other than that, they all do different things:

• Haze Beasts focus on spamming Lv 6 monsters on the field, trying to bring out Rank 6 XYZ (including Basilicock, Exa-Beetle, Constellar Ptolemys M7 and Photon Strike Bounzer).
• Fire Kings focus on field destruction, constantly respawning Garunix (and optionally Nephthys) and destroying the opponent’s field.
• Fire Fists focus on spawning monsters backed with massive back-row (hiding their spells and traps among other cards).

The new FIRE archetypes – Haze Beasts

My personal favorite of the new Archetype is (or better, WAS) Haze Beasts. The sole reason for that is their awesome XYZ: Basilicock.

A Haze Beast Deck needs to rely on other monsters like Goka, the Pyre of Malice (card is awesome in this deck) and Laval Lancelord (an easy to summon Lv. 6 monster). Other than that, the cards you put in are quite free to choose:

• You can try building pure Haze Beasts, like Lithium 2300 did.
• You can try mixing them with Jurracs (Herra is Lv. 6), also allowing you access to Laggia and Dolkka (making the deck less of a one-trick pony).
• You can try mixing them with Flamvells (Cerberus has 200 defense, making it an awesome Rekindling target).
• You can try mixing them with Hieratics, using Tyhone #2 as Vanilla monster.
• Other (less good) choices could be Lavals (Lavals work better solo, though) or Evol’s (only 2 Lv. 6 monsters there and they’re not that great).

Personal opinion: This archetype feels too much like a one-trick pony. If your opponent puts a Prohibition on your Basilicock, and you can’t get rid of it, you’re screwed. Also, the high amount of Lv. 6 monsters makes your hand dead too often (making you rely on top decking). I've played Hieratics and they’re more stable in play style.

The New FIRE archetypes: Fire Kings

The boss monster for the upcoming Structure deck “Onslaught of the Fire Kings” (Fire King High Avatar Garunix) is an improved version of Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. When destroyed, you special summon it during the next stand-by phase (also during your opponent’s stand-by phase!) and it then destroys all other monsters. BOOM! Stardust Dragon fans are really going to hate this card.

Not to mention, with the two included spell cards (see first of these posts), it’s actually quite easy to summon it and bring it back anytime you want. The other Fire King monsters make it easy to search/destroy Garunix, therefore triggering its effect.

Building a good deck with Fire Kings is (at this point) more limited than building a deck with Haze Beasts, but you can do some fun things with it:

• Mix them with Flamvells: Safe Garunix, all Fire King monsters have 200-defense, making them great Rekindling targets. Each Fire King deck therefore should have Rekindlings and Flamvell Firedogs, no matter what the rest of the deck looks like.
• Mix them with the Enthusiastic monsters. They’re Beast-Warriors, they’re fire. They work together (as long as you forget about that XYZ). But let’s not mention them again, since they’re probably not going to be released soon… (sad, but true).
• Mix them with Ninja's: Red Dragon Ninja (from Abyss Rising) kind of gave it away. Ninja's mix well with the Fire Kings. Ninjitsu Art of Transformation (NOT super transformation) brings forth a Winged Beast, Beast or Insect that’s maximum 3 levels higher than the tributed monster. Hanzo can be turned into Nephthys, Red Dragon Ninja, Flamvell Firedog or Fire King Yaksha; Red Dragon Ninja can be turned into Garunix. And destroying Transformation, destroys the summoned monster, triggering the effects of the Fire Kings.

Personal opinion: Just like Haze Beasts, Fire Kings are kind of a one-trick pony, focusing on Garunix way too much; though the effect has way more power than Basilicock and it’s one of the few cards in Yu-Gi-Oh that actually enjoys being hit by Solemn Judgment/Warning (yes, that DOES trigger the effect).

Because of the reliance on Garunix, it’s easy to break the deck (Prohibition on Garunix, or banish the bastard) and Macro Cosmos or Necrovalley simply rape the deck. Garunix, as a Lv. 8 monster (annoying level for this kind of monster), can also be dead in the hand way too often. (you can bypass this with Trade-in, but I’d rather keep this card in the deck than in my hand or grave).

