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

Dark Scorpion -- Meanae the Thorn
Common

When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
Select 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Deck and add it to your hand.
Select 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Graveyard and add it to your hand.

Type - Warrior/Effect
Card Number - DCR-061

Card Ratings
Traditional: 2
Advanced: 3

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

Date Reviewed - 01.11.06

ExMinion OfDarkness	Dark Scorpion -- Meanae the Thorn Meh. Dark Scorpion decks aren't really all that great. Yes, they have some okay options, and if you want to get technical, Don Zaloog is involved and right now he's godly, but as a whole it just doesn't work. For playing a 1000/1000 monster, if you hit the opponent, you can search another Dark Scorpion monster (minus Don). This could help you get a card you need for later. In my opinion, this is like a weak-ass Reinforcement of the Army. RotA is used to get a card to get you out of a jam or to press an offensive...Meanae would only get his effect when you're NOT in a jam to begin with, and the Dark Scorpion monster you would most likely want to search isn't a legal target. 1/5 Traditional 1/5 Advanced
Leon	Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn It would be at the heart of every competitive Dark Scorpion deck. That is, if competitive Dark Scorpion decks existed. Their extremely subpar attack has kept them back for far too long. But as an outside tech it ain't half bad. The 1800 attack is especially cool. You can set it as a first turn drop. Then when the opponent trys to tag it with DDA or whatever else you can get the effect off of the damage. +1 to your hand size. But what should you grab? Two things would be the best. Either another copy of itself (which is "meh") or Cliff the Trap Remover. He's a fun little guy that can guarantee a 1 for 1 against your opponent's backfield. Either they can use the defensive Sakuretsu or whatever else and stop the attack or they can lose their bluff anyway. In traditional you can do the Makurka/Chick the Yellow thing, but I doubt most traditional decks would take that route. Advanced: 2.5/5 Traditional: 1/5
Mako	Dark Scorpion- Meanae the Thorn Dark/Warrior/ Level 4/ Attack 1000/ Defense 1800 When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects: - Add 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Deck to your hand. - Add 1 card that includes "Dark Scorpion" in its card name, or is named "Cliff the Trap Remover", from your Graveyard to your hand. Meanae is a nice example of a card that needs to be abused. Though it only has a lower then normal 1000 attack point it does have quite a few bonuses with today's game play. With both Sakuretsu Armor and Smashing Ground being abused you can clear the field and grab another Dark Scorpion card from your deck and add it to your hand. I had ran a Dark Scorpion Deck and found that the effect was beyond useful. By using Meanae to search out the last few Dark Scorpions to your hand, as well as Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, which has Dark Scorpion in it's name, you can summon Don Zaloog and use it to special summon an extremely strong field. While this is at most unlikely I found it to work extremely successfully. Another thing Meanae brings to other decks that aren't Dark Scorpion related, is its mere power to super size your hand with other Meanaes and Don Zaloogs, though personally Donny is less effective then Spirit Reaper, it still does the job right. Meanae's second ability is just as good in both decks. Graveyard revival plays a large part in the game and if you can't revive getting a card back in your hand is the next best thing. Another point to make is the fact that by grabbing Don Zaloog back to your hand it allows you to use your Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted on other more important cards but still getting a chance to whittle your opponents hand down. Strengths- -Increases hand size -Almost insures another monster for your hand -Works great in this format -Searchable by both sangan and mystic tomato Weakness- -Laughable attack strength -May not be as good in next format (We’ve seen cards go on the restricted list already, so I won’t be surprised if Sakuretsu and Smashing go on it next) -It only gets effect if it does the battle damage. In the end I think it’s great for this format, and an obvious must in a Dark Scorpion Deck, but in the future she’ll lose her strength and will go into a corner with a bunch of other cards. I would say if you’re not already running a Don Zaloog or two not to run this card out side its deck theme. It has a lot of power but needs the Donnys to make useful. Traditional- 2/5 Advanced- 4ish/5 Dark Scorpions- It’s a must… 5/5 Worth in Side-Deck- 2/5 (It’s really main deck or nothing) Mako ~.+
