Today we're going to look at my 2nd (and last =(
) pick of the week, Hoshinigen.
Card Text:
Light/Fairy/2/500/700
Effect: As long as this card remains
face-up on the Field, increase the ATK of all
LIGHT monsters by 500 points and decrease the
ATK of all DARK monsters by 400 points.
Analysis:
Nothing to The Unhappy Maiden
if this is a long review, but I was in a hurry
writing yesterday's review. Now, here we
go...
Wow, if beatdown decks needed an enemy, this
card could be one! Since most beatdown
decks have all-Dark attackers (except for 7
Colored Fish), this could
theoretically shut them down, allowing you to
bring in a Neo the Magic Swordsman
and wreak havoc. If you manage to get 2
of these on the field, your opponent may have
some problems.
The only problem is keeping these guys on the
field. Even with a self-boost, they only
have 1000 attack points (if you only have 1 on
the field). It has been declared in an
extended ruling that this and the other attack
boosters can be affected by
Trap Hole, as their effect takes effect
immediately (because it doesn't have to check
for anything, like number of cards in your
hand). Since this guy would have 1000
attack points, it gets flushed down the drain.
Another threat is the beatdown monsters
themselves. Even thought they get a 400
point cut, they'll still be higher than
Hoshinigen (1400 to 2100 > 1000). If
you get 2 on the field, you can gain the field
advantage, so that helps, but 7
Colored Fish will still eat you up.
Having these guys control the field becomes
easier with the pumped-up field cards in Japanese
Pharaoh's Servant (+500 attack and -400
defense to one Main-type). We may not
get those in English Magic Ruler, probably in English
Pharaoh's Servant, though.
However, I could possibly see
a Hoshinigen/Neo/BEWD/Maha
Vailo/White Magical
Hat/equipment combo deck with English
Magic Ruler, but it's not likely. You
could use Ring of Magnetism
on Maha Vailo along with a Demon
Axe to create a 3050 attack monster (Maha
Vailo gets +500 attack for each equip card
attached to it, plus the
normal effect of the equip, i.e. the cost for
Ring of Magnetism would be cancelled), and,
with Hoshinigen, not only would Hoshinigen be
safe, Maha Vailo would be up to 3550,
and it's the only card your opponent can
attack until they get rid of Ring of
Magnetism. Ouch.
I'll go more in-depth with the mechanics of
that when we get there, though ;)
Should YOU play it?
It makes semi-decent tech against standard
beatdown decks (loaded with Dark Main-type
monsters), but it's best left in your binders.
These cards generally aren't very good.
In casual play, however, make a mono-Light
deck with this, and have fun! =D
Score:
Hoshinigen can do stuff (bah, that expression
is overused -__;;;), so it gets a 2.4,
just because of its ability to semi-shut down
Dark Main-type dependant beatdown decks.
Don't expect it to win you many games,
however.
