Monday
 
We haven't reviewed a Ritual monster in a long time.  Anyway, Herald of Perfection is the card to open the week, a Level 6, Light attributed Fairy monster, with a disgusting and paltry 1800 attack but a massively impressive defense of 2800.
 
Now, if this thing doesn't (obviously) have Counter Fairy written all over it, this might be one time where you don't want to ignore a card just because it's a Ritual.  When your opponent activates a Magic, Trap, or Effect monster card, you can negate the activation of the card and destroy it by discarding a Fairy from your Hand to the Graveyard.
 
I like it...I like it a lot.  The 2800 defense more than makes up for the 1800 attack, and being a Ritual, you don't have to Special Summon this to the Field in attack position.  Your opponent will almost likely have to use some sort of destruction to destroy this card, or at least waste it until your Hand is gone.
 
Ratings:
 
Traditional:  2.5/5  Rituals are bad, but a Counter Fairy Deck should still use it. 
Advanced:   3.5/5 
Art:  3/5  Not sure what's going on there...

Herald of Perfection ...
 
What an interesting card this is ...
 
Ok, right off the bat - let me say that I may have heard some murmuring or some crazy combo with this guy ... some sort of deck built around it ... But I honestly don't know what it is. That being said - based on what I can see about HOP - it's pretty nice. Ritual Monsters, for the most part, are an investment that are rarely worth the payoff. The Ritual Fiends came along to help lessen that cost, but even then, still, it would take a really special ritual monster and deck to show how potent they could be ... Is HOP that monster? ... well, not exactly, but he's still pretty fun.
 
Well u should be playing an abundance  or almost ALL fairies (aside from the ritual fiends) when u play this. So if/when u get HOP out, with his 2800 DEF, u have a nearly unbreakable wall there. Ur opponent will be hard pressed to find a way around it without resorting to a monster effect, or a spell or trap, and so long as u have fairies available in hand, u can negate that each time. 1800 ATK aint much, but it can dish out some pain when the time comes, and being light - Honest has its back. I'm thinking some kind of heavenly swarm going on, with Krystia as the final punch? - U could have a pretty nice deck there, with little options for opponent to fight back.
 
Traditional: 3.5/5
Advanced: 4/5
 
- FREEZA

Herald of Perfection

Today's card (which I'll call Perfect Herald, since it was a much better name) is the center of Herald decks, probably the most frustrating thing the game has seen in years. It's just plain busted. Fill the deck with Fairies and it's unstoppable. Archlord Kristya stops anything from humping over its massive DEF. Even its Ritual will refuel your hand.

After this, you can grab Fairies back into your hand like crazy using all sorts of cards, like Pot of Avarice. They can't get over its Defense, they can't use any effects at all, and with Archlord Kristya, they can't even special summon. Furthermore, she gets you Honest and more Fairies, and then they can't even take Kristya down because of Honest. Even if Kristya does go down, she comes right back to your next draw.

Basically, these are two very overpowered cards that are even more devastating when used together. Does Konami think?

5/5
Art: Fat, I guess.
Fun Fact: Pichu is literally a joke character in Melee.
Tomorrow: This card is splendid.

Herald of Perfection
Ritual Monster/6 Stars
Fairy/LIGHT
1800ATK/2800DEF

"This card can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card, "Dawn of the Herald". When your opponent activates a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect, you can send 1 Fairy-Type monster from your hand to the Graveyard  to negate the activation and destroy that card."

Herald of Perfection...very good card.  Sure it's a ritual, and it's got a tiny 1800ATK for it's level, but it has a massive defense of 2800, and an effect so good many duelists use it with Archlord Kristya to create a lock that's darn near impossible to break down.  Sending a fairy to negate any spell speed 1 or 2 card effect is very good on it's own, but it fuels the graveyard for a Kristya play that would cripple an opponent.  Just depends on the deck.  LIGHT attribute also means that Honest can protect it from battle, making it nearly indestructible. 

