![](../../../COTD/Player_Image/DarkPaladin-80.jpg)
Dark
Paladin |
This card hasn't been reviewed since it's release
in Ancient Sanctuary nearly 11 years ago.
Monster Gate...not as impractical as it may (or may
have once) seem(ed). In premise alone, Monster
Gate seems like an absurd card to play. The
fact you could lose just countless cards, not to
mention it's a -1, just to get another Monster from
your Deck. Blasphemy, no? Remember also,
you're merely picking up these cards, and everything
until you get a card fitting the described criteria
goes to the Graveyard when you do. Honestly,
to me, this card is more about the dumping, than
what you get from it Monster wise. Say you
dump 5-10 cards from your Deck in the process.
Half of those cards are going to be Monsters, if not
more, but so many Decks rely on assets that are in
the Graveyard. Whether the Monsters activate
effects from the Graveyard, cycle back to the Hand
eventually, or the Field, or even both, Monster Gate
can really speed some things along. I know we
often look at Yugioh as a game of advantage, and in
those terms, (as said) this is a -1. But some
cards need to be though of as what they do for you
in the future, as opposed to the now. This
helps you later, and probably only more so as you go
along. Think about it. Monster Gate
doesn't need a Deck constructed around it to be
successful anymore.
Rating: 4/5
Art: 5/5
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![](../Jan/misdreav.jpg)
Misdreavus
"Mean and Evil" |
When I think of the traditional format, I think
of the ancient and almighty cards of legend, that
only the most veteran players remember: Chaos
Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, the presumed star
of the format, and Magical Scientist, that random
common card from Magician's Force, who secretly was
the real star. Rescue Cat, Exchange of the Spirit,
and even the occasional Last Turn - all matchups
that one had to prepare for, meaning that a side
deck consisting almost entirely of hand traps was
not an oddity.
But the traditional format may have changed a lot
over the past few years: "Dark World", and for a
while "Dragon Ruler", decks could very well have
turned out to be even better than the traditional
traditional format decks (see what I did there?) -
Duelist Alliance came with a power level even more
impressive, which leads me to wonder whether the
best deck in the traditional format might not just
be the average "Nekroz" deck with all the normally
forbidden power cards teched in... Did I mention
that some of the game's most colourful cards have
seen impactful errata this last year? Chaos Emperor
Dragon - Envoy of the End, Dark Strike Fighter,
Cathedral of Nobles/Temple of the Kings, Crush Card
Virus, and Ring of Destruction saw horrifying nerfs,
although these pale to the abomination that is
Exchange of the Spirit in this day and age - simply
put, cards that once were the most defining cards of
their respective decks or even formats, are now
nothing but a shadow of their former glory, and new
players find themselves wondering why cards like the
ones I mentioned were ever on the forbidden/limited
card list to begin with.
I digress; like I said, the traditional format,
which remained practically unchanged for years, has
become very different than it used to be; how
different? I'm afraid no one can really tell, as the
format is long past its golden age of official
Konami support... Considering the reasons presented,
it should not be surprising that Pojo as well has
finally decided to forego its traditional
traditional rating (not nearly as funny the second
time, I know): from now on, we'll be rating cards
only for the advanced format, a change I'm very
pleased with myself.
Oh, by the way, remember those errata I was talking
about just now? There are more altered cards coming,
one of which is of interest for today's topic: soon
to join Sinister Serpent as a "card that could have
come back without issue, but received an erratum
that renders it unplayable just to be sure", is Dark
Magician of Chaos. Now I'll admit that Dark Magician
of Chaos was a very good card when it was legal, as
it could easily be abused with the spell cards that
could bring him out: Dimension Fusion, Monster Gate,
Monster Reborn... It's generally accepted that Dark
Magician of Chaos played a role in the
limiting/banning of these cards.
Can you see where this is going? Today's topic is
Monster Gate, and here comes the point where I say
that considering the loss of (a playable version of)
Dark Magician of Chaos, the card has no business
being anywhere near a forbidden/limited card list.
Monster Gate serves to open our special "Infernoid"
theme week, as it really does a lot for this
currently rather unexplored, but soon to be famous,
deck/theme: not a single one of the currently
TCG-legal "Infernoid" monsters can be normal
summoned, but, in a way comparable to the infamous
"Dragon Ruler" monsters, they can all be special
summoned by banishing from the hand or graveyard
others of their kind - the level 5 and higher "Infernoid"
monsters can even special summon themselves from the
graveyard this way (note that the "Infernoid"
monsters sport a summoning condition, unlike the
"Dragon Ruler" monsters' effects to summon
themselves: Soul Drain won't stop the "Infernoid",
and no chaining cards until they reach the field)!
Unfortunately the deck has a hard time managing
resources, but Monster Gate and Reasoning are here
to mitigate this issue, while allowing the deck to
run some interesting tech cards at the same time
(Barrier Statue of the Infernois, The End of Anubis,
Jinzo, Mechanical Hound/Spell Canceller... No, we
did not intend to let you play at all) - Monster
Gate and Reasoning are what holds the deck together
and what gives it the ability to compete despite its
obvious flaws, but more about those later: Monstar
Gate is a formidable card in the "Infernoid" deck,
and if it is to be allowed at three copies as it is
in the OCG, I suggest you prepare your... side deck
for "Infernoid": there's a new Don in town!
Advanced: 5/5. Now if we would just have access to
the three copies we want to use...
Art: Heaven's Gate (or "Gate of Destiny" for fans of
the dub version)!/5
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