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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day
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Dark
Driceratops
Rare
Dinosaur / Effect Monster
When this card attacks with an ATK that is higher
than the DEF of your opponent's Defense Position
monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to
your opponent's Life Points.
Type
- Earth / 6 / 2400 / 1500
Card Number
- IOC-073
Ratings
are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being
the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating
Date Reviewed - 8.23.04 |
|
ExMinion OfDarkness |
Monday:
Dark Driceratops
Trample's best friend outside of Enraged Battle Ox.
Jinzo's ATK score in a one-tribute (which is getting
more and more common), exactly Witchable defense,
and trample. No one really plays Gaia Power...or
Dinosaurs. So it'd just be used for themeless
Trample where someone didn't want to have to have
Spears switching into Defense position.
There's not much more to say; if Airknight is
failing against a Beatdown, and your opponent
doesn't run enough traps to warrant Jinzo, I guess
this would be a good alternate.
2.75/5 |
|
Tranorix |
Dark Driceratops
Why they couldn't just spell it "Triceratops", we'll
never know; but we're starting this week off (a bit
late) with a very underlooked Rare from Invasion of
Chaos, Dark Driceratops. The stats are, simply put,
good. 2400 ATK is decent for a one-tribute monster
and 1500 is the highest Witchable DEF. Being EARTH
gives it some support, and being a Dinosaur makes DD
one of the only playable Dinos we have.
It has trample. Pretty simple, right? If you attack
a DEF monster with Driceratops, he'll be taking,
most likely, a big amount of damage. I believe Dark
Driceratops is the highest ATK monster in the game
with the trample effect (unless you count Aitsu +
Koitsu…), so it's definitely not a bad choice for a
second or third tribute monster. One nice thing
about it is that you can use Ultra Evolution Pill
(tomorrow's card) to Special Summon Driceratops more
quickly, by sacrificing Sinister Serpent or
something.
That's basically all there is to say about Dark
Driceratops. It's a monster that'll probably see
some more play after the new ban list hits, and
rightfully so. (For anyone wondering, my reviews
will always be based on how the TCG currently
stands).
Typical tournament deck: 3/5
Trample deck: 4/5
OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5 |
|
Otaku |
Welcome to what is apparently Dinosaur week.
Let me preface this by saying that I am somewhat
annoyed and perplexed that there are both
Dinosaurs and Dragons in Yu-Gi-Oh. Why is
that? Simply put, they are one and the same.
The term dinosaur originated in 1841, if I
recall correctly. Before then if you described
a huge reptile to someone, what do you think
they’d have called it? Now I know, not all
“Dinosaurs” in the TCG are big reptiles. Mad
Sword Beast is a Dinosaur, for example. Still,
the term Dragon often is used to describe things
that look nothing like a Firedrake (the
stereotypical 4 legged, long necked,
long-tailed, winged, fire-breathing European
dragon). Note how there are many beasts that
are fantastic in nature, but we didn’t get a
special category for them... anyway, on to the
review.
Stats:
Dark Driceratops is
big Dinosaur. This is probably for the best-it
means it faces little competition, and aids in
justifying a deck around it. As a Level 6, it
will probably only see play in its own deck, or
one desperately in need of
it’s effect. It is an Earth Dinosaur,
which is pretty common, and means there is some
decent support for it- nothing major, but don’t
underestimate a simple Gaia Power. Moving on we
see a solid 2400 ATK. This is more or less the
baseline for Level 6 monsters with any sort of
effect, so we shouldn’t expect anything too
strong from it. The last stat to touch upon is
the perfect “beatstick”
Defense of 1500. Since this is meant for
attacking, this is as high as it can get while
still being a legal target for the effect of
Witch of the Black Forest.
Effect(s):
In a word: trample. In more words, for those
not familiar with the term (probably a new
player, at least when it comes to anything
before PSV), when Dark
Driceratops attacks a DEF position
monster that is weaker than it, you do damage
like you would if the defender was in ATK mode.
Anyway, this has become a neglected effect. I
personally feel that every deck should have a
Trampler, or else
run extra Burn (cards that directly damage life
points). All in all, a good
effect, if a little vanilla.
Uses/Combinations:
This may very well be the best “big” Dinosaur
card in the game, so if you want a Dinosaur
deck, forget Dinosaur
Ryuzaki’s (Rex Raptor) stuff and look
here. Check tomorrow’s CotD for one of the huge
advantages Dinosaur cards have, and later in the
week well feature some other good support.
There is one that seemed to get left out-Gilasaurus.
