|
|
 |
 |
Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day
 |
Mystic
Swordsman LV2
Rare / Ultimate Rare
Warrior / Effect Monster
If this card attacks a face-down Defense Position
monster destroy the monster immediately with this
card's effect without flipping it face-up or
applying damage calculation. During the End Phase of
a turn that this card destroyed a monster as a
result of battle, send this card to the Graveyard to
Special Summon 1 "Mystic Swordsman LV4" from your
hand or Deck.
Type
- Earth / 2 / 900 / 0
Card Number
- SOD-EN011
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being
the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating
Date Reviewed - 10.14.04 |
 |
Mystic
Swordsman LV4
Ultra Rare / Ultimate Rare
Warrior / Effect Monster
If you Normal Summon this card, you must place it in
face-down Defense Position. If this card attacks a
face-down Defense Position monster, destroy the
monster immediately with this card's effect without
flipping it face-up or applying damage calculation.
During the End Phase of a turn that this card
destroys a monster as a result of battle, send this
card to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Mystic
Swordsman LV6" from hand or Deck.
Type
- Earth / 4 / 1900 / 1600
Card Number
- SOD-EN012 |
|
Tranorix |
Mystic Swordsman
The next family of cards is the Mystic Swordsman
family. As of right now, Lv6 has not been released
in the TCG; he'll be coming though, so just wait.
Anyway:
Lv2 is mediocre, to say the least. It has the Sasuke
Samurai effect, true; but it also has a pathetic 900
ATK. The supplemental effect is perplexing, to say
the least. Lv2 has to kill something in BATTLE for
you to be able to summon Lv4 by its effect, but with
such crappy ATK, the only way Lv2 is going to kill
anything is through his other effect, which DOESN'T
let you summon Lv4. Frustrating, isn't it?
Lv4 is a bit better, but it still has drawbacks.
First of all, you can't Normal Summon it into ATK;
you have to set it. That's really it. The advantages
are numerous: For one thing, it's a 1900 ATK
Warrior. You can search for it with Reinforcement of
the Army and you can Special Summon it (yes, into
ATK) with Marauding Captain. Then it also has the
Sasuke Samurai effect. What's not to like about
that? I'd say that Lv4 is almost a necessity in
Warrior Decks. Oh, and the tributing for Lv6 is
optional.
The Mystic Swordsman family has upsides and
downsides. Lv2 is meh whereas Lv4 is much better.
When Lv6 comes, the deck type will become viable on
its own; but for now, just stick Lv4 in your Warrior
Deck and see how it does.
Traditional – CCCC: 3/5
Traditional – Warrior: 4/5
Advanced – Warrior: 4.5/5 |
|
Coin Flip |
Once again, don't expect a structured I-SUC review.
Today I review the Mystic Swordsman decktype.
Mystic Swordsman looks like a familiar effect to a
lot of people. Mystic Swordsman is essentially
Sasuke Samurai on steroids. Higher attack... And it
comes in three flavors. Although Mystic Swordsman
LV6 isn't out yet, I will review it anyways with the
other two. The following translation comes from
Edo's page at
http://www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm
RDS-JP008
MYSTIC SWORDMAN LV6
Earth/Warrior/6/2300/1700
If this card is Normal Summoned, it can only be
played in face- down defense mode. If this card
attacks a face-down defense mode Monster, don't go
to Damage Calculation, and destroy that face- down
defense mode Monster as it is. You can have Monsters
destroyed by this effect not go to the Cemetery, and
instead put it on top of your opponent's deck.
Only one word describes this: wh0a. This is a
combination of two g0dly effects: The effect of
Sasuke Samurai mixed with the effect of Mystical
Knight of Jackal. Let's go over LV2 and LV4 first,
though.
LV2 is a nifty creature. The expected onslaught of
burn decks and stall/bind decks allows for an
environment with a lot more face down monsters. A
lot more Mystic Tomatos with no Witch or Sangan
post-ban... A lot more flip-effect monsters... And
this laughs at them all. 900 attack is decent, much
more so than 500. LV4 is dangerous - 1900 attack on
a warrior was previously unheard of - 2300 with a
huge drawback, but the drawback isn't so huge, the
attack great, and the effect brilliant for Mystic
Swordsman LV4.
LV6 is where the deck begins to SHINE, though.
