Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Photon Sabre Tiger

There are other exclusives I wanted to review first, but since their effects are unconfirmed as of now, there seems to be no point in reviewing them. There is one that has been confirmed though, and it's one of the many ways that Konami is trying to make Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon more playable.

Today's card is Photon Sabre Tiger

Sabre no Swiping! 

Sabre no Swiping!

This level 3 LIGHT monster is part of the Photon archetype and has 2000 attack and 300 defence. That's pretty good stats for a level 3 don't you think? It must have some kind of downside to counter that incredible attack power.
It does, but it's nothing too bad.

When this card is normal or flipped summoned, you can add one "Photon Sabre Tiger" from your deck to your hand. If you do not control any other "Photon Sabre Tiger", this card drops down to 1200 attack.

This card is intended to be used with Galaxy eyes. If you have 2 of them on the field, they are both going to be 2000 attack. Then you can tribute them to special summon galaxy eyes. It requires a 2 turn setup but at least you don't waste 3 cards in your hand to do it.

So yeah, on it's own its 1200. You replace the tiger you just summoned so its essentially like Yellow Gadget in terms of attack power (The only difference is that Tiger does not get its effect when special summoned). So with Tiger now on the field, you will pretty much need to protect it for a turn while it's in it's weaker attack, otherwise your opponent will have trouble taking down 2 2000 attackers. Also, if you have 2 on your field, you have the opportunity to xyz into a rank 3 if you know your opponent can take one of them out on their turn.

Now for it's downsides. As I've said, if one of them dies, then the other will drop down to 1200 (unless you have all 3 on the field, then you're fine). Another is that it's quite slow. If you plan on using them for an xyz or galaxy eyes, then that's fine. But it does require you to use up your normal summon to get it's effect and that would rather be invested in something more advantageous, like Tour Guide or Goblindbergh. You can flip summon it, but at 300 defence, that's not really a good idea.

Anyway that's enough said on this mediocre exclusive. As for the price of it, it's almost assured to be a super rare and since you need 3 of them to use it, it could hover at around £5 (about $5 too), comparable to something like Naturia Cherries.

Next up for review will be something like Wind-Up Rabbit or Dark Smog, but only when their effects get confirmed. But for now I'll review one of the OCG imports.

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Evolzar Dolkka

Hello everyone. Konami announced a bunch of exclusives a few days ago (about a day after my last card review) and because of that, I've got a lot to talk about over the next few days. One of the most impressive exclusives is an xyz that fills in where Evolzar Laggia cannot reach.

Meet it's weird looking brother, Evolzar Dolkka

Sorry about the Quality! 

This card has 2300 attack, 1700 defence and requires 2 level 4 dinosaurs as it's materials. What this means is that when you have the materials on your field, you have a choice of either of the two xyz, depending on the situation. This card can hit the one thing that Laggia's effect cannot:

When an effect monster's effect activates, you can detach 2 xyz materials from this card to negate the effect and destroy the monster.
So with Laggia and Dolkka on the field, you can negate absolutely anything (except for counter traps and that damn super polymerization). But enough about Laggia, this is a Dolkka review.

It can negate monster effects. Which means it can take out anything that relies on it's effect to be useful, like Breaker the Magical Warrior or so many other cards in the game. Plus once it's effect has been negated, the monster is destroyed, so you +1 at the very least (more if you destroy a synchro or xyz monster). The best cards to negate are definitely ones that require a discard to use it's effect, like Zombie Master, Lumina, Lightsworn Sorceress and if it ever comes back, Tribe Infecting Virus.

It's one of those cards that can slow own almost any played deck right now. If there's anything every deck has in common, it's that they all rely on monster effects in some form or another. This card craps all over that.

At first glance it would seem that Laggia is the better card though. It can hit more cards and negate the summon of the monster, so the effect will never happen. But Dolkka can make an impact on your opponent if their field presence is higher and you are trying to claim control. Simply put, it's an out for when you're losing, which is good since it does not take up any space in your main deck.

