Cards to look forward to in the Duelist Advent Pt. 2 - Spells, traps and OCG Premiere Cards

Let's continue where I left off in my last post, with the spells and traps from the Duelist Advent, and the OCG World Premiere cards (you know, those ten cards we won't see until the end of this year or so).

Spell cards

• Savage Feast Lv 5: You can special summon 2 Lv 5 warriors from your hand or grave. That's amazing, right? Right? Yeah, it would be if there were more interesting lv 5 warriors out there. But as it stands now, each archetype that could support it, only has 1 or two (mediocre) Lv 5 warriors (not counting synchro's), so the chance of you actually using this card to its full potential is small (unless more support comes out?).
• Metaphization/Imagine Breaker: A great support card for the new Genryu type. Once per turn, you can tribute 1 dragon (cough*hieratics*cough) to special summon a Genryu type monster from your deck with the same level as the tributed monster. The number of Genryu monsters is very low right now, but expect more to be released in the following sets (you know, like Psychics in the 5Ds series).
• Fountain of Magic: Read as: amazing side-card against Noble Knights, Crystal Beasts and Chain Burn. It's a quick-play (so chaining works wonders) that lets you draw as many cards as your opponent controls face-up spells and traps (including those that are waiting to be resolved) and then you can discard a number of cards equal to the face-ups that you control (including this one obviously). But in exchange you can no longer stop/destroy your opponent's backrow until his next end phase. So it does require skill to use.

• The Monarch Storms forth: Amazing support for monarchs and basically any deck that uses high-level monsters (Agents, Chaos Dragons, etc). It's a better version of Soul Exchange, that doesn't cost you the battle phase; but costs you the use of your extra deck that turn. But trust me, in the turn you require this card, you're not longing to use that extra deck anyway.
• Pop-pull-up: A field spell searcher. If your opponent has a field spell and you don't, activate one directly from your deck. Nice side-card if your deck relies heavily on field spells (Prophecy, Dark World, Gravekeeper, etc) and your opponent does as well.

Trap Cards

• Battleguard Howling: If a warrior you control is targeted for an attack or for a monster card effect, you can burn the opponent equal to that monster's original attack (lol) and then bounce it back to the opponent's hand (even more lol). It's more restricted than Compulsory Evacuation Device, but it's soooo much better (and funny) when used.
• Showdown: One of the best counter trap cards to come out in recent memory. Forget 7 Tools of the Bandit and Dark Bribe, this is more interesting. During the damage step, when a spell or trap card is activated (like Forbidden Lance or Fire Formation Tensen), or a monster effect is activated (like Blackwing Kalut, Honest, Bujin Crane, etc), you can negate the activation and destroy that card. This is a good counter towards Fire Fist decks, who use attack manipulation spells/traps; or decks that rely heavily on 1 monster with lots of support (Bujins).

OCG World Premiere cards

Still don't like it, but we're getting used to it by now (I guess). Let's see what the OCG got that we didn't.

• Heroic support: Assault Halberd is amazing. It's a Cyber Dragon-style card that pierces. And when it does damage, you can search a Heroic Card (monster and support cards). Thousand Blade on the other hand encourages Challenger spamming (including more of itself!) that can special summon itself from the grave when you take damage. And Rhongomiant (the Xyz) is another Numbers Xyz that can take up to 5 Xyz Materials that is virtually indestructible if its got 3 or more Materials.
• Star Serpah Support: Now this is interesting. I always thought the Star Seraphs were kind of under-represented and could be more interesting if only there were more. And look what happens? 3 new monsters (awh, no Xyz here?). And similar to the others, these monsters focus on getting more of them on the field.
• Number Hunter: A card version of Kite (somewhat) that's anti-Xyz and Anti-Numbers in General. But with 1600 attack, that's its only feature (thus, situational).
• Onomatopia: A field spell for the Onomatope-cards (Gagaga/gogogo/tralala/etcetera), but since it requires multiple incarnations of Utopia to be good, this won't be used.
• Humhumming the Keyboard Djinn: How cool, another Djinn Xyz. When it's sepecial summoned, you can special summon another Djinn Xyz from the grave (even Queen Dragun Djinn), and attach up to 2 Xyz materials from your hand (even spells or traps, lol). And when you detach a material, a Djinn Xyz can attack your opponent directly. Makes you re-think about making a Djinn deck, right?
• Marshalling Field: Read as: an easy way for machine decks to get high-level Xyz on the field and another attempt to make us use RUM-cards. Good card for machine lovers.

Appearing on your wishlist, but not in your hands for the next year...

My thoughts on the set

Similar to other series starter sets (e.g. Generation Force), this booster is not amazing. But it sets up nice start-support for the new archetypes that Konami will push in the coming year. If you want to play any of the included new archetypes, you better pick up this set. If you're not interested, pick out the few support cards that interest you and leave this set alone.

We'll see if Konami can make this set more interesting with the OCG imports and TCG WPC's, but I think it'll be one or two extra interesting cards at most.

That's it for now, V out.

Note: The used names are fan-interpretations of the translation. All names and effects are a subject to change when appearing in the TCG. Heck, they names are already being altered every few days on the wiki.

