Today we’re going over what is probably the most overhyped card from Breakers of Shadow: Guiding Ariadne.

Her Pendulum effect is very solid, making any Counter Trap free to use. But what really caused people to obsess over her was her monster effect; when destroyed by battle or card effect, she lets you reveal 3 Counter Traps in your Deck, and your opponent picks one to put in your hand. Obvious picks to search include Solemn Warning and the newly released Solemn Strike (which I forgot to review on Friday; card is extremely good, btw). Like Plushfire, Ariadne’s best friend is Luster Pendulum, and because she’s Scale 3, that makes her synergize with him even more.

Ariadne became obscenely hyped after a certain YouTube video showcased a combo in PePe that utilized Ariadne, Luster Pendulum, and Pendulum Sorcerer to go +10 on the first turn, with 4 Counter Traps set. This may sound incredibly broken, and in many ways it is, but you have to think about the logistics of such a scenario. This combo requires you open with Ariadne (which is not searchable outside of Wavering Eyes), Luster Pendulum (which is only searchable by Draco Face-Off, and even then it’s a 50/50 shot as to whether or not you actually get him), and either Pendulum Sorcerer himself or Skullcrobat Joker (Monkeyboard won’t work because you need Luster Pendulum as your high scale). This is a three card combo, of which one of the cards is not searchable, and another one is but you only have a 50% chance of getting it. The chances of opening this combo are about 6%, which isn’t very consistent. Wavering Eyes would help by letting you also use Monkeyboard as a searcher, but then you’re relying on drawing Wavering Eyes as well as your opponent not drawing Damage Juggler.

Also consider the amount of Deck space required to utilize this combo. You would need 2-3 Ariadne, 3 Solemn Strike, 1 Solemn Warning, and at least 1 other Counter Trap Card (such as Grand Horn of Heaven). That’s a 7-8 card investment for one combo that doesn’t show up that much. Granted, it consists of powerhouse Traps like Solemn Warning and Solemn Strike, but PePe is so cramped for space as it is that you would much rather dedicate those slots to either cards that help further your combo game instead of cards that search out Trap Cards that don’t help push you forward, or hand traps like Effect Veiler and Maxx “C”.

Guiding Ariadne is not a bad card by any means. In fact, she’s a pretty good card. But she is not nearly as broken as some people unfortunately believe. The OCG realized this pretty quickly, as most builds dropped Ariadne almost as quickly as they added her, and in the TCG she hasn’t really made much of an impact in the week the set has been out. It’s possible she’ll have her time in the future, but you have much better choices to pick from right now if you’re playing PePe.

Rating: 3/5

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Guiding Ariadne is a must for anyone who runs Counter Trap Cards in their deck. Fairy and LIGHT support behind it, good ATK, as a monster it holds up good. Search effect while a monster when destroyed, you'll need 3 Counter Trap Cards to reveal, your opponent chooses one and the others go back to the deck, a 1-for-1 trade.
 
In your Pendulum Zone it may be even better. Scale level of 3 is good, but it alone absorbs the costs of your Counter Traps changes the dynamic of the game. That Solemn Warning that was dead because your Life Points were too low just became live again. Didn't have a card to discard for your Divine Wrath? With Guiding Ariadne you don't need to worry about that. Counter Fairy decks LOVE this card and will run it in 3's. Decks that use at least 3 Counter Traps should consider teching this card.
 
Any of the “Solemn” Counter Traps, Ultimate Providence or Black Horn of Heaven all come to mind when thinking of this card.
 
 
Advanced-3.5/5
Art-3/5
 
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Counter Fairies constantly lacked resources and consistency. Guiding Ariadne strives to fix those problems. She comes in as a Level 4 Light Fairy-type Pendulum Monster with 1700 Atk and 800 Def and Scales of 3. The stats are great. Light works with Honest. Level 4 is the mighty Level for Pendulums for XYZ summons. Fairy is necessary and there is specific support for them when they are banished. Pendulum Monsters have a ton of ways to be searched to the hand. 1700 Atk is good while 800 Def is meh, but no card has perfect stats. After reviewing a bunch of Pendulum monsters, I think the worst a set of Scales can be is 4, so anything above or below that is good and the higher or lower, the better. Scales of 3 are just good, but of course 1 would be better. Will there ever be 0 or 13 Scales?
 
So the Pendulum effect is very simple. It can be negated, and it is NOT once per turn. You don't pay Life Points or discard cards to activate Counter Traps. So, this makes most Counter Traps free except the ones that make you tribute and some other weird ones. There are no conditions on this effect, so if you felt like running all the new and exciting Solemns that keep coming out, you could splash Guiding Ariadne into those decks in addition to the obvious Counter Fairy deck. 
 
The first effect helps with resources while the monster effect helps with consistency. When Guiding Ariadne is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can show your opponent 3 Counter Traps from your deck for so they can choose one to add to your hand while the other 2 are shuffled back into the Deck. You have to have 3 Counter Traps in your Deck to reveal, but that is the only restriction on this effect. It can be destroyed by either player at any time to activate multiple times per turn and per Guiding Ariadne. There are going to be discussions about this card and the ratios of this to Counter Traps in the Deck. I am going to say 3 Counter Traps to 1 Guiding Ariadne, just so both effects have the potential to be used in a duel. 
 
Score: 3.5/5 As good as the Counter Traps, which as a group, are average.
Art: 4/5 Mechano Angels are interesting to look at. 
 
-WarlockBlitz

At long last, an Angel that fits the Synthetic/Counter Trap theme! I've been waiting for more cards like this. Guiding Ariadne looks like a sewing needle from Heaven, with effects that'll give the opponent hell! As a Pendulum Monster, it gives you Counter Traps for free which can prove useful if you like to play the Solemn set or others like it. As an Effect Monster, it helps you thin the deck for a Counter Trap while letting your opponent know what you have planned for later.
I can see this pretty little thing limited in the near future because it's one of the few monsters out there that draws out Traps instead of other monsters for a change. I'll be expecting to see it pop up in many decks- though personally, I think it works best in the Counter Trap/Angel theme I've mentioned earlier.

Final Score: 4/5 in most decks, 5/5 in Trap-heavy decks