I kind of wish there was more I could think of to say. I doubt the 100 attack point difference makes no difference at the end of the day. But because of it's nature, one of them in your extra deck would do just fine (If you're playing the deck, of course.)

Now for the price. It's a secret rare, and while it's not a necessity for the deck, it's worth having if you are thinking of going to competitive tournaments with the deck, since it will up your chances of winning. So yeah, I would say around £35-40 ($45-50) at the sneak and maybe it will drop about £10-15 the months after.

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: D-Boyz

As promised, I'm reviewing the next exclusive to be revealed. It was announced yesterday evening, and boy, is it bad.

Introducing: the D-Boyz

 Fo' shizzle!

This DARK Fiend type monster is level 1 and has 100 attack and 1000 defense. There must be a cool effect to warrant running a card like this, right? Well, here comes the disappointment train.

FLIP: You can special summon any number of "D-Boyz" from your deck in face-up attack position. For each one summoned this way, you take 1000 damage.

So special summon 2 of them, and you lose at least a quarter of your life points. If you flip it during your turn, you now have 3 of them on your field to tribute them for whatever you want, whether it's Beast King Barbaros, Obelisk the Tormentor or one of the Wicked gods. And if you prefer to Xyz summon, you can make Galaxy Queen (Which also comes out in Photon Shockwave).

While I sound like I'm giving the card mad props, it's utter junk. 95% of the time, Flip effect monsters get flipped up by your opponent when they attack it. That means that 95% of the time, you will lose the D-Boyz getting flipped and be left with 2 on the field. And don't think that those 2 D-Boyz are a good wall, because you took 2000 damage, and they hit the field in attack mode. Also, since it's a flip effect, it gets crapped over by Nobleman of Crossout.

The worst thing though is that there are other cards in the game that do almost exactly the same thing, but better! Hero kid can special summon the other 2 copies by it's effect, and Naturia Cherries can get you the other 2 in defense mode (and they're tuners!).

At least it's dark though, so it's Dark Armed Dragon friendly.

Other than what's above, there's not much to say. It's a waste of an exclusive and a Secret rare, especially since you need 3 of them to use it's effect. I find the artwork funny since Konami usually focuses on history or futuristic stuff, but instead they have done a group of gangsters from the 90s.

It's price? It's obvious that it's a terrible card, but the power of a unique artwork can do a lot to a card's price. Before Tour Guide became a $120 card, It was $30 at the sneak simply because it had a girl on it. Now this card not only has a strange art, and you need 3, which always puts a card higher. Therefore i can see it being about $20.

"Which spell card is the most powerful back row removal card in the game" Poll

The poll actually closed a few days ago, i just wanted to be consistent with my blog entries.

Thanks to everyone that voted, here is what you guys voted:

- 30 (48%) said Heavy Storm
- 16 (25%) said Giant Trunade
- 4 (6%) said Mystical Space Typhoon
- 12 (19%) are awesome and like cookies.

Cookies are ridiculously overpowered. To 0 Konami, TO 0!!

Ok, now let's be serious. I'm not surprised that nearly half of you said Heavy storm. If you eliminate all the other cards in the game, Heavy storm is mathematically the most powerful and is capable of destroying the most backrow out of the three. Trunade cannot destroy anything, but that has not stopped it being banned.

Now lets put all the cards in the game back into the equation. If you play the game for a while, you will realize the power of each card and their uses. Heavy storm CAN eliminate all back row threats permanently, allowing you to plus off that card alone. Once your opponent takes a heavy storm, they are wide open for anything you throw at them. The obvious benefit over Giant Trunade is that if you cannot deal the final hit that turn, your opponent can't set everything on their turn again and stop any chance of dealing that hit. That's essentially what made last format a 'Set 5, go' format. Decks like T.G. Stun could summon a floater and protect it with 4-5 back row and laugh. It was not a fun format, to be completely honest. You had to leave 8-12 spots in your deck for traps OR run very resourceful monsters like Reborn Tengu (Which laughs at most played traps) or as said above, T.G.s.