The other downside is that both Fire King Beast Yaksha and Enthusiastic Beast Wolfberk are possibly not going to be released (due to them being possible jump promo’s), but these two are great cards for a Fire King deck.

The new FIRE Archetypes: Fire Fists

The Fire Fists are the main archetype of Cosmo Blazer, much like Mermails were the main archetype of Abyss Rising. They’re all Beast-Warriors that rely on continuous spells/traps to get their effects to work, but they also easily search those cards.

Mixing Fire Fists with other archetype cards would be quite silly, as the Fire Fist is the most stable new archetype of the three and mixing it with other archetypes would only decrease its effectiveness. Supporting the archetype with back-row is a smarter move.

For example:

• Not mentioning the classic traps (Torrential Tribute, the Solemn Brigade, etc.), spells and traps cards that support Beast-Warriors are amazing in this deck (Horn of the Phantom Beast), since all the "brothers" are Beast-Warriors.
• Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai can be quite a surprise in a Fire Fist deck. If you’re attacking, but can’t take 8000 life points away from your opponent, you can tribute your Fire Fist and burn for game instead.
• You also might consider back-row protection. Starlight Road and The Huge Revolution is Over are great assets, as your opponent will try to get rid of your back-row. Also, a card like Fake Trap can be really hilarious to mix in the back.
• But if you end up with too many continuous traps on your field (those cards have a tendency to remain on the field, even if you don’t have a use for them), you can consider Magic Planter. Planter gets rid of a used continuous trap and gives you two draws.

Personal opinion: Unlike the previous two archetypes, this deck is no one-trick pony. Tiger King may be thé boss monster, but you can easily neglect him and go for other great rank 4 XYZ if the situation calls for it.

Its presence in OCG tournaments ensures us that if you want a competitive (new) fire deck, this archetype is the one you should go for.

The feared/hated Jump Promo poll

In case you missed it, During October-November, Jump Alpha held another poll to decide its next promo card. The poll is closed and they've yet to announce a winner. But a LOT of the cards were OCG promo cards that are supporting these archetypes.

The obvious result of this poll, neglecting the resulting promo card, is that the cards that were in the poll will most probably NOT be in Cosmo Blazer or in the upcoming structure deck.

That’s a real pity, because good cards like Fire Fist – Chicken and Flame King Yaksha were in it, together with the Enthousiastic monsters. And all of those are good cards that make the new FIRE archetypes better.

So, these were my thoughts on the FIRE archetypes. Hope it wasn't a tl;dr moment.

Until next time, V out.

The Apocalypse is here... Analyzing the FIRE archetypes #1

In the first months of 2013, we’ll be flooded with a new structure deck with FIRE monsters and a booster set filled with FIRE monsters. A total of 3 new archetypes will spawn with those releases.

Upon request, I've analyzed the three archetypes and I’ll give you my results in the upcoming posts.

Analyzing the FIRE Archetypes #1: Splashable cards

No matter how good or bad an archetype is, almost each archetype has one or more cards that can be splashed into other decks. Hieratics have Tefnuit and Atum, Blackwings have Gale and Zephyros, Inzektors have Exa-Beetle, Madolche's have Magileine, etc…

So the question for today is: "What cards of the new archetypes can be splashed in other decks?"

Haze Beasts

Haze Beasts are the secondary FIRE archetype from Cosmo Blazer. And though the support for the theme is not that great compared to the other new archetypes, they do have one of the most remarkable xyz cards attached to their name: Haze Beast Basilicock

Basilicock is a Rank 6 XYZ that requires FIRE monsters, but is the first one that can use 2-5 monsters. Its effect gets stronger, the more XYZ materials you put underneath it.

Not mentioning the boosted powers (which are harder to achieve), the basic effect is already amazing. "Once per turn: you can detach 1 XYZ material to target 1 of your opponent’s monsters (either his field or in his grave). Banish it."

No further restrictions; no limits; it can even attack afterwards or before! It’s like Black Luster Soldier being reborn into a flaming bird. If the summoning conditions of this card weren't so limited, this card would be dead broken and banned asap.

Can you splash it in other decks than Haze Beasts? Yes, you can. Volcanics can use Volcanic Queen, Jurracs can use Jurrac Herra, Hieratics can use Tyhone #2 (or DNA transplant), Monarchs can use Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (or DNA transplant), Lavals can use Laval Lancelord, etc.