Advanced: 4/5
Traditional: 3/5

Herald of Perfection:

     I really like this card.  Control decks can be extremely fun to play with and this card helps make-up the best control deck we've seen in quite some time in the world of yugioh.  Herald is like a Heraklinos on steroids in terms of effect.  Herald isn't dependent on having something like War Chariot on the field to have the game locked up, as it can negate monster effects as well as spell and traps.  Of course it doesn't hurt that Herald's accomplice is usually Archlord Kristya.  When they both hit the field early game, it means big trouble for your opponent as special summoning and all card effects are now pretty much moot.  I think this card was very cleverly designed.  Because Herald is a ritual monster, it pretty much requires it's own engine/deck and working with only fairies gives it some balance as it can't just be thrown into some already over-powered deck to make it even more ridiculous (could you imagine if you could run Herald somehow in Glads?!).  The atk and def points are also very interesting as you really have to pick and chose when you can go on the offensive with Herald, most of the time it's best just to leave Herald in def. position and attack with the other monsters in the deck, but that can be a problem sometimes, as the deck does tend to run a bunch of small, normal monsters that are worthless outside of tossing them for Herald's negation effect.  So sometimes just to move the game forward, people are forced to attack with Herald which can ruin the lock he helps create.  The other problem with Herald is that he can't do squat to monsters with continuous effects that were already on the field before he is summoned.  Spirit Reaper can really ruin Herald's day... the deck just doesn't have a lot of main-decked answers to threats your opponent manages to get onto the field before you get your Herald out.  Otherwise, it's great card, tons of fun to play with, frustrating as hell to play against.

Traditional:  3.0  (might be a little slow here, but at least you can run delinquent duo in the deck)
Advanced:  4.0  (Yes I think it's that good, it pretty much created it's own deck-type over night...)

Herald of Perfection

The Perfect Herald is a 6-star Ritual Monster. He's a LIGHT Fairy, with a disappointing 1800 ATK and a whopping 2800 DEF. He can only be summoned by Dawn of the Herald, which requires levels equalling exactly 6.

By sending any Fairy in your hand to the graveyard, you can negate the activation of any opponent's Spell, Trap or Monster effect. Very straightforward, and very powerful. Dawn of the Herald will actually give you an extra Fairy just by its own effect!

There are generally two schools of thought on how to use the Perfect Herald. Some play him alongside Tethys, Goddess of Light, to give huge amounts of Fairies to feed the Herald's effect. Others use Advanced Ritual Art and a lot of Normal Fairies like Gyakutenno Megami, Dunames Dark Witch, Spirit of the Harp, Mokey Mokey, and Happy Lover. This version offers less crazy hand advantage, but is often faster. It also instantly sets up Archlord Kristya, and easily allows the use of Pot of Avarice and Dark Factory of Mass Production. Both versions are very deadly, and some people are making hybrids that combine the best of them both.

Using the Herald is actually pretty easy. Just get him out as fast as possible, ideally alongside Archlord Kristya, and negate whatever threatens you as you beat the opponent down. But how do you stop the Herald if you're on the other side of the table?

The answers to Herald of Perfection are very few. The best counters are ones that stop him from ever hitting play. Royal Oppression works great, of course. Thunder King Rai-Oh will prevent the opponent from searching their deck with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Sonic Bird, or Preparation of Rites. Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell can be especially nasty, but beware, some builds are using both Dawn of the Herald and Advanced Ritual Art, and may still be able to summon the Herald. Activating Light-Imprisoning Mirror before Herald of Perfection hits play will also shut him down. He must send cards to the graveyard to use his effect, so Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure will also stop his effect.

It's usually difficult, but it is possible to stop Herald of Perfection once he's in play. Banisher of the Radiance plus any destruction card should be able to take him out. Divine Wrath and Gladiator Beast War Chariot are great counters, but most Herald players will be using Royal Decrees in their main decks, so they may not be reliable. Lava Golem or Volcanic Queen will instantly remove Herald from the equation, but an Archlord Kristya will prevent you from trying to summon them. Angel 07 or The Splendid Venus will stop Herald's effect, allowing you to destroy it. These can be especially effective in a mirror match.

If you're not able to get rid of or prevent the Herald, you can always just stall it out. Many Herald duelists do not use a lot of destruction cards. Often, a single Spirit Reaper can end a game in deck out for the Herald player. In mirror matches, Gellenduo can be great, as it's another Fairy with good stats, and it can be used to summon Archlord Kristya or other high level Fairies.

Traditional: 4/5 Current Herald decks can very often get him out on the first turn, often alongside Kristya. This is devestating no matter what format you play it.
Advanced: 5/5 Even better here, as there are less outs to it.
Art: 3/5 Mega whiffle ball?