This Space
For Rent

3D	According to her lore, Chief Nurse Shamsiel is multi-talented and her Limit Break holds true to that in every aspect. Said Limit Break allows Angel Feathers to exchange any Angel Feather in their hand for any Angel Feather in their Damage Zone. There are various reasons this is amazing, most notably due to the fact that it is essentially one of the only few cards (and by extension, clan) that grants Players over the previously universally taboo zone. Every clan made could chose what they ride, they call, the guard with or what goes to the Drop Zone (unless of course, they were facing Kagero, Narukami or Blaster Blade in which case the last choice isn't entirely theirs) but no clan, not one clan got to chose what their damage zone was. It was the only entirely “random” zone. That is until Angel Feathers who between Hope Child Turiel, Battle Cupid Nociel, Love Machine Gun & Chief Nurse Shamsiel give players a practically limitless stream of cards that manipulate the Damage Zone to almost every whim of the Player with no end. This is especially true in the case of Chief Nurse Shamsiel who is basically free. Angel Feathers are an epitome of consistency. The other reason that this ability is amazing is because it lets you improve your card quality advantage each turn. A brief detour in the world of misunderstood card advantage. Card advantage has two aspects to it; Quantity (the amount of cards generated) and Quality (the usefulness of the cards generated). Just because a card can create an additional card for free, doesn't instantly make it good. Take Gigantech Charger for example, a 9000 power grade 2 from Set 2 that superior calls the top card of your deck (if it is a Royal Paladin) when it's called to the field. 9000 power is not the greatest, especially if you get stuck with it on the Vanguard Circle and open yourself to more brutal attacks which essentially does a lot worse for your overall advantage than the good that was done from Gigantech Charger's call. Compare that to Garmore in Gold Paladins. When you ride Garmore, you may pay 2 counterblast to superior call any grade 2 or lower Gold Paladin from your deck. If you examine this situation carefully (and for this example “Sliver Fang Witch” and “Listener of Truth, Dindrane” do not exist) you'll see that Garmore didn't create any advantage, riding Garmore was a -1, calling the Gold Paladin Unit with his ability was a +1 ultimately resulting in a +0 however that unit Garmore just called was a Charjgal which lets Garmore reach 21000 for the battle this turn which in turn breaks the barrier to Stage 3 (the Opponent now requires to guard with 15000 Shield instead of 10000 Shield ignoring Trigger Checks). So while Garmore didn't actually create any advantage, he did help improve the quality of the player's field. Chief Nurse Shamsiel accomplishes this, both in the action of performing her Limit Break and the reaction to her performing it by other cards. It should be simple enough to notice that on attack, a Player throws in a card, most preferably a spare Chief Nurse Shamsiel or Draw Trigger to reach in and preferably grab a Non-Draw Trigger to increase their total Shield value by 5 to 10000. Alternatively you could also grab Battle Cupid Nociel which is essentially 7000 Shield (which for nearly all intents and purpose may as well be treated as a 10000 Shield the majority of time). As a sweet side addition to this, you can select cards that are face-down in your damage zone and replace them with face-up cards from your hand, giving you a practically limitless supply of counterblast for the Angel Feather deck. The reaction I'm talking about is none other than the +2000 power increase per card that enters the Damage Zone until the end of the turn skill shared by Chief Nurse Shamsiel, The Phoenix Calamity Flame, Million Ray Pegasus & Thousand Ray Pegasus. I like to call this the “My Little Pain” series, otherwise known as MLP. When Shamsiel activates her ability, against a 10000 or 11000 base Vanguard while having a Thousand Ray Pegasus behind her, the combined reaction from her second skill and Thousand Ray's only skill helps that column break Stage 3 which is worth another 5000 power, which can also be gained by a Phoenix/Pegasus rearguard column if they were active. This power increase is an incredibly powerful form of card quality advantage at work granting the deck ease at generating the notably “perfect” columns this game has to offer. Not only that but this +2000 increase, which is also Shamsiel's second ability, is also incredibly helpful on the defensive end. A misconception people have about Angel Feathers is that they want to take damage earlier than most decks. This is wrong, very very wrong. Angel Feathers are not Tsukuyomi who can enjoy a beating if it helps speeding the deck faster and enable quicker access to their stack. Angel Feathers want to prevent as much