However, Heavy Storm and MST dictates what many players put into their decks. Starlight Road thrives in a Heavy Storm format and it's what allows decks like Gravekeeper's and Dragunity to stay competitive. Chainable cards are more popular because of Heavy and 3 MST (A huge mistake by Konami) so you can plus off them. For example, your opponent activates Heavy storm and you chain Compulsory Evacuation Device on their Synchro or Xyz monster.

So while all back row removal cards have their weaknesses and strengths, Heavy Storm overall is the most potent and game changing one.

Surely we can agree that bringing MST down to 1 on the banlist would solve all problems. The last time this was so was back in March 2010. The two months before Infernity broke the game (In May) were a couple of the most diverse and fun months in Yu-Gi-Oh.

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Wind-Up Zenmaines

Greetings people. I've been struck down with the case of a cold so I apologise for my lack of updates to the blog recently. My target is to produce about 12 blog entries a month (around 1 every 2-3 days), so you guys can come back to this site with something new to read nearly every time.

Anyway, today's card up for review is the recently revealed TCG Exclusive, Wind-Up Zenmaines

"Come at me bro!"

This xyz monster hits the field at 1500 attack (Meh!), and a decent 2100 defence. 2100 is not very high in all honesty, but if it was any higher, it's effect might not go off so much. It also requires 2 level 3 monsters to summon it, so that's very good. Now for the effect itself:

When this card would be destroyed, you can detach an xyz material from it instead. Once a turn, during the end phase, when that effect was used this turn: destroy a card on the field.

So yeah, it's a decent wall that punishes your opponent for attacking it, or trying to destroy it. Since it has 2 xyz materials, you can save it from destruction and get it's effect up to 2 times. For those who do not understand, if the card prevents destruction twice this turn, you only get to blow up one card. But who is complaining? Not me.

The best defensive cards have always been ones that can sit in defence and pick away at your opponent without needing to attack (Total Defence Shogun, Destiny Hero - Defender, Big Shield Gardna for examples, but this card is better). Its unable to be destroyed regardless of your opponent's monster's attack power, and it's effect prevents your opponent from making a second big push 2-3 turns later.

This card does have some weaknesses though. Cards like Compulsory Evacuation Device, Dark End Dragon and most likely, Brionac, can remove this card from the field without having to destroy it. Also, this card needs to be on the field for it to get it's destruction effect in the end phase, so if your opponent can make enough monsters over 2100 attack in one go, then your wall will not be able to do much. Oh also, It's destruction effect is Compulsory. Which means if it's the only card on the field when it activates it's effect, it must target itself.

I could compare this card to Gachi Gachi Gantetsu. They both sit on the field, but Zenmaines can be used offensively. Gantetsu's attack boosting effect is nothing to scoff at either though (Used together puts Zenmaines at 2500 def!).

But, does this card actually help Wind-Ups?
Short answer: It does not. Long answer: It triggers the effects of Wind-Up factory and Wind-Up Magician, but thats about it. The card is actually difficult to summon in Wind-Ups, since they prefer their rank 4 and 5s.

Judging by the picture, it will either be a Secret or Super rare. If it's a secret, it's synergy with Tour Guide from the Underworld could push it up to around $30 or more. If it's a super, I would say around $10. Either way, this card is a nice addition to anyone's extra deck, provided they run enough level 3s.

My next card review will be whatever Exclusive is revealed next. Simply because they are cards that Konami creates with the intention of screwing up the game or to sell more packs.

The Infernity Loop

Recently I've taken an interest in Infernities. In an attempt to make the deck, I am currently trying to assemble all the cards for it. The annoying thing is that at my locals, the people who have the cards insist on saying "Yeah, but I don't value *Insert Infernity card here* that low because it's a good card.

Well, if Infernities were as broken as Agents or Tengu plants then they would have topped YCS Toronto. Simple as that.

Besides, I can get the cards I need super cheap off Ebay, but I'd preferred to trade for the stuff.

