|
Otaku |
Stats:
Vampire Lord’s female counterpart has one thing going
for it that Vampire Lord is lacking: she’s only a
Level 4. They are both Dark/Zombies (well supported
types). Sadly, the Lady has a fairly puny 1550 ATK
and DEF which almost makes her impossible to search
out from your deck… thank goodness for the very
searchable in-and-of-itself Pyramid Turtle, which can
nab her and just about any Zombie that doesn’t have
any extra summoning requirements (just needs an ATK of
less than 2000). Still, with her low stats, she’s
going to need help to stay on the field, at least when
not just up against Control Decks with their much
punier hitters (like Don Zaloog).
Effect(s):
This is probably why she was given lower stats. She
lacks Vampire Lord’s most potent effect (his self
resurrection), but she does posses his
depletion/control effect that makes the opponent
search out and discard a card of a type (Monster,
Spell, Trap) that you name from their deck. This
effect is very potent when properly supported.
“But
Otaku, you fool, they just discard something they
don’t need.”
You
run cards you don’t need in your deck?
“That’s not what I mean. You chuck a card you don’t
need at the moment.”
So
when you do need them, they’re gone?
Sounds good to me.
“But
I’ll pwnz u
foo b4 than!”
Riiiight.
Let me get this straight-you play a deck with cards
that are vastly different so that a good chunk of your
deck will be worthless against a depletion/control
themed deck. So, what’s so
uselss? Raigeki?
Dark Hole?
Monster Reborn? Most Traps
I’d nuke are ones that almost always have a use:
Imperial Order, Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, Ring
of Destruction, Call of the
Haunted. You’re saying they are useless when a
monster is beating on you (well, IO is to an extent),
and that they will most likely be useless the rest of
the game? What about when I move onto Spells? Change
of Heart, Dark Hole, Graceful Charity, Harpies Feather
Duster, Monster Reborn-need I go on? I guess if your
opponent either a) is new or unskilled, and often have
a lot of wasteful cards in their deck, then yes, this
effect will backfire or b) a skilled player
practically wrecks his deck by altering it thusly just
to hurt you for running something like this.
Uses/Combinations:
Vampire Lady may be a strong addition to some Zombie,
Control, and Depletion decks.
I say control and depletion because of the “common
sense” approach to using Vampire Lord. You start
with Traps, as they are usually few, but potent-only
the strongest Traps tend to see any real play. Then
you start calling Spell cards-they may be the bulk of
a deck, but they tend to be vital. Just use normal
hand elimination cards to take car of what they
already had in hand. Yes, you can do this in the ban
format too: a good old fashioned Card Destruction,
after a proper set up,
and they will probably draw a hunk of useless
monsters. How to keep them from nuking things before
then? Some of your own Spell negation, and remember
to lead with the appropriate Vampire: Let their D.D.
Warrior Ladies remove your other cards (including
V-Lady), then bring out the Lord when its relatively
safe, or let the Lord lead if he looks to be safe, and
bring in the V-Ladies to quickly strip an opponent of
options.
As
stated earlier, since she is a Zombie, she has access
to nifty Zombie only cards like yesterday’s Call of
the Mummy, the wonderful Book of Life, and the super
versatile Pyramid Turtle.
As stated, her low ATK/DEF score means we should
seriously consider powering her up. Aside from some
general equips, I’d also recommend Mystic Plasma
Zone. Why? It’s a) S/T removal bait, and b) a field
wide boost. I have learned the art of
distraction/misdirection is a beautiful thing in Yu-Gi-Oh,
as I mentioned with Call of the Mummy. Better they
MST that than a Mirror Force.
As a
final note for this section, as I fear many reviewers
will dismiss it due to its low ATK, I see Don
Zaloog run in control and
Warrior decks, and they aren’t hiding it under
Messenger of Peace. This has a less potent effect (at
least in the short term), but will usually need to be
handled as if her ATK was higher-you can’t crush it
with a Tomato or a Zaloog
or even a D.D. Warrior Lady, at least not without
using her effect on them.
Ratings
Casual:
3.75/5-Very nice in the decks I mentioned, but you
must work to accommodate them with a lot more support
than, say, Vampire Lord. It is not “vital” to a
straight up Zombie deck, but if you want more of a
control/depletion flavor, then this is the Lady for
you.
Tournament:
3/5-Unfortunately, it’s a sharp decline of a whole
point when you get “competitive”. Keeping it all
alive is much harder, though the rewards are fantastic
if you can keep scoring hits. In the banned format,
it will depend how your opponent responded. If they
added the closest “substitutes” (i.e. replacing Spell
with Spell) they could that find it will more or less
function the same. If they
filled the space with more Traps, then it will not be
as effective a strategy. If they chose Monsters, it
makes cleaning out the Spell/Traps easier, but they
still will have some wicked options left after that.
Limited:
3.75/5-Restricted building
materials means that the ATK isn’t as big a
deal. Since it’s harder to pull useful Spell and trap
cards, the effect is a mixed bag-if your opponent
settled for filler, then it’ll be a waste. If they
tried to be efficient and only took the best of the
best, then each call, no matter what, will hurt, and
calling Spell or Trap once might leave an opponent
with all monsters.
Summary
A
little puny, but a good card none the less. A little
stronger, and it could have been very nasty indeed,
but better underpowered than over. |
|
JAELOVE |
Tuesday: Vampire Lady
Rated
For: Vampire Decks, (Garbage) Zombie Decks, Zombie
Deck Destruction
A horrible card. Horrible in every
aspect of the game, this card is a horrible card.
Horrible, horrible artwork, horrible stats, and a
horrible effect. Unfortunately for Vampire Lady, her
only use is in a vampire-based deck. Why is she so
horrible? She's basically a weaker attack Vampire Lord
without the regeneration feature. As we all know,
Vampire Lord's effectiveness comes from his second,
returning effect, not the deck destruction portion.
The reason for this is that a good player will thin
his deck out of cards he does not need at the moment,
which actually DISADVANTAGES you! With that in mind,
let's skewer this piece of undead with the system.
Advantage F/H:
Her
effect does not provide any advantage, hand or field,
for the player. In fact, doing damage to the
opponent's lifepoints will actually lead to a
disadvantage when facing an expert player. A 1550
attack allows her to control the field over D.D
Warrior Lady, but little else. Her weak attack,
coupled with her effect that hurts YOU, leads to a
lower score than a regular 1500 monster!
4.5/10.
Best
Draw for the Situation:
A
horrible play in all phases of the game. A horrible
play when topdecking. Generally a horrible play
period. To put it into perspective, running Vampire
Lady is WORSE than running Neo the Magic Swordsman.
1/10.
Attributes/Effect:
Many
people may argue that this lady belongs in a Zombie
Deck Destruction deck. In fact, that's really her only
purpose. Her 1550/1550 stats make her conveniently
unsearchable, and her effect is subpar. Her dark type
saves her from the realm of zero scores.
1/10.
Dependability:
This
card really relies on Robbin Zombie, Soul-Absorbing
Bone Tower, and other such cards to work in a deck
destruction theme. A question for you, the reader: Can
YOU rely on a 1550 attack monster for anything? No, of
course not. 1/10.
The
Bottom Line:
Literally run Ryu-Kishin Powered over this card in all
but Zombie and Zombie Deck Destruction decks. In those
types, this card still falters.
A BAD
Score: 1.875/10 x 100= 18.75/100 |
