Returning to Return of the Duelist (and next week we
get into Abyss Rising) we open the week with a
Normal Monster, as this week is more or less
(overall) leftovers, that happen to mostly be
Spellcaster cards in one way or another. Trance the
Magic Swordsman, I assume to be the elder, evolved
version of Neo the Magic Swordsman, if only in
artwork alone. Level 6, oddly of the Earth
attribute (more on that in a moment) 2600 attack
which is excellent, and a dismally paltry 200
defense. Spellcaster is good, and obviously well
supported, but the Earth really hurts. Chaos aside,
look at the text on the card: "Supposedly, he's
just returned from a trip from outer space." Sure,
supposedly, but how can you be limited to an Earth
attribute if you have the ability to leave Earth?
Ratings:
Traditional: 2/5
Advanced: 3/5
Art: 5/5
John Rocha
We are looking at some of the more underrated
cards in Return of the Duelist this week. We start
off with a level 6 normal monster; Trance the Magic
Swordsman. With 2600 attack points, Trance ties
Frostosaurus as the highest attack, one tribute
normal monster in the game. 2600 in attack is not
too shabby as it can get over most of the monsters
currently being played. The problem comes in when
you have to support this monster.
First, you will need to have a way to bring it out.
As Trance the Magic Swordsman only requires one
tribute, all we need to do is have a monster that
can not be destroyed by battle like Spirit Reaper
and Marshmallow, a recruiter like Mystic Tomato or
Reborn Tengu, or a monster like Treeborn Frog that
just keeps coming back. Once Trance hits the
graveyard, special summoning it is easy with cards
like, Call of the Haunted, Monster Reborn,
Birthright, Symbols of Duty and Swing of Memories.
Or we can add it to our hand with Summoner’s Art,
and special summon it with Ancient Rules. In a
Spellcaster deck, we could even use Magical
Dimension as Trance is a Spellcaster.
The next issue we have is in protecting Trance the
Magic Swordsman as without an effect; all it has to
protect itself with is its high attack. That can be
enough if you are playing a normal beatdown deck, as
most effect monsters cannot get over the high
attacks of normal monsters. Normal monsters also
have tons of support cards like Justi-Break, Skill
Drain, Heart of the Underdog, Non-Spellcasting Area,
Common Charity, and the cards already mentioned to
name just a few.
With all that being said, I am not a big proponent
of cards that are dependant on other cards or card
combinations. I am also not big on playing normal
monsters. If I had a choice of playing Caius or
Trance, I would choose Caius every time. Well,
almost every time. Now here is the kicker. You never
know what normal monsters will be a staple in the
right deck. Who knew that Kabazauls would be a
staple in a Dino-Rabbit deck, or that Luster Dragon
#2 would be used in Hieratic decks when those cards
first came out? As for this review, I am going to
rate on how good it is today.
Traditional: 1/5
Advanced: 2/5
Miguel
With the release of Abyss Rising this week, we're
looking at a few cards to finish off Return of the
Duelist. First up is Trance The Magical Swordsman.
This outer space magician is a Normal level 6
EARTH/Spellcaster with 2600 ATK and 200 DEF. His
stats are pretty much polar opposites of each other,
as his 2600 ATK can run over a lot of monsters, but
his 200 DEF leaves him open to getting beat up by
Kuriboh. Stats aside, him being a Normal monster
grants him all the stuff that Normal monsters gets,
such as Summoner's Art, Ancient Rules, Birthright
and Swing of Memories. And being a Spellcaster
grants him the use of Magical Dimension and all
those other cards as well. Being an EARTH monster
helps some with all the new Earth support lately.
But it seems that the best Spellcasters are either
LIGHT or DARK, and he will most likely get tossed to
the side. Other than that there is not much else to
say about Trance.
