Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Last reviewed in 2012.  Kinda recent, but this card was laxed to two.

http://www.pojo.com/Yu-gi-oh/CardOfTheDay/2012/June/29.shtml

This card was quite a beast back in the day (back in the day), but now it hasn't aged really well.  Its not that its bad.  It's just not as super totally awesome as it once was.

First, you need to think about what decks you're going to use it in.  You need a totally empty field to activate its effect.  A lot of decks need their face-up spell cards or their face-down trap cards to protect.

Also, players tend to have a MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) mentality of their setup.  They assume their setup dying as the least fortunate result and something that must not happen, so its more logical to protect your setup than to plan for once its gone.

Also while a 2700 ATK beater is strong, its not as jaw-dropping as it once was.  Gorz can totally find its niche (maybe it's still game for Frog Monarchs), but I don't see it in the competitive scene for a good while, as it hasn't been.

Ratings

Power -- 3

Versatility -- 3

Dependability -- 3

Advantage -- 3

Speed -- 1

Traditional – 2

Advanced – 2.5

Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness

Gorz going to 2 is also another big surprise, but then for a card that is seeing only little play it’s not going to change the dynamics of that game that much either.

Decks currently run quite a bit of backrow for protection, making the Summon of Gorz quite unlikely even if all of your monsters do end up getting removed.

Plus, even if you do Summon it with so much monster destruction present, removing it Main Phase 2 for many Deck should not be too much of an issue at all.

Decks that don’t play much or any backrow will still be able to essentially benefit from Gorz though, as if it or it’s token survives you’ll be certain to make use of it next turn.

Frog Monarchs and Lightsworn are certain beneficiaries of Gorz being at 2.

Traditional: 1.5. Doesn’t even see play here, 2 Gorz will see equally little.

Advanced: 3.25. Has the potential to make an impact on the outcome of a Duel, but most Decks either don’t have the space or won’t benefit enough from it to warrant even running this. Most Decks aren’t even using 1, it being at 2 changes little.

Gorz has been limited to 1 since its release so many years ago, and at the time, for good reason. It is super easy to summon and depending on the deck, difficult to get past. A 2700 beatstick that 9/10 times cannot be bottomlessed or torrentialed? That's pretty annoying. Combined with a token that is as big as the monster that brought Gorz to the field? His less often used effect of redirecting burn damage is pretty sweet but often unused(I did totally get it off vs a frog monarch deck once). Nowadays with the release of Xyz's and far more usable abilities to get it off the field, it has come off limited status but it's another case of what is going to use it? To be perfectly honest, going over the landscape of decks, it's only really good main decked in 1 deck, and that's Burning Abyss. Every used backrow is chainable in the non supply unit builds but so far nobody has taken advantage of that fact. It's a good side deck though as it can prevent otk's caused by field wipes and give you a degree of field presence. IE that Judgment Dragon field nuke, dropping 2 more or a Lightray Diabolos, or a Dragon Ruler, and you drop the gorz in defense. To get rid of it they have to sacrifice their field presence in most situations allowing a better degree of a comeback than just pitching a swift scarecrow.

Traditional 2/5 - Most OTKs dont rely on battle, but some do. Plus it's a dark so chaos fodder
Advanced 3/5 - I'd go higher but the likelihood of Gorz doing anything just seems unlikely due to thinks like emptiness and winda and the like

Gorz the Emissary Darkness is a relatively infamous monster that has been Limited for quite a while. His movement to Semi-Limited in the TCG is actually somewhat late, as the OCG adopted this change back in September of 2013, and later on even moved him to 3 (ironically, Tragoedia, a card that Gorz is superior to, is still at 2 over there).
 
There was a point in time where Gorz was borderline banworthy, but that was quite a while ago. Before the game’s power level went up in recent times, a free 2700 beater that also created a generally 2000+ beater along with it was quite a threat, and could greatly shift the momentum of a game by itself if left unchecked.
 
The game has evolved since then, and Gorz has fallen from grace because of it. The power of cards has increased dramatically, making a free 2700 monster not as threatening as it once was. Additionally, with the loss of Heavy Storm, Decks have become a lot more reliant on backrow than they were in the past, further hampering the ability to splash Gorz in any Deck.
 
Despite this, Gorz is not a card to be underestimated. When used effectively, he can easily catch someone off guard. Regardless, it’s safe to say having a second copy of him will not be detrimental to the game’s health.
 
Traditional: 3/5
Advanced: 3/5