Dark Paladin	Just when you thought this week wasn't going to get any worse...Dark Scorpion--Menace the Thorn is our card today. A theme card that doesn't even necessarily fit into its own deck. You can bring one card with Dark Scorpion (or is named Cliff the Trap Remover) from your graveyard or your hand when Meance the Thorn inflicts damage to your opponent. 1000 attack isn't going to kill much...not even a Sangan. If he had 1800 attack instead of defense, just maybe... Ratings: 2/5 even in a Dark Scorpion deck Art: 3/5 You stay classy, Planet Earth :)
Bob Doily	Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn, well by now many people have heard of the Meanae draw engine. So for those you haven’t here’s an overview. When she deals damage you can get another Dark Scorpion, or Cliff the Trap Remover from the deck of grave to your hand. So a defensive set will allow you to most likely get a +1 by grabbing another Meanae or Cliff. I say only those two since you can’t get Don Zaloog and since the other Dark Scorpions just aren’t worth it. As for her stats, Dark/Warrior/4/1000/1800 she’s obviously more warrior, and chaos support with nice searchable stats. Won’t be a very offensive monster, but her defense can be a nice touch, similar to that of Gravekeeper’s Spy. In the end if you want to you can try this out. IMO she’s not really worth it. Mostly because it’s restrictive in how it’s based on Battle Damage, and specific on being Dark Scorpion related. Really there are better choices for control decks. Traditional: .7/5 (Battle damage effects in traditional! Yeah right) Advanced: 2.7/5
WiCkEd	Dark Scorpion- Meanae the Thorn Meanae is probably one of the most underrated forms of tech out there. I would encourage you all to try her out as her stats are nothing to be ashamed of, nor are her effects as they encourage deck thinning and revival. I would see using 2 of her as tech in a deck with Don Zaloog. Keeps the world going around. Traditional: 2/5 (why?) Advanced: 3/5 (In Dark Scorpions) Advanced: 3/5 (when correctly teched in the average deck)
Dark Maltos	Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn This card rocks in Dark Scorpion Decks. It’s up there with spy for Grave keepers ( a long way off, but it’s up there) This card is basically ‘Get mini Control monsters to your hand’. Screaming Hand Advantage is always nice, and the 1800 mini wall could keep out a few weenie rushes. The 1000 atk sort of slows down this monsters power, but I’d definitely run one in a Dark Scorpion Deck. Very searchable Traditional DS : 4/5 - Just does what it says on the tin. Advanced DS: 5/5 There’s no reason not to run one. Art : 2/5 Reminds me of Ivy from Soul Calibur, just more covered up. Plain colors too…
Bob Dole	Dark Scorpion - Maenae the Thorn Well well well, I'm back with my triumphant return to CotDs. You thought all that hate mail and spam could stop me? Well you were wrong fool! Anyway, today's CotD is Dark Scorpion - Maena the Thorn. She's, in my opinion atleast, the best Dark Scorpion in a Dark Scorpion deck. She thins everytime she does damage - Which shouldn't be too hard considering 1800 DEF - for a card with Dark Scorpion in it's name or is named Cliff. Regretably she doesn't search Don, but let's be honest here, if she could, this card would be Tech in Control decks. Making her almost too good. Anyway, as I said, she's great for thining, plus she can bring a card that's good for almost any situation to your hand. If she survives, grab Gorg the Strong for monster bounce or mill, if she dies, grab another Maenae and hope for some monster removal during your drawphase. If she gets Noble of Crossout'ed, so what? She's not like Gravekeeper's Servent with a flip effect. If she gets hit, the others in your deck are perfectly safe. Stat wise she's not too shabby. 