damage as is feasible in so that later, when they ride Thousand Ray Pegasus/Million Ray Pegasus/The Phoenix, Calamity Flame they can tank out with their signature MLP skill which would essentially invalidate any standard perfect columns they would make. Let me repeat that so you heard. Angel Feathers invalidate standard perfect columns. Decks like Royal or Gold Paladin can no longer rely on the standard 20000 power columns that they would prepare against a normal 10000 base power Vanguard. During the early game, Thousand & Million Ray Pegasus prevent any full on rushing so guarding early is very easy, during mid-game Shamsiel's ability lets you tank out from every inevitable piece of damage and during late game, you can finish the chain of extremely powerful defense off with a stream of Battle Cupid Nociels. It's strange, The MLP ability isn't much of an ability, it's a mere +2000 but it becomes dangerous when you consider at which time it activates the most often, the battle phase. Consider that nearly every competitive deck wishes to ultimately attack with their Vanguard first (usually due to the high concentration of Critical Triggers in the deck) add onto the fact that during the mid-game, it is custom to take the hit from the Vanguard because you have damage to spare. So due to the mere existence of this ability (and somewhat due to the existence of Battle Cupid Nociel) nearly every other deck that face Angel Feather have to under pretty much every circumstance forget about making perfect stage 3 columns (that force out 15000 guard) and instead focus on making Stage 2 columns that increase in skips of 2000 power in anticipation for MLP triggering that force out a mere 5000 guard per attack. If you add the increased defense with the the increased columns, you'll notice that during late game Angel Feathers can be gaining and or conserving up to an additional 25000 (3 to 5 cards) while also improving the quality of the cards they already have for an even scarier amount. The one decks that doesn't suffer the effects of Angel Feather as brutally as others would most likely be Tsukyomi Oracle Think Tank who just simply have a much more outstanding late game. In this case, Angel Feathers would have to take advantage of the fact that they have something of a mid-game while Tsukuyomi doesn't to get a heads up for the finish. Chief Nurse Shamsiel edges so close to being broken, that it's not even funny. 5/5 (So good and such a technical card)
Elliot "Gale" Gaylord	As it so happens, we've arrived at my personal favorite from Rampage of the Beast King, the "lovely" Chief Nurse, Shamsiel. When I saw the Angel Feather clan debut in Breaker of Limits, I took immediate interest despite my heavy belief that they were destined to be a one-shot clan. It turns out that Bushiroad proved me wrong in the best way possible!   Shamsiel ties together the Angel Feather strategy in a way unlike anything the game has ever seen. Where one's means of swapping cards in and out of the damage zone were previously limited, this behemoth allows you to do so every single turn upon reaching 4 damage. The result is a constant stream of power from Thousand Ray Pegasus, Million Ray Pegasus, and The Phoenix, Calamity Flame - all key units that had trouble offensively the set prior. Much like them, Shamsiel also recieves a power bonus each time a card enters the damage zone, which makes her terrifying on offense and irritating (to say the least) on defense.   Further your offensive pushes with Love Machine Gun, Nociel. When guarding, toss out Battle Cupid, Nociel to fend off attacks from middling columns on the cheap; Shamsiel will appreciate the bonus power.   It'll be quite some time before a viable alternative to Shamsiel hits the shelves, so be sure to pick up a set if your heart is set on this attractive, technical clan! 4/5
Pokefan362	Friday 2/15: Chief Nurse, Shamsiel And finally, a great card to end this Rampage of the Beast Kings week.  Shamsiel is, personally, one of my favorite cards in the entire game in terms of her capabilities.  She is unique, fun, nuanced, requires thought to use effectively (I still mess up with it sometimes), and pretty much single-handedly builds the whole deck by being just that versatile and in-tune with all aspects of Angel Feathers’ theme of swapping damage.  Although her complexities make her more difficult to use than her predecessors, and her elderly appearance and weird hairstyle may turn you away, in using her you may truly find out how it feels to play Angel Feathers as I believe they are meant to be played and get to enjoy the only deck in existence that can guard for 7K and change defensive power in the middle of the opponent’s turn.  Both of her skills go hand-in-hand, although neither are exactly unique.  The Limit Break can be achieved, under more conditional terms, by any of the Nociel cards, and the second skill can be seen in the RG circles by the Pegasi and Calamity Flame (who will be your key offensive units for the deck).  