Ancient Warriors – Loyal Guan Yun – Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

King of
Lullaby

Hello Pojo Fans,

Ancient Warriors – Loyal Guan Yun wraps up our look at Ancient Warriors this week.

Nice to be able to drop a 2500ATK Level 7 without tributing for it and still have its effect(s) online. While you never want to be without a monster on the field LGY makes sure you’ll have something lined up for next turn if your opponent clears your field. The pop of an opponents monster effect helps even the playing field and its restriction is balanced. Guan Yun is a card that you use to force your opponent to use a card effect on so that your other monsters won’t have to deal with it. If you are bringing Guan Yun out later in the turn you are using him for more attack power, being the second strongest Ancient Warrior main deck monster in the TCG currently. Not much else to say about this card really. You play it ib 3’s because it can be easy to summon and its field removal effect helps even things out.

Advanced-3/5     Art-3/5

Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Crunch$G

We end the week off with one of the high-Level Ancient Warriors, Ancient Warriors – Loyal Guan Yun.

Guan Yun is a Level 7 WIND Beast-Warrior with 2500 ATK and 1800 DEF. Fine stats on a Level 7, Beast-Warrior still has the Fire Formation synergy despite not being Level 4 for Tenki, and I always mention WIND being the weakest Attribute. If only your opponent controls a monster, you can Special Summon this card from the hand. Free Special Summon early on in the Duel, this effect becomes dead as soon as you start your summoning, but can be a comeback if your field is cleared. The second effect prevents the opponent from targeting other Ancient Warriors monsters you control with effects, which is something I can appreciate. Two Guan Yuns makes the whole field untargetable, but getting two Guan Yuns out can be slightly tricky, but most certainly possible in the Deck. The last effect is the lone hard once per turn, mostly since if this summon is successful you wouldn’t need to use that again most likely, is that if your opponent controls more monsters than you, you can target a monster the opponent controls and destroy it. Don’t like a requirement on destruction, but if there was any time you’d need to destroy an opponent’s monster, it’d be when you’re behind on them, which is likely with the Decks that can fill the field faster than Ancient Warriors. It’s helpful to get you ahead of the opponent in advantage. Guan Yun is a solid card, but can become a brick without ways to summon it when you have monsters. It’s a 1-of to have it in the arsenal, 2 if you want, but I’d say 3 is too much.

Advanced Rating: 3.5/5

Art: 4.5/5 Back to the epic styling of these cards after yesterday.

Solember
YouTube

Ancient Warriors – Loyal Guan Yun

   To view the video review, check out https://youtu.be/18dh5pQAhQ0

   Ancient Warriors – Loyal Guan Yun is a very peculiar card. His most notable feature is how well he works in decks that have no other Ancient Warriors Monsters. Because of this, I spent much more time play testing him than I did the other cards this week.

   I found that he works well in decks that run other level 7 monsters because he is typically a free Summon and can be used for an easy XYZ Summon. I also found that I could put him into nearly any Main Deck without any problems because he is a solid beater that is easy to Summon. He works in decks that just need some Monster destruction or power, as he has a respectable 2500 ATK and his third effect is pretty easy to pull off. I’ll likely be side decking this card in a lot of decks.

   Coming back to the Ancient Warriors deck, though, I found him struggling to get his Summoning Effect unless it was early in the game or I had lost my field. This meant he was often a dead draw until I had another method of Summoning him (which isn’t too hard to do in this Archetype).

   His protection effect was counter-intuitive because he is typically going to be the desired target of most effects anyways. I do enjoy getting two copies of Guan Yun in play at once, though, as that requires the opponent to remove him via non-targeting effects or a Monster with a higher attack. It’s an unreliable play, but it’s easy enough to pull off with all of the searchability in the deck.

   Guan Yun’s third effect is solid Monster destruction and it rewards thoughtful plays. Sure, you could swarm the field with Monsters. Alternatively, though, you can build up a hand and field advantage until you are ready to move forward on your terms. I’ve been able to win duels with just Guan Yun and Zhou Gong holding the line.

   This card is balanced, though I would have made the first effect a HOPT, as it doesn’t take much imagination to think of S/T cards that could slip through the cracks and make a loop later.

   The design on this card is another great Ancient Warriors watercolor (esque) piece that was depreciated by making it Super Rare in the TCG release. Something about holographic water color doesn’t look great, and I’m hoping we get a lower rarity release later.

Versatility – 5
– This card is a great side deck card at worst. Great for going second and making a simple play.

Rogue Plays – 3
– This is more of a slow and steady kind of card.

Art – 4
– Not much to say about this. Good design. The holo detracts a bit.

Balance – 4
– The existence of this card makes anything that returns Monsters to the hand potentially loopable. Tread carefully, Konami.

Uniqueness – 4
– Fissure + Cyber Dragon + Amazoness Scouts in one card. Science has come too far.

I give this card a 5/5. It is incredibly versatile and powerful. It will only get better with the next wave of Ancient Warriors.