Hello again my fellow Kaijudo Duel Masters out there! I wanted to take a moment and wish our new Card of the Day reviewer, Tyrone Cleveland, a happy birthday! I hope it's a blast! Today we're continuing our countdown of the "Top Ten Cards Released in 2013" and each one has had such an impact on the game as well as how we play it. Let's take a look at number nine on the list: Mesmerize!

Name: Mesmerize
Civilization: Dark
Type: Spell
Race: N/A
Level: 3
Power: N/A
Flavor Text: "I don't know which is worse: knowing my mind was attacked or not knowing what was stolen." -Ray
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: 35/110 l 7CLA
Abilities:
Your opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a card from it and your opponent discards that card.

If anyone of you has played Duel Masters back in the day, you may have recognized this card as "Scheming Hands." It has the exact same effect except in Duel Masters it cost 5 to play! It's really interesting that WOTC decided to decrease the level of such a powerful spell card!

Right before this card was released; there was a lot of discard going around, especially in the form of Razorkinder Puppet. A turn six play that gave you the same effect as this card but with a small body attached.  When Mesmerize was released, everyone was using and abusing it as much as they could. There has been multiple times where I have been hit with a Mesmerize on turn three, four, and five back to back! That wasn't a ton of fun. With the further release of other discards and powerful cards though, we started seeing deck sizes go up and lessen the consistency of seeing this card as often as the player would like.

This card still puts in a ton of work whenever it's played and can disrupt your opponent's strategy severely, especially if they have specific combos in their deck or evolution creatures that they want to play. This is also one of the easiest ways to deal with those gigantic "hexproof" creatures or Dragons that you know that you can't take down once they hit the battle zone. It can even be an easy way to deal with Gilaflame the Assaulter! With cards like Reverberate becoming more popular, this may be one of the best disruption cards in the game.

Let's not forget though about the knowledge aspect of this card. Anytime you get a chance to see what your opponent has in their hand is a chance to develop and fortify your strategy against them. If you know that they have two Herald of Infernus and two Jump Jets in hand, you probably won't be playing a creature or attacking with it for that matter, anytime soon! This card will continue to see play for years to come! 

Constructed: 4.75/5.00 (Overall, usually a dead card against a rush deck if they've unloaded their hand already. Also, not generally a card you want to play against Cyber Scamp or Keeper of Laws. Otherwise, definitely one of the best cards in the game!)
Limited: 3.00/5.00 (Getting rid of one card in limited is less useful mainly because they probably didn't pull a ton of useful cards. Also limited play is generally more aggressive, every card is a threat.)

Make sure to stop by tomorrow when we take a look at number eight on the list! Also, be sure to check out my articles on Alter Reality Games page as well on every Monday!  Until next time my fellow Kaijudo Duel Masters, keep calm and game on!

Hello Kaijudo duelists! I’m back again for the latest installment of the countdown of the top ten cards of 2013. This card is one that changed the way control and even some tempo decks interacted with the opposition. It helped gain an advantage that had only been seen on Razorkinder Puppet. Now we’re seeing it on card that is way more efficient and can help more in the early game. Today’s card is indeed, Mesmerize.

Card Name: Mesmerize
Civilization: Darkness
Card Type: Spell
Race: N/A
Level: 3
Power: N/A
Flavor Text: “I don’t know which is worse: knowing that my mind was attacked or not knowing what was stolen.” –Ray
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: 35/110 Ι 7CLA

Abilities:

Your opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a card from it and your opponent discards that card.

            I don’t think there was any way for this card to go over looked at all simply because it’s just that good. This card alone gave so many players an extra tool to deal with cards before their opponent got the chance to cast them or play them in the battle zone. Razorkinder Puppet was indeed a solid choice of discard when the meta was relatively limited, but Mezmerize opened up the flood gates for more discard and control strategies as it got the jod done far more efficiently. From personal experience, I find that a turn three Mesmerize can really swing the momentum in your favor as you’ve more than likely altered your opponent’s strategy so early on that their progressions will suffer. For any deck, progression is key if you want the game to go your way and Mezmerize definitely interferes.

            As we look at today’s meta, it’s clear that a card like Mesmerize will have a lasting impression simply because it’s one of those cards that will always be viable. There isn’t really too much of a downside when you get to pick your opponent’s had apart so early in a game. Mesmerize can potentially shut strategies down completely if you take away the right card at the most opportune time so that you may capitalize in a timely manner and take the win. The only true fault to Mesmerize is it won’t do you much good against really aggressive strategies, but that’s really it. If you’re playing against a more aggressive deck, you’d rather be playing a blocker rather than discarding cards as aggressive decks don’t care much for had presence in the first place.

            Over all, this card definitely deserved a spot on this list because it had such a great impact on the meta that we see today.

Constructed: 4.75/5.00 (Great early game impact against a multitude of decks and can really hinder a player’s early game progressions)

Limited: 4.50/5.00 (Still has a game changing presence in a limited format that could ultimately put the game in your favor early on)

            And with all that said, I hope you all enjoyed this review. Go out and get a playset of this card if you don’t already have one and test it out. Until next time, play hard and have fun!