Destroy a monster and then PLACE IT BACK ON TOP OF
YOUR OPPONENT'S DECK. The no drawing/useless drawing
element of the game has been exercised in a few ways
- Yata, Tsukuyomi-Mask Of Darkness- Time Seal/Drop
Off, and Mystical Knight of Jackal. Now, take a
moment and imagine what happens if your opponent
cannot match 2300 attack. They have to either take
the damage of a direct attack or put the monster in
attack and still take damage and lose a card. Tough
choice. And you can just keep on summoning... But
that's not even the scariest part. The scariest part
is that it's easy to keep them in the lock... If
they have a monster on the field in attack... Summon
a Tsukuyomi and keep it face down. Hell, since it
works out so perfectly in this deck, you can
actually throw in Mask of Darkness and Drop Off/Time
Seal and still make it work pretty well. If they try
to attack, Ultimate Offering and Tsukuyomi could
take care of it... The lock won't last for more than
three turns most of the time. Just so you know, you
don't actually see what monster is destroyed as it
is never flipped face-up and never sent to the
graveyard, but straight to the top of their deck.
So, here's an example of a good Warrior lockdown
deck with Mystic Swordsman. Many of the
brainchildren for this deck came from PressAltAndF4
on the forums, but I'm hopeful that I haven't
completely copied his deck in my example.
Monsters: 17
2x Mystic Swordsman LV6 (as a substitute, you can
run Blowback Dragon)
3x Mystic Swordsman LV4
2x Mystic Swordsman LV2
2x Marauding Captain
2x Tsukuyomi
2x Legacy Hunter
2x Don Zaloog
2x Mask of Darkness
Magic: 18
Pot of Greed
Change of Heart
2x Giant Trunade
Snatch Steal
Heavy Storm
Forceful Sentry
Confiscation
Premature Burial
2x Book of Moon
2x Reinforcements of the Army
2x The Warrior Returning Alive
3x Level Up!!
Trap: 7
Ring of Destruction
2x Ultimate Offering
Call of the Haunted
Ceasefire
2x Waboku
I wouldn't recommend running a Mystic Swordsman deck
just yet, but if you do, then this is a good build
to work with. Once LV6 comes out, then you can have
fun with it. |
|
ExMinion OfDarkness |
Mystic Swordsman Lv. 2/4
Instead of looking at this in the Leveling-up
perspective, I'm going to look at the cards against
each other.
Level 2 is the quick and easy way to get rid of a
F/D monster. Its attack is better than Sasuke
Samurai and it does the same thing. He also gets
under all of the continuous cards that block attacks
(G-Bind, Level Limit, and Messenger of Peace.) This
is invaluable in Advanced, as most cards need to be
flipped or killed in battle for their effects to
trigger, and this avoids both scenarios.
Level 4 requires a bit more effort, but is a more
solid card overall. Not only can he get rid of F/Ds
with ease, but he's 1900 ATK as well, so he can hold
his own against other things! The problem is that if
you summon him normally, he has to be put face-down
(Read: YOU MUST SET HIM FIRST. No sense in the
opponent knowing what it is if they don't have to.)
In Advanced, this card is actually worse than his
little brother; 4 stars + 1900 ATK = screwed over by
ALL THREE of the big attack stoppers. Granted, Level
4 can be summoned by Level 2 killing a monster --
but how often is a 900 ATK monster going to kill
something else in battle?
A short while ago, someone asked me what the phrase
"TeCH" means, as I used it in a review a long, long
time ago. I'll work that term into this review and
answer the question at the same time.
TeCH is short for Technical Advantage -- it's when a
player plays one or more copies of a card to cover a
deck's weakness, or exploit one of many opponents.
For example, a player in a Chaos heavy environment
may TeCH 2 or 3 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer into their
main deck, knowing that removing things from the
graveyard and stopping the opponent from doing so
puts them at an advantage. This is DIFFERENT from
sideboarding -- the term grew up in Pokemon, where
there was no such thing as a side deck, so the
weaknesses had to be covered in the 60-card main
deck and nothing else.
Mystic Swordsman Lv. 2 is TeCH against the
Burn/Stall decks.
Sword-boy Lv. 2 gets a 1/5 in Traditional (there are
better cards, and Witch/Sangan still trigger) and
4/5 in Advanced (for hurting Burn.)
Sword-boy Lv. 4 gets a 1/5 in Traditional (again,
there are better cards -- NOBLEMAN OF CROSSOUT COMES
TO MIND!) and a 2 in Advanced (getting stopped by
the stall cards isn't what you want to do when
countering Burn/Stall.) |
|
Snapper |
Mystic Swordsman LV2 and LV4
Today’s cards are the Mystic Swordsmen, two monsters
that are very similar to Sasuke Samurai.
