Thursday

I'm still trying to figure out if I like the Chaos version of Utopia better than the original or not. This Monster is the same in being Light, Rank 4, needs an extra XYZ Material (three instead of two, Light Monsters mind you) but can use the original for XYZ Summoning, thus gaining any XYZ Material it may have, and still has the base 2500-2000 attack and defense. Utopia can straight up negate a Battle by discarding an XYZ Material, but is destroyed if it has no XYZ Material after Battle. This Monster discards an XYZ Material to gain 500 attack and have an opponent's Monster lose 1000 attack...but only if you have 1000 Lifepoints or less. It's a great late game or finishing card, but otherwise, even if you're playing Utopia, I think you might be better off without this one. Not a bad card, just not enough Extra Deck space.

Ratings:

Traditional: 1.75/5
Advanced: 2.75/5
Art: 5/5

Hey Guys, today we're going to be doing Utopia Ray.... Personally this card is horrid. I can only think of one good play (gaining control of your opponents Utopia then Overlaying it for this) But who even plays Utopia! Well, I guess if the deck get's popular then he will be a viable option to use an opponents to a distinct advantage. I could ever see myself using three level four light monsters for this card and his effect can only be used when you have less than 1000 LP.
Hopefully I'm missing something, but until then this card isn't worth the slot if a good majority of players aren't playing Utopia decks.

Trad: 1/5
Adv: 2/5

As you may have realised, our theme this week is all about multi-functional cards, or cards that get used in ways in which they were never intended. So what’s the non-obvious usage for Chaos 39? When Utopia Ray was first made, the original Utopia was a popular Rank 4 Xyz. It was common to see Utopias getting stolen with Mind Control or something so that they could be turned into Utopia Ray. As more Rank 4 Xyzs came out, Utopia got used less or was cut out of Decks entirely, and Utopia Ray became less used too. It’s still viable to steal your opponent’s Utopia to Chaos Xyz with or to do it with your own Utopia, but Utopia Ray lost a lot of importance this way.

What use is there left for Utopia Ray? Utopia himself is still a good monster. You can Chaos Xyz Utopia Ray the way it was intended, when your LP drops under 1000, and if you’re able to activate his Overlay Charge effect several times, you will be able to take out a strong monster AND do an extremely large amount of damage. Otherwise, if your previously summoned Utopia has already used up his two Moon Wing Shields, you can Chaos Xyz into Utopia Ray so that he won’t blow itself up the next time he gets attacked.

So now you know Utopia Ray’s historical and current capabilities. How exactly effective is he though? It’s pretty rare to be able to summon Utopia and immediately upgrade to Utopia Ray and your LP just happens to be less than 1000, especially since Gagaga Cowboy is a popular Main Phase 2 play to deal 800 damage. Of course, the Utopia Deck is a thing. You would naturally be running Utopia in triplicate in your Extra Deck, so it might be worth throwing Utopia Ray in there too. Utopia Ray isn’t terribly important, just notable for the three different things he can do (stealing your opponent’s Utopia, upgrading yours after you used up his effect, that off-chance when you get under 1000 LP) whether inside a Utopia Deck or not. That said, currently there are eight ZW cards. Two of them (Unicorn Spear and Phoenix Bow) can only be used on this Utopia Ray and a third one, Chimera Cloth, can be used on any Utopia except the original. If you have out Utopia and a bunch of ZW cards, the decision to put them all on Utopia or Utopia Ray is decided by numerous factors (whether to conserve Utopia Ray or you think you’ll need him soon, what kinds of ZW cards you have currently and how many Unicorns/Phoenixes/Chimeras you have in your Deck, whether you decide to Rank-Up in the near future and need Utopia Ray as one more Material, I dunno so use your own instinct but remember you can use Unicorn and Phoenix on Utopia Ray V also).

Also three more things: Thunder Decks can usually assemble three Level 4 Lights to Xyz Summon Utopia Ray “the old way,” but you shouldn’t do that unless you have a very good reason not to go into Utopia and then Utopia Ray. Second, you can use either Barian’s Force or Numeron’s Force on either Lavalval Ignis or M-X-Saber Invoker to summon this, but I would only ever do this with a Utopia Deck in an emergency situation, especially since it would be weird for Utopia Decks to Xyz Rank 3. Finally, you could try using Phantom of Chaos (which could be an interesting addition to a Utopia Deck) to copy Utopia’s name and put Utopia Ray on it that way.

Trad: 1.5/5 (maybe you can use Magical Scientist to help being you down to under 1000 and summon it, but the Utopia archetype is focused a lot about manipulating battle, which is not ideal here)
Adv: 3/5 (in short, I would use none or one outside of a Utopia Deck because in general it’s more convenient to have different Rank 4 monsters as opposed to upgrading Utopia, and in a Utopia Deck you should probably pack a few)
Aesthetics: 4/5 Each of Utopia’s evolutions looks more and more mechanical. He even looks like Alphonse Elric. Look at this guy, wielding a Rising Sun Blade in each hand, and two more arms coming out of his shoulders, holding his Chaos Blade. I wish that Utopia Ray’s effects would be permanent, though, instead of just one turn. Another interesting thing is that Utopia’s Japanese name is Hope, the King of Wishes. The Japanese name resembles the idiom “Ray of Hope,” also rey is Spanish for “king.” The Utopia Deck can summon either Utopia or Utopia Ray, use Tornado Bringer to protect him from being destroyed by effects, then pump him up with all the other ZW cards to get him well over 6000 ATK. As an alternative strategy, Utopia has two other transformations that haven’t been seen in the anime yet. One is Utopia Ray V and the other will come out August 9. These two can only be played with a Rank-Up card on either Utopia or Utopia Ray (or you can go the hard way and have three Level 5 monsters, but they won’t get their effects that way). The Utopia family also covers a messy amount of archetypes. Utopia Ray, in particular, is the following: Number, C, Number C, Number C39, Utopia Ray.

Philosophy Corner: Did I say that I will write about my Decks and do Deck Reviews? Allow me to announce that I will be trying to revive Pojo's Pokémon Video Game section! I will tell you everything you need to know to help you be a pro Pokémon Trainer, including my ideas for how to train your Pokémon! If there is a special Pokémon you want me to do first, just tell me and I will give it priority.
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