These Nekroz Monsters have some phenomenal artwork. Nekroz of Valkyrus (and cool names) is a Level 8, Water attributed, Spellcaster type Ritual Monster, with a great 2900 attack and a defense of 1700. If you recall from the prior Nekroz review, lots of things remain constant from Nekroz to Nekroz. You can't Ritual Summon with a Monster of the Level of the Ritual you're trying to Summon, so in this case, no Level 8. Also, as seen before, it can't be Special Summoned in other ways, but can be with any Nekroz Ritual Magic Card. You can use each of these effects, once per turn. When your opponent declares an attack, you can remove a Nekroz card from your Graveyard from play, discard this card, and then end the Battle Phase. Also, you can Tribute up to two Monsters you control to Draw one card per Monster Tributed from the Deck. This guy is just as solid, if not more so than the prior we looked at. Tomorrow...is even better.

Rating: 3.75/5
Art: 5/5

Nekroz of Valkyrus

Quite simply this card is absolutely amazing in the Necroz Deck, but that isn’t just because of its effect alone, but also because of the fact that it can be combined with so many plays that gaining the maximum benefit from this card is only restricted by the cards available to you.

At initial glance Valkyrus looks like nothing more than an Archetype specific Battle Fader, or that of a card which can be used to Draw cards when you are a bit more desperate.

Let me tell you that if you think this, that you could not be more wrong.

Firstly, its Battle Phase ending effect is extremely hard to play around, and thus ending the Battle Phase and either protecting a Nekroz or simply preventing yourself from losing too many Lifepoints is generally assured.

Mind Crush is of course quite useful against Nekroz…

Valkyrus combines extremely well with Nekroz Kaleidoscope as you can Summon not just Valkyrus with it but also Unicore, then by using the effect of Valkyrus to send Unicore and quite likely itself to the Graveyard, you’ll not only be able to Draw 2 cards but you’ll also be able to Banish one of those monsters and Kaleidoscope to be able to add any “Nekroz” Spell card from your Deck to your hand… In the “Mirror Match” this play is also used to prevent your opponent from using Nekroz of Trishula against you.

It may be worth noting here that for those who are unaware, Shooting Quasar Dragon or Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (among a few others) is included in the Extra Deck of Nekroz simply because of this combo alone.

Several extremely powerful combinations in all can be created that involve Valkyrus, and all have the potential to inflict heavy damage or OTK or ensure protection next turn from retribution via Valkyrus.

Sadly I’ve left this review shorter than I’d prefer as I myself am still exploring all of the horrific ways in which Nekroz can beat you, and apart from the above uses of which I’m very familiar with, the others combinations I’m not quite so familiar with… Even after discussion it in detail with some local Nekroz players…

Sadly I’m not so familiar with Nekroz, mainly because primarily I cannot afford the Deck L, as such I don’t feel that I can quite describe them or their plays in its totality or nor with the justice that they deserve, so in this instance I’m going to “Chicken out” and provide a Link to the Nekroz Strategy Guide.

And so I’ll do some Unofficial advertising on behalf of Pojo Forums here and mention that the Strategy Guides are quite often a great way in which you can either expand your knowledge of your Deck of choice OR hopefully you can even use the information that you’ve learned as a way in which you can learn how to beat them…

And if you can’t beat them, you can always join them! (That is assuming that you actually CAN!).

The Link to the current Nekroz Thread: http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=1213646

Nekroz Valkyrus is an absolute must for every Nekroz Deck, I see no good reason to not run 3, especially when considering all the options that it provides for the Deck, additionally it can be used as a 1 card Tribute for most of the Nekroz monsters other than Trishula and Decisive Armor and nor for itself either as no Nekroz monster can be Summoned by Tributing a monster with the same Level as itself.

Note this doesn’t include using Kaleidoscope.

Rating: 4.25. That Valkyrus is involved in so many of the Decks big plays, makes this essential to the Deck, AKA, Staple.

Also in a Nekroz vs Nekroz “Mirror Match,” Valkyrus is allegedly the “Skill” card, I’d prefer to simply note that its not only great for Nekroz when making a push, its equally good against it, but that is simply because of card design and Deck play style alone.

Hello Pojo Fans,

Nekroz of Valkyrus is the potential draw power within the “Nekroz” archetype. It has the same first effect as all “Nekroz” monsters in that it cannot be Ritual Summoned using monsters that share its level (8 in this case), and can be Ritual Summoned using any “Nekroz” Ritual Spell. High ATK and WATER support behind it give it a serious chance to stay on the field for more than a few turns.

Protection ability and Battle Phase-ending effect by discarding this card and removing a “Nekroz” card in your graveyard helps protect the weaker “Nekroz” monsters from stronger monsters. Once in the graveyard, Valkyrus is fodder for another Ritual Summon or WATER-based removal.

Tributing up to two monsters from your side of the field or in your hand to draw that amount of cards add draw power and potential setup for more summonings. When hearing the word “tribute” I immediately thought of Hieratic monsters and how they could combo with the ritual spells and monster effects in this archetype. Breaking even is always a plus off of draw power, and if you use Salvage and monsters able to be targeted by it, you could end up +1 off of Valkyrus effect. Use the draw effect to dig for more Ritual Spells and support for more Ritual Summons.

Advanced-3/5
Art-4/5

Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Nekroz of Valkyrus is a garbage card that does absolutely nothing for the Deck. It is completely pointless and should never be run.
 
Now, if anybody has told you the above statement, slap them and tell them to stop being bad. Nekroz of Valkyrus is, next to Brionac, the most important Nekroz monster in the Deck, and it separates the good players who see its value from the bad players who think Nekroz is TrishSpam.dek.
 
