Karakuri Gama mdl 4624 “Shirokunishi” – Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

King of
Lullaby

Hello Pojo Fans,

Karakuri Gama mdl 4624 “Shirokunishi” is the latest installment of support for the Karakuri archetype.

Like most Karakuri, it inherits the “must attack if able” ability as well as changing its battle position. “Shirokunishi” is the A/D Changer of the archetype. While I’m sure it will come in handy at certain points to switch back a Karakuri using this from the grave, most of the time it will only be used as another Tuner for Synchro Summoning. As all Main Deck Karakuri monsters switch their battle positions in some way, this card’s best use is it being a Tuner. If it could change the battle position of a monster your opponent controls it could be something interesting to add to the archetype. It can trigger alongside “Bureido” to get you a draw, but aside from that, this card is pretty bland.

It’s another Tuner for the archetype, has synergy within the archetype (as it should) and can be One For One onto the field as well as be a Machine Duplication target. But I feel like this deck could’ve used some decent ATK power in the form of a Tuner as well. Regardless, they now have another Tuner to use in Synchro Summoning, so that is good.

Advanced-3/5     Art-3/5

Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Crunch$G

Next up in the week is a card Karakuri could have used for a while, a Level 1 Tuner in Karakuri Gama mdl 4624 “Shirokunishi”.

Shirokunishi is a Level 1 EARTH Machine Tuner with 200 ATK and 1000 DEF, but you aren’t playing this for its ATK/DEF stat. You’re using this to Synchro, so the clauses that it must attack if able and the fact it changes its battle position if attacked won’t matter unless your plays are stopped. Otherwise you just use this with Burei to go into Bureido and use another of this with Bureido to go into Bureibu. All the Karakuri Synchros summon a Karakuri from the Deck, so Synchro climbing is easy. This also synergizes well with Bureido and Bureibu since it can banish itself from the grave as a Quick Effect to target a Karakuri monster you control and change its battle position. This can trigger your Bureido to let you draw a card or your Bureibu to banish an opponent’s card, and it can do this on the opponent’s turn, which is fairly nice. The effect for battle position swapping is a hard once per turn, because Karakuri is the one archetype that is good in. Shirokunishi is a solid card for the archetype. It doesn’t enable anything on its own, but it’s a great piece for helping your Synchros.

Advanced Rating: 3.5/5

Art: 4/5 Karakuris tried to make another Frog the Jam situation I see.

Solember
YouTube

Karakuri Gama mdl 4624 “Shirokunishi”

   We’ve got a level one Tuner with a GY Quick Effect today. This is a practical addition to the Karakuri archetype because its Quick Effect changes the battle positions of Karakuri Monsters.

   This makes Shirokunishi ideal to use as a tuner for the Karakuri Synchros which in turn have effects that activate when your Karakuri Monster changes its battle positions. That being said, how good is that play?

   It’s not ideal, nor is it particularly overwhelming.

   More times than not, this is going to be an unwanted draw. You’ll likely rather summon the frog via Urgent Schedule straight from the deck. I occasionally used Machine Duplication with him to use as a trade off for a Link 2 and a Synchro (or just a link 3). I could also use him with Machine Duplication or Urgent Tuning to set off Qliphort Genius’s effect. If nothing else, running 3 copies of Shirokunishi made both of those Spell Cards more viable.

   He adds some synergy to the deck, but I know I hated drawing him about half of the time. He’s situational and even potentially detrimental. His HOPT feels unnecessary, as he banishes himself from the GY in order to activate.

   The art is another good Karakuri design. The lack of a referential background makes it hard to gauge the size of this guy compared to the other Karakuri members. Is he a giant frog? We’ll never know. The etymology continues the Karakuri trends. Sometimes I wish the English language had fun number puns, but I guess it’s two much two hope four (see? It doesn’t feel like a pun. It just feels like bad spelling).

Versatility – 1
– It only works in Karakuri decks.

Rogue Plays – 2
– They exist, but they aren’t viable or exclusive to this card.

Art – 4
– I’m just going to have to assume that this is either a giant frog or that is a tiny barrel. Thanks Konami.

Balance – 3
– While I love HOPTs, not every card needs them.

Uniqueness – 3
–  It’s like an A/D Changer that has added quick effect and been made into a Tuner.

I’ll give this card a 1/5. It’s not the worst you could do with a Karakuri deck, but it’s not necessary.