Cards to look forward to in the Duelist Advent Pt. 1 - Monsters

As promised, an overview of the more interesting cards that can be used in many decks, from the latest set in the OCG: the Duelist Advent.

Regular Effect Monsters

• Satellaknight Sham: If summoned, you can inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. BLAM! You're dead! Thank god it's effect is restricted to once per turn, or this card would be broken from the get-go. This Light Lv. 4 warrior is easy to search, spam and re-spam each turn. I think Chain Burn fans have already fallen in love with this one.
• Artifact Chakram: Artifacts are interesting monsters overall. This one basically saves a backrow card if a spell/trap is targeted for destruction and special summons itself afterwards. Talk about rendering an MST useless. Oh, yes, and it has the usual Artifact effect (when destroyed in the backrow, special summon it).
• Artifact Longinus: An other interesting Artifact. When a card effect activates that banishes a card you control, you can tribute this card from the field OR YOUR HAND to ensure none of your cards can be banished this turn. That's an amazing side-card you want when facing certain decks (*cough*Prophecy*cough*) that banishes a lot (*cough*Monarchs*cough*).
• Bunborg 001: This is a nifty little tuner that can special summon itself from the grave when you special summon 2 (or more) machine monsters at the same time. And that's something that's easily achieved in machine decks, due to cards like Machine Duplication, Geargiagear, MPB Dracosack (yes the 2 tokens are machines, lol) and the new card from Dragons of Legend, Soul Charge.

Pendulum Monsters

From this point onward, effect monsters can have a pendulum scale, to be used for pendulum summons. Because those monsters have a double effect, I'll split them off from regular monsters. And since the number of Pendulum monsters is rather low at the moment, the effects are mediocre to "nice" at best.

• Foucault's Spellstone Cannon: It's Pendulum scale is 2 and during the end phase of the turn you activate it, you can destroy a face-up spell or trap card (like a field spell or opponent's pendulum zone cards.
• Entermate Tiptoad: This aqua card is easily recyclable and has a fun Pendulum effect (its regular effect is meh). When active in the Pendulum zone, once per turn, you can change the attack and defense of 1 face-up monster. Always interesting to get rid of annoyingly strong monsters. It's got a pendulum scale of 3. Its primary use will be frog decks, who'll keep their summons around Lv 3 anyway.
• Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: The central monster of this set and the key monster of Yuya, the new YGO protagonist. When active in your pendulum zone, you take no battle damage in a battle involving a pendulum monster (meh), but more importantly; you can destroy it to search for another Pendulum monster. It's a nice "starter" Pendulum monster that's also interesting to use in (Chaos) Dragon decks.

Right now, the number of (really) interesting pendulum cards is low, but considering it's the first set, that's somewhat expected. People still need to figure out how this is going to work in their respective decks (IF it' going to work in their deck) and that will take some time getting used to. I expect the following sets to have more (and more interesting) pendulum cards.

Ritual Monsters

Saphira the Dragon Princess: Here we have a Ritual monster that works amazingly in Hieratic decks. Use Advanced Ritual Art to send Labradorite Dragon/Wattaildragon to the grave and summon this princess. She's a nice 2500 beater with nice defense. And during the end phase of when she's summoned, or when a Light monster is sent from the hand/deck to the grave, you can use one of her three effects. And that is: A: Draw two cards, discard 1; B: discard 1 random card from your opponent's hand; C: Recycle 1 Light monster from your grave. Other options are using this card in a Lightsworn deck to constantly recycle Honest (lol), or using it in a Herald of Perfection deck to recycle fairies for Herald's effect. Interesting card, indeed.

Extra Deck monsters

The number of extra deck monsters is so small. 2 fusions, 2 synchro's and 2 Xyz. It's been ages since there were only so little extra deck monsters.

• Gongfu, Cosmic Dragon of Brilliance: An interesting first Genryu synchro. When summoned, you can bounce cards on the field up to the number of different attributes of the Genryu monsters used in the synchro summon. Next to that, you can destroy 1 card you control (like Scrap Dragon) to revive a Lv 4 or lower monster from your grave (nice). The only downside is the low attack of this card.
• Reincarnation Dragon Samsara: If this card is sent from the field to the grave due to your opponent (battle/effect), you can target any monster (safe this one) in any graveyard and special summon the target. It's a Lv 5 Dragon, so it's very easily summoned with Debris Dragon and a Lv 1 monster/token and it can so easily be revived by cards like Queen Dragun Djinn and Lightpulsar Dragon (for max abuse).
• Stellaknight Deltatheros: Summoning this and keeping Xyz Material to it prevents your opponent from using cards like Torrential Tribute, Bottomless Trap Hole or Solemn Warning on any summon that follows it. Also, you can detach 1 material to pop one card on the field. Nice card, with a little extra twist when used in Tellaknight decks.

Afterword

That's it for now. Next time, I'll cover the more interesting spells, traps and ocg exclusives. Until then, V out.

Note: These are fan interpretations of the Japanese card names. Names and effects are a subject to (possible) change when they come out in the TCG.