2 Level 4 monsters
When a Level 5 or higher monster is Special Summoned: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the Special Summon and destroy it.
Card Ratings
Traditional: 3.00
Advanced: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.
3 is average.
5 is the highest rating.
Date Reviewed - July 26, 2011
Steelswarm Roach, another XYZ Monster Summoned
with two Level 4 Monsters, is a Dark, Fiend type
Monster, with 1900 attack and 0 defense. Now, I like
the effect on this card, when a Level 5 or higher
Monster is Special Summoned, you can detach an XYZ
Material Monster from this card, to negate said
Special Summon, and destroy the Monster. The only
problem here, is this seems like too much
investment--two Level 4 Monsters, plus this card
only has 1900 attack, so it likely isn't staying
around long...(plus the 0 defense.)
Steelswarm Roach, the first Xyz reviewed from
Generation Force, has what it takes to become an
Extra Deck staple. Similar to Utopia, it is Rank 4
and requires to level 4 monsters to Xyz summon.
Although Roach’s 1900 attack is paltry in comparison
to Utopia, its effect allows you to detach a
material to negate the special summon of a level 5
or higher monster. In essence, Roach is a two use
Thunder King Rai-Oh that does not self destruct upon
use. Being a DARK Fiend also helps, with all the
support they get.
Rating:
Traditional: 3 (Something to stop those Envoys)
Advanced: 4
Our second Rank 4 Xyz monster to be reviewed,
Steelswarm Roach is simply amazing. Being Rank 4,
Roach is very easy to summon. He has a great
attribute and pretty good type, but his stats are
mediocre. Generally a monster with 1900 attack
worries about synchros and cards like Cyber Dragon,
but Roach’s effect says no to those monsters. Let’s
look at a Samurai deck real quick. A decent opening
for Samurai could be something like a Shi En, 2
Kizans, a Magatama, and Mystical Space Typhoon. Not
bad at all, right? Well if your opponent has easy
access to Brionac, your field just got a lot worse.
With Steelswarm Roach in the picture, those 2 Kizans
could Xyz summon Roach and protect your Shi En from
any synchro your opponent tries to summon. It’s not
just synchros either, every higher level monster is
in danger now. Plenty of other decks could make
great use of a card like Roach. Stun decks benefit,
obviously Samurai, Miracle Heroes, and even X-Sabers
could benefit. Steelswarm Roach is very, very good
and should be considered for every extra deck when
it’s released.
Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 4.5/5
GrimroX
Makina
Steelswarm Roach
Easily one of the more sought after cards in
Generation Force, this guy is a Rank 4 Xyz Monster
that stops big Special Summons. Opponent drops a Shi
En on you? Get rid of it with this guy. Same goes
for Brionac, Stardust, Hyper Librarian and just
about every problem monster that isn't a Plant or
Reborn Tengu. 1900 Attack is solid for a Rank 4 (I
guess? It might be the equivalent of a Level 4), and
giving up two Level 4 Monsters for this guy is worth
it, since he will force your opponent to think
around Synchros.
Traditional: 3/5
Advanced: 3.5/5
Skyphantom
Next up is the other rank 4 exceed: steelswarm
roach. He's got a 1900/1000 body on a dark fiend,
and can detach an xyz material to negate an inherent
special summon of level 5 or higher and destroy it.
Basically he's a thunder king with staying power and
lacking the ability to stop searches.... I like him!
Traditional:3/5
Advanced:4/5
Mark
Howard
Steelswarm Roach is THE Xyz monster. Also, it's
THE new Pot of Duality. Roach is the only Xyz that
will see consistent play, other than people using
Utopia because they don't have Roach.
With just 1900 ATK, you probably aren't thinking
much of this guy at first, especially because of his
awful name and picture which really should've been
better because of his effect. This guy is a super
Thunder King. No Xyz or Synchro can take him down,
because he effortlessly negates their summons. Chaos
Sorcerer, Cyber Dragon--any monster that summons
itself will be useless.
However, there is a real downside to having 1900
on this guy. Flamvell Firedog, Thunder King Rai-Oh,
Card Trooper, T G Rush Rhino and friends can defeat
him. You'll need at least one card to protect Roach.
And keep in mind that cards like Roach and Thunder
King, which only say they negate summons, are unable
to stop monsters that get summoned through another
card's effect. This means Monster Reborn, Call of
the Haunted, Geartown/Karakuri Castle are other ways
to defeat him, aside from standard monster removal.
But don't let this get you down. Roach is the
money card of Generation Force and the best Xyz
monster for a while.
4.3/5
Art: Bleh.
Fun Fact: He's the last Steelswarm in the Duel
Terminal storyline.
Tomorrow: The name change makes it seem like
someone's screaming at me.