So, by tweaking your deck a little, you might find a spot for Basilicock.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist

Fire Formation – Tenki: Even if you don’t like the Fire Fist archetype, you DO want this card.

What it does? Simple. Upon activation, it searches a level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior (ANY Beast-Warrior).

Next to that, after the search, it remains on the field, boosting all your Beast-Warriors with 100 attack, which can make a difference if there’s a 1900-beatstick slugfest on the field.

Notable cards to search are: Gladiator Beast Laquari or Darius (not Andal, but he should remain in the deck for Rescue Rabbit), T.G. Warwolf, (X)X-Saber Boggart Knight or Ragirura, Wind-up Hunter or Rabbit, Koa’Ki Meiru Urnight or Crusader, or Fire King Beast Yaksha or Barong.

The other spell and trap cards are less splashable, since they’re the most effective in pure Beast-Warrior decks and how many pure Beast-Warrior archetypes are there nowadays? Two, to be exactly. Fire Fists and Phantom Beasts.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Tiger King: If you are going to splash Tenki in your deck, you might want to consider this XYZ as well. Tiger King requires 2 Lv. 4 Beast-Warriors, searches out a Fire Formation card (Tenki) and sets it on the field. And next to that, it’s also able to negate all other monster effects on the field.

Next to the Fire Fist decks, this XYZ can prove its use in Phantom Beasts, Gladiator Beast, Fire King and even Koa’Ki Meiru decks.

Fire Kings

The third archetype in this series of articles is Fire Kings. These cards are not part of Cosmo Blazer (unless Konami puts Yaksha in the set or makes a TCG world premiere card). But we’ll have them when the structure deck “Onslaught of the Fire Kings” reaches our shores in February.

And, even if these new monsters don’t strike your fancy, you should not neglect the included spell cards.

Assault of the Fire Kings: When you don’t control a monster, you can special summon a FIRE Beast, Winged Beast or Beast-Warrior from your deck, but it’s destroyed at the end phase and its effect is negated.

This fits in each of the new FIRE archetypes introduced, since they’re either Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast. But it also supports Flamvells (Poun, Firedog) or even Gladiator Beasts (Laquari) or Ninja's (Red Dragon Ninja).

Fire King Fire Cycle: Even more splashable than the previous card is the quick-play card Fire King Fire Cycle. It destroys one fire monster you control to special summon another fire monster from your grave.

This is a great card to chain if your monster is being targeted for a card effect or if you want to exchange a low-attack monster for a boss monster.

And if you ask in which decks you can use this, you're being silly...

In ANY FIRE deck, duh.

Afterword

There’s no use talking about the Enthusiastic archetype, since there’s only a slim chance we’ll see them in this set (see previous post) and there’s only 3 of them (2 monsters, 1 XYZ).

Next post will go more in-depth with the archetypes itself.

Until then, V out.

Guessing the OCG promo inclusions – Cosmo Blazer edition

Originally, I intended to post this before the product page of Cosmo Blazer came up, but then I got sick last week and Konami was faster than I thought... but enough excuses.

It’s December. In a month, Cosmo Blazer will get its sneak peek in TCG land and since last week, the product page is up. So, it’s time to do some random guesses as what the OCG promo cards (cards 90-99) could be that are integrated in the set (lol).

The product page revealed 3 cards already, of the Fire Fist archetype (I thought they had a high probability of being in the set anyway), so there are 7 cards left.

Since Konami has a tendency to release some random cards in that card pool, guessing only gives me a 60-70% accuracy. But still, it’s fun guessing.

