Thursday

This is a card with some potential that could head some very unconventional Decks I think. In short, you pay 500 Lifepoints during your End Phase, or you destroy this card. When a Monster is Special Summoned, its controller must remove from play one card from their Hand.

I sit here and type thinking there must be something, a Deck, strategy, and combo or some such that can be pulled off with this, but it doesn't quite come together for me. I'm wagering this card will see little to no play, but I think it could be a real asset to some removal, dimension, etc type Decks.

Ratings:

Traditional: 1.5/5
Advanced: 2.75/5
Art: 3/5

Fascinating. 

Today’s card is Summoning Curse.  This is a Continuous Spell card that punishes Special Summons fiercely: when a player summons a monster (or monsters in the case of summoning more than one at a time), your opponent removes from play 1 card from their hand.  There is an upkeep cost: 500 LP per turn.  That’s not cheap but it isn’t crippling and it is worded so you can choose not to pay and let the card self-destruct.  Awesome: even if the card isn’t good, being forced to keep it in play or being forced to pay can cripple this kind of card. 

Let’s get some rulings out of the way.  The 500 Life Points paid for the card are a cost.  The effect starts a chain when the monster(s) is (are) Special Summoned.  This is a mandatory effect and it even occurs if a monster is Special Summoned during the damage step!  If you manage to Special Summon a monster at the exact same time as your opponent (as with Shallow Grave) then Summoning Curse only triggers once but both players still must remove one card from their hand, with the turn player removing his/her card from play first.  Whoever controls the Special Summoned monster when the effect resolves is the one to remove a card from their hand… ooh, I see where that is going.  Note that apparently Tokens should work since the monster can come from anywhere and they aren’t specifically excluded, and that the card stacks: multiple copies means multiple cards removed. 

Besides the combo I just alluded to but want to save for late, the obvious use for this card is your Side Deck.  When you encounter a Blackwing, Gladiator Beast, Plant, or Zombie deck, this will at least curb, if not cripple their ability to swarm, since even the most efficient ones will need their hand for their best combos.  Good news for Infernity players is that the removal is of course an effect and not a cost, so with their hand already empty, they don’t care.  Cards like Necroface and D.D. Scout Plane are great targets for your own hand.  Remember to opt out of paying the upkeep cost if you don’t want D.D. Scout Plane to force another discard when it resolves. 

Now the best use… I already mentioned: Side Deck!  That is where most players will want to consider it, if not run it.  For those like me who love those kinda crazy decks, Black Garden will let your ever Normal Summon ditch one card per Summoning Curse.  You can also abuse classics like Lava Golem; since it is Special Summoned to the opponent’s side of the field, they have to pay for it!  Even one of my favorites, Ojama Trio gets to party with this card (though all three tokens only equal one card removed). 

Yes indeed, I really like this card.  You can’t just run it with no forethought, but with some proper planning you can easily keep it in your Side Deck to aggravate many commonly run decks, and quite frankly some near universal deck strategies: how many decks don’t run at least a couple of Special Summons?  If you are daring, you can unleash a whole world of hurt centered on this card.  Once your opponent’s hand is gone, they’ll have to top deck into an answer for the situation. 

Ratings 

Traditional: 2/5 – I think there is something one could do with this card here… but you won’t often get the chance. 

Advanced: 4/5 – Not quite a must for your Side Deck, but I think it is a great pick.  Plus it can augment or even be the foundation of some nice rogue decks.  Perhaps I am being a bit generous because I love shaking things up. 

I am still selling my former collectables on eBay.  I’ve had a lot of hobbies over the years, so at various times I’ll have comic books, manga, action figures, and video games on the auction block.  You can take a look at what’s up for bids here.  I usually add new stuff on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for any transactions and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auctions here. ;)