1000 ATK won't win any battles, but on an open field and with her effect it's pretty good. 1800 DEF is pretty darn good, stopping basicly any commonly run four star or lower monster. An unused Breaker is basicly the only thing she's gonna die from. You'll hit a tie with anything of 1800 ATK, such as Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, but if they hit with anything D.D. spare Survivor, they're going to be cursing themselves for throwing you a +1 hand advantage. She should only be summoned in attack position in the case of an open field, or if Mystic Swordsman LV2 is up. In that case, she can even kill him, and give you a card hand, leading to a +2 advantage in the case of no Sakuretsu. So all in all, she's a basic staple in Dark Scorpion Decks. Which aren't exactly competitive, but they can be tons of fun. Run her if you run Dark Scorpions, or Cliff for some reason. In that case you're not going to be hurting from running her. You're basicly handicapped with Cliff in the first place, why not atleast make him hop into your hand. Tradition Dark Scorpion Deck: 4/5 (Why in the world are you running Dark Scorpions in Traditional?) Advanced Dark Scorpion Deck: 5/5 (She's the best searchability they got outside of Reinforcement of the Army)
Ryoga	Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn: Alright, this is more like it. Meanae, like all other Dark Scorpions, doesn't do anything unless she does Battle Damage. With 1000 ATK, you won't frequently be doing this by attacking, but you could set her and get the effect regardless when she's attacked by DDA. Then, she adds a card to your hand from anywhere you want it to come from (except the D.D.). Sadly, she can only add a Dark Scorpion card, and most people aren't using Dark Scorpion cards (as they aren't that good). Now, I won't scoff at a tutor. Having this tutor makes Dark Scorpions better than quite a few Deck Types invented over the years. However, I don't think she makes that great a tech unless you find yourself pondering if you want to use tomorrow's COTD since there isn't much to fetch. A lovely effect, but only in a Dark Scorpion deck. Needs more body to be really good. And maybe the following errata, " Don Zaloog (Pharonic Guardian) [The card name of PGD-029 should be Dark Scorpion - Don Zaloog.] " Traditional: 2/5 Advanced: 3/5 Share and enjoy, Ryoga
Otaku	Stats : At first glance, Dark Scorpion – Menae the Thorn looks promising. A Level 4 Dark/Warrior, possibly the best supporter Level/Type/Attribute in the game. Additionally, her name gives her access to any Dark Scorpion goodies. However then we come to her ATK of only 1000 and that is a major concern. Fortunately, she has an 1800 DEF which is very good in the current format: most players will open with D.D. Assailant (well, outside of Cyber Dragon). Effect(s) : Like all Dark Scorpion Monsters (and Don Zaloog), inflicting damage via an attack gives you your choice of two effects. In this case, it’s getting a card with Dark Scorpion in its name – or Cliff the Trap Remover – from your deck or from your Graveyard, and adding it to your hand. This effect isn’t as good as it could be, given the low ATK, but thanks to the high DEF, you should get it off at least once. Uses and Combinations : The best use is in a Dark Scorpion deck, where it can nab any Dark Scorpion… except the best one, Don Zaloog. At least it can get their non-Monster support. Its high DEF comes in handy since it’s usually a safe bet that the opponent will ram into it with something small enough to take damage and trigger the effect, thus thinning your deck and gaining hand advantage. That or they use Nobleman of Crossout… which means no gain for you… and not much for them. I mean, it’s better that than your Magician of Faith. Because of that, it might be used instead of Gravekeeper’s Spy in Chaos decks… though I wonder if modern Chaos decks wouldn’t better without that kind of stuff; Chaos Sorcerer can be very nasty with the right support, but that means more to the deck than in the past. Anyway, for the same reason, it can be worked into other decks. Plus there is one Dark Scorpion who kinda works in any deck. We’ll cover him tomorrow though. Ratings Traditional : 1/5-This is actually a deck score. Dark Scorpions only do well here if your opponent cheats and uses multiples of restricted cards… but not the right ones. ;) Advanced : 3/5-Again, this reflects my estimate of the performance of a Dark Scorpion deck. There, Menae is key to setting up the others for one of their big tricks. Limited : 3.5/5-This is dependant upon getting at least a few other Dark Scorpion cards. Menae was a “short print” common in her first release, so it’s unlikely you can keep getting her. In the second release, even fewer of her cohorts were with her. Summary Dark Scorpion – Menae the Thorn is a nice, specialized card for a specialty deck. Apparently she’s made her way into some mainstream decks. The important thing is that Menae is actually dressed in a reasonable manner.