The Limit Break does so many things once you gain access to it.  By allowing you to swap cards between your hand and damage zone freely, every turn, you can essentially unflip damage every turn (possibly more than once in a turn, consider all the other swapping skills Angel Feather has) and, more importantly, have the best damn quality control of any deck in the game (to be used cautiously and with foresight, this is the hardest and funnest part).  Not only that, but the Limit Break by itself buffs Shamsiel, Million Ray Pegasus, Thousand Ray Pegasus, and The Phoenix, Calamity Flame to levels where they can realistically (though not without some effort) hit a clean 20 or 21K attack.  This is really, really good and you should take good care to craft columns in such a manner that you can hit high numbers multiple turns.  Think of each attack in that manner as being a +1 for you (or rather, a -1 for the opponent, since Angel Feathers don’t actually +1 very well) compared to that of a typical attack forcing 10K.  If supplemented by Hope Child, Turiel or Love Machine Gun, Nociel in the same turn, the 20 and 21K columns become even EASIER and can be achieved even with a less than optimal setup and you can even realistically hit 25K columns.  The second skill of Shamsiel also works wonderfully on the defensive.  Alongside Calamity Flame, she’s far more bulky on the defensive than the 10K written on the card would suggest and can throw off opponents (including those who are already familiar with Shamsiel).  A large part of this is because of Battle Cupid, Nociel.  If opponents try and play under the assumption (or rather, just because they have no other choice) that Shamsiel only gains power when their attack hits, this can put a wrench in their plans.  It feels great to watch your opponent’s carefully crafted 15K or 16K column fall apart by doing a 7K guard and preparing your hand better to either survive this turn or prepare to go on the offensive next turn.  No need to fear Silent Tom at all when you have this.  In general, the skill just makes it a lot more troublesome for the opponent to set up columns if they expect to damage you more than once in a single turn and can easily be worth more than a base 11K Vanguard.  The weakness of a good Shamsiel deck is that it’s sort of a “combo” deck in regards to how the columns are set up, and can be put into a difficult position if you do not get too many of your offensive units for too long.  Indeed, its offensive capability in the early and midgame is lacking compared to most decks and the deck is bad at generating straight advantage, to compensate for their lategame potential as a master of both offense and defense.  Remember always to think turns ahead as best you can when handling Shamsiel and her deck, perhaps more so than other decks.
TehNACHO	To wrap up this week, we have Chief Nurse, Shamsiel. Another notable Limit Break of BT07 and one of the more powerful boss units to come from it.               Let’s focus on its second skill first. Every time a card is put into your damage zone, it will gain +2000 power, which is just nifty at first until you notice, there is no ‘during your turn’ or such clause on it. That’s right, every damage you take will give her a power bump for the turn, greatly invalidating many columns the opponent can set up against it and pushing around their resources all the wrong way. This quickly leads to 12K, and sometimes even 14K defense and otherwise shutting down almost a lot of forward push the opponent could muster, allowing for cheaper and cheaper guard requirements and saving you tons of card advantage in the process.               Of course, one can notice, this sounds like a fine and dandy strategy for a few turns, but what about when you’re already at high damage? Shouldn’t I be really concerned if the greatest defensive measure in my deck won’t be there for me if I can’t use its skill by the late game, when every bit of defense can make all the difference between winning and losing? Whelp, good news is, there’s still so much more Shamsiel can offer for you. In tandem with another unit known as Battle Cupid, Nociel, Shamsiel’s 12K defense can still be achieved with something as simple as guarding an attack.               