Dark Paladin |
Monday
Vampire Dragon opens our week, a monster who looks
sort of like Arbok from Pokemon, Having wings
doesn't make you a Dragon, especially since this is
clearly a serpent, but I digress. We have a Level 5
monster with 2400 attack, which is normal. This card
is also Dark, a Zombie, and has 0 defense, also
fairly normal things for a Zombie. So, when Vampire
Dragon goes to the Graveyard, after being tributed,
you can add a Level 4 or lower monster from your
Deck to your Hand. It's not a bad effect but it
stinks you have to tribute this guy just to get it.
Zombies can actually likely make use out of it, but
I don't think it gets play elsewhere.
Ratings:
3/5
Art: 4/5 |
|
hitman |
Vampire Dragon is the latest attempt by Konami to
make Tribute Summoning worth it. Is it
successful? Let's find out.
The effect is simple: if you tribute summon it and
it goes to the graveyard, you can search your deck
for a LV4 or lower monster, in essance, replacing
the tributed monster. That's a pretty
interesting effect, as the primary flaw with tribute
monsters is that once the opponent gets rid of it,
they have essentially gotten rid of two cards (The
tributed monster, and the tribute monster).
That has led to the use of Monarchs, or cards like
them, that give some kind of positive effect the
moment they are tribute summoned, Vampire
Dragon provides a positive effect, but it is
delayed. So which is better, Vampire Dragon,
or Caius - the default randomly splashed-in tribute
monster?
Well, like so many cases in Yu-Gi-Oh, it depends on
what kind of deck you are playing. In most
cases, Caius will be better. But, if you have
enough powerful LV4 or lower monsters in your deck,
give Vampire Dragon a try. Take Zombies for
example - Say you tribute Goblin Zombie for Vampire
Dragon. Goblin Zombie will get you Zombie
Master. Your opponent gets rid of Vampire
Dragon triggering its effect, and you grab Mezuki or
Plaguespreader. Now you have the pieces to go
Zombie Master, pitch Plague get Goblin Zombie, stack
into Plague, synchro Brionac, search Mezuki with GZ,
pitch Mezuki with Brionac, remove Mezuki get Vampire
Dragon, swing for 2400+2300+1800. Of course
you're not going to get that ideal play every game,
but in a deck like Zombies that can always be "One
card away from exploding", Vampire Dragon can help
you get that one card while pressuring the opponent
with a solid 2400 beater.
Now for the bad points. First of all, it can
miss the timing. Probably won't be an issue,
but if you summon Vampire Dragon, and the opponent
responds to the summon with MST, then activates
Torrential Tribute, you're not searching.
Secondly, it's graveyard reliant. If it was
worded like Reborn Tengu, it'd be amazing. But
if Vampire Dragon falls prey to a Caius, Bottomless
Trap Hole, or Dimensional Prison, you're out of
luck. Also, Solemn Warning / Solemn
Judgment prevents the monster from being summoned,
so no luck there either. Finally -
***DISCLAIMER, NOT 100% SURE HERE, JUST USING
PREVIOUS RULINGS AS A BASIS*** - if the opponent
Book of Moons it, it will "forget" that it was
tribute summoned.
It's worth trying out, but don't think of it as a
tribute monster Sangan.
Traditional: 1/5
Advanced: 3.5/5 - In Zombies
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