Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss

We're day 3 into Burning Abyss, and now let's get into the meat of the deck.  Since this is just a TCG exclusive, we don't have a ton of cards for it yet, but more are certainly coming.

The next three monsters this week are the most important ones.  Burning Abyss decks use 3 Scarm, 3 Graff and 3 Cir.  No questions asked.  These monsters in and of themselves aren't really profound.  They're just floaters that help you plus.

Let's make it really simple:

- All 3 basic BA monsters can Special Summon themselves if you control no spell/traps

- All 3 basic BA are destroyed if you control a non-BA monster

- SCARM searches from deck to hand ; defense wall

- GRAFF summons from deck to field ; balanced stats

- CIR summons from the graveyard ; relatively higher atk

They can Special Summon with ease and replace themselves when destroyed.  They also trigger their effects on discard, making cards like Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Karma Cut, essentially free of cost.  Counting on their cards being destroyed, they also use cards like Supply Squad to draw off of it and then chaos cards like Black Luster Soldier Envoy of the Beginning to make use of them once they are in the graveyard.

Some tips on Scarm.

1. You can search Tour Guide of the Underworld with it, and usually, that's what you want to do.

2. If Scarm is destroyed by its own effect, you can still add the card to your hand penalty-free, whereas with the other Malebranches, whatever special summons to the field is just destroyed anyway, when it comes to the no non-BA monster restriction.

One thematic complaint, these three Burning Abyss monsters are too similar to each other, making me think that they were designed lazily.  All three of them have the same stats/attributes, all three have near-identical effects (they're search floaters), all three have nearly the same name, and the pictures of all three are really similar.  So memorizing which is which was harder than it should have been for me.

Anyway, it's the heart of the Burning Abyss deck and its not too complicated to use.  So just go ahead and run 3 of it, along with Cir and Graff.

Ratings

Traditional – 1.5/5

Advanced – 3.5

Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss

Outside of Burning Abyss, this card is such a good fit for any Deck that uses Tour Guide From the Underworld since it is able to be Summoned directly by it, and can search for it as well making it now the best card that can be searched via Tour Guides effect.

Ideally (but especially in Burning Abyssw) you want your first play to be Tour Guide > Scarm, Rank 3 and detach, > Tour Guide. Then depending on your hand, what that Tour Guide Summons next can be up to you, however Grabbing Cir or Graff is advantageous as once they go to the Graveyard you can Summon Scarm from the Graveyard or your Deck by either of their effect and thus allowing you to keep your momentum going.
This also can be pretty hard to stop for the opponent as well.

Keep in mind that because Tour Guide negates the effect of Scarm (as well as all Malebranche for that matter) on the Field, it isn’t Destroyed by it’s effect either.

Additionally, Scarm can be Special Summoned from the hand if you control no Spell or Trap cards (just like all of the other Malebranche’s) which can easily allow you to use it alongside another Malebranche to Summon a Rank 3 of which Dante is a quite obvious choice early game for Burning Abyss.
Keep in mind though that you can only use one effect of Scarm per turn and only once that turn, so you don’t want to see it sent to the Graveyard during the same turn that you Special Summon it in this way otherwise you will not get the search.

Also if Cir or Graff are detached from an Xyz that isn’t Dante and you Summon Scarm from your Graveyard or Deck Scarm will immediately die allowing you an End Phase search. The fact that your Malembranche’s die when you control a monster that is not a Burning Abyss monster can be used to your advantage, so that they die by that effect is not really much of a downside at all.
And in a Burning Abyss Deck for your End Phase search, Tour Guide, Graff or Cir are all likely candidates to be grabbed by Scarm.

Sending Scarm to the Graveyard can also be easily achieved by cards such as Foolish Burial, Mathemetican, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Raigeki Break and even Karma Cut among others, and all of those cards are all cards that you would also expect to see in a Burning Abyss Deck.

Also, as Scarm is a Graveyard effect it is much harder to prevent, however since it’s effect activates during the End Phase a D.D. Crow or even Soul Release could be used to get rid of it before it’s effect activates. Karma Cut and Chain Disappearance are great cards to use against Scarm upon it’s Summon and Macro Cosmos and possibly even Dimensional Fissure can also be good cards to use against it.

Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss provides so much consistency to Burning Abyss that this card almost alone is the reason that the Deck can keep producing advantage each and every turn, and is also why Burning Abyss can afford to run discard type cards while ultimately losing no advantage whatsoever.

If used defensively, Scarm can even be used to defend your Lifepoints as 2000 Def can be pretty hard to run over, especially early game.

Great card and if you are using Tour Guide in a Deck that isn’t Burning Abyss you WILL be using Scarm, and there is simply no good reason not to.
In Burning Abyss, if you don’t have 3x Scarm in your Main Deck (willingly), please give up playing the game as you certainly don’t realise how GOOD this card is…
If you don’t, I most certainly hope that I have enlightened you somewhat!

Traditional: 3.5. I can actually see quite the good use for this here… Searching your Deck for anything is pretty good, and here it can be used to get Sangan as well… Which can thus get you Magical Scientist… I’m certain that even here this cards potential will be realised.

Advanced: 4. The only reason that I am holding this cards score just a little back is that it requires the End Phase of a turn for you to be able to get the search, slowing you down just a little if you don’t open quite how you want/ need to. Otherwise, the fact that this card is at 3 and is an essentially generic searcher for any Level 3 Dark Fiend almost makes the fact that Sangan is (at least currently when writing this) Banned look a bit stupid.

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss is the searcher monster for the “Burning Abyss” archetype. Search a level 3 DARK Fiend at the end phase of the turn this monster went to the grave, simple effect, powerful one.
 
Scarm will search out the other two Burning Abyss monsters in the TCG (cannot search itself), but it can also pull any other level 3 DARK fiend from your deck. Tour Guide, Tour Bus, Kuribandit, Archfiend Heiress Infernity Necromancer, Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, and Night Assailant are all available targets for Scarm to pull from your deck.
 
Scarm can Special Summon itself if you don't have any spell/trap card on your field, and though it doesn't have much to speak of for attack, it does have a respectable defense for a level 3 (2000DEF). Scarm, like all “Burning Abyss” monsters make quick Rank 3 monsters, and have the potential to do this multiple times per turn.
 
Scarm can be added to any deck that runs a few level 3 DARK fiends. Lightsworns could add it to recruit Kuribandit from the deck after Scarm gets milled. Dark Worlds could use it and discard it and add Broww to the hand while gaining advantage. Infernities have another monster that can search and set up their giant combos that swarm the field.
 
A searcher made for the archetype, that works just fine outside the archetype. Scarm is a great card, and may be the best Burning Abyss monster that isn't named Dante.
 
 
Traditional-4/5- Search all the monsters above, as well as Sangan
Advanced-4/5- Multiple search targets outside the archetype
Art-3/5
 
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

For the rest of the week we will be reviewing each of the three Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. The Malebranche share the following effects:
 
(1) If you control a non-“Burning Abyss” monster, they are destroyed.
(2) If you control no Spell/Trap Cards, you can Special Summon them from your hand.
(3) If they are sent to the Graveyard, they gain a trigger effect involving the search/summon of another monster.
 
Additionally, between effect (2) and effect (3), only one of them can be activated per turn, and only once that turn.
 
With that out of the way, let us review the first Malebranche: Scarm.
 
Scarm has a pitiful 800 ATK but a very solid 2000 DEF, allowing him to wall a variety of low Level threats. His third effect is delayed because it activates during the End Phase of the turn he was sent to the Graveyard, but it is also the most versatile as it doesn’t directly involve Burning Abyss monsters. Upon being sent, Scarm will grab any Level 3 DARK Fiend-Type monster from your Deck and put it in your hand.
 
That’s oddly specific; however one monster that fits the description is the MVP of the 2012 format: everyone’s favorite Tour Guide From the Underworld. Given the fact that Tour Guide herself can summon Scarm from the Deck, this allows for consistent Rank 3 plays, which the Deck thrives on.
 
Overall a solid card for its Deck, and also not a bad choice if you’re looking to splash some Rank 3’s somewhere else.
 
Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 4/5

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Scarm, Malebranche of the burning abyss

Review Notes:
A monster that you can special summon with no back row seems good. This is the heart and soul of the burning abyss. This card allows you to search any burning abyss or Tour Guide from the Underworld. Allowing the deck to make the combos it needs.

Traditional: 2/5

Advanced: 4/5

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