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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day

Lightning Vortex
Super Rare

Discard 1 card from your hand. Destroy all face-up monsters on your opponent's side of the field.

Type - Spell Card
Card Number - FET-EN040

Card Ratings
Traditional: 2.2
Advanced: 4.1

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

Date Reviewed - 04.08.05

ExMinion OfDarkness	Lightning Vortex Overrated? Yes. Unwieldy? Yes. Powerful enough to be put into most Advanced Format decks? Absolutely. Vortex is our costed Raigeki now...it only hits face-ups, and it costs a card to use. With the old Advanced Format, it seemed to favor players who were willing to swarm the field -- Torrential was the only staple mass removal players used. Now, it looks like they're trying to discourage swarming -- Mirror Force is back, and we get this. In order for Lightning Vortex to be a good deal, it should be getting rid of at least two monsters. It seems like a waster against Scapegoats (unless you know the Goat player is also using Metamorphosis); even against really strong monsters, if you're only killing one thing, then Smashing Ground was a better choice. A final note: The winning deck from the last Shonen Jump Championship had two Vampire Lords -- considering this is the first championship deck in the new format, expect it to be netdecked. A lot. (I'm making a copy myself to try out.) Vampire Lords love to get Vortexed so they can laugh at you and come back next turn. So use your Vortex wisely! 3.75/5
Coin Flip	Lightning Vortex. Originally, I planned to do a review that just said "Geki. Just with a discard and only kills face-ups." and slap a 4/5 or something on this in Advanced while laughing at it in Tradtional, but then I realized the review would be something of too useless. And I despise useless reviews (See March 28). So, is it worth playing this over, say, a second or third Smashing Ground? ::sees immense play of Goats in the environment:: Yes. This is not a goat counter by any means. Windstorm of Etaqua is a goat counter. Enraged Battle Ox is a goat counter. King Tiger Wanghu is a goat counter. This makes you lose two cards to get rid of what is essentially their one. However, when you play Scapegoat, you stall for a turn or two and lose one-three goats from attacks. Then you play Vortex, gain 3 free defenses from attacks, and lost three cards and have 1 useless monster on the field where your opponent lose two cards and 3 attacks. Ask yourself… Is the loss of one card worth one useless monster and three free attack defenses? The answer is yes, especially since many people also play Apprentice Magician with Magician of Faith and Swords of Revealing Light. Stalling longer = more opponent's monsters to die. Cyber Jar might even be worth using thanks to this guy. With Sinister, the discard is nothing, and now you have even more reason to run Sinister thanks to Graceful Charity and Delinquent Duo returning. General (but more specifically Cookie Cutter): Traditional: Why are you playing this instead of Raigeki? Hand advantage is bad, mmkay? Advanced: 4.1/5. It's slightly less important than Magician of Faith but slightly more important than Sakuretsu Armor, mmkay?
Tranorix	Lightning Vortex Lightning Vortex? Meh. Yes, this is a great card. Yes, this will pop up in many, many decks. Yes, it will do well in many, many decks. And yes, most decks would probably benefit from one; it is restricted, after all. But this isn’t the new Raigeki, not even close. Sure, you have the potential to do just as much harm; but this card will, in many situations, be inferior to something like Smashing Ground. Why waste a discard AND this card when your opponent only has one monster on the field? Exactly. There are also a few interesting ways to counter this; for example, your opponent could just chain Book of Moon to Vortex and save an important monster. If you run an offensive deck, you could run Lightning Vortex and it’d probably help. But if you play it, play it wisely; don’t just use it at the first opportunity you get. Wait until you can utilize its full potential. Traditional – CCCC: 3/5 Traditional – Beatdown: 3.5/5 Advanced – CCWC: 4/5 Advanced – Beatdown: 4.5/5 OVERALL RATING: 3.8/5
Snapper	Lightning Vortex Our final card of FET Week is the most CC oriented card of the set, Lightning Vortex, Konami’s attempt at giving us a new Raigeki. At the cost of a discard from the hand, Vortex destroys all face-up monsters on the opponent’s side of the field. At first glance this looks like a new staple. Combo it with Swords of Revealing Light and all the opponent’s monsters are toast. And even if you don’t have a way to bring all of their monsters into the open, you could be ridding the field of some D. D.s or the hated BLS with great ease. Indeed it is an effect that every Deck needs, or is it? The public view of Vortex currently is that Vortex will usually not be worth it or unusable due to the required discard, and I can see their point. Because it only destroys face-up monsters the opponent is allowed to keep all face-down threats, which is hardly 100% field clearance. This also brings about the “card advantage” issue; most competitive players try to avoid numerous things in a duel such as having more than 2 monsters on the field or having less than 3 cards in their hand. So if everyone is following this rule, Vortex not only has the maximum potential to kill two monsters but it also brings you one step closer to zero cards in your hand. Throw in the fact that it’s a useless Top Deck, and you’ve got a card that has more pros than cons. Those in favor of Vortex argue that it’s no different than TIV, a card that is sadly in every Deck you see. While true, TIV can also defend your Life Points if you need it to, which is the main reason someone will favor it over the new Raigeki. All in all, I’m half sharing the opinions of everyone; I Main Deck 2 Smashing Grounds, an overall more reliable (yet less effective) way of destroying monsters, but I also Side Deck a Vortex (or at least I will when I get one) due to the sheer potential Vortex has. But do as you wish, I’m just adding my $0.02. Advanced: 3.5/5. It’s actually closer to 4, but rounding UP is for squares! Besides, the discard brings it down a few pegs… Traditional: 2/5. Hello! Raigeki? Dark Hole? Why would you need this? Overall: 2.75/5. Art: 2/5. I see no resemblance to Raigeki in any way, shape, or form. The name is not mimicking the Japanese Raigeki, Raigeki’s picture, or Raigeki’s effect. I am not in denial. P.S. Want an Ultimate Rare Gearfried the Swordmaster? I’ve got one (for the time being)! Visit my trade thread in the Pojo forums if you’re interested!
dawnyoshi	Lightning Vortex, before restriction, was highly overrated. Don't get me wrong! It's incredibly powerful, but not something that should have been used above one per deck anyway, making its restriction pointless. However, this card easily halts a warrior rush, a built of Dimension Fusion field, or...just about any bad scenerio you're up against. If you're running a rush deck, you should practically consider this an advanced format staple. If you're in traditional, WHY ARE YOU RUNNING THIS? =/ You have Raigeki. In limited, this pick is a bit iffy. It depends on what other choices are at your disposal. Frankly, I'd even choose Good Goblin Housekeeping over this for hope of making your deck consistent. It's definetely the ultimate first, second, or third round draft pick otherwise. Traditional: why?/5 Advanced: 4.5/5 Limited: 4/5
Dark Paladin	Dark Paladin does his new broken card dance shuffle First, I'd like to thank EMoD for choosing this kick-ass week of cards, except for Monday, but today makes up for them all. Lightning Vortex There isn't much to say about this card so I'll keep it short and sweet. This is the new Raigeki with a small discard cost. Run it or be at a SEVERE disadvantage. Conclusion: My shortest review ever. (Join me in my broken card dance shuffle) Sorry for the short reviews this week, but you know these cards are good, I shouldn't have to tell you. Ratings: Traditional: Lightning Vortex + Raigeki = wh0a Advanced: 4.9/5 (loses .1 due to discard) Limited: 5/5 if you get one Until next week, stay classy, Planet Earth :)