Together they make a potent combination for
getting this into play. Just pack some cards
keep the Gilasaurus
from benefiting your opponent (Soul release,
Fiend Comedian, Necrovalley,
etc.). Now you have a Dinosaur that can be
Special Summoned on a whim, to serve as tribute
fodder for the big guy. ;)
Ratings
Casual:
4/5-“Terrible Thunder Lizards…
commin
ta get
chaz! Terrible
Thunder Lizaaaaards…”
Hmmm, not a fan of Eek,
the Cat? Oh well, this is probably
the best big dinosaur out, though there is one
that is much harder to use… but more on it later
in the week.
Tournament:
3.25/5-So hard to handle Chaos. On the bright
side, it becomes more beneficial running that
Graveyard disruption if you team it up with
Gilasaurus.
Limited:
305/5-Not the highest attack in the set, but
trample is divine here. If there
weren't
so many good (at least in Limited) tribute
Monsters, this thing could have been king.
Summary
Not sure if it is enough to build a real deck
around, but it’s a solid start. As a card, it
is a vanilla, solid, monster.
|
|
Tony |
*sigh*
What's up with these Dinos that trample? First Mad
Sword Beast and now this? haha...
This is a Jinzo...with a different (not better)
effect. It's stats are basically not too good. Now
if this Dino was 2500, whole 'nother story because
then it could kill Jinzo. (( you can skip the next
paragraph but it's about the "evolution" of trample
cards ~but it's reallllly long~...then it's onto the
COTD again ))
Let's go over these trample cards. First, it's
Driceratop's lil brother Mad Sword Beast. I used to
run him back in the PSV times when everyone was
running Goblin Attack Force and Nimble Momonga. I
was also running 2 Robin' Goblin's. This combo was
pretty good back then because there were limited
removal for cards like Nimble Momonga and it took
cards away from the hand also. Obviously that combo
was broken, good, amazing, won games, etc...Then
Spear Dragon came out. Spear Dragon or Gemini Elf
was the question...I chose neither and went with
Zombyra the Dark. It killed Gemini Elf and/or Spear
Dragon and then it was still a 1900 attacker. A lot
of people chose Spear Dragon over the Zombyra or
Gemini because of the Goblin Attack Forces and Spear
Dragon IS a good top deck late game. Anyways, then
came the Mystic Tomato time. No one wanted to run
into one and then have a Witch or Sangan kill it
back. Trample also became less relavent because of
the constant amount of creatures on the board and
more monsters with Higher Defence came out. Don
Zaloog for one...more 1900 attackers with higher
defences...and Book of Moon was introduced. Also,
the Robin' Goblin' phase was gone because of
Harpie's Feather Duster and everyone started to run
3 Mystical Space Typhoons (( starter decks made the
MSTs popular )). Then Magicial Scientist, Vampire
Lord, Tribe Infecting Virus, Breaker the Magical
Warrior, DD Warrior Lady etc...all these control
monsters came out and no one wanted trample; they
wanted field control and honestly, it's was better.
But there IS one card that's left that's everyone's
favorite; Airknight Parshath. Trample, Draw a card,
forces your opponent to kill it quick because Yu Gi
Oh is about hand advantage (( since literally 60% of
cards deal with field control ~ yes I actually did
do the math dxP )) More field control (( m/t
destroyers, out of the game monsters/magics~nobleman,
kycoo, dd warrior lady, Dark balter, etc...~, traps
that deals with creatures effectively... )) took
place over the late game damage and eventually made
the game into a circle: One dominant deck type in
the metagame; from Beatdown, then to hand control,
then Field Control. The game's flaw is once one deck
does well, everyone else makes the same deck because
the game leads to too many top decks. Soo that's a
LONG explanation why trample isn't good
anymore.........or is it? I believe it's time for
trample again, but not using this card. Use cards
like Cannon Soldier and Spear Dragon to force
through the damage. Why Cannon Soldier? Personally I
hate Change of Heart AND Snatch Steal. I wish I
could use them as removal instead. Using Cannon
Sodlier helps tremendously. Also with the Beserk
Gorilla and Airknight Parshath, the games will go
quickly (meaning life points will be drained more
quickly) leaving them Confiscation, Delinquent Duo,
Magical Scientist in hand and forcing them to not
use its effects effectively. *shrugs* I'm still
working on a good trample deck but I believe we are
back to it...You can try this card but I suggest if
you do NOT own Royal Decree, Dark Driceratops is not
that good.
