Once again, classes necessitate that I be very brief with my reviews.  I wasn’t go to review at all, but there seems enough dissent in at least a few of the CotDs this week to warrant my participation (e.g. I disagree and can’t keep my mouth shut or fingers off the keyboard).  Besides, I really do need to shorten my average review length.

 

A Feather of the Phoenix is the new, all purpose, recursion card.  While it is not as sick as it could have been, it is still a very solid card that is just shy of being a staple.  Why?  Well, let us look at the effect: discard a card from hand to place a card from the discard on top of your deck.  So I am one step farther from decking, and I just made sure that the next card I draw is either exactly what I need, or at least more likely to help me than anything remaining in my deck.  Discard costs tend to be rather easy to manage, provided you either a) run few so that you don’t have to worry about running out your hand or b) run several to justify including Night Assailant or Sinister Serpent.  Sinister Serpent has enough other uses to warrant it in several decks regardless of discard costs, so I hope this really emphasizes the ridiculousness of avoiding a card just for a single discard requirement.  Now together, those are enough to discourage A Feather of the Phoenix from being used in general for a game like Yu-Gi-Oh.  Since most cards in this game are far too easy to use and don’t require “tapping” into a resource like mana, Energy, Power, etc. seen in other games, Yu-Gi-Oh can’t have the draw power available to those kinds of games.  So that once-per-turn draw is a precious thing indeed.

 

As a whole it seems a very good card to me.  Cherry picking the exact card I need from my Graveyard is only lame when everything good is still in your deck.  Otherwise, top deck a Pot of Greed or Graceful Charity for greater deck penetration (your card count won’t come out ahead, but you’ll have the chance to exchange useless or renewable resources for something better), or a second shot at a good card (Heavy Storm to clear away the opponent’s Spells and Traps so you can safely attack for game).  You can use it for Monsters, but if that is your only reason, just run Monster Reincarnation to return it to hand.  Though having just one set of cards that does the job, even if not as well, as twice as many of two different groups of cards tends to be an advantage.

 

Traditional: 3.5/5: So what if I am making it one card easier to catch me in a Yata-lock?  I am also making it several steps easier to annihilate my opponent’s cards by “bouncing” a Raigeki back to the top of the deck.  If I am that close to being locked, I am in trouble no matter what.

 

Advanced: 3.75/5-An excellent card that just faces so much competition for deck space.  Like many cards, though, it requires you think before you use it to avoid hurting yourself.

 

Limited: 4/5-Take a good card an make sure you draw it again.