Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” – Yu-Gi-Oh! Throwback Thursday (2010)

King of
Lullaby

Hello Pojo Fans,

Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” is our Karakuri throwback for this Thursday.

Level 7 Synchro for the Karakuri that was part of swarming plays before Master Rule 4, and now with Master Rule 5 it will be at full power. Any Karakuri can be Special Summoned from your deck off “Burei”, setting up for Synchro climbing using “Burei” or use it for another Synchro Summon of a second copy of “Burei” or any other Synchro monster you may want. Changing any monster’s position can trigger your bigger Karakuri Synchro effects or give you an easier battle with an opponents monster (unless a Link Monster). 2600 alongside this effect will take down most boss monsters. You can use both Burei’s effects and then Synchro climb into a bigger Synchro Monster (Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon) to finish things. You want to use “Burei” to climb into “Bureido” though, and then into the monster we’re reviewing tomorrow: “Bureibu”. “Burei” is the starting point for all things Karakuri when Special Summoning. Destroy an opponents monster with “Kuick”, Special Summon any Level 3 Karakuri Tuner from your deck, Synchro Summon this and set up your board for next turn (making certain you get that free draw off “Bureido”). Multiple copies of “Bureido” will net you multiple draws.

Karakuris need this to set up plays alongside “Bureido”. It is a strong choice for a Level 7 Synchro for a deck that can swarm from the Extra Deck.

Advanced-3.5/5     Art-4/5

Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Crunch$G

Throwback Thursday brings us to the first Synchro of the archetype, Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”.

Burei is a Level 7 EARTH Machine Synchro with 2600 ATK and 1900 DEF. Good stats for a Level 7, plus you still got that great combination of Type and Attribute. The summoning requirements are any Tuner and any Machine non-Tuner(s), meaning only Machines can use this, which is fine since it’s made for Karakuri. The first effect upon Synchro Summon lets you summon any Karakuri from the Deck. Great ability in general, lets you extend your plays after going for a fairly big Synchro. You got Tuners from Levels 1 to 4, 2 Level 3s in general. One of the two swaps battle positions while the other gives another Normal Summon. You got some versatility for the Tuner department, or you got some good non-Tuners to float upon battle destruction or revive something when it destroys a monster in battle. Mostly I’m sure you’re using whatever you summon to extend plays, so I don’t imagine effects will matter that much until you summon your final Synchro you can. The second effect lets you target a monster on the field once per turn and swap its battle position. Great effect once again to trigger your bigger Synchros since you can only naturally swap battle positions once per turn, and you can’t do that if you summoned the monster that turn or said monster attacked, so you got an effect to handle that for you. Burei can also swap an opponent’s weaker monster around to help you get over it and do damage if it went to Attack Position. This effect also triggered monsters who got an effect for changing battle position, I remember this worked with Geargiarmor back when Karakuris and Geargia mixed well. Burei allows for some good things, it’s a 3 of in Karakuri easy.

Advanced Rating: 4.25/5

Art: 5/5 The pinnacle of the Karakuri art is the Shoguns.

Solember
YouTube

Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”

   This is the original big advantage Synchro Monster, and it made quite an impact on the game in 2011. The idea was to summon Burei and use his searching effect to grab a Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi” who can then allow for a second Normal Summon of another Karakuri. Then Synchro Summon another Burei and search for another Karakuri to Summon.

   Then, in 2014, it made a big reappearance when Geargia hit the scene, and there was a lot of synergy between the archetypes. OTK plays were rampant for a few months until the game caught up.

   With the limited Tuner Monsters available at the time (as well as the limited Synchro options), laddering was not likely with this combo, but now it’s 2020 and we have a lot of Synchro Options (as well as XYZ and Link Monsters) that this guy can prep for, including Karakuri Super Shogun mdl 00N “Bureibu”, and we have a new level 1 tuner that can bring out Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”. The amount of searching between these three Synchro Monsters is incredible, and I feel that they will always have the potential to cycle back into the limelight because of the plays they make possible. In a pinch, this card can also set off the effects of both of the other two with its ability to change a battle position of a monster on the field.

   As far as balance goes, the balance in this card comes from the archetype itself. None of the cards summonable are going to rain fire down on your opponent, nor are they going to set up an immediate board wipe. Such strategies are possible with some planning, but that is how things should be in a game like this. In most other archetypes, I would say that this effect breaks the game, but I have to say that Konami seemed to know what they wanted from this archetype; a potential for a lot of damage without anything too complicated.

   The art on this card is great. The colors are rich, and the background is intense. The symbol on Burei’s helmet translates to the number 0, and he his stylistically designed to represent a classical Japanese commander. The mustache is a nice touch.

Versatility – 4
– This card doesn’t need to be in a dedicated Karakuri deck to function.
Rogue Plays – 5
– This is definitely capable of some OTK set up.
Art – 5
– I would say that this is an example of a perfectly designed card.
Balance – 4
– I usually only reserve a 3 or higher for HOPT cards (and this would have been a 0 in 2011), but this card is definitely my tempo.
Uniqueness – 4
– The search effect is common, and there are plenty of cards in the game that can change battle positions. This card definitely merges the two well effects well, though.

I give Burei a 5/5 in that it is a great example of a card that does well in its archetype. It is a blast to play with, and it can set up satisfying combos.

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