Okay, soo the card Dark Driceratops is nothing
special. Sure it's a great late game top deck but
ask your self this: what does it do for me in the
early/middle game? Does it stop your opponent's
important traps? Do you draw cards off of it? Does
it force your opponents Dark Hole/Raigeki bad? Does
it stop Witch/Sangan/Premature Burial/Call of the
Haunted? IT HAS NO BENEFITS IN THE EARLY/MIDDLE GAME
and eventually help your opponent achieve hand/field
advantage.
See with the MANY tribute monsters that are out, you
want to run 1 maybe 2 tribute monsters in your deck.
It leads to bad top decks, it gives an useless card
against monsters like Yata-Garasu, and in the game
of hand/field advantage, you ALWAYS want to do
something productive every turn...
You can try it but I believe there are better
monsters out there. In Yu Gi Oh, leaving your
opponent with less cards than you (meaning useless
at the moment), creature field advantage, and
knowledge of the chain wins you tournaments. Make
sure you carefully choose tributes that will help
you.
Ratings
Constructed: 6/10
Limited: 9/10 |
|
MerrilHess |
Dark Driceratops
Ok, who wouldn't love a creature as big as Jinzo
with trample?
Pros:
It's big and got Trample. It's rather easy to bring
out. It's earth, so it feeds it's buddy, Gigantes.
1500 DEF is Witch Searchable. It's a Dino, so if you
play Dino's, he is the most likely choice to be
included. It's Rare, too, so it's is rather common
to find.
Cons:
It is a tribute monster, making a bad topdeck.
Dinosaurs also don't have much support right now,
although they have some. Dinosaurs are often
forgotten, too, so many people don't even know this
exists. Earth is also a dying deck type. It only has
that trample ability, which is good, but I mean the
only other worthy trample candidates I can think of
are Mefist the Infernal General and Airknight
Parshath, both of which have secondary effects that
are great.
Overall, I give Dark Driceratops a 7.9/10. It's good
to use if you have it, and it can be used as a
filler if you don't have a Jinzo or Airknight. |
|
JAELOVE |
Monday: Dark Driceratops
Rated For: Dinosaur Deck
This
week will feature cards that work well in a Dinosaur
deck. Dinosaurs, the ferocious beasts we all loved
while growing up, are one of the most
underrepresented subtypes in all of duel monsters.
In fact, there are only eleven dinosaurs in the
entire game! Out of these eleven, four are instantly
worthless (Uraby, Twin-Headed King Rex, Mammoth
Graveyard, Crawling Dragon #2). Another, Kabazauls,
has 1700 attack, which is weak as well. Three are
tributes (Dark Driceratops, Black Tyranno, Guardian
Grarl.) And finally, two decent dinosaurs with
interesting effects, Gilasaurus and Hyper
Hammerhead, round out the pathetic lot. Poor, poor
dinosaurs.
Today, Invasion of Chaos's Dark Driceratops
(Triceratops perhaps?) bravely weighs in, clocking
in at a trample-boosted 2400 attack. Onward with the
review then.
Advantage F/H:
As
we've seen, A BAD system does not treat
tribute monsters well in this category because of
their extra monster cost. And though Dark
Driceratops can make use of a dinosaur-specific
summon, Ultra Evolution Pill (which costs a monster
in addition to itself to play), you'll still be
using 1-2 cards in hand to bring him out. The cost
would be worth it if he didn't have such an
underwhelming effect; he'll only last for 1-2 turns
anyways, so you'll rarely cause much damage. He's
simply not worth it for the relatively low advantage
he brings to the table. Decent attack though.
6/10.
Best
Draw for the Situation:
Like
most tribute monsters, he's generally a horrible
draw in every situation. Generally, tribute monsters
have to provide some unique, irreplaceable service
to be deck-worthy (i.e Jinzo = trap negation,
Airknight Parshath = draw power, etc). Dark
Driceratops is simply a trample monster. Decent?
Yes. Solid? Yes. Spectacular? No. His tribute
monster status really brings him down, though he is
a rather good end-game finisher in the right
situation. A few points for that.
2.5/10
Attributes/Effect:
Recall we are rating him for a dinosaur deck. I've
shown that dinosaur decks are starving for options.
Accordingly, a 2400 monster with searchable stats
and the all-important dinosaur subtype does deserve
a high score in a dinosaur deck, even if it's not
very great elsewhere.
9/10.
Dependability:
He's
only going to last a few turns. If your plan is to
trample your opponent to death, there are better
options (Airknight Parshath springs readily to
mind). Why waste precious deck space on an inferior
option? Oh, right, you're running dinosaurs! Good
luck, buddy.
5/10.
The
Bottom Line:
One
of the best dinosaurs in the game. Out of eleven, of
course.
A
BAD Score:
22.5/40= 56/100
Cards it combos with:
Ultra Evolution Pill. |
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