Stats (All LVs): LV2 has 900/0 ATK/DEF, allowing it
to be searched out by Witch of the Black Forest,
Sangan, and Giant Rat. Its stats are not ideal for a
monster that needs to destroy a monster to get its
effect (but we’ll get to that later). LV4 has
1900/1600 ATK/DEF. With 1900 ATK, it is a standard
beatstick. Unlike most beatsticks though, it doesn’t
have the ability to be searched for by the Witch,
which is a slight negative. Both are EARTH monsters,
giving them some love in the Attribute department.
And both are Warriors, which have got support up the
wazzuh. Stats (LV2) – Bad. Stats (LV4) – Great.
Effect (LV2): LV2’s effect is really just a carbon
copy of Sasuke Samurai’s; when it attacks a
face-down Defense Position monster, you destroy it
with LV2’s effect. Sasuke Samurai was widely played
for a while due to this effect, but then people
discovered that with its low terribly ATK, it would
most likely be destroyed during the opponent’s next
turn, which enlightened people to the fact that it
was far from a monster staple. LV2 has the same
problem; you’ll use the effect once, it will be
destroyed, and you’ll move on. Of course the effect
is useful, but just not worthwhile considering LV2’s
ATK. LV2’s second effect allows you to send LV2 to
the Graveyard during the End Phase of a turn that it
has destroyed a monster in battle, to Special Summon
LV4 form your hand or Deck. Unfortunately, if LV2
destroys a monster with its effect, it isn’t
considered as a result of battle, bringing LV2’s
chances of destroying a monster without an ATK boost
to a very low level. But, if LV2 manages to destroy
something as a result of battle, you’ll get a good
monster as a result of your efforts. Effect – Good.
Effect (LV4): The first part of LV4’s effect forces
it to go to face-down Defense Position whenever it
is Normal Summoned. That isn’t to bad considering it
has a decent DEF, allowing it to survive a few
attacks while face-down. And if it isn’t attacked,
you can just Flip Summon it during the next turn.
The second part of its effect is the same as LV4’s
first; when it attacks a face-down Defense Position
monster, you destroy it with LV4’s effect. While LV2
couldn’t use the effect well due to its low ATK, LV4
has zero problems with it. If you use the effect,
you’ll get rid of a potential threat and you’ll have
a decent wall during your opponent’s turn. LV4’s
third effect allows you to send LV4 to the Graveyard
during the end of a turn it destroyed a monster as a
result of battle, and Special Summon LV6 from your
hand or Deck. Like LV2, if you destroy a monster
with LV4’s effect, you can’t then Special Summon
LV6. And as you may or may not know, LV6 hasn’t been
released in the TCG yet, so this effect will do you
no good. But, when LV6 is finally available, LV4
will not have a problem with destroying monsters as
a result of battle. Effect – Good.
Combos: When using LV2, it may be wise to give it an
Equip Spell Card so that your opponent won’t be able
to take out a large amount of your Life Points
during their next turn. If you don’t do that, you
should give it some type of protection like a Waboku.
You van also use Level Up! on LV2 to Special Summon
LV4, and you can use it on LV4 to Special Summon LV6
when it is released. There are also a few ways to
get around LV4’s summoning restriction; Normal
Summon Marauding Captain and then Special Summon LV4
through MC’s effect, do a classic dump and revive on
LV4, or Normal Summon LV4 and then use Book of
Taiyou to flip it face-up.
Usability: The Mystic Swordsmen fit in a few decks.
One is of course a Mystic Swordsman Deck, which will
be playable whenever it is that RDS is released.
They can also be used in Warrior Decks, which have
numerous ways to Special Summon monsters in a short
period of time. In either deck, the Mystic
Swordsmen, particularly LV4, will be a force to be
reckoned with.
Although they basically do the exact same thing, LV4
is the best at using its effects, making it an
overall better card. And I hope you’ll all enjoy
tomorrow’s cards; I think the reviews will be a page
long each. Is he joking? Yea maybe.
Advanced Format (All LVs): 4/5. Warrior Decks will
be very useful and very popular in Advanced, and
seeing as the Mystic Swordsmen are Warriors, they
may just find a use.
Traditional Format (All LVs)t: 3.5/5. Warrior Decks
are successful here as well, although they won’t be
as common.
Art (All LVs): 4/5. Both of the Mystic Swordsmen
look very impressive, with LV4 taking the coolness
cake. |
|