“But Riko, how is Valkyrus more important than Trish? What does it do for the Deck?”
 
I think a better question is what doesn’t it do? It has 2900 ATK, which is second only to Decisive Armor in terms of ATK power on all Nekroz monsters. It is Level 8, and therefore combos with Manju and Senju and Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz; when used with the latter, it allows you to set up the Graveyard with Shurit or (if you banished Sorcerer with Valkyrus’ effect) put another Valkyrus in your hand. And after you make a push, should your opponent still be alive, you can Tribute whatever you have on the field to replenish your hand, keeping your card advantage safe and protecting you from Trish in the mirror by clearing your board.
 
In hand, Valkyrus protects you from being OTK’d, which is especially important if you are clearing your board like I mentioned.
 
So yeah, sounds like an awful card, right?
 
Rating: 5/5

We looked at the Ritual boosters this week, but now we move on to the actual Ritual monsters. For today, we have Nekroz of Valkyrus, or as it will mostly be used for, Nekroz of Swift Scarecrow.

Looking at its level and stats, he is a level 8, clocking in at 2900/1700. To put it frankly, those are amazing stats, especially considering the ease in which this is summoned. It can be summoned through any of the three Nekroz Ritual Spells, and can be searched by any Ritual supporter.

In true Nekroz fashion, it has both an in-hand effect and an on-field effect. Both of these effects have their merits. The on field effect basically ditches up to two cards(including itself if you want) to draw however many you ditched. Important to note that this effect is not a cost. Its in-hand effect is a Battle Phase ender, but you must banish a Nekroz in grave. Take note that it can end Battle Phases even off of non-direct attacks. Its tribute effect has synergy with Great Mage and Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier, with both of them receiving their effects to add.

Overall, a very vital part of the Nekroz deck, and surely, one would put no less than three of it in their lists.

Advanced:4.25/5

"Nekroz" is possibly a deck without equal at this point in time, snatching around 65% of the top places in the major tourneys since its release, and because of this Nekroz of Valkyrus, a card of great importance to the deck, can rightfully be called "format-defining". While it may not seem as impressive to the newer players of the deck, who rather focus on the almighty Nekroz of Trishula, or are blinded by the direct searching provided by Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas, Nekroz of Valkyrus does sport two effects of wonderful utility.

First of all Nekroz of Valkyrus's offset to tribute your monsters in order to draw is a rather unsubtle blessing in disguise, as it allows the user to tribute Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz for a quick boost in card advantage; a niche Nekroz of Valkyrus provides is the ability to clear one's own field in the mirror, after attacking for heavy damage - without a field, there is no need to worry about that pesky Nekroz of Trishula!

Its other effect is why Nekroz of Valkyrus is topic of debate in many a deck discussion: by discarding Nekroz of Valkyrus, and banishing a "Nekroz" card from the graveyard, a Nekroz player can negate any attack, then end the battle phase. That's right: many decks that cannot keep up with our "Nekroz" overlords, see that the deck incorporates very little disruption, and opt to go for an approach that reduces their life points to 0 before the "Nekroz" player can take full control of the game, but Nekroz of Valkyrus makes this attempt futile.

Now there are of course cards that can play around Nekroz of Valkyrus, and players are actively looking for strategies that use them. The grasp is that if there is no attack to be negated, Nekroz of Valkyrus will not be able to end the battle phase. This can be accomplished in two ways: one can ensure that an attacking monster remains no longer on the field when Nekroz of Valkyrus resolves, by chaining a card like Compulsory Evacuation Device to Nekroz of Valkyrus's activation, or one can make it so that the attacking monster becomes unaffected by (monster) card effects - there aren't many cards that can do this, but Void Seer is an example. Alternatively one can use cards like Armades, Keeper of Boundaries to prevent Nekroz of Valkyrus's use altogether, or negate its effect with a card like Debunk.

Now I bet you expect me to list a number of cards that modern decks use to play around Nekroz of Valkyrus, but "Nekroz" isn't the most powerful deck for nothing! I can share one example though: "Ritual Beast" is a deck that, while it was overlooked by all except for its most dedicated players because of the hype surrounding the "Nekroz" theme, turns out to have a very decent "Nekroz" matchup. While it cannot play around Nekroz of Trishula as easily, the deck doesn't mind having its cards banished nearly as much as other decks; an important factor in their success is the ability to "royally" screw over a "Nekroz" deck's go to battle protection: not only is there Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio, unaffected by all card effects while it attacks, but any of the fusion monsters can respond to Nekroz of Valkyrus being dropped by returning to the extra deck, and special summoning from the banished zone a "Ritual Beast Tamer" and a "Spiritual Beast" monster. Did I mention that Ritual Beast's Bond works similarly to El Shaddoll Fusion, providing the deck yet another reason to not care about Nekroz of Valkyrus as much?

Nekroz of Valkyrus is a minor inconvenience for "Ritual Beast", and Nekroz of Trishula might help their setup in the long run... Then what is holding this deck back exactly? Why isn't "Ritual Beast" the best deck of the format? I'd love to share my newfound interest in the deck, but in the echoing words of my first in-game mentor: "There's a time and place for everything, but not now."

Traditional: No one plays the Traditional format, and even less people play "Nekroz" there - I can't rate this.

Advanced: 5/5. Didn't I just call this card "format-defining" or something? I can't think of a better compliment; I can think of how the "Nekroz" deck would be so much easier to deal with if Nekroz of Valkyrus wasn't a card.

Art: Look to my coming, at first light, on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East./5

Strong 2900 beater but most importantly he allows you to liquidate your floaters into card advantage, thinning your deck and opening up more options for combos.

Mandatory in Nekroz.  Run 2 or 3.  I prefer 3 though.  Great card.

4.75/5