Anyway, the reason why I've taken an interest in the archetype is because of a Loop that was discovered and abused in Toronto. Which the deck did not top, the Loop was very detailed and there are many steps to do. If you mess up at any point, you cannot recover from it. Therefore I can't see it becoming too popular. It requires 3 Hundred eyes dragons, a Leviair the Sea Dragon, a Brionac and a level 5 synchro in your extra deck to pull it off. I was going to type the Loop up myself, but I'll just copy it from the Konami website instead.

What you need:
Extra deck:
3x Hundred-eyes Dragon
1x Leviair the Sea Dragon
1x any level 5 synchro
1x Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1x Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Hand:
1x Infernity Mirage

Graveyard:
1x Infernity Archfiend
1x Infernity Necromancer
1x Infernity Avenger

"-Summon Infernity Mirage and use its effect to Special Summon Infernity Archfiend andInfernity Necromancer.  Archfiend’s effect gets Infernity Launcher from the Deck.

-Activate Necromancer’s ability to Special Summon Infernity Avenger from the Graveyard.  Tune Avenger to Archfiend and Necromancer to Synchro Summon Hundred Eyes Dragon.

-Banish Infernity Mirage to copy its effect with Hundred Eyes.  Then Tribute Hundred Eyes to Special Summon back Necromancer and Archfiend with the copied ability.  Archfiend gets you another Necromancer from your Deck.

-Discard that Necromancer with Infernity Launcher’s effect.  Then Special Summon Avenger and Tune it with Archfiend for Ally of Justice Catastor.

-Send Launcher to the Graveyard to Special Summon Avenger and the second Necromancer.

-Tune Avenger and Catastor to Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.

-Special Summon Archfiend with Necromancer, getting a third Necromancer from the Deck.

-Discard that Necromancer for Brionac’s effect, bouncing Archfiend back to your hand,

-Stack the two on-field Necromancers to Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon!  Detach a Necromancer to Special Summon the banished Infernity Mirage.

-Discard Infernity Archfiend to bounce Leviair back to the Extra Deck.

-Activate Mirage’s effect to Special Summon two Necromancers.  The first will Special Summon Archfiend, and its effect will get you Infernity Barrier.  The second Necromancer brings backInvernity Avenger.

-Synchro Summon Hundred Eyes Dragon and banish Mirage again.  Tribute Hundred Eyes to Special Summon back the two Necromancers.  The first Necromancer Special Summons Archfiend to get Infernity Beetle to your hand.  Stack the two Necromancers again to bring out Leviair, and detach a Necromancer to bring back Mirage.

From here, the combo continues reusing Leviair, Archfiend, and Infernity Mirage, making whatever plays it needs to overcome the opponent.  Larabee’s favorite is to bring out Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier; bounce it back to the Extra Deck with Brionac; and then bring it out a second time before the combo runs out of steam.  That path lets him make enough searches withInfernity Archfiend to get multiple Infernity Barriers, and ends with enough monsters on the field to total 8000 ATK."

 - Taken from the Konami Website

With this loop, you can devastate your opponent's field and deal over 8000 damage. But there is no variations of this loop; every step must be exactly as done above.

Once I get all of the pieces, I will most certainly post a decklist of it on my Channel. But for now, here's my decklist from the Dueling Network:

Monsters - 15 

2x Dark Grepher

1x Armageddon Knight

3x Infernity Archfiend

3x Infernity Necromancer

2x Infernity Mirage

2x Infernity Avenger

1x Infernity Beetle

1x Stygian Street Patrol

Spells - 11

1x Pot of Duality

1x Infernity Launcher

1x Monster Reborn

1x Dark hole

3x Mystical space typhoon

1x Heavy storm

1x Foolish burial

1x One for one

1x Reinforcement of the Army

Traps - 14

2x Call of the Haunted

1x Archfiend's Roar

1x Return from a different dimension (Use with Mirage)

3x Infernity Barrier

1x Infernity Break

2x Infernity Inferno

1x Mirror force

1x Solemn Judgment

1x Torrential Tribute

1x Trap Stun

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