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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day

Berserk Gorilla
Rare

Beast / Effect Monster
If this card is in face-up Defense Position on the field, destroy this card. The controller of this card must attack with this card when possible.

Type - Earth / 4 / 2000 / 1000
Card Number
- IOC-013

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being 
the worst.  3 ... average.  5 is the highest rating

Date Reviewed - 5.24.04

dawnyoshi Berserk Gorilla is a common beatstick monster. I'm personally not too fond of it being commonly thrown into random tournament decks, but eh, it's no shock.

This card is simply great for beast decks. Good Manticore of Darkness bait, and a great combo with Enraged Battle Ox. A true card that makes beasts very deadly.

Constructed: 4/5

Limited: 4/5

Good in limited as it can overpower most monsters...defenders are a big problem against Gorilla in limited however. You might end up switching it to defense just to not take damage. 
ExMinion OfDarkness Monday:
Berserk Gorilla

Before Control decks, everyone whined about how Beatdown just kept getting stronger and stronger. Now, everyone whines about Control and Chaos getting stronger, and this card wasn't even complained about that badly. But for Beatdowners, this card is staple.

Let's look at all the reasons a Beatdown deck should use this card:
2000 ATK non-Tribute
No sacrificing monsters, LPs, cards in hand, anything like that in order to attack with it
No continual cost to keep on the field (e.g. Armore EXE)
Witchable
If your opponent has something you can't overpower, you can always either Tribute it, or simply shift it to DEF position and let it be destroyed by it's own effect

Let's look at some of the faults this card has:
*Opponent can CoH it or Snatch Steal it and shift it to DEF to kill it
*Opponent can set a monster they WANT you to attack (usually has Jar in its name)
*Opponent can set a Mirror Force and know you'll HAVE to trigger it

I still think this card is a lot better than people give it credit for.
When I ran Beatdown, my philosophy was: "It's not the face-up monsters you're worried about. It's the face-down ones. Your Beatdown monsters should be able to overpower the monsters in any other Deck under normal circumstances -- if not, usually it will only take one Equipment card. Run Noblemans and M/T kill and you'll be fine."

Although Beatdown isn't the strongest Deck played (arguably it's Chaos, Hand Control, or a combination of the two)...I still say a deck packing 3 of these, the standard M/T kill, and two Nobleman of Crossout isn't going to be an easy of a win as you'll expect.

(Also, this card combos well with a couple of other cards we'll be looking at, but I'm not going to spoil the surprise!)

3.75/5 in normal Deck
5/5 in Beatdown 
Otaku

Well, several events have contributed to my lack of reviews as of late.  I’ll eventually do the ones I missed (a few of them are done already, but I was trying to catch them up all at once), but they’ll appear as an article or just on the message boards. 

I am debating trying to come up with a new breakdown for when I review cards, but it’s a slow and painful process.


Stats: Berserk Gorilla is a Level 4.  The card has no special restrictions on summoning, so being a Level 4 means that it can be normal Set or Summoned with ease.  It is an Earth/Beast.  Earth has long tradition of useful Beatdown cards, especially if the deck is entirely Earth themed, though many of them see a lot less play now (GAF, Jirai Gumo, Mad Sword Beast, Gemini Elf, the Rock Spirit).  Being a Beast-type is useful, since this area recently spiked in playability, partially due to this card, but mainly due to others, like Manticore of Darkness (and some cards we’ll see later in the weak).  Moving on, we see this has a great ATK of 2000., and a repsectible DEF of 1000.  While a DEF of 1500 would be more useful and still keep the card viable for Witch of the Black Forest, its better than having a lower number yet. 

Effect(s): Here’s what balances out the relatively high ATK of a level 4.  First, if this card is ever in Face-Up DEF mode, it is destroyed.  So some cards, like Block Attack, would become removal against it, and you can’t use it to block really high creatures without losing LP, since putting it in DEF mode would kill it before it could block.  The second effect is also limiting, but not too bad.  You must attack with this card if you are able.  This means you can’t be cautious and it will “suicide” itself sometimes, but with it’s ATK for its Level and the tendency of monsters to die quickly anyways, its still not crippling.  Note that “must be able to” means that another card effect or game rule must stop it, and that you must take a battle phase if not other game effects are stopping it.  Note that the first effect means that if you haven’t changed Battle Position that turn, and it’s Main Phase 1 (or somehow you were unable to attack with Berserk Gorilla), you can change it to DEF mode to nuke it safely, instead of say, having to ram it into a Jinzo. 

Uses/Combinations: Almost a guarantee for an Earth, Beast, or Earth/Beast Beatdown, unless such a deck is also a Messenger of Peace or Gravity Bind deck.  One can use Nature’s Wild Release with this card and have it almost be beneficial: the 1000 boost to ATK isn’t bad, but it isn’t great.  However, the rest of Nature’s Wild Release’s effect will nuke Gorilla at the end of the turn that Spell card is used on it.  This mean’s that “must attack if able clause” won’t matter.  Skill Drain could also be an option, though it is somewhat self defeating in Beast-themed decks that rely on other Monster’s effects. 

Ratings 

Casual: 4/5-Themed decks do much better in a format where the decks are more relaxed. 

Tournament: 3.5/5-A solid Beatstick in general, capable of suiciding a Vampire Lord.  In Earth and/or Beast-type decks, its talents can be utilized further. 

Limited: 4/5-Great card early game, but it can backfire if it’s a late game pick and they have a higher ATK Tribute Monster out. 

Summary

It’s a Beatstick and a gorilla… how can you not love it?

Tranorix Monday: Berserk Gorilla

Well, this week we're starting things off with none other than Berserk Gorilla, a nice little beatstick rare from IoC.

His stats are excellent; 2000 ATK for a Level 4 is amazing and 1000 DEF makes him nice and Witchable. He's also Beast, so he benefits from all the Beast support in IoC.

His effects are what reduce his playability, because let's face it: a 2000 beatstick NEEDS to have some drawbacks. First, he must attack whenever possible. Basically, if Berserk Gorilla CAN attack, you MUST attack with him. This doesn't mean he can attack through Swords of Revealing Light, more than once, on your opponent's turn, or anything crazy like that; he simply must attack if he normally could. There aren't too many problems with this: Simply make sure you have removal for stronger monsters and troublesome M/T and you're set.

The second effect really helps more than hinders Berserk Gorilla; if you don't want to attack with him for fear of whatever, just switch him to DEF mode and you don't have to. Of course, he'll die...but it's your decision whether that's worth it.

Overall, he's almost a must for Beatdowns, especially those that are Beast-themed.

Typical tournament deck: 3/5
Beast deck: 4/5
OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5 

 

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