Friday

And the card closing the week, and subsequently, winning the award for receiving the most e-mails as to why haven't you reviewed this yet is Caius the Shadow Monarch.

Caius is a Dark monster, as you may have guessed (Dark and Shadows associate fairly well) with 2400 atk, 1000 def, and being a Fiend who is Level 6.  I bet the attack and defense through you for a loop also.

So, when Tribute summoned, remove one card on the Field from play.  If it was a Dark monster, your opponent takes 1000 points of Damage. 

Honestly, I believe this to be pretty useless, as a whole anyway. 

Why?  Don't get me wrong.  The Dark Deck user can fully utilize this. 

Remove your own card to burn your opponent and return them later, or, remove their card, still burn them, and then go on the attack...but what if they're planning to do the same.

Besides, if playing against Lightsworn, you won't burn (for the most

part) unless you're removing your own card, and some of them play return/remove too.  If playing Monarch (Hybrid) this could be a wild card.  While, all at the same time, some Decks don't need this at all.

I guess this is the most non-versatile of the Monarchs, which is nice...it's nice to see something powerful, yet balanced, especially with the word "Monarch" in it's name. 

Ratings:

Advanced Dark Armed Dragon/DMoC/Dark remove and return:  4/5

Advanced Monarch (Hybrid):  3/5

Advanced (general):  2/5

Traditional (general):  2/5

Advanced:  3/5 (overall/general) for reasons listed above.  If you don't like it, too bad :)

Caius the Shadow Monarch

One step at a time.

2400 attack: The norm for a single tribute. Can't fault that.

1000 defense: If it ends up in defense mode, you might as well just put it in the graveyard. Almost everything'll claim it.

One tribute: Mandatory tribute summon for its effect, but at least it pays for itself quickly.

Effect: Remove a card on the field from play? Just for summoning it? Good grief. Oh, and the burn damage is nice too.

Dark/Fiend: Excellent compatibility. Both types are well supported, and mesh well together.

NOw then, this is the sort of card that makes structure decks worth the money. Easily the most broken (if you still want to call them that) of the Monarchs, Caius laugh as his siblings twiddle their big toes in the dirt. While every Monarch before him could only destroy things in particular scenarios (monsters only, gotta be face down, etc...), Caius just points and blows something away.

Not exactly what you'd call "balanced", but we're getting used to it.

Whether replacing other Monarchs (Zaborg felt this the hardest, since Grenmarg was already considered "useless"), or giving them additional support (more MT destruction with Mobius, and additional burn damage to play with Thestalos), Caius does everything you'd want a one tribute monster to do: pay for itself, kill other monsters, and all around reverse bad situations.

Works with Allure of Darkness, works with Dark Necrofear, feeds Dark Armed Dragon. Seriously, is there anything it can't do?

Downsides, downsides... well, it has to be tribute summoned for its effect to occur, so its not a guaranteed "thankya and g'night". Its poor defense means its weak to Book of Moon. Hmm... yeah.

Who am I kidding? If you're playing Monarchs, you're playing this. If you're not, you may end up splashing it anyway.

Traditional: 3/5 (tributes are slower than special summons, and that small loss of speed means more in this format)
Advanced: 5/5 (no real drawbacks, can't lay fault where it doesn't exist)

Friday

Caius the Shadow Monarch

YAY! It’s the second best monarch ever created. Its effect is fairly simple to understand it can destroy 1 card on the field, monster, spell or trap. What also helps him out is making him a dark type, which can work will with Dark Armed Dragon, and Allure of Darkness. Eventually someone will combined his power with Deck Devastation Virus, which can honestly be devastating.

This card is a staple in any monarch build, for its shear power and stability.

The second aspect to look at is using it for the 1000 burn damage, which can take the opponent for a surprise. This card can put Black Burn on the map. Which is a burn deck based around dark attribute monsters such as Stealth Bird and Des Koala.

Traditional: 3/5

Advanced: 4/5