Before I continue, I must stress how amazing 12K defense, and in some occasions 14K defense is. Let’s think of it like this. My opponent, being a pretty decent player at least, sets up 16K attacks all across his field. Normally, I’d need at least 10K shield per attack in order to stop these attacks. Of course, this isn’t nearly the case with Shamsiel. Let’s say that first attack gets through, you take damage, and Shamsiel’s skill gives it +2K. At 12K defense, the opponent’s 16K attacks can now only force out 5K shield. In these kinds of situations, you can save 10K and maybe even more shield while taking the exact same amount of damage and not having to stretch yourself further down the road. Furthermore, 14K defense takes this even a step further, shutting out any 17K and 18K attacks. Unless one is using Nociel, you probably shouldn’t be getting much higher than that, but keep in mind that with every step you’d take with it, more and more of the opponent’s power becomes invalidated in the process, leaving cheap to guard attacks that could only barely make any difference to you. With good balance between taking hits and guarding, a Shamsiel player can easily get away with a long and prosperous streak of card advantage and in extension, be so much closer to victory than most decks can only hope to offer.               Now, returning back to the Grade 1 Nociel. Nociel’s skill triggers Shamsiel by switching a card in the damage zone with a card in your hand when called to the Guard Circle. While this is a trick for Angel Feather in general, this opens up a world of opportunities for Shamsiel. One can use Nociel early on or somewhere in the midgame of a match to stop a 16K attack, an attack if I may remind you is getting stopped by a 5K shield when it normally should normally cost 10K shield, and you proceed to place a unit with a good amount of shield like a trigger or Perfect Guard into your damage zone. Now this may sound weird at first, but here’s where the combo fits together. In exchange for that defensive unit you just gave up, you can dig out a good Grade 2 or 3 beater or booster to set up your field that much faster, or into better form. And to answer for your defensive unit just placed into the damage zone is where Shamsiel’s Limit Break comes in. When Shamsiel attacks, she can switch out an Angel Feather in your hand with one in the damage zone. Firstly, this means that Shamsiel’s 12K defense is also a 12K offensive for one to use and hopefully abuse for later rushes. This also means, at probably the most important time you’d need higher amounts of guarding material, there is a reserve of probably great defensively orientated units that you literally can just go ahead and switch out any unsightly cards for, leading to massive chain plays over the course of the match for setting up powerful fields right from the get go, while still having amazing defensive options for later. This leads me to say that Shamsiel’s usefulness extends far past the raw numbers of attacking and defending, and works its way straight into the very flexibility of the deck and playstyle, giving a Shamsiel player the options to keep the pressure on in a match and still probably one upping most opponents in the late game attrition.               Even further past this, are the Pegasi and Phoenix. Thousand Ray Pegasus, Million Ray Pegasus, and The Phoenix, Calamity Flame, a Grade 1 with 7K base, Grade 2 with 9K base, and Grade 3 with 10K base respectively, all are equipped with Shamsiel’s damage orientated secondary skill. These cards already deserved a place for honorable mentions in Angel Feather’s ranks before set 7, as a solid 7K booster that can end up with 9K defense and invalidate much of the opponent’s possible attempts at early game advantage? A Grade 2 who’s skill can end up outperforming Vanilla 10K units both defensively and offensively without having to plunge to 8K base? A Grade 3 who can sub in as a powerful tank that can net huge amounts of advantage over the course of the migame? All of them already powerful units with only greater roles to play when Shamsiel’s in charge. Including already complementing Shamsiel’s defensive measures, Shamsiel’s Limit Break turns their normally defensive skills into near condition-less attackers. Thousand Ray Pegasus serves as a solid 9K to boost your 12K attacks into 21K power, and can sub in as a beater when times get rough. Million Ray and Calamity both become beaters that can utilize practically any booster the deck can offer and still hit more than optimal power ranges, while also comboing off of Thousand Ray for powerful columns all across the field. Push a Thousand Ray+Shamsiel/Phoenix column even further with, for example, the Grade 2 Nociel, and one can put out huge 25K attacks even without the help of triggers beforehand.               To sum up, Shamsiel is an amazing unit overall. She has the defensive measures to more than easily outlast most every other non Cross-Ride Vanguard, the flexibility for a constantly shifting, dynamic, and well distributed strategy to keep up solid numbers where they count the most at the best times, all the time, and she has the offensive capabilities with the support to follow through and finish many other decks off that could’ve possibly kept up with the auxiliary advantage Shamsiel’s defense has kept up through the whole game. All in all, I can’t think of too much of a good reason to rate it down if at all, so out of me, an outstanding 5/5.