Machina Air Raider – Yu-Gi-Oh! Review

King of
Lullaby

Hello Pojo Fans,

Machina Air Raider is the first card we’re reviewing for Machina week.

Another high level monster within the archetype that can easily Special Summon itself. Low ATK is okay, as a Level 8 you’ve got plenty of Rank 8 plays, making this card a good monster choice. Deck thin/Special Summon ability during your opponents turn helps you trade a monster for a better one. Destroying the Machine-Type you targeted will leave you with a 1-for-1 break or a plus if your Machine-Type has a grave effect. Machina Possesstorage is a great choice because of its Special Summon effect on summon, recovering the destroyed Machine you give up with Raider’s effect. Any Machine can be targeted by Air Raider and Gadgets are a prime fodder for something like this because of their recovery ability. You can tribute a high level Machine and go for a lower Machina monster, but you want the most out of Raider’s effect, and Fortress has always been the best Machina.

It’d be better if its effect could be each turn, but this Quick-Effect will still get you a monster from the deck.

Advanced-3/5

Art-3/5- Don’t even think about it Air Raider, Pojo is restricted air space

Until Next Time

KingofLullaby

Crunch$G

Machina Week comes to Pojo, which is nostalgic for me considering the Machina Structure Deck was one of my favorites, making me glad it got retrained. We start the week off with one of the new Level 8s for Machina: Machina Air Raider.

Air Raider is a Level 8 EARTH Machine with 1500 ATK and 2600 DEF. Solid DEF, low ATK, and a good Type plus Attribute. Level 8 also adds Trade-In to Machina alongside more cards to discard off Machina Fortress. The first effect of Air Raider lets you discard another Machina from hand to Special Summon it from hand. This is a nice effect to get a Fortress in grave since it can revive itself from there, or the new Machina boss there since that’s where it has to be for its effect to summon itself with its own effect. It’s a free Special Summon, which is pretty good despite the immediate minus you take. The second effect is only on the opponent’s turn, so a Quick Effect, to target another Machine you control to summon any Machina with a different name and an equal or lower Level than the target, then the target is destroyed. Easy summons from Deck is something to appreciate, even if on the opponent’s turn. You’d need a Level 10 or higher for the boss. Machina Fortress comes with Level 7 or higher, but the only Level 7 I imagine you play is Fortress. It’s also easy to get the Level 4 or lower monsters in Machina with this. Air Raider does offer up possibilities, even to summon more Level 8s by trading in other Level 8s. You could give up Air Raider for Megaform for a Lonefire Blossom for Machina. Each effect of Air Raider is a hard once per turn, and that’s fine. It’s a decent card for the archetype as a whole, plus it is another high-Level target off Urgent Schedule. Worth playing for Machina variants.

Advanced Rating: 4/5

Art: 4/5 Cool machine, interesting color scheme.

Solember
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This is a simple card for a simple archetype. That doesn’t necessarily mean either are bad, though.

This card is easy enough to Special Summon from the hand in a dedicated Machina deck. The cost will work to your benefit in many situations.

The search-and-summon is a Quick Effect that can only activate during the opponent’s turn. The loss is a bit harder to deal with, however the effect is a great evacuation tactic when a card is targeted for a negative effect or an attack. Since this card can use itself as the target, there are plenty of plays to be made. Alternatively, if you have a target that cannot be destroyed by card effects, you can get a free Special Summon. I have made some use of this with my Mecha Phantom Beasts, though it is more of a casual, hybrid deck. I am sure there are plenty of other ways to have high-level Machine monsters that are indestructible in play.

I had the most success with this archetype combined with a Superheavy Samurai deck. The plays are consistent enough this way.

The card is balanced with HOPTs and a restrictive activation window.

The are is bland, but that can be attributed to the monster not looking aesthetically pleasing in general.

Versatility – 4
Rogue Plays – 1
Art – 3
Balance – 5
Uniqueness – 4

I score this card 4/5. It is not bad, and I expect it to shine in some future archetype. As it stands, it is a good card in Machina builds.