High probability of being in Cosmo Blazer:

• Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Horse Prince, Spirit and Lion Emperor: I originally put them on the “high probability list” and Konami placed them immediately on the product page, confirming my guess. My original reasoning: These three cards are part of the Fire Fist Archetype (these three started it). So there would be no reason for Konami NOT to put them in the set
• Ignition Beast Volcanon: I notice this card is on the Wiki page of Cosmo Blazer, but I can’t spot it on the product page. Anyways, it’s FIRE attribute, so it has a decent chance of being in this set. And it fits Konami’s description of a card of the era before XYZ summoning.
• Number 69: Heraldry deity, Coat of Arms: Key monster of the Heraldic Beast Archetype. Since the last Heraldic Beasts are in this set, it would make sense if this card is in the set (presumably as secret rare).
• Constellar Omega: Somewhere in February or March Hidden Arsenal 7 will be released (at least I hope so). As with previous Hidden Arsenals, there will be a card in the booster set before its release, linked to the archetypes in that Hidden Arsenal. Constellar Omega fits that bill 100%.

Medium probability of being in Cosmo Blazer:

• Constellar Sombres & Evilswarm Cercyon: Like Constellar Omega, these two are also linked with the archetypes of Hidden Arsenal 7, so it has a good chance of being part of Cosmo Blazer. But they’re the a few of the latest promo cards in OCG, so I wouldn't be surprised if they’re in the following set (Lord of the Tachyongalaxy) instead. But still, it’s possible.
• Crimson Blader: Oh, I would so LOVE it if this card would be in this set (I like it). It’s a FIRE attribute, so it goes along with Cosmo Blazer. It also fits the description of cards from the previous era on the product page of Cosmo Blazer. Cross your fingers that this card will be in there.
• Mono Synchron & Steam Synchron: Advanced Dark & Neo Space were part of the Duelist Edition reprint sets in the OCG and were secret rares in Return of the Duelist. Mono Synchron & Steam Synchron are also part of the Duelist Edition reprint set, so I kind of expect these two cards to get a TCG print soon somewhere. Konami might hold these cards until Legendary Collection 4, but who knows?

Low probability of being in Cosmo Blazer:

• All cards of the last V-Jump pack: I’m talking about Fire Fist – Chicken, Fire King Beast Yaksha and the three Enthousiastic monsters. All of them are FIRE, all of them are linked to the fire archetypes that will appear… but all of them appeared on the last Jump Alpha poll to decide the next Jump Promo Card. In other words, Konami does NOT have the rights to publish them yet. So, there’s a big chance these cards will not appear in the set, sadly enough
• Haze Beast Hippogriffo: At first, I thought this card would be a sure hit in this set, but the revelation that this card is going to be in the upcoming OCG structure deck changed my mind. There’s a near 100% chance this will be in the TCG version of the structure deck and thus not in Cosmo Blazer.
• Alpaca, the Holy Beast of the Forest: Together with Hippogriffo the last cards from the Jump Festa 2012 card packs to be released in TCG, so it has a (low) chance of being in this set. I kind of expected this card in Return of the Duelist, together with the other “Beast of the Forest” cards. But yeah, Konami likes to be unpredictable, huh.
• Power Tool Mecha Dragon & Ancient Fairy Dragon (manga): Two new cards of the latest Premium Pack in Japan. They’re the manga interpretations of Power Tool Dragon & Ancient Fairy Dragon. These two cards will not be printed in the Zexal Tin in March, so they’ll have another release, somewhere else. Cosmo Blazer may be a little too soon, though. They’ll probably appear in Lord of the Tachyongalaxy instead.

My 10 card picks

The previous mentioned cards are the ones that have a chance of being in Cosmo Blazer. If there are any other cards in the set not mentioned in this list, then those are a pure random Konami decision (like how Magician’s ape and Electromagnetic Bagworm were totally random in Abyss Rising).

If I would have to pick 10 cards, I’d pick:

1. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Lion Emperor (already confirmed)
2. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Spirit (already confirmed)
3. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Horse Prince (already confirmed)
4. Number 69: God Medallion, Coat of Arms
5. Constellar Omega
6. Constellar Sombres
7. Evilswarm Cercyon
8. Crimson Blader
9. Explosive Beast Volcannon
10. Alpaca, Holy Beast of the Forest

TCG Exclusives?

Harder than guessing the OCG promo’s would be the TCG world premiere cards. Safe for the Sneak peek card, nobody has ever heard or seen those cards (except Konami employees and the card artists). Guessing would be silly, so just wait and see.

When the set comes out, we’ll see how right (or wrong) I am.

From tomorrow, the armageddon starts (lol), so expect lots of fire...

Until then, V out.