You should know I am fighting very hard not to
squeal with glee at the release of the
Morphtronic series of cards. It isn’t
because they are going to be some killer new
deck type that will own the metagame, but
because I am a huge Transformers fanboy from way
back. In Japan, the relationship is even more
obvious, as I understand they are called
“D-formers” or something like that. I was also
a huge SuperDeformers
fan, but sadly that fan comic is no more.
Stats:
So, onto Morphtronic Boomboxen.
Why not go for a bad pun and call it
Morphtronic Boomboxer?
Oh well, at least it is “Magical Music Box”
(which would still be a less bizarre name change
than Cyclone to Mystical Space Typhoon)
Morphtronic Boomboxen
is a Level 4 Earth/Machine. Level 4 is a bit
high (given the ATK and DEF we’ll address next),
but Earth/Machines are a fairly well established
combination. Dark/Machine would have made this
card more potent (and made more sense: I guess
I’d associate a boom-box with sound, ergo
Wind). Its attack is so-so. If it could be
higher, and you’d still fall under the 1500 cap
of Messenger of Peace (let alone the
restrictions for Sangan and Giant Rat).
It is too big to work with the every surprising
Machine Duplication. The DEF is a
depressing 400, save the fact that if one was
really determined, one could use a copy of
Shield and Sword or Weapon Change to
make it small enough to
Duplicate. That seems a little
complicated, though. With stats like these,
this Monster needs an effect or two that are
worthwhile.
Effect(s):
It does indeed have two effects. The theme of
the Morphtronic cards is that their
effect is dependant upon their position: face-up
ATK position means the first effect, while
face-up DEF position means the second.
Morphtronic Boomboxen’s
first effect is simple: while in ATK position it
can attack twice in a turn. Again, that ATK
score hurts what this card can do. The second
effect says that when a face-up Morphtronic
Monster you control is targeted for attack, you
can negate that attack.
Both effects are “okay”, but nothing especially
nice… on their own.
Uses and
Combinations:
Fortunately, the Morphtronic Monsters are
all designed to support each other, including
such things as getting out copies other
Morphtronic Monsters, keeping themselves
alive, and boosting their stats. There are
quite a few of them in the new set, and I can’t
do them justice cramming them all into the same
CotD (and if I could, I lack the time and
energy). One three card combination of just the
Morphtronic Monsters (this card,
Morphtronic Radion,
and Morphtronic Boardon)
would give you a 2000 ATK monster that could
attack twice.
Ratings
Traditional:
1/5 – As usual, I don’t see OTK potential here,
let alone FTK potential, and it isn’t the right
Attribute for Chaos. So a one out of
five it is.
Advanced:
3/5 – I don’t think it will help any current
deck types, though I do think it will be a
useful card for actual Morphtronic decks.
Art:
4/5 – G1 Blaster if he were an old-school Go-Bot?
Not necessarily a look I love, but not one I
hate. Yes, I am biased since I love
transforming robots in general and Transformers
in particular.
Summary
If my score seems too high or low, understand
that as much as I like these “D-formers”, they
don’t look like the next big tournament winner
to me. So while this card is pretty good for a
D-formers deck, giving you either super-aggro
or a small wall (via its effects), it isn’t
really any good outside of them.
You will see this played, though, because of
people like me who just can’t help themselves.
:-D
-Otaku
